Ennead Afterlife: Dark Side, The Pharaoh's Alerted

It had been a long day of ruling and the Pharaoh was looking forward to just spending some time with her brother and friends and playing some games as she headed for her chambers, then, in the evening, as she had been doing for the last couple of years, she could check in on her friends in the living world before bed. Not that she was too worried about them. While Imoto still had the occasional magical issue pop up, her friends had been mostly safe since she had moved on and Yugi had temporarily retired from the competitive Dueling circuit. The only one she was particularly worried about was Kaiba and even that was more because she did not like his odds of maintaining his sanity when he realised she could not be summoned back if he completed the Puzzle again, then because she was afraid someone was going to kill him.

“Sister.” The Pharaoh grinned as her brother joined her in the corridor, “You up for Senet tonight? I'm going to beat you this time.”

“You haven't beaten me ye...” The Pharaoh's gloating was cut off by a sudden feeling of power being ripped out of her, causing a cry of pain as she stumbled and fell to her knees as a bolt of blue energy raced away from her and out of the nearest window.

“Sister!” Atem knelt next to her, looking worried, supporting her. “What just happened?”

“I...I'm not sure...” Her reply did not reassure him but it was honest as she tried to assess what had just happened. “I...I think someone just summoned Obelisk...”

“What?! But only you can do that!” Atem yelped, his face pale.

“Me or Imoto...” She agreed, pushing herself onto her feet. “And possibly one other...I need my mirror.”

“Let me help.” Her brother insisted on having her lean on him, despite the fact she felt okay bar the sudden loss of one of the God Monsters that rested within her soul. The pair headed straight for her bedchambers and the large, enchanted mirror within. The Pharaoh had begged Anubis for this mirror to the living world and she still owed him for allowing her to have it. It was enchanted so she could see, but not interact with her friends in the world of the living. Normally that was enough, but today, as she pressed her palm against it and called up it's magic worry coursed through her, “Show me the one who has summoned Obelisk the Tormentor.”

Kaiba appeared on it's reflective surface, duelling some guy who was clearly using magic at the Ceremonial Duel site where she had fought her final Duel with her sister. She did not entirely understand what was going on, but she could clearly see that Kaiba had dug up all the Puzzle pieces and it looked like his opponent wanted them. Obelisk returned to her when Kaiba's adversary, a man the CEO called Diva, fled the magical duel in favour of chasing Mokuba, but she was too caught up in what was going on to pay attention to anything except the rather satisfying head butt that Mokuba dealt out to Diva, knocking him away from the Puzzle pieces.

“Sister?” Atem asked her as she sat back, allowing the magic to fade as Kaiba jetted off to wherever he was headed next.

“One second, brother.” She murmured, putting her hand against the glass again, “Show me Mutou Yugi.” She specified, wanting to know that her precious little sister was okay. Atem let out a frustrated huff when Yugi appeared in the mirror but the Pharaoh was relieved to see her doing something as mundane as her homework.

“Your vessel is fine, sister.” Atem spoke without thinking and then backed up quickly when the Pharaoh gave him the darkest glare she had ever aimed his way.

“Imoto is much more than just my vessel, Atem. She is half of me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her.” The Pharaoh hissed out, furious, “How many times do I have to remind you of that?”

“She's a mortal commoner.” Atem reminded her. “She's not of our caste.”

“Technically she's a noble merchant and Ra's representative on Earth.” The Pharaoh corrected him, as she got up to leave, “And when she finally joins us here, when it's her time, she will be ruling at my side as my other half, as is her right.” Atem scowled, “What?”

“She's not you.” Atem protested, “I accept your right to rule over us since you were Pharaoh, not me, but she's not Egyptian. She doesn't know our ways and customs. You can't expect our people to accept her.”

“What would it take for you to accept her?” The Pharaoh challenged, planning to deal with this when she got back, sick and tired of the constant jibes from her brother about her little sister. Especially after everything Imoto had gone through to protect the world and help her get to the afterlife.

“What did she do? To earn this level of respect and trust from you?” Atem asked.

“I've told you...”

“Told me, but not shown me. Call it up on the mirror. Let me see for myself.”

“I don't have time for this, Atem.” The Pharaoh scowled at him as she headed for the door, “I need to get to the gates. If someone magical is after the Puzzle, I might be needed.”

“You can't go back. You know that, right?” Atem pointed out as he blocked her path, “So what's the rush? Anubis isn't going to let you break through the gates even if your Puzzle gets completed again.”

The Pharaoh stared at him, trying to work out if he was serious or not. “Brother…I need to go…why won’t you see that?”

“I do, I just…” He hesitated then sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “I just don’t want you to get stuck on that side of the gates again.”

She paused at that, “Atem…”

“I know…I know I can’t stop you…That I shouldn’t stop you but…” Atem pulled her into a hug, “I can’t lose you. Not again.” She felt him trembling and hugged back, hoping to soothe his worried mind, realising that a lot of his bloody-mindedness over Imoto was him being worried about her trying to go back to the world of the living and getting trapped again.

“You won’t lose me.” The Pharaoh promised, “I just can’t leave Imoto to face this alone if there’s anything I can do to help her. Not when this is over my Puzzle.”

“Pendant.” Atem corrected sullenly as he pulled away, trying not to look like he’d been crying.

“Not anymore brother.” She sighed. “It shattered, remember? It’s a Puzzle now.”

Atem did not answer for a moment or two, then he sighed and moved aside. “Go…but I do want to meet this sister of ours one day. If she’s as amazing as you insist she is, I’m going to love her…”

“Oh you will.” She promised, “And Atem?”

“Yes, sister?” He asked, looking a little worried for her.

“Thank you.” She darted for the door, pausing as she slipped out to promise, “I’ll be back soon.”