At last the truth is spilled out... At last the true part of the plan is unraveling... Just when Ryou thought that it was done... Just when he thought it was enough to satisfy Bakura... Just when he thought his troubles are almost over... Ryou was, unfortunately, wrong. He's under a bad situation... The cost is getting high... Another matter at hand has dead weighted him, adding more as it currently is. What must he do? What must he do? There are only two options, yet either one can cause a consequence. His decision of rights and wrongs are failing on Ryou... and he doesn't have a clue what to do. His choice is all up to him and only him... Must it be this way? Must it be this way for Ryou? But... Bakura gives him no other option and either way, it's only going his way. What could he do? Could he take the risk or could he not? As of now, Bakura has the upper hand... and time is running out.
Chapter 18: …Revealing The True Key
"W-What happens if I agree? What would you do then?"
"Hmm? What would I do, you ask?" At that moment, I shriveled cowardly as his lips developed another smile at my question, laughing softly in amusement. "Do you really want to know?"
"Y-Yes… Yes, I… I do…" I stuttered in reply, swallowing. Just swallow your pride, Ryou. Just swallow your pride. You can get through this, you can… "I… I n-need to at l-least know if I was… was to a-agree to what you'll do in order to f-free… free my father. Please… I need to k-know so I can see my f-father alright and again."
"Heh, heh, heh, heh… Hmm, I see. Well, that sounds quite touching, but apparently I don't care so much of your dear words and I have no heart on it. However… since I've said before that I won't bother holding out on you upon anything, I suppose that requires that as well." I felt my eyes swimming in tears again as I watched Bakura placed the doll down once more in relief. Yes, at least my father is going to be okay… for now, that is.
"Besides, once I tell you, it'll perhaps give you an idea what I might require from you in order for you to have that father of yours back," Bakura coolly said, lifting himself off the sofa. "You do care so much over him, don't you, my Host?"
"Yes, I do. I… I love him very much."
"Heh, heh… Yes, and I can see it's easily seen within you that you do. Alright then… Here's what I need essentially from you. Are you ready for it?"
I shift my gaze at the figurine of my father. I had to do this… for him. I had to. I then nodded silently, biting my lip. I couldn't handle myself to say a word to him for it seriously breaks my heart… my own beating heart over everything that happened to me, everything I've put up with. It all comes down to this. I had to get over it if this is supposed to save my father. Whatever he plans in store involving me… I must face it bravely and bring out the courage inside me.
"Host," I heard him mouthed as I watched Bakura coming closer… closer to me… until we're both actually face to face with each other. What? Why is it necessary for him to do that? "If you agree on the terms to fulfill the other half of the bargain…" He then motioned himself to lift one of my locks of hair that always hides away one of my ears, changing his voice to a deadly whisper… that brought the back of my spine to shiver. "Then that would mean… you also agree… to surrender your soul to me personally. Heh, heh, heh, heh…"
"W-What?" I heard myself choke out hoarsely; nearly believing that I lost my voice as my eyes widened. "You… You can't be serious. That's… That's the other half of the bargain?!"
No… No, this can't be happening. It can't be! That's what… That's what Bakura required? That's what happens if I chose to fulfill half of the bargain? He… He wants me to… to give my soul… my soul… to him? No… No, this was what I was afraid of. This is what I hopefully not wish for him to say.
He… He can't be serious… He can't be serious that he wants my soul. I mean, what would he possibly want with it? Perhaps he wants to send me away to the shadows? Maybe… Oh, bugger… Maybe that's what he wants. He wants to be done with me, get rid of me once and for all. If… If so, then in that case…
It's no surprise that he wants to really… to really get rid of my soul actually. I bet it must be his plan from the beginning. It was his plan from the start. So, that's how Bakura would get near them, Yugi and the others. He must have known that I'm just a bridge between them and him. I'm the one that gets in his way of his main purpose. I'm the one that is preventing things from horribly happening. Me, his known to be host, is in the way of it all… for I know that once I'm out of the picture, Bakura could finally have that revenge he desired to have, the reasoning of his return…
Ugh, I should have known! I should have known about this sooner than later! Damn it! God bloody damn it! I don't believe it, I can't honestly believe it! I can't believe I just realize it just now! Oh, bugger… Why? Why did I just realize that just bloody damn now?!
