Premonition (Part 3)

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

"The humane, living part of me that won't stop crying being in this dreadful place again, that is breaking down shamefully, that has such doubts she will escape. It feels all of the pain and regret festering inside, and it knows that while you hold the upper hand and can clamp down at anytime on me? That you will endlessly weep into eternity, because you at any moment could commit a sin that cannot be undone. That side wants to do nothing more than to tell everyone and cry out the truth! But the spirit side of me, the knowing side of me that feels such a deep connection to Téa, to protect her, to follow her will, it cries out for me to put up with any hell you throw at us to protect her secret!"

He didn't answer right away. "What do you know of the other side of you?"

///Masika: I don't want to be owned again!/// Masika tried to control herself. "Too much emotion!"

"Yes. It's tough sometimes."

///Masika: Husband after husband after husband. I wasn't even alive anymore, and I'll be owned by two husbands right before I die! /// "I hate living and I love living."

"Yes. I do too."

Okay. She had to get herself under control. "The other versions of us are not only doomed to die, but doomed to die in a way that the goddesses themselves want to prevent. They said that the Pharaoh's will be pained, in the way that they go. When I saw Bastet's face, her concern, it is not mere torture. The very fact they want the millennium items recasted to save them tells me that they must be tricked into a terrible-"

"Afterlife." Atem finished for her. "There is only one reason to want the millennium items remade. Zorc must somehow . . ." he paused. He took his finger and stroked down his chin slowly, turning his finger into a wave. "If we don't recast the millennium items, then we lose you and Téa as punishment for not saving the other you's."

He didn't cry like her, but he seemed to be going through his own emotions. "It's the basics," she uttered. "Take what you know, and triple the pain and secrets, and you will arrive at the truth I want to scream."

"Just with what I know? This isn't easy," Atem admitted. "You and Téa are to be sacrificed, because we don't make the millennium items. It is emotional. It will tear Yugi apart forever. If I had to do it, he would never speak to me again. But, as emotional and tragic as it is?"

She watched him. Even that much wasn't going to be enough. He wiped out her card easily. She put up another card, in defense mode.

"Two simple lives do not equal the massive damage that will be caused, plus the millennium item power. That means, that light inside of you and Téa is more than equal to the millennium power. It can't just be you and Téa. That can't just be energy."

Doomed. "I tried to be loyal to Téa." ///Masika: Owned. Again. ///

"Téa is scared and irrational. Even you believe she should say something instead of running away. What does she need?"

"Something that I don't think anyone can give us," she said. "I already told you everything I can without telling you. That you killed me and mine for a higher power."

"That was a delusion brought on by the goddesses."

"No, it was a premonition. Of things to come. That was not me, that was the real Masika, Téa and I together. Holding such a precious thing, being sacrificed for a higher purpose."

"The light inside is something precious. It is the real sacrifice?"

Masika couldn't answer.

"Masika. I will say this plainly, and I want an answer. I swear to Ra, that no matter what, your afterlife will be better. If I sacrifice you, would it save Téa?"

"And so it comes to pass," she uttered.

"If you go, will she be okay?" he repeated.

"You will mourn over a thousand years-"

"Then I will morn over a thousand years, I have done everything I could before to protect my friends!" Yet, she could still see some humanity hiding inside of him. "You are a friend too, but you have already had your chance at life. Do this for Téa."

"I would, if it were just me. You may be right. No, you are right," she said softly. "Sacrifice me and this energy, and it's all over. No more worries. Except, that you only still see another spirit in front of you. I was carrying Heba that day."

"That was a delusion, I did not kill you."

"You are not listening. I was in control of your Dark Magician, your most trusted card! It is not a card I wield, but it is your most trusted possession!"

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Border between this world and the next . . .