Author's Notes:
Once again I apologize for the wait. Usually these chapters are somewhere between 8 and 15 pages, and they take a while to write you are only able to get half a page done here and paragraph there. Exams were brutal, and the week before was just as hard, but now I finally have a bit of time to write. Although I thought that I would be at a different point in the story by chapter 16, I can safely say that it was necessary.
Thanks to Draco'sfairmaiden for being my first set of eyes, lalalei, Yami Mayonaka, and angiembabe for your reviews!
Sincerely,
TheEagerScribbler
Chapter 17: Recovery
"Whaa?" Yugi mumbled in confusion. He felt out of it, almost drugged.
"Yugi, we need to stop meeting like this. Of course I'm always glad to see you, but this is getting out of hand." Yugi looked down and that he was laying in a modern bed, but it was was in a building that was most definitely ancient. It took him a moment to realize it because his brain was still foggy, but he was laying in the same bed as when he was shot.
Yugi croaked. "I'm dying aren't I?"
"Nope!" Mana walked in and sat on the edge of Yugi's bed. "Stop being so melodramatic-and I mean that for both of you-even you my most honored Pharaoh."
For some reason he found her cheeriness to be a little annoying, but he was certain that the she said it in a teasing way, and he wondered what would have happened if anyone else saw her. "Mana, this is a serious matter-" The Pharaoh protested. He hadn't even seen him standing there.
"Well of course it is! Your friend is seriously injured. I only mean that you can stop acting like he's dying any moment now. He's going to be fine. All we need to do is let Mahad take a look at him. I'll do a cursory check, but the healing arts are not my speciality, and Mahad has always been the better Magician..."
"You're an excellent Magician as well Mana, you shouldn't speak so lowly of yourself." The Pharaoh gently reprimanded. It reminded Yugi of the way that he used to speak to him whenever he found himself on the edge of spiraling into self doubt.
"You're right A-I mean, Pharoah."
He laughed. "You're my friend too Mana, you may call me Atem."
"But you are the Pharoah. I respect you a lot you know, and I've had several millennia to get used to the idea, so I really need to-"
"Enough!" The Pharaoh commanded. "You do not need to say any more. When we are alone you may call me whatever you like. We are friends, and such bonds are not broken so easily. Just because I happen to wear a crown means nothing in terms of friendship."
"It's not just that." Yugi watched the exchange with interest through heavy eyelids and noted that she was no longer looking at the Pharoah.. "You've done so much for all of us. What else are you supposed to do when your best friend saves the world from destruction and then sacrifices himself? It's impossible to not look up to you, crown or no, when you're the type of person who would give up everything just to save someone else."
"I did what anyone would do."
"You know they wouldn't!" She protested.
Atem looked at Yugi with an almost paternal pride, "Yugi would. He's risked his life to save the world, to save me, several times."
"Well, he had to be your match didn't he? That's not the point." She said dismissively.
Yugi blushed. "We only did what anyone would do." They stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. It made him wonder if he had slurred a little because he was so tired.
"Maybe you should try to sleep until Mahad gets here." Mana said.
"No, I couldn't sleep if I tried."
Atem eyed him critically and then raised an eyebrow. They may not have been able to hear each other's thoughts anymore, but Yugi knew him well enough to know that he was silently urging him to sleep.
"Really, I'm fine."
"If you say so, but I hope that you're not just trying to make us feel better."
"No really, I'm fine." Well, fine might have been a bit of an overstatement, but he was doing pretty well considering the circumstances.
"At any rate, you're both just too good, so you assume that everyone has your morals." Yugi had hoped that she would drop that particular topic. It was a little embarrassing.
"I fear that Yugi has always had that problem. I, however, am more jaded than that, but my opinion still stands."
She sighed. "I thought so. Well, since we're not going to agree, why I don't I start the examination." Yugi suddenly felt nervous. What exactly would that entail? He wasn't sure that he could handle being exposed to magic without throwing his body even more out of whack-he wasn't exactly a teenager anymore.
