Disclaimer: must I say it again? Don't own Yugioh.
Author's note: so yeah, I'm updating without many reviews cause I said I'd update twice soooo… no thanks but this:
Aqua girl 007: I know, I was going to use sort of bits and pieces of the Hangover but… (shrugs) as I said, various reasons. And I haven't seen the whole movie, just bits and pieces. PS: I'm reading that story you suggested—so far, I'm really liking it. Thanks for the link!
Well, onward and huzzah.
Decisions
Mahad gently wrapped the wound on Atem's wrist. "I don't understand why it won't heal," he muttered.
Atem didn't reply, but rather sat thinking. He had a bad feelings about all this.
"Pharaoh?" Mahad asked, halting his wrapping momentarily. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking…" he said, "That we shouldn't tell Mana about this. Or Shimon or my parents. Or Isis. They would get worried, and besides, it wasn't a faulty attack. His obvious intent was to harm me, and in that he succeeded, but we have someone to question now and that's all that matters."
"Then what should we tell them?"
Mahad finished wrapping the wound, and at Atem's request, placed a gold cuff to cover it. Atem inspected the wound, thinking. "Tell them it was an attempted attack, but that he didn't succeed," he told him slowly, sliding down from where he sat.
Mahad nodded hesitantly. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, Mahad," the Pharaoh said, "It will heal soon enough."
Night was approaching, and Mahad accompanied Atem to his room. On the way, Atem stopped at Mana's room, knocking quietly, "Mana?"
The door opened faster than he anticipated. He was quickly enveloped in one of Mana's full-body embraces. "Hey, Atem!" she beamed, "Have a fun bachelor's party?"
Atem laughed, "Yes, actually."
"Told ya," she grinned.
"Actually, you didn't tell me anything. You were quite sarcastic on the matter."
"Was I, now?" Hoping down, she just smiled. "Are you heading off to bed?"
Atem nodded, "I just came by to say goodnight."
"Well then, goodnight," she smiled, allowing Atem to kiss her goodnight. "See you in the morning, bright and early."
Atem stroked her cheek before they both turned away. Mahad said nothing throughout the entire conversation, but on their way, Mahad surprised Atem by asking something he hadn't anticipated.
"You love her very much, don't you, Pharaoh?"
Atem looked up at his old friend, and perhaps his most loyal one. His expression was one of deep thought and very serious. Atem nodded, "More than I can say."
Mahad nodded in satisfaction, leaving Atem at his room with a bow. "Sleep well, my King," he said in a low tone.
"And you, Mahad," Atem said, entering his room.
Inside, he blinked tiredly. He removed his shirt and adornments, feelings unusually free. Now all he wore was his kilt, and it felt to relaxing and welcome. He ran his hand through his hair, yawning. He was so tired that he fell asleep almost instantly.
Atem stood in a black place. Purely black. He smelled burning.
Whipping around, he found himself staring at a burning building. Just watching it steam.
Someone came out of the building, stumbling towards him, and instinctively he caught them. It wasn't just instinct that made him do it.
"Yugi!" he exclaimed, supporting the boy. "What happened?"
Yugi shook his head, nearly collapsing as he coughed. He couldn't speak, as much as Atem wished he would. He opened his mouth to speak several times, but couldn't. He was coughing more than anything.
Unexpectedly, he collapsed right there, half conscious. Atem lowered him to the ground, feelings his pulse and finding him breathing, but only just. "Yugi, say something," he pleaded.
He sensed something and looked up to see a man towering over him. An indistinct figure he couldn't quite make out.
"Poor boy," he said without pity, "I guess the heat was too much for him."
"What happened to him?" Atem demanded.
The figure shrugged. "If the heat is too much, you have to get out of the fire," they said simply. "It was too much for him. Can you take the heat, Pharaoh?" but the man answered his own question, "Let me guess—if you can do it to help save someone then the answer is yes."
Atem's brow darkened. "What's going on?"
"This is only a dream, is it not?" the figure asked, "Tell me, is it possible that this is simply a metaphor dream, not really happening, just thought—or is it real? Is that boy in your arms really your friend, or just a thought become real?"
"What do you mean?" the Pharaoh demanded. "This is a dream."
"But who's to say that boy isn't real? How do you know he's not and how do you know he is?"
Atem was rather confused by the whole thing. "Tell me what's going on. I don't need a metaphor. I need the truth."
"Very well," the man said. The burning building disappeared, but Yugi didn't. "You're dreaming, but so is Yugi. The burning building is your crisis. Everyone is inside it. Including little Yugi. Does that clarify anything?"
Atem's eyes narrowed, "You're saying that the building is a metaphor? But Yugi…" he looked down, "Yugi is real?"
"He's still there, isn't he?" the man asked. He shook his head. "Tell me what this all means. What do you think it means?"
"I don't know what it means," Atem growled angrily. "Who are you?"
"A powerful man that you're looking for," the figure told him very carefully, "And we'll meet soon. Don't worry, your little friend Yugi will think this is all a dream—he won't be harmed in any way. Simply shaken."
"Stop toying with him," Atem snarled. "You leave him out of this."
Atem could swear he heard the man smile. "If he's useful to me, he will be involved in this. But you haven't answered my question, Pharaoh—what do you think this means?"
"The burning building, as you said, is the problem. And as you so nicely pointed out, everyone is inside it, including Yugi—so you're telling me that not only is my problem going to escalate, but everyone I care about will be involved."
The man nodded. "I knew you would figure it out. It's not terribly difficult."
"No, it's not," Atem agreed, "And neither is this."
Swiftly, he stood, drew a sword, and swept it through the man's torso.
The shadowed figure disappeared, leaving Atem in a dark place with Yugi lying on the floor half conscious. He returned to the boy's side, shaking him gently. "Yugi," he said softly, "Yugi? Can you hear me?"
Violet eyes opened partially, peering at the indistinct shape over him. "Pharaoh?" he muttered.
Atem touched Yugi arm, "Yugi, everything will be alright. I'll make sure you're safe. I promise."
Before Yugi could reply, the dream faded and disappeared.
Atem opened his eyes, thinking only one thing, and he spoke it now: "Yugi."
His friend would be in trouble because of him.
Again.
"Not this time," he told himself confidently.
Well that's it—kind of short, but hey, I came up with the dream thing on the spot! So like, don't like, love, blah, blah you know. Let me know: review! ^o^
Hey—go hug a stuffed animal and read a book, maybe eat some ice cream—that, is good for you.
-Anevay