Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, nor do I claim rights to any of the affiliated characters.
Warnings/Notes: First and foremost I am so sorry for the huge delay in updating. A lot has been going on in my life that has left me in a less-than-inspired mood. Going forward, please be aware of choice language and of (somewhat) graphic mention of bodily injury and distress. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! Usually I would post responses to individual anonymous reviews here, but I have received a ton and don't want to hit you guys with a wall of text before the actual chapter you've been waiting for. That being said, I appreciate every single person who took the time, not only to read chapter twelve, but to comment and express their excitement for the continuation of "The Stockholm Game." You guys are my heroes.
Chapter Thirteen: Fool's Fate
The next two days were full of unrest: monitors he couldn't read, children too exhausted to wake. It seemed Egypt was delaying his research team in any way possible. Deplorable flying conditions had prevented their return to his island for almost a day and a half, and now, the third morning since his phone call with Addison; Duelist Kingdom had plans to stop the long-awaited arrival. The skies had been alive, almost immediately after he'd hung up the phone, with the scathing spray of rain, winds so fast they bent trees in their hundred-year-old perches.
At the time the master of estate thought nothing of it. Powerful, even violent thunderstorms were common on the island. Now, as his trip to the private sanctuary that held his late-wife's portraits was thwarted by sixty mile per hour winds, he was uneasy. It should be snow, not rain this time of year. He noted gravely as he peered out the window of his master suite.
Unable to indulge himself in the perpetual fantasy of bringing her to life; dancing with a painting stool he dressed in blue gowns, he settled for re-framing the bent picture tucked into his mirror. He set it on the dresser. Now, no matter how long the storm lasted, everything was in perfect order for the return of his beloved.
He crossed the room for the door, pausing to let his fingers feel the coolness of metal against warm skin, and then swept out into the castle in pursuit of the infirmary. Croquet was mumbling into a cell phone while smoothing his hair, a passing scan of his mind revealed a team of men working quickly to seal the ventilation shaft Yugi had climbed down in his previous escape attempt. Had he not been so impatiently awaiting Cecelia's return, he might've laughed. The right wing suited his needs to break them, but to raise them? Well, it was positively absurd.
Elaborate bedrooms lined the single third floor hallway to the left of the landing, with a master at the end of the hall for him and Cecelia, and four rooms on either side for the children to pick from, save Tea. The biggest and brightest space, though not by much, had been reserved for pastel stripes of pink against white, a canopy bed with vases of dried flowers on each end table, and a daughter with a heart as tender as the one he had lost so many years ago.
His hand instinctively rose to his chest, but only for a moment before he brushed at his suit dismissively, "When can we expect the research team?" He asked Makoto matter-of-factly.
The man froze, phone in hand, before quickly pocketing the device and turning to face his employer. "They've been unable to give a time sir, getting anywhere near the island is too much of a risk right now."
"Ah," Pegasus drawled, "it's interesting that the storm wasn't reported beforehand, especially with as devastating as it's proved to be. I guess some of them just slip under the radar." He leveled eyes with the elder, holding his gaze in a deadlock.
Makoto shifted nervously, "Yes." He agreed, taking a step backward as if to return to his post.
"So sorry, am I keeping you from something?" There was an unmistakable flutter of laughter in Pegasus's voice.
"Of course not sir, just keeping an eye on the weather, it's almost like something opened up and swallowed us."
"Meteorologists are calling it biblical."
"I don't doubt it."
Pegasus stepped forward, eyes hardening as they held the other's in private conversation, "I'll be with the children, make sure the castle is fully secured. In such a fragile state, I can't afford any more harm to come to them in someone else's negligence."
"If I may ask sir, what's wrong with the children?"
Pegasus froze pointedly, "They're sleeping peacefully, after such a long display of starving themselves – I can't imagine who gave them that idea – they're weak. It will take a while for them to recover under the watchful eye of their father." A flicker of madness stirred in his eyes as a smile played on his lips. Some twisted part of him truly delighted in the idea of being a parent to children old enough to be his siblings.
