A/N: Holy #$, I have way too much time on my hands. As you can see, another chapter has emerged. I'm trying to get this thing done before school starts so that it doesn't end up taking another six months. That, and the motivation of several reviewers threatening pointy projectiles, made me crank this chapter out with ease and urgency. Now, for all of you that were waiting for the conclusion (ha, conclusion, yeah right…) to last time's cliffhanger, I hope you're not disappointed.

In Memories Forgotten

Chapter 13

Atemu sat up in bed to look sleepily around the room. Yugi was not next to him yet again. He had had the dream again, most likely, and had gone to look at the sun. Sighing, Atemu searched the house mentally.

Something was wrong. Atemu searched the house again and again, but he couldn't find Yugi.

He couldn't find Yugi.

Atemu jumped out of bed and transported to the library, but it was empty. He went to the dining room, to the main hall, to the attic, to all the other rooms in the house, his form flashing through them as he searched frantically for the human. He nearly transported himself outside before he remembered that it was day out. But, his search yielded nothing.

Atemu stopped teleporting around long enough to realize that he was shaking. Where was Yugi? He wouldn't have left, would he? Why would he leave, where would he go? Atemu felt a cold wetness on his cheek, but there were no warm fingers to wipe it away. The shaking intensified.

In a sudden fit of panic, Atemu teleported back to the bedroom. In a violent burst of mental energy the bed was flung across the room to smash into the wall. Suddenly he was in the library and tables and chair were flying about, knocking shelves of books to the dusty floor. The grandfather clock in the main hall came tumbling down, the dining table was overturned, the white sheets covering the furniture in the east turret danced about like lost ghosts. The entire house roared with Atemu's anguish as his sanity slipped away through his fingers like sand.

Eventually ending up in the main hall, his panic spent and his body weak with grief, Atemu sank to his knees with a sob. Oh, Gods, he was alone again… alone in the cold and the dark…

Then, through his pain Atemu could hear a faint squeaking. He slowly raised his head to see the kegawa bouncing around in front of him, squealing frantically. Atemu frowned; he could just make out what they were trying to tell him.

Yugi hadn't left… he had been captured…

And the world went red.

The floor beneath Atemu split and the crack spread up the stairs and the walls. The grandfather clock, sitting sideways on the floor where it had fallen, suddenly tolled the hour as it had not done in four hundred years. The kegawa shrank back in fear as Atemu rose from the floor, the house shrieking and twisting around him as his anger-fueled magic coursed through it. The grief turned to rage, Atemu screamed his frustration out at the uncaring ceiling with its sad gargoyle faces and faded chandeliers. Then, his energy spent once again, he collapsed to his knees.

For, though he knew where Yugi had been taken, he could do nothing. The sun shone happily down upon the land and would gladly sentence him to death should he step out into its light.

Atemu clenched his fists and, summoning all his strength and courage, stood and looked to the door. There were two choices. One would be to stay in the house, let Yugi be taken away and live on forever. The other, to risk almost certain death and see Yugi again for just a few moments.

It did not take him long to decide.

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Yugi struggled vainly against the chains that held him to the wall of the cell, though he knew in the back of his mind that it wouldn't do him any good. And even if he did escape the chains, he would somehow have to get out of the cell, get past the jailers and then out of the town. With a sigh Yugi slumped against the wall, exhaustion and hopelessness taking their toll on him.

Without much of a trial, the town court had declared him to be a maniacal, incurable witch who must be burned as soon as possible in order to rid the town of both him and the "monster" in the forest. Something had been said about a pact between the two of them that would make the monster die when he did. Who had given them that idea, Yugi didn't know. They had barely let Yugi talk at all through the whole trial, so it had been impossible to even begin to protest the ridiculous charges.

Yugi had also seen his father in the back of the courthouse, but he had said nothing in his son's defense. In fact, when he was called on as a witness, he regaled the courtroom with made-up stories about the awful things that Yugi's "witchcraft" had plagued his house with. But, what really shocked Yugi was that he suspected that Yugi's mother's death had been caused by her son.

In that moment, Yugi finally understood his father's abuse. It had never been clear to him before what he had done to make his father hate him so, but now he knew. His father blamed him for his mother's death. At that point Yugi bowed his head and simply sat there for the rest of the trial.

Eventually the trial had ended in him being sentenced to be burned that evening and he was taken to the prison cell that he was currently in. His wrists were shackled to the wall so that he couldn't even hug himself against the damp cold.

