"Zorc!" That absolute fiend! "You cannot leave them in that position!"
"It is rather cruel, isn't it?" Zorc said to her. "An eternity of games that can't be solved. Past death. All of their lives, stuck in hospitals, given food intravenously, until they die, and nothing changes."
His cruelty knew no bounds!
"So, I believe he's ready now," Zorc said. "You remember? When I split Anzu and Masika, you said Atem would owe me a punishment, because he would need me in the future. You even said it wouldn't be in the afterlife. I believe it's that future now."
What? Isis had sensed Atem would need him in the future. It had saved the First Tear in their split. But this? She could not get specifics. She had feelings. She had a vague sense of what the future was supposed to hold. "The Gods Atem."
"Oh, I know," Zorc said smugly. "Doing the best you could, but there's no denying it. You know how this will turn out."
She did. That is why she tried her best for all involved. It was not simply to give a god everything they wanted. It was not to get extra gods or goddesses. It was nothing like that.
Gods could travel through time. Gods make themselves known through stories. Gods Atem had made himself stories before he was even a god, but there were more stories. More tales. Past even the Gods Atem. Tales of the Legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon. Tales of God Hikaru. Tales of Goddess Silhouette. And sadly, other tales. Tales that . . . "There was no way of knowing what could be true. And considering the great power . . ."
"And the great anger of what gods have done to fuck up their lives?" he called her out. "You tried. Good for you, but you were against a demon. You know how this will play out now."
If she left them for an eternity, dying in that game, eventually Thoth's writing would crack it, but that rot. That rot and that loss.
"It is rather scary, isn't it?" Zorc said. "Not even gods yet, and look at what they do. If you can't control the output of those gods. Then maybe?"
Maybe? Isis glanced toward him. "There's no way to stop it now. Ammut judged them worthy."
"They stopped themselves. And right now, you've got their memories contained still," Zorc said. "Talk to Thoth. If you cannot control the danger, get rid of the danger. In exchange for my participation, you know what I want."
"Yes." He was right, Gods Atem was just too dangerous. Had he been able to just get through it, had she been able to get them to win their happiness, it would have worked! But now, facts had to be faced. She knew what created demons.
Anger of a god. Wrath of a god. Zorc was not born a demon. No demons were just born, they were created from gods. Egyptain folklore barely even had a word for demon. They were all once gods, that fell into demons.
There was no way to keep that god bottled up! "That stupid Ethereal version was ready to blow up an entire dimension by himself! He once fought to protect his planet, and in an instant, he was ready to flare up and destroy so much more." No. Whether she left them in there playing for an eternity until death, or she gave in and let Zorc have his demonness he rightfully had rights to now?
There would be anger. Either way. The tales of Demons Atem would come to fruition if she didn't do something.
"It's tricky, Isis." Horus was not giving her much give. "I understand the worries."
"We should not do this. He never became the Gods Atem," Isis stated. "He will become Demons Atem, I cannot stop his hatred. I tried to save his happiness, but it will not be appeased. Please."
"We can write something in with Thoth to get them out without Zorc," Horus agreed. "It will take time. They will be far from alive by then."
"Which means Hikaru will already be old, wither and die without even knowing the Yuugi half," Isis pointed out. "Hence?"
"Demonic change." Horus could see it now. "All Zorc wants is one human? It will still cause wrath. The Ethereal cannot be seperated, it is not within anyone's power to stop or start but theirs. They are almost done in becoming a god."
"In the current game, they only have two sets of memories. If we pull them out, erase the other set, put them on Earth, and distribute their power out among the other gods, as a sort of balance?" Isis tried to explain. "They will feel and have no extra power, but the balance would allow them to live without feeling weak. Enough energy for a human. Sometimes a little extra, but that would be fine, the spirit part is used to extra power every once in awhile."
"Zorc has been leading you around with his plan," Horus warned her.
"You said it yourself, he is almost done. Could he theoretically figure out which parts are Ethereal and break the game too?" she asked. "We may not have much time."
"As of now, all any form of Atem has done is saved the world," Horus told her. "We must keep that in mind. We are not punishing anyone evil."
"But they will become evil, because we cannot save Silhouette!" Isis pleaded. "We cannot give them the human ending they craved. It will . . . it will be Zorc all over again but so much worse!"
Horus tapped his fingers. Thinking.
"Darling," Isis tried. "At one time, I held you at my bosom, and took care of you. I am simply doing the same thing on a bigger scale. Speak to your father."
Isis waited patiently for Horus to talk to Osiris. It had been awhile, it was hard to know if her charms would still work with him. In this urgent of a matter, it was better if Horus broke it down for him without emotions. Just some father to son sit downs.
She watched as Horus came back.
"We have spoken to Zorc," Horus said to her. "His proposition is not . . ." He folded his hands. "We've tried to add ammendments. It might work, it might not."
Ammendments? "If we can keep the Gods Atem from becoming a god, he will not become a demon."
"Which will hold out for eternity, his mortal life dies, and immediately bring him back like the First Tear. I understand that," Horus said, "but everyone deserves a chance. As of yet, he never did anything. It's true. When he finds out what happened to Silhouette, he will not be reasonable. He will even come after you since you were the one who moved her so swifly and gave Zorc the opportunity to collect her. That collection was authorized, she had demon in her, and she moved through his space."
"I know." She did not even think in the moment, she just wanted them moved away.
