"Gently. Gently." Yugi ordered nervously as the wooden crate was lowered off the truck onto a large flat trolley. Once it was down safely he and one other climbed ontop of it to release the pullies and straps, giving out instructions to many other people.
Atem watched nearby, trying his hardest to keep calm so Yugi would not be distracted. He was excited, nervous and antsy. Inside that box would be his sarcophagus and inside that his 3000 year old body. For him, being alive wasn't all that long ago but for his body it had been 3000 years since he had inhabited it. He remembered the replica and Yugi had said it was perfect… meaning more or less inside that box was the same image he had seen a few days ago.
As he watched Yugi giving his commands with such confidence he felt stronger; he didn't seem nervous at all, not even when they had been waiting for the truck to arrive. He knew what he was doing… it surprised him how much more independent he had become but in a way he missed when the roles were reversed. Before he was always the calm one, the one needing to ground Yugi… but now he felt strangely vulnerable. It was strange but he knew before long his nerves would be settled.
"Okay, take it to storage E-P 1. I'll be there soon." Yugi ordered as he got his phone out.
"Guys. It's here. Half an hour? See you soon." He said before pocketing his phone again.
"Half an hour?" Atem asked him.
"They'll be here in about half an hour. Truck should be gone by then. Don't worry I won't do anything yet. You okay?"
"Nervous but yes."
He could feel Yugi reaching out to him and smiled weakly. He was truly grateful for everything Yugi was doing, he just couldnt shake his nerves. He was comfortable like this but unsure of what his own body would be like. He wanted this, he didn't want to back out now but his mind was racing too quick for his own liking.
"Everything will be fine. I've got you no matter what happens." Yugi said comfortingly as they walked.
He followed the boys pushing the trolly into storage E-P 1: a sizeable storage room that looked more like a warehouse than a room. All manner of Egyptian statues, paintings, artifacts, clothing… anything old that could be found in a museum that was Egyptian was within this room, including some things he had seen before such as Tutankhamun's throne and Ramesis's weapons. The name of the room must have stood for Egyptian but he couldn't figure out what the P stood for... Pushing it from his mind he continued to float behind Yugi as the men wheeled the trolly to a large vacant area towards the middle of the room.
"Alright here is fine. Gently now when it comes off the bed. Can we get rope underneath to lower the impact?" Yugi ordered again.
Immediately they worked together to lower the box down upon the concrete and wheeled the trolly away.
"Alright, crowbar."
Together Yugi and 2 others now armed with crowbars set to dismantling the wooden box to reveal the golden sarcophagus inside. Its colours were bright, the carvings intricate in every detail, it's shine was gloriously hypnotising - this was his sarcophagus. It was beautiful. He had never actually seen his sarcophagus before but he knew when the Kings died they were given every bit of care as they did in life, if not more. He died so young and so soon after coronation that he was just thankful he had a tomb, let alone a sarcophagus so splendidly crafted. King Seto truly lived with honor and respect. How he wished his modern day counterpart had been more like him.
Yugi walked around the sarcophagus like a predator around prey, examining it closely before coming full circle and nodding approvingly.
"Alright, lets open it up."
They ditched the crowbars and took out long thin metal rods to slide inbetween the lid and walls and with the same motion carefully lifted the lid and pushed just enough to prepare rope and pullies so that someone somewhere else could use a crane attached to the ceiling to completely lift the lid and carry it off. He hadn't seen that before but it made sense now, there were a lot of large and heavy objects in this room, they would need something like that to help transport them.
Yugi bent over the wall, examining his real body in much the same way as he did with the fake and when he came back he clapped, smiled and nodded in satisfaction.
"Okay, it's perfect. Thank you boys, that's all the heavy lifting I need for the day." Yugi said to them happily. They bowed their heads in respect and acknowledgement before leaving Yugi to stand by the sarcophagus, hands upon his hips as he thought with a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.
"That's you in there." Yugi said to him quietly.
Atem hovered over the sarcophagus to spy his mummified remains. It looked no different to the fake he saw a few days ago but somehow he knew this to be genuine… which made him feel a little faded, almost dizzy. He floated back to Yugi to stand beside him. He was feeling a bit nauseous… if he could… and he wasn't sure if it was anxiety or seeing his own dried flesh and bones beneath those wrappings or the skeletal shape that was his body.
"Thats going to be like it was before I died right?" Atem asked.
"Yes. Likely 1-2 days before hand. Don't worry, you'll have a lot more meat on you soon enough. You won't be walking around held together by bandages." Yugi giggled.
"Yugi I'm feeling a bit unsure about this." Atem admitted.
