Atem was in his throne room when it happened. Atem felt a sharp pain in the head, so he had to stop and lean on the wall next to him. Atem touched his face confused by this sudden outburst. Since Atem was here, everything was so constant, even annoyingly invariable but that... Suddenly, a new memory re-surfaced in his mind. Something Atem didn't know he had forgotten in the first place.
*
It was some kind of celebration on this day, Atem didn't remember what exactly. As per usual, he wasn't very excited about receptions and too many guests, so Atem went outside. They could enjoy themselves without his royal presence. It was a relief to be away from the crowd. Atem thought he was the only one who wanted a bit of solitude, but it looked like Atem wasn't alone. There was a girl in the gardens, and Atem could tell she was a very beautiful one. She had a lovely blue dress made of some very soft material. Atem approached her, without her noticing his presence yet. When Atem was behind her, she turned around startled only to find him bringing a shock to her face.
"I am sorry for scaring you, my lady." Atem apologised never missing her eyes.
The girl was indeed beautiful. She had the most sensitive sapphire blue eyes. Her hair was long and brown and judging by her fair skin, she was a foreigner. So, a foreign princess then.
"Who are you?" Atem dared ask.
"Doesn't matter." She said, her shocked expression replaced by a sad one. She knew that it was neither the time, nor the place for this. "We're not meant to be." She smiled sadly coming closer to him.
Atem was about to say something, but she touched his cheek and Atem forgot what he was going to say. Unwillingly, she affected his memory. Aten had to forget her and all that happened. It was her secret and she couldn't involve him in this. Maybe one day... they would be together. Or not. She knew it was an impossible desire and she had to delete this memory. Atem had to see her future self as herself, not as... She sighed until he completely forgot about the incident and... her. She looked one more time at him. Atem was the most handsome and attractive man she had ever seen with his unique three-coloured hair and amethyst eyes.
*
Atem returned back to the present, completely lost to what happened. This was... how did it appear to him all of a sudden? Atem did regain his memory some time ago, everything should have been back to him. Except... Atem remembered her words and her touch. She made him forget. But why? Who was she? She looked exactly as Téa, but Atem could notice the differences. Maybe someone who didn't know her would think they were identical but to him... they were completely different. Atem knew Téa too well and that girl wasn't his Téa. Wait... his? Atem shook his head in confusion. Atem had to know who she was. She wanted him not to remember her so there must've been a very good reason for that. Still recovering from the strange experience, Atem was interrupted by Shada's voice.
"Is there something wrong, my king? You look pale." Atem looked at him, not sure how to answer that question.
"I... I am well. I need to find Isis." Atem avoided the answer and quickly left his High Priest behind.
Shada knew something was wrong with their ruler. Atem wasn't the same as he returned. Somehow, his stay in the future had affected him deeply and he was deeply attached to his friends there. The young pharaoh quickly covered the distance to Isis' place. Atem entered the temple getting her attention. Isis was a bit surprised to see him. Before asking anything, Atem spilt out everything.
"Isis, something strange happened to me. I remembered something I didn't know I had forgotten in the first place." Atem began. "I met a woman in the gardens during a celebration here. She was a foreigner, maybe a princess. But she looked exactly as Téa! And I think she affected my memory. But why did she do that?" The pharaoh was babbling not giving his priestess a chance to answer.
"My Pharaoh, please calm down." Atem realised how insistent he was not letting her speak.
"Oh, sorry."
"Can I see your memory?" Atem nodded, giving her permission to enter his mind.
Atem's mind was maybe the most complicated one. Isis had to focus on what she was looking for before getting lost. Isis gently touched his forehead, entering his memories. Soon Isis found the one she was looking for and watched. Indeed, this woman looked exactly as her future doppelganger. Isis could sense his confusion and fear. The pharaoh knew that this wasn't the girl who was his friend. It was on a very personal level only if it was someone so close to you to tell apart. Atem indeed had something very personal towards his friend. Isis had a theory about remembering this out of nowhere.
