My AU is slowly revealing itself!

Yugi felt lightheaded. The images of the Pharaoh's former hosts flashed repeatedly through his head. There had been ten, including himself. That meant that there had been nine others before him that had assembled the Millennium Puzzle. Nine others that had shared a body and developed a bond with the Pharaoh. Nine others that the Pharaoh no longer remembered. Did that mean that when their time together came to an end, Yami would forget about him too?

"Wh-why would you risk showing me this?" Yugi asked, still in shock.

"Because it has to do with the bargain my sister made with Anubis. She has failed the resurrection nine times now, killing each host in the process. The bargain ensures that this time it will succeed," Mkhai stated.

"And what of Yugi? You said each of my previous hosts died." Yami felt sickened at the fact that nine people had given their lives in an attempt to bring him back.

"That part is...difficult to explain at this time. He'll survive, that's all you need to know."

"What about the soul Anubis came to claim? Is it the Pharaoh's...or Yugi's?" Marik asked suspiciously.

Mkhai looked around nervously again. "I can't tell you that. It crosses the line of what I'm permitted to say."

"You're magically bound, like Osiris and Bakura." Yami realized.

Mkhai nodded. "I couldn't tell you about your former hosts, but I could show you. Once you had realized what you were looking at, I was allowed to confirm it. And it's obvious that by being here now, she had failed before. This allowed me to tell you about the fate of your hosts. Unfortunately, the soul Anubis has come for ties into the reason behind the bargain. Something was said while you were still with your last host, it caused her to become desperate. It's part of the reason every time she sees you, she becomes furious. She regrets the bargain, but can't do anything to change it and blames you directly."

"I think I understand. Bakura told me I had hurt her. I must have said something terrible," Yami said quietly. He wondered what could have been said though. Had he been angry and blamed her for being trapped in the Puzzle? Perhaps he wished they had never met?

Mkhai's eyes lit up. "You have an idea of what might have been said, don't you?"

The Pharaoh looked at him, puzzled. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I can feel the restraints of the spell loosening. Just like when I showed you the image files."

"I was trying to think of what I could have said that might have hurt her on such a level that she would come to openly hate me. Especially since I know it wasn't always that way between us."

"You're right, it wasn't." Mkhai looked wistfully downward. "I should let you be on your way. Can't have Yugi's gramps sending out a search party," he chuckled half-heartedly.

"Yeah…." Yugi looked down at the image of the Pharaoh's last host before him: Henry Tudor, the last heir of Lancaster. He returned the data pad to its owner, making a mental note to brush up on the monarch's role in history.

Mkhai handed Yugi a business card with nothing but a phone number on it. "In case you need to contact me…" He stood there, as if unsure what to do next.

"Can I ask one final question before you leave?" Yami asked.

Mkhai shrugged. "Go for it. I'll try my best to answer."

"What does 'Ibib' mean?"

Mkhai and Marik both stared blankly at the Pharaoh.

"Are you for real?" Marik asked with a puzzled expression. "You don't remember your native tongue?"

Yami shook his head slowly. "I feel like I should, but I can't place it. The same with when you and Bakura start talking in the old language. It sounds familiar, but it's like I can't place the words with their meanings."

"That's a bit odd. I suppose it comes with the loss of your memories though. As far as the word, Ibib can be roughly translated to 'favored one'."

"Favored one?"

"That has got to be the crappiest translation ever," Mkhai chuckled. "It's a term of endearment. It means 'My love' or 'Darling'. I'm guessing my wonderful sister called you that in her drunken stupor, right?"

Yami felt his chest freeze up again, as it had the night before. It felt like the air had been removed from his non-existent lungs. His non-existent heart beat heavily within his chest, roaring like thunder with each non-existent beat. "Y-yes…but why?" he stammered.

"How about I let you figure that one out on your own," Mkhai chuckled again. "Maybe it will help you remember something else. Until then, feel free to use what she said as leverage. I can guarantee she has no clue that she called you that, and will have a hard time trying to ignore you if you call her out on it."