Christ, his mother didn't love him right. Makoto griped as he nervously occupied his hands with loose strings in his pockets, trying not to lunge for the phone he had so hastily abandoned.
"On the contrary," Pegasus purred as he saw himself off, "my mother loved me unconditionally." He tossed a fistful of something to the floor, letting its pieces scatter noisily along the hardwood, "Take that as an incentive to be on your best behavior, with all the commotion unfolding it would be a shame for something to…happen to you."
Makoto expected to be met with the same mockery he had known from Pegasus for eight years, but found himself in unnerving silence as the man walked with purpose toward the prison of teenagers. All at once he felt sick that he had not done more to help them, Addison could delay the landing as long as he liked, but soon, too soon, Crawford would have what he wanted. Some days he could admit it and others he made excuses, but in the end, he and every single person Pegasus employed became the surrender of young, promising lives.
He inhaled slowly and retrieved the company cellphone from his pocket; it rang three times before directing him to Olivia's voicemail, "Listen." He breathed tersely, "Wherever you are, put your head between your knees and set a course for the island. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can put it behind us." His gaze traveled to the ground in subconscious shame as he moved to snap it shut, it was only then that Pegasus's mysterious offering took shape.
Everything was numb. The phone fell from his hand and clattered to the ground amidst glistening final warnings. On the ground at this feet lay thirty pieces of silver.
"Yugi-boy." Pegasus crooned, running a hand along his small hairline, "What have I told you about making such a fuss?" He chided, voice a soft, soothing baritone. The child at his fingers was unresponsive, like his siblings, he had not stirred from slumber once since his return from the shadow realm. All around him doctors were busily trying to decipher invisible symptoms, little clues hiding behind normal blood pressure and heart rate readings. It had been this way for hours.
"It's nothing to worry about." Pegasus reassured, "He's always been a fragile boy."
The head of his diagnostics team stiffened but did not move closer with the equipment he had prepped, "Sir unless you're positive they haven't taken drugs, we really need to run another screening."
"Are you implying that the first one was flawed?" Pegasus countered, eyes never leaving Yugi's.
Dr. Kimura sighed, his hands tensing before he could will his nerves to relax, "I just want to be sure I've covered all the bases, from what we've gathered over the past few days there is no reason for seven healthy children to fall simultaneously into a coma."
"Is that an observation or an accusation?" Pegasus reared his head to look at the white-cloaked stranger, pressing a hand into Yugi's and rubbing gently.
"Sir I would never imply something so heinous."
"A man of your position should know better than to request worthless testing when time is of the essence. You think I've slipped them something, or you're simply incapable of using sound medical judgment, in either case I would be more than happy to see you relieved of your current position."
Dr. Kimura held up both hands, setting a small set of medical instruments in blue casing on a nearby tray, "They're your children; you make the decisions." He surrendered, "I only wanted to reiterate that if we find a cause for the ailment, the children can be awake and…playing… in a matter of hours."
"Using sympathy to sway me? My, my, how far you've come since your residency days." A dark chuckle passed his lips, "I'm quite interested in what you know that I don't, why would my children be taking drugs, Dr. Kimura?"
"Maybe it was a coping mechanism."
The millennium eye caught the ceiling light, "Maybe it was the flu."
Kimura's shoulders rose with words he was not bold enough to speak, slumping down on exhale as he cursed his cowardice, "Forgive me sir, it may be time to get some sleep and return in the morning." Having treated Tristan and Bakura at the beginning of the hunger strike, it came as no surprise to be on thin ice with his employer, but as a man of science, it was just as clear that normal, healthy teenagers did not descend into an infantile stupor from a week of malnourishment.
Pegasus nodded curtly, a practiced smile alighting his features, "What a wise observation."
Shadows followed the path of Kimura's coat out of the infirmary and into the corridors, which were dim in comparison. As Pegasus chased them absently, he caught the silhouette of his head of security against the door. "Don't beg my pardon," he snapped, waving him in, "tell me what you know."
