This was just beautiful.

"I would sacrifice my place in paradise to keep you safe."

U.

HOW D ARE Y OU D TO M Y FEEL INGS

I was honestly not expecting that line to come back. Probably should've seen it coming. But GAH.

(And then I realized that Akhnamkhanen LITERALLY did just that. Ah, Kul Elna.)

There are so many levels of this I want to scream about.

The god-king being just a boy-king. The line about slaves and servants being loyal to Atem because he showed them kindness. That sounds incredibly in-character, incredibly canon. The lines about feeling a more physical blade in his back, and then "ridiculously short, embarrassing reigns" - such blunt and relatable wording, btw - are like sharp blows: They hit the nail in the head with very few, well-placed words.

And the two back-to-back segments of watching Yugi; there's a huge contrast there, between after Atem bonds with him and when he's...well. Season Zero. The brightness being the death of him? "He could think of worse ways to end"? (You would know, you lived one of those ways, right, Atem?) That's incredibly cynical, but we are reminded that that version of Atem - while he was vengeful, merciless - was our first impression of him. And having followed the series to only know him as the actually noble, selfless, (dorky) he developed into, it's startling to look back and see what he was before. (Also helps that all the evil!Atem was stranded in Season Zero, which is still so different from the Duel Monsters series. We have a literal visual representation of how different things were before Duelist Kingdom.)

The point about Atem being like a moth to Yugi's lethal flame is a point I never really saw illustrated. I was recently thinking, actually, that it probably took a while for Atem to realize that he even was a separate entity from Yugi. When the Puzzle was first completed, I felt, he woke up thinking he was Yugi while being driven subconsciously by his years of isolation and violent death into being as merciless and vengeful as he was. Like these were the vestiges of his personality that managed to fester over the thousands of years, and Yugi - the "heart of light" - was what not only helped him find things like kindness and mercy again, but to actually help them grow stronger than ever before. It really can never be emphasized enough that, if you really think of it, Atem respects Yugi - the small, unimpressive schoolboy who got beat up all the time, but would still forgive and stand for his friends - over anyone else.

The nature of their bond can never be explored enough.

(Not much of a Puzzleshipper myself, btw.)

Also, no-body.

No body.

No. Body.

No...

That. Wordplay.

Also, the contradictory life of being pharaoh, of being Akhenankhanen. The screams of dying men and beautiful music...et cetera.

Kudos to the mention of the Great Wife btw, lmfao. I always like it when we get hit in the face by the reality of the Egypt Atem probably grew up in.

I also love, LOVE how you flipped his story backward and used a different name or title for each section. It reminds you just how much he lived (and died) through. It's a neat, almost visual display of Atem's personal timeline.

"I would sacrifice my place in paradise to keep you safe." Whew. I'm not gonna be over that for like. The next three days.

~PT

...*slowly curls up, sniffing* Oh, that's just not fair. It shouldn't be this easy to make me cry... oh, who am I kidding? This was great.

Aww... I almost cried...

This is my favorite oneshot so far. So, so sad, but still I read it quite often.

This legitimately makes me want to cry...

Very well written. The mirrored statement and sentiments especially gave it depth, despite its relative shortness.
God bless!

Son of a bitch. Where do you keep getting all of these ideas?

Beautiful! Just beautiful! And THANK YOU!

:also scampers off to send a LONG OVERDUE email: OTL

:HEARTS!:

Really, this was an awesome reading. I've been always frustrated that Takahashi never truly respected Egyptian customs and culture in the anime/manga but you depicted those so realistically that it makes the story even more captivating. I love the parallels between Atem's words and his father's and the sort-of father-son relationship it gave to Atem and Yuugi's one. :) The moment with Akhenemkhanen and his little prince was really moving...

Amazing work!

This was beautiful, it had me tearing up at the first line. I love how you always bring things back to their roots but make it original at the time time. Short and simple but it will stick with me for awhile. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful, simply beautiful. I absolutely loved it.

I love the cycle from father to son to... not granson, but...

"The boy who had freed him was alien to darkness; it shrivelled and fled from him." YES. What an excellent description of Yugi.

My gosh, I have to admit, this one made me cry. It wasn't sad, per se, but just..well, touching. Really nice work on this, especially with the idea from the beginning somewhat repeating itself again at the end.