Chapter Seven: Wonder
Marik's prayers had not been answered. His head throbbed with pain when he realized that there was a full scale murder investigation going on inside his apartment. The police had been there within hours of his dissapearence, he knew that meant that the neighbors had been questioned. Since Marik had not changed his residence after his Yami had been destroyed, they people living near him reported that he was violent and touched in the head.
The 'accursed neighbors' as Marik thought of them had also given the police a description of the Egyptian. This being as it was, he was handcuffed immediately and the tomb robber soon after. Marik waved hello to his usual police officer and walked along silently behind one named Joe. He was usually in the labs, so it was definitely a murder investigation.
Marik and the robber, who had switched with his hikari as they were being interrogated, were put in a joint cell number 888. Marik's headache had got nothing but progressively worse, and Ryou was scared of his own shadow. Marik looked down the hallway. He was in a part of the prison he hadn't seen before, which was unusual for him.
Clutching his forehead he looked over at Ryou with squinted eyes. That stupid boy was even more scared than normal. Looking again Marik realized that it was not the boy, but the robber who was in control. Marik whirled around to see a tall man with a key opening the door to their cell. There was something strange about him though. He wasn't in uniform. And the key was glowing.
Before Marik could say anything the man walked over to him and put the strange key to his forehead to pry into his very soul. The face of the Egyptian, with his blank eyes, and white turban horrified Marik. Then everything disappeared in a flash of light, and he knew no more.
Bakura inwardly shook with fear but showed nothing. This man was Shadi, the guardian of the seven melinium items. He was the one who made sure that they didn't fall into the wrong hands, and severed the hands that didn't hold them wisely. Bakura had stolen Pegasus' melinium eye at Duelist Kingdom but, having been a thief in his past lives, had escaped Shadi's persecution. Now there was nowhere to hide, and his deeds would finally catch up with him.
When the man in white robes released Marik's throat he tumbled to the floor wheezing and coughing. The glow of the key subsided and he turned his gaze toward the thief.
"You, robber." He addressed Bakura formally " You have committed many crimes in the past, enough to warrant a thousand deaths." The ancient spirit flinched as the other Egyptian said those words. This was it. He would die at last. The great thief whose head had a bounty greater than anyone could fathom, would be slain by a guardian of the tombs who sought nothing but justice.
Just as Bakura was expecting a final word of advice and the searing pain of a knife through the heart, he looked up to find the other man using his hands to open a portal in space. It would take whoever walked through it to another place, time, or even dimension.
"But-" said Shadi in his heavily accented voice " There is still a way to redeem your self. Will you take that responsibility?" Bakura jerked his head in what could be called a nod and sat there, to afraid to even move. He knew what he had to do. Standing up the tomb robber turned toward the choking Marik. That man's spirit would almost certainly be reincarnated the old fashioned way, rather than trapped for a mellinea. Certain souls had a strength that warranted that. It was a strength Bakura could only hope he would have.
"Stop." Shadi commanded as Bakura started to hurl himself into the darkness. " You do not yet know what you must do. Upon reaching the other side of the gateway you must find your elemental spirit. Afterwards you must bring a portion of it to the meeting of the forces. At the peak of time and space the spirits will be brought forth to fight with us the final battle. Now GO! For redemption, for sacrifice, and under the order of the phoenix I command you LEAVE!"
With that Bakura hurled himself through the portal, his white hair outlined sharply against the pitch of the abyss. Closing his eyes tightly his spirit sped through nothing as fast as it could, hurtling by thousands of would-be exits every second until, abrubtly- it stopped.
The exit loomed before him, a vacuum within the void, a flame within a fire. His body hit the ground with a loud thump. The smell of the earth floated up to his nostrils. Standing the robber looked about himself almost cautiously. He couldn't believe what met his eyes. Whereas he was almost expecting to be dumped into Hell, Bakura found himself in a paradise to beautiful for words.
