Yugi brought them back out to the real world and Atem was now spectral again… it was amazing how quickly he missed the touch of his body and how easily he could stay within his mind so long as he could be with him.
Yugi sighed inwardly, pushing the thoughts from his mind… now wasn't the time to get sad that he couldn't, but to be happy that they were so close. He dried himself down, careful to pat down the water on his ribs. His physical body was a lot more sore than his minds version of him… he hadn't even realised that during all of that he wasn't in any pain at all… now that he was in real life the aching in his ribs restricted him somewhat.
Atem floated behind him, watching him in the mirror with love and concern as he watched his partner pat down the deep bruise spanning wider than his hand now. The bruise had expanded beyond the bandage he had been keeping on but it was starting to yellow now, except in the middle where it was still black and purple. The stitches from the surgery were practically closed now, it was mostly just the massive bruise now… it looked so painful and Atem was glad he didn't hurt him while he was being forceful with him.
"Does it hurt?" Atem asked.
"A bit… I'd forgotten about it until now to be honest." Yugi said quietly. "I wish we could stay within our minds where there's no pain and just us."
"Me too… feeling you touch and your heartbeat, your breath against my skin… just feeling you with me is a sensation I can't get enough of. I'd give anything to be able to hold you outside of your mind." Atem said against him, hugging him deeply despite not actually touching him.
Yugi's heart pulled… he wanted that too…
"It… might not be so farfetched an idea." Yugi said quietly.
Atem pulled away from him and Yugi turned to face him, leaning against the vanity with a towel around his waist.
"I might have a way to give you your body back." Yugi finished.
Atems eyes widened and he blinked, as if registering what he'd heard… trying to figure out if he'd misheard him.
"I'm sorry… you said what?"
"My research has lead me to believe that there's a way to revitalise a deceased body so long as every condition is met and all components are accounted for. I believe I have everything I need now … I just need you on board with it."
"Is this what you were referring to earlier?"
"Yes."
Atem was silent… thinking… he had a lot to explain but for now he was just comprehending the idea of having his body back.
"How?"
"I need the Millenium Items."
"You're talking what Pegasus tried to do right?"
"Yes but Pegasus never would have succeeded. He didn't know what I do and I've been working on this for years. Not specifically this but it's a great deal part of my expertise."
"Tell me the details."
Yugi nodded and grabbed a dry towel to drape over his shoulders, leaving the bathroom to grab a journal from his study before retiring to his bedroom where he made himself comfortable in bed. Atem sat cross legged on his bed too, facing him and waiting.
"In the event that Pegasus obtained all Millenium Items he would have only succeeded in bringing back a shell of a human, it might not even have been Cecilia and regardless it would have only lived for about 3 days before expiring. This is primarily why bringing people back from the dead with the Millenium Items is impossible.
Unless you know what I do. I've spent the last 3 years researching the those items since retrieving them. There's no one alive today that knows them better than I do, present company excluded but even then… no offence… but I believe I know a great deal more than even you do…" Yugi said bashfully.
Atem grinned at his confidence but continued to listen.
"The power of the Items is enough to bring back the dead but without the right spell, the right components and all of the tools necessary they cannot sustain those who have been brought back.
In order to successfully bring someone back from the dead you need the body of the deceased, the right spell…" Yugi waved his journal in the air, hinting what he needed was within its pages. "All Millenium Items, someone who can read Ancient Egyptian and the caster must make a decent blood sacrifice."
"Blood sacrifice?"
"Not the whole lot just like a cut of the hand for example. Enough to put a coat or so on each of the items." Yugi shrugged.
"Well by my reckoning you have the items… which means you would need my body, that spell in that book I assume and someone who can read ancient egyptian."
"All of which I have. Your body is currently in the museum waiting to go on show in 2 weeks. The Nameless King exhibit will be live soon and for 4 weeks will continue to be on show until it's moved to L.A for it's American tour. Which means I have until it's shipped to L.A to go through with this. Of course I'd prefer to do it before or after the show as your sarcophagus will be open for viewing, which means if I'm to do this before the end of the show I will need to replace the body with a convincing fake."
"That… seems unlikely?"
"I have some favours I can pull to make that happen." Yugi shrugged.
"Whats the catch?"
"This has never been performed before and as such I'm working with information 3000 years old and older which means I cannot completely account for it legitimacy. There are risks, most of which are minor or have contingencies."
"It sounds as if you've had everything you need to do this since before I came here so if I might ask… why now? You could have easily found someone to read Ancient Egyptian without me."
