A/N: last chapter up!!! Well, technically speaking it is the second-to-last one, because an epilogue will be up shortly. Make sure you read it – it is essential both for finishing off the story and paving the way for the sequel. This chapter was shorter than the last two, but you can't really blame me, seeing as 11,000 words takes a hell of a long time to think up.
By the way, I have found out how to pronounce Ryou Bakura's name!!! I have a Hong-Kong girl staying with my family during half term, and she's learning Japanese at school. From her, I've learnt 'Bakura' is actually pronounced Ba-kur-ra (the 'kur' rhymes with lure, not lore) so HA! The dub got it wrong! In the dubbed episodes, everyone pronounces Bakura Ba-KORE-ra, and it really pisses me off. And secondly, as to the pronunciation of 'Ryou' (Nearly everyone I know who is into Yu-gi-oh pronounces his name a different way, and is desperate to know the correct version) : it is said Re-oll (both syllables are stressed quickly, especially the second one). Apparently, according to my Hong-Kong friend, the 'u' in Japanese is pronounced like an 'l' (or was it the 'o'? I can't remember).
Personally speaking though, I'm going to carry on saying it the way I always have done, which is Rye-oo. (shrug) I just like it like that. Besides, I can't be arsed to change after so long.
Also, decided to up the rating for this story to an 'R'. This was only because I had a quick read through, and decided there were too many 'f-words' and too much violence generally for it to get away with being a PG-13.
Ouija Board: DEATH
Chapter Nineteen: Bolvangor
When Will woke up, the first thing he noticed was that it had snowed lightly during the night, and there was a light covering of it over their bags, like icing on a cake. He shook his head to dislodge the snow, which was caked in his hair and giving it a salt-and-pepper appearance.
The second thing he noticed was that Ryou and Bakura were gone.
………
Lyra found him staring at the empty sleeping bag as if it was a mirage. "…Where did Ryou go?"
"That's what I'm wondering."
"He probably went to the toilet or something," she said reasonably.
"But his bed hasn't been slept in since this morning. Look, it's covered in snow."
"Oh God." Lyra's eyes went wide. "Are you saying that…that he's disappeared or something?"
A shrug. "I dunno. Did you hear any noises or anything during the night?"
"No, I fell asleep really quickly." She looked almost guilty.
Yugi yawned and sat up. After informing him of Ryou's mysterious disappearing, Will repeated his question about whether he had heard anything last night.
"No. Kami-sama, what could have happened to him?"
Yami tried to comfort him, but he couldn't hide the fact that there was snow on Ryou's sleeping bag, and therefore he hadn't been using it. "Its okay, aibou. He probably just went for a walk or something."
"But-"
Yami glared pointedly at Will, before gesturing to his light, who was starting to look worried. "Shut up!" he hissed.
"Er, fine." Will lapsed into confused, slightly hurt silence.
Yami poked Malik until he woke up, letting out a screech of protest. "Hey! Stop it!"
His yami gave a tired laugh, which caused everyone to look at him. They hadn't realised he'd been awake already, but in fact he'd never got back to sleep since Ryou had last talked to him, and had been watching everyone as they woke up.
"Do you have a problem, Psycho?"
"Not at all," the other spirit replied vaguely. "Go ahead and poke him again. It's funny."
Yami shook his head in disgust. "Ra, you're impossible." As an afterthought, he added, "You didn't happen to see if Ryou went off or anything last night, did you?"
"No." Yami Malik didn't quite meet his eyes, a dead give-away if Yami had happened to be looking at him properly. Unlike the other two, he wasn't a good liar – lying called for a certain amount of subtlety, which wasn't one of the dominant traits in his nature.
Yami shrugged and turned away, accepting his answer. Malik was suspicious, however.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Malik tried to meet his yami's eyes, but the spirit looked very slightly away. It was enough.
"You do know something, don't you?"
The rest of the group stared at the yami, who shrugged. "Maybe."
"Tell me."
A yawn. Fed up with lying, the spirit said in a bored voice, "Why should I tell you?"
Malik thought for a moment. "…Because if you don't, I'll use the Rod to make you tell me."
Something flickered in his yami's eyes. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
"I'll do it," Yami said in a resigned tone. "How much do you want me to hurt him?" He ignored the look of horror on his aibou's face.
"Not too much."
"You bastards always have to gang up on me." Now he sounded like a fractious child.
"I don't particularly want to hurt you. But if you won't tell me what happened then I'll have to."
"You're mean. I hate you."
"I really don't care." Yami ignored the sudden change of mood - from angry psychopath to resentful child. He was used to it.
Malik felt the familiar nausea rising in his yami again and got an idea. "If you don't co-operate I won't let you back into your soul room. You'll have to stay out."
((That isn't fair. I'm about to throw up.))
(Then tell me quickly.)
"Fuck you!" the spirit yelled out loud.
Malik looked utterly bored. "Yami, I don't care what you think of me. I happen to hate you too. Now what happened last night?"
