Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.
An... addendum of sorts to the series. Waking the Dragons arc (sheesh, I guess I'm stuck in this season - so much potential revolution goodness). This occurs after their train derails over the cliff.
The Revolutionshipping aspect on this story is comparatively not as prominent as in my other stories. It's more of hinting at it. I've actually come to enjoy writing them this way. A different kind of feels. Enjoy :D
Oblivion
Atemusluckgal
ALG Series
She knew she was going to die.
Téa felt the joints and hinges of the train crying as they grew heated and overwhelmed, as the train sped beyond their capacity to maintain. The curve of the cliff's edge finally turned too sharply, and with a harsh jolt, the train unhinged from the tracks. At the moment, Yami was still a few feet ahead of her atop the train car, dismally staring at his hands with a soul-bereft Weevil lying at his feet. He was so mentally absent that he didn't seem to notice her or the train's dysfunctions, until it at last careened out of control and he lost his balance. They screamed as the train twisted and turned, tumbling towards the edge of the cliff with their precious cargo holding on for dear life.
Suddenly Téa's body was, for a few dizzying seconds, suspended in midair, directly beside Yami who had grabbed her hand as they plummeted to the earth below. The fall was so terrifying that Téa was screaming along with him, not just out of panic, but also because it simply gave her body something to do rather than consciously observe her impending death nearing her and the man she secretly loved.
At last her and Yami's cries ceased, but only in reaction to something far more terrifying than falling tens of thousands of feet to the unforgiving solid terrain below – the bright sky around them instantaneously morphed into an abyss of a choking black emptiness, stretching into oblivion much like the infinite reaches of the expanding universe. The whipping of wind resistance against them died down, allowing Téa's and Yami's bodies to descend through a vacuum of space, the very atmosphere pulling them under with unparalleled velocity.
An anguished cry filled Téa's ears, piercing her soul and her mind with utmost distress. The hand that held hers tightened its grip fiercely, sending claws of tension through her body. Téa whipped her head to the right and cringed – Yami's lean body was contorted outward in agony, encumbered with wracking pain through his bent limbs, his muscles tensed and bulging. His free hand was pressed to his forehead, a neon green glow escaping through his fingers. He clenched his teeth, biting back a scream, growling.
"Pharaoh!" cried Téa, helpless to help him.
She looked down below them, and gasped. A small glowing object, circular in shape and bright green in color, awaited their landing from a distance. It grew larger as seconds passed, and it seemed as they fell closer to its proximity, Yami's body grew more pained. His eyes flashed open for a split second before shutting them again, but not before Téa caught the faint red blaze in his once-violet irises.
She understood what was happening, now. His hand was still against his forehead, failing to obscure the green glow, but she knew it was the Seal. The wicked Seal of Orichalcos, the corrupted magic that was the sole reason her best friend was captured, and the man she loved to be relentlessly taunted by the darkness invading his heart. The sign of pure evil that was about to annihilate them, presently. It was destroying him… from the inside.
"Fight the darkness, Yami! Don't let it win!" Téa shouted pleas of encouragement, desperate to help him, determined to keep herself from helplessly watching him suffer. "Don't let the evil take you!"
Still they fell, the larger Seal below them shooting up at them in their plummet, and at any second they would meet their demise. The pharaoh continued to be physically and mentally distorted by the dark magic, slowly tearing at him…asphyxiating him … ripping his soul apart, piece by piece…
A bright light emitted from the Millennium Puzzle, startling Téa, shielding her eyes from the shining glow. Yami's body jerked in a different direction on impulse, twisting this way and that… fighting the Seal with all his might.
"Yes! Fight it! You can do it!" She squeezed his hand assuredly, tugging lightly. "Focus on the light in your heart, pharaoh! You can conquer the darkness with your light!"
