In Kaiba's Car
"You better hope you can get access to some of your old fortune because you owe me a bundle for this," Kaiba complained to him. "Getting you from Domino Museum, dealing with the authorities without telling them you sprang to life from the exhibit, and then getting you access to clothes. I had to call in so many favors for this one."
Atem adjusted the choke collar on himself. No, he and Yuugi weren't the six dice, they were the twelve. He held a phone that Kaiba had lent him to call Yuugi. Held it with his own hands. A part of him wanted to cry out for joy at such a miracle at having his body back. Another part?
To receive such a gift as life, to have his body restored again. That wasn't just a god's magic, that was an ancient god's magic. One of the most revered could do it, if all of the parts were there. Time to use that phone. "Yuugi."
"Atem?!"
He sounded surprised, yet he assumed because of the voice, he knew it was Atem. "I seem to have dropped into my old self in Domino Museum's revisited exhibit."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm with Kaiba. I needed his connections to get me out safely," Atem said. "Where are you? Are you at the Game Shop?"
"I'm heading back to Anzu. Satiah also came back to life," Yuugi informed him.
Not only him, but Satiah? "The one whom everyone calls the mere commoner now has her life back too. Yuugi. You and all of your friends should be very prepared. I don't believe this is a fight of cards, or something with only one villain. This will not be an easy battle. Very, very few are granted what Satiah and I have been given back. Very few."
"I imagine so," Yuugi said.
"Very few," Atem repeated again. "Legends, mostly."
"Atem?" Yuugi sounded off. "There was something that happened with Anzu. She told me that she believed we cursed her and she ran off with Mai."
"What?!"
"But it was a lie," he said quickly. "To make us back off. I don't know how to explain it right, but Satiah took the extra energy in her that was going to kill her. She was supposed to die, when she got her body back."
Oh no. "Corrupted souls." Atem understood. "I must have came back at a tender moment." He didn't know when he arrived back, but if Yuugi had been involved with Anzu, then that meant Satiah was present. "I am so sorry, Yuugi."
"Anzu is okay now," Yuugi said. "Satiah took it somehow."
Oh. "Still. The pressure grows within. How close had she gone to becoming insane?" He had to ask. "Yuugi, stay very close to Anzu from now on. There could be serious repercussions on her." He'd never even known of a case that survived. "You might consider marrying her and putting her at complete ease."
"In a heartbeat, but I've barely managed to keep her in Japan with me. Even that might not last long."
"Then try your best. I'll meet you at the Game Shop soon."
"What about . . . her? When I went to Bakura's to see Satiah, I found out how she died. She sacrificed herself in Kul Elna to save his eternal soul. So, is she here then to turn Bakura to our side? Because. She looked like Anzu."
"She is Anzu." Atem understood it already. "If there was a corruption of individuals who couldn't separate, there is trouble. There was trouble. That means she is the other side of Anzu, like you are a side of me. However? It does not mean they are the same. We aren't the same."
"Right. They definitely aren't the same. I am almost back to Anzu. She's at Jounouchi's house. I'll get her and get home. See you soon, Atem. Literally."
"See you." Atem hung up. Atem did not wish to confide in Kaiba, but it had to be that way. As much as Kaiba opposed him in Yuugi's time, no matter how cruel he had been, it was because of Kaiba's strength in his beliefs to continue after him that he was there.
"Oh." Kaiba smirked. "So this other ancient spirit took a power source that spun during a quadruple sex session? Oh, I know who she is now."
He did? "Kaiba, how can you know Satiah? From Ancient Egypt?"
"The afterlife affected me a little." He didn't say anymore about it. "I do remember some things, and I especially remember prophecies with you, that never came true. Tends to stick around on the mind. So? I know who she is in the little drama of life happening right now."
Fine. "Who is she?"
"There was a well-known prophecy about a light goddess who had the power of a new god by the greatest pharaoh." Kaiba actually laughed. "She's got your power. When you came down in the middle of an intense Anzu Yuugi puzzle." He dribbled his fingers against the steering wheel, like he was enjoying himself. "That's why you were able to switch with Yuugi again. Sex is a big thing with Egyptian gods, remember?"
