A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm a little unsettled about this chapter. I should warn you now that I'm putting a warning up and please pay attention to it so that no one gets unnecessarily upset. In light of that, it doesn't sound very good for me to say enjoy, but… well, go for it.

Warning: Suicide and character death. Be advised.

Instead of down, Change of Heart was leading them up... and out. Even though he had disliked being inside of the castle, Yuugi didn't like the thought of leaving it, and he could tell that the others felt the same way. He felt apprehensive about being out in the middle of Illusion Forest. It didn't look like a very nice place. But Ryou was willing to believe his sister/partner when she said that she knew where Hafiz was, and really, there was no reason to disbelieve her when she told them that she had been pretending to be on Hafiz's side for the past few years in order to keep a close eye on him. However, it didn't escape Yuugi's notice that Bakura and Yami exchanged significant looks at that and that both of them were keeping a close eye on her.

Shortly before they would have left, Shizuka, Mokuba and Isis joined them, bringing along the report of Anzu and Mai and how the two of them were resting upstairs and would later try to make their way safely from the castle. Now that their group was mostly all together, Yuugi could see that most of them had been wounded in some way, and they were all tired. He wasn't exactly inspired, but one way or another, this fight was going to end, he could tell that much. Yami and Bakura took the lead behind Change of Heart and he walked towards the middle of the group with Malik and Ryou, leaving the others to surround them in a loose circle.

"Are you okay?" he muttered to Malik. His friend was pale and didn't seem to be overly stable on his feet. Yuugi knew it had to be affecting him poorly to be around Hafiz all the time, but there was nothing they could do about that for the time being.

"I'm fine. It's not me I'm worried about." Malik sent a quick glance towards Ryou, who wasn't paying attention to their conversation in the slightest. All of his attention had been focused on Amane, Change of Heart, and a bomb could have gone off beside him and he wouldn't have noticed. He was basking in her every word like a little child. "Do you know her, Yuugi?"

"Kind of." Yuugi looked up, staring curiously at the girl's back. "Ryou and I weren't very close at the time, but I saw her once or twice when she came to pick Ryou up from school. She was nice." Brisk, like most older siblings were, and she'd usually treated Ryou like he was several years younger than he was, but the love between them had been evident to anyone who took the time to look. "They really cared about each other. I think that car crash almost took Ryou in more ways than one."

He'd met Ryou shortly before the fateful car crash that had taken Bakura Amane's and Emiko's lives. It had been a very painful time for Ryou, as he had been in the car with his mother and sister. Because he had been in the back seat, he had been the sole survivor, suffering only a broken leg and fractured ribs. They didn't speak about it much, but he found it hard to forget the look of utter pain that had come over Ryou's face when he found out about his family, and after that the white-haired boy had fallen into a deep depression that took him years to recover from, and Osamu's reaction had not helped the matter. No wonder Ryou was so happy to see that Amane was alive again.

But at the same time… something about the situation wasn't sitting right. He frowned as Change of Heart led them outside through a door that none of them had been through yet. She was heading towards a courtyard of some kind that was bordered by the sea on one side, the castle on another and the forest on the rest. "I don't know. She seems different, but I didn't know her that well in the first place. And the duel monster she is…" he trailed off and dropped his voice, unconsciously edging closer to Malik. "Change of Heart is notorious for being a troublemaker. You can't trust it because it plays both sides."

Literally, the second he finished speaking, there was an explosion in the distance. Yuugi jumped and looked ahead to see that Pegasus was waiting for them on the courtyard, arms crossed, regarding them calmly. The "explosion" had been the sound of the air being torn apart as multiple duel monsters materialized at the same time. Only… they didn't look like normal duel monsters. He frowned in confusion at their almost cartoon-like appearance. Certainly none of them looked dangerous, though he had no doubt that they were.

"Pegasus!" Yami shouted, coming to a stop.

"Hello, Pharaoh," Pegasus greeted with a tilt of his head. "It's so kind of you to join me. I know you've been looking forward to a battle for so long, and you must think me very rude for keeping you waiting." A small smile lit his face and he tapped the side of his head where the Millennium Eye was located. "Oh, but that's not what you're thinking at all, is it? Tsk tsk, my boy. You'll taint your hikari if you let yourself lose your temper like that."

