...Right. On to the 23rd chapter. Damn, this has grown from the oneshot it
originally was. (Yami Shenya: You have said that before. Many times.)
Greatful thanks to Asahi Taiga (I didn't think there was something so exciting about that chapter..), Karenu-anime (am trying...), Betrayal (heh, here's the longest chapter in a long while...), Yume Takato (it wasn't such a long wait this time, was it? *is please with herself*), Siobhan (Shadi? He's about as old as the vampires. Maybe a dozen years older, though. I'm not sure...He's not exactly a slayer, but... You'll find out. Good that I lured someone to read the prequel! ^.~), Chibizoo (eh... I know. But I'm writing now, and trying to post the chapters quickly. You read Anne Rice because of me? Wow...), Tatsutahime (thank you!), Burning-Yami-Rain (Ishtar's meant to do that ^^), Queen Ali B (Lookie, I finished the 5th night! Ryou and Bakura really go through tough times, but I _think_ they'll be fine in the end. But don't trust me on this O.O Yep, Ishtar's the dominant one. Mokuba will get his time - as will Seto and Jou later. I kind of managed to neglect them in this chapter...And my name? I don't know, it just popped to my head one day. Well, I can try to give you some phrases if you tell me what kind of phrases...Ack, I seem to respond too long to your reviews....), Neko-chan (*huggles Yami Bakura and Malik* I prefer Malik over his yami, thank you! He's just mad enough... ^.~ *stops and looks carefully at Neko-chan, then hides behind Ryou* You wouldn't hit an innocent hikari, would you? I'm safe, right? *peeks over Ryou's shoulder*), Yamis Girlfriend (this is not so short, and I'm hoping it's not any worse either...), MaidenoftheMoon (*evil laughter* intense it is, and more so it will get! Just you wait until I write the rest of it...), Renee the Rabid Squirrel (*sweatdrop* Uh... Sorry. I had this wonderful idea on S/J and...it wouldn't work if I wrote those two on this one so... X.x Gomen nasai....), climhazzard (add Osiris somehow..? Well, this is a spoiler of the worst kind but you'll have to wait until the sequel for that) and Seventh Sage (aha, we're a bunch of cheaters, are we? ^.~ Shadi's supposed to be a bit scary, or at least...odd. Bakura! *huggles him again* Bakura's great!)
Slaying the Dreamer, chapter 23: Love of the Past
---Yami POV---
I was back at Yugi's again. Back at the house of my little angel. With Ishtar. Perhaps not the best thing I could have done, but I needed him, I needed his strength. No matter what might have happened in the past.
And he _had_ helped me already, he had given me his blood - in a way his strength. I don't know what possessed him to offer it to me, but I was glad to receive it, even though some of the memories I could have done without. There was so much pain, so much suffering and blood in my past. There was so much cruelty. I was cruel. Or at least had been. I had been worse than Ishtar was now, even colder. I tried not to think of it. I needed to focus on the present.
I could only hope that the others would forgive me, or at least cast the past aside enough for us to work together. And what I had seen of Bakura, the Thief, he wasn't willing to cooperate. Far from it. I could remember too well how he attacked me in the park I had been waiting for Yugi that one night.
I cast out my mind, searching for a certain presence. This was a trick I had learned on the first weeks of being a vampire. Yes, he was here, too close. The Soul Eater. He was in the same city. I withdrew back to my body, he could sense me more clearly when I was doing that mindsearch. I didn't know if he could sense me well enough even without it to know exactly where I was, but I didn't want to take chances.
"If we're here, then perhaps we should go in"
I looked at the tanned human by the Guardian's side. He was glaring at me, again. What had I done to make him so angry at me? Surely sharing a little blood wasn't enough to bring about this reaction? I clutched my Puzzle. That human was somehow making me nervous.
"Yami!"
I turned quickly, only to have my vision blocked by black and red softness. I embraced this short creature, smiling slightly to his hair.
"I was so worried! Where did you go?"
