As I Fall Chapter 63: Another Life, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter dedicated to a love from the past that has been on my mind.

The lyrics in this chapter are from Vienna Teng's "Eric's Song" and the two versions of Nek's "Cielo e Terra". (a GORGEOUS song both in music and lyrics that I highly recommend. While the lyrics with Dante Thomas duet version can get a bit choppy in translation, their voices compliment beautifully.) Fun fact for those of you who followed my other fics over the years: "Cielo e Terra" was a main theme I listened to and drew inspiration from while writing "Crimson Ties in Lullabies". I won't go into whose theme it was, in case it's a story you're interested in but have not yet read.

I write your name without mine

Today, on the day we say goodbye.
Even if it's inevitable,
I'm still asking myself now
If I'm really ready to lose you
And to do without you.
But when I look at you
I realize that you're scared, just like me.
It could have been, but it won't be.
It could have been,
And my memory flies
Across my soul
And suddenly, I'm still there…

Chapter 63: Another Life

(Rishid's POV)

"I'll be just a minute!" Yugi says, jumping out of the car.

I drum my fingers on the steering wheel absentmindedly. A van goes by and I watch it for a long moment as my brain wraps around what I'm seeing. I don't know if I'll ever grow accustomed to driving on the opposite side of the road.

"I still say leaving hikari and his sister alone is a mistake," a voice from the back seat grumbles.

I look into the rearview mirror. Malik is staring thoughtfully at the Game Shop. He still looks like crap but has been much more in control of his emotions. Most days we have seen improvements with him. There are occasional setbacks. This morning was a big test when Marik came home. They both managed better than we anticipated, for which we're all grateful.

"Never said I disagreed. It helps that Marik doesn't have an Item. That will guarantee the house will still be standing when we get back."

"You underestimate them."

It's not ideal. With Marik added to the ranks we've quickly discovered it's going to be a juggling act figuring out which people to put together when. Marik, for obvious reasons, declared he doesn't want to be separated from his yami. That wasn't made any easier that we're off to Malik's psychiatry appointment and Marik was no allowed to come since he just got out of the hospital today. Plus we want Malik to speak freely. We could skip it. It's not like there are records or the psychiatrist will remember—we have Malik go after hours when the building will be empty and void of things that can stress him—but it's important because they are monitoring his medication adjustments.

"Isis can keep a level head."

He makes an indignant noise in his throat that is anything but a vote of confidence in my siblings.

I look towards the building. The shop's lights are off. A few lights are emitting from the side of the living quarters, muted by curtains.

"What's taking him so long? Is the rod in a safe with multiple locks now?" I ask, glancing at the dashboard clock that reads 8:40PM.

We have twenty minutes before Yugi's 'instructions' to the psychiatrist permit him to retire to his home for the evening if we do not show. It's a safeguard to make sure the poor man doesn't accidentally spend the night in his office in a magic-induced haze should we be unable to attend.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," the yami replies scornfully. "Long overdue the Items were kept with more security. Especially if Yami leaves and only the old man and Yugi are left."

"It's better than keeping the rod in Marik's vicinity."

Malik doesn't disagree. Before my brother came home we had a discussion, if it can even be called that. It consisted of Malik, Isis, and I agreeing that Marik should not be allowed access to the Millennium rod. Malik has given Yugi full permission to use it so it does no real harm to the hikari; though Yugi wasn't using it with any malicious intent. He's backed off considerably in how much he's using it, much to Isis' and my relief, only wielding it for these appointments now. It's being held at his home to keep Marik from temptation.

The yami gasps, doubling over on the seat. I don't need any further signal. I undo my seatbelt and throw my door open as he begins crawling for his.

"Malik, stay in the car!"

Vibrant ancient Egyptian and Japanese curses pursue me as I push my way into the dark shop. I hurry through to the quaint living area. A lamp is on next to the couch. I skid to a halt as its occupant shouts in surprise.

"Rishid! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Mr. Mutou puffs, setting his book aside and placing a hand to his forehead to right his duck-adorned nightcap. "Is something the matter?"

I stare at him in stupefaction, wondering if Malik just played me. He hasn't faked a sensory overload yet but there's a first for everything. It isn't like he isn't eager for Isis and me to have our share of humiliations after what he's been enduring.

"Where is Yugi?" I ask breathlessly.

The elderly man's brow furrows.

"Why he just went up to get the rod."

The door bangs open and Malik staggers in. The yami is panting, clutching his abdomen with his right arm and hunched over. All right. Not a joke. Mr. Mutou quickly gets up.

"Malik?"

Feet pound on the stairs and Yugi appears. His hands are empty. Wide violet eyes are wild. Tears are pouring down his face.

"He took the puzzle!" the boy sobs. "He's gone!"

Mr. Mutou and I stare at him, aghast. I don't get to soak the words in, turning my attention to Malik as he crumples to his knees and clings to the doorframe as he's bombarded with Yugi's anguish.

"Damn it," I growl, cursing Yami. He promised me he wouldn't leave like this! "Malik, come on. You need to get out of here."

"No!" He struggles to raise his head with the way his muscles are clenching. "He needs..."

"Shut up! You can't even handle it from here!"

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Mr. Mutou is asking, having come to his inconsolable grandson. "Yami wouldn't just leave."

"He did!" the hikari cries, curling up on the bottom step. "The p-puzzle's gone!"

I grab a struggling Malik by the front of his shirt and commence in dragging him from the room. The best I can do to protect him from Yugi's despair is to physically distance them. The yami twists my wrist savagely to the point of snapping it. I have to stop, knowing he'll do it if I take another step.

"Malik," I warn him in my tone that he's being an idiot.

"Yugi," he gasps out, sweat trickling down the sides of his face. "Look at me."

Yugi's shoulders tense. Even though I can't sense it I can tell Malik's doing something with their energy. What, I couldn't guess. Mr. Mutou and I stay rooted in our spots as Yugi's teary gaze locks with Malik's.

"Did he…take…the god cards?" the yami rattles determinedly.

When the boy doesn't immediately answer in the negative I balk at him. He didn't check? A faint light appears in Yugi's eyes. Then he's dashing up the stairs on his hands and knees. Mr. Mutou gawks but stays put, peering up after his grandson. I keep ahold of Malik who hasn't let up on his grip; the two of us trapped in our deadlock. I strain my ears, waiting for a wail or other sound of grief. Malik doesn't seem so sure. Then he lets go of me, sagging in my hold. With his added weight my focus shifts. I help him sink to the floor with his back against the wall for support.

"Malik?"

"What does that mean?" Mr. Mutou asks, knowing the yami's actions are an indication of what's happening with his grandson.

The uneven batter as Yugi returns tells me he's taking several steps at a time.

"They're here!" he yells as he reappears waving the three god cards gleefully. "They're still here!"

"Fucking hell," Malik moans, chest heaving as if he's just finished running a marathon.

The hikari freezes with his hand over his head when he sees Mr. Mutou's and my faces and the current state of the yami on the floor. The euphoria evaporates as quickly as the previous despair.

"Oh god. Malik, I'm sorry—!"

"Stay where you are and relax, Yugi," I instruct since, despite his mood shift, he's still agitated. "Just slow down."

"Good heavens. What on earth made you rush to a conclusion like that?" Mr. Mutou chides his grandson while beckoning him to sit on the steps with him.

"The puzzle was gone," the teen mumbles apologetically. "He hasn't touched it since he put it back together."

"You really thought he left without saying goodbye?"

The boy squirms under Mr. Mutou's scrutiny. The old man isn't being unkind. More than anything he is saddened that this was his grandson's automatic assumption upon finding the puzzle missing.

"Just tell me Yami took it and that we aren't about to have a round with another of your possessed friends in the Shadow Realm," I mutter, easing down beside the yami as the adrenaline rush wears off.

Yugi fidgets with the cards and shakes his head.

"No. I don't think so. But…where is Yami?"

"If he's not dead I might help him along," Malik gripes under his breath so only I hear.

"He went out in the late afternoon," Mr. Mutou recollects. "Said he wasn't sure how long he'd be. Now where did he say he was going…?"

"Did he have the puzzle?" Yugi asks.

"I'm afraid I didn't notice."

"Is anything else missing?" I ask while resisting the urge to scratch at the fresh scar tissue on my face. At this point it probably was just Yami taking the puzzle but it doesn't hurt to be sure. "Any of the other Items?"

"The key. Though I think Yami was going to use it for…" Yugi's face reddens and he looks shame-faced at Malik. "I asked him to check on Otogi. To try to get in to see him."

"Yes, that's where he was going!" Mr. Mutou agrees, snapping his fingers.

Malik lightly bangs the back of his head against the wall. I can't blame him for being pissed. That could have been a lot worse than it was. Part of that was due to his unwise resolve to come inside when he knew Yugi was crashing. As obnoxious as it is when he doesn't want to call it quits, I find I like the side of him that looks out for Yugi's welfare.

"I'm really sorry. He didn't mention he was taking the puzzle. I told him to take the rod…though he knew he couldn't tonight because of Malik's appointment—oh shit! Have we missed it?"

"Yugi." We all look at the yami who is currently pressing his palms against his eyes. "I need you to sit down and shut up for five minutes."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'll…!"

"Starting now."

The hikari snaps his mouth shut. Mr. Mutou smiles sympathetically.

"Malik, are you still up for psychoanalyzing tonight?" I ask, feeling certain of the answer.

"Fuck no."

"In that case let me put the kettle on. We could all use some tea to help settle our nerves," Mr. Mutou says good-naturedly and heads for the kitchen to do just that.

"But the medications…!" Yugi worries his lip as the yami lowers his hands to shoot him a death-glare.

"We'll get him squeezed in at the end of tomorrow," I make the decision since they're both too rattled. "Malik, do you want to move to the chair?"

"Eventually."

He shuts his eyes. Shuts us out. I back off. He's trying to collect himself and balance his energy. Sitting this close to him and being attuned to the basics of the Old Magic, I can sense his aura circling him slowly. It's a practice he developed by changing up relaxation techniques he learned in his sessions. His abilities with heka allow him to take them to a whole other level that is much more effective.

Pushing to my feet, I walk over to Yugi. I put my hand to the center of his back and steer him away from the yami. The hikari keeps sending worried looks over his shoulder at Malik.

"He's coping. Just give him a moment like he asked," I say as we sit down on the couch.

"He was doing something when I thought Yami was…" Yugi pauses his whisper to peer around me at the yami to make sure whispering is allowed in the designated five minutes. "He calmed me enough so I could listen to him."

"I thought so. You know, you should get him to teach you this technique of his. It might come in handy for you and for when you're trying to help him. It's not going to be the last time either of you gets upset about something."

"I don't want to bother him more," the teen says miserably, setting the god cards on the coffee table.

"It will be beneficial to him if you know how."

My phone vibrates. Since Malik's sensory overload I've kept the ringer turned off. I reach into my pocket and pull it out. I've missed two calls in the pandemonium. Same number. I recognize it.

'This can't be good,' I internally sigh and flip it open.

"What's happened now?"

(Ryou's POV)

"Does anyone want to tell me what we are waiting for?" Otousan gripes. "I want to talk about this."

'This' being the Millennium scales my father is currently holding. He won't let any of us near it. Not until we give him an answer he believes.

We are in the living room. The food is spread out like a buffet on the countertop. No one has touched it. Not even Jounouchi. Otousan and I are sitting on folding chairs that he bought earlier this afternoon to give us more seating. There's a third chair next to my father that is empty. Bakura is between Anzu and Jounouchi on the couch. My yami hasn't spoken since Anzu handed him the phone and he had to make a big decision. He won't look at anyone.

