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Under Pressure
Dreams and Death
Neptune smiled, prideful of the bottle of sweet smelling serum that was now on his person. He carefully trudged toward the thin, wooden spiral staircase, the only exit to the illuminated cavern, careful to not attract attention to himself. He stepped on the first moldy chunk of wood hesitantly, attentive to the fact that if something was going to go wrong, this would about the time that it happened. He grinned, pleased with himself. Neptune calmly ascended the stairs, hoping to meet with Calypso and the others soon.
He was halfway up the stairs when he heard frenzied footsteps, and they were getting louder. Neptune tensed up knowing this was what was going to be the part were everything fell apart. The footsteps now being right under him, he heard voices.
"You think Neptune pulled through with the antidote?"
"I don't know, but I hate to think of what might happen if he hasn't and we have to go back for it."
Wait… he knew one of those voices…
"Calypso!" He cried. "Calypso! I'm here! And I've got the medicine!"
The footsteps became even more frantic, and Neptune was soon face-to-face with Proteus, who was carrying a small boy with raven black hair and shadowy gray eyes. More people began to file behind him, among them Calypso, Leucothea, and Triton. Neptune couldn't help but smile at his tender brother carrying the boy as if the boy were some sort of precious gem.
"What's with the runt, Proteus?" Neptune grunted, pretending to be snappy and irritable.
Proteus furrowed his brow and his eyes flashed. "For your information, Mokuba fell and hurt his ankle!" He spat. Suddenly the boy squealed in pain and Neptune and Proteus jerked their heads down to see the brown haired boy with angry blue eyes gently rubbing the younger boy's ankle.
"Moki, I think it's broken, kiddo." Kaiba said, softly.
"Who are you?" Neptune asked. Kaiba glanced up in a peevishly, disturbed from checking his brother.
"I'm Seto Kaiba. Who the hell are you?"
"I'm-" Neptune began but Triton shoved his way past everyone.
"Look. Since everyone is so interested in who everyone else is despite the mortal danger we're in, he's Tristan, he's Joey, she's Tea, and he's Mokuba." Triton snapped quickly.
"Let's get out of here!" Tea moaned, frightened.
"No!" Joey cried. "First… Neptune do you have the medicine?"
"Of course." Neptune said, patting the pocket with the crystal bottle in it.
Calypso pushed Neptune, forcing him up the stairs. Naturally, Neptune took this as his cue to continue up the stairs, his brothers, sisters, and the group of kids at his heels. They had no idea how far below ground they were, only that it took them quite a long time to get back above ground. The only source of light was the occasional torch that burned dimly and was blocked out as soon as they turned one of the sharp curves of the staircase. Their footsteps echoed loudly against the stone walls… until… from the top of the stairwell… a dim light showed through, displaying the exit to the cavern.
Triton pulled up behind his brother and pulled out an arm, preventing anyone but he and Neptune from leaving the stairs. He looked at Neptune, frowning slightly as Neptune nodded and carefully crept outside, glancing around, checking for a clear path. Neptune turned to Triton, smiling and Triton moved out of the way, allowing the group to exit the cavern.
"We did it." Leucothea sighed, as Calypso pulled out a map from a sack flung over her back and pointed toward a path. The party swiftly took toward the path, trying to get away from the cavern and Dimys as soon as possible.
"Not yet, he haven't." Proteus said, shifting Mokuba slightly on his back. "The Emperor hasn't got the antidote yet."
"What's that?" Triton asked suddenly.
"What's what?" Tristan inquired, confused.
"That noise."
And indeed there was a noise, echoing around the cavern as if there were more than one creator of the noise. It sounded as if someone were trying to get somewhere very quickly, but having to stop frequently for annoyingly required reasons.
"That's footsteps, that is." Proteus remarked, pulling back and stepping in front of Tea and Leucothea. Calypso, Joey, Tristan, and Kaiba sprinted to Triton and Neptune's side, tensing up, not looking forward to another fight. Then they started hearing voices echoing through the cavern.
"Are you sure this is where they are?"
"Aren't you the one who described to me your friends?"
"Well… yeah."
"And don't you trust me?"
"If Atem does, I sure as heck do."
"Then this is where they are."
Through the purple fog encircling their surroundings, they saw a light bobbing left to right, a lantern. Neptune and Triton buckled up, awaiting their approaches, but Kaiba, Joey, and Tristan smiled broadly, knowing one of the voices perfectly.
"Yuugi!" Joey called. "Yuugi is that you, bud?"