Yami visibly stiffened. "Do not even pretend to trouble yourself with my light, Pegasus," he hissed. "Yuugi is not and never will be your concern."

"Hmm, pity. I believe he and my yami had a great deal of fun together." Was it Yuugi's imagination, or did Shizuka, Isis and Mokuba collectively tense at the comment? If Pegasus noticed, he gave no indication as he added, "Besides, you are the ones who are here, on my property. That means you're my guests and technically, you are my concern. I'd hate to be seen as a poor host."

"Dark Magician -"

"Stop!" Seto's hand shot out and he gripped Yami's shoulder tightly, stopping the command before it could fully form. "There is something wrong, Yami."

Before Yami could respond, Shizuka stepped forward. "Pegasus, please listen to me," she cried. Her hand went to her chest where there was a small golden globe hanging off of a gold chain. "Your wife really is Mai's sister. Mai wasn't lying to you. We were telling you the truth about everything."

Bakura stiffened. "What?" he demanded, spinning around to face Shizuka.

She looked at him briefly, apology written into her features, before she returned her glance to Pegasus. "Hafiz hasn't been telling you the truth, Pegasus. No force in this world can bring Cecelia back to you no matter how much you miss her. He told you that the Millennium Items had that kind of power because he wanted your help in collecting them. He couldn't do it on his own. You have to stop this. You're doing exactly what he wants."

Pegasus glared at her. "What do you know?" he hissed, his show of bravado fading temporarily. "You children are all alike. You don't know what it's like to lose someone. My yami - "

"He's not your yami!" Shizuka practically yelled, stamping her foot. "Why don't you listen to me? What is it about that man that makes you want to stick up for him? He doesn't treat you well. He abandoned you to fight all of us!" She waved a hand at her friends. "Do you honestly think you can win, Pegasus? Against three owners of the Millennium Items? Against the Pharaoh?" Her voice was filled with derision and she shook her head. "Even Hafiz hesitates to face us because he knows he can't win. That's why he sent you down here. He's nothing but a coward and he's hiding behind you."

The silver-haired man actually wavered. He looked at Yami and then back at Shizuka. "No, it's all a part of his plan."

"There is no plan," she whispered. "He's lying to you. He always has been lying to you. Cecelia isn't coming back. Look, I'll prove to you that what Mai said is true and maybe then you'll believe me about the rest." She pulled the necklace off and held it up, sliding a nail into the tiny gap. It opened easily, projecting the picture into the air. Pegasus's eye went wide and Bakura paled.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, stunned.

"It was in a cloak upstairs," Shizuka replied softly, caught off guard. "We found it when we were searching through Cecelia's things."

Bakura stepped forward, eyes focused on the picture, jaw clenching tightly. Ryou blinked, losing all interest in Amane, as he turned and looked at his yami. He'd never felt that kind of emotion coming from Bakura. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, glancing at the image. "She was your cousin too, right?"

"Yes. I haven't seen her in years," the older boy answered quietly. He remembered that day. It was shortly after his parents had been killed and he'd been taken to live with his aunt and uncle. Cecelia and Mai had been so receptive to having him there. They'd taken to acting like his older sisters in no time at all, and that trip to a summer resort was one of the few positive memories he had of his childhood. Seeing it again made him feel strange. He hadn't thought of Cecelia in years, not since she had left.

"She died," Shizuka told him, sympathy flashing across her face. "But she never forgot about you or Mai. She wore this around her neck all the time. It was even visible in a portrait that she had commissioned shortly before her death."

"I used to ask Cecelia what was inside that locket." Without her notice, Pegasus had come closer. His haunted gaze was locked onto the image. "She used to laugh and tell me that it was one of her favourite memories, and she always promised to show me one day. But then she died and I thought…" He wavered. "I thought it might be of me and her."

"Do you see?" Mokuba asked. "Mai was telling you the truth. She's your sister-in-law, and Bakura is your cousin-in-law."

"Do not ever call me that again," Bakura muttered.

Pegasus stared at the locket for several minutes in silence. To be honest, the oldest girl in the image did look an awful lot like Cecelia. But if that was her, then... He looked at Bakura, seeing the obvious familiarity between him and the white-haired child in the picture, and shook his head. No. It couldn't be true. Hafiz wasn't lying; he couldn't be lying. "No, this doesn't prove anything. That could be anyone. There's no proof!"

