And now the quick downward spiral.

Kat stripped Atem of his duel disk, smashing it onto the ground. She then redirected her gaze over to his opponent, ignoring her brother's panicked shouts of 'Get everyone out of here!' as he rushed towards her.

The people standing witness meant nothing to her. The only one that mattered was him. The face before her momentarily flashed to one she remembered, but that flash was enough to convince her that Atem had lied.

'Even after EVERYTHING…he still tries to keep him a secret from me!'

Her feet moved of their own accord, stalking her prey.

'YOU took Atem from me once! I'll not allow it again!'

A loud, electronic screech seared through her mind, causing her to stop and grasp her head in pain. She glanced towards its source…and the one holding it. Her pulse raced faster as her rage intensified, heat coursing through her and awaiting direction. Another sound followed, a soothing melody that resonated with a portion of her soul.

No! She would not be placated! She kept her focus on her prey and the way he continued to stare that icy gaze into her amidst the chaos that surrounded them. She rose, and continued forth. Her prey would not escape her.

Strong arms wrapped around from behind, lifting her off the ground while holding tight.

"Ka-ib! You have to calm down!"

"Let go of me." she commanded.

The arms quickly released their hold on her. "I'm out. Kaiba's on his own."

She didn't have to remove her focus to know that several of the bodies that had come to her prey's rescue were no longer inclined to do so. Even the steady increase of the melody in her head had come to an abrupt stop.

She continued forth, her vision blurring to a shade of deep red as the pulsing rhythm of her prey's heart sounded loudly in her ears.

Stop! You must stop! You will undo EVERYTHING!

She internally scoffed at the voice in her head. Her own Isfet dared to try communicating with her after all the millennia it had remained silent? Dared to try stopping her, after millennia of taking over in moments like this?

She was close enough to reach out and grab her prey, the smell of fear enticing. As his eyes widened, the face flashed again, causing her to halt.

What was going on? Why was she so intent on…on…what was she so intent on?

Something deep inside growled, a beast in a cage that asked to be set free. It wanted carnage and destruction. It wanted the world set ablaze. It wanted to stand atop a kingdom of ruin.

This felt oddly familiar. It wasn't like her Isfet, which only hungered for the darkness that lingered within others. This presented itself most often during the heat of battle…though there were occasions such as this where she hadn't even been near a source of militant conflict. Five-thousand years and it was still hard to discern exactly what it was.

An inky wave of darkness descended upon her, the crimson view vanishing entirely and the growling beast suddenly going silent. Instead she stood alone amidst a sea of endless black. No sky. No ground. Just black.

I never thought I would be forced to come here.

Kat stiffened at the deep voice that sounded very much like Atem, but she knew for a fact that it was not.

"I thought for certain you would vanish when Atem came back," she stated bitterly.

He stepped out of the darkness, wearing the same face he'd worn during their repeated encounters over the past five millennia. The same face that felt like a mockery of her repeated failures. The face that removed all evidence of those failures, leaving the tomb barren of anything aside from the body and tablets that resided within.

"Why do you still pretend to be my Atem? Why not finally show me who you really are?"

Does my face truly define who I am to you?

Kat growled low in irritation. "I suppose not. You are obviously some sort of ancient entity that delights in acting like a god."

Perhaps I am.

"Some 'god'," Kat mocked with a smirk. "Couldn't even bring back the dead."

Atem's throne appeared, not-Atem taking a seat while leaning boredly onto an elbow propped fist.

Do you not question why I resorted to coming here?

Kat folded her arms in annoyance. "I do, but seeing you pisses me off. Like I said, I thought you would vanish."

Honestly, I had no intention of allowing you to believe otherwise.

"Well?" Kat asked impatiently. "Are we going to play twenty-thousand questions, or are you going to tell me the reason for this unwelcome visit?"

Not-Atem sighed heavily.

Why are you finding it so difficult to let Atem go? Is this not what you wanted?

"Why do you care?" she spat.

Not-Atem narrowed his eyes.

You're deflecting.

Kat brought her arms down in frustration, making an annoyed sound to match.

