Yugi glanced up at the clock for what seemed like the twelfth time that hour while the instructor droned on. It was the last class of the day so of course it would drag by. He wanted to go back to the museum to see if there were any more clues that could have been missed. From how dire their situation sounded, they were going to need every possible advantage they could get.

Looking down at the Puzzle, he frowned. The Spirit hadn't made his presence known since that morning. Even when he tried to communicate with him their mind link was closed. Which was really odd since he seemed to be fine when they were talking. Feeling something bounce off the back of his head caused him to glance over his shoulder. Joey was holding up a scribbled drawing of the Millennium Puzzle with a question mark next to it. Yugi shrugged his shoulders making Joey signal his answer to Tristan.

"Mr. Mutou! Is there a problem?"

"Uh, nope!" Yugi quickly turned back to the front of the class. "I-Im sorry!" He put his arm behind his head in embarrassment as the rest of the class who wasn't asleep laughed.

"I thought that separating you from Mr. Wheeler would prevent any unwanted disruptions in my class. Apparently, I was wrong." The instructor slammed his book down. "If you make anymore, I will have you expelled from this class! Do you understand?" He barked.

"Yes, sir!" Yugi yelped grabbing his book unknowingly holding it upside down.

At long last, the bell chimed to signal that class was over. As the rest of the students scrambled to leave for home, the four friends stayed behind.

"Sorry about earlier, Yug. I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Joey said taking a seat next him.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Yugi laughed. "That instructor has always been out to get us."

"Thanks a lot, Joey, you're going to get him kicked out!" Téa glared at him. "What were you doing anyway?"

Joey's voice was panicked. "I was just asking about the Pharaoh, that's all! He said that he hadn't been talking much since yesterday."

Yugi's face fell. "Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on. He was fine this morning, but now he won't answer me. I know it's about yesterday, so I'm going back to the museum to see if there's anything that we missed." He glanced over to Téa. "Want to go again?"

Joey almost fell out of his chair. "No way! You can't go back there! Didn't you hear the rumors?"

"Oh, here we go." Tristan rolled his eyes.

"Huh? What kind of rumors?" Yugi asked.

"This!" Joey plopped a newspaper down on Yugi's desk making everyone gather around. "I read it on my paper route this morning and let me tell you I almost crashed my bike after reading it!"

"Scare At Domino Museum, Is it the Mummy's Curse?" Tristan read before leaning back in his chair. "I'm pretty sure they pull this stunt on every Egyptian exhibit that rolls through town."

Joey sprang from his seat waving his arms frantically. "B-but, but! They said that things have been moved around and stuff keeps tripping their alarms! The place has got to be cursed!"

Téa picked up the newspaper and scanned through the article. "Oh, please. It's like Tristan said. They tried this with King Tut's "curse" back in the 1920's. The things that happened to Carter and his team back then seem to be more coincidences than anything. It's something that the media does to stir up interest." She set the paper back down. "Even if it's a spirit, you do realize one has been with us this whole time?"

"Yeah, well, the Pharaoh's our pal. This one on the other hand…" Joey ducked behind his chair. "Sounds absolutely terrifying! What if it's like Bakura's or something…!"

"Ha, I'm sure it'll be alright. Besides, the Pharaoh didn't act like he sensed anything too bad while we were there yesterday." Yugi pushed the paper aside. "We've seen some scarier stuff anyway, right guys?" Both Téa and Tristan nodded while Joey shook his head.

"No way, you guys can go. I'm staying out of this one, ghosts give me the creeps!"

"Oh, geez..." Téa face palmed.

"So, Mr. Macho is scared of Ole' Casper, is he?" Tristan joked putting his arm around Joey's shoulders earning a glare.

"Shut it, Tristan! I'll show you who's Mr. Macho!" He said, dragging him down in a headlock.

"Guys, guys!" Yugi yelled trying to calm the two. "It's alright! Me and Téa can go this time."

Joey released Tristan, sighing from relief. "Ok, just know I want to help the Pharaoh and all, but not by going to that place!"

"It's all good!" Yugi's tone turned serious. "We just need to think of something, that monster Ishizu talked about has me worried. There's really not much to go on what kind of thing it was or anything."