Surrounding him in a never ending vigil, trees of an ancient realm watched over him with a silent stoicism unknown to man, their green leaves singing the forgotten songs of his fathers and theirs before them. Bakura gazed through the openings in the leaves at an unpolluted sky filled with stars that would shine forever. With the age old oaks surrounding him and the silver clad beeches to watch his back, for once in his five thousand year existence, Bakura felt at peace and at home.
Walking with an instinctive reverence through the part of the forest that not even creatures traveled, he came to a creek. Matrimony by name, the waters babbled of an age when nymphs and dryads roamed the lands and magic was commonplace. Before man claimed himself superior and began to hack and burn the forests. The sliver moon shone down on the waters with a holy light. The air smelled of fresh flowers, and on his rocky perch at the edge of the creek, colorful vines decorated the robber's vision.
The babble of the creek played backup to the chirping rhythm of the insects and the melody of the leaves. Occasionally the flapping wings of a bat would signal a crescendo to the wonderful music. Looking up through the break in the virgin forest caused by the creek to see the moon, leading the invisible orchestra in it's wondrous melody. It was something that cannot b described, something from a fairytale of the old days, when the ancient ones were young and the Earth was filled with magic and joye'de ' vivre.
Even to his thief's ears the small disturbance in the water was almost inaudible. Turning around slowly on the rock outcropping so as not to lose his balance, Bakura's eyes grew wide with and emotion that he could not place. A deer stood in front of him, slender ankles covered with the crystal water. Almost as tall as the thief was, the rack on it's head spread far to either side of an alert face with piercing eyes.
Bakura would've flinched had he not been paralyzed by the gaze of the stag. The muscles in the beautiful creature's neck rippled, and his flanks tensed as he started to canter forward. The hart stopped only a hair's breadth away from the ancient tomb robber.
He had been the silent guardian of the forest for as long as history could account for, and he was almost always alone. Through the melinia he had watched the sprawling forest be diminished to just a few hundred acres. He had seen the boar be killed, and the bear hunted down. He had watched the wolf retreat to the mountains from which their fathers came, and his own kin be slaughtered at the hands of two legged demons that jeered and hacked away at the forest. Now he had been sent this one. This white haired savior of sorts, to battle by his side.
Bakura's hands twitched at his sides. Something was beckoning him, begging him. It couldn't be heard or felt, but it was there as surely as he was. Slowly he began to hum a strange melody, then singing it without words. It was a haunting sound, both horrifying and beautiful at the same time. It would bring tears to any eyes, and spoke of a sadness that would never end and an anger that could never be quelled. The tomb robber's song filled the night and the trees' limbs began to sway in an arrhythmic dance to his voice.
Ryou watched in amazement at the scene unfolding before him from his own mind. He had never seen anything so beautiful and would never see anything to compare. As he reflected on it later, he remembered seeing small shapes dart in and out of the roots of trees. They may have been nymphs, awakened from an eternity of slumber by his Yami's song. Nymphs were amongst the first creatures to walk the planet. Back when every grain of sand on the ground was brimming with a life and power and joy of it's own-- something that was eventually known as magic-and words were unnecessary. Dance and song were used to communicate, and everything was pure. With the coming of the age of men, the Nymphs, Dryads, Merrs, Faeries, and all other forms of the ancient life mysteriously disappeared. Ryou didn't know this, but his Yami did.
Bakura blinked fiercely against the memories that were held within the ancient forest. The memories that were now his to guard, along with the haunting chorus that was the Earth.
Ryou watched his Yami in the way a small child watches a strange animal that they try to show compassion to before an adult jerks them back and shoos away the creature. He watched his Yami do something he had never seen him do before-cry.
As the pain and sadness of the memories flooded through Bakura-the betrayal of men, and the mindless urge to build cities, just to kill all that is green and good in the world-and it made him cry. The robber's shoulders shook violently as he shakily kneeled before the creature of Fae, as a knight would before his king, and for the first time in over five thousand years, Bakura knew what he was meant to do.
