Key: /mind link/ "Ancient Egyptian" "English"

Chapter 2: Waking Up

The instant Atem was even slightly awake he knew something was wrong. Why was he in control of the body? Where was Yugi? His hand flopped to his chest, looking for the Puzzle that had been his prison for so long.

...

He couldn't find it.

Atem started to panic slightly. /Aibou?/ he called out in his mind. There was no answer. Only the echo of an empty mind, one devoid of any kind of mind link. Oh no. What had happened to Yugi? Where was he?!

Completely awake now, Atem shot up in bed. His eyes met white walls, and the memories of his 'death' came back. The long walk. The ancient archway and white veil. The sudden feeling of life. The instant, overwhelming pain. His blackout. Atem relaxed, sighing in relief. Yugi was fine. He had been successful in sending him to the afterlife. Although, for some reason, the afterlife rejected him. Why…?

Atem glanced around at his surroundings, wondering where he was now he was reassured Yugi wasn't in imminent danger. It was a large room. Beds lined the walls from one end to the other. The walls themselves were a sterile white. Light filtered in through the windows and made the walls shine brilliantly, almost blindingly, like the afterlife had been. Well, like the path to the afterlife, anyway.

Looking around his more immediate surroundings, he saw a pile of clothes on the table next to him, the clothes he had worn in his days of being a pharaoh. When he glanced down at what he was wearing, he saw nothing but a simple cream robe. What surprised him was the color of his skin. It was different from Yugi's, colored more like how he had been as a Pharaoh. To the left of him was a mirror. Quickly Atem got out of his bed to get a glimpse at what he looked like. He nearly fell flat on his face. It seemed his body wasn't quite recovered yet.

What he saw in the mirror didn't surprise him. He really was alive, and it seemed that his new body looked like his old one did before he died thousands of years ago. His face was tanned much like his arms. His crimson eyes were outlined in kohl after the manner of the pharaohs. They narrowed slightly. How was he alive? That wasn't even the big question, either. WHY was he alive? Was he going to be rejected access to the afterlife, to his friends and family, time and time again? He sighed, placing one hand on his hip and running the other through his hair. Fate was cruel sometimes.

"Get rid of that absurd hair!" Atem nearly toppled over backwards in shock. Who...

"Yes, you! Your hair is ridiculous! And do something about that eye color!" Atem's eyes widened as he realized it was the mirror who was talking to him. What kind of new technology was this?

"Ah. I see you're awake." A sharp female voice came from the left. His head jerked on that direction. On the other side of his bed was an office door. So that's where this lady came from.

His eyes turned to the speaker. She was a wrinkled lady, perhaps in her fifties. She had the air of a strict, no-nonsense person. He wondered who she was. Well, this did look like a hospital. A nurse, maybe?

"I am Nurse Pomfrey." Ah. He had guessed right. "You've been in bed for quite a while. How are you feeling?"

"Where am I, how did I get here, and how long have I been unconscious?" Atem paid no regard to the questions she asked. He was in need of answers.

Nurse Pomfrey looked extremely confused. "I apologize. I don't understand whatever language you're speaking. Do you know English?"

Atem frowned. He could understand her English perfectly for some reason, but he apparently hadn't spoken it. What language had he spoken? Oh. His cheeks reddened slightly as he realized he had spoken Ancient Egyptian. Frantically, he tried to remember the few lessons Yugi had on English that he had bothered to listen to.

"I... ah... no speak English... good? Speak Japanese and Arabic." Well, those were his main languages, anyway. He doubted she would speak Ancient Egyptian, and he saw no need to mention Babylonian, Hebrew, and the many others he had needed to reign.

Nurse Pomfrey frowned. "That's going to be a problem. Do you know how to write?" Atem nodded, slightly insulted by the question. She took a piece of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle out of her robe and proffered it to him. Curious, he took it. What sort of people used parchment and quills these days? Pens were so much more convenient.

"I need you to write down every little thing that seems out of place or different with your body than is considered normal. Everything."

