Whew! It feels like the week just flew by for me!

As always, thank you to all of my reviewers so far, since you guys are the best!

The beginning of the chapter is third-person, Tea's point of view, in case anyone gets confused. Here we begin to see a different side to this situation.

Also, a note: I have decided to switch the time frame for ancient Egypt to 3,000 years ago instead of 5,000. I was doing some research and I feel like the Japanese version is more historically accurate.

Disclaimers: I do not own Yugioh, only my OCs.

Hope you like it!

Chapter 7

"Tea!"

Tea jumped, taking off her headphones, and turned around to look at her mother, who had grabbed her shoulders harshly and shouted her name. "Mom! You know I hate it when you do that!"

Her mother grinned. "I know. That's why I do it."

Tea couldn't help it – she smiled back. She couldn't be mad at this woman for very long. "What did you want?"

"I was just letting you know that I'm leaving to go to Great Aunt Mary's birthday party."

"I pity you."

Tea's mom playfully slapped her on the arm. "You know that's not nice, Tea." At her daughter's dubious look, she laughed. Tea giggled, too. "Okay, okay. I'll be surrounded by old people. Ha-ha."

Tea shook her head, still smiling. "I could not pity you any more than I do right now."

Her mother snorted, then checked her watch. "Alright, I've really gotta go. You'll be on your own for lunch. I'm guessing you'll be hanging out with your friends today anyway, right?"

"I was planning on it."

"Okay, then I guess I'll see you at dinner." She kissed her daughter's forehead. "Be good."

Tea rolled her eyes. "Am I ever not?"

Her question was ignored. "Bye, sweetie."

"Bye, Mom." Tea watched her mother walk out the door and shut it gently behind her. She felt sorry for the poor woman; enduring three long hours of extended family and old farts poking holes in the fragile balloons of one's life was not fun at all. To make it worse, she wouldn't have anyone with her. Tea's father was out of town on a business trip, and Tea herself simply didn't feel like being told to "enjoy life while she still could" and to "find a nice boy" in fifty different ways, so she had elected to stay home.

She glanced back down at the notebook page she had been doodling on. It was probably time for her to get up and do something, anyway. She really had some choreography to go over for the recital coming up for her dance class in November, and she had to get it down if she wanted the lead part. Maybe this time, she would get up the courage to ask Yugi to come watch her. Maybe she'd even invite Serenity and Erin, too.

Erin. Tea turned her phone on and stared at the picture on the lock screen. She, Serenity, and Erin had taken a silly photo shortly after their makeovers on Friday night. The dark-haired girl was sticking her tongue out at the camera, eyes crossed and nose wrinkled. Tea smiled, remembering how much fun they had had just sitting and laughing with each other for hours. And yet...

Even with the crazy expression on her face, and especially since Serenity and Tea had gone so heavy on her eyeliner, Tea couldn't help but notice again the similarities between the new girl and her ancient Egyptian counterpart. There was that same tan Egyptian skin, and those same deep blue eyes that shone with a mischievous light. There was no denying it any more – either Erin was a direct descendant of Sagira, or she was actually, as Atem believed, an exact reincarnation of the actual Sagira. And the better Tea got to know Erin, to more she was convinced that the latter was true.

Which made this whole situation even more painful for Tea. Erin literally had no idea about any of this. How would she react when she found out that not only did she have a past life, but in said past life, she had been a queen, married to one of her newfound friends?

Not for the first time, Tea found herself seriously questioning Atem's judgment. She understood his reasons, and knew why he had to do this, but the fact that Erin didn't remember him alone should have at least deterred him. He must have realized by now that even if she had been in love with him 3,000 years ago, she wasn't now. Had he even considered that in this life, she had friends, a family, and a future that she hadn't had back then? That she was a different person? Taking her back to the afterlife with him now would be selfish of Atem and unfair to Erin.

