The limo
"Satiah." Now that Atem was finally away from Bakura, he would finally talk. "I believe there is a great danger approaching the world in the future. One that I or Yuugi alone can't fend off. Perhaps, Yuugi may not even be here at that time, so I can't return. But? It was said that a new god would come with the light of a goddess."
She watched him, waiting for him to say something else. "And? What does that have to do with me?"
"You took the energy from Anzu," Atem said again, "while you were still a spirit, and then went straight to your own body."
"Are you kidding?" She scoffed. "I'm not a goddess, I'm far from that."
"I'm not a god," Atem said, "yet I was considered one. Did you know that you were slightly glowing?"
Satiah scratched her hair and wrinkled her nose. She didn't seem to know what to say to that.
"Your actions speak louder than your words." Atem looked out the window. "I don't see Bakura in you at all. Do you know what I see?"
"What?"
"An actress."
Well, what to say to that? "It gets me through."
"I also see something else. I see another of my friends," he said looking back at her. "Jounouchi was far from a model citizen when Yuugi met him. Whenever Yuugi got beat up, he didn't come over with a towel and sweet words, asking if he's okay and taking him home to make him better. That was Anzu. No, Jounouchi rushed over without a thought and beat the opposer up." He smirked. "Honda does the same thing. When something happened that they couldn't handle? Then I stepped in."
"I don't fight," she corrected him.
"You fight in a different manner," Atem tried again. "There is a reason Bakura was with you."
She shrugged. "I don't remember these kinds of speeches on Anzu's dates. Then again, I was rarely present for them." She looked out the window. "It's late but this city is so alive still."
"Sir?" The limo driver's voice sounded from the front. "We will be at our goal in ten minutes."
"Good," Atem answered a moment, but went back to her. "I asked for more than a date too. I asked for your real name."
She squirmed with a long extended sigh. Bakura knew it too, it was part of the payment. "So few know it."
"For a very long time, I didn't know my name," Atem said. She knew that. "Nothing about myself. You should let others call you by your name, this isn't Ancient Egypt. No one will use it to hurt you."
She crossed her arms and breathed harshly. It felt like betraying Bakura, but it was part of the deal. "Masika."
"Masika. I obviously had need of a date for a reason," he confessed. "For the sake of the future of the world. I humbly ask of you something, Masika."
"Don't do it yet." The guide's voice commanded. "It's way too early in the date for that."
"Why are there two voices?" She looked at the King suspiciously. "Are you playing a different game?"
"No. He is the one that handed me the clothes for you to wear," Atem said. "There is no second game."
"Oh." She seemed to be thinking. "Are you still there?" she asked out loud.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Do I get to keep the clothes?"
"No, Ma'am."
"Why not?"
"They are Mister Kaiba's property on loan."
"For his entertainment women?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"What do I have to do to be an entertainment woman?"
"Nevermind, Sir, go ahead and ask."
"No, seriously? What do I have to do to be one of the sparkling jewelry rings that show for one night on Kaiba's arm?" She closed her eyes. "Oh wait, I can't. I hate ruses, fancy words, or games that lead nowhere. There are better things to do. You still want the energy inside of me so what are you planning?"
As Atem thought, she didn't want to drag it out either. "I have a strong feeling that the goddess light refers to the energy inside of you. You know that. It is radiant and unrestrained but I don't know if it will stay forever." It was time. "I joined with Yuugi during his . . . coupling." That word would work. "Though I wasn't present, I was with him. It was several hours later before I was able to communicate. The coupling is what gave Anzu my power. That? That's my power in you. I need it back."
"Nothing happened when we played," she said. "So then what?"
"I must perform the same action that caused it."
"No." A decent answer. "You are Bakura's greatest enemy, I'd rather die."
"Yes, I figured so."
Oh, the way he said that. He's going to kill me.
"That is millennium power and I need it to summon the gods. If the Earth is in trouble, it's going to need it. Therefore? I need you to do something. I need you to sacrifice yourself for me."
"We are at the destination, sir." The voice on the intercom sounded but neither one was interested in getting out yet.
"Damn it." Running short. Running very short. Of. Patience. "I have choice here, in this time!" she answered. "I don't have to sacrfice myself to some Egyptian King! I'll let the world burn in flames first before I die for you!" She got out of the car, slamming the door.
