The Others: The First Year

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

Chapter 10: Take a Cold Shower, Bakura

Wednesday, November 16th, 2016

It was dark; blacker than the blackest of nights. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. It was empty, final and absolute.

"Sangan," I called. "I need you."

"Again kid?" A voice answered back, sounding high pitched and inhuman, "Alright, I'm coming."

I smelled ocean water in the back of my mind, and pulled.

I awoke in my Summoning class with my fuzzy orange friend sitting on the table in front of me.

"Hello again," I grinned, scratching the top of his head in a way that I knew he liked.

"Right back at cha', kid," Sangan's mouth opened up in sharp, toothy smile. "I haven't been out this much in a while."

"I know you like Sangan, but you should try for some more Summons," Marik said from across the table, with a tall, faceless, silvery creature. It stretched out one of its tentacle-arms and whispered in my roommate's ear, "Humanoid Slime says that he can introduce you to a few of his friends, if you want."

"No way!" My orange Summon shouted, "If anyone is going to show him any more Summons, it's going to be me. Not some weirdo slime ball."

Humanoid Slime extended its neck until it was looking Sangan right in the face. It said nothing, but I could tell that it wasn't sending a happy message. My Summon leapt from his seat on the table and started clawing at its face.

It took both myself and Marik to pull the two apart.

"Can't control your Summons, Bakura?" An Australian drawl came from my left, carrying with it a mocking tone, "I'm surprised that Shadi's prize student can't even manage that."

"Piss off, Valon," I threw back at him. "No body asked for your opinion."

Valon was one of Rafael's friends. He wore a leather jacket and concert t-shirts all the time. He was tall, even for a fifth-year, with brown hair that refused to be tamed. Sky blue eyes glared down at me while a sarcastic grin appeared on his face.

"You might not know, Necromancer, but little Sangan here's weak," this guy was really getting on my nerves. "I would have thought that by now some one as skilled as you would be able to hold at least two Summons in this realm by now. But it seems that you can't. What a waste…"

"I can hold two," I said angrily.

"Well, then why don't you show us, little boy? Or are you too scared…" he left his words hanging, a cruel smirk tugging on his lips.

"Valon," Marik growled to my left. "If you and your little group have a problem with Mai and I, you take it up with us. Leave Bakura out of this."

"Why should I?" Sky blue eyes met lilac with searing hatred, "You're not so scary, Marik. All it takes is a touch to shut you down for good."

Then Valon reached forwards, trying to grab at my roommate's arm. Marik stepped backwards in a hurry as Mana darted forwards and kicked the Australian's feet out from under him.

"Nice one, Mana," Mai cheered from the background. "You really showed him one." Then she looked down at Valon, sprawled helplessly on the floor, "You're one to talk about cowardice. You won't even be over here if it weren't for the fact that Shadi just stepped out."

"Come on, darling. Cut me some slack," he grinned. "I make you a bet: if I'm right and the Necromancer can't hold a pair of Summons, you've got to go out with me."

Mai gagged, "Ugh! Why would I ever want to go out with a pig like you? You and your friends give Others a bad name."

I was tired of being ignored, "I'll take that bet."

"What?" Mana cried next to me, "Bakura! What are you thinking?"

"I said I'll take it," I addressed my friends, but stared Valon right in the face. "And if I win, he's got to leave us alone and never talk to us again."

"This is crazy talk, Bakura," Marik interrupted. "No first year has ever managed to hold two Summons at the same time. This is suicide and, damn it, he knows that!"

I turned to Sangan, "You said you wanted to introduce me to some different Summons, right."

The orange fuzz ball's grin was filled with way too many teeth, "Sure thing, kid."

I re-entered the darkness, somewhere beyond my Soul Room and the world of black and purple swirls. I could feel Sangan's presence, but like usual it was covered by the thick nothingness of this plain.

"Here, pretty lady. I've got someone I'd like you to meet," he called.

For a moment, I thought he was calling me a woman. But then another presence brushed my mind, feeling distinctly female.

"Hello there, little child," she said. "What can I do for you?"

"I need you in my world," I shouted out into the darkness and beyond. "Will you come with me?"

The woman-creature thought for a moment before responding, "Sangan tells me of your bet with the other boy in your class. Children shouldn't fight with each other."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I was cut off, "But I will agree to be Summoned this time, to see if you are worthy of me. Prove to me that I should fight by your side when the time comes."

"Your name! I need your name!" I cried.

She whispered it in my ear, like a mother would when telling her son a secret.

I awoke in the real world. I looked around once, noting that Sangan had disappeared. My friends were looking at me, trying to tell me to stop without words. I grinned, "Sangan and Dark Necrofear."

I felt like I was drowning, struggling to breathe beneath the ocean. Salt stung my eyes and water flowed down my wind pipe as I fought to maintain the spell, pulling the two Summons through.