"I can read Ancient Eygptian, thats not why I need you." Yugi said much to Atem's surprise. "Even if I did all of this before you were attached to my soul, I could have revitalised your body but without your soul in this plane of existence I couldn't have brought you back. You were in the afterlife and except under rare circumstances nothing can penetrate that.
Which is why even if Pegasus had everything I have he still would never have been able to bring back Cecilia… because he didn't have her soul. Furthermore even if I could bring your soul from the afterlife I wouldn't have done it. At the time I believed you wanted your rest… even if it meant seeing you again I wouldn't have taken that from you."
"I see… so now that you have all physical components and me here… now you can?"
"Yes. Only now that you are here. Like I said I have everything I need. I've had access to it for years… I just never had you. But now you're here… I can do this. If you want to."
"Of course I do but Yugi I'm still not sure what these risks are. Something like this… the Items are powerful. I know you know this more than anyone but bringing someone back mustn't be as simple as you claim it to be."
"It's not. It's going to be very taxing. Your body is essentially going to be brought back to the state it was in days before it stopped living. Your body is going to be tired and slightly malnourished. You yourself once inside and attached to your body is likely going to be exhausted and unconscious for a day or 3 while you adjust. It's going to be a very weird experience for you but one you'll cope with. As for me it's going to feel as it did when you left the first time.. Nothing I can't handle."
"Thats it?" Atem asked in a tone that made it obvious he knew there was more to it than that.
"...Not… entirely. Thats best case scenario - if it actually works. If it doesn't the spell will simply missfire causing your body to either not be touched or reject you. If you're rejected you'll simply stay within me like you are now. No harm, no foul. I go back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong. Though we may miss our chance to do it conveniently for a while. In either of those scenarios there's no real risk to either of us.
Then there's scenario 3; in the event that the spell or anything involved, like your body for example, is interrupted during then there could be pretty serious danger to both of us depending on when the interruption occurs. To combat this though we can have our friends ensure our safety. We just need 10 minutes of privacy. If they can keep us safe for 10 minutes we'll be fine."
"What will happen if something like that happens?"
"Worst case scenario both of us could die."
Atem grimaced at that, weighing the options in his head. Yugi didn't care for that outcome either but the risk was small and the gain could be well worth it. He believed he could do this. He couldn't account for the unknown but what he does know is convincing… he just hoped Atem saw it that way too.
"The success chance of this is about 90%. I don't want the worst case scenario to happen either but I trust our friends and if my planning comes through then I highly doubt we have anything to worry about."
"I don't want you risking your life for this Yugi. If we can stay together like this then that will be enough for me if means you get to keep living."
"I know.. But Atem you could breathe air again, you could feel the sun on your own skin, you could touch our friends with your own hands… even share a bed with me outside of our minds… Atem you could have a life again, and not one borrowed. The worst case scenario is at 2%, 8% of that goes to a missfire in which case you still get to stay with me. I can do this. I know I can do this." Yugi pleaded with him.
"I trust you Yugi but the variables, the precise planning.. If anything goes wrong that you can't account for -"
"Is it not worth the risk? I have connections I can make use of, strings I can pull, favors to call in to ensure this goes smoothly. 10 minutes and you could have your body back." Yugi said convincingly.
Atem thought about it… Yugi understood his apprehension; the risk of losing their lives was small but if it did go wrong then they do in fact lose everything… and the fear of going through with something so permanent came with its own anxiety. Bringing a body back to life was not going to be easy and he was getting comfortable within Yugi's mind… Yugi had to admit he enjoyed being able to feel his presence and have him all to himself on a much deeper level than sharing his company… but more than that he wanted to share his life with him, outside of their minds and in the real world. Atem wanted that too… ever since he came back he's been wishing he could touch and eat and spend time with everyone without bothering Yugi.
The look in Yugi's eyes were convincing and he seemed exceedingly confident. There'd be a lot of planning involved to make sure they don't get caught… could he do this? What if this risked his job?
"You don't have to answer straight away. I intend to go through this with everyone else tomorrow. Ultimately I need you on board, or there's no point in going ahead with it. That said, if you're not comfortable with this then I won't pressure you. Just… please know that I have gone through the scenarios and I've already planned out what I would need to do to maximise our success rate; otherwise it wouldn't be sitting at 90%. I can do this and I'm positive your body won't reject you." Yugi said. Atem sighed, taking in every word his partner said.
"Even if my body did reject me it wouldn't be so bad. This is a big decision Yugi. You've already done more for me than any one person could ever ask for. You don't have to do this."