Croquet cleared his throat, allowing his eyes to focus only on Pegasus's face, "The research team has arrived; it seems Hito and Olivia were injured in transit, their wounds are being treated by a nurse in the staff kitchen. Addison will be in as soon as he can conquer the wind; it's a picture of hell out there."
"Just get them here; if Langley thinks he can withhold half my team because they got knocked around a helicopter, he's lost what was left of his mind."
Croquet bowed politely, "Understood."
Pegasus once again focused his attention on Yugi, though several sleep studies over the course of the day suggested he was having night terrors, his mind was calm and dark when Pegasus infiltrated it. He could feel the boy's heartbeat quicken under his fingers, a steady, spiking rhythm of fear, or anxiety, or guilt. Which, Pegasus could not tell.
Minutes passed like hours as he wove stories of his youth around trembling hands. Yugi moaned and Pegasus talked, slower and softer, desperate to ease his worry. When at last footsteps began to approach, he was praying softly for some sign of Cecelia in the room, a whisper, a moment of tranquility in Yugi.
"It's about time." He crooned, in a soft voice so as not to upset the child he guessed was semi-conscious.
"Forgive me sir." Addison replied, stepping through the threshold of the infirmary and extending a black, loose knit scarf to the taller man.
"What's this?" Pegasus questioned, rising from his seat beside Yugi's bed and eyeing the item impatiently.
"It's necessary for the ritual."
Pegasus nodded firmly, "Then bring it to the study, we'll begin as soon as Hito and Olivia find their way."
Addison worked his tongue around his jaw, clenching his teeth in irritation. One trembling hand was halfway to the gun in his belt, eager to thrust the barrel against his own skull, "Wouldn't it be better to do it here?" He reasoned breathily, "Don't you want the children's first sight to be Cecelia?"
Silence passed between them for a moment as Pegasus's fingers dug themselves into the soft fabric and brought it to his chest, as he balled the material into a single fist, grains of sand spilled out onto the floor. He watched them shimmer against the tile for a moment before he could place the scent of the garment, chamomile, wafting upward, ensnaring him.
"For once in this sorely disappointing endeavor, you have a point." He replied, "Get me the others, and don't make me wait."
"They're injured."
"You're scheming."
They were at an impasse. Langley had been steeling himself for this since the departure from Egypt, but Hito and Olivia were only kept quiet with the waving of a gun. The second they entered the room, Pegasus would be onto them, might even know more than they could about the mysterious legend they were about to test.
"Their injuries are more extensive than we relayed, sir. To be honest with you…we acquired the information from less than conventional sources." He swallowed thickly and tried to force his mircoexpressions to coincide with what he was saying.
"My patience is thin, get to the point."
"We were pursued by a group of thieves while leaving Egypt, Hito and I managed to come away alright, but Olivia has several knife wounds and she needs someone to be with her right now."
He could feel Pegasus sizing him up, dissecting his story, "In which case, we're in the best place imaginable for their company. We shouldn't be treating these things in a kitchen, after all." His voice dropped several octaves as he took a step forward, bridging the gap between their two forms, "Now unless you'd like to see me make use of this gun." His hand flew forward and wrenched the weapon from Addison's person, "I suggest you stop wasting our time."
The elder threw a hand over Pegasus's and jerked hard to gain control, but his master was younger and running on more adrenaline. In an instant he ripped the weapon from between them and tossed it to the ground. As it slid across the tile, two nurses chased it in a panic to be sure it wasn't set off and left to ricochet about the room.
"Enough with the games – "
"A thousand pardons, Master Pegasus." Croquet cut in, his rasping voice rising as much as possible above the commotion, "The rest of the research team has come to join you."
