Chapter Seven

Yugi was a wreck. Nothing that Atem or Solomon or the others said could serve to comfort him. Mrs. Muto, baffled but worried, lingered to find out what was going on but certainly didn't know how to help. She was still trying to deal with knowing that Yugi and the others dealt with supernatural goings-on and that Yugi was supposed to be the leader. Now, of course, Yugi didn't want anything to do with the idea.

"I was never any good at trying to lead," he sobbed. "Atem, you should take over again! This never would have happened if you'd been in charge!"

"We don't know that, Yugi," Atem retorted. "I might have made the very same decision!"

"People didn't die on your watch," Yugi insisted.

Atem looked away. "They did in Egypt. And in the present-day, I allowed the Orichalcos to fuel my rage and put you in danger. You would have been lost forever if we hadn't stopped Dartz!"

"The whole world would've been lost forever," Joey remarked. "But Atem's right, Yug. He's made mistakes too."

Téa nodded. "You can't blame this all on yourself! The Orichalcos is the real bad guy here!" She looked at Yugi with pleading eyes. "Yugi . . ."

Rebecca blinked back tears that only returned. "Yugi, I can't stand to see you like this!" she exclaimed. She felt so helpless. She wanted more than anything to ease Yugi's pain, but it was such a shock to see him in such a state that she was at a complete loss. And judging from Mrs. Muto's expression, she felt much the same.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," Yugi said sorrowfully. "I can't risk endangering anyone else! Atem, when we go back to look for the Orichalcos, please take over for me! Please lead . . . like you always used to. . . ."

Atem looked helpless. "Yugi . . . when terrible things happened while I was in charge, I wanted to quit too. I certainly felt like it during the Orichalcos calamity. But you gave me the strength to go on! You helped me see that I had to keep going, even if I felt like I couldn't. And because of you, I was able to do exactly that! Oh, there were still rough times, but I kept going anyway because I knew I had to! And what I feared most—falling to the darkness again—never came to pass!"

Yugi looked up at him. "But that was something you could control," he objected.

"Then you admit you couldn't control this," Solomon said. "Yugi, everyone made their own decisions. Nesbitt chose to go with Mako and his father."

"Because I said for us to stay," Yugi said. "If I'd said for us to go home, we all would have done that!"

"For all you know, Mr. Tsunami might have decided to stay on to show Mako some of the sights anyway," Duke said. "He'd just met us; he had no real reason to agree to what any of us said."

"I know, but . . ." Yugi looked away.

Serenity bit her lip. She had tried and failed not to cry. Nesbitt had held a special place in her heart; she had seen him at his worst and she had watched him rise to become his best. But she hated to see Yugi tearing himself up inside over what had happened.

The ringing of his phone startled everyone. Atem picked it up from where Yugi had left it on the coffee table. "Yugi, it's Gansley," he said in surprise.

Yugi took the phone in shock. "H-Hello?" he stammered.

"Hello, Yugi," came Gansley's deep voice. "I realize it's late, but this couldn't wait until morning. Is the Pharaoh with you?"

"Yeah, he's right here," Yugi said, surprised. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"No. You just tell him to open a portal back to the Dark Magician Girl's castle. Someone needs to tell her to look for signs of an enchanted death where her sister is concerned." Gansley paused. "Yugi, Nesbitt is alive."

Yugi almost dropped the phone. "W-What?!" He sank into the couch. "Are you sure? Really?"

"Yes." Gansley was smiling now. "Lector was trying to bid him a devastated Goodbye, and instead he revived. He's alright."

"Alive," Yugi whispered. A tear fell from his eye. He looked up at the others in joy. "Nesbitt's alive!"

Serenity looked up with hopeful eyes. "He is?!"

"Yugi," Atem gasped.

"You're sure?!" Téa exclaimed.

"It's not possible," Rebecca frowned. She didn't want Yugi getting his hopes up when it couldn't be true!

Overhearing, Gansley said, "He's right here with us." A slight pause. "Here, Nesbitt. Let them know it's not just an old man's fantasy."

"Hello. . . ." Nesbitt sounded awkward, maybe even slightly embarrassed. "I really am alright. . . ."

"You're okay," Yugi whispered. "You're really okay. . . ."

Atem smiled in relief, but just as quickly sobered. "And we'd really better let Dark Magician Girl know right away," he said. "I have no idea what kinds of funerary rituals they have over there." He stood and took out the candle-holder. "I'm going over right now."

Yugi got up too. "I'm going with you," he said.

"We're all going," Tristan determined.

"It should just take a few minutes," Atem said. "We all need some sleep before the search starts later today."

"We're going anyway," Téa insisted.

Yugi turned his attention back to the phone. "Thanks so much for letting us know, Gansley," he said. "I'll let you know how things go over there."

