"Echoes Long Forgotten"
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Disclaimer: I do not pretend to own YuGiOh! ...well okay, so maybe I do… but that is another issue entirely! "The Fall of the House of Usher," originally written by Edgar Allen Poe, and then made into a movie starring Vincent Price, are both works of art and genius that I will probably never be able to fully comprehend, much less possess. This is my attempt to explain their meanings…
Warning: Includes Shounen-ai, so if you in any way disagree with such then I suggest you take the smart option and not read. If you happen to in particularly have a dislike towards Ryou/Bakura goodness, then this story is definitely not for you!
Ratings: PG-13 for now, subject to rise in later chapters, and I refuse to be responsible for my strange (and sadly yes somewhat perverted) sense of humor.
Genre: Will mostly be Horror/Supernatural but may include a twisted sense of Romance/Adventure at will and I tried my best to add a little suspense to the mix, but no promises…
Summary: Bakura's past may not be the only evil to worry about anymore; it seems as though Ryou has a few well-kept family secrets of his own. When summoned back to his homeland of Great Britain, what surprises lurk in the shadows awaiting him? Trapped in a haunted mansion, he finds a link to a past he never knew about, along with powers he never knew he possessed, and a discovery of a host of unnatural forces that do not seem to be working in his favor. What would it take to scare a 5,000-year-old Tomb Robber? This just might do it…
General: /Hikari to Yami/, //Yami to Hikari//, italics indicate snippets from book, 'thoughts', "speech," ((author notes))
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"We were born as one, and one we shall remain. Distance cannot break our bond, nor time bring forgetfulness. And when one ceases to exist, the other will too."
-Extract from Forbidden Memories by Jamila Gavin
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Prologue:
During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.
Ryou sighed as he finished reading the first paragraph. He took the opportunity to peer out of the taxicab window tentatively. In vain, he searched to catch a glimpse through the rain-blurred glass, checking to see if they were somehow any closer than they had been two minutes ago. Still it was the same as always; there was just no way to judge distance by the identical-looking countryside of green grass and rolling hills.
It was a bit dark outside, reflecting the swollen sky with its angry grayish clouds, and every once in awhile, as if to confirm their power, he hears them protesting loudly by way of thunderous explosions and jagged displays of lightning.
The day was starting to look as dejected and gloomy as the one portrayed in the passage. The rain poured down from the sky feverishly, a common phenomenon in the month of August, but still making the day an unbearably lonely one.
Sighing, he glanced back down at the book lying open in his lap, barely able to make out the words anymore. Although he has tried to start the passage several times in succession now, Ryou has yet to read pass the first few lines. Impatience riddled with excitement and to a somewhat lesser extent anxiety, served to make focus next to impossible.
The reading assignment for his English class is to read Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of The House of Usher" by Monday. Considering that he has one month before his return to perform this task, he wisely chooses to practice his procrastination skills with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Being a short story, it should not take too long to finish anyway; the report could wait.
Poe was a famous old American author. Ryou personally used to read his books all the time when he was little and lived in England, although he has yet to read this story in particular… Poe's tales were usually chilling and gruesome, often combining both to depict the vilest aspects of human nature and choices…
'Bakura could even enjoy this,' he thought to himself slightly amused, making sure a mental block was forever present between them, but the reflection held a profound sense of melancholy as well…
The action of hiding his thoughts was unnecessary. After all, Bakura never really paid any attention to what went on in his life, or heeded a word he said to the spirit…
He simply did not care.
'I am not so certain he's even aware we're in the British Isles now.'
He managed somehow to crack a small smile at that, the hint of mockery, but it ended coming closer to a smirk than anything else, and then that too faded away with his next musings.
It was not that his Yami hated him exactly; it happened to be a case of the opposite … it was in fact a circumstance of absolute indifference.
Indifference…the farthest from hate, the farthest from love, the farthest from any emotion towards him period.
Moreover, the days Ryou could stand such directed at him were extremely rare, his patience growing terribly thin, yet he kept up his side of the unspoken agreement between them… silence, however uncomfortable.
In any case, they just shared a body not a life.
He started suddenly, glancing down at the book whilst he heard the rustling of papers like a whisper, and shook his head ruefully. No, the truth was that the Tomb Robber knew all too well and had been agitated ever since they left Japan.
Whining is beneath Yami no Bakura of course, but snarling complaints and demanding to return home does not presently match that category. Far from it in fact, as he is currently hurling insults and curses furiously in any language he can think of. Yes, he's cranky, and in his Hikari's opinion, throws a fit comparable to any seven-year-old child's best tantrum.
In Ryou's defense, he had tried before to explain what was happening, why it was so imperative that they leave immediately. He had tried many, many times over but as always, the five-thousand year old spirit chooses instead to ignore him and his words.
Sometimes Ryou tends to forget that he exists only for convenience; otherwise, he easily could well be air trying to talk sense into a brick wall.
Although, Ryou himself did not know all the particulars either… he had just received a phone call from his father.
