Revelation [A Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic]

7. Life

Satsuki's fingers burned where they clutched the thin paper cup holding her cappuccino, though she barely noticed the sting as she listened to Yugi tell his tall tale. He spoke softly about how the Millennium Items had been created with blood magic over three thousand years ago, and how several of them had gone on to harbor the souls of ancient beings from that time — pharaohs and priests and evil demigods. While he spoke, her eyes drifted over the low wall of the museum coffee shop, watching as the five Millennium Items drifted lazily in the sunlight.

Ridiculous, she thought. Absolutely absurd; that these artifacts might have the power to contain the spirits of dead people, and bring them forth into the present day like mystical time capsules. But when Yugi confessed that he shared his own soul with one such forgotten pharaoh, Satsuki jolted and turned back to him. Her heart raced, remembering his heavy touch and veiled gaze during their night spent together. She couldn't tell which was stranger: that she had noticed such a subtle change while drunk and drowning in desire, or the fact that the eyes looking back at her now were infinitely warmer.

Slowly, Yugi looked down and cradled his Puzzle against his chest. "His name is Atem." The confession came out soft; slow; honest. "He's been with me for over five years. Both of us together — two souls in one body."

Satsuki lifted her head, a breath catching in her throat.

"I think you're like me, too, Satsu," he went on, looking up. "I think your soul has a visitor. Another you." He paused, tilting his head to catch her eyes before they drifted away again. "She can't cross over. Not like Atem can. But he can sense her. Speak with her between worlds. She was a queen once—"

Her trapped breath came rushing out in a stuttering laugh. There was no mirth in it, and no smile on her face either; just utter disbelief. "This is crazy," she said aloud, mostly for her own sake. "Another me ...?" The words set her teeth on edge. "I'm sorry, Yugi, but you're sitting here telling me that I somehow share my soul with ... with an Egyptian queen — and you expect me to just take your word for it?"

"I don't think I have to," he said simply. "I think you already feel her."

At this, a sudden fire lashed in her heart, and she remembered — that voice, those words ... the inescapable force that had been pushing her toward Yugi since the day she'd met him.

"I'm sorry," he said abruptly. "This is probably a lot to take in. I promise we're not telling you this to scare you, but we felt it was only fair that you should know—"

"We?" she repeated, her voice thinned to a near whisper. A tense silence settled between them, and Satsuki half-expected to hear that bold voice in her head once more — but the only sound that echoed in her mind was the heavy thump of her heart. "Which one of you was it ... that night?"

More silence. But Yugi was beginning to lose hold of his emotions now, a subtle shame creeping into his features. He closed a hand around the tapered base of the Puzzle — a reflexive motion that seemed the perfect practice of muscle memory.

"Do you want to speak with him?" he whispered.

All she could manage to do was to stare — not at him, but at the heavy pendant around his neck. Her thoughts were suddenly empty, tipped over like a spilled glass, and what she remembered now was his voice; whispering that name — the one that was hers, but wasn't.

"Satsuki."

She looked up, meeting fathomless eyes this time. Gone was the shine of youth; the good-natured cheer. The burden of millennia bore down visibly on him, sharpening him to rigid planes and rough-hewn edges, like the statues she had passed in the hall just beyond.