Return of the Kings

Chapter 20

Yugi left their minds and immediately felt heavy on his feet, needing the support of his chair to keep from falling over. His chest was tight as his heart struggled to beat comfortably and his stomach churned angrily... He was starving but also feeling the effects of over exertion... his body was aching for sleep... He hated this feeling but this was unavoidable. He would sleep once the artifacts were delivered. Just a few more hours to go.

"Are you okay?" Atem asked him. "Do you need me to take over?"

"No.. it's okay. I'm okay." Yugi told him breathlessly as the world stabilised itself. While being inside their minds his body was a lot lighter and the effects of fatigue was considerably lessened... coming back to reality he could feel how strong gravity seduced him and how much his body was straining to stay awake... but he had to push on.

"Okay.. what do I need to do?" Yugi asked himself before he squinted at his watch to figure out the time.

"Joey or Tea may be able to rent a trailer for me, I can fix em up when they get here. If they can do that then all I need to do is pack the artifacts while they get here."

"And breakfast?" Atem asked.

"Um... I might nibble on something once my stomach's settled a bit." Yugi said.

He was able to get in contact with Joey this morning who agreed to pick up Tristan and rent a trailer for him. Grandpa was already up making tea and last nights curry for breakfast when Yugi came out to see him. He made himself a coffee to keep him going, letting him know what the game plan was for today. Grandpa offered a hand in packing the artifacts and set to it while Yugi took a moment to sip at his drink.

After several minutes though he went to check on him and found he was placing name stickers on the wrapping of each artifact coresponding with the paperwork he'd written up.

"Thats a good idea." Yugi said, impressed. He was embarrassed he hadn't thought of it; it was a good way to keep them all together.

"Thank you. This way they shouldn't get mixed up or lost. Now those are ready to be brought down. I'll finish these ones." Grandpa said, referring to 3 of them in a row on one of Yugi's piles of books.

Once they were all packed up, 6 in each crate and all paperwork together safely in plastic sleeves and original paperwork signed off and included, they set to nailing the crate back closed until Joey and Tristan arrived with their shiny new borrowed trailer.

"J & T delivery service! You pack em we drive em!" Joey called out happily.

"Hey guys." Yugi waved to them as they approached happily.

"Hey dude. Atem buddy! Good ta see ya." Tristan said happily.

Atem blinked in confusion before looking to Yugi for answers.

"I forgot to mention I took a small break yesterday to get Tristan his own crystal. I tried getting your attention but you were... busy." Yugi explained.

Atem blushed slightly in embarrasment and smiled.

"I see. Good morning Tristan. I'm sorry I didn't come out yesterday. I'm glad this is working."

"Me too. So this is what you guys see! Yug this whole time you've been seeing the Pharoah like this for years?"

"Well back in the day yeah. More or less." Yugi shrugged.

"Dude you getting enough sleep?" Joey asked him.

"He's not. He's been awake for 2 days straight getting this work done." Atem dobbed him in quickly, earning himself a look of daggers from his smaller counterpart.