A/N: Hehe, so, There's a very good reason why this update took a few, erm, months. It was because I was under this impression that I had a writer's block and so I didn't even try to write this chapter...but then, I tried to write it yesterday, and I got it done, also yesterday. Hm, so...it's a little bit shorter because this time I had no first draft chapter to work off of, so it's entirely new. Enjoy!
The corridors of Ryou's mind were relatively simple and orderly. The lengthy hallways only occasionally twisted in an unexpected or irregular direction. But although they were easy to maneuver, they were utterly vast. Every hall extended into eternity, it seemed. Dark mist flooded every surface, and Zorc could be anywhere.
Bakura cursed softly, taking a step into Zorc's "soul room". Red flames erupted from the ground all around him, licking at his skin with a scorching heat, and just as quickly they died—not entirely, but enough that they were only a small flickering glow in a pattern of trench-like crevices that formed hundreds of interconnected symbols across the floor. The dark red pattern tossed a crimson glow on Bakura, but did not light any other features that may have been in the room.
The black mists curled around him lovingly as he took a further step into the room. His eyes adjusted to the blackness quickly, but it seemed that even he could not see past the shadows of the god of darkness. It didn't matter though. There would be time later to investigate Zorc's self-claimed portion of Ryou's mind, but he was now wandering the boy's subconscious aimlessly, and Bakura wasn't eager to have Ryou's mind and soul desecrated by Zorc's destructive habits just yet. The boy would become useless before Bakura had even started the next phase of his plan.
Quickly, he turned and left the room as it was. The fires died entirely behind him as he left, but the door remained open, as though inviting him back, encouraging him to stay. He came back to the junction between Ryou's soul room and his own. He cursed again loudly, and could suddenly feel a stream of Ryou's surprise as the boy felt his poorly concealed annoyance and anger. He threw up the mental walls that would keep their minds almost entirely split, but then paused, an idea occurring to him.
What better way to find what was in his Hikari's mind than by searching it from his own point of view, at which point he would be able to feel where something was not right and seek it out. And the boy would never know the difference.
The mental walls shattered and Bakura relaxed, letting the link between Yami and Hikari fuse, and concentrating on feeling Ryou's mind as he himself felt it. He immediately felt as though he was drowning in Ryou's confusion, his ignorance, and all of his pathetically weak emotions. He gritted his teeth and concentrated harder, past the emotions, to the simple what felt right and what felt wrong.
But what felt wrong was everywhere. The boy's mind was filled with the presence of two demonic beings, both with incredible shadow powers, and it was already wreaking havoc on the boy's mental stability.
Finally he let go of his Hikari's mind and settled back into himself, putting up the mental walls again. The deepest concentrations of darkness were himself and Zorc. He stood beside his own soul door, and his Hikari's. But Bakura could not trace the other.
"I felt you searching for me, my silly little demon. I think I already know why." The voice, ice surrounded by black silk, was behind him. Bakura sighed in his resentment of the demon god, and turned slowly.
His eyes had changed. The flame had receded so that only his irises burned with the unnatural red fire. His pupils were large, black, and endless, revealing nothing of the demon's thoughts. The shadows were twisting around him, and the inky tattoos swirled on his skin. He no longer wore the skin-tight shirt he'd worn before, but left his chest bare. The tattoos curled his shoulders and onto the fine contours of his torso, tracing his collarbone, sliding over the olive skin like liquid, and thinning so as to appear like the scales of Zorc's demon form. He narrowed his eyes disdainfully at his counterpart.
"You have questions, no doubt. I first have a question of my own, though." Zorc continued without waiting for a response from Bakura. "Why have you not begun the next portion of you oh-so-well-thought-out plan? You seem to have all the pieces you need. Your little Ryou is clay in your ever-incapable hands. The Millennium Ring is yours to do with what you will. And yet you squander your time as that pathetic mortal attempts to read out the scribbles of an ancient book. Shall I reiterate what happens should you fail?"
Bakura growled in irritation. "I know what I must do, Zorc. The time spent trying to decipher the book is not time wasted. You should know that as well as I. Without the spells written in that book, I cannot release you from this body."
"Then I shall take this body as my own." Zorc said carelessly.
