BIG TW: Mentioning of the word 'suicide'. It's just brought up with no explicit description.

So it has recently come to my attention that FFN has a habit of occasionally 'purging' content like mine. If you are following my fic/me, I can be found under the same author name on AO3 (Sesshy380). I have also decided that anything extremely explicit (such as my current murder/smut WiP) will be exclusively posted to AO3.

Yugi raised an arm over his eyes to hide them from the early morning sun that was peeking through his window.

"...mnngh...why does the sun come up so early here…" grumbled a voice that was very much like his own.

Yugi found himself chuckling internally. He had almost forgotten that Imhotep had stayed the night. His reaction to the earlier start of the day was reminiscent of when Marik first came to live with him. Yugi remembered that the blonde Egyptian was worried that his sleep schedule wouldn't be adjusted in time for-

"OH CRAP!"

Yugi bolted upright and looked at his alarm clock. He had forgotten to set it before he fell asleep! Yugi jumped out of bed and rushed around, getting ready for school faster than he ever had in his entire life. Grabbing his bag, he realized he hadn't done any of his homework. 'Too late to worry about that now! I'll have to turn it in late. If I run fast enough, I might make it before first period starts!'

Yugi rushed out the door running as fast as his legs would allow. He passed under the shadow of a large tree...then found himself standing outside the school? He looked around in confusion.

"Hurry up or you'll be late." Imhotep said from behind, attempting to stifle a yawn.

Yugi looked towards him and nodded, then rushed off. The other students were already filtering their way into their classrooms. Joey and Tea waved over to him as he followed a few other students into class.

"We almost thought you had decided to stay in Egypt." Tea stated as Yugi took his seat.

"I thought about it, but I had too much on my mind so I came home." Yugi replied.

"You got here kinda late. You oversleep or somethin?" Joey questioned.

"Something like that." Yugi replied with a chuckle.

The bell rang, indicating the start of the class period. Everyone began taking out their books and their assignments from the night prior, reminding Yugi again that he hadn't done a single one…or so he thought? He was surprised to see the assignment completely done with a note beneath it.

Sorry. Got bored. Didn't want you to get in trouble. It was my fault in the first place. -Imhotep

Yugi glanced over the paper, impressed at how well done it was. If it hadn't been for the note, he would have assumed he had actually completed the work but just didn't remember doing it. 'Imhotep, you're a real life-saver today.'

The rest of the school day passed by quickly. Yugi was super grateful that his sibling had done not just his first period assignment, but the assignments for his other periods as well. It made the day go by that much easier. During lunch Yugi and his friends chatted excitedly about the events of the day prior. Imhotep hadn't shown up, but he was in the back of Yugi's mind the entire time. When the final bell rang, Yugi was ready to rush home so he could thank his twin for not only the expedited trip to school that morning, but for the work he had done.

'Hey, you're kinda cute.'

Yugi stopped and looked around. He could have sworn he heard his twin nearby.

'Oh! You're cute too!'

Yugi was even more baffled. That was most definitely Imhotep. There wasn't anyone else Yugi knew that had a voice similar to his own.

'Oh...um...hi?...there's more of you?'

Yugi paused in his search. He was hearing his sibling's voice, but not out loud. Yugi realized he was hearing Imhotep in his head. It was just like when he used to communicate with Atem through their mental link.

'...o-okay...there's too many of you…'

"I wonder what's going on over there?" Tea puzzled as she came to stand next to Yugi.

Yugi looked in the direction Tea had indicated and saw a growing number of students excitedly huddled around something. He wormed his way between them, then saw what it was everyone appeared to be fussing over. There was a semi-large black dog huddled with its tail between its legs, obviously afraid of the large group of students that had flocked to it.

'Too many! There's too many! What should I do? I can't vanish into the Shadows with all these people around! Shae, where are you? I don't know what to do! Um...w-wait...I-I can do this...j-just gotta find an exit…'

"Uh...everyone? You do realize dat's a wolf...right?" Joey announced loudly to the group of students from behind, realizing they were arguing over who was the next one to pet the 'dog'.

The mass of students looked at one another for a moment before panic set in, causing everyone to quickly clear out.

Yugi rushed towards the cowering lupine. "Hey, it's okay. They're all gone."

The black wolf cautiously raised its head, revealing familiar blue eyes. 'You knew it was me?'

"Yeah, I can hear you. Up here." Yugi tapped a finger to his temple.