Pegasus's widened gaze found their faces and ushered them in despite their obvious desire to turn and run the other way, "You keep me waiting twenty minutes for a case of cold feet? Just how senile are you?" He snapped, turning his attention to the leader, "A threat of unspeakable danger should be commonplace for you three by now, were you in Egypt or England? For Christ's sake…" To quell his anger he scooped up the abandoned scarf from the floor and began to pace the room in front of the children's beds, "Just get on with this, and try not to scare the little ones."
Addison nodded and began to make his way to the floor, "You'll need to sit across from me sir." He instructed, "With the scarf unraveled and laid across both hands." Pegasus obeyed without question. The black fabric of the scarf glinted in places as he unwound its length and draped it over his hands. Silver thread ran from one frayed end to the other.
"Now, if you'll repeat after me…"
"We give our praise in search of power
to conquer death's untimely hour.
In this pursuit we offer up
the price to taste from Jamshid's cup.
What you take, our hopes refresh,
exchanges of the mortal flesh."
As their voices faded into stillness, the scarf in Pegasus's hand glowed in strands of silver. In the space between he and Addison's crossed legs, a sun dial appeared with a black, shadowed line drawn a small distance away from the moving centerpiece.
"In the window of death's decision
we move with life's swift precision.
Pick carefully, what will be lost
to satisfy the ancient cost."
A length of thread in the scarf took on a blood red hue, and Pegasus shifted slightly in anticipation. Several monitors sounded behind him as the children's heart rates rose, "Can't you wake them up?" He snapped, to which the medical staff retrieved smelling salts, unsuccessfully. "They're frightened." He continued, now setting his sights on the man across from him.
"The energy of the gods will do that to almost anyone." Addison replied numbly, and before Pegasus could continue, gestured to the quickly moving sundial, "There are six parts of the incantation, after each of which a sacrifice must be made. There is no stopping or pausing the proceedings, and once the dial reaches the black line, if you haven't spoken the passage, the offerings will continue to be taken in vain of the final outcome."
"Then recite quickly." Pegasus cut in as the archaeologist opened his mouth to continue.
"Deaf to warnings given you by those who came before, ears will be the price you pay for suffering ignored."
A woman's face, shrouded in black fabric, appeared in the center of the sundial as it froze. While Addison immediately recognized her, Pegasus failed to assign a name to her face. Several moments of quiet stretched on before red coloring crept up the silver thread, staining it. Naeem's mother could not speak, only watch and listen as hysteria rang out across the infirmary.
A shrill beeping sounded behind them, and to Addison's horror, three doctors swarmed Yugi's bed, "What's happening to him?" The youngest cried, holding his convulsing body.
"I have no idea, the pressure in his inner ear must have dropped somehow, if we don't raise it his ear drums will – " blood began to trickle down the side of Yugi's face, punctuating the doctor's words as he rolled the boy on his side to examine the cause of his discomfort. Though still hopelessly entranced in sleep, Yugi's heart rate had soared to cope with pain; his muscles tensing so tightly they mirrored atrophy as behind lidded eyes, a penlight revealed dilated pupils. "God dammit, get him some IV antibiotics, if we missed an inner ear infection because he wasn't awake to notice pain, it might have escalated to – "
"What happened to him?" Pegasus demanded, "What's the matter?"
"His ears drums have ruptured sir, there's a good chance we can prevent deafness if we treat immediately for infection."
"WHAT – "
"Sir, if you move you'll break the ritual." Addison's voice was hoarse from shock, and behind him Hito looked as though he'd taken a blow to the gut, all color had drained from his face and he was rocking back and forth on his knees, "The sacrifices will continue without hope of successful resurrection."
Pegasus glanced to the sun dial. It was moving rapidly toward the line that signaled the end of hope. "What kind of sick game are you playing – those are children!" He thundered, "Whatever needs taken should come from me, you hear, ME!"
The elder's hands tensed to fists, shaking too hard to stay clenched, "I had no idea…" He muttered, "I…I had no idea it would hurt the kids…" A sob settled in his throat, clinging to his insides in a tight ball of regret.
