I want to thank everyone for their faves and support so far! It really means a lot to me! This idea came from watching the episode where Yami and Téa go to the museum in Season 2. If it kind of sounds vague, I was trying to keep spoilers from Pharaoh's Reign out if all possible (which was extremely hard lol!) It's more of a "what if" chapter if anything, just thought it would be fun to do! Also, did anyone else cringe when Ishizu called the Pharaoh "King Yami" in the 4kids version? I know I did! XD
Hudjefa- is an actual pharaoh who's name is a placeholder. Like Ishizu says it does mean "erased" or "missing". Many believe the name had been lost before it was added to the King's List (contains the names of reigning pharaohs). It is also possible that he was pharaoh Seth Peribsen (circa 2740 BC).
Mwt-pronounced like "me-what", means mother in Ancient Egyptian.
It-pronounced like "ya-tee", means father in Ancient Egyptian.
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Today was going to be like any other Sunday for the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. School was out for the day which meant that Yugi would probably sleep in till noon before going to meet up with his friends to run around town. Or, so he thought. The teen had been up since before seven trying on every article of clothing he owned. He would try on one outfit, look at himself in the mirror, scowl, then try on another. This process repeated itself several times until Yami finally asked what was going on.
"Why are you up so early? It's Sunday." The Spirit asked dodging a shirt even though it would have passed through him.
"I'm going to see Téa today!" Yugi said excitedly looking back at where Yami's reflection would be in the mirror.
"So, that's why!" The Spirit grinned. "You've got a date!"
"Well…you can call it that." Yugi answered back with a sly smile.
And that was how his day started. The Spirit wasn't quite sure what was planned for him until he met up with Téa. He knew it had to be something important, otherwise Yugi wouldn't him let him spend a whole day by himself with her. After much debating (more like Téa trying to pry out an answer from him) the two agreed to stop at a cafe first. From there, they could figure out where they wanted to go.
"What did you want to do today, Yugi? I know you haven't seen much of the city yet. There's a lot of stuff to do around here!" Téa said cheerfully holding out some Domino City brochures.
Silence was the only answer she got from the opposite end of the table. Oh man, what was she supposed to say? She thought the Spirit would be more talkative than this! Noticing the design on his shirt that said, "Game King" gave her an idea.
"I really like your shirt! Did you make it?"
Yami sighed. "I didn't, Yugi did. Sometimes I question if he can properly dress himself." He teased looking over at Téa to see her reaction.
She laughed. "Hey, it's not that bad! I can tell that he dressed up for today."
The Spirit looked out the window. "He spent almost three hours trying to decide what to wear today. He wouldn't even tell me what for until we met up."
Téa dropped her smile. "He didn't want me to say it but, he's worried about you."
"Worried? Why?" Yami asked surprised.
"He said you've been acting distant since the day we heard about the Egyptian exhibit. There could be something in there that could help out with your memories…or do you not want to know?"
The Spirit was quiet for a moment. "It's not that, Téa. I do want to know who I am and why I'm here." He held up the Puzzle. "My spirit has been locked inside here for thousands upon thousands of years. When I find out the answer as to why…" His voice trailed off.
Téa could see the emotion behind his usually stoic expression. Was he reluctant to know about his past because he didn't want to leave them…? She hadn't thought of it that way.
"I can see why you're hesitant…You don't want to leave us or Yugi behind."
Yami looked at her shocked. How did she know why?
Téa smiled at him. "We want to help you in anyway that we can. You're our friend, even if it means going to the ends of the Earth, we will get your memories back. You deserve to know why you're here and remember your own life."
The Spirit looked at her for a moment before smiling. "Thank you, Téa."
She grinned back at him. "You're welcome! That's what friends are for!" She stood up. "Enough hanging around here, where did you want to go?"
Yami looked down at the stack of brochures. The one on the very top revealed their next destination.
"Are you sure about this? We can wait until later if you'd like."
Téa asked as she stood next to the Spirit. The two were outside the Domino City Museum looking at the various signs and banners that were showcasing the Ancient Egyptian exhibit. Yami nodded and began walking up the stairs. What was he going to find in there? The thought was almost paralyzing. Having no memories of his previous life was certainly of no help. Had he really been a pharaoh like the hieroglyphs on the Millennium Puzzle box said? If so, why had he been trapped in the Puzzle for millennia?
"Sir? Two tickets?" The receptionist asked.
Yami snapped out of his thoughts. He hadn't even realized that they were already inside. Talk about autopilot.
"Yes! I'm sorry." He quickly pulled out his wallet to pay for their admission.
