Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh isn't mine. If it was, I'd be as rich as Seto Kaiba himself. (Well, probably not, but you get the idea…) And this fic is beta-read by Pamster. Thanks a lot to her for checking it and her advice.
Summary: Set, weary from the long years of being the Per A'a, takes his leave of his family. Retreating to his chambers for some well overdue deserved rest, he contemplates on what has happened and what will happen in the future.
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Epilogue: Transcending Time
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Twenty years later…
Leaning back in the chair, Set sighed wearily. The Per A'a was getting old; he knew it. There was that noise he made every time he rose or sat down, how his hands were worn and leathered with age and the constant nagging pain in his shoulder from his old injury inflicted upon him by Atemu as his one-time opponent had commanded the great god Obelisk. Set could sense that the time was coming. Finally, he would soon meet Neith again after twenty long years. They had been blessed with several beautiful children and now the old man could rest in peace, knowing that he had seen his grandchildren and established his family.
It had not been the same for Set ever since he had been cruelly left alone; the loneliness had been almost unbearable. He might have left this world then, had it not been for the love of their children and their desperate need for him.
Set was now alone in what had been his and Neith's room, reminders of his wife still surrounding her husband in the years after her death. They would soon expect him to go downstairs; the Per A'a needed to sort out yet another dispute between neighbours.
The Per A'a sighed; he had grown tired of the daily grind of existing, the only succour he got these days coming from his children and their own children.
All those beautiful generations of my family, Set thought, his eyes feeling as heavy as his chest.
The pain inside Set's heart was reaching into his soul like the dagger wielded by Death itself.
It warmed the old man's heart to think of those younger generations now; their smiling faces easy to picture in his mind. Sobek, his firstborn son, would inherit the throne and Set had done much to prepare him for that responsibility, imparting upon him the lessons that he had learned over time. Including those that Atemu had taught him, even if it wasn't until after his death that Set had begun to accept the things the former Per A'a had tried to show him. He knew he was leaving behind a good family, a strong family. One of whom he could be proud long after he had passed on.
And to tell the truth, Set was also looking forward to seeing his departed loved ones after all this time.
The old man smiled as a familiar hand slid across his shoulder, recognising his wife's touch as it took his mind off the stabbing pain that had become unbelievably painful.
It's been so long, lotus, Set thought. I've missed you so much.
A wistful tear slid down from Set's eye as Neith embraced him from behind, a hand rising to clasp her own. He sighed contentedly, no longer feeling the terrible pain that had been bearing down on him. It was as if the weight of living all these years without her suddenly lifted as he found himself finally freed from his own mortality.
"Neith, you're… I'm…" Set was silenced by a finger across his lips, the young woman smiling as she held up a young girl. He had noticed that the years he had suffered had slipped away, his body once again its youthful self.
Neith then grabbed Set's hand and silently led him through the soft light that now surrounded them.
"Yes, my love, I've come to meet you. I'm so proud of you and how well you took care of our family. Come, there's a lot of people who want to meet you," Neith whispered, squeezing Set's hand.
Set smiled as Neith led him away, surrounded by nothing but this soft light. His heart leapt when he recognised the rest of his family, father and mother, coming to greet him. His eyes scanning the small group, Set could swear that Akunumkanon, Atemu's father and his uncle, was watching him kindly. He smiled at this, happy that he was in the Afterlife and not suffering the eternal death that he feared his deeds had warranted. He was home at last.
No matter what the future held for them, Set was sure that him and Neith would find each other again.
-o-
Walking hurriedly through the corridors, Kuro failed to look where she was going as she rushed to be on time for her appointed duel. All the girl was doing lately was duelling until she could duel no more. But then, it was a tournament. The intercontinental championships, no less! She was here at Pegasus J. Crawford's request, though she found him somewhat off-putting. Kuro did not know why, but he just crept her out. Even if Pegasus was the creator of Duel Monsters, he struck her as beyond strange with his eccentricities. She had a sense for these things and so far it had yet to fail her.
Not that I know why, Kuro thought, wondering whom her next opponent was.
There was a small murmur that it was the current world champion, a young man who Kuro had not had the pleasure of duelling before. The girl felt somewhat jealous; this boy had disposed of the old world champion before she had been able to do so, so the title was not hers to give away. What a disappointment; she wanted a good fight.
Suddenly, a person who had been coming from the opposite direction sent the girl crashing to the floor. She fell painfully with a bump as a brunette glanced back over his shoulder at her, dismissing her with his cold blue eyes. He was wearing a blue uniform and held a silver briefcase in his left hand.
"Next time, watch where you're going," the brunette said snidely, a cold look in his blue eyes.
Kuro scoffed as the cold-hearted teen walked away flanked by his black-suited bodyguards. She then pulled herself back to her feet, shaking her fist in his direction. He was so mean and rude!
"At least some of us have manners!" she yelled, feeling annoyed as he disappeared.
What nerve! Kuro cursed angrily. At least I'm not like that!
Harrumphing and sticking her head up in the air, Kuro marched off in the opposite direction, determined to defeat whomever she faced.