Middleground
The duelists were gone, Yugi-boy with his puzzle and Pegasus's last hope.
Pegasus stood on his balcony, wine glass still full, and watched the boat depart into the dying daylight. His failure seemed to grow the farther the ship traveled, and the power behind his eye pulsed.
He held all the cards and still lost. His Cecelia was forever lost, and now, so was he.
How could he go back to the time before Egypt? Alone to wander with nothing more than an inkling of hope—a hope now gone?
And then, in his darkest moment, that curse came for him in a challenge he wasn't ready for. Exhausted and defeated, Pegasus saw her life flash before him, all he once held slipping through his fingers, and the surge of adrenaline had granted him a feeble victory. But if not for Croquet…
No. He had won that match, even if all it had meant was that he could cling to what was left of his life. And what was left of it now? With all lost, what did he have?
A fragile, possessed boy, terrified and equally hopeless. What a pair they made.
Sunset took the ship from his sight before the horizon, and Pegasus raised his glass to it before pouring the wine over the edge. It fell down and down, smoothly yet quickly, until only drops remained.
"One day, dear heart."
But for now, he just had the one reason to go on. Ryou's room was in the tower, a few doors down from where Pegasus stood, until he decided what to do about that boy and the spirit inside of him. The spirit made things complicated, both for Pegasus and Ryou. Ryou hadn't done anything to deserve that fate, so far as Pegasus knew, and the spirit had weakened Pegasus, preventing him from preventing Yugi's escape.
He had freed the trapped souls, but never said he would free them physically. If not for the attack, he would have tried again. And every step he took away from the balcony, toward the locked door at the end of the hallway, reminded him again and again and again that he would never have the chance again. What would he do? Steal another soul close to Yugi-boy and hope he chose to fight again the same way? Hope he didn't just bring a gun to do the job properly?
Unlocking the door, Pegasus pushed the thoughts away. The current occupant of the room had done nothing wrong. Pegasus doubted little Ryou had even chosen to join their quest, but had been dragged along for the ride. Seeing him huddled on the corner of the bed, arms around his knees and gaze out the window, only strengthened the notion. He was a victim, most likely doomed to be an eternal one.
"They left me," Ryou said. "I know we aren't close, but they left."
"You couldn't have gone with them," Pegasus said. "You must understand that."
"I don't. Please. I haven't done anything."
Pegasus locked the door behind him in the off chance he was wrong. Looking inside the open mind would have been an easier answer, but lacked a certain elegance this boy called for. The spirit's absence took all defenses away from Ryou, who Pegasus was beginning to believe didn't hold the ability to lie.
"You know he will."
Ryou's breathing heaved his chest. "I can't stop him."
"I can."
The fragile hope that crossed Ryou's face looked ready to shatter. "He's too strong."
"Not for me."
Having defeated him while in his weakest state, Pegasus knew he could. But it was more a matter of choosing the proper method. Pegasus clasped his hands together behind him as he crossed the room to the window, relieved and angry he couldn't see the ship. There wasn't so much as a reflection on the water with the overcast sky coming in from the ocean.
"We're in for a storm tonight," Pegasus said. "I hope you don't mind them."
"I don't?" Ryou asked, uncertainty echoing.
"That's good. I've always thought the thunder was much louder up here."
Ryou glanced at the window as if he could already see it. "Why live on an island?"
"When the world has been lost to you, it's best not to remain living in it."
"I still have things left for me out there," Ryou said. "When can I go home?"
Posture relaxing, Pegasus closed the shutters and braced them. "It won't be long."
Pegasus considered a flashlight, but took a torch to the dungeons for the added effect. The shadows it cast splashed the wall in jagged rhythms, stretching out before every step.
He would know Pegasus was coming.
But he must have known that anyway. He would have known from the moment his ring failed and the eye overcame him. And now, for taking away Pegasus's last chance for his Cecelia, the spirit would suffer.
Pegasus approached the cell without masking his steps, and left the torch on the hook mounted to the stone. The angle of the light reflected sharply, leaving a shadow across the center of the spirit's face.
"Do you have a name?" Pegasus asked. He thought the boy might not answer, but it was only a few moments before he received a curt, "Bakura."
"I didn't ask for his name."