"I don't know who she is, but she didn't want you to remember her. Maybe... she was somehow aware of her future counterpart, so she didn't want to disrupt future events."
"But how could she know about Téa?" Atem asked unsettled.
"She wasn't from this time." Isis shook her head. Atem looked at her expecting for an explanation. "I've heard about this. In order to delete your memory, she needs magic. I think she possessed rare time magic." So, Isis thought this girl might have come from another time? Back in time... to him?
"But she isn't Téa," Atem confirmed.
"No, I don't think so," Isis replied to a non-existing question.
When Isis looked at him, Isis saw simple confidence that this girl, whoever she was, wasn't the one captivating his thoughts. Oh, Isis caught a few glimpses of what their pharaoh was thinking about and they were pretty much centred around a certain brunette girl. Atem hadn't realised yet what all this meant.
"So, if she didn't want me to remember this, why did it come back to me?" That was a good question.
"Maybe it was caused by some magical disruption." Isis had a few suspicions but preferred not to share them with him.
Atem wasn't sure about this but said nothing. If only Atem could find an answer to his so confused thoughts. Maybe share this with Téa? Would Téa think that he was comparing her to another woman? Because Atem wasn't. Téa was the one Atem knew and would never mistake her. Whoever the other was, Atem wasn't interested in her.
"Thank you, Isis." Atem thanked her, still staying in the same place he was.
"I doubt you'll remember anything else but if you do, come to me again. I'll try to learn more about her." Isis promised him.
"Thank you," Atem said again before he left.
Yugi, Kaiba, Ishizu... they were all counterparts of his servants. It was a matter-of-course. Yugi was his counterpart and was completely normal to look similar. Kaiba was Seto's though, his High Priest was far much rational and calm than his future self who was all obsessed by himself. Maybe Téa was this ancient princess's which meant something was going with her. The one in his vision had powers, Isis had said something about a rare time ability. Would Téa have something to do with it then? Atem felt afraid for her. Téa was strong and brave but had never experience supernatural things on herself. It'd be too much, too new. And Atem wasn't there to protect her. Atem felt sudden anger rising in his chest – at himself, at his destiny and why Atem wasn't with his friends. Atem had never felt so powerless in all of his long existence. Atem wished he could see her again, one last time. Atem wasn't able to look at her when he was leaving because he would've never had the courage to leave but now... Atem sighed, walking through the palace's halls.
*
Téa had just arrived in Domino. The flight was long, and Téa was glad to be on the ground again. However, Téa still had a lot to worry about. The necklace was hanging heavily around her neckline reminding her of its purpose and the newfound powers she had. Téa got a cab home, watching through the window the all familiar streets of Domino. Nothing could make her happy anymore. When Téa stopped at home, she had to wait a few minutes outside preparing to face her parents. Téa had told them she was going to Tokyo for a few days, it had to do with her job. It was one big lie, but Téa couldn't tell them the real reason and that Téa actually had been to Egypt. Téa took a deep breath and put a false smile on her face. That was all Téa could do. Téa entered her house and immediately heard the steps coming from the kitchen. Her mother appeared in front of her.
"Hey mum," Téa mimicked cheer as a professional actress.
"Téa, dear! How are you? How was your trip?" She approached her daughter.
"Nice I think, everything went fine." A lie, again.
"Okay, good. I'm happy you're back." She hugged her and Téa returned the hug clumsy. "Very well, then. Go unpack your things and come back, I'll make something for you to eat."
"Yes, mum." Téa obeyed and took her bag upstairs.