The Limo had stopped at some fancy restaurant near a pond. A common occurrence, showing off displays that weren't needed, to show off their money. She could barely recognize her old self in the water. It was garbled though, with all of the water spouting above it.
"May we try talking again?"
King Atem's voice came from behind her. A part of her wanted to flip him off and run. That's what Bakura would have done, but she still begrudgingly knew . . . he wasn't a bad guy. His Visier, his advisers, and all of the others under him that made it all function back then. He didn't even have a single memory for the longest time. I can't hate someone who once suffered like me.
Yet? She did what she did for Bakura's eternal soul, and this was the result? It made no sense.
This just. It couldn't be. She could feel the wind catch on her cape as she looked outward across the city. A cape. She'd never wear a cape. Seto Kaiba must have kept some unconscious desire to wrap his women like the upper class of Egypt. The only ones he might pay attention to.
Oh, Anzu's dreams of becoming a professional dancer and making it big, were all sabotaged for years, to bring her back to Japan. Back to Yuugi. Back to all of this. Now, she was even getting dragged into it.
Atem came closer. "For years, you were with Anzu. No one commanded you around or forced you to do anything that you didn't want. You've attained a miraculous gift of getting your body back like me, and in mere hours I am trying to force you to let go of it. I understand this is not something you look forward to." He brought himself a small amount closer. "I am sorry, I am, but if you want to save Anzu. If you don't want this world to end, I need my power back. I promise, I will do my best to protect your other half."
"You just kill me," she uttered.
"If I kill you, Anzu would not be able to let that go," Atem said. "I don't want to hurt them or you. I don't kill innocents."
"You just tell them to sacrifice themselves for you? Is that supposed to be better?" She looked back toward the water. "I was actually granted this body back. I suppose I can see why it happened. If you want me to do this, I want things."
"Of course." Atem seemed to know it was coming. "I am still Pharaoh of the afterlife, and I can grant you things in life. If I promise to grant you a decent trade of treasures, you should be able to take it with you. No more outcast of a life. No more husband and brats to take care of."
"It's a start," she agreed. "but I do owe you the date, King. I'm taking it."
"It's less of a sacrifice for me, than for the ones you treasure. Thank you," Atem said. "Please call me Atem. I know it was part of the bet for the respect of the King. You already have my respect and, the truth is, my friends call me Atem. I prefer it to Pharaoh."
She glanced back at him. "Atem."
"Masika."
"I don't believe anyone in this time has ever uttered my real name." At least, King Atem was trying. Well? I will enjoy this body for as long as it lasts. "I remember seeing something like this in America with Anzu as a spirit," she said. "Big and bold. It was one of those fancy places, shooting water hundreds of feet in the air." She smiled. "This one is small, tiny in comparison. Yet. It is so much more real. My own eyes can see it. My own skin can feel the humidity it causes. My ears almost burn from the sounds of it. Everything is so vivid, it borders on pain to even speak, yet I don't want it to change. I want to experience more. Let's go inside." Her fingers went up in an arch and back down with her cape as she walked off.
Inside the Restaurant
Kaiba had a small area reserved for them. There was optional music, candle light everywhere, and it didn't really make any impression on her. Kaiba wasn't coming up with things on the fly though, this was his own routine the few times he didn't feel like being alone. Instead of getting to know someone and being nice, he chose to use his material wealth to speak for him. Then they'd be gone the next day. Masika had called it right when she said 'a shining jewel for the night'.
"Your appetizers," the waiter said. "Careful, the plate is hot." Masika touched it anyway. "Ma'am, are you alright?"
"It's very hot. Almost too hot to hold onto for long." She kept her fingers on it. "Something familiar about it. Heat. Sand." She only chuckled and then lifted her hand. "Such redness though. Ouch."
"Yes, skin is very fragile." Atem looked at his own fingers. "They can be cut, bruised, and feel pain."
"Skin is a blessing and a curse." She took one of the appetizers and popped it in her mouth. "Nyah, that's hot!"
Atem laughed. "What, you can handle the hot plate but not a little heat in the mouth?" He picked one of the appetizer. "Spice. Not heat, it was the spice that got you."
"Hm." She popped another one. "Why do people butcher their mouth? They only have one."
"They get used to it. They want more challenge for it." Atem picked another one. "Life is about challenging yourself."