And then the sensation was gone. I was down on my hands and knees, dripping with sweat as my whole body shook with exhaustion.

But I had succeeded.

Sangan was curled around her long legs. Clad in heavy armour stood Dark Necrofear, a curvy demon woman with blue skin and a bald head. Her ears were pointed and her eyes were completely black. A small wooden puppet was cradled in her arms, supported as if it were a baby. Or maybe actually it was her child. I didn't know anything in the ways of Summon creature reproduction to tell the difference.

My arms gave out underneath me and I fell into unconsciousness.

I told you! I told you! He's just like me! He's great and he's bold! I told you, see!

Bah…you're too loud, Dark God. Besides, the King is us. And we're him, or something like that. It's too complicated to explain.

You're just jealous, Soul Stealer.

Both of you, shut up. He's waking up.

Yes Akeifa.

I opened my eyes to find myself in Kisara's office. The walls were painted a calming light blue and the setting sun filtered onto the two rows of beds. The nurse walked down the middle and saw that I had awakened.

"You're up," she said with one of her sad smiles. "If Ms. Ishizu hadn't Seen you collapse, it could have been much worse for you."

I winced as I tried to sit up in the bed, "What happened to me?"

"You over used your magic," she explained, grabbing the clipboard from the side table. "You shouldn't have Summoned such a high powered creature on your first try, let alone a pair of Summons."

"You can over use magic? I never knew you could do that," I told her.

"You only have access to a certain amount of magic at one time," Kisara sat down on beside me on the bed, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder. "You'll gain access to more over time, it just takes practice. You've only actively been using magic for a month and a half now, so your reserves aren't as large as someone older than you."

Her hand began to glow with blue fire and she placed in on my chest. I smelled alcohol rub as she checked to see if my organs had taken any damage.

"You seem to be alright, though I wouldn't recommend using magic for the next six or so hours. You need to replenish your flame," she stared at me to make sure I got the message. "You've missed dinner, so I'll get someone to bring you up some food. Stay put."

Kisara moved towards the exit, "I'll let your friends in. They've been sitting outside for an hour now." She winked as she opened the door.

"You fucking idiot! What on earth possessed you to do something like that? Are you really as stupid as you look?"

Marik came crashing in, lilac eyes livid and dangerous has hell. He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me to my feet, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you where you stand."

I remembered that Marik's weapons were a pair of handguns, so I quickly destroyed the sarcastic quip I was doing to use. Instead I decided to tell him the truth.

"Well, you weren't going to do anything," I told him. "For all your talk, Marik, you were going to let Valon walk all over you."

"You dare-"

"Yeah, I dare!" I shouted, "I don't know what the hell went on between you and his friends last year, but I could tell that you were fighting a loosing battle. The least I could do was stand up for you."

"I didn't need your help, Ryou," he spat my first name out. "I can handle myself better than some stupid first year who thinks he's invincible."

"Don't call me Ryou, asshole," I raised my fist to punch him - no one called me Ryou - but something stopped me in my tracks. Mai's hand gripped my wrist, twisting it around my back and held me in an arm lock. Mana was pulling Marik backwards and away from me.

"Will both of you stop and think for a moment?" Mai yelled, "Bakura's recovering from magical overuse, so the last thing he needs right now is to get into a fight."

"Marik stop!" Mana cried, "Stop it! Please!"

The Enchanter ceased his struggling at the girl's pleas. He addressed Mana, "You can let go of me now." She did.

Then he turned to me, glaring daggers, "You fucking idiot. You - you...whatever." Marik turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Marik!" Mana called, running after him.

I stared at the door for a few seconds before turning to Mai, "Are you going to yell at me, too?"

"I should," she said, pulling over a chair and sitting down. "You could do with a good yelling, hun."

"I don't see what set him off like that. It was my fault that I used too much magic, so why is he so pissed off about it?" I asked.

Mai ran a hand through her long hair and sighed, "You really scared him, you know. Marik cares about you a lot and when you went down after you Summoned that lady creature, he panicked. You should have seen him: I've never seen Marik fight like that before."

"He got into a fight?" I was surprised, Marik was usually pretty passive about things.

"Yeah, it took Ishizu, Mako, and Shadi to pull him away from Valon and his friends. He took on all three at once. He almost won, too."

My jaw dropped. I knew how hard it was to fight someone like Rafael. To brawl with Valon and Alister at the same time would practically be suicide.

"What happened last year?" I asked her, "Something must have gone on for there to be that much hatred between you guys."

Mai looked at her high-heeled boots, "Alister was Marik's sponsor last year. Alister has some serious anger issues, and he took them out on Marik a lot. That's how we met. I found those three making him clean a mess they made with his own shirt. He wouldn't take it off, so they tried to beat him up.

