Yuugi adjusted his beanie, hoping that none of his hair was sticking out. The whole point of this ridiculous getup was to keep his identity hidden, after all.

He glanced over at Jounouchi. The taller teen had his baseball cap pulled low and his dark-blue hoodie was a few sizes too big, meaning that it did a great job at hiding Jounouchi's figure. Yuugi's own disguise, a similarly baggy grey hoodie, made him feel like a potato.

He bit his lip and glanced around as the game shop came into view. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. No one was loitering around. No oddly similar cars kept driving by. None of that meant they were safe, though. They had no clue what Pegasus could or couldn't do to track them. Nor could they know what was waiting inside the shop.

Yuugi's heart pounded as the door swung open, revealing the familiar walls full of games and his grandfather sitting behind the sales desk. The puzzle-bearer breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that they were the only customers.

From behind the desk, Sugoroku began his usual greeting, only to stop mid-sentence. He gave his grandson a long, searching look, then asked, "Yuugi?"

The teen held his finger to his lips, glancing around nervously. Then he hurried to his grandfather's side while Jounouchi stayed by the door, watching the street through the window.

As his grandson drew near, Sugoroku's gaze hardened and his voice had a serious note when he asked, "What's going on?"

"It's a long story," Yuugi whispered. "But something happened when we met Pegasus. Something bad. We were able to make it back to Domino without anything happening, but we don't know if he's going to send someone after us."

"Isn't this where he'd look for you, though?" Sugoroku pointed out, earning a shrug.

"I know, but we didn't know where else to go and I didn't wanna leave you alone. Plus I have some questions for you about my puzzle."

Sugoroku's gaze darted down to Yuugi's chest, but the puzzle was hidden under thick fabric, making it impossible to see. He looked back up at Yuugi's face, searching his grandson's eyes for something. "Do you still have it?"

Yuugi nodded. "Don't worry. It's just hidden."

"Good, then your questions can wait. Let's get you two somewhere safe first."

"And leave you alone?"

Sugoroku ignored his grandson's worry, focusing instead on where he could send the boys. After a few seconds, he began to mutter, "Nowhere public, that's for sure. Can't do a hotel without using names. I could call one of my friends, but they're so nosy!"

"Wait, friends?" Jounouchi interrupted from his spot by the door, earning an annoyed look from the old man.

"Yes, I have those, even at my age."

"No, that's not-" Jounouchi began, then paused, taking a deep breath as he collected his thoughts. "What I was trying to say was, 'doesn't Anzu live near here?' She always walks to school with Yuug."

"She lives about a 10-minute walk away," Yuugi replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, could we go there? We could call her from a payphone or something since there's no risk of her lines being tapped, right?"

At Sugoroku's concerned look, both teens shrugged and Yuugi explained, "We're trying to be paranoid. Heck, we are paranoid! It's been a crazy day."

"And I'm very curious to hear about it, but that can wait. Go ahead and head to Anzu's, if you can. I'll come over once the shop closes."

Yuugi immediately shook his head, looking worried. "No way! What if they come here looking for me? I don't want you by yourself!"

Sugoroku frowned and it was clear that an argument was brewing. Before it could get underway, though, Jounouchi said, "We can call Honda. He should be home from judo practice by now and he'd love a chance to play bodyguard. He'll be way better protection than either of us if something goes wrong. Plus, if we're not here, they're less likely to mess with your grandpa, right?"

"Probably," Yuugi agreed with an annoyed sigh. "I just don't like leaving him alone."

"Then let's go! The sooner we get to a phone, the sooner we can get this all worked out. We can always come back if our plans don't work, okay?"

There wasn't much that Yuugi could say against that, so he gave his grandpa a hug and then followed his friend out into the late-afternoon sun.

The next hour was full of tense calls and constant paranoia, but eventually, Yuugi found himself sitting in Anzu's living room. Pharaoh sat to his left, invisible to anyone else, while Anzu and Jounouchi sat on the right.

The visible teens worked to distract themselves with mindless conversation and random TV shows, but there was a strained undercurrent. Jounouchi and Yuugi had been purposefully vague on the phone and, now, Anzu kept giving them searching looks. She was able to keep herself under control until her parents finally headed out for their weekly date night with a, "Have fun kids!"

As soon as they were out the door, she turned to her friends and said, "What happened?"