"Just be careful," Gansley gruffly told him.

"We will," Yugi promised. He hung up with joy overflowing in his heart.

"Well, Pal? How do you feel now?" Joey asked.

"I'm so glad he's alright," Yugi said softly. "I still made a terrible mistake; there's no getting around that. But he's okay, so I have to move forward. If I have any more bad feelings like that, I'm going to listen to them!"

"Oh Yugi!" Rebecca ran over, hugging him close.

Téa scowled but found she couldn't really be too upset. It was definitely a wonderful thing to see Yugi happy again.

"That's a good plan," Atem said to Yugi with a nod. He opened the portal. "Let's go relieve another's pain."

Yugi happily followed him through the portal.

xxxx

Nesbitt was still awake in the wee hours of the morning. All the others had been awake as well, talking far into the night. But eventually most of them had dropped off to sleep in various parts of the room. Lector, still sitting on the bed with Nesbitt, remained awake and had been texting everyone to let them know the amazing news.

"Are you really alright?" Nesbitt asked in concern.

Lector sighed. "I suppose I'm afraid to sleep," he admitted. "Afraid of what I'll dream . . . or worse, that I'll find out I'm dreaming right now and the reality is that you're gone."

Nesbitt looked away. "I . . . heard some of what you were saying to me, I think. . . . I heard it through a fog over my mind. I am . . . so sorry. I never wanted to cause you such pain."

"I know," Lector said. "And I know you had to do what you did. I certainly would have been capable of doing the same thing."

"Especially since you've already scared me more than once because of stunts you pulled," Nesbitt grunted. "But I promise you that this is the reality. I'm alive."

Lector managed a weak smile. "It had better be."

Nesbitt looked down at himself. "I'm guessing you did this?" he said, raising one arm to study the hanging sleeve.

Lector nodded. "We were both sopped; I woke up with it raining. I know you don't like pajama tops much, so feel free to change out of it."

Nesbitt didn't acknowledge that. "You changed my clothes when you thought I was dead?!" He looked troubled.

"I had to," Lector insisted. "I knew you were gone, and yet . . . I just couldn't leave you like that. . . ."

Nesbitt shook his head. "I never could have done it. Handling my friend's corpse that much . . . I just couldn't."

"I suppose . . . part of me still kept hoping you would wake up," Lector said, his voice cracking. "And I knew if you stayed in those wet clothes, you might catch a cold, or pneumonia."

"I probably would have," Nesbitt conceded. "But I still don't think I could have done it if our roles had been reversed. And what you did that woke me up . . . I think the only way I could ever do that would be if I knew it was an enchanted death and that would break it. It would just chill me too much to kiss a body I knew was dead."

"When it came time to say Goodbye, I just couldn't," Lector said. "My mind was blank. That was all I could think of to do." He looked away. "And then it really hit me that I'd just said Goodbye and . . . I broke."

"Caring about people really does hurt," Nesbitt growled.

"It sure does," Lector said.

". . . But to not care made me feel half-alive, if that," Nesbitt added. He sighed. "It's so confusing."

"I can't deny that either," Lector said. "But I would rather care, despite the pain."

"I've come to feel the same way," Nesbitt said. He sank farther against the pillow.

Lector gave him a fond look. "You should really get some decent sleep yourself. I'm sure being in an enchanted death doesn't qualify."

"I'll sleep if you will," Nesbitt countered.

Lector finally sighed. "Alright." He pushed himself down so his head was on one of the pillows.

Nesbitt laid down on the other one.

Even though neither of them thought they would really be able to sleep, they both dozed off within moments. When Gansley stirred sometime later and looked over at them, they had rolled over in reach of each other, each draping an arm over the other.

"Heh." Gansley smiled and got up from the chair to find a quilt, which he spread over his friends since they were sleeping on top of the covers.

Crump stirred, sleepily looking over at them as the quilt came down. "Aww." He smiled.

"Just like it should be," Johnson added from his chair.

"They're going to be alright," Gansley said. "Meanwhile, perhaps we should think about going to our rooms to finish out the night."

"It would sure be more pleasant than waking up with a stiff neck," Crump said, rubbing his in emphasis.

"It really is real, isn't it?" Johnson said, suddenly fearful. "It's not a dream we'll wake up from? . . ."

"It is very real," came a new voice.

The three men jumped. Shadi was standing in the doorway.

"You!" Crump exclaimed. "Now you can tell us. We wouldn't have buried Nesbitt alive, would we?!"

"No," Shadi said. "Had the spell not been inadvertently broken by Lector's grief, I would have come to let you know the truth. Nesbitt still has an important part to play in what is unfolding."

"And is that the only reason you would have told us the truth?" Johnson asked. His eyes were darkly narrowed in his grim suspicions. "You know, you could have told us from the beginning and spared us all the heartache!"

