Sorry y'all. This was a difficult chapter for me. Hopefully it will provide a smooth proper transition into the fun stuff. Of course by "fun" I mean a Costco-sized bulk of angst.

Enjoy.

Chapter 8

It was a long and suspenseful journey down the marble hallways of the palace. Atem's grip on Téa's hand was firmer with a sense of urgency, much different from the gentle coercing from before, on their brief journey to the palace. Atem seemed more serious now, more like she remembered him from when they dwelled on Earth and when he was plagued with keeping the Earth and its innocents from their demise – again and again and again.

Téa couldn't help but wonder what she 'may or may not be prepared for' that Atem was intent on showing her anyway, and her inquiries were only met with silence or "you'll see". She knew one thing – she was not prepared to see her life's end, travel through space with a sky angel, meeting the Goddess of Light and facing the ultimatum of entering the Heavens or returning to Earth as an invisible spirit, or seeing Atem again. Or, really, anything that had happened in-between. It seemed to happen all at once with no time to process. Téa wondered if anything could shock her anymore.

They came upon the quarters of the High Priests, the six former wielders of the Millennium Items and hailed heroes of Egypt. Mahaad and Seto were casually conversing merely a few yards ahead of them in the corridor. They noticed her and Atem approaching and both bowed in his presence.

"My King," said Mahaad.

Atem nodded at each of them in return. "Mahaad, Seto."

"What brings you here, majesty?" asked Seto. He sounded much lighter and friendlier in his tone than what Téa remembered.

"Isis, I need to see Isis. Is she nearby?"

Mahaad nodded. "Yes my king, I last saw her in the Magic Chamber. Shall I fetch her?"

"No, that will not be necessary. I shall visit her myself."

"Is everything alright, majesty?" questioned Seto.

The spirit king glanced at Téa, ostensibly considering bothering with the whole of the truth. He shook his head ever so quickly and briefly, as if to dismiss that thought. It wasn't important enough to delay his mission. "Yes, thank you."

It wasn't until then that both Mahaad and Seto seemed to notice Téa's presence. Seto glanced at their intertwined hands and made eye contact with her.

"My apologies, m'lady. I am rude to have ignored your presence. I am Priest Mahaad, and this is Priest Seto."

Téa vaguely recognized the both of them as members of his court. She also remembered seeing Seto's carving on the giant stone tablet at the Domino Museum. Mahaad bore a striking resemblance to the Dark Magician, though he was dressed in standard priest magician robes.

"This is Lady Téa," introduced Atem. He regarded her with a wide grin and a proud gleam in his eyes that didn't seem out of character, but was softly endearing, as he occasionally was. "She has helped me countless times since I've known her and she's one of my dearest friends. She is also largely responsible for the salvation of Egypt."

'Friends'. Even in the Heavens I am friend-zoned. Though Téa had her own reservations of the semantics used, she did not forget that he regarded her as a 'lady'. That was truly an honor she appreciated.

Both priests bowed before her, making Téa shift uncomfortably on her feet. No one had ever bowed to her before. "Lady Téa, we offer you our gratitude, for your loyalty and service to our King and the land of Egypt. May you find solace in the Afterlife."

Téa cast a nervous glance at Atem. What was she supposed to do, or say? How does one respond to such a thing? To her surprise, Atem stifled a laugh. "Uhh…" she stuttered, struggling for anything, anything to come out, "yeah, you're welcome…?" was the best she could come up with. Atem lightly tugged at her hand again.

"We will go find Isis. Take care." The priests bowed once more and, with a swoosh of his navy blue cape, Atem and Téa were bustling down the corridor as before, with their brisk footsteps pattering lightly down the hall. Finally, Atem stopped at the last door on the right. The door was made of thick mahogany-like material, only pearly white in color, to match the walls of the palace. The doorknob was fringed with gold. The pharaoh knocked lightly.