Téa could tell that this was already going to be hard for the Spirit. Once inside the exhibit he didn't say another word. She really couldn't blame him though; it was probably a lot to take in. Memories or not, seeing things from your time that were now thousands of years old was more than likely mind blowing. The two continued to walk along with nothing really catching the Sprit's interest quite yet. He would stop to look at a couple of artifacts before moving on to the next. Téa came to a case and looked inside. On display were stones of various reds, blues, and greens that ranged from about an inch to even smaller cut to look like scarab beetles. Interested, she read the information plate.
[Heart scarabs were amulets used by Ancient Egyptian priests during the embalming process. According to ancient beliefs, the heart was the source of all emotion. The brain was seen as useless and was thus discarded. When the heart was removed, it was placed inside a special vessel known as a canopic jar. The heart scarab was then placed in between the bandages above where the person's heart once was. These amulets were said to take the form of a spiritual heart that would then speak to the god Osiris and the judges of the dead that the deceased had lived a life of truth devoid of evil thoughts or intentions.]
"Oh, wow, Yugi! Check these out!" Téa called out to him. Hearing no response made her turn around. "Yugi?"
For whatever reason, he was standing over by a doorway that led downstairs. A sign on the door read, "Museum Staff Only", despite it being slightly ajar. What was so interesting about that?
The Spirit took the handle and pushed the door open further. "There's something down there, I can feel it."
"In the basement?" Téa looked around to see if anyone was watching. "Can we really go down there?"
Yami didn't answer as he descended the staircase. It was almost like something was calling out to him. Téa quickly followed closely behind, they were totally going to get kicked out!
Once inside the room, the lights suddenly flipped on.
"Ok…that's a little freaky!" Téa commented.
The room seemed to be more of a storage area with several statues and artifacts in glass cases lining the walls. Perhaps they were kept down here until they were approved for the exhibit?
"Huh, I wonder when these will go out." Tea said looking at each one.
Yami did the same as the strange feeling grew stronger. What exactly was down here? Scanning over the artifacts, one in particular caught his eyes. It was a mural about four foot tall with three figures depicted on it. The appearance of two of the figures was damaged to the point of them being unrecognizable. As for the other one…
"Wh-how?!" Téa gasped.
Yami looked on without a change of emotion, it was just as he thought.
Téa began reading the plate's inscription with a somewhat shaky voice.
"Not much is known about this pharaoh who may have reigned less than ten years during the New Kingdom Era (1570-1070 B.C). Name is thought to be Hudjefa." She glanced back at the Spirit. "Is that really your name?"
"Hudjefa is nothing more than a pseudonym."
The sound of a woman's voice startled the two making them turn around.
"Who are you?" Yami asked.
The woman gave a slight bow. "My name is Ishizu Ishtar, I am head of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. Furthermore, I know more about your past than you do, my king."
Her necklace immediately caught his attention. "Your necklace is a Millennium Item, is it not?"
She nodded. "Yes, it is known as the Millennium Tauk. It grants me the power to see certain things from the past and the future. I knew that you would be visiting."
"Um…so what can you tell us about his past?" Téa asked. "You said that the name listed here was a pseudonym. What do you mean by that?"
"The word means "erased" or "missing" in my land's ancient language. If you look closely on the palette, you will see the pharaoh's cartouche." Ishizu pointed at an oval shaped object near the pharaoh's feet. Only the outline of the cartouche was left as the rest had been seemly gouged out. "These usually contain the name of a king, however this one has been destroyed, along with all other known instances of his name."
"My name? What significance does it hold?" Yami asked.
Ishizu stayed quiet giving him an eerie feeling. "Out of all the pharaohs that have reigned, your true name has eluded the King's Lists throughout time. Some believe it is merely an error on the scribe's part. However, I don't believe that is the case." She led them over to a much smaller palette that was practically in fragments. Although the paint had all but faded, the outline of what appeared to be a serpent was present.
"Legends tell of a pharaoh that fought against a powerful monster of darkness. The creature's strength was said to rival the very gods themselves. Its only goal was to revert the world back to the way it was in the beginning. A place of absolute chaos. The Pharaoh and his forces fought bravely against the monster, but it could not be slain. To destroy it completely, its true name had to be known."
"Its name? How does that defeat a monster? Do you yell at it or something?" Téa asked.
Ishizu shook her head. "If you think about it, names are incredibly mysterious. They define who a person truly is. Without your name, could you truly call yourself an individual? In ancient times, a person's name was thought to hold power over them. For instance, a legend of the goddess Isis tricking the sun god Ra into revealing his name gave her complete power over him. This allowed for her son Horus to become king in the time of the gods. As for the monster depicted here." She turned back to the palette. "It could not be slain because its name was not known, leaving it virtually indestructible. The only way the Pharaoh was able to defeat it was by dividing its soul into pieces then placing them into certain Millennium Items."