"Wait." Hang on? "That's my power?" Satiah had his power?
"Not just your power, you were switching with Yuugi again. She just started switching with Anzu." Kaiba was enjoying himself way too much. "I get it now."
Oh. "The millennium power." Not all of it, the items were now gone. Energy must have been released when he did it, and taken with him. "Can I summon the gods again with that power?"
"I don't know but you two just got your bodies back after being dead for three thousand years. So, I'm guessing that's a yes," Kaiba again. That look on his face. "Oh, I bet Yuugi's gonna just love you when he sees you messing with the 'Other Anzu'. If you want your energy back."
"I need my energy back." Satiah couldn't keep it, it was his! "The power's been converted somehow if she is okay. The human form can hold it." That means he wanted it back.
"Thanks to sex."
"I should be able to wield it." Atem looked at his hands. "How do I get my energy back?"
"It's nothing hard, I bet you just have to repeat the act to get the power from the light goddess. That power will make you the new god. So just get with some bump and grinding. Or I suppose, Pharaoh." Kaiba continued driving like what he said was nothing. "You could just kill her and it'll come back. Not like you're going to trust anyone at that moment not to stab you in the back, especially a friend of Bakura's."
True. That would return his power, but to kill an innocent?
Atem was quiet. I never kill the innocent.
"Whatever. Pick your way and just get it done," he insisted. "Because this isn't the time for stupid jitters, this is the time to get the damn gods back! Something big is coming, and you know it! If you don't do it, there's no way you are saving the day."
"Yuugi's. We are almost to Yuugi's. Just drop me off." Atem looked at his hand. "How old do I look?"
Kaiba glanced at him. "You look like you did in the afterlife, an aged Yuugi. At least you got the healthy complexion of Egyptian life back though." Kaiba sighed as he pulled up by the Game Shop. "Don't get too used to the life of luxury in there. Anzu won't be greeting you when she finds out what you really are."
Atem got out and looked. The Game Shop. Seeing it with my own eyes. "Kaiba." He glanced at him and watched Kaiba throw him the phone he previously borrowed back. Hm?
Kaiba stuck his head out of the car to look back. "Not every action is going to be a 'Yuugi would do it' action now. If the end is coming, it's gonna get brutal. You really need to be Pharaoh. Maybe that's why it was optional?" Kaiba suggested. "Maybe they don't know if you've got the guts to do what's necessary. If she has your powers, you know how to get them back. Don't dawdle." He stuck his head back in his car. "Go and kill her."
Atem felt a small jerk inside. The event, to call everything out like this. Even Kaiba knew something was about to shake the world. He watched Kaiba's blue ferrari take off as he went to the front door.
Killing was not the first option.
Game Shop
Atem waited by the security door. He had the code to the first door but he couldn't remember the second. He tried his luck at the code, but he had no more luck. He watched Yuugi's car coming toward the Game Shop. "Yuugi!" His heart beat hard as he watched him come out of the car. They reunited a moment while Anzu watched on, herself only too happy.
"You got everything?" Yuugi quickly questioned. "You don't know how this happened? Oh, we are the same size. That's different."
Mm. "I could actually use some food," Atem realized, hearing his belly growl. My stomach actually hurts.
"Into the Game Shop, we'll get you something." Yuugi eagerly opened the door. "Anzu? Do we still have leftovers from last night?"
"I think so."
"Great, and you should definitely eat too if you haven't," Yuugi pointed out. "It's been a hard day. Night, I mean. The whole thing has been tough."
Yuugi's attention was divided on who to concentrate on. Atem could see that. He would try and allow Yuugi some time with Anzu, but-
"This can't be a good thing, right?" Anzu questioned Atem. "I mean, it's great that you have your body back, I didn't mean it like that. It's really great!"
"Yes," Atem said, not wanting to miss the moment as Yuugi was unlocking the door upstairs. "You need to stay with him, I can't interfere anymore and you need each other."