Marik's prayers had not been answered. His head throbbed with pain when he realized that there was a full scale murder investigation going on inside his apartment. The police had been there within hours of his dissapearence, he knew that meant that the neighbors had been questioned. Since Marik had not changed his residence after his Yami had been destroyed, they people living near him reported that he was violent and touched in the head.
The 'accursed neighbors' as Marik thought of them had also given the police a description of the Egyptian. This being as it was, he was handcuffed immediately and the tomb robber soon after. Marik waved hello to his usual police officer and walked along silently behind one named Joe. He was usually in the labs, so it was definitely a murder investigation.
Marik and the robber, who had switched with his hikari as they were being interrogated, were put in a joint cell number 888. Marik's headache had got nothing but progressively worse, and Ryou was scared of his own shadow. Marik looked down the hallway. He was in a part of the prison he hadn't seen before, which was unusual for him.
Clutching his forehead he looked over at Ryou with squinted eyes. That stupid boy was even more scared than normal. Looking again Marik realized that it was not the boy, but the robber who was in control. Marik whirled around to see a tall man with a key opening the door to their cell. There was something strange about him though. He wasn't in uniform. And the key was glowing.
Before Marik could say anything the man walked over to him and put the strange key to his forehead to pry into his very soul. The face of the Egyptian, with his blank eyes, and white turban horrified Marik. Then everything disappeared in a flash of light, and he knew no more.
Bakura inwardly shook with fear but showed nothing. This man was Shadi, the guardian of the seven melinium items. He was the one who made sure that they didn't fall into the wrong hands, and severed the hands that didn't hold them wisely. Bakura had stolen Pegasus' melinium eye at Duelist Kingdom but, having been a thief in his past lives, had escaped Shadi's persecution. Now there was nowhere to hide, and his deeds would finally catch up with him.
When the man in white robes released Marik's throat he tumbled to the floor wheezing and coughing. The glow of the key subsided and he turned his gaze toward the thief.
"You, robber." He addressed Bakura formally " You have committed many crimes in the past, enough to warrant a thousand deaths." The ancient spirit flinched as the other Egyptian said those words. This was it. He would die at last. The great thief whose head had a bounty greater than anyone could fathom, would be slain by a guardian of the tombs who sought nothing but justice.
Just as Bakura was expecting a final word of advice and the searing pain of a knife through the heart, he looked up to find the other man using his hands to open a portal in space. It would take whoever walked through it to another place, time, or even dimension.
"But-" said Shadi in his heavily accented voice " There is still a way to redeem your self. Will you take that responsibility?" Bakura jerked his head in what could be called a nod and sat there, to afraid to even move. He knew what he had to do. Standing up the tomb robber turned toward the choking Marik. That man's spirit would almost certainly be reincarnated the old fashioned way, rather than trapped for a mellinea. Certain souls had a strength that warranted that. It was a strength Bakura could only hope he would have.
"Stop." Shadi commanded as Bakura started to hurl himself into the darkness. " You do not yet know what you must do. Upon reaching the other side of the gateway you must find your elemental spirit. Afterwards you must bring a portion of it to the meeting of the forces. At the peak of time and space the spirits will be brought forth to fight with us the final battle. Now GO! For redemption, for sacrifice, and under the order of the phoenix I command you LEAVE!"
With that Bakura hurled himself through the portal, his white hair outlined sharply against the pitch of the abyss. Closing his eyes tightly his spirit sped through nothing as fast as it could, hurtling by thousands of would-be exits every second until, abrubtly- it stopped.
The exit loomed before him, a vacuum within the void, a flame within a fire. His body hit the ground with a loud thump. The smell of the earth floated up to his nostrils. Standing the robber looked about himself almost cautiously. He couldn't believe what met his eyes. Whereas he was almost expecting to be dumped into Hell, Bakura found himself in a paradise to beautiful for words.
