Chosen Pharaoh Chronicles Part 1: Longing Reunion & The Beasts Within

Based on the original Yu Gi Oh storyline. (Combination of anime & manga canons)

A/N: Hey guys I'm back with another update! I didn't realize how many chapters I would have to completely rewrite until I looked at what was left to do. This particular chapter contains a conversation that was cut out from the original release and I'm happy I was able to incorporate it this rewrite. Anyway hope you guys enjoy!

Rated M

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh it belongs to Kazuki Takahashi

Chapter 14: Honesty

The world seemed to spin around him and the floor wobbled beneath his feet. Without all the rage and hormones pumping wildly in his veins, the influence of the intoxicating substance was taking quite the toll on his body. Yet, unfortunately his mind was still racing a mile a minute. Atem realized that he was staring at his hands and then back to a very upset Yugi. Tea was standing behind him, almost cowering. Oh, yeah he decided acting like some sex hungry alpha male was a great idea just moments ago. And now he had everyone at this party as an audience. What a way to give first impressions.

"Ah..." His head was so foggy and beginning to pound. "I...I'm so so- sorry."

Mana noticed her friend seemed to be losing his balance and grabbed Atem's arm. "Hey, you really need to take it easy. C'mon sit down."

"Mana I'm fine." Again the floor underneath seemed to shift. His left knee gave out and Mahad grabbed his other arm.

The two mages backed Atem onto the main couch and instantly the pharaoh started to slouch.

Yugi looked on with fire in his eyes. Although he wasn't sure how to feel. On one hand, his best friend assaulted his girlfriend. On the other, the man seemed to going through some large amount of emotional turmoil, not that it excused his behavior, but it definitely contributed to the problem. Furthermore, he wasn't in his right mind. Yugi saw the amount of alcohol he, Joey, and Tristan consumed. In the midst of his thoughts Yugi felt a hand, caress his shoulder and then tug him back slightly.

"Yugi, Joey told him the truth. He knows about everything." Tea whispered into his ear.

Violet eyes widened. This damn promise he made seemed to haunt him more than any other decision he has ever made. Making things worse, he felt a gentle pull on his pant leg.

"Daddy, is Uncle Temmie going to be okay?" Hanna had even given this guy a cute nickname.

Yugi could feel his heart melt, almost to the point where he didn't want to be mad anymore. There was too much drama going on right now. He nodded and rubbed his daughter's shoulder to ease any worries.

"Hey everyone, I appreciate all of you coming today but considering the current situation..." Yugi breathed a heavy sigh. "I'm going to have to end tonight short."

Everyone quietly agreed and started to help clean up the home before leaving. Serenity was trying to get her husband to stand up straight but to little avail. Looks like she was driving tonight. Mai's fiancé could hold his liquor better, but certainly not for driving either. Before departing, Joey walked over to Yugi.

"Ya best handle dis right Yuge."

The Duel King looked at his blonde friend with daggers. "You have some nerve telling me that when you were the one to spill the beans."

Joey's mouth formed a thin line. "Sorry, but dis whole keeping secrets thing just didn't sit right with me, especially after what we just found out bout Tea."

"Yeah well..." Yugi paused to look at his friend on the sofa. Atem had chosen to lay down. He claimed he was feeling a bit queasy. "My little secret seems to like making shit in my life hit the fan."

Hazel eyes softened at Yugi. "C'mon Yuge I neva met it like dat."

Yugi felt waves of emotions wanting to breach but he held them back. "We can talk about this another day. I need to focus on other things right now."

"I get chu pal. Night." Joey then followed Mai out the door.

Looking back to his living room Yugi noticed there was still a decent number of people here. Lykaon, Mahad, Mana, Marcus, Roman, Joshua, and Keanna all surrounded Atem. He had to convince these people to call it a night and continue whatever business they had tomorrow.

"Hey new guys, or old ..." Yugi sighed. "Whatever...can we all like continue this tomorrow. I think we could all use some time to ourselves."

