The Cursed Millennium Puzzle (Part 4)

"It is good to see you again, Téa." He was being polite, but he wanted to know about Masika right away too. "If a spirit that is hiding inside of you has answers, I want them. Now."

Oh. Great, of course he jumped to that. "Atem."

"Yes. Hello," he said awkwardly as he moved toward the staircase with Yugi. "I have no memories of what happened after Yugi beat me. We believe that no one is allowed to remember the afterlife, if they find a way back here."

///Téa: Masika, you didn't! You brought Atem back? Boy, you are lucky you are not with me right now!///

"What did she do, Téa?" Atem demanded. "I must know. Yugi and you are obviously being punished, and I need to know why."

"She was my spirit, but now she's got her own body."

"What?" Yugi and Atem asked at the same time.

"She left with Light Bakura. I mean, Bakura," Téa said. "Bakura has a spirit back with him, but it's not Zorc. I did say that, right?" Yeah, neither Yugi or Atem looked happy at her. Yeah, better not tell them she was just back there yet. "She didn't want to stick around. She's not exactly a huge fan of Atem. She was a really good friend of the past Bakura."

"A fan or not," Atem insisted. "Bodies aren't granted without reason. I need to talk with this spirit."

Yeah. If Atem opened up at that tempo with a friend, he wasn't going to open up well with Masika. "They'll head back, and they won't have a choice but to meet you eventually," she said. "But if you want Masika to listen and tell you anything, then you need to be really nice."

Neither Yugi or Atem looked pleased with that statement.

"Téa?" Yugi sounded like he was trying to be polite. "You have a cursed necklace that grew from your collarbone, I'm wearing the puzzle from my ribs, and a spirit has been hiding in you for years without a single word to you about it, who also picked up a body."

"No one gets bodies," Atem said a little rougher than Yugi. "No one gets second chances at life like that, Téa! It is absurd for me to fathom a reason to give a Pharaoh another body, but someone who has no stake in the past personally except befriending Bakura? She has done something, I'm sure of it!"

///Téa: It was for me though! They are going to grill her over me!/// "I'm sorry your both in a bitter mood," she answered back roughly, "but it wasn't just her fault, and now I'm glad she split!" She crossed her arms. "She created the curse to save me, but now she's scared of what her Pharaoh will do to her, so she left to where she thought it was safe!" What a meeting! Two years since she'd seen Yugi, a long time since Atem, and this is how they had to act? But. ///Téa: I saw her eyes and her reaction. She knew it would be this way.///

"Okay. Sorry." Yugi still sounded bitter, but he was trying to be smoother. "So, you know?"

"She made some kind of . . ." Ugh! They were going to have to meet soon. She put her hands on her hips. "You two!" She pointed at both of them. "You are going to deal with me if you are too hard on her, and don't expect me to easily just leave somewhere to figure things out if you are!"

Just like that, Yugi and Atem had the same reaction. Both were wide eyed and practically pushed themselves to the wall.

"Um? Uh? Yes? It was all just frustration. We will hear her out. We won't pass blame. Right, Atem?"

"Then she is here." Yeah, Atem didn't act afraid of her actions as he pulled back away from the wall. "I will not curse her or come near to her very fast. But? I must know what is going on, Téa, and how it can be fixed."

"You better keep that promise," Téa agreed.

ATEM

Atem watched as Téa opened the door. Beside it, was someone who looked like her that started to bow. "What did you do?" This was obviously the spirit that also received a body. Nice. Be nice. "Stop bowing, stand up and answer me this question. What happened to us?"

Masika stood up in front of him. "The future is impossible to predict or share accurately, but the past is set in stone. This will do better than my simple words." She touched the millennium necklace on Téa's neck.

The recent past with Masika needing monster power and begging the gods for help was shone. The sounds. The vision. Like they were all there in that terrifying moment. After the vision was over, she spoke again.

"I took half. As I was commanded to save her, The Greatest Pharaoh." She lowered her head toward him again.

Atem could hear Yugi starting to lose it. He himself did not like the trip. ///Atem: Someone wasn't after Téa, someone would have had Téa./// With her connection to his Egyptian time, Masika had been able to reach someone who wasn't a god but cared for Téa's well being. ///Atem: Obviously? That was me./// While she had been begging for help from the Egyptian gods she used to pray to in life.

Atem was no god though, and even if he did reach out to help last time, it would be with Yugi's body. ///Atem: Yugi wasn't near her, it took hours to get there. It would have been too late./// "I understand now." He had granted the permission to use the monsters again, to save Téa. Without all of the innocent sacrifices it had taken in the past.

"You never said a word about them actually capturing you!" Yugi yelled at Téa terrified. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I would never allow it." Atem would never leave Téa to face a terrible situation. "I involved the spirit Masika into this."

"What did you do for that power? Atem?"

"Many sacrifices would have recreated the power, but if one were only a spirit, I imagine the price would be different. I don't know the price, Yugi, but whatever it had been? It was one that needed two spirits to grant." Atem looked at the puzzle attached to Yugi's chest. "Cursed items on those that were vessels."

"But bodies for the spirits?" Yugi questioned.

"This. Puzzle." Atem looked toward Yugi and Téa. "I don't think only Masika and I are paying it."

"It's some kind of punishment to pay the price. I don't care, it was the right decision, and I blame no one!" Yugi declared. "You followed your heart, Pharaoh, and so did she!"

"If I didn't, Masika wouldn't have been able to use the power without many innocent sacrifices." Atem backed away slightly. "I couldn't bring back the horror of the past. I am sorry, Yugi."

"Can you be redeemed, Atem? Can we get out of this bind?"

"I have no means to remember," Atem said gently to Masika, knowing she was the only reason Téa was safe. No wonder Téa was so fiercely sided with her. "Is there more to this? If you know, speak up."

"I know nothing more except that Dark and Light Bakura is in the next room over, Greatest Pharaoh," she answered.

Light Bakura peeked out after hearing that. "Hello?"

"Bakura?" Yugi sounded very surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Um. Masika came to me after getting her body," he said.

"He's got the thief Bakura with him," Téa said, not holding any secret from them. "He isn't Zorc though, and Light Bakura says he can control him. He has for years."

Light Bakura rubbed the back of his head. "Yes? Um. I didn't want you to worry."

Yeah, Yugi wasn't impressed. "You should have said something."

"He didn't want me to. I really can control him, I've been with him for years," Light Bakura insisted. "Sorry for hiding it. Anyhow, Dark Bakura knew Masika, and Téa still has a connection to Masika."

Yugi sighed. "Does anyone know what the punishment is or for how long?"

Masika couldn't answer. She didn't know.

"Something that needs spirits to bodies, and vessels to cursed millennium items." Atem glanced toward Bakura, Masika, Téa and then Yugi. "Whatever it is, it is far from over."

As he said that, they watched a black cat move by them. Atem and Masika kept their eyes on it while the others didn't pay much mind. It was probably the owners. Jumped in through a window.