"If given a choice, it's better to enjoy it." She watched the waiter return with shrimp. She peeled one and popped it in her mouth. "Ooh, that's cold!"
Atem picked one up, smirking. "Best not to go straight on the teeth, Masika."
"Everything is bruising and alive," she said as she thoughtfully touched the jawline of her chin.
Bruising and alive. That's it. Those are the perfect words right now. He felt the cold wetness on his hands. Bruising and alive.
Kaiba Headquarters
"Here?" Honda didn't understand. Shizuka had started to leave the apartment in the middle of the night. He tried to get her to come back, to remind her it wasn't safe to go out alone right now, especially that late. She wouldn't let go of it though, so he agreed to come.
For what felt like hours, he had stayed up with her as she kept pointing in different directions she wanted to go. First, they went to Bakura's, but didn't go inside. She said that wasn't it though. He continued to try and follow her washy directions until they ended up in the strangest place. Kaiba Headquarters.
She got out of the car and headed forward.
"Shizuka, your cane." Honda grabbed it and closed his door as he brought it to her. There was nothing they could do there, so hopefully she would snap out of it- "uh?"
Kaiba had opened the door. "I can't believe he's so incompetent that I have to help." He was coming straight forward when he noticed Shizuka. "Can't even wait for the date, just openly asks if she can-? Shizuka Kawai, what are you doing here?"
"She's been on this instinct kick," Honda said. "Sorry." But Honda watched Kaiba take her hand. "Hey? What gives?" Shizuka was going with him too. "Hey!"
Kaiba placed her on the passenger side of his blue ferrari. He got in on the other side.
"Hey, wait, you can't just take her somewhere," Honda complained. He tried to get in, but Kaiba locked the door. "Shizuka!"
Kaiba started the car, let some paper flutter into the air, and headed out.
"What?" Honda grabbed the paper. It had an address on it. He got into his car, calling Jounouchi, hoping he would answer even though it was past 3:00 in the morning. "Of course, no answer. Think about the time. Ooh. Where did Kaiba take her to?
Restaurant
Atem enjoyed the conversation with Masika. The only other spirit who had shared a host like him, he would never have been able to have such an open dialogue with. She may have to leave soon, but he didn't regret the time he was spending with her.
How it felt to be a spirit. Unknown, except to them. How it felt to be hanging on like a leech. Never would he use those words with Yuugi, but he could use them with her because she knew that same feeling.
After their meal was over, they headed back outside. "It may have been late, but it was worth it," she said to him. "The time I had to take control of Anzu, it didn't feel right. Having my own body back." She closed her eyes and smiled. "It feels so good , doesn't it?"
"It is," Atem agreed. "I never regret my time with Yuugi, but to have the privilege to move my own body. Before, with Yuugi, I only tried to take over when he needed help at first. When his grandfather was captured though, I came out during duels. I spoke to him, but . . ."
"That's why you made a best friend of Jounouchi." She didn't care. Wouldn't compare. Didn't mind that not all of Yuugi's friends were on the same level of friendship to him. She stated it, like it was a fact.
"Yuugi and Jounouchi, they were the best of my friends." It still felt like he should peer off the side of his shoulder. "I still cared for the others. Anzu and Honda are good friends too." She wasn't afraid of being blunt about certain areas. "You?"
"At first, Anzu and Ryou Bakura all the way. I tried to keep getting Anzu to look over at Ryou Bakura instead of Yuugi. But? She loved Yuugi. He makes her happy. She will probably give up everything she could have had for him."
Atem caught that tone. "Yuugi cares deeply for her. He should be exploring his feelings deeply."
"They are exploring too deeply." She moved over toward the pond again. As soon as they arrived, she had gone there, and now that they were leaving, she went right back over. Her love to see plenty of water wasn't lost on Atem. She may have lived beside the Nile. "Every casting call Anzu locked started to have something go wrong. A delay. Someone would get hurt. For her biggest break, the man in charge felt like committing suicide suddenly. It's all related." Her hands gripped to the sides of her cape. "There are two sides in this war, those trying to kill us, and those who have been manipulating us."
Atem stepped closer. "You aren't wrong," he admitted. "There are clearly two sides, but we can't choose no side. We don't have to like or agree to everyone and everything that brought us here. Events unfold as they will. All that's important, is to do what is right."