"Like I said, it's a long story," Yuugi replied. "And the others should be here soon. The shop closed a few minutes ago."

The sound of an approaching engine drew all eyes to the window. Outside, a familiar silver motorcycle drew into the driveway. On its back sat Honda and Yuugi's grandfather.

Anzu hurried to the door and ushered the new arrivals into the living room. Once they were seated, all eyes turned to Yuugi.

The teen took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, and was surprised to feel a faint surge of strength. He glanced over at Pharaoh and smiled, sending a mental thank you. Then he faced the group again and began to explain the day's events.

They all listened in relative silence, only interrupting with the occasional question. When he finished, all eyes fell to the puzzle.

"So there's a thing living inside that?" Honda asked, breaking the silence.

"He's not a thing!" Yuugi exclaimed with a glare. "He's a person and he's right here, listening! So be nice!"

As the newly initiated group members exchanged worried looks, Jounouchi sighed and said, "Look, I don't like the idea of something possessing Yuug's body any more than the rest of you, but... I do trust Pharaoh. Whatever he is, he's a friend. He saved our lives and I think that he was more upset than Yuug when they did the whole body-switch thing!"

"This is all pretty hard to buy, guys," Anzu admitted. "Body switching? Real monsters? The game's creator attacking you? Don't get me wrong, I trust you both, but..."

She trailed off to silence and Yuugi could see similar doubt in the others' eyes. A suggestion from Pharaoh made him give his partner an uncertain look. The transparent teen's only response was a shrug.

"I guess we might as well," Yuugi muttered. Then he pulled out his deck. After taking a brief moment to shuffle through his cards, he held one out and said, "Kuriboh, I summon you."

A second later, Kiri was there, happily chirping and flying into Yuugi's arms as the group let out shocked cries. Yuugi ignored them in favor of greeting his monster, then he looked around at the stunned faces and said, "So, we all good on the whole 'magic is real' thing?"

Jounouchi snickered as the others nodded, too stunned for words.

Yuugi merely smiled and continued, "Great! This is Kiri. He's a Kuriboh and he's very nice. You can pet him if you want, but be gentle!"

Then he nudged Kiri towards Anzu and the little fluff ball happily flew over to say hello.

After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and pet the creature, earning a happy chirp. A smile spread across her face. "Oh, he's cute!"

"That's what you're choosing to focus on here?" Honda cried, still looking stunned.

Anzu glared at him. "Well, he is! And what else am I supposed to do? Scream and run away?"

The brunet didn't have a response to that. He just watched nervously as Anzu focused on playing with her new fluffy friend.

Sugoroku watched this all unfold with a furrowed brow before turning his gaze back on his grandson. "I don't like that you've kept this all secret, Yuugi."

"I know, but first I was worried that you'd think I was crazy and then I was worried that you'd try to take away my puzzle," Yuugi explained, glancing over at Pharaoh. "I'm not abandoning my friend just because he's different."

"No, I don't suppose you would," Sugoroku agreed. "He really doesn't know what he is or where he came from?"

Yuugi shook his head. "No, all that he remembers is being inside of the puzzle."

"And there's seven of these things?" Sugoroku clarified, earning a nod.

"That's what Pegasus said."

"Do they all have something inside of them?"

"I don't know," Yuugi mused, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the millennium eye. Everyone looked down at the little golden ball. "I don't sense anything coming from it. What about you, Pharaoh?"

The transparent teen stared at the eye and then shivered. "I do not think that there is a being such as me inside of that thing, but there is something there. It feels... wrong? Slimy? I am sorry, I do not know how to describe it. All I know is that no one should use this item."

Yuugi relayed this information to the rest of the group and they all frowned, looking worried.

"Is it safe to have it on you?" Anzu asked.

"I think so? At the very least, it hasn't tried to do anything," Yuugi replied with a shrug. Then he considered the question a little more and added, "Actually, I bet that it can't do anything unless it has a host. Pharaoh and I found that, when our link breaks, he loses energy fast."

This sparked curious looks from everyone as Honda asked, "How do you break it?"

"Distance. If I take the puzzle off and move too far away, we can't sense each other anymore."

Honda nodded, leaning forward to study the artifact. "And how do you form a link?"

"We're not sure, but we know it's not just from contact. Here, hold this," Yuugi said as he took off the puzzle and handed it to Jounouchi. Then he got up and walked across the room. "See? My link broke, but you can't sense Pharaoh now, right Jou?"