"Speaking of that! I did some research when we got home yesterday." Téa pulled out a notebook from her bag and thumbed through the pages. "Apparently, around the time when the Pharaoh was supposed to have ruled, there was a major outbreak in natural disasters around the world that caused several empires to go into decline. I'm beginning to wonder if that is really what happened or if it was the monster. Listen to this, it was from a tomb engraving in one of the ruined Egyptian cemeteries:

The darkness descended coiling upon itself

eclipsing the sun's rays. We were afraid…

We sought the power of the king for protection.

But not even the might of our god could stand against

the plight..."

As Téa was reading, Yugi could feel the Spirit's presence for a moment before it disappeared. It seemed like he had been listening in without him noticing.

"So, what's all that supposed to mean? You said that the monster was like a giant snake or something. Then why didn't they just say, "one day this humongous snake came through and destroyed everything" instead of all that fancy wording? Make it easier for people in the future to understand! Also, are we sure this is the right pharaoh?" Joey asked, flipping through the pages.

Téa grabbed the book from him. "Yes, it was depicted as a giant snake and as for the wording, the Ancients used more proper words than today. Sometimes they were unable to describe what was happening. Actually, maybe it wasn't a snake after all…?" She frowned slightly. "Anyway, the pharaoh that was associated with this incident is listed as Hudjefa, so yes, it's him."

"Well, that doesn't sound good, the last part makes it sound like he lost", Joey said. "So, he wasn't able to stop that thing?"

"That's what Ishizu told us. The Pharaoh was unable to destroy the monster completely because he didn't know its true name. Somehow, knowing a thing's name gives you power over them, or something. So, he had to seal it in some of the Millennium Items to keep it from destroying everything. She thinks that he sealed himself in the Puzzle as a last-ditch effort to keep the other seals from breaking. He probably unknowingly destroyed his memories in the process." Yugi explained.

Tristan frowned. "Geez, poor guy. He gets his kingdom wrecked and gets stuck inside a gold necklace for thousands of years. Not exactly how I imagined the life of a king."

Yugi nodded then looked at the clock. "We better get going if we want to make it in time. They'll be closing in an hour." The friends agreed before gathering their things and leaving the building.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways. I'll make sure that Joey doesn't get attacked by any spooky ghosts." Tristian mocked, putting emphasis on "spooky".

Joey wasn't amused in the slightest . "Shut up!" He turned to Yugi and Téa. "Call us if something crazy comes up!" He laughed. "Oh, who am I kiddin'? It's us, of course it's going to be crazy! Call when you get back!"

"Will do!" Yugi yelled over his shoulder as he and Téa started for the museum.

XxX

"Thank goodness, we made it! We've got about 30 minutes left until they close." Téa said, looking at her watch.

"That should be plenty of time, I know exactly what I want to look at." Yugi remarked opening the door. As soon as they stepped in, a friendly voice called out to them.

"Hello! You guys were here yesterday, right?"

"Hi! Yup, we wanted to come back for a second look." Yugi said walking up to the front desk.

The receptionist smiled. "I'm glad to hear that! It's always good to see others interested in history." She took their admission. "There is a little something we've noticed since the Ancient Egypt exhibit has been here though."

"It's not about the curse, is it?" Yugi asked.

The receptionist laughed. "Well, we aren't really supposed to tell visitors this, but since you already know, you may find it interesting. It's true that the motion detectors have been set off multiple times during the past couple of days. Plus, last night security was called in about the cameras picking up something. When the curator reviewed the film, she said she saw the strangest thing."

"What did she see?" Téa asked, a little unnerved while looking over at Yugi.

"She said it looked like there was a little kid going through the exhibit. The images were kind of fuzzy, but that's what it looked like. Even stranger was that it was seen near the basement entrance before disappearing. That door is always locked before closing and security had already swept all the floors for the night." She gave a small smile. "Honestly, who knows."

The two friends looked at each other. Sounded like there definitely was another spirit, hopefully it was friendly!

"Huh, alright we'll keep an eye out! We won't be long, just have to look up something for school." Yugi said walking towards the exhibit.

"Ms. Ishtar wouldn't still be here, would she?" Téa asked.

"You guys actually just missed her. She had to go back to Egypt." The receptionist explained. "It sounded like something urgent came up. But she did say that she would be coming back in a couple of days."

"Ok, thank you!" Téa said following after Yugi. Darn, she wanted Ishizu to check her notes to see if she could add anything to them. She did tell them yesterday to come back in a week's time, so she would probably have to wait until then.