"You are going to end this." Pegasus raved, stabbing a finger accusingly across the threshold, "If it's the last thing you do, you're going to end this right now!"
"I can't." Addison replied meekly, staring down at the sundial to the horrified woman, "Can I?" He asked – begged. "Please…" but she was rendered silent by the contract she had entered into when speaking the incantation. She could not alleviate the suffering she brought; she could only see it unfold, feel the weight of her senseless, projectile vengeance.
"Even if he doesn't speak…" Olivia murmured, "The gods will still take the flesh to revive Cecelia."
"But keep it as their own…as a token of divinity." Hito finished.
Pegasus fought to keep the scarf from falling off his trembling hands, many questions flooded his mind but he did not have the coherency to ask them. Who was this strange woman? Why was she watching his plight? Time ticked loudly away as Addison's eyes found his.
"What should we do?"
The world stopped. A smile cracked across Pegasus's features, "Me?" he whispered with a hoarse laugh, "I'm going to comfort my babies…and you, you should pray Addison, while you still can."
A chill swept through the room as several nurses made their way to the door, unable to bear witness to whatever phenomenon the evening channeled. At their exit, Addison opened his mouth to continue…cursing his own foolishness. The same children he insisted on bringing the ritual back for, would die by his hand…he was no better than the fleeing medical staff. He was their undoing.
"In blindness…" he swallowed thickly as hot tears fell down his face, "In blindness you cling to what has been taken, eyes are the price for the faithless, forsaken…"
The room froze. Pegasus bowed his head in prayer as strands of silver hair obscured his face, his own heart was racing as little Yugi's had been an hour before, when he was holding him…soothing him. "What have I done…" He whispered, fighting with the tears that threatened to leak from his good eye. All this time he had waited for his family to come together…and in the end…he had…he had…
"Where did that come from?" Croquet asked from the entryway, mouth agape at the golden light radiating from Yugi's chest, "What the hell is going on – that puzzle was dismantled." He continued, taking a step forward as he contemplated removing it.
"Stop!" Pegasus ordered, throwing up a hand to emphasize the point. Other Yugi's found a way to protect his host…but can they take life from the lifeless…
The millennium puzzle appeared around Yugi's neck, several missing pieces leaving holes in the artifact. Through the static of their severed mind link, Yami could make out the presence of his young aibou, reeling from the pain of a fresh wound. Though deafened by the first phase of the ritual, he opened his violet eyes to the once shapeless spirit, who had assumed the form of his body again.
"Spirit…" He whispered "what's happening…" his eyes, which burned fiercely, opened to a blinding light as the second entity forced his way into Yugi's bones, entwining their spirits in an ancient prayer or protection. Don't be afraid Yugi, for we are one. Anything the gods mean to take from you, they have already taken from me five thousand years ago. In the law of equivalency, there is no room for seconds…. Before Yugi could question what his partner meant, he felt his mind giving way to the heaviness he had known in the shadow realm, his soul cried out to be relieved the strain of sustaining two life energies, and Yami took over entirely.
The red string replacing silver thread became a darker shade, blood thousands of years old. Yugi's ears had been pieced, there was nothing Yami could do alter that, but if the gods wanted anything else…they had it from his sacrifice many years before. A body was a body, after all.
"What happened?" Pegasus demanded, shaking wildly.
"The dial is moving…" Addison observed in astonishment, "There may be a waiting period between the first infliction and ones that follow, if we hurry, we may be able to minimize the damage…I'm going to continue – "
"Croquet!"
"Yes sir?"
"I want you to hold him."
"What?"
"My son is hurt and afraid, he needs comfort, I want you to hold him!" He roared, "Go over to his bed, gather him into your arms, and don't let him go until this is finished. Is that clear enough?"
Croquet couldn't find the words to argue; wordlessly he crossed the room and sat in the chair at Yugi's bedside. Before he allowed himself to think about how responsible he was for any agony the child would endure in his arms, he pulled him into his chest, as he had Pegasus when he was a boy of his father's estate, and held him loosely.