"I didn't offer it."
Somehow, when Bakura moved, the chains didn't rattle. Without his ring, Pegasus expected him to be just like everyone else, but he reeked with unspent magic. Pegasus breathed in the scent of it and let it fill him and the eye, throbbing against his skull in anticipation. Croquet's interference in those final moments had tainted the victory, and the ring hadn't connected to Pegasus. But it was locked away, far away, where Bakura would never find it.
"You tried to kill me."
"I will again."
"You aren't in much position for it. What will you do without your trinket?"
"What are you without yours?"
The shadow crossing his face flickered. The flames moving, Pegasus told himself. Nothing more. The dungeons tended to be drafty, and although Pegasus hadn't felt a draft, that was certainly it. The fact his eyes gleamed and the darkness danced around his lips was a trick of the light.
"You don't understand what you've done," Pegasus said. "But never fear, I'll show you in great length the pain you've caused."
Bakura stood, and the shadow followed him to his feet. "You'll fail."
"No," Pegasus said, stepping up to the bars to look down on him. "You've already failed. You'll accept your defeat."
"And if I don't?"
"I'll send you back to hell."
Bakura raised both arms in challenge. "Do what you must."
His bravado came across genuine enough, to the point Pegasus wanted nothing more than to beat it out of him. It was a desire he planned to indulge, and reaching behind him, he unraveled the whip from his belt. He produced the key to the cell next, brandishing both in an unavoidable warning.
"How many lives will you take before you get what you want?"
"Everyone."
Pegasus unlocked the door before pocketing the key again. This arrogance could only be met with one response, and the glow of the eye lightened Bakura's shadow. "Where is your power now?" Pegasus asked. "Call on it to save you."
Rather than create distance between himself and the whip, Bakura stepped closer. "No."
"Very well."
The first lash came down with little warning, striking across Bakura's arm and his stomach. The positioning of his hands and the chains kept the damage to a minimum, but it was just the first swing, and Pegasus wasn't nearly satisfied. Before he was finished, Bakura would be painted bloody.
Pegasus struck once more before playfully leaning his head to the side. "We won't stop any time soon. It's important to me that you know that."
"Go on."
The next two landed almost in the same place, forearm to forearm, and barely grazing his stomach. Did it not hurt because it wasn't his body? Or was this spirit so twisted through the years and the constant possessions that he had grown immune to pain?
Pegasus would figure it out; he wasn't afraid of trial and error.
Ryou didn't cry as his wounds were cleaned, but did as the bandages went on, covering him forearm to wrist. Those on his wrists were thicker, and he hovered light fingertips over them, daring to touch without contact.
"Was he trying to kill you again?" Ryou asked.
"That seems to be his norm," Pegasus said in a hushed tone, moving on to the gash on his neck. "You understand he's dangerous. To let him go after what I've seen—"
"I know."
"It was wise of you to accept my offer to stay," Pegasus said. Ryou winced at the antiseptic, but the tears that fell lessened. They were hard to see despite how close Pegasus sat, Ryou's pale skin blushing a deep red with the battling emotions. Disappearing into it, the tears might as well have been vanished away.
Ryou was no stranger to magic, after all.
"You can stop him, can't you?" Ryou asked. "Take him like you did the others."
Focusing on the injury to soften the blow of his words, Pegasus said, "It's more complex than that. He nearly killed me the first time."
"But you can. It's possible."
That, Pegasus looked up for. "It's possible."
"Then I'll stay until it's done."
Pegasus already knew that, but gave Ryou's upper arm a reassuring squeeze, as if to commend his bravery. "I will take care of you," he said, locking gazes with Ryou, knowing the words would embed themselves deeper that way. "I swear it on all I hold dear."
Ryou's attention fell back to his wrists. "I don't understand what he gains from hurting me. If I die, he dies."
"He might think he will simply return in another host," Pegasus offered. "I can't explain why he hurts you like this."
"What about cameras?" Ryou said. "We could leave them running to watch. Maybe he says something or—"
"He doesn't. I've had men posted to listen."
The last of Ryou's wounds was the worst, an open slash from a knife, straight across his back. Whether he questioned how Bakura was able to reach back for that exact angle didn't matter. Pegasus could find a reason for it. Ryou believed everything, no matter how silly the excuse.
