LoneWolf16: Yipe! Yes I know I'm late! *sidesteps* *arrow crashes into wall* Eep. Close. May I also remind everyone that this-- *ducks knife* --is a PG-13 fic-- *jumps, missing flaming balls of fire* --involving lots of death as stated-- *runs* --and has been categorized as an angst fic?
Djanil: -_-;;; *sidesteps* *sees papers start to burn due to flaming arrows* Nope, I didn't think so.
LoneWolf16: *ducks* Well, all is concluded in this chapter. *sidesteps* Hope you enjoy! *ducks* I think. I tried adding some humor, but well, you know Combat, never pretty…
Disclaimer: LoneWolf16 does not own YGO. Simple and sweet. Oh, and LoneWolf16 does not own the Princess Bride either from last chapter.
LoneWolf16: -_- It took someone a month to figure it out… *shrugs* Whatever. Onward!
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Chapter Eleven: Epilogue
Yugi cried like a child, mourning over the one being that had always been there for him. Yami had vowed that he'd always be there, an ever-present friend and brother. But now, Yami had paid the ultimate sacrifice of his life so that Yugi and others might live.
None of that helped Yugi.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, wetting the golden ashes that were slowly disappearing. After all, Yami had been a spirit. He left nothing of the physical world behind. There and gone again, like a wisp of memory. The room within Yugi's mind was empty, already shrinking; ripping apart Yugi's heart. Yugi wept until there was nothing left.
There is nothing emptier than the sound of dry crying.
Yugi lifted his head and screamed his pain and grief. "Why? Why did he have to leave?!? By the gods he swore to, why did you let this happen?!?"
The world seemed to circle and focus around Yugi, until what he saw with tear-strained eyes was everything that Mr. Sennen had touched, and everything that Yami had saved. Whispers echoed within his mind.
A slashed corpse in an alleyway…a tiny boy finding a home…
A shattered body, floating away in little pieces…a little girl dancing in the playground…
A blackened blob on a studded hill…a young couple finding love…
Fried remains in a collapsed empire…an old man retelling the old tales…
A cold-blooded murder…a just pardon…
A broken brother…a lifelong vow…
A tired soul…a saved one…
Lost dreams…found hearts…
The taking of life…and the giving of one.
All this and more flashed before Yugi's eyes. Whatever this was, he didn't care. If this was an attempt to give sympathy, it wasn't working. He wanted his mou hitori no boku back, right now. It wasn't right! He wasn't supposed to die! They were supposed to be together, yami and hikari, dark and light, forever!
Magic swirled around him in his grief. Yugi rocked on his knees, uncaring as the blood magic stolen by Mr. Sennen circled around Yugi. It rushed and whirled, flickering with undying flames of tortured life, echoing Yugi's own pain. Stolen souls screamed their own unholy fury and despair. They loomed over Yugi, like a wave about to crash and break upon the shore. Yugi was tossed up onto the crest, riding a wave of magic about to fall and do…something.
Unthinkingly, Yugi commanded it to do his will.
Put everything back the way it was!
The magic around him swirled and rushed, blowing Yugi's bangs askew. It spiraled up and out, stretching and reaching for everything that Mr. Sennen had touched and putting things back to right. It was freaky to watch, because what Yugi saw was the return of the dead.
--Isis groaned and sat up, sending rats scurrying. Her dress was ripped and torn into shreds, covered in blood, but she was most assuredly alive…
--Mako gasped and burst out of the water, taking great breaths of life giving air. It was almost like a new birth, coming from the waters.
--Pegasus stirred and pushed himself off from the ground, sliding the slick mud-covered hair off from his charred face. He was totally blackened.
--Shadi woke up to see himself entombed alive. He naturally freaked and blew the roof off again.
--Mai rolled over and saw a pair of birds chirping happily in the green trees above. The sky was blue and the clouds fluffy and she was dirty for the fifth time this day…
--Joey awoke to find half of his face frozen onto the ice and his arms twisted in a very unnatural position. Ow.
--Marik opened his eyes and found no other presence in his mind. He blessed every single god on the planet, along with any others he had missed, until he heard Joey yelping and Marik was brought back down to earth.
--Kaiba moaned and twitched. He hurt. A lot. He went through a lot of pain for his little brother…
--But Yami was still gone. There was nothing the magic could do about that. A willing sacrifice is dead, period. Contracts paid in blood cannot be broken.
He raised his head, to see Kaiba stirring. He was alive, but the person who was Yugi's other soul was not. Yugi lifted his head and screamed again.
"Why? Why me? Why us? Why must we sacrifice it all?"
It is the way of things, Chosen One.
Yugi gasped and jumped back. Egads, who was that? The voice vibrated and echoed and yet came from nowhere. It seemed to speak into his mind. Yugi looked around wildly. Kaiba didn't even notice anything. Was Yugi going mad?
Peace. Do not fear.
