Bastet sighed. Once again, Sekhmet was just too gungho. She had to use her magic to restore another hand for Yugi. Stealing a finger from temptation was Sekhmet, someone offering her their finger? Oh, that never turned out well. "That wasn't nice. We owe them now, Sekhmet."
"Call it payment to the gods. Still worth it." Sekhmet was happier now. Bastet watched her sucking on her God's Brew while gnawing on Yugi's former hand.
Bastet looked back at Yugi. The tear of Ra was glaring at her while Yugi seemed paralyzed. "I have restored your whole hand with fingers back." She tried once again to reach the human. "There is no more pain, and you are safe. If you understand this, wave your new hand again."
Yugi looked at his hands and waved both of them.
"Never make a deal with Sekhmet," Bastet said. "She will always take more than offered. Because of her vile behavior." She looked at Sekhmet still gnawing on the hand. "Some grace, Soul Sister. Will you stop chewing on it in front of the owner?"
Sekhmet grabbed the hand and turned around. She continued to gnaw while she was turned. Well, at least it was less rude. "Close enough to a sacrifice for a winning, might work," she muttered as she took one of the fingers, before her sister snapped at her. She pocketed the finger. "I am not wasting much time explaining everything, but you may ask a little while about yourselves."
Yugi couldn't think much. /Yugi: I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have./
/Atem: It's over. You are safe now, Yugi. I'm sorry but we must ask things quickly. Kaiba is involved./
"Yes," Bastet answered, "but these questions to be answered are only for you and I'm not sharing everything. Don't waste time."
"Is there any way that we can get our bodies back? You have to tell us, and you have to be truthful."
"Yes," she admitted. "I can, but it will end your reality as well as all others."
What? "How?"
"In another version of your world, Yugi and Atem are fighting with Kaiba and Bakura as allies to save human existence against a man that was an older Pharaoh who has the respect of the gods. Yugi and Atem are both players. They both must play in a God's Game, or they forfeit. They need that body from somewhere. A price must be paid for it, and since you not only made a sacrifice, but a sacrifice because of friendship? You were chosen for payment."
"So, do you mean, the whole sacrifice Atem made, brought us the end to one body?"
"Yes, but you willed yourself to the gods of Egypt. This is of the lighter side of servitude chosen. So far."
"But Masika and Téa aren't playing in that same game, are they?"
"Players in the game? Hm. That's a spoiler. Let's go with no."
"Then what is the sacrifice of them for?!" Yugi was starting to lose it. "Why are we switching bodies, why isn't just me and Atem involved, why involve her?!"
Bastet sighed. "She has always been involved in things like this. Téa and Masika have a more suitable name together, they are called the First Tear of Ra. While humanity was born from the tears of Ra, they were the first. When the others saw them for the first time? Well, they doted on them. Humanity looked so quaint and cute. She kept getting reincarnated because she's the sweetest pet to everyone. A piece of nostalgia."
"Cute?" Téa asked. "Reincarnated over and over?"
"Yes. You are like our favorite little pet to watch. Most gods don't even look at humanity anymore, but you? Oh, you are like everyone's favorite stuffed teddy bear."
"What's that have to do with gods?" Yugi asked.
"To explain the whole plan could ruin the outcome," she said. "So, I guess you could say? That we need a new power to make others take . . . pity on humanity. By giving Yugi and Atem a god's blessing, they could reverse time and get their own futures back. You see, mankind is wandering around in an apocalypse of nothing but vast amounts of the dead covered by sand."
Oh. "That sounds . . . horrifying."
"Yes. With some help, they will not only restore their world and modern structures, but those who were lost during the apocalypse," Bastet said. "From a beloved of Joey Wheeler, to a dear man you know as Tristan Taylor. If they win, and if they have the power? They will have them and so much more back."
/Yugi: Tristan? Someone Joey loves? People we really care about./
/Atem: Yes, I get it, Yugi./
"The god thing power?" Yugi was confused. "How?"
