CHAPTER SEVEN: DJET DJU
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Ryou was leaving.
He was going away from the wizarding world. None of the things happening here was his problem! He wasn't Yugi - who felt the need to save the world at every opportunity. None of this was his to worry about.
He wasn't one of these wizards, he didn't have any reason to get involved in the first place! He was a Shadow Mage! He shouldn't have messed with things that didn't involve him. He should have left the moment he realised this magic wasn't involved with the Shadows in any way!
Ryou had scrubbed himself clean in the shower, washing his hair over and over. The blood had dried hard and made it difficult to get out, and the metallic smell clung to his nostrils and wouldn't leave until several washes after. He'd then turned the bathroom upside down looking for a bandage and disinfectant for his cut face.
His cheek had swollen since the fight and Ryou had panicked at the thought of some strange wizard blood born infections that he didn't know of, that could cause who knows what! He'd calmed down eventually, and had found a small bottle of something called Essence of Murtlap under the sink which claimed to be for soothing and healing cuts and other wounds. He'd dabbed it on his face gingerly and was amazed to feel the swelling go down. Looking in the mirror, he'd found that the cut looked days old and had scabbed over. He felt slightly better about that fear at least, and put the Murtlap away back where he'd found it.
He also found a spray bottle of Magical Mess Remover under the sink, which he'd sprayed, hands shaking, on the blood that had dripped from his cloak all over the floor and where he'd sat on the bed. The blood had vanished easily from the sheets, and the bloody footprints he'd left leading to the bathroom lifted off easily.
There was still a stain on the wooden floor where he'd dropped the cloak that he couldn't get rid of, though. He'd emptied half the spray-bottle on the stain, but a dark evil patch still remained much to his frustration. He'd started shaking uncontrollably the whole time he'd been scrubbing in the bathroom. The mirror had remained quiet the whole time, in a way that felt awfully filled with judgment. Ryou didn't feel particularly comfortable with the silence, considering how talkative it had been when he'd arrived. The idea of even the animated inanimate object being scared of him made him feel even more like a monster.
He'd burned the cloak, and the other clothes he'd been wearing in the room's fireplace. There was no way he'd wear them again, even if they weren't ruined. It wasn't like he'd need the cloak anymore anyway; he wasn't planning on ever returning to the wizarding world!
After he'd packed all his things – he'd sent any magical things he'd bought or stolen to the Shadows, he gave the room a final look over. The only thing that remained was the dark patch in the bathroom, and a few small scraps in the fireplace, but he couldn't do anything more about that.
He just wanted to leave.
He sighed shakily and locked the room before walking down to the pub area of the Leaky Cauldron. Walking up to the bar, he shoved the key to his room at the barman with very little courtesy. He still felt sick all over, and was having trouble controlling some of his movements.
"I'm leaving." He said shortly to the man, before walking out towards the Muggle side of the pub and into the streets of London.
Ryou was going to do what he'd planned to do originally. He was going to do what he came to this country to do.
Walking out to a main street Ryou signalled a cab. He asked the driver to take him to the Hospital near Surrey.
It was time to see if Greg Anderson and Andy Smith were okay. He knew the people who'd been trapped in Monster World back in Japan had been returned to their bodies, it was time to make sure the people in Britan were okay. He couldn't put it off any longer. If they weren't okay, he could at least try to set it right and if they were - he would have one less thing to worry about.
The ride felt long, and Ryou ignored the driver's attempts to make conversation.
He'd just murdered three humans. Ryou felt disgusted with himself. Sure, he knew the Tomb Robber had killed people, he even remembered some of it. But he'd never actually felt it.
He shivered and looked out the window as London sped away from him, eyes filling with tears.
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"Bakura has the Horcrux." Harry said looking at his friends in horror.
They were standing in the kitchen, Kreacher had taken Mundungus back to where he'd come from and was now bustling around the kitchen making lunch for the teens.
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked.
"We'll have to find him." Harry said, "Mundungus said he was hanging around Diagon Alley."
"We can't just walk into Diagon Alley!" Hermione stated.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Ron said bitterly.
"Look! We have to be clever about this," she said, "One of us should take the invisibility cloak and go check it out - if he's still there and if it even isBakura who took the Horcrux we can then use the information gathered. We can then use some of the Polyjuice Potion and go after him if we have to."
"I'll go." Harry immediately volunteered.
The others looked uncertain.
"Harry -" Hermione started.
"It's not like I'm going to be breaking into the ministry guys, I'm just scouting out information."
Looking resigned, she said, "Alright, we'll take turns scouting it out and try to gather where he is and how we'll get to the locket."
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Pulling up at the hospital, Ryou paid the cab fare and as the vehicle pulled away, he stared at the building in front of him.
After a few minutes, he started moving again. He walked up the hospital steps and into the air-conditioned reception area. Looking around, he quickly noticed the information centre.
"Pardon me," he said to the lady on the other side, "Do you know if Greg Anderson and Andy Smithson are still here?"
"Just a moment dear, I'll check." The woman said, smiling at the sweet looking boy before her.
"Hmm… They're in building two, the long-term ward. Both of them are in room twenty-seven it seems."
"Thank you." Ryou said quietly.
"You should get that cut looked at dear, you wouldn't want it to scar." The lady said, peering at his face.
"Oh, um, s-sure. Thank you." Ryou said, touching the scabbing cut self-consciously.
Walking away, Ryou felt like crying again. The two hadn't woken up when the people in Japan had then. Blinking away tears at the lives they'd lost in those ten long years, Ryou walked to where they were staying.
The room they were in was quiet, Just the hum of machines in the background. Ryou looked at the still bodies on the beds.