"You want me to blackmail her?" Yami asked in astonishment.

Mkhai revealed a devilish grin. "A few pointers when dealing with my sister, especially if you want to get past her attitude towards you. She quite literally is a cat. She will spite you just because she can. Also, like you, she is a master strategist. The two of you would often spend days on a single game of Senat, many times declaring a draw. Last piece of advice, she hates to lose."

Yami nodded, understanding exactly what Mkhai had conveyed to him.

Yugi and Marik spent the next few hours trying to get their previous day's schoolwork done. Téa had dropped it off as soon as school let out. Yugi found it hard to focus though. His mind kept wandering to the Pharaoh's previous hosts…and their fates. Mkhai had assured them this time was supposed to end differently, but that didn't ease his mind. Nine people had died. All probably believing they were giving their lives to bring back the Pharaoh. None knowing that their death was for nothing.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yami could sense his host's swarming negative emotions. Fear, sadness, despair, anger, bitterness.

"I'll be fine." Yugi snapped through the link.

Yami was taken aback. Yugi had never spoken to him that way before. Even when they fought about whether Marik was trustworthy, Yugi had barely even raised his voice. Yugi was the one who saw the good in everyone, the one that always held out hope.

"Are you angry with me?"

Yugi suddenly realized how harsh he had come across. "I'm sorry Yami. I didn't mean to say it like that. I guess I just find it unfair that so many people died for nothing."

"You're not the only one. When Mkhai told us about that, I felt sick to my stomach."

Marik looked over towards the Pharaoh and his host. "You know, it's not really fair that I can finally see and talk to the Pharaoh, yet the two of you still have a way to leave me out of the conversation."

"Sorry Marik. Yami was asking me if I was okay and I kind of snapped at him." Yugi's gaze trailed off to nowhere. "We were both just saying how unfair it is that nine people died with nothing to show for it."

"Yeah, that part is pretty bad," Marik commented, looking downwards with a sad expression on his face. "As much as I have a bad feeling about this whole 'bargain with Anubis' thing, I kind of understand why Kat might have done it. Imagine making a promise to bring back someone you care about, only to end up killing innocent people."

Yugi and Yami both stared wide-eyed at the Tomb Keeper.

"What?" Marik puzzled, looking up and seeing the expression on their faces.

"I guess neither of us considered how she felt. We were more focused on how many lives were wasted."

"I'm certain that the Pharaoh's former hosts didn't see it as a waste. How much do you wanna bet that they knew the risks?"

This was another point of realization both the Pharaoh and his host had not thought of.

"You're probably right," Yugi said, his emotions slowly calming to a reasonable level. He looked down at his Algebra homework, deciding to try working on it later when he could focus better. "How about we take a break. Maybe go to the arcade or something. Anything to get back to semi-normal for a few hours," he suggested.

"Semi-normal? I thought that was Shadow Games and trying to evade random Kaiba duels?" Marik commented sarcastically.

Both Yugi and the Pharaoh laughed at the joke, Marik joining them in their laughter.

"Do I even wanna know?" Bakura's gruff voice sounded from behind them.

"Bakura? I thought you went after Kat?" Marik puzzled, unsure as to why the elemental was there.

"I did. Ended up returning something that got left behind after she paid me a visit last night. She'll be fine. I made her promise not to raze any cities in the near future. After that, there wasn't much point in sticking around, so I figured I'd stop in and see how you were doing on schoolwork," he said casually.

"We were actually thinking of taking a break and going out for a bit. You're welcome to join us." Yugi said with a smile.

"Sure," Bakura shrugged. "Not like I have anything better planned right now. Already finished up my assignments so the rest of the day is free."

"You're still going to attend school?" Yugi questioned.

"People still think I'm Ryou…and it would be nice to have a diploma with his name on it for my collection," he said while casually looking around.

"That's a strange way of saying 'It's the easiest way to play bodyguard'," Yami commented.