"Joey?" They heard Yuugi's voice call back. Out of the fog, three figures neared, one being considerably shorter then the other two. Yuugi smiled, coming fully into view, with a man and a young woman at his side. Yuugi lunged forward, clinging on the Joey.
"We found you! We found you!" Yuugi cried joyfully.
"Who're they?" Kaiba asked, his eyes not leaving Mahaado and Mana.
"Them? Oh, they're two of Atemu's old friends! They came to help us!" Yuugi said, grinning happily at Mahaado.
"And who might they be?" Mahaado questioned, watching the Sprites with bemused look on his face.
"They're Typhoon's warriors. They helped us get out of Dimys and Aura's grip and get Atemu's antidote." Tea answered promptly,
"Aura?" Yuugi asked, confused. "I thought she was our friend."
"Well, apparently not," Tristan spat angrily, "as soon as we got here, she turned us in to her sister and locked us in danger. If not for Calypso and her brothers and sister, we'd still be locked up."
Mahaado nodded slowly, not noticing Tea nearing him carefully. She cleared her throat, trying to get his attention. The magician glanced at her quickly and then gave her a kind smile. But she frowned, thinking of the reason they might be here.
"How is Atemu?" Tea whispered, her eyes watering.
The man frowned and his face became sad and serious. "Not good. We came to help speed up the process of getting Atemu's medicine to him. He is running out of time."
"Then I guess our usefulness is up?" Leucothea said, pulling at her hair. Her brothers lined up behind her and Calypso looked sadly at Joey.
"Not necessarily." Mana said, looking at Mahaado. "We might need help."
"We don't have time!" Mahaado snapped. "We have to get there as soon as possible. We're wasting time as I speak! We have to sprint there." He paused, eyeing the Sprites. He sighed, seeing their depressed faces, and gave in. "Can you keep up?"
"Of course." Neptune said.
"Can you make sure they keep up?" Mahaado asked, pointing to Kaiba, Mokuba, Tea, Joey and Tristan.
"Sure can."
Mahaado nodded to Neptune, who promptly began to get everyone ready to go, and looked around at all of the people there. Mahaado saw the five Sprites… the five kids… and Mana. And of course, he himself was there. Atemu… he thought, please… don't give up. We'll be there. And we'll save you. He looked around again watching everyone prepare to follow Mana and him back to the palace. He glanced at Yuugi who was watching him with supreme confidence. I promise.
-
- - -
-
The group barreled away from the cavern, speeding toward the palace, following Mahaado and Mana. The wind blew past them and the ground was a blur. They followed, the children being carried by the Sprites, like this for what felt like ages.
"There it is!" Mana shouted, her voice muffled by the winds. The huge, shining palace came into view and Yuugi felt prayed.
Please be okay when we get there Atemu. Just please… we're coming as fast as we can.
-
- - -
-
The infirmary was silent except for two different noises. Atemu's harsh, uneven breaths and Solomon Mutou's rasping snores. Mr. Mutou dozed off, having been deprived of sleep for the past couple of days. Typhoon had curled up next to Atemu, initially sitting next to him in the first place to place a cool, damp wash cloth on his forehead and neck. But she too had been very tired and thought to herself that she would rest her eyes for a bit. She placed her head on Atemu's chest and closed her eyes. She heard Atemu's heart pounding rhythmically against her ear, and it and the bobbing of her head going up and down as Atemu breathed in and out lulled her to sleep.
Bu-bump
Bu-bump
Typhoon's mind wondered… and she saw Atemu. He was sitting all alone in a small, deserted room on a bright blue couch. He was snoozing peacefully, his head flopped to his shoulder. Typhoon looked around the room to see it full of relics that would prove important only to a small child. Toys and picture books were placed neatly on shelves and in a open toy box, which was painted bright colors. The room itself was a pastel blue, white stripes cutting vertically along each wall. Typhoon sat down, sitting on plushy blue carpet.
Bu-bump
Bu-bump
Typhoon wondered why she was here. The door opened and Typhoon turned to see a little girl who looked like so much like Atemu, the same small mouth… the same colored skin… the same large, crimson eyes. She had pure black hair that reached to her lower back. She was wearing a dainty, frilly purple dress and had a large violet ribbon looped around her tiny head. Typhoon guessed the little girl couldn't have been more than two years old. She watched as the little girl walked toward Atemu, stood before him, and examined him with a look in her eyes that made her seem so much older.Bu-bump
Bu…
bump
She climbed up on the couch and took Atemu's hand. The man still didn't stir and the girl wrapped her tiny fingers around Atemu's index finger. She frowned and put Atemu's hand down. She crawled onto the man's lap and sat, looking as though she enjoyed being with Atemu. She put her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat just as Typhoon had. The girl smiled sadly and put a small hand on Atemu's thin face.Bu…
Bump…
Bu…
Bump…
"Brother…" the little girl whispered, gently stroking Atemu's face, "brother… you are so tired… you are so very tired. I've missed you, you know… and I know that you've missed me. I'm sorry I left you. I know I left a gaping hole in your heart… just as Mother did when she left you… and I want to see you again… and so does Mother…. But you can't leave your friends… they don't deserve it. They need you…" The little girl had tears flowing down her cheeks.
