AN: I am awful with my own deadlines :( You should be happy to hear I have no classes tomorrow and intend to have the next chap written asap to make up for this wait! So please review and tell me what you think, cause we only have three more to go.

Disclaimer: I own a vivid imagination...that did not come up with Yu-Gi-Oh

Chapter 21: Fate

Sneaking out of the palace couldn't be called easy, but they had definitely faced much more difficult challenges in their lives. Kisara followed the priestesses instructions bringing Mana and Shadya with them, despite their male companions protests. The magician girl had been almost eager to be of use. Kisara noticed a fierceness to it. As for the actual place of the tomb Isis had named it had been surprising for Bakura to be the one to know where it was, then again, perhaps it shouldn't have been considering he made his living off of robbing such places.

"Going after the random tombs close to the palace is a risk without proper reward. If I was going near the palace it was going to be for something meaningful. But that doesn't mean I don't hear about them."

Shadya and Mana had taken their place next to Bakura to bother him with constant questions about what he knew. The thief had already explained the extent of his knowledge, but two young girls being sent out on their first real adventure and trying to break free of the grief surrounding them likely didn't consider that in their rush to learn and adapt. They were on foot, making the trip about four hours walk outside of the town and palace walls. Horses had been too risky for being caught. Kisara trailed right behind Bakura and with Shadya between them was Atem.

The two of them had remained strong throughout the events and losses at the palace. After everything they stood together and yet Kisara had lost one lover and was on her way to losing another all too soon together. It wasn't fair. Neither was anything else though. She interrupted Shadya's blabbering about traps.

"So do we merely charge in and hope we aren't overwhelmed?" She asked. "There must be a plan once we reach the tomb."

Bakura turned his head back at her. "Our best bet is to lure them out to us cause some noise outside and have our Ka waiting. Your dragon's going to be one of our biggest advantages."

"What about Atem's Ka?" Mana asked. "Ra, Obelisk, or Osiris could wipe out an entire legion with the right circumstances."

"They could also drain him and leave him unable to even pick up a sword," Bakura said. "Power like that doesn't come without a heavy price."

"He is right here and can handle summoning his own Ka just fine," Atem spoke up. "Diabound will be out during the entire fight I presume?" Bakura gave a slow nod with a frown. "Then don't lecture me on exerting myself; I'll only bring out Osiris, but I'm not going to swing a sword around if we end up meeting a small army."

Atem was quite stubborn, and proud. Those traits had turned out useful this time. Kisara fully planned to utilize her Ka during the battle, and the others doing so increased their odds of success. That was all that mattered to her really, successfully freeing Seto. She already knew what the consequences were going to be.

"If that's the only hope we have," Kisara said.

"Kisara," Atem said. "We're going to save him, all of us together. I promise."

Kisara smiled. "Were you this optimistic when you sent us to the palace, or when Mahado left with Bakura and the priestess for the sanctuary? If so, perhaps you should begin to look at things with more realistic expectations." The prince fell silent, and the hurt was visible in the way he cringed and his determination shifted to something more pained. Mana gasped. "Do not let your love struck eyes blind you."

"And is this where you act oh so wise, and think you can push your cynicism on him because life threw shit at you!" Bakura snapped at Kisara.

"Don't speak to Kisara that way!" Shadya shouted at Bakura.

"Shadya," Kisara said voice low and commanding. "Be silent." Bakura was so quick to defend Atem and his hopes. "I think you misunderstood me. What I meant is that he can not hold onto the little happiness he has with you as an escape from the tragedy drowning us. Accept that things are dire and fight to change them, but do not act like a foolish and naive child who expects things to end perfectly. You'll only be disappointed." She sighed. "Take your solace in and cherish one another, but don't lie to yourselves."

"Kisara," Shadya said. She sounded so surprised to hear the words being uttered by her mentor. Kisara didn't answer her, but did pull her close petting her red hair.