"We will. There's someone coming who can explain it better," Anzu assures him, the only one who seems remotely confident on what is happening.

"We're not going into this nonsense again?" Otousan turns to me, clutching the largest of the Millennium Items. "Ryou, why on earth did you have this in your bed? Do you honestly believe it's magic?"

"Give it to me and I'll show you," I dare him.

He ignores that as childish, turning the Item over in his hands. The two pans swing like offbeat pendulums. He can tell it's authentic. That probably only boggles his mind all the more. I want to encourage my yami to use the ring and get this over with. But that would come with its own problems that we aren't equipped to handle.

"It has the same marking as the ring I gave you. And that artifact Yami was working on."

"It's a Millennium Item, Otousan. There are seven of them, remember?"

"And you think they're magic."

"How many people have to tell you?" I demand before I can stop myself. "You won't even believe me!"

"Ry," Jounouchi cautions me while squeezing my yami's hand. "Not really helping."

"I am concerned for your wellbeing. For all of your wellbeings," Otousan adds with a glance around the group that ends on my darker half. "I suppose I was foolish to think ignoring this would make it all go away."

"At least we agree on that," I grumble.

((Bakura, are you all right?))

My yami stares at the floor. He seems ready to be sick. He doesn't like this plan. None of us do. Jou looks at me pointedly, wanting to know if Bakura is speaking to me at all through the link. I shake my head and his face falls.

The buzzer mercifully goes off. Anzu jumps up and hurries to the intercom.

"It's open. Come up."

"About time," Jou breathes.

"I only called half an hour ago," Anzu protests, opening the door. "Given we didn't plan any of this before I'd say it was damn fast. And considerate. And it's not like they don't have enough of their own problems right now."

It makes me wonder just what that conversation was like. I know Anzu can hold her own but I admit even I would be intimidated in that situation. I don't know if I'm more grateful or terrified at the moment. That depends on how this meeting goes.

One of the pointers on the Millennium ring starts to rise, directing at the doorway where Anzu is waiting. My yami quickly slaps his hand over the Item and glances nervously at my father who notices none of this, of course.

"Okay okay," Jou yields, peering around the back of the couch nervously. "Um…They aren't all coming, are they?"

"What do you take me for?" Isis remarks dryly as she enters the apartment. "Given what a melodrama we already have playing out in both households, it would be very unwise to combine them, don't you think?"

Jou squeaks and hunkers down beside my yami.

"Hello to you too," Anzu mumbles ironically, closing the door behind the woman who is already crossing the room to join us without removing her shoes. "Please come in?"

Otousan stands up to greet her. As he offers his hand his eyes fall on the gold at her throat. His limb freezes half-extended. Isis gives one of her polite little smiles and reaches out her hand and shakes his.

"Oh I do beg your pardon," Otousan says hastily, beckoning her to the unclaimed chair. She doesn't take it. "I don't believe we've been acquainted. Charles Bakura."

"Isis Ishtar."

"Ishtar? You are related to…Malik? Or was it Marik?"

"Both, in fact. Much more distantly to Malik," she says without any hint if she's making a joke or not. "But that is for another discussion. I need to borrow Bakura for a little while."

"Come again?"

"Everything will be explained in good time."

"No."

So rarely does my father raise his voice that he has caught us all off guard. Well, everyone except Isis perhaps. She just looks mildly annoyed.

"That boy is in my care. I'm not letting him out of my sight with someone I have just met."

"This is all for your benefit, so please do pay attention. Anzu told me you have had explained multiple times about the Millennium Items and of Bakura's…actuality."

Otousan looks at her as if she's grown another head. He gazes fleetingly at each of us, a sort of desperation mounting as he realized he's completely outnumbered and alone in this.

"How far has this thing gone?" he asks.

"I think it best you sit down, Mister Charles Bakura," Isis states calmly, bypassing his question completely. "Might I call you Mister Charles for less confusion?"

"This is wrong putting these children through this. Making them believe these tales. That boy tried to commit suicide, for heaven's sake! Have you no shame? I don't know what kind of brainwashing you've worked but you need to stop. You need to leave my home this-."

The symbol on the Millennium necklace begins to glow. My father takes an awkward step away from her in surprise. Yellow flames shoot up around him. He yells, throwing his arms over his head as if to shield it. I jump out of my chair, heart thundering in my chest even though I know she won't hurt him. At least, I don't think she will. The flames transform into bindings, holding him completely still like a dramatic statue.

"I would apologize for jumping the gun so quickly but to say I am sorry would be untrue. I am wearied by personal problems in my own family. The only reason I agreed to come this evening is that I owe Bakura for his help this past week. So let me make it perfectly clear now that I will not tolerate being insulted again."

Throughout this Isis's stoic expression remains the same. The necklace stops shining. My father would topple over except I catch his arm. The whites of his eyes are visible all the way around his irises.

"Sit down please, Mister Charles."

I navigate my father to his seat. He drops on it with a thud, all the while gawking at Isis. The Millennium scales clatter onto the carpet. I stay standing, my hand on my father's shoulder to make sure he doesn't fall if he faints.

Satisfied, Isis turns her back to us.

"Now then. Let's sort this out." She somehow gracefully kneels down in front of my yami despite her long white dress. "We already went over this on the telephone but I want to make sure you understand what I require?"

"…yes."

"I know it's a lot to ask, but I don't think he will otherwise comprehend and acclimate easily. I will only see what you offer me," Isis promises. "I give my word. This might feel intrusive but it's better than me trying on my own and showing him whatever random vision of you I can locate. I did try and …Let's just say I don't think them the wisest examples to be sharing. I will also be taking Mr. Charles through the basics of the history of the Items and Pharaoh's reign. Have you chosen a memory or two?"

"Three. One for each."

"Even better. Nothing too graphic, I trust? I have shell-shocked the man enough on my own, don't you think? Shall we begin?" Isis lifts her arms so her white-clad elbows are perpendicular to the floor like egret wings. Her hands, not visible from my location, I know are centered around the Item at her throat. "Jounouchi, I will need you to cease physical contact with him unless you are planning on joining us and convoluting the spell."

Jou reluctantly lets go of my yami and slides away from them. A golden light is cast across Bakura's face. His eyes glaze over. Jounouchi grimaces and turns away.

"What in the hell…?"

My father slowly rises from his seat. I stay at his side as he crosses the space and peers at the two Egyptians locked in a golden staring contest. His hand reaches out to touch Bakura and I grab his wrist.

"Otousan, don't."

"What is this?" he whispers.

I turn to my friends helplessly.

"We didn't lie. None of us did," Anzu says as delicately as possible given the tension in the room. "Can't you see that, Mr. Bakura?"

"I don't know what I'm seeing."

He removes his glasses and rubs at his eyes.

"Then know what you felt," Anzu persists.

"I don't know what that was either. I couldn't…it was as if I was under a spell. I couldn't move."

"That's because you were under a spell," I state with some exasperation bleeding through.

"Magic," he says with a mixture of awe and disbelief, watching Isis and Bakura in their uninterrupted state of stasis and glowing eyes. "Impossible, isn't it?...Wait. This is familiar. This…"

His brows rise as he stares at them, placing his hands to his temples. We watch with increasing concern as he takes a step away. A shaking finger rises and points at my yami.

"I think all of this has overrun Mind Erase," Anzu cautions to us quietly, her and me both closing in on either side of him.

"He…He did something like that. The light. You were…" He turns to me with a frown as the fragments are pieced together and extracted from the fog. "Good god."

Anzu and I catch his arms as he falls backward. I grunt, pain shooting up my arms as my punctured muscles strain with his weight. We lower him so he's seated on the floor. His face is sheet white.

"Jou, can you get him some water?" I ask, not daring to let go.

The blonde doesn't answer from where he's watching my yami.

"I've got it," Anzu volunteers.

"How long is this supposed to take? This thing with the necklace?" Jou asks, wringing his hands, not having heard me. "She didn't tell you, Anzu?"

"No," the girl calls from the kitchen as the faucet turns on. "Plus Bakura said he had more than one for her to…to…go through? She may decide not to use them all." She comes back and holds out the glass to my father. When he doesn't take it she reaches down and grabs his hand, forcing his fingers around it. "Drink this, Mr. Bakura."

He raises the glass obediently and begins to chug the water down without a breath.

"Did he tell you what he chose?" I ask curiously. "The memories?"

"No. I have an idea of at least one," Jounouchi admits, becoming somber.

I try not to let it bother me the way Jounouchi knows more about my yami's past than I do. In some ways, I understand Bakura better thanks to our link; of all of his anguish I got to experience while he was in control of my body. I've felt and feel what he feels. But he's shared things with Jou that he hasn't confided to anyone else. It makes sense. He and I were never close.

Otousan gasps as he finishes his water, holding the cup in front of his face as if he's never seen it before.

"So you're saying," he draws out a long pause as he tries to form a coherent thought and sentence. "You're saying he's from ancient Egypt."

"Yes," Anzu and I say simultaneously.

"And Yami and that other boy they've mentioned?"

"Yes."

"Good god." He tips the glass up to take another drink and stares in confusion when he finds it empty.

"I can refill that, Mr. Bakura," Anzu offers, sending me a worried look over his head when he doesn't respond but goggles at Isis and my yami through the drained glass. "I think we broke him."

"Can all of you just shut up?"

Jou has moved closer to Bakura, worry etched into his features.

"Jounouchi…"

"He'll have picked the cage," the blonde rants softly. "He shouldn't have had to show anyone any of his past!"

"Cage?" Anzu asks.

Jou hesitates before he says: "He was an albino in Egypt. They thought he was a demon. Put him in a cage in the sun until he was red with burns."

"Good god."

Otousan lowers the cup as Jounouchi is speaking. The words seem to help him regain his composure. He awkwardly places his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"He's doin' this for you, Mr. B.," Jou says heatedly. "He's doin' this so we can get past this and you can understand just a little."

"What exactly is he doing?—are they doing?" Otousan asks.

Isis and my yami both exhale in sync. The light disperses. Bakura's shoulders slump, head bowing as his breathing increases. Isis lowers her arms.

"Yes. Those will do nicely. Thank you."

"Bak-?"

My yami jumps up and sprints for the door. Jou leaps over the back of the couch and follows.

"Baku, wait!"

Jou slams into the counter, having to veer to the right at the last moment when my yami falls to his knees and vomits into the garbage can. The blonde quickly sinks down beside him and pulls back my yami's hair as Bakura continues to empty the contents of his stomach. Anzu hurries around them to the kitchen. Water begins running.

"What's happened?" Otousan wobbles up. I rise with him. I want to go to my yami but do not trust my father to remain on his feet. "What did you do to him?"

"It can be a disquieting experience—reliving the memories themselves," Isis says with some compassion in her eyes, though her voice is devoid of it. "He chose well. A good mixture that will give a basic understanding. They will mesh with my own selection. Hopefully enough to impede any ideas that Bakura and the others are walking, talking encyclopedias or specimens."

"Jou." Anzu holds out a wet dishcloth.

"Thanks." Jou folds it in half lengthwise and places it across the back of Bakura's neck. "It's all right. It's over, Baku. Isis said you did good."

