Welcome back! We have another huge timeskip here, but we get to have Yami reunited with his Court, so I think it evens out.

Enjoy!


Another four years passed with no sign or rumor of the Thief King. It was frustrating, but it was the last thing on Yami's mind at the moment. He walked through the street, hood drawn and head down. Nobody paid him a second glance as they all went about their business, just as he had hoped. He'd had a conversation with Mana yesterday that drew him here.

(Flashback)

"I think I'm going crazy," Mana said by way of greeting as she caught up with him in the central garden.

"I think that time has long since passed," Yami teased, "But why do you think so this time?"

"I could have sworn I just saw you in the city."

"Saw me?"

"It was really quick in the market," Mana furrowed her brow in concentration as she tried to remember, "It was crowded and I happened to glance over as someone's hood fell back. I could only see their back, but their hair looked like yours. I tried to chase him down, but he'd blended back in with the crowd."

Yami's heart nearly stopped. Was it possible? After all these years? Could his court really be here? How did they get here? Maybe the wind had just caught someone's hair wrong. Afterall, Mana did say it happened quickly and she didn't get a good look. Nevertheless, he couldn't risk their safety if he could help it.

"I'm sure it was nothing," Yami laughed it off, hoping it didn't sound forced, "You said it was crowded, maybe it was just the wind, or somebody carrying something."

Mana grinned, "You're right. I'm being silly."

"Nonsense," Yami refuted, trying to keep it light even though his heart was pounding, "I see giant pyramids in the sky, you see random people who might bear a resemblance to me. If we get Mahaddo in the mix, maybe he'll tell us the sky is green."

"Well I hear there was this one plant…" Mana trailed off thoughtfully.

"We're not drugging Mahaddo," Yami said sternly. He was mostly sure that Mana was joking, but it was always best to head off any of her dangerous ideas early, just in case.

"Party pooper." She stuck her tongue out childishly at him.

(End Flashback)

The conversation had drifted into more comfortable territory after that, but Yami knew he wouldn't be able to rest properly until he went and looked for himself. The first chance he got, he grabbed the oldest, rattiest cloak and hood he could find, and slipped out of the palace.

He walked down alley after alley, slowly distancing himself from the large crowd where the chances of him being recognized were greater, carefully keeping the palace walls in sight so he could find his way back. Up ahead, he noticed a small group of people, all hidden by their hoods, huddled together and appearing to speak in hushed tones. As he approached, their heads snapped up, staring at him with incredibly familiar faces.

"Yami!"

"Yugi?" Yami could only stare stunned. His hikari was here. His whole court was here, dressed in dark coats he had never seen before. And for the first time in seven years, he could hear his name! "What - when - how did you get here? Why can't I sense you? Where did you get those coats?"

"Shadi helped us," Yugi explained, "We got here two days ago. We found the coats in the Millennium Puzzle as we searched for the right door to get here. There's one more, but we don't have it on us right now."

Yami frowned, ignoring everything Yugi said about the coats. Surely word of a group of people who looked like the high priests would have reached the palace already. Well, technically it had and that's why he was here to begin with, but it would still have been bigger news.

"We're invisible to just about everybody in this world," Seto said, correctly interpreting the frown, "We got spotted the other day when Yugi's hood came off, but we managed to get away. You can probably see us because you know us."

That didn't explain why Mana was able to see them, but Yami decided he'd worry about that later, "That's probably for the best. You all look far too similar to my father's court. Mana told me she thought she saw me but couldn't get a closer look."

"Your father?" Yugi asked, "You are not pharaoh yet?"

Yami shook his head. "I have been here for about seven years now and am still the prince."

"Seven years!" Malik exclaimed, "Were we in the Puzzle that long? I would have guessed a few days! A week at most!"

"Shadi did tell us that time moved differently inside the Puzzle," Ishizu said, "In fact, there's nothing to say time doesn't move differently here too. When we return to our time we'll know for sure."

Yami was about to ask whether or not she could see the answer, when he noticed something. "What happened to your Items?" Each and every one of them were missing the Items that they had carried for years.

"We haven't had them since we entered the Puzzle," Yugi explained, "But it's probably a good thing we don't have them. Assuming the Millennium Items already exist, it would be hard to explain duplicates."

"The Items exist. My father has the Puzzle…," he trailed off as some guards who were patrolling the streets passed a nearby intersection, "We should talk about this later. If anybody were to see me talking to myself, it would raise far too many questions about my sanity...which is already not held in the highest regard in the inner court. Go wait by the palace gates and sneak in when they open. If you are invisible to this world, it should be easy. Bakura can direct you to my room when night falls."

