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A/N: So I'm finally catching back up to the main story. I know I left Kaiba's quest hanging high and dry on a dull cliffhanger, but I intend to pick that up next. Promise. I suppose it's about time to explain what I plan to do with Bakura and Ryou. Another quick reminder: Ryou is the "good Bakura" and Bakura is.. well, the "evil spirit" thing. Just.. so no one gets confused as I so easily confuse myself while writing.
This was actually fun to write, though try not to think of me as.. oh, what's the word? Emo? Describing 'eternal darkness' isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it was sure enjoyable. Hopefully it is fun to read as it is to write!
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Chapter 4: Consumed
The darkness was chilling. The cold and stiff air felt rigid against his exposed skin. Without realizing it, Ryou rubbed his arm and felt the pricks of his dry skin. "Where am I?"
"Don't worry, you're with me."
"Who? Who's there?"
The silence offered no sense of comfort. It was as if he was all alone in the darkness. That was it. It was playing with him. It was teasing and twisting him to gain the pleasure from his pain.
A light jolt shocked through his spine and sent waves throughout his body. "Get up," he heard the voice say. Wait.. that was familiar. Could it be-?
"If you can't even stand, how do you expect us to get out of here? I said GET UP."
Ryou opened his eyes, peering through the thick clumps of fog that swirled around him. Just like he imagined it - he was alone. Unfortunately, he was also naked. Cold, alone, and naked - great. His frail limbs were wrapped around his body, almost willed to comfort him. He unfolded himself gently and attempted to stand in mid-air. Indeed, it was possible, though he wasn't sure how. "Good. You still have some life to you, host."
Ryou's eyes fluttered wildly to bat away the darkness. Each pupil strained to see beyond the endless pitch of black. "There's no use," the voice said, "you're in a world where there is no light. Welcome to the Shadow Realm."
"W-who are you? You're the spirit that haunts me, aren't you?"
"That is slightly correct. Who's to say that you aren't the one haunting me?"
"Wait, what?"
"You heard me. Honestly, why would I want to haunt you?"
"I.. I don't know."
"Hmph." Ryou felt a twinge of pain in his chest. Blindly, he clutched it, unsure of the cause. "You don't know anything."
He bowed his head in the darkness, ashamed and feeling a bit out of place. "Why am I here?"
"Oh, ho! That's right! You don't remember a thing."
"Remember what?"
"You see.. it proves my point. How is it that whenever I do something in that body you're in, you don't remember?"
"I don't kn-"
"And how is it that whenever you do something in that body, that I do remember?"
"I'm not su-"
"I think you've got it all wrong. That's my body you're in."
The pain was intensifying with each insult spat at him. How could it not be his body? But then again, who's to say who or what was talking to him?
"You're lying!"
"Of course I'm not lying. I'm stating facts. I know more than you. You just happened to be the one wearing the shoes.. that does not mean that those are neccessarily your shoes."
The boy looked down towards his feet as if to look, but realized that there was nothing but where feet should be. He tried to feel with his hands where his feet were, but there was simply nothing there. Ryou held still a bit longer, waiting for the feeling to come back to his feet, or his legs or whole body, for that matter. Nothing. He felt nor saw nothing. It was all just darkness.
The voice didn't breathe. Ryou listened for the sign of life, but there was no answer. "Who are you?!" He was growing aggitated with this game. It was torture. This was nothing like the hell that everyone brought up the Shadow Realm to be. But, then again, it was all almost too painful to bear - without any inflictions upon him. Odd that he would find his end here. "Why won't you answer me?!"
"Simple, host. I don't have to. We are two seperate beings. As of now, I am just an entity to you. You can not possibly consider me as a person. But.."
"But?"
"What if I were to remind you that.. I am the person.. and you are the lone entity?"
"What?"
"Think about it!", the voice grew with excitement, almost relishing in the nothingness that surrounded the scared child, "You have no body. It was mine, all along. I control it as I please, and allow you to linger and gain your own fair share of experience."
"N-no.."
"And that's not all! What if I told you that nothing is real? That.. THIS WORLD, is the REALITY?!"
"No... no, that's not true.."
"OH, but it is."
He calmed down then, hissing in the strange darkness that Ryou couldn't seem to escape from. All feeling and senses were gone. Even his hearing was becoming nothing more than a steady, high-pitched, ring. "Then, who am I? Where do I belong?"
"Here, dear host. And from now on, you'll be my host no longer!"
The darkness, though seemingly impossible, was growing darker and stronger. Ryou felt his every essence being consumed in this cold realm. Terror no longer struck him, as he felt nearly at an odd peace. He could no longer hear that strange voice; no longer be concerned with it's blabbering; no longer wrestling for control.
"Who.. who are you?"
A figure stepped out of a weak portal attached to the kitchen's wall. Emerging from the darkness that was spilling and oozing out of the foreign realm was a lean figure. With one foot out, a dignified sort of evil opened his light eyes and brushed the thin strands of white hair out of his face. A dashing glare quickly spotted the door that would take him into the familiar hallway of the blimp. "Why, I'm Bakura."