Bakura clenched his fists tightly. "None of this would be a problem if you had not deceived me. You said weeks, months. You assured me that you would need time to strengthen, and time to charm the boy so that he could handle your presence, which you have been failing at. He feels the effects of you every moment. Every day that passes he becomes more unstable, and now you choose to wander the paths of his mind. I cannot accomplish my task if the boy becomes useless to me, Zorc."
Zorc shrugged, running a hand through his ebony hair. "My complete transfer into this body went much better then anticipated, obviously."
"You only stayed within your soul room a matter of days!" Bakura snarled.
Zorc eyed him skeptically, and explained caustically, "Our little host's ability to withstand the Shadows is incredible. It allowed me to regain my power quickly. I will admit that it was something I hadn't predicted so don't start pointing fingers, or I may choose to rid you of them. One for every plan that has failed so far, perhaps." He paused, reaching a hand out and running his fingers down the door to Ryou's soul room. The shadows seemed to float off his fingers and stain the door, but slowly the black mark faded and disappeared entirely. He grinned, bearing sharp white teeth. "The taint of dark magic seems to slide off of your pet… I'm sure that won't be the case for long though. All things succumb to darkness with enough persuasion. You must know that better than anyone, my little soul-partner."
Bakura frowned, his eyes flitting to Ryou's door. He'd never been inside, for he'd never had reason to enter, but he sensed fragility within, behind the strength Ryou put out now. Zorc's talk of tainting Ryou was bothersome. The boy would be useless if he couldn't help him find the key, and Bakura had his suspicions about just who would know the whereabouts of it. It would be impossible for Bakura to get close enough, but Ryou… How many times he'd proven that the boy was the perfect spy. It was time that his Hikari utilized the skill.
And none of it would work if he became a crushed, frightened, unstable, incomprehensive, and insane slave to the lord of shadows.
"You are concerned about my effect on your aibou," Zorc said mockingly, pulling the thoughts right out of Bakura's head. Bakuar's eyes flashed towards him. The demon looked contemplative, his unnaturally bright red eyes almost seeming to glow. His lips curled into a wicked smirk. "Well, if that is the case, perhaps you should consider speeding the phases of your plan along. The sooner the better. Who knows what I may do to the poor child if I get too bored." He laughed.
Bakura bristled, his face twisting angrily. "For having the gift of immortality you seem to be incredibly impatient. I will go as quickly as possible, but it depends on the boy's ability to decipher the book, a book which Egyptian scholars and sorcerers, the best minds of the era, could not figure out for ages."
"Then perhaps you require my help." Zorc hissed, stepping close to Bakura, his breath hot on his skin. "I will decipher your spells…and then you will finish the phases of your plan. Teamwork, hm? We're partners after all."
"The boy cannot know of your presence in his body." Bakura said coldly. "Showing yourself to him would be foolish at best. Learning of you will in all likelihood cause him to relinquish his help."
"And you're concerned that you couldn't 'convince' him to assist despite my presence?" He asked, one eyebrow arched in scornful surprise. His eyes swept over Bakura disconcertingly. "Hm, perhaps you're losing your edge, Bakura." He paused, catching a strand of Bakura's hair between his thumb and forefinger. He continued, "In any case the boy will not know the difference between us. I will decipher the book. And everything will continue as planned."
He dropped his hand back to his side, going and leaning on Ryou's door. "One last thing before I go do what that fool Ryou can't…" He paused, his face smug, arrogant. Finally he warned, "Ensure that your affection for this little pet of yours, your aibou, doesn't interfere with your role. In fact I'd advise you crush it now, before it becomes a weakness. You and I are bound, our souls merged, until this comes to its conclusion and the world crumbles at my feet. Your Hikari will shatter under the weight of all that he bears before the end; don't let this link with him be the cause of your downfall as well. Accomplish our goals and you will be rewarded for your sacrifice." He smiled, watching Bakura's face harden, seeing the loathing in his own red-tinted eyes.
He laughed, and his form dematerialized into the mist that billowed up around him eagerly.
Bakura looked past the mists to Ryou's door. He'd known the risks of bringing Zorc into the boy's mind. Ryou was mortal…and he harbored the most powerful demon god in existence.