"He wouldn't let them," she continued. "Instead he tried to do some Combat magic that was way beyond a first year and ended up in here for a few days from magical overuse. I had to carry him all the way there. He moved into my room afterwards.

"The thing is that Marik knew that Valon was baiting you, Bakura. He knew that Valon was trying to get you to do the same thing he did in his first year, and Marik was trying to defend you."

I fell silent. I hadn't known. I didn't know about what Marik had gone through last year, and all I had done was mess things up for him. I was such an idiot - a stupid, stupid idiot.

"Just think about it, okay," Mai said as she rose to her feet. "Just think about it."

She was about to open the door when it swung open from the other side. Atem stood there with a tray of steaming food.

"Oh," my Necromancy teacher said, though not really looking surprised. "I'm sorry. I didn't know Bakura had a visitor."

Mai froze up, staring at the shorter girl with wide eyes. Atem pretended not to notice and turned towards me.

"Kisara asked me if I could bring you up some dinner," she explained. "I hope you like shepherd's pie."

"Um...sure. That's fine," I muttered. "Uh, Atem? This is my friend Mai Valentine. Mai, this is Atem."

I hoped that by meeting her, Mai wouldn't be so nervous whenever I brought up the topic of my Necromancy lessons.

"A pleasure," Atem reacted politely, doing a sort of curtsy-thing with her long shirt. Her face screwed up in thought for a second, "That was how you greet people in this century, right?"

I snorted, responding sarcastically, "Yeah, that's definitely how you do it."

I suspected that she knew what I really meant, but continued on anyways, "Just so you know, I still expect you to show up tomorrow for your lesson. Same time, same place."

"Excuse me," it looked like Mai had returned to reality. "Did you just say that Bakura still has classes with you tomorrow? He's recovering from magical overuse! He shouldn't be using magic for the next two days!"

"Bakura has an Overpower," Atem explained, slowly. "That means that his magical reserve is a lot larger than the average Other. That was why he was able to hold a Summon creature as powerful as Dark Nercofear on his first try, a long with Sangan."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Mai's fist clenched.

"Because of our larger reserves, Others with Overpowers have developed a faster magical recovery system. Bakura will be up and running on full power after he eats and gets a good night's sleep."

"So says you," my friend spat.

"So says Kisara, your resident nurse," Atem responded calmly. "Of course, most of her knowledge was based on the sixty years of research I've put into the subject, so I guess you would also be correct that I say so as well."

There was a hint of arrogance in her voice. I had no idea who to cheer for in this battle of wits. But I did know how to stop it.

"You know, as much as I enjoy you ladies fighting over me," I began, a lecherous smile on my face. "I would like to be able to eat my supper in peace. So could you take your little cat-fight outside."

Have you ever heard the saying that 'you've got your foot in your mouth'? Well, it felt like I had begun to chew on my knees when Mai and Atem exchanged glances in a sort of temporary truce kind of way. I thought-smelled earth, and the air above me turned into water. It fell down on top of me, soaking me to the bone.

"Keep it in you pants and take a cold shower, Bakura," said Mai with a flirty grin. "Oh wait. I've already helped you with the last bit."

I flipped her off, though I totally deserved that.

"Very impressive," Atem commented, nodding her head at Mai's display of magic. "Did you learn that here?"

"No, I learned that at Kingdom of Sanguenay. They're more into Morphing up there then at Atlantis."

"Hmm," maroon eyes crinkled at their corners. "I haven't been up to Canada in a long time. I'll have to go and see what's changed at their school there."

Mai looked at Atem hard, before sighing, "You're not that bad."

"I would hope not," she answered. "Though I have a long way to go before I am entirely good."

"That's boring," the blonde put a hand on her hip. "A little 'badness' never hurt anyone."

"Maybe," Atem muttered, looking off to the side in longing of a world that was long gone.

"I guess I'll see you around then," Mai waved. She turned to me, "Take care of yourself, Bakura."

"I'll try," I growled, still very wet.

She left, leaving me alone with Atem.

"You should eat," she said. "It'll help replenish your strength."

She waved her hand and the sheets around me dried. I even felt warmer then I was before.

"Thanks," I muttered.

Atem nodded solemnly, "Get better soon."

It was afterwards that I realized that my Magical Sixth Sense didn't pick up her spells when she cast them.

The funny thing about evolution is that only the next generation will experience the changes that come with it. The older generations remain the same, while their children move forwards into the future. Nothing outside of what I like to call a "forced devolution" can change that.

Atem was born before the Cut Off, so she was never effected by the development of the Magical Sixth Sense. Her magic will never set anyone's Sense off, nor can she pick up anyone else's magic. For the same reason, she isn't effected by the Ward. Normals view and treat her like one of their own.