"Fine," his yami snapped. "Ryou thought there was someone hiding nearby, and went to have a look. He didn't come back. Now will you let me back in?"
"What time did this happen?"
"How the hell should I know? Sometime in the early morning."
"So he was gone over six hours and you didn't do anything? You didn't tell anyone?"
"Why should I?" He didn't mention that Ryou had asked him to wake the others after ten minutes.
"You are unbelievable," Malik pronounced in total disgust.
"I don't care what you think of me. I happen to hate you too." The words were delivered in a mocking, singsong manner that made Malik's blood boil.
"Fine, get in there. And it's only because I don't want to look at you."
The spirit instantly vanished, a satisfied smirk warping his features.
Malik sighed and started massaging his temples. "Sorry about him."
"Why should you be sorry? It isn't your fault." Lyra drew her furs more closely around her as she spoke. "Anyway, we need to concentrate on what happened to Ryou. Where was he last seen?"
"Over there." Malik pointed wearily. "But there isn't much point looking for tracks. It snowed last night, remember?"
Despite this, the girl insisted on going to look and see if there were any traces of where Ryou had been. There as a lingering scent on the air which made them all wrinkle their noses, and Yami explained it as being excess shadow power, the remains of when a large amount had been used. And a few steps away was the real prize: faint footprints in the snow. They were overlooked by a massive tree, which explained why the snow hadn't settled and removed them.
………
When Ryou woke up, his first thought was that he'd committed some sort of crime and been thrown into a prison cell. And although this wasn't actually true, he could be forgiven for thinking it – he was in a small room, no larger than five metres square, and the walls were slabs of thick, colourless concrete. There were also two important things missing: windows, and a handle on the door.
He got up from the bed he had previously been lying on (a bed which, from its filthy sheets, obviously hadn't been changed for a while) and after his mind had registered the lack of any obvious exit he sighed and sat back down again.
So I've been kidnapped now? Great.
Life just got better and better, he reflected wryly. But at least it was something to distract him from the fact that his yami was going –
Stop thinking about that.
He exhaled slowly and massaged his temples, as if by doing so he could somehow cleanse his mind of anything which was unpleasant to think. Needless to say, it didn't work. And as boredom and resignation began to set in, his thoughts grew more and more agitated, screaming at him to find a way out of this mess instead of sitting there like an idiot.
He was left alone for nearly another hour, and many would have argued that if his captors had had any sense they would have made it a day, at least. Leaving the prisoner alone and allowing him to wallow in thoughts of helplessness and self-pity was part of the softening up process, after which the victim becomes hopelessly depressed and less likely to put up trouble. Indeed, if there had been the time he would have been left in isolation until the next day. But time was short for the scientists of Bolvangor, and especially so for Bakura.
The door was opened noisily, rusty hinges audibly protesting at this outrage, and a man stepped in.
He was of average height, or perhaps a tad below it, with wide-set watery eyes and uninteresting brown hair which was just starting to thin and go grey. The white labcoat draped around his square shoulders proclaimed him to be 'Dr. H. Cooper'; however, he didn't come across as one of those comforting figures you see all the time in ER and Casualty, resembling more a mad scientist (or perhaps the apprentice) in a cheap horror film.
Anyway, something about him gave Ryou an instant aversion to him; perhaps it was the large gun crammed between his podgy fingers?
"Up. Now." His voice was decisive and invited no arguments, but there was a distinct undercurrent of wariness.
Ryou stood uncertainly, mouth half-opened in the process of forming a question. Dr. Cooper silenced him with a wave from the gun – the uncertain way he handled it showing that he wasn't half as at ease with it as he wanted to be.
"Move."
"Where am I?" Ryou blurted out.
"Lapland," the man replied brusquely, accompanying the answer with a slight tightening of his trigger-finger.
"Lapland? How did I get here? And-" as he suddenly remembered how- "you kidnapped me!"
"Actually," Dr. Cooper corrected, "I didn't. But that isn't the point. The point is that you are here, and will be staying here until further notice. And now you will be coming with me." His voice suddenly shook. "You try using any of those-those devil powers and I'll shoot you."
Ryou stared. "My what?" He took a step forward.
"Stay away! Don't come any nearer! You attempt to poison me with your evil, you devil spawn!" The words, nearly hysterical, were accompanied by a flick of the wrist as he crossed himself.
The white-haired teenager was tempted to make a dash for the door, half-open and forgotten, but he didn't like the way that gun was being waved around. This man, whoever he was - Doctor Cooper, his mind told him as it took in the name on the badge – could very easily panic and start shooting. He wasn't sure how effective shadow powers were supposed to be against bullets, (this was assuming he could even get them to work) and getting shot really didn't seem like a good idea.
His rabbit-daemon trembling between his legs, the scientist swallowed hard and indicated the door with his weapon. "Get out there. And don't try any…any funny stuff."
