SMALL TW: IMPLICATION OF DEATH (RYOU). REST ASSURED, YOU WILL GET TO SEE OUR ANGEL AND THERE WILL BE CLOSURE!
I am so exhausted! I put in a lot of overtime at work this past week, so didn't have as much time as I wanted on this chapter. I actually have 4 chapter 7's on my computer because I had a hard time with which direction I wanted to go. I had the same problem with chapter 6, but fortunately it only took 2 tries for that one. I have also discovered that instead of hitting my head against the keyboard because I can't find the right word to convey what I'm trying to say, ask my 13 year old because that is exactly what he is doing in language arts/English class. He's only charging me a 12 pack of Pepsi to be my editor. I think I can manage that.
"How can someone so short run so fast?!" Marik called out, trying his best to keep up with the stunted teen ahead of him.
Yugi was nearly out of breath as the Kame Game Shop came into view.
He and Marik had only been able to talk with Tea at lunch about the previous night. Joey and Tristan had been forced to serve lunch detention after getting involved in a fight before school had started.
It had been during the meeting between the three teens that Yugi discovered he couldn't contact the Pharaoh. He went into a panic, thinking perhaps the Spirit of the Ring had found a way to retaliate. Tea had managed to calm him down.
"Didn't you tell me once that the Pharaoh spends school hours checking all the doors in the puzzle?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with not being able to contact him?!" Yugi asked, still panicked.
"What if he managed to finally open one?"
That had been several hours ago, and school had ended. Now he was beyond worried. He could still feel the Pharaoh's presence within the Puzzle, but every attempt to make contact was met with silence.
"Yugi….I need to tel-"
"Yami! Where have you been?! You had me worried sick!" Yugi came to a sudden halt, causing Marik to almost crash into him.
"A little warning before you stop would be nice!" the blonde chastised.
"Sorry Marik! He finally answered!"
"It's about time! Where in the name of the Gods has he been?!"
"So where have you been? I tried to reach out to you at lunch and you didn't answer." Yugi asked through his mental link with the Pharaoh.
"That's...a bit difficult to explain. I'm not even certain myself. Let's get up to you're room and I'll try my best to fill the both of you in."
Yugi nodded his head in agreement.
"So? What did he say?" Marik questioned. He hated being on only one side of the conversation.
"He's gonna fill us in once we get inside."
They quickly walked the short remainder of the way to the game shop. Upon entering they greeted Grandpa Solomon, who was stocking his latest shipment, before heading upstairs.
"I hope whatever he has to tell us, it's something good. After last night I don't think-"
Yugi had been speaking to Marik as he opened the door to his bedroom, but came to a sudden halt in both movement and speech as the door swung open. There was a head of white hair sitting in his desk chair, the gold of the Millennium Ring staring right at him.
"It's about time you got here." came Bakura's gruff, sinister voice. He kept his eyes hidden behind a curtain of white, his mouth turned up in a devilish smirk. This was the Bakura all of Yugi's friends had come to recognize, not the downcast brainiac from the day before.
"Bakura! What are you doing here?!" Yami shouted angrily. He had forcefully taken control of his host. After the events of earlier, he wasn't in the mood for the Spirit's games. Thankfully Yugi didn't seem to mind the sudden takeover, as he was still trying to register the shock of the intruder.
Bakura's smirk faded as he raised the hidden orbs to glare at the Spirit of the Puzzle.
"I have nothing to say to you Pharaoh. My words are for the boy and the Tomb Keeper."
"Anything you have to say to Yugi or Marik, you can say to me. Now why are you here?!" Yami glowered.
Bakura growled in annoyance.
"What? A friend pays me an unannounced visit and I can't do the same?" he said, pretending to be offended by the Pharaoh's accusing tone.
"You're no friend of mine!" came Marik's voice from over the shoulder of the shorter male that still blocked the doorway.
"What….not my friend? You wound me Tomb Keeper. After all that time we spent plotting together. I even allowed you to take up refuge inside the Ring with me and my host when I battled your dark half." Bakura's words dripped heavily with mockery.
Marik shoved past the Pharaoh and grabbed the white haired teen by his collar, lifting him slightly out of the chair.
"Shut up." His body was shaking. "That person...that wasn't…" His frustration left him unable to finish the sentence.