My yami coughs and spits into the trash, his fingers clamped on its rim. Jou takes the cloth from Bakura's neck and wipes it across my yami's mouth and chin as he raises his head. The blonde offers a tentative smile. Bakura doesn't say anything. He acts weary and beaten, like he could collapse and sleep for a week. I don't reach out to him, letting Jounouchi be the one to offer comfort. Anzu hovers over them worriedly.

"Now then, will Jounouchi be joining us?" Isis inquires as she stands in one fluid movement.

"He can…if he wants," my yami croaks, throat raw.

Jou squeezes Bakura's hand for good measure.

"Baku, I don't have to. I've had a few visions already with the necklace. If you don't want me to see…"

Bakura doesn't look at him but he does tighten his fingers with Jou's.

"It would make it simpler," Isis interjects, "for Mr. Charles if he has questions you will know what he is talking about. You will have witnessed the same things. This is going beyond Bakura's memories."

"…okay," Jou submits reluctantly.

"That's settled," Isis looks over her shoulder at my father and me. "If you will come closer so I don't have to work with as much a distance. Ryou, are you coming as well?"

"You're staying right here," Otousan says in a daze. "Ryou, Jounouchi, you're not going anywhere with this woman."

"You are partially correct," Isis divulges. "Now then, Ryou?"

I look at my yami. I don't know what the right choice is. I don't want to butt in on something like this if he doesn't want me to. And yet I would like to come. This is significant and I'm his hikari.

((What do you want me to do, yami?))

Isis returns her attention to Bakura, recognizing that it is his decision. He nods in assent.

"I was hoping that would be your answer," Isis gives her approval. "Anzu…"

"I'm not coming," Anzu says quickly, holding up her hands.

Isis lifts her eyebrows.

"I was going to request you accompany Bakura outside. He still looks a bit green and the fresh air might do him good."

"Oh," Anzu reddens at her mistake. "Right."

"You have your phone? Good. We shall call you when we are done."

Jounouchi helps Bakura get to his feet. It's obvious Jou doesn't want to be separated from my yami right now. This wasn't any mediocre thing. Bakura lets go of his hand and heads for the door without a word to any of us.

"It's okay, Jou," Anzu says as my yami opens the door and disappears. "I'll stay with him."

A silence follows after them. My father can't seem to decide what to do, realizing he lost control of the situation a long while ago. He probably allowed Bakura to leave because it was Anzu who was with him.

"Let us commence. Jounouchi, if you could join us."

My friend reluctantly turns and comes to the living room. He takes his previous seat on the couch. I walk over and sit down beside him.

"Otousan…"

"What is this all about?"

"Just come and sit with us."

"I want to know what is happening."

"Very well," Isis says with a gleam in her eye. "Come take a seat and I will explain."

"You've experienced visions before?" I ask Jou under my breath so my father won't overhear.

"Yeah."

"Is vomiting after common?" I ask, wondering if I should be stationing bowls and trash cans next to each person before we start.

"There is no 'common' about any of it," Isis says as Otousan takes a seat beside me. "Wonderful. Clear your minds. Everyone focus on me."

The Millennium necklace begins to glow without notice, Isis opting not to give my father a chance to object.

"What's she doing?" Otousan asks two seconds before we're blinded by a yellow flash.

We're in some kind of cave. No, that's not right. It's manmade. A tunnel or passage of some sort. The walls are light brown stone, the bricks each larger than a human torso. It's difficult to see, some sort of torch staked into the dirt. Staring down at it I realize I'm not standing but floating over two feet off the ground.

"What in the blazes?" Otousan yelps from my right, in the same predicament as me.

The space is cramped and gives a claustrophobic air. The ceiling's low enough that I could reach up and touch it…if I can touch anything here. The passage bends in a blind curve not far to my left. To my right, past my father, is a wall with a small opening up at the top that a cat could fit through.

Along the wall opposite us float Isis and Jounouchi. Jounouchi doesn't seem nearly as frazzled as I feel, looking around curiously.

"You're coping well, Jou," I say, flexing my fingers in agitation when I attempt to walk and fail, bobbing up and down midair.

"I got sucked into a vision before," Jou says. "Isis, since this is Baku's memory, can he hear us?"

"No. This is a vision I have collected. He is not connected to it in any way."

"So he's not reliving it again?"

"Correct."

"Good," Jou breathes in relief. "So where is 'here'?"

"Tombs of some sort, if I am not mistaken." Isis turns to my father effortlessly. "Do you agree with my assessment, Mister Charles?"

"We're flying," Otousan mumbles.

"Perhaps we should have given him some forewarning," the woman says offhandedly, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Though it is more entertaining this way. All right, we are here. Let's get on with this. It's only our first stop, after all."

"You're going to have to let me help, you know."

We all go still. It's obviously a kid's voice but it's familiar. Glancing at Jou I can tell I'm not the only one who thinks so.

"Holy shit," Jounouchi whispers.

Malik—a Malik that can't be more than fourteen years old—comes ambling around the bend. He's dressed in a beige tunic with a long black cloak. He walks past all of us and gives the hole near the ceiling a doubtful look. The kid lets out a frustrated exhale.

"Yeah, that's not happening."

"Oh ye of little faith," another voice snickers. I know it right away.

The second boy appears, shorter and slighter than Malik. Bakura is covered in black fabric, a hood over his head and cloth covering the lower half of his face. Even his hands are wrapped. He pulls the face covering away and throws the hood back on his shoulders. My god, he has to be twelve at the most. I knew my yami was albino in his past life but even so I've never seen anyone with eyes like that.

They're red.

Preteen Bakura tilts his chin up, joining Malik in the scrutinizing of the opening overhead.

"I think I can manage."

"The hells you are! Bakura!" Malik snaps as the one whom one day will be my yami starts to disrobe. "You are not going in there."

"I can fit!" comes the muffled dissent as he worms around to pull his head from the outer layers of fabric.

I gasp at the roughened skin of his back and arms that are poorly healed burns. It's like the surface of rock formations, crevices and uneven slopes traversing his body.

"We've gone into spaces smaller than that, Malik."

"Yeah, before puberty," the blonde scoffs, wandering along the wall with his hand out as if feeling for something invisible. "Back when you could squeeze through a drain."

Bakura frowns but gives the hole another glance over. While he definitely hasn't matured physically as much as Malik yet, that space looks very cramped for even him.

"So we're just giving up then?"

"Absolutely not." Malik hunches down and runs his fingers along what looks like imperfections in the rock. His lips break into a dastardly grin that is unnerving to see on such a young face. "I recognize the handicraft and layout. This tomb is Baufra's work. He's not the most talented but he's good at traps like the one up there. Anyone who tries to get into that space won't be able to defend themselves from whatever he's rigged in there as a surprise."

"So what do we do then?" Bakura folds his arms, unimpressed.

"So…" Tan fingers glide along an invisible seam as his brow draws in concentration.

The wall creaks. A cloud of sand spouts, filling the space. I lose them both for a few seconds. Bakura is coughing and swearing. I'm ready to choke on it too but nothing happens.

The air settles.

There's an opening in the base of the wall big enough for an adult to duck and walk through. Malik does just that while Bakura turns and spits a glob of dusty saliva.

"Fuck. You could have warned me!"

"Where's the fun in that? Catch!"

Something comes whizzing from the doorway. Quick pale hands snatch it. It's a carved green rock the size of a fist. It looks like a giant bug with hieroglyphs on it.

"A heart scarab!" Otousan's awestruck voice rattles the vision.

Malik pokes his head out, hair and face covered in a layer of sand.

"There's more where that came from," he smirks, tossing another semiprecious stone up and down as if it were just a regular rock. "We're in luck. It's a family tomb."

And of course I forgive,
You've seen how I live,
I've got darkness and fears to appease.
My voices and analogies,
Ambitions like ribbons
Worn bright on my sleeve.

Strange how we know each other…

(Anzu's POV)

The sun is low enough that it's disappeared behind the buildings but the sky isn't completely dark yet. The streetlights have come on, reflecting off the shiny surface of the black car parked illegally in front of the building. Isis' stepbrother towers beside it, his arms folded over his chest. He looks up at us expectantly as we exit the building.

"She said to give you a ride if you needed one."

The yami doesn't pay him any attention. He simply wanders away as if the man hadn't spoken, as if he didn't exist. Rishid watches with an unreadable expression as Bakura heads off down the street alone.

"Thanks. I guess we're walking," I say apologetically and pick up my pace to catch up with the yami.

He isn't trying to run away from me. Though he does act perturbed at my presence. I feel like a nuisance following him, about all of this.

"I'm sorry," I say as I come up beside him. "It was my idea to involve Isis. I didn't realize what she would want…What it would put you through. I'm sorry."

Bakura snorts but doesn't yell at me. I can't tell if that is good or bad. I still don't get him and his moods.

"I didn't mean for so much of it to fall on you," I say sincerely, wanting him to understand this wasn't a personal attack. "I thought using the necklace would make it so you wouldn't have to do anything."

"That's the fun thing about the necklace. It's shit."

"Bakura…"

"Just drop it."

I don't push my apology further. I get the message that that will irk him and I would then get a sampling of his temper. The thief's mouth twitches in disgust. Great. What have I done wrong now?

"What is it?" I ask, just wanting to get it over with.

"Vomit taste."

"Oh," I berate myself for assuming the worst every time he moves or speaks. It's not an instinct I have been able to shake. "I think there's a gas station at the end of the block. I'll get you a soda."

I catch the chary look he sends me but pretend I don't. This gives us something to do, somewhere to go while we wait. It feels good to have that at least. I nod politely as an elderly couple pass by us. Bakura's steps don't falter. I take that as a good sign even with his sluggish pace. Isis's spell took a lot out of him. I have to resist the urge to run ahead just to get away from him for a few moments of peace even though he hasn't said anything more. The resentment is radiating off him.

My mind keeps going back to its default vision of him as the evil soul-stealing spirit that threatened all of us. How did Jounouchi get past that and see him as anything else? He definitely knows things about the yami's past. A cage. Bakura's words from less than two hours ago echo in my head: "I want to be a damn person for once in my existence!"

'Focus, Anzu. You can do this. This is the person who was or is the love of two of your friends' lives. He's also important to Ryou. It's why I'm here. Why I'm trying. Make a damn effort!'

"How did you choose? The memories," I add awkwardly at his apprehensive look, recognizing he is just as uncomfortable around me as I am him. Possibly even more. "How do you pick from an entire lifetime?"

"It was a short lifetime," he points out grimly.

"But not uneventful," I surmise, based on the yamis' reactions to one another and all of their terrible coping mechanisms.

"Most of the main events would not have been reassuring for hikari's father, which was the whole point of this."

"Okay. Then why three?"

He shrugs.

"She wanted some with Pharaoh and Malik as well. Apparently she couldn't get ahold of Yami and we didn't want to risk asking Malik right now."

"But why three? Are the memories of all of you together like a bad fight?"

The yami stares at me as if I just spoke in a language he didn't understand.

"The three of us were never all in the same room at once," he says matter-of-factly, like it is something I should have already known.

That makes my mind reel. It hits me again how little any of them have shared with us. I know Yami loved Bakura. Bakura was friends with Malik. The Dark Magician was Yami's friend. Bakura killed whoever the Dark Magician was. Yami sealed away Malik and Bakura too.

But how the hell did we get here?—to this situation?—this moment?

"What if this makes it worse?" the yami mumbles to himself.

"Then you'll just do a Mind Erase on Mr. Bakura for the second time," I joke.

That earns me a blank look. At first I think I've gone and offended Bakura. That he thinks I'm making fun of him. He doesn't say anything, averting his gaze to our shoes as they are placed one in front of the other. Then I realize it was my wording.