There was also Tea's attachment to her. She had never grown so close to anyone so quickly, yet she and Erin were already treating each other like old friends. Sure, Serenity was her friend, too, but she was more of an obligatory friend, since she was Joey's little sister. Tea had spent a lot of time hanging out with only the boys (and occasionally Serenity, when Joey deemed that it was safe for her to be around them), so having a female friend her age who was so easygoing and oblivious to everything that had happened to the group had given Tea a new release. She could vent about girl problems with Erin without having to bring up the reasons and the places for them. They could do normal girl things like shop and have sleepovers and watch sappy movies. When she was with Erin, she didn't have to think about Battle City or Atem's memory world or the fact that an evil being had tried to destroy the world twice. She could just be a girl.

Her phone's screen faded to black from lack of use, but she turned it back on. A part of her felt sorry for Erin. If she really was who Atem thought she was, she was about to have the biggest reality check of her life.

Tea considered calling Yugi and sharing some of these thoughts. However, she knew Yugi would do whatever he could to help Atem. She knew how close the two of them were, even if they no longer shared the same body.

At this thought, she clenched her teeth. How convenient that Mahad had been able to cast a spell from the afterlife that would allow Atem his own vessel. At least if he had been stuck inside the Millennium Puzzle as he had been before, his progress with Erin would have been much slower. But after only a week, Tea could tell that even without her memories of the past, Erin seemed much too comfortable around the man that Tea had taken months to fully trust after Duelist Kingdom.

Tea scolded herself for thinking so spitefully. Why shouldn't Erin feel at ease around Atem? After all, they had been far closer than friends all those millennia ago.

Still, she couldn't regret her distaste at the thought that Atem's plan was actually coming to fruition very rapidly. Having his own body for Erin to associate him with was very advantageous. And the fact that this body more closely resembled the one he had had in ancient Egypt, with his muscled, well-proportioned features and sun-darkened skin, was probably helping loads.

Even if Erin didn't seem to like him in the way he wanted now, it couldn't be long before she began to develop those feelings. And the more her feelings reflected those she had felt for him 3,000 years ago, the more she would remember from her past.

At least, that was Atem's hope.

Tea breathed out a frustrated sigh. It seemed that no matter what she did, she couldn't ensure that everyone would be happy. Every decision she could think of making either to help or not help Atem seemed to leave someone screwed over.

She stood. There was no use beating herself up over it. Maybe some exercise would do both her body and her mind some good.

"Okay, I place Abyss Flower in attack mode, and I attack your Watapon." I said, laying the card face-up in one of the vertical sections of the game board. Yugi's grandfather had directed me to some beginner packs to begin building my deck, and had allowed me to borrow a few cards to make it a full one for the purpose of my first duel with Yugi.

So far, I had lost 3000 life points, and only taken 500 of Yugi's. The game was much harder than I thought. Just when I was convinced I had the upper hand, Yugi would whip out a spell card or a stronger monster, and I would be back at his mercy. We had been dueling for twenty minutes already, for a best-out-of-three match. Yugi had already won once.

"Good move, Erin." Yugi said, discarding his Watapon card. I knew he was going easier on me this round – last time, he wouldn't have let me destroy one of his monsters without having a spell card up his sleeve.

"Thanks." I mentally cheered that I had taken some more of his life points. "I place Turtle Tiger in defense mode, and end my turn." My eyes darted to the trap card I had face down and back to Yugi. I knew he had a monster stronger than both my Flower and my Turtle Tiger, so I had something ready for him in case he attacked.

Which he seemed ready to do. "I put Curse of Dragon in attack mode, destroying your Abyss Flower!"

My smirk slid across my lips as I exposed my trap. "I activate Explosive Wall, destroying my Abyss Flower and your Curse of Dragon!"

Yugi's face lit up at my strategy, and he discarded his Curse of Dragon. "Second game, and you've already figured out how to use most of your trap cards. Kudos!"

