The first chapter wasn't really a chapter. It was more of a prologue, but the chapters are as long as I try to allow. There will be an erratic pattern in sizes.
Ch. 1: Recurring Dream
"Time to be punished, Bakura."
"How do you know my name?!"
"I am the Hell Lord, I know all. I know thou are a 4400 (A.N.: estimated) year old spirit from Ancient Egypt. But beyond that, for rebelling against me, thou must feel pain..."
"No!! Don't...it actually hurts..."
"Aaaahhh!"
Aaagghhh
Ryou Bakura was scared out of his wits and he couldn't stop screaming.
"Bakura-san!"
His anguished yell cut of abruptly. His chemistry teacher was angry and concerned.
"Gomen-nasai, Kamiya-sensei," Ryou muttered. He mopped the sweat from his brow. That dream...it made him nervous beyond all reason every time he had it. He felt almost feverish, shivering involuntarily and feeling ill.
"Are you all right, Bakura-san?" his teacher asked, her brow knitted in worry. "You're very pale."
"I-I'm fine. Don't w-worry. I just need a moment. I'm very sorry..."
Bakura blushed deeply.
"Perhaps you'd like a cooling drink of water?" Kamiya-sensei queried.
Ryou nodded and left the room to go to the restroom, totally forgetting the fountain. He hated drawing attention to himself.
But he'd just realized that his yami had screamed too.
As he entered the boy's lavatory, he checked for other students, locking the door after he was sure he was alone.
Yami-sama?
...
Yami?
Bakura took a sharp breath from effort of trying to contact his yami and immediately coughed violently. The Pine-sol smell was overpowering and he hoped it wouldn't trigger the nausea in the deep pit of his stomach.
He sighed in annoyance. A dream shouldn't sicken him so.
R-R-Ryou...
Yami?
Ryou was puzzled. His Yami wasn't being his acrimonious self. He seemed scared of something. And the former tomb-robber never wore his fear like a badge.
What's the matter, Yami?
Th-that dream...i-it's been recurring, has it not?
I suppose it has been...
Has it changed at all?
Not really. Every time I have it, I can see more, and the pain...I can feel it more each time...
The Hell Lord is trying to break through...he wants me...
With a surge of mind power, Bakura entered his yami's soul room.
In his soul room, Yami Bakura was pale, sweaty, and trembling feverishly as Ryou had been. He was rocking with his arms around his legs and his eyes were extremely wide and frightened.
"Yami Bakura, what's the matter?! You look terrible..."
"I don't want to fight you, Ganlinmort..." the Yami muttered.
"Who's Ganlinmort?"
"NO! Don't hurt me! I'm sorry! Sorry..."
Bakura didn't know who could instill so much fear into his seemingly unflappable yami, but he didn't like it at all.
"Get a hold of yourself, Yami. I'm not Ganlinmort. It's me, Ryou Bakura..."
Ryou growled slightly.
"...You know, the weak little hikari..."
"...Hikari...Ryou?"
"Yeah. It's me."
Yami Bakura got to his feet as if nothing had happened.
"Ignore what I just did," the thief said, his voice unceremoniously high-pitched. "And forget you ever heard the name..."
"Ganlinmort?"
"Yes!"
"Not on your afterlife. I want to know all about it. Maybe I can help you..."
"I cannot tell you! Forget it!"
Yami Bakura roughly about-faced right into a small golden table. He hissed more at his ego's pain than his arm's injury.
"Yami, you're scatterbrained with fright. I've never seen you so scared...well, actually, I've never seen you scared..."
"You'll obviously give me no peace, I see. Sit down, hikari."
Ryou pulled a chair up and sat on it.
"A long time ago, nearly 1500 or more years ago, I had another host. He was some obscure relative of yours, a gallant knight in the king's court in England. Gideon Bakura, I believe his name was. Well, he didn't exactly like me, but we more or less made a deal and took it both ways—I'd get free rein once in a while, which was a good deal, for I'd been imprisoned so long...
"In Sir Bakura's time, there was an evil wizard of sorts, Ganlinmort..."
At this point, Yami Bakura felt prickles all over his body.
"Ganlinmort scares the piss out of me. He nearly destroyed my soul because he was in a bad mood. Sir Bakura went after him, and of course I had to save the knucklehead's body, so I fought Ganlinmort.
"That...thing...he knows how to torture a soul into sickness and insanity. He would have destroyed me if I hadn't let go of my ego and my emotions. In so doing, I was able to muster enough power to send him to his immolation—the Hell Hole Realm."
"The Hell Hole Realm? What's that?" Ryou asked.
"The Hell Hole Realm is a realm so difficult to open (and/or close) that virtually none possess the magical, spiritual, and physical prowess to control it. No one even really knows about it unless they are a powerful magician or alchemist. In history, only two people, other then him and I, knew how to access and seal it. I wouldn't even know of it myself if he hadn't been mouthing off on how he could almost open it already.
"It is a realm of ultimate pain; Mental, spiritual, and physical. 'If you move, you feel the burning inferno of hell. If you think without thinking, you feel its fiery wrath.' That's straight from the rare medieval scriptures that described it."
"I think I see why you feared him."
"No you don't. What I haven't yet told you is that the Hell Lord Ganlinmort is innate in the way of cursing. He can place more than one on you. And that is another reason why I fear him."
"Yami, he can't come back, right? You locked him in that Realm, so he can't right?" Bakura asked fearfully.
"I'm not so sure if he can't anymore," Yami Bakura said, face still pale as a sheet. "You don't age in the Hell Hole Realm..."
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"Master Malik, it is your turn to do the dishes."
"Oh, very well, Rishid."
Malik Ishtar took the small cloth, rubbed some soap in, and began cleaning the filthy plates before him.
"I have done them half the week, Malik," Rishid said, dropping his proper demeanor to his younger step-brother. "Brothers share chores..."
"Brothers also argue and roughhouse," Malik said, playfully snapping the rag like a whip and splashing Rishid.
"Ah!"
In retaliation, Rishid threw a wet sponge at Malik.
"Hey! No fair!"
Suddenly, the younger Egyptian's knees buckled and he yelled out in pain.
"Ow! Shit!"
"Master Malik!"
Rishid helped Malik to his feet, but the boy just collapsed again, shrieking in pain.
"Rishid, what did you put in that sponge?" he hissed. "Lead?"
"Nothing. It was not filled with but water."
"My head...it's gonna explode."
"I'll fetch Ishizu," Rishid said in concern.
Malik nodded, then passed out.
Brilliant lavender eyes opened halfway. Malik's fingers twitched and his lips curled in a smile as he got up.
"I'm coming...for you...King of Thieves."
So ends chapter 1. I know that I'm mixing the names up a bit between the anime versions, just try to run with it. If you need any clarification, just say so. And READ THIS BECAUSE I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE IGNORE WHAT I WRITE AND THEN PUT DUMB THINGS IN A REVIEW!!!!!!!
Sorry, I had to vent. I had a few reviewers like that, e.g. Ryou's sister Sakura and Ayari K. Crawford. Both characters are made up by my best friend and me. FANMADE! And Amane is the real! Read the manga!
I don't mean to insult, just state, so sorry if I offended anyone. I hope you still R&R!!!