How did I die?

The words were still ringing in Bakura's head, even hours after the question had been asked. Jyonouchi had dropped the subject after he'd promised to answer the next time it came up, but the memories just wouldn't leave him to rest.

Bakura shook his head, trying to clear his mind. It was no use, however, and he let his thoughts slip back...

----------

"Jyonou!" He was starting to panic now. His beautiful one had expressed a deep concern about crossing the desert so close to Kura Eruna, but Bakura had reassured him that it was safe. That had been hours ago, before they'd retired for the night. When he'd opened his eyes again, long before Ra's light would grace the sky, Jyonou was gone.

Everything. Even his bedding, as if he'd never existed. The only trace of him were his footprints in the sand, leading towards the ruins of Bakura's village.

"Jyonou!" he cried again. "Where are you? Please answer me!"

Bakura...

The thief froze in place, frowning darkly. Something about that voice... frightened him. He didn't recognize it, yet somehow he wanted to flee into the desert at the sound. Bakura steeled himself and called out again: "Jyonou? Please, if you can hear me--"

He hears, the dark voice answered again. The Aegean hears, but he cannot come to you.

Bakura closed his eyes, let his senses (his Diaboundo, his ka beast) search for the source of the thing that was taunting him. It seemed to come from the center of the village, the spot where as a child he'd watched the pharaoh's men drag the bodies of his family and neighbours. He shivered slightly, and Diaboundo wrapped its tail around him in a gesture that was oddly comforting.

"Why?" he demanded, moving towards the building that lead beneath the village, dreading what he might find there. It had been forbidden to enter it, children had long been warned not to enter the dwelling of the Dark God's prison. But he had no choice, not if his Jyonou was down there with that thing.

The voice laughed, the sound grating to his ears. Come and see, it replied before falling silent.

Bakura entered the building, walked the stairs to the crypt below. He paused to take a breath before moving the last hundred yards that would take him into the belly of the beast, as it were.

Anger rose in him as he saw the thing before him. It was a poor imitation of his own ka beast, more closely resembling a dragon than his own Diaboundo's serpentine appearance. There was hatred and fury burning in its eyes, and it stood on top of what appeared to be a seal. Caught in its tail--more correctly, its other head's grasp was his missing lover. Jyonou's eyes were dull, blank, as if he were under some sort of spell.

"Jyonou!" he called, his fear for the younger man overcoming his rage for a moment; the Aegean glanced up at him and life--fright--flickered in his eyes for a moment before they went flat again. The creature holding him captive laughed.

Pretty little things, these slaves from the Aegean region, it remarked. So lovely and frail compared to the children of Khemet.

"Let him go," Bakura demanded, signaling Diaboundo to slip around behind the thing.

The creature chuckled. I will. For a price, Bakura king of the thieves.

The thief's eyes narrowed. "How do you know who I am?"

I am Zork Necrophidius, the creature replied, laughing when Bakura took a step back. Yes, the one your people kept watch over, in my prison away from the world. But the pharaoh wasn't satisfied, was he?

"Please let Jyonou go," the Egyptian pleaded, knowing that demands wouldn't get through to the Dark God. "He has done nothing."

Your people died for the pharaoh's folly, Zork continued, as if he hadn't heard the plea. He should be punished. They should all be avenged. And I will do so. With your help.

"No," Bakura said, shaking his head. "I just want to leave Khemet, let the pharaoh and his people rot for all I care."

He might well come after you, the creature said. He might kill your pretty Aegean. You don't want that, do you?

"Let him go. Please."

Be my vessel. Do my bidding and your beloved--it fairly sneered the word as it ran one claw along Jyonou's cheek--will be safe from all harm.

Bakura lowered his head, hating himself for his fear. If he said no, then Zork Necrophidius would probably kill him and Jyonou both. If he said yes, at the very least his lover would be safe. His own soul would be condemned and his heart would weigh far more than Ma'at's feather, but for his Jyonou it was a valid risk.

He already knew his answer.

"I will be your vessel."

Zork laughed, eyes flashing the colour of blood. Ah, a wise decision, it said, voice a dark hiss. And now to keep my part of our bargain... The claw lightly stroking Jyonou's cheek ceased movement--

--and before Bakura even knew what was happening it sliced across the Aegean's throat. Blood poured from the wound, spilling to the floor and spreading in a pool of deep red at Jyonou's feet. He didn't fall to the ground, held in place still by the dragon's mouth for a moment before the head-tail jerked backward. A large chunk of the boy's torso was ripped free and his body dropped into the spreading stain before the altar's seal.

Over his own screams, Bakura could hear the cool, dark voice of the monster: In death, no one else can ever harm him again.

----------

Bakura bit back a cry of pain, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall. Even after all this time, he couldn't forgive himself for the murder of his lover.

He only prayed that Jyonouchi would forgive him; he would never tell him all the details of his previous life's end.

owari