He frowned, and thought in irritation, This is his fate, his purpose. He will help me to bring the world into shadow, and that is all that matters. His life is nothing.
Symbols, symbols, symbols. They were printed on Ryou's mind in black and red and blue. Pictures of ceremonies and rituals that bore no meaning to him were engrained behind his eyes. And though his head burned with a migraine that was nearly crippling, and though it was nearly eleven at night and he still hadn't finished his homework, and though he'd skipped dinner and could feel his stomach clawing at him, he kept working on the book.
Because he'd deciphered a word.
The word was part of a particularly lengthy spell. He'd found a series of symbols that matched to another very similar group in a different section of the book that was written in simple hieroglyphs. And this all meant that he was close to finding a key that would help him to unlock the coded spells that filled the rest of the book. It was like finding one piece of a puzzle that hinted at a whole new group to experiment with.
But the word itself chilled and shocked him. What need would Ancient Egyptians have had for spells that required Sacrifice, when everyone knew that Ancient Egyptians did not practice ritualistic sacrifices?
"Ah, working so late, my little Ryou?" Said a cold voice, causing Ryou to jump in surprise. He scrambled to catch the reading lamp that he'd hit with his elbow, meanwhile trying to not knock the book off of the desk.
"K-koe, please don't do that!" Ryou said, his voice harsher than intended with surprise. "Besides, I thought that you wanted me to decipher the book?" He asked, spinning around in his chair to look at the spirit.
Bakura stood beside the window where the moon was just barely coming into the sky from behind the vast skyscrapers of Domino. He was cast in shadow—the lamp's light didn't carry that far—but his eyes seemed to glow. Ryou paused, unable to tear his own mocha brown eyes from the spirit's fiery red gaze.
"I'll save you the trouble, shall I?" He asked, stepping away from the window and towards Ryou. His hair shone like silver in the bright moonlight.
"I don't understand. I thought you said that you couldn't read the hieroglyphs…" Ryou said, trailing off as he turned back to his book.
"Don't try to comprehend, just accept that I have found the cipher that will allow us to know what is written on these pages. Then we'll have some fun with these spells, shall we?" Bakura said with a soft laugh.
"No, I don't want to do spells or anything like it. I'm only curious to know what it says. If you know then you can just tell me, right?" He asked, avoiding the spirit's gaze, uncomfortable under the glaring flames that were resting on him.
"I don't think so." Said Bakura with a strange smile. "You're…soft, little Ryou. It's about time you step up to the plate. There is much to do, after all. One pair of hands will not be enough, and I need you to know these spells."
Ryou turned his head in confusion, looking at the book before him as he rest his hands on it. Why did he have to know these spells? More importantly…why was the spirit acting so…different? His eyes burned brighter than they ever had before. But something else was wrong. Ryou turned completely around in his chair to ask him and bit his tongue as he came face to face with Bakura.
The spirit was a mere six inches away, leaning down. His hands were leaning on the desk on either side of him so that his arms caged Ryou on the chair. His breath was hot on his face, and his eyes gleamed even brighter.
"Yes…" Bakura murmured, as though answering an unheard question. "It's time you had a bigger part to play."
Ryou leaned back as far as he could. "What are you doing?" He asked, unable to stop the fear from leaking into his voice.
'Remember. Trust…me' Bakura's voice, sounding resigned, indifferent, said in his mind.
Out loud he hissed with an unfamiliar sadist's smile fixed on his face, "This is going to hurt." He lifted one hand from the desk and ran it over the surface of the spell book. Gradually his skin began to grow mottled with black that seemed to crawl onto him. Hieroglyphs Ryou realized. They covered his hand, filling the pale white skin until his hand was entirely black with them.
His hand paused in front of Ryou's face, and a shiver shuddered down his spine. He looked at the hand curiously, as though it weren't his own, and his face became serious. Then the smile lit his face again, serene, almost genuine. His teeth were slightly sharp. "Relax…" He said calmly, "It's better for everyone this way."
"You mean better for you." Ryou corrected, eyeing the black hand fearfully and wondering if he could push past Bakura and escape.
"Hm, perhaps you're not a complete fool after all." Bakura returned, and then, before Ryou could do anything, pressed his hand to the side of his head.