"I'd be lying if I said this is just for you, you know." Yugi shrugged. Atem blushed and smiled, his heart fluttering from the implication that Yugi wanted this as much as he did.
"Say I agree. What would you need to do?" Atem asked.
"Assuming we all come to an agreement? Our friends included? Then I'd need to call in a few favors and pick the best date. The exhibit goes on show the weekend after next. It remains on show for four weeks before it leaves Japan for America. I'd prefer to do it before the show starts or before it leaves Japan but not during the exhibit for… obvious reasons. Picking a date and calling in that favor for that specific date is crucial… if I can get those two aligned everything else is easy."
"Whats this favor?"
"Pegasus owes me for providing him useful material for his business. I think I can sweeten the deal if I offer to owe him a favor in return… I'll see what I can do when I talk to him. Regardless, he's rich and powerful enough to help me replace your body with a very believable fake. I can make up some excuse saying the real body is kept in a secure location for it's preservation...I'll just need to square that up with Owoi. As I'm in charge of the exhibit it wouldn't be awry for me to make that decision. I mean we aren't displaying the real items either."
"You won't be?"
"And have them get stolen and misused? I don't trust anyone with them, that's why only myself and 3 others know where they are."
Atem gave him a worried look which suggested he had something to say but was trying to silence it himself. He knew what it was though…
"I trust you and our loved ones it's just I don't trust other people not to endanger them for the information. Thats why I've kept it to such a small group."
That seemed to satisfy him as the worry left him immediately.
"Assuming I can get replace your body with the fake before the show starts then all I need is to take the real items out of storage, secure private 'examination' time with your body and have everyone stand guard. I could involve Owoi in this but given the nature of this it's probably best I don't make it too common knowledge that I know how to bring back 3000 year old pharoahs…" Yugi said, more to himself though. He was deep in thought about all of this and as he talked himself through his plans Atem just watched in amusement, intrigue and awe … he was so proud of his little counterpart…. He wasn't so little anymore though.
"I don't think I will involve him… if this goes well we can get in and out without anyone even noticing. We'll need spare clothes for you though… walking around with a heavily bandaged pharoah will get us some form of attention. The camera's will need to be put on a loop too for at least half an hour. I can probably call Bec and owe her one for this."
"I thought you said you had a plan." Atem said smugly in amusement.
"I do. This is external application. The actual ritual I know without fail. For that I need your body which should be being prepped for flight to arrive from Cairo on Monday. It will be in the museum for a week before it goes on show, giving me time to examine it in my own time. Thats our biggest opportunity and safest bet. Your body along with your canopic jars will be available from monday. After that I need to get the items out: easy. I have the book with the spell here." Yugi gestured towards the journal again. "I can read and speak ancient egyptian so no need for a translator, I have your soul attached to me which is the biggest key in this whole thing and I'm pretty sure my bloods still warm… assuming we don't get killed before then, then we're good to go." Yugi said, awefully pleased with himself.
"You make it sound so easy."
"I'd be lying if I said this will be a walk in the park… getting everything together is no problem. Accounting for the energy it will take to revitalise your body and then push your soul into it is something I can only adjust to on the spot. This isn't something one can practice… it's going to require some emotional strength and likely mental preparation. The last thing I want is to let you and myself down because I'm not strong enough… but no. I'm strong enough. If I can live through that first year with that demon of mine behind my back then I can stand through this." Yugi said, in a much more serious tone than he had previously been using. Atem remembered that demon of his… he remembered more freshly how seductive it could be, particularly how much it strived to break Yugi all those years ago. It could be relentless but perhaps the worst thing about it was how convincing it could sound, even if he didn't believe a word it sprouted he couldn't deny it's logic.
Atem went to touch his hands and even though he was currently spectral he felt himself spiritually able to connect with him.
"I have every confidence in your strength Yugi. Even before, years ago, I always believed in your strength. You are and always have been, the strongest, bravest and most awe-inspiring person I have ever had the honor of meeting. And thats 3000 years of experience Yugi." Atem said earnestly.
Yugi giggled slightly, smiling with such heartfelt warmth. Atem could feel his confidence rising again, solidifying in his mind as his resolve strengthened. He could do this… it was just a matter of hoping nothing unforeseeable went wrong.
"So your on board with this?"
"For the moment. If you're positive that the Risk is low. then yes."
Yugi beamed, sighing in relief and clapping his hands together in excitement.
"Great! I can't wait to do this! Having you here in the flesh... this will be the best!"