"There are men whom one hates until a certain moment when one sees, through a chink in their armor, the writhing of something nailed down and in torment."
- Gerald Kersh
Ears ringing, Bakura let go of the Millennium Necklace and staggered to one knee. His fingers ached terribly, and his head swam. As if this weren't enough, his throat hurt, and Bakura suspected that he had been screaming.
That pissed him off.
At some point, he'd dropped his dagger, and he started scanning the ground around him for it, cursing when his vision blurred. Across from him, he heard Seth breathing raggedly as the young sorcerer dragged himself to his feet.
Bakura's fingers closed on the dagger, its cool grip a balm to his burnt fingers, and he gripped it as tightly as he could despite the pain. "So," he rasped. "Where were we?"
Across from him, Seth unsteadily scooped up his sword. "The Necklace," he said thickly. "Grabbing it together with magic in the air must have set it off. Shown us..." Visibly, he shoved those memories down and answered flatly, "We were trying to kill each other."
"Right," Bakura said, and heaved himself up dizzily. "Let's go back to that." He flicked the dagger into throwing position; Seth brought the sword up into guard. Bakura flung the knife.
It clattered to the ground two feet to Seth's left.
Bakura sighed tiredly. "Damn."
Silence.
"Thief," Seth said at last, then cleared his throat. "Bakura..."
"Don't," Bakura said, and went to retrieve the knife. Seth let him.
"What I saw," he pressed. "Was that your home?"
"Was that yours?" Bakura countered. "Look, Priest, I have no desire to rehash old history with you. You and your arrogant king haven't bothered to ask about any of this before, and frankly, I see no reason to rush to tell you everything now." He tried for a glare, but there wasn't any heart in it.
"If I'd known..."
"You would have...what? Helped me?" Bakura hated the fact that his voice was rising out of control, but couldn't stop it. "Nothing would have changed, Seth. I didn't have a dragon to take my revenge for me. I hate you and everything you stand for!"
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual." Then Seth sighed and turned away. "Go. The guards will be here soon."
"This doesn't change anything between us," Bakura warned.
"Go. Before I change my mind."
The Thief King went.