Atem smirked. What should he start with first? Well, she probably wasn't looking for 'alive,' but he'd include that one anyway. He could feel, smell, touch, hear, everything that a dead person wasn't supposed to be able to do. In order to shorten the list, he simply put down 'not dead.' There. Oh, he should probably put down 'a little tired.' That was probably along the lines of what she actually needed, anyway.

Finishing the last line of his windswept kanji, he handed the paper back with a flourish. She took it, and without even glancing at the writing it held, took out a wooden stick not more than a foot long. Quickly she tapped it to the parchment, muttering something Atem didn't quite catch. He stood up from his position on his bed where he had sat to write and gaped at what was happening on the paper. The lines of his kanji were wriggling apart and moving across the page to form new words and letters, these ones distinctly English.

How in the world had she- Magic. Definitely magic. But it was no type of magic he had ever seen before. Where were the shadows? He couldn't see them, but they could be invisible when they wanted, anyway. The main thing was that he couldn't feel them. He had lived in the shadows for so long he had developed almost a sixth sense for when they were being used. They weren't in these circumstances. Then how...?

Nurse Pomfrey took a quick glance down the short list. 'A little tired' she had expected. But something was wrong with this man. Why would he include 'alive' and 'not dead' on his list of problems?

"Nurse Pomfrey?" a new voice spoke from the main doorway. Atem looked up from the paper where he was trying to figure out this new magic. An old man stood in the doorway. He wore robes and a pointed hat, and a silver beard trailed down from his chin to his waist. Crimson eyes met blue as they inspected each other.

"So, I assume you're the the man who came through the Veil?" Atem was silent for a moment. Finally, he nodded. This man seemed good. Of course, he wouldn't fully trust him. There were too many secrets hidden in those eyes. Still, the man seemed like one to only hold secrets until the people they were kept from were ready to hear them.

"Professor Dumbledore! Thank goodness you're here." Nurse Pomfrey rushed over to the old man. So his name was Dumbledore. Queer name. "This man doesn't speak English, so I had him write down everything that seemed off. I used 'Transiato,' and look at what he wrote! 'Alive?' 'Not dead?' What does this mean?" Anxiously she gazed at Dumbledore, looking for an answer.

"I believe he means exactly what he wrote." Nurse Pomfrey opened her mouth as if to ask him to clarify a bit more, but he held up a hand to silence her. "Did he say what languages he spoke?"

"Yes. He said... um… Arabic. Oh, and Japanese."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Japanese? I expected the Arabic, but the Japanese is unusual. Young man, do you speak Egyptian?"

Atem smirked and nodded once more. Of course he had guessed. Well, it's not like his tan and the pile of clothes on the table beside him suggested anything different.

"Wonderful. I know a little bit. Not enough to speak it clearly, but enough to understand what you say. I take it you can understand what English I speak?"

"Yes, I can. To repeat my earlier questions, where am I, how did I get here, and how long was I unconscious?" Atem got straight to the point.

"Would you mind telling me who you are first? It will help me answer your questions so you'll understand them the best."

He had a point there, Atem conceded. "I am Atem, son to Pharaoh Akanhamon and cousin to Priest Seto, also known as Pharaoh Seto. I was also a pharaoh in my time. I sacrificed my name, soul, and memories to seal away the Dark God Zorc Necrophades, thus earning the title 'Nameless Pharaoh,' by which people today know me better." Well, that was quite a dramatic introduction. Bakura would have been proud.

Dumbledore leaned closer. "Are you really? Forgive me if I don't believe you right away. Do you have a form of proof?"

Atem snorted. He folded his arm, crossed one leg over the other, and flicked his crimson eyes up at his hair. There wasn't much more solid proof than that. Besides, the only other evidence he would have had was the Millennium Puzzle, and that should be deep within the tombs of Egypt by now.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Point taken. I'll answer the easiest question first. You have been sleeping for three days. As for where you are, you are in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a school of magic."

"Speaking of magic," Atem interrupted, "What kind of magic is this? I have never seen anything like it before."


(Edited and updated Nov. 25, 2015)
Looking back on this, I realize just how many plot holes there are. I apologize, but plan to repair them through later chapters!