15. Rifts

"I'm glad you called, Yugi. I wanted to talk with you."

Yugi felt his hopes lift, and his grip on the phone tightened. "Did you find something, Ishizu? Something to lead us to Ramesses?"

"Nothing like that, no," she said, and he deflated. "But something else has come up. Something we've been noticing during the vigil ritual in the tombs each night."

There was a touch of excitement in her voice, and Yugi felt hopeful again as she explained. "You see, Yugi, when Atem originally sealed his spirit into the Millennium Pyramid and it shattered, turning into a Puzzle, he created a rift. He wasn't the first one, mind you. Mahad did the same thing when he merged his spirit with the Illusion Magician to create the Dark Magician. There have been others, as well, but none with Atem's power. With his Ka locked inside the Puzzle instead of in the afterworld, the Ba was incomplete. All who came afterwards—"

"Were incomplete," Yugi finished for her.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say you were incomplete, Yugi, or that you were not whole. But there was a rift in your soul, as there was in Ryou's, and as there would be in whoever came from Mahad's Ba."

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait. Mahad's Ba? Are you saying there is someone walking around as a reincarnation of Mahad?"

"Of course there is, Yugi. It only stands to reason."

"But I thought with his soul sealed into the Dark Magician's tablet—"

"How is that any different than Atem's soul being sealed into the Puzzle? The soul is in many parts. Part of Mahad's soul will always be in the Dark Magician. But somewhere in the world lives a person with the same connection to Mahad that you share with Atem, or that Seto Kaiba shares with the guardian Seto. We will probably never know who it is."

There was such a note of sadness in her words that it gave Yugi pause. Was her soul incomplete as well, waiting not for her own ancient counterpart, but for the one that ancient counterpart had loved? "So what are you saying, Ishizu?"

"I'm saying that when Atem sealed his spirit into the Puzzle, because of who he was and his innate power, he created a much larger rift, one that had some impact on more than just his own future incarnations. When you solved that Puzzle almost six years ago, and his spirit joined with yours, it was the first step to healing that rift."

"Healing? I thought solving the Millennium Puzzle is what opened the Shadow Realm and set off everything that occurred afterwards. That doesn't sound very healing."

"Have you ever heard of someone breaking a bone and it heals improperly?" Ishizu asked him. "What do the doctors have to do in order for the bone to heal properly?"

Yugi considered it a moment and then nodded, understanding. "Re-break it."

"Exactly. That doesn't sound very healing, either, but it's the first step toward a true cure. Atem did what he had to do to save Egypt. To save the world. But in creating the rift, the world healed improperly. Solving the Millennium Puzzle was like re-breaking the bone. After that, things began to heal properly. The more you and Atem became fused together, the more you were both healed. The more the world was healed."

"Then why the Ceremonial Battle? Why send… him away?" Yugi had to force himself into Yugi's point of view instead of Atem's.

"Don't you see? That was the final healing. That is why you retained his memories and some of his personality. They were never meant to be separate from you, and when his spirit went to the afterlife where it belonged in the first place, it set everything right. It took what was once separated into parts and made you whole."

Yugi nodded, finally understanding where she was going. "And now that he's no longer in the afterlife where he belongs, there's another rift."

"Yes, I believe that is exactly what is happening. It's difficult to explain, but we've all felt this rift—Ryou, Odion, Rashida, and I—as we've sat vigil. Am I wrong in guessing that you have felt it as well?"

Yugi almost choked on the understatement. "You could say that, yes. I feel completely divided. Separated from myself."

"I am not surprised. But it goes beyond just you, and this, I believe, is why Ramesses has done what he's done. In re-creating the rift, he has made it easier to access the Dark Games again. He's broken the same bone again and he's hoping this time we won't be able to heal it." She sighed. "Yugi, I'm afraid I owe you an apology. You were right to make getting his soul back a priority. I don't know if it's possible, and I still think there are many risks if we have to bring him back here instead of the afterlife, but in light of this rift we've all been experiencing, if it can be done, it must be, not just for Atem's sake, but for—"

"Don't say 'for the sake of the world.'" Yugi felt his heart squeeze in his chest. "I'm tired of saving the world. I…." He trailed off, surprised Ishizu didn't comment, but she seemed to be waiting for him to finished. He took a deep breath. "Okay, I don't really mean that, not exactly. But sometimes, it's just personal, Ishizu. Like Duelist Kingdom was personal. Sometimes I just need to save him because of what he means to me, not to save the world."

"Yet you chose to fight the Ceremonial Battle. You chose fight and to win, to let him go because it was the right thing to do, even though it was painful to you."

"That's different." He was uncomfortable talking about the Ceremonial Battle because he couldn't remember it through his own eyes—either sets of them. "The Ceremonial Battle wasn't a choice between the good of the many over our good. It was the right thing to do for us, too, no matter how painful. What you just said about the rift finally healing is proof of that."

"Surely you aren't saying you would choose to save him if it meant dooming the world?"

