This chapter may be a little rough, so discretion advised.
"Does your brother know what you have been up to?" Joey asked as he followed Mokuba into the large technical laboratory.
"Not really." Mokuba said. "He just knows I've been fiddling with the old VR system."
"So you are telling me you can take these old pods and instead of just throwing folks into a virtual Duel Monsters world, you can actually send them back in time?"
"Teleportation is not that hard, once you figure out the mechanics." Mokuba said as he walked over to a desk and turned on a large control panel.
"And tell me again why you are still in high school?" Joey asked.
Mokuba began clicking away at the computer system on the control panel.
"He wants me to be around kids my age." Mokuba answered. "And to be outside the company and just be a regular person. He doesn't want me to end up like he did when he was under Gozaburo."
Joey shuddered at the thought. What Seto had done in trying to secure a good life for he and his brother became his own undoing. The orphaned, but once happy boy became sullen, angry, and unhealthily competitive thanks to the mental and physical abuse of Gozaburo Kaiba. It made Joey's heart sick and if Gozaburo was indeed alive today, the man would regret ever laying a hand on Seto.
"Seto's better now." Mokuba said as if he could read Joey's mind. "It was like battling you and Yugi, then you two becoming, uh being together, broke something in him, something that needed to be broken, in order to be a little happy again."
Joey approached Mokuba and tugged a little at his hair.
"If he didn't have his kid brother though." He said. "I don't think Seto could ever find a way to be happy. Don't sell yourself short Mokuba."
Mokuba just shrugged and continued to work. He flipped open his laptop and began working off it and the computer on the control panel.
"It's just a matter of applying scientific methods." He said. "If we can adjust the pods and the controls to read off physical matter instead of just mental, then apply a specific date, we maybe to bridge the gap between space and time. Just like Yugi did when we sent Atem back to the past."
"But wasn't that because of the millennium item?" Joey asked. "No offense Mokuba, but that seemed more magical than scientifical."
"Scientifical is not a word, but nevertheless we to try to dissect the magic." Mokuba said. "That's where I am running into issues, but I think I am getting close to solving it."
He turned to Joey.
"You said that the necklace that lady Yugi was taking back to ancient Egypt had opened the gates to the past. That necklace and the millennium items must have some sort of common linkage that bridges the gap between space and time. It's just a matter of finding the science, not just the magic behind it."
"But I thought those items were nothing but magic?" Joey said.
Mokuba gave him a look.
"There's science everywhere Joey." He said. "Magic can be the primary element, but there is always a tiny bit of science we can extract and use.
He sighed.
"Finding it though, is the hard part." He said. "But over the last few years I have studied the millennium items and thanks to Seto's technology, I am able to research and experiment more than any scientist in Domino can."
Joey scratched his head.
"Doesn't that seem illegal?" He asked.
"As long as I don't use it for world domination, then it's fine." Mokuba shrugged.
Joey sighed, but hey if this was his chance to check on Yugi, he'll take it.
Atem finally arose from his chamber in the early afternoon. He was still upset over the fact that he had explain why it was important that Khemet enforce humane laws for women to his advisors. They still saw women as commodity, property and it made Atem's blood boil.
It also made him wonder. How long had this been going on? Were his parents aware of it? Why didn't they try to stop it?
"Atem?" A voice said. He turned and saw Kamaria.
"Oh hello Mari." He said.
"What troubles you?" She asked worriedly.
He sighed and rubbed his neck.
"Nothing." He said.
Kamaria approached him
"You may be the pharaoh, but nothing gets past me." She said. "I know you all too well. You keep whatever is bothering you inside of yourself, then it is bound to ignite like a fire."
"I don't know if this is the kind of topic you'd want to here." He said.
Kamaria crossed her arms.
"Just because I am a woman, Atem, does not mean I am fragile." She said. "You stop this silliness now and please, tell me what is going on?"
Atem knew by the sound of her voice, she was not going to let this go.
"Mari?" He asked. "When you lived in the city with my mother and your sister, did you, feel safe?"
Kamaria thought a moment.
"Well it was relatively safe, yes." She said. "Our parents were our biggest protectors of course."
"Yeah, but, what if something happened to you?" He asked. "Like what if one day, you were just out, minding your own business, and then suddenly, some man comes up to you and.."
He couldn't finish his words.
"You are asking if someone violated me?" She asked bluntly.
He looked at her and slowly nodded.
She sighed.
"Atem, your mother, Sahar, and I were very fortunate." She said. "We knew some girls who had been hurt by the hands of men. Some were forced into it by their parents under a pseudo arranged marriage in order to pay debts. But your grandfather along with my parents made sure that no harm came to us."
Atem looked at the ground.
"But what if it did?" He asked. "Would grandfather or your parents blame you?"
Kamaria lifted his chin.
"Where are these questions coming from Atem?" She asked. "Did someone you know get hurt?"
"Sort of ." He said. "At the orphanage yesterday, there was a girl, not even seventeen. She had a baby."
"I see." Kamaria said.
"It wasn't out of love." He continued. "It was forced and then her parents, they had the gall to think that Ra was punishing her. That she made it happen instead of it being the fault of her attacker. And then after she had her son, they threw her out like trash under this belief her presence would curse them. She came to the orphanage for salvation."
Kamaria sighed and put her hands on Atem's shoulders.
