Chapter 14- The Fate of the Treasure
Yami, Atemu, Leo, Bakura, Marik, Ryou, Malik, Seto, and Heba all knelt down to the floor, pulling the others down to the floor as well in an act of reverence.
"Stand up and face us." Osiris said.
The entire group did that and looked up to face the three gods of Egypt.
Yami was still holding Yugi protectively in his arms.
The three were sitting on throne with Osiris on the right, Horus in the middle, and Ra on the left.
"It would seem that the power of the Treasure has, indeed, been successful in extinguishing the last of the dark magic." Horus said.
"Protector, come forth." Ra said.
Heba walked forward to stand in front of the ground, facing the three gods of Egypt. "Yes, my lords." Heba said.
"It would seem that after five thousand years all has come full circle, as it was meant to be." Osiris said.
"Yes, my lords." Heba said.
"However, there are still several dilemmas that we are faced with." Ra said.
"Yes, I know, and I know that I failed." Heba said.
Atemu, Yami, and the others looked at each other, wondering what Heba meant by that.
"You believe that you failed in your duties. How so?" Horus asked.
"I was given the duty of protecting my brother from the evil forces that sought to gain control of his power, but Menthos managed to capture Yugi because of my ineffectiveness. I was also supposed to prevent Yugi from ever having to use his full power because of the danger that it posed to him. I failed in that as well." Heba said.
"You may think that you failed, but we do not." Osiris said.
Heba looked at them in shock. "You do not think that I failed?" Heba asked.
"No, we do not. You see, you were a given a rather difficult task. There were many people who sought to gain control of the Treasure's powers. Menthos was the most evil and most underhanded in that respect." Osiris said.
"We do not dispute the fact that Menthos did manage to capture the Treasure. However, you did everything in your power to find and save him. That is the point of being the Protector. No one can protect a person from everything, but you did everything that you could to save him. Therefore, you did succeed." Horus said.
"But my brother was still forced to use his full power." Heba said.
"Yes, he was. That was an unfortunate event." Ra agreed.
"However, we now realize that the only way to stop Menthos from doing what it was that he set out to do was for Yugi to use his full power. No other way would have worked." Horus said.
"You never once shirked your duties and you succeeded in them, Heba. You did everything right." Osiris said.
Leo walked forward. "My lords." Leo said.
"Yes, Eternias?" Ra said.
"If you do not mind my asking, you mentioned dilemmas. What are they?" Leo asked.
"Yes. The dilemma is what will happen to the Treasure now." Horus said.
A stunned silence followed the declaration from Horus.
Yami's grip on Yugi tightened, not wanting anything to happen to his Hikari.
Joey, Seto, and Tristan had tensed and were ready to fight to protect Yugi.
Sayora held tightly onto Kyla's arm, who wrapped her arms around Sayora in an attempt to calm her down although Kyla herself was very upset at the thought.
Tea's eyes started to water at the thought of Yugi being taken from them.
Yuesei looked around at everyone and could sense their fear and anger, just like he was fearful and angry.
Atemu looked up at the three gods and decided that he was going to take a chance by confronting them. He stepped forward and said, "My lords."
"Yes, Pharaoh Atemu. What is it that you wish to say?" Osiris asked.
"With all due respect, my lords, what do you mean by what will happen to Yugi now?" Atemu asked.
"A valid question, Pharaoh Atemu. The truth is that the Treasure possesses great power, and that kind of power is not to be taken likely." Ra said.
"Yugi would never use that power for any evil reason." Joey protested.
"Yeah. He's not that kind of person." Tristan agreed.
"Guys, enough." Bakura hissed.
"It is fine, Bakura. They make legitimate statements about Yugi." Horus said.
"What are the options that you have?" Heba asked.
"There are several things that we can do. One, the Treasure would have to be taken out of the human world through, I'm afraid, his death." Osiris said.
"What other options are there?" Yami asked, his grip in Yugi not loosening.