"Third time?"

"Fourth," he admits sheepishly.

I laugh. I can't help it. The yami stops in his tracks, genuine surprise crossing his features.

"I'm sorry," I snicker. God, it feels good to laugh. "I mean, with what you had to work with it was bound to happen. Plus, I mean, he kind of deserves it. Don't tell Jou I said that. Ryou's probably tickled about it."

"Katsuya and hikari don't know."

"You didn't Mind Erase them too?" I ask, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice; wondering if I've been included and just don't remember.

"No. No one but him," he clarifies, having sensed my unease, seeming mildly disappointed about this. "After last time, hikari would attempt to murder me if he recovered from another Mind Erase."

"And that's not an understatement," I agree as we resume walking, on Ryou's side one hundred percent.

The gas station is in view now, lighting up the corner with bright signs. Music is blaring from one of the cars that is filling up. The yami winces at the prospect of going in there.

"You look shaky," I say, which isn't a lie. "Wait here. I'll be just a minute."

The thief sinks down on the bench for the bus line with an air of relief. I hurry across the parking lot, glancing over my shoulder twice to make sure he hasn't up and left. At least the buses are done running for the night so I don't have to worry about him disappearing that way. I am as quick as possible, grabbing a can of lemon soda from the refrigerated beverage section. On my way to the register I try to peek out of the front window as I pass by but can't see. It's covered the posters for various products plastered on the grimy glass. Though I doubt he'd try to run away, I am afraid after assuring Jou I would watch over the yami. After paying I all but sprint out the door. The guy with the loud music whistles and I send him the mother of all glares. My heartbeat slows down with my pace when I spot the white hair beneath the street lamp.

"Sorry, I didn't ask you what flavor you'd like," I say out of breath plopping down beside him and handing the can to him. "I hope this is okay."

He pops the top and takes a tentative sip, features screwing up in displeasure. Sharp eyes catch whatever disappointment or annoyance I don't hide in time.

"What? You expecting my gratitude for this?" he asks before taking another sip, the artificial flavor winning out over the lingering tang of bile. "You said so yourself: This was your idea."

"But I…"

"Therefore, the only reason I am trying to rinse the taste of puke out of my mouth is because of you. So thank you so much."

Of all the nerve!

"You are insufferable!"

"So are you."

We stew side by side. The bastard with the music leaves. Other cars come and go. Several passersby cross behind the bus stop, ignoring us. We're two invisible people out here. I pull out my phone from my purse, hoping I just missed hearing it ring.

"Don't bother. They're not going to be that quick."

I glare at the yami but keep my phone out. There's no way I'm missing this call. Don't want to be alone with him any more than necessary.

"You and Isis didn't take that long."

"I didn't have to walk her through it. It was more like she absorbed everything. Besides, she has other things she wants to show him. And they'll probably want to talk after."

I almost object that they'll want him there for that conversation but perhaps not the initial one. The one where they have to talk down Mr. Bakura from denial or hysterics and get him to accept everything they've told and shown him. Bakura doesn't need to hear what may come out of the man's mouth during that process. Jou and Ryou will want to protect him from that. Hell, even I don't want the yami to experience that.

If we can just get through this…It feels like we're actually collectively accomplishing things with Malik and Bakura. I mean, sure, the thief doesn't try to conceal that he would rather not be in this living situation where he has to stay with Ryou's father. Malik is in the same boat with the Ishtars. But neither of them have tried to leave or start anything. The fact that Bakura has been attempting to expunge his slip-ups rather than using intimidation tactics on Ryou's father speaks volumes.

I study the thief in my peripheral vision as I go over everything in my head. There is so much I don't understand. Things that no one will tell me. It's important. I know it is. I just don't know why.

Jou isn't willing to ask Bakura.

I am.

"Do you know why the Dark Magician is still here?"

A shadow passes over the yami's face at the mention of Yami's late priest. It's like Jou told me happens whenever the akh is mentioned.

"No." Bakura's tone dives into a deep growl. "But I wish him a speedy, gruesome departure."

"Well there's something else we can agree on," I mumble, rubbing my thumb over my phone. "He's messing with Yami. I know he is."

"Maybe he is," he says; more of an observation than agreeing with me.

"So you do know something."

"And if I do?"

"Tell me!"

"Why? You've done plenty of meddling already."

"He's my friend!"

"What will you do to me?" Reddish eyes slide to my fingertips where my skin is prickling. "Give me a static shock?"

He's right. I don't have anything to threaten him with; nothing that I want to use anyway. Everything that comes to mind would end up hurting my friends as well. Lucky bastard.

There is a different tactic I could try that I have never dared. I'm not sure anybody has.

"Don't you even care a little about what he's doing to Yami?"

"Should I?"

"Bastard!"

I get to my feet, considering just storming off. I start to. It's a good exit. Not too dramatic but clearly sending a message of how pissed I am at him. About five steps into it I see the futility of it: I promised Jou. He hasn't asked anything of me except for my forgiveness for the Shadow Realm. Damn it. My leaving ends with me just standing with my back to Bakura like an idiot, my hands curled into fists quivering at my sides.

"Keep walking, bitch. Give us both some peace."

I find myself calming when there's more weariness than bite to his tone. The name-calling usually gets a rise out of me, especially when it's Otogi doing it. This is different because Bakura really does just want me to go away.

If only I could get a clear read on him! I'm torn with being impressed by the thief for his protectiveness of Ryou and Jounouchi back in the Shadow Realm and repulsed by his deplorable indifference to Yami's secret plight. How could he act that way towards someone he cared about?

"I can't believe I was jealous of you."

I clamp my mouth shut but it's too late. The silence that follows is drawn out for long enough that I begin to hope he didn't hear me.

"Jealous," he doesn't ask but repeats as if this is a new word to his vocabulary.

"Yami." I don't dare turn around as my eyes sting, not wanting Bakura to see how much this still hurts. "You had Yami. He loved you."

It's enough to shock him into speechlessness…for three seconds.

"And that didn't clue you in that he's gay?" he asks skeptically.

I round on him to find a lot of the aggression gone from him. It's a mistake on my part. The yami sees my expression. No matter how hard I try to hide it he sees it in my eyes.

"I didn't know that until recently!"

His lips lift into a wicked smile.

"We are both talking about leatherclad, too many chains, tight-pants-wearing Yami?"

"You think anyone would mistake you for straight?" I shoot back, vying to regain some ground and dignity.

"I wasn't trying to give the impression," he retorts evenly, amusement growing. "Good gods, you have been after him this whole time, haven't you?"

"Shut up!" I snap, coming back and slumping down beside him with my hands on my knees, my hands covering my burning face. "I feel stupid enough without you rubbing it in."

"You should," he chuckles. "What exactly were you expecting me to say? Give you tips on how to get him to notice your pathetic attempts at seduction?"

"I wasn't trying to…!"

"Whatever. You can chase him to your heart's content. Won't do you any good, but then you get your head so entrapped in friendship land you would never have seen it on your own."

"Just because you hate me doesn't make it okay for you to let him suffer!" I steer him back to my point.

The yami regards me with incredulity.

"What makes you think you would make any difference?"

"I don't know if I would or not. But I'll be damned if I don't try. I care about him! I care for Jounouchi. And I screwed up with Jou. I wasn't there when he needed me. Well, I can tell something is wrong with Yami even though you guys won't say what." I get into the yami's face, not really sure what I'm going to do but too pissed to be afraid. "Go ahead. Erase my memory of this conversation. We'll just keep doing this over and over again because I'm going to keep coming back to you and Yugi and whoever else I think knows something because I am not going fail another friend!"

It doesn't cause the response I was hoping. Not that I believed he would be that easy to intimidate.

"You did screw up with Katsuya. Badly. So do him and everyone else a favor and quit trying to 'fix' everything."

"You're getting on my case about Shizuka again?" I ask in exasperation. I should have known he wouldn't drop this. "Bakura, what do I have to say to make you understand why it's so important? She's his sister!"

"That girl—she's blood. That's it," Bakura mutters darkly, staring at his empty hand that he burned her note in. "She doesn't know crap about Katsuya. I know—she followed me around long enough yapping in my ear. From all of your nauseating preaching on friends and family, I have gathered a few things: Family is supposed to care through the good and be there when the shit hits the fan. And after, for the clean up. None of that's her. It might never be her. She wants to be his sister when it's convenient to her. Not when she has to take the backseat to someone else in his life. Not when things get hard."

"If it was me…!"

"She's nothing like you!"

(Bakura's POV)

I don't realize what I've shouted until it's done. What the implications are. It's a pat on the back for Mazaki. A pass for her transgressions. I have to give her credit where it's due: Of all Katsuya's friends she's made the most effort with him. She's kept Hiroto at bay. She hasn't snubbed Katsuya or guilt tripped him for the Realm. The number of calls and visits she makes have accumulated to an obnoxious extent. It's almost as if she lives with us.

I get that I have to put up with Katsuya's friends to some degree. At the very least, I can't chase them away, as tempting as it can be. This is all new and I don't know how to handle it. Don't want to be close to them. But they come into our space and I don't know what to do.

"Thanks, I guess?...Jounouchi would never blame any of us for not noticing the abuse," the girl speaks softly, brown hair falling forward as her head bows. "But I want so badly for him to. I've wanted him to forgive me that."

"You're still here," I point out, my best attempt at acknowledging her efforts. "She isn't."

"Are you telling me to give up on Shizuka? That's not what Jou would want."

"I'm telling you to give the little bitch time to grow up. Let her moan and pout. She'll come back when she's ready. And Katsuya will welcome her with open arms because that's who he is. He'll do that regardless of whether she deserves it or not. You drag her back right now and nothing will have changed."

I can't see if my words are getting through because she's still hunched over. I need them to so she doesn't start a whole new disaster with Katsuya's sister. The girl needs to get over herself. There are things I should never have told her and things, according to this girl, she apparently should never have said to me. It's not like I have much experience with this sort of thing. I knew all of four people in ancient Egypt.

"You're not…just trying to keep her away because she doesn't like you?" she asks, raising her face to look at me.

"None of you like me," I remind her that reasoning doesn't hold any bearing here.

To her credit, she doesn't pretend to act shocked and try to find some pretty way of denying it. It's not as if she would be fooling either of us.

"You don't exactly make it easy." She sighs, flipping open her phone to check the time and battery level. "I know you're in this for Jounouchi. The fact that you're not trying to alienate him from us…that you're doing all of this even though you hate it…"

She trails off. Maybe she didn't know where it was going. Or perhaps it was going to get more sentimental than either of us can stomach.

"Those things you mentioned about family…I…don't remember saying anything like that."

"Maybe you didn't," I shrug, pretending none of it is significant. "Maybe you just remind me of someone in the most obnoxious ways."

"Thanks for that," she says dryly, starting to catch on to this purposefully insensitive banter better. "Who?"

That makes my lips quirk upwards in a sly way as it's my turn to enjoy my own private joke.

"You wouldn't like the answer to that."

"I don't like most of the things that come out of your mouth."

"Fine," I yield, bracing for her reaction. "Malik."

"Malik?!"

"See?"

"No I don't! What could I possibly have in common with Malik?"

"For starters, your insufferable level of commitment to those you care about even when it's none of your damn business." I tilt my head to the side and really ponder this more. "Not to mention your eager willingness to resort to violence to protect said people."

