A/N: We're in the home stretch now. Just 1-2 chapters to go. Thank you so much for your patience and all your support. Every single one of your comments has gotten me through this. What started off as just a fun little romance thing I once wanted to make an OG has become an epic tale of love and growth. I hope you all continue to enjoy where this takes you and I sincerely hope you have enjoyed it thus far as I have 3
Atem
I don't like this.
He knows how much I don't like this.
I could have taken him back to the fescue island. I could have taken him to some remote tropical paradise. I could have taken him anywhere else.
But he is stubborn beyond measure Iand impossible to reason with.
"She won't attack an entire shopping centre." He says. "You'll be there to protect me."
He's right, of course. But why he insists on working when we could be literally doing anything else is beyond my understanding.
…
Still. I watch him work and talk cheerfully with customers and he looks positively elated. Bouncing between tasks, expertly navigating his way as if he was born for this job. He's taken little over 2 weeks off work and still it is as if nothing has changed. He talks with customers, they leave happy, he glides across the store as if it is second nature.
I can't deny I'm impressed. I've not seen him work all that much. The first time I came into his store I swept him off his feet. The second time I came into this store was to sweep him onto his boss's desk. But now I stand vigil, scanning every soul that comes near, every being that enters his store and steering clear from any who might stand too close to me.
He had to pick today of all days too. Thursdays are busy days. Longer hours and more people come in on days like today. It is swarming with humans.
But I'll admit: he's in his element. He's happy. Which means he should rest easy tonight. Getting back into our nest will be very relieving to say the least.
Days ago, when I took him to the island with the grass he loves, he spent the entire day in a relaxed, near comatosed state. That night he slept in his bed as soundly as a newborn baby. The next day he was so placid he was happy just to watch the ceiling.
Then the nightmares returned and his stress levels rose. He panicked and his anxiety took a sharp turn even I didn't expect. It took everything just to keep him inside. Even Tea struggled to talk any sense into him. It hurt so much to see him begging on his knees for us to let him out.
But Amar's presence was detected. Tea had chased her out of the city in an attempt to catch her.
Having been locked up for so long I admit I was disappointed to learn she was still hunting, checking for weaknesses and waiting for her chance. I'd dared to hope that Yugi was right and she'd have given up knowing that Tea and I are on full alert.
But it is not Yugi she is ultimately after. It is me. Yugi is just a means to get to me. My strongest weakness… if she hurts him…
She won't. I won't let her anywhere near him. No demon enters this city and approaches my mate without my approval and no demon is worthy of that.
I sense something disturbing nearing. It isn't hostile but it isn't human. It is familiar and uncomfortable and I know her scent too well by now.
I glance at Tea, letting her know I've acknowledged her presence and she comes to politely stand beside me.
"Atem."
"Tea."
"He seems happy." She notes stiffly.
"Yes…" I sigh quietly. I wish he would have agreed to anything else but this. "Any news?"
"A little appreciation would go a long way." She says disapprovingly but she shakes her head all the same. "No. There's no indication of her presence in the city."
"She's too quiet." I mutter, more to myself. I know Daeva's. They are ruthless, relentless and they never cease their hunt. Even protected by every spell we know between us, she should have forced her attack by now. Taking down an entire building to break our protection wouldn't go astray. Possessing someone inconspicuous would be ideal. His landlord perhaps. Luring me out by targeting someone else, like Shadi for example would be my first thought. Trying literally anything rather than occasionally letting herself be found, purely to remind us she's here.
What is she planning? Amar was never intelligent. She was never cunning and wise. She never had any good ideas. They were poorly thought out if thought out at all. She stole any decent ideas from me and used everything she could to get what she wanted.
So why hasn't she done anything yet? Not that I am complaining, but it puts me on edge the longer this farce continues.
"I have spoken to several Faith. They desire to meet with him. To fully understand the visions he's been having they would find it a lot easier if they could see them too and distinguish if they are vision or dream." Tea says and the premis makes the hairs on my arms stand on end.
"I'm not fond of the idea of inviting angels into our nest. With all due respect but angels killed his parents."
"I understand, but it would help immensely to -"
We both stop to acknowledge Yugi approaching us with a patient but less than impressed expression on his face. He greets us with a nod and stiff smile. He's not nervous though.
