"You know his face well," Mahado murmured, studying Marik's finished drawing.

The teen shrugged and glanced towards the balcony. "If that's good enough, then should I go get them?"

"Please do. In the meantime, I shall prepare my item."

Marik nodded and stood up, heading outside to tell Yuugi and Tem that it was time to go. He rounded the corner, then stopped and slowly backed into the room. He glanced behind him and was relieved to see that Mahado was too focused on his task to notice the odd behavior. Then Marik noticed the cheetah curled up by the priest's side.

He grinned and loudly called, "Hey Nedjemet, wanna come get your master with me?"

Both the cheetah and Mahado turned to look at Marik, confusion in their eyes. In response, he merely shrugged and casually wandered outside where Yuugi and Tem were standing side-by-side, staring towards the doorway. A far better position than the one they'd been in five seconds prior.

"Hey guys, Mahado's getting his item all charged up and then we're good to go. You ready to head out?"

They both nodded, then Tem cleared his throat before replying, "Yes, thank you, we will join you in a moment."

"Sounds good!" Marik said, giving them a double thumbs up, then turning as if to head back inside. Instead of moving forward, though, he glanced back at the couple with a knowing grin. "Oh, and Yuugi?

"Yes?"

"Your wig is on the ground, if you care."

The dual responses of Tem's laughter and Yuugi's flustered babbling echoed through the night.

When Tem returned to his room, he immediately strode over to one of the chests, throwing it open, revealing an assortment of carefully stored weapons. He glanced over these, then turned to Marik. "Do you know how to use a khopesh?"

Marik nodded. "Bow and arrow as well, if you have them."

Tem looked impressed, then handed over both a bow and a sword with a sickle-like blade. Marik took the items with reverence, studying them with an appreciative eye while Tem returned his gaze to the trunk. After a moment's hesitation, he pulled out two intricately decorated bronze bracers, handing one to Marik and the other to Yuugi.

Yuugi accepted the bracer with a relieved smile, knowing that this meant that he was coming along. Then he began studying the item closely. "What's this?"

"It is called a DiaDhank," Tem explained, holding out his wrist to showcase the golden version that he was already wearing. "It is the means by which we summon the protectors of Kemet from their temple. Though neither of you possesses an item here, you both know how to summon. Should something happen to Mahado or me, I implore you, take our items and use them as you see fit."

Both Yuugi and Marik nodded, fastening the DiaDhanks to their wrists while Mahado watched with a curious look. He didn't say anything, though.

Then Tem took out another sword and bow, arming himself with them. When that was done, he glanced over at Mahado and said, "I supposed that I should ask if you would care for a weapon, though I already know your answer."

Mahado smiled and held up his left arm, showing the DiaDhank attached to his wrist. "I have the only weapon that I need right here."

"Or, more accurately, the only weapon that you ever bothered to master," Tem muttered as he closed the weapons' chest and moved across the room to another one. From this, he pulled three cloaks of similar fashion to the one still fastened around his neck.

"The night is cold and we may travel quite far. You should take these."

Once everyone was armed and dressed, Tem gave them a final once-over, then led them from the room. This time, when the two guards on duty moved to follow, Tem let them.

Their small party quickly made their way down to the palace stables, where horses and chariots waited. To Yuugi's surprise, no servants moved to hitch the horses. Instead, Tem and the others went about preparing their own transports.

When they were finished, Tem said, "Mahado will be our guide this night. Follow his lead closely and be warned: we do not know what waits for us. We must expect that there will be a fight."

Then he mounted his chariot and motioned for Yuugi to join him. Mahado extended a similar invitation to Marik, then they were off, heading towards the docks where a barge would take them across the Nile.

When they reached the other side of the Nile, they left the barge and rode off into the night. It quickly became apparent that their journey would take some time, so Tem began teaching Yuugi how to steer the chariot. While Yuugi couldn't say that he minded standing with his back pressed against his partner's chest, he did have to ask, "Is this really something that I can learn in a single lesson?"