"And knowing you, you are harboring some of her burden?" She said. "Why?"
"Why not?" He said. "I'm supposed to be the pharaoh. I am supposed to know all with my city, to protect the citizens. What other secrets are kept from me under the guise of Ra? What other people are being hurt or taken advantage of in his name?"
"Atem, you may be a pharaoh, but you are still a man." She said. "You do not have every power that Ra himself possesses and we tend to forget that."
Atem shook his head.
"You should have seen her." He said. "So angry and scared. Just my presence alone made her bitter and fearful. The fact that I am supposed to be the god-like creation along with the fact that I am indeed a man, it had given her a sense of betrayal."
"But it is not you who betrayed her." Kamaria argued.
He looked at her.
"Mari, how long has this been going on in Khemet?" He asked. "Did father and mother see this? Did they do anything to stop it? I cannot think to believe they would let such a thing happen to the women and girls of their city."
Kamaria lowered her eyes.
"Atem." She said. "I cannot lie to you and say they did not know. After all, Akilah was a commoner and as I said before, we knew women and girls that were being hurt."
"Then why didn't they stop it!" He nearly yelled. "Father could have commanded a decree, he could have forced punishment!"
Kamaria felt helpless looking into the angry eyes of her dear charge.
"It wasn't for lack of trying." She said. "And they did try to stop it. Do not think ill of your parents. The problem was and is, no one else did. In our time, the voices of women outside their standing was considered blasphemy, lies. We could scream all we want, but men have always had the strength to silence us. The women who spoke up, many times, were never heard from again. Your parents would do everything in their power to help, but how could they prosecute when the victim was gone?"
"Gone?" Atem asked.
Kamaria nodded.
"Some just never seen again, others.."
"Killed?" Atem asked.
Her silence said it all.
"Your parents asked Ra for forgiveness each time." She finally said. "They would also make sure the girl was given her proper burial if she was indeed found. But finding her killer or killers was a rare occasion. He was often protected by the city or he himself vanished into the night."
Atem didn't know what to say. He just felt so confused.
Kamaria put her hands on his shoulders.
"I know you wish you could have protected the girl, and the others." She said. "As did your parents when such a story was told to them. It is a parents wish their child exceed their expectations and with you that is no trouble. Maybe you cannot change all the villains in Khemet, but perhaps you can change some. Where your parents tried, maybe it will be where you succeed.
Atem just put his hands on hers and held them warmly.
He wandered into the garden where he was not surprised to see Yugi there just sitting enjoying the scenery. The calm look on his face, his eyes gently closed, the breeze lightly fluttering his locks, Atem thought he should pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"You just going to stand there Atem?" Yugi's voice interrupted his thoughts. "You can come sit with me you know?"
Atem chuckled.
"How did you know it was me?" He said.
"You are always afraid of disturbing me, so you walk quietly." Yugi said turning to him. "Kamaria walks quickly, Seto practically stomps, and Mana is always running."
Atem sat down and gently caressed Yugi's face.
"With all the ugliness in the world, how could I have gained the love of someone so beautiful?"
Yugi leaned into Atem's hand.
"You speak such lovely words." He said. "It's almost embarrassing, you flatter me a bit too much."
"Do my words make you uncomfortable?" Atem asked nervously. "I only speak what comes from my heart. It is not an attack on your character. I know that men fear such words by another because it makes them seem like they are effeminate. I just..can't help it."
Yugi laughed and wrapped his arms around Atem in a hug.
"I just don't want you to find me weak is all." He said. "I don't want you to fight your battles alone."
Atem smiled and held Yugi warmly.
"Weak is the last thing I would ever describe you." He said. "There is no better person I want by my side. How much I want to scream to Ra that I love you so."
"Like your father practically did with your mother?" Yugi asked with a smile.
Atem looked at him.
"Kamaria told me about how your parents met. How your father was so smitten with your mother that he practically risked his life and how your mother would not be easily hypnotized by a pharaoh."
Atem smiled.
"You know, my parents, their love, it was like a fairy tale." He said. "They did not want to shield me, but now I think they unintentionally did. After what I saw yesterday and what 'Mari told me today how rampant abuse to girls like Rana is in the city, I don't...
"It was their love for each other and you that kept them fighting against it." Yugi said. "Surely, your parents had heard about such atrocities?"
Atem nodded.
"They did."
"And?"
He stood up.
"They tried to fight it, go against advisors, create decrees, but it fell on deaf ears. Kamaria says they tried with all their might, but why was it not enough!? If my family and I are the speakers of Ra, why won't people listen then?"
Yugi stood up to face Atem.
"You can't torture yourself like this." He said. "It's like Kamaria said yesterday. Maybe you won't be able to change the minds of everyone, but if you can reach one mind, and I know you can, then it was not for nothing. One less assailant on the streets is still one less victim he will prowl for."
Atem looked into the eyes of his anxious love, his heart so full. He threw his arms around Yugi and kissed him deeply. Yugi responded with the same passion and held Atem tight.
When they had to break for air, Atem put his forehead on Yugi's.
"You'll do it." Yugi whispered. "And more importantly, you'll be the voice for the victims. That's what's even more important Atem, is that you be the voice for the people whose mouths were clamped shut. That's where it starts you know. When someone stands up and says no more!"
Atem sighed.
"I hope you are right."