For once I've left her dumbstruck. It isn't a lie. I knew that, friendship speeches aside, there was something familiar about her unbearable intensities of devotion. As funny and true as it all is, I'm never going to be mentioning this observation of mine to Malik…Or perhaps I'll save it as ammo for a day when he's being particularly obnoxious.

Her jaw slackens.

"Son of a bitch! You switched subjects on me!"

"You brought up Katsuya," I point out smoothly while not denying anything.

"Jounouchi is safe. Yami isn't."

"You don't know that."

"And you do?" she pries, hoping I'll slip up.

"Yes, I do," I reply, leaning back. "It's something Pharaoh needs to resolve himself. You can't do it for him. Besides, the amount of friendship speeches you prattle, you've given him everything you have to offer."

He is safe. If he chooses to remain here, he'll have all of his friends to suffocate him. If he decides to depart with Mahaado, he'll be with all his chums from ancient Egypt and be glorified and adored. Per usual, his choices have such cushy outcomes.

"So there's something he needs to do?" the girl pries, latching onto my phrasing rather than my point. "To choose?"

"You really are a relentless maggot," I groan, closing my eyes as if that will make her disappear.

"Is that something else I have in common with Malik?" she jabs sarcastically.

The smile forms against my will. I love how much this is irking her.

"Yes. If Malik hadn't interfered he wouldn't have been torn apart and tortured for thousands of years. Sometimes it's best not to meddle."

"But he's here now," she tries to point out the positives of a horrible history.

"There was a price. There always is."

"Then let me decide if I'm willing to pay it!"

I crack open an eye and regard her coolly.

"And where'd you get the idea that it'd be you that would have to recompense?"

She sputters, flabbergasted. I suppose with the amount of magic she and her friends have been exposed to it might seem a walk in the park to jump in and fix things that aren't their responsibilities. But, as I said, there are always consequences. And there is no reason to be throwing a bunch of people at Pharaoh to try to encourage, or in her case, discourage him from his decision.

I want no part in it. Malik and I never spoke of it during the week we were together. He was ill or asleep for a good portion of that time; the latter being a mercy. When he was feeling more himself and didn't dry-heave every time he opened his mouth, we did talk. But not about this. We didn't need to. It's something I don't envy Yami. I had everything to lose and nothing to gain by leaving—at least, nothing I wanted. He has people on both sides of this. And we all know that as long as the Items exist there may be a lull in attacks from time to time but sooner or later someone else is going to cause trouble. Friends and family will be threatened. Life won't be peaceful and simple. This girl sitting beside me has had her soul stolen multiple times, been controlled by the Millennium rod, had Marik in her head, of all things….yet here she is.

Rather stupid of her, really. Like Malik.

An annoying upbeat dance jingle interrupts her confused thoughts. She regards the phone in her hand for a long moment. The girl hasn't gotten the answer from me she wanted yet. I for one am over this conversation and just want to go home.

I tap into the ring and 'answer' the phone.

"Yeah?"

"How did you…!"

"We're ready for you," Isis's monotone reveals nothing. "Are you far? I can send Rishid to pick you up."

"No. We…We're just down the block. See you in a few," the girl says while staring at my chest with wide blue eyes. She shuts the phone. "I forgot you could do that."

"You weren't answering."

"I wasn't…We should get going."

She doesn't move.

"Bakura…I was wondering…I know it's probably stupid but…" She fiddles with the phone, letting it tumbles back and forth between her fingers. "Isis and Rishid said I can do heka. I helped Ryou with the shield in the Shadow Realm after…"

"I heard," I interrupt so she'll get to her point.

She nods.

"So I was wondering if you…or m-maybe Malik could teach me a bit? Yami mentioned before that you…all of you could do heka."

I curb the instant 'no' that starts to form on my lips. I'd tell her to go fuck herself. Ask someone else. Who? Rishid, like this girl, apparently can make up spells but doesn't understand the principles of what he can do. Katsuya too.

"Isis and Yami have both talked about how there will always be people coming after the Millennium Items and…well, other things happen too. Jou's dad, for example. It would be nice to be able to actually do something other than be on the sidelines. To help. Even something like being able to create a shield on my own.

I look the unremarkable girl up and down.

"Yami refused?"

She straightens her shoulders and holds up her chin.

"I haven't asked Yami."

That is surprising. I thought she would have asked a long time ago what it was she could do. Surely he would have figured it out? Though perhaps I'm giving him too much credit. Especially when he had no memories. He didn't even remember there were Items aside from the puzzle. Come to think of it: was he ever taught to use heka?

"I'll call Yugi tomorrow," she offers with a sideways glance. "Tell him not to ask Otogi about Shizuka."

"Isn't this borderline blackmailing?" I scoff.

"It's a fair trade," she says, holding out her hand. "We both get what we want."

"Fine," I relent. There are worse things. It's not as if heka is as potent as it used to be. And given how protective she is of their group it wouldn't be a bad thing. Heka doesn't influence negatively like the Items do.

"Fine!"

She eagerly grabs ahold of my hand and tugs me to my feet. My vision swims and she tightens her grip on me as I sink back down.

"Are you all right?"

"Just remnants from the spell," I grumble queasily.

"Should I have Rishid pick us up?"

I want to say no. I want to run down the street and leave this little bitch in the dust. I want everyone except Katsuya to be gone when I get back to the apartment.

I exhale in frustration and nod. The girl opens her phone and begins to dial. As I watch her do this simple task I notice how much more at ease she is even though she didn't get the information about Yami that she wanted. The devious little bitch did get something else though.

"You were going to call off your plan for Katsuya's sister either way, weren't you?"

She offers me a victorious, sunny smile as the other end of the line begins to ring. I slouch back into a glower and let her congratulate herself. It's better for my reputation that I don't let on I was probably going to agree to teach her even without that added bonus.

Sad is the soul that walks alone.

Cold is the wind, hard is the road.

I'm responsible, you know,

for having left you alone.

(Mahaado's POV)

"Pharaoh."

A blue glow forms around me for Pharaoh's benefit. I can see the distress eased in the black-haired boy as he gets some much-needed sleep. My gaze rakes across the Millennium key over which their fingers are entwined. At some point while I was gone this human Pharaoh calls Otogi shifted, his head now lulling against Pharaoh's right shoulder as he slumbers. My instinct screams to remove him from Pharaoh's person; except Pharaoh does not seem to mind.

"You have it?"

"Yes."

I float at the foot of the bed, the Millennium puzzle in my bronzed hands.

I have had a growing expectation of what he is going to command, why he wanted me to bring the puzzle here. The likelihood sank like a stone when he made no mention of the entrapped essences of the three god ka. Now I stand before him as a prisoner does a judge. I comprehend I have nothing more with which to sway him.

Pharaoh hesitates before carefully loosening his fingers and pulling them from the other boy's grasp. He holds out his freed hand to accept the Item.

"You were doing something earlier when you were invisible…while he was still awake, weren't you? With his leg? He kept twitching like he felt something," he says, trying not to sound accusing or too curious. "What was it?"

"I began healing the damage much like I did with your injuries," I answer while sidestepping in one instant so I am next to Pharaoh. "I sped up the process as much as is physically safe."

"Why?"

"So it will be done sooner." A long silence falls when I see the stiffness in his body. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes, of course," he mumbles, his hand dipping a bit at the puzzle's weight as he accepts it. "Thank you, Mahaado."

He lifts it but then angles his arm back the other way. Between having only one functioning hand and having the other boy leaning against him, Pharaoh cannot manage to do what he wishes. I watch him struggle for several seconds before my resolve yields.

"May I help you in…whatever it is you're trying to do?"

Pharaoh looks up at me, startled. A sort of panic overcomes him as he realizes what he has and has not done. The indications of what he requested and what he did not. I read him: It hadn't even crossed his mind to ask for the god ka. This idea of his completely overwhelmed any thought of departing for the Afterlife with me.

"I…yes. I was going to have him borrow it…to help in his healing. I haven't been using or wearing it, so…."

"True. You haven't been."

I take the Item back and make my touch lighter than any living thing so as not to wake the boy. I can feel the low heartbeat of a human that is in a serene stasis. A temptation to snuff out this mortal obstacle arises as my fingertips graze his delicate throat. It would be painless and quick. Simple. This is nothing more than an imagining that would amount to complete distrust of me on Pharaoh's part. An action that would fail to serve any purpose. I ease the chain over Otogi's head so it is slightly crooked to ensure the puzzle will rest against his arm instead of his injured chest. Slowly I pull away my palm supporting his head, my fingers slipping along his jawline so that he gently falls against Pharaoh once more. Whilst I am doing all of this I note that Pharaoh has returned his hand to the key and the other boy's.

"I know you're eager to go, Mahaado."

There's a "but", but he cannot seem to finish it. Perhaps he doesn't know how. I know. I know how it ends. I knew the risk and the possibility of this outcome. Ever since we were at the healers' building my misgivings have grown. Before he disembarked with Yugi, Shaddi informed me about the boy he was charged with protecting by "the High Priestess", as he referred to Isis, having long-forgotten her name. I queried what could possibly be relevant when it was obvious the boy possesses no magical abilities or anything else remotely valuable to Pharaoh. Shaddi told me what little he could recall. It excited him because it was one of the few memories still tangible to him:

"Through all of it, losing most of myself, and I never forgot her words nor his eyes. Even after I had surrendered my being to the Realm, even when I was possessed by it, I saved him. It has to mean something, Mahaado. There must be a reason for it all."

Then other humans whisked the boy away. I thought that was the end of it. Shaddi was a shell of himself, his soul burned nearly beyond recognition even for my eyes. He was mistaken. He had to be. For the sake of my mission it was essential that he was wrong.

"It's late, Pharaoh. You should rest."

"I'll sleep when I get home. He had a nightmare while you were gone." Pharaoh holds up his good arm to reveal enflamed stripes of nail marks. "I want to keep an eye on him."

"Sleep. I will wake you if need be."

"I appreciate that, Mahaado," he respectfully refuses like he did before, "but I want to do this."

"Let me at least help you put the key on. Do not argue. You seem to forget you are still healing. You will do harm with the amount of exertion and stress you are putting upon yourself."

"I…thank you."

I carefully pry the Item from the black-haired boy's fingers and hold up the key by its cord. Pharaoh leans forward slightly. I slide the Item reverently over his head and onto his chest. It emits a slight glow, working already on his depleted energy and the scratches on his arm. Pharaoh and I pay little mind to these things, our attention wandering back to the slumbering party.

"He doesn't show you much respect."

"I'm not a pharaoh in these times, Mahaado," he reminds me. "But he does…in his own ways. Otogi pushes me. He's helped me." He studies the other before adding with a touch of wryness: "But he is much more tolerable asleep."

"You said your other friends don't care for him."

"They don't. He's rather like Bakura in that regard. Always butting heads with everyone."

He doesn't realize what he's done comparing this boy to the thief.

After he'd convinced Otogi to hold the key they sat in the dark for close to an hour chatting. There is something these two have between them that is lacking in Pharaoh's interactions with his other friends. It's different with the emerald-eyed boy. Their banter. Their teasing. The ease with which they can speak their minds. They argued. They joked. I don't have to understand their words to observe the stark contrast. I haven't seen Pharaoh like this since I surfaced in these new days. He's guarded and more reserved around everyone else, including the one he calls his other half. It reminds me of the way he distanced himself from most people in Egypt. He had to.

