Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh, although I'm leasing the characters for a rough ride.
Some things I'm laying down first.
1. I'm basing this story on the original Japanese anime and throwing in some detail from the manga(They actually came up with a good reason for Atem to
leave in the anime. Although that makes me suspect to this day that he lost the Ceremonial duel on purpose).
2. If you have only seen the 4kids dubbed version, please go to Youtube, find a clip of the Japanese anime and listen to the characters. I really prefer
that you don't read this story thinking that Atem booms all the time in a way too deep voice(I'm sure Dan Green is a wonderful actor, but he sounds old),
and that Kaiba sounds like an evil, half-witted sour loser.
3. Some of my own canon: At the time of Duelist Kingdom Yugi was 16 and in his first year of high school. Memory world is about a year and a half later
- Yugi is 17(18 pretty soon) and about to start the third and last year of high school (high school is 3 years in Japan). His height went from 168cm to 173cm
during the period (Takahashi kept his height as 153cm through out the entire story-that's cruel!). Kaiba was 18 when it all started, 20 now. Mokuba is 5 years
and half younger than him. Atem was 18 and 178cm when he died.
4. I am completely ignoring the beginning of the manga and season 0. Yugi and Kaiba never met until the finals of Duelist Kingdom. Yugi wasn't fighting
for his grandfather's soul, but only trying to win a prize to help out Jonouchi for his sister's surgery. Pegasus invited Yugi because Shadi told him about
the Puzzle and was curious. His wife didn't die. (I always thought it was ridiculous that he tried to take over an entire corporation when he could have
just put in a commision to have his wife's hologram made.) Industial Illusions also developed the hologram technology used in the duel rings. The 'solid
vision' of Kaiba Corporation is a different technology all together(by the time of DSOD, people are getting blasted off their feet during non-shadow game
duels). Kaiba was competing because he was trying to get his company involved with Duel Monsters, and Pegasus's condition was that Kaiba defeat him.
Pegasus took Kaiba's soul because he wanted to tamper with it to bring back the memories of the high priest.
5. In the anime Yami was thinking about saving Sugorouku when he gave the attack that would have killed Kaiba. In my canon, he only did it
because he recognized the risking of life as Kaiba's pride. People have dueled and killed each other for pride and honor throughout history, and as a king from
ancient times, he would have been familiar with the mentality. (The loss of memories doesn't seem to have damaged his basic personality that much.)
You should remember that several times he put his own life on the table as a chip.
6. Muto Sugoroku died when Yugi was 14, and that's when Yugi got the puzzle. Yugi's parents died even earlier. But he didn't have to support himself.
Since the yu-gi-oh world is advanced enough to have holograms, all this took place sometime in the middle of the 21st century. It is an age where robots
and AI do all the menial work and governments provide their citizens with the basic nesscities of life.
7. Takahashi modeled Atem on Tutankhamun and got his name from the sun god Aten. I'm thinking Scorpion King and another deity.
8. I'm changing some stuff about the Items. The Eye(Not in the shape of an actual eyeball, just a circlet) can see the past and present, including people's
minds, and the bearer can assess all that to predict the future. The Ankh has the power to heal and also give life to inanimate objects. The Mirror can make
illusions and can also turn them into reality. This belonged to Pegasus and is partly responsible for all the freakish things going on with Duel Monsters. The
Key could open and close space to make portals to another location or can also seal off little bubbles of a different dimension. The Rod has the power to
brainwash and also to deliver commands to many people at once. Priest Seth was the head of the army in ancient times. The Ring(a bracelet and not a
pendant) had the power of fusion. Priest Mahad used it to fuse Kas together, or to fuse the material world with the spiritual, enabling the him to affect
the material world more deeply with magic. Bakura used it to fuse portions of his soul into objects. The Weight(that's the original name before it became
a puzzle) can tip the scales of the Law of this world to change fate and even physical reality.
Kaiba opened his hand to look at the Millenium Kye. 'That wasn't a dream.'
He momentarily closed his eyes, before calling, "Yugi!"
