Cursed Millennium Necklace (Part 2)

DIMENSION: ANIME (The One that Pays to Save the Day)

New York City

Téa

Téa ran down the streets, trying to find her way home. When she awoke, she wasn't inside of her body, it had been possessed by someone else. She had screamed in terror and fright, not understanding what was happening. All she had known was that someone grabbed her from behind before she went into her home.

And now, she was running as fast as she could from an explosion that had taken place near her that had been caused by a duel monster and someone trying to take over her body!

///A voice: Téa, think about where you are running. You don't know where you are.///

///Téa: You think I don't know that?/// Téa cursed. ///Téa: I'm in the middle of nowhere, I don't belong out here. Who are you and what are you doing? I have a real problem with people trying to take over my body, I don't like it!///

/// A voice: I know, which is why I have tried to never interact. I was sent here, within you, years ago. I have never caused you harm.///

///Téa: No brainwashing? How can I believe you?///

///A voice: You went through releasing the Pharaoh. You went through your graduation. You have lived as a dancer in New York. I have not influenced you in any way since that day you were nabbed in the alley.///

///Téa: So it was real. I didn't dream it?///

///A voice: No. I didn't want them to hurt you. You've shown nothing but compassion for others. What little thoughts were crossing over, I completely stopped. Most days, I don't even look out.///

"Look out of where?" Téa asked.

///A voice: Your soul.///

Téa inched around the corner, checking her directions. "You know me so well and I know nothing about you. For years, you kept silent, and now you pop up to ruin my life?"

///A voice: I saved you, Téa, but it came at a great cost.///

///Téa: Fine, but who are you and what are you doing inside of me?///

///A voice: You met me once. Well, we never officially spoke. It was brief, but you must have felt a close connection to my situation. You were there when I ran toward my cat, Ebonee, trapped in a card. Next thing I knew, my soul was within you. Destiny must have meant us to be together, but I did not want to frighten you.///

Card. "You're the card that petted the kitty. The Masika card."

///Masika: I should not be surprised that on one random day, you remembered a name of a spirit that you never even spoke to. You connected for some reason.///

///Téa: Well I didn't mean to, so go away./// Téa moved around another corner. Her surroundings still weren't familiar. Her phone was gone. ///Téa: What to do? Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. Think that. This is tough.///

///Masika: Left, Téa. Do not interact with any cars coming down the street.///

A dark alley wasn't any better. "I don't know where I am, no one's around, and I need a phone."

///Masika: Téa, your heart is racing, you need to calm down to think logically.///

///Téa: You can calm down, your dead already! Oh!/// Téa hit her head. She felt terrible. ///Téa: I didn't mean it, I'm sorry.///

///Masika: Yes, you did. You have every right to be angry. I stayed within you without a word when you hardly knew me. So, come in and meet me. I will watch for you.///

What? Come in where?

Téa Soul Room

"This is . . . where am I?" Téa looked around herself. Nowhere near her dank and dark surroundings. "I've been taken to some kind of room." It looked strangely familiar. She picked up her old dancing shoes that were on the floor. What were they doing there? Seeing a door beside herself, she opened it and looked outward. A hall with another door. "This place is crazy. Where am I?" She opened the second door.

And yelled in surprise as she saw herself. "Another me?"

Quiet. Reserved. She had sat in the middle of the floor. It was her, yet not. The clothes were of a blue dress with red bows attached. ///Téa: Oh no, that's Masika's dress. Impossible. I'm in my own head?///

///Masika: I have seen many impossible things.///

///Téa: She can still hear me in here too./// "It doesn't matter if I speak out loud." Téa looked around. "Where am I and why are you really here?" ///Téa: Did she really used to look like me?///

"I am Masika. Normally, not a name I would refer to myself as." The woman stood up and moved around. "It is the last thing I should have called myself. Only destiny knows why I chose to reveal my true name to Mokuba. However, it is fitting you should know my real name, Téa Gardner."