"Is it? I'm not something that should be beside a King right now, I'm someone that should . . ."
"Be beside a thief." Perhaps she had to do something else before death. "Masika. Be honest with me?" He waited until she looked over toward him. "Bakura was your friend. You were saving your friend. But? Are you also in love with your friend? If so, you should tell him before you do this."
Her expression didn't give an easy answer. Deep in thought. "I don't know." Conflicted. "Maybe I was? Maybe I wasn't. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Bakura saved me countless times and he was always there when I needed him. Maybe not in the way I wanted him to be. Like, cutting out . . . tongues and such. But? I honestly wouldn't know. First time I saw him, he was eight. Last time I saw him, I was twelve. I kept his friendship in my heart years later when I went to Kul Elna. He was my friend. My only friend during all those years." She sighed. "Okay. Let's go home."
What? "No." No! "Masika, we have been over this. The date is over, you need to do this."
"No. If you want to get rid of me you have to kill me. You wore the remains of Bakura's entire village around your neck almost all of your life, and that scarred him deeply. Willing or not, I can't be a sacrifice to the crown."
What?! "Masika!" No, she did not just do that. "Don't make me kill you."
"I know. I should go out on a good note. A nice paper guaranteeing a nice afterlife is the smarter thing to do." She shrugged. "I'm not Anzu. You should have known that already. I'm not betraying Bakura, and sacrificing myself for you, is a complete betrayal. Kill me or the date is over and we go home."
"You have to die so that I can have that power," Atem said. "Why did you act like you would if you were going to just turn?" Bakura. He said he trained her well.
"Knowing that you were going to have to kill me, and having that chance that you might stab me over the table, wouldn't have made for a good time," she said. "I had my body back. I wanted to experience life without a knife to my throat."
"You have to die, for me to have that power back to help the world!"
"How do you know for sure?" She accused him. "It's not like any of us understand what is going on. You didn't die at Yuugi's age, yet you are Yuugi's age." She touched her hair. "See this pretty hair? I didn't die with this." She let go of it. "I wore a wig, or I tried to keep my head shaved. Yet here it is. Just like the rest of me. If no one even understands these little things, then how are we to guess the big things? Doing anything just because it might be this or might be that? You're struggling to understand whatever darkness is coming. I won't hurt Bakura for that, I told you."
Damn it. "Are you really going to just do this?"
"Yes. I paid the payment for losing. You won. Be happy. Let's go." She started to head to the limo.
"That is not what the game was ultimately about!" This was not winning. Atem followed her to the limo. "You understand how gravely important this is. If you don't give me that energy, then the opportunity for help from the gods is gone!" Atem refused to get in the limo.
"Atem. Get in, kill me, or I walk to Bakura's."
Atem watched Kaiba's car approaching. He seemed to have Shizuka on the other side. Why? When he approached Atem he had to ask. "Why is Shizuka with you?"
"Why can't you close a deal with a simple spirit girl?" Kaiba went over to her. "You have been chosen to sacrifice your life for the Pharaoh. It's an honor." She didn't move. Kaiba yanked out his checkbook. "Okay then. How much will it take? 100,000 yen to Anzu?"
"Nothing, Seto Kaiba." She still didn't want to cave. "I don't really know yen, but it doesn't matter. I am waiting to go back to Bakura's now."
"Frisky thing. I hate those. 1,000 dollars."
"Not even close."
"Everybody wants something. What is it you want?"
She didn't answer again.
"I know. You want Anzu to have another shot at her dream, don't you?" Kaiba sneered at her. "Yeah, that's it. She's all the way out here because she can't protect herself just because of someone else's foul ups. I'll give her enough to get her back on track and protect her own self. She can be off to America before you know it again."
"That is incredibly tempting," she said. She uncrossed her legs, pulled herself forward and locked on site toward him. "Extremely tempting, except I am not hurting Bakura, I refuse to. He's the only real memories I have, so stop trying to treat me like this."
"Pharaoh was not responsible for Bakura's change," Seto Kaiba shouted at her. "Look you Egyptian *****, get the hint! You weren't given a body back for nothing, use it for the only purpose you can serve!"
"Seto Kaiba!" Atem couldn't take it anymore. No, she's right, this is wrong. Not for my energy, not for any of this, I won't belittle a person this much. Human or spirit, we all matter! "Stop this nonsense, stop the name calling, and leave! This date is over. I will not pursue more."