"If fate took one of you from the other, and you knew there was nothing you could do, would you be able to deal with it?" Kisara asked.

Bakura growled. "Like you or Seto have dealt with losing Jono? You turned even more depressing than when I found in that tomb, and your precious Seto blamed himself and the world. Who are you to talk about handling loss?"

"Bakura!" Atem scolded.

Her gentle face twitched, but kept it's expression soft. "That's a no then."

"No more of this!" Mana shouted. Everyone turned to her at her shrill loud exclamation. "We need to quiet to catch the tombkeeper renegades by surprise, and we don't need to be fighting each other when we do!"

"Mana's right," Atem said.

Kisara and Bakura didn't offer a response to either side of the argument and fell into a silent agreement. Kisara hoped when this was over he could see why she had acted as she had. This wasn't her being angry at fate; she was done with that. This was not about being bitter or sad like she had been in the past, or angry and defiant like he still was. It was her accepting destiny and the path it brought her down for the first time in her life.

After hours they arrived to a place close enough for the tomb to come into sight. Kisara had barely recognized it as a tomb. It more closely resembled a small cave on the outside, but there were no other rocks or signs there should be one in this part of the desert. Why disguise a tomb as a cave? Wasn't a tomb supposed to mark the status of who was buried beneath it?

"Does anyone know whose tomb this is?" Kisara asked.

"No one's," Atem said. "It's not actually a tomb. It's an abandoned ritual site dedicated to Seth, hence why it's out in the desert, Bakura's contacts probably mistook it for one due to it's similar design inside. I remember my father telling me about it, but he never told me where it was."

"That sounds ominous," Bakura scoffed. "Let me guessed, it's cursed?"

"Actually yes," Mana said. "The last Pharaoh died here. Raiders invaded the site while he was visiting...royal blood being spilled is always a bad omen." She glanced at Atem.

Bakura began to walk forward ahead of them. "Well then, let's hope we have better luck."

The sun was ready to peak over the horizon within the hour and they had to be swift. It was strange. Not a single guard stood in front of the structure. They had lured Seto here, the high priest. They should have been concerned about efforts to return him. Or at least being attacked in retaliation. Kisara was filled with dread. The closer they grew they did notice a single figure lying in the sands in front of the stone monument. They hadn't been there long of the sand would have been covering them by now with the strong night winds.

Long strands of brown became visible along with blue robes and a tall figure. Kisara gasped and the others stopped dead in their tracks all except for one. Shadya broke out into a sprint rushing to the priest.

"Seto!"

Kisara grabbed for the girl to pull her back too late her hand brushing just her shoulder barely. "Shadya wait!" she shouted before running to chase after her the others following closely. The girl paid no attention to Kisara's plea, and Kisara watched the sway of long red hair in front of her fruitlessly trying to catch up. "Please!" she begged the girl at the top of her lungs.

Shadya just about lunged to her knees beside Seto when she reached him Kisara and the others only steps behind her. Right as she reached out to touch him the sands beneath their feet shook, and a loud rumble echoed around them. All of them reacted Atem, Mana, and Bakura raising their guard, and the former two pulling out their swords while the magician pulled out her wand. Kisara's eyes went wide before becoming sad and giving Shadya a weary look.

"Goodbye," She said to the girl.

"What?" Shadya asked. Her question melded into a scream a sword swerved up and pierced Kisara through the chest. A ghastly person molded from shadows and covered in a hood rising from beneath the sand.

The figures rose from beneath them to surround the group giving them little time to react to Kisara's assault. The dragon girl dropped to her knees sliding off of the blade and fell to the ground. Her chest pounded with a severe ache, and she felt her blood pouring from her wound. She heard her name being screamed as a sort of distant echo from the others, and saw them rushing together to defend themselves. Images blurred to a mere haze; she barely recognized Shayda leaning over her. The poor girl. The one that had stabbed her was no longer near Shady; one of the others must have destroyed it somehow.