He closed his eyes and swallowed over the lump in his throat. "No. I… I could not choose to doom the world." Yugi would never choose such a thing. "But that's not the conflict here, Ishizu. I stand by what I said in Luxor, that the darkness will continue to exist with or without the Millennium Items. If bringing him back won't destroy the world, and even if now you're telling me it might help save it, either way it doesn't change why I need to do this. I'm going to bring him back for him. Because of what he means to me. If it just so happens that the world will benefit, so much the better, but I'm not saving him to save the world, Ishizu. I'm saving him to save him."

"I understand," she said quietly. "But I wanted you to know that I was wrong, that I am glad you persisted. The vigils that we sit each night, they are benefiting more than just Atem and Seto. They are helping hold together the rift. They're helping keep the darkness at bay, at least a little."

"Not enough."

"Excuse me?"

"That's actually why I called. I need to get a hold of Marik. Something is going on with Mai, something that is a holdover from what Marik… from what happened to her in her duel with him. I need his help to try and figure it out, and I don't have his mobile number. It works in Greece, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does." She gave him the number. "But Yugi, there is more I have to tell you. Something happened last night that I can't quite explain. Rashida and I were sitting vigil last night in Atem's tomb while Ryou and Odion were in Seto's. Sometime near the end of the vigil, not long before dawn, we felt something. Rashida and I both felt it, and later Ryou and Odion said they felt it, too. Perhaps even more than Rashida and I."

"Felt what?"

"I don't know. Another healing. That's the only way I can explain it. As if one of the rifts had somehow closed itself."

Yugi frowned. "I don't understand. I certainly don't feel like the rift has closed."

"I don't mean your rift. I'm talking about one of the other rifts. One of the other souls that was divided has somehow found itself and begun the process of healing."

Yugi frowned. "Wait. Are you saying… like whoever Mahad was reborn as somehow connected with the Dark Magician?"

"It's possible, but that's only one of many possibilities." Another hint of emotion broke through just beneath the surface of her nearly impenetrable composure. "But whoever it was, it has had an effect. The darkness is a little more at bay today than it was yesterday."

Yugi grimaced. "Doesn't seem like it here on this end."

"You speak of Mai's situation."

"Yes. And all of us. None of us have been quite right since the graves were desecrated. I certainly haven't been right."

"Well yes, your own rift would be rather overwhelming to you, I imagine, but are you no better today than yesterday?"

Yugi raised his eyebrows. "I am better, actually. I slept for almost sixteen hours yesterday. It's the first sleep I've gotten since Luxor."

"Hm." Ishizu paused a moment. "This is something we need to pursue, Yugi. Someone somewhere unknown to us has just made things that much better for us, which means they've made it that much worse for Ramesses. I fear that they may be in danger."

"Would he be able to find them? Would we?"

"I don't know, but this needs to be another avenue of research."

"We're starting to spread ourselves awfully thin, Ishizu."

"I'm worried about that as well. I'd like to ask for Professor Hawkins' help with this, Yugi. I'd like him to come back to Egypt after he returns from Boston."

"I don't know, Ishizu. He reads hieroglyphics, and with Sara leaving around the time he and Rebecca return…."

"I understand, but Rebecca reads hieroglyphics as well, as does Kaiba. Have you considered asking him for assistance?"

"Yes, he and Sara were working together yesterday." Yugi sighed, capitulating. "You're right. I can't keep everyone hunting for a ritual to bring the other me back. Call the professor on his cell. I'm sure he'd be willing to help you, although there might be some scheduling difficulties if this takes more than a week or so. He's supposed to be at Berkeley for the start of the new term."

"I'm sure he'll agree this is rather urgent." She sighed. "I hope you find a ritual to bring him back. Not just for the world, Yugi, but for both of you."

"Thank you, Ishizu."

Next on his agenda was calling Marik. He dialed the phone number Ishizu gave him, getting Marik's voice mail. After leaving a message, Yugi hung up and leaned back in his chair to think about what Ishizu had told him.

Who could this other rift-healing person be? Could it really be Mahad? He bit his lip, trying not to get his hopes up. Mahad was far from the only person who had given up his soul to give life to one of the many monsters that their ancient counterparts had used to fight the enemies of Egypt. He was no more likely a suspect than any of the others, including hundreds of criminals who had had their Kas sealed as a means of punishment. But still, Mahad was more powerful than most. Surely it would take someone with as much power as Mahad for Ishizu and Bakura to actually feel it? And Bakura did have a connection with Mahad in that his own darker counterpart had been the one responsible for his destruction. Maybe—

The phone rang, jarring him out of his thoughts, and he answered it, surprised to find that it was Marik returning his call so soon. He briefly explained the situation to him. "I hate to ask, Marik. I know you weren't really in control of yourself when your darker half dueled Mai, but you must know something about what was done to her. You understand the power of the Millennium Rod better than anyone alive. What exactly happened to her, and why does it seem to be something other people can so easily use against her?"