They all nodded. Mahad then approached Yugi. "Two things before we leave you be. One, here." He hands Yugi a smartphone. Top of line too. "This is for Atem, he is going to need it in this day and age. Two. As the final part of this whole reunion and establishment process, we have quite the manor built for the royal family."

Yugi's brows raised at the mention of 'manor'. "Wait you mean you just built this guy a house but still dropped him on my doorstep?"

Mana laughed at the man's response. "We wanted to make sure everything was fixed up before he arrived, also it's not just for Atem. It can be for you and your family as well."

"Why would we be allowed to live in this place if we aren't exactly royalty?" Yugi looked at Tea. "I mean, I understand she is reincarnated but Tea isn't exactly your queen."

Mahad bobbed his head a bit. "Perhaps, but you are pretty important Yugi. As the former vessel of the pharaoh, you are considered to many as the Chosen Warrior since you have aided Atem in numerous battles."

"Chosen Warrior huh?" Tea smiled. "Look at you Yugi, people know you for more than playing cards."

"Yes they do." Mahad nods. "But we understand you three are in the middle of clearing up..." The mage glances over to the resting king. "Whatever issues you may have. So Atem has our numbers on his phone when you guys have made your decision. We would like to know by tomorrow morning if that is possible."

Yugi folds his arms. "I'm sure we can all come to an agreement."

"Well, then I bid you all a good night. We will take our leave." Mahad started to walk to the door.

The rest of the group followed him expect for Mana and Keanna. The female mage motioned herself close to Yugi and whispered something in his ear.

"We all know what this is about, so don't yell at him too much. The guy has been through a lot."

Yugi was starting to wonder if everything and everyone was against him tonight. But he did not feel like arguing with the pharaoh's loyal companions so he nodded silently. Although he was sure Mana could sense his reluctance.

She backed up and then gave a toothy grin. "You all play nice now."

After her comment Mana followed the others, but Keanna had kneeled next to her father who was still laying on the sofa. She grabbed his hand and offered some words of comfort and encouragement. After their brief interaction, she too left the premises.

Hearing the final slam of the door, Yugi breathes out a long sigh. He certainly did not feel relieved but now he had an opportunity to discuss sensitive matters. A slight tug to his shirt brought Yugi's attention to his daughter yet again, whom was shooting him a concerned gaze.

"Daddy, you never said if Atem is okay?" Hanna glances back and forth between the subject of her worry and her father. "He seems sick."

Yugi takes a glance to his sofa. Tea is giving Atem some pain killers. "He will be fine Hanna. The guy just has a bad headache."

"Yeah, cause you punched him in the face!" The girl then expressed a warm smile.

The Duel King had forgotten that young children can be brutally honest about everything. He could not help but feel immense guilt for letting his daughter witness a drunken fist fight in his own house. It would be a complete lie for Yugi to claim he was absolutely sober, everyone had quite a few drinks, of course some more than others.

"Yup, I did that didn't I..." Yugi spoke softly and nodded.

He took Hanna's hand into his own and strolled over to Tea and Atem.

"Hey babe, why don't you guys set up the spare room for a bit. I'd like to speak with this guy alone for a few minutes."

Tea also shot him a worried look. Almost mirroring Hanna's just moments ago. "Alright." She decided not to say what was on her mind and risk causing a argument. "C'mon sweetie. Let's fix up your bed. It's getting late."

"Okay mommy." Hanna followed her mother to the spare room.

Yugi waited to hear the door shut before turning directly to Atem. First he handed the smartphone to him. Atem gazes at the device and flips through the apps and settings. His pounding headache was not aiding in his comprehension of this new technology.

"It's going to take some getting used to this, but I'm sure I can figure it out." Atem voice sounded hoarse. His tiredness was increasing by the minute.

Yugi would have taken a seat on the coffee table but the legs were now striped of their screws from the fight. He then grabbed a folded chair instead.

"How do I make this is as simple as possible..." Yugi folded his arms and tapped a finger on his chin. "Under no circumstances am I okay with any of that bullshit you decided to pull tonight!"

Atem flinched a bit at Yugi's louder tone of voice. It was rare to hear him angry. "As I said before I deeply apologize for my behavior. I'm quite intoxicated and everything just happened so fast..."