"Alright! I just got him back, and now he's leaving! The world isn't the same one he remembers! He knows nothing of living on his own! HE. WILL. DIE. I haven't wasted five-thousand years, a portion of my own essence, and all those lives for that to happen again!"

Not-Atem stared with a studying gaze.

Is that all?

"No, that's not all!" Kat shouted, breathing heavily. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! He was supposed to come back, and we would be together again!" Her jaw quivered. "I-...I would have forgiven him. We were both hurting and upset. Neither of us meant what we said. I forgot that. It was easier to focus on the bitterness I felt. Bitterness leads to anger. Pain…it just leads to more and more…until I can bear it no longer and I become numb instead. I can't stand feeling like a hollow shell."

So what now? Will you go running back?

Kat felt as though a war were raging inside of her.

"I'm torn. I want to go back…but I'm scared. I already know how things will be. The parts that were good…that is what lures me, but the parts that were not…"

…are what keep you away.

Kat nodded.

So why not move forward like you intended? You have someone new in your life that appears to accept you, regardless of your faults.

"It appears that way…" Kat lowered her gaze. "But how long before he becomes like Atem?"

Who is to say that he will?

Kat furled her brow and scoffed while looking away. "There is always a tipping point."

Only if you keep pushing towards it.

"It doesn't help that I haven't the slightest clue as to what I'm doing!" Kat shouted, flinging her arms up in frustration. "I tried to take him out for a special day, and all I did was put him in a sour mood for the first half of it, then took him somewhere dangerous after! Let's not forget the lovely trip to the forest where he was reminded of the fact that I am severely fucked up! Oh, and then there was the Phoenix nest where the immortal bird died!"

Not-Atem smirked in amusement.

You thought the Phoenix literally rose from its own ash?

Kat looked at the fake version of her ex in confusion. "Um….yes?"

Not-Atem threw his head back in a roar of laughter.

Kat rolled her eyes. "Okay, what do you know that I don't?"

Not-Atem calmed his fit, but continued to smile in amusement.

I assure you that the Phoenix has been reborn. It just hasn't risen yet. There is a pause between the two, just like the pause between death and new life.

Kat stared boredly. "What is it with you ancient beings and cryptic messages?"

Not-Atem closed his eyes and casually shook his head before looking her in the eyes while smirking knowingly.

Here's another: Release the weights that are dragging you down. Only then can you swim to the surface of the sea you are drowning in.

Kat was once again confused. "Sea? Swim? What are you talking abou-"

Her feet fell from beneath her as water filled her lungs and blurred her vision of not-Atem. She tried to swim to the surface, where he continued to stare for the briefest moment before vanishing. She couldn't kick her legs, and looking down she saw why.

Holding tight to each leg were Atem and Set, both appearing as she remembered them in the moments just after they'd died. She looked back to the surface, judging how far below it she was based on where the trail of bubbles from her lungs ended. The bubbles appeared to burst through at the surface, but the figures that had suddenly appeared looked as though they were pounding on something solid, attempting to break through.

She tried to squirm and break free from the ghostly visions that were dragging her deeper and deeper, reaching her hands for the surface. She wasn't afraid to die. She was afraid to be stuck in a never ending cycle of dying without a true death. To continuously live while knowing that another agonizing moment was just around the corner. An endless loop of suffering.

The surface faded from her view, the figures having long since vanished. Salt from the tears she shed mixed with the sea of nothingness. No one was coming to her rescue. She would spend eternity alone in the void, only the ghosts in her memories to keep her company.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

"Min-een, what did I tell you?"

Kat quickly opened her eyes to the sound of her Ama-shae's voice, looking up in time to see a hand reach through the darkness as it took hold of hers.

"Habibty! I've got you!"

Kat wasn't certain if the Marik that had appeared before her was real or not, but she felt comforted by his presence nonetheless.

The ghosts tightened their grip on her, pulling her deeper.

"You have to let go! You'll be pulled down too!" Kat cried out in panic, the sound of her own voice surprising her seeing as how only moments before she felt as though she were choking on water.

Marik smiled softly. "It's okay. I knew that before I took your hand. It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"But…you could die…"

"I know," Marik said casually, still smiling.