He barely tries with this Otogi. The black-haired teen won't accept it. His snark and attitude propel Pharaoh to counter in turn, and I've watched Pharaoh's barriers tumble down as their exchanges go on. It turns him into the Atem that I remember with clarity and fondness. It creates a spark of life in him that was almost extinguished beneath holy regulations and dangers in the past.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you by bringing him up."

"You didn't," I assure him.

"I know you would have preferred Bakura and Malik to come with. It bothers you. But I don't believe they are a threat anymore. Okay, at least not to the people I care about. My friends can keep them in line."

"You don't have to defend your choices to me, Pharaoh."

"That wasn't my choice to make. It was theirs."

"But it was. You allowed them that decision."

"I guess." He directs an apologetic wince at me, as if it was me who is in charge. "Not a good ruling for a pharaoh, right?"

I used to think I knew.

"Perhaps that is irrelevant now," I say carefully, watching the way he shifts so he can view the face of Otogi as the teen groans restlessly. "We should cease talking or we'll wake him. Seeing his reaction to the key itself, I assume he would be more than fearful at my presence."

"I'd be able to calm him. Eventually. But his screaming might draw attention before I can manage that," Pharaoh adds with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry, Mahaado. I told you this was the final thing and…We'll talk about all of it when I get home."

"You will get some much needed sleep when you return to your abode," I reprimand him sternly even as something breaks inside of me. "We will talk later when there is more time. We will sit and speak as we used to."

Relief floods his features that I am not pressing him right now. The tension washes from him as he realizes he doesn't have to try to sort things out tonight. He hasn't been able to hide from me how weary he grows of our conversations. I didn't let it bother me. It didn't matter as long as I made sure he got to where he belonged.

"We will speak later then. Good night, Mahaado. I will see you at home."

I bow and back away while casting my gaze elsewhere and finding what I need. Not what I want. Not ideal. But I can make it work. Then I look upon Pharaoh with fondness that has not dimmed in over three thousand years; the person whom I sacrificed everything for. The young man who so desperately does not want to let me down.

"You smile more with him," I say quietly and Pharaoh looks up at me in surprise. "I am glad of that—to see you smile."

I step into the abyss and vanish from his sight. I do not hesitate this time. In just a few paces I've shot across the city. Next I am staring down into the surprised violet eyes of the one he calls hikari.

I've seen how you live—
Like a phoenix you rise from the ashes.
You pick up the pieces,
And the ghosts in the attic
They never quite leave...

(Yugi's POV)

"Isn't there anything besides tea?" Marik complains.

"There's milk in the refrigerator," Grandpa says offhandedly, having already learned from Malik's example how to answer while mostly tuning Marik out. I need to learn how to do that.

Grandpa and Malik are edging their way through a chess game much to Marik's annoyance. It's too quiet a pastime for his tastes. I wish he hadn't come but feel guilty for thinking it. It's his first day out of the hospital in over two weeks. And none of the situation is his fault.

We don't really know what's going on. Isis called Rishid and within five minutes she and Marik showed up in a cab, the hikari griping about the vehicle's grubbiness and pissing the driver off. Marik didn't complain about being dragged over here because he gets to be with his yami. Isis waved off our questions, saying it was nothing dire and that she would handle it. She and Rishid quickly took their car and headed for the Bakuras' apartment.

"Nah," Marik wanders around the room like a cat without anything to hunt. "How about coffee?"

"Only decaf at this hour, hikari."

"What! Why?" he whines plaintively while coming up behind his yami and draping his arms over Malik's shoulders.

I'm impressed when Malik flinches and Marik reflexively loosens his hold. It proves we were all wrong about the blonde hikari. For all his egocentricity he is an expert at reading Malik. Just now he didn't even have to think about it. It was so instinctive. This is only their first day together and he's already figuring out the boundaries even without a link.

"Yugi, could you put more water in the kettle?" Grandpa asks while looking over his options for plays.

"Sure."

I take the tray and retreat into the kitchen. I look at the Little Kuriboh clock above the sink as I refill the electric kettle. Not super-late. I am surprised Yami hasn't come back yet. I have to remind myself that he can't open the portal without the god cards that are in their protective case in my jacket pocket.

Cold air hits my neck and I look over my shoulder. Marik's peering into the fridge with a look of growing displeasure. When he leans down I can see the bandages on his chest beneath the oversized black tee he's wearing that might be one of Malik's shirts. It's odd to see him in anything that isn't skin-tight and showing off his midriff.

"Should you be moving around so much your first day?" I ask, turning the sink off, placing the kettle on its base and flipping the switch.

"Probably not," he shrugs indifferently, shutting the refrigerator when nothing fruitful appears. "I haven't been that immobile since…Huh. Can't think of a time it lasted that long."

I become very aware of the carvings on my shoulder and wonder how long it took for his back to heal. Best not to go there.

"So you didn't happen to hear what Isis and Rishid are up to?" I ask instead.

He shakes his head and begins opening cupboards. I'm not sure if he's hungry or just bored. I'm beginning to think it's the latter.

"Something to do with the necklace."

"So she saw something they needed to see?" I ask with a sinking feeling.

"Nope. Other way around. They wanted her to show them something."

Well that's not what I was expecting.

"Did she say what?"

"No. And I didn't ask. It all sounded pretty straightforward and boring."

"They sure left fast for something boring."

He smiles at me with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, well, she always jumps at the chance to show off her skill with the necklace. It makes her feel important. So where are all the Items?"

I nearly answer before catching myself. Careful.

"Most of them aren't here right now. A lot of people are still healing…"

"Oh cut the crap. I know the rod's here. That's why you guys swung by, isn't it? To pick it up for my yami's appointment?"

I glance toward the living room wondering if they're too immersed in their game or if either is hearing any of this conversation.

"Marik…"

"I know, I know, they're all forbiddy about me and the rod. I'm not stupid." He leans with his back to the cupboards he's left ajar, elbows resting on the countertops. "So you got to use it solo without any lessons. How'd that go?"

"Erm…A bit rocky. I walked a guy into a wall," I can't help but smile in embarrassment as he snickers. "I actually did more with what Malik's called 'instructing' rather than outright mind control."

"Mind control would've made it a lot simpler for you."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't figure out how to make the bright glowing eye on the foreheads go away. And since we were in such a public place with a large staff there were always new people. I couldn't catch everyone who came through and condition them to not pay any attention to the third glowing eye all of the doctors and nurses were sporting."

"I guess not," he concedes lazily. "I could teach you how to do that. Make the Millennium Symbol disappear, I mean."

I send another nervous look towards the living room. The rumbling bubbling of the kettle intensifies and the lever snaps up. I quickly walk over and remove it from its base. Glad for the excuse to interrupt the conversation, I carry the water to the low table where the tea set is laid out on a platter.

"Your move," Grandpa says, getting up in order to make a new batch of tea his way.

I glance anxiously back toward the kitchen and find Marik leaning against the doorway with a cocky smirk on his face. Not sure where I should go or what I should do now that I've delivered the water, I stand stupidly beside my grandfather.

Malik takes note of my nerves and without looking up from the board, comments blandly: "Your scheming is subtle as always, hikari."

Marik tenses.

"I didn't…"

"I'm not dumb. Or deaf," Malik adds and Marik's features contort into a pouting scowl. "And I would have felt it when you took control of him."

Grandpa pauses and gives the blonde teen a wary look. He would react more but Malik's calmness over the whole situation is telling. The fact he hasn't even looked at Marik yet states clearly: I'm handling this.

"It's not like I was gonna run off with it," Marik mutters while casting a disgusted glare in my direction. "He doesn't even know how to use it properly."

"And you were going to teach him."

There's a barely perceptible, dangerous undercurrent in that sentence. Marik pauses, taking a second read of things. He's realizes he's made an error: He and the thief are no longer the only two people under Malik's protection.

"Don't get all smug, little Pharaoh," Malik continues when he senses my amusement at the other hikari's misstep. "You were getting excited at Marik's offer."

"I'm getting sick of these heightened senses of yours already," Marik grumbles.

"Join the club, hikari."

I squirm when that gaze is directed at us. It's ancient and more than a little intimidating. Malik is mulling over something as he shifts back and forth between us, deciding how he wants to handle the situation. I don't get how this happened. I've been the one calling the shots for the most part up until now. Then again, that's because Malik has let me. He didn't see a reason to fight or interfere. It wasn't worth his energy. This is.

"Your siblings and I don't want you to have the rod anymore, hikari. You know this."

"Yeah, but I think I should at least…"

The sharp look he receives makes Marik's mouth snap shut. Malik holds him there for a long moment to make sure he won't interrupt again before turning to me.

"It'd be beneficial for you to learn how all of the Items in your possession work, little Pharaoh. The rod in particular can come in handy in certain scenarios."

Malik places the pad of his index finger atop a pawn, averting his eyes but not his attention from us. Marik and I don't move. How the heck is he doing this?

"I, meanwhile, don't want anything to do with that Item. So, how about Marik teach Yugi the principles of the Millennium rod—?"

Marik's breath hitches in excitement.

"—provided, of course, he forfeits his claim to it and surrenders it to Yugi beforehand."

"The fuck I will!" Marik exclaims. "Malik, that's our Item!"

I hang back waiting for Malik to explode at his lighter half. Grandpa's hands are shaking a little as he pours himself and the yami new cups of tea. Malik isn't getting upset at Marik like I thought he would. I don't feel any anger coming through our link. Just sadness. Remorse.

"We don't need it anymore."

"The hell we don't!"

It's dawning on Marik that they have reached a bridge and that his yami has already crossed. It's a place Malik has been before. Marik hasn't. All he's known is using the rod to subsist. But Marik doesn't want to give the Item up. More than stubborn willfulness, there's something much more prevalent. Fear.

"Yugi, go get the rod," Malik says while never looking away from his hikari.

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes."

I nervously head for the stairs. I want to tell Malik to forget about it. That we can do this some other time. It doesn't have to be now. I didn't mean for Marik to get in trouble.

"Solomon, could you give us a moment?" I hear the yami ask as my feet reach the bottom step.

"Certainly! I'll get that coffee going. Decaf, of course."

I hang back as I go around the corner of the stairwell, ears straining.

"Hikari, come here."

Soft footfall as Marik obeys his yami. There's a long pause that makes me want to scream from the tension. Then I realize it's my tension, not Malik's. Malik knows what he's doing. He wouldn't hurt Marik. It hits me why he asked us to leave: They don't have a mind link. They can't feel one another. Talking aloud is the only way they can communicate now. I think that, more than wanting this business with the rod done, this is why he's sending me to get it. Trusting that he knows what he's doing, I quit trying to eavesdrop. I climb the stairs to retrieve the Item from Yami's room.

(Malik's POV)

I wait until I sense the hikari's resolve give and he continues up the stairs like I asked. I'm not sure what his grandfather is doing. It sounds as if he's closing all of the cupboards.

"There are no Shadows anymore, hikari."

"So that means we have to be powerless?" Marik snaps. "Maybe I don't want to be! Did that cross any of your minds when you made this decision for me?"

"I want better for you."

"And that means being helpless?"

Such a familiar conversation. It's as when Bakura found out I could work magic. That I had kept that from him.

"You are far from helpless, Marik."

"I've gotten to see some of the worst of the world. Like you." He doesn't clarify whether he means I, too, have seen the horrors or I was the horror. Both are true. "I know what's out there, yami. So forgive me if I don't want to just throw up my arms and surrender the one piece of security we have left! Face it, yami, you don't know how to live without it!"