"Can we not talk about that down there?" Yuugi complained as he opened the door to upstairs. "I can hear you know."
"You're trying to change the subject," Anzu warned him. "I remember you, Atem. You're the take charge side of Yuugi."
"Upstairs?" Yuugi questioned. "Anzu."
"I am." Atem watched her head upstairs before heading up himself. Side of Yuugi. He opened the door and looked around. For so long, this felt like a home. It was where Yuugi had lived, but he rarely traversed the halls and rooms himself.
"There's plenty of room," Yuugi said to Atem. "Don't worry about it. You can get some rest. Satiah can too, she'll need a place and I already invited her to stay. This place used to hold four people." He seemed to get lost in himself.
"My grandpa. My mom. My dad, occasionally, when I saw him." Atem repeated everything Yuugi just thought, at the same time as him. "I know. Our connection won't leave because we are separated, Yuugi. You are still a part of me, and I am still a part of you." He watched Anzu get nervous a moment. "It's okay. We spent a long time thinking the other way too. I'm fine."
"Atem," Anzu addressed him. "You saved the world. You helped to defeat evil more than once. In none of that time did you earn your body back, it wasn't even a question of if it could be possible. And you and Satiah suddenly . . .?"
Yes, Atem knew what she was getting at. "I will have to take Yuugi's ear from you when you go to bed."
"What does me having to- Oh." She glanced toward Yuugi. "It's fine."
"We don't share a room or anything," Yuugi said. "Did you want anything, Anzu?"
"I want to know what's going on with Satiah." Anzu wasn't selecting food, she wasn't letting up. "Dead people don't just rise, Yuugi!" The suffering still bothered her.
"That's? You know, that's not a nice way to put it," Yuugi tried to correct her.
"She is right, Other Me," Atem corrected him. "She doesn't want to deal with the triviality of pretending this doesn't exist. I believe there is a reason Satiah and I attained our bodies back. Something big will be happening soon."
"Like what?" Yuugi asked. "What could happen? You got rid of the curse of the millennium items. So what else is there?"
He needed to discuss it with Yuugi first, not Anzu. "We should talk as Anzu sleeps."
"You're trying to get me out of the room." Anzu was suspicious. "What's going on with Satiah?"
"She's going to stay with Bakura for the night," Yuugi told her, with a sound like he'd already told her several times. "I promise, first thing tomorrow we will go and see her if Ryou Bakura doesn't bring her back early enough."
Anzu still looked jittery. She was insistent like her old self, but she was not coping well. The power that followed, it was intense. There were many danger signs he could see, even her attention seeming to dart all over the place whenever she heard a simple noise.
Atem looked toward Yuugi. Is it okay if I hug Anzu, Yuugi? Like he thought, Yuugi wasn't surprised he could hear him without words. They were still connected, and it would never leave them. He went over to Anzu and stole a hug. She almost seemed to not care. Very unlike her. "I know you worry of Satiah because of what you endured. I assure you, she isn't in pain, she is happy. Too happy to call for long, but she will. She is finding a friendship she lost thousands of years ago, but she will come back to you." Now she was starting to cling back.
Atem looked toward Yuugi. Listen, Yuugi. She was holding millennium power. Not an item, the power of all the items from the afterlife. If Satiah hadn't taken it, she would have died a brutal death from the intensity of it. I could have done nothing but softened it. He heard an inaudible gag from him. The pain has ceased from dealing with that raw power, but just watch her. Now more than ever, you need to remember your friendship. All of them. Beyond the circle of your deep friendships. Show her, remind her how many people she once had.
Yes, I promise. I'll call everyone I can think of. Beyond the circle. Um? That would include. Uh. Otogi? He wasn't really her close friend.
Direct or indirect, anyone who comes will remind her of a community of support. Honda, Jounouchi, Mai, you, me, Satiah and Shizuka should just be the base.
So should we have a party or something?
"Connect with them quickly and we will figure it out, Other Me," Atem said. Meanwhile, I believe this is your cue.
