Intruders
It took a long time to get Yami back to my house, longer than it should have anyway. My strides were long yet slow to jar him as little as possible as I carried him, knowing that a sudden jolt in this state could very well do a lot of damage. His mind was drifting constantly between consciousness and unconsciousness the entire trip, odd feelings and stray thoughts drifting to me through the bond before returning to the former static.
In the warmth and comfort of our shared bed now, I had placed him on his side to ensure that if he did have a relapse of that coughing fit he wouldn't choke on his own blood. He looks vulnerable like this and I hate seeing that in him.
I don't mind looking after him, on the contrary I quite enjoy focussing on a single task and if it's ensuring his well-being then all the better. He's just usually so strong and vibrant. What's in our bed now is fast becoming a shell and I want to get Yami back to normal so I can yell at him for worrying me so much.
After managing to get him to swallow a miserable amount of water, I steeled myself for the task of sorting this all out. The Shadow Realm is not the nicest place to spend exceptionally long periods of time in and I can tell that I'm going to be in there a while today.
I called Ryou through the Ring a little while ago and told him to come over with Yugi to keep an eye on Yami for me whilst I'm 'gone', so that's one less thing to worry about. If something happens I'll be back in the Physical world in a flash, but it should be all right as we're still connected. It's weaker now but I am lending him some strength to work from.
Sensing Ryou coming up the stairs towards the bedroom, I check to make sure that everything that might be needed is in the room. A blanket, water, towels, yes, looks fine. I hope none of it is required but better to be prepared.
I'm starting to procrastinate, I can tell. I don't want to leave Yami in anyone's care but my own, but I have to if I'm going to help him effectively. Taking a deep breath as I run my hand through his gold bangs a final time, I gather my magic and pull myself from this world before reassembling myself in the Shadow Realm.
I'm instantly greeted by a feeling of intense nausea and I know it's from having tied our essences to each other. Bringing a hand up to my head and trying to not sway on my feet too much, I wait for it to pass before taking in my surroundings.
Well, diddly's changed since I was last here so that's a relief. Same dark void of power, same bloody hole draining my lover's life. I'm really happy to be here, honest.
Setting my jaw, I walk towards the pit, circling its perimeter and considering every nuance and every fluctuation of magic I can sense swirling through it. Huh. Didn't notice that before and I really wish I had. This isn't a hole; it's a friggin *tunnel*. The magic going in far outweighs the whispers of energy leaking back out but it's definitely two-way.
A start I suppose. At least I know that for my last straw I can simply jump into this thing and see where I end up. Probably suicidal to do that so… Yeah. Looking around is better for now.
Right. It's two-way. What's coming back then? A poisoning agent? A spell? Damnit this is hard. My head is making this already undefined world dip and spin and I really think that I need help. Actually I knew that I was going to need help in here right off the bat; I've just *admitted* to myself that I need help right now.
I can invoke the help of a monster here and maintaining the extra presence wouldn't be too much of a drain as long as I got the required help quite quickly. Flittering through my mental list I smirk to myself at my genius before closing my eyes and gathering the required magic.
Sensing the creature materialise directly before me, I can feel a 'weight' appear that is manageable at the moment. In a bit I'll have to send it back before the 'weight' threatens to crush me, but at the moment it's fine. Opening my eyes, I grin as the presence before me confirms my success. The Dark Magician, tall, powerful and at my call.
Straightening slightly under his cool gaze and towering form, I tip my head towards the newly-named-tunnel and start walking towards it. I know he's following me. He has to; I summoned him. I don't look back at him and barely acknowledge his appearance at my side as I stand at the precipice.
"I want to know what this is. It leads somewhere, binding the Pharaoh to something. Help me find out what," I instruct, speaking loudly and clearly so as to ensure that the Magician gets it. He's one of the more intelligent monsters here but I can't afford for anything to go wrong. Not with Yami at stake.
The enigmatic monster smiles at me *very* unreassuringly before he lifts his staff up from the ground, holding it in his slender hands as he regards me somewhat suspiciously. I have about enough time to squeak in indignant surprise before he clips the backs of my knees with the end of it and sends me *into* the *bloody* pit!
My fall is short-lived and I land rather painfully on my arse in some… room? This is a Soul Room! I don't recognize this Soul Room; it doesn't feel like either Yami or Yugi, and it doesn't seem suited to either of them. It's, well, *green*. Not bottle green or anything remotely tasteful but fluorescent and painful on to my eyes.
This room is cavernous with smooth walls coloured in the lucid shade and harsh lighting emanating from what appears to be the entire ceiling. The floor is, um, *springy*. What the fu-shit there's someone in here!
I can safely say that the most disturbing thing is the room is the creature sat in the corner. Perking up as I stare at it dumbfounded, it turns out to be a sort-of 'he' and scuttles towards me excitedly.
"Another spirit! Funny one too; White hair, bright eyes, funny countenance, confused expression, yes you are a funny one, aren't you?" he bubbles rapidly from the vicinity of my knees where he squats at me feet.