"Another option is that Yugi keep his power as the Treasure, but return to Earth to live a normal life. Well, as much of a normal life as he could have." Ra said.
"As much? What do you mean by that?" Tea asked.
"As the Treasure, many evil forced will know about his power, and Yugi will constantly have evil forces coming after him un search of his power so that they can either force him to use his power to help them or kill him to prevent him from using his power against them." Osiris said.
"We'd be having the Menthos ordeal all over again with someone else." Heba said.
"Yes. That is what would end up happening." Ra said.
Marik looked up from his place with his arms crossed and said, "Is there a third option?"
"Yes. There is one last option that you have." Osiris said.
"What's that option?" Malik asked. He was holding onto Marik's arm tightly in his fear of what would happen to Yugi.
"The final option is that Yugi and Heba can both be stripped of the powers as the Treasure and Protector and be allowed to return to Earth in order to live out their lives as normal mortals." Horus said.
The entire was stunned by that.
Heba was the first to recover from his shock. "You mean, Yugi and I wouldn't be chased anymore, and we would be able to live normal lives." Heba said.
"Yes. You and Yugi would be free from your roles for the rest of your lives." Ra said.
One thing still bothered Leo. "Is there any catch to this?" Leo asked.
"Your suspicion is understandable, Eternias, but I assure you that there is no catch to this. Yugi and Heba have earned the right to live normal lives after all that they have been through." Horus said.
"Would we still have the memories of all that has happened?" Heba asked.
"Yes, you would. There is no reason to alter your memories. I will warn you that there will be a bit or residual magic left, although not much to do you any good." Osiris said.
Heba couldn't believe it. He thought that he and Yugi would be bound to their magic for the rest of eternity, but they were being given a chance to live the normal lives that they had dreamed about five thousand years ago in Egypt and now in Japan.
"Hey! They'll take the third option!" Joey exclaimed.
"Yeah! That's the best one!" Tristan agreed.
"The choice must be made by Yugi and Heba." Osiris said.
Atemu looked back at where Yugi was still unconscious in Yami's arms. Atemu turned back and said, "My lords, this decision must be made now, correct?"
"Yes, Pharaoh Atemu. The decision must be made here and now." Horus said.
"Yugi is still unconscious, my lords. Who can speak for him?" Atemu asked.
Heba looked up. "I can speak for my brother." Heba said.
"You know the choice he would make?" Ra asked.
"Yes, I do, my lord. Five thousand years ago in Egypt, Yugi and I would speak on this issue a lot, and we both came to the same agreement on several occasions on what we would do given the opportunity." Heba explained.
"Then what decision did you come to?" Osiris asked, although he already knew the answer.
"Yugi and I would like the chance to live out our lives as normal people without the threat of someone trying to come and take control of Yugi or kill him." Heba said.
"As normal as things get for us, anyway." Leo muttered.
"Right. Joey and Tristan are right. The third choice is the one that we would take." Heba said.
"You are certain that this is the choice that Yugi would want?" Ra asked.
"Yes, I am." Heba said.
"Then it will be so. From this day on, you two are free to do as you pleased with your lives without the threat of someone coming after you." Horus said.
"You are no longer bound to the duties of the Treasure and the Protector." Ra said.
"Go and live your lives on Earth. As the mortals you wish to be." Osiris said.
There were flashes of lightening, and Yugi and Heba started to glow before the light faded.
"Umm, what just happened?" Sayora asked.
"Yeah. Nothing's changed." Joey added.
"You didn't really expect our appearance to change, did you?" Heba asked.
"They would only have their magic taken from them, Joey. Yugi and Heba will remain the same otherwise." Ryou said.
"So, did it work?" Atemu asked.
Heba smiled, though no one could see it except for Osiris, Horus, and Ra since Heba still had his back to them. Heba looked up at the three gods and said, "Thank you for everything."
"Go, and remember that we are still on your side." Osiris said.