Joey slapped me on the back. "Nice goin', Bluebird!"

I turned to him, eyebrow raised. "What did you just call me?"

The others seemed surprised by this nickname as well, Atem especially. He was looking at Joey like he had lost his mind.

Joey rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks turning red. "Ya know, ya've got blue eyes an' all. And ya like to wear blue. I just figured I'd give ya a nickname..." He made a face as he tried to think of another reason that his explanation made sense.

There was a moment of silence, in which Tea put her face in her hand and shook her head, and Tristan just stared at the ceiling, pretending he wasn't interested. Atem and Yugi exchanged a glance that told me they knew the real reason behind Joey's outburst, but didn't want to say it.

Awkward silences were not my forte. To alleviate the tension that had unwittingly been created, I snorted. The snort turned into a giggle, and before I knew it, I was throwing my head back in laughter. I felt the others' eyes on me, but then Joey joined in, at first nervously, but quickly becoming genuine. Yugi followed suit, and pretty soon, everyone was chuckling, hooting, and chortling along with us. The amity overcame the tension, and we all visibly relaxed again.

I calmed down with one last sigh. I looked at Joey, who was grinning lopsidedly at me. "Call me whatever you want, as long as it's not creepy, okay?"

"Got it." He saluted, and I grinned back at him.

"Alrighty then," I said, turning back to the game board. "Where were we?"

Yugi was still smiling, as were Atem, Tea, and Tristan. "You just destroyed my Curse of Dragon with your trap card. So I'm going to place Buster Blader in defense mode and a spell card face down, and end my turn."

I bit my lip and looked back at the cards in my hand. I didn't have anything strong enough to destroy his Buster Blader, and I was out of spell cards at the moment. And I couldn't forget about the one he had face down. The best I thought I could do at the moment was build up my defense. "I place Jellyfish in defense mode. Back to you."

"Okay. I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode, and I switch Buster Blader to attack mode as well. Buster Blader, attack Jellyfish, and Beta, attack Turtle Tiger."

Lips pursed speculatively, I took the two cards from play. Luckily, I hadn't lost any life points. However, I was completely defenseless, and even if I did rebuild my defense with a new monster, I could still only summon one per turn. Yugi could easily destroy my defensive monster with either of his, leaving my life points wide open for the other one to attack. And with that attack, I would lose the game. My best hope was a spell card.

Yugi's voice snapped me back to the present. "And now I place Gamma the Magnet Warrior in defense mode and end my turn."

I sucked in my cheeks, drawing what could possibly be my last card. I cursed myself. It was Mystical Elf.

Clearing my throat, I nodded in acceptance of my defeat and laid it on the field. "Mystical Elf, in defense mode." With a sigh, I added, "I end my turn."

Yugi's kind eyes gleamed at me. "Hey, if it's any consolation, you put up a heck of a fight this time."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Yugi."

He inclined his head. "You're getting much better." He took a breath. "Now, Buster Blader, attack her Mystical Elf. And Beta, attack her life points directly."

I blew out a long breath. "Good game, Yugi." I said, a habit that had formed from years of shaking hands with the opposing team after a volleyball game.

"You too, Erin." Yugi began gathering his cards and reshuffling them into his deck. I did the same.

Atem put a hand on my shoulder, an action that made my head whip to look at him. "Yugi's right. You are improving very quickly."

I smiled back at him. "Good to know."

"Yeah, Bluebird, don't get down on yourself." Joey said, nudging me with his elbow. "Yugi's a pro."

Tristan butted in. "He's not just a pro. He's the King of Games."

"What?" I asked, my eyes going back to the nice, easygoing boy across the board from me.

Atem nodded. "Yugi is the most skilled duelist in the world."

"Seriously?" I raised my eyebrows.

"He's won every tournament he's ever entered." Tea added.

Yugi's face was turning red. "Guys, it's not that big of a deal." The attention he was receiving must have been making him nervous.