"So then why-"

"Because you've pushed away everyone else that has tried to save you," Marik interrupted, his face becoming serious. "It's okay. I did it too. It wasn't until I was literally at death's door that I realized what I'd done. Thankfully my brother came to my rescue just in time. You, however, will never know what it's like to stand at that point and be forced to accept the inevitable…and because of this you will continue to push everyone away."

"I push people away so this won't happen!"

"Everyone except for me," Marik stated. "Listen, I made a promise to Atem that when you fell, I'd be there to catch you. So you have two choices, because I'm not letting go. Either you can let me drown with you and add to the weight that's dragging you down…or you can do something about those ghosts so we can reach the surface. The choice is yours."

Kat looked down at the ghosts that stared back at her with empty eyes and vacant expressions. She knew what each represented in her heart. The thought of letting go scared her. How could anyone ask her to let go of those she loved?

Set was dead. There was no bringing him back. It was too much to even hope anymore. So many times she had hoped…only to arrive at another dead-end. All she ever wanted was to see him one more time. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was. She wanted to apologize for all the times he tried to tell her something, only for her to walk away because she didn't want to hear it. Maybe if she had actually stayed and listened, none of this insanity would have happened in the first place.

Those lifeless green eyes continued to bore into her. She would never let go of the other half of her soul. She'd drag the entire world down with her before letting him go.

"Sister! Watch this! I've finally mastered ka summoning! Isn't she amazing! I call her Kisara! Here, I'll teach you how to summon yours!"

She smiled at the memory, and as she did, the ghost of Set became enveloped in light, turning into a small glowing ball that rose up and phased through her chest, nestling itself into her heart.

That's when it occurred to her: She didn't have to let go. She just needed to change how she viewed her ghosts.

She looked at the ghost of Atem. Her Atem was not dead. She'd seen it with her own eyes. But her Atem had asked for freedom, just as she had. It wasn't as if she'd never see him again. He lived and breathed, and a literal part of her would always be with him…in this life, and the next. He wasn't asking to be removed from her life entirely. He just wanted some space to move forward. She could do that…right?

Yes. That was something she could do. It would be hard to not constantly worry about him, especially not knowing how much time he had left in his current life, but that's how mortality worked. Life could be snuffed out at any given moment. It was up to her to make certain the moments until then were filled with heartfelt memories, just like in their first life together.

"Katrina, before you make your decision, I want to show you something. A season past, a visitor from the far north brought this mare as a gift. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her that she was meant for you. She is yours, regardless if you agree to stand beside me or not. I pray that every time you look at her, you are reminded that no matter the distance between us, I will still be thinking of you."

The memory was happy, but there was still a small ache to it. The ache wasn't unbearable, however. It was one that could be pushed aside.

"...no matter the distance between us, I will still be thinking of you."

She took a deep breath, air, not water, filling her lungs. Her heart felt lighter than it had in millennia.

The ghost of Atem smiled up at her, his form becoming encompassed in light just as Set's had. However, instead of forming into a glowing ball, he instead released his hold on her and rose up, hovering before her. He reached out, gently placing a hand on her cheek.

Kat swallowed hard, knowing what came next.

"(When you awaken in Aaru, I'll not be there, but fear not, for I will still be beside you in your heart, as you are in mine.)" she said in the old tongue. Those were the words she would have spoken five-thousand years ago as a widow had he truly died. They weren't a goodbye, but a reassurance of remembrance.

The ghost of Atem came forth and placed a kiss on her other cheek, then let go, vanishing into the darkness.

She stared momentarily at the spot where he'd disappeared. The small ache came back, but a squeeze from the hand that still held hers pushed it away.

Kat looked up at the one who refused to let go.

"Are you ready to swim to the surface?" Marik asked.

Kat smiled softly. "Yeah…I think I am."

'Lost' by Linkin Park fits the 'drowning' scene extremely well.

Due to the fact that I wanted this chapter to post at the same time across both platforms, AO3 is technically a chapter ahead because of how I have the groupings over there. If you want to read chapter 92 early, you'll have to read it over there.