She is probably the only living expert on all aspects of magic. Despite her curse, Atem has used her knowledge to teach whoever would come to her. Thought, that's not many people: like you've noticed with Mai, Atem doesn't have the greatest reputation amongst Others. Whenever she shows up in the dreams of those who were born after the Cut Off, it usually isn't in the best of lights.

But she's still here, promoting her cause to anyone who will listen. It was because of her that we were able to contain the War in the United States of America. Those in Europe and in Asia know every little about what Atem did for them - what she's always been doing for everyone.

She cares so much about the people of this world, and they will never know. So that's why I'm writing this. We owe it to her to know her story.

I made up with Marik that night. It was awkward and weird, but we finally came to terms that I was acting like a total idiot when I took Valon's bait and that I completely deserved to be stuck in a hospital bed for the next two weeks. Marik volunteered to put me back there, but I quickly said that it wasn't necessary.

He punched me in the face, though. I let him do it. He needed it.

After that, things got a bit better. Valon and his friends were shocked to see me in class the next day. I was a little tired, but I managed to get through the entire day. Mai walked with me to Necromancy and peaked in on Atem before she left. I think she was a little amazed by Atem, and who wouldn't. It wasn't everyday that an immortal walked into your life.

Atem took me out to a graveyard that she had found somewhere close by. I practiced the spell that I had learned last time with her, and released a few spirits from this world. She also explained that sometimes, spirits would manage to reject the spell because the things that were tying them here were too great. If that was the case, I had a lot more to do.

The next few classes were based around the idea of possession. From what I could understand, it's when you take a spirit into your body and let them basically control it, to an extent. It was very difficult, and Atem told me it took her years to get it right. But as she spoke, it was like she expected me to excel at Necromancy. Maybe it was because I was the first one in a while to have the talent, though something told me that wasn't the case. It always felt like I knew what to do and was simply re-learning the art. But that was impossible...right?

As the first week passed into the second, the temperature started to drop in the capital city. It made me wonder if it was snowing up in Domino yet. I hoped not. I really hated the snow.

During Combat we had begun to face of against each other with our weapons. The only rule was that there were no rules; we could use any kind of magic that we knew, as long as we won the fight. So far I had beaten Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood hands down. When Kaiba paired me up with Mai, though, I got my arse handed to me.

I guessed that was the reason why she was going into Combat. Mai Valentine was one hell of a fighter.

In Illusions, Mahad had finally moved the first years onto making more complex shapes, like a bird or a cat. Marik and the older years were working on mixing sounds into their Illusions. Apparently, it was harder than it looked.

Enchantment was still the worst part of my day, though Pegasus had yet to speak to me since Atem beat him in their little verbal sparring match. My personal theory was that the man thought I was infected or something by her presence and didn't want to come near me. But I wasn't complaining; the less Pegasus bothered me, the faster his boring as hell classes seemed to go.

Ishizu had us moving on to healing other people, but I had read some of the material ahead of time, so I was a little bit advanced compared to the other people in my year. She taught us a few tricks so that I could avoid the little incident that I had had with my sister the next time I wanted to heal a Normal. It was sort of a time delay healing thing and was pretty difficult to master.

I managed to freeze some water into ice cubes during my last Morphing class. Some of the older years were changing one substance to another - like sand into metal - but according to Karim, we all had a long way before we would be tackling that.

I was really starting to get into my Necromancy classes. I wanted to be able to free some of the spirits in the graveyard back at Domino when I went back. I thought that I'd start with Rebeca. That little girl deserved some peace.

Friday, November 25th, 2016

"Fio Mihi. Become me."

I reached out with my magic, feeling as if hundreds of little strands of water were flowing out of my body and into the spirit in front of me. He was a police officer, most likely killed in the line of duty if his still present uniform was anything to go by. He was young, but old enough to have had children. Atem and I had seen a grieving young woman and her daughter lay flowers on his grave as we arrived.

The man was patient and understanding. I never really knew how the spirits knew about our powers (at least subconsciously), but maybe they gained some sort of omnipotence when they died.

The strands of my magic clung to his arm, pulling it towards my body. The man smiled, which was a look that I wasn't used to seeing on police officers. My father worked for the Domino City Police Department and had apparently told everyone there that I was some sort of drug addict-gang leader who was going to end up dead before turning twenty. I could barely walk passed a cop without getting strange looks.

But the man's smile encouraged me, and I continued to pull him forwards.

Suddenly, my right arm went completely numb. I couldn't feel anything - not my fingers nor my elbow. There was no sort of phantom feeling that you hear amputees talking about sometimes either. My arm was gone, and yet it's physical form remained behind.

And then my fingers twitched. I wasn't controlling them at all, though. My brain was definitely not sending any signals telling them to move. So how was this possible?