Yuugi went over to Anzu. "It's okay. I'll get you to bed." She didn't seem to fight with him about the issue. Even a worse sign, Anzu was a natural hard-headed friend.
Yuugi had stayed with Anzu longer, no surprise, so Atem ate leftovers he found. Yuugi was still gone, so later he followed his body's calling again. As he got up from the couch, he heard Yuugi a short distance away.
Do you know if it's all gone? Yuugi came around the corner. "She's still not herself."
"The soul is a complicated thing. While we can feel our connection, I had no way of knowing about the Spirit of the Ring when I first met Ryou Bakura," Atem reminded him. "Even Satiah, she had laid dormant all that time. To stay with Anzu she must have even survived in my memory world somehow, without leaving her. Buried so deep." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Yuugi. There is no way to see what is going on inside."
"As long as she is handling it," Yuugi said. "What do you think is coming, Atem?"
"I don't know, but Anzu is right to be worried." Atem sighed. Too much power, enormous power, is gathering on the side of good on Earth. If Satiah turns Bakura, you are right, even he may be on our side this time. All of it together is a sign that good is going to be fighting a dangerous evil in at least equal strength.
"You're right, it is going to be something big," Yuugi agreed. "But we have to concentrate on what we know for now." He touched his head. "I just wish I could know about, just a little future. Just Anzu's. The future is so up in the air."
"Anzu is important, but for the moment, we have to have a discussion about Satiah."
Atem told him of the prophecy Kaiba had once known. "She might be this 'light goddess', Yuugi. She has millennium power that came back from the afterlife. I have to get it back."
"Anzu couldn't handle that power, and you are in a mortal body too now," Yuugi warned him. "How do you know you can handle it?"
"I've dealt with strong power. It's been my weapon ever since I lived in that puzzle." Lived. "This was optional, Yuugi. I still don't know why. None of it." He looked at his chest, where the puzzle should be laying. "I should have figured this out by now. I need that power." He took a deep breath. "I have to get it back. I have to tackle that light."
"Atem. I don't like this." Yuugi took a step back. "You don't even know Satiah. I don't either, she was inside of Anzu. Only Anzu knows her."
"We shared a sandwich." That wasn't nearly enough. "I need that power."
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going to get it the best way I know. Play a game with her. If she does have millennium power, it should turn into a shadow game. Does Anzu know Satiah's favorite game?" Atem asked. "I will need it." Yuugi still didn't look well. "I need that power, Yuugi."
"There's no puzzle. There's no extra luck now." Yuugi held his forehead. "In fact, if she does have millennium power, then she has the extra luck, so what are you going to bet?"
Atem didn't answer. "Her favorite game please."
Yuugi just shook his head with a slight sigh. "Her and Anzu used to play a game of Connect Four. It doesn't involve luck, so at least that's on your side. I'll get it for you." Yuugi left a moment to retrieve it. "Just? Be gentle to her," Yuugi reminded him as he gave him the Connect Four. "She may be Bakura's friend, but she is also Anzu's and she saved her. I don't know the details of what you'll bet in a game, but she's a good person, at least in that aspect. I think."
"I know she isn't the enemy," Atem said, "and I will do what I can."
"But, what if it doesn't turn into a shadow game?" Yuugi asked. "What are you going to do?"
"I have to go." Atem couldn't answer that. Didn't want to answer that. "I will see you in the morning, Yuugi."
"I hope. Just be careful, Atem, and I mean you too," Yuugi warned him. "Be careful, Other Me."
Yuugi headed to his bedroom. He had no idea how Atem would fair, but he had no control of him. He had his own body. Please don't go too far, Atem. I know you. Atem got emotionally invested in games. Duel Monsters suited him the most because he liked talking to his opponent more. Except that one time, when he came down after Aigami beat him. Atem saved him, but he looked like a regal god more than a man. That power was hiding inside of Anzu, now in Satiah?
Yuugi heard his phone and looked. Bakura's. Satiah would want to talk to Anzu. "I trust in Atem." They could later, but he couldn't risk Anzu jeopardizing Atem's plan.