All six of them fell on one knee. "Yes, Pharaoh."


Yami looked over them and for the first time since he got here, felt like himself. This was his court, not his father's. He was still a pharaoh, and by Ra he would act like it! With all of his memories and experiences, all of the bonds he built, he would finish this game strong.

Yami waited anxiously for night to fall, barely able to come up with reasonable excuses for his lapse in concentration the rest of the day. Mercifully, Aknamkanon seemed to have come to the conclusion that Yami was stressed and should retire for the evening early.

Grateful for the excuse, Yami quickly bade his father good-night and hurried to his room, directing the guards that stood outside to give his door a wide berth tonight. While his court had said that they were invisible in this world, he still needed to be able to open the door and admit them without drawing attention to it.

Night had fallen hours ago now. He tried to keep himself calm, but he ended up resorting to pacing back and forth nervously. What was taking them so long? Did something happen? Did they somehow get caught?

A quiet knock on his door nearly made him jump out of his skin. He quickly crossed the room and cracked the door open, peering out into the corridor. His court stood there, crowded in the shadows, barely visible and hoods drawn. The guards down the hallway gave no indication that six hooded figures had walked past them and approached what should have been one of the most protected rooms in the palace.

"What took so long? What happened?" Yami hissed as he ushered them inside quickly.

Yugi was the first to lower his hood and Yami realized that right now, his hikari was actually taller than him. Not by much, less than an inch, but definitely noticeable since Yami was used to looking down at his hikari. He couldn't wait for his final growth spurt.

"Turns out that we can be seen by anybody compatible with an Item," Yugi explained. "Fortunately it was Ryou and Seto's counterpart took him for a servant."

"Yeah, speaking of counterparts, why the hell is our father walking around with the Eye stuck in his head?" Malik demanded.

"Akhenaden," Yami corrected, "Is one of my father's closest advisors. Apparently he is the one who found the spell to create the Millennium Items." He'd asked his father about the origin of the Items once before when he was younger, only to get a vague answer; he hadn't pursued it further.

Bakura's teeth snapped together audibly. Yami turned to him to see anger he had not seen in decades. "What?" he asked apprehensively.

"Nothing," Bakura said quickly, "It's nothing."

"You'd better speak up."

Bakura flinched while Yami was left standing in shock at his hikari's tone. What had happened for Yugi to be so hostile? Nobody else seemed surprised by this out of character behavior, leaving more questions than answers.

"It will happen regardless of whether I speak or not," Bakura defended, "Prior knowledge won't do anything to prevent what's going to happen. Why stress him out and have him make foolish mistakes?"

Yami laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder, hoping to calm him down. "As nice as it would be to know what will happen, I can't deny that it may not be the wisest idea in this case. Only three days after my first memory here, my father ordered his court to extract a 'Ka beast' from my soul because I had been acting strange. In reality, he nearly inadvertently destroyed my soul. I would rather avoid another experience like that if I can help it, and knowing something that would happen in the future would not help with that."

"Yami," Yugi turned to him seriously, "This is a massive Yami no Game. If you don't win, you could die and bring the world down with you. You need every edge you can get."

"Your true nemesis here is Zorc. He won't appear until you are pharaoh, but he is the one who will plunge Egypt into darkness," Bakura offered, "His one and only weakness is that he cannot exist in light."

That bit of information seemed to calm Yugi down a bit. It did not explain his earlier anger, but with this at least Yami could start preparing for battle. He had no idea when he would ascend the throne and no idea how long after he did that this 'Zorc' would attack. Better to start planning now than to be caught off guard.

"I had guessed this was a Game, but I had no idea the stakes were so high," Yami muttered.

"I don't like being so blind," Ishizu grumbled, her hands running across her collarbone where the Necklace usually rested, "Relying on Bakura's memories is incredibly frustrating."

Yami chuckled. "You don't want to know about frustrating. I miss the Shadows and there is nothing I can do about it until I can claim the Puzzle from my father. I have a feeling that won't happen until I am pharaoh though."

"What's it been like?" Yugi asked, gesturing around, "Living here for so long?"

"Strange. I missed all of you, but I've gotten so used to life here. It's easy to forget sometimes that I don't belong here anymore."

"Have you at least learned your name?"

