Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Come True ❯ Chapter Twenty Seven: One...More...Chapter...*sobs* ( Chapter 27 )

Chapter Twenty Seven: One…More…Chapter…*sobs*

It was Mina-and yet it was not. She was still built like Mina-but small things were different. Like, even though she still had the two longer sections of hair framing her face, they were much longer now, falling below her feet. And her hair that had been before to her waist was now cropped short at the base of the neck… She was wearing a loose, white, gauzy dress, which flowed and danced about her figure as a pair of silvery wings exploded from between her shoulder blades, and she opened her eyes.

And Seto gasped, for her eyes were deep and sea green, and pupiless.

Ocean Eyes.

He hesitated, because this was Mina here, and for no reason whatsoever would he hurt her. But the guilt came stabbing back quickly enough, and he shook his head, staring at the fiercely beautiful creature before him, eyes wide. Mina had always been pretty, but never would one look at her and think to be consumed by her beauty. This…was not Mina. And yet…

There. A smile. The slightest of all gestures, and it wasn't even to him, but to his Dragon-but the smile was Mina's.

"…You…monster…" He managed, turning a glare on Pegasus.

"You think I did this? Don't be silly, I would never imprison my own daughter in a card. But as long as she's here…why not make use of her card's particularly high attack points?" He laughed, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at the two opposing cards on the dueling field. "Hrm, hrm. Now then, what to do, Kaiba boy? You could attack her-and kill Mina-or you could pass your turn, lose, and walk away with your pride. What'll it be?"

Seto twitched. His hand raised to give his Dragon the signal to attack, but he pulled it back hesitantly.

Do it, Seto.

The Mina-but-not-Mina card had turned her doleful gaze upon him, and it was Mina's voice that he heard, plaintive, pleading. Afraid.

Do it, please, now!

"Are you nuts?" He whispered in a low voice, clenching and unclenching his fists, leaning on the dueling deck with both hands as he pondered his next move.

Seto, pl..ease, thi..s. I-I-s a…gony…going..to die…

Her voice was becoming more broken up, less distinct, not there all the way anymore.

"No, I won't do it!!!" Came the sudden exclamation, and a pained cry broke loose in his head-nothing more. Pegasus smiled a plastic smile and signaled his card to attack.

All Seto could do was watch in awe as the much smaller soul of the card focused her energy into a fingertip, waited, then blew it at his dragon with such force that Seto was nearly lifted off his feet. The Blue Eyes gave a horrible metallic screech, and the flash of light that followed as it disintegrated was too blinding to look at.

"Damn…" He said in a shaky voice, setting his jaw and drawing from his deck again.

The Flaming Swordsman.

Not a particularly powerful card, but it could be enhanced..

Seto mentally tabulated the Blue Destiny's defense-it was ridiculously low. Maybe enhancement was not necessary? He put the card on the field and sighed remorsefully.

"I summon the Flaming Swordsman," he said flatly, glancing up at Her and shaking his head. She was no longer looking at him-but small, barely noticeable slashes had appeared across different parts of her arms, and blood was beginning to soak the skirt of the dress. The sight sickened him and he focused on his swordsman.

Do it now, now, now. Please.

I'm not going to kill you.

Seto felt a her smile, although she did not do so on the outside.

I won't d..ie.. G..ood..Lord..Se..eto…i…t's g….e…..tt.ing wor.s.e..

No…I can't! I won't! Mina, hang on!!!!

DO IT.

Falling. A scream. A yell. "SETO WAKE UP, YOU'RE SCARING ME!". And there, echoing in his jumbled mess of thoughts, there was that one tiny truth, the simplest and yet most complex thing ever said among mankind.

I love you, I love you, I love you. And I won't forget you.

NOW, SETO, NOW!

"Flaming Swordsman, attack!!" He yelled suddenly, feeling the impulse of fear slash through him like a jagged edged knife, and he watched-could only watch-as his card sped towards the unmoving, silent soul that was his Mina.

The swordsman stopped, and raised his flaming cherubic sword above his head, and that's when Seto yelled.

"NOO!!"

And it was also when the two souls of the Blue Destiny tore apart, leaving Mina collapsed and bleeding on the dueling floor, with the swordsman already swinging his sword in that terrible downwards arc…

Grabbing the first thing he saw, Seto snatched the Flaming Swordsman card and tore it in two, tore the two into four, the four into eight frantically. The swordsman poofed away with a low moan, and Seto leaped over the wall of his dueling station and sprinted to Mina.

Falling on his knees beside her, he immediately took her pulse, eyes worried and sad as he picked her up in his arms, ignoring the blood seeping into his shirt and onto his hands. It wasn't worth fussing over.

"Mina…hang on…" He whispered softly, and the girl cried out in response, shuddering as if she was cold.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pegasus watched, frozen with the thing that was coursing through him.

Loss? Pain? Fear? Shock?

He didn't know.

A glance was given to the scores, and he swallowed back a smile. Seto was kaput. Over. By ripping up his own card, he had sacrificed the game in his favor.

But as the young man turned away from Pegasus and began to walk away, Pegasus realized it.

Even in losing, Seto had won.

And now he realized the emotion:

It was sadness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

An hour later, Seto had reached the docks, shaking his head when one shocked sailor asked him if his friend was alright, and he was immediately allowed onto the speedboat and rushed towards the mainland. Seto laid her down on one of the long seats, sitting by her head and stroking her hair from time to time, looking as collected as ever, but inside-he was frantically running around.

A serviceable cell phone area wasn't hard to locate, and he found himself dialing 911 and waiting for the ambulance. Like a machine. He felt sick.

Mina was still out cold, but she murmured pained dreams and names in her blackness. Seto wondered what it was like, all alone in a black void, not knowing if you would ever come out again.

The ambulance came, took Mina, went. He followed behind in the front passenger seat of his car, ignoring his chauffeur's concerned questions, arms folded across his chest-across the blood spot--and a grim frown on his face.

In the hospital, there was a frenzy of activity as she was rushed immediately into intensive care-lost too much blood, too much time, too much consciousness. Death death, death. Sorry son, your sister might not live.

She's not my sister. He thought to content himself, settling deeper in the chair, ignoring the nurses as they prodded at him.

But by the next morning, she had gotten better. Seto's spirits lifted ever so slightly, and he went to a nearby store to buy a donut for his breakfast. But returning to the hospital's waiting room, he found his appetite had left him again, and he threw it away, settling in his chair again with a solemn look.

She's getting better, she's responding to stimulation, she's out of the dark, she's sleeping, she wants to see you.

She wants to see you.

Seto pulled himself up with a nod to the doctor and walked to her room. And he sighed, smiled, relaxed. Felt the weight leave his shoulders.

And he opened the door, somehow the same but somehow so utterly changed.