Thinking that perhaps it would be better to co-operate for now, at least until he got out of range of that gun, Ryou meekly made his way into the outside corridor. Dr. Cooper followed him, prodding him in the base of the spine with the gun-muzzle. Feeling like a war criminal being led to an execution, Ryou put up a hand and felt for the Millennium Ring. Its surface was icy beneath his fingers, and he held it like a good-luck charm as he was poked along the corridor.
"...What's in there?"
"Get away!"
Disregarding him, Ryou stood on tiptoes and peered through a glass window at the top of the door. He was just able to observe it led to a massive sports hall, where about thirty children were playing volleyball, and to register that they all had daemons (the continuous flick-flick-flick as they changed shapes like the camera flash from a persistent photographer) before a panicky Dr. Cooper seized his shirt and dragged him away.
"Who are they?"
"Shut up!"
"Why are they all here? Did you kidnap them too?"
"I told you to shut up!"
Ryou was about to ask another question, when the barrel of the gun was jabbed into his stomach. "Do I have to make you shut you up?"
He shook his head.
"Good."
…………
After what felt like hours they reached what seemed to be their destination. They had wound through so many corridors and staircases that Ryou had absolutely no idea where he was (not that he'd known that before though either).
Dr. Cooper stopped outside a door marked 'Private – Staff Only' and pulled out a string of grimy keys. The door slid open soundlessly, and Ryou felt the traces of unease that had slumbered inside him ever since he had woken up come alive with a growl.
This was a room so big it could almost be described as a chamber. Walls were aggressively whitewashed and the entire room so spotless there was something faintly obscene about it. Two steel cages squatted at the back as if lurking there. These were largely ignored by the people who bustled to and fro amid the indistinct babble of voices; one, a man laden with a clipboard, hurried up to Dr. Cooper while talking excitedly.
"We've just had an extraordinary breakthrough! The-" Having suddenly caught sight of Ryou, he broke off in mid-sentence and oogled him as if he were a celebrity.
"So the rumours were true! They did find a –"
Dr. Cooper pointedly put up a hand to cut him off. "What breakthrough?"
"Wha-ah, yes, that." The man seemed slightly disappointed that he was being made to digress from his excitement produced by seeing Ryou. "…We've just made a new discovery. We believe coating the blade in an alloy of manganese and titanium will yield far more favourable results than have been produced previously. Of course, before the intercision process was so messy, but now I predict the death rate will fall to as low as 40…"
"Excellent," Dr. Cooper murmured. All traces of fear when he had threatened Ryou earlier were gone, and his eyes gleamed in satisfaction behind the steel spectacles. "So the manganese absorbs the energy, I assume?"
"Of course. It is channelled through this pipe here, and into these tubes, ready to be stored for later use. The titanium coating also ensures there is a decreased rate of the child dying of shock, which is extremely convenient considering earlier results."
"But of course," the scientist murmured. "And- get back over here now." His remark was directed at Ryou, who had been slinking over to the door. "Don't make me hurt you. It would be an incredible waste of talent."
Ryou stopped almost guiltily, eyes moving back to the gun.
"Has this been tested yet?"
"No. Theoretically, it should work. But we arranged for a test to be carried out, just to make sure." He raised his voice. "Call in subject 8033!"
The steel doors hissed open and a skinny boy of about ten was ushered in, his mouse-daemon clutched in one grubby hand. The other hand held his trousers up, which were threatening to droop past his hips.
Dr. Cooper's voice now held a professional tone to it. Without looking up, he rapped out – "Name?"
"Tony Makarios," said the nurse beside him. Her voice was brisk yet toneless - she might have been a robot for all the emotion she showed. And her daemon was equally monotonous – a small white trotting dog with black eyes that should have been beady but were somehow blank.
"Thank you, Sister Clara." As he spoke Dr. Cooper ticked something off on the clipboard. "Ryou, pay attention to this. You may find it interesting."
"O-Okay." Ryou had been nervously eyeing the door; as the scientist addressed him he jumped slightly and looked guiltily around. The atmosphere in the room was fizzing with a tense excitement, and he picked up on this.
Tony Makarios was guided firmly into one of the steel cages. There was a fine mesh grid between this and the other one; Ryou watched silently as the little boy's daemon was taken in the mouth of another and pulled away from him towards the second cage.
"Where are you taking her?" Tony whispered. "Ratter…"
"She'll be fine," one of the nurses replied automatically. Ryou couldn't suppress a shudder as she spoke – the way her mouth snapped shut after the sentence was delivered reminded him all too well of a machine. Unsure as to what was happening, and wondering vaguely if he should do something about it, he watched in increasing unease as the boy tried to reach for his daemon but was pushed away.
"Give her back!"
Ratter was uttering tiny mews of distress as she struggled against the nurse's daemon's tight grip. In her agitation the little daemon flicked from shape to shape in a desperate effort to break free, changing so quickly her animal body was a blur. But the wolfhound-daemon hung stolidly on.
Suddenly it let out a shrill yelp and released its prisoner, who was now in the form of a porcupine. The wolfhound clawed madly at its mouth, trying to remove the quills embedded within. Ryou saw one of the nurses gasp and place a hand to her mouth, and realised that it was hurting her too. Tony's daemon was snatched up and seized by the scruff of the spiky neck.