"Are you crazy? This is totally proof!" Mokuba exclaimed, beyond frustrated. "Why won't you listen to us? We're trying to help you. Hafiz has taken over your whole castle and he obviously doesn't treat you very well." No one could miss the vivid bruises that had mysteriously appeared on Pegasus's chin, including four on the right side of his jaw and one on the left side that looked suspiciously like finger and thumb impressions. "Pegasus, please."

"Shut up. Attack!" Pegasus shouted at the duel monsters.

After that, it was chaos. Yuugi was vaguely aware of everything around him exploding into motion. Malik grabbed him by the arm and hauled him across the courtyard, heading for the side where it would hopefully be safer as battle raged around them. He craned his neck, searching for Ryou, but he couldn't see anything. Brightly coloured flashes of light were flying in every direction as duel monsters clashed in battle. Dark Magician flew over their heads, pursued by something that looked a little like a cartoon version of Maiden of the Moonlight. Yuugi shuddered and increased his pace, running at full tilt beside Malik, knowing that getting out of the danger zone was the best thing that the two of them could do.

"Get down!" Malik shouted at him, dropping to his knees even as he spoke. Something – Yuugi didn't really want to know what it was – flew over their heads and over the side, down the cliff and into the water below. He heard the distant splash and winced as his knees hit the stone, scraping painfully.

Then – someone was standing over them.

Pegasus.

Malik tensed, eyes automatically darting around in search of his yami. But everyone seemed to be occupied by the fight. He looked up at Pegasus and narrowed his eyes, sitting back on his heels in an effort to appear less weak. "What do you want?" he demanded, one hand coming up protectively in front of Yuugi. He didn't know much about using that odd power that had helped him when Hafiz was trying to attack, as it seemed to be more of an inborn reaction than anything else, but he knew he'd had more practice than Yuugi.

"Your yami." There was an oddly blank look in Pegasus's eyes, like he wasn't all there.

"What about him?" Yuugi asked hesitantly. This was a man who had helped to cause him untold pain. He hadn't forgotten that while Hafiz had shocked him, Pegasus had stood by and done nothing but watch, like it was something he saw everyday. For all Yuugi knew, it was. Pegasus was a dangerous man even if he wasn't quite at the calibre that Hafiz was, and he couldn't help tensing when the man took a step towards the two of them.

"My yami," said Pegasus. The words were spoken flatly and Malik and Yuugi exchanged confused looks, neither of them quite sure what Pegasus was trying to say. Both of them jumped when the man suddenly slumped to his knees, one hand lifting to touch the Millennium Eye. He brushed the curtain of silvery hair back to reveal the golden object and tilted his head upwards.

It was a strange feeling, like the curious brush of something very soft and tentative against his mind. Yuugi inhaled sharply, startled by the touch, and closed his eyes without thinking. The touch continued into his head, probing his thoughts, skirting by the bond with his other half as though afraid the bond might leap up and try to bite him. He knew that Pegasus was seeing what was in his mind, but somehow, it wasn't as instrusive as he would have expected, and he relaxed a little, not protesting when the touch probed further, into the memories he had been trying so hard to forget. Just as an image of Mai flickered across his mind, the touch retreated with a gasp on Pegasus's part.

Yuugi looked up, wondering what had stopped the assault, and was startled to see that it was Bakura. The older boy was standing between Malik and Yuugi and Pegasus, one hand curled into the lapel of Pegasus's red suit. He had physically broken the connection between the two of them by stepping in front of the boys, and now he was forcing Pegasus to meet his eyes. "Go on," he said coldly. "I want you to see how foolish you've been. Read my mind. I dare you."

Pegasus narrowed his visible eye slightly. "I could destroy you," he said thoughtfully. "The Millennium Eye allows me to see what's in your mind, but if I really wanted to... And your precious ring wouldn't be able to protect you even if you possessed it."

"Just do it," Bakura said tightly.

The silvery hair tipped back as Pegasus looked up into Bakura's eyes. Yuugi felt the tension rise in the air, humming with an almost visible strain as Bakura's breath caught and his eyes narrowed. For several long moments, neither he or Pegasus so much as breathed, and he wondered what Bakura was showing Pegasus, what he wanted the demented man to see. Whatever it was, it must have been effective, because Pegasus gave a stuttered gasp and started to jerk his head away. Instantly, Bakura's hand flashed out and he caught Pegasus by the hair, preventing him from looking away. He stepped forward and leaned down, bringing their faces together, forcing Pegasus to maintain the contact until the older man couldn't stand it anymore and thrashed.