The man gasped, startling me back into reality. His own arm was missing and he was staring at mine, fascinated.

"I can feel," he whispered softly. "I can...I can actually feel..."

"A partial possession," Atem explained from behind me. I jumped in surprise; I had completely forgotten that she was there.

"What?" I mumbled, "Is that what this is?"

"Yes," she said softly. "You're about half way to a full possession. It took you two lessons and fifteen minutes of practice to get this far, but it usually takes months. You should congratulate yourself."

"It's weird, you know," I told her. "It's like I've done this before. It's like I'm remembering something that I forgot years ago rather than learning something new."

Atem looked uncomfortable, and I hoped to get some sort of explanation out of her. Maybe I could finally find out who the slave boy from my dreams was.

But there was no such luck.

"Or maybe you're just very lucky to have such talent, Bakura," she answered cryptically.

"Excuse me," I turned back to the man, who had just spoken. "Would you mind if I used your arm to write a letter to my wife? I just want to say good-bye to her one last time."

"Sure," I agreed. "That's what Necromancers are for. Right Atem?"

She stiffened for a fraction of a second, before relaxing again. She walked over to one of the now barren trees and produced a piece of paper from the bark. I dug around in my pocket for a pencil and placed it in my right hand.

Through me, the man began to write out his last letter to his beloved wife. He had to stop half way through as phantom tears began to flow from his eyes, but when my hand swished with his signature, he was smiling.

"It feels good to finally get that off of my chest," he said. "I'll give you her address so that you can mail it to her."

"But you can come with us," I said, turning to Atem for confirmation. "Like that guy that you brought to my first lesson. You can do the same thing here."

Atem shook her head, "Spirits remain attached to their bodies, Bakura. The only reason why I was able to bring that man into Atlantis was because I found a fragment of his skull on the sidewalk. Unless you plan to dig this man up from his grave, he must stay here."

"It's alright, kid," the man said softly. "As long as I know that this letter will get to her, I know that I will be able to move on. You've helped me do that, and I thank you for it."

Water ran down my back and fire consumed the man's spirit. There was an aching feeling in my eyes. I rubbed them, but the feeling wouldn't go away.

"What you use your Overpower," Atem explained. "your eyes will change colour as you are filled with magic. The whites of your eyes will turn the colour of the flame within your soul."

"My eyes are red?" I asked her.

"Yes."

I shivered,though it had nothing to do with the cold, "That's pretty freaky."

Her lips twitched into some sort of smile.

I stood up, brushing off my pants, "Well, I guess we should get this delivered. He left the address on the back."

Atem nodded and turned towards the exit. She didn't move though.

"I guess we aren't going to have to mail that letter after all," she commented.

The spirit-man's wife stood just down the row, staring at us with wide eyes. She glanced at Atem before turning her nervous gaze over to me.

"Who are you?" She asked, her pretty face hidden by her jacket collar and scarf, "What are you doing at my husband's grave?"

I stood ram-rod straight behind Atem, glancing around for a reason for this woman to come back. A Barbie-doll lay on the ground next to the tombstone. It must have been her daughter's.

Atem immediately took charge of the situation, "Hello, ma'am. My friend and I were just visiting your husbands grave. He helped us out once, and we only just heard that he died."

"Kemo's been dead for almost a year now," the woman explained.

"We've been out of the city for a while," I answered this time. "We only just heard."

Atem motioned for me to hand the letter over.

"Um..." I began, "He asked us to give this to you."

The woman stepped back hesitantly as I moved towards her. I held out the paper and waited for her to take it.

She snatched it from me, unfolding it quickly and reading the words. Her eyes darted across the page, becoming wider and wider with every line.

Finally, she put the letter down with shaking hands, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No ma'am," Atem said quietly. "We wouldn't joke about something like this."

The woman glanced between us and the letter one more time before bursting out into tears.

Atem tugged on my sleeve, "Come on, lets go."

We were almost out of the graveyard when I heard the woman calling for us. But we couldn't turn back, couldn't explain how we had a letter written by her husband a year after his death. There was nothing else we could do but leave her to imagine how this was all possible. She probably thought we were angels, or even spirits ourselves.

"I hope you find peace, Mr. Kemo," I whispered softly. "Where ever you are..."

And I hoped that his wife would find some as well.

Sunday, November 27th, 2016

When my name was called over the intercom system, I was in the Mana's room being experimented on. Not in a bad way, of course, but it was still pretty awful. Mana was learning how to cook from a book that she bought over the weekend. It was called Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens. It was some sort of pasta dish, that much I was sure of. Personally, I was kind of happy that my name was called. Mana turned out to be as great a cook as the cafeteria ladies at Domino High. I was half expecting the food to start crawling out of the pan it was in.