The boy immediately ceased struggling, body going limp. "…No…you c-can't do that…it's wrong…"
Ratter was flung into the cage like a cast-off piece of clothing, and the door slammed after her.
"Commence separation process."
The man with the clipboard nodded and flicked a switch; Ryou noticed for the first time a heavy silver blade suspended between the two cages, edge glittering dully as it caught the light. It rose, so slowly, and then with a clank came whizzing down. As was fitting for such an event, there was a blinding flash of light.
Ryou opened his eyes slowly, and instantly wished he had not. In one of the cages lay Tony Makarios, slumped on the floor of his prison. In the other was his daemon, Ratter. But while he was unchanged, she had turned paler than smoke. As the white-haired teenager watched, she whimpered and tried to pull herself up.
"And there you go." The scientist sounded as if he had just pulled off a particularly impressive magic trick. "They are now separate entities."
"Excellent…" Dr. Cooper stared at them hungrily. "My congratulations." He made a cursory gesture to one of the nurses; she nodded coolly and removed Tony from the cage. His daemon was taken through into another room.
The scientist's gaze was transferred to Ryou, who was standing there with an appalled expression on his white face. "Interesting, yes? What did you think?" His tone was that of one commenting on the weather.
"'Interesting?'" Ryou repeated in a whisper. "It's sick…"
Unperturbed - "It is the Will of the Authority. Can you not appreciate the beautiful simplicity of it all? One cut, and now this little boy is free from sin." He smiled, before continuing. "I haven't told you why you are here yet, have I?"
A shake of the head.
"Silly me. You see, your little…antics last night came to the attention of three of our members of the Oblation Board. All the experiments we have carried out so far have been on children with daemons (indeed, we weren't aware that there were any other kind) and we've never encountered anyone with your kind of capabilities before. We appreciate that it isn't your fault that you possess these satanic abilities, which is why we aren't simply going to order you to be destroyed. And we also know about spirit of the Devil inside you, and that he is using you as an avatar."
"I…think you must have made some mistake…" Frightened now, Ryou began to look around for an exit. This place was starting to come across as housing some of the craziest people he had ever met.
"To continue: you're probably wondering why we showed you this experiment. Well, we've discovered recently that when a person and their soul are separated a tremendous amount of energy is released, and this energy can be put to many different uses, depending on what sort it is. For example, this thing you call shadow power –"
He got no further, for Ryou had suddenly made a bolt for the nearest door, moving in a panicked flurry of blue and white. His mind was screaming at him for being so blind – why hadn't he seen it earlier? They wanted to –
"Mmph!" The air was abruptly crushed out of his lungs as someone extremely heavy landed on top of him, pinning him to the floor. "Get off!"
"You are possessed by the Devil!"
"The hell I am!" Ryou writhed underneath him like an oxygen-starved fish, striving desperately to be free.
((Someone appears to be in trouble. Need help?))
(No! I can handle this! Besides, you aren't strong enough! It will just give them another target!)
Heatedly: ((I am strong enough. Now let me out. Are you so arrogant you won't even let me help you?))
(Yami-)
((Let me out.))
Ryou's vision blurred as his yami attempted to split off; he yelled (No!) and shoved him back.
((Do that again and I won't bother helping you. This is my body too, for Ra's sake.))
"Dammit!" The light clawed at the ground, trying to find a grip, as he was grabbed by the arms and pulled backwards along the floor. Fingernails scrabbled uselessly on the smooth tiles, producing a clicking sound that bounced around the walls before plunging into his eardrums. Someone gave him a kick to make him desist, making the room spin. As he concentrated on trying to get rid of the extra walls that had appeared in his vision, his yami made a massive effort and split off.
Ryou was seized by the wrists, and for a moment there was a frantic tug of war between his yami and their opponents before Bakura won and his light went flying forwards on top of him.
((This really isn't the time, Ryou.))
(Very funny.)
His arm nearly popped out of its socket as his yami yanked him roughly to his feet and shoved him forwards. ((The door's that way, you idiot.))
(I know!)
The light reached it a split second before him, nearly pulling off the door handle. (Oh crap!)
((It's locked?))
(Of course.)
((Fuck.)) Bakura shoved what little weight he had against the door; not surprisingly, nothing happened. ((Can't you use these shadow powers of yours to help us out? Considering they're the reason we're in this mess in the first place…))
(But I can't control them! They just come out whenever they want!)
His yami began banging his head against the wall in exasperation. ((And this is coming from the person who, when asleep, can send seven people to the Shadow Realm at the same time just by thinking about it, but when awake can't even open a door?))
(…I…suppose so.)
((Great.)) Eyeing the dozen or so scientists who were beginning to close in on them, Bakura tugged his deck from his pocket. "Summon Maneater Bug!"
The monster appeared, flickered, and vanished.
((I can't believe I can't even summon a Duel Monster anymore.))