His hair is, um, 'energetic' and I don't think it would be able to stay in *that* shape in the real world. It doesn't seem to be gelled or anything but defies gravity in peaks and horns. Oh, and it's electric blue in colour. Eyes the same colour as this putrid room and skin so pale that it's almost translucent confirm my suspicions that this creature is a complete freak.
His lips lashing out sideways in a grin before shrinking back, he stands straight and walks away from me. His head is dipped as he regards me with more insanity than I've ever seen in a person before, including Malik. His clothes consist of loose black trousers and a tight black shirt that has silver rivulets woven into it, the patterns winding down his thin arms. His delicate hands clasp together beneath his jaw as his elbows tuck in and he stares at me excitedly.
Okay, this guy is *seriously* creepy. What's he doing here and how the Hell is he taking strength from Yami?
I take a few seconds to blink at him with a frown before getting straight to the point. If he was saner and freaked me out less I'd just hit him but I have no idea what I'm dealing with so a more roundabout approach is required I believe. "Who the heck are you?"
He sighs and his back arches backwards as he smiles in seeming bliss. "So long since I have heard another voice and the first words uttered question *me*?! I am Zel. *You're* snowy hair, or snow-drop. Yes, snow *is* spattered on your head! Snow-drop!"
He starts laughing. At me. It's an annoying laugh and I want to kill him because of it.
"What are you doing here? And what the Hell are you doing to Yami?" I demand now. I want him *out* of here, preferably leaving his colourful head behind in my possession. I wonder if his blood is as insane a colour as his hair and eyes.
He scowls at me and I watch with mild interest as his hair changes colour, a dirty red bleeding up from the tips and engulfing the blue, reaching the tips in seconds and at about the same time as his eyes turn completely black. Heh. He looks angry and stoned. A bit more threatening now though still. I must admit my curiosity is getting the better of me now.
"The Pharaoh wasn't the only spirit locked in here," Zel replies darkly, his dark eyes narrowing at me menacingly. Oh Ra. I'm so scared. Please, someone protect me. For fuck's sake this guy's pathetic.
Wanting to make a point of this and, more importantly, wanting to get Yami well again, I approach him in three strides and put a hand round his throat. Now, all I have to do it sque-whoa!
Blinking from where I now sit crumpled against the base of the opposite wall, I rub at my chest absently to alleviate the stinging sensation the burst of magic left me with. So, there's more to Zel than meets the eye. Interesting. If he wasn't killing my lover I might have come to like him. That is if he didn't irritate me so much; then I'd just dump him on Malik and watch the fireworks.
"Naughty Snow-drop," Zel hisses at me, his hair changing color yet again until it's entirely black. His eyes are still that violent shade of green though. It's a neat trick being able to change his hair like that. Maybe I'll rip his head off and see how it works from the inside after this is all over.
But at the moment I'm pretty pissed off. Stupid freak is inside *my* Yami and now he's throwing me around a Soul Room that shouldn't even exist. If I could turn him inside-out with just the power of my mind, that's what I'd be doing right now.
"Get the fuck out of my boyfriend you disfigured excuse for a creature," I snarl out before kipping-up onto my feet and thrusting my hands at him. Magic swirls around my forearms at my command and is expulsed from my body in one great burst.
Fuck but it hurts to do that. Stupid Dark Magician is still summoned so there's a continuous drain on my powers. Still, I managed to knock the little bastard off his feet.
Not letting this opportunity slip by, I lunge at him and grab his wrists just as he's about to raise his hands against me and return the blow. My knee in his sternum and the other bracing me on the ground, I'm in a pretty good position to hold him down despite his attempts to escape.
"I was here first," he half-pouts-half-curses, eyes narrowed into splits as he stares at me. His hair is bleeding from black back to insane-green again. What is with that?!
"Yeah, and I'll be here last."
He's at my mercy now and as much as I want to get rid of him right now, my magical resources are still recovering from the drain I just pulled to hit him so I have to wait for a few minutes before trying. Still, I can ask a few questions to learn enough to ensure that this sort of thing never ever happens again.
"Just how in the Seven Hells did you get in here?"
He giggles. A really feminine giggle too; light and dainty as his eyes roll and his cheeks dimple in another grin. What. A. *Nutcase*.
"I've been inside the Pharaoh for some time, Snow-drop. I wanted to be back inside him when I got pulled inside him forever. It tickled and burned." His tone had started off light but that last part was hissed as he leaned in close to my face, eyes going from wide and bright to narrow and drunken.
I am seriously not liking this. I've got a bad feeling in my gut and only part of me wants to know what it is. Wrenching his body up against me, I shove his forearm beneath my right knee and lean my weight onto it before putting a hand around his throat. Something feels very wrong here and I don't-damn it this is frustrating. Yami's dying and my magic still hasn't amounted enough to expel this creature from existence in general.
"What do you mean?" I bite out, my nose twitching as I sneer down at him. Usually my enemies are cowering, begging messes in this position with me. But Zel's just led there, entirely at ease aside from his multiple-personality disorder. Disturbing.