"You do know the concept of fusion, don't you? It's within the card rules that you've seen before," Bastet said.
/Atem: The cold! The cold, the cold, you had Téa's exact cold!/
"What's important about that right now?" Yugi looked toward Téa.
/Atem: It was not a cold, Yugi, it was her cold. They were exchanging things with that cat! That cat was not Ebonnee, it was Bastet at the time./
Huh? "The cat was Bastet?" Yugi looked toward her.
/Atem: It was purring against everyone, demanding to be held, nuzzling up not just to it's owner. Yugi!/
"Please don't yell, I get it!" Yugi covered his ears. Oh no. "Is it . . . so you aren't fusing them back together, are you? Into the original rubik's cube? Téa would be lost!"
"Oh no, we do not plan on ever joining them together," Bastet confessed. "There will be something akin to cards. Light and dark."
"Light and dark?"
"Yes. That's good for now."
"No, wait!" Shoot! "That wasn't a lot of information. What about Bakura, why is he back too?"
"Bakura is safe, Zorc is gone, and the curse is gone," Bastet answered. "The gods gave him another chance, and he will have a body choice too."
"Why?"
"The First Tear of Ra will choose either Atem and Yugi, or Bakura and Dark Bakura. For one day each week, everyone will have their own body. It is a time to get to know the counterpart you don't know. There cannot be a split. Afterwards, everyone will be as they are now. Switching and changing within one body always, until the end of each life. Time is up."
"Unless they don't get picked? I don't understand, what is Téa and her spirit choosing?" Yugi begged.
"Who matches them most." Bastet sighed, clearly getting tired of it all, even though she wasn't giving any real good answers. "Assume that the one the First Tear of Ra chooses, will stay with them in their lives, and the other will not. Now, be thankful Sekhmet got greedy, you gained some information and your hand back."
Yugi saw a card fly toward him along with a gold pen. On it, was his name and . . . "What is this?" He read it. "Again?!"
"No, I took your last finger from Sekhmet's eagerness. This wasn't planned, but it'll help," Bastet demanded. "Sign the card and give it to me."
"What is this for?" Why did he have to sign a card to give a finger? "I didn't give it in the first place."
"Your friend Joey in the other universe has lost someone special. He is desperate and miserable, and only has two winnings. He will lose her, without something else. We reasoned that we would put him in debt until the power is balanced. This sacrifice would balance it. I thought humans that were friends felt compassion?"
Joey? /Yugi: This is for Joey. She won't tell us much, so I guess this must be important. And, I do have a new hand?/
/Atem: Everything is new to me as well./
"So the other us' in another dimension, just get the energy, of our bodies?" Yugi said roughly. "In our world, is the winner the one who gets to keep their own bodies?"
Bastet frowned. "Time is up. I will not spoil anything else, fate and nature should decide the rest." She took the card. "Expect more of these in the future."
"And of course, Bakura and Ryo Bakura have the same Rubik's cube thing going on," Yugi said passive aggressively. Unfortunately, it wasn't passive enough for Bastet to miss.
"Mortal!" She picked up on the tone. She took a moment to relax again. "Heed. The parasitic feeling crawling on you when you connect with a body that is not yours? It will slowly start to dissipate the more you exchange. Whether you lose a body or not, you will feel fine for the eternity you will share if you choose to switch."
" . . ." Yugi blinked. "Eternity?"
"Yes, Eternity. Your old soul paired with other parts, creating each of you, but once we fix the problem? You will be able to share eternity. Forever apart yet forever together with our blessing." Bastet looked toward Téa and Masika. "We shall see with you two, you keep getting reincarnated, the gods love watching you play on Earth. Maybe they will finally let you rest."
Then without a goodbye, she was gone.
Yugi looked toward Téa. She had been a little . . . not herself. It was understandable. He wasn't quite himself either. "T-Téa?"