I laughed. "Not that big of a deal? Yugi, that's awesome! Do you have any idea how much my brother idolizes you?"

Face a shade brighter, Yugi smiled uneasily. "Yeah, well, I don't think I would have gotten to the top if it weren't for Atem. He's taught me a lot."

"You've taught me more." Atem argued and winked. "Come on, Yugi. Enjoy the spotlight for once."

I grinned at the exchange between the brothers. My favorite thing about the way they interacted was that they acted more like very good friends than family. I had never seen them actually disagree on anything, and they were always encouraging and chatting up the other.

If only my siblings and I were that perfect.

"Well, I hate to be a party pooper, but it's almost time for me to head home." Tea said, stretching.

I checked the clock on the wall across the room. Tea was right. Mom was probably almost done with dinner by now. "I think it's time for me to hit the road, too." Going through my deck for the cards Yugi's grandfather had lent me, I laid them all on the table. "Tell your grandpa I said thanks, by the way."

"I will." Yugi said. We had all stood up.

Tea and I were the first to leave, heading downstairs together and leaving the boys in the living room to hang out without our feminine presence. We split up further down the sidewalk, where I had parked my car.

"See you tomorrow." I said, shifting into drive and waving. Tea waved back and replied with something along the lines of a goodbye.

I couldn't help but notice the strained look on her face as I pulled into the street. It was almost like she was fighting against saying something else to me.

I frowned at the steering wheel. Maybe I would ask her about it at school.

The smell of cooking chicken overwhelmed my senses as I stepped into the house. Mom was at the stove, stirring green beans and humming along to the music playing on the radio. I smiled at this, remembering all the times she had sung me to sleep with that beautiful voice of hers.

"Smells good." I said, taking my bag off my shoulder and getting plates out of the cabinet to set the table with.

Mom turned around. "Oh, Erin, I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm sneaky like that."

She chuckled and returned to her cooking. "So, did you have fun at the game shop?"

I finished with the plates and silverware, then opened the fridge to get the ketchup and barbecue sauce out. "Mm-hmm. Where's Miri?"

"Upstairs. Said she's got a lot of homework to do. Would you mind telling her that dinner's almost ready?"

"Sure." Just as I was bout to turn away and head for the stairs, I noticed something strange about the way my mother was holding herself. Her hand was shaking slightly as she stirred the green beans, and she was slightly hunched over and leaning to the left.

It was almost like she was...in pain.

"Mom?" I asked, coming back into the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

Mom glanced back at me, face impassive. However, her eyes told a different story. They were extremely watery, and flashed with something resembling guilt. The smile she put on was forced. I could tell by the fact that her crow's eyes didn't show when her lips turned up. "What do you mean?"

I cocked my head. She had shifted her position so she was standing normally again to ease my worry. "You looked like there was something hurting you."

She shook her head and shrugged. "I'm fine."

I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to decipher something from her expression, but found nothing.

"Are you okay?" Mom turned the question on me.

"Uh, yeah. I'm great." I said, backing out of the kitchen. "Never mind."

My eyebrows knit together as I climbed the stairs. Was I missing something?

I took a deep breath. It was probably one of her migraines. She'd been getting those a lot since the divorce.

I really needed to stop overthinking things.

"Um...how about this one: Oh Great and Almighty Protector of the Sky, from Whom all light is made, hear unto You my cry, in this battle lend your aid." I frowned at my writings in the dirt on the floor and looked up at the tall man sitting across from me. He was flipping through a spell book absentmindedly.

He glanced up at me. "You're still trying to find a spell that will call Ra forth, aren't you?" Though there wasn't any disdain in his voice, I knew he wasn't happy with the amount of work I was putting into the seemingly-impossible ritual.

"Well, yes. I told you before, Mahad, I think it's important that we make sure the Chosen Pharaoh can properly use his power. Don't you?" I pulled a fresh sheet of papyrus from the stack next to me and began rewriting the words on it.