"It doesn't make sense. He shouldn't want me dead."
"It's me he wants dead."
The darkening strength in his eyes spoke loudly enough. But it isn't you he's hurting.
Pegasus put a hand on his this time, careful of the bandages. Leaning near in a feign of intimacy, Pegasus told him, "We're getting closer. It won't be much longer before we find a way."
"I can't keep doing this. And now I can't feel him. Maybe if I could talk to him—"
"Do you think he would risk you talking him out of his life?"
"He'll kill me," Ryou said. "He'll do it the more desperate he gets."
"I'll take care of him before that can happen."
Ryou took his hand from Pegasus's grip. "I know." But his posture spoke differently. It was almost heavy enough for Pegasus to take a look inside his mind. The turmoil would have been beautiful, but for now, it would remain private. Pegasus could offer him that much.
Blood seeped through one of the bandages and that alone broke Ryou. He covered his face as if that could hide it from Pegasus, who soaked in every falling tear.
"Stay still," Pegasus ordered. Bakura's thrashing was ruining the carving of the ring on his back. "You're the one who insisted you simply must have it with you at all times."
Through the gag, Bakura uttered a long string of what was most certainly curses Pegasus might have enjoyed being on the receiving end of any other day. But now, he needed to focus on getting the proper angles and shading with just a finely sharpened knife. The task hadn't seemed like such a challenge given his last exchanges with Bakura. The one time Pegasus needed him not to struggle, he decided to.
"If you didn't have such a complex treasure, this would have been over hours ago. Just imagine if you had been gifted the eye rather than the ring. How quickly I could carve a circle."
The bonds keeping Bakura pinned flat to the workbench were silent in his struggles, and Pegasus remorsed over not having gone with chains. He had been worried about offering him too much slack, but that couldn't have been any worse than how much free space Bakura made from the limited slack he had now.
Bakura had mentioned wanting all the millennium items. Perhaps when Pegasus painted the rest in his blood, he would hold him down with chains.
But for now, he pressed a heavy hand on Bakura's back and stretched the skin slightly with his thumb to keep it from snagging. The balance between skin and muscle was tedious, and the more Bakura moved, the greater risk he caused himself. And worse than that, he was causing this same pain to Ryou, dear, innocent Ryou who only wanted safety and comfort, along with the occasional flicker of horror.
If only Ryou could engross himself in the horror, Pegasus thought. Then he might have been willing to take on this pain himself.
For finer detail, Pegasus switched knives, selecting a narrower and sharper one to get the details he was sure Bakura had never looked close enough to see. "I can already see how lovely this will be," Pegasus said, adjusting his glasses to get a closer look at the end of the knife in Bakura's skin. "Do we want another elbow accident?"
It had been bandaged for weeks now, still waiting on the all clear from Pegasus's on-site doctor. She didn't like, didn't have appreciation for the deepness of the cut, for the positioning of it and the artistry in choosing exactly where to begin carving. His work on that elbow was without fault, except from Ryou, who couldn't understand how Bakura managed to stab his right elbow so cleanly, being right handed.
Bakura's next attempt at speech was quiet, and even muffled, intrigued Pegasus. It was the calmest he had heard him in all their time together, a span Pegasus had even lost count of, and that alone convinced him.
"Since you asked nicely."
He left the knife on Bakura's back to reach up and undo the gag. He thought he might get the speech right away, but Bakura took his time, running tongue over teeth and collecting his breaths first, even taking a moment to himself to look around the dim cell.
"I will take your eye," Bakura said, and in his disappointment, Pegasus reached for the gag once more.
"I thought you might have a more novel idea for conversation," he said.
"I will use it against you. I will carve out your soul and leave you in that hell, alone, where she can never reach."
The chill overtook him and Pegasus was the one now trying to catch his breath. He hadn't told Bakura about her. He hadn't told anyone about her. Had Ryou been one of the children who broke into his tower? Could Bakura have overheard then? How did he know otherwise?
Why did he wait so long to make that threat?
"I won't give you the chance."