"Nope," Jounouchi replied, looking more than a little freaked out by the puzzle. "Can you take this back, please?"

"Sure," Yuugi agreed, coming back and taking his puzzle once more. As he placed it around his neck, he explained, "The link reformed as soon as I stepped back within the puzzle's 'range'. I didn't even need to put the puzzle on. I'm pretty sure that it first showed up when I was solving the puzzle, but that wouldn't work for the eye. It's all in one piece."

"Maybe you need to place it in your eye," Pharaoh suggested, earning a disgusted look from Yuugi. A look that everyone else shared once the teen relaid this thought.

"It would make sense," Jounouchi admitted, still looking sick. "Otherwise, why would Pegasus wear the creepy thing."

"An eye's a pretty big thing to give up just so that you can summon duel monsters," Anzu pointed out with a shudder.

"We think that it can do more than that," Yuugi said. "Pharaoh and I talked it over and we have a theory that the eye has some sort of ability to sense if someone's telling the truth.

"While we were having lunch, Pegasus asked me a bunch of questions about my puzzle and the millennium items. He was clearly testing what I knew and he seemed certain that I wasn't lying.

"Then, when Pharaoh took over and saved me, Pegasus said something about his eye not showing him that we could fight. Which it wouldn't, because I can truthfully say that I can't fight. It's all Pharaoh."

"That does fit," Sugoroku mused, still frowning. "But why would he want to attack you in the first place?"

"I don't know," Yuugi said. "I was actually hoping that you might have some sort of idea about that. You're the one who found the puzzle, after all, and you used to tell me all kinds of stories about it."

Sugoroku sighed. "As you've likely guessed, most of those less than truthful. I made them up to entertain you. I didn't see any harm in it, at the time. That thing had sat in my home for decades without any sign that it was magical. I had no idea that it actually had a spirit of some sort inside of it. I only told you that it did because, well, that's what all the stories say about old things found in caves! Plus you were such a shy child. Giving you an imaginary friend to talk to seemed like a good way to get you to come out of your shell."

Yuugi flushed and ducked his head while Anzu asked, "Then what do you know about it?"

"Well, it comes from Egypt," Sugoroku began. "I never lied about that. It's a strange tale, though.

"This was years ago, back in my gambling days. I toured the world winning fortunes and then blowing them on fancy hotel rooms and fine dining. One day, I found myself sharing a poker table with a dark-skinned man. An arabian, I assumed. We played many games together and became friends of a sort.

"He told me that he was from Egypt and had come to Monte Carlo to find a master of puzzles. I was intrigued, of course, and asked why. He told me that he would only tell me if I could solve a series of puzzles that he'd brought with him.

"I did so, easily.

"When I'd proved myself, he told me the legend of the gambler's tomb. Supposedly, out in the Egyptian desert, there lay a long forgotten tomb full of deadly puzzles. At the end of the labyrinth was a great treasure, but everyone who tried their hand either gave up or died.

"I was hooked and, back then, far more reckless than I care to admit. I agreed to go with him to Egypt and try my hand at this tomb.

"A few days later, we arrived in Luxor and, from there, we made our way to the Valley of the Kings. There, under the cover of darkness, he showed me the tomb's entrance. He hadn't lied about the puzzles. Even the entryway was a puzzle, which explained why it had remained a secret for so long. You had to know that it was there to see it.

"Anyway, I managed to get us through to the end where I learned the truth of my friend's plan. He'd been looking for a guide, not a partner. When he thought that we'd finished the games, he shot me in the back, leaving me to die. I don't know what happened next, but I heard him scream and, when I dragged myself into the room where he'd gone, there was nothing but a box. The box that held your puzzle, Yuugi.

"I took the box and a secret passageway opened. A safe path out of the tomb. Which was lucky for me, because I wouldn't have been able to make it back through the puzzles. I was too busy bleeding out.

"I put the box in my bag and stumbled my way out of the tomb, but I had little hope for survival. I was still in the middle of a desert, miles from civilization. I had to try, though, and lady luck was on my side. As I stumbled along the valley, someone saw me from above. A British professor, in the valley for an archeological dig."

"Professor Hawkins!" Yuugi interrupted with an excited cry.

Sugoroku smiled. "That's right. He got me to a hospital, which would have been more than enough, but also he came to check on me often. We became friends and still are to this day, as you well know!

