YGO PSL | ❝ the last train home. ❞

[baeyek]

PEACE

( cont from here)

Man does not change, regardless of the time we inhabit. I am certain that is a fact you have come to understand all too well.

[ For all the harshness that the Pharaoh has faced? It seems as if he has experienced a kindness as well. Something gentle despite the sea that he threw himself into with the battle against Zorc. The whole game was a gamble from the start. While Bayek knew little of the details, he was aware that none should find the Millennium Pendant and the tomb that would have belonged to Atem. The Medjay would guard the Valley of the Kings and Seto had made sure that Bayek understood the greater stakes even as Egypt was plunged into chaos as she strove to reestablish herself after the great battle with Zorc. None were to find the tomb and none were to find the name of the Pharaoh before Seto. None were even allowed to speak it with the magic that stood in place.

Such details, Bayek believes, are best if not shared. The Pharaoh seems lost in his own way, despite the fact he has found his way to where his soul might be at peace. ]

Ha! Climbing and exploring the forgotten things of our kingdom became something that was normal in my later days. Though, I would often over look Thebes as I passed through.

[ A sigh. ] It was an impossibly large task... one that we succeeded in. However, the cost was great upon our hearts.

[ Bayek falls silent until they have reached the top of the cliffs. On a rock overlooking Thebes is a small red blanket, candles, and bowls. It is clearly a place that Bayek has set up to rest for even the smallest amount of time. He slips off from the camel and offers a hand to aid Atem down onto the rocks beneath them. Then, he gestures for the young Pharaoh to take his seat and overlook the city beneath him.

Then, he settles himself on the blanket. ]

For all that Aya and I achieved... it was done apart. We were not reunited until both of us found ourselves in the A'aru. [ A frown pulls at his face as he looks out over the setting. ] We stayed in contact, but, our lives were never drawn back together in the land of the living.

As for your ability to fly... you seem to have enjoyed it.

Comments

[ifthereiswill]

[ Atem merely nods his agreement with that. Man certainly doesn't change, regardless of the time or place in which they live. After all, in the modern world, he saw so much greed and anger and the effects of both. And in all fairness, he had his moments of anger as well. He might be Pharaoh, and he might have been a spirit in his time among the living, but he wasn't a paragon of moral behavior either.

If Bayek were to relate what he knows about events that transpired after his being sealed away, Atem might have found himself troubled by all of it, but at the same time, part of him most likely anticipated a period of unrest as Egypt under Seto's reign tried to find some sense of normalcy, if that was even possible.

As he listens to Bayek, his gaze falls until he's looking at his hands, a pensive expression slipping into place. ] Don't most tasks that are meant to bring about change come along with a great cost?

[ Their circumstances might be different, but both of them have done things that came with a great cost that weighed heavily on both them and (he supposes) on those around them. He doubts that what Bayek and Aya did affected only them, even if they presumably carried the worst of it.

Once they've reached the top of the cliffs and Bayek helps him down and takes his place upon the blanket, Atem joins him there, looking out at the city below. ]

I'm sorry. [ Of course, there is no reason for him to apologize, because the parting between Bayek and Aya couldn't have been helped, but he still feels a sense of sadness when he ponders what Bayek has just told him. ]

Yes. [ He thinks back to his first flight. ] I had never experienced anything like it before, but I did enjoy it. [ It was a sensation he'd never imagined he'd feel, and he can't help but think of it as the closest he's going to come to flying as a bird would.

Then he gives Bayek a sidelong glance. ]

Could you- Would you be willing to answer a question for me? [ He expects the other man to refuse, and there's even a part of him that doesn't wish to know. ]