"I'm not here trying to win another duel!" Kaiba complained. "The Blue-Eyes dragon has arisen. The Dark Magician is lying in wait. You have been given a mortal body again. Something big is coming, and you really want to let her keep your power?"
"Yes." She had a defense stronger than any other. She was protecting friendship. Whatever is destiny, it isn't this. I feel it. I won't kill her or force this sacrifice. "Why is Shizuka with you again, Kaiba?"
"I don't know but when a girl that controls the Blue-Eyes White Dragon comes to my headquarters at ungodly hours based on instinct, I'm not turning her away." Kaiba looked back at Atem. "Are you sure, Pharaoh? Can't you just . . ."
Seto Kaiba. Hated rival, yet as much as Kaiba felt that way? Still most loyal servant. "I can't. I am sure. She will live."
Wasted time and wasted money! "Fine. Next time we duel, if you win, I'll remind you that it doesn't matter because in the end, you got beat by an Egyptian *****." He walked off and went back to his ferrari. "Ridiculous."
"Things didn't go so well?" Shizuka asked him.
Kaiba started the car and took off. Shizuka Kawai. What the hell am I supposed to do with this girl? Why does she control the dragon, and why is she coming to me instinctively? Pharaoh coming to life, Bakura's good side apparently resurfacing, and an unworthy egyptian of no importance coming back too. Not to mention this Dark Magician possession over Jounouchi. What does this all mean?
What the hell was coming? Whatever it is. It's big. Never has history prepared it so much as to give this much weight.
The Limo
Atem and Masika took off, but he decided to start off with something else. "I won't pursue you to kill you or to have you sacrifice yourself. You are right, we don't know what is happening. I am sorry about his actions, Kaiba isn't the best with words."
"Kaiba can just **** off." She put her finger in her mouth to try and remove the meat in her teeth.
"He's not the only one who could work on manners," Atem reminded her.
"Sorry." Her attitude flipped again. Masika was a great actress, able to change her role. "I do have manners, I just get worked up sometimes." She crossed her legs again. "You aren't spitting fire anymore to get what you want?"
"No. In the afterlife, I was told that this journey to come back was optional. I must remember that," Atem confessed to her. "I still don't understand it though. Optional. Something dangerous and dark must be coming to assemble so much in this time. How could being here be merely 'optional'?
She shrugged. "Maybe the gods felt you did your part already. Once you pay for something once, it's done with. You don't repay."
"Did my part." He had accomplished his tasks. His duties to join the afterlife where he should be. "I served my purpose for what happened." Was that it? Did the gods not want to involve him because he paid his dues? He need not bother? Is that what happened with all the other Pharaohs? "I could choose to save or not." The payment was paid. "I won't let darkness cover this world. I don't care if I owe nothing to the gods, I could never let darkness consume it." He looked out the window. "We are almost to Bakura's. Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to the Game Shop?"
"Ryou Bakura was nervous. He'll feel better if I go back." The car stopped. "Tell Anzu I will be back first thing in the morning to her. We'll figure out things from there." She got out. "I'm sorry I tricked you. I won't become a meaningless sacrifice until I know what's going on. Night, Atem."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Atem asked.
"Hm? No, I don't think so."
"Like all of Kaiba's dresses, Masika?" Atem reminded her. "You didn't bring any dresses back yet."
"Oh, dear, Atem?" She postured with her hand to her chest. "I'll return them but they are in Ryou Bakura's room. I wouldn't dare wake him up." She smirked and turned away, her cape seemingly flowing with her up the steps. "I'll give Seto Kaiba this, he knows how to dress up his entertainment."
Nope. Kaiba didn't have a chance at getting those dresses back. Atem watched her head away. Everything is drawing together, yet I just don't feel it. She's right. I can't just look at this situation with my eyes, I have to use my heart. "Driver? To . . ." Hmm. Using my eyes and heart is a better idea. He started to feel worried. Even though Ryou Bakura was in control, Atem didn't like the idea of Masika going up there. Not after a date with him. Would Bakura trust he had nothing happen and believe her? "A moment."
He got out. He just wanted to wait a few minutes to see how Bakura would react.