"Uh, Yug? Why you talking to da wolf?" Joey puzzled.

"Because it's not a wolf Joey." Yugi chuckled. "Remember how we saw Kat the other day as a cat? It's the same thing."

"Okay? But then who's dis?"

The wolf looked around to make certain no one was around to see, then became enveloped in Shadow as it transfigured back into Yugi's dark complected twin. Imhotep stood with his head down, embarrassed to know that Yugi had heard him freaking out.

"I just thought I could maybe walk with you after school. Maybe I should have stuck with your shadow. Shae told me I had to be careful when walking around transfigured. I knew people would think I was just a dog, but I had no idea they would flock to me like that."

"Why didn't you just show up like you are now?" Tea questioned.

"Didn't want to draw too much attention. Looks like that plan backfired." Imhotep replied, still embarrassed. "I always wanted to walk around out in the open, but I had no idea how many people there would be. Maybe Shae was right to keep me hidden away…" he stated dejectedly.

"You're just overwhelmed. It's a lot to take in for someone that has spent their entire life in seclusion." Yugi said in reassurance.

"I dunno…that was a lot of people. And I know there are still thousands more. How do you do it?"

Yugi chuckled as he fidgeted nervously. "Heh...I uh...try no to think about it."

"Hey guys, why don't we show Imhotep around? Maybe it will help him with being around large groups?" Tea suggested.

"Dat's a great idea! I say we start with where all the best food joints are!" Joey replied excitedly.

"I second that!" Tristan added with just as much excitement, coming to stand beside Joey.

"Um...I don't know…" Imhotep said quietly, drawing in on himself. He'd never felt this way before, and he hated it. He wanted nothing more than to run and hide in the Shadows. That's where he felt he belonged. A hand came to rest on his shoulder, causing him to look up.

"It's up to you. If you don't think you're ready, we won't pressure you." Yugi reassured him.

"What about all the people that recognize you? They're gonna ask questions."

"You just leave the nosy fans to us!" Tristan stated assuredly, pointing a thumb towards himself while Joey stood confidently beside him.

"Yeah! Anyone bothers you, you let us know! You're Yug's bro, which means we've got your back!" Joey added.

Tea leaned in talking softly. "What the knuckleheads mean is that Yugi is our friend. Friends look out for one another. You're our friend's brother, so that means we'll look out for you too."

Imhotep stared in awe at the group before him. So this was what it was like to have friends? It was strange. A sudden thought occurred to him, and everything finally clicked in and made sense. "I get it now!" he said excitedly. "The hordes of people are the mobs in a raid! Me and Yugi are the tanks since we'll end up drawing everyone's attention! Joey and Tristan are the DPS who will make everyone leave! And Tea is the healer, because she tries to make everyone feel better!" he stated, feeling proud that he was able to put things into a perspective that he understood.

Everyone stared at the dark-complexed teen in confusion.

"Uh...what?" Joey puzzled.

Imhotep's face flushed in embarrassment. He thought he understood, but apparently he'd gotten it wrong?

Yugi stifled a laugh. "I think he's trying to compare us with the roles people play in his online game. Marik tried to explain it to me. Based on Imhotep's comparison, if the hordes of inquisitive fans are just the 'mobs' in a game, it would be a safe assumption that Kaiba would be considered a 'raid boss'."

"An annoying one." Imhotep added with a bit of sass.

Yugi didn't hold back on his laughter at the remark. "You can say that again!"

Hearing that his twin kind of understood his reference, and the fact that he was laughing at his comment, made Imhotep feel slightly better. A devilish idea popped into his head, his face announcing it to the world. "You know...Kaiba has seen Shae and Mkhai...but he hasn't seen me. I wonder how much it would mess with his head to see two Yugi's running around Domino?"

Yugi chuckled at the idea. "I think he would accuse me of trying to trick him with ancient Egyptian hocus-pocus. But I'm certain he could see that we aren't the same. Your skin tone and eye color give it away."

Imhotep flashed a fanged grin. "Oh, is that so?" He closed his eyes, enveloping himself in Shadow. When the darkness retreated, his skin and clothing matched those of his twin. When he re-opened his eyes, they were the same amethyst as Yugi's.

"Wait...you can do that?!" Yugi asked in awe.

"Well, yeah. I can become anyone I've seen. Just haven't learned how to alter my voice or hide the fangs yet." Imhotep replied, revealing the fangs that were still there. "It's part of my magae. I'm connected to the Shadow Realm, which focuses on creating very convincing illusions."