"You or Bakura? For what?" She looked toward Yugi. "I don't mean it rudely, but, that didn't make any sense. What am I choosing, for good or bad? For staying with? For who gets an extra body, or gets dragged into more games with the gods?"
"To help save the world somehow? Maybe?" Yugi didn't know what else to say.
"So then whoever I don't choose, doesn't get a body? Is that it? Because I can't tell," she said sharply. "I can't! I feel like that's not it. Light and dark? Cards? It's like a game of words!"
/Atem: God's love games, Yugi. Most likely, Bastet is using riddles. Light and dark. Like the cards? This choice could be important./
Yugi tried to touch her arm but she backed away.
"Sorry, just, we don't want to be touched right now!" Téa left in a hurry up the stairs.
Yugi just stood there. " . . . what do we do?"
/Atem: Call Bastet's name. Take the body deal now./
Atem didn't feel right either. That confidence, it didn't feel the same to Yugi. His voice inside of him. Unsure. "But Téa doesn't get what's going on, or what game they are playing. If we take it, then-
/Atem: It sounds like it is used for all people to get to know each other. One hour each day. If things are as the great and mighty goddess Bastet states? Then. We really need this. And? If Bastet is sure it will take the terrible feeling away when I become you, then we should take it./
/Yugi: Should we really rush this?/
/Atem: We won't get them back easily if the power is being used for such a good cause. They should get back Tristan./
/Yugi: Yeah. It's another world, but he's such a good friend. They all are such good friends. Losing Tristan or Joey or anyone! In any world./ "Okay, you can have it." Yugi just stared at the front door. "I once believed that you'd be with me forever. I even really wished it once. I'm sure . . ."
/There are worse things, and you are the only one I would want to be paired with for eternity./
/Yugi: Which I now am. Forever apart./
/Atem: Forever together. Sorry, Yugi. But? This wouldn't be an offer without reason./
/Yugi: It's okay, Atem. I'll choose it./ "Bastet? We want to talk about the body deal now." He probably should have spoke louder, but Bastet in her cat disguise showed up next to him. "Atem wants it. He usually doesn't ask for a lot, so I guess, if it makes him feel better, we'll do it."
Bastet nodded. "Calendar will be of your world. Seven days. One day each week, everyone will have their own. Soon after, only one will be used each day. Do you understand this?"
"So it isn't really switching every six hours?" It was 23 out of 24 hours as himself or in Atem's body most times? "That might make things easier or harder."
"It will only change if you take this deal. The First Tear of Ra must take the deal, but it would be beneficial if everyone took it," Bastet insisted.
"Okay." Atem wanted it. Atem even saved Téa. "Please make it happen then."
Téa yelled upstairs. "Don't be alarmed," Bastet said to him. "She saw an extra bed appear before her with Masika's body in it resting. In your room, is now the same thing. Make sure every six hours you are in the bed for the best transitions between. The scratchy feeling you each will feel in each other's bodies will eventually go away. I will have to offer this option to Bakura now."
"How are we supposed to live like this?" Yugi couldn't help himself. "I'd just . . . I'd rather be the one fighting."
"Sometimes, people just need to pay when others can't, to help save the world," Bastet actually answered him with a degree of sympathy. "While payment feels like punishment, it might not always feel that way. Be at peace with your new lives. Be thankful you have some choice. In the other world, other things were lost that cannot be restored even with more power. People you knew. People you loved. The other Yugi would almost do anything to switch places with you right now. Treasure your grandfather, human. The battle they wage involves so much more than cards."
Then, she was gone. Yugi just stood there. Atem didn't say anything. He just stood there, not moving, not really noticing anything or watching any amount of time.
Thinking. Their bodies would be needed for power. Would Téa and Masika choosing them give them their bodies and Bakura's would be used for the payment? Would it throw them into more mischief for the rest of their lives? What did it have to do with light and dark? With card fusion?
Time just sort of moved by. Grandpa moved by them over to the fridge to get some food. He went by him again and almost up the stairs, before he called out to him. "Huh?"