Shadi opted not to answer. "There is still much to be done before this problem is solved."

"And will we ever have a chance to be at peace?" Johnson snapped. "We never asked to be protectors of the world! We never wanted it!"

Gansley laid a hand on Johnson's shoulder to calm him. "Johnson is right," he growled. "This is my family. I have to look out for them, and how can I when we keep being dragged into dangerous situations week after week?"

"There will come a time of peace," Shadi said. "Exactly when, I cannot say." And then he was gone.

"Typical," Crump snorted. "But at least I don't havta be haunted thinking we might've buried Nesbitt alive. . . ." He shuddered. "That was giving me the creeps like you wouldn't believe."

"I'm sure I'd believe it," Johnson said with a shudder of his own.

"No matter Shadi's reasons, we have to be thankful for that," Gansley agreed. "And I do think we should try getting some proper sleep."

"I'm sure I'll be able to now," Crump said, casting a fond look at his slumbering friends.

"I hope I can," Johnson said. "I'm sure this won't be the last horror we go through, and there's no way everything will always work out for us!"

"No, there isn't," Gansley agreed. "But I know you're overjoyed that everything is alright this time."

"Yes . . . of course." Johnson looked to Nesbitt and Lector and smiled too. "And I'll have to focus on that for now instead of worrying about the future."

Gansley nodded in agreement. "Although we will have to worry about the future soon," he sighed. "But for tonight, let's just be thankful." He led Crump and Johnson out of the room, leaving it slightly ajar behind them.

xxxx

Mokuba had been unable to sleep. Seto had wanted him to try, and for a while he had cried into his pillow. Then, when sleep still refused to come, he decided on a whim to do something strange. He got out his phone and typed Makarios into the search bar. He couldn't think of anything else to do to help, so maybe he could find the secret of his ancestor and the Big Five's ancestors.

Most of the results were Greek name sites, he discovered in frustration. But he kept scrolling, and at last on page 5 he found a webpage written by a professor of ancient history. He clicked, hoping against hope for something good.

My research has turned up carvings of a very similar person in physical appearance, always by the name of Makarios or some variant of it, in various cultures throughout the ancient world. I say similar appearance, but there have been some gradual changes throughout the ages. The earliest carvings depict a small boy, likely no older than ten years of age. Later carvings show a teenage youth, and the most recent carvings feature him in what seems to be his early twenties. But since it is of course physically impossible for it to be the same person through the centuries, perhaps it is his family line through various times of the world.

Mokuba frowned as he studied the photographs of the carvings. The kid really did look similar. The professor was probably right and it was a whole family line. After all, the carvings looked like Mokuba himself, and he certainly hadn't lived all through the centuries.

On the other hand, though . . .

Mokuba leaned back as a strange new thought struck him. Had they ever really known that it was the Orichalcos preserving Dartz's life for so long? What if it was the Atlanteans' natural lifespan? What if all the carvings really did depict the same person, Makarios, and he had traveled the world, settling in various empires through the ages? Maybe he had altered his name to fit in with wherever he went . . . or even to try to hide from Dartz.

And what about the Big Five's ancestors? Had they lived and traveled with him? So many unanswered questions. . . .

Mokuba took note of the professor's email address at the bottom of the webpage. He might want to try contacting the guy at some point. But meanwhile . . . maybe he would start searching for any possible clues that Makarios was still around. If he was, maybe he could reunite him with Critias, and also prove that the Big Five's ancestors weren't cowards. It wouldn't bring Nesbitt back, but nothing could do that. Mokuba wanted to do something to help someone, even though he couldn't help his own Big Five.

His phone dinged with a message and he clicked it in surprise.

Hello, Mokuba. I hope you're asleep, but in case you aren't,

I wanted to tell you tonight. Nesbitt is alive! He was put into

an enchanted death by that magic blast. I revived him in my

grief and sorrow and he's sitting next to me right now.

Mokuba stared at the message, running it over and over in his mind and reading it aloud in a whisper. "Alive," he repeated in joyous disbelief. "He's alive. . . ." He hugged the phone close to him and leaped out of bed. Knowing Seto, he was probably still awake. He had to share the good news.

Seto was indeed awake, staring into his laptop screen in his home office. But when Mokuba ran in, Seto's phone was going off. He frowned as he picked it up and looked at the incoming text. Then he went stiff.

"It's from Lector, right?" Mokuba said from the doorway.

Seto shook his head. "Nesbitt's alive," he said in disbelief. "I wonder if it's really true or if Lector's lost himself in his grief. Maybe he invented all of this in his mind because he just couldn't accept Nesbitt's death."

"Then contact one of the others and make sure it's for real," Mokuba replied. "But I'm gonna believe it is." He smiled.