Yugi's thoughts wandered to Atemu. Did he even know that Yugi was gone? Would he dare risk the deadly sunlight to come save him? Even if Atemu tried to wait for dusk Yugi would probably be dead by then, as the execution was scheduled for just before sunset. Despair welled up inside of Yugi as he searched for some form of hope, but he found none. After all that he had gone through, after finally finding a home and someone that truly loved him, he was going to be burned to death in front of a crowd of paranoia-crazed townsfolk.

Yugi's head snapped up as he heard footsteps, and suddenly two of the burly jailers appeared outside the cell. They came into the cell and unchained Yugi, then unceremoniously dragged him out of the jail and into the late evening sunlight. Looking up, Yugi could see the center of the square where bundles of dried grass and tree branches had been stacked on a hastily-built platform. In the center of the pile was a tall wooden stake, like in the ancient witch hunter stories that Yugi had heard when he was younger.

A knot of fear tightened painfully in Yugi's stomach and he struggled against the jailers in momentary panic. Nearly the entire town had gathered in the square, which hadn't been made for so many people all at once, so the two men had to push through the packed crowd to get to the designated point of Yugi's execution.

The noise of the crowd was overwhelming; only a few angry insults were distinguishable from the chaotic roar. They approached the wooden platform and Yugi's struggled even harder. He managed to kick one of the men in the stomach so that he doubled over and let go of Yugi, but the other jailer twisted his arm behind his back and forced him towards the stake.

Yugi was promptly tied to the stake amidst the bundles of sticks and grass. The jailers pulled the ropes so tight that it was difficult for Yugi to breathe. Then, an important-looking man that Yugi recognized as the town's chief representative stood on a corner of the platform and began a long-winded speech about the burdensome yet glorious duty of eradicating evil from the world.

Yugi didn't pay much attention. He watched the sunset, wishing that the sun would sink beneath the horizon faster. The closer it was to nightfall, the more likely it was that Atemu would be able to rescue him.

His eyes scanned the crowd, but he only saw angry and hateful faces until a familiar person caught his eye. Mai was shouting angrily, but unlike the rest of the crowd her anger wasn't directed at Yugi. Her cries were of protest and, although she wasn't really getting anywhere, Mai was trying to push through the crowd towards Yugi. Yugi almost laughed when he saw her sock a man almost twice her size in the nose when he wouldn't get out of her way.

But, Mai's efforts were in vain, Yugi realized, as the crowd's roar intensified. He turned his attention back to the long-winded councilman and Yugi saw a man dressed in black approach with a burning torch in one hand. Yugi's heart sank into his stomach. This was it. If Atemu didn't come now, then Yugi was doomed.

"…and our righteousness shall prevail over evil!" the councilman finally finished his speech. With that, the executioner set the torch to one of the stick bundles and the flames leapt up towards the sky and spread across the dry grass.

Yugi struggled in panic, feeling the heat of the fire on his skin as the flames crept closer. The smoke began to sting his eyes and coughing fits wracked his body. Looking out through the dark smoke he could faintly see Mai who had stopped struggling against the crowd and was watching in horror. Yugi tried to call out, not really knowing what he was going to say, but the smoke stole away his breath. The people's shouting became a faraway echo and his vision blurred into a mass of shapes and dim light. He gave one last desperate pull at his bonds, saw crimson eyes beckon to him, and then he tumbled into darkness.

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The crowd cheered as Yugi's form fell limp and a great column of smoke rose toward the twilight sky. Mai looked away as tears coursed down her face.

Suddenly, a cold wind rushed through the streets of the town. The crowd was thrown into chaos, and in only seconds the flames were extinguished. A stunned silence fell over the square. As quickly as the wind had come, a human-like shadow swept over the crowd to where Yugi lay lifeless. A knife cut the binding ropes. The shadow turned to face the crowd, the unconscious Yugi cradled in his arms. He raised his hand for a mere moment while the crowd still stared in shock.

Suddenly, the square erupted in screams. The boys that had tied Yugi up in the forest cried that there were monsters all around them. A girl that had always picked on Yugi at school screamed that there were rats chasing after her. Yugi's father stood staring for a few moments in silence, blinked, then fell to his knees and begged whatever heavenly deity would listen for mercy. And, for the next 100 days, every person in the town that had ever raised hand or thought against Yugi would see their worst fear every time they closed their eyes.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the shadow disappeared from the town along with Yugi as the sun sank beneath the horizon.

A/N: Well, that all seems pretty cut and dried, doesn't it? Atemu saved Yugi and all the baddies got theirs, so now it's time for the happily ever after. Or is it? Review, please!