"Yugi." Tea says happily.
"Tea. How are you?" He asks stiffly. I get the feeling we are in trouble.
"I'm good. How has work been? Are you ready to leave?" She asks and I smile silently to myself. He won't leave. Even if his shift ends, he won't go back to the apartment that easily.
"No. I'm still working. And speaking of work…" He steps closer to us and glances back at his store. "I'm going to have to ask you two to keep a lookout elsewhere."
"Why?" Tea asks automatically.
I had the feeling we were in trouble for something but I'm not letting him out of my sight. I will shadow myself if I need to and hide under the counter. I'm not leaving him at all.
"Because. Half of my customers aren't buying anything because they're smitten with strangers and the other half aren't buying anything because they're horny for strangers. Me alone is one thing, but the two of you is too much for my little store to handle."
I look over the top of him and on closer inspection I see what he means. There's a lot of people here, but they're all hot and bothered for one reason or another, many are flirting and trying to score and almost none of them are looking at the merchandise. Even the customers of the center are walking passed us and double taking. We are in fact emanating something. I'm used to this but … I guess if its disturbing his work. Turning into a shadow won't help. But I could hide in the roof and watch from there.
"Atem." Yugi says and I sheepishly shrug my shoulders at him.
"What?"
"You're not hiding in the roof. You can both go on the roof, but it would be weird if you were in the roof."
"Yugi, if -"
"If anything happens you will both be at my side in seconds, I've no doubt. I'm sure you'd both sense her even if she did enter the center." He argues.
He raises a good point. The moment she enters the city I will know and Tea will too more than likely.
Tea and I share an uneasy look but we both know there's no arguing with him. We don't have to like it but he is right.
"How long is left?" I ask him with a sigh.
He smiles at me happily and checks his watch. "2 hours. Can you handle that?"
I despise his cheek sometimes. He needs to take this more seriously. But we've been through this. Over and over again. Unfortunately as much as our arguments are sound we cannot just keep him chained inside his house.
"Yes. Of course." I say smugly, kicking off the wall to prove it. I'm testing myself here, I know it. With his temper of late feeling his angelic energy under the surface has become a regular occurrence. Were he not held back by his seal I wouldn't dare test his patience like this… I might as well take what I can get for now.
"Atem!" Tea snaps at me but I've already conceded. I agree with her, but Yugi's mind is made up and his wish is my command.
"We won't be far. I trust my reaction time, do you trust yours?" I ask her pointedly. She glares at me, clearly furious but she holds her tongue. She glances between us and then huffs in defeat. "Fine."
"Awesome! I'll see you both in 2 hours then." Yugi says cheerfully. I take that as our que to go and start to turn. "Oh Tea."
I pause and wait curiously. "If anything happens to Atem …"
"I'll do my best to aim for her." Tea says warmly.
"Good, can you also do your best to protect him?"
"I'll be fine." I say but they're both ignoring me.
"For you, Yugi. Yes. I'll protect him."
"Thank you." Yugi smiles sweetly at me and Tea walks pass. I hesitate to follow, lingering because there is something behind his smile. Something… off. Something compelling me to stay against his wishes. His eyes are too kind. He's tired… and afraid. Why?
"Atem?" Tea calls back to me. Yugi gives me a reassuring nod before he turns his back to me.
It's in the way he walks. He is smooth and confident but it all seems a front to me. Has he always stood so tall?
"Atem, let's go." Tea breezes against my arm and I flinch from her touch, but follow all the same. Something about that doesn't sit right with me. I don't know what it is but my nerves are screaming at me to stay by his side. To take him away from this city immediately and ignore his protests.
There was something finite about the way he looked at me then.
I'm just letting my own anxiety get the better of me. I vowed I'd never let him leave my sight. Ever since Amar first showed I've been by his side. It's separation anxiety, that's all this is.
2 hours. 2 hours and I'll have him in my arms again.
Tea and I find a blind spot we can both teleport to the roof in. No human will ever see us here and should they it will not matter. Wingless we appear as they do.
It is a bright sunny day today, cloudless and topped with a gentle breeze. From here we can gaze upon the streets and into office buildings, and listen to the droning chatter of the people below. Traffic noises and the distant sound of sirens add to the atmosphere.