After I wished everyone a good two weeks, I headed down the hallway towards the PORT location. I thought I saw Atem in the lobby, but when I turned around there was no one there.

When I landed back in Domino, the first thing I did was vow to make a trip to the graveyard after school the next day. I ran home, powering my legs with Combat magic, and sneaking up the stairs to my room. I lay down on my bed, arms and legs spread out like a star and wiggled around until the spring in my back disappeared. It felt like no one was home.

My eye lids dropped, suddenly becoming heavy as lead. I closed them, deciding to rest them for a few minutes. Just a few minutes...just a...few...

I was out cold.

We had finally caught caught up with the bandits. They weren't what I expected them to be. The monsters that killed my family were muscle bound brutes with scarred faces and mad grins. These people were skinny and hollow-eyed, barely able to feed themselves and their children. They stole anything that they could sell or eat, and set fire to the things they couldn't. They said that Yum Cimil, the god of death, had come to them and wiped out their crops. They stole to appease him and feed themselves.

It was empty victory, but a victory none the less. And none took it harder then her.

There was no glory in defeating these people, so there was no great battle to take home to her father when they returned. I sneered when I passed her; her expedition to prove he worth to the King was all for nothing. The bandits had surrendered the moment we raided their camp.

I still hadn't found out who had seen me use my god power, but had come to the conclusion that there was another person who could see spirits amongst the soldiers. That was the only way that the person would have been able to recognize my powers for what they were.

The bandits had been executed on the spot when we found them - all of them, even the women and the children were dead.

"They made the decision to steal and kill, and support those who stole and killed," the princess had said, eyes blank and voice flat. "My father would never let this go unpunished."

Then the axes and clubs came down on their heads, and the bandit's bodies fell to the ground with a mundane thud. Death had never bothered me before, but it did now.

I volunteered amongst the slaves that traveled with the soldiers to clean the dishes. I just wanted to get away from it all for a brief moment in time.

But she wouldn't let me. She sat by the river, staring into the water with a blank look on her face. I didn't even think she noticed me arriving. I did my best to ignore her, but glanced over every few minutes. The look on the princess's face was almost frightening.

I didn't even hear her move over to where I was until she was kneeling right next to me.

"I'll dry," she offered quietly.

"What?"

What? What? Why would she want to do slave-work? She was a princess. Princesses didn't do the dishes.

"Just let me do it," her voice came out as a whisper. "Please."

I sat there numbly before handing her the clean plate I was holding. She grabbed at the piece cloth I had momentarily discarded, mumbling darkly to herself. It was the oddest thing I had ever experienced.

I caught a few words of what she was saying. Most of them revolved around her father. But there was one statement that stood out from all the rest.

"It's all his fault," she kept repeating that same phrase. "It's all his fault."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I yelled as I leapt to my feet. She didn't even react, "Look at me when I'm talking to you, girl!"

"What does it matter to you?" She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, then returning to the work in front of her. I growled and grabbed her by the wrist, hauling her up.

"Why are you acting like this? You never use the collar, even when you should. You never accuse me of stealing or punish me when I speak out against you. And now you're sitting here and half of my chores. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I yelled at her.

"Do you want me to treat you like that, Bakura?" She shouted back, sounding almost desperate, "Do you want me to use the collar? Because I can, if that's what you want...".

"Why are you even asking for my permission?" I wanted to know so badly why she was doing this, "I'm your slave. Everyone says that slaves have no souls, that they aren't human. That makes it alright to whip them or beat them or -"

"But you're human."

Her response stopped me cold. I tried to move my mouth, to make some sort of sound come out, but nothing came.

Human. She believed I was human.

"And they're human too," the princess continued. "The villagers and the bandits. They didn't need to die. But I killed them anyways."

"What?" My voice had finally returned to me, and I still had no idea what she was talking about.

"I would have let them go, but the soldiers would have reported it when we got back. My father's laws don't have exceptions in them. And I have to follow them because I'm his fucking heir," she swore, rage tearing through her voice. I had never heard her swear before.

"He wasn't even going to send anyone, Bakura," the princess continued. "He was just going to let them fight it out. 'Commoners kill each other all the time,' he said, 'We don't need to step in, this is normal.' It's not right! I had to do something!"

Then it clicked in my mind, "The King doesn't know we're here, does he?"

She shook her head,"I left him a note before we left explaining what I had done and that I would take full responsibility for my actions when we returned home."

I couldn't believe it. This girl was nothing like I thought she was. Even after living with her for years, I had no idea who she really was. I had been so caught up in hating her and everything she stood for that I had failed to realize the girl-child who simply wanted to help people. She saw people in the commoners that others of her social class overlooked. How could I have missed that?

"Do you remember the day we first met?" She asked suddenly. I dropped her hand like it was a hot brick, "The day you saved me from being crushed by the market stall?"

