Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fanfic unless I created it myself. Anything that I did create was inspired by something owned by someone else. This is done for fun and entertainment, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Title: Enchanting Loyalty
Romance: Yami no Bakura x Bakura Amane
Word Count: 3,692
Genre: Supernatural, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Warnings: Implied not-quite-incest.
Summary: Where does Amane's loyalty lie? To the brother she wishes to save or to the spirit that offers her a way to save him?
Something was wrong with her brother. Amane didn't know what it was, but it had started not that long after Father's return from Egypt. That was the trip where Father had given Ryou that necklace, the one he called the Millennium Ring. He'd brought Amane a necklace as well, though hers didn't have the history that he'd claimed the Ring had. Ever since then, Ryou had just been different. It was almost as if at times he were an entirely different person.
Not a very nice person, either. His eyes, normally as warm, wide, and friendly as a spaniel's, grew cold and hard, especially when his friends came over for their gaming sessions. It wasn't just her brother being strange. Strange things had happened as well. More than one person had passed out, and none of them had woken up yet.
"Amane?" She looked up to see Ryou looking at her from the other side of their schoolbooks. "Are you all right? It usually doesn't take you this long to get your math done." A smile teased at his lips, and she flushed. Math had always been one of her strong points, unlike his.
"I just have some things on my mind, that's all." She didn't want him, or the other him, or whatever it was, to know what she had on her mind. Another brother. Another self of her brother. That didn't make sense, but it also did make sense. Somehow. She couldn't quite figure out how.
He looked at her again, but said nothing this time. Amane essayed a smile, then looked back at the list of problems in the book. The high school entrance exams were in a couple of weeks. She had to get this whole notion of another brother out of her head. She picked up her pen and started to work on one of the more complex equations, even as the back of her neck prickled.
She refused to look. She wasn't going to. She ran one hand down the amber scarab that hung from the chain around her neck, nestled directly over her heart. Amber scarabs protect against evil spirits. Her father had told her that when he'd given it to her, at the same time that he'd given Ryou the Millennium Ring.
Without quite knowing why, she peeked over there and saw him bent over his books. His left hand caressed the Ring absently. She'd seen him do that so many times in the last year.
He must have felt her eyes on him, since he looked up at her. His eyes were cold and hard, and a thin smile twisted his lips. Amane jerked her head back toward her books, ice wrapping all around her spine. She refused to look up again, not wanting to see that look in his eyes yet again. That was not her brother, wasn't her twin, wasn't Ryou.
She didn't know who he was or where he'd come from. Nor did it matter. She just didn't want him to be there anymore.
Her mind spun in hazy circles as she worked on her assignment. Math she understood. Math she liked. Ryou teased that he didn't need his gaming computer as long as she was around. What would this invader have to say about that? Would he say something?
Amane scarcely noticed when she'd finished all of the work, until she had begun to pack up her books. She looked down at the almost empty table, then over to Ryou. He was through as well, and had the case with his lead figurines out. She knew the look on his face this time, and it eased some of the worry that fretted at her. He's plotting.
"What's going to happen next?" Amane shifted over a little closer, though she wasn't going to try to read the notebook he was scribbling in.
"They've almost reached Diabolist Gilan's keep. There are prisoners they can free that should be able to give them advice and help, if they free them." Ryou's lips curved a little, but it was a warm smile, not the pale mockery of an expression that the other twisted him into. He scribbled down a few more notes as he spoke. "That's also assuming they can get past the guards, and his mysterious second in command. Their best hope is if they can recruit the enchantress, of course."
He glanced over at her. "When are you going to start playing her, anyway?"
Amane smiled and shook her head. "You know I don't play Monster World, big brother."
"I know." He picked up the slender figurine that resembled her to an uncanny degree, from her wave of black hair on down. She'd always thought it was a little unusual that for twins, they looked nothing alike. "But if you ever want to start, she's all ready for you."
"You do a much better job than I ever would." Amane liked talking to him like this. It was as if none of those strange moments and unusual looks ever happened.