Her body was moved to roll over in her lap. Kisara didn't have the strength to make any noise despite her pain. Little droplets fell on her face. Tears. No, she didn't want Shadya to cry. This was how it had to be. Kisara gasped for a breath that didn't come. If only she could say one more thing to the sweet girl who had embraced her as a sister. Just one more sentence.

'Take care of Seto, and be brave.'

The world vanished before her and her conscious floated away before she could even gasp out a syllable. She was left in a field of pure blackness. Shadya and the others could neither be seen nor heard, and the air held a deep chill. Was this really death? Just emptiness and the cold surrounding you for eternity. Kisara's chest clenched and out came the flood. She threw herself on the ground of the void not caring about the even worse chill. Holding her head between her hands she shouted an incoherent sound of agony and rage. Her fists struck the ground repeatedly with each shout, and she cried freely without a thought of wiping away her tears.

For all she knew, Shadya and the others were dying while she wailed in this abyss. They would head to the same emptiness as she and Jono. They had blindly fallen into a trap, and she had stupidly trusted a prophet over her own instincts. How could this lead to them saving Seto? Isis had said her death would bring Seto's salvation, but what good could come of this? Fate had thrown her to the wolves again.

She had finally found a moment of happiness and perfection with Seto and Jono, and it was stolen away as soon as it had come! It wasn't fair!

"None of this was fair."

Kisara froze. That voice, it couldn't be.

"Aren't you even going to look up, and check for yourself?"

She shook her head almost pulling at her hair. "N-no. I can't hope and then be wrong. I can't…"

A large, warm hand settled on her shoulder. "Kisara…" a kind and familiar voice whispered.

In the next moment strong arms had pulled her in and wrapped around her. Kisara whimpered and returned Jono's embrace. She nuzzled golden skin by pressing her cheek to his and dug her small fingers into the thick muscles of his back. He felt so real. He felt alive. She reveled in the contact, and he held her as close as possible. He pulled her back cupping her face, so she could see bright amber eyes. It was really him. Jono was back in her arms.

"Jono," she said through a sob.

He smiled and swept the wetness off of her cheeks. "I've been waiting." He pressed his lips to his forehead. "Now we can wait for Seto together."

"Is he-" he didn't let her finish.

"Not yet if we can help it," He said. He grabbed her hands in his own. "Let's give them a final gift, shall we?"

"How?" she asked.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Jono asked. "The dragons."

Kisara did. The destructive creature of light was clawing from within her wanting out, but with no way to escape. There were no battles for it in this abyss. Nor any chance at freedom. Kisara removed one of her hands from his and placed it over her heart. Where the white dragon resided. Jono, in turn, did the same. A dark red glow emiting from beneath his palm and mirroring the blue one beneath her own. The burning light was slipping from her spirit, and flowing back into a world outside of the one they resided in. Her eyes blinked and behind her closed lids Seto's face appeared clear as day.

"Seto," she muttered under her breath. "Farewell."

The dragon vanished from her soul and her eyes opened to see Jono standing there still with the same peaceful expression. Still each grasping onto each other with one hand they turned to walk side by side as a pure and bright light opened before them. On the other side they barely made out the shape of a golden scale with a feather delicately placed in one side. They glanced toward each other. Kisara tightened her hand around his. This was it, her destiny had ended and come full circle. Without any bitterness or anger she headed through the opening and into the next world with Jono.

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Things were looking more hopeless by the moment. Diabound was out defending her master from the hordes of enemies up close, and Osiris flew high above them opening its great jaws. Yet, there were still more. Dozens upon dozens of these monsters filtering out of the sands. Diabound had gained quite a bit of strength from absorbing the power of the gate keeper, but even two powerful Ka as them and Osiris had their limits. Every time they destroyed a wave another rose from the sand. Closer, Seto and his Ka and Shadya and hers were defending them from the ones emerging right before them while Bakura and Atem took to their swords. Mana fired spell after spell of flames while her own Ka joined her in the endeavor.