"I needed to... think things through. And feed. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving"
I had been so depressed I hadn't really cared. How could I have ever thougth about leaving this sweet human? He was my everything.
"That's okay. The important thing is that you're back now"
He was too forgiving. Too gentle. Surely the world would shred him apart if he ever ventured out. I could only wonder why that hadn't happened yet.
"Yes. I'm back and I won't go away again."
He looked up at me and smiled, his eyes shedding the light of love.
"Yeah yeah, can we go in now?"
I turned and frowned at Ishtar. He had no right to interfere with this. Yugi looked at the two tall boys, curiously regarding their nearly similar features. And the way the human was plastered all over the taller vampire.
"Are they like us? I mean...with Items? And such...things..."
I nodded, and sighed. I wouldn't really enjoy explaining all that bound us together, no matter how important it was. It was too complicated. We had known each other for too long. There were things that could never be explained, and better left so.
"Ishtar has the Rod. And Marik is his human."
A content expression came over Malik's face with those words. Was he so happy to be owned now? ...I guess that wasn't so bad. Considering the situation.
"They want to help me defeat Shadi..."
"Not necessarily defeat, you _do_ know that might turn out to be impossible... But at least spend the rest of my pathetic life with a touch of fun in it"
Ishtar grinned again. Couldn't he stop acting like that for a minute?
"If we give up already, there's no way we would live after encountering him. Have a little faith, would you? You're worrying the humans!"
It was true, I sensed how a spark of fear woke within Yugi, and even Marik seemed somehow uncomfortable. It was no wonder, they were only young humans, they shouldn't be given such worries.
"Who cares what the humans think?"
I cringed at the new voice. Not him, not now...
---Ryou POV---
We had come to a sudden stop. At first I was so dizzy I couldn't see, but then I noticed a familiar house nearby. We were at Yugi's?
The deep voice I knew so well commented from somewhere up on something I didn't manage to catch. I looked around, trying to identify the people around me.
Yugi...and that other one who looked like him... And two people I knew nothing about. I don't know why, but they gave me the creeps. Something about the way they were standing and watching with those disturbing eyes... It felt like they could see more than any of the others here.
"I do. And you should, too" the person beside Yugi spoke. He was commanding, as I remembered him to be. Perhaps more so, somehow.
"If you do not care about the humans, you'll soon be dead. Not that you will not be that soon anyway" One of the other two persons commented. The one with darker skin, and that madly flying hair. What did he do to them to get them stay like that?
"Didn't I tell you to be a bit more optimistic?"
"Are you threatening me?" My own vampire demanded haughtily. He didn't seem pleased. Not that I had ever expected him to be, after such a comment.
"No, I'm not threatening you. I'm merely stating the obvious. Shadi will catch you with _that_ attitude"
"Would you shut up about that already? We have to _try_!" Yugi's companion seemed to think that this was very important. Perhaps it was. I didn't know what they were talking about. I leaned against Bakura, wishing to be somewhere else.
"I'll try, I just don't necessarily think that we'll survive that try"
"_No_ one will catch me! If you don't happen to remember, I even survived all the traps in Pharaoh Akunamkanon's [1] grave! No ordinary thief could have achieved that feat!" Bakura was comforting, even if he was angry. He wasn't angry at me... I looked up to him and quickly averted my eyes, they were glowing with the desire to kill someone.
"Dream on. I can remember a certain night when I -" Trying to soothe my mind, I looked at the tanned person again. He looked...mischievous. Persons who sounded that crazy didn't have a right to look mischievous. It made me think what the might end up doing.
"That's it! No more of that night, I told you I let you catch me on purpose!"
"What night would this be?"
"You just keep saying that..." He still didn't sound any more sane than before. Perhaps less so.
"You weren't there, Pharaoh. Thank the gods, you would have started preaching about how vampires aren't supposed to be together, once again" Pharaoh? Why was Bakura calling him a pharaoh?
"I don't preach!"