Ryou nodded and set the figurine down. She didn't know everything about the character's past, but Ryou had hinted that she had a brother whom she loved very much, though they couldn't see each other too often. It added an element of mystery to the game, even for her. "If they can meet her price, she'll help them. If they can't, who knows what she's going to do."
Amane's lips twitched just a little. "You do." In fact, he knew what she'd be doing whether or not they met her price, and probably had different ideas in mind for every variation of the situation. That was what made him such a good Game Master.
That brought her thoughts right back around to the other. What if he turned up while her brother was handling her figurine? She couldn't be sure; he might have already. The thought sent yet another shudder down her spine and she tried not to show it too much. Amane reproved herself sharply. The comas had to be a strange coincidence. It was easy to think that, for as long as she didn't see those eyes looking at her or the figurines. With those eyes, she could believe nearly anything, even impossible comas.
She looked at him again, and yet again was chilled. He was back again. She didn't move or speak but sat there, watching. His lips twitched as he glanced over to her. He knew she knew he was there. That look said it all. If there had been something else for her to look at, she would have. His smile widened, but there was nothing at all like warmth in it.
"Are you sure that you're all right, Amane?" It was her brother's voice and tone, but he wasn't the one who was speaking. Amane had no idea of how she knew. Her fingers tightened around the scarab and she wondered what kind of demon could imitate her brother that perfectly. Would demon even be the right word?
She wanted to reply to the question, but her voice stuck in her throat. So all she did was first shake her head, then nod, confusion still whirling through her. Ryou smiled again. "What was that again?"
"I'm fine." She all but croaked the word out as she forced herself to her feet. "I'm going out for a second. I'll see you later." Fresh air. As much of it as she could suck down her lungs. That was what she needed.
Her steps were so quick that she hardly noticed that she'd bumped into him before she brushed right on by to the balcony. She closed and locked the door behind her, leaning on it for a quick moment. Even demons couldn't break a lock like that, could they?
What did she know about demons and what they could do, though? Except obviously take over someone's body to the point someone didn't even know it.
Or did Ryou know? She could hardly ask and find out. Maybe…maybe he wasn't even there anymore. Maybe it was that creature there all the time and it only pretended to be Ryou. How could she know? When was it there and when wasn't it? And most of all, what did it want?
Twilight gathered, and along with it, the gaming group. Four others, not counting herself and Ryou, who came together once a week to pretend they were something that they weren't for the sheer fun of it. Amane stayed on the balcony, but glanced every now and then into the room, clearly visible from where she stood. Something was going to happen. There was no doubt in her mind. She couldn't bring herself to leave and she couldn't bring herself to not watch.
She couldn't hear what was going on through the glass door, but as everyone settled in, she thought that there was perhaps a bit more tension than there should have been between them. I can't blame them. Last week there were five of them. I don't even know what Ryou said to bring them all back. They were all claiming that they'd never play again.
A flash of white hair showed, and her brother turned to face her. Amane froze, recognizing those eyes and that thin twist to his lips. It was there again, or had never left. The balcony wasn't that large, and at best, she could have sat in her mother's chair a few inches away. She wouldn't have been able to see anything, but she would have heard the dulled discussion.
But when their eyes met, Amane froze from head to foot. She couldn't turn or move and her heart sank as she realized that he held her figurine between his slender fingers. She'd read more than one novel where someone could control another person through a doll like that. But that was just fantasy, it wasn't real!
Not like what she was going through now.
She heard a small click and looked down to see that the lock had opened. She hadn't touched it. No one else had even been close to it. But not only was it open, but the door itself creaked wide. "Come on in and watch, Amane. I think you're really going to like what happens tonight."
Power far greater than anything she had ever known before gripped her, and she obeyed. The usual chair she took during a session sat in her usual place at Ryou's right hand. She sat down, still silent, and didn't know if that was because of whatever demon's spell the creature had worked on her, or if she were just too terrified to speak in the first place.