"Anytime anybody calls me by name, my real name, all I hear is a buzzing noise. It gets annoying."

"What if we found it for you?" Ryou offered.

"Would it make a difference? I can't imagine if I can't hear anybody else say it, you guys would be any different. And I've searched the library records here. Either my name was never written down there, or it's obscured from my vision."

"We're outside the rules of this game," Malik explained, "We found out pretty early on when someone walked right through me. Bakura's been testing limits. We can take food from the market unnoticed and people are completely oblivious to us. They can't even hear us talking."

"Except for the Item Bearers and Mana," Yami corrected, "Which means I need to keep you all hidden. I don't need to be explaining why my doppelganger is running around, or copies of most of my father's court, or why you're only visible to certain people."

"Where do you want us to stay?"

Yami thought for a moment. It would be most convenient for them to stay in the palace, but also the most dangerous. A plan was starting to form in his head that would allow him to visit them whenever he needed, but it was going to take some careful planning to make it work.

"Where have you been staying the last couple of days?"

"Bakura found an abandoned house near the outskirts," Ryou explained, "It's close enough to the palace that we'd be able to be here quickly if you needed us, but also lets us escape into the desert if it came down to it. Very unassuming."

"Stay there then," Yami nodded, "It sounds like it's perfect. I have an idea of how to let you guys help me out, but I need to run it by my father first. If all goes well, then I'll get Mahaddo to place some spells around it so that you don't need to worry about anyone else trying to move in."

"And if all doesn't go well?" Seto asked warily.

"Then I'll have to be a lot more careful about meeting with you guys," Yami shrugged, "Be ready to run, just in case though. My father and Mahaddo may act if they believe I'm in any danger."

Bakura snorted. "Please. Of the people with Millennium Items right now, neither of them are at the top of the list of people to be scared of."

"That wasn't the point," Yami replied, "But out of curiosity, who do you consider someone to be scared of?"

"Priest Seto, for sure," Bakura said thoughtfully, "Akhenaden is certainly near the top of my list for reasons I'll explain another time. And you, I guess. I mean, after you get the Puzzle."

"Bakura, you still should let your guard down around the other Item Bearers," Ryou cautioned, "Things won't be the same as they were 5000 years ago."

"And you should go talk to the Syrians if you think I'm not a threat as I am now," Yami growled, offended that Bakura would think he wasn't much of a challenge unless he had the Puzzle, "I led an army to war and came out victorious when I was thirteen. That was after thwarting an assassination attempt, drawing out the entire espionage ring, and making the general of the Syrian army wet himself."

"Okay okay," Bakura surrendered, "You're very scary. I mean, not to me, but to mere mortal men, absolutely terrifying."

"And you can drop the sarcasm," Yami rolled his eyes, keeping Yugi from saying anything. He'd have to have a conversation with the hikari privately to figure out what exactly was going on. Yugi had never been so hostile before.

Bakura smirked, but fell silent as ordered.

"I'll find an excuse to take a walk through town again tomorrow," Yami said, "One of you will need to lead me to where you're staying so I can send messages if I need to."

"You have messengers you trust enough to send our way without reading the message you're sending?" Seto asked.

"If we write in Japanese, it won't be a problem," Yami replied, "Anybody would assume it's either gibberish or a secret code, one which they have no cipher to decode it with. If you need to get in contact with me, use a messenger hawk. There are a few that are trained to specifically find me."

"Convenient," Seto muttered.

"Very," Yami grinned, "Now as much as I would love for you all to stay here, you really should head back."

With a series of very hesitant good-byes and some assurances that he would see them tomorrow, his Court filed out, careful to not draw the guards' attention to the open door. Confident that Bakura would lead them out safely, Yami went to bed smiling. He knew things would probably go very wrong in the near future, but for now he could rest easy in the knowledge that things were looking up.


And so Yami had reunited with his Court. That time discrepancy between the Millennium Puzzle and the memory world was the main reason why we didn't see much of Yugi and Co. beforehand. At least, that's my excuse.

I'm not sure why I insist on upload so late at night, but apparently my inspiration and creativity peak when I'm trying to go to sleep knowing I have to be up early in the morning. I know I've probably mentioned it before, but this arc is definitely taking longer to get through than I originally planned. If it makes y'all feel better, I've also been working on some of the later chapters (post memory world) of this story, as well as the sequel to Shadow Mages Don't Mix with Wizards that I know a lot of people are looking forward to. Procrastination at its finest people!

Please review :)