"I hope it is," Seto said, "for your sake . . . and for theirs."

Mokuba beamed. But his joy faded as he saw Seto's computer screen. He had been writing down everything they knew about the Duel Monsters' dimension. "You're really going over there again, aren't you?" he said softly.

"We need to round up the Orichalcos before any more disasters happen," Seto said. "If we could find the source, maybe we could destroy it and that would de-power all the individual stones that might have found their way to various owners."

"Yeah. . . ." Mokuba looked down. "But I don't want you to get hurt, Seto. . . . Who knows what else might happen! There's a lot of ways to die over there for real, no coming back!"

"Which is why I still don't want you coming," Seto said sternly.

Mokuba scowled. "I won't. I know I'd probably make everything worse."

Seto sighed. "I know we've told you before, Mokuba, but you have helped all of us so much." He gripped his brother's shoulders. "Because of you, I never completely sank into the darkness. Your hope and light kept me strong during the worst years of my life. You bridged the gap between me and Yugi's group, extending friendship to them when I wasn't ready to. You also brought Noa back to the light, and because of that, he saved all of us. And you saved Lector. Because of that, the rest of the Big Five's hearts began to soften too. You know how much that has meant to them, and how much they've done for the rest of us. None of that would have been possible without you."

Mokuba thought about that. "I guess sometimes . . . it sounds so amazing that I could really make that big a difference that sometimes I can hardly believe it."

"Believe it," Seto said firmly. "It's all true." He hugged Mokuba close. "All of us owe so much to you."

Mokuba returned the hug and snuggled close. "I'm glad."

xxxx

The castle was in mourning when Atem, Yugi, and the others went back through the portal. Magician's Valkyria was laid out on a slab of marble surrounded by candles. Critias looked like he didn't know what to think of the elaborate wake given the circumstances of her death, but he dutifully said nothing and stood by as Dark Magician Girl bent over the slab and looked down sorrowfully at her sister.

Atem hurried over. "I bring urgent news," he told her. "You must check for signs that this is an enchanted death!"

Dark Magician Girl looked up with a start. "Pharaoh. . . . Why do you say this?"

"Because the man who was struck down with her is alive," Atem replied.

"That's ridiculous," Critias spoke now. "When she attacked, she was clearly out for blood."

"Was she?" Atem returned. "Perhaps she was struggling against the Orichalcos enough that she was able to change her attack to something that could be reversed."

Dark Magician Girl's eyes widened. "Well, I am certainly going to see if this is possible! If Nesbitt is alive, there's no reason why my sister can't be!" She took one of the limp hands in hers. "My dear sister . . . please wake up. . . ." She bent down, kissing Magician's Valkyria on the cheek.

At first there was no reaction. But then the limp Duel Monster's eyes fluttered and started to open. "Sister . . . ?"

Dark Magician Girl brightened in joy. "You're alright!" She hugged her close and looked over at Atem. "Thank you so much, my Pharaoh."

Atem smiled and nodded. "I'm glad we were in time, and that we were right. We'll leave you for now, but we'll be back to search for the Orichalcos by morning."

Dark Magician Girl returned the nod. "We'll see you then."

Critias watched as the group vanished back through the portal and closed it after them. "We need to find out what your sister was doing with the Orichalcos," he said.

"There'll be time for that," Dark Magician Girl said. She stood back, allowing Magician's Valkyria to slide off the slab while still holding her hand.

The older Duel Monster looked badly shaken. "I can't believe I really attacked those poor people. . . . And the man who stood up to me and blasted back . . . is he hurt?"

"He's going to be fine, thanks to your putting him in an enchanted death instead of really killing him," Dark Magician Girl smiled. "Was that on purpose?"

"I . . . yes," Magician's Valkyria stammered. "I never meant to become so lost in the darkness that I would really kill the innocent. I found that evil stone and I thought maybe I could use it to infiltrate the rebels . . . but it took me over instead."

Critias growled. "The Orichalcos always deceives whoever is foolish enough to pay it any heed."

"I think we've all found that out the hard way," Dark Magician Girl said quietly, and from her tone of voice she was also thinking about when Atem had fallen to its poison.

"I hope I will have the chance to tell all of them how sorry I am," Magician's Valkyria said.

"I think you will," Dark Magician Girl smiled at her. "They're all coming back in the morning to help look for the source of the Orichalcos. Do you remember where you found your stone?"

"It was the only one in the area, but yes, I certainly remember," Magician's Valkyria said. "I can lead everyone to it."

From Critias's expression, he still wondered how much to trust her. But he said nothing, opting instead to hope and pray that his black-and-white trust and skepticism would not prove correct this time. He couldn't bear to see his beloved ruler's heart broken again.