Hey there! Here's a new chapter of "Tales from the barman... Part II". This time, Yami Yugi, aka Pharaoh Atem, comes to visit Nights, and talks with Xander for a bit.

Disclaimer: Genius Joss Whedon owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kazuki Takahashi (also a genius) owns Yu-Gi-Oh. The bar Nights belongs to Methos on Twisting the Hellmouth. The lyrics to Bullets in the Gun by Toby Keith at the beginning of this chapter belong to their respective owners. I own the fanfics and crossovers I cook up from time to time.

A Visit from a Pharaoh

They used to call me "Lightening"
I was always quick to strike
Had everything I own
In the saddles on my bike

I had a reputation
For never stayin' very long,
just like a wild and restless drifter,
like a cowboy in a song

I met a dark haired beauty
where they laid the whiskey down
in Southern Arizona
in a little border town

She had to dance for money
in that dusty old saloon
I dropped a dollar in the jukebox
Played that girl a tune, yea

Never see it comin'
It just hits you by surprise
It's that cold place in your soul
and that fire in her eyes

That makes you come together
Like wild horses when they run
Now the cards are on my table
And the bullets in the gun
Yeah
-Toby Keith, Bullets in the Gun

"Well, well, well. Alexander Harris, I presume?"

Xander looked up from where he was cleaning the mahogany surface of the bar with a clean, white rag, and his dark brown eyes widened at the fiery vision of what looked to be a young man who was walking in at that moment.

He had crimson red eyes and his hair featured multiple layers including long blond crocked, pointy locks for his fringe. Some of the blond locks jutted upwards. He was wearing Egyptian clothing and dressed in gold. But the thing that caught Xander's eye was the golden object attached to a brown rope around his neck. It resembled an upside-down pyramid with what seemed to be an eye on the front.

It was then that Xander took notice of how all the young girls in the bar were casting furtive looks over their soft drinks and around their boyfriends at the young man, and secretly smiled to himself. He knew darn well that they apparently thought this guy to be quite handsome.

"Alexander."

Xander pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the young man, who was now sitting at the bar. "Yes?" he replied.

"I apologize, for I assumed you knew about me already," the young man said. "I am Pharaoh Atem, the King of Egypt."

"Hello, Your Majesty," said Xander.

However, when Xander sucked in his breath in shock upon realizing what he had just said, Atem simply chuckled and replied,
" ‛Your Majesty'."

After trying out the name on his tongue and taking a liking to it after a bit, Atem then said, "I like that, even though I haven't been called that for ages.

"But, hey," he added after a moment, "I am royalty, after all."

A look of relief crossed Xander's visage, and he smiled. "Thanks, Atem."

"You're welcome, Alexander."

A few moments of companionable silence passed as Xander pulled out a Coca-Cola and placed it on the bar, and then went back to wiping the bar's surface clean. Atem studied the Coca-Cola, and then opened it and took a sip. The taste felt quite good on his tongue, and he smiled.

"I take it," he said, "that this is the bar called ‛Nights', and that you are the owner. Am I correct?"

Xander nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"I see. And please, you are more than welcome to call me Atem," Atem replied, and then took another sip of Coca-Cola. Afterwards, he then said, "What is it, Alexander, that has you confused?"

"Uh, well..." Xander couldn't find the right words to say, so he motioned to the object around Atem's neck. Atem got the message at once.

"Ah," he replied, getting the idea, "I see you are quite fascinated by my Millennium Puzzle, are you not?"

Xander nodded. "Please, Atem, tell me of how you got this Millennium Puzzle."

"Gladly," Atem replied. And he began his story of how he inherited it from his father, Aknamkanon. He noticed that Xander was an awesome audience; he gasped in all the right places, and when Atem told him about the Millennium Spellbook, Xander looked to be quite excited.

"Wow," Xander remarked. "I had no idea there was a Millennium Spellbook involved, either."

The response was Atem nodding in reply, as though to say, Well, there was one, of course.

"It seems to me," said Atem after he drained his Coca-Cola and then thought for a bit, "that there are all these girls here, and their eyes seem to be fixed on a certain somebody." He thought for a moment. "I take it this somebody happens to be... me."

This was one of those times where honesty was called for. Xander felt that, unlike when he lied to Buffy, telling her what he thought Willow had said about Angel, this time being honest was important. He had always secretly thought so himself, but kept it a secret.

"Yes, Atem," he said. "The person these girls happen to have their eyes on is you. I think it's because you have what we call ‛charisma'."

"I see," Atem replied, nodding. "No wonder these girls think I'm so handsome."

"‛Think' so? They believe it to be so," Xander explained. "After all, they've heard all about you, and they perceive you to be quite good-looking."

"Hmm," Atem remarked. "Well, I do have the whole ‛exotic looks' thing going for me, anyway." He then pulled a piece of paper with a drawing of the Millennium Puzzle on it from out of thin air and placed it on the bar. "Here, Alexander. You are more than welcome to have that, of course."

"Wow," said Xander. "Thanks, Atem."

"No problem, Alexander. After all, I sense you are headed for great things yourself."

After heading to the men's room, Atem then gave Xander a hug, and then headed out of the bar and into the night. For his part, Xander studied the drawing Atem had given him, and then went over to the back wall, which still had plenty of room left, and placed it next to the drawing of the tattoo that was given to him by Jade Chan a few weeks ago.

Apparently, having Atem come to Nights was quite something. After all, how many bartenders could say they saw a five-thousand-year-old Pharaoh walk through the doors of the bar, sat at the bar itself and then chat with them?

Not many, he was sure.

But one thing was for sure. One never knew what to expect at Nights. Life was full of surprises, after all.