"Okay, now I just need you to lay still, just like you are now, ok?"
"Let's see if I remember this right." His nervousness only intensified. He looked to the Pharaoh for help.
"I'm sure you mean well, but perhaps we should leave the healing to Mahad."
"No, no, I can do it-I just know I can." She closed her eyes and clapped her hands together almost reverently. Let's see-peace, prosperity, happiness, abundance, in the name of the gods we beg for these things to help he who is injured, help him to regrow what was lost and-"
Before she could utter another word she was shoved away from Yugi. "What are you thinking?" Before Yugi realized what had happened Mahad was standing next to his bed. He scolded. "You could have accidentally given him a third arm!"
"But I didn't!" She protested. "How was I supposed to know that it would grow an extra arm? Why did you bother teaching me something so useless anyway?"
"In case someone loses a limb! There are some things that magic can't fix." That's how you know you're screwed, Yugi thought, when you were so badly injured that even magic cannot fix it.
"Allow me." He placed his hands over Yugi and began to chant. "Recover, renew, restore, replace that which has been depleted, for the harmony of the ba and ka."
There were no words for the feeling that overwhelmed Yugi next. It was pure tranquility, it was ecstasy, it was something which had no word that Yugi could possibly dredge up from remembered days of vocabulary quizzes, something that did not exist in the dictionary.
"That must feel much better."
Yugi nodded enthusiastically. He hadn't realized how empty and uncomfortable he had felt until he was healed.
"That's because your ka was injured. It was no longer entirely in harmony with your ba, and in such an event it can leave you feeling...incomplete. I myself knew such injuries when I was alive. It is the price one pays for fighting with their ka, and it is also why doing so is dangerous. You should exercise caution when using it-you are not a priest or a magician, so if something happens you may place yourself in danger that you cannot escape from.
"Believe me, I would never have used it if there was another way. My family and friends are all in grave danger-I can't allow myself to lose."
"Of course." He nodded in affirmation. "We knew the situation was dire when the eyes of Ra answered your plea. They only show in times of great danger."
"What I don't understand is how?" Yugi could not even fathom how the situation became so desperate in the first place. How had the conflict escalated so quickly? He had been under the impression that Bakura would be playing with his cards close to his chest until he was ready to pull out his trump card.
As usual, the Pharaoh answered what he knew Yugi would be thinking, rather than what he had asked. "He knew you would be vulnerable without Kaiba's presence. The items are strongest when they are unified, so he wanted to take the opportunity while it was still in front of him."
"You saw all that?"
"No, but I know the way men like him think. This is hardly the first time we've had to outmatch him."
"Actually, you were the one who outmatched him, not me, so it's not the first time you've had to outmatch him, not the other way around."
"I seem to recall that you were involved as well."
"I was only a pawn."
"Yugi," He put a hand on Yugi's shoulder, 'You were never just a pawn."
He hadn't realized how that would come across until he said it. "I didn't mean it like that. I only mean that I was a foot soldier and you were the general."
"That is hardly true, but I do concede that I-"
"Fine, we get it!" Mana moaned. "You can stop trying to out humble eachother now. We understand that both of you had a large role in the events of twenty years ago. Can we please agree on that and move on?"
"Mana!" Mahad scolded. "You mustn't talk to the Pharaoh and his vessel that way!"
"It's fine," both Yugi and the Pharaoh said at the same time.
Mana giggled a little. "I had wondered where he picked up all of those strange habits of his. Now I finally understand."
Atem smiled, but the look in his eyes was far away."Yugi had been my constant companion in those years. I suppose it would be more unusual if we hadn't adopted some of each other's habits.."
"He's right Mana. I never managed to shake his habit of crossing my arms when I stand, and Tea swears that when I duel I stand just like you used to."
"If I may, my Lord." Mahad bowed in front of Yugi, and Yugi could not stop himself from showing his confusion.
"Why do you call me that?"
"You were deemed worthy to be my pharoah's vessel."
