(A/N: Ok, so we last left off with Téa being sucked into the Tablet of Time right before it fell over and broke. We shall now learn of her fate.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 3: Lost in Time
Téa was falling through light and shadows. Shapeless figures sped by her as she continued to fall. Téa didn't know what was happening. She wasn't surprised by the strange bout of what seemed to be magic since she had seen enough strange things dealing with magic, but what exactly was happening to her, she had no idea.
'Am I going to die?' she wondered.
As she fell, the shadows decreased and the light became brighter. And as she fell through the tunnel of light, she saw something at the end. It looked like a mirror reflection of the Tablet of Time, and it was getting closer and closer.
"What is this?" she cried. "I'm going to crash!"
And she did, right into the tablet. But she went right through it as if she were a ghost. She crashed painfully to the ground and the light vanished.
"Ow, that really hurt." She sat up, rubbing her head. "What happened?"
She looked up and saw the Tablet of Time. Only it didn't look like it was 5000 years old, but like it had been just recently carved, and it was part of the wall too. But how? Just second ago it had been a single piece in the middle of the room.
It was then that she realized that she wasn't in the same room. In fact, it didn't even look like she was in the same era. Things looked very similar to how they did when she and the others had gone to the past to help Atem.
Her eyes widened with realization. "Oh my God, it actually worked! The tablet must have sent me back in time."
Suddenly, before her very eyes, the Tablet of Time exploded as if it had smashed into something or if something had smashed into it. Téa cried out, covering her face as pieces of rock flew at her.
"What the heck was that?"
She gasped as she looked at the hole in the wall where the Tablet of Time once was. All that remained was a pile of rubble.
"Well, that can't be good." She muttered.
She suddenly heard voices behind her. There were shadows on the wall, indicating that someone was coming into the room. She should have expected that, the explosion, or whatever it was, had been quite loud.
"Sounds like it came from in here." said one of the people.
Five men dressed as ancient Egyptians burst into the room. Téa no longer had any doubt that she had gone back in time.
"Look, the Tablet of Time has been destroyed!" cried one of the men. His gaze shifted to Téa. "You, girl, what have you done?"
Téa pointed at herself. "What? Who? Me? I didn't do anything?"
"You've destroyed the sacred Tablet of Time!"
Téa blinked. "You're kidding me! How could I have done that," she motioned to the pile of rubble, "to a stone carving that's bigger than I am?"
The men began whispering among themselves.
"Who is that girl?"
"Never seen her before."
"She must be a foreigner."
"And what's she wearing? I've never seen clothes like those."
"She must be a spy!"
Téa heard that last part. "Hey, wait a minute, I'm no spy. I'm a…" A what? An ordinary high school girl, a tourist from Japan, a friend of Atem, a time traveler?
The men held up their spears. "Take her to the pharaoh. She shall be judged for her crime."
Téa's eyes widened. 'The pharaoh? Could it be…?'
(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)
Atem sat on his throne as he watched his people celebrate. This was the long awaited celebration for the defeat of Zorc. It had been three months ago that he had sealed away the lord of darkness. It had taken that long to clean up the mess and to get Egypt back to the way it was. Fortunately, having powerful monsters and sorcerers to help really sped up the process. Now that things were back to normal, it was finally time to celebrate their victory.
Atem sighed. As good as it was to be back where he belonged and to have peace restored to his people, he still missed his 21st century friends. It just wasn't the same without them.
'I wonder what they're doing right now. Or rather,' he chuckled, 'what they will be doing 5000 years from now.'
Shimon looked up at Atem and smiled. "It's good to see you laughing again, my king. You haven't been doing that enough."
Atem sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't find a reason to smile much lately."
"What are you talking about? Today is a day of rejoicing. It's to celebrate your victory over Zorc. You conquered the dark one, restored Egypt to its former glory, and was even granted life again. What reason do you have not to smile?"
"He's just a regular party pooper."
Both Shimon and Atem jumped. "Mana, where'd you come from?"
The young sorceress chuckled and came out from behind the throne. "Well, I am a magician in-training. A little magic here and there is no problem. Perhaps I'll cast a spell so his highness won't be so gloomy all the time."
Atem sighed again. "I'm not gloomy, Mana. It's just…"
He trailed off, but Mana knew what the problem was. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "You miss them, don't you? Your future friends?"
The look on his face said it all. Yes, he missed them terribly. And aside from Mana, who was the only other person in this time period that had met them, he had no one to talk to about them and his time as the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.
"Pharaoh, we have an intruder!"
Atem looked up. Five men were dragging someone who was very reluctant to be here into the room. Who were they? And were those modern day clothes they were wearing? No, that wasn't possible.
Seto approached the five men as they struggled to hold onto their prisoner. "What's this about?" he demanded.
"Master Seto, we caught this spy. She was causing havoc in one of the sacred chambers. And she destroyed the Tablet of Time."
"She did what?"
"Oh dear!" Shimon gasped. "And our spell-casters had just finished constructing it."
"This is an insult to Egypt." Seto growled. "That sacred tablet was meant to commemorate Egypt's victory over Zorc."
"Exactly." Said one of the men. "And who else besides an enemy of Egypt would destroy the monument of our greatest triumph?"
"Let me go!" Téa shouted. "I didn't do anything! How could a single person destroy a stone wall carving?"
