Atem and Tea approached the silver throne, aglow with light from the King himself. Tea turned to see Yugi had appeared at her side as well. They smiled at each other and then turned their attention to Him.
"Children, I have a great task for you. Justice, Grace and Heart are all needed for this."
"What about Tristan and Joey?" inquired Yugi.
The King grinned at Yugi. "They will join you later, child. I require subtlety first." All three chuckled.
"Dear ones, an evil is entering the world. Dark ones from the abyss have begun spreading throughout. They have their creatures of darkness…but what is worse is they are darkening the hearts of people everywhere. Despair is spreading like wildfire and what's worse is that no one suspects. Their weapons are very powerful."
Yugi shivered. Despair. He remembered it poignantly through the eyes of Atem. If Tea hadn't been there…ah, so there it was. Surely the Princess of Grace was needed now more than ever.
"What is their weapon?" asked Atem.
"You will learn soon, Atem. In learning it and learning how to defeat it, you'll gain the knowledge you need most. How to live neither in Past nor Future, but Now with me. Not in Despair or Fear, but in my love."
He paused while they all considered his words.
"Dearest," here the King addressed Tea. She stepped forward and knelt. He placed his hand upon her head and whispered, "This will be hardest for you, I think. Grace is your adornment and it will be what is most needed. But remember to rely upon Heart and Justice at the very end of things for clarity. What makes you beautiful is your ability to love and forgive all wrongs, to bestow the benefit of the doubt. But there is still great deceit in the world and you will need your companions," he gestured to Atem and Yugi, "to help you. Remember this."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Atem."
Here the former Pharaoh stepped forward, knelt down. The Pharaoh above all pharaohs spoke to him gently. "I know what still lingers upon your heart from your former life. Here you are free of it as anyone should be when they are in my realm. But I am sending you back to the world where things are still very much imperfect and you will be tempted to succumb to the same fears you left. Remember your partner, Tea, and your eternal friend Yugi. Remember how they were your support the first time you gave in and how much better they will be suited for it again. And finally, remember that Justice, my Prince, has been done to you already. It will not be easy, my son. However, I know that with My help, you are able to overcome it and complete your task."
Tea could see the tears sparkling in Atem's eyes. Yes, she knew the fears He spoke of. A glance at Yugi confirmed he also knew them. Atem was struggling with everything he had against the doubt of his new found strength to conquer the fear. Fear had motivated Atem so much in his previous time and it had caused so much harm. He had, as an unfortunate result of being brought to this realm of happiness, first to look upon the results of that fear and it had nearly broken him. He was not entirely fair to himself, Tea reflected, as they had all caused ripples with their choices that did not end well in the least for thousands of people. There was no guilt here, His Majesty's presence erased all guilt, but one remembered always what it was they had been released from and as they were now being asked to relinquish the divine and re-enter the mortal, they must guard against the resurrection of guilt, shame and fear – all of which had the potential to destroy them and render their task hopeless.
"Yugi."
Yugi knelt. The weight of this mission was heavy on his shoulders.
"Grace and Justice must have a Heart to reside in. You are the glue betwixt the two. Stay firm and strong…yes you are the strongest though you never saw it in the past…for they will depend on you greatly."
All three remained on their knees, Tea in between Yugi and Atem. The King rose and smiled happily at them.
"Join hands and rise, children."
The all stood and before they could say 'farewell', everything had faded to a clear blackness (I can't explain it any better than that. In the King's realm, there is no darkness so it would be wrong to call it 'dark'). Just before they lost consciousness they heard, "I give you My love."
Atem opened his eyes.
He was sitting in a bedroom that he remembered well, but that still felt like a fragment of a dream from many years ago. Yet there it was. He blinked a couple times and at first quite forgot how he had gotten there at all. He heard the words "Where's Grandpa?" come out of his mouth in a small, curious whisper.
"Atem?"
Atem jerked his round right and left. Where was the voice? The bedroom door opened and Tea and Yugi walked in.
Then it all came crashing in like a ton of bricks. The battle with Yugi, the journey to the realm with all of his friends, the trial, the redeeming with the King, his life in that realm, the mission…
Tea and Yugi abruptly stopped to look at him and he could see the recognition coming over them as well.
"It's so…disorienting…" said Tea.
They all looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. It was all so strange.
Yugi started and looked at his hands and then back at Atem. Then smiled. "I guess we get our own bodies this go around, huh pal?"
Atem grinned. "Yes we do."
But we can hear each other's thoughts, Tea commented, though she hadn't spoken.
That's certainly useful, Yugi answered.
"In answer to your question, Atem, Yugi's grandpa is downstairs."
"Did he see you!?"
"No, we stayed out of sight at first."
Atem pondered this. "Are we…I mean…what year is it?"
"I think it's only a few years since we left. Not much has changed with Grandpa and," here Yugi looked at a calendar, "Yup. It looks like about 2 years have gone by."
"Well then…we should probably get out of here…should we…?"
"Yes," said Tea, "I think we should probably sneak out. No use in getting Yugi's grandfather all disturbed right this second. From what the King said, we should be able to ascertain fairly quickly what's going on even if we're not sure how to stop it right now."
"Let's go then."
All three snuck out of the room and out the shop door – thank goodness for all that practice sneaking out, Yugi thought – and onto the street. They decided to head for city center first.
"Yugi?"
The trio froze at the voice. So familiar…
"Tea? Wait…why are there two Yugis…?"
Slowly they turned around to a tall man with dark hair with a single dice shaped earring. He was staring at them open mouthed and wide eyed.
"Duke?"
"Oh my gosh…I thought you guys were…gone…"
Atem frowned. "We had to come back…we were told…"
Duke held up a hand. "I'm glad you're here. There's a lot that's happened and I was starting to secretly hope you would come back."
Tea smiled. "We're here now…hey, where's Serenity?"
The man's face fell and he stared at the pavement. His voice choked as he said, "That's the first problem. I don't know."
Tea stopped smiling as Atem closed the distance between the two parties. He grabbed Duke's shoulders so he would look him in the eye.
"Tell us everything."
