Title: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 8)
Pairing
: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura, possible others
Rating: M
Summary: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.


The spirit had not expected anything earth-shattering to happen. Once he'd seen the exact spell the Pharaoh wanted his landlord to use, he'd leaned back against the doorway and waited smugly for a clear, bright image of the Millennium Ring itself to appear in the water.

He had not been expecting Zorc to appear.

At first he hadn't even realized what it was – he'd thought the foolish boy had mangled the spell so badly that all it would show was a meaningless blob. Then the color had spread beyond the boundaries of the bowl and he'd refused to believe it.

Impossible. Zorc can't be summoned without all the items. He also isn't properly in the ring, so this spell shouldn't reveal him.

But the presence had continued growing, followed by an ear-splitting roar and the resurgence of memories he'd never wanted to see again as long as he existed – his mother, father, brother, cousins, all killed by the Pharaoh's soldiers, their torturous deaths parading in front of him one by one. It all flashed by in an instant, sending him into a blind, helpless rage before finally confronting him with the image he hated most of all – a small, terrified boy crying pathetically in his hiding spot.

He turned his wrath on the small boy. Stop being so weak! They're killing your whole family! Go out there and slaughter them all with their own weapons!

The boy couldn't hear him.

The spirit broke his mind free of the vision with sheer force of will and looked around. His host, the tomb keeper, and the Pharaoh were all standing around in shock, staring into space while Zorc's form grew. The spirit ran over to the bowl and kicked with all his power. The water didn't even ripple. He growled in frustration, fighting the visions that were trying to seize his consciousness yet again.

He ran back over to his host and shook him as hard as he could, yelling at him through their mental link to reach him over the noise in the room. Landlord! You need to knock over the bowl! He continued this refrain for a full minute, at several points only narrowly avoiding being drawn back into the nightmare of his past.

His host finally came to his senses, doing what he was told immediately without question. Heh. If only he were always this obedient.

The spirit surveyed the now quiet room, crushing his feelings about what he'd been forced to relive deep down inside him. His host was in the middle of the room staring at the ground. He could hear the thoughts meandering around his head – mostly fearful questions about what had just happened. The spirit glanced over at the tomb keeper, who was standing dazed in the doorway.

Finally, he looked at the Pharaoh. What he saw jolted a laugh out of him. His host's kick had sent the water flying all over the place, leaving the Pharaoh wet from head to toe. The spikes in his hair were limping in several opposing directions, and at the moment he seemed to be trying to wring the water out of one of them. He looked completely undignified. At least the spirit could now say he'd gotten something out this fiasco.

His laughter drew his host's attention. What's so...? He saw the direction the spirit was looking in. Oh, no!

The spirit rolled his eyes. Really, Landlord. Surely the Pharaoh's dignity is a small price to pay compared the alternative.

He could feel his host's agreement with that statement. But still... His host walked over to the Pharaoh. "Um. I'm sorry I got water all over you. I didn't really have time to aim." His host's gaze fell on the fragments of the bowl. "A-and your bowl. I didn't mean to break it. I'll replace it. If that's even possible."

The spirit could feel the guilt radiating off of his host. Don't feel guilty, you fool, you saved these idiots from their own stupidity.

Now a wave of annoyance. Hey, you're the one who forced me to come here. You had no idea what was going to happen either. If they're stupid, you are too.

At least I knew how to stop it.

His host ignored him in favor of the Pharaoh, who'd put both hands on the boy's shoulders and was looking him right in the eyes. The spirit scowled. It was just like the Pharaoh to forcibly redirect others' attention to him like that. "It's all right. You did a good thing. If you hadn't kicked it over when you did, who knows what would have happened?"

Apparently not you, the spirit thought contemptuously. He hated the warm feeling that ran through his host at the Pharaoh's words. He was always so desperate for approval from others. He'd do anything if he thought it would make other people like him, even it meant harming himself in the process.

The tomb keeper joined them, apparently having regained his awareness of the world around them. He gave the boy's arm a gentle rub. "Thanks for pulling me out of the way of that... thing..."

The spirit glowered as his host flushed pink at all the praise he was getting. He shouldn't let other people affect him so strongly. It was a weakness that could easily be used against him.

"What was that thing?" His host was still looking at the Pharaoh, but the spirit could tell the boy wanted to ask him just as much, if not more.

The spirit didn't say anything. He could tell his host all about it later if he felt so inclined. Right now he wanted to hear the Pharaoh try to come up with an explanation for what had happened.

The Pharaoh dropped his hands from the boy's shoulders and crossed his arms. "I'm afraid that's not so easy to explain."

The spirit laughed. In other words, he has no idea.

His host responded without looking at him. Do you even know?

The spirit debated keeping how much he knew about the entity a secret, but decided it would be easier to gain his host's cooperation later if he didn't claim not to know anything about it right now. Of course I do. But it's not something that should have been in my ring. It wouldn't do for his landlord to believe he'd allowed them to draw it out on purpose, especially since he actually hadn't in this case.

His comment made his host remember that he was still holding the ring. He held it up to the Pharaoh, who took it from him. "What are you going to do with it?"

The Pharaoh stuck it back in the box it had been in. "I will keep it in here. I wish there were a safer option, but this will have to do for now."

The spirit could feel his host's unease at the Pharaoh's plan, but the boy didn't mention his concerns. "Uh. Why did it go outside the water? Did I do something wrong?"

The Pharaoh didn't have an answer for that, either. "That's a very good question. You did just fine, so the reason it escaped the boundaries is still a mystery."

The tomb keeper spoke up just then. "Actually, I have an idea about that. It... it's not a very pleasant thought, though."

The Pharaoh gestured for him to continue.

"What if it's there's only a small piece of whatever that thing was inside the ring and the rest is somewhere else?"

Heh. Perhaps the tomb keeper isn't as stupid as I thought. Zorc could never be contained within a mere ring, not even the Millennium Ring. But a piece of Zorc was an entirely different matter.

It disturbed him that there could have been a piece of Zorc inside the ring without him knowing about it. He knew that ring inside and out. There was no way he would have overlooked a bit of Zorc's essence within it.

This led the spirit to the conclusion that the piece of Zorc had been initially hidden inside him, not the ring, and he'd had no idea it was there. It might have possessed him at any time. The thought of Zorc being able to take him over the way he took over his host infuriated him. He didn't even know how the thing had done it. It certainly hadn't been part of their deal.

Which as far as he was concerned meant the deal was off.

Oh, he would still have his revenge against the Pharaoh, of course. He would simply have to go about it in a different way than he'd intended. And going back into the ring wasn't an option anymore, either. He would have to find another way to regain his power.

It seemed he had a large amount of thinking to do.