Bakura's House
She will be on Bakura's side. It won't be easy to get her to Kaiba's limo, if it comes down to that. The fact that I don't have the millennium puzzle might make it easier to accept the challenge though. Atem knocked on the door. Ryou Bakura answered it again. "Hello."
"Uh? Hello?" Ryou Bakura said. Atem's skin was a giveaway he was not Yuugi. "May I help you?"
"I need to speak with Satiah," Atem said. He wasn't going to be soft with his words or actions. Ryou Bakura moved slightly, and Atem walked over to her. She was playing capsule monsters. "I am here for Anzu and Yuugi. Yuugi wanted to know about her in person. None of us know her in person, and I find the best way to see into someone is through games. So? Name your game."
"King Atem." Satiah looked toward him. "I may have barely came to the surface in the early years I was with Anzu, but I know well enough never to accept your challenges." She looked at the capsule monsters. "You take all the fun out of it."
"Yes. You're a bore," Bakura said to him. "You're a bored *****, hoarding attention. What are you even doing here? Get out. Get to know her tomorrow!" Ryou Bakura took over. "Relax. A small session won't hurt if he's here on behalf of Anzu and Yuugi." Bakura's face showed he came back though.
Satiah looked at the different capsules in the box, completely ignoring him.
"Pick a game that you are best at, Satiah." The power isn't massive, but it's there. Energetic yet converted. I can feel it. I can even see it, she slightly glows. I know I can summon the gods with it. Atem was studying her. Even if she has the puzzle's millennium power of luck, I have to risk it. I need that energy. I can win it in a shadow game. "If you win, I relinquish this whole body to Bakura."
She glanced toward him again. What? He stood proudly almost right next to her. Like he was begging to play a game. What could he possibly want from me? "I don't have my best game here."
"I can get it here," the King said with certainty.
She scoffed. "I'm sure you could, but I haven't accepted anything anyhow." However, Bakura was now staring at her. The King has it right where it hurts.
King Atem looked toward Bakura. "If she wins, at the game of her choosing, I will give it to you and move back to the afterlife."
"You've got to be kidding me, she's not that stupid," Bakura warned him.
"I have no millennium puzzle," the King said as he gestured to the front of his outfit. "The puzzle was left in the afterlife."
She looked at the capsule numbers, trying to distract herself. Do not answer tended to be the best way to get through in life with him. Yet. I could take him at Connect Four but it would be nuts to make a bet with the King. He wanted something. What did he want from her?
"And what would happen if she loses?" Bakura asked the words she wanted to know, but couldn't ask.
"The energy inside of you, Satiah," the King said. "You must feel it. If you lose, you relinquish it to me. One of us will relinquish something. You, your energy, or me, my body."
"No, that's not an even trade," she said. "A body is worth more than some energy. I don't care what the energy is. What else would you win?"
"Just had to do that, didn't you, Rider?" Bakura complained.
That's a new one. No one had ever cried unfair on what he put at stake before. That energy is millennium energy, if I win, it should come from the bet. He didn't have powers for the shadow game, she did. If that energy did not work the same way. I have to do what I can, if it doesn't give it back to me, I will have to take it. He would have to go Kaiba's way if it didn't work out. That required isolation from Bakura. "A date tonight." That still wasn't worth the price of a body, but? "And your real name." Ah. He knew that would strike a chord.
"Is this a shadow game?" She outright asked it. "Will the wish be granted no matter what, or is this a regular bet of honor? If you are offering a body, it sounds like something supernatural."
"It should be. I don't have that power, but you might," he teased. "There's no telling what will happen, so treat it as such."
"Then we should have two options," she declared. "King of Darkness. One for if it is a shadow game, and one for it it isn't."
Smart. Atem nodded.
"If this does turn out to be a shadow game, you may have my energy if you win," she said.
"If this does turn out to be a shadow game, you may have my body if you win," Atem matched her.
"If it doesn't turn out to be a shadow game, then what do you want?" she asked.