Mahad clenched his jaw. "I understand your concern, Sagira. But you must also remember that you were not chosen to write instructions for summoning the Gods. You were chosen to help in the temple and aid me in writing spells."

I blew some air out of my nose, setting the half-written ritual to the side. As much as I hated to admit it, Mahad was right. I had been spending a lot of time trying to think of how the future savior of Egypt would be able to ask the Gods for assistance, rather than focusing on my actual job. "Alright. What are we working on today?"

Mahad gave me a small smile at my change of subject. He turned the book in his hands and laid it on the ground so I could read it. "I need you to create a simpler version of this spell for Mana. She's been having...difficulties...with the original."

"Still not giving up on her?" I asked playfully. Mana was a close friend to both of us, and I knew Mahad would very much like to see her succeed in magic, rather than make spells go haywire. I did, as well, though her "accidents" were sometimes rather entertaining.

"Of course not." Mahad straightened his back even more, if that was possible. "She's one of my brightest pupils. She only needs to learn control."

I inclined my head. "I am sure that she will get better with time. We just need to believe in her."

Mahad responded with a curt nod.

I looked down at the spell before me. My mind began working through the ritual automatically, restructuring sentences and rearranging words so it would be harder to stumble over them, which was often one of Mana's problems. I began jotting down the new spell on a blank sheet of papyrus.

The door to the archive room opened, and both Mahad and I looked up. "Ah, Neferu, welcome." Mahad said, standing to welcome his newest apprentice. "Do your new chambers meet with your approval?"

The young man strode in, albeit nervously. "Y-yes, master. They are much bigger than I expected them to be."

I smiled at him. "I know the feeling. You'll get used to them eventually."

"Oh." The boy stared down at me. His dark eyes, though they were similar to those of most Egyptians', glittered with a different light, one that told me he was kind. "H-hello. I don't believe we've met before."

I stood. He was only slightly taller than me. "I'm Sagira, the royal scribe."

His smile faltered. He seemed to be unsteady when I looked at him. "P-pleased to meet you, Sagira."

"And you, Neferu. Mahad has spoken very highly of you. I'm glad I can finally make your acquaintance." Though he was strange and twitchy, I found his timidness endearing.

"Sagira helps me create spells for you to practice. You will be seeing her often." Mahad's tone was a little intimidating, almost like he noticed the boy's uneasiness and was trying to exploit him for it. He looked at me. "Sagira, I would like to have few moments alone with Neferu, if you don't mind. His lessons are set to begin right away."

I bowed my head. "Of course. I shall go see if Priest Aknadin requires my assistance." Giving Neferu one last smile, I left the room.

His bright, hopeful expression at my interest in him didn't even register in my mind as I made my way to the throne room.

My eyes snapped open. The dark, glow-in-the-dark-star-spattered ceiling met me. I stared at the random arrangement of shapes and bit the inside of my cheek.

The weirdly-realistic fantasy dreams were back again. Although, I had to admit, the tall man I had called Mahad was definitely new.

And the other boy...

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something about Neferu seemed almost familiar. His deep brown eyes reminded me of someone.

I rolled onto my side. Probably because I'd seen him in real life. After all, I had read somewhere that people in dreams were always reflections of those the dreamer had seen in their waking hours, even if only for a moment or two.

My groggy mind begged for me to close my eyes again and go back to sleep. I obeyed. It was no use losing sleep over a random face in a dream.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" Tristan hollered as he and Joey ran for the lunch table. People stopped what they were doing and stared at them as they sped by. Most just rolled their eyes and went back to eating.

Tea raised her eyebrows. "Someone's excited." She muttered as they got closer.

"Maybe they've found a new type of sandwich on the menu?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"No..." I said, squinting at the plate Joey was trying to hold aloft as he and Tristan clumsily waded their way towards the table. "He's got the same one he always does."