"Not at all, but I needed some sort of pretence to hold you in my arms," Tem whispered, pressing the lightest of kisses to Yuugi's cheek. "That and even a rudimentary knowledge may prove of some use, should something go wrong."

Yuugi flushed, biting back a giddy smile, though it was tempered by Tem's second statement. "You're still worried about bringing me along?"

"Yes," Tem admitted, "but I could hardly deny you after that ."

"So, to get my way, all I have to do is kiss you?" Yuugi asked, voice deceptively casual.

Tem matched that tone when he replied, "I am still perfectly capable of stopping this chariot and leaving you to walk back."

"But you won't," Yuugi teased, sneakily reaching out his hand to run his fingers over the inside of Tem's arm. The closest to holding hands that he could get when Tem was steering the chariot.

He felt Tem tense for a moment, then, to Yuugi's surprise, Tem switched his hold so that he was driving single handed. Warm lips brushed against Yuugi's ear as a hand snaked around his waist pulling him close, making him shiver as Tem warned, "Two can play at this game, love, and I have had years of training on how to maintain my composure."

"Right," Yuugi breathed, torn between melting at being called 'love' and the selfish desire to see what playing this 'game' would involve. A quick glance at Mahado's chariot cured him of both impulses. They were in a speeding vehicle heading towards a potential fight. Best not to get too distracted.

Tem seemed to be having similar thoughts as he took the reins in both hands once more and resumed his simple lesson.

The millenium ring led them along a similar path to the one that Yuugi's group had taken earlier that day. By the time Akhenamkhanen's mortuary temple appeared in the distance, Yuugi actually felt like he might be able to both stop a chariot and drive it in a straight line. He relayed this thought to Tem, who smiled. "Good. If need be, you have my full permission to take this chariot and ride as far as you can. They are designed to hold both a rider and a bowman, so we have the means to transport almost double our number. You will not be leaving me without an escape."

Yuugi nodded as Mahado held up a hand, signaling that they should all draw to a stop.

Once they had, Tem dismounted, glanced towards the distant shadow of his father's temple, and then approached his friend. "It led us here?"

Mahado nodded. "This part of the valley is home to many temples and tombs, both finished and unfinished. Perhaps your quarry is hiding in one of them."

Tem nodded and motioned for the guards to join them as Mahado began to lead them towards the valley's closest wall.

"How are there multiple tombs being worked on? I thought this place only held kings?" Yuugi whispered, coming to stand beside Marik.

The other teen shook his head. "Kings and favored nobles. There was often more than one tomb being worked on at a time, though the final count was still pretty small."

Yuugi let out a hum of acknowledgement, then fell silent, knowing that surprise could prove key.

It wasn't long before they arrived at a section where the valley wall jutted in, forming an area that was naturally hidden from prying eyes. Here, in this tiny indent, they found a clearly man-made hole set into the wall, just large enough to fit two people standing side-by-side.

Tem and Mahado exchanged confused looks.

"This is not an authorized tomb," Mahado stated in a low whisper.

"No, it is not," Tem agreed. "Though I am not sure how many people would know that on sight alone."

Mahado gave an understanding nod, then glanced back at the guards. "Should we let your men do their job or are you going to be your usual reckless self?"

"Why break with a well-established tradition?" Tem replied with a wink before heading into the dark hole. Both the guards and Mahado sighed, giving each other understanding looks, then they followed after their king. Yuugi and Marik came, too, making up something of a rear guard.

They found themselves walking along a pitch-black tunnel that snaked deep into the cliffside. They all moved with caution, laying hands on the person before them at Tem's whispered instruction. A simple precaution to keep them from tripping over one another. After a while, they began to hear the sound of voices. Then a faint light appeared ahead. Once the voices were loud enough to be understood, Tem signaled for the group to halt.

The first voice was raised, anger in its tone, though all they caught was the final word of whatever it was saying. "-name!"