As had been somewhat expected, the group located the enchantress and bargained skillfully for her services against the diabolist. Amane's stomach churned as Ryou, or the demon in Ryou's skin, moved the pieces around. Were his fingers lingering on hers a little more? She truly wanted to think that her eyes were deceiving her. None of the gamers even appeared to have noticed that she was even there in the first place. They spoke and acted as if they were on the board instead of their lead representatives. That was supposed to be a good thing, to get into their characters. Tonight, Amane couldn't believe it.
"The guards lie dead in their own blood," Ryou announced as a battle ended. "Enchantress Amane gestures towards the nearest door. We can go this way, which leads directly to his throne room, and there are many guards along the way. But there is also another way. And now she points toward a tapestry on the wall. That hidden route leads to his bedchamber, and is unguarded, as only I know of its existence. Not even he is aware of it. Which do you choose?"
Amane's mouth dried up. Ryou kept the most important details to himself, as he always had, but there was something strange about how her avatar knew the secret keep this well. She could do nothing but watch.
"We'll take the route without the guards." One of the gamers announced that after they'd talked about it for a few moments. "It'll be unexpected, and if he isn't there, we'll be able to sneak up on him from there. He won't see what hit him." He grinned some; he was a thief in this game. "After all, most heroes attack from the front, right?"
Ryou chuckled at that. "How true. Now, your decision made, you are guided through the hidden corridor by the enchantress. She moves through this fortress as if it were her own home, never taking a wrong turn." Again, the pieces moved, and the characters came to a dead-end in the route they'd chosen. Amane could see that the bedroom was indeed on the other side of the dead end.
She's not going to betray them? Amane knew there was a chance. There was always a chance in her brother's games. Nothing was ever quite what it seemed to be.
"What's going on?" One of the others demanded to know, banging one first on the blank wall before them. 'Where's the guy's room? We should be there by now, shouldn't we?"
Ryou's laugher held a thin edge of mania to it. "You fools forgot what you were told about the enchantress! She works for whoever meets her price. She has no loyalty to you.
"What are you saying?" The same question, in different words, fell from the lips of all of the gamers. "Has she betrayed us?"
"There can be no betrayal when there was no loyalty in the first place." The words fell from Amane's lips, yet they also sounded as if they came from the figurine on the table. "I have always belonged only to my dear brother."
Reading those words would have been terrifying enough. Hearing them spoken in the higher voice that Ryou used when he spoke as the enchantress wouldn't have been comfortable in the slightest. But to hear her own voice saying them, when she hadn't wanted to speak at all, that was beyond the definition of horror.
Amane jammed her eyes closed and shuddered. White noise filled her mind as she twitched helplessly in that demonic grip. A minute, an hour, or a day could have passed before her eyes opened and she saw what was going on around her once more.
She wasn't in the living room now. She was on the bed in their shared room, laid out as if she were a doll of some kind. Her mind flashed to the figurine of Amane the Enchantress, and her stomach heaved. She darted to her feet and nearly fell into the bathroom, glad that it was only a few steps away from the bed. She collapsed to her knees beside the toilet before emptying the contents of her stomach into it.
"I didn't think it was that bad." Oh, no. Not him again. Amane stared down, refusing to meet those cold eyes any longer. He stood behind her in the doorway that led to their room, so she couldn't try to get away from him. Not like that, anyway. What was he going to do now? "I know you have questions. Ask."
One spun up to her lips in a heartbeat. "Who are you?"
"Bakura." The reply was as swift as her question. But Amane shook her head. That couldn't be right.
"No. You're not my brother, and you can't use his name like that." She wasn't going to hear their family name slandered by this creature, whatever it turned out to be. "Demon" still seemed to be good enough as far as she was concerned.
Cold laughter, as barren of humor as the desert, echoed a bit in the small tiled room. "I'm not. Bakura is my name. You are using mine." She listened more carefully this time, and thought there was a difference in the way he said it, just the slightest bit of an accent. If he were going to answer her questions, though, then she wouldn't waste whatever time she had arguing about a name.
"What are you?"
"A spirit, trapped within the Millennium Ring. I have chosen your brother as my host to work in the world. He is very useful, but I could use another hand. He cannot do everything, as even with all the power at my command, I can't be in two places at once." She turned enough so that she could see his lips twist mockingly. "I need your help, Amane."
