Ancient Egypt, 3000 years ago
The battle had raged on for days. The temple grounds lay in ruins at their feet as many of the priests had fallen to a knee. Mahad and Seto stood in front of the pharaoh and the princess as the last line of defense against the god of chaos now threatening them, their summoned spirits barely clinging to whatever was left of their ba life force.
"If we fall here…." Isis pushed herself weakly back up to her feet. "If the Moon falls into the hands of chaos….."
"We're well aware," Seto interrupted her sharply. "It'll be like the legendary battle where Set shatters the Moon. It'll be the end of all of Egypt." He glanced back at the pharaoh holding the moon princess. He wanted to blame her for this, but he honestly couldn't. This had turned into a battle of the gods and now they were caught in the middle of it, a bunch of high priests trying to avert the end of the world.
Serenity gripped Atem's shirt. This was all because this god wanted the power of the Silver Crystal. It was supposed to be a sign of life and peace, not a tool for war. She didn't want it to be like this, but she simply didn't have the power to fight yet. She had to rely on everyone else.
"It's time you mortals die and I take what is mine!" Set proclaimed. He rose his staff to the sky, gathering sandstorms and red magics at his silent command. With a jab of the staff, he sent the magics careening at the fallen priests.
Serenity buried her face in Atem's tunic. It couldn't end like this.
Mahad poured the last of his power into the Illusion Magician summoned before him. But before he could command an attack, Set's assault suddenly veered around them as if it had collided with some sort of protective bubble with someone in blue standing before them. "Who….?"
"We've been sent by Sefkhet, the Moon goddess," the blue-clad guardian informed them over her shoulder. As Set's attack fizzled out, three other guardians appeared, each wearing different colors.
Serenity gasped. They had arrived, her own guardians had come to prevent certain disaster. "Mercury! Mars! Venus! Jupiter!"
"That's right," the green guardian nodded. "We're here, Princess. We've been sent to stop Set from taking the Moon again."
Set scoffed, returning the staff to his side. "The guardians of the White Moon. I'm going to enjoy crushing you."
…
As Ma'at's light streaked across the once darkened skies, Usagi could feel the memories of the true history slowly unfold in her mind. She had fallen from the Moon accidentally, leaning just a bit too far to look at the Earth and its beauty. Set was a greedy god, one that wanted the power of life, the power of the Silver Crystal, for himself and would destroy anything that got in his way.
And right now that greed was standing before her, still trying to gather enough shadows to counter Ma'at's massive amount of light.
Usagi stared up at the Moon, watching Ma'at's light reach that far into the sky. This was their chance to end this, to set history straight and stop Set's attempt to alter history and gain the unlimited power of the Silver Crystal.
She placed a hand over her heart, feeling her own crystal from within. Two crystals weren't supposed to exist within the same time, but sometimes that couldn't be helped. Drawing her hands forward, the crystal emerged, blossoming into a crystalline lotus.
Atem glanced at the crystal. He could feel the power radiating from it, the energy refreshing him so that summoning Ma'at along with the two magicians didn't strain his soul. What power that crystal must hold.
"Hey, Set!" Usagi called out to him. "Remember how my mom beat you back when you first tried to take the Moon? Well I can do that too!"
She raised the crystal above her head, her power combined with Ma'at's reaching high into the sky. The Moon grew brighter and brighter until it rivaled the light of the sun. The light began to gather at one point near the Mare Serenitatis. "Prayer Tower! Please use your power to stop Set and to fix time!" With her words, the gathered light fired off a massive blast of magic, showering down upon Set and Sekhmet, engulfing them completely.
Set attempted to shield against it but the magic was too powerful, fueled not only by the Silver Crystal but also Ma'at. Both Usagi and Atem had used their power in their own way to enact some moonlight justice on Set and his destructive companion.
As the beam of light fizzled out, Set had fallen, Sekhmet no longer seen. The god seethed, his plans completely undone by a pair of kids he tried to destroy. He had nothing left to fight, nothing left he could do. Time was correcting itself. He'd lost.
The winds began to kick up, pushing away the sands and the clouds and the gathered light and shadow. Usagi reached for Atem's hand, only to be pulled away from the winds. "Atem-kun!" She didn't even have enough time to celebrate, to meet with her friends again. The winds of time had already begun to blow into the deserts, breaking apart the magics of the Shadow Games as time had begun correcting itself.
"Usagi-san!" he reached for her, only to be pulled away in the opposite direction. He reached for the time key in his tunic. If this worked, then this wind was sending them home.