"I am sorry, my lord!" A second voice replied, sounding desperate. "I do not understand! I have said your name several times over now!"

There was a cry of rage, then silence. After a brief pause, the first voice spoke again, though it sounded quite different. Almost as if another person was speaking with the same voice. "Well you have proved nothing less than useless."

"I have done all that he asked," the second voice snarled. "Why does he even need to hear his name?"

"Because we cannot remember it," the second voice replied, sounding bored. "We cannot remember quite a lot of things, truth be told, but it seemed particularly odd that my name remained while his was lost. Your inability to speak it seems to confirm that it matters in some way."

While this talk of names meant nothing to Mahado and the guards, Yuugi, Marik, and Tem all stiffened. The knowledge that someone else in this place had lost both their memories and their name did not bode well. All three of them had the same thought on who it might be, but why would the real version of the dark god be here? Was this merely a warped memory?

As the two voices continued to speak, Tem began to inch forward, trying to see the source of both the light and the voices. Eventually, he reached a bend in the tunnel. He moved his head forward just far enough to see around the bend and found himself looking into a large, torchlit chamber, easily the size of his own bedroom.

This would have taken a skilled work crew many months to carve out. How long did it take to have it built in secret and who, exactly, were the builders?

Then his eyes took in the chamber's occupants. Three armed men lounged against the far wall while two additional figures stood in the chamber's center. The first one was clearly Ryou's so-called duplicate. Though the dark-skinned man had a clear resemblance to the teen, there were a few differences beyond the skin tone. His eyes, for one. They were far narrower with hard edges. There was also a large scar on his face, just below his right eye.

Not an exact duplicate then, but still, the man could easily be Ryou's twin or older brother.

The second man wore a long cloak and had his back to Tem, making it impossible to identify him based on looks.

Tem knew that he needed to back away lest he be spotted, but he allowed himself a final glance around before he moved. This time, he noticed one last thing of interest. There, resting on the chamber's left side, were tablets. Duel monster tablets containing carvings, several of which he'd never seen before. All of the ones that he knew were powerful creatures with abilities Tem did not wish to face, but the three he didn't know were of particular concern. Their tablets were far larger than the others, reminding Tem of the god's monsters' tablets.

He pulled his head back and returned to the others, motioning that they should leave. If they were found here, the tunnel's dimensions would make for terrible fighting conditions.

The others nodded and followed his instruction, turning to make their way out of the tunnel. As they moved, Tem kept glancing backwards, checking for signs that they were being followed. They had only gone about half way when he saw a dim light approaching. Someone was undoubtedly leaving the chamber.

Tem wordlessly shoved at Mahado's back, a silent signal for speed that the priest passed down the line.

Marik, who was leading the way out, understood the meaning at once. He sped up his pace, moving as quickly as he dared in the darkness. Soon enough, they burst back into the moonlit night. Tem spun around, drawing his sword as he slowly backed away from the tunnel, watching for any sign of movement.

He had barely reached the point where the indent turned back into the main valley when four figures emerged. Three of them were the unknown armed men, but the final one was no stranger.

As Tem stared at his uncle, a defeated feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. I am so sorry father. I remember how much you loved him.

For a moment, Akhenaden stared at his nephew in stunned silence, then his eyes narrowed. "My pharaoh, what are you doing in the valley?"

"I hardly think that I am the one whose actions need explaining," Tem replied as Mahado came to stand by his side. The ring-bearer's eyes were trained on Akhenaden, almost as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

When Akhenaden saw that Tem was not alone, he sighed. Then he raised his hand and called out, "Gadius, come to me!"

Mahado and Tem reacted instantly, each calling out the names of their own monsters. A familiar mage appeared by Mahado's side while a great, red dragon appeared in the sky above them.

Akhenaden paled at the sight of the god's monster and called out, "Diabound, come to me!"