"Really, you don't have to! I'm just Yugi-I own a shop, I raise my daughter, and I duel a little. If anything I should be bowing to you-you've saved me more times than I could count!"
"It is our sworn duty as servants of the Pharaoh." He said.
"It was my duty as the Pharaoh's friend, so let's call it even, okay?"
"No, you were chosen by the gods to be the vessel of our Pharaoh, that means that you were chosen by the Gods. You are clearly a man of superior status. Therefore I cannot allow-"
The Pharaoh leaned over and whispered, "I'd suggest giving in, there's no stopping him when he's like this-trust me, I've tried. Your chances of success with him are even less than chances of success with Mana."
"Mana, Mahad, thank you for your help, but now I must speak to Yugi alone." They took the cue and bowed. "Yes My Pharaoh!" They both said at the same time and walked away.
Yugi took the opportunity to say something that had been on his mind."I never got a chance to thank you for your help. We would have been goners otherwise."
"I only wish that I could do more." The Pharaoh said with a sigh.
Yugi placed his hand on his forearm. "No, you've done your duty. Now it's time for me to do mine."
In an uncharacteristic fashion the Pharaoh ran his hands through his hair. "I know, but all the same...I do not like that you are facing this sort of danger because of a connection to the puzzle-"
Yugi raised a hand to silence him. The Pharaoh started laughing.
Yugi was puzzled. "Why are you laughing?"
"It is a nice change to be away from those who treat me so deferentially all of the time. I sometimes forget how nice it is to have others around me who see a man and not a Pharaoh. Even Mana treats more deferentially than she did when we were children, and Mahad...well, you've seen Mahad. I a glad that you at least realize that we are equals. I do not believe myself to be superior to my friends, and I truly wish that they would believe that."
"I guess being King isn't all about money and luxury." It had never occurred to Yugi that after all of those years spent trying to get back to the afterlife that Atem might not even like being the Pharaoh.
"You are most definitely right about that." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Anyway, you were saying Yugi?"
"I was just about to say that none of it your fault. What matters now is that we defeat Bakura and get everything back to normal." Suddenly the Pharaoh's eyes grew sad and he looked away.
"You should know that your path will not be an easy one."He said with a warning clear in his voice.
Yugi nodded, "I know it won't be easy, but I am confident that we can win this."
"And so you can."
"I know that Pharaoh. I know that. I can't help it, though. We just have to try and do what we can. If I don't survive this…"
"Don't say that Yugi! You're going to live. You must have faith in your yourselves if you can ever hope to succeed. I can't promise you anything, but you can indeed win if you try to put your mind to it.
"But if I don't, I want you to look out for Tea for me. I know that it won't be easy since you're up here, but I would appreciate it if you could."
"Of course, Tea is important to me as well. I promise that I'll do everything in power to keep you all safe, regardless of your fate Yugi. I can promise you that much-I worry for you all."
Yugi could tell that the Pharaoh wasn't happy about doing that but he felt that he didn't have a choice. Yugi really might not live, and deep down he know that it was a very real possibility. Thinking about Yugi's imminent death would be difficult for him to face because he felt responsible for looking out for him long after their bond was no longer mandated. There was not stopping Yugi, and the Pharaoh knew that there was no stopping destiny. If it was the will of Gods that Yugi and Bakura go head to head that was what would happen. The Thought was terrifying to Yugi because he was unable to suppress his doubts about being physically strong enough. There was no doubting that he had the courage and the drive, but what kind of toll would the shadows take on his body?
"Thanks." Yugi didn't like thinking about that possibility but it was a very real one. "I really appreciate that. I know that he's coming after me because…" he was going to say his connection to him, but he thought that may not be the wisest course of action. He didn't want to make him feel worse than he already did.
"To me, I know. Yugi, may I offer you a piece of advice."
"Isn't that what you do best?"
"I'm being serious Yugi, If you want to survive this head to Egypt. You need to end this sooner rather than later. The puzzle will have more power there and so will I. I might be able help you."