Hm. If it isn't, if we play a game and that energy isn't restored to me. Then. "The date and the name." Hmm. "And you?"
"America," she uttered. "If I win, then you have to try your hardest to convince Yuugi to make Anzu go back."
Ah?! I risked my body, it was my body. "I cannot guarantee that."
"No, but if you try your hardest, then he should let go of Anzu. Once this whole mess is over, she can have her proper chance."
If it was his early days of being trapped in Yuugi, he would easily agree to that. He could never agree to it now though. I can't. Yuugi is absolutely in love with Anzu, he has been since before he met me. If he has a chance at happiness. I need that energy. I can risk myself. I can't risk that. "Anything else."
"Hm. My slave for a week?"
"Done."
"You already know that's a terrible thing to bet."
"I don't care, I won't risk Yuugi's happiness." Slave for a week was still nothing.
"The mighty Pharaoh as a slave for a week?" Bakura was practically starting to drool. "Now that's a bet. Take that."
"I can't do that, I was just testing you, Bakura," she said toward Bakura, like she couldn't believe him. "You have got a long ways to go still, Bakura." She looked back at him. "A change. If I win a shadow game, you give up your body to Bakura when I say so, and not before."
She was letting him off? From the way she was acting and her choices in options, if she could hand over the power she probably would have. What can I physically give her if I win and it's not a shadow game? "You may have the greatest respect of the King." As far as she had shown not to be a fan, she still had not stopped calling him King or King of Darkness. Even though his friends called him by his name, everyone else called him something else. "You may call me Atem."
If she were a true egyptian, hopefully that made a dent.
"She could call you a bastard if she wanted, what kind of prize is that?" Bakura complained.
"These bodies may be temporary, I don't know why we have them," Atem went on. "If so, you and I could both be associated with each other for some time if Yuugi and Anzu stay together. Calling me King all the time would be less aggravating."
"That's all you can offer?" She seemed to be thinking.
Bakura just cackled. "Oh please. Have you ever even heard her call you Pharaoh? The only parts of the past she remembers? Is me!" He stood up in his chair. "That's it. Besides the facts she remembers from time with me, she is just a clueless spirit."
She also stood up in her chair. "I have what is important. I very much doubt I want everything anyhow except the thoughts of my friend."
She doesn't remember. Only memories of Bakura, probably because of the way she sacrificed herself. "What about Heba?"
"She was a good girl."
"Anything else?" Atem asked.
She sat back down. "The game is Connect Four."
Heba. Atem had assumed back then Heba was her daughter. She had never called her a daughter though. Did she? She knows there was a Heba. The afterlife she went with Heba. Not only did she lose most of her memories, but coming back from the afterlife had also made it harder. He brought in the Connect Four Yuugi had gave him. A simple game. A strategy game, no luck. No cards, everything was already laid out to see. That improved his chances. He grabbed all the red checkers. "Your move."
She didn't answer, grabbed one of her yellow checkers and pushed it in. As he made his move, her eyes followed not only it, but the corners around it. She didn't make a sound as she held her next yellow checker. Her eyes shifted from spot to spot, from around where he placed the checker to the other side of the board, to the middle of the board.
"The game is just beginning, you don't have to be nervous." He grabbed his checker, but she wasn't deterred. She wasn't going to engage in conversation. She took her checker and moved it away to the other side, but her eyes were still darting between each move.
2:00 AM
"Cat game." She kept her focus strong, but he still seemed to have it stronger. She fought against his moves, but he fought against hers aggressively too. She could see Yuugi's 'King of Games' traits in him, puzzle or not. They were constantly blocking each other, and constantly putting each other in a draw. Even Bakura, who had been enthralled at first, had his head lying on the table asleep. Probably as Ryou Bakura.
It was tiring, but that only added to the challenge now. The person who slipped up. Who got too tired, too complacent, would be the loser. She fought to hold the concentration, but the King also decided he would call Kaiba on the phone. However while he chatted he still didn't break his concentration.
