Summary: Atem didn't like it when Yuugi worked on the puzzle.
Pairings: General Yuugi/Atem
Notes: Written for the ygodrabble LJ community. The challenge was "The 7 Deadly Sins."
Fractured
by Mahayana
Atem leaned over Yuugi's shoulder and watched him count his life savings. The two crumpled bills and some stray coins came to sixteen hundred yen. Ushio wasn't going to get much out of Yuugi. Too many others had picked Yuugi's savings dry in greed. And whatever the boy didn't spend on bullies or saving others, he spent on games. Atem watched Yuugi sigh in frustration and go back to working on the puzzle. It wouldn't solve his problems, but Yuugi was an escapist at heart.
Yuugi clinked two puzzle pieces together, trying to make them fit, and Atem frowned. He didn't like it when Yuugi worked on the puzzle. It made him feel odd inside. Like pieces of his insides were sliding around. But Yuugi had been at it for years. Atem had watched the boy grow up with those gold pieces in his hands. The man who looked like Siamun had gifted the Pharao's puzzle to his grandson. And with it had damned the child to be haunted by the Ba of the dead Pharaoh himself. Atem wondered if that was why the boy's hair had grown to look so much like his own. There were too many strange coincidences in this house.
Two puzzle pieces clicked into place. They fit. Yuugi and Atem stared at them in surprise. Yuugi had never made pieces fit before. Something twisted in Atem's gut as Yuugi continued to work. Three more pieces clicked into place. Then five. Atem recognized the shape of a pyramid starting to form. The realization sat heavy in his heart.
"You should stop," Atem frantically whispered into Yuugi's ear. "Do you know what you're doing?" The boy wasn't solving the puzzle. The puzzle was solving itself. Some evil force inside was knitting itself back together, trying to get at the boy. Atem knew his Ka, his life force, was still sealed in the puzzle, along with his name and Zorc Necrophades himself. But he couldn't tell who had finally broken through the maze and was paving an exit. For all he knew, Yuugi was about to unleash a great evil onto the earth. "Please stop," Atem pleaded, placing his translucent hands over Yuugi's. But Yuugi continued, unaware.
Atem could feel himself fracturing with every new piece that slid into place. Something from the gold pulled at him. The puzzle was his body, he could feel his Ka calling to him from within it. A starved, mangled thing that had been trapped in the darkness for too long. Atem pulled away in disgust. If he became one with his Ka, and formed an Akh, he couldn't tell what he would do. His Ba was pure, but his Ka had grown malicious. And the puzzle was slowly eating his memories. He had died to keep the world safe. He knew he would never go to the afterlife. He didn't want to become whole anymore.
The boy still wouldn't stop. He was working faster now. He was so close to the end. With one more piece left, Yuugi was about to shout in triumph when he saw the last piece missing. Atem breathed a sigh of relief. If the last piece was lost, then everything would be well. Zork and his Ka could not escape. Yuugi wanted to cry. Atem looked at him with pity.
"Yuugi!" Sugoroku called from downstairs. "Some boy just came by with a piece of your puzzle." Yuugi threw back his chair and ran downstairs. "No…" Atem chocked in despair. And prayed with his whole being that the boy would stay safe.