"So, what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

The question made Yuugi start as his gaze swiveled from the ground to his companion. Pegasus gazed back, eyebrows subtly raised as he waited for an answer. After taking a moment to process the question, Yuugi frowned and said, "How did you...?"

"Well, I can't think of another reason that you'd offer to play escort. We may have put the whole 'trying to kill you' incident behind us - which, again, thank you - but we're hardly bosom companions," Pegasus explained with a dismissive gesture.

Yuugi's frown deepened as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, bringing his companion to a halt as well. "What? No, I would have offered either way. You don't have an item and Ryou or whoever is still out there. Walking you to your car is the least that I could do!"

There was a brief pause as Pegasus studied the teenager, then a look of surprise stole over the man's face and he muttered, "You really do mean that, don't you?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Yuugi asked, earning a soft smile.

"And if I had only come to offer my sincerest apologies?" Pegasus probed.

"I'm not doing this because you helped us," Yuugi replied firmly. "Marik and I always make sure that people leave safely these days."

Pegasus let out a considering hum, then began to walk again. As Yuugi hurried to catch up, the white-haired man said, "You have a kind heart and that's a rare thing."

"I- I don't know about that," Yuugi stammered, flushing lightly at the complement.

Pegasus simply shrugged and brought the conversation back to its original topic. "Whatever your motivation may be, you have yet to answer my question: what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

Yuugi gulped, looking nervous as he admitted, "It's kind of personal and I'll completely understand if you don't wanna answer."

That was more than enough to pique Pegasus' interest. "Oh? Go on."

"Kaiba said that you, uh, that you did all of this because you lost your fiancée?"

Surprise flashed across Pegasus' face and he gave Yuugi a considering look before replying, "Yes, I did."

"Would... would you tell me what happened?"

For a long while, Pegasus said nothing. He just kept walking. Eventually, though, he sighed and offered, "I'm certainly not opposed to telling you, but first I have to ask: why?"

Yuugi bit his lip, eyes falling to the ground once more as he whispered, "I just... how do you move on after losing someone you love?"

Pegasus' eyes widened and a question sprung to his lips. A glance at Yuugi had the words dying unspoken. Instead, the white-haired man gently said, "I can tell you what I did, but it's more of a cautionary tale than actual advice."

"I'd still like to hear it, if you don't mind."

Pegasus nodded, took a deep breath, and then began, "I must admit, I'm surprised that Kaiba-boy even thought to mention my Cecelia, but I will tell you the tale all the same.

"It starts when I was a child. Maybe 10 years old? My parents adored parties and always invited their friend's families. On this particular occasion, one of my father's newer acquaintances brought along his daughter. I was captivated by her and, somehow, she felt the same. We didn't leave each other's sides the entire night and were only parted after we'd fallen asleep side-by-side in one of the gardens.

"After that, we saw each other whenever our parents allowed. Supposedly you only had to see us together to know how in love we were and that love only grew as we did. It was like magic. She was intelligent, loved art and music and, to top it all off, her beauty was beyond compare. My perfect match in every way. We were supposed to be married after I graduated from college, but before I could even attend my first semester, she fell ill. Within a month's time, she was gone.

"I... didn't take it well. I had promised her that I would live on, but the longer I lived without her, the more that promise seemed near impossible to keep. My life stretched before me and all that I could envision were seemingly endless years of loneliness. Eventually, I abandoned my educational plans and instead turned my focus on trying to make sense of what had happened. I explored religions and various mysticisms. Visited monasteries and temples and other such sacred places. All the while searching for answers and secretly hoping to find a way to see her again.

"News of my search reached certain ears and I soon had a whole host of charlatans trying to take advantage of my wealth. They seemed to think that my grief had made me a gullible idiot, but they were all sorely disappointed. I wasn't looking for false comfort in shoddy parlor tricks. I was looking for real answers.

"It was at this point that Wosret entered the picture. She successfully proved the existence of magic and you know the tale from there. The only piece that you're missing is the nature of the payment that I was supposed to receive.

"I suppose it was rather foolish of me, but learning that magic was real made me abandon reason in the desperate hope that Wosret really could reunite me with my love. A hope that I continued to cling to even after I learned more of magic and the beliefs of ancient Egypt. Though everything I read said that raising the dead was beyond even the Egyptian gods, I convinced myself that they must have been wrong. That collecting the items would grant me a power that no man should ever have, no matter how seemingly noble his intentions.

"Anyway, there you have it. My sordid tale of a lover turned villain. It's hardly a pretty picture, but then, life so rarely gives us those," Pegasus finished with a wink.

Silence fell between them until they reached the parking garage where Pegasus' convertible waited for him. Before he got into the car, he gave Yuugi a pointed look and asked, "Was there anything else that you wanted to know?"

Yuugi thought about it for a second, then said, "If you could go back and do it all over again, would you still choose to meet her or would you save yourself the pain?"

Pegasus' lips quirked up into a genuine, soft smile. "My dear boy, I would not trade a single memory of her even if it granted me a thousand years of peace. A love like ours is worth the pain of its loss. All that I would change is how I reacted to her passing. It is my dearest hope that I will see her again some day and I shudder to think that I will have to tell her of my various indiscretions. I suppose that I will simply have to spend the rest of my life trying to make up for them."

With that, Pegasus opened the door and climbed into his car. As he pulled on a pair of driving gloves, he added, "Thank you again for acting as my escort. I hope that, when next we meet, it will be under far more pleasant circumstances."