Bakura narrowed his eyes towards the Pharaoh. "That too."

"Admit it Bakura, that's the real reason you're here right now. You're the only person that no one will suspect anything by being around," Yami stated as he warily eyed Bakura.

"For your information, Pharaoh, I don't have to be visible in order to keep watch. Kat has been on guard for years, and you only encountered her yesterday. Which I learned was a fluke by the way. She had only summoned me. The Puzzle reacting as well wasn't planned."

"That is strange. Do you think perhaps the Puzzle's reaction could have anything to do with this 'Shadow Walker' that Katrina mentioned? She said he has a personal interest in seeing me resurrected."

"That's the most likely explanation."

"Bakura, exactly how long has Kat been 'on guard'? She mentioned yesterday that she's spent a lot of time here in Domino as an 'observer'. She also said that now that you were re-Awakened, she could get some time away as a 'Sentinel'," Marik questioned. With the new knowledge about the Pharaoh's former hosts, he felt certain that it meant Kat had invested a great deal of time into ensuring his current host remained safe.

Bakura shook his head casually, rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to relieve some unknown tension. "Yeah, she could definitely use a break. She's stood watch since Yugi was born, though has been unable to directly interact before yesterday. For good reason too." He stopped rubbing at his neck, eyeing the three suspiciously as he realized that the information didn't appear to be new. "But you already suspected that, didn't you? This is just a confirmation…"

Yugi looked to Marik and the Pharaoh before answering. "Yeah. We know about the Pharaoh's former hosts."

The elemental narrowed his eyes. "Oh really...and how might you have learned about that?"

"Mkhai."

This didn't appear to come as a surprise to Bakura. "I see. Oh well, his funeral not mine," he said with a shrug. "So, you mentioned something about taking a break?" Bakura questioned, changing the topic.

Yugi wanted to press the elemental for more, but had a feeling he wouldn't share much more than what was already known. "Yeah. Though we haven't decided where to yet."

Bakura fished his phone out, checking the time. "Have you guys had lunch yet?"

"Now that you mention it…" Marik placed a hand over his midsection as it made an audible growling noise.

"Sounds like a late lunch is in order then," Bakura said with his usual smirk. "We can decide from there."

After several minutes of trying to figure out where to go while keeping Marik's food preferences in mind, they decided on a small pizzeria not far from the Arcade. There had been a small argument between Marik and Bakura about the latter suggesting a steakhouse. Marik won the argument easily though by bringing up the fact that Kat had shown no qualms about his food preference, and had even gone to the lengths of trying a vegan meal.

"I still can't believe Kat willingly ate that crap," Bakura ridiculed, taking a large bite of pizza that had been loaded up with as many meat toppings as possible.

Marik scowled at him. "At least she didn't make fun of my choices. I swear, that single slice is a mockery of everything I'm against."

"I'm not mocking you, I'm just taking advantage of the fact that there's more meat for me," Bakura said devilishly.

"Seriously, the two of you spent the remainder of the week eating lunch together at school, how was this not an issue until now?" Yugi asked while rubbing at his temple.

"Honestly, I didn't really pay attention to what he was eating. I didn't really care," Bakura replied casually.

"If you didn't care then, then why should you care now?" Marik chided.

"I don't care. I'm just surprised that you managed to get Kat to eat a vegetable that wasn't a potato."

"You called it crap."

"I'm a carnivore, what do you expect me to call it?"

"What exactly are you anyway? Kat is a cat, and Malik is a lion. So what does that make you?" Marik questioned.

"Panther."

"A panther?" Marik puzzled. "I don't really se-"

"No, I'm correcting you," Bakura interrupted. "She's not a cat. I mean, she is, but technically she's a panther. A black leopard to be more specific. The domestic form isn't part of her shift. It's just a transfiguration spell."

Marik stared blankly at him. "So she's actually like Bast in appearance?"

"Try Sekhmet, with an attitude to match."

"But Sekhmet is a war goddess?"

