"What IS it?" snapped Seto.
"I…I sensed something," whispered Yuugi.
"He's right," agreed Bakura. "There's power nearby." Everyone was suddenly aware of a light glowing outside.
"The egg!" shouted Honda. They scrambled out of the tent to find that he was right. The egg was shining with a light of its own. Mai sleepily poked her head out of the girls' tent to see what the fuss was, and Jounouchi noted silently with a grin that she got bed head too. In a few seconds, the girls were outside too, watching wide-eyed as the light intensified.
"It's time," murmured Bakura. As the words left his lips, a line of brilliance appeared in the shell and lengthened. To everyone's surprise, it did not branch out every which way, but instead remained perfectly straight, slicing the egg neatly in half long ways. Slowly, the light faded as the circular cut finished and the top slid noiselessly to the ground. Everyone leaned forward to see what was inside. Seto, being very brave, walked up first with a lantern and froze.
"It's…a KID…" he choked out.
Everyone else raced forward. Indeed, curled up in the fetal position was a small child, but definitely bigger than a newborn. It stirred, still slimy from the egg fluids. "Take it out," urged Mai.
Seto rolled up his sleeves and carefully lifted the form from the egg. The child wore a sort of skirt made of linen the purple of the eggshell tied around the waist with a gold sash. Yuugi looked at the style with which the child wore it. "It looks…Egyptian," he remarked.
The kid opened his eyes and looked about. The eyes were the same dark violet the egg had been. Anzu ran up with a towel to dry him off. "He seems familiar," she said softly.
"Malik," murmured Bakura.
Mai shook her head. "You still miss that troublemaker, don't you?"
"No, I mean, he looks like Malik," said Bakura, touching the damp pale hair. "Only, it's Malik like he would have looked if he were about five."
Yuugi gave the silent child a good hard stare. "You're right," he said. "He does."
Anzu, who was still drying him off, gave a small cry. "Look! His back!"
Seto held up the lantern and they all stared. In perfect scars across his back, Yuugi recognized the hieroglyphics and pictures of the directions for the god cards. "That's him." The words Malik had gasped out before he died rang in Yuugi's head. We'll…meet again… I'll get…another chance…when you…least expect it…
Another chance… thought Yuugi. He was right. He gets another chance to live like he couldn't before.
Little Malik looked about at all the faces and then yawned. "We should let him rest," suggested Bakura. "He probably wants some sleep."
"So do the rest of us," put in Mai.
Slowly, they all crept back into their sleeping bags, except for Malik, who curled up in an extra blanket. No one stayed awake long after that.
Yuugi woke early when Malik rose and quietly left the tent. He watched as the boy walked barefoot to the empty shell under the tree and reached in. Carefully, reverently, he pulled out a handful of something that glittered. Slowly, with ceremony, he put the gold bands on his neck, arms, wrists, and little fingers. Lastly, he put the dangling earrings into his lobes, and then let his hands drop to his sides. The early morning sun rising over the ocean glittered on the precious metal as Yuugi stepped out of the tent. "Did you sleep well, Malik?" he asked gently.
"Yes."
Yuugi marveled at how different the voice seemed. It was the unbroken resonance of a young child, not the jaded sound of a misled teen. Yet, it was Malik through and through. "Do you want to go walk on the beach? You haven't been there yet, have you?"
"No. I'll come."
They walked the short distance to the sand together, and Yuugi heard Yami's voice within him. Let me talk to him. Yuugi complied, and the transformation took place as soon as they had reached the sand. Little Malik's eyes widened, and he inclined his head respectfully. "Pharaoh…"