He wanted to stay longer, but he knew the future which would come. In only a few short years, the thief king would be terrorizing the kingdom and nearly bringing it to its knees. Atem wanted to spend what little time there was between now and then with all his treasured friends of this time. But at the same time, he had treasured friends waiting for him in the present.
It was a hard situation to be stuck in, even harder that he saw his long lost kingdom again. For real this time, not some Shadow RPG that the ring's spirit had concocted. It was really them. He wanted to live out his time here, to relive his life that he'd forgotten with his broken memories.
But that wasn't how it was supposed to be. And living here would mean abandoning everything he left undone back in the present. Sure, he could eventually rest, but now wasn't the time. There was just far too much left to do. There was that double date now. Yugi would never let him back out of it, not that he wanted to despite his protesting. There was much left he wanted to experience before his spirit had to rest.
He reached out towards his magician friends, his dearest companions from this time. It was hard to say goodbye again, but he knew they would continue to live on with him in this lifetime and the next. "Thank you, Mana, Mahad!" he called out to them as they faded from sight, pulled to the proper timeline by the time storm's winds. They whipped the pharaoh backwards and into the darkness.
….
"Set is retreating," Mercury announced, pulling readings and data from the area as the sandstorms quieted.
"I doubt he'll try this again anytime soon after that thrashing," Jupiter proclaimed.
"Then Egypt, no, the Earth and the Moon, are now safe again," Mahad confirmed, withdrawing his Illusion Magician and turning to help the pharaoh and the princess to their feet. This battle could've spelled the end for them, but the Moon guardians had arrived just in time. Their combined forces had defeated a god. Not too long ago, he would've reasoned this impossible.
"I did not foresee this path," Isis admitted. "But it is a welcomed one. Without your assistance, we likely would've fallen."
"It is rare we intervene with Earth's affairs, but something like this is greater than any of us here," Venus noted. "If Set had been victorious, it would've spelled the end for both our homes and our leaders." She offered a hand to Serenity, drawing the princess into her arms.
"You have our gratitude," Atem thanked them.
"And you have ours for protecting our princess," Venus returned the gratitude.
"Will we ever see you again?" Mahad questioned.
"Unlikely," Mars replied sharply. "Interaction between the Moon and the Earth is forbidden. The queen made an exception for this situation."
Serenity peeked out from behind her guardians, peering back at the pharaoh and his priests. They had done so much for her and were so kind. She wanted to stay and spend some time with them peacefully. The pharaoh's lands were so beautiful and different from her own. She wanted to see them all. She wanted to stay with him. They had shared something special for their short time together, and she felt deeply connected to him. If only they could see each other again.
She peered at the young pharaoh. He seemed disappointed she wouldn't be able to stay a bit longer. There wasn't much she could do at the moment. She knew the rules, but she'd probably break them again. "Perhaps in another lifetime we'll meet again."
…
The room in the Hikawa Shrine was suddenly very crowded. With the temporal storm subsiding, they had appeared there one by one, with Atem and Usagi returning last. It was a pile of returned friends now tangled up in hugs and cheers of rejoicing.
Usagi and Atem managed to squeeze out of the crowd momentarily to stare at one another. This all happened because Serenity accidentally fell from the Moon to the Earth and landed in Egypt. Their paths had crossed not once but twice now in two different lifetimes.
They could remember the past encounter now, how both the priests and the guardians had fought so fiercely against Set, how they averted certain disaster so long ago. How they shared a moment. To think that she had forgotten about what she had shared with him in the past. She had never spoken of it to her guardians, nor had she ever mentioned it to Endymion.
Endymion was her destiny. Atem was a dear forgotten friend. Perhaps he was something more too. She blushed a bit.
"Seems we did meet again in another lifetime," Atem mused, "entangled in each others' worlds in a battle against Set once again."
"And this time, we can actually become friends," Usagi smiled brightly. "Well, we already did, didn't we? We can all become better friends. All of us together."
"We can duel and go to the theme park and get parfaits," Atem agreed. "Together."
"Don't forget the double date," Usagi reminded him.
He flushed red. "R-right… Aibou, stop giggling, it's not funny!"
"I'll take that as a yes, you'll be there," Usagi giggled.
Atem conceded. He couldn't win against both Yugi and Usagi. "Fine, yes those too."
"But for now, let's all celebrate this victory," Usagi suggested. "We did promise Naru-chan we'd all get parfait. I hate to break such a delicious promise!"
...
Author's musings
The truth about the past is finally revealed! And Set got flattened. That tower of prayer kicks some serious ass. One more chapter! The conclusion is finally here (after a long break, I know I know!)