***mild internal screaming* I'm so busy right now. I'm going to post this tonight so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow. And I'm trying to write a few lemonade/ cotton candy stand prompts, so if you've been waiting on those because you gave a prompt, I'll post of few as soon as January hits.***
Yugi's hands shook. He wasn't afraid, but he was angry. Since Case Zero fell ill with a mysterious illness, he'd seen nothing but suffering. People watching their loved ones get sick, people watching their loved ones die from illness or riots or being eaten alive. He thought of Ryo, covered in marks and scars, damaged like a spoon caught in a garbage disposal. He thought about Kek screaming and kicking Kamenwati as he cried at some unknown grief. He thought about all the times he'd seen his friends have to kill people already dead that used to be neighbors or members of the community. He thought about the news stories on T.V. before everything crumbled. And he shook with anger as he remembered it all.
And there Kamenwati stood, holding Obelisk as if he had a right to hold a god card. Yugi frowned. "You haven't won a real game yet. You just hurt people until they can't play anymore."
"It's regrettable that neither of them turned."
"I know you're planning something. I know you let us believe this tournament was our idea, but really it was your scheme all along, wasn't it? You knew we'd use it to draw you out, and meanwhile it gave you the time to do whatever you are planning."
"Of course, and it's already begun, but I'd still like another god card, so let's play our game."
"Screw the game!" Yugi screamed. "Just tell me what you're doing!"
Kamenwati chuckled. "So you can stop me?"
"Yes!"
"It's too late to stop me. Even if I told you now, as I said, it's already begun. Don't worry, win or lose, I'll explain my plans after our game. Unless . . ." He smiled. "You're willing to give me your god cards now?"
Yugi sat down at the card table, trying to ignore the blood stains that belonged to Kaiba. "You're not getting anymore cards. In fact, I won't even use the gods to beat you. This game will be too quick."
Kamenwati raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "We'll see, but we'll need a new referee."
Yugi turned around, thinking perhaps he should ask Rishid or Ishizu, someone level headed and objective who could take Mokuba's place, but before he had time to think, Bakura stormed up to the board and scrawled two sloppy 8,000's without adorning them with names. "Let's get this the fuck over with already."
Yugi won the coin toss. Of course he did, he had the gods' luck. He summoned Vilepawn Archfiend and used it as tribute to special summon Archfiend Commander and then used that to play Eradicator Epidemic Virus – a card he'd won from Jonouchi. It allowed him to destroy Kamenwati's spell cards for three turns in which time Yugi focused on summoning monsters and attacking.
He didn't like playing an aggressive game. It was more fun to hold back a little, wait and see if Anzu, or Jonouchi, or Honda, or Mai would figure out a way around his strategy and beat him. Otherwise, winning all the time made the game less fun.
But this wasn't fun. Yugi wanted it to be over. He wanted to know whatever horror Kamenwati had in wait for them so he could fight it with everything he had left. So he summoned the strongest monsters to attack Kamenwati directly and used counterspells to prevent Kamenwati from inflicting damage or getting anything out on the field. Whatever card Yugi wanted he seemed to pull from his deck as if the cards were as eager as him to end the game.
The game was brief, one sided, and less interesting than Marik's one turn kill. In the end, Bakura stood with a what-the-fuck expression on his face as the scoreboard read 8,000 to 0. Yugi half crawled over the table to reach Kamenwati's deck. He stole the first card from his extra pile, of course it was the one he wanted as his reward for winning – Obelisk.
"You were never worthy of holding a god card," Yugi said as he glanced over to Seto laying on a stretcher. "Now where are you?"
"Well played, Yugi." Kamenwati's tone was calm and pleasant as ever. "The stories I've heard about playing against you are all true. It's a shame I couldn't win the gods to my side; nevertheless, once I have the Millennium Items in my possession, they'll eventually be mine."