Bu…
Bump…
"I know you're so tired… so tired of being in pain… so tired of being alone… so tired of life… but that's why you have those friends of yours now. They want to make sure you're never alone again. And Mahaado… don't leave him… not after being reunited after so long. His heart will be torn to pieces. Oh Brother…"
Bu…
"But you're too tired now, aren't you? You can't fight it even if you wanted to…." The girl shook her head and took her brother's head in both of her hands. "You can't give up! You are the strongest person I've even known… you can't give up!"
Bump…
"No!" The little girl screamed. "Atemu, you can't! Atemu… NO!"
"He hasn't got the strength anymore." Typhoon whispered, causing the little girl to look over at her. Typhoon was crying as well. "He can't fight. Not anymore."Bu…
The little girl stared at Typhoon, her eyes shining with tears. The girl looked up at her brother then back at Typhoon. Slowly she nodded and turned back to her brother and kissed him on his cheek.
Bump…
The little girl began to vanish… her body began to dissolve away in silver bits of light… she looked back her brother. Her eyes never left his face until she disappeared completely.
Typhoon was jerked back to consciousness because something was wrong. Something was missing. She thought what could have possibly gone so wrong that it woke her up. Her head was still on Atemu's chest but… her heart fell. Her head wasn't bobbing up and down with Atemu's breaths. She listened hard. She couldn't hear Atemu's heart!
She raised her and looked at Atemu. His face was no longer contorted with pain and his body wasn't tense anymore. Typhoon cried out, waking Mr. Mutou.
"What is it Typhoon?" He asked groggily.
Typhoon burst into tears and jumped off the bed. She fell, not collecting enough balance before taking another step forward and screamed. Mr. Mutou watched this, his heart breaking, knowing what this behavior meant. He looked at Atemu, and took a deep breath before placing two figures on Atemu's neck… checking his pulse.
Solomon kept his fingers on Atemu's neck… he couldn't move, he could breathe, he couldn't think. Slowly and forcefully, he pulled his fingers away. He scooped up Atemu, cradling him in his arms, and wept as he had never wept before in his life. He had felt pain like this only a few time in his lifetime and each time he prayed it would never happen again.
"Atemu!" He gasped, squeezing the lifeless body in his grip. "Atemu no!"
The old man heard frantic footsteps against the marble floor, many people were coming toward the infirmary. The huge doors burst open to reveal Mahaado, Yuugi, and a large Water Sprite with a crystal bottle in his hand. The rest of the group filed in behind them, including several Water Sprites.
"I've got the Emperor's antidote!" The biggest Sprite cried.
"YOU'RE TOO LATE!" Typhoon screamed, pulling her hair. "YOU'RE TOO LATE! HE'S DEAD!"
"No!" Mahaado shouted and sprinted toward Mr. Mutou, who still had his grip on Atemu. "You're lying!" Mahaado pulled Atemu away from Mr. Mutou and held him with shaking arms. "Atemu… no…" Mahaado collapsed to him knees, still keeping Atemu tightly in his grip, his eyes over flowing. "I was too late… I couldn't save you…"
Yuugi stayed completely still, tears burning at his eyes. His eyes were on his best friend, now lying in the magician's arms, tears now landing on his face. Tea screamed out and Tristan and Joey bounded forward behind Mahaado, not knowing what to do. Mana fainted, having to be caught by Triton. Kaiba cradled Mokuba, who had begun to scream and sob hysterically, as he fought back his own sadness. The Sprites hung back, intruders on this sadness.
"Atemu!" Mahaado cried, his voice shaking, "I'm so sorry!"
"You shouldn't be," said a voice from a corner. Everyone looked up, seeing a woman in a black flowing dress, black hair that reached down to the ground, and black, empty eyes that were staring at Atemu, pityingly. All of this darkness showed even more vividly against her snow-white skin.
"Nyx?" Mana whispered.
The woman nodded.
"I think… maybe… I can bring back what is most precious to all of you right now."