"I don't fucking care dude." Yugi interrupted him. "I know you are far from sober. I know shit just happens. But I'd be damned, shit does not just happen between you and MY girlfriend. I don't give a fuck what history you have either, this is now and you don't just take advantage of her like that."

The pharaoh remained silent. He felt his eye lids were half opened, and surely it made him look less convincing but there was nothing he could do about his appearance in his exhausted state. Atem honestly could not think of anything else to say. Surely, claiming he didn't mean to confess his love would be a blatant lie. He just wasn't expecting to be as bold and aggressive. Everything was just going wrong for the both of them.

Yugi noticed his friend's silence. "So you've got nothing else to say?"

Atem scoffed. "What do you want me to say Yugi?" He supported himself to sit up a bit more. "Yes, I like her too. After all these damn years sharing the same mind and body, how could I not? This whole revelation we learned today just made my feelings make all the more sense."

"Please tell me this is still the alcohol talking..."

The pharaoh started to feel his blood boil as well. "Oh no Yugi. I'm being very honest with you right now. Since our little secrets are all being put out on the table, why not be honest right? I'm not excusing what I did at all but you cannot sit here and pretend you have been completely honest with me."

Yugi began to tap his foot in irritation. "So what Joey told got that much under your skin? Something that frankly should be no one else's business, magically gave you the balls to be so expressive."

"Well, now that I'm back, I figure anything having to do with how someone really feels about ME is MY business." Atem used whatever strength he had to fully sit himself up. "If you had told me the truth from the beginning I'm sure we could have handle this situation differently."

"I refuse to put Tea through this again."

Atem raised his brow. "Again? So you are telling me she has had mixed feelings before?"

Yugi stood up with his fists clenched. "And it's NONE of YOUR business!"

Tea then poked through the door of what was to be Hanna's new room. "Yugi! What is with the yelling and none of whose business?"

He relaxed his hands but remained facing Atem. Tea didn't have to see the fear in his eyes. "I'll talk to you about it later I promise. And I'm sorry about raising my voice but please let us finish this."

Again, the dancer decided to keep her thoughts to herself, something she normally didn't do, especially with Yugi. Once again he heard the door close again and a wide-eyed Egyptian was staring back at him.

"So that's what it is." Atem responded in a low voice. "You're afraid."

Yugi tried to brush off his words. "Heh, afraid of what?"

"You're afraid to lose her again."

"So? Wouldn't you? Just put yourself in my shoes."

Atem chuckled. "Oh trust me I've been there. But I've also felt a much more painful loss."

"The thing with your wife right?" Yugi was beginning to sound more sympathetic. "You never told me the full story about that either. Since you are so keen on beginning honest right now."

The pharaoh looked down at his hands. He remembered that transferring to this day and age the one object that didn't stay with him was his old wedding ring. Part of him wish he had kept it now knowing it was the only physical token of his wife he had left.

"Look I know she died before you became king."

Atem's eyes darted immediately to Yugi. "What? How?"

"Because when you first transformed by Lykaon, you gave us some information and..." Atem nodded as Yugi continued. "You wouldn't tell us exactly what happened to your wife or whether you were sure she Tea and Teanna were connected, so I did some digging. And your wife's tomb had been discovered about a year ago, which confirmed she passed before you took the throne."

'Damn archeologists.' Atem thought to himself. "Well, yes its true. My wife was killed, and so was my daughter. Damn thieving bandits kidnapped them. Keanna was still an infant too."

When Yugi had discovered the information about Teanna's death, he figured it was illness or even childbirth that had caused her demised. Yet, upon hearing that both Atem's wife and infant daughter were murdered, sheds a new light on this entire scenario.

"I'm guessing you unlocked these memories when we came back from the fight with Zorc."

"Yes, so for the past five years I've been carrying this old pain that I had locked away. But trust me it still feels like I've been harboring this loss for millennia." Atem's headache seemed to worsen at the thought of his family's death. "But at least Keanna and I are now reunited. I may have missed her childhood but there is nothing I can do about that."