Yugi was further back in the exhibit when Téa entered. She saw him tug on the basement door, which surprisingly didn't set off an alarm, but was locked. That meant they wouldn't be able to examine the Pharaoh's or the monster's tablet again. There had to be something else around here that could help though! Téa stopped in front of a case that she hadn't noticed the day before. It held various types of jewelry with one in particular catching her eye. It seemed to have once been a bracelet. The red and turquoise beads seemed to glitter from an unknown light source. Several of the beads were missing, but at one time it would have been beautiful due to its simplicity. It was oddly in better shape than most of the other pieces despite it being hundreds of years older.

"Find something?"

"Hey, Pharaoh! Are you feeling better?" She asked noticing that he had swapped with Yugi.

He nodded. "Yes, forgive me. Yesterday was just a lot to take in."

"Oh, don't worry about it! Yugi just suggested for us to come back here in case we…" She stopped midsentence looking at something over Yami's shoulder causing him to turn around. "That little boy! I saw him yesterday!"

Further down the exhibit hall, stood the boy in question. Strangely enough, he was still in the same clothes as the ones she saw him in the day before. He was looking around the room almost as if he was lost. After a moment, he began to cry. Concerned, both the Spirit and Téa ran over to him.

"Hi, there! I saw you yesterday! What's your name?" Téa asked kneeling beside him.

"Shu." He sniffled rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, that's a cool name! My name's Téa and this is Yugi. Can you tell us what's wrong?"

"I can't find my Momma or Daddy!" He replied back.

"Oh, don't worry! We'll help you find them!" She said taking his hand. "What do they look like?"

"They…" The boy wiped the tears from his eyes before finally noticing Yami. He blinked several times not believing what he was seeing. "Daddy!" He happily yelled, tackling the Spirit to the floor.

"Wait, what did he just say?" Téa gasped. "Did I hear him right?"

Yugi suddenly appeared next to Yami in spirit form. "Woah, woah, woah...! You had a kid? How old are you anyway? I thought you were my age!" A thought hit him. "Hold on. If he really is yours… Could he be the ghost that the receptionist was talking about? Look at his clothes…they look like the ones in the exhibit!"

"I-I don't really know!" Yami said trying to answer them both at the same time.

Shu pulled at the Spirit's jacket collar. "How come your clothes are so strange?" Yami turned his attention back to him.

"I'm sorry, but I believe you have me mixed up with someone else…"

The boy seemed shocked for a moment then laughed. "Huh? Don't be silly, Daddy! You know who I am!" The way Yami stared back at him told him otherwise. His eyes held not a shred of recognition in them. The boy's expression quickly changed to one of hurt. "Don't you…?" He held up the Millennium Puzzle. "I remember this, you had it when we fought that scary monster…"

The Spirit was at a loss for words. When they fought the monster? Did he mean the one Ishizu was talking about? If he knew about that and the Puzzle, did that mean he really was from long ago? But him being his son…? He studied Shu's features more closely. Yes, there definitely was a resemblance!

"His soul is very old like mine, but I can tell that he's not just a spirit within a vessel. He's definitely flesh and blood." Yami thought to Yugi.

"But how in the world could that be possible? If that's true, then he would physically be over 3,000 years old!" Yugi said looking at Shu. "Ok, um, maybe he was sealed in something like you were. But then somehow kept his physical body unlike you…? Ugh, this is giving me a headache!"

The Spirit tried to add more to that thought. How could he have kept his body? And where did he come from? On top of that, there was something else about the boy that he couldn't shake. It was almost like his presence had a sense of warmth to it. Wait…warmth? Could it be…?

"Yugi, take over for a minute." He thought as he disappeared into the Puzzle. Shu's eyes grew confused from seeing that the Spirit had left.

"Huh? You're not my Dad!" Shu said staring at Yugi. "How come you look so much like him? Are you brothers?"

Yugi was just as confused. He could really tell that they had switched? It took their friends months to figure it out. Besides that, why did the Spirit just bail?

"This is unbelievable! Is he really the Pharaoh's son?" Tea asked kneeling down next to the two.

"We're still not sure about that part." Yugi replied standing back up and setting Shu on his feet. "But! There has to be some way to find out if he really is from the Pharaoh's time." Looking around, he got an idea. "Hey, Shu, come here for a second." He held his hand out to the boy who hesitated slightly before taking it. There was a stone tablet nearby that was said to have been used by school children to practice their writing. If Shu really was from 3,000 years ago, then he should be able to read the writing, right?

