Yuugi and Marik left the palace in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. After a while, Yuugi glanced over at his companion and asked, "Are you okay?"

Marik started slightly, then gave Yuugi a confused look. "What?"

"You seemed pretty shocked by the whole family thing back at the palace. I know I was and it's not even my family. How are you handling it all?"

"Oh, that? Yeah, no, I'm fine. I've always known that the 'blood of the pharaohs' flowed in our veins, I just hadn't really thought it all through. The freakout was mostly because I had no idea that my sister looks just like my..." he paused, considered something, and then shrugged. "It'd take all day to list the insane amount of 'greats' that go before the word 'grandma', so let's just call her my 'super great grandma'."

As Yuugi laughed, Marik grinned briefly before lowering his gaze to the ground and frowning. There was clearly something on his mind, so Yuugi waited. Eventually, the Egyptian sighed and said, "You know, my father would have been thrilled by the similarity, if he was still alive. It's proof that our royal blood runs strong."

That single statement sparked a whole series of questions, but Yuugi remained silent. He figured that this was a conversation that Marik needed to lead. After another pause and a few hesitant glances at his companion, Marik said, "Sorry, you shouldn't have to listen to me mope about my family drama."

"I don't mind," Yuugi replied with a shrug. "I'd honestly like to know more about you, if you're comfortable sharing. After all, I'd like to think that we're at least starting to be friends."

Marik bit his lip, considering the offer. Then he took a deep breath and started rambling. "I didn't hate my father. I kind-of loved him and I think he felt the same way about me? We never really saw eye-to-eye, though. He was obsessed with tradition and following our duty. As you may have noticed, I'm not too enamored by either of those things. At least, not in the same way that he was. Honestly, he was a lot like Ishizu, only a thousand times more traditional. Which is why all of his attention was focused on me instead of her even though she was the better heir.

"Don't let those who romanticize the past fool you. Women held a ton of power in ancient Egypt, but only when you compare it to other ancient societies. If you're looking at it from an objective standpoint, women were still the lesser sex by far. Like, there's a reason that the word "pharaoh" conjures a male image unless it's paired with specific names. Those biases carried straight through three-thousand years of gatekeeper history along with all sorts of other bullshit like obsessions with lineage and blood purity.

"We don't do the whole incestuous marriage thing anymore, mind you, but there's still all kinds of stupid biases because we're of the 'blood of the pharaohs'. In fact, there came to be this idea that we were the pharaohs, in a sense. That Egypt was our family's birthright and only biological Ishtar children and relatives deserved to benefit from our wealth.

"Not everyone agreed with that notion. My mother certainly didn't, but my father? Yeah, he was all for it. I think all he wanted in life was a male heir of his own blood. Then he got it, got me, and I destroyed his dream of a perfect heir pretty much from day one.

"I thought I'd moved past my resentment over all that. I guess I haven't," Marik finished with a sigh. Then he seemed to realize just how long he'd been babbling and added on, "Sorry. That was probably more than you ever wanted to know."

Yuugi shook his head. "Not true! It sounds like you need to get this out and I really do want to know more about you. In fact, I think you just answered a question of mine. If this is out of line, you don't have to confirm, but what you said about blood purity? Is that why Rishid's training got delayed?"

"How did you know about that ?" Marik asked, looking shocked.

"Well, we kind of got to talking on the plane," Yuugi admitted, embarrassed. Then he briefly summarized his conversation with the soft-spoken man.

When he finished, Marik chuckled softly. "That's Rishid for ya. He's always been less embarrassed by the whole thing than the rest of us were.

"To answer your question, though: yeah, that's why he's behind me. Even though he came to live with us before I was born, his real training didn't begin until after our parents passed away four years ago. I was only 13 at the time and way too young to take on the family business. It passed to Ishizu instead and, as far as I'm concerned, she can keep it! She actually likes it and is doing a great job. Like one of her first acts was to let Rishid move from guard training to full-out, official gatekeeper and item-holder training, which he should have been doing all along. We have three items. There was no reason to leave him out."