"Yes you do. And Bakura, if I remember correctly you were screaming bloody murder when I caught you"
"It was an act!"
"I resent that statement. Take it back" The haughty tone seemed natural to the slightly taller version of Yugi. A pharaoh? I shook my head. Perhaps this was a bit too weird for me.
"I was still supposed to be depressed over Yami, what did you expect?"
"Like hell I am. You still can't take the truth about yourself, it seems" Ouch. This 'pharaoh' guy should have known better than to say that to my vampire.
I looked at the three with wide eyes. What was this..? Glancing at Yugi and the third one left out of the conversation, I noticed them to be equally baffled, both looking back and forth between those quarreling...people.
Now that I though on it, they all had a certain dangerous aura around them... And the way they spoke...could it be possible that the three were vampires, all of them?
It would make sense, there was a resemblance between Yugi and...Yami? and between those two others, just like me and Bakura looked the same. What was going on here?
Suddenly the third human stepped toward the one that looked somewhat like him, and raised his hands.
"We are getting nowhere if you keep fighting like that. Whatever happened is in the past now, don't you think it's time to forget and move on?"
Bakura snorted, casting a cold look on him.
"You are one to talk, you weren't there. Past is why we are here, show a little respect for your elders!"
"Show a little respect to _my_ human!"
"Make me"
The words were delivered in a low and malicious voice, his eyes glinting red and the Ring suddenly seeming to glow with a life of its own. This wasn't good.
The other vampire took out a long, golden stick with some kind of a golden sphere with wings on the other end of it, the aura of danger around him magnifying greatly. The...thing seemed to have the same kind of glint than the Ring. This definitely wasn't good.
Yami's stance seemed to change, he was somehow ready to fight now. The Puzzle hanging from a chain glowed softly in the dark night. I could see a faint outline of...something on his forehead. Oh no... I felt ready to bolt to a safer place. Really, I should go home. No use getting involved in a supernatural fight. Someone please stop this...?
"I will not allow you to ruin our chance of survival. Calm down. Save your strength to fight the Soul Eater."
"You're one to talk! The one who knew best what was coming was you, yet what do you do? Refuse to drink from humans, and then sleep for centuries! Take care of your own mistakes first!"
"...I already did. I have strength enough to match you, no matter how barely. Not to mention I was always the one in our group to come up with the strategies"
"Your memory is deceiving you. Everyone took part"
"That was later on, I was talking about the early times"
"That's hardly 'always'!"
"Please, would you calm down?"
My soft voice startled the vampires. I think I startled myself with it. All three of them were looking at me now. Their faces were expressionless. I couldn't stand still, I fidgeted nervously no matter how hard I tried to be still.
"You obviously need to solve things out between yourselves, but can't you do it _without_ killing each other?"
Bakura folded his hands over his chest. Yami started to speak, still showing no emotion.
"Your human speaks wisely, Bakura. We need to make peace among ourselves if we are to win"
"He's interfering where he shouldn't. It's none of his business"
"But it is"
The third vampire decided to speak up.
"The humans are a part of this as much as we are. Although the Soul Eater might not be after them, they will still be affected."
"Nonsense. They have nothing to do with this"
"But they have... I have a confession to make"
Everyone's attention turned to him, even Bakura eyed him, grudgingly interested.
"When I was a human... I saw visions. Prophecies. Most of them were meaningless, small things that have passed long since. But...once I had a vision about a certain scroll and its whereabouts. The prophecy. About us. I was so obsessed I searched it out and read it."
"So you brought it to my palace?"
"Yes. But there's more. What I brought wasn't all of it. Immediately when I found the darned thing I read it"
"You already mentioned that"
"Would you let me finish?"
After a small silence he continued.
"I was so shocked about a part of it that I ripped it apart."
"What?!"
After the short exclamation a shocked silence fell. I felt uncomfortable. What prophecy? Why was it so important?
"You... you ripped a sacred prophecy? How could you do that?"