His moves were still stunning. She was having to guess and see three moves ahead at least. What am I doing? Why did I take this bet? Oh yes, that's right, because the King wanted a game and he wasn't going to leave. He always ended up playing his games. "We could call this a draw," she tried. "Neither of us will win."
"I just did."
Half a second. Long enough to say 'we could call this a draw'. She had let her mind wander for a second to think of the time, and she was now in tender territory. He could win one of two ways. She needed to block off both ways within two turns. Then again, if he added his piece right there, even if she blocked off that one. . .
It was his turn. He placed it in. "It's over, no matter how you see it," Atem warned her. "I win."
So, he already saw that future move when he said he won. There was no way of winning. She stood up. "Fine, I lose."
Yet, nothing happened. The warmth and the glow inside of her hadn't moved away.
She can't use the power. The power inside hadn't turned it into a shadow game. "Good to see you not playing this out to the end." Atem moved. "I will be back with better clothes for you to change into." He left the apartment a moment. Atem would have skipped the clothes, but Satiah was wearing Ryou Bakura's bulky clothes.
The limo was there and a guide held out clothes along with two bags. "Here. Take these all to her so you don't waste time," the guide commanded.
Atem did as he wished, remembering what Seto Kaiba said on the phone. Atem had wished it would work, but it was like Kaiba knew it wouldn't. Kaiba was sending his foolproof planner, his guide, clothes and a special reservation ready and waiting no matter how late or early they would be. Atem had to follow the guide's advice, and do his best not to mess up. If he let the date just move as planned, he'd gain her trust enough to get her to lower her defenses. I have to get my energy back. I have to do this.
He went back up to Ryou Bakura's room. She was putting the game up as he walked back in and passed the clothes to her. "Put one of these on and we'll get going." She easily snagged all the outfits and bags without a word and took them to Ryou Bakura's room with her. That was a little too easy.
"Whatever you're going to do," Bakura said, catching Atem's attention. "It makes no difference to me. You're just wasting time if you thought you'd get a reaction. Ooh, this guy once played jump rope with my father's corpse so I think I'll **** over his only friend to make him hurt? It doesn't work, Pharaoh. She isn't a friend, Ryou Bakura is making me do this."
The wording as always with this fiend! That's what Bakura wanted though. "You would have cared if I hurt her?" Atem spoke up, instead acting like he misheard, which would bother Bakura more. "Well. You are showing some redeeming colors." He shook his head. "I am not trying to get to you." He didn't need or want to involve himself with Bakura at all. Not at all.
"Sure you're not, Pharaoh," he answered. "Unlike all the other worshippers of Egypt, she isn't drooling for your hands on her." He held up his finger. "I don't know what I feel coming from her, but it probably has to do with you . It apparently was supposed to create a shadow game, but it didn't? Once again, I don't care. She can handle herself. She did back then when things were much worse."
But you brought it up. The good side is slowly starting to leak through. "I will do my best not to hurt her."
"You can't. Care or not, I still have the memories of my muddy girl. She may have forgotten, but she's still my ragtag *****. She won't let herself be hurt. She stays in control, it's what I taught her," Bakura warned him. "All the tricks, they were mine, to help her survive." He smirked. "Man tends not to bruise the ones who come willingly to them. It was an easier way to live back in your glorious kingdom days."
Atem had nothing more to say.
"All those innocent maidens, and oh don't forget clean. Clean, clean, clean. The best maidens of them all. The best in the land. The most loyal and worthy. Rider is none of those things, but you still shouldn't test your limits . . ."
Atem and Bakura both turned around. The dress was an off-white, but it sparkled. Her hair had been different than Anzu's, a slightly different color with more of a wave and strange white highlights Atem hadn't noticed before. The hair ornament partway through the sides and back brought out the subtlety of it. There was also a cape that was an off-grey color around her. She even had shoes that matched the outfit and a fashion purse.
Even Bakura seemed a bit surprised what happened when she had been placed in proper clothes. "Well. Still the mud beneath," he muttered to the Pharaoh.
"Okay." She closed the door behind her. "Downstairs?" Still, her eyes lingered on him too. "To begin this date."