"I've got him." He croaked, clearing his throat.
Pegasus's body relaxed for a moment, "Then go on."
Addison opened his mouth to finish the incantation without pause, "Hands that held but did not heed, will be the cost of earthly greed. Feet that walked unrighteous paths atone for selfish aftermath, and tongue that twists the sacred word will burn from all lies it herds. The final token you offer to win, a pound of flesh – your human skin."
The centerpiece froze and crumbled, sinking into the sundial as the Arabic woman's face disappeared into tile floor. Pegasus looked to Addison for answers, but there were none to give. Yami Yugi's body began to deteriorate in Croquet's arms, until he was too startled from shock to hold the decomposing form. Instead of falling in a heap to the ground, Yami turned to face Pegasus as the scarf's length of silver thread turned rust brown. Throwing the fabric into Langley's lap, the elder leapt up and spun to face the entity.
He was confronted with an all-too familiar nightmare. A child's eyes were gazing up into his, skin charred and burnt to the bone, lips peeled away to reveal unnaturally bared teeth. His hands were gone, and unlike the figure of his dream, he would be unable to strangle the illusion of Cecelia when she descended from the heavens to be with him. Still – even knowing she was safe from certain second death – he crumbled.
"Yugi-boy," as his knees threatened to buckle he wrapped his arms around the decaying body, unable to part from it, "Tell me you're in there." He pleaded, "Tell Daddy you're okay."
"I am not Yugi Motou, Pegasus." Yami replied as the woman who had kept him company began to appear, in earthly glory, at the center of the room. "He and I are one, but not the same. While I've managed to spare him the pain of his inevitable death, if you should choose to bring back the lady of this castle, he, and I with him, will be gone from this world forever."
"What do you mean, gone forever?" Pegasus cried, rubbing his hands along the mangled form as if to force the life back into it.
"You have completed the ritual." Yami began, knowingly, "You may bring back what once was lost to you, and it will remain for the rest of your days, or you can spare little Yugi, whose life will be lost for your wife's to be earned."
Pegasus gathered the withering body in his arms and turned to face the stunned side of the room that had seen Cecelia's body materialize from the heavens, "My love…" he whispered, cradling the boy, "All of this…can it really be for nothing."
Her eyes met his sadly, "It was never meant to be, not like this."
"But you're finally here with me, all these years I've fought for you!" He exclaimed, reaching dreamily out to touch her, but as his fingers grazed her hand, Yugi's began to disappear in his arms, and the smaller voice cried –
"Why Daddy?"
He recoiled as if he'd been struck, nearly falling over a portable ultrasound. Cecelia turned to face him with reverence, "I missed you, Pegasus, but I never truly left you." She implored, "Please don't let further harm come to these children, I can't watch them suffer for me anymore."
"Cecelia…"
"I'm dead, Pegasus." She told him sternly, "But even in death I have loved you with all of my heart. I look at you now…and I don't know you…I could never know a man to hurt a child."
"Cecelia!" He interjected, "It was all for you darling, every hour of preparation, every temporary moment of despair in their hearts – it will mean nothing when we are together…when they're ours."
"Ours." She repeated, "I thought it once too, when you first brought them home, but they were never ours. I fooled myself into thinking that we could be together again. I missed you and I worried so deeply for you after you took that trip to Egypt. I just wanted you to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted…but not at the expense of a child."
"I won't leave you, Cecelia, that's final."
She fought not to laugh, "That's final." She mocked, "You sound like my father, and you hated my father."
"I can't be without you again, I need you. The children need you."
"You can't be without me, I know that, but if these children are ours to you, if you're telling me you'd ever choose my life over the life of our child…I can be without you."
As soon as the words had left her mouth, true as they were, she regretted them. Pegasus crumpled to the floor, holding Yugi's body as shallow breaths came and went. He couldn't tell if it was the child or the spirit, and he didn't care. If he didn't have Cecelia…if she was not there to be a mother to his children…he was ruined.
