The Alternative

Chapter Twenty Eight

Some dungeons are misty.

Cold, frigid, and hollow.

Mold crusts on to the ceiling and little clouds of cool breath circle around each prisoner's mouth.

But not this dungeon.

Desert dungeons are not known to be cool.

The dungeons reside in the highest attics of the palace, where the heat rises to the point of suffocation.

That's where Bakura would be.

Therefore, that's where Atem and Yugi went.

"Are you sure you want to pass through, Pharaoh?" A guard respectfully asked by the iron gate to the dungeon.

"Yes," Atem stated.

The guard bowed in respect before turning his attention to the door to open. A loud, obnoxious screeching of the iron scraping the ground soon followed.

The moment the door opened, Yugi had to hold back from puking.

The stench was so intoxicating that it brought the younger hunching over his knees in utter disgust. Atem wrinkled his nose at the scent, but managed to keep his composure.

The dungeon was one long hallway with jail cells on each side. The moment Pharaoh and Yugi entered, a few hands stretched out past the iron bars in desperation.

Atem lowered his head to speak in Yugi's ear. "Do not look at them. Do not feel bad for them. These are thieves, rapists and murderers. They don't deserve your guilt."

Yugi gulped in response, attempting to look straight down the hall and pay the desperate hands no mind. He had never been to the dungeon before, and quite frankly, he hoped he would never have to go back.

"Oh look, it's his majesty, our great Pharaoh!" a sickly voice snickered, drenched in sarcasm.

Yugi couldn't help but look at the prisoner who spoke, eyes widening twice the normal amount when he registered the situation this person was in.

The prisoner sat crossed legged on the ground, surrounded with his own feces and flies swarming the vicinity. A few rats were on his bed and one was even on his lap.

Yugi had to stop himself from puking at the sight.

"What, does your little sex toy have a grudge against Horus?" he spat, implying to the rat.

Atem simply grabbed Yugi by the waist and pulled him closer to him, "look forward," he whispered.

"Hail hail, our god on earth!" Another prisoner laughed from a few cells over. Yugi couldn't help but glance, but the sight of an empty eye socket quickly made him look away.

"That's no Pharaoh of mine! You sickly beast! You disgusting piece of filth! May Ra spit in your face and laugh at your inevitable death!" A deranged woman snarled from further up the hall. Yugi instantly felt chills race down his spine.

"What did she do?"

"Child molester," Atem softly answered, "I remember judging her case quite well. A sick woman. Raped over 30 children, boys and girls alike."

When Yugi got close to her cell, he couldn't help but take a glance at her.

And instantly he regretted it