Yugi nodded gravely and then stood up. "I can't thank you enough for everything that you've done for us. We wouldn't be alive without your help."
"What are friends for?"
"Alright, I guess this is it. I need to go make sure everyone's alright." Yugi willed for a doorway to open and then walked through it.
When Yugi work up he was in a hospital bed in a room that smelled strongly of disinfectant. He was a little disoriented at first, but when he looked around he realised that nearly everyone was there as well. Luckily his daughter was fine and was sitting in a chair holding his hand.
"Thank goodness you're okay Dad! I was so scared when they said that you had fallen into a coma!"
He squeezed her hand. "I'm fine thanks to the Pharaoh. How's your mother and the rest?"
"They're all doing fine. After the whole magic thing-" Yugi quickly put a finger to her lips.
"Shh, now's not the time-"
"Oh, we're fine. Uncle Seto said that this is our own private ward and the doctors are all private doctors."
Yugi couldn't help but stare in shock for a moment. There was no way that he could have done that legally. "But he can't just buy out a section of a public hospital-"
"I didn't." Seto walked in. "I did however make a sizable donation to the children's ward and the radiology department…"
The whole thing left a bad taste in Yugi's mouth, but there was nothing to be done. "Well, at least it's for a cause…"
"Yep, oh, by the way, you were the last to wake up. Most everyone has dozed off 'cuz it's almost midnight."
"What are you doing up? You should be asleep young lady. That much exposure from the shadow realm is-"
He narrowed his eyes and Yugi knew that Seto was evaluating him as they spoke. He still felt tired, but surely he didn't look that bad. "She is fine. You didn't raise your daughter to be weak. You on the other hand look you got run over by a delivery truck...twice." Maybe Yugi was wrong then. "When everyone wakes up you'll have to tell us all what the hell you did.."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's put it this way, I paid the university tuition of the son of the Motel's owner for the next five years and agreed to pay off the damages to the motel."
Yugi thought back to the fight. They were being thrown around like rag dolls by Diabound and everything but him, Bakura, their monsters, and the eyes of Ra had ceased to exist to him. But now that he thought about it, there was no way that conflict like that wouldn't have trashed the room. "Sorry Seto. I'll help pay it off, since I did cause it."
"With what money? Akari's college fund? You can make it up to me-I'm hosting a tournament in six months. I want you to agree to let the winner duel you."
When was the last time that Yugi had even dueled in a tournament? He used to compete in an annual charity event, but recently they had only asked him for autographs. That was five years ago. That meant that he hadn't dueled officially in almost four years. It wasn't that he no longer enjoyed it, his priorities had just shifted a little over the years. "Sure. What are you calling this one?"
"Lately I've received multiple requests to do another battle city style tournament, so I'm doing an updated version. We're calling it the second Battle City."
Yugi almost wished he hadn't agreed. "Um...is that such a good idea? The last one was…" He was going to say that it was a total disaster. Souls were stolen and innocent competitors were attacked by the rare hunters. Somehow it just seemed like tempting fate. Once Bakura was out of the way he didn't want to have to deal with more trouble.
"Arguably my most popular tournament ever." Seto interrupted Yugi. " People are still talking about it after twenty years. Let's give them something to talk about for the next twenty years!" While it was true that Seto had hosted many tournaments over the years he had left the battle city concept alone because, in his words," Kaiba Corporation's spot at the top depends on innovation, not simply repeating past victories". Yugi had always suspected that his real reasons were the same as Yugi, although he would never admit to such "superstitious nonsense".
Akari looked from her father to Seto. "What happened during the first one?"
"Ah, did we ever tell you how we met the Ishtars?" Yugi asked.
She shook her head no. "Your mother and I will have to tell you some other time."
" 'Kay dad, if you say-" Joey burst into the room with Tea, Tristan, Mai, and Mokuba in tow.
Joey made a move to sit on the edge of Yugi's bed but Tea pushed him away and took his place. "I'm the wife. If anyone get's to sit next to him it's me!"