Yugi had a sudden realization. "Is that why Atem saw a younger version of Kat in the Puzzle? She said that it wasn't her, that it was you."

Imhotep smiled, excited that Yugi had figured it out. "Yup! Pretty neat, right?"

"You seriously can become anyone you've seen?" Joey asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Why?" the darker teen replied.

"Are we talking in person or just pictures, or what?" Joey questioned again, still suspicious.

Imhotep sighed and closed his eyes. He became enveloped in Shadow again and seconds later an exact replica of Joey was standing among the group. "I can do from pictures and movies too, but getting a closer look is a lot easier. Plus then I can study mannerisms to replicate the way the person moves and acts." the Joey replica stated casually with his Yugi-like voice, replicating one of Joey's more smug reactions.

Joey stared and pointed, dumbfounded. "Okay...that's actually pretty good. Not as good as da real thing, obviously, but still pretty good. Hey, think I can get you ta take my place in a few classes? As long as you don't answer any questions, no one will ever know da difference!"

Imhotep reverted to his original appearance, chuckling in amusement. "Nice try, but I think I'll pass. It would probably be a good idea for me to learn how to be around a shit ton of people first."

Joey ran up, roping his arm around Imhotep's neck like he usually did with Tristan and Yugi. "And I know just the place for you to do it!" he exclaimed, dragging a suddenly very confused Imhotep along out of the schoolyard.

Imhotep mouthed a silent 'Help!' towards his twin seconds before Joey drug him around the corner past the gate entrance. Yugi and the others couldn't help but laugh.

"Whoa...there's so many choices!" Imhotep stated in amazement while looking at the fast food menu screen above the order counter.

"You act like you've never ordered fast food before." Yugi said, mildly surprised at his sibling's reaction.

"I've never really had to decide. I just knew what I liked from what Shae and Mkhai always brought me growing up, and then I would just say 'Hey I'm in the mood for..' and whatever it was I wanted. I knew menus were a thing, but I've never actually looked at one."

"Didn't you see any of this when you followed in my shadow?" Yugi wondered.

"It's not like what you see here. It's warped. It's just these black objects and moving black figures, and I'm the only color in the whole world. You'd have to see it to understand."

"Sounds like the area between minds." Yugi commented.

Imhotep stared at his twin in puzzlement. "The what?"

"There was this weird space between Atem's mind and my own that was just darkness. We used to go there to talk." Yugi explained.

"Oh." Imhotep hung his head slightly, as though suddenly saddened.

There was an awkward silence between them.

"Heyyy….so how about yous all go sit down and leave da orderin ta me?" Joey suggested, trying to fill the silence.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Yugi replied half-heartedly. He was kind of worried about why his sibling suddenly appeared dejected.

"Alrighty den! Tristan, you're with me! Gonna need an extra set of hands for all da food! Hey Imhotep, you don't got any weird food preferences or anythin do ya?"

Imhotep looked up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm just wonderin if you're like Marik and don't eat meat, or maybe there's something you really don't like?"

"Um...I don't think so? I mean, meat isn't an issue. I eat steak and stuff like that all the time. As far as foods I don't like...I'm not sure."

"Awesome! Now go sit down! Tristan and I got dis!"

Joey and Tristan rushed towards the order counter, spewing out random numbers that made Imhotep's head spin. Yugi and Tea chuckled and directed him towards one of the nearby tables.

"So, how are you holding up?" Tea questioned towards the darker teen.

"Okay...I guess." Imhotep replied half-heartedly. "I keep wondering if I'm maybe asleep and this is all some weird dream. Or maybe a nightmare? The group of people back at the school was definitely a nightmare. I think I'll avoid that place from now on."

Tea couldn't help but giggle. "I know a lot of students that would agree with you on that."

Imhotep tilted his head in confusion.

Yugi still found some of Imhotep's mannerisms a bit...odd. Especially whenever he appeared to be confused about something. His twin had this strange habit of tilting his head and staring in intense observation. For some nagging reason, he couldn't help but feel like he'd seen it before.

"Wait! It's the same thing Kat was doing in the classroom after you trapped me in the Puzzle so that you could talk with Atem!" he shouted in realization.

"Um...what?" Imhotep stated in perplexion, intensifying the tilt and observant gaze.