Ryou Bakura's Apartment
She was greeted back in easily. Ryou Bakura was a little nervous, asking if she was okay. "I was fine."
Then, Bakura kicked in. "He won a game for a date. Don't give me everything was fine. What did he do? What did he ask? What did he want?" he demanded.
Ah. Bakura. "No worries. He thought I was something from prophecy, but he gave up." She shrugged. "Simply a date, Bakura. We went in a limo, ate some shrimp and hot food, and then came back. Nothing more. Oh, and of course, my real name. It was part of the deal."
"Did he start calling you . . . Masika?" Bakura seemed to be even more pissed. She swore his nostrils flared. "That's a nice way to get back at someone. Names. Names have power. He started to call you that, didn't he?"
"This isn't Egypt. Names have no power." He looked edgy though. He's starting to come back around. I can feel it. Bakura's starting to care. "I am okay my friend. Atem isn't going to hurt me."
"Atem? You are calling that bastard by his name?" He brushed up right against her. "What prophecy?"
"A light goddess of some sort," she answered. "It's fine, nothing happened.'
"Really?" He grabbed her hands with his and started to walk her backward. "Strange. I feel it again. A prophecy you say? Hm. That's interesting." He pulled her closer and stole a kiss.
What the heck?! She pulled away. "What the hell was that? What are you doing?" Ryou Bakura, where was he? And the look in Bakura's eyes. That's not goodness.
"Oh, I definitely feel something in you!" He was excited as he stole another kiss. "That's power, that's real power. That is what he wanted? Well." He tried to smile. "Why don't we have you move in here instead of with Anzu? Who needs them. We've always been everything to each other."
Where was Ryou Bakura? Why was Bakura running unchecked? What kind of energy is inside of me? It's destroying my friend all over again. "Stay away, this energy isn't good for you."
"Oh no, I think it's very good for me." He refused to let go. "You're like a living millennium item. Oh, Rider. Let's go have some . . ." His eyes squinted. "Whatever's inside, it's too strong. Get out." His eyes corrected himself. "Don't listen to that. We were meant for each other. Give me that power!"
"Unhand her!"
She looked behind Bakura. He hadn't closed the front door, and Atem was making his presence known. He didn't leave. I don't have a choice.
"Bakura, let her go! She's not a millennium item," Atem demanded. "Give her here."
"Why? You want the same thing." Bakura kept her close. "She's my friend, go home to your own."
"You are wrong," Atem warned him. "I have become a friend with her too."
"Of course you have, so convenient. Go away!" Bakura demanded.
"No. That power is corrupting you." The odd eye of Wdjat glowed on his head. "I can feel you trying to take it. It's not yours, and you are going to ruin all of your progress if you take anymore."
"Any more? Oh, I am taking the whole thing!" Bakura insisted. "What can you do about it? She's my friend. If I got this much from a couple of kisses, then I think it's time I take this friendship to a new level. She sacrificed herself away for me three thousand years ago, I'm sure a little bit of a good time for that power will be easy to get for me."
"Alright." She looked toward Atem. "Take it away. Please."
"What? No. No, you aren't going to give in to him." Bakura held her tighter as the eye of wdjat glowed on his head too. "No way, this is destiny. That power of hers is mine! She came back after 3,000 years for me, and brought me one hell of a goody. Thank you, dear."
"That is not how you should speak of your friend. She isn't here to give you that power. She is here because she was a good friend, who never stopped trying to help." He tried to come closer, but Bakura wasn't giving her up either. "I would never dream of speaking that way about her. She's-"
"If you say she's your love at first sight-"
"-She's like me ," Atem finished his sentence. "No one else out there besides the three of us have gone through these experiences, and there is no way I will ever discuss anything with you."
"Mutual feeling, Pharoah." Bakura snapped at him. "Go!"
"But with her, I can. We can share things with each other no one else will ever understand."
"Like living again," she said from Bakura's hands. "It's sweet suffering."
"Yes." Atem gestured to her. "We are spirits. We are alive right now, but . . ."
"We still live like spirits." She understood. "Stuck. We still feel so apart from everything."
"Oh? So? Because you were spirits and are both alive now you're bonding? Well, pardon me while - I don't care." Bakura looked back at her. "You can't just give up everything for me and then run to my worst enemy!"