Realizing that this statement was failing to carry the weight it should, Yuugi asked, "What does training mean for you guys?"

"For a regular guard? Not much. Mostly some basic magic, history, and several fighting styles. For me, though? Let's see..." Marik fell silent for a few moments, thinking. Then he began to list off all of the training he'd gone through. "There was magic usage, item usage, drawing, English, Egyptian-Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, Kemetic, Japanese, French, a bunch of boring political stuff, the detailed history of Kemet, the history of all of the visions that have happened since the order was founded, mathematics, geography, sword fighting, mixed martial arts, horseback riding, and archery. I think that's it? Oh, wait, no. I forgot the family business stuff. Have to keep those coffers full so that we can keep hold of the sacred lands!"

The longer the list went on, the bigger Yuugi's eyes grew. When Marik finally finished, the smaller teen couldn't help but cry, "How did you fit all that in? What, did you start when you were two ?"

"Four, actually," Marik replied with a shrug. "Ishizu went through largely the same rigmarole, though as a girl, she got to skip all the fighting stuff. Which is too bad. The fighting was the best part most days. Meant I got to at least move around. This was all done through private tutors, by the way. It allowed us to move at an 'accelerated pace as is befitting of an Ishtar child'.

"Rishid, on the other hand, got to go to a real school. Play soccer. Have a girlfriend, though that didn't last long. All that normal person stuff. He still managed to pick up the languages, though. It would have been impossible to avoid them. Every day, father would choose a different language to be the only thing spoken outside of lessons. Heaven help you if you couldn't do it."

"But how did you have time for friends? Games? Fun?" Yuugi asked, still trying to wrap his head around what the Ishtars' childhoods must have been like.

"We didn't," Marik stated bluntly. "Until I was nine years old, the only friends I had were my siblings and 'fun' was being allowed to study unattended."

"What changed when you were nine?"

"Part of our organization's duties are to make sure that we're always involved or at least informed of any archaeological digs happening in Egypt. When I was eight, my father decided that I was old enough to start tagging along and learning how we handle ourselves. It mostly meant being too hot and listening to him prattle on with forign professors.

"That all changed when the British museum got approval for a new dig in the Valley of the Kings. Since it was summer, the professor leading the dig brought along his son. It was the first time I had the chance to meet someone my own age. The first time I made a friend who wasn't related to me. In fact, until now, it was the only time I made a friend who wasn't related to me."

Sensing that there was a story here, Yuugi asked, "What happened to him?"

"Happened to-?" Marik echoed in a confused tone. Then his eyes widened slightly and he let out a small laugh. "Oh! Oh, no, that wasn't some short-lived thing. He's still around. My best friend, actually. Almost a decade later and he still puts up with me."

A soft smile spread across Marik's face and a distant look entered his eyes. Then he seemed to remember where he was. After shaking his head lightly to clear his thoughts, he looked at Yuugi and added, "You've met him, by the way."

It took Yuugi a moment to put the pieces together, but then he grinned and exclaimed, "The British guy from the museum, right?"

"British-Japanese, but yeah, t-that's the one. His name's Ryou, though I usually call him Ry or Ry-Ry," Marik babbled, looking away and messing with his hair as his dark skin flushed the lightest shade of crimson.

Yuugi didn't comment on this. Instead, he said, "He seemed to be pretty into Egyptology."

"Which is about the only reason that my father tolerated the friendship," Marik admitted. "He didn't like me spending time on things that weren't my studies, but I was pretty desperate to impress Ry. I always worked way harder when he was around and dear old dad noticed. It's also why my Japanese and English are leagues better than my siblings'."

"Wanna tell me about him?" Yuugi asked casually.

Marik narrowed his eyes and studied his companion closely, almost as if he wasn't certain that Yuugi was being serious. Then he grinned and said, "Yeah, okay. Wanna hear about the time we stole a horse? Well, I stole a horse. Ry just kind of held on and tried to pretend it wasn't happening."

As Yuugi laughed, Marik launched into an animated recounting of his daring heist. The story was a long one, only finishing shortly before their group's 'safe house' came into view.