"Are you okay? For a while the doctors thought you were-" Tea's eyes filled with tears. "Don't scare me like that!"
"I'm okay. Mahad saved me, and I also got to speak to the Pharaoh."
"If I didn't know you better I'd say you purposefully put yourself in danger just to spend time with him!" Tea scolded him. "What did you do? What were those things? And would you care to explain that other thing you did? Whatever you did nearly cost you your life. Promise me you won't' be so reckless!" She latched onto him and would not let go.
He squeezed back. "There was no other way. We was just so strong. When things were getting desperate he taught me a spell to summon the eye of Ra."
"The what?" Joey asked.
"It's a goddess, right?" Mokuba answered. "Was it Isis?"
"Several goddess were known as the Eye of Ra, but spell summoned the servants of the goddess Bastet. They helped, but even then were were hanging by a thread, so I summoned by ka…"
Seto, who realized the implications,
"How are you guys?"
Absentmindedly, Tristan rubbed his wrist."Just a couple bruises, a sprained wrist, and minor concussion. Nothing major. Trust me, I've had worse."
"We're all okay-none of us walked away with anything worse than a sprained somethin' or the other. If you asked me someone was look'en out for us 'cuz there's no way that we could have made it out of there alive and breath'en otherwise. Besides, the Wheel man would never get knocked out of the game so early!"
"Uh huh, you just tell yourself that if it makes you feel better Joey."
"Seriously, 'the Wheelman' Joseph?" Mai snorted.
"At least you're not my biological uncle," Akari sighed in a way that told them that she thought that her uncle Joey was being profoundly uncool."
"Hey, I thought I was your favorite uncle!" He whined.
She crossed her arms "I don't play favorites."
Mokuba elbowed Joey in the ribs, maybe a little too hard, judging from the way he winced. "Let's face it Joey, if anyone's her favorite it's going to be Seto."
"What? Tell me it aint true?"
To everyone's amusement she refused to answer either way.
"That's it, no birthday present for you!"
Yugi's daughter rolled her eyes and and responded with a coolness worthy of Seto Kaiba. "No offense uncle Joey, but don't we have more important things to worry about than birthday presents. Like, you know, how we're supposed to win against Bakura when he sent nearly all of you to the hospital." Tea sent Akari a warning look to watch her tone and she sheepishly shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry."
"We go to Egypt," Yugi said. "We have to end it where it all began."
"But didn't it begin in Domino?" Mai asked.
"No, it all started with the creation of the items. The Pharaoh says that the magic of the items will be strongest there, so that's where we need to go."
All eyes turned to Ishizu and Marik, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "I knew this day would come. I have managed to catch glimpses of the future. None were more than a few seconds long, but I would recognize my homeland anywhere."
"Did you guys hear that? Pack your bags we're going back to Egypt! This time let's make sure to pack some snacks. All of that wandering around the desert makes you hungry!" Tristan rubbed his stomach, which gave a comically loud growl. "Um, speaking of food…"
"If you want you can have my hospital food when it comes."
"What about me?"
"You threatened to deprive my daughter of a birthday present so Tristan gets first dibs."
"I promise I'll get ya anything you want Akari, just please help your father see reason."
"Don't drag me into this! Anyway, you were saying, Mr. Ishtar?"
"I doubt there'll be that much wandering around this time." Marik reassured them. "But we should come prepared for anything. There is one advantage to going back-we'll have access to the knowledge of the tomb keepers. There's a chance that we might have forgotten something useful.
Akari pleaded with her parents. "Can I come too?"
They both tried to resist their knee jerk reaction. "We'll see."
Author's Note:
This is a relatively light, fluffy chapter after that really intense previous chapter. It exists in it's current form because a friend asked me to participate in some nanowrimo challenges (although I did not actually participate in nanowrimo). Really it's the result of writing without really thinking about it. So I guess you could say that this particular chapter is a sort of experiment, and I loved every second of it. Please let me know what you think!
-TheEagerScribbler