A few seconds went by, and Téa wondered if she could use this opportunity to question him further. But as she opened her mouth to speak, the door before them swung open and a rather bright and cheery Isis greeted them. As she was such a woman of mystery and, like Atem, was inundated by the burdens of the Millennium Items' dark powers, the fact that she was not even close to sulking threw Téa off already.

The Magic Chamber eerily resembled a large confinement room, like perhaps in a mental hospital. Like everything in the palace, the walls were white like pearls. The only thing that kept the walls from bareness were the few shelves holding extremely thick spellbooks, many papyrus scrolls, and four different types of magical staffs mounted directly next to the shelves. There were smaller staffs – wands more likely – lined up next to those as well. It looked something like a modest magician's quarter.

Atem noticed Téa's curious gazes. "This is Mahaad's favorite room, unsurprisingly," he explained to her. "Mana likes to come here, too. They can both practice their magic here."

Meanwhile, Isis was seated by a large, circular opening in the middle of the floor, spanning possibly five feet in diameter. It had short walls surrounding it, much like a well. Isis's hands hovered over it guardedly.

"I apologize to have interrupted you, Priest Isis, but I must ask something of you," Atem said to the priestess. "There is a Spell that can allow us to view the Land of the Living through the Sorcerer's Well. Can you do it?"

The Land of the Living? Téa questioned in her mind. Like, Planet Earth? Where my family and friends are?

Isis nodded. "Yes, my King. It is not an easy spell, but it's within my capabilities. If I may ask what it is you need it for?"

Rather than directly answering the question, Atem nodded politely and asked to be excused, and pulled Téa to a far corner of the room. Though Isis could still hear them, she was more focused on the preliminary preparations for the spell he asked for, retrieving a scroll from one of the shelves and laying it beside her on the floor. Atem looked hard into Téa's eyes, his amethyst orbs ensnaring her undivided attention. "Téa, you do know that I treasure you as a friend and that I would do anything in my power to make you happy, correct?"

"Yes," Téa hesitantly replied. She felt so out of her element that there was not much more she could think to say.

"Then please heed my warning. What I'm about to show you is a glimpse of the world you left behind. You'll be able to watch over your family, friends, anyone and anything on Earth."

He ceased to continue, allowing Téa to ponder this thought to herself. Watch over her family and friends, the most important people to her in her short life on Earth – those people she missed immensely, even if she had only just entered the Heavens? Did she even want to know how they're faring without her – if they'd moved on, what they're doing with their lives? Or… her biggest fear… that they'd forgotten her by now?

"What's the catch?" she finally asked.

Atem heaved a heavy sigh, seemingly burdened by the words to come next. "The spell is not strong enough for the visual allowance to last long. It might be shorter than you want it. And… not everyone is, well, ready for this sort of thing.

I guess I just wanted to give you an option. Do you want to see?"

Slowly but surely, she could bring her head to nod. It didn't matter what the viewing might do to her. She needed to know. Most of all, she wanted to check on Yugi, no matter how much it could, and would, pain her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am sure."

Atem nodded, accepting her answer. By the hand once more, he took her to the well where Isis was seated and chanting quietly. She gestured for Téa to come look into the well before her. Her spirit heart pricked with nerves, Téa gazed into the well to find herself in Domino City, hovering above it. She had an aerial view of a horde of people, young and old, all very somber-looking. It took her a second, but she finally recognized her 7-year-old cousin Matthew, trotting obediently behind her Aunt Janine. As she continued to look, she could see her family, from near and far, one by one step through the open doors. They were all dressed in nice dresses and clean tuxedos, and ironed dress shirts. With a doleful cry from within her spirit heart, Téa noticed a dressed up Yugi come out of his grandfather's parked '95 Volkswagon, holding flowers as Solomon gently ushered him along. She realized where she was.

5580 Pleasant Street.

The Lady of the Angels First Church.

Her funeral.

TO BE CONTINUED