"That!" Yugi said while pointing at his twin. "It's been bothering me because I knew I saw someone else do the exact same thing. I just realized it was Kat…...which I guess kind of makes a lot of sense…"

Imhotep suddenly looked offended. "Are you talking about that tilt and stare thing she does? I do not do that." he stated sharply.

"Um...hate to be the bearer of bad news...but you were just doing it." Tea said dryly.

"I was? You sure? She's a cat. It makes sense that she does that."

"Um...wolves and dogs do it too…" Yugi stated.

Imhotep's shoulders fell. "Great….something else I apparently have in common with her…"

"Is that a bad thing?" Yugi wondered.

"I...I don't know...I guess not. It just sucks. The only thing I seem to have in common with the old man is...well...this." Imhotep pointed unenthusiastically towards the spiky mass of hair on his head.

Yugi chuckled. "Don't forget, you aren't the only one."

"You don't get it. You and him spent all that time talking and getting to know each other. My conversations with him were a bit one-sided. A body without a soul doesn't exactly talk back."

Yugi realized why Imhotep had been so excited about taking him and Atem down to the tomb. Imhotep hadn't know that taking them down there would trigger the ritual process, he simply wanted to connect with Atem on the same level Yugi had, and it was the only way he knew how.

"I imagine if it had suddenly started talking back, it would have been a bit confusing." Yugi said, making a poor attempt to throw humor at the dark topic.

Imhotep's eyes went wide. "If it had, I would have been in a lot of trouble! Mostly because that would have meant I allowed something outside of the ward to my collection and it followed me. Shae would have set me on fire for something like that."

"Y-you mean that figuratively….right?" Yugi asked nervously.

"Nope." Imhotep replied earnestly. "She did it once to prove a point at how stupid I was for Awakening myself. Not fun. 0/10, would not suggest being set on fire."

"You Awakened yourself? How?"

"Oh, it's pretty easy really. You just die." Imhotep said casually. "Well...I guess there's a lot more to it than that. First you have to be of Godaeshan descent. Mkhai thinks it can happen with normal people too, but there's a lot more factors involved for them. For us, we already have Godaeshan blood. That's one of the key factors. But not everyone of Godaeshan lineage can Awaken. Like how Shae discovered you don't have magae lingering within. Without magae lying dormant, you can't Awaken. That means when you die, well...that's it. Game over. At least that's the main theory anyways. There still seems to be a lot of other unknown variables."

Yugi swallowed hard, not liking the idea of his death being so...final. "I'll keep that in mind. No dying. At least not intentionally. So...you've actually died?"

Imhotep nodded. "Yeah. I was in a dark place in my life. You had just won Duelist Kingdom and Shae went into triple lock-down mode on me. I was pretty pissed. I wanted to make some kind of decision for myself, so I decided I wanted to die. You see how well that worked out." he stated the last part unenthusiastically.

Yugi paled. Imhotep had committed suicide only a few months ago. If he had been just an ordinary person, he wouldn't be sitting here today. "I-I'm sorry." Yugi said, trying to hold back the tears of guilt he suddenly felt. If he hadn't won the tournament on the island, this would have never happened. Then again...if he hadn't won Duelist Kingdom, his grandfather's soul wouldn't have been returned and he wouldn't have been able to give the prize money to Joey for his sister's operation. Thinking that way didn't help Yugi at all. The way he looked at it, no matter what someone lost. In this case it was someone he didn't even know existed at the time.

"Eh, I don't blame you. Besides, it helped my connection to the Shadows grow stronger. Entering into the Puzzle while appearing as Shae, and locking you away while trapping our old man in the Shadows to talk to him, I couldn't combine my abilities like that before. I mean, I probably could have, but not that easily."

"Guess who's back with food!" Joey and Tristan shouted excitedly, both wearing ridiculous grins on their faces while carrying trays heaped with burgers, fries, and a drink for everyone. "Imhotep, today is the day you taste some of the best burgers Domino has ta offer!" Joey exclaimed.

Imhotep's eyes went wide. "All of this?! For just the five of us?"

"No, most of it is for those two knuckleheads." Tea said with a dull expression.

"Hey! We made sure there was at least ten per person!" Joey shouted defensibly, causing people from few of the other tables to stare at him with judgmental expressions.

"Joey, besides you and Tristan, who eats ten hamburgers in one sitting?" Tea questioned boredly.

