The Battle Ends and Another Begins
"Iato…" Atem cried towards the sky as the dragon laughed evilly, turning its fanged mouth towards Atem.
'She has lost… Pharaoh… you released us from the shadow realm, you unknowingly allowed us to be freed, and they should be blaming you.' The dragon laughed.
"Listen!" Dirana and Rikaya cried. From deep within the dragon a song could be heard. A powerfully moving song. It was the true Song of Iato. The rain poured down, still soaking them all and the thunder rumbled as the lightning struck the ground. Atem's crying eyes opened at the sound of the song. He opened his mouth and sand the duet to it. The powerful Song of the Lotus or the True Song of Iato rang from their throats. One sword then another appeared through Slifer's chest. The swords were glowing brilliant blood red. They slashed to the side and up, from his chest cavity appeared a bloody and weak apparition of Iato, she was covered in the dragon's deep purple blood. Slifer screeched in pain as he fell from the sky, Iato slowly and weakly flew towards Atem, he caught her in his arms. Her wings hung limply by her side, her arms limp and her legs the same. She coughed and put her hand on the protective scarab beetle then she fell completely limp as she collapsed into the nothingness in the back of her mind. Obelisk and Ra looked around and then flew back into the black hole, carrying their master with them. The rest of the demons followed. Bakura watched as the ghastly figures of the six came forward, Iato the worst, her body completely limp in his arms. Her legs and arms were cut and slashed and her face was scratched and bruised. Her ribs were broken in some places and there was a gash in her side. Atem's right arm was bleeding profusely and a few deep cuts were on his chest and legs.
"Lady Iato." Dirana sighed, she was injured as well, her back had three long gashes and her face was scratched, she was covered in blood. Seto's chest and stomach were gashed and he was leaning on his sword. Rikaya and Malik hit the ground running. Her white robes were stained with crimson blood. Her left cheek was torn almost to pieces and her right side was slashed. The rest of her was beaten and cut just as Dirana's was. The front of Malik's left thigh was torn almost to the bone and in some places on his chest they could see his ribs.
"Iato… please… you promised me." Atem whispered and hugged the girl's limp body to his own. Her blood was seeping onto his grey clothes he pressed his ear to her chest, trying to hear a heat beat but he didn't. She had no pulse.
"What are we going to do?" Malik asked Atem as he cradled her body to his. His magic could heal anything, he could destroy things but restore life to an empty vessel… that was impossible.
"I don't know…" Atem said, he was kneeling in the mud as the rain poured down, clearing the earth of the evil that it had offered a home for. Then just barely, barely Atem heard the soft rhythms of an irregular heart beat. He sat up.
"We need to get to Thebes." He said and lifted himself up, spreading his wings out and flying into the sky.
"Why?" Seto asked as they all joined him.
"To see your father." Atem said and said something to the huge falcon who came over to him. Raptor nodded and flew off. The other three female birds flew with their masters.
'Lord Atem… use the crystal.' The bird said. Atem stopped… the crystal around Iato's neck. He pulled it up and doing what she had done before he whispered something and they all disappeared and reappeared instead in front of Areastos. Atem instead of turning away walked in slowly. The entire city stopped as they saw the seven of them, their leader, unrecognizable in Atem's arms. Tears cutting paths through the caked blood on his face in the rain.
"MOTHER!" Trina called and flew forward she escorted them to Iato's arie and instructed Atem to lay her down on the soft ermine blanket. The freezing cold rain chilled the other six to the bones but cleaned them off at the same time. Trina bandaged them up and began to examine her mother. Every once in a while she would stop then finally she turned around with a sad look in her eyes.
"I don't know what to do, unless you can find a very experienced doctor in a very short time then I doubt that we're going to be able to save her." Atem and Seto exchanged looks.
A few minutes later they were all set to go back to Egypt. They had promised to come back and visit and as Atem disappeared with the rest of the seven he felt cool tears running down his cheeks as he left this paradise. They reappeared in front of the palace, all their wings pulled in except for the goddesses and Atem's who used them to speed down the hallway. Seto ran down another to get his father and Atem flew down the huge hallways to his huge bedroom. The doors magically slammed opened with a boom. He gently laid the girl down and the Dark Mage, in his original form walked in.
"You did it." He said to Atem.
"No… she did it." Atem told him as Seti walked in.
"By Ra… what happened?" Seti asked as he began to look the girl over. Bakura and Atem sat down. Rikaya leaned into Malik's arms and Seto wrapped his arms around Dirana.
"We were in a battle, a great battle against the god monsters." Atem told him the story of what had happened and why they were all bandaged up. A little while later Seti turned towards them.