"I'm so sorry," Ryou whispered, "I never wanted this to happen."
Ryou paused quietly as he remembered what had happened.
"Hey Ghost boy!"
Eight-year-old Ryou looked up from his book and saw Greg and Andy run towards him.
"Ye-yes?" the small boy squeaked, stuffing his book away in case the two decided to flush it down the toilet again. His mother had given it to him for his birthday; it was an encyclopaedia of urban legends and myths.
"We heard your mum bought you the new Monster World role-playing game. The whole board!"
"Ye-yes, but it's also my sister Amane's."
"Whatever." The boy shrugged, "What Greg and me want to ask you, since we're friends and all, is can we come over and play it after school?"
Ryou looked at them in surprise, he hadn't known they considered him a friend! And they wanted to play Monster World! The only person he'd been able to play against so far had been his little sister. No one else at school liked him much, at least he's thought so, and his sister's friends weren't into Monster World like the siblings were.
Smiling at the two larger boys, Ryou nodded, "S-sure!"
The two larger boys grinned at him, "Cool, see you then Ghost boy."
Ryou got home quickly, wanting to set the board up before his friends arrived. It didn't occur to the naïve boy that they were just using him, but it did occur to someone else.
"Ryou, you can't trust those boys!" his sister Amane scolded. She was a year younger than him, but she knew Ryou was easily taken advantage of through harsh experience.
"Remember when they gave you bruise on your stomach? And the time they laughed at the Egyptian Ring thingy father sent you?"
Ryou remembered. He'd taken the Ring to school only once. He hadn't worn it, but he wanted to show everyone the gift during show-and-tell. Andy and Greg had laughed at him, calling it jewellery and telling him he was a girl for liking it. It had hurt more than any bruise.
After school, Ryou had locked himself in his room and cried until Amane managed to entice him out with a game of Monster World.
"Mother and me won't even be here tonight," Amane said, "The moment mother gets home from work I have my Ballet lesson."
"I'll be fine, they're my friends." Ryou smiled. Friends. The word made him feel so happy.
After Amane had left with Mother, Ryou went to his room for awhile, waiting for the boys to arrive. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he looked at the Ring lying on his bedside table.
It was very cool-looking.
Picking it up, Ryou looked at it. The hoop at the top looked like it was supposed to be hung on something. Maybe it was a dream catcher; it did kind of look like one.
Getting up, Ryou walked to Amane's room. Digging through the seven-year-olds art supplies, Ryou found a long, thin brown strip of leather. Slipping it through the hoop, he twisted it around a few times before tying a knot at the end.
For a moment Ryou just stared at it. The boys had said it looked like jewellery, maybe it was? Turning it over in his small hands, Ryou slipped the leather strap over his head, he felt a bit silly really, thinking about the two boys who'd be coming over soon. But he didn't take it off.
"I hope they'll stay my friends forever. I wish they'd never leave." Ryou sighed wistfully, looking down at the ring had reminded him how mean they had been to him... He honestly didn't want them to go back to that.
"I can grant that wish, landlord." A cold voice spoke.
Looking around and seeing no one, Ryou whispered, "Who's there?"
"I'm you." It said, "The part of you that will grant your wish, which can make your darkest desire a reality."
Ryou didn't remember much of what happened next. He remembered waking up around the Monster World board with Andy and Greg flopped over the table. When Mother and Amane got home he was in tears; the boys wouldn't wake up!
His mother had sent him and Amane to their rooms while she called an ambulance and the boys parents.
Sitting alone in his room, the voice spoke again, "Do you like your new dolls, landlord?"
"W-what?" Ryou sniffed.
"The models I made, don't they look just like them?"
Looking down at his hand he noticed for the first time he was holding two Monster World figurines. The faces were that of Andy and Greg.
Ryou gasped.
"Now they'll be with you forever." the voice laughed.
"No! Put them back!" Ryou cried, "Make it better!"
Ryou was on his feet, tears flowing from his eyes.
"I don't want this!"
There was no response for a while; the only sound was Ryou's sobs.
"Well then," the voice said, "if this is how you're going to be if I help you, you can just forget !"
The Ring started to glow, and Ryou yelped in shock trying to pull it off. Almost immediately, however, he stopped moving. Suddenly, Ryou sat back down on his bed, thinking about his two friends.
All memory of the voice gone, but the result still remained.
The Ring still hung around his neck. That was where it would stay for years to come.
Two figurines lay momentarily forgotten on the floor…
He didn't remember the voice until years later, when he moved to Domino and the Ring reacted to Yugi's Puzzle. That day, on which the Ring had dug itself into Ryou's skin and the spirit finally showed himself to the world and Ryou once more.
Ryou sighed, blinking away tears. He pulled his backpack off and unzipped it. He carefully removed two small Character Cases and opened them; pulling out the two figurines he looked at them.
"I'm sorry for all I've caused you to lose. You weren't the best people in the world, but you were young. I've forgiven you for all you ever did, please do same for me" He whispered to the dolls.
Moving towards the beds, he held out the dolls and cried, "Soul Release!"
The dolls glowed white and dulled in his hands. Putting the dolls away again, he heard the two people on the bed stirring. Moving quickly, Ryou pulled his bag on and marched out the door.
He'd done what he could, he couldn't help them get back the life they missed, but at least now they'd had a life.
As Ryou strode down the corridor, he heard a nurse cry out in shock as she entered the formerly comatose boys' room.
As he left the ward he turned into the toilets. Locking himself in a stall, he leant against the wall and cried, at long last letting out the pain he felt.
"Happy Birthday to me…" he whispered quietly.