It was the middle of the night when Yugi Muoto heard the phone ring in the Kame Game Shop. The strange alarm blasted through the darkness like swords of revealing light. It startled him, and for a moment, he even mistook the dream he was having for an actual dueling tournament.

"No! Not my silent swordsman!" he gasped, falling out of the bed.

He blinked a couple of times, and looked around the room. It most certainly wasn't Kaiba Land.

"… oh… it's the phone…" he whispered to himself, wiping the sand from his eyes. "I wonder who would be calling at this hour…"

As he opened the door, he heard his grandfather's voice.

"Yugi! Are you awake? The phone is for you." He called out, climbing tiredly back up the stairs.

The young duelist walked wearily out of his room, and looked down the stairs.

"For me?"

"Yes."

"But it's… like two in the morning." He yawned, still rubbing his eyes.

"Here, just when I thought your adventures regarding Egypt were over. Here comes yet another phone call." Sugoroku Muoto mused, handing his grandson the phone.

"Egypt?" he asked, taking the receiver. "Hello?"

It was Malik Ishtar.

"Yugi, I'm sorry to call at what must be such a late hour for you, but Isis just returned home with strange news. I was wondering if you knew something about it." He spoke quickly, yet politely.

"What is it, Malik?"

"One of your friends is here in Egypt, trying to dig up the millennium items!"

Yugi gasped, almost dropping the phone.

"But why?" he shouted. "There's nothing else they need to do! And… and all of my friends were with me in school today. They would have said something about going to Egypt. Are you sure?"

His mind raced. He had eaten lunch with Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda. If any of them were interested in the millennium items, he knew that they would ask him first. He had seen Otogi during his last class. The two had agreed to play Dungeon Dice Monsters the next weekend. And he knew someone like Seto Kaiba wouldn't be interested in the items in the slightest.

"Clear as crystal." He answered. "Isis saw Ryou Bakura at the site of the former shrine. He's digging into the rubble as we speak."

Yugi gasped again.

"Bakura!" he nearly dropped the phone again. "But the pharaoh destroyed the evil spirit!"

"It is not the evil spirit that is trying to recover the items. It is Ryou Bakura. His former host." Malik clarified. "He told Isis that he was trying to reach the spirit of the ring, to at least say goodbye to him."

Yugi stood in the hallway, holding the phone. He was downright stunned.

"But why? Ryou's finally free. He doesn't have the spirit taking over his body, or hurting him, or pulling him into the shadow realm! What more could he want?"

"Yugi, perhaps we should have at least given him time to make peace with the spirit. You had a chance to confront the pharaoh in a duel, and to wish him a safe journey through the afterlife." Malik added. "Ryou did not have that luxury, even though he too shared his mind and body with another entity for years."

Yugi looked down at the floor.

"Maybe… we should have." He whispered, but soon changed his tone. "But that doesn't mean he should dig up the millennium items! Do they still have power? What if he accidentally…"

"Isis will make certain he does nothing dangerous with them." Malik interrupted. "And there is a ritual that will send him to the afterlife to see his yami one last time."

Yugi quieted his breathing.

"Then… why are you calling me?"

"You know the power of friendship more than anyone. That is what you taught me." Malik smiled. "And right now, Ryou Bakura needs his friends by his side. You are the only person who knows exactly what he's going through."

Yugi nodded.

"You're right, Malik." He sighed peacefully. "I will try to get a flight to Egypt first thing in the morning."

"Thank you, Yugi." Malik added. "When Ryou comes back from seeing the spirit of the millennium ring, it will be good for him to have a friend nearby."

"Of course." Yugi nodded. "I will make sure all of his friends are there."

Malik said his farewells, and hung up the phone. Yugi turned to face his grandfather, and inform him, yet again, that he needed to fly to Egypt on a moment's notice. Yugi wasn't concerned that he would say now; the elder man was used to that by now anyway.

He was more concerned about Ryou, someone he had hardly even spoken to in the past few weeks.