Blessed Be Those Who Live
Rating- T
Pairings- None for this chapter, but mainly Thiefshipping, Puppyshipping, and Puzzleshipping
Summary- The pharaoh separates Ryou and Bakura, and now they must deal with life.
The wind that blew across the edges of the millenium ring's plane carried with it echoes of strange voices. Ryou sometimes liked to sit down and listen, trying to decipher what the wind said.
The millennium ring was a prison with a single door that opened to a gray desert. For a long time Ryou hadn't dared to cross the edge of the prison the spirit of the ring had set for him, but after a while, the voices tempted him away and now he walked out whenever he wanted some privacy from the thoughts of the spirit. There were things that he just didn't want to see.
He looked back over his shoulder and saw images of a few men who tried to block the spirit's path. This could only end badly, so he got up and walked away. Not too far, unless he happened to lose his way and never be able to come back. What would happen then, he didn't know, and didn't want to know.
He wanted to talk to someone, but the gray desert was empty, and all the voices he heard from the wind died down the further away he went. He was alone there, in the middle of nowhere, and even the dark spirit's company was better than that.
Before he started back towards the ring's prison, he took out a pen and a small piece of paper from his pocket.
"Amane:
I hope you're doing alright, and that I didn't worry you too much with my last letter. I'm actually doing pretty well, even if I don't go out that much anymore. I've been feeling a little lonely, but it's just that I've been missing you so much."
He ran out of space in the paper to write on, but he didn't regret a single word. He let the letter go into the wind, where it would become another echo without a name.
#
The first thing Ryou saw was the giant red dragon just about to attack. He fell to his knees, suddenly overcome by the pain from his arm. Ah, yes, he stabbed himself. One of his greatest ideas, I'm sure. He thought, and scoffed out a laugh.
I will admit, I took a bit of a risk. For now just whine and look as pathetic as possible. You know, the usual. said Bakura directly into his mind. Ryou had almost forgotten that they could do that. It had been very long since the spirit of the ring had even acknowledged him, it felt like meeting an old acquaintance again, despite being as close as possible. Literally.
Ryou took a deep breath and looked at Yuugi. No, that wasn't Yuugi. That was something else. Something dark and ancient like the spirit of the ring. The pharaoh, he supposed. There were a few things he had picked up from the spirit's thoughts.
"Pharaoh…" he whispered. He had barely enough strength to look up. "I'm sorry but, I must be selfish… I don't want to die".
The look on the pharaoh's eyes softened in an almost imperceptible way.
"I dislike using innocents like this," he said, looking away from him.
Bakura snorted. "I'm sure you do". He said through gritted teeth, but Ryou almost didn't hear him. His vision started to blur. It seemed like he had lost more blood than he had expected. Besides, his tolerance to pain was far lower than Bakura's. He did not enjoy it nearly as much, either.
When he looked up again, Ryou thought he saw something hovering beside the pharaoh. That had to be Yuugi, and he seemed to be pulling at the pharaoh. Ah, I wish I was as strong as you, Yuugi.
Behind him, somewhere in the depths of his mind space, he could hear another voice. That had to be Marik, he could feel him like an itch in his mind. The power of his millennium rod might have confused Bakura, but Ryou felt his presence tearing at the edges of their mind space.
They were arguing. But then, they had been arguing ever since they met so that was nothing new.
He was going to die from shock and bloodloss, he was sure of it as he looked up at the pharaoh and saw him holding the puzzle hanging from his neck.
Have you been waiting for me Amane? Mom?
Suddenly, he didn't want to live anymore. He hated his own cowardice. Surely Amane and his mom would be disappointed in him.
The spirit pulled him out of his body. He could barely feel Marik's presence on the background, so he must have found a way to push him away. Now there was no pain, no sound, and Ryou shouted at the pharaoh to kill him. Now, when there would be no pain.
Kill us! Kill us! He found strength on the absence of pain and threw himself at the spirit of the ring while around them, their shared mind space broke apart.
Stop you idiot! He won't kill us! You've gone mad! The spirit of the ring pushed him away while trying to keep control of the body. A blinding light blocked everything from view, and Ryou was surprised death could be so bright.
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