"...I was very young. I didn't like what I read."
"Do you remember what it said?"
"I couldn't forget it. It's like the words were carved into my mind with a hot knife. 'Half and half, dark and light. One needs the other to live, the other needs the other to stay sane. Dark presence of the three ancient ones will taint the innocence, yet nurture it.'"
My mind was overworking tonight, it seemed. It refused to grasp the full meaning of that, though it gave me a horrid feel of destiny that I couldn't avoid.
Yugi scuffled closer to Yami, looking lost.
"What exactly does that mean?"
Yami looked away from him, refusing to give an answer.
"I think it says that you three are going to die if we die. As simple as that"
Bakura's words hit me like a lightning, although not from a clear sky. The sky of my mind had stormed over some time ago.
I gave a little yelp and stumbled forward to support myself on my scary vampire's back. No no no, this was absolute unacceptable! What was the thing about them dying, I wanted him to be around! Not that I was so fond of dying myself...
The vampire sighed impatiently, but I disregarded it. I needed to feel him now, even if it annoyed him... I needed his support. I needed his strength.
And he wasn't willing to give it to me.
---Marik POV---
I looked at my hot vampire companion. Was he serious? He really looked like it.
"So...basically our hope of living lies with you three?"
Ishtar nodded gravely. I had never seen him so serious... Something in me exploded.
"Then what the fuck do you think you're doing fighting like that?! I can tell you, I have no desire to die just yet!"
He glanced at me.
"Really? It didn't seem like that when I first came to your house. You were so weak from losing blood that you could have easily died!"
I shuddered. Did he have to remind me?
"Now... Don't mind me, I'm just angry at those two. I didn't mean to..."
Worried eyes looked down at me, framed by platinum colored hair and his dark skin.
"It's okay..."
He planted a small kiss on my mouth, obviously soothed by those simple words.
"Perhaps we should go on our own ways for tonight yet and get back here tomorrow. I mean the next time sun falls below the horizon. It would give us all time to think about our motives and be with the humans. We might need those memories when Shadi shows up"
"I'm not going anywhere with that human anymore."
The flat out refusal confused me. I could feel something was wrong with those two, but... I hadn't been expecting that. The way the white-haired boy clung to the equally white-haired vampire spoke of deep caring, or perhaps of deep need for the other. Could it be possible that Bakura didn't return his feelings in any way? I found it hard to believe, despite what I had seen and heard tonight.
"Are you _still_ refusing to feel anything but hatred? Get over it. Past is past."
/What the heck happened?/
//It's for him to tell. But it was thousands of years ago//
I was surprised to put it mildly when I heard Ishtar's response echo in my mind.
/What...?/
//Never mind. You just projected your thoughts to me, that's all. Nothing out of the ordinary. Happens to some people around vampires//
"Well _excuse_ me..."
"Bakura. I do not want the past to bother you. I'm sorry for what I did"
"You're a bit late for that"
"I hope you can forgive me..."
"Forgive you?! I loved you, and you _dared_ to... Forget it. I'm gone. Beware of Shadi; he nearly got me a while ago. Look after the human"
With that he was simply...gone. Disappeared. Like he never even was there. The boy who looked so much like him stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. He looked confused. I turned my attention to Yami.
He stood there, holding Yugi tightly, eyes tightly shut.
I could feel Ishtar's arms snake around me gently.
"I think we should all stay together until this little matter with the Soul Eater is finished. That way we'll be less vulnerable."
Yami didn't even look up at Ishtar's voice, but Yugi nodded sadly.
---
[1] Akunamkanon is Yami's father. At least according to the site I got that from *hoping it really is right*
AN: *giggle* A request fic or picture for the one that realizes first what mistake the vampires made! I'm not telling where they made it, though, you'll have to figure it out completely by yourself... I wonder if anyone actually gets it (or reads this note)...? Next chapter should be up in four days. Please review!
(Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this fic after I started reposting it. I will respond to you in the next chapter, the new one. Hopefully it won't be such a long time away - the above note was obviously written when I first posted this chapter)
Greatful thanks to Asahi Taiga (I didn't think there was something so exciting about that chapter..), Karenu-anime (am trying...), Betrayal (heh, here's the longest chapter in a long while...), Yume Takato (it wasn't such a long wait this time, was it? *is please with herself*), Siobhan (Shadi? He's about as old as the vampires. Maybe a dozen years older, though. I'm not sure...He's not exactly a slayer, but... You'll find out. Good that I lured someone to read the prequel! ^.~), Chibizoo (eh... I know. But I'm writing now, and trying to post the chapters quickly. You read Anne Rice because of me? Wow...), Tatsutahime (thank you!), Burning-Yami-Rain (Ishtar's meant to do that ^^), Queen Ali B (Lookie, I finished the 5th night! Ryou and Bakura really go through tough times, but I _think_ they'll be fine in the end. But don't trust me on this O.O Yep, Ishtar's the dominant one. Mokuba will get his time - as will Seto and Jou later. I kind of managed to neglect them in this chapter...And my name? I don't know, it just popped to my head one day. Well, I can try to give you some phrases if you tell me what kind of phrases...Ack, I seem to respond too long to your reviews....), Neko-chan (*huggles Yami Bakura and Malik* I prefer Malik over his yami, thank you! He's just mad enough... ^.~ *stops and looks carefully at Neko-chan, then hides behind Ryou* You wouldn't hit an innocent hikari, would you? I'm safe, right? *peeks over Ryou's shoulder*), Yamis Girlfriend (this is not so short, and I'm hoping it's not any worse either...), MaidenoftheMoon (*evil laughter* intense it is, and more so it will get! Just you wait until I write the rest of it...), Renee the Rabid Squirrel (*sweatdrop* Uh... Sorry. I had this wonderful idea on S/J and...it wouldn't work if I wrote those two on this one so... X.x Gomen nasai....), climhazzard (add Osiris somehow..? Well, this is a spoiler of the worst kind but you'll have to wait until the sequel for that) and Seventh Sage (aha, we're a bunch of cheaters, are we? ^.~ Shadi's supposed to be a bit scary, or at least...odd. Bakura! *huggles him again* Bakura's great!)
Slaying the Dreamer, chapter 23: Love of the Past
---Yami POV---
I was back at Yugi's again. Back at the house of my little angel. With Ishtar. Perhaps not the best thing I could have done, but I needed him, I needed his strength. No matter what might have happened in the past.
And he _had_ helped me already, he had given me his blood - in a way his strength. I don't know what possessed him to offer it to me, but I was glad to receive it, even though some of the memories I could have done without. There was so much pain, so much suffering and blood in my past. There was so much cruelty. I was cruel. Or at least had been. I had been worse than Ishtar was now, even colder. I tried not to think of it. I needed to focus on the present.
I could only hope that the others would forgive me, or at least cast the past aside enough for us to work together. And what I had seen of Bakura, the Thief, he wasn't willing to cooperate. Far from it. I could remember too well how he attacked me in the park I had been waiting for Yugi that one night.
I cast out my mind, searching for a certain presence. This was a trick I had learned on the first weeks of being a vampire. Yes, he was here, too close. The Soul Eater. He was in the same city. I withdrew back to my body, he could sense me more clearly when I was doing that mindsearch. I didn't know if he could sense me well enough even without it to know exactly where I was, but I didn't want to take chances.
"If we're here, then perhaps we should go in"
I looked at the tanned human by the Guardian's side. He was glaring at me, again. What had I done to make him so angry at me? Surely sharing a little blood wasn't enough to bring about this reaction? I clutched my Puzzle. That human was somehow making me nervous.
"Yami!"
I turned quickly, only to have my vision blocked by black and red softness. I embraced this short creature, smiling slightly to his hair.
"I was so worried! Where did you go?"