A form materialized before Yugi's eyes. It grew and solidified; taking the shape of the golden bird that had fried Mr. Sennen. It settled, ruffled its wings, and gathered in folds of light as if it were a robe. It looked as if he were a messenger or something for the Powers of Good. Oops. Yugi immediately regretted what he said a few seconds earlier. Cursing the gods was not a bright idea…
"Um, who are you?" Yugi stuttered.
The being smiled. A Messenger, of a sorts.
"Um. Thank you. Uh…" What the heck was he supposed to say?
No, it is I who should thank you.
The being nodded. The one you know as "Mr. Sennen" has been a thorn to my master's side for centuries. It is about time that someone has put him in his place -- in Hell.The being held up a wing to halt Yugi's question. I will explain. Mr. Sennen lived, as you determine time, five thousand years ago. He found a way to cheat the Judgement of mankind. By stealing someone's soul, he could live on without dying.
The one you know as Yami tried stopping him three thousand years ago, sealing the dark arts away. He did not succeed fully. Mr. Sennen was only temporarily stopped.
To put it simply, Mr. Sennen returned, this time for revenge for the one who thwarted his plans. Plans that would make Mr. Sennen one of the gods. Or so he thought.
He began this tournament as revenge and for a way to gather more power and souls. The power offered would be the power he gained from your deaths. He did not plan on giving it away. However, he did not plan on you using the power he stole. Nor did he plan on the Pharaoh calling upon the one being that would eradicate him once and for all. After all, Mr. Sennen had been "gone" the last time Pharaoh had called upon this great being…
"So he's gone then, for good. Both Mr. Sennen and Yami." Yugi slumped. "Yami sacrificed himself again. I know, well kind of, what happened the last time. Yami sacrificed himself to seal the shadow games away." Yugi looked over to where Yami's ashes had once lay. Gone for good…
Not…entirely.
Yugi's head jerked up. "What?"
Because of the circumstances, the Pharaoh is not…quite…gone. Things should not have gone this way. The events should have been that the Pharaoh would regain his memory and then the reappearance of Mr. Sennen. This would have not resulted in the Pharaoh's sacrifice.
The being shrugged, a strange action for one who was so bird-like. Of course, things never occur the way they appear."You're saying that…"
As the phoenix rises from the ashes, so shall the immortal. The Pharaoh will return. There are still things of the yet to come that he must accomplish.
He smiled. It's the least we can do for you. The elements are generous to those who give. The lines of fate, after all, are never drawn in stone…The air rushed again, and the being disappeared. Yugi gaped. That was it? That was all?
The scream of a falcon cracked the air, and Yugi's eyes filled with golden fire for a split moment. In the back of his mind, a room reappeared and a door creaked open. A voice coughed.
//Yugi?//
Yugi's eyes widened. Could it be true? /Yami?/
//Are you alright?//
Just like Yami, always looking out for other's conditions. Yugi grinned. /Am I alright? What about you? You died!?!/
//I- what?//
Yugi face-faulted. /Tournament. Fighting. Lots of death. Killing yourself so you could fry Mr. Sennen into pieces. Remember?/
//Ah. Yes.// Yami paused. //It was not pleasant.//
Yugi laughed, throwing out his arms. /But you're here! You're alive! Really truly alive!/
Yami raised an eyebrow. //Am I? I've been dead for a few millennia.//
/Stop trying to be realistic, Yami! Who cares? You were dead, really dead -- but now you're back! And I'm back, and we're all together again! All of us! Joey and Tea and Ryou and Kaiba and-- everybody!/
And Yugi laughed, feeling the wind rustle through his hair and carrying his happiness wherever the wind went. He was free again, and everything was going to be all right. He raised his arms and shouted for pure glee, twirling around like a little child experiencing their first spring shower.
Yugi was brought to his senses by, of all people, Seto Kaiba.
"Yugi? Are you alright?" Kaiba looked at Yugi puzzledly. By this time, Kaiba had recovered enough to stand up, only to see Yugi prancing about laughing about nothing.
Yugi stopped twirling in circles.
Oops.
Yes, he was sane…
* * * * *
Yugi snuggled under the covers of his bed back home. Ah, back home.
After the bloody tournament, Yami and Kaiba had found the security measures in the mad office of Mr. Sennen (with the help of the nameless announcer) and had found everyone who had died back in full healthy condition. They found everyone and eventually gone back home, wryly shaking their heads at the strange explanation Yugi had given for their "revival." Even Ishizu and Shadi doubted if what had happened were possible; clearly they had never seen the like of this magic before.
Well, all's well ends well, or so they say. Yugi (or say, Yami) had received their prize of one billion American dollars. In cash. By hand. It required about five trucks and an entire day to transfer it to Yugi's bank account. Not to mention giving away some of the bounty. Yugi had given a ton of money away -- to fix Duke's business, to pay some debts to Kaiba, and to generally pay the police to find whoever had helped Mr. Sennen perpetrate the entire tournament. The announcer had turned himself in, although he had no information -- "just doing his job."