I… I should have just seen that coming! I should have just foreseen that coming! Why… I shook my head, groaning for my last minute thoughts that resurface. Why didn't I notice it? Why wasn't I aware that it was obvious after all? After all this time… After this entire bloody god damn time… It was actually right there in front of me! It was right there in front of me, including all the clues about Bakura's behavior earlier.
Oh… Why? Why was I blinded and hadn't figured that out before? It was there, right there lying right in front of me this whole darn time. It was actually obvious and it now makes sense. It makes perfect sense and not to mention, a basic method that Bakura would attempt to do. No, scratch that, it was completely obvious that he would do something such as this. He had that nailed and that is actually one of his ways. It's his ways of who he truly is: the identity of a thief and the collector of souls from innocent people such as… me.
Ugh, now I just feel so foolish, twice more than before. Damn it! God bloody damn it all! I just can't believe myself… I just can't believe myself that I fallen into it. I've fallen exactly into his plan just as always. Ugh, and I admit that I'm poorly a mediocre that easily fooled upon things. I just usually forget that I'm like that. I easily fall into Bakura's plans, including his words…
Pfft… Curse me! Curse me and those darn trickeries I fall upon! Curse them all and Bakura's damn trickeries of his! Why does that always happen? Why does that always happen to me?! Why the bloody hell does it always happens to me?! Why do I fall easily over them? Why, why, why?!
Tch, great… Just terrific… Just bloody brilliant terrific… Just bloody damn brilliant terrific… like I need this… As if I need this. As if I need this at all… I, Ryou Bakura, am currently a few inches off the ground, suspended against the wall of my apartment, shackled in chains that are in an unknown substance that could cause harm on me just realized how foolish and mediocre I am to not know that half of the bargain sooner. Honestly, must this day already be this way, all rolled up and combined into one?!
"Heh, heh… Ah, why are you so shocked over it?" Bakura chuckled, backing away from me a little, lifting my chin to level my face with his. He gave a smirk, rubbing the bottom surface of my face gently. "You should have known me well that I'll personally ask this from you, Host. It should have been expected to come and I thought you would already figure it out."
"Well… Well, yeah… but… but are you really…?"
"What? What am I exactly to you, hmm?" To my slightest irritation, Bakura placed one of his hands near his ear. Ugh… Honestly, why must he do that? "Speak up, Host. I can't quite hear you and I know you can speak louder than that. Besides, you do have a voice, don't you? Heh, heh, heh, heh…"
I bit my lip. I must resist it… no matter how annoying he can truly be. "Are… Are you really going to take my soul away?"
"Heh, heh… Why, by what means do you define that?"
What? What the bloody hell…? What… What is that supposed to mean? Could there… Could there be… Oh, no… No way… There's more then? There's actually another meaning?
"W-What? You mean to tell me that there's… there's more than one meaning?"
At this statement I just spoke out, Bakura immediately burst into another round of laughter. Oh, bloody hell, now what's so funny? What could possibly be so spontaneously hilarious now? Why? Why can't I evaluate his contagious insanity of his laugh? Is it that redundant? Anything… Anything I say or ponder about… Would make Bakura to burst into fits of laughter?!
"Ugh, what's so funny now? In fact, why do you keep laughing so much? You know you're seriously making me feel like a fool." More likely, whether physically or mentally in my case, I finished in a thought bitterly, rolling my eyes.
I then heard Bakura's laugh died down a bit, his lips still curled in that wicked smile. "Ah, so you don't see. Well, that's ashamed you don't then, ashamed you don't. Well, let me elaborate to you. Heh, heh… You see, you believed that I would literally take your soul apart, correct? However, now that you apparently comprehend that… It only comes to my understanding that you're just beginning to catch on. Heh, heh… You're quite slow, quite slow, Host. That's why it's appealing when you asked. So, yes… There is indeed more than one meaning."