"I needed to... think things through. And feed. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving"
I had been so depressed I hadn't really cared. How could I have ever thougth about leaving this sweet human? He was my everything.
"That's okay. The important thing is that you're back now"
He was too forgiving. Too gentle. Surely the world would shred him apart if he ever ventured out. I could only wonder why that hadn't happened yet.
"Yes. I'm back and I won't go away again."
He looked up at me and smiled, his eyes shedding the light of love.
"Yeah yeah, can we go in now?"
I turned and frowned at Ishtar. He had no right to interfere with this. Yugi looked at the two tall boys, curiously regarding their nearly similar features. And the way the human was plastered all over the taller vampire.
"Are they like us? I mean...with Items? And such...things..."
I nodded, and sighed. I wouldn't really enjoy explaining all that bound us together, no matter how important it was. It was too complicated. We had known each other for too long. There were things that could never be explained, and better left so.
"Ishtar has the Rod. And Marik is his human."
A content expression came over Malik's face with those words. Was he so happy to be owned now? ...I guess that wasn't so bad. Considering the situation.
"They want to help me defeat Shadi..."
"Not necessarily defeat, you _do_ know that might turn out to be impossible... But at least spend the rest of my pathetic life with a touch of fun in it"
Ishtar grinned again. Couldn't he stop acting like that for a minute?
"If we give up already, there's no way we would live after encountering him. Have a little faith, would you? You're worrying the humans!"
It was true, I sensed how a spark of fear woke within Yugi, and even Marik seemed somehow uncomfortable. It was no wonder, they were only young humans, they shouldn't be given such worries.
"Who cares what the humans think?"
I cringed at the new voice. Not him, not now...
---Ryou POV---
We had come to a sudden stop. At first I was so dizzy I couldn't see, but then I noticed a familiar house nearby. We were at Yugi's?
The deep voice I knew so well commented from somewhere up on something I didn't manage to catch. I looked around, trying to identify the people around me.
Yugi...and that other one who looked like him... And two people I knew nothing about. I don't know why, but they gave me the creeps. Something about the way they were standing and watching with those disturbing eyes... It felt like they could see more than any of the others here.
"I do. And you should, too" the person beside Yugi spoke. He was commanding, as I remembered him to be. Perhaps more so, somehow.
"If you do not care about the humans, you'll soon be dead. Not that you will not be that soon anyway" One of the other two persons commented. The one with darker skin, and that madly flying hair. What did he do to them to get them stay like that?
"Didn't I tell you to be a bit more optimistic?"
"Are you threatening me?" My own vampire demanded haughtily. He didn't seem pleased. Not that I had ever expected him to be, after such a comment.
"No, I'm not threatening you. I'm merely stating the obvious. Shadi will catch you with _that_ attitude"
"Would you shut up about that already? We have to _try_!" Yugi's companion seemed to think that this was very important. Perhaps it was. I didn't know what they were talking about. I leaned against Bakura, wishing to be somewhere else.
"I'll try, I just don't necessarily think that we'll survive that try"
"_No_ one will catch me! If you don't happen to remember, I even survived all the traps in Pharaoh Akunamkanon's [1] grave! No ordinary thief could have achieved that feat!" Bakura was comforting, even if he was angry. He wasn't angry at me... I looked up to him and quickly averted my eyes, they were glowing with the desire to kill someone.
"Dream on. I can remember a certain night when I -" Trying to soothe my mind, I looked at the tanned person again. He looked...mischievous. Persons who sounded that crazy didn't have a right to look mischievous. It made me think what the might end up doing.
"That's it! No more of that night, I told you I let you catch me on purpose!"
"What night would this be?"
"You just keep saying that..." He still didn't sound any more sane than before. Perhaps less so.
"You weren't there, Pharaoh. Thank the gods, you would have started preaching about how vampires aren't supposed to be together, once again" Pharaoh? Why was Bakura calling him a pharaoh?
"I don't preach!"
"Yes you do. And Bakura, if I remember correctly you were screaming bloody murder when I caught you"
"It was an act!"