When the summoning was over, four monsters were on the field. On Akhenaden's side hovered two creatures. The first was an armored fighter. The second was clearly one of the creatures from the three large tablets. A towering demonic figure with a heavily muscled torso and a lower body that morphed into the head of a serpent. On Tem and Mahado's side hovered the Sky Dragon of Osiris and the Dark Magician.

In an instant, the four monsters set upon each other, with the fighter attacking the Dark Magician while the demon flew into the sky to take on the Sky Dragon of Osiris.

As the monster's battle commenced, Akhenaden's men drew weapons and charged at Tem's group. Tem and his guards met their attackers readily, blades already drawn.

In the seconds before blades clashed, Tem allowed himself one brief glance behind him. He almost slumped with relief when he saw that Yuugi was already gone. Marik, on the other hand, had drawn his bow, holding it ready for the moment when a target presented itself.

Yuugi sprinted across the valley as fast as he could run. At first, he'd planned to follow Tem's instructions and take one of the chariots. He'd abandoned that idea when the Sky Dragon of Osiris appeared in the sky above. If there was going to be some sort of aerial battle, then his best bet was to get indoors, so he headed for Akhenamkhanen's mortuary temple.

Though it didn't take him long to get there, he was still panting as he slumped against the doorway, thinking, Okay. Fine. Honda wins. I'll let him put me on that training regiment when we get home.

The distant sounds of battle made him wince, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the temple's cold, stone wall. There was nothing you could do. You would have only been in the way. Tem needed to be able to focus. Running wasn't cowardly.

As much as he knew those thoughts were true, it still hurt his heart to know that his... boyfriend? Lover? Whatever, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Tem was fighting while missing massive amounts of important memories.

That thought made Yuugi look towards the inside of the moonlit temple consideringly.

I can't fight, but I can always give that cartouche another look. Maybe we missed something. Maybe I can still help.

Marik held his bow nocked and ready, waiting for an opportunity to fire it at one of the dueling pairs. The three warriors were engaged in whirling sword fights against Tem and his guards, making them worthless targets. That only left the guy with the millennium eye, but he was hiding against nearby boulders. To get a shot at him, Marik would have to go through the fight. Not something he considered worth trying right now. The risk of getting in an allies way was just too great.

As his frustration mounted, new movement caught his eye. He glanced over and saw Ryou's double stepping out into the night, a torch in his hand.

Marik took the chance, sending his arrow flying, cutting the torch in half.

Ryou's double immediately dropped the remaining half and spun to find his attacker. When his eyes fell on Marik, the double's lips twisted in a demented smile. He reached to a sheath hanging at his side and pulled out a short sword. In response, Marik set his bow down and drew his khopesh, a clear invitation.

The man laughed and then moved, darting past the other fighters with an acrobat's grace. Then he was on Marik. Their blades flashed as the sounds of battle pierced the night.

The double was a skilled fighter, but Marik didn't care. He would best this man and then demand the answers he desperately needed to hear.

Yuugi ran his fingers over the broken cartouche and bit his lip. He scanned the moonlit wall for clues, but nothing new stood out to him.

"Okay, so this is a dud," he muttered. Then he glanced around the temple. "But there could be something else we missed. If I had to hide something, where would I put it?"

There was something wrong with that question. He thought about it for a second, then realized what it was. "I'm going about this the wrong way. This whole time I've been following Marik's lead and that's wrong. It doesn't matter where I'd put it or where it would have been in reality. What matters is where would Tem hide it?"

Yuugi thought back over all of the games they'd played together. One thing about those memories stuck out. "He plays to beat his opponent as much as he plays to win. He'll do something seemingly insane if he thinks it'll give him the upper hand. How does that translate here? How does he hide his ren in a way that ensures that the prison never opens? "

As much as Yuugi didn't want to admit it, the answer was obvious. Everyone knew there was only one way to make sure that you didn't lose: you simply didn't play the game.