He laughs again, another giddy noise that I makes me want to rip out his throat to ensure that he can't do it ever again. Leaning up as much as my restraining grip on him will allow, his chest brushes against me and he brings his face as close to my ear as I will allow. "I was his first."
It takes a few seconds for that to sink in and when it does… By Ra I'm going to fucking rip him open and show him his still-beating heart. This bastard… Yami...
Making a noise that can only be described as a roar, I bring both my hands around his neck and slam his head back against the lucid-wall over and over. He laughs the entire time, the noise punctuated only when his skull connects with the surprisingly hard surface. I can't kill him this way here, I know. But I want him to suffer.
Stopping when I feel him trying to get a boot into my stomach, I hold still against him and settle for digging my nails into his flesh. My magic is *so* *close* to being enough now, enough to rip him apart, filthy molecule by filthy molecule. He deserves everything I give him. Damn I wish so much that we were both in the Physical world right now. Yami thought that what I did to his stalker was harsh. He wouldn't want to know what I'd do to this piece of shit.
"I came back for him, the night the Games of Darkness were sealed away. I got pulled in and lost, drowning in his essence. You drown in him too, don't you Snow-drop? I fine creature; a beautiful creature that writhes when bleeding and howls when touched. Hidden away in my little corner, all weak and small and alone. But I got stronger. Pharaoh off out in the world with Snow-drop left Zel to grow; get stronger and bigger," he rambles senselessly. I close to exploding now; as it is my temper's sizzling.
Closing my eyes against the disgusting things he's saying, against the secrets that I wanted to help heal the damage from but never really wanted to know. But I can still punish him. He hurt my Yami badly and it still haunts him. This thing cannot be permitted to continue to exist and *certainly* not inside my lover.
My magic reaches the barrier that it needed to and I smile at the returned warmth I feel flooding my veins. Zel senses it too and looks up at me with big eyes, the smile drooping and his face falling passive. His hair's changing again, becoming black with red tips and a gold fringe. Trying to pull at my heartstrings to save his miserable hide. Not that I have a heart he can pull at.
He cottons on too late that that isn't going to work and I override his own surge of power as mine laces down beneath my skin again, burning against his. My head feels like it's going to explode; completely destroying an entity with your own power is both difficult and strenuous even at the best of times. With the Dark Magician pulling at me and Yami's soul tied to mine even though the connection is weak, I have very little strength left to offer.
It's enough though.
It screams as I shred it, my magic burning and searing it from the inside and out as I destroy it. It takes a few seconds for nothing but a slither of light and mist to be left behind and I'm left kneeling with my hands around nothing as the last of my powers dissipate. Then my strength gives out completely and I collapse nose-first onto the floor.
Hmm. Soul Room is breaking down as a result of the murder and the instability could take me with it. And it's stinging the skin on my face and hands as I lie here. I need to move. Need to get to Yami and tell him that it's all alright. I destroyed his old demons and now he's not going to die. He'll be alright. But I'm so tired. Darkness is nibbling at the edges of my vision and my skin aches as do my bones. Bloody hell exorcism is hard work.
Just as the 'floor' is about to completely loose all stability, a pair of strong hands appear around my waist and I feel myself being hefted up before everything goes dark. No. I haven't lost consciousness; I'm just going back to the bog-standard bit of the Shadow Realm with my new friend here.
I would squirm around and take a look at my, urgh, dare I say it? No. I'll never live it down. 'Savior' doesn't apply to whatever is saving my arse. The only savior I have in this life is Yami; he saved my soul. Hmm. Thinking about it with the parts of my mind that are still functioning I'm going to bet that it's the Dark Magician. I knew it was a good idea to summon him and have him drain my strength. Never doubted for one-damn-second.
Hah! I have enough strength to move my head! Rolling it sideways I find that I now have a really good view up Yami's favorite card's nose. Great. I was right then. Today I've killed the bastard that was stalking Yami, wiped all evidence of the bastard who hurt Yami in the worst way possible from the face of time itself, ensured that Yami's going to get better now and was right. A good day I think.
"Thank you for ensuring my Master's well-being," The Dark Magician murmurs smoothly, dipping his head down to stare at me. I feel something warm on my lower lip and don't need to check to know that it's blood. My head is going to feel bad in the morning. I just know it.
I blink up at the monster as a means of response and he smiles thinly in understanding. Yami means as much to me as he does to him. Just in different ways I suppose. Whoa-room spin. Didn't know the Shadow Realm could do that. Cool.
I dimly feel the Magician gathering a field of energy around us before I'm lifted from his arms and deposited lightly on a carpeted floor. I take a brief glance around and release a breath when I recognize that I'm back in the room I left Yami in.
Ryou shouts something unintelligible to Yugi who isn't around, leaning over me and filling my vision with huge brown eyes. I think I'm going to pass out now. Yeah, I was right.
****
Oh God. The quality of my writing has just *disintegrated* over the last few days so I sincerely apologize for the crapness of this chapter. I have *no* idea when the next chapter will be up so bear with me. Reviews are good.