He took a step over to her, and she inched away as he did. "I cannot keep control of him all the time. He must have his life. I only pay rent. I don't own this body." She didn't trust the look in his eyes, but she also didn't know how to contradict him. "I am seeking the other Millennium Items. When they're all gathered together, I will be able to move into the afterlife after three thousand years and be free of this prison."
Amane swallowed and stood up, reaching for one of the plastic cups by the bathroom sink. She could still see him in the mirror as she drank. What was more, she could see something else…or rather, not see something else…around her neck.
"Where did my scarab go?" She glanced back toward the door; it had to be around somewhere.
"I don't know." Bakura shrugged for a moment. "That isn't the kind of jewelry that I'm interested in."
She swallowed again and drank another glass of water. She wished it were tea. She could have really gone for a good cup of tea right then. "What are the Millennium Items?" She would find her scarab later. She wanted all the protection that she could get against evil spirits.
"A legacy of the past. Kings and priests forged them to bind the souls of those who they deemed evildoers. There is another soul that I know of sealed into one. That one resides in the Millennium Puzzle." His eyes narrowed and the sharp planes of his face grew even sharper. He looked less and less like Ryou when he did that. "Will you help me, Amane?"
His hand shot out and he seized her wrist, pulling her closer to him. Amane cried out, not understanding what he was doing. There was far too much strength in his hands. She knew her brother, and Ryou most certainly didn't work out. But as with so much that happened with this demon, what was was, regardless of what should have been.
Her breath shot out of her as his free hand wound through her long black hair. "You look so much like her." He must have read her confusion in her eyes, as he kept on speaking. "Masika. My sister. She was a year younger than I was when the attack happened." The Ring glowed for a moment and she stared at it, fascinated. "Her soul, all of their souls are in here. In each Millennium Item. They can't move on either, Amane. They are even more trapped than I am. I can move about, with the help of my host, but they can't. They exist in torment, enslaved to the Pharaoh who knows and cares nothing of what they've suffered, so long as he has the power of the Items. You can help me free them, Amane." His voice dropped lower and he stared into her eyes. "Imagine being trapped, doomed to roam the world in the corners of the shadows, seeing all that you knew and loved fade away, and not being able to do anything to stop it or affect it. You can only watch throughout all of time, and wait for a chance to get the tools you need to put it to an end."
He brushed his fingers through her hair over and over as he spoke, and Amane's knees buckled at his touch. The sensations that poured through her were vile, unclean. She knew it wasn't right, that this was her brother's body if it wasn't his soul. It didn't quench the rising desire to press her lips against this and pledge with that kiss to help him no matter what.
She forced another question out, fighting to keep control of herself, a fight that she feared she was losing. "What did you do to me before?"
"All part of the game. Everyone else went home. You were overcome by the drama and needed to rest for a while." He pulled her closer, and she didn't protest this time. "The enchantress and the diabolist are sister and brother. Her price was met by him ages ago." Bakura caressed her cheek, his touch as light as a feather. "Blood is stronger than any other tie, isn't it? My sister would have done anything for me, and I am doing this for her, for our parents, for our entire village. What I ask will only help your own dear brother. I know you want me to go. This is the only way that I can leave."
Amane's legs wouldn't support her. Everything that he said made so much sense. There were still so many questions that she wanted to ask and yet nothing else came to her lips. If she helped him, then she would get Ryou back. That was what meant the most to her. Everything would be normal again.
Those questions didn't matter. Nothing mattered but that. "I'll help you. What do you need me to do?"
"I'll let you know." Bakura smiled for a moment before he moved forward and pressed his lips against hers. Never in her life had someone done that. Shocks of pleasure thrilled through her, and she closed her eyes to kiss back.
On the road outside, a truck ran over a small amber scarab, breaking it in half.
In the case where the Monster World figurines rested, threads of black and scarlet had bound two of them together. The diabolist and the enchantress, always seeking to deceive those around them.
And succeeding.
The End