"Well, Bakura for starters. He puts me and Tristan to shame. And that was when he was still just a spirit inside the Millennium Ring. You ever see dat guy eat? It's a wonder Ryou never put on any weight!" Joey replied, recalling a time he and Tristan had run into Bakura before they realized he was a separate entity like the Pharaoh.

Imhotep scrunched up his nose in disgust. "You know what, suddenly I'm not very hungry."

Joey looked at the darker teen, extremely confused. "What?! How can you not be hungry?! I mean, c'mon! Look at these burgers! They ain't exactly going to eat themselves!"

"It's not that. You just brought up someone I really didn't want to think about...ever." Imhotep replied.

"What? Don't like him or somethin? Don't worry, we didn't really like him at first either. But once he stopped being a psycho dat wanted to send everyone to da Shadow Realm, we realized he wasn't dat bad."

"Psycho I can handle. I just...don't want to think about him right now."

"Okay? Any particular reason why?" Joey continued to puzzle.

"Yes. Just don't want to talk about it." Imhotep said boredly, leaning an elbow on the table and resting his chin in his palm while looking out the nearby window.

Joey shrugged, realized he wasn't getting anywhere with his questions, then started in on the pile of burgers before him. "You should at least try one of these! They're amazing!" he suggested, shoving one into his mouth.

Imhotep glanced cautiously towards the pile that the others had already started eating from, then picked up one of the burgers. He pulled back the wrapper and examined the object within, sniffing it to determine it was really safe for consumption. "Smells overcooked." he commented.

Joey swallowed the bite he had taken, looking at Imhotep as though he had said something offensive. "Just try it already! It's not gonna bite!"

"Might taste better if it tried to." Imhotep replied with a smirk.

"Yug, I like ya and all, but do somethin about that smug look-alike. He's insulting my favorite burger joint." Joey said, extremely annoyed by Imhotep's behavior.

Yugi shook his head. "Imhotep, Joey dragged you here because it's his favorite place to grab a bite. He's really excited to share this place with you, just like you were excited to show me your collection."

Imhotep's head and shoulders fell a bit. "Oh. When you put it like that…'' he said sheepishly. He looked hesitantly towards the burger he was still inspecting, then reluctantly took a bite. His eyes went wide as he tried to figure out how something that smelled the way it did could taste so amazing. He immediately wolfed down the remainder, quickly doing the same with another two.

Yugi and Tea stared in disbelief at what they were witnessing. They were accustomed to this kind of behavior from Joey and Tristan, but seeing Imhotep do it was a whole different thing. Imhotep scarfing down food like it was his first meal in ages was no different than what Yugi had witnessed at the breakfast table a few days ago with Bakura. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that both were canine in nature?

"Hey Imhotep, any idea why I could hear you earlier?" Yugi asked between bites.

"Not a clue." Imhotep replied with his mouth full. He swallowed before continuing to speak. "Maybe it's because you're not wearing the Puzzle anymore and there's only you in your head now? Maybe it only works when I'm transfigured? I don't transfigure often, so no way to really know for sure. Or maybe it's a combination of both? I'll have to get Mkhai to look into it. Worst case scenario, he'll wanna microchip you."

"Microchip me?"

"Yeah, like with me and Shae. It gives important data feedback. It doesn't hurt, and you can't even tell it's there. Just don't let him give you one with communication capabilities. He uses it to his advantage." Imhotep said the last bit with his nose curled up in annoyance.

"You mean like how he used it to wake up Kat the other day." Yugi said dryly.

Imhotep chuckled. "Yeah, I heard about that. It could have been worse. I got woke up once to some weird-ass screeching sound. Mkhai said it came from some dumb movie."

"Mkhai...he's that other dude that was dressed like a Pharaoh, right? The one that was talkin to Yug's gramps?" Joey questioned.

"Tattoos, piercings, world's biggest nerd...that was him." Imhotep replied, stuffing another burger in his mouth.

"He looks awfully familiar...I just can't put my finger on where I've seen his mug before." Joey said, concentrating really hard on why Mkhai looked so familiar to him.

"He looks like an older Mokuba." Tea said, rolling her eyes, unable to believe that Joey couldn't see the obvious for himself.

"Huh. I guess you're right. He does look like an older punk-rock version of Mokuba, who in my opinion is the smarter of the two Kaiba brothers." Joey stated. "Question: If there's an immortal Mokuba, does dat mean there's an immortal Seto? Or is he just a reincarnation like we are? He does seem ta follow Yugi pretty closely."

