Borath: Well, I'm pleased that I got some positive responses to the darker phase that I am taking this story through. I find that I cannot ever write an entirely fluffy story or an entirely romantic one. I *have* to mix up three or four different genres and I usually do it when least expected.
Bakura: (Extremely sarcastically) Oh, and we're all *real* pleased about *that*, aren't we?
Yami: (Sniff) Not entirely. If I didn't exist only in the imagination and on celluloid I would kick your ass Borath!!!!
Borath: (Smiling indulgently) Hmm, naughty threats need to be punished, don't they?
Yami: (0_0;)Oh crap.
Chapter 23: Cope
YVO
//I am going to *kill* Bakura when I get my hands on him. I'm also going to kill Tetsuo for not making enough fucking *backups* in Puzzle to compensate for something like this.
I still don't understand how the 'magical conduits' in the Item could be damaged, and I'm not entirely sure what the 'magical conduits' actually are either. Whatever has happened though means that I am powerless to do anything but make the choice that has been presented to me. Thankfully the Guardian left me alone to decide, stating that he would return when I felt surer of myself.
I thank him for not pointing out that my choice should be obvious and logical; my son is more severely injured than my daughter and it would be unlikely that I could use the, damn it why is it named so heartlessly? *Energies* from my son to heal her to the extent where she could survive. The choice was stolen from me in the first place so there wasn't actually a decision to be made, just one that I had to come to terms with.
This is going to destroy Seto. I've been in here for three hours now thinking and, well, *dealing*. He's probably distraught right now and Yugi didn't look good either, but right now I need to be here. Yes, it's selfish and weak and all that bollocks that I couldn't really give a shit about right now, but I'm staying until I've done all that I can.
Tetsuo said that we could start worrying about the damage to the Puzzle itself once this, situation, had been taken care of. By Ra, even *he's* pussyfooting around the subject; afraid to use the words that I know are true in fear that I'll break like some dropped China Doll. He's the last person I would have expected this delicacy from.
My son is going to die for my daughter and I'm going to be the one who takes his essence apart into something that can be channelled. See? Easy to break down when you take a deep breath and accept fate.
I think I'm going to need a few more hours, or a millennia in here before I can actually do it though.//
****
"Any luck Yuug?"
Joey shook her head slightly in frustration, exasperation and despair at the negative movement of his friend's head, the simple motion causing Seto's face to flicker once again.
"He's just locked himself in there and I don't want to do anymore damage by forcing myself in," he shrugged helplessly, avoiding both of their eyes as he lowered his own to his interlocked hands on the table.
They were all at the Game Shop again, gathered around Yugi's kitchen as they waited for Yami to re-emerge. Honda was lent against the wall, Tea was sitting nervously on the counter top, Joey, Seto and Yugi were at the table and Ryou was stood in the doorway. Bakura was safely stowed away in the Ring where none of the others could get to him and tear out his vital organs, or worse.
"It's been four hours now. How long can he...? When is he going to accept it?" Honda asked softly from his position.
Seto made a noise partway between a sigh and a growl, rising to his feet in one fluid motion and bringing ice down on the shorter teen as he brought their faces within inches of each other. "I don't think either one of us is going to just 'accept it'," he bit out before striding past Ryou and making his way out of the shop. Yugi was the first to respond, jumping to his feet and chasing after the CEO.
"Seto! Where are you going?" he called after the retreating figure.
"The office. I need to fire one of my secretaries or make someone bankrupt," came the response, Seto continuing on without breaking his stride or changing his posture.
Staring after him at a loss as to whether to follow him, drag him back or leave him be, Yugi chose to return indoors. Re-seating himself back at the table, his eyes fell half-lidded as he extended another tendril out to the Soul Room nestled inside the Puzzle, wincing a little at the heat radiating off of it. He was concerned about how badly the fall had injured Yami physically as well as the emotional and mental repercussions.
Finding nothing but barriers and pain he ceased his efforts and fell back into the pattern that they had all fallen into for the last 3 and a half-hours.
Wait. Clock-check. Coffee. Wait. Exchange nervous glances. Coffee. Clock-check. Wait.
****
"Tetsuo?"
The name echoed off around the harrowing darkness as it the lone figure inside were trapped in a cave, which Yami figured he might as well have been. There was no longer comfort and respite in his Soul Room. None that could be found at the moment at the very least.
A flare of crimson in the wall of inky blackness illuminated his features briefly before the robed figure stepped forth, stopping a respectful distance from him and bowing his head in solemn acknowledgement. He would not get to his knees for the Pharaoh; his position was above that, but it didn't mean that he didn't respect the former King.
"You have decided then?"
Closing his eyes for a moment Yami gathered the courage to speak before daring to trust his voice. "Yes."
"And?" the Guardian asked, raising demon eyes from the dark floor and meeting the crimson eyes of his commander.
Yami sighed slightly before beginning to pace, only a short distance between the places where he turned on his heel and retraced his steps, but enough for the movement to be a distraction from his words.
"When I was Pharaoh, I knew that for the Kingdom to continue to function after the ruling King's death an heir had to exist. Times have changed since I was imprisoned here, but my way of thinking has not. Seto Kaiba is ruler of his own empire in this world, and despite the principles on which it is run and the way it shall be transferred to a new ruler's hands in the future have changed, although I do not sincerely see that happening, my ideals over how it would be taken command of after he relinquishes it have not."
//When emotion clouds the mind turn to logic. It's blind and heartless but it makes things a damn-sight easier in circumstances such as these.//
Tetsuo nodded slightly as his eyes drifted away from the others up to the two figures hovering above the bed before snapping back again quickly. "Your son then? You would have us use your daughter to ensure your son's life?"
