New Year's Eve 1998

Amane had no idea how long it had been since she had last seen the sun.

Time had been difficult to judge since she had been sealed in her Soul Room, only made worse by the sheer disorientation she had suffered from having her soul torn into as punishment for saving the lives of her friends.

When she had first been locked away, the spirit of her item had tried to keep her up to date on what had been going on, but that had trailed off after a flood of pain and anguish. The Ring Bearer was torn between being worried that she had fallen back into the clutches of the demon, and being concerned that she too was being punished.

Amane had spent the time well, organising the memories that had been so badly damaged during Zorc's rampage. It had not been easy to find the fragments of the various game pieces that had held most of her most precious memories, but there had been nothing else to do but put herself back together.

And the damage her soul had taken was worth it, when she took into account that she had managed to protect the most important of her memories.

Memories that were hidden away under her bed in the form of a certain Monster World piece in the form of a Birdtail Beast Tamer with tri-coloured hair.

As she slipped the last of the medieval castle that took up most of the back wall, back into place, she felt stronger and through there were cracks and pieces missing of her memories, she finally felt complete enough to relax.

Just in time to hear the chains binding her soul room door falling away.

She scrambled to her feet and wheeled around to face whatever was about to happen, only to find that the door opened to reveal the Spirit of the Ring.

"Si…" Amane trailed off as she truly beheld the scene in front of her. She had never seen the Thief look this tired and done with life and the darkness looming behind Ba-Khu-Ra made the living half of the soul realise that this was either not the Spirit's idea, or she had given up much to get it allowed.

"Do you understand how badly you screwed up?" The Thief's voice shook with barely concealed anger. Anger that Amane could not be certain was not aimed at her until she caught the guilty and desperate look in the Spirit's eyes.

She wanted Amane to play along. No, she NEEDED it.

"Y…Yes." The living girl quickly looked down at the ground, using her years of acting as a Game Master to make the scared child act seem real, "I… I'm sorry…"

"You're going to be allowed out." Ba-Khu-Ra's voice was flatter than Amane would have liked, but she did not dare call her on it, in case it enraged the darkness that held her sister in its grip. "But only on certain conditions."

"Wh… what's that?" The tremble in her voice did not have to be faked as she wondered what she was going to be forced to do.

"We will be competing in Battle City. You will refrain from interfering in what's going to happen, or you'll never leave this room again."

Amane's head snapped up, "Battle City?"

"There is an important Duel Monsters tournament coming up. You will join the brat's Duelling club and you will learn her tactics and skills. You will then allow me complete access to those memories for the tournament. And you will not warn the Pharaoh about our competing. Do you understand?"

Not really? She knew that Ba-Khu-Ra disliked the card game that was based on Diaha, the form of combat that had been created by those who had stolen the lives and souls of her people. It made no sense for them to join.

Unless there was something in the competition that helped towards the end game.

Something she would not be able to find out inside the Soul Room that had become her cell…

"I understand."

"Good. The brat is expecting you tomorrow, for a New Years party." Ba-Khu-Ra stepped aside, allowing her to exit the room for the first time in too long. "You will not fail to be there. We need to stay close."

"Of course." Amane briefly squeezed the Thief's hand as she passed, only to be ripped away from the Spirit by the darkness waiting in the corridor.

The Thief did not move to protect her as Amane was pinned to the wall. Amane could not help the tremble that shook her frame as glowing teeth and eyes emerged from the Shadows and the figure leaned down so its mouth was next to her ear.

"Betray us again and I'll destroy everything you care about." The snakelike hiss was painfully cold against her skin. "And just in case you forget…"

Amane screamed as fangs clamped down on her neck and Shadows flooded through her soul, filling her veins with ice and draining her strength, causing her to fall limp in the grasp of the darkness.

As the creature tore away painfully, the girl collapsed to the ground, shuddering violently as she felt the darkness within her settle like bands, encircling not her skin, but the bones themselves.

"Now. Get up." At the dark chuckle Amane found herself getting up without her own permission. "Smack Ba-Khu-Ra."

Amane tried to resist, but her form moved on its own and the slap rang down the corridor, hitting hard enough that it forced the Thief's head back and caused her to stagger.

"I…" Amane tried to apologise, but her own voice failed her, cutting off despite her desire. Terror ripped through her as she realised she had absolutely no control over her own soul, magnified by the guilt that she could see in the eyes of the Thief as she looked away, unable to look Amane in the eyes.

"You are mine. She is mine. You both belong to me. You gave yourselves to me three thousand years ago. I could have destroyed you for stopping me during the fire AND in the Game Shop" The demon chuckled, audibly enjoying the meal of fear that Amane's panic provided. "And your 'sister' traded what little freedom you retained, for your survival."

Panicked brown finally met guilty amber and Amane's eyes widened as she realised that there was none of Ba-Khu-Ra's original colour there. She was not the only one whose freedom had suffered in exchange for Zorc not snuffing out Amane's soul.

"Now…" Amane staggered as it felt like the strings were cut and she was suddenly in control of herself again. She caught herself on her twin's arm and turned to look at the creature, unsure of what else he had planned. "You are too useful a spy for me to want to force all of your actions. You will continue to act as the brat's friend and bring any useful information to me. Any attempt to tell the Pharaoh of this, though, and you will never be free again. Understand?"

Anger flooded through her system and her hands balled into fists. She was being made to spy on her friends. The ones who had taken her in even after everything that had been done to them. And if she refused, she would not be able to do anything to help them, ever again.

"Fine." She snarled out in the first real display of anger the demon had ever seen from her. "But you will regret this."

"I don't think I will."

As the darkness moved aside and allowed her to leave, Amane reached across the soul bond, using her anger to force open the door Ba-Khu-Ra was trying to hold shut against her and send determination over.

'We'll get out of this. I promise. Give me time to think of a way.'