///Téa: She knows my name./// "You're Masika," Téa said to her. ///Téa: She looks like me now instead of Cecelia Pegasus. Like Atem appeared as Yugi. Does this mean?/// "How? I don't have any millennium item like Yugi did, you can't be here."

"Destiny always gets its way, no matter how much you rebel. You don't have to wear a millennium item if the gods want you to connect with it."

"Oh just say it so casually," Téa shouted. She covered her ears. "No, I shouldn't yell. You did nothing wrong, and you even saved me."

"Don't be frightened," Masika said gently. "I can see outside of here. You are safe, but after all this time, you deserved to meet with me face to face."

Yeah. That was good of her, Téa really wanted to see who was controlling her, but Téa began to feel awful. "I don't feel so good."

"I do not either," Masika said.

///Téa: I never told her to creep into my soul, I never said it was open for business. She has been here for years without a word to me.///

"We cannot hide our words from each other in here. Verbal or thought, in or out. Not anymore. It is a tied connection or none, and now that you know of me, none will be too scary for you anymore."

///Téa: I see that./// "I'm sorry." ///Téa: I'm not. You shouldn't be here./// Téa covered her face. "I know you can hear those thoughts, so I am sorry, I just don't know what to do now."

"You feel like you've had your soul invaded by someone you don't know. It's not a welcoming sensation. You feel blame and fault for it, even though you wanted to help that day you saw me. It's not hard to understand. I was human once too. Invasion is never a good feeling. I tried to prevent that feeling."

She talks like Atem. "Yeah." Might as well try to speak out loud. "Sorry. I once had someone try to take my body from me and leave my mind in a digitized state. Sort of like leaving it in the shadow realm you could say. He almost won, if it hadn't been for The Dark Magician Girl. So. Some of that is bubbling up." She wasn't a terrible person. "It's not an easy thing to get over." ///Téa: Oh, why am I babbling?///

"I didn't know the reason I was here, Téa."

Hm. "So? Are you supposed to help save the world or something?"

That comment just made her smirk. "Of course not. I don't have that kind of power."

"Hmm." Téa thought back to the dream time, the first time she was taken in the alley. "I had been braiding my hair all of a sudden. Did you cause that back then?"

"No," Masika said. "When we become one, we shared feelings across each other without intent. I used to wear mine in a similar fashion. I buckled those feelings out even tighter after the attack."

"But I thought Egyptians had short hair?" Téa asked. "Wait. Later on they had long hair." ///Téa: My studies are rusty./// With Yugi deeply involved in Egyptian culture back then, she had been a little interested in it when she was younger. "Sort of. I thought it was a class thing."

"You are an interesting one, Téa," Masika admitted. "Yes. I was given as a wife to a rich man."

///Téa: Maybe that's why she sounds like the pharaoh. When?///

///Masika: As soon as I was pretty enough.///

///Téa: Don't tell me she was that young. How young? How old was he? Oh, quit prying mind.///

Masika was quiet. "He was considered elderly when I married him at thirteen."

///Téa: Oh, gross! Ew! Sorry! That's kind of old./// "Right. Sorry." ///Téa: I hope he was good to her.///

///Masika: He was better than all of the others.///

///Téa: Others?! More? Oh so double gross! But did you love him? Any of them? Gross.///

"Your world now and my world back then were different. It's hard to compare and share how it worked. That's all I can say."

"But hang on, Divinity," Téa asked. "My cat?" Masika had loved her cat that appeared on the board all those years ago so much, everyone assumed she went in peace because of it. "Did you make me want my black cat Divinity?"

"I did not bother with putting anything into jeopardy when the King of Egypt was here. After you came to New York and felt more alone, our connection grew stronger. Plus, Divinity has always taken good care of you."

"I took good care of her." Téa corrected her. "She is sweet. I knew there was a reason I kept wanting a black cat. Even when things got hard and I had her for a little while, I kept sharing my food until I could get cat food."

"Egyptian cats helped to make our lives safe, keeping away pestilence. For not living in my time, your home has suffered in similar ways."

///Téa: Oh come on, it was a mouse just one time.///

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