He brought his hands up, using them to hide his face as frustrated tears began to pool in his eyes. Tem wanted to make sure that the prison would never open. The only way to do that was to destroy the key or, as was more likely the case, make it that you had to know the key to reveal it. Make it both the lock and the prize all at once. That meant that the ren wasn't missing from here , it was missing everywhere .

"No," Yuugi muttered, lowering his hands and looking around the temple. "No, that can't be it. Ishizu said that the prison will open, our only choice was who did it. I have to believe that she's right, but how? I know Tem. I'm certain about how he'd cast his spell. This cartouche practically proves it! That means that the question can't be 'where did he hide it'. The question would have to be... It would have to be 'what did Tem miss'."

A great, screeching cry filled the night, making Yuugi wince and glance towards the windows behind him. Whatever was going on outside, it didn't sound good.

"Nope, don't think about it," he said, closing his eyes and placing his hands on the sides of his head. "Focus on the puzzle. Assume you have all the pieces. What are the facts? What are we missing?

"Fact one: the ren exists somewhere, otherwise the prison would never open.

"Fact two: it's somewhere Tem either wouldn't think of or couldn't touch.

"Fact three: Tem's spell was able to hit everyone alive at the time, so we have to assume that the same was true for documents and monuments. Assume that he didn't have to list things one by one."

Yuugi went back over that list, looking for answers, and found none. He groaned, running his hands down his face in frustration. "I don't get it! As best I can tell, there's nothing in this world that wouldn't be touched by the spell!"

That frustrated thought triggered another. Something fleeting that Yuugi almost dismissed, but then he latched onto it, running it through his mind. We aren't just dealing with this world, though, are we? This is a war of two worlds. Could that be important somehow?

It had to be, so Yuugi thought on what he knew of names and summoning. The god's monsters only respond to the pharaoh, right? How do they know that Tem's the one summoning them? A ceremony. Okay, what would that ceremony actually entail? They don't mark him in any visible way. He can summon them even when he's using my body. It's not his DiaDhank, either. He summoned that dragon without it. It could be the puzzle, but that doesn't seem right. That would still let pretty much anyone summon them, so why bother with a ceremony?

An idea began to form in Yuugi's mind. We summon monsters by their names, what if that goes both ways? What if that's how they know who the pharaoh is? What better act of trust than giving someone the thing that gives them power over you and getting the same in return?

Could that be what Tem missed? Would he have thought to send his spell across the gate? Did he even have that power? No. No, he couldn't have. The Sky Dragon of Osiris still responds to him. It wouldn't do that if it had forgotten him. I bet, if we asked the duel monsters, they'd still know the names of both the enemy and their ally.

That could be it. If that thing in the tunnel was the dark god, then he's missing his name and memories, too. He might still have allies in the old world, but he doesn't know that. Doesn't know to ask them about what he's missing. It's a solution that they could come up with just as easily as we could. An answer that would let either side unlock the prison.

Yuugi glanced out through the windows. In the distance, the Sky Dragon of Osiris fought with a giant, demon-like thing. I can't exactly go out there and ask now. I'm pretty sure I'd die before I got close enough to be heard. Plus I'd risk the enemy hearing my theory. If only I could use our bond!

His gaze fell from the windows to the bronze DiaDhank strapped to his arm. He ran his fingers over the elegantly shaped metal. I do have our bond, though. It's how I learned Kemetic. It's just artificially repressed. Everything we see and feel is artificial. It's not reality. In reality, our bond is still there and the puzzle is still around my neck. I'm still an item bearer. My magic might be weak, but maybe I can still summon monsters, even if they're just the puny ones that no one bothers to run in their decks.

Yuugi placed his hand on his chest at the spot where his puzzle would normally hang and closed his eyes. He offered a silent prayer and then said, "Kuriboh, I summon you."

Back in the Ishtar mansion, Ishizu and Rishid stared at Yuugi's comatose body in shock as the puzzle hanging from the teen's neck glowed. A moment later, a little ball of brown fluff appeared in the air beside Yuugi's body and let out a confused, "Kiri?"