"Then what do you think – "

Tea was cut off by a panting Tristan. "You guys...will never believe...what we just got..."

Joey slapped him on the back of the head.

"Hey!" Tristan said, glaring at Joey.

"I won them, thank ya very much." Joey said, crossing his arms.

"Won what?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah," Tea added, "what could you guys have possibly gotten that caused you to come sprinting in here like a couple of lunatics?"

Joey stood up straight and waved his arm at Tea. "We ain't no lunatics!"

"Then what are you so excited about?" Tea repeated.

"These!" Joey reached into his pocket and pulled out six short-but-wide slips of paper, spreading them out so we could see all of them. He was holding them like they were the equivalent of a Grammy or something. "Do you guys have any idea what these are?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you'd hold them closer to our eyes, I think we'd be able to read the small print better."

Joey thrust them in my face. "They're tickets to Death Dungeon!"

"Say what?" Quick as a snake, Tea grabbed the papers out of Joey's hand. She stared at them for a couple of seconds, and then her eyes grew wide. "No way. He's not kidding!"

I leaned closer to Tea so I could read the headings at the top. Sure enough, they read, "one admittance to Death Dungeon, 31st October" in small banners on each. "Wow. I thought they were sold out?"

"That's what I was thinking." Tea said, eyes growing dark. "Joey Wheeler, you'd better tell me you didn't steal these, or so help me god – "

"Relax," Joey said, snatching the tickets away from her. "Like I said, I won them."

"How?" Yugi's big eyes betrayed his curiosity.

Joey puffed his chest out proudly. "In a duel."

"Yeah," Tristan put in, "he kicked that guy's butt left and right!"

"Kicked whose butt?" I inquired.

Joey shrugged. "I dunno. Some guy who had six tickets to Death Dungeon."

Tea facepalmed. "So you robbed him of six exclusive, not to mention expensive, tickets with a duel? That's really low, Joe."

"Hey!" Joey said defensively. "He challenged me! It was his loss."

Although I wasn't hungry at the moment, I still took a bite of my apple so I could think without accidentally saying some of it out loud. Who in their right mind would voluntarily put six tickets to a limited-access haunted house on the line in a duel? And why even bother to challenge someone to a duel over them? Something seemed shady about this.

Joey ignored Tea's you'd-better-tell-the-truth stare. "But look! There's enough for all six of us to go!"

I glanced around the table, realizing that Duke, Serenity, and Bakura weren't there yet, which meant that by the "six of us," Joey was talking about the five of them and me. Excitement bubbled in my chest. They considered me a part of their group!

"Well," Tea sighed, giving up on her argument with Joey, "I guess we might as well go, since he's got tickets." She suddenly perked up. "Hey! We should all totally dress up!"

Joey and Tristan's good moods deflated in an instant. "Oh crap." They chorused.

I snickered at their distaste. "I say Joey gets to be Aquaman."

"No!" Joey wailed. "Aquaman sucks!"

Everyone at the table laughed. I took another bite of my apple. It turned out that my Halloween was going to be much more interesting than last year.

And possibly, a little more fun.

Ooh, Death Dungeon is en route! What's going to happen there, I wonder?

Will Joey really dress up as Aquaman? XD

And we finally got to see someone else's thoughts on this whole bringing-Erin-back-to-the-afterlife thing. What do you guys think? What will Tea do?

Joey's nickname for Erin is a little out there, but I promise it'll make sense later. I think it's cute that he wanted to give her one, though...

Mahad made an appearance! Yay! Mana is soon to follow. Trust me, I would not write a series of flashbacks without bringing Mana into them. She's my favorite!

And who is this Neferu character? Is he a good guy, a bad guy, or does he even play into the overall plot? Stroke your beards contemplatively, readers, because it's a mystery!

Please review! Every review I get is like a monster-sized cookie for my brain!

I'll be back in a week!

-creativelybored