"I understand your apprehension but trust me… if we go through with this then in a few days when you wake up you and I will be able to hold one anothers hand outside of my mind, you'll be able to feel the breeze and sunlight on your skin without borrowing my body, you'll be able to hang out with our friends without it having to either be you or me… we'll be able to do a lot more together."
"But Yugi if this doesn't work… what if my body doesn't last after this? All your effort will have been for nothing and I can't just reattach myself to you. What if this ritual has a much higher toll on your body than you think? What if when I'm real … you might not -?" He began to trail off then. Yugi took him to his mind and held his hand.
"I might not want you anymore?" Yugi asked him gently.
The sting of his words hurt but they were what he went to say. He nodded meekly and Yugi sighed.
"I'm not in love with you for convenience Atem. I love you for who you are and everything you've done for me. You helped me grow into a person even I can be proud of, a person who even I want to keep alive. You're my hero and whether you live within me or within your own body isn't going to change how I feel about that." Yugi said sweetly, his words a lullaby to his anxious knot of a heart.
"I do need you on board with this if this is going to work. If you're not sold then we won't do it. I intend to still use the replica to replace your body for the exhibit, there won't be any loss there. I'll have to put the items back away but thats not a big deal. If you are not comfortable with this then I need to know. I'll be… confused but I'll understand."
Atem thought about this a moment, looking past Yugi to his sarcophagus and then around them to the Egyptian artifacts around the room. Everything in this building has had its time to shine and every living thing in this building was shining through in this moment in time… he was alive for 17 years… he was Pharoah for about a week at most… he never had the chance to shine on his own and now Yugi was wanting to give it to him. He could live with Yugi for the rest of his life … or he could live with Yugi for the rest of both their lives… or they could perish… but he supposed they'd still be together.
The look in Yugi's eyes though, all his confidence the last few days, his sincerity and certainty that he could do this… he needed to trust him.
"I want to do this. I trust you Yugi. Just… be careful. Please. I don't want any harm to come to you."
Yugi smiled, squeezing his hand reassuringly and a new fire sparked within him; one of excitement and exhilaration that seemingly dragged Atem with him.
"I promise this will work." Yugi told him strongly before he returned them to the real world. "We've got work to do."
One hour later
Yugi had finally finished with all his preparation. Tristan waited outside with his car and a trailer, Joey and Tea were with them as Yugi placed the items in a wide circle around Atem's sarcophagus. He had drawn egyptian hieroglyphs to make a strange symbol connecting the items to the sarcophagus and saved a smaller circle where he would be standing. It looked almost cultish only Egyptian. When he completed his last loop, journal in hand to make sure he hadn't skipped a step or forgotten anything took a deep breath to calm his own nerves.
"Alright, so we just need to wait outside for 10 minutes right? And stop anyone from entering?" Joey asked.
"Yep. Make it look casual though. If anyone asks say I'm very busy and don't want to be disturbed and you guys are just waiting to leave with me." Yugi replied.
"And if they try to enter anyway we politely turn them around." Tea confirmed.
"Yes. No one should come this way though and if they do just ask them to leave a note on my desk. Nothing will be urgent today… by all rights I don't even need to be here today so I doubt anyone will be looking for me. 10 minutes come in quietly, close the door behind you and if I'm not finished just wait. It shouldn't take more than 5 but just incase… The crates over there and the fake is in that box. I want to put the fake inside the sarcophagus before we leave and close up the fake coffin too. I'll be handling the camera's so the guards won't suspect a thing."
"Cameras! We're being watched?"
"Not right now. I looped the cameras an hour ago before I started all this. My laptops over there I can turn them back on when we're done."
"Damn Yug when did you learn to do that?" Joey asked.
"Bec taught me." Yugi shrugged it off.
"Okay…. Then I guess we'll put a timer on our phone when the door closes." Tea said happily.
"You good?" Yugi asked Atem.
He nodded firmly and Yugi smiled.
"10 minutes and you'll be breathing on your own."
"In a wooden crate wrapped in bandages." Atem pointed out, half a joke.
"You'll be asleep, you won't even know."
Tea and Joey left them to it and immediately once the door closed Yugi stood in the circle he'd drawn for himself.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" Atem asked him.
"Not yet. Try to stay calm. There are two parts to this: reconstructing your body and creating the path for you to take. It's a little vague on what we can expect but regardless on what happens I need you to remain calm and trust me. I need complete concentration here." Yugi said as he took out a small knife from his jacket. Atem felt uneasy at the sight of the blade but he trusted Yugi. He had mentioned before that blood would be needed.
Atem looked to his sarcophagus reflecting the ceiling lights as it sat heavily only a few feet away. Soon his connection to Yugi would be severed. It wouldnt have been the first time but at least this time he expected to wake and join him in life.