Shadya's Ka a divine woman with a third eye open upon her head fired blasts of mystic energy, while Seto's slashed through anything that dared move too close to them. Each defeated monster fueled him on more. He kept his head forward, refusing to look behind at Kisara's corpse. Refusing to acknowledge his foolishness had killed the other love of his life. He screamed in anguish as another wave emerged at least three dozen of them around the group now.

Atem and Bakura panted at their back. His friends were tiring quick, from using both their physical prowess to glide from enemy to enemy, and their Ba to power Osiris and Diabound. They couldn't last much longer. If only they could destroy this last wave. It was emerging larger than any other, and he suspected that meant it was the last. Bakura grunted as he sliced clean through two more with a right slash, Atem performing a graceful uppercut with his own blade, while Diabound blasted wind attacks it had absorbed from the gate guardian and ripped several to shreds. Osiris charged for a large blast firing and destroying another dozen. Atem clenched his chest and fell to his knees. Mana and Bakura simultaneously rushed to his side. The magician girl razing a monster who grew far too close.

Seto's eyes went wide he wanted to run to his friend, but he couldn't leave Shadya. The girl bravely glaring into the face of their enemy and firing her much weaker attacks ferociously while tears fell down her young face. Crying for Kisara while trying to avenge her. Seto moved closer and took out his own blade fighting beside his Ka.

"Damn it send it back in!" He heard Bakura shout.

"But-"

"It's fucking killing you!" Bakura screamed. "Unsummon it before you use up the rest of your Ba, or I'll knock you out myself!"

"Atem please!" Mana begged. "Listen to him."

With those words Osiris vanished from the sky leaving them at a loss of one of their greater offenses.

The inner ring of enemies were gone leaving only dozens at mid-distance. Still plenty to wipe them out. Seto tried to find hope in his heart. The more he tried to more he thought of the approaching enemies, and of Kisara lying still behind him bleeding into the sand. His tears fell and he whispered.

"Kisara, Jono...forgive me. I've failed you."

"Seto."

He gasped at hearing her voice. "Kisara?"

"Farewell."

A bright light lit up the darkness of the sky above them, mixing with a ruby hue of red. Two brilliant stars in a black night, and from them emerged two dragons side by side. Over Shadya Jono's black sleek dragon gave a mighty roar and above himself, Kisara's white dragon stared down upon him. The two dragons opened their mouths flying in circles upon the groups of enemies closing in on them. The group stared in awe as they worked in perfect harmony.

The white dragon, Seto felt in his soul. It was his now, and he had no doubt where his gift had come from. Glancing over to Shadya told him Jono had done the same for her. She smiled and sobbed at the same time watching them. Seto's own Ka protected them up close, hers had gone still. The dragons were making a huge difference, but they still were not powerful enough to eliminate the horde at once.

"I have an idea," Shadya whispered.

She closed her eyes, and her natural Ka closed the eye on it's forehead. Its actual eyes opening, and glowing brightly. It floated up in the center the two dragons flew in and energy flowed through its body. Seto had assumed it had to have some sort of unique ability with it's lack of raw power, but he had no idea what she was doing. He placed his trust in the young girl and did not resist the pull on his new Ka. The two dragons melded into energy and the energies fused together into a single silver light that slowly took the shape of a long serpentine figure coiled in on itself above them and large enough to hover over the entire battlefield. With a mighty roar the energy faded and in it's wake a silver scaled dragon with violet eyes. Gems the color of its eyes littered down its grande tail.

A much smaller hand grabbed his own. "For them." Shadya said to him. Seto nodded.

For Jono and Kisara.

The dragon screeched as Diabound's defense was finally breached, and the enemies came rushing to them. The priest and his ward raised their joined hands and violet light rained down in massive bursts of power from the gems on its body and from its large mouth. Group after group of enemy was obliterated fading back into the shadows where they came. After the final burst of power the last group of monsters was left faded away and the battle won.