"Neither do you." I move the pawn and sit back. "That concerns me more. I spent my first lifetime without it. I can adapt. You, meanwhile, have had it from early on. There was a time it was necessary. It was the reason we could survive. With me infested as I was, it allowed you to do what needed to be done. No longer."

He strides to the other side of the couch, arms folded loosely over his chest. It's surreal to watch him, to know he's there and so upset and I can't feel any of it. I lean back onto the recliner's cushions.

"It doesn't matter we're not connected," he says, tossing his hair out of his eyes, earrings catching the light as they swing. "I'm still going to protect you. Protect us. Give the rod up if you want. I won't. You don't get to make this decision for me."

There are so many arguments on the tip of my tongue. None of them hold any weight. They don't touch what he's been through. We just had our spirits torn asunder. He's alone for the first time since he was a child. I'm being held together at the seams by someone else's hikari. There is nothing I can say that will make Marik feel secure. His world has been shaken enough.

He's here.

I spring to my feet. The chess board and pieces clatter to the floor. The hikaris shouts in surprise as I break for the stairs.

"Malik?!"

"Marik, stay there!" I yell, clambering up to the second level as hikari's feet pound behind me.

"What are you—?"

I'm outside Yami's room when his aura hits me. My back slams into the wall. My arms spread out like wings as if the bastard was clamping onto my wrists. Mahaado is blocking Yugi's exit from the room, 'standing' several inches above the floor. I throw lavender flames at the top of the stairs, preventing Marik from reaching us the same moment a Shadow shield covers the doorway.

"Well met, traitor," the akh says mildly without turning. "You sensed me before I materialized."

"I'm okay, Malik," Yugi says with just a slight tremble to his voice, Millennium rod glowing in his small hands.

His panic bleeding through our link all too real. Or is that mine?

"Let me through! I owe that bastard a hole in the chest!" hikari snarls from behind the blaze. "Malik, would you cut it out with the flames?"

I add a protective layer of light over my eyes so I can endure Mahaado's stare as he turns to me with an unimpressed air.

"It had to be you."

Mahaado says it with such loathing, such bitterness that only he can. Shadow Ghoul is weaving frantically in and out of my spirit, doing what it can to stabilize me. It's not enough.

"You had to be connected to this—this child. And he had to be attached to Pharaoh. Both of you parasites."

It's all in his aura that is compressing around me. I can't breathe. Can't move.

"Fucking hell!" hikari shouts. "Yugi, make him…!"

"Let him go, Dark Magician!"

I fall.

(Marik's POV)

My yami shudders. I cringe as he slides to the floor and doesn't move.

"Let me pass," Yugi's voice orders coldly from out sight.

Even without a translator the Dark Magician gets the message. After hesitating for as long as he is able, he moves aside. Yugi lowers the Shadow shield and hurries to my yami who is sitting in a daze against the wall. The protective fire he erected to shield me is still sputtering weakly. I'm pacing back and forth furiously on the next step down, trying to find a way through.

"Malik, are you okay?" Yugi asks.

"Fantastic," he grumbles as he trembles.

"Hey, I'm still here!" I exclaim in exasperation.

Yugi plants himself between Malik and the Dark Magician.

"I've got this, Malik. Stop tapping into your magic before you pass out."

The fire dies down against his will. I hurry over to join them. Malik takes a shuddering breath but can't seem to recover from the onslaught. I don't need a link with Malik to tell how badly shaken he is. As much as I want to go to him, we have bigger problems. I take up ranks beside Yugi.

"Hikari, get b-back."

"I'm not afraid of him!" I sneer while facing down the akh.

"That's what he's afraid of," Yugi whispers just for me to hear. "Marik," he says louder, offering up the rod. "I'd feel better with you wielding this right now. I'll handle the Dark Magician."

"Don't…"

"It's all right, yami." I turn my back on the akh only because Yugi is here. When I take hold of Malik's arm I start at how badly he's shaking. "Can you get up?"

"Boys, what on earth…?"

Yugi's grandfather stops when he spots the scene before him. The man's jaw drops but he doesn't do anything helpful. I resist the urge to roll my eyes, seeing an opportunity for this otherwise nuisance.

"Mr. Mutou, can you make sure Malik gets downstairs okay?"

Even in his upset state my yami manages to look dangerous.

"If you think I'm leaving you two with him…!"

"But you are, yami." I hold the Millennium rod between our faces. "It's only a matter of if you want to go on your own."

I hate the way he looks at me. His features contort into a mixture of rage and fear. The fear isn't of me. It's not of being controlled by the rod either. He's let them do that to him multiple times already. He told me who this was—this is. Trying to protect us from the person responsible for ripping his ka away and for coming up with the idea of sealing him in the rod is more than anybody could bear.

"I'll do it, yami. You know I will."

"We've got this, Malik," Yugi adds, sounding so sure this time, eager to avoid the use of the rod. "Grandpa, could you…?"

The old man hobbles up the last few steps and wavers, not quite daring to come closer to the Dark Magician. Malik does not give me an answer. I give him mine: I lower the Item and gently take hold of his arm. Tension rushes up his limb at the contact and I watch him fight the urge to react. After he takes a few stabilizing breaths I help him to his feet. His fingers lock tightly with mine as I lead him to the stairs. I almost comment on it's his turn to find out how much it isn't fun to be sent away but catch my tongue.

"Hikari…"

"He can't touch me. Not with Yugi calling the shots. And I've got this," I add cheerfully, brandishing the only Item we have right now. "We've got this, okay, yami?"

He hears the deeper message I'm no good at articulating when we're being stared down by his immortal arch nemesis: 'This isn't about what you can and can't handle. You don't have to. We don't want you to.'

"Malik," Mr. Mutou beckons for my yami to come away with him.

I walk with Malik as far as the stairs to make sure he is going to remain on his feet. With his hand gripping the banister and Mr. Mutou watchfully shuffling beside him, they begin their slow descent. Malik looks back once. Not at the Dark Magician but at me. I offer the bravest smile I can force. It slips away as soon as they round the bend in the stairs. Mr. Mutou quickly starts talking about tea. I erect a shield over the base of the stairs once his voice passes that point. Then I return my attention to the problem.

"What the hell was that?" Yugi whispers even though the Dark Magician can't understand.

"He was testing you," I venture, rolling my shoulder as the spirit stares us down. "He didn't actually hurt any of us. He can't. He would have killed my yami faster than a heartbeat if he'd been able to." That nauseating fact festers in the pit of my stomach. "It was more like he was goading you on."

"He did that before when we first met. Why again? Why now?"

"You really want the answer or do you want to just blast him away?"

"…I should probably find out," he sighs reluctantly.

"Care to explain yourself? What were you challenging him for?" I speak up, wishing I had the power to sear this creature to dust. "He wants to know."

"To make certain he really is…"

"Pharaoh? They both control the pharaoh's power, dumbass. They went over this with you already."

"Marik, does this have to do with the puzzle being gone?" Yugi asks with a peculiar sound to his voice. "And the god cards still here?

I glance at him in surprise. They had mentioned something about the puzzle and god cards when I got here. I'm not an idiot. I get those are integral to something, what with having them carved into my back with a red hot knife. I just don't get what that all means to the akh.

"He's not going with you, is he?" Yugi asks tentatively before I can ask his previous questions.

There's a strange quality to his voice, something bordering on hope. I go ahead and translate, expecting this will make more sense as we go along.

"No," the spirit concedes. "He is not."

"So what was all this for?" Yugi asks in frustration. "Yami tells you he's not ready for the Afterlife and so you decide to blame me? Blame Malik? Again?"

"Afterlife?"

"I'll explain later, Marik."

"You'd better. Yami said he's not ready for the Afterlife so you're blaming Malik and Yugi?"

"Pharaoh never said he was not coming with me."

I look back and forth between Yugi and the akh.

"I think someone besides me is confused."

"Marik…"

"I mean it. He says Yami didn't say he wasn't going. What the fuck is this? A suicide pact?"

"But you—!" Yugi looks up at the floating duel monster.

"I said he isn't accompanying me," the spirit explains with feigned patience. "He just doesn't know his choice. Yet."

"So you're making it for him?" I query cynically.

"Pharaoh has his own mind."

"Yami's 'got a mind of his own'," I say with a roll of my eyes. "Really helpful this one."

"Something's changed for you to just surrender and let him stay."

The akh's eyes flash in warning when I repeat that to him.

"That is none of your concern."

"Actually, it is his business," I nod to Yugi.

Yugi doesn't have to say it aloud. He doesn't need me to use the mind control Item. Not with this spirit. It's obvious Yugi's waiting for an explanation from the Dark Magician. And the akh must obey.

The immortal face grimaces.

"There are things preordained that have been set into motion."

"How mysterious," I sneer.

"Marik?"

"He's stalling."

"Mahaado," Yugi asks the spirit directly, giving me a keen glance that he's trusting me to translate truly. "Is this about where Yami is right now? Who he's with?"

I echo the questions in ancient Egyptian and note the slightest twitch in the Dark Magician's features. Yugi hit the nail on the head. He is already aware of what's going on then. I don't appreciate the fact that Yugi avoided using a name to prevent me from knowing. I'll deal with that later.

"Shaddi told me," Yugi adds, softer this time.

There's no need to translate that part. The mere mention of the other spirit's name is enough.

"That boy is not the cause of my failure. All of you were already trying to turn Pharaoh from his rightful reward," the akh speaks harshly.

"How is letting Yami live a full human life failure?"

Mahaado's lips curl in disgust.

"This one has always been so sacrilegious asking such impertinent questions. Just like the traitor."

"Maybe he wouldn't have had to if someone else had bothered," I snap on my yami's behalf, not having a clue as to what he's eluding to.

"Marik," Yugi reprimands me, having caught my tone. "I need him to answer, not another fight. What is he saying about Yami?"

I heave an aggravated sigh and ask. The spirit stiffens. Whatever he came here for, he wasn't expecting to have to explain himself. He wasn't ready for a conversation. But Yugi's calling the shots here.

"He does not wish to be pharaoh any longer."

Doesn't surprise me. It's not like there's much glamour about the role anymore.

"Back to the point. Why the fuck did you goad Yugi on just now?" I growl, wanting this done.

"That is the point. I wanted to see if this boy could truly wield the necessary power. That there would be someone to lead, to watch over the Items. To protect Pharaoh Atem."

"That's a buttload of responsibility to throw at somebody, don't you think?" I deride while Yugi asks what we're arguing about.

"Far from it. There seem to be plenty of people close to him who can give their input. Wise or not."

"None of this explains what you're doing here, Mahaado," Yugi points out when he's caught up on the conversation.

The Dark Magician's gaze slices into Yugi. The air around him thrums but he can't even try for it. Yugi and I move closer together nevertheless and I amp up the Shadow shield downstairs should the temptation to try be too great.

The spirit yields. He descends elegantly without a noise until his feet touch the carpet. With a face devoid of emotion, he gets down on one knee, bowing his head to Yugi. The movement lacks any sentiment, being nothing but rigid formality.

"I ask to be released. That you permit me to the Afterlife."

"He wants to you send him to the Afterlife," I say in surprise. "Why didn't you ask Yami?"

"Pharaoh Atem is torn. He wants to remain. But he also does not want to let me go. He feels responsible for my being here," the akh states.

Yugi's brow furrows.

"You were his best friend. He told me so," he says quietly. "Did you ever consider that maybe he's just missed you?"

The Dark Magician seems troubled by that notion. He quickly tosses that suggestion away. It's hard to say whether it's because he doesn't want to process that or that he simply can't.