"You already have," Bakura said. "Over…and over…and over…and ov—"
Pegasus shoved the gag in and tied it too tightly, splitting the corners of Bakura's lips, but drawing them back into a smile in the process. It wasn't just a smile around his lips, but in his eyes, in the knowing gleam that screamed at Pegasus. He had made a mistake somewhere. There was something he missed and Bakura was going to use it to escape.
No. He would have already.
Or would he?
Why lull Pegasus into complacency only to warn him in advance that it was coming?
It had to be a lie.
That was it. Bakura was lying.
"I should break all your bones," Pegasus said, and picked the knife back up. "Crack them all and let you try to fight back then. I'm sure you would still give it your best, getting up over and over and over again."
Pegasus tapped the knife mockingly against the open wounds. "Would you crawl on elbows and knees to try for a feeble claw at my eye? I'm talking about the good one, you know. We both know you'd go for it first."
He hit muscle on his next section of cuts and dug deeper, finally getting the scream he had been hoping for. "That's it now. You can sing for me."
Ryou wouldn't move for the longest time, long enough Pegasus didn't want to bother with Bakura in the dungeon. He was so close to breaking, to letting the injuries and the stress and the terror overtake him. Pegasus sat behind him, legs straddling Ryou to hold him chest to back, one hand brushing back his hair. The position likely put pressure on the lashes Bakura had recently earned, but Pegasus was certain the comfort would outweigh the pain.
"I need to you keep faith in me," Pegasus said. "You've done well so far."
Ryou remained just as tense.
"And we're getting closer to locking him away for good," Pegasus added. Ryou's shaking was almost too much for him, and he called for Croquet to bring in painkillers. Something stronger than the last round. Maybe morphine.
"It's raining," Pegasus said. "Do you want to sit by the window to watch?"
They would have to look through the bars, but what were a few bars compared to the falling rain, the whistle of the wind, the expanse of ocean out before them?
"They aren't as bad as I'm sure they feel." Pegasus shuffled back a bit to stop leaning against them. "He is just trying to put on a show."
Ryou coughed, and the pain had him doubling over, hand to his stomach as if to brace himself, and head between his knees. Each cough scratched out, deep and powerful, the dungeon having settled into his lungs. Pegasus would have to call for medicine to cure it as well. He could get Ryou better before going back down to Bakura.
When the fit stopped, Pegasus went back to stroking his hair. "Come on," he whispered. "Let's watch the rain and race the droplets on the window."
Ryou managed the slight shake of his head and a feeble, "Bathroom."
"Of course. I'll help you."
There were few places left on Ryou where it was safe to touch without risking opening a wound. But Pegasus knew them all as intimately as he remembered her eyes, and falling into place at Ryou's side felt right for the first time in a long time. Bakura wouldn't take this away from him. All his silly little threats were just that.
If Pegasus cut out his tongue, he wouldn't even have that to worry over anymore.
Ryou's limp was getting better. The whip had left its mark for a long time across the back of Bakura's legs, but now, Ryou was reclaiming them, almost proudly. He found his footing with intense thoughtfulness, and Pegasus only needed to hold him up. Ryou was doing the rest of it on his own.
"I'll be right here if you need me."
"Thank you."
Content, Pegasus let Ryou close the door, and sat on the bed to wait. But he took his own idea and got up shortly after to walk to the window and watch the autumn drizzle. It hadn't rained in so long, Pegasus had been worried about their resources depleting, but right as he began planning to have supplies brought in, here came the rainfall to ease his concerns. He wanted to take it as a sign, that things were going to turn out all right for him. They hadn't always, but maybe now, he had found where things were supposed to be.
Pegasus ran a finger down the window pane to feel the condensation leaking through. I've made the best of things, dear heart, he thought. I had hoped you would be here to share it with me.
He would have to share it with Ryou. Their life here wouldn't be so terrible once Pegasus worked out all the kinks and trivialities. He would finish breaking Bakura, and when that happened to an extent he was satisfied with, Pegasus would burn him and leave himself with just Ryou.
By that point, Ryou would chose to stay.
The rain let up for a moment, not entirely, but enough the drops that hit the window were hardly the size of a needle. If it wasn't so cold, it would have been the perfect weather to go out in, to be in, to soak in. Although, he didn't want to wait half a year for the summer pop-up storms to return. If they got coats, they could make it work.