"I can't give up everything for you, only to see you become corrupted by what I possess." She countered back. "I'll make sure this power is gone."
"No, you better not you . . ." He was losing control again. His eyes twitching terribly. "Get out, Satiah, go. Your power gives him power, I can't, I'm sorry, go!"
She felt Atem grab her hand and pull her from his weakened grip as anything made of glass or porcelain shattered in the room. They didn't have long. Bakura.
"This way, go!" Atem pulled her out the door and down toward the elevator. They got into the elevator as they looked back down the hall. Wind was coming from the room as Bakura came out of it.
"Get back here with that, that's mine!" Bakura yelled at them. "Rider!
The doors closed on them. She thoughtfully touched it. How could this be? I brought him back to be good, but being around him. Instead of strength, I weaken him.
"I understand now." Atem disrupted her thoughts. "I was right not to kill you. You can't use the power, you are a container for the millennium energy, but it's not infinite. You awakened power within Bakura. I felt that power, it radiated from you." He crossed his arms. "Don't worry, Bakura will be back to normal. You are but a breath of power, short term but massive."
"Three thousand years. Bakura is all I know." She needed to pull herself together. "A little longer."
"There is more than him out there." Atem stepped off the elevator with her and went out the front doors. The limo was still there. "People we are going to right now. They care for you too."
"His energy is right behind us, I can feel it." She turned around. Bakura. He was teeming with energy, his wdjat eye still glowing.
"In." Atem made her get into the limo and closed the door. He turned around and faced Bakura from his distance. "Stop your rampage, the power is limited. Even if you get to her she is just a puff of the energy. It's not everlasting. Go inside. You will get your friend back one day again."
"That puff can do a lot of damage in a short time," Bakura said, "so give her back!"
Atem went around to the other side of the limo and got in. "Go."
As they reached the Game Shop, Satiah got out when it came to a stop. She went to the front and input the code.
"Hang on." Atem called out as he left the limo too. He went to the door as well. "I am sure Yuugi is still up in his bed. He worries. Give it a minute before you go in the second door."
Satiah opened the door and went inside. Standing in the shop, all by herself. Anzu. She went toward the stairs, and like Atem predicted, Yuugi had just opened the door.
"Everything is okay," Atem comforted him.
"Bakura." Yuugi nodded at him. They must have had a conversation between each other.
She moved past Yuugi though when she felt Anzu's presence. "Anzu."
"Satiah? Are you okay?" Anzu went toward her. "What is it?"
My friend. This energy in me. It's making his evil tendencies come back. I can't be around Bakura anymore. Anzu went to her, giving her a hug. I'm okay. Just a little longer. I'm sorry if I worried you, but I didn't want to miss the chance to play with my friend.
"I understand." Anzu let her go. "Come on, you can sleep with me. I have a double bed."
Yes, I know you do. Did she screw up and let Yuugi back in those covers again? She went into Anzu's room. Are you sure it's clean?
It's fine, I didn't do anything with Yuugi again. Well? I mean. A little kissing in the moment, but that's it. Things are complicated. Things are always complicated.
You have no idea.
"Get some rest ladies," Yuugi offered from the doorway. "We'll be opening late tomorrow. If even." He closed their door for them.
Meanwhile, Atem and him both strolled to his room.
"I couldn't do too much for it. It's got that feel of spare room, but I'm sure you can fix it up yourself," Yuugi said. "There's not a real big rush to get up early. This was pretty late, Atem."
"Yes it was but necessary," Atem said.
"Did you win the game?" Yuugi asked. "Did you win your energy back?"
"I won, but it wasn't a shadow game. She can't use the power in herself, she is her own container. The power is explosive but limited when put in use." Atem explained about Bakura as well as the date. "I'm glad I backed off. It wasn't right."
"I'm glad too. It wouldn't be right to kill an innocent person, Atem."
"She needs to stay near. Bakura now knows of her power." It was tearing her apart, but she was keeping it together. "The only thing she knows of in her past is Bakura."
"What?" Yuugi seemed shocked. "I thought she knew her whole past?"
"No Yuugi, only what she knows from her time with Bakura. He revealed that. Everything else is jumbled in her head. She still doesn't realize she left the afterlife either," Atem revealed. "Away from Bakura, that's it. The rest is facts she learned while riding with him."