It is too calm.
"I don't like this." Tea says crankily.
"Nor do I." I assent quietly, crouching over the edge like a stone guardian, letting my arms rest upon my knees and my hands hang limply over the edge.
She paces behind me, clearly stressed and anxious. It doesn't do anything to ease my own unease.
"I understand he's restless being cooped up inside. But why is he seeking relief inside a shopping center?"
"I don't know. Something about interacting with people." I sigh boredly.
"He can't do that elsewhere?"
"I have been through this with him. But his mind is made up."
"You're his mate. More than that, you are an Incubus and he is more akin to a nephalim than an angel." She dares turn that tone of voice on me?
"I don't like what you're insinuating. I didn't see you raising your wing to argue with him." I snap at her and she throws her hands in the air in frustration, turning to walking away from me.
"We only have to wait 2 hours. After that we can take him back home."
I laugh at this and shake my head.
"What?" She asks cooly, and while I cannot see her, I feel the ice in her stare.
"He won't go back to the apartment that easily. He intends to see his friends after this."
"And you're going to let him?"
"No. I'm going to protect him. I'm going to guard him. I'm going to ensure that my mate isn't driven insane and I'm going to ensure that every one of his needs are met. Because even if I denied him. Even if I took him back to his apartment against his will and ignored that the bitterness that will come with it, he will find a way out. You said so yourself that he left home with nothing. He will have no issues doing it again. I won't cage him Tea. I won't." I say firmly and with such conviction not even she can find the words to debate me.
She tries. She opens and closes her mouth several times but in the end gives up, and chooses to sit beside me.
"This is a mess." She sighs.
"Yes it is."
We sit in silence a while longer, watching the humans below.
I understand why we are all frustrated. I understand Tea's point of view and I understand Yugi's. Choosing what is right is difficult because I don't even know what right is anymore. Do I deny him his rights in order to protect him and risk losing him in the process? Or do I allow him the opportunity to try and restart our lives and pray that I am able to protect him should it be too dangerous?
If I were Yugi and my options were take life head on or put it on hold indefinitely, I understand why he has chosen to work today.
There must be a better solution to all this. If Amar wants me then I am right here.
I could settle this by returning to Hell myself. I could challenge her, demand the right for a Blood Bond. Should I win that bout I could make her mine. Mine to use to protect us for eternity rather than to let her be free. There would be irony in that. The servant becoming the master.
Should I lose though, it could be so much worse; and she is a great deal stronger than I am.
Yugi would never forgive me.
"We could lure her in. Pretend our guard has dropped. Yugi's at work now. If I were to hide -" Tea started but I shake my head.
"She will know. She would need to watch us for several days to make sure our guards really were down and in that time she'd realise she has much better chances at striking where it hurts. No. I'm convinced that in order to get to me, hurting Yugi will be her most desired option."
"Not Shadi?"
The thought chills me. Shadi is more akin to family if I'm honest. He is the reason I am who I am today… "Should she attack Shadi she will quickly realise he is untouchable."
"He's only human…" Tea says nonchalantly, and I smirk. Because he is, yes. But he's smart.
"Shadi is protected from the influence of all demons but myself. He protected himself a long time ago from the touch or call of a demon when he was very young. The only reason I can touch him is because he burned my sigil in his flesh. I am the only demon who can touch him."
"I see. That doesn't make him impervious."
"No, it doesn't. But it does make him much less desirable. Yugi on the other hand… she knows too much. She knows that he possesses my heart, had I a heart to give."
She falls silent. But it does not last long. I hear the begrudging tone in her voice as she speaks. "You have a heart, Cb. I may not like to admit that I knew less about your kind than I once thought. But I would be a terrible Cupid were I to deny the existence of your heartbeat. Perhaps in your thousands if years it remained dormant, but it does beat for him now regardless."
I'm surprised to hear her say that. Surprised and touched. I didn't expect it at all. This is one those rare moments where the nature of what we are are put aside and we can respect one another. Perhaps, in another life, in another world, we might have been friends.
I feel something. A sharp, dark presence has appeared. Much closer than I'd like.
