Author's note: This takes the English dub (meaning Domino city is in America) and Season Zero into account, along with GX's ideas on duel spirits. These duel spirits will look and have the abilities they have in 2019, such as Silent Magician being white and blue or Gandora only being destroyed at the end of the turn. I will try to release chapters every other Friday. I still read and love every comment/review given, even if I don't answer. Thank you for stopping by!

In two weeks, it would all be over. There was no Dartz to stop them this time, no tournament, no crazy historical figures, they would finally have all the pieces to get the Pharaoh's memories back. Then… Yugi didn't know what would happen next. He had a good idea, but he tried not to linger on that thought for too long. Besides, that was two weeks away. Yugi had other things to worry about before that fateful trip to Egypt.

Yugi and the Pharaoh were strolling through Domino city on a sunny day. Summer vacation had been going on for a while and the two enjoyed walking (the Pharaoh more floating) in the cooler mornings to talk. Yugi had gotten good at hiding the fact he was conversing with thin air. In the city streets, he could hide his conversations better than at home.

"It's truly been over a year since you've seen your father in person?" The Pharaoh asked.

"It was only for one day last year. The year before that it was three days. This time he is actually going to be here for an entire week!" Yugi grinned. The Pharaoh's face remained its usual unreadable expression. "What is it Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, stopping near a crossing walk.

"It's nothing. I was just figuring out how long I will have to stay hidden in the Millennium Puzzle this time." The Pharaoh said. Yugi knew he was lying but didn't feel like pushing it.

"You don't have to stay hidden at all! I wouldn't mind you meeting my dad this time. I know the most you've heard of him was through his weekly phone calls, but he really is a nice guy."

"I don't think that's the best idea Yugi. Not even your mother or grandpa know about me. The last time we tried to bring it up to your mother almost hospitalized you. Besides, it would be a big shock for them to suddenly learn about my presence, only for me to then head to Egypt in a few days." The Pharaoh said.

Yugi sighed. "I suppose you're right. Maybe you can pretend to be me for a bit? Just so you can stretch your legs?"

This made the Pharaoh laugh. "Yugi… That's a kind gesture, but can you see me pretending to be you? I know I did it when we first met, but that was always with people that didn't know you. How would we even begin to explain the height and voice difference?" The idea of the Pharaoh trying to make his voice higher made Yugi giggle too, making some passersby glance worriedly at him.

"Ok, maybe you're right. I just don't like the idea of you being suck in the puzzle for an entire week." Yugi whispered after making sure he was far away from the concerned looks.

Yugi remembered near the beginning when he wasn't so good at hiding their little talks. During a shopping trip after Duelist Kingdom, the two were arguing whether a person could wear too many chains. In their heated discussion, the two hadn't noticed that the clerk had called the police on them. Now with a few years of practice, these walks were often the best time for the two to talk.

"It's fine Yugi. I just want you to enjoy the rare days you get with your father. Do not worry about me." the Pharaoh smiled. Yugi nodded but he couldn't let the feeling go. While he rarely had time with his father, he was also running out of time with his best friend.

"Hey look! The next series of Duel Monster cards have been released in this shop too!" Yugi excitedly shouted. He ran up to the small game shop's window and pressed his nose up to the glass. The Pharaoh chuckled. No matter how much Yugi seemed to grow, his childlike innocent never disappeared.

"We should get a packet." The Pharaoh said.

"Good idea. Who knows? Maybe we'll get another team member." Yugi said as he walked into the shop. "Which one's calling to you?" he asked as he looked over the shiny foil packets.

"Hmm, how about that one?" The Pharaoh pointed to a packet in the middle with a white and blue mage on it.

"I like this one too. Let's get it."

Soon enough Yugi was out the door with his new purchase. "Let's see, what's in here?" Yugi said as he found a bench to sit on and took out the packet. He reached up to the packet's edge but stopped.

"Something wrong?" The Pharaoh asked.

"It's just that, this might be the last cards we open together…" Yugi said.

The Pharaoh hadn't thought of it like that. Packet opening had been one of the earliest ways the two of them bonded. Back when both were too nervous of the other to talk, it had been the catalyst for many first conversations.

"We have to make this special." Yugi decided. He stood up and walked back to his grandpa's shop.

…

"Welcome back Yugi! Your father's not here from the airport yet, but I think it'll be any minute now." Grandpa said as Yugi came into the house portion of the shop's building.

"Thanks Grandpa, I'll just be up in my room if you need me." Yugi smiled.

"Understood. Hey, I'm going to that new duel monsters exhibit at the museum after we have lunch. Do you want to come with me, we can bring along Junior?"

"Thanks, but Dad and I have plans already." Yugi smile. He then went upstairs while quietly chatting away with thin air.

Solomon was used to Yugi talking to nothing. His grandson always tried to hide it when he or his daughter-in-law was around, but after four years the boy slipped up enough to make both raise their eyebrows. Solomon knew the conversations started about seven months after Yugi solved that puzzle he had gifted the boy. Even before that point, during those seven months, Yugi had acted strangely. He was always sneaking out and coming back smelling of chloroform or smoke. Then after those seven months, the Death-T games, his coma, and Duelist Kingdom happened. Those events would have scarred any other kid, but Yugi came out stronger. The only thing off was his need to talk to nothing or, more specifically, to talk to that golden puzzle.