"Oh. I always assumed she kept to herself or hid something from Anzu. She was real quiet. Mostly only came out when we played games. So, she really didn't remember everything."
"Besides that scoundrel Bakura, she is the only one who has experienced what I have gone through. It's not all the same, no one is the same, but . . ." It helped. Getting a body back and being clueless as to how or why anything worked. It was a little easier to endure, when someone else felt it too.
"Oh. Oh, that's right." It just dawned on Yuugi. "You guys have had similar experiences. You have someone you can talk to that understands sides no one else ever will now."
Of course Yuugi picked it up, but the conversation was spinning away. "Rest is important. I really need it now." Atem never thought he'd have to say that as his mouth released something it hadn't in a long time. A yawn. "Goodnight." He got pulled into another yawn.
"Yep, rest catches up to us all," Yuugi said. "We'll talk about things tomorrow. Night, Atem. I'll finish working on a list of friends tomorrow for Anzu." Yuugi left.
Atem climbed into the covers. Oh, this felt enjoyable. Natural rest. Not a rest from battle, or a rest near the end of death. Rest due to natural tiredness. He enjoyed the sensation of the blankets he was in. Often he didn't feel them. Yuugi needed his rest, not Atem bothering his body. Now, Atem needed rest.
No concern about whether he should rest or not. How long he should rest. No concern about what he should be doing with his body, what his responsibility was to it. It was his. His only concern?
What was coming, that gave this back to him?
Yuugi got up at six with only four hours of sleep. It was hard to sleep, and he wanted to see who he could locate. So far, he had found Kajiki. Easy, he got up earlier for the fish. He of course got Jounouchi and Mai who were more than happy to help find others. It almost seemed like he had everyone.
Was there anyone else? Oh yeah! Whoah? Um. Wow. Yuugi suddenly felt a little . . . ashamed. How did that happen? One minute, he was starting to really hang out with him, and then the next? How long did we hang out?
Yuugi dribbled his pencil, trying to think. He had always been friends with Anzu, although they had a small ripple during the middle of their school years, they became close friends again. Then Jounouchi. It was Anzu and Jounouchi. Honda didn't really begin being friends with Yuugi until after him. Yeah, we used to hang out together. We went over to his house once and saw his whole Zombire collection. Oh yeah, now he remembered. His dad actually tried to pay us just to keep hanging out with him. That was terrible, like we would ever expect payment to hang out with a friend. Then again? We did stop hanging out with him. Why did we stop hanging out with him? He even cared enough to watch out for grandpa in the hospital.
Yes. Why didn't he remember that? They were so close at one point, it felt like they would end up being closer friends instead of him and Honda. Honda was still a bully to him, but was getting to know him only because Jounouchi hung out with him.
Yeah, he was their friend. He was weaker. Kind but so pale. Fragile, even to me back then. He got beat up by that bully because of me taking his tickets to sell and . . . "Hanasake."
That's right. His name was Tomoyo Hanasake. Yuugi put his pencil down. "Why am I only remembering him now?"
Tomoyo Hanasake was making the last of his notes. He slid his glasses up as he closed his book. "Tomorrow." He grabbed his book and moved away from his chair. He went down his personal stairs over to his most secure safe.
He looked at his book. "Almost. Tomorrow the world will change forever." He spun the combination on his safe. 99, 06, 12, 00. "Critical." He always loved saying it after he opened the safe. Monster World used to be a fun game to play. In another lifetime anyhow. Or? More like in another life.
He placed the sacred book inside of it. The millennium tome. "Tomorrow."
Please no. Someone end this.
"Tomorrow," Hanasake repeated. No one would know it was coming. "It will be the start of a better world."
No! No, no, no!
"Don't fight it, Hanasake," Hanasake said. "I'll take care of everything and everyone you hold dear, like I have been. No worries. Everything will be wonderful. I'm just sorry that you won't be here to see it, but your chattering in the back of my mind is just too much anymore. I tried. Tomorrow, it's over, but it won't be painful. I don't think. You are closer to a spirit than I am anymore," he chuckled. "It'll be fine, it'll feel like your just moving. I have one game to play, and then I'll kiss your children and wife goodnight for you. See you in the next life." Hanasake held his head. That infernal screaming. Was it any wonder that he had to get rid of him?
Such a silly man. It wasn't like it was the end of the world.
It was a new beginning.