"Almost dying had put some things in perspective. I realized that I wanted my legacy to be more than plaques on the walls of gambling dens. I came back to Japan, met your grandma, and the rest is history!"

"How did you get the puzzle out of Egypt?" Yuugi asked. "Doesn't customs try to keep things in the country?"

"Customs wasn't as strict then as they are now and, even if they had been, I doubt that anyone would have guessed what it was. Nothing like your puzzle has ever been discovered in a dig and the eye on its surface doesn't look like a standard Egyptian eye of Horus. If anyone saw it, they probably just thought that it was some kitschy knick-knack that I picked up as a tourist.

"For an archeologist, though, it would have been the sort-of find that made a career. I've thought about giving it to Arthur many times, but my pride held me back. I wanted to solve it first."

Yuugi's shoulders slumped. "So you don't really know anything about what it is then?"

"I'm afraid not. I never would have let you play with it if I knew what it could do, though."

The confession made Yuugi clutch the puzzle, curling over it protectively as his grandfather sighed and held his hands up in surrender. "I'm not going to take it from you. You've already set yourself on a path and, from the sound of it, you're better off keeping the puzzle at this point. Without it, you'd lose your magic and Pharaoh's protection. I have a feeling that you'll need both of those again in the near future."

The teen relaxed and nodded. Then he glanced over at Pharaoh, who was sitting quietly, thinking. "Say, would you guys like to actually meet Pharaoh? It seems silly to have me act as the go-between when he's right here and perfectly capable of speaking for himself."

This earned Yuugi a surprised look from his transparent partner and hesitant agreement from the others. A second later, he forced the switch, leaving Pharaoh to flounder helplessly as all eyes focused on him. "I, um, hello? I mean you no harm?"

"Not the best greeting," Yuugi mused, earning an angry glare from his partner.

"You gave me no warning before forcing this on me. Do not judge me for being unprepared."

Yuugi shrugged, grinning. "Not judging. Just commenting."

"Well, your comments are not appreciated in this moment."

"This is... weird," Honda commented, bringing a halt to the duo's conversation and drawing their gazes back to the group.

Before they could reply, Jounouchi said, "Oh, this is nothing. You should have seen them fight over who should be in charge. It was the weirdest comedy bit I'd ever seen."

Pharaoh flushed as Yuugi cast his eyes to the ground, both too embarrassed to know what to say.

It was Anzu who spoke next, hesitantly offering her hand and saying, "Hi, I'm Anzu, it's nice to meet you?"

"The pleasure is all mine," Pharaoh replied, gently taking her hand and shaking it. "You may call me Pharaoh, if you would like."

"Sure," she agreed, looking stunned. "You're really not Yuugi, though, are you?"

"Jou said something similar earlier. Is there something that I am doing wrong?" Pharaoh asked, glancing around nervously.

"It's not wrong," Anzu explained. "It's just very clear that you're not Yuugi. For starters, the way that you talk is a lot more formal."

Pharaoh relaxed and smiled. "Oh, that is an easy thing to explain. My bond with Yuugi gave me access to many words when before I had none. I find that I enjoy using them to the fullest extent possible. There are so many fascinating ways that one can express themself! A veritable banquet for the tongue!"

"I suppose," she replied with a shrug as Pharaoh turned to face Sugoroku.

He met the old man's gaze and then bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you for sharing your story. Though it does not tell us much, it is more than we knew before. I also thank you for not trying to separate us. I know that my presence is troubling to you, but I promise that I will do my utmost to protect your grandson. I truly do mean him no harm. He is my light in the darkness and it is my mission to ensure that my light endures."

"Of course," Sugoroku muttered, returning the bow.

Then Pharaoh looked at Honda and offered his hand. "Thank you for coming when we called upon you. Yuugi was terribly worried about leaving his grandfather alone. Knowing that you were there greatly eased his mind and allowed us to focus on unraveling the day's events."

Honda stared at the hand for a long moment, then sighed and took it. "Sure thing, man. If I see any sign that you're hurting Yuugi, though, I won't hesitate to throw that puzzle into the deepest hole that I can find."

Pharaoh nodded. "I would expect nothing less."

Then he looked back to where Yuugi was hovering, silently watching. "I think that your family and friends would be more comfortable if you took control again."

"Probably," Yuugi agreed and they switched. Then he looked around and smiled. "So, that's Pharaoh! Isn't he nice?"