"Please, no more," he cried out, hands trembling. "No more!"

"You know what the truth is." Bakura released him and stepped back, still standing in front of Yuugi and Malik in a way that could only be described as protective. "Don't try to lie to yourself, not anymore. Cecelia deserved better than that."

"No," he whispered, clutching at his head. "No, it can't be true! It can't!"

"Pegasus." Like a divine angel appearing from the heavens, Shizuka came out of the melee and knelt in front of him. She was holding Cecelia's locket. "Hafiz is not your yami. Isis-san was alive back then, back in Egypt, and she knows. He's been lying to you all this time. I'm sorry." Gently, she pried one of his hands from his hair and dropped the locket into his palm. "Cecelia is never coming back. She's dead and the power of the Millennium Items won't change that."

"A lie." Pegasus looked down at the locket for several minutes without speaking. His mind was whirling from all that he had watched. Bakura's memories were like a slow, sticky poison, coating every encounter that he had ever had with Hafiz, forcing him to see that Mai had been telling the truth. She really was Cecelia's sister and Bakura was their cousin; they had grown up together before Cecelia went away with her mother. He tried to take a deep breath and failed, instead coughing weakly as his lungs struggled to take in air.

If that was true, what else might be true? The thought that had been building in his mind for weeks was suddenly at the forefront and no matter what he did, he couldn't push it away. Pegasus had gone on a rampage after losing Cecelia. He had thrown himself into magic, into the supernatural, all in the hopes of finding something - anything - that would bring her back to him. Stumbling across the legend of the Millennium Items had been like a gift from the heavens themselves, and he had immediately wanted to procure them for his own use. He could still remember the day he had found the cave, the day that man had shown up and forced him to carve out a spot for the Millennium Eye. One of the worst days of his life, as the ability gained from the power of the Eye had nearly driven him mad afterwards, and the other Items had slipped out of his hands, never to be seen until they had made their way into the hands of their owners.

He glanced up, studying their faces, searching for a truth that he was beginning to realize was something he might not want to face. He'd been in so much pain after the Millennium Eye had been affixed into place that he'd fallen into a fever. Apparently, he had only just survived being taken from the tomb and being brought back into the city. His doctor had told him repeatedly that he had nearly died, and although Pegasus had never told anyone, he had a vague recollection that once or twice he might have seen his precious Cecelia. Sometimes when he closed his eyes he could remember a touch on his cheek that felt as soft as a feather, accompanied by the sticky sweet scent of Cecelia's favourite lilac and honey perfume. It had taken days for him to recover from the fever and longer still before he had felt up to doing anything except lying in bed and trying not to cry as the thoughts and images of the minds of everyone around him assaulted him continuously.

Waking up to find Hafiz standing over him had seemed like another gift from the gods. The man had been surprisingly calm and patient in the face of Pegasus's pain, treating him much like any man would a son. He'd had remedies that worked for the pain where modern medicine had failed, and eventually Pegasus had dismissed his team of doctors against their advice in favour of leaving his care in Hafiz's more talented hands. As soon as they were alone, Hafiz had begun telling him more stories about the Millennium Items and what they could do. He had learned about the young pharaoh who possessed the Millennium Puzzle and how the Items had come into being. The stories still raged through his mind ever now. Hafiz had urged him to consider collecting the ideas, promising that Cecelia's return was only a short time away.

He'd believed it. Foolishly, perhaps, but he'd been so desperate for anything that might give him a chance. Hafiz had taken control of a large portion of his fortune and men to track the Items down. It proved to be easier said than done, but it was a fight Hafiz was expecting. Every time Pegasus grew despondent, he had perked the younger man up. Pegasus buried his face in his hands with raw gasp, remembering the first time Hafiz had talked about the unique relationship between a yami and hikari, dropping hints all over the place that that was what they were. He remembered jumping at the idea, so eager for somewhere to belong that he had never stopped to question that it was Cecelia who completed him, not Hafiz.