Each of the Ka remaining vanished back into their owners souls. The great dragon above them spitting back into the red and blue eyed dragons before returning to their new masters. For a brief moment, Seto could swear he saw Jono and Kisara in place of the creatures.

"They saved us," Shadya muttered.

"They did," Seto replied and a small smile fell over his lips. His heart ached with the loss of them both, and part of him wished to fade from the world and join them. Yet, he understood he could not. His time was not now and he had to carry on Kisara's legacy with the white dragon, just as Shadya had to for Jono. He mourned them, while being grateful for the pieces of their souls they left behind. He looked to her corpse, only to find it gone. Whether it had something to do with the dragons passing to them, or perhaps it had passed with her.

His gaze fell over to Bakura helping Atem, tired and recovering, stand. Mana hovered over them trying to summon some healing magic to rejuvenate him if the pure glow on her wand was an indication, and failing due to her own exhaustion. The prince has used so much Ba commanding Osiris there was no way they would have survived if Atem had not carried them so long in the battle. Seto walked over to the lovers his face unreadable. Atem immediately took notice, his friend appeared anxious. Not aware what to expect considering how bitter Seto had been toward him the last time they spoke. Shadya stood behind Seto waiting to see what would happen while Bakura glare at him, daring him to make the wrong move. or say the wrong thing. Mana's own expression pleaded with their friend.

Seto inhaled. "Thank you, my friend."

Atem, regardless of his physical state, moved from Bakura's hold to rush forward and embrace his friend. Seto hesitated, but returned the hold. He heard Shadya sigh in relief behind him, and Bakura have him a short nod his arms crossed over his chest.

"Seto," Atem said. Seto could hear sobbing in his voice. "Please forgive me, Kisara she…"

"She rests with Jono," Seto said struggling to keep his voice steady. "They kept us in their hearts enough to give us this lasting piece of their souls. I will not dishonor that with the same bitterness I held before. Forgive me for blaming you for Jono."

Atem pulled away and wiped his face. "Then we shall forgive each other, and avenge them together. He held out his hand and Seto took it without a moment's hesitation clapping the other over the shorter man's shoulder in a sign of brotherhood.

"The monster holding me, Zorc, was not careful with their plans," Seto said. "That creature is more arrogant than even its false master."

"Zorc?" asked Bakura, and Seto did not miss the underlying fury in the thief's voice.

"Who is that?" Mana asked confused.

"A dark creature made of pure evil," Atem answered.

Seto could question how they knew of it later. "It is using Akhenaden for it's own desire to wreak chaos and destruction. I have no doubt it never intended to deliver me to him like he requested. This was its own trap all along."

"So Akhenaden thinks Zorc is on his side?" Atem said. "The fool."

"Regardless of their alliances honesty it is still a threat," Seto said grimly. "They are going to declare war on the entire empire once they gather their forces and regroup." He paused. "They're going to march on the palace," he said. "And raze the town around it to do it."

Among them there was an unsure feeling. The declaration was no surprise. Something along those lines had been expected after all, but to actually hear the intent out loud was much more terrifying. Akhenaden really was intending to destroy the dynasty.

Bakura growled. "Well then, if those bastards want to go to war then we'll give them a damn war. We'll fight and claw at them with every edge we have until our last breath!"

Mana, Atem, Seto, and Shadya felt their spirits lift at Bakura's bold declaration. They all turned their attention to the thief as he began walking away in the direction back to the palace. So this was the fire that had captured the prince's attention? Seto was impressed.

"What are you all standing around for?" He scoffed. "We don't want to be late for the end of the world do we?"

Preview: "You've spent every moment of your lives just fighting to survive while they looked down upon you and called you the bane of the empire, will you prove them right and run like cowards? Or will you show them your valor by defending your families homes better than any soldier and rub it in their stuck up faces when you stand victorious by their side?!"