Bakura grabbed Kamenwati by the collar of his robe. The thief's face twisted ugly in his hatred. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Even caught in Bakura's hold, Kamenwati smiled. The act stretched the scars marking his face. "I planned on bringing them back months ago. Even with all the killing caused by my dead children, one town managed to get big enough for the spell – just over ninety-nine souls for me to use. Too bad you moved in and stopped me. Your ka was too strong for even my army, so I couldn't risk it." A cordial laugh slipped past his lips. "But then, the Pharaoh fixed that problem for me, didn't he? Sending you on that's fool's errand to find me and exhausting you."
"You – you can't!" Yugi screamed when he realized what Kamenwati meant to do. "You can't do that!"
"Oh gods . . ." Bakura's face went blank as if his face suddenly became numb. "Miyu." He shoved Kamenwati to the ground and turned to run.
He only managed three steps before crashing to his knees, clutching his chest. Marik was beside him in an instant. "Bakura?"
"Can't . . . summon Diabound . . . not enough ba."
"Come on." Marik slung Bakura's arm over his shoulder to help the former thief walk. "We'll get there."
Yugi shoved his cards into his pocket – only because he held the gods and needed to protect them – but before he could run to the others and suggest they go with Marik and Bakura, Yugi saw Atem walking with his sword drawn. He raised the blade and swung down, chopping off Kamenwati's head and revealing it for the rotting corpse it really was. He cleaned the scimitar, sheathed it, and looked at Yugi.
"Atem?" Yugi asked. He asked because of the frightening look in Atem's eyes.
Atem rested his hands on Yugi's shoulders. Their weight felt soft and gentle, not even hurting Yugi's bandaged shoulder. "Yugi, please stay here and look after Seto for me."
"Atem, I can help. Remember? We do this together!"
"Yes. I know. Yugi, it's a slow spell. He'll have every undead still under his control guarding Market Town to keep us from reaching him in time."
"All the more reason not to let the three of you go alone!" Yugi clamped his hands around Atem's forearms. "I know you feel guilty, from before, for Kul Elna, but dying isn't repentance."
Atem smiled, but it didn't reassure Yugi. Panic seized his chest as he looked up at his other half.
"Yugi, I need your help. I can't be a sword and a shield both at once. I can't protect our friends and restore balance at the same time. Please . . . get Natsumi and Seto stable. Get Anzu and Shizuka off the streets. Once the people we care about are safe – gather anyone that wants to help and meet me at Market Town."
Yugi exhaled sharp, piercing relief when Atem said to meet him at Market Town instead of wait at the mansion. He nodded, releasing Atem's arms. "Okay . . . go."
Marik supported Bakura for half a block until he could run on his own, but both knew running wasn't good enough, so Marik scanned the streets for a better option. Most of the cars poxing the streets were wrecked in some way or another or had rotting tires and rust lining their hoods.
"Wait!" A voice called to them.
Marik glanced over his shoulder and noticed the Pharaoh chasing after them, his face rosy from sprinting. Bakura growled when he saw Atem. The thief charged, slamming Atem down into the street. "You've been nothing but incompetent since you've been back! Stay out of this!"
"I can't!" Atem screamed, jumping back to his feet and stepping straight up to Bakura's chest. He tried to match his height to Bakura's, which would have been comical in any other circumstance. "Hate me! Punch me! I don't fucking care, Bakura! But right now we have to get to Market Town and save everyone!"
Bakura balled his hands into fists, grinding his teeth to hold back his rage. He made an angry, throaty sound like a roar, but turned around and started walking down the street without further violence. Marik exhaled, and then marched to keep up with Bakura.
"We need transportation," Marik said as they walked.
They found it at the end of the block. Two motorcycles gleaming scarlet beneath the summer sun as if the gods had placed them their for Atem's convenience. Marik inspected the bikes. No rust or dirt, clean fuel lines and new tires. Those bikes were someone's babies. Marik looked around, but didn't see anyone.
"We don't have the keys," Atem said.
