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shawarma time
[ some time after Atem's palace when everyone has had the time to get back from braphine's temple, and more importantly get that sand out of your everything (and enjoy NOT 40 degree Celsius weather)
everyone who was in Atem's palace will find themselves suddenly added to a group chat by joshua and he just sends a singular address
it's the address to a shawarma place that somehow magically has a big enough table to fit 14 people. amazing. we love fluid locations like this.
post palace dinner, y'all know the drill ]
everyone who was in Atem's palace will find themselves suddenly added to a group chat by joshua and he just sends a singular address
it's the address to a shawarma place that somehow magically has a big enough table to fit 14 people. amazing. we love fluid locations like this.
post palace dinner, y'all know the drill ]
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You feel guilty.
( she's speaking quietly- from one palace ruler to another. )
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[No point in hiding it.]
You were under his influence, too, weren't you..? Everything that happened feels like a blur to me... But I believe you mentioned it in the palace?
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It wasn't inaccurate, but it was harrowing. And knowing that others got hurt because of my own pain is hard.
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His appetite is long gone.]
That part of me you saw back there... I was in so much pain I wanted everyone to hurt just as much as I did, because I had the power to do so. Because it was so, so easy. I've tried for a while to bury that part deep within myself. Deny it ever existed in the first place.
I hoped no one would ever know the kind of monster I am.
And I thought... I was better. Because I thought I finally knew how to do the right thing. And I treated it like it was some kind of game. If I watched the other people around me, I could present the best version of myself for them. I could be kind and generous... Just like my partner, Yugi.
... But it's not that simple--- nothing in life is. I have to do more than just act kind.
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I have done something similar. Hurting others because I was also hurting- even if they were trying to help me, I lashed out and tried to get them to hurt themselves. And that was before this place.
I think ... you should forgive yourself a little, because even if that behavior was from your own history, you've clearly grown past it without the influence of another interfering.
Kindness is a choice for everyone. Its just that for some, it is the easiest choice.
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[That's not going to be easy.
Joshua almost died because of him.]
Sorry... I don't think I can do that just yet.
But I'll keep trying to be better. For you... For Yoon... And for my partner, too.
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( she's quiet for a moment, taking a slow, contemplative drink of... something. she just picked at random, because it ultimately doesn't make a difference to her. )
... For what it's worth, I was never upset at you. The situation, yes, but- that would be like being upset at myself for being in the same situation.
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What's there even for him to say to her?]
Thank you, Mafuyu.
[There's the tremble in his voice again, quiet and small.]
Thank you.
[He means it, truly.]
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( mafuyu stands, circling around the table just enough to pull him into a gentle, almost protective hug where he sits. lets him listen to her heartbeat, steady and even. its as if she's trying to shield him from himself. )
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Does he hug her back? Pat her on the back? Uh.
Now he wishes he could just hide in the Millennium Puzzle again.
He measures all his available responses, and settles for a stiff pat on her upper back with one hand. Pat. Pat.]
I'm fine, Mafuyu.
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( but she lets go and retakes her seat, freeing him from the awkward hell of being cared for. )
But you also don't have to be.
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Why does everyone in this restaurant have it out for him?]
What about you?
[REVERSE CARD OPEN]
You've been through way more than I have the past few days... Do you want to talk more about what you experienced? You said a Shadow version of your mother took over...?
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... My mother back home is incredibly controlling- she's manipulative and charming, so she gets away with it as she's never turned violent and can explain herself "properly", and uses this to keep Dad at work all the time, too- so she can have free reign.
All of my life she's isolated me from anyone and everyone she could while also raising me up as a pillar in the community. No one was good enough to be a friend, only a follower- and she was so smooth about it, everyone fell into place as she wanted.
Up until my friends online.
Within my palace, shadows took on forms of others, yes? The one that took on the form of my mother... was really in character. She took over as "the Queen" and even while possessed, I was so terrified that I tried escaping on my own. I almost got to the group even, before she pulled me back.
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I had a theory that palaces were manifestations of our ib--- our hearts--- in Nekyia. That yours manifested a metaphysical version of your mother is quite... alarming to say the least. That her presence still haunts you even though she isn't here. Mafuyu, are you afraid she'll take you away?
[What kind of pressure is she under back in her world..?]
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... But, is it fear if it's fact? Every potential friend I had, every club or committee... she's cut them off, turned us apart. She used my computer to stalk my friends. Before we arrived here, I was certain she was about to hurt me, so I had to run away. She-
... Within the palace, she wanted to "fix" me. It... hurt. I felt less like a person and more like a broken marionette. And then I was.
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Unless she learns how to travel the multiverse or Lady Braphine summons her, you're safe here.
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Those palaces... They're not our hearts. They're our troubles, and what would draw out the most aggression out of us. They're traps.
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Instead he mulls over what Mafuyu says to him.]
Traps...
You know, you're right. They are our troubles, but that in turn is also a reflection of our hearts. The parts of us we'd rather bury... The damage your mother did is, unfortunately, a part of you. I wish it wasn't. I'm certain others feel the same for you.
[He thinks of Kaiba--- the pressure he went through is startling similar to Mafuyu's. The need to be perfect. Isolated from any potential friends and even his own younger brother. And that... that ended in...
Patricide.]
After this ends... You need to get away from her.
No matter what. If that's staying here or traveling to a different world... I'm certain your friends will understand.
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( deep down, she knows that she can't go back to shibuya. she just wishes the girls could come with her. )
What about you? What waits after the end of this?
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I'll return to where I belong in the Field of Reeds.
[He avoids looking at her as he says it.]
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( she was tragically not the egypt kid growing up. but he sounds... sad? reluctant? she's not sure. )
... You don't sound too eager.
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[He chews on his lower lip before he answers.]
No... I wouldn't say I'm not eager. My father... My friends... they're all waiting for me. It's supposed to be paradise.
[Y'know... the afterlife...]
And I do want to go back.
[His stare is boring a hole through his pita now.]
Only... it's nice to be alive again--- especially as myself. Not as another person.
[He gestures his hand for emphasis.]
I enjoyed being Yugi's other self! But... he's not me; I'm not him.
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[He'd rather not piss them off again.]
Trust me... I'm already on their short list...
I'm not even sure how Lady Braphine managed to bring me here in the first place--- the contract she'd have to write would have had to been ironclad.
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