"Ok, I want you to do something for me! Can you… Wait, can you read?"

Shu nodded. "My Momma taught me."

"Awesome! Then can you read the first part of this for me?" Yugi asked lifting him up to the glass. The tablet that the text was written on was faded but still visible. Also, the translation was listed on the information plate down below.

Shu looked at it for a second. "Um… it says, the worm took half of the food, the um…hip…hippo…hippopotamus! That's right! Hippopotamus took the other half. Many mice were in the field, the locusts, the cattle ate; the sparrows stole." He looked up at Yugi. "Did I get it right? I've been practicing!"

Both Yugi and Téa were speechless. Shu was deliberately kept from seeing the information plate. Like he needed it though, his eyes had never left the tablet.

"Yugi?" Shu said trying to get his attention.

"Y-yup! You got it!" Yugi glanced over at Téa who was just as amazed. A kid that could read ancient hieroglyphs…that was certainly something you didn't see every day!

Shu in the meantime was tapping on the glass. "What's this stuff? It's like the air is hard." He squinted at the artifacts in the display case. "And how come everything looks so old?"

"About that." Yugi set him back on the ground. So, how was he going to explain this? It was clear that he was from the past by the way he read the hieroglyphs. There was absolutely no way someone of his age could decipher those. It was a bit strange that he could understand and speak modern language though…Looks like they would get to that bridge when they crossed it. Another thing, how come the Spirt already knew what modern technology was, when Shu obviously didn't? Was it maybe because him and the Spirit shared a body therefore memories as well? There were just too many questions that needed answers!

Yugi squatted down next to him. "Ok, Shu, I know this is going to sound really crazy but, it looks like you've been transported from your time to here."

The boy cocked his head not understanding. "What's that mean?"

"Well, it means that over 3,000 years have passed since your time. That's why everything looks so old to you. Things have really changed."

"Wh-what? That's not true!" Shu cried looking around desperately. There had to be something that proved him wrong! Seeing the large ground floor window, he made a mad dash over to it.

"Wait! Shu!" Téa called after him with Yugi trailing behind.

Looking out, Shu felt his stomach turn. Why did the buildings look so strange? And what were those big horseless chariot-like things roaming around? He lowered his head trying to hide his tears. He didn't want to believe it, but it really was true. This was no longer his time.

"It's ok, don't cry! We'll help you!" Téa said trying to comfort him. "You said you're the Pharaoh's son, right? We're good friends of his! So, let's start there. Do you remember being with him before you woke up here? Anything at all will help."

The boy shook his head. "Uh, uh. He wasn't with me. All I remember is my Momma holding me and telling me to go to sleep. And she would see me when I woke up." He began to cry. "But I don't know where she is either."

"Hey, what do you want me to say?" Yugi mentally asked the Spirit, feeling his presence again. Shu's sorrow made a pain go through Yami's heart. Something deep inside his soul stirred. He could feel it, the key to unlocking his memories was right in front of him.

"I'll take over." He thought to Yugi. Shu's eyes seemed to light up for a moment when he saw that the two had swapped. The Spirit knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I have finally realized that it was you that I've been sensing inside the Puzzle all along. It seems like a piece of your spirit was sealed along with mine after whatever occurred that day. I can't remember everything, but fragments of memories with you have returned to me. With each one I can feel your love for me shine through." He bowed his head to Shu's. "I now know what my heart has been missing for so long, and that's you, Little One. Please…forgive me."

Shu stepped back for moment before grinning and throwing his arms around the Spirit in a hug. Yami returned the embrace feeling tears form. What he felt just then made him truly smile for the first time in thousands of years. He may not have all his memories back just yet, but he did know one thing. Shu was his son and that he always had and always would love him.

A/N The paragraph that Shu read is from a real Ancient Egyptian school book that students practiced their writing with. The books were known as "copy books" because the students would copy sentences from various stories or things like tax documents that would involve numbers. The rest of the paragraph can be seen here:

"…Harvest. The worm took half of the food, the hippopotamus the other half. Many mice were in the field, the locusts, the cattle ate; the sparrows stole. Woe to the farmers! The remainder, which is in the threshing floor, the thieves made an end of for him…"