"So, then… What exactly do you mean then?"
Bakura raised an eyebrow interestingly, his smile changed as it widened into a senile grin. "Well, there could be many meanings… but… there are only two I preferably contemplate." As he says this, he indicated two fingers out, laughing darkly.
I blinked, sort of a little bit at a loss on his words. Bugger, he never bothers to give me a straight answer… "Um… but what does it…?"
"Heh, in other words, the one that you fearfully thought of as you should know is… Well, not what I'm intending to do to you nor exactly did I plan to."
"You're… You're not?"
"Heh, heh… No, my Host, I'm not… You're just concluding and you decided to imply it in your own thoughts, your own fate already. Heh, heh… So, no, what I'm thinking is something that perhaps you're not familiarized with."
"Not… Not familiarized with?"
This… This wasn't what I had in mind. Bakura said… He said that he's not taking my soul away. He said that he didn't plan to… I felt a bit of the atmosphere seemed to regain to its original state, my heart slightly eased its beating upon my chest. So, he won't send me away then… Well, I suppose that technically calm me down… technically, not completely… I never mention that I'm relaxed… for I know better than that it's not over. Sure, Bakura may say that he won't do me away, but…
It doesn't mean that I'm out of the mess. Not really and not yet. I can't say that I am… for I know that there's more to come. Plus, I didn't forget that I'm basically still suspended not nearly in mid-air, but actually hanging a little off the ground all the same in chains. So, I can't really say that the worst is finished. There are still a lot of questions that puzzle me and nothing seemed to be bright and clear. To top that off, Bakura only mention one part of his meaning. The other has not uncovered yet and whatever that particular meaning is now the only lifeline that seems to trouble me.
Everything now rests upon that other meaning. All on that meaning to find out the outcome of my turning point of the road. Although I haven't decided yet and I kept this up from this point at far, there's no stopping the inevitable. I honestly want to save my father, but what's holding me back is my possible unfortunate fate. The possible unfortunate upcoming fate if I agree to seal the deal, the fate that will enforce me to surrender to him. I still don't know what to do. My decisions of rights and wrongs already failed me and no one is here to tell me what I truly need to do. This all falls on me and I'm all alone…
I swallowed in a gulp. Well, it's all or nothing. I had to know about that other meaning for keeping silent won't get me anywhere. "Well, if you're not, then… What exactly is the other meaning?"
"Heh, heh… Ah, you're already acting such a daredevil… when you still didn't agree upon my terms yet." He shook his head, wagging a finger at me in a chuckle. "If you give me your answer now, I would tell you further of that meaning. So, Host… Do you agree upon the terms?"
"I…"
"Eh? Speak up, speak up, Host. Your voice seems too faint to hear for some reason and you're becoming much too meek as a coward mouse that hides in its hole all its life. Heh, heh, heh, heh…"
"I'm… I'm not a coward."
"Heh, heh… You're stuttering and you're either hesitating or not completing your sentences. How does that proved you're not a coward?"
"…"
"Heh, heh… Just as I predict. You're too much of a chicken to even save or speak out for yourself. Heh, heh… and I bet you can't even spare a neck to even save your pathetic father's soul."
There… That was it. It hit me, dead stoned. That was what caught me to stumble, knocked hard from my thoughts. That was what made the break of the ice, sledged and finally causing me to crack. It made me lost all sense of my frightened behavior. It truly strikes on me like it was a slap in the face.
I… I truly lost it. I truly lost my restraint, my control of keeping low. Bakura… Bakura pushed too far on me. I just didn't know what came over me, what made me release my temper on him. He… He just… He just did somehow. Perhaps it's the insults he nailed roughly, those whispers of taunts that I always kept getting from him. Perhaps it's the fact that the bargain Bakura laid on me has pushed the limits, crossing my lines… or… maybe… Perhaps it was the fact he insulted my dearest father.