The duo came through the doorway high on laughter and good company, ready to share the next phase of their mission with the rest of their group. Those good feelings faded as soon as they saw the looks on the others' faces.

Marik's posture immediately switched from relaxed to tense, eyes darkening as he asked, "What happened?"

All Tem wanted to do was curl up in his bed and let himself process everything that had happened today. From the return of his memories to the realization of his feelings for Yuugi, it was starting to feel like too much for one person to handle.

He couldn't do that, though. They were on a time limit here and he had a duty to find out everything he could about his past. It was a strangely familiar feeling. Was I often so overwhelmed by my responsibilities? I remember joy and love from my childhood, but my later memories all seem weighted down as if I was constantly on the brink of collapse. I had just lost my father, though. Truly, memory is a strange creature.

Tem considered this as followed along behind his sister. Eventually, he frowned and glanced up at her, studying the back of her head. And here is a prime example of the strangeness! How did I not remember that Ishizu and my own sister were near duplicates? That should have struck me from the start, but it did not occur to me until I saw her.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that similar things had been happening all day. He'd walk into a room and be struck by an old memory that he would previously have sworn he didn't have. See a familiar guard and suddenly remember training with that same man. I suppose that this is simply how memory works. You can not think of everything you know all at once. You must rely on people and things to bring specific memories to light. This might mean that I have more knowledge than I thought. I just need the right spark.

He was still puzzling over this idea when they arrived at the entrance to Seti and Isis' chambers. Walking through the doorway certainly sparked a few memories, but they were nothing compared to the rush that came upon seeing the room's current occupant. It was a young man dressed in a simple, white, linen tunic that draped down to his knees. Though his skin was a rich bronze and his head was shaved bald like all priests were, the similarities between this man and Seto Kaiba were unmistakable. If Tem hadn't known better, he would have guessed that Seti was Kaiba's father or brother.

I suddenly have a theory as to how Kaiba obtained his item, Tem mused as his cousin looked up from the papyrus scroll he'd been studying. He took in the guards trailing behind Tem and Isis, then gave Tem a pointed look.

After a brief roll of his eyes, Tem turned and instructed his men to wait in the corridor, which they dutifully did.

Once they were gone, Isis began the expected lecture and Seti soon joined in. As the two blathered on about the importance of punctuality and projecting an air of regal divinity, Tem couldn't help but smile. Though he found no joy in the lecture itself, there was a fond nostalgia to this moment.

So the lord of duty and the lady of responsibility inherited Kemet. The country must have run as surely as the Nile. I would have liked to see that.

"Tem, are you paying attention to a word that we speak?" Seti asked with a frown.

"I would never deign to ignore your wisdom, cousin. Any lack of attention you perceive is merely the mask created by my simple affection for two that I love dearly."

The husband and wife exchange confused looks. Then Isis approached, laying a hand on her brother's forehead. "You have no fever of which to speak, yet you are acting strangely. Does this have anything to do with what happened this morning in the audience chamber? Rumor tells that you unexpectedly left in the middle of your allotted time there and did not return for almost an hour."

And as ever, gossip flows through the palace faster than the inundation. I wonder if their knowledge of that moment is honestly gained or if they know simply because I assume everyone must know. How much of their behavior reflects reality and how much is warped by my perception of them? Tem wondered. Aloud, he said, "I am fine and today's discretion will not be repeated. That incident was a moment of weakness brought on by thoughts of those who came before me."

Understanding flashed in two sets of dark eyes and all of the judgement drained from them. As Seti sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, Isis took her brother's hands and said, "I know that the impending coronation must be weighing heavily on you, but if you are missing father, come to us. We will share in memories with you and perhaps even find time to visit his temple. Do not turn to the unknown son of an old ally. You will not find comfort there and you cannot trust strangers so blindly."

"I will remember that should such feelings rise again," Tem promised. Then he turned to Seti and said, "I believe that you wanted to speak with me on matters far greater than my lunch guests."

"Indeed," Seti agreed, handing over a papyrus scroll. "We have the latest reports from Shada and Karim. They were able to use Zelua to track down the raiders near the Dakhla Oasis. The battle was swift and the foe was eliminated. They plan to scour the nearby desert over the next two days to be certain, then return here in time for your coronation and the new year's festivities."

