A/N: Thank you to Atem-Yami-Yugi4alltime, Anonymous Secret, and jeannierac who all reviewed my first chapter asking for more, as well as Startistica who followed it. It makes me so happy to know that you guys like it. Four people is definitely enough for me to have reason to continue it. I've thought more about it and know more where it is going so I hope you all enjoy it.
I would really appreciate more reviews in the future. Tell me what's good/bad about each chapter. Tell me if I made a grammar mistake. Pretty much any comment would make me happy. If reviews slow down I tend to forget about a story.
I already have 6 ongoing stories right now (not including the ones on Hiatus due to lack of reviews or writers block), so my chapters may come out slowly. I hope you'll all bare with me and not get too upset.
Okay Chapter 2! Enjoy!
Chapter 2 – Hero?
"Quit your stalling Yugi or you will forfeit the match!"
"I never forfeit." Yugi glared across the large stadium at Kaiba as he reached out to draw his card. He was shocked to see another piece of the Exodia puzzle.
"Draw any card you like, it won't change a thing. My dragons may be frozen for another two turns, but my new monster is under no such spell." Kaiba declared as he played his card. "The Judge Man with an attack power of 2200." The Judgeman easily dispatched Yugi's facedown monster.
Yugi's next card gave him the Dark Magician. 'I can attack with my Dark Magician, but he won't stand a chance once Kaiba's dragons are free of my spell.' He placed the card on the panel when he felt everything suddenly shifting. He ignored the feeling. The Magician summoned to the field and Yugi called out his attack. The dark magic attack quickly dispatched the opposing monster. "Your Judge Man falls." Yugi announced smugly. 'This is no time to be getting cocky,' he reminded himself.
Kabia simply smirked, "A sacrifice that doesn't even phase me." He reached down and drew his next card, "and though neither dragon can move for one more turn, my next card is the third Blue-eyes White Dragon!" The dragon summoned to the field and a hot wind whipped around. Yami-Yugi closed his eyes as he felt the sand pelt against his face.
"What's happening?!" he wondered aloud.
"Give it up Yugi. Your feeble Magician is no match for my Dragon."
Atem's eyes grew wide as he saw that he and Kaiba now stood in the middle of an ancient Egyptian crypt. "This isn't right… It was just a card game… Kaiba!" he yelled. "This has to stop! We're in the middle of a shadow game!"
"Enough. I'm tired of listening to your magic mumbo-jumbo, Yugi. Now prepare to lose." Kaiba just would not listen.
Atem's eyes grew hard. "I never lose." He reached down and drew his final card. It was the last piece of Exodia. Just as he was about to play the card he felt a tug on his arm.
'You Can't!' Yugi called out to him. 'If you do that… Kaiba will be sent to the shadows forever. Atem knew Yugi was right, but for some reason his body wasn't responding. His hand placed the card even as both their souls yelled for it to stop.
'NO! Kaiba! Get out of the way!' Atem tried to call out but the only sounds that emanated from his throat were those that called out his attack. "Exodia, OBLITERATE!" The golden behemoth loosed a blast of raw energy straight at Kaiba. Atem could only watch as his rival was completely disintegrated by the attack.
Atem bolted out of bed so fast that he hit his head on the bunk above him. He rubbed his newly forming lump as he looked around the room trying to remember where he was. His heart was still racing from the dream. He thought back on his first dual with Kaiba. After his victory had been secured… what had he done after that…
Back then he and Yugi didn't really know that they were separate beings. He had had no memory of his past and hardly knew he was different from the body he inhabited. That dual was one of the first times he had ever taken control of the shadows during a game of dual monsters. He could vaguely remember doing it a few times before that… but even now he couldn't remember what he had actually done to those people. Did I kill them? Atem shivered at the thought.
He looked around the room that he now shared with Osiris. It was a small room, especially considering how important she supposedly was. She had given him the bottom bunk even though she had complained about even needing to get a bunk bed in the first place.
"I mean really… why can't we just make the room larger and get two beds?" she had grumbled.
Atem chuckled when the bed above him began to snore. He leaned back on the bed resting his hands behind his head as he thought about his first day in this strange afterlife.
XXXflashbackXXX
Atem struggled to keep up with Osiris as she gave him the full tour. She pointed out the school/children centers and housing areas. She pointed out 3 different parks, and recreation centers. He had to stop her for a few questions when they passed by what she called the 'Reincarnation Department' and also at the power plant. She gave simple explanations but didn't slow her pace in the slightest.
