Chương 1: The End to the New Beginning
*This book is the sequel to Punishment of Redemption. If you haven't read it, I suggest you read it because right away there are some serious spoilers.
DIMENSION: Anime
---
"Come on, Hi. Sil. Off to bed," Yugi told his children. They both climbed into bed with their pajamas. Tonight he was going out with Téa for some personal time. Their anniversary was next week, but she had landed a real starring role that would be on that day, and his games were also going for crazy promotion here soon.
So, they were going to celebrate a week early. "If you need water later, Momma Masika will be here."
"Are you going with Momma?" Hi asked him.
"Yep. I'll see you in the morning." He adjusted his collar again. He got them reservations at a really nice restaurant with her.
Masika came into the room. "Téa is meeting you down there, her lessons ran late tonight."
Such was life. "No problem." He could stop and get some flowers to surprise her easier now.
"Momma Masika, I want some water," Sil asked.
Masika already had the water ready in her hands. "Of course, you do. As if I wouldn't know?"
Yes, last minute drinking was Silhouette. So would the restoom a little while later. Yugi left out the door.
He had lived in New York with Téa and Masika for the last six years or so. He still worked on his own work from Japan there, but tried to learn even more English in the process. The better he could communicate his games out in America, the better too.
Téa was still not exactly a top-notch actress yet, but he didn't care. She was happy with what she did. Masika didn't seem to have the acting bug and actually ended up tutoring Hikaru and Sil instead.
Which was a good thing because those two? They were great, if they followed a certain path in life because being little gods with weird genes, they couldn't get them identification or birth certificates. Any emergency, they had to handle it. Doctors or authorities would want proof of who they were.
Hi and Sil were technically gods, even though they acted a lot like humans. They had acted like normal babies. They had acted like normal kids. They never did anything weird like levitate stuff or speak earlier than they should have age wise. They weren't geniuses, but they did like games.
That probably didn't have much to do with them being gods, and more with him always bringing them down to Grandpa's game shop. Grandpa had been happy in New York, for a few years. Yugi lost him last year. He was now running the Game Shop on the side. Just on the weekends.
It made no profit, but he did let Hikaru and Silhouette play in there, learn some of the simpler games, and he did get customers every once in awhile. It was also a nice place to just get some one-on-one time with Téa. Whichever form that took.
He had no idea when he first agreed to be a helpful babysitter for the little gods that they'd actually become like his kids. Avatars of gods, reborn. He couldn't even tell, but when you helped them eat each day. Heard them laugh each day. Play each day. Learn to talk. Learn to walk.
Even Joey wasn't skeptical of them. He gave them the weird nickname 'concrete gods'. Hi and Sil probably wondered about it, but just accepted it as their nickname from him.
Yugi stopped for some flowers. He would have stopped with her to let her pick her flowers for their anniversary, but bringing some with him when they met at the restaurant would be a better surprise.
He picked out a simple bouquet of roses, not wanting to waste too much time. She was probably waiting. He met her at the restaurant.
She looked radiant in her dress as they went to their reserved table. "For you, Mrs. Muto."
Téa smiled, stood up and kissed him. "Thanks, Yugi." She took them and sat back down.
They enjoyed themselves with good conversation.
"Masika doesn't have to work tomorrow," Yugi said to her as he finished up. "Want to go have fun at the game shop tonight?"
She laughed. "Maybe. Are we going to play games? I mean, actual games, just not positions."
"We can. We can do that too. We can do both at the same time if you want," Yugi teased as they got up and left. They both went to the car he brought. She had just taken a ride there to make it easier for other things to do that night.
The night was going real well, but as Yugi crossed on the green light-
---
Silhouette started to climb out of her bed. "Momma Masika." She had two moms but her other Momma was out with Daddy right now. Momma Masika should be near. "Momma Masika."
She walked across the floor and opened the door. The lights were on, but the bathroom hallway was always dark. "Momma." She came out of her room and started to stretch her words. "Moooooommaaaaa."
She kept calling out and watched Hi show up next to her. "Momma Masika isn't here."
"She's here." Hi went out from the room. They shouldn't be wandering out of their room, but they didn't see their Momma Masika. "Momma?" Hi called out.
"Momma," Silhouette said again. "Where's Momma? I have to potty."
Reaching the lights was tough sometimes. Hi went toward the dark hallway, put his hand beneath where the light switch was, and jumped up. It turned the lights on so his sister could go use the bathroom.
After she was done, they started to move around the room, searching for their Momma. They were too young to ever leave alone. It didn't make any sense.
After a few minutes, Silhouette got really nervous. "Momma!"