Surprised, Atem caught the golden object tossed at him.
"It is what you need, is it not." Kaiba strode past the group,
"Millenium Key?"
"Why do you have something like this?"
"Kaiba..." Atem called hesitantly, unsure what to make of it. He'd never found out why Kaiba was here.
"Hey, Kaiba!" Jonouchi was more insistent. "Wait a sec. Give a proper explanation, will you!"
An explanation was exactly what Kaiba was avoiding, and so he didn't slacken his pace to the stairwells, intent on getting away. He needed room to think...
But the sight that met his eyes caused him to stop dead in his tracks, muscles tense for a fight.
Bakura was coming down the steps. He was staggering, but Kaiba wasn't taking any chances.
"Whoa," exclaimed Jonouchi, who had caught up with Kaiba. "Bakura!"
"Oh, guys..."Bakura's eyes wandered around the room. "Where are we?"
"What do you mean, where... Don't you remember anything?" Jonouchi asked.
"Oh, right...somebody came after me and then..." Bakura faltered. He swayed, then fell forward.
"Hey!" Jonouchi caught the boy. "Hey, wake up!"
"I'm hungry..."Bakura mumbled before completely slumping against Jonouchi.
"Yak! Hey, he's out."
"Oh well," Honda said, smiling in relief. If food was the foremost thing on Bakura's mind he couldn't be seriously hurt. "Let's get him outside in fresh air."
"Yeah..." Jonouchi shifted his position so that he and Honda could both hold their friend. He paused when he spotted the Ring on Bakura's arm, and slipped it off.
"Here," he handed it to Atem. "It's probably best if you keep it."
"Yes," Atem took the ring. Carefully he examined it, but he found no traces of the darkness it used to bear. So it was finally over..
"Anzu, we could use a hand!"
"Coming!"
Atem turned around to look at the tablet again, and saw two objects on the floor near them- the Mirror and the Ankh. He went to pick them up.
'Shadi,' he thought sadly. 'Your soul perished, too... Thank you.'
He stood up, and took a few more steps toward the tablet.
'Seto,' He spoke silently, knowing better than to speak to the man waiting behind him. 'The memory world would have been different from what really happened, but after
I was sealed in the Millenium Puzzle, you governed Egypt well.' Atem had his memories back, but his last moments were hazed with exhaustion and pain, preventing
him from recalling their last conversation correctly. Yet he doubted it was anything like the relatively calm exchange that had occured in the memory world. The real
Seto had been ready to die and follow his king... 'And you had this Tablet of Memory engraved. Now that Zorc is gone, I also...'
/Other me.../
/Let's go, partner./
"All 7 items are together in your hands," said Isis. "Now..."
"Yes," Atem answered. "I will seal them with my own hands, so that no one can tamper with them anymore."
"Seal them?" Anzu asked.
Atem smiled in answer. "Yes, that is my last duty."
"I knew that, but..." Anzu faltered. "That means that...your soul also have to return to the afterlife, doesn't it?"
Atem lowered his eyes. He knew, but he was not happy about it.
Marik and Isis looked at each other and nodded.
"Your grace, in the shrine of the Dead that us Tomb Keepers have been guarding, the Tablet of the Nether World is enclosed. The inscriptions in the shrine say: Thou
who would open the Door to the Nether World, place the 7 Items in the Tablet, and as the last key, declare the Name of the King."
"The King's name..."
"Atem?"
"Atem!" Isis repeated, smiling. "Is that your lost name?"
He nodded.
"Now all the pieces have been gathered," said Isis. "Does your resolution remain unchanged?"
He nodded again. "Yes."
"Then, we will lead you to the shrine."
NOTE: Those were the scenes from the anime, with as close translations I could make without sounding weird, and leaving out a few lines for the sake of brevity.
I'm avoiding the word 'Pharaoh' because in this story Atem is supposed to be a king from 4000 years ago and they didn't use the title 'Pharaoh' in that age.
By the way, in this particular anime episode I was shocked to find that Kaiba chose to ride in the same car with Jonouchi instead of Yugi. Think that meant anything?