The jerking sensation happened again, and when the group looked, they found that they were back in the middle of Domino, only there was no activity in the city.
"Okay. Why does the city look dead?" Joey asked.
"This isn't the city?" Yuesei asked.
"No. This is what the twilight Dimension is supposed to look like." Heba said.
"Then why did it look like ancient Egypt before?" Tea asked.
"It looked like that because Menthos warped the dimension to look like what he wanted, and he wanted the dimension to look like ancient Egypt." Leo said.
"So, the Twilight Dimension is supposed to look like Domino?" Tristan asked.
"It supposed to look like the present time. Not many people ever come here. The person who does come has the ability to warp the dimension to their desires. The Twilight Dimension is as large as Earth. There are just no people." Atemu said.
"A perfect place to escape to when you've kidnapped someone." Bakura said.
"That was what Menthos thought. He just didn't realize that I knew he would come here." Heba said.
"How did you know that?" Seto asked.
"Well, I just asked myself where he would go to try and keep Yugi hidden from us, and this was the only place that I could think of since Menthos does not have access to the Shadow Realm." Heba replied.
"Okay. Can you please just get us home, Heba?" Joey asked.
"Joey, you do realize the choice I just made for Yugi and I to live normal lives, right?" Heba asked.
"Yeah." Joey said.
"Joey, I don't have my magic anymore. I can't get us home." Heba said.
"WHAT?! Then how the hell are we supposed to get home?!" Joey exclaimed.
"Calm down, Joey. Heba's not the only one that has magic." Leo said.
"Yeah. Any one of us from ancient Egypt could easily get us home." Yami added.
"Then let's please go." Joey said.
"I'm with Wheeler on that one. I want out of this place." Bakura said gruffly.
Atemu rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll do it." Atemu said. He spoke on ancient Egyptian and said, "I call on the god of the underworld, Osiris. Open a portal to the earthly plane."
A blue portal opened.
"Let's go home." Leo said.
The group stepped into the portal, and the portal closed once they were all inside.
Osiris, Horus, and Ra appeared right where the group had been standing.
"Do you think that we did the right thing by taking Yugi and Heba's magic from them?" Ra asked.
"Yes, I do. Yugi took his own life five thousand years ago because he couldn't handle all of the evil forces that would come after him for his power. The same might have ended up happening had we not done that." Osiris said.
"At least they can now live peaceful lives on Earth. Just as the two have dreamed of for so long." Horus said.
The group found themselves in the Moto living room.
"Umm, how exactly did we end up back here?" Joey asked.
"This is where I had us come." Atemu said.
"Why?" Tristan asked.
"I knew that no one would be here, and us suddenly appearing anywhere else would have been a shocker." Atemu said.
"That's a good point." Kyla agreed.
Leo looked over to where Yami was standing with Yugi still in his arms. "Yami, take Yugi upstairs and put him to bed. He might be out of it awhile." Leo said.
Yami nodded and headed upstairs.
"Do you think Yugi will be okay?" Tea asked.
"Yeah. He'll be fine. He's just drained from using all that magic. He'll be fine once he wakes up." Heba said.
"That's good." Joey said.
"Yeah." Atemu agreed. Silently, he was slightly worried. 'I hope that Yami can work everything out with Yugi.' Atemu thought.
Yami entered Yugi's old bedroom and walked into the room.
The bed was made because Yugi hadn't slept there since he was forced to live with his father.
Yami pulled the sheets down before laying Yugi down on the bed. Yami pulled the covers back over Yugi. He gently brushed Yugi's bangs back from his face and said, "I'm sorry for everything that has happened between us, Yugi, but I promise that I am going to make up for it." Yami leaned down and kissed Yugi on the cheek before we walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Yugi and Heba are there to stay.
Next chapter will have a bit of drama with Yami and Tea admitting to Yugi that they were not really dating, and you'll see Yugi's reaction.
R&R.