Pain, excruciating pain like fire and ice and cold steel, consumed his mind. It exploded like gunfire, and his ears were ringing. White light exploded in front of his eyes, and his muscles froze in shock. The migraines were a walk through the park in comparison. Ryou screamed, his hands flying to the sides of his head reactively. It went on and on and on until he gratefully grew numb and slipped into unconsciousness.
………
"…ow…" Ryou mumbled, cracking his eyes open. Slowly he sat up, putting a hand to his head and scrunching his eyes closed. His head was clear, and thankfully pain-free. He looked around. Lying on the floor, he'd apparently fallen off the chair and writhed over to the base of his bed. Sunlight had replaced the moon streaming in through the window.
"You feel better, I assume." Bakura's voice said from behind him. Ryou spun around and backed away quickly. The spirit was sitting on the bed. His eyes were dark, the color of stained mahogany. There was no trace of the red fire that had filled them the night before.
"What…what did you do?" Ryou asked warily, gripping the wall and pulling himself to his feet.
"I…" He paused, looking out the window, and then he turned his cold gaze on Ryou and continued. "I transferred the knowledge of the book to you. You will be able to read every spell, but it wouldn't surprise me if you know them without the book at this point."
"It hurt." Ryou accused. "If you knew the cipher why couldn't you just tell me and have me read it!"
"Silence, Hikari." Bakura snapped impatiently. "Stop acting like a fool. It was far simpler to just give you the knowledge. Unfortunately a transfer of that magnitude and of such powerful information is a very painful process."
"Yes, I think I got that part." Ryou said softly.
"Listen, you have the knowledge, now it's time to use it." Bakura said harshly, he stepped over to the book. "Come here." He ordered, and began flipping through pages. Ryou cautiously stepped over. Bakura's serious change of personality confused him. Last night he'd seemed colder, less human—Ironic, Ryou thought, seeing as how he's as far from human as possible regardless.
"What is this spell?" Bakura suddenly asked, pointing at a spell near the front of the book. There was a picture depicting two identical Egyptians. The only difference was one had bloodied mark on his chest over his heart.
"Can't you read it?" Ryou asked. The night before Bakura had seemed like he was capable of reading the book, and knew everything in it.
"Blast it, Hikari, no I can't. I already told you this…I transferred the knowledge to you so that you could read it, not me. Not tell me what this spell is." He said, his voice on edge.
Ryou bit his lip, but leaned over the book and looked down at the page. Though Bakura had said as much, it still shocked Ryou when the symbols and glyphs, gibberish before, suddenly made complete sense.
He immediately wished that they didn't.
The spell was meant for the specific purpose of transferring the ka, or soul, of a being into another being. It gave instructions based on whether you wanted an empty "vessel" or wished to transfer into a shared body. The intent was that one who was dying could be saved by being transferred into a healthy body…but unless the soul was going to share the body, the body's first user had to be killed on the spot so that the body didn't die from lack of oxygen. The key to the spell was to use an item born of shadow magic.
"It's a soul transfer spell… Why would you need this?" Ryou asked, disgusted by the description by which the body's owner had to be killed in order to preserve the spark of life.
Bakura smiled a smug smile and touched the page. "Do you think I want to share your body forever?" He asked.
Ryou stared at him in shock. "No…no, I won't do this. It's black magic, Bakura. I mean, it probably doesn't even work, but if it does this is really dark. I can't."
"You're forgetting, the Millennium Items were created with a spell from this very book. And you're also forgetting that we're in this together. You agreed to help me, Aibou." Bakura reminded him.
"This is murder!" Ryou hissed, fear causing his eyes to go wide as he pointed at the picture.
"You will do this, or your mind will snap like a dry bone." Bakura growled. "You do not know the forces that are at work around you. You must trust me, or you will break. We will deal with this later, though. Memorize the spell, and continue to study the book. Things are moving quickly, and you must be ready."
Ryou paced back and forth. "It would be easier to be ready if you would tell me what I must be ready for! Please, Koe, I don't understand. I can't help you if I don't know what I'm helping you with."
Bakura smiled. "All in good time." He said, fading in the rays of sun and disappearing, leaving Ryou in confusion.
"Ra beloved…" Sighed Atem.