Ryou let out a frustrated snarl and snatched the card off him. As soon as his fingers came into contact with it the Maneater Bug appeared again in a whirl of fangs and acid in front of them. "Attack them!"
((So you can't control your powers, hmm?))
(Some of the time.)
On seeing the monster, Dr. Cooper turned on another occupant of the room, who had so far been standing in the corner and trying to attract as little attention as possible. "Get rid of that thing now!"
"What?" the figure exclaimed. "I'm not helping you out any more than I have to! And in case you've forgotten, I happen to be on his side!"
Growling, the doctor gestured to one of the nurses, who held up a limp bundle of feathers and limbs by the neck. "I said, get rid of that thing now. Or I'll get rid of this thing instead."
The woman's eyes flickered to her daemon, and the pain reappeared in them. "Bastard."
The nurse's grip tightened, and the goose-daemon let out the tiniest possible whimper.
"Fine!" the woman screamed. Within a second the Maneater Bug exploded in a shower of rainbow sparks. Immediately, every scientist in the room, who had previously been edging away from it, charged to the door, which Ryou had managed to blow off its hinges a second before.
The aforementioned light was running down the corridor, followed by his yami and pursued by so many people it was ridiculous.
(Where do we go?)
((How about out of here?))
(Yes, but how?) Ryou's speech was abruptly broken off as he was grabbed by the shirt and bowled backwards for the second time that day. A moment later they were being crushed beneath a heap of fanatical scientists.
((Well, this is, need I say it, extremely uncomfortable.)) Even when he was being forced with the prospect of being physically torn out of his host, Bakura couldn't help but voice a wry comment.
They were both dragged back into the laboratory, Ryou struggling like a wild animal and his yami barely strong enough to put up a fight. Ryou was desperately trying to make his shadow powers surface again, but it was like they had been turned off – he simply couldn't get them to work. A blow to the head made him gasp and double up, and in that moment he was grabbed around the waist and pulled towards the cage. His yami made a wild lunge for him and their fingers touched for a fraction of a second, before they were wrenched apart, both flung to the ground and to their separate prisons.
White hands poked through the bars, straining to reach his other self. (Yami, you have to go back into the Ring!)
Bakura's body turned transparent, and then back again. ((It's like there's something in the way…it's holding me back…))
"Expected outcome?" Dr. Cooper asked loudly.
Another scientist, panting hard from the struggle, consulted the clipboard. "Taking into account the spirit's condition, it is likely he will die almost instantly. The boy will survive for approximately ten minutes, more than enough time for us to extract all needed energy, this so-called shadow power-"
"You can't do this," the woman whispered. "How many more children will die for the sake of Dust?"
"Enough, don't worry," Dr. Cooper snapped. "And be quiet, witch. Your complaining is becoming tiresome."
Ryou's head snapped round at the word 'witch.' "Serafina?" he exclaimed incredulously.
She met his eyes, and her gaze was filled with pain. "Ryou…I'm sorry…"
"How did you get into all this?"
"They made me tell them where you were," she whispered. "They said they'd hurt Kaisa…it was he who stole the alethiometer…"
"Bitch," Bakura spat.
"They made me!" Serafina screamed at him. "You don't have a daemon; you've no idea what it's like! I'd do anything if it meant stopping him from getting hurt!"
"Even betraying people who trusted you?" the Ring-spirit asked coldly.
"Yes." Casting a glance at Dr. Cooper, she mouthed at Bakura: Take off the Ring.
"Gold can be melted," the scientist interrupted calmly. "We don't have the facilities here at The Station, but I'm sure the bears will find a way. They can do astonishing things with metal." A nasty smile. "They'll do anything we want them to. Mrs. Coulter has Iofer wrapped around her finger tighter than her wedding ring. She still wears it, you know. Anyway, all this talk is amusing, but I think we will get on with the intercision. Seeing as the spirit only has a few hours left anyway, it would probably be kinder to give him a quick death."
Bakura clenched his fists.
(He is right, in a way. At least it won't be as drawn out as it could have been.)
((But I would have died being a part of you.))
(You could still take off the Ring. Then you won't feel anything.)
((And leave you to suffer alone, after all this? You underestimate me.))
Ryou gave a small smile. (You wouldn't have said that a few days ago.)
((Yes, I know. I really am getting soft.)) There was a slight humming sound as the blade began its slow journey upwards. Bakura's eyes followed it for a moment, before turning back to his host. ((I never apologised for all the things I did to you, did I?))
(…No. But it doesn't matter.)
((Ah well. It's a crap time to say it, but I'm sorry for all those times I hit you.))
(It's okay.)
((Strange, how I wasn't frightened when I found out I couldn't survive in this world and was going to die. Maybe because it wasn't a final death. But I think this one is going to be. I guess that's why I'm frightened now.))
(So am I.)
There was a clang as the blade reached the top. Neither half looked at it, but both shivered.
(I…I can't believe we're actually going to die.) Ryou knew he should be screaming and kicking at the bars, but his mind had gone completely numb.
