Atem walked from his own door into a lowly lit room. The walls were stone, the floor was stone… and there were no distinguishable furniture inside to suggest what this room was for. He was completely alone though.
He furrowed his brow in confusion as the door behind him faded away… there was now only one door before him with light slipping in underneath.
"Yugi… I will find you." He told himself, hoping that somewhere in his mind Yugi would hear him.
He moved to touch the handle when suddenly it sprang open, making him jump backwards in fright as a copy of himself, closely followed by Yugi entered and closed the door. They hid against the wall, holding their breaths as footsteps ran passed the room. What were they hiding from? And where the others? And why was there another him standing with him? Atems's own mind buzzed with questions… he wondered what they would do when they noticed he was there staring at them.
"We have to go." The other Atem said lowly.
"They're gone…" Yugi whispered.
"I know…"
Who's gone? The people chasing them?
"This is my fault." Yugi cried quietly.
Suddenly the other Atem slapped him and grabbed his shirt violently. He didn't like this… he would never be violent with Yugi even if he had said something like this… whatever had happened recently was bad, he understood that but… this was unlike him. Yugi couldn't honestly believe that Atem would act so rashly could he?
"We're getting out of here, now." Atem said firmly but Yugi shoved his hands off him.
"No, you're getting out of here!" Yugi kept talking but his voice was drowned out by another floating around them. It was Yugi's voice but neither Yugi or the other Atem seemed to notice.
"I shouldn't have fought with him." It said sadly.
"Yugi…" Atem whispered to himself as he looked around for the source of the voice while the other Yugi and Atem argued.
"I should have left with him when he said to." The voice rang loudly.
He looked back to them.
"Yeah and because of me they're dead Atem. Actually gone!"
Atem blinked in surprise as his heart tugged. No… he understood now. This was his memory… which means to Yugi and the other Atem, his friends were already dead. Why? Why was he sent back to this spot of his memory and not when his friends were alive so he could convince Yugi that they weren't? Why was he watching this?
Suddenly the room became darker, colder and a voice rang that didn't belong to Yugi… It forced them out of the room and as the door closed behind them the world shifted. Now Atem was standing in a hallway across from a window as Yugi and Atem were running up some stairs to it. Atem made them stop before it, insisting Yugi go through the window but Yugi was resisting him.
"I should have gone…" Yugi's voice rang loudly again… he was so close, all around him and yet at the same time he sounded so withdrawn.
"Yugi why?!" Atem asked him impatiently.
"They're not going to stop until your dead Atem. I need you to leave and get as far away from this place as possible."
"Why didn't I just leave with him. Right now. Just go through the window with him." Yugi's voice sounded angry and filled with anguish.
"Suddenly then, before Atem knew what had happened they were surrounded by hooded people and a man stood behind Atem with a spear, poised and ready.
He had a second… and in that second he remembered what Yugi had said to them… that he was run through with a spear…
"If only I had left… you might still be here." Yugi's voice dripped with regret.
He moved on his own, grabbing the spear before it could penetrate the other Atem and pushing it against it's wielder. He fell to the ground and Atem took the spear from him roughly.
"What?!" Both Yugi's exclaimed.
Atem through the spear out the window so it couldn't be used against them but the hooded figures drew out their own spears and now there were many.
The other Atem was gone now though and now only he faced off against them, all armed with spears.
"You are supposed to die!" One of the hooded figures said angrily as he lunged at Atem.
He dodged it and used the spears own length against him to knock him down before he yanked it from his hands. Now armed with his own spear and blocked an attack from another, and another, and dodged yet another.
"Fight all you like… you will die because of me." Yugi's voice said around them.
"No I won't."
"You always do!"
"I never have!" Atem shouted. The men stopped in their tracks, spears all directed at his heart but completely unmoving.
He looked to Yugi, standing with balled fists and tears down his cheeks as he was prepared to watch him die.
"I've seen this scene… more times than I can count and more times than I can bear. Why do you fight back now?" Yugi asked.
"This might be many times for you Yugi, but I promise you this is a first for me. I've never died here Yugi and I don't intend to. What you saw wasn't real… but this… this is real." Atem said as he waved the spears away, dropped his own and took Yugi's cheek in his hands. He touched his forehead to his, his nose to his and closed his eyes.
"This is real Yugi. I'm here… we all are… no one died. They're here… trying to bring you back and make you see the truth… believe me Yugi. Trust me." He said as he opened his eyes to stare into the eyes of pain before him.
"You said you've seen this scene many times right? But this has never happened before… so this must be real right? The men around us… they're nothing but smoke. But this…" Atem took his trembling hands and put them to his chest, holding them there firmly. "This is real."
As he said this, the men faded away as did the hall they were in and the Yugi that he held.
He was now in a void, alone except… as he turned around behind him he saw Yugi.
"If only I left with him." Yugi said and as he did his voice echoed loudly, booming around them. This was the real Yugi.. the one he saw and spoke to was also an illusion but connected to this one… this one must have been the owner of the voice he was hearing.
"You still can Yugi." Atem said to him. He approached him but stopped immediately when the void was filled with other Atems and Yugi's, all of them playing the same scene. As far as the eye could see were Atem resting in Yugi's arms, bleeding, dying… This must have been what would have happened had he not stopped the spear… this must have been what was supposed to happen.
He felt warmth coming from his own shirt then and as he patted it he saw blood on his fingers… but he wasn't hurt… there was no spear.. Only blood.
"It's too late now. It will soon start again… and again I won't leave and again, you will die." Yugi said.
"I never died Yugi!" Atem said to him firmly. He took his hands and placed them on his chest to prove there was no wound.
"This blood is not mine… I am not dead-"
"Look around you! You're dying as you speak!" Yugi snapped.
Atem could taste copper now… how was this happening? Why was this happening? He wasn't impaled or injured… this wasn't real. And he needed to convince Yugi otherwise.
The most real thing he could think of…
He took Yugi's head in his hands and kissed him deeply. At first Yugi fought him but Atem only pressed deeper. He needed Yugi to feel this, to be lost in the moment instead of drowning in these lies. He needed Yugi to feel with his heart and know this to be true.
Eventually he relaxed, returning to kiss to him and even starting to take control as if he had been parched this whole time and was finally offered water.
They needed to stop though and together they broke the kiss to breathe. Atem cheeks were feverishly hot and as he looked upon Yugi's face he saw he too was feeling the same way, and a lot more lively in his eyes.
"Atem…?" He whispered.
"I'm here Yugi. Alive and well. It's going to take a lot more than one spear to kill me." Atem said with a smile.
Yugi smiled and stepped away from him, holding out his hand for him to take. He gave him a key, with a blue gem inside it and closed his eyes as he faded away from him.
"Yugi?" Atem asked the void, but the only response was a door shifting into existence before him.
The door had no lock and so did not need the key…but it was inviting him in. He didn't know what would happen if he went through but he knew there was nothing else left to do here. So with key firmly clutched at his chest, he took the handle and walked through.