"Did you not see a warrior on the field today?" Bakura asked in puzzlement, referring to the earlier encounter.

Marik lowered his head. He had spent most of the fight focused on overcoming his re-awakened fear of Malik. He barely remembered any of the flame elemental's actions on the field. "Sorry, my focus was elsewhere at the time."

Bakura stopped eating, setting his food on the plate in front of him. "Yeah, I suppose it was. Aside from the hesitation, you did a good job keeping Mal in line."

"What do you mean? I didn't really do anything. I just nodded my head and he did the rest."

Bakura raised a questioning brow. "You didn't do anything? Mal doesn't always obey his master. You showed your fear of him and he showed concern. He could have easily turned on you and did whatever he pleased. Hell, when Vanjir tossed Kat aside he turned to you for permission!"

Marik blanched. "Are you saying Kat took a massive risk entrusting me?"

"She told you it was like wielding the Millennium Rod. If you had expressed the same level of fear while controlling your puppets in Battle City, what would have happened?"

Realization crossed Marik's face. "I wouldn't have been able to control them at all. But then why wasn't it like that with Malik?"

"I wonder the same thing. I wouldn't fret over it too much though. It was probably because Kat was the one who placed her trust in you. She's pretty much the only person whose opinion matters to him," Bakura stated. "Though, he didn't seem to care too much about it nearly fifteen years ago," he added quietly.

Marik and Yugi both knew what Bakura was referring to: Malik's betrayal against his friends that led to Bakura's imprisonment in the Millennium Ring.

"Do you know why he did it?" Yugi questioned.

"He needed the power to take on Ra, but was a dumbass in how he went about it," Bakura replied irritably.

Both Yugi and Marik looked at the elemental in perplexion. "Care to elaborate on that?" Marik questioned.

Bakura placed his elbow up on the table, placing his chin into the palm of his hand while looking at the two as if bored. "Did you know it's possible to kill a god and take their place?" he asked mundanely. "It requires a great deal of power though. The best way to obtain that power is by absorbing it from the descendants of the deity that you plan on replacing. Mal made the mistake of trying to start with me, but wasn't able to do so directly. Somehow he managed to catch Kat off-guard and tried to use her to do his dirty work, though I'm still curious to how he came up with that plan. Mal's definitely not smart enough to think it up on his own, which leads me to believe someone else manipulated him. Plus I'm certain whoever was actually behind the scheme knew part of the spell would backfire and take out Mal as well. What they didn't count on was his element saving him, and the magic of the Millennium Ring saving me."

"But why would he want to replace Ra? Kat mentioned that you don't get along, but that's about it," Marik questioned.

"Don't get along? That's the nicest way I've ever heard anyone say 'My father burned down an entire village along with its people in an attempt to hide a mistake'," Bakura growled, his voice full of sarcasm. "Mal and I weren't meant to still be here. Like many other gods, Ra came down to have his 'fun'. Usually he just destroyed any unwanted bastards, but he hadn't counted on the two of us being infused with our elements."

"That's it. I'm officially never complaining about my father again," Marik said dryly.

Yugi had stopped eating and was just staring down at his plate. "Can we talk about something other than gods and ancient Egypt? I thought we were trying to get away from all that for a few hours," he said dejectedly.

"Sure thing," Bakura replied, noticing Yugi's sudden melancholy. "How about we go play a few games over at the arcade. I bet I can beat you at Tekken," he said smiling, trying to lighten the mood.

Yugi smiled at the attempt Bakura made. "Are you seriously challenging the King of Games?"

"Maybe."

I would like to make one thing clear (that was mentioned by someone not on FFN) about my AU. I never viewed the 'Yami' aspects as 'bad guys'. To me they each had their own legit reasons for being the way they were. Honestly, they still aren't the 'bad guys'...but they aren't exactly 'good' either. They still have their issues, just not the issues from the canon. Sorry, not sorry, if you find 'bad guys' not being 100% bad guys 'boring'.

/endrant