Marik rolled his eyes. He was already leaning over to hotwire the first bike. He hated to do it. Even under the dire circumstances it pained him to potentially fry the motorbikes' electronic systems, but he didn't complain, even in jest to rile Bakura. Not now. Not for this. Instead, Marik slung his leg over the first bike, waiting for Bakura to sit behind him.
He glanced at Atem. "Can you ride?"
"I've ridden a horse."
Bakura glared at him. "Well if you crash or fall behind we're going on without you, so you better manage."
Atem nodded, as if he expected nothing less. Marik shook his head and took off down the road. He half expected to see someone chasing after them screaming, but whoever owned the bikes was either asleep or too far away to hear them start.
Or dead.
Marik couldn't help the thought. It was possible. Kamenwati may have been trying to expand his army. While the rest of them played stupid card games, people in Domino could have been dying, and that thought soured Marik's stomach, but the only thing to do was speed towards Market Town and try to prevent further deaths. Marik wasn't religious, but he felt like he was praying as he drove down the street with Bakura's arms locked around his waist.
The bikes allowed them to slip past potholes and old accidents without having to detour. For a moment, Marik dared hope the journey would be easy, but when they neared Market Town, an undead blockade forced them to stop and get off of their motorcycles.
"Gods," Atem whispered when he saw their numbers.
"It doesn't matter." Bakura grabbed his daggers, and Marik noticed his hands trembled, but he did not think it was from fear – at least not the fear of battle.
Marik held his khopesh swords. The dead walked towards him and he already wished they had Diabound.
"Hey, you assholes better not be planning on hogging all this fun to yourselves. I want to kill them too."
Marik turned and saw Kek and Ryo standing behind them. By Kek's face, one would have never guessed that not long ago he had ran out of the tournament in hysterics. He looked cocksure and eager for battle, licking his lips in excitement for the fight ahead.
"Where are your clothes?" Atem asked, distracted from the approaching cadavers by the sight of Kek wearing nothing but black boots and boxer briefs.
"Fuck you, I'm not ruining another dress to save your ass."
Atem nodded. "Can you kill them all?"
Kek looked at the hoard. "That many? No. In the stadium we had obstacles to control the flow, but this is open battle." Kek unsheathed his kukris from the belt holsters hugging his boxer-clad hips. "But I can help clear a path for you."
Atem wiped sweat from his eyes. Every muscle screamed fiery hurt from battle and small wounds. Even with Ryo fighting like a hero from an old wet nurse's fable and Kek fighting like the wrath of Ra, the sky burned orange before they reached the nearest building with a ladder to reach Market Town. Thick smoke blackened the sky. From the looks of it, the entire town burned.
An almost inhuman keen erupted from Bakura's throat, a sound that belonged to a demon dying from old wounds. He struggled to get through the last of the corpses in their way, ignoring the hands clawing at his arms as he fought.
Bakura's daggers proved ineffective for killing the undead, but he disabled the corpses by slicing tendons. As soon as they reached the rope ladder leading up to Market Town, he grabbed Marik by the hips and lifted him up to the ropes. Atem followed Bakura up, but he noticed Ryo and Kek staying in the street and fighting off as many dead as they could.
"Come on!" Atem shouted.
"Go!" Ryo called up to them. "We'll stay here and thin them out."
"There's too many! Come with us. After this is over I can stop the undead!"
"No. I want to die in battle!" Kek moved so fast that it turned Atem's stomach to watch.
He glanced back to Ryo, realizing he needed to hurry as Marik and Bakura kept climbing. Ryo spared a second out of the chaos to lock eyes with Atem. He looked sad, and defiant. He smiled. "It's okay. Go!"
Atem left them behind, not having much choice. He climbed to the top, choking on smoke as soon as he reached the roof.
"Miyu!" Bakura screamed as he tore across the roof and towards the town proper.