They left with physical reminders of their dangerous time in Duelist Combat. Tristan and Duke suffered permanent burns on their back and arms. Tea had a lump on her head for quite a while and had a phobia for malls for quite some time. Ishizu would find white lashes marking her skin as a reminder of the dangers of sharp things. Mako found the symbol of water imprinted on his left hand -- the same one imprinted on Suijin's forehead. Pegasus now not only had eye problems but also hair problems as well -- a large scotch mark that never went away. Shadi had a bruised face and phobia of small places. That wasn't a problem in Egypt, except for the airplane thing. Mai left with a brown mark where Yami Marik had stabbed her. Joey had brown spots where his flesh had frozen. Marik also had a permanent mark where he had stabbed himself. Ryou, on the other hand, had a third degree burn in the middle of his stomach. Kaiba had scars from the mage blasts and a permanent ache in his right arm. And Yugi had to deal with complete and total exhaustion, bruises in various places, plus second degree burns.
Mental reminders were not accounted for.
Everyone had returned to find everything fixed. Quite literally. For Kaiba, he had found Mokuba waiting right in front of a refurbished mansion, beaming. Serenity was well and happy, her eyes in full working condition and no haunting visions. Duke found business booming, as now he was "The Guy Who Returned." Marik and Ishizu could sleep peacefully without hearing voices or seeing things. Shadi left satisfied, knowing that all was solved. Ryou returned with a much calmer Bakura. Tristan and Tea were happy because everyone else was happy. Well, exempting Pegasus. Cecilia wasn't back, but he did find a certain locket on his pillow that night…
Yugi smiled. All was well.
//And that is how it should be.//
Yugi yawned. /Aww, but you know how it is. Things are never that way for us./
//No, but it's nice when it appears that way.//
Yugi slouched and rolled over in bed. /Whatever. Tomorrow we'll probably save the world again. Just another day in the life story of the King of Games./
//Hey, I'm the King of Games.//
/You think?/
//You're challenging me?//
/Sheesh Yami, it's midnight. It's time to ssslllleeeeeep. Very Important./ Yugi groaned and stuffed the pillow over his head. /Do it tomorrow./
//Tomorrow we're going to the museum, remember?//
/Oh yeah. Okay, tomorrow we're going to fulfill our destinies and unlock your memories. Day after that, we're going to find out who's the real King of Games. In the meantime, we'll save the world. Sound good?/
//Sounds good.// Yami yawned. //Good night, aibou.//
/Mmm. G'd night, mou hitori no boku./ Yugi mumbled into his pillow. /Oh, and one more thing: never do that again./
Yami chuckled. //I won't, I assure you. I'm here to stay.//
/And that's how it should be./
------------------------------------------Finale-------------------------------------------
LoneWolf16: T.T And ta-da, 'tis the end of my violent ficcie. A nice, happy ending. ^^;;; Yes sirree, for an idea formed from a dream, wasn't too bad. Had lots of gory stuff, yes it did. Funfunfun, yes it was. Mucho fun to kill off characters interestingly. ^^
Like practically every writer, I couldn't have done it alone. *bows head* I want to give special thanks to Mugendai, who began with me at the beginning and read this to the end. *thumbs up* You rock. You actually cared; you actually understood and thought about this dark stuff. When I thought no one could stomach this bloody fic, you kept readin' this thing and letting me know you still liked it. Or at least what happened. ^^ Thanks, again.
Another big thanks to Western Master 3, for jumping in and adding support. Man, I could never have gotten through without you guys. I thought my characterization stunk, and the deaths too much, and anguish a tad overboard, but you guys kept reading. Thanks so much.
And to everyone else: big thanks to you all. ^^ Newbies like me need support, and you guys stepped in and helped me tons. You guys kept my cheers up when I flopped and actually endured my killing-off-characters.
Oh, and a few things to wrap up:
1) No sequel. Sorry, if you're thinking that. Mr. Sennen is dead and gone.
2) Yes, this did have a manga twist so vague it's probably only apparent to me.
3) And to Mugendai: Remember in chp 6 when Mako died and Sybil watched and I said she might return? ^^;; Well, obviously she didn't in this fic. Originally I planned for Mr. Sennen to capture her and torture her somehow (perhaps kill her) and then Yami would go berserk, but that seemed like a little too much. On the other hand, Sybil is not dancing away just yet… ^_~
*waves* And that's it! The bloody conflict is over! Oh, and if you liked the blood and gore, check out my fic Lethally Hot. Definitely has blood and gore, but not as constant as Duelist Combat. Has a definite plot, and lots of blood, and some cutesy stuff if you need it. ^^ Funfunfun!!! *waves again* See ya around! Ja ne!