"I resent that statement. Take it back" The haughty tone seemed natural to the slightly taller version of Yugi. A pharaoh? I shook my head. Perhaps this was a bit too weird for me.
"I was still supposed to be depressed over Yami, what did you expect?"
"Like hell I am. You still can't take the truth about yourself, it seems" Ouch. This 'pharaoh' guy should have known better than to say that to my vampire.
I looked at the three with wide eyes. What was this..? Glancing at Yugi and the third one left out of the conversation, I noticed them to be equally baffled, both looking back and forth between those quarreling...people.
Now that I though on it, they all had a certain dangerous aura around them... And the way they spoke...could it be possible that the three were vampires, all of them?
It would make sense, there was a resemblance between Yugi and...Yami? and between those two others, just like me and Bakura looked the same. What was going on here?
Suddenly the third human stepped toward the one that looked somewhat like him, and raised his hands.
"We are getting nowhere if you keep fighting like that. Whatever happened is in the past now, don't you think it's time to forget and move on?"
Bakura snorted, casting a cold look on him.
"You are one to talk, you weren't there. Past is why we are here, show a little respect for your elders!"
"Show a little respect to _my_ human!"
"Make me"
The words were delivered in a low and malicious voice, his eyes glinting red and the Ring suddenly seeming to glow with a life of its own. This wasn't good.
The other vampire took out a long, golden stick with some kind of a golden sphere with wings on the other end of it, the aura of danger around him magnifying greatly. The...thing seemed to have the same kind of glint than the Ring. This definitely wasn't good.
Yami's stance seemed to change, he was somehow ready to fight now. The Puzzle hanging from a chain glowed softly in the dark night. I could see a faint outline of...something on his forehead. Oh no... I felt ready to bolt to a safer place. Really, I should go home. No use getting involved in a supernatural fight. Someone please stop this...?
"I will not allow you to ruin our chance of survival. Calm down. Save your strength to fight the Soul Eater."
"You're one to talk! The one who knew best what was coming was you, yet what do you do? Refuse to drink from humans, and then sleep for centuries! Take care of your own mistakes first!"
"...I already did. I have strength enough to match you, no matter how barely. Not to mention I was always the one in our group to come up with the strategies"
"Your memory is deceiving you. Everyone took part"
"That was later on, I was talking about the early times"
"That's hardly 'always'!"
"Please, would you calm down?"
My soft voice startled the vampires. I think I startled myself with it. All three of them were looking at me now. Their faces were expressionless. I couldn't stand still, I fidgeted nervously no matter how hard I tried to be still.
"You obviously need to solve things out between yourselves, but can't you do it _without_ killing each other?"
Bakura folded his hands over his chest. Yami started to speak, still showing no emotion.
"Your human speaks wisely, Bakura. We need to make peace among ourselves if we are to win"
"He's interfering where he shouldn't. It's none of his business"
"But it is"
The third vampire decided to speak up.
"The humans are a part of this as much as we are. Although the Soul Eater might not be after them, they will still be affected."
"Nonsense. They have nothing to do with this"
"But they have... I have a confession to make"
Everyone's attention turned to him, even Bakura eyed him, grudgingly interested.
"When I was a human... I saw visions. Prophecies. Most of them were meaningless, small things that have passed long since. But...once I had a vision about a certain scroll and its whereabouts. The prophecy. About us. I was so obsessed I searched it out and read it."
"So you brought it to my palace?"
"Yes. But there's more. What I brought wasn't all of it. Immediately when I found the darned thing I read it"
"You already mentioned that"
"Would you let me finish?"
After a small silence he continued.
"I was so shocked about a part of it that I ripped it apart."
"What?!"
After the short exclamation a shocked silence fell. I felt uncomfortable. What prophecy? Why was it so important?
"You... you ripped a sacred prophecy? How could you do that?"
"...I was very young. I didn't like what I read."
"Do you remember what it said?"