Tem nodded regally, looking over the report, trying to hide the fact that most of those names meant nothing to him. After reading through the scroll, he realized that Shada and Karim must be item users. If so, then he would undoubtedly have been the one to send them on this mission.

Armed with this knowledge, Tem handed the scroll back and said, "Excellent news. I look forward to their full report."

Seti returned the scroll to the small pile before him and then began to give brief summaries of the other scrolls' contents. Tem thanked every god in the pantheon that Seti was only informing and not asking for commentary or follow-up orders, because these scrolls made even less sense to Tem's fragmented memories. He was clearly missing a large part of the knowledge needed to effectively rule the country.

As they neared the end of the pile, another man entered the room. He was dressed in a similar fashion to Seti, though he was significantly older. He also wore a golden eye lodged in his right eye socket.

Tem knew that he must know this man, but he couldn't place him until Seti said, "Hello father, what brings you to our chambers?"

"I wanted to discuss something with you, but I can see that you are busy. I shall return later."

"There is no need," Tem decreed. "I believe that Seti has the situation well in hand and I am expected at the temple of the protectors soon."

With that, Tem gave his goodbyes to his assembled family and then swept from the room. Though he'd left under the guise of responsibility, it had been a move born of fear. An uneasy feeling had lodged itself in his gut. So that man is my uncle. Father's brother, if memory serves. Why then can I barely remember him? And that eye... It reeks of poison in the future. Is the same true now?

"And you're sure it was him?" Marik asked for the fourth time, earning groans and sympathetic looks from the rest of the group as Jounouchi growled, "Yes, we are absolutely certain. No, it wasn't just cause the dude had white hair. Yes, all of us who met him agreed. Did I hit all the questions or did I miss one?"

"You got them all," Marik muttered, biting his lip and returning to his previous task of scanning the distant horizon, as if hoping to spot a glimpse of Ryou. They'd been walking through the desert for a while now and, between the heat and Marik's constant worrying, tensions were running high.

In an effort to break that tension, Anzu asked, "So, can you go over what exactly this temple is? Some kind of shrine to Tem's dad, right?"

"His mortuary temple," Marik clarified. "Never heard one called a 'shrine' before, but I suppose that's not inaccurate. In fact, it might be the best analogy since you're Japanese. You guys have those little shrines to the dead in your houses, right?"

Anzu nodded and said, "Yeah, which kind were you talking about, a tamaya or a butsudan?"

Marik just stared at her, face blank, making Anzu grin sheepishly. "Okay, yeah, expecting you to know the difference was a little much. You've been a great guide so far and I sort-of forgot that you probably wouldn't know Japanese customs in the same way you know Egyptian ones."

"I'm good, but not that good," Marik teased. "Most of my knowledge of Japan comes from watching anime with Ry."

"Maybe you should just explain it using what you think you know about Japanese practices. We'll butt in if you start talking about magical girls or gundams," Otogi suggested with a wink, making the group laugh.

As the mirth faded, a now smiling Marik made a dismissive gesture and said, "Fine, fine, make fun of the foreigner. Not like you'd be hopeless lost without him or anything."

Jounouchi threw an arm over Marik's shoulder and feigned confusion. "What are you talkin' about? We've got Yuug' and gramps to guide us. You're just the backup now, bud."

"Hey, don't put that role on me!" Yuugi cried in alarm. "I think the whole 'ren' incident made it pretty clear that my knowledge is surface at best!"

"And this is why you're my favorite," Marik replied, smiling at his diminutive friend. "You appreciate me, unlike these heathens ."

"Can we please go over what the shrine is before we get there?" Anzu interrupted with an amused shake of her head.

The others grinned and nodded, ceding the floor to Marik who shook off Jounouchi's arm and said, "Once again, the word is 'mortuary temple', not 'shrine'. I was comparing it to your shrines because of the whole offering element. My limited knowledge says that you leave food and stuff as offerings to the dead, right?"