Undead littered the town, but their numbers were thin compared to the hoard on the ground. They didn't climb on their own, but Atem was sure Kamenwati had found a way to lead them to the roofs previously thought safe.
Atem hated Market Town when he first saw it. Poor, meager, thrown together, it wasn't the great palaces of his forefathers or a proper city like Domino once was, but seeing it burn . . . Atem ran faster, attacking corpses as he went.
When they reached the center of the town, they saw people stacked on top of each other like a cord of wood. Kamenwati had their hands and feet bound, and had cloth gags in their mouths; some bled from wounds, but all of them lived.
The old tomb-keeper cradled the Tome in both arms while he screamed at one of his risen dead. "I need ninety-nine! You've brought me only seventy-nine in a town with more than one-hundred people. Damn the light! Attack! Kill her! And bring me twenty more tributes!"
Bakura roared, his voice a peel of grief and rage challenging the night and flames around them. He charged forward, daggers in hand.
Kamenwati turned in time to see the steel of Bakura's right dagger flash orange in the burning light before the edge cut into his face. Bakura caught the corner of the tomb-keeper's mouth, doubling the man's disturbing smile. On the backslash, Bakura slit the other side of Kamenwati's mouth. The old man doubled forward, dropping the Spellbook and clinging to blood and skin as he shrieked.
"Cast your spell now!" Bakura howled. "Say the incantation now!"
Kamenwati looked up, his eyes dark and angry, his face a mutilated mask. The dead gathered around them, but Atem wasn't going to give Kamenwati a chance to command them any longer. He ran, holding his sword in both hands. He slipped past Bakura and angled the blade upward while aiming low so that the scimitar - that once belonged to Kamenwati - slipped between the tomb-keeper's ribs and below the heart. Atem cut until he hit bone; he twisted his sword, trying the break the ribcage, but a scimitar was a piercing weapon and he couldn't get through the ribs.
Kamenwati grabbed the handle of the blade, as if to stop the stabwound Atem already made. He wasn't dying, the blood ran from his body, his skin paled, but his eyes remained aware.
"Atem!"
He glanced over his shoulder; Marik held out a khopesh. Atem nodded, pulling his sword away and dropping it to the roof as he took Marik's blade.
Bakura stood with his daggers still in hand. He glared at both Kamenwati and Atem with equal measures of hatred, but didn't stop Atem from taking Marik's weapon and using the blunt tip like an ax to crack Kamenwati's ribcage. The old man dropped to his knees. Atem hit him once more, and Kamentwati landed on his back. He'd stopped screaming, instead gasping for air he couldn't pull into his lungs.
The dead around them didn't attack; instead, they stood in place as if frozen. Marik stood guard beside Atem, waiting for an attack that didn't seem to be coming.
Atem aimed his strikes with care, trying to crack and shatter ribs without collapsing the ribcage altogether and damaging the heart in the process. He dropped the khopesh and held out his right hand. "Bakura."
The thief flitted confused eyes in Atem's direction. After a second, he passed his off-hand dagger to Atem. Dropping to his knees, Atem used the dagger to cut through flesh, peeling away skin and meat, and prying open ribs to expose Kamenwati's ib as if they participated in a macabre Weighing of the Heart ceremony.
A small, pained noise escaped Kamenwati's throat, and Atem's stomach turned when he realized the tomb-keeper was still alive and conscious. "You killed your heart," Atem said, as if it justified the old tomb-keeper's agony. "You wanted to make sure you couldn't die - and now you can't."
Bakura crouched beside Atem, using his primary dagger to help Atem finish ripping open Kamenwati's torso until Atem saw the man's heart, gray and putrid, though still pumping as if alive.
Bile rushed up Atem's throat, but he swallowed it and continued without complaint, slicing the dead ib free from it's carnal prison and holding it in both hands.
The dead, beating thing in his hands made Atem's own heart beat faster. He wrinkled his nose at the rotting stench that rose from the organ, but stood to his feet, holding the heart out in front of him. "Dead . . . rest . . ."