Stopping again Yami had to resist the urge to fist his hands in his hair and pull hard. "Yes," he ground out, sincerely wishing that Tetsuo would stop making him repeat this. "I will sacrifice my daughter for the sake of my son."
A slender brow quirked up at that, the movement of skin about the pale face causing the trickle of blood red symbols running down Tetsuo's cheeks to shift marginally before falling back into their normal arrangement. "Sacrifice? No, Yugioh. That isn't *quite* what will happen."
A glimmer of hope. Nothing big, in fact it was downright pathetic in size and the slightest slip in what could follow would destroy it instantly, but it was there. "What do you mean?"
It was no Tetsuo's turn to pace as he sought to find words to explain what could barely be explained. "To use your daughter's energies her very form must be broken down, but this does not mean that her essence will be destroyed. Nay, it will combine with your son and merely help him in much the same way as her energy will. A, combining of souls if you would."
"Like Yugi and myself," Yami muttered quietly, the statement not entirely aimed at Tetsuo nor a secret unto himself. Instead, a dawning realisation and understanding that loosened the knot in his gut and made breathing around his constricted heart easier.
"Exactly. It is not a simple process but with my own skills and your admittedly remarkably deep bonds with both of them, it should not be too difficult. Shall we begin? Or do you wish to inform the other party involved about what is to transpire."
"I should..."
"Remember that if you leave here, if only for a moment to deliver such a message, your son will be at even greater risk than before. I have already said that this is not a simple thing to do," Tetsuo warned, a finger raising sharply against the other to relay his point. Red on black eyes were narrowed slightly now, pinning Yami down in a gaze that was all seriousness.
"Let's just do this and then I can go comfort him. I just hope he doesn't blame me if I make a choice he is not happy with."
Tetsuo's eyes narrowed to fiery slits, the mere thought of his Master even considering regretting that his choice would be the wrong one. "It *is* your choice in the end. You have bore these children for some time, it is *your* body that they reside in, not his. It is *your* energies that will be drained here simply through the effort that this will require without your magic at hand. It is *you* who will feel the physical pain of the separation as well as the emotional. Do not feel undue guilt unless another forms a reason for guilt to be due. If he is not happy, there will be little that either of you can do about it and if he is worthy of your attentions, he will tell you of such displeasure honestly."
Blinking a few times at the end of that speech, Yami was only partially sure that is was meant to be reassuring, the Game King shook his head slightly to clear it before setting his jaw firm and nodding to show that he was ready.
Returning the gesture with a grim smile, Tetsuo moved to the end of the bed and ushered Yami to step up onto it, the furniture serving to accommodate their differences in height. Copying the other spirit, Yami lifted his hands up until they touched and then passed into his daughter's physical representation
Clamping his eyes shut and biting his lower lip hard, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder before feeling an energy that was not his own coursing through him. Wielding it to his will, he focussed it through his hands and began. He felt no reverberations of pain from the child, something that he was exceedingly grateful for as he was positive that he would not have been able to continue if he had hurt her in the process.
Instead her form was becoming a whisper, a simple presence that had no more weight that mist. Feeling his head start to throb and his skin tingling, Yami gasped in a breath before sending the collection of energy and essence into the remaining child, feeling his son absorbing it all hungrily after both he and Tetsuo breached the physical barrier.
It seemed like an eternity before the healing felt anywhere near completion, limbs trembling and lights flickering behind his lids as his strength was drained. He felt his knees give out and opened his eyes in alarm, blackness nibbling at the edges of his vision. He would have fallen away if Tetsuo's hand wasn't firmly secured on his shoulder holding up his weight with slender fingers and a smooth palm.
The Guardian, unlike Yami had been, had his eyes open, unfocused though they were as he took over most of their shared effort. Yami's arms had seized up at some point, being held in the mist and light above him, so despite how weak he felt he couldn't help but continue to pour what strength he had left to give into fully healing his son.
Tetsuo released him without warning and he found his hands free also, falling back against the bad and nearly blacking out from the mixed relief of it. Both hands now moving to the shapeless mass, the markings flowing erratically down the bare arms disconnected and lashed outwards to form a cocoon about it, contracting it, shaping it, sealing it.
After a few moments the markings vanished into nothing and new ones had replaced them on Tetsuo's arms, the taller figure moving to sit on the edge of the bed displaying a weariness that looked entirely alien about him.
"It is done. Forgive me Yugioh but I desire to rest now. We shall discuss what needs to be done about the Puzzle in due course. Now is, simply not the appropriate time," he explained, eyes turning slowly to meet the other's hooded gaze. Part of the spirit was surprised, and impressed, that Yami was still awake.
Yami tried to wave a hand vaguely but only succeeded in twitching his fingers in what he hoped was an understanding gesture before his eyes rolled and he succumbed to the darkness that was so overwhelmingly inviting.
"Rest your body and spirit now Young Pharaoh, for I fear that to repair the Puzzle, you shall need all the strength that you can acquire."
With those unheard, parting words Tetsuo rose painstakingly to his feet before closing his eyes with a small sigh and retreating back to his own plane of existence, leaving a wisp of red in his wake. Over the bed, the son watched anxiously over the father who lay utterly exhausted upon black silken sheets.
****
Borath: Review. See? No where near as bitchy as I was last chapter!
Yami: (Blinks. Re-reads. Taps the screen. Blinks again. Left eye begins to twitch.) I cannot believe you did that to me!!!
Bakura: Dealing with the angst, anger and crap next chapter and then it's back to humour. Borath says 'sorry' for those of you who have been pissed at these previous few chapters' darker themes.
Borath: As you can tell updates are going to be coming in quite erratically so bear with me here. I have no idea when Chapter 24 is going to be out as I haven't started writing in and I'm not totally sure about the details of the content, so don't hold your breaths.
Yami: Review and make her stop!!! Please!