Solomon shook his head. Yugi's mother had tried to hospitalize her son, but he had stopped her. He thought that intense therapy might hurt more than help in this situation. However, it still weirded him out, especially when he swore he heard someone reply to Yugi.

"What have I given to you?" Grandpa thought to himself as he returned to sweeping.

…

"Ok, we ready to do this?" Yugi asked. The Pharaoh nodded. Yugi was sitting on the rug in the middle of his room. He and the Pharaoh were going to do this together. Yugi pulled the packet open then the Pharaoh took over. He pulled out the first card.

"Huh, Wishing Well. A good trap card. Your turn, partner." Then Yugi jumped into the body and pulled out the next card.

"Oh! It's one of those new level monsters. The Silent Swordsman. I like its design." Yugi said as he studied the card.

The Pharaoh looked over Yugi's shoulder at the small sword wielder. While the swordsman's card sparkled, there wasn't a spark of a duel spirit. This made both Yugi and the Pharaoh a little disappointed, but duel spirits were rare.

The card spirits only recently started coming regularly to this dimension from their homeworld, Dartz's fall being the main catalyze for the spirit immigration. Before the card game was invented, duel monster spirits used to have to come through random portals in the world. The biggest being in Atlantis, Egypt, and Domino City. Even then they couldn't stay in this world long because of how much energy it took to get back home plus the energy it took to remain in the human world. Now thanks to energy free portals that came from their specific card and fear of being absorbed by the Lethiaven gone, duel spirits often loved to vacation with human, especially if their card holder was a duelist. Less than one percent of the human population could see these spirits without KaibaCorp's holograms. Yugi and the Pharaoh were the only ones out of their friend group that could see them. That just meant they wanted to meet more spirits.

"By the looks of it, that swordsman will be hard to use unless you have his other cards. He'll make for interesting strategies." The Pharaoh smiled as he took over. He then pulled out the next card.

"Silent Magician. She's a new one." The Pharaoh said. Yugi nearly pushed the Pharaoh out of the body to see closer. "Patience! Give me a chance to look at the card."

"Sorry it's just… Now I have my own magician card too."

"What do you mean? You are still the actual owner of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl." The Pharaoh pointed out.

Yugi's spirit form sat back with a huff. "They're not really my cards. I may have bought them, but they're definitely yours. You guys have a connection I can't even begin to understand." Yugi sighed. "Everyone seems to have a card like that. Seto's got his Blue-Eyes, you and Dark Magician, even Joey has his Red-Eyes. Maybe when they release another eyed dragon I'll finally find one that clicks with me."

"An eyed dragon? Really? I don't see something like that with your personality." Pharaoh said.

"Huh? Do you think? Well, if we're going off personality then I guess I'm destined for Marshmallon. I can see the connection even now." Yugi said as he spread his arms out dramatically.

The Pharaoh chuckled. "Don't worry Yugi. I'm sure you'll find a card partner that will shadow everyone else's. You still want your turn?"

"Absolutely! Get out of that body!" The Pharaoh continued to chuckle as Yugi (maybe a little too enthusiastically) pushed him out. Yugi then pulled out the next card. "Wow, is this a holographic card? It's sure shiny. I can't even see what's on it." Yugi said. The card seemed to glow with a faint red light. Yugi then flipped the card around, he found the back to be sparkling too. As he flipped the card to the front again, it began shining with increasing intensity.

"Yugi…" The Pharaoh warned. Yugi couldn't help but stare at the card. It continued to get unnaturally brighter. The Pharaoh immediately went into action and pushed Yugi's spirit out of the body, right when the card's glow reached its peak. Its light enveloped them both.

The Pharaoh suddenly felt…different. All the weightlessness of being a spirit disappeared. It didn't feel uncomfortable. Just like if he was wearing a heavy winter coat, over his entire body. The Pharaoh then looked down at his hands. The card was gone.

"Yugi?" No response. The Pharaoh opened and closed his fingers to make sure he was in control. He felt no fight from his partner. In fact, he felt nothing.

"Ok Yugi, jokes over." No response, no anything. The Pharaoh's breathing started to speed up. He looked wildly around the room. No Yugi. The Pharaoh then pulled into his mind. He came racing out of his soul room, ignoring the winding passages and throwing open his door. He froze when he saw what was in front of his room. There was nothing, just blackness.

The Pharaoh fell to his knees. There had only been one other time of something like this happened. He clutched the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. He couldn't go back. Not to the time with the Seal of Orichalcos, not to that time of loneliness.

The Pharaoh suddenly felt a presence shaking him. He reluctantly took control of the body again. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned.

"I know that rug is comfortable but I wouldn't take a nap on it." The voice snapped the Pharaoh awake. He looked up into the crimson eyes of Solomon Jr.

"You ok there, Champ?" The man asked. The Pharaoh immediately pulled away from the man, only stopping when he had his back to the wall. "Whoa, I forgot how easily you scare. Sorry there, it's just dad. You're completely safe."