duel 11. video (cw: death or dying)

[puzzlingly]

「It's been a while since he's made a video post in which he looks actually serious, he doesn't look sad for a change, just thoughtful.

When he finally speaks he does it uncharacteristically (for him) quietly, even though, firm.」

How do you deal with loss?

When people leave this place or, when you know you will never see someone you care for again?
When they pass away.
Do you try to forget about them... or... 「No, that thought actually hurts.」

What is that helps you to move on?

「If they do at all.

This has been in his mind ever since Maedhros and Celebrimbor were gone, and even way before. He didn't knew them personally, but he could see how much pain their departure had caused — only one person had made him feel that way, but it wasn't Yugi who left, it was him. Atem left them all and he cannot help but wonder, was he the cause of grief among his loved ones, the ones that survived him when he decided to give up his life, and then when he had to move on from the world of the living a second time?

He doesn't wish to think so highly of himself, but it's hard, specially when all his life the world did use to revolve around him. But he worries about those he left behind, they would be fine, wouldn't they? Heh, if only they knew he hasn't moved on at all, that he still talks to his partner in his head all the time... What a little hypocrite.」


「private text: Kaiba Seto」

Mokuba is gone.

「But Atem is sure he already knows. He doesn't expect a reply.」

Comments

video;

[puzzlingly]

「Her conviction and sharp words are met with a very mild smile. She's not one to know that he's seeking exactly that. He would never forget those that had left, but what if they forgot him? It's been a long time for him... His kingdom lost in the sands of time, his name erased and left to be forgotten, only very little would remember him.」

Even if it hurts, huh?

「He knows its a heavy topic, but, the least he wants is for them to hurt on his account.」

video;

[writtendestiny]

[She nods, quick and firm and with that same solid conviction as before. Her life is stories, remembering, and she of all people should know how important it is that people aren't forgotten.]

Yes. Tell me about your friends.

video;

[puzzlingly]

「Oh... That's not something he was expecting and it shows.」

What would you want to know?

[writtendestiny]

Anything. Start with their names.

[She's good at this. At teasing the stories out. Sharp-tongued and bluntly honest she may be but the stories of people are important.]

[puzzlingly]

「He looks thoughtful now, unsure if he wants to share so much, but there is no real harm, is there? He hasn't talked about them in so long. They deserve better.」

Yugi... Jounochi-kun, Honda-kun, Anzu... 「There is Kaiba too, but he's sort of here so maybe he shouldn't mention him, even tho he's the only that had the guts to scold him about him leaving.」 They are the best friends anyone could ask for.

「He smiles at something, something he seems to have remembered all sudden.」

We were not always that though, Jounouchi and Honda-kun used to bully Yugi at school. But when they got bullied instead, Yugi stood for them, and that's how they became friends.

「It feels so distant, they were so young.」

[writtendestiny]

[Poison smiles too, just a little, at the earnest honesty in Atem's voice. At one time in her life, she would have said that she didn't need any friends at all, but now..? She understands missing people she's come to care for as much as anyone does.]

It sounds like Yugi decided to be the better person. [She comments, without passing judgement too heavily. It would have been easy for someone in that situation to become bitter.]

But what about you? How did you become their friend?

[puzzlingly]

He always was. 「There is so much fondness in his tone and expression when he says that, but then, she asks how they became friends and his demeanor changes into something a little more down to earth, just one nervous guy.」

That... is a little more complicated.

「Why you do dis.

He usually doesn't mind sharing this, but it's usually with people he knows a tad better. He's feeling exposed in some way, and the feeling is not something he's used to, he also doesn't want to be rude... Maybe...」

「private.」

「Maybe this will help.」

He used to be my soul's host.

「Yeahhhh.... that's it.」

[writtendestiny]

[She doesn't expect the sudden switch to a more private channel, and that she's taken aback slightly shows on her face just for a moment before she brings her reaction under control.

Then, she arches her brows at him and briefly purses her lips.]

Your soul? Were you a ghost?

private video.

[puzzlingly]

Technically, yes.

「It's not bit deal when you're in Hadriel, right?」

[writtendestiny]

[Not a big deal to Poison, who even before her trip to the Box came from a world where Phaeries and magic were very much real, and the idea of being possessed was not a terribly strange one.

She squints slightly at him, the small muscles at the corners of her eyes pinching up.]

What kind of ghost?

[puzzlingly]

「The reaction is a little funny, is she trying to see if she can see through him? He tilts his head a little bit.」

What do you mean?

「Are there kinds?」

[writtendestiny]

[Not in the least (that would be silly), but she's certainly trying to decide if she trusts his story.]

Did he know you were there?

[Of course there are kinds.]

[puzzlingly]

Not at first. In truth I didn't think we were supposed to meet each other, but circumstances made it happen that way. Instead of him rejecting me, he let me stay, he let me share share his body and thought of me as a friend.

「It's not as easy as it sounds, there was something about some magical items that allowed two souls share a body, but why get into the unimportant details, right?」

Yugi helped me regain something I had lost, and... eventually the time for me to depart arrived. But I guess I got stuck here instead.

「He might have spent a long time as a ghost but he's not quite an expert about them, so he's a little curious.」

What kind of ghost does that make me?

[writtendestiny]

[She purses her lips slightly, but the frown lingering on her brow smooths away.]

I suppose that makes you the good kind.

[It's the best answer he could have given, really. She doesn't expect her opinion to matter one way or another, but it's always good to know who here might be trusted.]

[puzzlingly]

「He can see her reaction, it's a curious one indeed. But he does not judge, he knows his story is strange and that a lot could have gone wrong.」

Do you have experience with that? Ghosts, I mean.

「Just like people, he supposes, good and bad and the random odd one.」

[writtendestiny]

A little. [She shrugs one slender-boned shoulder.]

Magic is everywhere where I'm from, but it's usually bad news for humans.

[puzzlingly]

What else is there where you're from, other than humans?

[writtendestiny]

Phaeries.

[Her nose wrinkles, almost imperceptibly as she says the word. It's been a long time since she held any active malice towards the Phaerie people, but she still doesn't like them very much.]

Liars and tricksters who torment humans because they see us as lesser beings.

[puzzlingly]

Because they don't possess magic?

「It's just a logical assumption, but maybe there might be a little more.」

[writtendestiny]

Maybe. I don't know. [That said, some humans do possess magic, just... not that kind.]

They look at us like we look at... farm animals. We're like livestock to them. Most of them, anyway.

[puzzlingly]

「That's fair, there weren't exactly magic people in his world either, even if magic exists.」

May I ask why?

[writtendestiny]

You could ask them, if one of them was here.

[There's a bite to her voice that she doesn't mean, and her lips press together in a thin line with a faint tension in her jaw.]

Do you wonder what a bug thinks of you before you step on it? Same thing. They're not like us.

[puzzlingly]

Fair enough.

「That's a good reminder that he should do what other people keep telling him to do, to mind his own fucking business. It's not like he can do anything anyway, right?」