"The monster was sealed into "certain" items. Which ones?" Yami glanced down at his puzzle uncertain. Was he carrying a piece of it?
"You may relax, neither my necklace nor your puzzle contain the fragments. However, I am still unsure of the ones that do." Ishizu's tone turned darker. "What I do know is that if they fall into the wrong hands history will repeat itself."
Téa laughed nervously. "But there's a chance of it not, right? How can we know for sure it will happen?"
"Because I have seen it." The room grew almost cold in response to Ishizu's answer. The end of the world…was coming? Yami and Téa both glanced at each other.
"Is there anyway we can stop this thing?" The Spirit asked.
"The only way is to recover your memories, my king. You are the only one that can prevent the beast from reawakening."
Yami felt his entire body go cold. It was all on him? He had absolutely no memories of his past life, how was he supposed to fight some ancient Egyptian creature wanting to destroy the world?
Ishizu saw the look on the Spirit's face. "Is it perhaps that your memory has faded?"
Yami nodded his head. "I have very little memories. There are times I can remember snippets and I can read the ancient text somewhat, but as for everything else, there is nothing."
"I see, I was afraid of that…" Ishizu stopped for a moment. Something seemingly had caught her attention making her smile.
"So soon?" She thought turning her attention back to the Spirit. "All hope is not lost, my king. I feel that an important part of your memories will be making its appearance very soon."
"Really? In what way?" The Spirit questioned. He had noticed that her attention was diverted for a brief moment.
She started to walk towards the exit. "Meet me back here in a week's time. By then you will have learned more about yourself. From there, we can plan on our course of action."
The two were silent as they watched her leave. Téa tried to wrap her head around what just happened. If they couldn't recover the Pharaoh's memories soon then the whole world was going to end! And to think, she thought today was just going to be a normal day!
"I'm ready to go, Téa." Yami's voice brought her back out of her thoughts.
"Oh? Are you sure? We can stay longer if you want." Téa asked.
The Spirit shook his head and started walking towards the exit. He needed out of here. However, something caught his eye. Over in the corner was a stone statue, about five foot tall. In all honestly, if you weren't looking in its particular direction, you would miss it. Curious, Yami walked over to look. Even though the paint was ruined in some places, something about it intrigued him. The statue was of a seated woman wearing some kind of headdress with a bird's head on it. The plate below it read, [Woman that is believed to have once been a queen or Great Royal Wife. The Vulture Headdress is only worn by select females of high status. Believed to have once been part of a larger monument due to indications of damage on the base and sides.] Yami studied it for a moment. The woman that it was made for was beautiful. Something within him stirred. Had he known her? Or was she before his time?
"Wow, she's really pretty! And look at the detailing on her headdress! I wonder who she was?" Téa said coming up behind him.
The Spirit just shook his head, there was too much going on right now. He gave the statue one last look before walking up the stairs back into the exhibit. To think that just when he solved the mystery of who he was something even bigger came up.
Téa stayed behind to look at the pharaoh's palette one more time. If only there was something that could help him get his memories back! On top of that, how were they going to be able to stop the world from ending? This was too much!
Sighing, she walked up the stairs to meet back up with the Spirit. Except, he was nowhere to be seen. "That's weird." She thought, maybe he went to look at another part of the exhibit?
Looking around the room, something caught her attention. It was a small boy that looked to be no more than five. His spiky blonde and crimson hair made her grin thinking of Yugi's. But…there was something odd about him. First of all, he seemed to be very out of place. His clothes looked like they could be part of the exhibit. He had on a white tunic, red sash, and a blue bandana around his neck. The only logical explanation would be that maybe he was part of a show the museum was putting on to promote the Egyptian exhibit. They had done one for the previous Ancient Greece one.
The boy came to one of the glass cases and raised up on his toes to get a better look. He tapped on the glass a couple of times as if he didn't understand what it was. Dropping back down, tears filled his eyes.
"Mwt? It?" He cried looking around.
Téa was confused. What did he say? In any case, he seemed to be upset and at the very least she could help him find his parents.
"Hi, there little guy! Did you lose your parents?" She asked walking towards him. This startled the boy making him dart down the stairs.
"Hey, wait up! You can't go in there!" She called after him. Arriving inside the room, she looked around.
"Where'd he go?" There weren't many hiding spots. Plus, she knew for certain he had come this way…right?
"Téa?"
Jumping at her name, she looked up the stairs to see the Spirit.