From inside the building.
Yugi!
One glance at Tea tells me she senses it too and I waste no time with discussion. I jump off the building as a flurry of black smoke surrounds my fall. My strong wings carry me and as soon as it's safe to do so I let my soul follow Yugi's.
I appear outside his store where people are already screaming and running. Many of them tumble of their feet and cower in terror as they see me but I ignore them. Mass panic is not my concern.
Yugi's store is overflowing with black magic but I sense him inside. Amar is here too and my desire for her blood is rising. I must get him to safety first.
I hear several small explosions and glass shattering. The power the center was disrupted upon her arrival but the electricity in the air is sharp. So many people are clammering for an escape but I briskly enter Amar's dark smog.
Electricity crackles and I don't miss the suffocating and oppressing energy that tries to rob me of my ability to breathe and move. But it does visibly clear once I am inside.
"Yugi!" I shout for him and pause upon the sight before me.
Many humans are still within, frozen in time and unable to move within the clear bubble that protects them. In its center is Yugi, panicked and focusing hard on maintaining the small shield he has somehow managed to summon. Standing between him and myself though is a chilling figure I know is Amar's new form.
She was beautiful once. A long time ago. Now… I prefer her shadow.
Tall, lean and dark, thin skin cover what is essentially just her bones. She is strong, no doubt, but her mass is deceptive. She appears sickly now, a once beautiful corpse. Decaying bandages have melded with her flesh and appear stapled to various parts of her body. She wears no clothing for her bandages cover what used to be delicate and supple intimates. Her long black hair is smooth as silk and falls down her back like a waterfall, past her rear to the backs of her knees. Her wings, all bone and leather and frayed, hooked with sharp claws, are spread wide they nearly span the room.
Interestingly she is as still as stone, as the humans are. I cannot pass the bubble, but I know Yugi can. She should be immune to it too, but if he is so strong he has immobilised her as well then I will count my blessing and steal him from under her.
"Yugi, come." I wave him to me and he shakes his head no. I see him struggling. He's terrified to move and buckling under the pressure of maintaining the bubble.
I feel Tea's lighter presence behind me and she gasps. "Yugi…" She breathes quietly. I understand her amazement but now is not the time.
"Yugi, quickly. To me." I beckon again, more urgently. I need him to come here now.
"I can't. If I move she'll be free." He says, his voice tight with the strain.
"Oh that is cute."
Amar's voice is as beautiful as I remember. It doesn't sound as if it has come from the near mummified corpse before me but I know it to be true. She sounds like a siren, all honey smooth and seductive, with the right emphasis on the right vowels.
"You think that your little magic can hold a being like me?"
Her wings move slowly to fold behind her and I see Yugi's fear visibly grow. The bubble shakes and I start to pace impatiently. I need to get to him, right now.
"You're a child, my dear. I have millenia upon you." Amar sings softly. She looks over her shoulder at me, and her once beautiful brown eyes are now hollow and black and oozing with corrupted black blood. She bites her bottom lip, her fang sinking into her plump red lip before she turns her attention back to my mate.
Yugi takes a single, shaking step back from her and the moment he does she moves. Quickly!
She appears before him, takes his throat and slams him high into the wall. I shout his name and lurch forward into the bubble's wall. It bounces me back but a second later it collapses and I instantly sprint forward.
I collide with her back and wrap my arms around her throat and pull. Her wings beat against me but I wrap my legs around her waist and cling to her tightly until she lets him go. For good measure I dig my claws into her leathery skin and with fangs bared bite at her face.
She flinches and tries to shake me off, letting Yugi go in the process. He falls to the ground, coughing and sputtering but at least he's free now.
She manages to get her wing between us and shoves me off her. I roll back but land gracefully, wings flared and teeth bared, and I loud, threatening growl rumbles in my chest accompanied by a venomous hiss.
She faces me, standing tall and defiant as she used to, but she is nothing like the girl I served, like the human I loved once upon a time.
"So eager to land a hand upon your mistress, are you?" She asks me smoothly and it makes my flesh crawl at the thought. How dare this demon steal her name and violate her form.
"You are not the master of me." I say between gritted teeth. I am itching to get at her again. This time to tear out that lovely tongue of hers and make her swallow her words.