"Let's keep it simple and just say 'yes'," Anzu replied before any of the others could say something.

Marik nodded appricatively and continued, "Well, you might see that here, too. Funerary practices in these days were complex, to put it mildly. Let's see. The best place to start is probably explaining what exactly this temple is and then going from there.

"So, wealthy Egyptians began work on their tombs years before they died. Part of that work was the actual tomb itself. You know, that thing in the ground that got sealed off when you died. The other half of the equation was a thing called a 'mortuary temple'. Arguably the world's most elaborate tombstones, though some might give that honor to the pyramids.

"Anyway, mortuary temples don't necessarily mark the grave's location. They did in the early days, but practices changed because of tomb robbers. By this point in history, mortuary temples were usually just placed in the same general location.

"I compared them to tomb stones because they're the place where the dead person is memorialized. They're where people come to pay respects to the departed. They're also elaborately decorated with records of who the dead was and what they did while on earth. They could be massive complexes. Like Djeser-Djeseru, the mortuary temple dedicated to the famed Hatshepsut, was a full three-stories and carved into the side of a cliff!

"They weren't just a memorial, though. They were staffed temples with priests who would perform rituals and give offerings to the deceased's ka so that they could be sustained in the afterlife. Depending on when we arrive, you might even get to see some of those rituals.

"That's not why we're going, though. Our goal here is to explore the temple and look for records relating to Tem. It's hard to know what we'll find. It wasn't unheard of for a pharaoh to mention his successor in his temple, especially since the temples were often finished by that same successor. It also wasn't unheard of for there to be no such mentions."

"How can we help? Isn't all the writing gonna be hieroglyphs?" Honda asked.

Marik stopped and squatted down, etching a shape in the desert sand. It was a long oval with a line on the bottom end. "You can't read, but you can look for these. They're called cartouches and you only see them drawn around the names of pharaohs and some gods. Hopefully, Tem's name would be inside one now that he's pharaoh. Yuugi and I can do more detailed reading, but this place is big. It'll be a huge help if you can look for these instead of having us scan every bit of text. You can probably even learn how to read Akhenamkhanen's name so that you know if a cartouche is worth examining. That sound like something you guys can handle?"

The others nodded and Marik grinned, rising to his feet one once more. "Good. Come on. If my mental map is right, we're getting close."

Tem drew his chariot to a halt in front of the massive temple dedicated to the protectors of Kemet. While many of Kemet's temples had sections where the public was bared, none were so well-guarded as this one. Soldiers stood outside every door and only seven people were allowed entrance unescorted. Anyone else who wanted inside had to be accompanied by one of these seven. Even Tem's guards were required to wait outside unless the pharaoh invited them in, which he did not.

Instead, he entered the temple alone, walking across the stone floor, staring up at the tablets lining the walls. Each one was carved with a spell and the image of a different creature. The protectors of Kemet or, as they would one day be known, 'duel monsters'. He had hoped that being here would spark some sort of useful memory, but none came. All he got were vague feelings that he'd been here before.

"Good afternoon, my pharaoh, may life, prosperity, and health be ever with you," a voice said, drawing Tem's attention to a doorway at the opposite end of the hall. A young man was waiting there, bowing respectfully to his sovereign.

"Mahado, please, we are alone here. How many times do I need to tell you that there is no need for such formality?" Tem said by way of greeting as he came to stand before his old friend.

The priest and bearer of the millennium ring rose from his bow and smiled. "At least once more, my pharaoh."

Tem laughed and shook his head. "Very well. Shall we?"

Mahado nodded and led the way into the next room. Once there, Tem froze. Unlike the previous room, which had been lined with dozens of tablets, this one only held three. They were noticeably larger than the others and each sat in a place of honor similar to how other temples honored the statues of gods and goddesses. The other striking difference was that, though these tablets held spells, the monsters' names were noticeably absent.

That's right, Tem though. Their names were a secret known only to father and I. There was a ritual here. A ceremony to give me the power to summon them. I remember coming here and preparing for it with father, but I can not remember anything after that. What transpired between us is hidden from my memory. When I try to recall it, all that I can summon are vague flashes.