"Ryou? I want to go outside while the rain is like this. Finish and you can come with me."
His wounds were bandaged, and they could take a few more precautions to ward off the start of an infection.
"Ryou?"
The water in the bathroom was running, so he might not have been able to hear. Pegasus left the window to knock on the bathroom door, getting closer so his voice would carry through. "Ryou, let's go outside for a while."
When no answer followed, Pegasus tested the knob. It was unlocked, but one look at Ryou had Pegasus wondering why.
"Croquet!"
With the flash from his eye, Ryou's soul was locked safely away while he bled out on the floor. Pegasus dropped to his knees to apply pressure to the very cut he had created on Bakura days before. It had been deep then, but they had stitched it before the damage was too extreme. But now, the stitches were gone and the cut torn open wider than it had been.
Croquet didn't take more than a second to react before taking Pegasus's place, syringe abandoned on the floor.
"You will keep him alive," Pegasus said. "Do not let him die."
"Of course not, sir."
Another Christmas alone came and went, leaving Pegasus to read himself his mother's old book of holiday tales while he sipped on the eggnog he made. What was one more year alone to uphold their traditions by himself? He had planned to have company, but Ryou's recovery had taken longer than any of the doctors expected. They blamed it on his weakened physical condition, but Pegasus heard their truth.
The boy doesn't want to go on, they thought. He has given up.
He might have in that moment. Pegasus would relent that much to the opinion of those who knew nothing of their situation. It must have been hard to live day after day knowing that the spirit he carried around was killing him from the inside out. And Ryou wasn't a fighter.
Pegasus left his soul card on the side table, just within reach, so it was almost as if they were spending the day together. The picture captured on the front was one of complete peace, and Pegasus caught himself staring at it too often whenever he was feeling down. Even if the eye tended to send its victims to a form of hell, Ryou was the exception. No one could portray that peace while condemned.
It was just after the new year that Pegasus was ready to bring him back. The doctors urged for another week to recover, but Pegasus was done waiting. He stood beside Ryou's bed and felt for the cards in his pocket, one for each of the souls, and brought out the one on top.
"Come home now," he said, and pressed the card between his palms while the eye's energy coursed through him. The card warmed in his grip before going cold, and Ryou's eyes opened slowly.
"Where…" he began, looking around the room a moment before asking, "What happened?"
"One of your cuts reopened," Pegasus said. "We got to you in time."
Ryou nodded and tried to sit up, arms straining with his weight. He almost looked angry when he winced, but it was more than likely pain from being immobile for so long. He would need to stretch and exercise to regain his strength.
"How do you feel?"
No longer bandaged, Ryou's hand felt around his chest before stopping over his heart. Pegasus admired the subtle movements caused by his breathing, the unexpected strength in the tense fingers. They should start working on his recovery immediately to harness that strength while Ryou felt up to it.
"Good," Ryou said, but his voice gave him away.
Pegasus hardly had time to summon his own energy before the light from the ring shone through the thin material of the hospital gown, knocking Pegasus back against the wall, clattering a tray of medical tools as he fell. Blood pulsed in his ears and he thought he heard screams, but his head hit the wall, knocking him out for what could have only been a second or two. But it left him dizzy and unable to stop as Bakura ran out into the hallway, barefoot.
He reached into his pocket to pull out the second soul card, noting his mistake at the first glimpse of peace.
He hadn't checked. Why hadn't he checked?
Because Ryou's was always on top.
"Someone stop him!" Pegasus called, struggling to his feet, almost falling again when he tried to leverage his weight on that flimsy cart. "Sedatives only!"
He wouldn't have them shooting at his Ryou.
His own energy bubbled inside of his, dissolving the fog the more he called on the power of the eye. It let him into Bakura's mind, even if just the surface of it, unprotected by his defenses, and that might as well have been a flashing red arrow pointing his way. Bakura knew his halls, somehow, and used the knowledge to avoid the more lived in areas in favor of the back halls that led outside.
Pegasus grabbed a nurse. "Have someone go to the docks. Don't let him take a boat."
She assured him she would deliver the message, and Pegasus let her go. He had to cut off Bakura before he made it outside, and finding him would inevitably lead to their final battle. Bakura would have an unfortunate advantage, as Pegasus couldn't kill him, but Bakura would be aiming to kill Pegasus.