Surrounding him in a never ending vigil, trees of an ancient realm watched over him with a silent stoicism unknown to man, their green leaves singing the forgotten songs of his fathers and theirs before them. Bakura gazed through the openings in the leaves at an unpolluted sky filled with stars that would shine forever. With the age old oaks surrounding him and the silver clad beeches to watch his back, for once in his five thousand year existence, Bakura felt at peace and at home.
Walking with an instinctive reverence through the part of the forest that not even creatures traveled, he came to a creek. Matrimony by name, the waters babbled of an age when nymphs and dryads roamed the lands and magic was commonplace. Before man claimed himself superior and began to hack and burn the forests. The sliver moon shone down on the waters with a holy light. The air smelled of fresh flowers, and on his rocky perch at the edge of the creek, colorful vines decorated the robber's vision.
The babble of the creek played backup to the chirping rhythm of the insects and the melody of the leaves. Occasionally the flapping wings of a bat would signal a crescendo to the wonderful music. Looking up through the break in the virgin forest caused by the creek to see the moon, leading the invisible orchestra in it's wondrous melody. It was something that cannot b described, something from a fairytale of the old days, when the ancient ones were young and the Earth was filled with magic and joye'de ' vivre.
Even to his thief's ears the small disturbance in the water was almost inaudible. Turning around slowly on the rock outcropping so as not to lose his balance, Bakura's eyes grew wide with and emotion that he could not place. A deer stood in front of him, slender ankles covered with the crystal water. Almost as tall as the thief was, the rack on it's head spread far to either side of an alert face with piercing eyes.
Bakura would've flinched had he not been paralyzed by the gaze of the stag. The muscles in the beautiful creature's neck rippled, and his flanks tensed as he started to canter forward. The hart stopped only a hair's breadth away from the ancient tomb robber.
He had been the silent guardian of the forest for as long as history could account for, and he was almost always alone. Through the melinia he had watched the sprawling forest be diminished to just a few hundred acres. He had seen the boar be killed, and the bear hunted down. He had watched the wolf retreat to the mountains from which their fathers came, and his own kin be slaughtered at the hands of two legged demons that jeered and hacked away at the forest. Now he had been sent this one. This white haired savior of sorts, to battle by his side.
Bakura's hands twitched at his sides. Something was beckoning him, begging him. It couldn't be heard or felt, but it was there as surely as he was. Slowly he began to hum a strange melody, then singing it without words. It was a haunting sound, both horrifying and beautiful at the same time. It would bring tears to any eyes, and spoke of a sadness that would never end and an anger that could never be quelled. The tomb robber's song filled the night and the trees' limbs began to sway in an arrhythmic dance to his voice.
Ryou watched in amazement at the scene unfolding before him from his own mind. He had never seen anything so beautiful and would never see anything to compare. As he reflected on it later, he remembered seeing small shapes dart in and out of the roots of trees. They may have been nymphs, awakened from an eternity of slumber by his Yami's song. Nymphs were amongst the first creatures to walk the planet. Back when every grain of sand on the ground was brimming with a life and power and joy of it's own-- something that was eventually known as magic-and words were unnecessary. Dance and song were used to communicate, and everything was pure. With the coming of the age of men, the Nymphs, Dryads, Merrs, Faeries, and all other forms of the ancient life mysteriously disappeared. Ryou didn't know this, but his Yami did.
Bakura blinked fiercely against the memories that were held within the ancient forest. The memories that were now his to guard, along with the haunting chorus that was the Earth.
Ryou watched his Yami in the way a small child watches a strange animal that they try to show compassion to before an adult jerks them back and shoos away the creature. He watched his Yami do something he had never seen him do before-cry.
As the pain and sadness of the memories flooded through Bakura-the betrayal of men, and the mindless urge to build cities, just to kill all that is green and good in the world-and it made him cry. The robber's shoulders shook violently as he shakily kneeled before the creature of Fae, as a knight would before his king, and for the first time in over five thousand years, Bakura knew what he was meant to do.