The fact that both friends have spilled their guts out to each other caused a few moments of silence between them. Both were given back their daughters, but now they are fighting over one women. Yugi never figured he and Atem would end up in this position. Pitted against one another...or at least that is how it felt. He never wanted this but his love for Tea was too strong to not fight for her. Little had Yugi known, that he had let his mental guard down.

'Trust me Yugi, I'm not trying to compete with you. I simply feel the way I do and that is it.' Atem spoke to him through their mind link. Another throb in Atem's temple struck causing him to drop the connection. He winces from the surge of pain. "Although keep in mind I want her to be honest with us as well. The fact you made such an agreement with her concerns me greatly and it worried Joey as well."

"Yeah, Joey has been up my ass about it ever since I told him."

Atem had to revert to laying back as queasiness from his body regulating the alcohol had returned. "I don't blame him. He is only being a good friend."

Yugi nodded. "I know. I know." He noticed Atem was looking a bit off color. "Let me get you a bottle of water, you are starting to look pretty pale."

Atem rested his head back on a pillow next to the arm of the sofa. The mixture of take out and alcohol was not something he felt like hurling up. Yugi returned momentarily with the water bottle. He drank its contents almost completely. However, that addition of fluid forced his bladder to take notice. Sure Atem had gone to the bathroom regularly whilst he was with Joey and Tristan, but this time it was borderline painful. The old king rushed from his seat, nearly knocking Yugi over in a b-line to the restroom.

This action made Yugi chuckle. Just minutes ago, he was incredibly angry at Atem, but in retrospect it was hard to stay mad. It was then he felt a hand brush against his shoulder.

"Hey, I put her to bed." Tea voice was low.

Yugi spun around. "That's good."

"Yeah, she didn't put up much of a fuss. How did your talk go?" Tea asked coyly.

Her boyfriend bit his lip. "It went okay I guess. Not really sure where we stand but I think we came to some sort of equal ground."

The brunette could see right through him. "Doesn't sound like you guys got too far in resolving anything."

"Perhaps. If anything this was more like being honest with each other."

Tea raised a brow. "Oh really?"

They both heard a flush of the toilet and the bathroom door opening.

"I'll tell you more when we go to bed." Yugi saw Atem coming their way. "Actually why don't you meet me there."

She nodded and began walking up the stairs to their bedroom. Atem returned to his place on the sofa.

"I'm guessing you two are heading to bed."

Yugi's lips formed in a thin line.

"Yeah, I think we could all use some shut eye. If you want we can continue this conversation tomorrow. Ya know, when you are sobered up."

Atem gave a dry laugh. "The past few minutes of us talking, I haven't said anything I didn't mean. Intoxicated or not." He shifted his body to a more comfortable position with his hands behind his head. "Besides, what more is there for us to discuss? You know how I feel about the situation and her."

"I just want to make sure that what happened with you two tonight won't happen again." Yugi's tone became serious.

The pharaoh was a bit taken back by his tone. "Yes, I will not drink so excessively that I lose control over my actions. Especially not around my friends."

"Then I think we are clear." Yugi started to turn tail when Atem spoke up.

"But like I said, I think we all need to be honest about each other. That includes Tea too."

Yugi nodded and then continued on to his bedroom, leaving Atem alone in the living room. The man figured he may as well get comfortable. He headed to the bathroom with his duffel bag to change into a simple black tank top and sweat pants. A vibration sounded off and Atem had nearly forgotten that he was given a phone. The text message was from Keanna and it read,

Hey, dad just wanted to check up on you. If you don't feel comfortable with texting you can facetime me.

Atem tried to think if he knew what the term 'facetime' meant. Unfortunately he hadn't had much experience with newer technologies. He did know how to text but these other apps were still a mystery. So he sent a reply to his daughter.

I am sorry but what is facetime?

Yup I just ended it right there. Don't worry I'll have the new chapter up in a week or so. I needed to have this updated in a timely manner so I can work on the next book and a new project I will be publishing soon. Speaking of which, keep an eye out for a sneak peek for a new fic I'm writing. I hope to have it up before March or just the beginning of March. Please leave your reviews and I'll see you all next time!