"We deserve this family!" He rasped, tears falling freely down his face, "We were children, all you wanted was to get married and be a mother, you deserved that. I wanted you to see my career take off, I wanted you to see me thrive for our family…all of this success is nothing without you. Gods be damned - we didn't ask for much! After all these years of struggling, and scraping, and scouring the earth to find you – "
"Pegasus…" She bent to him, pressing her lips over his own for a moment while keeping a hand on Yugi, so as not take his place on earth, "I loved you with every breath, and I still love you to the bitter end, through all of your mistakes. We deserved the family we always wanted, you're right. We were young, innocent, and in love. But it didn't work out that way, and now we've done horrible things…things we have to atone for every day. You can do that if you keep living, the right way. As much as we deserved to be married and have our own children when we were young, we deserve this end…for what we have done to see that dream through."
"How can you say that? Cecelia!"
She stepped back from him then, "I fell in love with you because you did the right things, even when they were hard and impractical, even when they cost half the money in your father's family line. Don't let that person be wasted in grief, don't have me lose the man I married."
Her lips parted with tears and his vision blurred beyond recognition. With Yugi crying softly in his arms, Pegasus moved a hand to pat his small head reassuringly. She didn't just want him to save the boy…she wanted him to let them go. The children he had worked so hard to raise, and love, and cherish. All these months…wasted. Gone.
He blinked fresh tears to the surface, following the outline of her ball gown. After all the grief he had unknowingly caused her…as much as it pained him to admit it, enough was finally enough.
He wrapped the black scarf around Yugi's neck to signify that he should be saved, and closed his eyes on the scene of his wife's departure. Sobs tore through his body with more potency than ever before, echoing through the largely empty room. He could not see nor hear through them, in reality, he could scarcely remind himself to breathe. He felt the warmth of his wife's kiss one last time, and then, in an instant, knew she was gone.
The illusion of Yugi's tortured body faded to the dimness of the stormy evening, replacing blackened skin with porcelain. He kissed the little forehead in a flood of relief, the weight of losing Cecelia made a bit easier by having another to protect, even for the last few moments he could allow himself to do so. Wide eyes clenched tight in anticipation of seeing for the first time in days, and without thinking, Pegasus stroked Yugi's face to coax them open.
Sadness and peace came in fluctuating waves as violet eyes found amber. A smile glowed across Yugi's features. What was he feeling? Happiness, relief, forgiveness…Pegasus couldn't know. Only one thing weighed on his mind as the boy became fully alert.
They were not his. She did not want them, "not like this," she had said. He worked feeling into his dry, cracked throat, "Croquet…see that the puzzle pieces find their way back here. Solomon Motou will be retrieved in the morning." Even as he said this, even as little Yugi's arms wrapped tight around his shoulders, he was not sure he could ever let them go.
The child squeezed him in a tight embrace, and he remembered the dining hall in their first days, the night in his private study holding an old man's soul card…. If Cecelia could forgive him for taking them in the first place, she could forgive him for keeping them…couldn't she? The damage was already done, wasn't it? He shook his head and returned the boy's kind gesture, too weak to get to his feet and check if the other children were awake. Eventually he would have to probe Yugi for what may or may not remain of his memories. He would have to figure out if the spirit of the puzzle still resided within the boy, and how much of a threat he posed. More urgently than anything else, he would have to determine if keeping these kids, in whatever amnesia-induced state, would render him irredeemable in his wife's eyes. A deep breath pulled through his chest…
Of all the words he had practiced in anticipation of this day…one of them had never been goodbye.
Author's Note: I would like to thank all of you again for sticking with me this far, especially through the long lapse in updating. The original ending for this chapter was a lot more dramatic, but changed as I really thought about the direction of the story. Depending on your feedback and on my overall ability to write the original conclusion of chapter thirteen, you can expect a repost / alternate chapter at some point in the future.