"So, because of what Shaddi said, what's happened with…" Yugi shoots me a nervous look before trying again. "You've given up on him because of that?"

"No," the akh answers. "That boy is the reason I can leave him behind."

"He says 'that boy' is the reason he's letting Yami stay. What the hells does that mean? What boy?"

"Marik," Yugi says, worried but excited all at once. "Your yami said it should be Yami's call. That no one else should make this decision for him. He will still have the puzzle. The god ka. He doesn't need the Dark Magician for the spell."

"A journey-to-the-Afterlife spell, from what I've gathered?" I ask and he nods. "Pharaoh will be upset you got rid of him," I say, reluctantly holding back as we both glance at the waiting spirit. As much as I like the idea of forcing the Dark Magician to do something he doesn't want to, I don't want that to mean he's going to keep haunting us.

"Probably," Yugi concedes, wilting a bit.

He's struggling with something and I don't care what. I also get that my input will not be welcomed here. Since when have I let that stop me?

"The point is: the Dark Magician wants to go. Yami doesn't want him to," I recite, this conversation sapping me of the little patience I have. "Did Yami ever tell you what he and this bastard did to Malik?"

Yugi shifts uneasily.

"A little."

"Yugi…" I begin, because I need him to understand. "This decision would be a no-brainer if you knew—"

"I know, Marik."

I back down and wait. I realize he doesn't need it spelled out for him. Doesn't need to hear the story. He's feeling it all right now through my yami.

Yugi takes a deep breath and faces the spirit.

"Mahaado. I know you were Yami's friend. I know he cares for you. It sounds like you did a lot for him…"

My throat constricts as I try to find the words. How can he be so fucking merciful? I don't care if this guy and Yami were fuck buddies or best friends. He tortured my yami! I open my mouth to translate even as the kind words make me ill.

"He said…"

My voice trails off as Yugi's fingers curl one by one into his palms. When he lifts his eyes there's a fire blazing in them I've never seen before. Hateful. It's a look alien to his happy-go-lucky demeanor.

"I also know you did horrible things to Malik," Yugi continues wrathfully, absorbing and simmering in whatever he's experiencing through my yami. I don't translate. It doesn't seem necessary. "I'm not doing this for your sake but for everyone else's. Especially Yami and Malik. They need peace. That's not possible with you here. We'll all be better off when you're gone. You can go now. I'm ordering you to. Don't you dare ever come back."

A shiver runs through the ancient form. The Dark Magician raises his head to look at Yugi. Even as he does so he has become transparent. His eyes glow like two suns as the rest of him simply fades. Through all of this he does not speak. There's no anger or relief from him. No gratitude. Nothing. Soon the only pieces of him still visible are his eyes. They, creepily, linger for a few seconds. Then they're gone, as if he blinked and didn't open them again.

So while I'm walking away

without ever looking back,

let the early hours bring us home again.

(Yami's POV)

I enter the dark shop, careful not to make any noise. I'm getting better at the key's capabilities. I literally walk through the door without having to open it. I decide not to take off the Item yet as I pass through the door leading to the house. It's early but there is a chance Mr. Mutou is up.

Through the bleariness of the Item's miasma I see someone sitting in the recliner. What the hells is he doing here? And at this hour? Unease creeps into my bones. There'd be a damn good reason.

His head rises as he becomes alert to something. I watch in wonder as he slowly looks in my direction, like a wild animal scenting. Lavender eyes peer at the area where I am, where I should be. I come closer, half-wondering if I'm doing something wrong. His gaze follows, though it doesn't ever fix on me.

As I come around the couch I see he isn't alone. Yugi is curled around a pillow. Marik must have fallen over at some point, his head resting on the backs of my hikari's knees. Mr. Mutou is seated ono the other end of the sofa, hands folded over his chest, snoring rhythmically.

"You're seriously going to stand there like that?" Malik asks, having given up on trying to pin down my exact location and leaning back in the chair to wait me out.

I hesitate, pride telling me to go up to my room and let him think he's nuts. It's immature. Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion he would know better. And I'd hate to have him call me out on that as well.

The spell dissolves.

"The level of your senses is a bit uncanny," I comment.

"You don't have to tell me," he mutters tiredly, stretching his legs out so his heels are resting on the coffee table.

"What are you doing here? Did something happen with Marik's siblings?"

"No. Well, yes," he adds as an afterthought occurs to him. "But that didn't involve us."

"You're not making any sense."

"That seems to be going around. We had a lot of things to straighten out last night."

The undercurrent in his voice is another red flag. I look around but there isn't a place for me to sit. When I return my attention to Malik he's is studying the slumbering trio. His feet slide off the table to the floor. Then we're standing less than an arm's length apart.

"Walk with me."

He heads for the Game Shop.

I stand rooted to my spot. Malik notices sooner than most because of those damn senses of his. He gives me an appraising look, as if deciding what he's going to do about my reluctance.

"I want to know what is going on, Malik."

He wrenches the door open and stands impatiently with his fingers clutching its edge until they whiten.

"And your hikari only fell asleep half an hour ago after being in hysterics a good portion of the night. Either come out here to talk or go upstairs. Just for fuck's sake let them sleep."

That makes me all the more inclined to remain where I can keep Yugi in sight. All the same, I want to know. Relenting, I go through to the shop, Malik following and closing the door behind us. Thankfully, he is too exhausted for drawing out the mystery. He leans against the glass display case, me on the other side where the customers normally stand.

"We came to get the rod. He noticed the puzzle was missing. He jumped to conclusions very quickly."

My heart skips a beat as I understand what he's telling me. I turn to go to my hikari. To show him that I am here and that everything is all right.

"We sorted that mess out quickly," Malik adds, stopping me with that sentence.

"I wouldn't have left like that. I'm not…" I stare into that gaze that is trying to tear me apart piece by piece. "I'm not going to."

"Good for you."

"No, you don't understand. Yugi experienced my death on a whole other level. All of this time since he has been trying to be strong. It nearly broke him. And it will again if I go with Mahaado, only this time there won't be a resolution. It won't be like before. I won't be coming back."

"This isn't about…"

"So I'm not going."

I gaze at the other yami in wonder as the words sink in. I've had this debate going back and forth in my mind as I watched over Otogi through the night. What the dice master told me, what my hikari suffered when I died…I realize now that it's the final reason adding up with all of the others as to why I cannot go.

Malik doesn't react in any way to this news. I don't know what I was expecting from him. Something after the way he lectured me about leaving Yugi.

I laugh at myself, revolving on my heel and pacing the small area. There's a weight that is gone from me that has been holding me down like my soaked cloak back in Egypt, pushing my head beneath the river water. Dunking me down again and again until I couldn't breathe. A flutter of fear is still apparent in my chest, for the unknown, but I let that be for now.

"Gods, I haven't said that aloud until now," I say as I turn back to the other ancient Egyptian waiting silently. "It's good practice. Yugi will be ecstatic, of course. Mahaado's not going to be happy about it..."

"Yami."

There's that tone again. It means there's something more. How the hells could there be more? I made the right call! I'm doing what I want—and what all of them want. What else is left?

"Mahaado came here last night. To Yugi."

"What?" I blink, this information not making sense. "What does that mean? What would they have to talk about? They can't even speak…"

I place my hand on the glass countertop, reaching out to the air around me. I've half a mind to summon Mahaado here so he can explain himself. Maybe he'll do a better job than Malik. It's as I extend my aura to find my former high priest that I notice the lack of him. I've been able to pick up his energy even when he's invisible. It comes through the most clearly when I'm with…

…with Malik.

I search the other's eyes. There's no gloating. No satisfaction. Just the grim acceptance of doing the dirty work of telling me.

"He asked to be released. He wanted to go, Yami."

I shake my head in a daze, looking down at the cards in the case beneath our hands. We rotate some of our best in this display. What chance of fate, the Dark Magician is in the center of this week's set.

"He never s-said…"

"No. He never was one to beg," Malik agrees even though that's not really what I meant. His fingers twitch on the glass. "Yugi wasn't up half the night in tears because he thought you were gone. He's afraid you won't forgive him."

All my emotions freeze at that revelation. I stare at the harmless card below us, trying to make sense of this muddle of emotions inside of me.

The inner door opens.

"Malik, what are you…?" Yugi's eyes widen when he sees us together. "Yami."

"Aibou."

He hears it. He sees it in my shell-shocked expression. Yugi rounds on Malik.

"You told him! I said I wanted to tell him!"

I look at the other yami in surprise. Malik holds face despite the emotions careening through Yugi's side of the link. Why on earth would he butt in after the hell he went through last time we talked? When he was probably gleeful when Mahaado left? It wasn't to gloat. He's had the chance and hasn't done that.

I understand in the way he doesn't say a word while watching my hikari closely. I recognize that look. It's how he looks at Bakura. And Marik. He wanted to tell me in case I blew up and got pissed. He wanted to take the heat or at least get a sense of how I was going to face Yugi even though Yugi would have been able to take any strong reactions from me better.

"Aibou, I…"

"It got out of hand. But he wanted to go! I know he was your friend, Yami. I just…I could feel it. I could feel how Malik felt whenever he was around. And we couldn't keep living like that…!"

I pull him into a hug with my good arm. He inhales sharply. My lighter half is fighting not to cry. That only makes me hold him tighter. I know how this feels. How it is to make these hard decisions.

((I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.))

(You did right.) I tell him and I mean it. (You looked out for yourself. For Malik.)

((And you)) he adds and I can't disagree with that.

(And me.)

If Mahaado had asked me earlier, what would I have done? Would I have freed him of his duty to me? Of his oath? That didn't matter so much to me. The spell. Any of that. It's just, I missed him. I've missed all of them. I've yearned to hear their voices. See their faces. A part of me didn't want to let him go. It was Mahaado. Except that it wasn't. Not really. Not as he would have wanted to be. He didn't have a heartbeat or require sleep or want any type of companionship. His goal was to go Not-Here and take me with him.

It makes me wonder when he gave up on waiting. What swayed him? He acted a bit off last night. I just didn't realize this was what he had in mind. Did he seek Yugi out at that moment because he saw that Malik and Marik were with him? That he would be able to verbally communicate his wishes?

Then I realize we've been talking through our link while Malik just stands there. I raise my head to address the other yami. The counter is empty.

"He's like that." Yugi winces as we part our embrace. "Plus, I sort of put him through a lot last night between thinking you'd left and setting the Dark Magician free."

"I can imagine," I say quietly, brushing his bangs out of his face. "I'm sorry I caused you to think I would do that. And I'm sorry I wasn't here. If I'd known Mahaado was going to…I would have been here, aibou. You know that."

"I know." He sobers a bit and sends me what, for a second, looked like a sly glance. "So where were you all night, Yami?"

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It's been done for a while but I have been hesitant to post much as I finish up the story, in case I found a plot hole that needed mending. I am certain enough of how I'm wrapping it up that I can post this now.

I hope all of you are doing well. I'd love to hear from you-your takes on how things are going, how you think they're going to end here. Especially interested in how everyone takes the scenes between characters that didn't interact much before the Shadow Realm incident. And I did write out ALL of the visions Bakura had picked. Those were originally included but it just...dragged on. It wasn't adding anything to the narrative, despite how fun it was to see some little glimpses into the past. I did decide to include the first vision in order to show the experience and how everyone was reacting to it. Poor Mr. B! lol

I can't believe it's nearly done. It's exciting and bittersweet after such a long journey not just with this fic but with fanfiction as well.

Take care!