Hi knew they couldn't be alone. They were never alone. As time went by though, no one came. They checked all the rooms. Hi turned on the whole lights.
Hi went to the landline phone. He was learning numbers, but he knew from his daddy that the asterisk called Uncle Joey. He hit the asterisk and heard the phone ring.
"Hey, Yugi, what's up?"
"Uncle Joey," Hi said. "We're alone."
"Momma is missing," Silhouette said next to the phone.
"What? What do you mean you sillies? What are you doing using the phone?"
"Daddy is out with Momma, but Momma Masika isn't here, and she's supposed to be."
"She's missing? You kids alone in the house? The hell?! Okay, no problem. I'm going to call your dad and other momma, and I'll get someone straight to you soon. Okay? When the phone rings again, it's gonna be me. I'll be right here until they get back okay?"
Hi and Sil felt better. Their Uncle Joey called back and told them he couldn't reach them, but he kept trying. He wouldn't stop until he reached someone to get there. He promised he wouldn't stop talking until someone was there with them.
He even ended up leaving with Aunt Mai from Domino City, and stayed on that phone until he got the door open with the extra key.
They both grabbed onto him, scared and crying.
No one could reach their parents anymore.
"Your Uncle Tristan is coming to search." Uncle Joey picked them up and held both of them. "Seto Kaiba is even checking the restaurant and reservations and he's got lots of money and power. He'll find out what's going on. Bakura is even coming this way to see you."
"Everyone is out there searching for them for you." Aunt Mai took Silhouette. "It'll be okay."
---
"Hey!" Yugi yelled around him. One minute he was driving his car, a gigantic semi was headed straight for them, and now he was somewhere away from Téa. "Hello!" he shouted again.
"It's okay." A woman appeared in front of him and handed him a glass of water. "Here, have some cooling water."
Yugi looked at the glass of water. "Thank you?"
"Mmhmm. Drink. It's okay, relax." She smiled. "There's nothing to worry about."
"I . . ." He stared at the water. "Where am I?"
"It's okay, you are safe. It is fine. Nothing is happening to you. All your lively pain is gone." The woman was comforting him. "You have a guest coming soon who will make you feel better."
"It's okay, Yugi." Atem reached out his hand. Atem rejected the water that was offered. "No, thank you. I am not new here. I don't need comfort, thank you."
"It is refreshing, cool water though?" She insisted. "You will be going through a trying time soon, it's best to be refreshed."
"True." Atem took a glass of water. "Thank you." He looked toward Yugi. "After a time of pause, we will be taken to Ammut for the test."
"The test?"
Atem nodded. "We've had so much happen to us. You haven't caughten up to it yet, have you? It's okay. Give it time."
"The test." A test. "An Ammut test." An Ammut test. An- "I'm dead?!"
Atem nodded again. "You have reached the end."
"But? But I'm not ready. I still have the kids to raise, a lot of years with Téa, I-?" Yugi felt horrid. "No. No!"
Atem just waited as Yugi cursed out all of eternity. He could. He knew how unfair it was to be taken away while young. He barely assumed the throne as a teen when he lost everything. However, there really was no going back.
"Téa is dead too," he realized. "She was in the car with me. It wasn't even our fault."
Téa. "Did you have a good life with her?"
"I married her. I raised the little gods as ours. All three of us ended up being like parents. We were Daddy, Momma, and Momma Masika."
Atem spoke to Yugi more, finding out about his life, and trying to settle him down some. Yugi really wanted to see Téa, and Atem wanted to see her too.
Bastet showed up in front of them, in her full form. "Are you ready for the test to become a god?"
"No, where's Téa?" Yugi kept it simple. "I want to see her."
"Téa and Masika have passed on. They will stay passed on this time," Bastet said. "No more watching the First Tear of Ra on Earth, they are finally allowed to settle into the afterlife."
"Masika is dead too?" Atem asked. "Was she in the car?"
"She wasn't in the car, she was watching the kids," Yugi said excitedly. "She'd have no reason to be dead!"
"They are together, yet forever apart. Remember the deal?" Bastet reminded them. "When Téa passed, so did Masika and their cherished cats."
"Masika is dead?! Wh-what about Sil and Hi!" Yugi shouted. "She was watching them!"
"She sensed the end coming. She grabbed the cats and left the apartment, so they wouldn't find their bodies," Bastet said.
Yugi held his head. "My kids are all alone!"
"Are you ready to see Ammut now?" Bastet asked again. "Sekhmet is eager to see if you pass, or if you'll be eaten forever by Ammut."
"My kids are alone! Your little gods are all alone!" Yugi shouted at her. "How could you do this?! What happened to my kids?!"