"Are you alright, my pharaoh?" Mahado asked, breaking him from his stupor.

Tem smiled and nodded. "Yes, shall we begin?"

Together, he and Mahado performed the series of daily offerings and prayers meant to honor these great beasts. As they worked, Tem thought, I remember this well enough. Why then can I not remember the ritual of binding? Without that memory, their names are lost to me. I can only recall the Sky Dragon of Osiris and that is because of memories from the modern world. How was that name known to the Ishtars?

When next I see Marik, I must ask him for that all he knows about these creatures. I must gain the ability to summon all three.

When they arrived at the mortuary temple, they were greeted by a priest who looked over the group with a curious eye. The man then turned to Marik who smiled and said, "My cousin and I are acting as translators and guides for these foreigners. They wished to come here and pay homage to the Great Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen who so recently crossed into the realm of Osiris."

The priest nodded. "It is good to see foreigners appreciating their betters. Life, prosperity, and health to you."

"Life, prosperity, and health to you as well," Marik replied as the man wandered off. Then he turned to the group and said, "Okay, time for our little scavenger hunt! Half of you go with Yuugi and tell him when you spot something. The other half come with me!"

For the next hour, the two groups wandered through the temple, admiring the artwork and searching for any sign of Tem's true name.

It was Anzu who finally spotted something and she called Marik over with a worried sounding, "What's this?"

Marik looked up and saw that she was pointing to a section of the wall. He excitedly came to join her, then frowned as he stared at what she'd found. There was indeed a cartouche on this wall, but it was unlike anything Marik had ever seen. The first strange element was that it was blank, just like the cartouche on the tablet of the nameless pharaoh. The cartouche on that tablet had been complete, though. This one was cracked. The edges jagged as if someone had torn the cartouche open.

"What does it mean?" Honda asked as he came to stand beside the other two.

Marik shook his head, eyes worried. "I don't know. Cartouches are symbols of protection, meant to keep the pharaoh's ren safe. I've never seen one broken like this. To break a cartouche is to destroy its protection, I think."

"Do you think this is supposed to hold Tem's name?" Anzu whispered, reaching out as if to touch the broken carving, then pulling her hand back, as if thinking better of it.

Marik nodded. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Come on, let's go find the others."

It didn't take them long to find the other half of their group and bring them back to the broken cartouche. After all four of them had a chance to take it in, Otogi asked, "So what does this mean for us? Do we keep looking or...?"

Marik sighed. "No. I don't think there's any point. This pretty much confirms Tem and my fears. The physical records are destroyed just like the mental ones. The fact that the cartouche is broken worries me, though. Plus there's no sign of Ry's look-a-like. I'd hoped we'd see him somewhere in the valley. That he was just coming to one of the temples. That still might be true, there are a lot of them, but something tells me there's more going on here. It's too big a coincidence."

"We could look around and see if we could find him?" Jounouchi suggested.

It earned a grateful smile, but Marik still dismissed the idea. "As much as I'd like to, we don't have that kind of time. You saw how big this place is and it's one of dozens, though not all of them are quite this grand."

"Speaking of time, there can't be much left," Sugoroku pointed out. "If I understood your sister correctly, there might be some element of time dilation in a spell focused on the mind, but I don't think it's going to give us days."

"You're right," Marik agreed. "It won't. At best, I think we'll get until some time tomorrow. Maybe even the day after, if we're lucky, but I don't want to bet on us being lucky. We have to assume tonight's it. This spell takes a lot out of the casters. If we don't get answers before it's done, we'll likely have to wait a few days before Rishid and Ishizu have the energy to cast it and protect us at the same time."

"Marik and I are supposed to meet Tem at dusk," Yuugi reminded everyone. "Let's stick to that plan and hope he's either found something or has a way to help us. If he's just as lost as we are, then I think our best path forward is to use magic to search out Ryou's duplicate. He's the only oddity we've found and, if it's nothing, then at least we'll know to ignore him on the next go around."

The others considered this for a moment and then, one by one, they gave their agreement. None of them could see another way forward.