"All dimensions are now different with most of Gods Atem having been collected, so following any of their future predictions is impossible," Horus said. "Everyone deserves a chance, including Silhouette."
A chance? Still? "You think we can appease the Gods Atem still? How?" Isis asked.
"The Ethereals memories will be given of the dimension they died in. They will remember the sacrifice, and then, that's it. They will already be suspicious with the spirit showing up with his own body again."
His own body. "They will stay separated?"
"Yes. Each dimension will be appeased, no one will try to cross around again," Horus said. "The children that had graced them, have been undone. Even the cats cannot squabble anymore."
They took both children? "Hikaru was of light."
"Which we split, to spare some of Silhouette," Horus said. "There is a light, and a lighter, and a dark, and a darker."
They split the children?! "We have never split a dark twice or a light twice before, Horus!"
"One set of Atems only knew of Hikaru," Horus told her. "That Silhouette will be given to Zorc. The other Silhouette, will be demon free. She will be raised with her brother. Each dimension know of Hikaru, and Zorc will not mess with the light."
Half of Silhouette was safe. Isis closed her eyes, hearing the crying. Splitting was not pleasant, it was painful. The children essentially die as they are, while they are pulled apart at the soul, and new pieces of soul added. Never easy.
"Fair is fair though," Horus said. "Zorc came up with an invisible game that will take place without anyone knowing the rules, the winning conditions, and it will take place within their own lives. If he wins, we must uncover the millennium items in the dimension the Atems and First Tear made them in within the next century for him. If he doesn't win, then the Atems can have Silhouette back without any demon left in her. They can even seal up the splits in the children if they wish."
"Bastet and Sekhmet will not let that happen," Isis complained. "Those cats never believe in infusion once split apart." A game. "What kind of invisible game?"
"Osiris believes it might be winnable. Zorc does not see it. I do not know the Atems well enough to even take a guess," Horus stated. "If the whole of Atem, can feel like the whole of Atem, then we win."
The whole of Atem feel like the whole of Atem? "What are the details?"
"The missing Silhouette. In her world, every trace of her has been erased. If Atem's wdjat can sense or pick up what we have erased. Then, it will be considered."
Remembering Silhouette. "Why would that be considered whole?"
"The whole of Atem wanted family, love, and children with the whole of Masika. He took on Set for her. The Yuugi part of Atem still wishes that. The spirit part of Atem, we do not know. Especially after the disasters we have seen from him. If they split equally between, and all parts of Atem were not lost, then the spirit of Atem should still have that. If they didn't, then nothing can be done."
Oh. "Atem as the whole Atem." The other Atem had to find Silhouette. "If he doesn't remember, but he can reach her. Is that enough?"
"If he is reaching for a child that needs help in the Shadow Realm, but does not know her? We had to fight with Zorc on that one," he admitted. "Since that Atem has no idea what the Shadow Realm is, or how to get there, we did get a yes."
Oh good! He might get that one. "Does the Yuugi part have a challenge?"
"No. Yuugi has proved all three in each dimension he is left in. It's all on Atem."
Oh. "Then what of the other one? The one that already has Silhouette, what is his winning condition?"
"That is the one Zorc is most certain of will fail," Horus said. "Without any knowledge of the whole of Atem. Without knowing that darks and lights must choose the same matching darks and lights in their eternity. Without knowing about the importance of fatherhood. Without any of that, he must reach out like the whole of Atem would have."
"To be a good father and husband?"
"He is not a husband. He and the other Masika are rocky, at best. They left off at friends in their mind. Barely," Horus warned. "As a father, he up and left Silhouette before to return back."
Oh dear. "What if one of them makes it?"
"Both must make it. Those dimensions split equally, that's why we could have used their Masika and Anzu to repair the other," Horus reminded her.
Mmm. If they win? Silhouette is freed, which meant no one went to hell or to Bakura for them to continue onward. They would be appeased, and stay Gods Atem. "That is a good solution. We could still save Gods Atem from becoming Demons Atem."
"If true. Zorc does not strike deals because they are easy," Horus warned her.
"How will their worlds handle the news? Are we moving back time itself in the other?" Isis asked.
"No, Zorc doesn't want anything moved. He loves the way things are all messed up right now," Horus sighed. "Ethereal Yugi and Ethereal Atem will believe it is the last day before Atem leaves. Same with the First Tear. Their friends and family will tell them that six years have passed and that they supposedly died. Silhouette and Hikaru will be given back as babies, with a note attached for the truth of who they were."
Yes, that sounded like mess that a demon would enjoy. "Can't we do better than a note? It's not very graceful."
"We could send Bes?" Horus suggested.
A good idea. "The other world?"
"They remember everything with Hikaru, and nothing with Silhouette. They will be given the other Hikaru, and probably be pleased since he will be more of the age they wished again."
True, humans would feel better about their babies being babies again. Without knowledge of Silhouette, and Hikaru being given back? Appeasement. Isis gave a small sigh of relief.
Whether the spirit of Atem showed that he had all the other parts of Atem equally or not? Everything was safe. They would be appeased. "I believe this was an excellent deal. We are safe either way. Even a part of Silhouette will be able to grow up. Oh, and yes! Grow up. Exactly what the Ethereals requested." They would grow old and the children would grow up. "You solved everything, Horus! No one can complain about anything."
It was perfect. Whether or not the whole of Atem truly existed anymore? Everyone should be happy.