Atem held his breath, not sure if his command was enough. When he saw the corpses dropping to the ground, however, he exhaled. The dead, beating ib slipped from his hands. Atem took Bakura's dagger and stabbed it through the rotting muscle until Kamenwati's pained gasps stilled.
"Is it over?" Marik whispered.
"I think so," Atem said.
"Not until I find Miyu." Bakura pushed himself back to his feet.
Atem scanned the captive villagers, and he noticed all of them were adults. "Bakura, I don't see any children."
A suspicious look settled over Bakura's face. "There were last time."
He sprinted across the roof, dodging fallen bodies and debri. "Miyu!" he bawled into the flames of the dying town. "Miyu!"
Atem and Marik followed him. In the distance, white light lit up the sky. A strangled noise slipped from Bakura's mouth at the sight of it - joy instead of anger or grief. They ran faster. Atem gasped when he saw the leviathan, long, and white, and fierce. The serpent-like dragon floated above Bakura's garden. Her mouth held her tail tip, creating a protective circle with her body.
They slid beneath the barrier. Atem noticed about two dozen children huddled together. The older ones tried to comfort the younger, but they all looked rattled and dirty. In the center, Miyu sat cross legged in meditation. Her face showed neither emotion nor thought, only a determined calm.
Bakura slid on his knees, scooping the child into an embrace as soon as he could reach her.
Her eyes jerked open. "Bakura?"
When she realized it was Bakura, fat tears rolled down her cheeks. The ka disappeared as she cried into Bakura's chest. "They attacked. I thought it was just an outbreak so I started gathering up the other kids, but they were taking people. They took the old lady who lives next to me, a-and I couldn't attack them and protect the kids at the same time, so I had to watch as they dragged her away . . ." her sobs changed to wailing and her words stopped.
"It's okay. You're okay. You did good." Bakura rocked her, trying to calm her tears. "They're dead, the zombies. We stopped it. It's over now. You're okay."
"But why were they taking people? Zombies don't take prisoners. Was it that guy we took the book from?"
"Yes, but you stopped him. He couldn't cast his spell without ninety-nine victims." Bakura rested his forehead on the crown of Miyu's head. "You did what I never could - damn, Miyu, you saved our village. Damn, strong little brat."
Miyu swiped the back of her arm across her eyes, the tears beginning to dry on her cheeks. "Stupid, I did it only because you taught me how."
Once Miyu calmed down, Marik settled beside them, and Bakura pulled him into a group hug. Atem started backing away, deciding it was better to give them time alone while he untied the other villagers so everyone escaped before the fires sunk down into the buildings that supported Market Town.
As he neared the captured townspeople, he saw Yugi running towards him. Yugi slung his arms around Atem's waist in a fierce hug. "You did it! You did it! I knew you would!"
Not simply Yugi, Atem noticed all his friends. Honda, Mai, Jonouchi, Anzu, Ishizu, Rishid, Mokuba, and a half-dead Seto - half-dead being a marked improvement from the last time Atem saw him. They swarmed him in a hug, everyone but Seto. Atem laughed in their arms, trying to forget the blood and shattered ribs, the desperate, pained wheezes of Kamenwati and the stench of his dead soul.
"We came to help, but the dead all dropped around us before we could even get to Market Town." Anzu smiled.
"He has most the town tied up. Help me release them and bandage their wounds."
They freed the townspeople and evacuated them and the children away from the flames and to the city streets below - safe now that the dead lay in the gutters and on the lawns. Atem retrieved the Tome before they left, gripping to it as if he could protect the other people around him from the horrors written within the leather binding.
After their wounds were treated with whatever medical supplies they could scrape together, the townspeople left in small and clusters to find new shelter and try and process everything that had happened. Atem waited until the last of them disappeared before he stared down at the Tome in his hands.
"What are you going to do with it?" Marik asked. He and Bakura leaned against the brick wall away from the rest of the group. Miyu slept in Bakura's arms, exhausted from using too much of her young ba to protect the other children from the undead with her ka.