Ignoring her cries, Shada stepped forward. "For this crime, you are to be judged by the pharaoh."
Atem watched the scene play out. Who would dare to destroy a sacred monument? Was it really an enemy of Egypt?
The five men moved forward and pushed their captive to the floor. It was a girl. And she certainly wasn't Egyptian. And when she looked up at him, and he got a good look at her, he couldn't believe his eyes.
"It can't be…" he whispered. "Téa?"
She looked up and her eyes landed on him. The same look of surprise and disbelief that he had on his face written all over hers. But they clearly recognized each other.
"Atem?" said Téa softly. She suddenly forgot where she was and that she was a prisoner at the moment. All she saw was Atem, sitting on his throne, and looking as handsome as ever. "Atem!"
Her body moved on its own. She was suddenly running towards him with her arms stretched out. She didn't even move five feet before a powerful force pulled her back.
"How dare you attack the pharaoh!" Karim shouted. "For this, you shall face judgment from the Millennium Items." He held up his Millennium Scale. "Prepare yourself."
"Stop!" Atem shouted.
Karim froze. Everyone in the room was looking at Atem, but his full attention was on Téa. Slowly he rose from his throne and approached her. Téa got up and waited for him to come to her. She still couldn't believe he was actually here. No, make it that she was actually here, with him, in Ancient Egypt… again.
Atem stopped when he was in front of her. The two of them stared at each other for several long moments before Téa finally broke the silence.
"Atem…"
As if saying his name broke the spell, Atem reacted, pulling her into a tight hug. "Tell me I'm not dreaming."
Téa felt her eyes watering. "I thought I was the one dreaming. Is it really you, Atem?"
"I should be asking you that."
Isis stepped forward. "My pharaoh, do you know this girl?"
Breaking the hug, Atem turned to her. "Indeed I do. She is a very dear friend of mine." He glared at the men that had dragged her in. "Not an enemy spy."
Mana suddenly appeared by Atem's side. Her eyes lit up when she saw their unexpected visitor. "Téa!" She all but jumped at the startled teenager, hugging her tightly. "What are you doing here? I didn't think I'd see you again for at least 5000 years."
"H-Hi, Mana. Nice to see you again."
Shimon rested a hand on Atem's shoulder. "My pharaoh, what's going on?"
Atem looked at the old man nervously. And from the looks on the faces of everyone else, they were all wondering the same thing.
'Can't talk here.' he decided. Aside from Mana, no one else knew of his adventures with Yugi and the gang. He turned to the others. "Forgive me, but the arrival of my friend has called for my attention. I must speak with her alone." He grabbed Téa's hand and pulled her towards him. "Do not disturb us until I say so. Mana, join us."
The energetic trainee nodded happily. "Yay, time to catch up."
Atem led Téa out of the crowded room with Mana close behind. He closed the door behind them before turning to face Téa. "You're really here. But how?"
Téa shook her head. "I have no idea. One minute I was with the others in a museum, then next thing I knew, I was here being accused of destroying…." Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered the tablet. "Wait, I think I know how it happened. I remember being sucked into the Tablet of Time."
Atem blinked. "The Tablet of Time sent you here? But how was it activated."
"Yugi held up the Egyptian Gods Cards to it and Joey held up the Time Wizard. It must have reacted to them."
Mana looked back and forth between Atem and Téa. "The Egyptian God Cards? Reacted to who? What? Did I miss something?"
"We'll explain it later." Atem told her, then turned back to Téa. "My guards said you destroyed the Tablet of Time. Is this true?"
"Of course not! I mean…" Did she. It shattered just after she had been transported. "Well, it did break after it spit me out. Was that supposed to happen?"
"Not at all."
Mana rolled her eyes. "Why would we erect a magical tablet to mark Egypt's victory over Zorc if it could be destroyed so easily."
Atem tapped his chin. "Well, after 5000 years, it was bound to be more fragile. And who knows what damage it had taken when it was taken down and moved to the museum."
A thought suddenly occurred to Téa. "Now that I think about it, I remember that the tablet was standing up in the middle of the museum. What if it fell over and broke after it sucked me in."
"That would make sense." Said Atem. "It would also explain why the tablet shattered here. It's a direct doorway to another time. Since it was destroyed in your time, it was destroyed in ours."
"So it was an accident." Mana replied simply. "Well, that settles things. You can't be held accountable. Problem solved."
Téa suddenly had a dreadful sinking feeling. "Wait a minute. If the tablet is destroyed, and it was how I got here, how am I supposed to get back?"
Both Atem and Mana's eyes widened as they realized what this meant. It didn't take Téa long to figure out what they already knew. The tablet was destroyed, the doorway to her time was closed. She was stuck… 5000 years in the past.
(A/N: A little shorter than I expected it to be, but I think it came together nicely. It seems as if Téa's way back home has been lost. Will she find another way? Well, you're just going to have to keep reading to find out. Oh, and I know that things may be moving a little slowly right now, but once the story gets rolling, I promise it'll be a lot better. The upcoming chapters will be longer, and there will be a lot of action, drama, romance, suspense, angst, and a bunch of other things. So please wait patiently until then. And don't forget to review; let me know how I'm doing. What's good, what's not good, you know. Much appreciated. Next update will be under Yami Yugi/Anzu again.)