How… How dare he? How dare he slash such brutal words about my father? How dare he say such cruelty in that sick, twisted mind of his? How dare he hiss out about my father within his lips? How dare he smudge such dirt upon my father that way? Such language… Such awful, hurtful language… It made me envied him… It made me envied Bakura for what he said about my only family member, the only person that still remains since my childhood.
That… That b… That bastard… God damn him! God bloody damn him and his evil bastard ways! If… If I wasn't in chains, I would have strike him and make him take back those cruel words of his. I would have made him pay for what he said about my father, including everything me and him had to put up with. I swear… that if I get out of here, out this damn mess… He'll regret the day that he ever said that. Bakura will regret to even dare say such fowl words that he crowed out… like it was nothing to him, not even anyone else in the world.
I narrowed my eyes, my brows furrowed to the spirit that inhabits the Ring. The spirit that made my life a living hell… The spirit that was never ranked as my friend and not to trust… The spirit that always finds many ways to get what he greedily wants… To get what he selfishly desires and hungers… He… He doesn't deserve to exist. He doesn't deserve to be pitied. In fact, he doesn't even deserve to have his plans in motion and keeping things under his rules.
I… I had enough… I had enough with him. I'm sick of his blasted attitudes. I'm sick of his damn insults upon me and anyone I dearly know. I'm sick of dealing with his actions, day and night. I'm sick of putting up with his wants and desires from me. I'm sick of dealing with suffering my life because of him. I'm especially most of all sick of playing as his pawn, his puppet, his windup toy to mess with, and his host of a vessel for him to survive.
My heart… My heart is pulsing with rage… A rage I never thought possible that I could have, possess. It's boiling inside me, piercing deeply into my flesh and blood. It's a strong feeling, a feeling deep into my soul. I… I wanted justice. I wanted payback for the things he cold heartedly did. Why? Why must he be so heartless to me… to everyone in this world?
He… Bakura… Bakura has no understanding. He has no understanding of how brilliant my father is. He would never understand the feeling of love for someone. Someone you truly care… Someone you always can depend on… Someone you can hug or embrace them, even a sweet giving to anyone… Someone to talk to if you need it… Someone who does all those things because they at least love and care dearly for you… unlike Bakura who is never known to be of such… only cold and cares nothing but himself.
I lowered my head, growling under my breath. "Tch… Take that back…"
"Hmm? What did you say? Speak up…"
"Take them back!" I repeated louder, snapping menacingly at Bakura. "Take your bloody damn words back! How dare you…" I lifted my head to look directly at those eyes, those red-brownish eyes that I've known for so long now. I was no longer afraid of the man that scares my life daily, the man that tortured my life since I was nine. I was now facing my fear, my worst fear that I never stand up to… that is until now. "How dare you speak about my father like that! You have no understanding… You have no understanding what it's like to have someone in your life that cares or loves you! You… You only just care nothing but your horrible self!"
"Heh, heh… and what's your point?" smirked Bakura, crossing his arms.
"What?! What do you mean what's my point?! Bloody hell, don't you see?! Don't you get it?! I don't see why it doesn't hurt you, why it doesn't seem to have any effect on you what so ever! Why… Why doesn't it?! Why doesn't it, huh?!"
"Heh, heh… Why? Why, you ask? Heh, heh… Well, Host, there are some things that you don't understand and things I admit that I don't understand from you. That's just the way it works I'm afraid… I don't tell things that much… and you don't tell things from me. Now… What were you saying about your father?"
"Take back those words you spoke about him earlier," I snarled, repeating it for the third time and clenching both my hands into fists. "Take back those words about my father that you chose to lash out upon him."
"Heh, heh… Why would I?" He lifted my chin again, his eyes glowing that blood stained color at me. "Would you dare do something if I chose not to? You wouldn't even have the guts."
"I can if I want to," I replied firmly with a glare. "I had enough with you and you had cause too much as it is."
"Heh, heh… fine then… If you have the nerve to face me and want to defend your father this bad, then by all means… Do you dare yourself to take the deal, fulfill half of the bargain?"