Actually, Téa had no appetite but telling this to her mother meant explaining why and that was a too-long story. One Téa didn't think they'd believe her. Sometimes Téa didn't believe herself anymore. But seeing gladiators and ancient warriors... it was pretty convincing Téa wasn't insane. And of course, the nice little jewel was all too bloody real. After a while, Téa went downstairs not to make her mother any more suspicious. When Téa took a seat, the older woman looked at her daughter. Did Téa look a bit sunburn? That was odd. But still, Téa was so fair and even the slightest stronger sun would make a difference to her skin. Téa had simply been to Tokyo, not the desert, right? Then she noticed the necklace Téa was wearing. She hadn't noticed it before, maybe Téa got it there.
"You have a very pretty necklace." Her mother commented which made Téa nervous all of a sudden.
"Yeah, um thank you. I bought it in Tokyo."
Téa hoped her mother wouldn't notice how much more than ordinary was since it was a real precious necklace especially made and containing rare sand of time. Maybe given by the gods. Once worn by an ancient magical princess. This sounded absolutely ridiculous to anyone who wasn't involved. Maybe the gang would believe her, after all, they've faced together all kinds of strange magic things. Their friend being a sorceress wasn't all that ludicrous, was it? After the small meal Téa had, she returned to her room. Was it safe to leave this here while Téa was in the bathroom? Téa thought about someone stealing it and decided against it. Her medium-length brown hair had sand in it. It was nice to get rid of it honestly. Did her mother notice it? Téa hoped not because she couldn't explain that. Téa put on comfortable clothes and dried her hair. Teana had said Téa needed regular visits to the past. At least, it would be controlled and to time and destinations of her choice. Regular meant Téa might not need doing it so often. It was a bit of a relief. Small but still a relief. However, as the last drop of sand fell in its lower part, Téa would be back in her time. Also, Teana had mentioned that Téa could visit her again if Téa wished. Right now, Téa wasn't very fond of the princess and preferred avoiding her. Sharing the same feelings for Atem with a dazzling ancient princess and time sorceress was an unsettling thought. Teana said she had deleted Atem's memory of her but if he still remembered or felt something? If Atem saw her as Teana and not herself? That hurt actually. All these doppelganger things were too confusing, and Téa was glad she didn't have one. Until now, of course. Teana was so much more than her, it was easy imagining Atem, an Egyptian Pharaoh falling for her. Her heart ached; at least, they lived in another time and no matter how Teana might've wanted to be with him, they were separated by two millennia. Téa felt kind of better reminding herself this.
Something that Teana said was puzzling her. After explaining the powers were more complicated as Téa had noticed, respectively being able to travel time, space or both at the same time Teana had a mysterious grin on her face. What, Teana expected Téa to pay her visits in the past? No, at least not for now. However, her grin was kind of strange. As if Teana knew what Téa would do and where would go. Téa wanted to go nowhere; Téa would give up on all of this if possible. Where would Téa want to go anyway? Teana's smile appeared in her mind again. Téa could easily go to Egypt for example, no need for planes but only for a little while. Or back in time exactly where Téa was in that same moment. Téa furrowed her brows, dimensions... Téa didn't visit Teana in the past. It was in some kind of parallel dimension. What if... could Téa ... Téa stood abruptly. That's what Teana meant behind her secretive grin. Her mouth went dry. If Téa was right, then... Oh my God! Téa could travel through all dimensions which meant Téa could... Téa could go to the afterlife and see Atem! Suddenly, all her body was electrified. Téa spent a whole year in grief, believing she wouldn't see him ever again and now Téa possessed the key which would make her most sacred wish come true. It was kind of ironic though. Until now Téa was complaining and despising her powers but now, Téa was praising them hoping they'd work.
Please, let it work. Let me see him again!
Téa pleaded mentally, her hands shaking before grabbing the pendant. Téa had no idea how it worked; how stupid of her not to ask Teana about this. Despite this, Téa closed her eyes and imagined where she wanted to be or with whom, hopefully, the necklace would understand.
Please...
Téa felt the change and stiffness of the air. When Téa opened her eyes to check, everything went brightly white. Now Téa could only pray she was going to the right place and it wasn't a nasty trick. Her heart skipped a beat: Téa was going to see Atem again!