His yami gave a sad sort of smile. ((I wish I possessed your self-denial.))
In reply, Ryou reached through the bars. His yami did the same, and their fingertips brushed against each other.
((You're going to lose a couple of fingers when that blade comes down.))
(I don't care.)
((I didn't think so.)) Pause. ((Well, see you in some other lifetime.))
(G-Goodbye.)
The blade came rushing down, gathering speed as it went. It was almost possible to see the particles of energy which bound the two souls together crackle and break apart.
"Bastards!"
Something gold whizzed through the air so quickly it hissed, striking the blade full on. It shattered into two pieces and fell to the ground.
Malik stepped carefully out of the newly cut window as if what he had just done was something that happened every day, seemly oblivious to the effect he had caused. Will was right behind him, subtle knife in his hand.
The splintered remains of the titanium and manganese blade lay scattered on the floor, along with the Millennium Rod, which had its blade extended.
"Nice throw, Malik."
"Thank you. It comes from spending so much time with Bakura."
Yugi and Lyra stepped out of the window, a lot less confidently than Malik and Will.
"Sorry to interrupt the fun and all, but you're going to have to let them out now. The party's over."
"We're only just beginning, actually," Dr. Cooper said coolly. His eyes swept over this cocky blond teenager with the purple eyes, and his tone turned sneering. "How exactly do you intend to set them free? This happens to be the only set of keys." He waved them tantalisingly in the air.
A moment later Serafina had grabbed her cloud-pine branch and swung it into the neck of the nurse holding her daemon. Kaisa shot out of her grasping fingers and dived straight for the rabbit-daemon huddled at Doctor Cooper's feet. The two daemons rolled over and over, and the scientist lost his footing as his daemon was shoved into the floor. Malik immediately snatched up the keys from his outstretched hand.
"Are all rescue missions supposed to be this easy?" he queried to Will. "We haven't exactly done much so far, apart from stand here and look vaguely intimidating."
"I don't think so. Maybe we're just lucky." As he spoke Will lunged for Dr. Cooper, bending his arm up his back. "Call them off." He indicated the scientists grouped around them with the subtle knife. "Or I'll break your arm."
"He will, you know," Malik said in an absent tone. "It isn't hard." He walked round, inspecting Will's grip. "Not bad. Up a bit."
"That better?" The black-haired boy hoisted the limb up slightly higher, resulting in a squeak from Dr. Cooper.
"Perfect." Malik retrieved his Item from amongst the broken shards and brushed it off against his shirt. There was a sort of easy confidence in the way he walked around the room, the kind that held the other scientists frozen in place when they should have been trying to attack him. Malik generally had that air about him; he was the sort of person who, when he enters a room, everyone stops and stares at, just because he was obviously so sure of himself. Or, as Bakura would put it with a grin, he was an arrogant bastard who had the (mis?)fortune to be extremely good-looking.
Anyway, the Egyptian strolled casually over to the cages, followed uncertainly by Yugi and Lyra, whose trepidation was far more obvious. He then proceeded to unlock them.
One of the nurses let out a high-pitched sound and looked at Dr. Cooper, who suddenly shouted, "Get them!"
There was a crack, and his face flooded white.
"I told you to make them clear off," Will hissed in his ear.
"But-"
"Do it." The grip was transferred to the other arm.
Lips grey and chewed as he tried not to cry out, the scientist gestured frantically at his associates, who backed off with puzzled expressions. After another minute and more instructions from Will, the room was cleared.
"You okay in there?"
"Just about," Ryou answered dazedly. He climbed carefully out of the cage, and Malik moved over to release Bakura. The Ring-spirit half-fell out of his prison, and his friend caught him just in time.
"'Kura?"
"I…I'm fine." He made an attempt to stand unaided, before falling over again. Malik pulled him gently upright, trying to make it look as if he wasn't supporting him as much as he actually was.
"You have to hold on for a bit longer or Ryou will get worried," he whispered fiercely.
"Can't…"
Yes you can. Now stand up. On your own. Normally, it would have been a lot harder to control another Millennium Item holder, as their Item would protect them from the Rod, to a certain extent. But the Ring managed no more than a feeble flash before it succumbed, and Malik could feel its power waning.
He moved the spirit so he could lean against the wall. Bakura's eyes were cloudy, and Malik was certain it wasn't just because he was under the influence of the Rod.
There was a red mist in front of Bakura's vision; he blinked, slowly, but it didn't go away. The room and its occupants were becoming blurry, and it was getting harder to make out faces. The Millennium Rod was like an iron vice gripping him to the wall, and he struggled feebly against it.
"Bakura?" Malik felt his weak attempts at fighting the Item's control, and decided, against his better judgement, to let go. As soon as this happened the spirit retched and then vomited all over the floor. "Shit."
Bakura gazed dully at him, and Malik realised that this was the first time he had actually seen the spirit throw up. Ryou had seen too; he crossed over to them, concern and guilt written clearly on his face. When Bakura took in the fact that his light was worried he immediately vanished back into the Ring, leaving Malik feeling as if he had just taken part in a crime.