"Now it's my turn to have it."
Atem turned the other direction when he heard Kek's voice. He and Ryo limped towards Atem with their arms slung over each other's shoulder. Their bites and other wounds were cleaned and bound, and Kek had on the red dress he wore to the tournament, but they looked about as well off as Seto in their bandages.
Atem clutched the book to his chest. "I would never give this to you. Maybe you've changed, but this book . . . you'd be right back to your old self again if you touched this book. The Shadow Magic is that strong within it."
Kek rolled his eyes. "I was darkness, I was pain. I was sorrow. Every scrap of light in my soul I earned - I didn't start out with it. There's nothing in that book that can tempt me."
"Still . . ." Atem relaxed his arms. "This book belonged to my family. It's my burden." He shook his head. "Why would you even want it?"
Ryo scowled. It reminded Atem of when he wore the Ring. He looked possessed with anger, not his friendly self. "He doesn't want it. It's the last thing he wants."
Kek nodded. "The dead are gone. There's no more need for a scythe and Isis wants me to bring to Tome back to her."
"Pharaoh, can't you do something?" Ishizu pressed her hands over her chest as if her heart ached. "Hasn't my family suffered enough?"
Atem stared at Ishizu, her copper complexion lined with grief, her bright eyes pleading.
She struggled with her words, hands still pressed to her heart. "It's not . . . right, for him to go. It's not right."
Kek grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists. "Stay out of this. I didn't ask for your help. It was my choice and I made my deal with Isis, and if you don't give me that damn book so I can get this over with, then I will break your fucking fingers and take it."
Atem walked up to the former Shadow, as if to hand over the book, and used the heavy Tome to hit Kek in the side of the head. Kek wasn't expecting the blow and dropped to the ground unconscious before anyone registered what happened.
"Kek!" Ryo sank to his knees to check Kek's hair for blood, but his fingers came back dry. Nonetheless, Ryo grabbed his naginata and held the blade in front of Atem. "Why?"
Atem didn't blink. "So he can stay."
Ryo did blink, hard and fast. The anger in his expression twisted into grief-struck confusion as he lowered his weapon. "I-I don't, understand."
Jonouchi spoke up as well. "Yeah, what are you saying, Atem?"
Atem looked at his friends, looked at Seto, and then turned his eyes back to Ryo. "This book belonged to the royal family. It should be my responsibility. Ishizu is right. Why should the Ishtars continue to sacrifice themselves for me?"
He heard gasps from several of his friends, and Ishizu smudged a few tears away from her eyes. Ryo knelt beside Kek's crumpled form on the sidewalk. He brushed stray hairs away from Kek's forehead. "Bakura - he's not an Ishtar anymore, he's . . ." He looked up at Atem. "What are you going to do?"
"Take it back myself."
"You can do that?"
"Yes. I know the way back."
"Atem," Anzu whispered.
He gave her a soft smile. "It's okay. You'll all be safe now. I've done what I came to do. It's alright if I go." His eyes turned to Yugi.
Yugi nodded. "It'd be great . . . if you could stay. If everyone could stay. I really liked the idea of you being around to watch our children grow up." Yugi smiled, a wistful smile that spread across his face for a moment and then faded. "But it would be selfish of us to ask you to stay instead of doing what you think is right." Yugi grabbed Atem in a bear hug. "So I want you to know that you'll be missed, but we'll be okay without you." He shrugged, looked up from the hug. "At least we got to save the world together one last time, right?"
Atem nodded, giving Yugi's hair a quick comb with his fingers.
Anzu threw her arms around him with Yugi, so did Honda, Mokuba, Jonouchi, and even Mai. Atem couldn't help smiling, grateful that he had so many people that cared for him on either side of the Veil.
"Don't be sad," he said. "We'll meet again."