The Spirit smirked. "I see. So the lion has been exorcised, leaving a frightened little lamb."
"Fuck you!"
"Tsk, tsk. Watch your language."
After the previous night, Marik wanted nothing more than to forget it had even happened. The Bakura from last night had been cold an empty, filling Marik with a sense of fear nearly equal to the thought of encountering his dark half again. This Bakura however, filled him with rage as he openly mocked him. He wanted to drive his fist into the pale face that continued to grin devilishly at him.
"Marik, let him go." Yugi's softer voice approached slowly from behind. "We're not going to get any answers this way."
The Egyptian hesitated before harshly releasing the pale teen's collar, shoving him back into the chair.
"Awe, we were just starting to have fun." Bakura sarcastically pouted.
"Why are you really here Bakura. No games, just the truth." Yugi said in a deeply serious tone.
"Hmph, no games...Where's the fun in that?"
"Bakura…" he warned.
The Spirit let out a defeated sigh. "Fine." he growled. "I wanted to know why you felt it was necessary to send someone to invade my private domain."
Yugi couldn't hide the surprise on his face. The pale teen before him grinned slightly.
"What? Didn't think I could deduct who was the mastermind behind last night's unannounced visit? As I confirmed, the Tomb Keeper is too much of a timid lamb now. He would sooner throw himself into a dark pit than take up the Rod again."
The blonde, who was still shaking in frustration, turned his head to avoid the Spirit's gaze.
Bakura continued. "If I know his Royal Highness, which I very much do, he'll still have major trust issues towards the Tomb Keeper after the events of Battle City. He would never even toy with the idea of Marik being within a hundred yards of the Rod, let alone using it."
A shiver ran up Yugi's spine at how accurate the Spirit had been so far.
Bakura looked him dead in the eyes. "That leaves the hopeful boy that openly has faith in everyone. The boy who can talk the Pharaoh into allowing his former enemy to wield the weapon that was once used against them. The boy who can reassure the lost lamb that he will keep the him safe from the darkness." He paused, letting his words sink in. "So I ask again. Why did you feel it was necessary to send someone to trespass into my Soul Room?"
Yugi opened his mouth to speak, but Marik beat him to it.
"I only went into your Room because it was the only one there! What did you do to Ryou!? Why is his room gone!?"
Bakura glowered at the blonde.
"Why should you care? You didn't even know the kid. To you he was just a potential liability."
"That was then. This is now. I want to make amends for what he was put through, but I can't do that if you have him locked away somewhere!"
"I may have locked my host in his own mind, but I would never evict him from his own body entirely. Whether you choose to believe me or not, I do care for my host."
"You have a funny way of showing it." Marik sneered.
The Spirit growled again in agitation, gritting his teeth.
"I'm not the completely heartless asshole you obviously to picture me to be!"
Yugi sat down on his bed. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring was obviously agitated about his missing host, and they weren't going to find out anything if he kept on resorting to anger and mockery.
"Bakura, you're right. I sent Marik into the Ring. It wasn't right of me, and I should have confronted you directly." Yugi said apologetically.
Bakura glanced over at the spiky-haired teen, slightly surprised.
"Yes, you should have. Keep that in mind for future reference."
Yugi nodded. "So can you tell us where he's at?"
Bakura leaned forward, clasping his hands together while turning his gaze to the floor.
"Before I do, can I ask something?"
"Uh, sure?"
"Since Battle City, have you noticed anything...different...between you and the Pharaoh?"
Yugi shook his head back and forth. "No, can't say that I have."
The Spirit's head fell slightly forward, appearing defeated.
"I see. So then I guess that means that it's my fault after all."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Bakura paused for a long moment in contemplation before answering.
"He vanished about two weeks ago. I thought maybe it had something to do with what happened during the tournament, but I guess maybe it was because I let my soul get too out of control."
Both Yugi and Marik stared at him with puzzled expressions.
"Uh, don't you mean you got too out of control?" the blonde teen questioned.
Bakura eyed him from the side. "I guess in my current predicament...yeah." He returned to staring at the floor.
"So what happened exactly?" Yugi asked.