The pharaoh struggled on, only this time his hand tore away from his face, revealing the Seal of Orichalcos in its emerald shining glory, and gripped his shirt's fabric directly over his heart. His breathing became shallow and uneven, affected wholly by the immense strain, and the light from the Puzzle heightened its brilliant radiance.
"Aaaaaagggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
A deep, hoarse voice pierced the air, filling her ears and her heart with raw agony. It was, by far, the most unbearable sound Téa could stand to hear from the pharaoh – his bellowing howl of helpless, ultimate suffering.
To Téa's shock and horror, the Puzzle promptly retracted its light into its crevices all at once, and shattered.
No, it did not disassemble into the dozen pieces Yugi used to assemble it. It shattered, into a million pieces and more, tiny fragments of each piece suspended in the air as time seemed to slow to a crawl. The deafening sound of the implosion rang in waves like a porcelain pot dropped on concrete floor in a hollow chamber.
"Your puzzle!" Téa shouted worriedly.
His faint, weakened voice seemed to dissipate into the darkness. "I… lost…"
Silence.
Yami wasn't screaming anymore. Nor was he speaking, moving… or breathing.
Téa felt his hand fall heavy and flaccid in hers, no longer desperately holding on for help, no longer tensed with pain.
"No…"
His eyes fell open, finally exposing the accursed red ornamental streaks across their irises. The Seal burned menacingly on his forehead, seeming to gloat in its triumph. It had crushed his soul completely, until not a morsel of it was left, leaving an empty corpse to fall limply beside Téa into oblivion. The bigger Seal, below her and the dead pharaoh, was upon them now, waiting to ensnare them both in its emblem of death. She pulled his limp body against her, and her eyes shut tight. Tears escaped through the corners and glistened in the Seal's bath of ominous radiance. This was it. This was how their story would end.
"Téa…"
She sobbed into his dead shoulder, hearing his voice call to her, haunting her…
"Téa… wake up…"
The heat of the Seal intensified as they plummeted further down. The burning heat from the Seal singed her skin as they drew closer. She shut her eyes tighter, attempting to block out the sound of his voice entering her ears. Bracing herself for her impending fate, she held him tighter, squeezing her head against his heart, knowing that it would not beat any longer.
Except that it was beating.
Astonishment and hope registered to her, all at once. In an instant she flashed her eyes open. Her vision was empty, only comprehending a mess of blended colors and indiscernible shapes, illuminated by… daylight?
Téa's body jerked involuntarily against Yami's, as it usually did when she was brought to consciousness after dreaming of falling. She noticed that his body was no longer limp and heavily falling through abyss, but sitting upright, alert, and awfully close to hers.
Her eyes finally began to clear, first noticing an unfamiliar abode that resembled a small tent of sorts, and secondly her position – her arms wrapped firmly around the pharaoh's waist and her head pressed against his chest, still sobbing and shaking just like she had been when they were being swallowed by the Seal. Strangely enough, Yami appeared calm and unfazed, simply holding her warmly with his arms encircling her back. Every few seconds he would run a hand up and down the length of her back, quelling her blubbering and reducing her sobs to mere soft whimpering. Téa finally pulled herself from the pharaoh to look into his eyes, still somehow afraid that she would see the semblance of those evil tainted red eyes of the Seal's influence hanging open with no life behind them. Instead she found herself gazing into the very pair of violet eyes that she knew and loved, staring back at her with a mix of worry, confusion, and protective watchfulness.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Téa hastily apologized, quickly withdrawing any physical connection she shared with him, profusely mortified. She could not remember a time when she had felt more confused and embarrassed at the same time.
"Téa, are you alright?" the pharaoh asked. He spoke softly, reluctant and uncertain.
Téa blinked rapidly, her heart still racing from the sensation of falling to her death, awestruck. She blushed inwardly (and outwardly, she was sure) as she realized the physical contact she had unconsciously initiated with the Spirit in her sleep.