Realization struck hard and he pulled his hands away, staring down at his palms and Cecelia's locket blankly. Could it really be true that all this time, Hafiz had been lying to him? Had he been hurting people for no reason? Mai's words floated across his mind again and he squeezed his eye shut, a sob catching in his throat. All this time, all that pain, and it had been for nothing. Cecelia was not coming back and nothing he did would ever change that. Hafiz had been lying to him from day one and he had been helping the man gain power so that he could go on to hurt even more people. The thought turned his stomach and he gagged, fighting back the urge to throw up.

"Lies. It was all lies," he whispered. Suspicions had been building in his mind for months, but he had always refused to look them straight on, too afraid to find out the truth. Too afraid that it might be true, that Hafiz was power-hungry, that death was the one who had won in the end by keeping Cecelia from him. There was only one way that they would be together now.

He looked up again, beyond the others, towards the battle that was raging in the middle of the courtyard. Had he played right into Hafiz's plans? "Stop," he uttered, trying to get to his feet. His knees crumbled underneath him, but incredibly, Shizuka and Bakura each grabbed one of his arms and lifted him to his feet, keeping him there when his legs would have given out again. "Stop!"

The duel monsters weren't listening. Pegasus hissed under his breath and drew on his shadow magic. It had always been sparse; a source of disappointment for Hafiz, who had once claimed that he couldn't understand why his hikari would have such a pitiful amount of magic. A grim smile crossed Pegasus's lips. He would show his "yami" what he could do with even a meagre amount of power. Grimly, he searched for the bonds that ran from him to his duel monsters, and once he had found them, he gathered them into the palm of his hand before squeezing tightly. Sweat ran down his cheeks and his vision flashed in and out, but he held on, cutting off their source of energy and refusing to let go even when the backlash hurt so much he wanted to scream in agony. Gradually, one by one, his duel monsters let go of their hold on the world and faded out of existence, returning to the Shadow Realm, until the only creatures that remained were those that Hafiz had summoned. They had never listened to Pegasus before and he doubted they would now.

However, it left the battle more evenly sided, giving the children a chance to rest. He could see the way they looked at him, the suspicion in their eyes, and it made him sick to think about the trouble he had caused for them. If only he had opened himself up to the truth earlier… but it had been so much easier to be selfish, to think only of himself and Cecelia and the future he wanted so desperately that had been torn from the so cruelly. Instead of trying to move on, he had ignored the world, clinging desperately to the past, and in the process caused many people irreparable damage.

"I'm sorry," Pegasus said, hanging his head. He was so tired, and so disgusted with himself. It was one thing to be ignorant of what was going on, but it was a whole other thing entirely to willingly turn a blind eye. Even now, he didn't know the full list of things Hafiz had done, but it was enough to know even a few of them, to know that he had stood by and let so much happen. What he had done… what they had done… was unforgiveable.

"Pegasus…" Yami's eyes were narrowed slightly as he struggled to figure out where this was going. He didn't trust the man in front of them, not one bit. Pegasus was too dangerous and had proven in the past that he couldn't be trusted. "What are you doing?"

"I…" His voice trailed off. What was he doing? Slowly, his gaze fell to the locket he still held in his hand. All he had ever wanted was to be with Cecelia. After her death he had latched onto Hafiz, so grief stricken and desperate that he never stopped to think about the differences between them, why Hafiz made him feel worse while Cecelia had only ever given him hope. Hafiz could not complete him. No one could. She was the only one he wanted. There was nothing else for him in this world.

Shizuka must have read the intent in his face, because her hands tightened around his arm. Gently but firmly, Pegasus pushed both her and Malik away. "Thank you," he said, dropping the locket back into her hand. "Thank you for making me see the truth even when I fought you every step of the way. I'm sorry."

"Pegasus…" she whispered, her face lined with tears.

He smiled at her weakly, knowing that he could not explain: could not describe how he was broken and empty and that there was nothing left to live for. He had tried and he had failed and now he was done, and his last gift to the world, even if it was worth nothing in comparison to the things he had done, was to make sure that Hafiz would never get his hands on the full set of the Millennium Items. The Millennium Eye burned as he turned and ran towards the edge of the cliff, ignoring the startled cries behind him. He ran and he jumped, flinging his body off the side without a beat of regret, the wind rushing through his hair as the sea rose up to swallow him.

And he imagined, just for a minute, that he could smell lilac and honey on the air.

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