She laughs darkly. I see in my peripheral Tea take Yugi and the humans he was protecting are scrambling away from us. If she can take him away from here then I have free reign. I can let this form go and destroy her.
"Tem.." I hear his voice quietly and in the same moment she pounces.
Our claws grasp and entangle, the force behind her pushes us through the wall and screams of terror follow from all directions. We tumble and I kick her stomach, using my wings to gain the upper ground. She snaps at my face with her teeth and I easily move out of the way to sink my own fangs into her shoulder.
Her blood seeps into my mouth and pools and it takes a great deal of resistance not to spit it out. It is thick and black and oily but tastes of metal and rust. Still she screams and that is enough for me to remain latched onto her.
She releases my claw only to scratch at me. Her sharp claws tear at the flesh over my ribs and the pain forces me to let her go. She follows it with another scratch to my face but this time I smack her claw away and put some distance between us. I spit out her blood and it dribbles from chin down my neck, but I'm afraid I don't have the luxury to rid myself of the horrid taste.
She holds her neck, panting and glaring at me furiously. In this form I can only damage her body. Were we shadows I could take chunks out of her soul, dwindle her down to nothing and eviscerate the conglomeration of souls that make her up.
"You're stronger than I thought for a mere Incubus." She notes.
"You threatened my mate. You stole the form of my friend. For those, I care not for how strong you are supposed to be. I will destroy you." I say with a deep voice, ensuring she hears every drop of sincerity.
"Will you? Really?" She cocks her head to the side, smirking and raising a flirtatious brow at me. She is mocking me but a second later she disappears…
And reappears behind me. She kicks my back hard and I fall forward, winded and temporarily unable to move as pain overwhelms my entire body. I writhe and clutch at my sides, coughing painfully and gasping.
"TEM!"
Yugi? Why is he still here?! Tea should have taken him away as soon as she could.
I glance as best as I can to see him trying to get to me but Tea is holding him back and struggling. I don't understand why she hasn't taken him away.
Amar stands over me but she is looking back over her shoulder… at Yugi.
I grab her ankle and my claws rake down her legs, tearing skin to bone but she barely moves. "Don't you dare! Your fight is with me!" I scream at her, trying to fight this pain in my spine to pull her attention to me.
She looks down at me and smirks before she lifts her heel and plunges it down onto my wrist. I feel it snap and shatter and the high pitched yelp of pain that follows tears at my throat. I let her go to grasp at my shattered wrist but then her foot connects to my jaw and I roll a few feet away.
I am in so much pain and I can barely move, but I need to protect him. I need Tea to take him away now.
"TEA!" I manage to scream but I am quickly overcome with coughing and gasping to the point I cannot breathe.
"Your screams are delightful. But what of his?" She crouches beside me and grabs my jaw. She pulls me up only enough to force my direction to him. He's so scared… Tea why won't you take him away?
"He is an interesting little specimen isn't he?" Amar says close to my cheek. She looks at me but I cannot get free of her grasp. "I wonder what secrets his body contains. Do you think his screams will tell me?" She presses a soft kiss to my cheek before she tosses me aside, standing to stalk towards my mate.
"No! No!" I gasp and reach for her but my body is in such agony I can barely stretch out my arm.
Through squinted eyes and a blurred vision I see her approach them. Yugi is fighting to get free of Tea's hold and she just stands there. Unmoving, as if in some kind of trance… how though? Why isn't she leaving with him?
With ease she takes Yugi's wrist from her and Tea she… she collapses. I don't understand what is happening but Yugi is screaming. For Tea, for me, for Amar to let him go. And I can't do anything.
Yugi!
"ATEM!" He screams so loudly it cuts me deep.
Amar smirks at me, holding him close to her with a clawed hand over his mouth and his arms behind his back. He wriggles to get loose but she's too strong for him.
"Say goodbye to your pet." She says sweetly. My breath catches the moment they disappear and I hold my breath, staring widely for an agonizingly long moment.
…
He's gone.
S-she took him. He's not near me… he's… she's taken him to Hell. I can feel it.
Fuck!
FUCK!
"YUGI!" I scream loudly, smacking my fist and head against the tiled ground until my body is overcome with more painful coughing and painful jolts.