I took a hasty step back. I didn't like the way she was looking at me, "I didn't know who you were. It meant nothing."

"But it taught me so much," she advanced towards me as I continued to retreat. "It taught me more than any of the teachers at the palace ever could. You said that you had no idea who I was when you saved me, and that's the point. I was a complete stranger to you and yet you still helped me."

My back hit a large tree, stopping me in my tracks. She kept coming though, with that weird look in her eyes.

"You taught me that a life is a life, no matter what background they had. And I..." she stopped in front of me, reaching up to touch my face. She was too close - far too close - and, gods, was she actually going to...

"Well, isn't this cute," an unfamiliar voice rang from behind me.

The man was old and withered, with long white hair and wrinkled skin. His blue eyes shown in the darkness of night. He went bare foot, but the was something wrong with his feet. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"The daughter of the King and her slave lover meeting in secret, like an X'tabay whore," the man grinned a toothless smile, before turning to me. "You should be more careful, boy. X'tabay are demons who kill their partners after they are finished with them."

"Who are you?" The princess questioned angrily, "Identity yourself."

"You know my name already," the man said. "So why should I have to tell you. But I will tell you this, X'tabay: those bandits where mine."

"What? That's absurd," she cried. "Those people were starving and hungry, doing what they could for themselves and made up a legend so that they could explain what was going on. How could they be yours?"

"They were hungry because I made them hungry. They came to me and worshipped me as their god to regain my favour. They stole and killed for me and me alone," the man hissed like a demon.

What was wrong with his feet?

"Did you control them?" the princess yelled, anger reappearing on her face as she finally stepped away from me. "Are you a Mind Puppet Shaman?"

"Why would I need to play with their minds when I have something better?" He took a step forward and I realized what was wrong with him.

It wasn't his feet. It was what was under them: dead plants.

"He's a Death Touch!" I shouted as the man lurched forwards to grab her. She danced backwards and Summoned her bow and quiver.

"Don't let him touch you!" She yelled, rushing backwards to get a better shot. The man turned to me and grinned.

"Time to die!"

I reacted instinctively, lashing out with my god power and swinging my stolen knife at his eyes. He backed away cursing.

"A slave with god power? You've signed your death warrant, boy. Even if you survive, you'll be killed!"

"Fuck you!" I yelled. I cast an illusion that blinded him temporarily with a bright light and slashed at his chest. My knife shattered on impact, but the man howled in pain as I put some distance between the two of us.

A hand reached out from the bushes and pulled me in. For a moment, I thought I was going to die from some poison that made my blood boil. Then I realize that I that just the princess.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I asked in a whisper. The man was regaining his sight in the distance and yelled for us to come and face him on the field of battle.

"Don't be so over dramatic," she whispered back. "I've got a plan. If you can get him into the river, I can get him with one of my arrows."

"Why does he have to be in the river?" I questioned angrily.

"Just do it!" She yelled, grabbing her arrows and loosing a few as she ran for the cover of the trees.

I swore colourfully at her retreating back, but rushed the man again. I let loose a war cry so that he'd concentrate on me while she got set up to deliver the final blow.

It took everything I had to push the old man back. I even Summoned a few creatures that I knew to aid me. I cast Illusion after Illusion to keep him confused. The princess shot off a few arrows to keep him on the right track.

Then he stepped into the water and everything exploded.

The princess launched a arrow made completely of lightning, hitting the water and electrifying the whole stream. Water leapt up as hissing steam filled the air. For an instant, I thought we had won.

I was wrong. So very wrong.

The earth trembled beneath my feet before knocking me into a far away tree. The tree branch that the princess was squatting on writhed and threw her off. The nameless man stepped out of the steam, shielded by the earth, completely unharmed.

"You thought something like that would kill me?" He screeched, "I am a god! I am Yum Cimil, the god of death, in human form! I am all powerful!"

He approached the princess, who was struggling to her feet. The tree moved once more, it's branches wrapping around her and pinning her to its trunk.

She spat in his face, "You are no god, just an old man who insane enough to think he's one."

"I am Yum Cimil or Ah Puch or whatever name you mortals gave me. And I will be your death, X'tabay."

She broke free of one of her restraints, grabbing for her knife and slashing at him. The man laughed, ripping the stone blade from her hands. She screamed as he touched her skin.

My eyes widened. Death Touch diseases were transferred by skin contact; everyone knew that. The princess had just been infected.

I could see her god power kicking into overdrive, trying to get rid of the disease. Shaman's usually had a better chance at surviving contact with a Death Touch than any non-magical person. But considering that he had her pinned to a tree and could kill her any time he wanted, it wasn't looking good.

He threw her knife away and grinned, "Goodbye, X'tabay. I'll kill your lover next. You put up a good fight, but this is the end."

