Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy 7 - Yu-Gi-Oh Style ❯ It Only Gets Worse ( Chapter 18 )

Final Fantasy 7 - Yu-Gi-Oh style Chapter 18: It Only Gets Worse     AN: italics = dream sequence     Atem tossed and turned on the bed. The group had decided to go back to Gongaga to rest and think about what to do next after the fiasco at the Cetra temple.   ~~~~~~~~~~~           ;        Atem was standing in the midst of a strange forest shrouded in a dense white fog. He could barely make out his hand in front of his face. He grasped onto a tree, leaning against it as he tried to sort through his currently jumbled mind. “What happened back there? Did Yugi and I really separate or did I dream the whole thing? Am I still dreaming?” he mused.           &nbs p;    He started as he felt a presence near by. He instinctively reached for his buster sword, but found it wasn’t there. “Atem, can you hear me?” came Isis’s voice from nowhere and everywhere. “I’m sorry for what happened Isis,” he replied. “It’s not your fault.” “But still…” “Stop worrying about it!” she said angrily, coming out from the fog in front of him. “What happened was something none of us could prevent. Bakura would have gotten the black materia one way or another. You can’t save everyone all the time.” Atem stood silent for a few moments. “Where are we?” he asked. “A forest near the City of the Ancients,” she answered, “The Sleeping Forest to be exact. We all know Bakura’s going to summon Meteor, that’s why I’m going to stop him. I’m the only one who can Atem. Only a Cetra has the power to stop Meteor. Don’t worry about me anymore, I’ll be fine. I won’t be long so wait for me.” “Isis! Matte! (Wait)”, he called but she turned and walked away, smiling as she disappeared back into the fog. He tried to run after her, but found himself paralyzed. He continued to struggle against the invisible hold to no avail. Suddenly an all too familiar silver haired man strode up to him, followed by a shorter clone of himself. “Bakura!” he yelled. “Let the little one go!” The insane ex-commander laughed. “I don’t think so. Besides it’s not up to me,” he then turned to Yugi, “Is it pet?” The smaller teen wrapped his arms around Bakura’s waist, purring as he nuzzled against his chest. “See, he’s happy where he is. Very happy.” “Damn you!” Atem spat, struggling again, but still was unable to move. “My little one isn’t the one you should be worrying about,” the silver haired man said, smirking. “That *bleep*’s going to be a pain. Don’t you agree?” he asked his smaller lover. Yugi nodded emphatically. “So what do you think we should do, hmm?” “Stop her?” queried Yugi. “My thoughts exactly. Come little one, we have much to do.” With that Bakura took Yugi’s hand and led him deeper into the foggy forest. “Yuuuuuuuuuggggggggggiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!” cried Atem as they completely vanished and he collapsed as the hold restraining him suddenly released itself.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~        &nb sp;           Atem shot up from the bed, a concerned Honda stood beside the bed. “You ok?” he asked, “That must have been some nightmare.”          &nb sp;     “I could be better, but it’s alright now,” Atem replied, praying what he’d dreamt was just a dream and nothing else.            &nb sp;   “Guys, I’ve got some bad news,” Mai said coming into Honda, Jou and Atem’s room. “Isis left.”           &n bsp;    “She’s… She’s at the City of the Ancients,” Yami replied, cringing now that he knew his dream was no ordinary dream.            &n bsp;   “*Bleep!*” cursed Honda. “What the *bleep* was she thinking going off by herself?!” He slammed his fist against the wall, leaving a small dent in the cheap plaster.                 “She went to stop Meteor. She said only an Ancient could be able to.”           &nbs p;    “Then why are we still sitting around here for?!” shouted the blonde. “We’ve gotta find her before Bakura does.”           &n bsp;    “It’s too late,” Atem said, hanging his head, “He already knows. I saw him… with Yugi.” Mai stiffened at her friend’s name, but quickly recovered herself and placed a sympathetic hand on the spiky haired man’s shoulder.             ;    “Then let’s get our @$$e$ in gear!” shouted Honda.            &n bsp;   “You’d better leave without me then. I’m useless against Bakura. He was right there in front of me and I couldn’t do a damned thing to stop him or save Yugi!”           &n bsp;    Crack! Atem rubbed his aching jaw, his lip bleeding slightly from making contact with Honda’s fist. “I deserved that,” he said morosely. “It’s my fault he has the black materia.”            ;     “Look, whoever you are,” Honda said, glaring at him, “We’ve all got our problems, but you’ve gotta snap out of it! You’re stuck with us whether you want it or not!”           &nb sp;    “Besides you still have a score to settle,” said Mai.            &nbs p;   “That was Yugi. Besides, what if he does to me what he did to Yugi?”           &n bsp;    “You’re a real *bleep*! You know that?” spat Honda. “You think Yugi’d be runnin’ away like this? No *bleep*in’ way! No matter how tough things got for us, Yugi never once backed down!” Honda stormed out of the room.            &nb sp;   “We know you’re not Yugi,” Mai added, “But I still believe in you. I mean some of what Yugi did had to be you right?” She then left to see if she could get the tall brunet to calm down.            &nb sp;   “What am I supposed to do now?” the spiky haired man asked, putting his head into his hands, “What Yugi? Tell me.”   ~~~~~~~~~~~~   Mai stood outside the village inn, waiting for any sign of Atem. The blonde was a bit unnerved by the man’s sudden appearance, but the resemblance to her now missing friend was a bit of a comfort to her. She started to head back into the inn to check up on him when Honda stopped her.            &nbs p;   “He’ll come out when he wants to. He’s got to get through this by himself, Mai.”           &nb sp;    “I hope he’s alright. Both of them,” she said, grimly.            & nbsp;   Atem shortly came out of the inn, glancing at them warily. ‘Why can’t I remember anything but my time with Isis?’ he thought. ‘What am I so afraid of?’           &nbs p;    “Atem…” Mai said, not sure of what to say.            &nbs p;   “You gonna be ok now?” Honda asked, still a bit angry at him. “Just tell us right now what’s it gonna be, pal? You gonna chicken out or come with us and find out what the hell’s going on? And even if Bakura does do something to you, I’ll knock some old fashioned sense back into that spiky head of yours.”           & nbsp;    “We’re all here for you,” Mai added.            &n bsp;   “Thank you, but…”          &n bsp;     “Look. Whatever happens, happens. So quit giving yourself an ulcer over it!”           &nbs p;    “We’ve got to find Isis!” Mai reminded him.            &nbs p;   Atem nodded. “Y-You’re right,” he said sullenly. “Let’s go.   ~~~~~~~~~~~          &nb sp;       After a quick call to Sugoroku, AVALANCHE went to Bone Village, an paleontological dig site on the Northern Continent. It turned out that the forest Atem dreamt of was right smack next to the dig. However, their way was blocked by the trees, they were so close together, that nothing could pass, not even the smallest of animals.                 What baffled them the most was that after asking a few of the workers, Isis had been able to pass through the dense trees without a single problem. While discussing what to do next, the foreman had mentioned in passing that an legendary item known as the Lunar Harp had the ability to move the trees, but it had been lost centuries ago along with the Cetra. Not one to back down from a challenge, Atem paid the workers a hefty sum of gil and for the next couple nights or so they worked around the clock, digging until at last the mystical harp had been found.            &n bsp;   It only took a few strokes of the strings and the trees magically parted, making a path for the travelers to pass through. They dodged various monsters and animals as they continued on their way until they came to an enormous canyon and nestled in the center of the canyon was an equally enormous city in ruins.            &n bsp;   It would have been a fantastic sight if they weren’t hard pressed for time. At Mokuba and Mai’s insistence, they rested a bit at one of the more intact snail shell shaped homes. In the middle of the night, Atem shot up wide awake after tossing and turning again.            &n bsp;   “I can feel it,” he murmured.             ;    “What’s wrong?” Honda asked, having woken up at Atem’s cries as he dreamed.                 “They’re here, Isis, Bakura, and Yugi.”           &n bsp;    “Yugi?! He’s here?!”           & nbsp;    “Are you sure?” Jou asked, nervously. Something about the deserted place gave him the willies.                 “I can feel it… in my soul.”           &n bsp;    “Then it’s time to get goin’!” Honda said, grabbing his supplies and double checking his gun arm.            &nbs p;   “Hold on Isis,” Atem said following them out the house, “I’m coming.”                 They ran along the cobblestone streets and came to a large building on the other side of a large lake. Atem crossed the bridge spanning the water and dashed into the structure, the sense of impending doom getting stronger with each step closer.            & nbsp;   They finally reached the bottom of the building which was an enormous chamber with an indoor lake or pool of some sort, hundreds of pillars shooting out from the water. At the center of it all was a gigantic platform surrounded by a strange energy field that was connected by a group of pillars arching inward.            & nbsp;   At the platform’s center was Isis. The raven haired woman was kneeling, her hands clasped tightly together as she silently prayed. As they silently approached her, a small figure crept along side of her, its sword drawn.            &n bsp;   “Yugi!” cried Atem and he ran over to the smaller clone, grabbing hold of his arms. Yugi struggled vehemently only to lose his grip on the sword and it fell to the floor with a large metallic clang. “Snap out of it!” Atem shouted not loosening his grip one bit. “Can’t you see he’s controlling you?!”           &n bsp;    However, the amethyst eyed boy only stopped his struggling and smiled evilly, he could sense his lover was near by. Isis stopped her praying and gave Atem a faint and sad smile, she too could sense the danger. Atem started to say something when a black and white streak shot down from above. Before any of them knew what had happened, the Masamune was sticking out of Isis’s stomach. She had been struck down from behind!            & nbsp;   The raven haired woman bounced a bit as she slumped forward, a look of utter shock on her previously calm face. Bakura turned to Atem and smirked smugly, giving his smaller lover a wink at which Yugi blushed. The silver haired man drew out his sword and shook the blood and gore off of it.              ;   They all stood and stared as the white materia embedded in her Millennium Necklace began to give off a pale aqua glow and drop to the floor as Isis’s lifeless body fell flat on its face. The glowing crystal then proceeded to bounce its way across the platform and down several of the surrounding pillars, making a faint ding each time it made contact with stone. It finally bounced off the lowest of the pillars and fell into the water below.            &n bsp;   “Isis! No!” yelled Atem, running to the body. Yugi smirked and joined his lover’s side. Bakura smiled gently and ruffled the little one’s hair.            &nb sp;   “Good work, pet,” he whispered. He knew they’d be too busy worrying about Yugi to notice he wasn’t alone until it was too late. He turned back to Atem and the others. “Don’t worry, her spirit energy will be put to good use,” he said laughing maniacally, “All we have to do now is head north. The Shadow Realm is waiting for me past these lovely snowfields. It is there that I’ll become one with the planet, just as she has!”           &nb sp;    “Urusai!” shouted Atem, tears threatening to fall from his crimson eyes. “Your precious Shadow Realm doesn’t matter anymore! Isis isn’t here anymore! She’ll won’t talk anymore, or laugh, or get angry!            &n bsp;   “What’s this?” Bakura asked, sneering, “Don’t tell me you have feelings for that pathetic wretch!”                 “Of course I do! She’s my girlfriend!”          &n bsp;     The silver haired ex-commander laughed. “That’s rich! To think someone like you could have feelings!”          &nbs p;     He and Yugi then vanished, but not without leaving another piece of Zorc’s body behind as a parting gift. Once the monster was properly dealt with, a voice called mockingly from the shadows.                 “A puppet with feelings! That’s a good one!” it said.            &nb sp;   ‘Am I really just a puppet?’ Atem thought to himself.   ~~~~~~~~~~~         &nbs p;        Atem stood waist deep in the middle of the city’s lake, Isis’s body held gently above the water by his strong muscular arms. It had been cleaned and her eyes were closed and her arms folded against her chest. She appeared to only be asleep, but he knew better. He leant down and lovingly kissed her ice cold lips, which were only now beginning to turn blue.            &nb sp;   Ignoring the falling tears, he silently said a prayer then let go of his now dead girlfriend. He watched silently as Isis slowly sank deeper into the water, her raven hair spreading out like a dark halo. Eventually the body came to rest in the soft white sand at the bottom.            & nbsp;   The others were watching from the shore, all too sad to say anything, even Mokuba who had been the noisiest during their travels. Ryou placed a cool hand on the spiky haired man’s shoulder in sympathy as he solemnly began to head back to the residential area of the city.     ~TBC~     Sakura: Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Gomen minna, I had to do it!   Marik: Thanks, babe. I’ve been wanting to get rid of that *bleep* for a long time now.   Malik: Maaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkk!!!!  How could you?! That’s it! No playtime for a month!!   Marik: But hikari-wari, you said she was *bleep*ing you off too!   Malik: But that didn’t mean I wanted my sister dead!   Sakura: There, there Mal-chan. It’s only a fic. (glomps him)   Malik: Eeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyaaaaaaahhhhh!!! Get her off!!   Haseo: Hey! I think I see Endrance!   Sakura: (drops Malik) En-saaaaaaaaaaama!!!!!! (runs off)   Haseo: Knew that’d work.   Malik: Thanks.   Haseo: Don’t mention it.   Tsukasa: That was rather mean.   Malik: So? It got her away from me.   Tsukasa: …   Balmung: Should I do this or do you want to?   Haseo: Whatever.   Tsukasa: I’ll do it. (clears throat) The rather deranged author asks that you leave her lots of feedback.   Sakura: Tsu-chan! I’m not deranged!!!!!!!! I’m eccentric!!!! ^_^   Haseo: Sounds like deranged to me.   Sakura: Watch it, buster or I’ll never let you level up enough for the tournament finals!