I'm… awake.
I'm not in any pain but I hear soft sobs of a woman near me.
I take a deeper breath than usual and pain shoots through my ribs and pushes any air I just breathed in back out in seconds. I start to cough uncontrollably and the pain, oh my lord the pain!
"Shhh, shhhh. It's okay, just try to breathe slowly. Slowly." I know her voice… Tea…
"T-te-"
"Don't talk. Just be still." She hushes me and there is a strange, warm feeling coursing through my body, soothing and relieving the pain I feel.
I can breathe again and for a while I just lay here, breathing while whatever warm energies flow through me.
After a while I swallow and lick my lips before slowly opening my eyes.
Above me Tea is frowning and blinking furiously at the tears that stream down her cheeks. She is holding her hands over me and I can feel this is where the warmth is coming from.
I glance over her and I note that we are no longer at the shopping center. Wherever we are is darker, quieter but we're still on Earth… and I can barely feel Yugi now.
"Yugi…" I try to raise myself but a pair of hands keeps me down as well as a sharp pin up my spine.
"Stay down, my friend. Your body is injured."
I blink away tears and look up to see Shadi over me. I didn't realise he was here. I am so confused.
I hear Tea sniff again and the warmth stops. She wipes her face of the tears thats falling and but I am feeling a little better now. I don't dare to move but she must have healed me a little. It would be tough for her, her magic isn't entirely compatible with my own.
"I'm sorry. I'll continue, I just…" She says between sobs and Shadi gently touches her shoulder.
"Take your time. He'll be okay."
What happened? I ask him telepathically. It is so much easier than talking right now.
He looks to me and smiles sadly. It is sorrowful and filled with bad news.
"Amar got him. I'm sorry my friend." He says quietly.
I am disappointed and heartbroken to hear it, but I did already know. I hoped it was a bad dream but…
I know… where are we? Why are you here?
"Tea regained consciousness and saw you were out cold. The center had been evacuated but police and military were surrounding the area. She brought you to me asking for help. We've been healing you since." He says and I weakly nod.
"I'm sorry, Atem. I'm so sorry." Tea sniffs and leans over to get in my view easier. "I don't know what happened. I managed to get Yugi away but then I couldn't move. I saw everything, I just couldn't move. I couldn't let him go, I couldn't send him away, I couldn't even speak. I just… I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry."
I don't quite understand how Amar managed it, but I do know of spells that can be used to disarm an angel completely. I'm sure a number of things could explain what happened, but it doesn't matter any more.
What matters most right now is getting Yugi back.
"Yugi… we need to get … Yugi." I say weakly. I'm so tired… I can't believe I'm failing him like this.
"We will. We will but you can't do anything like this." She nods and returns to healing me. Immediately the warmth of her magic is soothing. So soothing I almost want to sleep…
"Rest my friend. We will get him back." Shadi says softly, stroking my hair down until the weight of sleep takes me away.
When I wake next it is slow and welcoming. I'm covered in soft blankets and I'm laying upon a soft bed I can sink into. It is comfortable but I fear moving in case the pain flares up again.
But I must. I am alone here and I need to find Yugi…
I stretch carefully, flexing my fingers first. To my relief both of my hands do not hurt. They ache a little but my wrist is no longer broken. I lift my hand next and my arms so I might see them. They're still clawed I see but the good news is that my core does not hurt when I move my arms.
I lower them to my side and wiggle my toes next. I lift my knee. My lower back aches and twinges but it is not something I am worried about. Merely pain from remaining rested for too long.
My neck is next. I turn my head, bring my arm over my body and slowly, carefully twist my spine.
To my great relief I am not in nearly as much pain as I expected. A little, yes, but I can move.
I don't know what kind of magic Tea used but thank her gods she did.
I lift myself up and stretch with more confidence, rolling my shoulders and wings and fanning my feathers. While I do this I notice I am within the safe confines of my own nest, and I am not as alone as I thought.
Tea and Shadi are sitting quietly by the window. It is night and the stars are barely twinkling outside, their radiance blocked by the bright lights of the city below. They are talking softly in whispers and do not notice me sitting up.