That needs repeating.
He had received a phone call from his father… as in he actually talked to him…
This we shall hereby classify as highly unusual, not at all expected, and overall quite an amazing feat to come from the man… essentially speaking to his own son. Lastly mentioned is this fact being rather disturbing to say the least…
After all, poor Ryou was not so sure his father was able to remember his name.
How long had it been now anyway? One year… two… no wait… two and a half… yes, two and a half years since they last saw each other… or was it three already?
Nevertheless, he did actually remember Ryou's name that day! Which, needless to say, was a second shocker after the phone call…mind-boggling really… or was it the third since he also somehow managed to recall the house number… or maybe even the fourth since he apparently found a telephone somewhere in Egypt?
However, the most astonishing occurrence by far to happen is the news he brought with him.
The entire conversation proceeded closely as such:
"Hello? Bakura residence, may I ask whose calling?"
"Ryou?"
His eyebrows rose as he blinked once…twice… this man sounded so familiar somehow…
Insert here a terribly long pause, in which he used partly to recover from the initial shock of hearing his father's voice on the other line…
"Dad… what… I mean… why?" Ryou's voice sounded slightly strangulated, squeaking when he finally did manage speech…
There was another silence, this time his father's, as he cleared his throat gruffly before plowing on most uncomfortably…
"So… err… how have you been son?"
"F...fine I guess… you?"
"Alright I suppose..."
Bakura was sniggering heavily in the background by this time, his own little way of expressing delight at his Hikari's expense, even if he was not actually listening to the exchange between the two…
The poor boy just sighed at his other's newfound enjoyment by his discomfort. Finally, he stopped stuttering, rubbing at his temples he took an astute guess...
"Dad, what do you want?"
He asked the question quietly enough, so as not to covey his weariness at the direction the conversation was already heading; but he was sure his voice gave him away…
Ryou never meant to be rude to anyone; much less his only parent… but he figured it was best for both of them, not to mention a lot less painful, if they finished this as quickly as possible.
His father's sigh echoed his own as he took the subtle hint…
The demands he ended up giving he kept short and to the point, voice rather curt and taking Ryou completely by surprise.
Never before had his father asked so much of him… He actually wanted him to leave his home, school, friends, everything he had behind, and go live with an uncle he had never met before… and actually be happy because of it…
Apparently, this as-of-yet-unknown relative's wife had died not too long ago and would of course greatly appreciate company. Naturally, his father was far too busy for that kind of family expectancy… so logically, why not just send over his doubtlessly available son to fulfill said purpose instead...
Sounded like a perfectly reasonable plan to him; it just made sense. After all, it was not as though the boy had a life of his own to live or anything… heavens no!
The phrasing of course was not quite that blunt; to give Ryou's father his justification, he did present other viable excuses… reasons… too:
After all, who would not want the chance to revisit their homeland and place of
birth?
It was an honor and a privilege to learn about the true history of the Brits!
The family needed him…
It was only when he dared to mention anything about 'family values' that Ryou really caught on to the true meaning behind the discussion, and his father's pretense of concern for his 'better interests'…
He recognized the signs with a tinge of regret; in the end, his father was merely relaying a message to him. This conversation, everything so far actually, was just an obligation to which he had given his word to perform.
Nothing had changed.
He frowned slightly at the sad truth, shaking his head slightly, but finding himself no longer in denial anymore.
"Dad," he cut his father short in the middle of one of his very forced laughs. He continued softly, so as not to reveal his true feelings at the hidden betrayal.
"Dad it's alright, really I'll go...," he thought he would agree to anything just to end it.
"Ryou I..." but he never did get the chance to finish the sentence and Ryou never heard the attempt at an apology; for suddenly both were cut off, all there was on the other end was air. It was probably for the best.
Even now as Ryou thinks back, he cannot help but notice the irony he faced.
What had he really been expecting then anyhow?
'I miss you?' 'How has life treated you?' 'I'm coming home to see you?'
No, that would just be foolish… unfeasible… unthinkable.
"We're here lad," a voice, the cabby driver, interrupted his thoughts.
"Where are we?" a thoroughly confused Ryou asked, rubbing softly at his eyes before glancing once again out the window. He had only received plane tickets from his father shortly after the phone call, no other information entitled.
"Why 'tis the Adsum Mansion of course, your Uncle Nash will be awaiting your arrival by now…"
Ryou never heard him.
The stranger could not quite suppress a chuckle at the awed look on Ryou's face. He had frozen in mid-yawn when he first laid eyes upon the place he would be staying at for a month thereafter…
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A/N: So here it is, the prologue is finally completed. Actually, it has been that way for a while now. I really wanted to finish the story before I posted it this time! I tried to, but now that I have already read, reread, and edited a dozen times, I am convinced it will not get any better.
I am also eager to see if any of you like this idea; it has been rolling around in my head for weeks. Please review, any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and I should have the first chapter up very soon, praise be to four-day weekends!