"I've been asking my grandson if he's okay?" Grandpa said to him.
"Oh." Yugi didn't know what to say. /Yugi: Treasure my grandfather. Did he die in the other world? Was he killed? The power can't restore him, so was he dead before it all happened?/ "Um. Téa and Masika are going to have something to do with light and dark. So. Whoever they pick will be involved. We don't know for bad or good. It looks like being stuck with each other might be our eternity."
"What?"
"Yeah. Goddesses. Fusion. Stuff. Atem kind of stopped talking." He must have been trying to think too.
Grandpa moved right over toward him. "What and how?"
"Gods. Another universe needed help. Since we offered ourselves, we are the help. Something to do with Kaiba too. Bastet was just so vague."
Yugi watched as Grandpa had him follow him and sit down on a chair. He didn't ask for a lot of details, he was more interested in hugging his grandson.
"I think . . . I think I really need to talk to Téa."
"I think you need to take some time for yourself before approaching either of them," Grandpa recommended. "You don't know whether a choice is good or bad? Whether it could restore your body or make you an even bigger servant?"
/Atem: Yes, Yugi. Neither of us should approach Téa or Masika right now. They should bond with each other, to sort out their own feelings. So should we. This has to be some kind of puzzle. A game. Gods and goddesses love to play games, there is an answer somewhere. Perhaps we can find out more from Kaiba./
/Yugi: I always wanted a life with Téa. I always dreamed of her coming back to me and settling down with me. If she chooses me, does that mean we are always bonded no matter what?/ Yugi looked toward his Grandpa. /Yugi: I don't know if the other me got that, but I think I have something he would have wanted./
/Atem: Yes, Yugi. The way Bastet phrased it, I'm sure something happened to Grandpa./
/Yugi: Yeah, I know. But? Téa might choose Bakura instead because of Masika. And you, how about you?/
/Atem: Me?/
/Yugi: It's hard enough accepting that we can't break apart. If this bonds us together with them for the rest of their life. How are we going to handle that?/
Ah. Atem didn't speak back right away. /Atem: I don't know."/
/Yugi: I don't want the girl of my dreams to go to another person. I don't know if getting chosen is good or bad. It sounds more like it's good. But what if this shoves everyone together in one body?/
/Atem: Yes, Yugi. I have thought of that too. Fusion cards of light and dark, with a promise not to combine the First Tear of Ra. Joining everyone's spirit in one body but remain separate, it would fit the riddle./
/Yugi: I want to be with Téa. I don't really want to share a body with her, I want to use her body. I mean, not like that! Well? Oh./
/Atem: Yes, I get it Yugi. It could be very bad. In context of the puzzle hints, getting chosen feels like it's the bad decision./
/Yugi: Then again, if it really does just keep Téa in my life for all time. But not the same body. But it didn't say that. Do we get our own if we are chosen? I wish I knew! What do you think, Atem?/
/Atem: My answer would not change any facts./
/Yugi: Atem? I need to know what you really think./
/Atem: Sure, yes, why not? Stuck in one body, watching over a Game Shop with two incessant other people in our rooms. It would be madness if that's the choice, Yugi!/
/Yugi: Ouch./
/Atem: You wanted real words, I gave you real words. Here are some more. If it were just me, I would hand them straight to the Bakuras. Masika likes the one I find repulsive, and Téa could learn to handle our friend Bakura, he is gentle and sweet./
/Yugi: Just hand them over?!/
/Atem: To avoid the risk of getting stuck with two others! I do not mind you, Yugi, you are a comfort. I have always paired well with you, and now it makes sense why. Their spirits are not ours though. They will be an absolute itch! If it were just me. It is not just me./
/Yugi: I don't know if it's fusion into one body. I just want Téa to stay in my life. Both of us can't walk away happy with this one./
/Atem: Agreed, Yugi. Ultimately, it is the First Tears of Ra who will decide./