I do not know how much time has passed exactly. At least 12 hours…
That is too much time. 12 hours in Amar's care… I can still feel him. So she hasn't killed him… but that is all I know. There's a lot she can do to him without killing him.
"Ah you're awake." Shadi says pleasantly and I offer a tired smile. Tea looks at me but she appears exhausted.
Gently I scoot to the edge of the bed and lay my bare feet upon the black marble tiles. The cold is pleasant to the touch, but it pales in comparison to the weight in my chest.
"How are you feeling?" Tea asks me. Her voice is thick and hoarse; I imagine from crying and fatigue.
"Much better. Thank you." I say softly. I take a moment to adjust my balance. I've no idea how long I've been recovering for but it seems a long while.
I walk over to them and gently sit near them. They turn to include me.
"You were quite injured. I'm sorry if you are still in pain." Tea says quietly.
It is a chilling thing to see her so fragile. She is actually apologising to me. A demon. A demon who vowed he would protect her friend. She spent much of her energy healing my broken body, she does not need to apologize.
"Please, Tea. You healed me. I was in so much pain, I would be in a far worse state were it not for you." I say warmly. She nods, sniffs and looks away out of the window. "How long have I been out for?" I ask.
Tea and Shadi both share an uneasy glance. Shadi is the one who speaks. "It has been almost 2 days."
"2?!" I shriek. Tea flinches and Shadi nods slowly.
2 days…
"Fuck." I curse under my breath and run a hand through my knotted hair. "We have to get Yugi back. Amar will be torturing him. His seal was so close to breaking before he was captured and the things she will do to him -"
I cut my sentence off short because the fear I feel emanating from the both of them is uncomfortable. I look between them and this time it is Shadi's turn to look outside.
"His seal has already broken." Tea's says quietly before she clears her throat. "It broke 3 hours ago."
3 hours…? Oh no.
So I'm too late…
Yugi.
He must be terrified.
What has she done to him?
It doesn't matter.
I need to find him. That's all that matters. I need to find him right now.
I stand up and take a few steps away from them. I won't drag them down to the depths with me.
I told myself I would never go back. I could never go back. I abandoned that life when I chose to flee and I was hunted for it. By spreading one feather in hell I would be alerting them all to my treacherous ass returning.
But my mate is down there and he needs me now more than ever.
"What are you doing?" Shadi asks me.
"I'm going to get him back."
"You can't!" They both stand immediately to stop me but stop short of reaching me.
"You were hardly a match for her. What are you going to do against a legion of demons?" Tea argues angrily.
"My friend, please. I know how much you want to get him back but maybe there is a safer route." Shadi tries reason… but there's no reason here.
"What other devices do we have? He is my mate, I hardly think a host of angels are going to swarm Hell down to the Daeva's ring to fetch him for me."
"Atem -"
"Shadi. Tea. He is my mate. I will be in my element in Hell. Even if I die, I have to try. I need to find him. I will not sit here and wait to think up some plan. I am going after him."
"You've barely healed." Shadi is sweet to try but even he cannot argue with me this time.
"If I wait, I may lose him. And living an eternity without him is too long for me."
They say nothing and while I am … terrified… I am ready. I just need to find him. If I can find him, get to him, I can bring him back earth side and go from there. With any luck Tea will be able to bring him to Heaven where he will be safe. That is a start.
"Tea. When I bring him back, he may need help. Take him to Heaven, protect him. Help him."
She nods and then she stands taller, shoulders squaring. "Call for me. I'm going to Heaven to see if I can't round up some help first."
I am doubtful how successful she will be… but I am just as doubtful, if not more, for how successful I will be.
"My friend." Shadi steps closer and places a hand on my shoulder. He's shaking and I feel his fear. I understand… I am afraid too. "Please… just…"
"I will. Thank you, my brother. For everything." I say, touching his hand and giving it a firm squeeze. I need him to believe in me now. Because I don't know if I can do this. I just know I have to try.
We share a silent moment and then I gently push him aside. One last glance at them and then I close my eyes and feel the magic around me splitting the fabric of reality open behind me. I easily let its pull drag me in and in seconds I am falling.
Further down and further, until gravity is no longer a constant and the oppressive air of the world is the only thing that is.