"She's going to live. But she's very weak… she's lost a lot of blood. We need something that she loves… something that she would never let go of…" Seti said to himself and Atem stood up.
"I know what it is." He said out loud.
"What…? I've known her for years but the only thing she loves more than you is her people." Rikaya said to Atem and he pointed at her as Seti cleaned the girl off.
"Exactly… don't you see if we bring her people here she will have something to hold onto. Seto, Malik, Bakura we're going to free every single one of the Areos and bring them here along with the ones in Areastos." Atem smiled and Seto made a crazy motion next to his head.
"One problem oh crazy one… WHERE ARE THEY?" Seto asked him.
"I don't know but we'll find them I know… here." Atem handed them all three a crystal. "Inside there is a recording of the True Song of Iato. Every time you get any where near an Areo it will sing, showing you where they are because their wings will become visible and they will be shown to you. You tell them to com here and We'll house them in the palace." Atem said.
"Can we fit that many in here?" Malik asked.
"Iato told me that there are only 432 of them in existence, add two on and you have 434. WE have over a thousand rooms in this palace and another thing is that all the mates sleep in the same bed together because when they've found their mate they can stand to be away from their sides…" Atem said and the two goddesses nodded.
"You guys go, we'll stay here." They two said as Seti finished cleaning Iato off. Atem walked over, kissed her lips softly then Bakura and Malik grabbed his wings and threw him out the window.
"COME ON! THIS IS YOUR BRIGHT IDEA!" Malik said and they all flew off in different directions. Seti walked out and Dirana walked over to her friend's bedside. Rikaya stood up and stretched slightly. Rikaya had long blonde hair, it was straight and down to her knees. Her long white dress was tight at the top, the loose shoulders sagging down, her sleeves light and feathery. Her dress skirts were long and flowing in folds from her hips to trail down on the floor. She had a beautiful silver and diamond ring on her left ring finger. Her pure white wings were sparkling in the fading light. Her eyes were a brilliant blue green color.
"This is so sad Rikaya… I can't believe it had to be her…" Dirana cried softly. She had long black hair which was piled in loops on the top of her head. Her long black robes were loose and draping over her body to the floor. The bodice was tight though and flattered her body. Her black raven wings sparkled slightly in the dieing light. Her deep brown eyes were speckled with gold.
"I know… but at least those monsters are gone right?" Rikaya asked her and Dirana nodded. Rikaya sat down next to Dirana. They watched as the girl fell in and out consciousness.
Iato was falling, she felt as though she was falling in a dark abyss. She looked around, she was falling and she couldn't open her wings. She tried but she couldn't so she screamed. Then she felt the shearing pain as she moved in real life and screamed again, arching her back in pain. She twisted around in the bed, trying as hard as possible to allay the horrific ache that was singing through her body. She was falling in the abyss again. She twisted away as she almost hit the wall, Atem's face came up in front of her, sad and crying he was, he was covered in blood and rain was pouring around him, lightning struck and thunder rumbled. She saw him again the night before… in the bed after the ritual, his heated body next to hers. He said something, his mouth moving but she couldn't hear him. She closed her eyes and again she saw his face but this time it was in the cage, she was standing up in his arms, listening to his heart and heard this song. Then she watched, she was a little kid being beaten and tortured for being different. Then she was in the abyss again, falling forever. She saw Atem above her and reached up for him, in real life she was reaching upwards, tears running from her unseeing black eyes as she called Atem's name. She reached up and grabbed nothingness. She fell again, never slowing, just falling.
Dirana looked up as she heard a whisper outside the door. She opened it and Atem was standing there. Behind him were hundreds of Areos that were just arriving. They all followed Seto, Malik or Bakura off and Atem asked if he could see Iato.
Iato reached out again into nothingness, trying to reach Atem's outstretched hand. Her fever was rising as she strained and as she coughed a small amount of blood trickled from her mouth. She was falling, never going to stop, she called out his name again but there was nothing, she reached out desperately as she tried to reach him. Her body in real life contorted in pain. She saw Seto smiling in front of the tavern. She reached out for him, for Atem for anyone and suddenly she felt a warm very real hand grab hers. She had reached him.
Atem spoke to her softly to get her to relax and she opened her unseeing eyes, tears pouring from them.
"Atem… Atem I knew you'd be there." She said but she wasn't talking to him. To her she wasn't talking to anyone but she could tell he was there, by her side, just the way he had promised. She let go of his hand and began to fall into the chasm again but this time she wasn't scared, she knew that at the other end of this seemingly never ending void was Atem… and that was all she was worried about.