"Hikaru called Joey Wheeler. He is with them," Bastet answered him. "Qebhet will find a way to share the news you are dead to your loved ones in some manner."
Yugi would have exhaled in relief, if he had breath anymore. "Where's my wife and Masika?"
"If you pass the test, you will see them again. If you don't pass the test, you'll forever be eaten by Ammut," Bastet reminded him.
"There's no way for us to ever go back?" Yugi asked weakly.
"Dead is dead. You are dead. There is no going back from death, only a change into the next form," Bastet said as Sekhmet showed up next to her.
"If you fail, I will feast upon you as well, for not being able to pass and give our little gods their full powers back," Sekhmet said.
Yugi looked toward Atem. This was it. This wasn't just being spirited away, he remembered that semi barreling straight on them. "I want to see Téa. I guess, it's time for that test." He looked at the water he was given and drank it. "Thanks, Qebhet. That is right, right?"
"Mm." She seemed fine with it. "Going to see Ammut? Your entire soul being eaten for eternity is on the line and that is stressful. Would you like another glass or refreshing, cool water?"
---
As Yugi stood there with Atem in front of Ammut, Yugi didn't feel fear in his heart. He just wanted to reach Téa. The questions for the test were posed to each of them. None of them were particularly hard for them.
They had much harder things they had done in their life. Yugi just listened to his next question. "If I found someone's purse, then I'd only open it with intentions to find the owner. I wouldn't dig farther than I had to. If I couldn't find the owner with minimal digging, then I'd just take it into a police station without removing anything from it." It asked about loose bills. "If I knew any money fell out, I'd put it back in. If I found money had fallen out later, then I'd go back and return it as well with the purse." It was basically questions about right and wrong. What was right in the heart, verses what was wrong in the heart.
That only made sense. Ammut was punishing the wicked, the wrong hearts. The people who were evil and selfish. Ammut could tell what people would say, verses what they would really do. But, Yugi would do as he said, just like Atem. After the test.
That was when things changed. Yugi's head filled with memories of his entire life. Then, of his other entire life. Then, of his other entire life. He grabbed his head.
Atem was doing the same thing. Each of them held their head as they started to stumble around.
"Cease this!" Atem yelled. "I can't hold all of this!"
"Yes, you can," Sekhmet insisted. "You passed. You're becoming a god. You can hold that and so much more."
"Why is this happening?" Yugi questioned as he winced. It felt strange. There was no pain, just a strange sensation, almost like a joint out of place. But, no pain. There was no pain. Several lives with Téa, Joey, and Tristan filled his head. They weren't named the same. They weren't all the same. They were mostly similar, but not all the same.
"What is this?" Atem demanded.
"You are becoming gods," Bastet announced. "The difference between Pharaoh and gods was there were many dimensions for a Pharoah. Humans have countless parallels, in which every one that was or would be, is now entering into you."
"It's not just memories," Sekhmet agreed. "It's the other thems. You are taking them out of their existences, to become the God Atem. Well, God Atems. The deal does keep you forever together, and forever apart. While it's doing that, you are also getting omnipotence."
---
Ten Thousand Years Ago . . .
Atem continued to walk. Ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of a woman night after night. Climbing rocks. Being in water. Being in rain, thunderstorms, everything. Everything and everywhere. Night after night, the dreams continued and never stopped.
One day, he felt compelled to find this woman. He risked walking, but each time he was running low on food or water, he had found someone in his travels. He had met people that sold him wares that he sold farther beyond and made enough to take care of himself.
The more he continued, the more he believed there would always be someone before he expired. There would always be something he could buy and make more off of. He wanted to make enough that he could take care of a wife, if he found the woman of his dreams.
At the end of every dream, he always saw her struggling with a net full of fish and weeping. He only traveled along the wide water, believing that she would be down there somewhere.
Then. There! Finally, after all this time. All those years. The woman of his dreams, literally. Atem had never remembered having a different dream than her. She was even as he knew she would be. Not smiling happily, but crying and desperately trying to pull up a net of fish.
"Blasted stupid thing." She cursed it, thinking no one was around to hear her. "Get up here. You've got all the fish, now get up here and quit being mean." She sighed. "By all means, please, continue to struggle Masika. Goodness knows this is getting you nowhere."
Atem moved toward her. "Greetings," he said awkwardly. Almost, nervously.
She looked toward him, quite confused. "Where did you come from?"
Atem smiled and grabbed the net. "I've wanted to help with this net ever since I first dreamed of you. Our meeting was ordained by the gods." He used his strength and started to pull it up. "I have seen you traverse large rocks, larger than I've ever seen. I have seen you on the water, braving it across large distances. I have seen you in gardens, with flowers around you that paled in your beauty."