Yuugi let out a surprised laugh and then nodded. "That would be nice. Safe travels!"

Pegasus' only response was a jaunty salute as he started his engine and drove off.

Yuugi watched until the convertible disappeared from view, then sighed and headed back into the warm, early-afternoon sunlight. He didn't turn towards home, though. Instead, he wandered into the nearby park, walking along under the trees.

It wasn't long before Atemu appeared by his side. The former pharaoh didn't say anything. He simply reached out and curled his transparent hand around his partner's wrist.

The gesture made Yuugi smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

Atemu shrugged. "It is hardly a new worry. I think on these matters often. I am surprised that you sought out Pegasus' story, though. What did you hope to gain?"

Yuugi removed his hand from his jacket pocket, exposing it to the chill autumn air so that Atemu could take hold of it. Once the former pharaoh had accepted the offering, Yuugi admitted, "I'm afraid that I could go down the same road."

Atemu tightened his grip, face growing determined. "You would never."

"You don't know that," Yuugi countered, drawing to a halt on top of a small, wooden bridge. "I love you and the thought of losing you terrifies me. It would be so easy for me to make the same mistakes, especially since you're proof of life after death. If that's real, then maybe there is a way to contact someone in whatever comes next."

Atemu brought both of his hands up to gently cup his partner's face. "A life spent in search of an impossible dream is no life at all, love."

Yuugi's eyes slipped closed as he let out a shaky breath. "I know, but what if-"

"Pegasus is a man of riches and power," Atemu interrupted. "If he could not find a way, then what hope have you? Besides, I could not 'rest in peace' knowing that you were tormented by my memory. I would much rather that you came to me an old man with a wealth of stories and games or even that you never came at all. That you moved on. Found another. Someone who could-"

"Stop that," Yuugi demanded, eyes flashing. "I might be able to force myself to live, but love? That's too much to ask, Mea. How could anyone ever replace you?"

"I am not as marvelous as you seem to think," Atemu whispered, gently stroking transparent thumbs against Yuugi's cheeks. "A better man than I would have kept his affections secret from you. Allowed you to go on thinking that your love was unreturned."

Yuugi laughed wetly. "And what would that have accomplished? I fell in love with you without even noticing and I would have kept falling more and more in love with you even if you didn't feel the same. No matter what happens, I'm glad that you didn't let me walk away."

Atemu closed his eyes, leaning forward to press their forehead together. "How could I when you were offering me everything that I wanted?"

They stood like that for a long moment, then Yuugi said, "Let's go home. If we're gonna have this talk, I wanna do it in your arms."

Atemu nodded and stepped back, reaching out to take Yuugi's offered hand. "Agreed and the others are likely wondering where we are. Rishid especially seemed quite uncomfortable letting us go alone."

"Yeah, but Marik needed him. This whole Ryou think has him pretty shaken up."

"He is not the only one," Atemu admitted. "The more we learn, the more it appears that Ryou is of Bakura's lineage. If that is true, then I fear what lies ahead."

Yuugi thought back to Atemu's memories of the white-haired man and shivered. "I don't see how you could preserve that much hatred through, what, over a hundred generations? A lot of Bakura's wrath came from seeing his family slaughtered first hand. His children wouldn't have those memories to fuel them and, the more time that passes, the more that it all just becomes ancient history. I don't see how anyone could muster up that much of a grudge based on a three-thousand-year-old atrocity, even with the issue of the items. You'd think that they'd be more focused on freeing their ancestors than they would be on avenging them."

"And yet we know that someone was willing to kill Pegasus and his men to keep the tablets secret," Atemu countered. "Whatever is going on here, rest assured, it is fueled by hatred and something to do with the one that I sealed away. Those monsters that Pegasus spoke of were some sort of counter-force to the god's monsters. Equivalent creatures, just on the opposite side. I cannot think of any good reason why someone would seek out such a force of evil."

Yuugi had no counter argument to that, so he just let out a worried sigh and began heading towards home.

They strolled through the park, trying to distract themselves with the first signs of fall. Atemu had never seen leaves change color before and he found the phenomena fascinating. Yuugi was in the middle of a long explanation of the science behind the change when Atemu's network of magical alarms all began to go off at once.

The couple immediately switched places, but by then it was already too late. The shadows were already rising around them, turning into some sort of dark bubble that trapped them inside. Atemu had no idea what manner of sorcery this was and that left him powerless to destroy it. The puzzle's ability only automatically worked on direct magic. To dispel an area effect like this, Atemu would have to focus the puzzle's magic on the spell's source and he could sense none.

Seeing no option to free them, he instead turned his focus on defense, calling out, "Sky Dragon of Osiris, I summon you!"

A wave of relief washed over him when the red dragon appeared and curled itself into a protective circle around its summoner. At the same time, Yuugi took on his transparent guise, hovering by his partner's side, scanning their strange prison for any sign of life.

Both Yuugi and Atemu tense as laughter echoed through the strange, dark realm. A moment later, a figure appeared out of the darkness. A young man with brown eyes and white hair that they instantly recognized from their museum visit, though his face was no longer kind. Instead, it was twisted into a crazed sort of delight. The other glaring change was the golden ring hanging around the teen's neck, confirming their fears.

There fear only grew as another figure emerged from the darkness. A massive, demonic creature that they recognized from both Atemu's memories and their time in the memory world.

As the couple stared up at Diabound in horror, Ryou let out another laugh and then sighed, "Alone at last."