Marik was quiet for a moment. "I hardly think emotional scars need to be magical in nature for someone with the right knowledge to use them against us."

"No, but to cause these dreams to reoccur in such a precise fashion? That doesn't seem like your run-of-the-mill sociopath messing with your head."

"Possibly. And you say these nightmares have gotten worse each night?"

"Yes, and they've shifted. It started out being like her imprisonment in the Shadow Realm, but now she's dreaming about her Orichalcos duel. And when she's awake, she's having the same… well, let's call them 'symptoms' as your Shadow Game gave her. She seemed completely unaware of Joey's and Téa's existence. That's when Serenity noticed there was a somewhat tenuous connection to the Shadow Realm, but when Mai snapped out of it and could see Joey again, it was gone."

"Odd." Marik sounded contemplative. "It would seem to me that if someone knew how to attack her through her dreams, they'd get right down to it and lock her into the Shadow Realm, don't you think? It's almost as if something is blocking them."

Yugi considered this. "Ishizu mentioned a couple of things." He then went on to share the conversation he'd had with her about the rift created by the tomb desecrations and how the vigils were helping, and then what she'd told him about someone maybe healing another rift.

There was another pause before Marik spoke. "This is ridiculous, me hiding out here in Greece like a frightened child while I'm needed elsewhere. I'm going to come to San Francisco, Yugi. I wanna see for myself what's going on and what I can do to help."

"Come… here?" Yugi suddenly felt flustered. "I hardly think you need to come all the way out here, Marik. Just tell me what you know over the phone—"

"No, that isn't good enough. Give me a couple of days to take care of a few things and I can be in the U.S. by… Friday. The seventh."

"But that's three days! Mai needs help now, before she goes to sleep tonight."

"I can't help her from Greece, and it takes almost twenty-four hours just to get there from here. I'll call you when I have a flight."

"Marik, no offense, but if Mai's already having a hard time with these nightmares. I don't think being around the person who caused them in the first place is a good idea, do you?"

Marik was insistent. "It's the only way I can help. I'm glad you called, Yugi. I'm sure once I get to San Francisco, I can figure out how to fix everything. I'll call you in a little while with my flight information. Good-bye."

"Marik, I—" But he'd hung up.

Yugi sighed, putting the phone on the receiver and hunching his shoulders, uncomfortable. Marik coming here was not what he'd had in mind and was very likely the last thing Mai needed. He certainly couldn't stay here in the same penthouse with her. A hotel, maybe, or Duke's.

Rubbing his eyes, Yugi got up from his desk and headed out of the office back into the common room. It was empty, although he heard voices coming from upstairs in the library, which meant the others were probably working through the various texts or translations. He needed to get started on that, too. But there had to be something more he could do for Mai. Waiting for three days for Marik to show up didn't exactly sound like a good plan.

He looked up at the wall at the print depicting the Harpie Lady, Mai's signature Duel Monster. It was a good fit for her. Tall, beautiful, and seductive, but with razor-sharp talons, too dangerous to get close to. Mai wore her own talons, slicing anyone who got too near with her tongue instead of claws. They'd all managed to get past those defenses at Duelist Kingdom and had parted company as friends, but Battle City had taken a huge toll and the talons had been sharper than ever when they saw her again in California. Of course, by then she was already under Dartz's influence. But why? Why Mai? She was scarred, true enough, but weren't they all in some way or another? And yet it always seemed to be Mai who was dragged back into her nightmares, no matter how many times she'd battled those demons and prevailed.

Well, it wasn't just Mai, he had to admit. He kept battling the same demons, too, didn't he? Three years after the Ceremonial Battle and he was still fighting to know who he was without his other self. And now that he felt like the wrong self….

He sighed, the Dark Magician print catching his eye, bringing his thoughts back to Mahad. Could it be Mahad whom Ishizu had sensed? Had he somehow found his way to the Dark Magician? And if so, how? Through one of Kaiba's holograms? Would that be enough? Without thinking, he reached for the Dark Magician pendant around his neck.

Maybe it was enough. If he could feel this connected to Dark Magician, surely someone with an even deeper bond to Mahad could, too. He looked now at all the prints, eight monsters representing eight friends. He could almost see his friends in their faces… Joey astride Red-Eyes. Serenity with Mystical Elf's blue skin. Tristan in Command Knight's armor, lending his strength to others.

His brow furrowed as a thought occurred to him. Mai had been reaching for her Duel Disk when Joey woke her up. Yugi had not attached much importance to it because of the dream, but now it seemed significant. Yugi's eyes widened. She wasn't just dreaming, or even the passive victim of an attack through the nightmares. She was getting ready to duel. And if that were the case, there was a good chance that the nightmares were a conduit, a means of calling her into a new kind of Dark Game!

Turning, he went back towards the workspaces, bypassing his own office and the practice room for the card vault at the end of the hall. One of the advantages of working for Industrial Illusions was access to a wide variety of cards. It was time to put that access to use for something other than making an impression at tournaments.