He knelt beside Ryo. When Ryo looked up at him, a single, round tear hovered beneath his eye on the ledge of his cheek. "I can't thank you . . . there's no way to show gratitude for something like this."
Atem shook his head, standing up and turning to Ishizu and Rishid. Ishizu embraced him next, weeping quietly into his shoulder.
"It's okay," he whispered into her hair, squeezing her and letting go.
Next he went to Bakura, who still leaned against the wall while looking intentionally in the opposite direction. Atem stared at his shoes. "Bakura, I know this isn't enough, but-"
"Shut. Up." Bakura's face was molten fury, twisted in a pained expression shown in profile because he still turned to the side. "I don't want to hear it."
"it still needs saying. I can't undo any of your pain, but I will make sure it never happens again. I will make sure Thoth hides this Tome somewhere it'll never be seen again." Atem paused, glancing up. "And I am sorry, more than I can express, I am sorry."
"I told you to shut up."
A smirk twisted the corner of Atem's mouth. "What's the matter? Afraid you might forgive me if I keep saying it?"
"Tch, you're lucky my daggers are out of reach."
Atem's eyes flicked over to Marik. He stood and frowned, his eyes shifting between Kek and Atem as if he was trying to decide how to feel, but none of the emotions he knew of worked. Atem smirked at them, and left them standing side by side with the solid brick wall at their backs and the open street in front of them.
Last he went to Seto, who stood furthest from anyone else in the group and said nothing, simply watched with glacial blue eyes as Atem made his final rounds. Atem walked until the tips of their shoes touched. He leaned forward until his forehead rested gently against Seto's shoulder. "If I had a regret-"
"-Why didn't you let me go if you were going to do this? I could have met you there. She and I both could have met you there."
Atem glanced up at Seto. "Don't you have things to do here?"
"I was ready to go. It was my time."
Atem shook his head no, knowing better than to argue, but even then Atem didn't like the thought of Seto leaving life. Seto had his brother and the prototype generators that would help heal some of the damage caused by the undead. It seemed like the world would be better with Seto Kaiba in it.
"I'm selfish," Atem whispered.
"Yes. You are."
"Seto, I'm sor-"
He never had a chance to finish because at that moment Seto embraced Atem, leaned Atem back in his arms, and crushed their mouths together.
The world spun. Atem's body lost all rigidity as he sank into Seto's arms. His face burned, so hot he felt as if his skin would melt. He heard a playful whistle - pretty sure it was Jonouchi - and he heard someone snickering and running their mouth - surprisingly, it sounded like Bakura. Atem even heard Marik's voice giving a facetious retort. He couldn't pay them any mind, however, not in Seto's arms as he was.
When the kiss ended and Atem felt himself placed back on his feet, all he could do was pant and stare.
Seto grinned. The expression would have looked out of character if Atem wasn't hyper-aware of the blush on his own face.
He opened his mouth to speak, realized that nothing he said would change the situation, turned, and ran. Atem knew to the others it looked like he disappeared, but from his perspective, it was Domino City that disappeared. Atem crashed onto the floor of a great, jade barge - the vessel that would ferry his spirit, along with many others, through the Duat and to the Tribunal where their souls would be judged.
Except his. He would return to Aaru as a hero and avatar of Osiris. Once in paradise, he knew he'd feel the same love and peace he did before, but at the moment, in the Duat, the brief taste of life he'd had still clung to his tongue and his heart broke - to leave them all again. Once he endured well enough, but to leave them again ... it hurt, hurt his soul straight through to his core.
Atem's legs gave way. He dropped to the wooden floor of the vessel, clutching the Tome to his chest, and he wept.
***So supersteffy has your back guys. As soon as she read this she started giving me ideas to try and soften the ending (she wasn't going to let me leave the story like this). But, c'mon, you know this is a SitaBethel fic. Not even Atem gets an ending this sad. Broken nose, yes, but not an ending this sad. I have a 4,000 word epilogue to post after this.***