There was no reason to run. Even though he sent someone to the docks, Pegasus couldn't imagine Bakura attempting to leave, not yet, not before he had taken care of Pegasus. He was smarter than that, and another peek into his mind proved he would be waiting on the balcony, right where Kaiba-boy had made his stand. Pegasus spent his time walking to battle debating whether or not it was fitting to meet there. Had Seto really won anything that day?
Bakura had even taken his spot on the ledge.
"Do you think that will stop me?" Pegasus asked him. "That I'll fall for the same tricks as little Yugi-boy?"
It did limit his options even more. His normal level of energy would most certainly knock Bakura over the edge, and he would take Ryou with him. But all Pegasus had to do was switch their souls and this could be solved. Ryou would think better of stepping back and tumbling to the rocks below.
"Let's settle this," Bakura said, and the ring around his neck began to glow.
Pegasus matched him energy for energy, power for power. He didn't ask himself how Bakura was able to possess this much strength after all that time unconscious. There were levels to magic Pegasus couldn't explain, and wouldn't dare to try. And now, all he had to do was touch Bakura's mind again, just long enough to draw him out.
Like in the tower, their energies collided between them, requiring constant force and focus to avoid being pushed back. Every drop of Bakura's energy became known to Pegasus, thick with hatred and wrath, accompanied with just a bit of loss. It was a story Pegasus would never know, because the moment he made the switch, he would deal with Bakura permanently. This was the breaking point he wanted, and would soak up that last look, the moment when Bakura knew it was over for him.
Only, when Pegasus stopped planning for his victory, he noticed a split in the eye's power. The crack was fragile and delicate, but no sooner had he noticed than Bakura did, and it shattered wide.
Patching it drew from his overall strength. Bakura's force pressed closer to him, and made Pegasus take a step back to make up for it. Losing a step weakened his stance, and Bakura took advantage of it to continue splintering Pegasus's defenses.
He got closer, and with him, the light of his power. Once he got started, Pegasus knew there was no way to rebuild, no way to undo the damage. Bakura must have been harboring and storing energy for just this time, now unleashing it at Pegasus, who was seconds away from seeing just how seriously Bakura took his threats.
There was a fraction of a second between the moments when Pegasus's strength gave out and Bakura's was so bright it blinded him from all sides, and that everything went dark. Pegasus expected hell, he expected oblivion, he expected the end.
He opened his eyes to a gray sky and a bird circling.
But I lost.
His arm shook as he propped himself up to look, and he saw Croquet, tranquilizer gun in hand, approaching Bakura with caution. Croquet seemed to be wary of him bouncing back from sedation at an unnaturally fast speed, but all Pegasus could think was that he was glad Bakura had slumped forward, not back.
After a week watching Ryou sleep in the medical coma, Pegasus still hadn't made up his mind. He sat vigilant beside the bed, even knowing Ryou wouldn't wake up. Both were in their respective cards, resting side by side on the unused food tray.
He thought about waking Ryou, about telling him Bakura was no longer a threat. I've solved it, he would say. You have no reason to fear.
But he had the scars to remind him. How many nights would he wake in a panic, hand clawing at his chest for a ring that he dreamt had reappeared? Pegasus had seen it come back. Even he couldn't deny that for every night Ryou would have that nightmare, Pegasus would have double.
Croquet came up to stand beside him.
"Sir, how long will this go on?"
"I haven't decided."
"He would have killed you."
"I know that!" Pegasus said, biting back the last syllable as if he could wake Ryou. "I know that."
And he would try again if given the chance. Pegasus understood know that his idea of a chance and Bakura's were vastly different. Bakura would never stop fighting, never give up. The words rang back as Pegasus finally understood Bakura's prophecy.
Over and over and over and over.
It would never end, not with Bakura's soul within reach, and not with his host breathing.
Pegasus smiled sadly and brushed Ryou's bangs from his face. He told himself he could see peace on the expression when he knew there was nothing there. He was staring at a body without a spirit, little more than a mass of dust and blood.
While Bakura's fight would never end, Ryou had chosen to give his up already. There was no choice for Pegasus to make, but it felt like one, a colossal one. "I had such plans for us," he whispered, and pressed his lips to Ryou's head. "You would have been my all, if only I hadn't been so arrogant."