"Very nice line," she said back with a smile. Then, she no longer smiled when the fish were pulled up.
"What's wrong?" Atem asked. "I will help you pull it to your home. Which way is it?"
"The net wasn't the source of my sadness," she said to him. "It is only one. The real source?" Her reserved look changed into something else. "Is that life really bites harder than the fish right now!" She smacked the water with her first. "My father is too ill to care for me anymore. Since I am growing up, he's marrying me off to Set of all people. He is the richest around here, but he has no heart. I know once I marry, he'll just remove father past the horizon and leave him to die."
Oh. Atem looked at the netting. She was everything he saw in his dreams. Civil, but so bold. No woman was ever that bold. "You are pretty."
"Which is the reason I will survive, so I should be thankful?" She didn't care about that. "I don't need a rich man, I only want to help my father as I can. If I can bring in enough fish myself, I know I can do it."
"You are pretty, and I was not making up a story to make you notice me," Atem said. "I have traveled from far away to find you. If you marry me, then I will take care of your father. I am not rich, but I can comfort and help him. I can take care of you too. I have made some, and I can help with the fish. We could all three be together."
"If it is not a lie?" She looked toward him. "What is your name?"
"Atem."
"I am Masika. This could absolutely be a lie, but you have been kind, and if I have to risk myself with a stranger, or marry Set? Then I might risk myself with a stranger."
The gumption on her, Atem couldn't believe it worked. He thought he would have to woo her for several more days, be nice to her father, and help with the fish everyday to even get a chance. Then again, he had seen her, in her dreams. In so many exotic places, acting the same way. She seemed to have the strength to even defy a god, and the enchantment to bring her back into their good graces.
"It's certainly not a no, but I want some proof from the strange man that I met today. If you do wish to marry me, then let it be known that Set will come after you. I cannot stop him," she warned him. "If the rumor of marriage to you brings him and you defeat him, then I will choose you. Otherwise, I will learn to bring in the fish on my own."
"I am ready. I take on all challenges presented to me," Atem answered her.
She smiled. "I hope so, Atem." She came closer. "I like you."
Yes! "I like you!" Oh, he got nervous again. "Show me which way to your home so that I may drop this off with you?"
Atem went and met her father. He was very sick. Delirious. At this stage, anyone could have taken Masika for their own if they had wanted to.
Some good food, some relaxation, and knowing his daughter is in safe hands. That is what he tried to give her father for the last several days. She also had a brother, Bakura, that unfortunately was not as mobile either. He did not live with Masika or her father, but he did not stay far.
Bakura came to watch his sister more closely, trying to understand Atem too. The more Atem talked to him, the more he talked back until they were starting to enjoy each other's company with games.
With the fake rumor of marriage, a good time with her father, and her brother feeling fine with him, Atem spent a whole day with her, just her. Learning her every move. Her every desire.
"I cannot believe you are really here," she said to him. "You are like out of a dream, Atem." She laid her head down upon him.
"You are out of a dream," Atem said back to her as he held her. "Do you feel safe with me now? Am I still the stranger only slightly better than Set? I have been here for sometime, Masika. I want to do everything I can for you."
"Everyone here likes you, and I like you too." She smiled. "I really like you, I don't want to fish anymore, and I don't want Set. I will never surrender to anyone else." She leaned against him more. "Even if you fall in battle when he comes, I will not move away. I will fall too."
Those words? "Are you going to be wife now?"
"Yes. I don't need a battle with Set to see my future. Short or long, I don't even care," Masika declared. "It lies with you."
The fake marriage had become real. Atem had indeed tackled with Set, and with Bakura's help, had found a way to defeat him. The battle had been long and hard. While it had, his wife Masika was growing ever larger every day. Several suns and moons had passed as they battled. While they did, Masika took care of getting them food and water until she was getting too large to do much more. By then, or because of that fact, it was over. Atem was free to be with the one who kept her word. Who never weakened against him, and who held his child.
He held Masika, the woman of his dreams, so tightly for a single night after the battle. She was so large, it was hard to hold his wife, but it was still incredible. He kissed her and touched her large belly. "What shall we name it?"
"I have no clue, Atem," Masika said. "We shall decide when it's born." She leaned against him.
The best night of his life, lying there with his wife and future son. Her face smiling at him from their sheets was the last thing he remembered.
The woman of his dreams, had her own eyes closed now. She was so peaceful and beautiful. Atem just closed his eyes beside her too. He saw her once again in his dreams, just like every night, but this time, he would never see her outside of them again.
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