"Why does he always try and hide it from me?" Ryou's voice was filled with bewildered hurt. "He doesn't attempt to act as if nothing is wrong with you. Am I only one who isn't allowed to feel sympathy for him?"
Unable to think of a reply, Malik stared helplessly back at him.
Meanwhile, Serafina had gone over to Lyra, holding the alethiometer. "This belongs to you. Also, I must apologise for taking it."
The girl stared. Comprehension dawning, she whispered, "It was Kaisa who took it?"
"They said they would hurt me if he didn't," Serafina explained bitterly. "He loved me too much to refuse." She cradled her daemon as she spoke.
Lyra stared uncomprehendingly at the alethiometer, and in a dreamlike state slowly began to turn the hands, as if unable to believe she had got it back. Then, as if she had been struck by lightning, the reminder flashed into her mind that the alethiometer knew how to help the yamis. Gasping at herself for forgetting, she hastily swung the hands round, and there was a distant click as they locked into place.
"What does it say?" Ryou whispered. He was hugging the Ring to his chest as if by doing so he could transfer some of his life's warmth to his other.
"Wait a moment." Lyra frowned as she bent over her symbol-reader, eyes tracing the paths of the hands. They moved in a more convoluted pattern than she had ever seen before, and felt as if they could go on forever.
Eventually she blinked and sighed, still staring at it. Will nudged her, and she looked up dazedly. "What? Oh." Pause, as she tried to remember what it had been saying. "…Oh God! My hair!"
They all stared at her.
"My hair!" she repeated. "Will, you have to cut it off!"
He looked blankly at her. "Lyra, are you sure you're fe-"
"No, listen," she said impatiently. "There's a bomb-"
Malik looked up. "A bomb? Did I hear that correctly?"
"Yes. Will, listen. There's a lock of my hair that's shorter than the rest. You have to get the Subtle Knife and cut it off."
Will gaped at her. "What? How I am supposed to know which bit? And why?"
"There's no time, now do it!"
He shrugged, humouring her, and parted her hair to begin the search. "…Hey, you're right. There's a bit near the top that's way shorter than it should be. Like someone cut most of it off or something. You want me to cut off the rest of it?"
"Right to the scalp. And collect them all up. Don't miss any."
He was silent for a moment as he worked, while everyone else stared at Lyra, convinced she had gone totally mad. Malik was wondering if this was some sort of ritual for people from Lyra's world.
"Okay. Done."
She turned to face him, flustered. "Great. Now open up another world, any one, and dump the hair in it. Whatever you do, don't leave a single strand behind."
Obediently he cut into the air, and felt the knife-blade meet rock. Slowly he cut around it, leaving a small cavity, and placed the hair inside, before replacing the rock again.
Lyra was jumping from one foot to the other in agitation. "Hurry up! Now close it!"
"All right, all right." He had been about to say 'keep your hair on' but decided it wouldn't be appropriate right now. Feeling for the elusive edges, he closed the window to the other world.
The blond girl visibly relaxed.
"What the hell was all that about?" Will asked her.
Serafina suddenly let out a gasp. "I think I know-"
Ignoring her, Lyra explained, "The alethiometer told me that a little while ago, when I was with…with Mrs. Coulter, she cut off a small strand of my hair. I'm not sure what she wanted to do with it, but later on the President of the Consistorial Court of Discipline (I think the alethiometer meant him) got hold of it. You know, my hair. And he's working with some of the scientists from here, and together they've created this bomb which, when they put my hair in it, it'll seek out the source of it and destroy me. And all of you as well, because it's such an enormous bomb."
"What does this have to do with us getting home?" Yugi asked.
"Because it's going to be such a massive explosion that it's going to tear apart the lining that keeps the different worlds separate. It's going to create access to around twenty worlds at once. And your world is going to be one of them."
Silence, while everyone digested this.
"…So when is this explosion thing going to happen?" Malik questioned.
"…In about five minutes."
"You're serious?"
"Yes. That was why I was so anxious for Will to chop off my hair so quickly. I don't want to be blown apart. And I daresay none of you want to be, either."
"Definitely not."
"I can't believe we're going home," Yugi marvelled. "I mean, it's been great meeting you guys and everything, but I'm getting a bit fed up of all these alternate worlds."
"I know how you feel. Lyra and I have been travelling around these things for months."
"Months? Why? What have you been doing?"
They both looked shifty. "…Things."
"Fine. Don't tell us."
"It's nothing very serious," Will said hastily. "Just things like acquiring the Knife and battling against Spectres and rescuing the alethiometer from this awful old rich guy who stole it and took it back to my world."
"You mean it has been stolen before? Ra, what is it with that thing and people wanting to steal it?"
"I dunno," remarked Lyra with a shrug. "It isn't like anyone else can read it or anything."
Just as she spoke there was a distant rumbling sound from under their feet and the ground trembled, rocking them from side to side.
"Um, are you sure you got this right? The bomb isn't going to go off in this world instead, is it?" Malik eyed the ground in some apprehension.