He didn't get the change though. For he had made one fatal mistake: he had thrown the red-hilted knife towards me.

I didn't even think, didn't even realize what I had done until the blade was embedded in the man's back. I yanking the blade up and across, severing his spinal cord. He fell to the ground with the same mundane thud of the people he had controlled, the bandits we had killed. I slit his throat out of mercy.

And then it happened.

Suddenly I was the old man, advancing on the demon-girl-whore-princess with a sickening glee. I was going to kill her, put her head on a pike and walk into the palace with my prize over my shoulder. I gloated at her in her final moments, reaching forward to touch - please, just one touch, it's been so long since I felt human flesh beneath my fingers...

And then pain exploded from my lower back. Blood gushed out of the wound as the pain ripped up and across. I felt something snap and then I couldn't feel my legs. I fell on my side and looked up at my killer.

It was me.

It was odd seeing myself from the outside. Long and wild white hair framed a paler-then-pale face. My eyes were empty and soulless as I reached down and slit my throat. I tried to cry out in pain - I don't want to die, I don't want to die, please! - but nothing came out. I was choking on my own blood and, gods above, I didn't want to die!

And then everything was dark.

My eyes opened to the princess, hovering above me with eyes filled with worry. I was on the ground. When had I fallen over? And what was that sound?

I was screaming. They were my own yells of terror.

"Bakura, stop it!" she cried, "Look at me, please!"

I bit my tongue so make myself stop. I sat up quickly, reaching for my neck to feel for a cut there.

Nothing.

"What did you see, Bakura?" the princess took hold of my face and yanked me around to look at her, "What did you see?"

My eyes traveled from her face over to the dead body of the man I had just killed. She understood what I couldn't put into words.

"You were using your god power when you killed him, didn't you?" she asked, "Killing with it is a taboo. What you saw was your punishment."

It took a moment for me to finally connect what she had just said with the problem I had had for a while now, "You."

She looked confused, so I continued, "You saw me use my god power that day. You can see spirits as well." Gods, that's why she didn't look so surprised when I was fighting the old man. That's why she had came up with a plan that had involved me using god power. She had known all along.

"Yes, I knew," she confirmed.

This was too much. She was destroying everything that I knew - everything that I thought about nobles and royals - for my entire life. What right did she have to do that?

"Are you alright?" She reached forward, "Let me-"

"Don't touch me!" I yelled, "Just leave me alone!"

She looked hurt, "Bakura, I-"

"Just go away," I told her. "Leave me alone for once."

She left, leaving me with the dissolving body of the Death Touch man. His body and soul were taken back magic - Shamans were all born of the gods, so it made sense that we would return one day to them.

My pain didn't leave, though. I should have hated her for it. Earlier that day, I would be blaming her for misery. I couldn't now. I knew now that the princess wasn't the person I thought she had been.

But why did she care so much? I was a slave, and before that a common thief and a criminal. She was the heir to the throne. She was supposed to be power and arrogance and everything I hated. And yet she said that I was human, that we were the same. How could she care about a slave? How could she care about a killer like me?

Oh Gods, I was a killer. I was a killer like the people who murdered my family. I was like them.

I was a killer.

The walls that I had built around me were cracking, destroying myself in the process.

It was dark when I finally moved. My bones creaked with stiffness as I got up and stumbled my way towards our camp. I didn't really remember the trip there or even the soldiers who were on watch duty that yelled at me to get in quicker. I moved forward slowly, letting my legs take me wherever they wanted me to go.

They led me to her tent. I slipped inside, barely making a sound. She was sitting in the corner, snoring slightly next to the pad that I used as a bed.

She had fallen asleep waiting for me. That made me feel something...something that I dared not name.

Her eyes flickered open as I approached. Maroon eyes widened, "What..."

"What do you want from me?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. It cracked and came out weak. I would have winced, but her eyes held me still.

She said nothing, but opened her arms to let me in. I collapsed on her shoulder as my walls fell down.

I screamed in agony that entire night in the arms of the girl that I had hated most of my life. I was glad, somewhere in the back of my mind, that the tents were sound proof, so no one could hear me. She whispered words in my ear, whispered promises that I couldn't hear over the sound of my own voice.

It was amazing how it was not an act of hatred that broke me in the end. It was one of kindness.

"Atem!" I cried her name out loud, "Atem!"

Hello again.

As usual, I'd like to thank the reviewers of the last chapter: Danyeda Goofy Panterita, EgyptianSoul.88, Coolaloo, Akikee, and SRRH. Thank you all so much!

There is a lot of Mayan terminology in this chapter, so if you are confused about anything, leave a comment or PM me. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Happy early Saint Patrick's Day! I'm a bit Irish (if you go far enough back) so I guess it counts for something.

Until next time,

AlcatrazOutpatient