And another update! I may give you one more update this week so that I can post Joey's debut chapter this coming Thursday. I've had it written for a long time and I'm super psyched about it!
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters.
"Poor girl," Mana whispered as Téa awoke ending Atem's connection to her rather suddenly.
"What have I done?" Atem watched as she answered the phone, holding back sobs as she spoke to Yugi. "Mana I need to talk to her again, she's crying because of me." He turned to look at his childhood friend only to see her crestfallen face.
"I can't bring you to her while she's awake. It's beyond my power."
The pharaoh looked back to the water, unable to leave the scene that he had created. Téa put the phone down, and curled into a ball, he could see her body shake every time she sobbed. "I have to make this right." He whispered.
Mana rose and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I will speak with Mahad, maybe he knows a way." Atem nodded, his eyes never leaving the water.
Yugi knew something was wrong when Téa took almost ten minutes to return his dropped call. When she did finally call her voice sounded more distraught than tired, and there was a quivering to it that made him think she was crying. He tried to tell himself that he had imagined it, but when she asked about his voice he was sure hers had cracked. Is she upset because she thought I was him? No…
Atem had been gone for two years now…but ever since the night he had dreamed of the two of them Yugi couldn't shake the feeling that he was competing with the pharaoh for Téa's affection. Till then, he had never noticed if Téa looked differently at him when the pharaoh inhabited his body. Though after that night, the glances seemed constant. And it wasn't only her he noticed.
He remembered the look on the pharaoh's face when she had given him that silver necklace with the blank cartouche on it. "I'll never take it off," he had told her… and when the five of them stood facing Zork inside Atem's memory; one by one Joey, Tristain and Téa were hurt as their monsters were destroyed, but the pharaoh didn't react until Téa was hit, even though her wounds were far less substantial than their other two friends. Then there was the boat ride to the pharaoh's resting place...
Yugi knew as soon as Téa opened the door to his room she wasn't there to see him. He had played it cool and didn't let on that he knew, but he didn't call out to the pharaoh. In fact he built up a mental barrier just in case to keep him out of the conversation. He felt guilty about it afterwards, until the next morning when she all but pleaded for the duel to be postponed. That's when he realized that everyone but him already knew how she felt. He had been a fool.
All of these things played on his mind, and the dream had become reoccurring nightmare for him. A nagging feeling that Téa had lied to him and that he hadn't truly been her first… well, anything. He knew he should just confront her about it; what did he have to lose? The pharaoh was gone, he wasn't coming back. Putting this…thing out in the open would dispel the strain on their relationship…but his pride wouldn't let him do it. He was afraid to hear what he already knew spoken out loud.
I need to stop thinking about this… Pulling out his phone he sent out a text to the guys. Night out? I'm buying.
Less than ten minutes later Yugi, Duke, Tristan and Seto were all stepping out of Kaiba's limo, and walking into the ritziest club in Domino City.
"There has to be something we can do for him Mahad." Mana pleaded to her old teacher, "He's heartbroken! Isn't there some way we could get him back to the world of the living long enough to talk to her?"
The older wizard shook his head, "There is only one such spell that I know, and it would give him a new body and life. He would be trapped in the world of the living another lifetime."
Mana's eyes widened. "That's perfect!" She cried. "He could grow old with the woman he loves. How do we do it?"
Mahad's face was stern, "I will not teach you this spell; it comes at too great a cost." Thinking the conversation finished, he turned and walk away.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Mana asked, following close behind him.
The more powerful magician couldn't help but think about the time they had spent together in ancient Egypt. When Mana was still an apprentice she used to follow him around like this; begging for instructions on spells that she wanted to learn that were well past what she was ready for. It had been centuries since she had acted this way, but those pleading eyes hadn't lost their touch. When he turned to tell her no once again he found himself unable to. So he simply answered her question "You would be wiped from existence."
Mana froze, thinking about that for a moment. "Didn't we take an oath for our pharaoh?"
"An oath that no longer held us after his arrival in this world." Mahad reminded her, not liking where this conversation was going. Mana was like a daughter to him, and Mahad was not about to let her throw away her afterlife.
"The spirit world is a reflection of the life we had. Even after death our loyalties are to the pharaoh, and I intend to continue to honor my oath." Her face was determined and Mahad's went pale.
"You can't be serious."
"I am," she answered evenly, "now tell me how to cast it!"
Turmoil massed inside the magician as he stared into her unwavering gaze. If he refused Mahad knew she would never forgive him...and wasn't no existence better than one where Mana resented him? "The cost of this spell is two existences not just one." Her master sighed, relenting. "If you are certain this is the path you wish to walk, I will accompany you in this task. Now come, we have much to prepare."
I decided that I can't keep my favorite character out of the storyline. Atem won't be making an appearance in the world of the living until around chapter 15 though, because defying the laws of the universe is never a walk in the park. He has some serious fighting to do before he gets back there.
Next update we'll join the guys at the club for some excitement... and maybe a bar fight.