Imhotep shook his head. "From what I've learned, neither. I can say with certainty that Seto Kaiba is not Set. But I also know that Set isn't up and walking around either."

"Set? Who's Set?" Joey puzzled.

Imhotep put the burger he had just picked up back down. "He was Shae's twin. He was also the one who murdered my father."

Everyone at the table stopped eating, staring at Imhotep and waiting for him to add to the bombshell.

"You want to add to that?" Yugi asked after a few moments, still staring and trying hard not to appear shocked.

"Um...what do you want to know exactly? He's not exactly a pleasant topic for me….or Shae."

"Why would Kat's twin brother murder her husband?" Tea questioned.

"Oh. Um...where should I start?" Imhotep fidgeted nervously. "So...Set was my mom's twin brother...who became my father's Vizier….and his not-so-secret lover."

Several jaws dropped.

"Okay, now that I got that part out of the way..." he started, "...on to the reason he killed my old man. Um...he was pissed because my father broke things off with him and chose Shae over him? At least that's what I gathered from what I saw in my old man's memories."

The group stared blankly at the dark-complexed teen, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"So...I think maybe I should go now...let you guys have time to come back to normal…" Imhotep stated, rising slowly and looking around for the exit.

"He got trapped in the Puzzle because he broke up with his Vizier?!" Yugi exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"Y-yes? I told you I saw some weird shit in his memories. His Vizier and Shae were not the only two people I saw him with." Imhotep replied dryly. "I am scarred for life."

"You?! He was in my head!" Yugi said a bit more loudly. He looked around to make certain their awkward conversation hadn't been overheard. Something occurred to him, and as much as he really didn't want to know, he had to ask. "You said Set and Kaiba aren't the same person. Does that mean they are similar in appearance? I remember Atem mentioning he'd seen someone that looked like Kaiba in the memory you showed him in the Puzzle."

"They are similar in more than appearance. The first time I saw Kaiba through your shadow, I thought it was Set's reincarnation. They are almost the same in every way, except Set was slightly paler and had bright green eyes just like Shae's mother."

"But he's not a reincarnation?"

"Nope. According to Shae, he's just a very convincing doppelganger. It's the same with Mokuba and Mkhai. Mkhai isn't dead, so he can't be reincarnated. Mokuba looks like him, acts like him, but it's not him. Shae isn't certain where her twin's soul is, but she is confident Kaiba is not Set."

Yugi appeared extremely relieved, which Imhotep noticed and picked up on right away.

"Oh, this will be good. I can tell." Imhotep stated with a mischievous grin. "So why were you wondering about Set and Kaiba looking alike?" he questioned while leaning both elbows on the table with his chin in his hands. He looked intently towards his twin.

Yugi paled and fidgeted nervously. "Oh...uh...no reason. Just trying to figure out if that's where the rivalry came from." he said looking around.

"You think our old man might have had some other influence on you...don't you?" Imhotep smirked with a knowing expression.

"No!" Yugi replied quickly.

"Uh-huh. Riiight. So...where to next? You guys said you'd show me around. So far all I've seen is a burger joint that has these awful looking burgers that are surprisingly very tasty."

"Oh, u-um...you like games, right? How about the arcade?" Yugi suggested nervously.

Imhotep grinned devilishly. "Yugi Muto, you've just signed your death warrant. Your title might be the King of Games, but you've never faced an opponent like me. I might not be allowed to play card games because I can cheat, but if it's pixels on a screen, you've already lost."

Next chapter we return to Egypt (I'm sorry!) There are a lot of things happening simultaneously and I'm trying my best to keep the time flow fairly consistent between the two.

I currently only have two more chapters that are in final edit stages, but not sure if after that I will need another short hiatus. While working on chapter 37 I somehow managed to either close without saving, or copying over that particular chapter's doc, and lost 5k words. I was extremely devastated and have been trying to get back into the flow for the next chapter (I managed to finish 37 by cutting it shorter than intended).

On the plus side! When I started this fic, I pretty much just jumped in the car without a destination in mind. I now know where I'm going! Yay! I know enough of where I'm going that I have started drafting the Epilogue...without anything even being in the drafting phase after chapter 39 (yes, I have 2 in draft atm alongside the Epilogue).

Final note: Not sure if anyone picked up on the Dumb and Dumber reference Imhotep made, but it's there lol