"It's...difficult to explain. I guess the short version goes like this. The human body was never meant house multiple souls. In most cases the invading soul is automatically cast out. You, Ryou, and Marik are some of the few cases across history where a body has played host to another. In the past, the secondary soul would only be able to exist within the host body for a short period of time, usually ranging anywhere from a few months to a few years. After that, the secondary soul is usually cast back out. The more in-sync the secondary soul and their host is, the longer the two can reside in the same body. It was theorized that if the balance were to be tipped too far one way or the other, the more dominate soul could permanently evict the other. That meant the invading soul could theoretically take full control of the host body and the host's soul would be sent to the afterlife to face judgment."
Yugi and Marik paled at the implication.
"You mean...Ryou is...not coming back…" Yugi choked out the words.
The Spirit's head fell even farther forward. "He forcefully threw me into control one day, then vanished. I've searched every corner of my Soul Room, wandered the Shadows, tried everything I could think of to try and draw him back out."
"…..that's why you showed up to school yesterday." Yugi said quietly.
Bakura nodded. "It's my fault. It has to be. The Isfet within got to be too much I guess, causing me to become the dominant one."
Marik perked up at the mention of the word 'Isfet'. "Are you talking about the counterpart to Ma'at?"
"Yes, but only in concept."
"I'm aware of what Ma'at and Isfet is." Marik paused a moment before continuing. "The statue in your Soul Room, did it once hold something?"
Bakura lifted his head and looked at the Tomb Keeper warily. "Maybe. Why?"
"Uh, before you answer that, can someone explain what the two of you are talking about?" Yugi asked, puzzled.
The Spirit turned to look back at the spiky-haired teen. "I'm certain you know about the feather of Ma'at."
Yugi nodded.
"So you know that it is Ma'at that judges the hearts of men. What you probably don't know is what the concept of Ma'at is. Ma'at is the concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. If you remove those concepts you are left with chaos, evil, disharmony, disorder, and 'that which is difficult and causes trouble'. This is referred to as Isfet."
"By that description alone you are nothing but Isfet incarnate." Marik remarked.
"I answered the boy's question Tomb Keeper, now answer mine. Why did you ask about the statue?" Bakura looked back towards the Egyptian, eyes narrowed while ignoring the comment.
"Okay, but don't get mad at me. I promise I didn't go back there on purpose!"
The Spirit raised a brow in curiosity. "What are you talking about?"
"So...I had this weird dream last night...but I think it might have been a vision….from Bast…."
"Bast? You certain?"
"Well….there was a black cat decorated in gold with blue eyes…"
Bakura's eyes widened slightly in realization. "Not Bast...but please, continue."
"It lead me back to your Soul Room. I noticed it wasn't a mess, and there was something glowing in the statue's palms. It reminded me of half a heart. It even beat like one."
"Yeah, it was. Long story. So what else did the cat show you?"
"It took me through the black door. It lead to library and I saw...the man from the photograph in your room. There was also a woman….and someone who I thought as first was my darker half."
Bakura really perked up hearing the last bit.
"Oh really...and what was your look-alike doing?"
"He had the Rod...and he was controlling the woman-"
Bakura stood up quick, fury across his face. "You lie! There's no fucking way he could have controlled her!"
Marik and Yugi were taken aback by the sudden outburst. The Spirit, noticing the shocked facial expressions on the other two teens, quickly composed himself.
He cleared his throat and sheepishly looked towards the floor. "Sorry for the interruption. If you would continue?"
The Egyptian eyed the Spirit warily. "He had two stone discs on the handle, if that changes anything?"
"Stone discs?"
"Yeah, Tiger's Eye and Amethyst."
Bakura sat down slowly, contemplating the information.
"Amplifiers. But just two? And he was able to control her?" he questioned the Egyptian.
"I'm certain of it. I noticed she had begun to weave her hand like she was trying to cast some kind of spell. I don't think it had anything to do with the spell she was forced to cast though."
"What happened to him after the spell was cast?"
"I was blinded, but when I could see again the Rod was sitting on top of a pile of sand and the discs were shattered."
"Sand?"
"Yeah. It wasn't there before. Not sure how it got there."
Bakura suddenly smiled and burst into a roar of laughter. "The bastard dusted himself!" He had to catch himself from falling forward onto the floor. "Oh, the irony!"
Both Yugi and Marik were perplexed on what they were witnessing. Bakura was in stitches. Over what, they weren't certain.