"I… I'm okay. I just…"
Embarrassment aside, she didn't want to bring more morbidity to their already grim circumstances, "…just had a bad dream, that's all". It felt much too real to dismiss as merely a bad dream; she was still almost unsure if it had actually happened or not. He cocked his head innocently to the side, curiosity evident in his creased brow and uneasy frown.
"Oh?" he questioned.
Téa shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it… it was just a dream, right?" She offered him a smile that was meant to be positive and reassuring, but he didn't seem convinced.
"Téa, you woke up cr-"
"I know, I know," Téa interrupted, not wanting to feel more humiliated than she did at that moment. She stole his eyes in an intense heartfelt gaze, her azure orbs reaching out to embrace him, still seeing him lifeless with the Seal glimmering menacingly on his forehead.
"I just don't want to lose you…" she admitted shyly, but sincerely, "I don't want you to lose yourself to the darkness. That's why I was crying when I woke up. I dreamed that I lost you… that the darkness overcame you and, well," the very tears he was concerned with welled up in her eyes again, waiting to fall, "…that's when I woke up."
Yami's eyes softened, his vibrant orbs glittering in the sunlight peeking through the tent's opening. He took her hand in his and rubbed it tenderly with his thumb. He stared down at their connected hands. "Do you think… that I will lose, and that the darkness will overcome me?"
Téa felt like smacking herself. She had nearly forgotten that the pharaoh was facing his own mental battles that she couldn't even begin to grasp. He still felt like a failure – lost, confused, guilty, emotionally wounded and scarred. Prospects of him being encompassed by the shadows – even if it were just a dream – certainly didn't help relieve the situation.
"N-no! Not at all!" she amended hastily, wishing sorely for a more well-advised filter in her brain. "You are above evil, Pharaoh. You've got the light in your heart… and in ours, too!" She gazed at their hands as he did, studying his thumb gliding fleetingly over her knuckles. There was something electrifying about his touch, as simple and innocently platonic as it was, that sent her heart to euphoric bliss whenever their bare skin made contact.
"It's so difficult to believe it, Téa. It truly is." His voice sounded completely defeated. But at least he was talking to her.
Téa placed her other hand over his. "But you need to, Pharaoh. If you don't, the enemy will win. You need to trust me when I tell you that I believe there is still good in your heart. What happened was… unfortunate… but we all forgive you and we want to help. Please let us."
The pharaoh turned away, grimacing, as if she had reached out and slapped him. "I am beyond help," he griped bitterly. He began averting his eyes from her, choosing instead to inspect his surroundings. His hand on Téa's tensed defensively.
"Where are we?" Téa asked, not expecting a definitive answer, but wanting to change the subject.
A low, snarling growl entered the youths' ears, and startled both of them. Without missing a beat, Téa found herself pulled violently into the protective embrace of the pharaoh's arms. She was barely given a moment to process the danger before a blur of grey fur appeared on top of her, its weight forcing her down on her back. A moment of panic, and Yami's anxious calling of her name, was interrupted by a very affectionate, and slobbery, tongue licking her cheek profusely. It surprisingly felt great, as if the canine's friendly assault was a reprieve from all the evil in the world, her friend and secret love falling apart at the seams, her best friend captured, the whole world falling apart.
As if reading her mind, the wolf creature released her and leaped onto the pharaoh, giving him a good "kiss" as well. Of course he wasn't expecting this, or even quite used to interaction with animals; the sight was rather humorous as he looked plainly uncomfortable with his face receiving a liberal application of affection – and saliva – from something he perceived as a threat just a moment before. Téa simply watched the scene before her for a moment, just stealing as many moments as she could to enjoy the hilarity.
Maybe, it was a sign that everything was going to be okay. That at least someone, even if it was a wolf, hadn't lost hope yet. This animal knew that not everyone was out there to harm others; there were people out there still deserving of love and loyalty without judgment or condition.
Like the Pharaoh. Or Raphael. Or… to an extent… maybe even Dartz.
END