"Over here is where you get food. You get a pre-determined daily ration. Don't bother trying to go over your allotted amount. It's going to be exactly what you eat anyway so you'd just be wasting food." Osiris grabbed Atem's arm when he stopped to look at fresh fruit stands. "We'll come back here after we find you a home." He apologized and followed along after her again. "Okay the last thing on our tour is the 'Off Limits' area." Osiris stopped before a high stone wall. "It's very simple. Go here and you'll die. And dying in this world is much more permanent."
Atem stared up at the wall which must have been at least 30 feet high. The seamless granite ran as far as the eye could see, in both directions. But it wasn't the immense size of the wall that rattled Atem; he could feel an energy behind it, a dark aura similar to the shadow realm he had always fought on earth. "What's back there?" he asked.
"You don't need to worry about that. Just don't go back there and it doesn't matter." Osiris turned on her heels and walked away. Atem had to hurry after her; he couldn't help but wonder what was being hidden beyond that wall.
They concluded the tour in a large white building that seemed to be the center of the city area. Workers dressed in bright white suits bowed and held the doors open for them.
"Iris!"
Osiris smiled and walked up to the woman that had called out. Atem stood back a little ways unsure of what was going on. He looked around the large entrance hall. The inner walls were the same shining white as the outside. The floor looked like marble. The building seemed a strong contraction with the city around it. He was pulled out of his observations when Osiris called him over.
"Atem, this is Nicole. She handles most of the housing arrangements. Nicole, this is the anomaly, Pharaoh of Egypt, Atem."
Atem raised an eyebrow, "Anomaly?" Nicole smiled kindly as she wrote some things down on her clipboard.
"Basically," she told him, "Most souls don't disappear for 5000 years, and then suddenly pop up again."
"Ah…"
Nicole ignored his continued confusion and turned to Osiris. "About him… We have a bit of a problem." She leaned in close to whisper into her boss' ear.
"What!? What'd'ya we have nowhere to put him!?" Osiris quickly realized how loud she had spoken and smiled awkwardly at Atem. The two conversed for a while long before seeming to come to a decision. Osiris sighed, turned to Atem and said, "Here's the deal… We have this thing here called Hero status. That means you've saved the world at least once. The whole world, mind you. This isn't something just for someone who did a good deed or two." Atem nodded his understanding. "Heroes get a special status, or position, in this world."
Osiris went on to explain the details of the caste system. Souls are assigned to a family based on available space and how they lived their most recent life on earth (a soul could be reborn whenever they wished but they would lose all memories of previous lives). The older they were before their death, the higher the position they could receive in a family group. Since the mind remained in the state it was upon death, it meant that children would always be children and could never grow up, so children needed supervision.
Anyone with Hero status would be put in charge of organizing and conversing with several family groups. Talking to them about how things are going, and if one of them has an issue or dispute to try and settle things calmly and quickly. It was a big job. There was only one issue. In order to get respect from the families you needed to be an adult at the least. Past experience showed that a soul had to have lived on Earth for at least 28 years before it received the needed respect to be placed in charge of multiple families. Officially, Atem's soul was only 16 when his body was destroyed. Apparently those years spent dwelling in the millennium puzzle with Yugi didn't count.
"But we can't exactly place you under someone else because of your Hero status." Osiris sighed then shrugged. "Guess there's no choice then; you'll just have to stay with me." Atem looked at her confused. Nicole looked at her with shock. "What? We can't place him below anyone without Hero status who saved the worlds less than what? Two times?"
"Three times." Nicole corrected.
"Oh yeah… cause we have so many souls that manage to save the Whole World even once." Osiris lightly punched Atem in the arm. "And we can't place you above anyone that has more than 16 years. So the only option is to place you under me. I'm the only one above Hero Status."
"But you're…" Atem started to say 'but you're even younger than I am' before he caught himself. Better to Not upset the ruler of the world you exist in by calling her a child. Osiris figured out what he meant anyway.
"I only choose to look this age. I can change to whatever I want. My soul has existed for a period of time beyond your human understanding, so age isn't an issue for me." Atem still looked unconvinced. She gave him a wry smile, "Of course we could always just send you straight to Reincarnation? You'd forget about everything in your life, including your friends, if you don't want to stay with me." Atem quickly agreed to stay with her. He had just left earth and wasn't sure he was ready to go back yet; and he definitely didn't want to forget Yugi and the others.
"Good. It's settled. Nicole set it up." Nicole scurried off to carry out the order. It wasn't long before Atem was being led to his new home.
XXXflashbackendXXX
Atem rolled to his side and pulled a pillow over his ears. Osiris had started snoring louder. Whenever Yugi snored, Atem would just go and explore the vast chambers of the Puzzle. The power he had once felt by having control over such a large area of his mind was now gone, and it left him feeling weak. Having that dream had done nothing to boost his confidence in himself.
He pushed the thoughts from his mind and, after a long while, was sleeping soundly once again.