"Oh, hey, Yugi!" She looked behind him. "You didn't happen to see a little boy run in here, did you?"
The Spirit gave her a puzzled look. "No, I don't believe so. I just heard you down here."
"Huh, ok. I thought I saw one run in here." She turned away to where he couldn't see her face. "So, is the museum haunted or something? I know for certain I saw a little boy!" She thought a little freaked out.
Back at Yugi's house, the Spirit had to undergo a gauntlet of questions.
"Wow, you really were a pharaoh! That's so cool, Spirit!" Yugi said excitedly. "Do you remember anything at all about it? Like how you used to rule? Or what your palace was like? I bet it was huge! I guess I can call you Pharaoh now! And…"
While Yugi continued on with his chatter, Yami tuned him out. "I thought he was in his soul room for that part. Oh, well." He stared out the window at the night sky allowing his mind to wander. That woman…why did she seem so familiar? Even finding about his past today didn't compare to that mystery. Was she maybe the one Ishizu was talking about?
Yugi could feel the confusion swirling around through the Spirit's head causing him to quieten down. He couldn't exactly make out what it was about, but he had a slight idea. "Did you remember someone?"
Yami glanced toward him and sighed. "I keep having this strange feeling, almost like I've seen this royal woman that was depicted as a statue. There was no information about her so maybe I just saw the statue while I was still ruling." He shook his head. "I shouldn't be worrying about something like this anyways. Did you hear about the monster that could be revived soon? If what Ishizu said was true, we need to be prepared for it."
Yugi slowly nodded, he was kind of wanting to forget that part. He felt sorry for his friend. Instead of finding out the answers of who he was and where he had come from, they got news the world could be ending soon. Maybe if he went back to the museum tomorrow, he could find something else that could help.
"Yugi, you do remember you have school tomorrow, right?"
The Spirit's voice snapped the teen out of his thoughts making a realization hit him. "Oh, man! I completely forgot I have a history test tomorrow!" He yelled scrambling off his bed over to his book bag.
"What's it over?" Yami asked moving out of the desk chair onto the bed.
"Funny enough, Ancient Egypt." Yugi walked over to his desk and plopped the book down. "Want to help? I know you listen in on the instructor's lectures."
"I…I'm sorry, Yugi…" The Spirit disappeared back into the Puzzle with a flash. Yugi sat there for a moment. What just happened?
"Hey, are you ok?" Yugi thought worriedly. The Spirit never just vanished like that!
"Yes, forgive me. But I'm going to stay in here for a while…" His voice sounded almost distance, even his presence was growing fainter. Yugi could only guess that he was going in the Puzzle's labyrinth instead of his usual soul room. But why? He knew that the Spirit disliked the place. Maybe he just needed to be left alone for a while. Today was quite hectic, especially learning the whole world could be ending soon part. Yugi looked at the clock. Ugh, 11:00 P.M., he really needed to get studying. Laying his head against his arm, he sighed. How could he be studying at a time like this? He looked over at the Puzzle on the nightstand. Hopefully, he and his friends could figure out someway to help the Pharaoh.
"Please…just rest now. Everyone is going to be alright…I'll see you two later…ok?
Yami bolted awake. What kind of dream was that?! Taking deep breaths, he tried to collect his thoughts. That voice…it was definitely a woman's. Was it Téa? No, it sounded older. Whoever it belonged to, it sounded very reassuring almost soothing. It felt like it really was telling him the truth about whatever was occurring. But then again, was the message even for him? Sometimes he could listen in on Yugi's dreams, but this didn't seem to be the case.
He still couldn't wrap his head around it. Just who was "everyone" and "you two"? Was it him and his friends or someone else? He leaned his head against the maze's wall. This was exactly why he never wanted to sleep. Every time he did something like this would happen. What exactly caused the dreams he was unsure of. He wasn't even sure if he was actually sleeping or if his consciousness just resided elsewhere for a time. The Millennium Puzzle kept many secrets, many of which would probably never be solved. The biggest mystery that had recently begun occurring was that sometimes he thought he could feel another presence. It never felt malicious, in fact it had a sense of warmth to it. Only, that couldn't be right. There should not be anything else in here…
A sudden rush of anxiety flooded the Puzzle. Yami rolled his eyes, he knew this feeling all too well. It had to be morning and Yugi must have overslept his alarm…again. He couldn't help but smile. Even though he no longer had his previous memories, he genuinely believed he had never met anyone quite like Yugi. Disappearing back into his soul room he waited for his friend to contact him. He really needed to apologize for the way he acted last night. Plus talking with Yugi would keep his mind off things for awhile. At least he hoped so.