"I couldn't forget it. It's like the words were carved into my mind with a hot knife. 'Half and half, dark and light. One needs the other to live, the other needs the other to stay sane. Dark presence of the three ancient ones will taint the innocence, yet nurture it.'"
My mind was overworking tonight, it seemed. It refused to grasp the full meaning of that, though it gave me a horrid feel of destiny that I couldn't avoid.
Yugi scuffled closer to Yami, looking lost.
"What exactly does that mean?"
Yami looked away from him, refusing to give an answer.
"I think it says that you three are going to die if we die. As simple as that"
Bakura's words hit me like a lightning, although not from a clear sky. The sky of my mind had stormed over some time ago.
I gave a little yelp and stumbled forward to support myself on my scary vampire's back. No no no, this was absolute unacceptable! What was the thing about them dying, I wanted him to be around! Not that I was so fond of dying myself...
The vampire sighed impatiently, but I disregarded it. I needed to feel him now, even if it annoyed him... I needed his support. I needed his strength.
And he wasn't willing to give it to me.
---Marik POV---
I looked at my hot vampire companion. Was he serious? He really looked like it.
"So...basically our hope of living lies with you three?"
Ishtar nodded gravely. I had never seen him so serious... Something in me exploded.
"Then what the fuck do you think you're doing fighting like that?! I can tell you, I have no desire to die just yet!"
He glanced at me.
"Really? It didn't seem like that when I first came to your house. You were so weak from losing blood that you could have easily died!"
I shuddered. Did he have to remind me?
"Now... Don't mind me, I'm just angry at those two. I didn't mean to..."
Worried eyes looked down at me, framed by platinum colored hair and his dark skin.
"It's okay..."
He planted a small kiss on my mouth, obviously soothed by those simple words.
"Perhaps we should go on our own ways for tonight yet and get back here tomorrow. I mean the next time sun falls below the horizon. It would give us all time to think about our motives and be with the humans. We might need those memories when Shadi shows up"
"I'm not going anywhere with that human anymore."
The flat out refusal confused me. I could feel something was wrong with those two, but... I hadn't been expecting that. The way the white-haired boy clung to the equally white-haired vampire spoke of deep caring, or perhaps of deep need for the other. Could it be possible that Bakura didn't return his feelings in any way? I found it hard to believe, despite what I had seen and heard tonight.
"Are you _still_ refusing to feel anything but hatred? Get over it. Past is past."
/What the heck happened?/
//It's for him to tell. But it was thousands of years ago//
I was surprised to put it mildly when I heard Ishtar's response echo in my mind.
/What...?/
//Never mind. You just projected your thoughts to me, that's all. Nothing out of the ordinary. Happens to some people around vampires//
"Well _excuse_ me..."
"Bakura. I do not want the past to bother you. I'm sorry for what I did"
"You're a bit late for that"
"I hope you can forgive me..."
"Forgive you?! I loved you, and you _dared_ to... Forget it. I'm gone. Beware of Shadi; he nearly got me a while ago. Look after the human"
With that he was simply...gone. Disappeared. Like he never even was there. The boy who looked so much like him stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. He looked confused. I turned my attention to Yami.
He stood there, holding Yugi tightly, eyes tightly shut.
I could feel Ishtar's arms snake around me gently.
"I think we should all stay together until this little matter with the Soul Eater is finished. That way we'll be less vulnerable."
Yami didn't even look up at Ishtar's voice, but Yugi nodded sadly.
---
[1] Akunamkanon is Yami's father. At least according to the site I got that from *hoping it really is right*
AN: *giggle* A request fic or picture for the one that realizes first what mistake the vampires made! I'm not telling where they made it, though, you'll have to figure it out completely by yourself... I wonder if anyone actually gets it (or reads this note)...? Next chapter should be up in four days. Please review!
(Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this fic after I started reposting it. I will respond to you in the next chapter, the new one. Hopefully it won't be such a long time away - the above note was obviously written when I first posted this chapter)