Bakura attempted to compose himself several times, each time failing as he recollected the bit of information he had just received.
After several minutes of watching the Spirit repeatedly laugh at...whatever, Marik leaned in towards his roommate. "I think I prefer the sadistic mockery. This is starting to creep me out! I get that there's some kind of inside joke thing going on, but it's still kind of weird seeing him like this!"
"I agree!" Yugi replied.
Bakura managed to finally calm his fit to a level where he could talk. "Wow, I haven't laughed like that since before I became trapped in this thing. I must admit it was a bit refreshing." he said, wiping away a small tear that had formed from laughing so hard.
"So...are you going to tell us what it was that I saw? You clearly know something about what happened." Marik queried.
"Of course I know. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet Tomb Keeper. You saw the photo. Do the math."
The Egyptian sat thinking for a moment, realization slowly dawning across his face.
"The photo...that was you!"
Bakura nodded.
"And the vision, that was how you got trapped in the Ring!" Marik said, flabbergasted.
Bakura sat back in the chair smiling while slowly clapping.
"Congratulations! Give the Tomb Keeper a prize!"
"So that guy that looked like me…"
"Hehe, it's best you don't know. But I do have to thank you for filling me in on his fate. A lot of things make a lot more sense now." the Spirit said in amusement.
"Yugi, if the Spirit of the Ring is indeed the man from the photo Marik told us about, then I need to speak to him." the Pharaoh stated through the link to his host.
"Does it have anything to do with why I couldn't contact you earlier?"
"Yes."
The Puzzle glowed dimly for a brief moment as the two traded control.
"Bakura. If what you say is true, then that means you haven't been trapped as long as we previously thought." noted Yami.
"You are indeed correct, Your Majesty." the Spirit replied, his distaste towards the Pharaoh made apparent by the tone of his voice.
"Marik wasn't the only one who saw a vision of the past. I saw something as well, earlier today."
"Oh? The mighty Pharaoh regained a memory? Let me guess, it was of you ruling on high while watching your servants scurry about obeying your every whim!" Bakura mocked.
Yami scowled. "I saw a small girl...and she introduced me to a small boy she called Bakura."
The Spirit's expression turned serious. "If you saw who I think you saw…"
"She introduced herself as Katrina."
"Fuck…." Bakura hung his head while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"So I was right. You are both the boy I met before I was Pharaoh, and the man from the photo Marik saw."
The pale teen growled in annoyance. "Yes. And now you are going to ask me how? The simple answer: I am, or was, an Immortal."
Yami appeared slightly shocked by Bakura's words, but pressed on.
"Good to know. So that means you should be able to answer my next ques-"
"No."
"No?"
"You heard me. No, I cannot tell you about your past. Before you going asking why, it's because I am magically bound. I cannot say certain things in regards to your past, and I'm not going to suffer the discomfort of trying to discover what can and cannot be said."
"That's unfortunate." Yami said dejectedly. The one person that had actually known him, and they couldn't tell him anything.
"Honestly, if I were the two of you, I would be a lot more concerned about the fact that in the last twenty-four hours you both saw visions of the past. I won't ask the Pharaoh the details of his, because right now it doesn't matter. Just know that you were both shown these things for a reason. Part of that reason was to pass along a message. Well, consider the message received."
Bakura stood, then proceeded towards the door.
"Wait, you can't just say something like that then just leave!" Marik declared.
"I can, and am." Bakura looked towards Egyptian from over his shoulder with his usual sadistic smirk. "I look forward to seeing you in class tomorrow." He gave a curt wave then left.
Another chapter finished, yay! I will go further into detail on the half-heart found in Bakura's soul room. I tried to include it in this chapter, but then the whole thing kept side-tracking from the main chapter plot. After a great deal of thought, I'm confident I can throw it in during the next chapter. The next chapter was originally going to be the official intro to my OC (you already got a small sneak peek at her), but there are some things I still want to get to like the statue and Bakura announcing his status as a former immortal. Next chapter isn't as well plotted as the ones up until now, and will probably feel more like a filler. I apologize in advance. I am both physically and mentally getting burned out, partially because my brain never shuts up, and I keep getting called into work on my days off (hooray for living in the US *sarcasm*).
In short, I apologize in advance if the next chapter feels like a filler. I also apologize that it may take longer to write than all the previous ones.