"Tch…"
"Well…" He made move to get close to me, bringing his lips nearly inches off my ears and placing a hand upon the wall for support. "What do you say, Host? Just give me your word… if you're not a coward, that is. Heh, heh, heh, heh…" He lingered to use his other hand to trace my jaw using one cold finger, moving it slowly as kept whispering darkly. "It's just one simple word from you… and then… I'll make sure I'll spare your precious beloved father you care so much of."
"I…"
"You… You what exactly..?"
"I'll… I'll do it. I'll fulfill half the bargain… just… just for my father."
"Heh, heh… Excellent, that's all I need to hear." To my disgust, he inched away from me, patting the side of my cheek. Hmph, he has no right to touch me, no right at all. He's just lucky I'm still tied down… "I knew you couldn't resist saving your father. He's just too important to you, isn't it?" When he notices that I'm remained to keep myself silent, he continued, "Well, that's fine you won't answer. I only just needed you to respond and that's suitable enough in my case. Heh, heh, heh, heh…"
As he laughed on, I noticed him catch a glance at the moon. At an angle, I just noticed it for the first time that this particular moon didn't seemed natural as I always see in the heavenly sky. This moon for some odd reason… This moon that seems to get my attention, in a daze trance… It's so different, so noticeably different. From that bright yellow glow to how half of it is stained in red… drizzled in that splash of red color… It's a moon I've never noticed before, a moon I never even seen. Why it gives such an attraction to me, I'm not very sure.
Why does it really? Why does it seem to attract me so? It doesn't seem so strange, yet it's not a particular moon I've ever seen in a lunar cycle. Does such a moon exist, but only on a rare occasion? Either that or perhaps… I switched my gaze towards Bakura, who was close by and watching silently at it, appearing to be thinking of things that again I wouldn't or might not understand. He seems quite absorbed to that moon as much as I am, but why? Why is it so absorbing for him to glance at than how I looked at it?
"The alignment is just about there," I heard him mutter to himself, casting his eyes away from the outside and turning his focus upward on the clock hanging above me. "The time seems to be going in the right moment and not even a minute has been misplaced. Everything is in order and right on the dial. Heh, heh…"
"What are you talking about? You didn't tell me the other meaning," I stated in a frown, a little confused about what's going to happen. "I agree upon your terms, so now will you tell me what's going on and what you're going to plan on me?"
"Oh, that's right… I promised to tell you the other meaning if you do so. Heh, very well… Since you indeed agree, it's just a little something that I thought would… Well, that I thought I should do for a change. You could say it's sort of a surprise for you. Heh, heh…"
Pfft… Bakura honestly never gets tired of throwing certain hints. He just really wants to build up the tension, just to scare me again. Tch… Well, I suppose there's no turning back from this. What's done is done and I know my fate is close to being sealed. None of this so far is making sense to me, but what's important is to save my father that I'm nearly within reach. I don't want to throw away all the times that I kept this far. I want to save my father, that's the main important thing. He's just too much on the line and I need to deal with this now.
"Hmph… Oh, a surprise, huh?" I said coldly with a snort. "What sort of surprise for me exactly?"
"Heh, heh… Ah, I see you're tired of my little fun on you, isn't it? Well, I suppose that is enough… since you indeed played your part dearly. But… of course, this was actually your doing that made it possible for me."
"What, my doing? What do you mean…?"
I stopped mid-sentence, a noise issued from my mouth. W-What? I felt myself yawning, my eyelids falling droopily. What's going on? I'm t-tired? But… But how am I…? I felt my body slowly shutting down, my vision starting to get blurry, too hazy to see. I'm so tired… and the last thing before I completely shut my eyes, I noticed a shadow looming in front of me with bright red eyes, whispering out in a canine like smile.
"Heh, heh… Pleasant dreams, Host. Just rest your head… Heh, heh… That's it… That's a good host… and tomorrow, you'll find out the other meaning for yourself… the first thing you wake up…"