"My Pharaoh, please tell me what is troubling you." Atem's dearest friend, and former most powerful magician, said softly.
"I'm not Pharaoh anymore, Mahad. You may call me by name." Atem said with a strained laugh.
"Yes, but…it's strange. Even here where we are all equal…I cannot view you as less than my king." He said, sitting down beside him at the wooden table in the center of a casual dining hall. Food covered the table, but neither of them touched it. "Your dreams have been causing you stress." He said, as though confirming after a few moments of silence.
Atem looked up in surprise then smiled. "Mana?" He asked. Mahad nodded in agreement. "She loves the sound of her own voice." Atem said well humouredly. "But yes, it is my dreams that have been causing me to lose sleep and look over my shoulder at ever corner."
"May I know what your dreams are of? Perhaps I could…enlighten you?" Mahad asked, sitting up a little straighter.
Atem looked up, and then sighed again. "They are reoccurring nightmares of my mortality, of Bakura."
"Are they memories, perhaps?" Mahad asked, pressing his fingertips together.
"No…no, he stands in Domino, the city my host, Yugi, lived in while he owned the Millennium Puzzle. He shadows one of Yugi's friends, a boy by the name of Ryou Bakura. Ryou has the Millennium Ring, and he interacts with Yugi and other people, all of them unaware of the demon that the boy harbors."
He paused as though trying to remember the details of the dream. "I try to warn Yugi, to tell him not to trust Ryou, but he can't hear me, and slowly Bakura's shadows begin consuming him. I try to stop him, try to do anything, but it's like I'm watching, paralyzed, and Bakura speaks to me, telling me that I've abandoned them. The buildings begin to crumble. A voice begins chanting some sort of spell, and Zorc appears in the sky. Flames erupt out of the ground, and the sky turns black. Everyone dies. Everyone except for Bakura and his host, Ryou who watch it all happen." He finished, tapping his fingers on the table.
Mahad thought for a moment. "Perhaps it is merely fear, subconscious, appearing in the form of dreams." He suggested.
Atem shook his head. "No, it seemed too real to be subconscious fear."
Mahad frowned. "If it is any comfort, it can't be a premonition. Bakura and Zorc were destroyed together in our past. Their souls were devoured by Ammit." He said, placing a comforting hand on Atem's arm.
"A premonition!" Atem shot up, pacing quickly. "Perhaps Bakura was not destroyed…perhaps his connection with Ryou in the present spared him as Yugi's very presence spared me when Bakura robbed me of strength in the past!"
"Atem, there is no possible way for Bakura to have survived. He fused with Zorc, and Zorc was eradicated by the Light Bringer. Even if he had survived, the chance of him managing to escape the Shadow Realm and return to Earth is unlikely at best!" Mahad assured him, rushing to his side.
Atem looked up at him, his wine-colored eyes flaring. "Either way, I must at least warn Yugi. Even if only to warn him on a false alarm. Mahad, there must be a way to connect with the living even after death."
Looking uncomfortable, Mahad nodded hesitantly. "Well, yes, there is…but it is probably not wise to show yourself to your former host. It's dangerous. You risk being trapped, a wandering soul, on Earth. Or you risk…wanting to stay. If you go back and find that you miss that life, then the afterlife will become tasteless; Hell rather than Heaven."
He thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "I have to warn Yugi, and if there is a risk I will take it."
"Please, I am not asking as your advisor, Atem, I am asking as your friend. I don't want you to ruin whatever happiness you have here." Mahad pleaded.
"Whatever happiness I have here will be ruined anyways if these dreams are premonitions and I fail to warn him." He closed his eyes. "He never would've abandoned me… And I can't abandon him."
"But, my king—" He protested, but Atem stopped him.
"What if it were Mana? Wouldn't you warn her?" Atem asked seriously.
Mahad closed his eyes. Mana was his most treasured student, even if she was his student no longer. She was like a little sister. "Alright." He finally agreed, opening his eyes. He gestured to Atem and returned to the table. Atem sat down, and Mahad looked at him seriously. "I'll tell you how…"
A/N: As always reviews are welcomed and highly appreciated! I apologize again for my lack of updates, I'll try to get another one out soon! Please tell me what you thought and what you think of where the story seems to be going because that will be a great help in writing future chapters!