He would learn from his mistakes, but it was too late for Ryou.
"Croquet."
"Sir."
"Fetch a metal bowl and a lighter from the kitchen."
Croquet nodded while bowing out of the room, and Pegasus continued to stroke Ryou's hair. "We never did get to race the raindrops. You've beaten me to the finish line, I'm afraid. I'll find you, in whatever comes next. I hope you have someone waiting for you."
Pegasus continued to pour out his affections and affirmations until Croquet came back with the specified items.
"I would let you watch, but you've always been so sensitive to these sorts of things."
Bakura's soul card went into the bowl, face up, so Pegasus could stare at him while he burned.
"Whatever loss you've faced," he said, lighting the match, "I wish it on you tenfold in oblivion."
He held it up high and watched it fall from his fingers to the card, not catching at first. It would burn through before the card did, so Pegasus lit another, and another, and another. And when it did catch, it burned quickly and with little flair, the only defining moment being the scarred face disappearing to ash.
The world seemed no lighter with him gone, but it would seem darker without Ryou. Pegasus called in the doctor to set up everything for it, and he waited until the IV was in place and the drip started before restoring Ryou's soul to him.
"Hello, dear heart," Pegasus said, taking his hand. "I did it. He's gone for good."
Ryou's eyes were slow to blink.
"I promised you I would, and I wanted you to know I followed through. I did what I told you I would."
His movements were sluggish from the start, but slowed down the closer his gaze came to Pegasus's. When Ryou met his gaze, Pegasus saw the understanding staring back. Ryou knew what was coming, but closed his eyes to accept it.
"I'll stay with you," Pegasus promised. "And I always keep my promises."
The threat of Bakura's escape being gone left the castle too quiet. Pegasus stood out on the balcony, trying to convince himself that he could hear the poorly muffled footsteps behind him, whether from Ryou or Bakura, but the only sounds came from the distant waves and the breeze rattling the leaves below. A pile of suitcases rested beside him, right inside the doorway, but they were still empty. Maybe he should have filled them and left, but now that the opportunity had gone, Pegasus found he didn't mind having chosen to stay.
He had other ways to occupy his time than to daydream about those lost to him. He found his calling with Ryou and Bakura, even having killed them.
After toasting to the dying moonlight, Pegasus went back into his bedroom to change into a robe in slippers, since no one could view him as a threat with a cartoon character embroidered on his chest. Funny Bunny was the perfect touch for his opening show, and Pegasus topped off his wine before going down the hall to the room Ryou kept for so long.
He didn't knock.
The huddled form on the bed radiated fear, but Pegasus suspected the shivers were a lingering symptom from his extended time in the dungeon. The time had been regrettable, but unavoidable.
Pegasus went over to him and knelt beside the bed, putting the wine glass on the side table.
"Now, Mokuba dear. Are we done sulking?"
"I want to go home."
"That's a no, then."
He ran an easy hand over Mokuba's foot, and Mokuba tucked it away. "Niisama will stop you."
"I would love for him to try," Pegasus said, and got up. Tomorrow, he would return with more to tempt Mokuba into cooperation. It had taken Ryou some time; Pegasus could offer Mokuba the same. And if he played things right, Mokuba could be here for the long haul.
"Unfortunately," Pegasus went on, "Niisama took himself home. Just flew right off."
"He wouldn't do that!"
"Oh? He's never left you alone before? Even when you needed him?"
A little peek had been all Pegasus needed to see that. It was the constant thought at the forefront of Mokuba's mind as he tried to process it, what it meant, and how he could respond to it. How much suggestion would it take before Mokuba chose to do the same to Seto?
"He…he came for me. He won't ever leave me!"
Pegasus put his hand over his heart. "Forgive me. I should have never spoken ill of someone so dear to you."
He left it at that, drinking in the conflict in Mokuba's wilted eyes as he took his wine again. He would come around.
Humming an invented tune, Pegasus swirled the wine in his glass. He had one more stop for the night, and he walked with light steps down to the dungeon.
Dedicated to intheshadowofsignificance on our two year friendiversary. Thanks for a great two years, Shadow.
Thanks for reading.