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It was a warm and breezy night when a KaibaCorp employee spotted two figures washed up on the shore of the Nile. The first figure, wearing robes of black, would have blended in with the dark fertile soil were it not for the clumsiness of its movements. Yet it made its way steadily toward town. Then the second figure, clad in a long red cloak, rose swiftly and spared only a moment to look around before hurrying to some unknown destination.
…
Kaiba hesitated to slide the key into the ignition but turned it hastily once the key was in place. If he was really doing this, he wouldn’t half-ass it. And he was really doing this. He was going to the airport to meet someone he’d been journeying to the afterlife to see for months. Only, he wasn’t sure how said person got resurrected in Egypt.
His employees from the Egyptian site had relayed that much. They also reported the person’s appearance— black, relatively short, tri-colored dreads— and that he said his name was Atem. It was fortunate his company was still doing cleanup after their excavation to find the Millennium Puzzle, or they wouldn’t have made contact. Kaiba couldn’t believe it at first. It was unlikely, yet possible, that the picture he received had somehow been forged. However, he was told that this person also expressed a desire to “return to Japan” to “reunite with Yugi Muto and friends.” It was him. The employees also reported a second figure emerging from the Nile that night, but Kaiba didn’t care enough to track them down. The only thing that was important was seeing Atem in the flesh or firing the most workers he’s ever fired in a single day.
He dodged traffic to pass the asshole-in-the-right-lane who was driving too slowly. His thoughts were racing. Eleven days ago, he’d used the Quantum Cube in combination with his own cutting edge technology to transport his consciousness to another dimension to visit Atem, as he’d been doing so regularly that Admin was starting to get concerned. His duel with Atem had ended in a draw, as had every other one they’d played in the Field of Reeds. When it was over, Atem thanked him for the exhilarating challenge and encouraged Kaiba to return soon, not knowing Kaiba risked his life and sanity every time he made the journey. Before he left, Kaiba promised to continue devising a way to bring Atem back to Earth with him, which he spent nearly all his other waking hours doing.
He pulled the car into a parking space in one smooth motion and wasted no time getting out. He strove for efficiency, and the thought that all his efforts to bring Atem back could be rendered meaningless made him irrationally angry. His whole life, he’d been able to maneuver his way into better circumstances for himself and anyone he cared about. From studying chess at the orphanage to exercising the powers his wealth granted him, it had always been his own choices which shaped the path of his future. He didn’t know a single person whose stubborn determination was as firmly rooted as his.
Another few moments and he was standing at baggage claim alongside other KaibaCorp administrators, all anticipating the arrival of their counterparts who'd taken the lengthy non-stop flight from Egypt to Japan. Kaiba felt like lightning passed through him when he spotted Atem’s face. Atem saw him too, and they briefly tuned out everything else happening around them.
“Is it really you?”
“Yes. I am so happy to see you.”
“How— ?”
Possibilities were erupting in Kaiba’s head: promises of many duels yet to come, logistics for reuniting Atem with his friends, questions about Atem’s plans for the future… He was so overwhelmed that all he comprehended of Atem’s first explanation was something about a lost village, a power greater than the gods, and universal balance. They missed several exits and took at least two wrong turns on the drive home.
Atem explained again when they’d both had the chance to calm their excitement a little. Before being resurrected, he’d been summoned to a meeting of the gods. They told him he was going to be given another chance to live out his years in the modern time, though he knew they did not want to open this gate to the mortal realm, to set this unnatural precedent. When pressed, they admitted something they’d seemed to be ashamed of: theirs was not the greatest power in all the dimensions.
The Thief King’s village, Kul Elna, which had been annihilated to create the millennium items, was restless even in death. Their spirits, working as a community to strengthen each other’s resolve, were able to will the Thief King back to life. The gods could do nothing to stop it, so they’d chosen to send Atem back as well for the sake of retaining balance.
One community’s will to life actually being powerful enough to resurrect someone from the dead wasn’t something Kaiba would have believed, if Atem were not its living proof. Though all his own attempts to bring Atem back had ultimately failed, he was significantly happier to have the former pharaoh alive.
And Atem reassured him, “It means the world to me that you tried.”