"Pretty sure. I think this is just the after effect happening in the different worlds."
Ryou and Yugi were standing there as coolly as if nothing was happening. Picking up on this, Lyra queried, "Why are you both looking so calm?"
Yugi shrugged. "We get earthquakes in Japan all the time. You get used to it after a while."
Malik stared. "Earthquakes in Japan? Since when?"
"They've been happening for a couple of thousand years," Ryou said with a yawn. "Our country is right on the edge of one of the Earth's plates. You should pay more attention in Geography."
"In what?"
The entire group stared at him. "…What kind of school do you go to?" Will asked in disbelief.
"I don't. I get taught at home by a tutor."
"But still, you must learn Geography, surely?"
"No."
"My God."
"Are we going to try and find the location of the opening to your world or not?" Lyra interrupted impatiently. "Because while you all stand around talking your souls happen to be dying."
Yugi looked as if he'd just been slapped in the face. "…I…"
"That was harsh," Will said quietly to Lyra.
"I know, but the fact is that we're running out of time." She sighed and passed a hand across her eyes. "The only problem left is where this opening is."
"Ask the alethiometer," Serafina suggested. She hadn't spoken since before Lyra had made Will cut off part of her hair, and the group had almost forgotten she was still there.
Lyra blushed. "Oh yeah." The symbol-reader was duly taken out again and consulted. "…Oh, that's easy. It happened near where we came out from the World of the Dead. Come on everyone, let's go."
………
It took less than an hour for them to go back to where the explosion had happened. Serafina was flying above them with Kaisa so they could be forewarned if anyone approached, her shadow passing over their faces as she flew to and fro.
Delighted at the thought that soon they would be going home, and that the yamis would be saved, Yugi was at his most talkative. It was the most Ryou could do to get a word in edgeways, but he didn't really mind. Malik was trying to persuade Will to let him take another look at the subtle knife, and Lyra was discussing with her daemon what sort of shape he'd choose to take when he stopped changing.
"You will stay furry, won't you? I want to be able to cuddle you at night."
"I don't even know when I'm going to stop changing."
"I know. It seems really weird, but do you remember when neither of us wanted you to ever settle? Because now it seems like quite a good idea. We can see what kind of personalities we have."
"I'd quite like to be a bird, like Kaisa. Then I could fly everywhere.
"But then I can't hug you! You'd be all feathery."
"There are more important things about the shape I settle in than how furry it is."
"I suppose. But I want you to be a nice shape. You won't be a pelican or something will you?"
"God, no."
"You could fly really far," Lyra said dreamily. "And I could send you to another country, couldn't I? Have you noticed that since we went to the World of the Dead you've been able to go further away from me than before?"
"Not really. But I haven't tried much."
"You should. It would be amazing if you could go miles and miles away from me, like a witch's daemon."
He shrugged and cuddled closer to her, ermine-shaped. She cuddled him tightly back, feeling his fur tickle her face.
"Is this the place?" Will asked her, breaking off from his conversation with Malik. His eyes met hers and for a moment Will felt that same electric thrill as before.
Startled, she looked around, tearing her eyes away from his. Why was he looking at her in such a… "Oh…yes, it is."
There was a gaping hole before them, so massive and raw it seemed like an open wound in the face of the Earth. Several hundred metres across, and at least double that in depth, the sides fell steeply away into nothingness, so that all you could see after the first few metres was black. It oozed the appearance of a bottomless hole, and Will thought that if you were unlucky enough to fall down it you could fall for hours or maybe even days before you hit the bottom in a splintered heap of bones; and even then you might have died of thirst before you stopped falling.
"What's Dust?" Ryou asked out of nowhere.
Lyra stared at him as if he were a space alien. "What?"
"I said, 'what's Dust?'"
Will stared at him, then at Malik, then back at Ryou. "Have you all been listening on the conversations I have with Lyra?"
Ryou sounded astonished. "No. Why would I want to do that? I only asked because it's all around us." He waved an arm vaguely in front of them.
After a pause in which everyone looked uncertainly around, Will said slowly, "I know, but it isn't supposed to be visible to the naked eye."
"Don't be silly," Ryou told him dismissively. "Of course it is. I can see it. It's orange." He gazed dreamily around them, eyes slightly unfocused.
"…Um, okay. How do you know it is Dust? How did you even hear of the stuff?"
"I hadn't until a moment ago. And they told me themselves." He gave a vague smile. "It's pretty."
Will signalled for Serafina to come down, and she did so a moment later, alighting gracefully on the grass. "What are you all waiting for?"
"…Ryou says he can see Dust."
Serafina looked completely dumbfounded. "He can? What is it doing?" The question was addressed to Ryou.
His eyes travelled slowly over them. "It's…encircling us. I think humans attract it, because there's far more around us than around that tree, for example. It looks like we have an orange aura or something."
"An aura?" Will repeated.
Ryou smiled. "They're different. She doesn't have any." He indicated Lyra. "Well, no, actually she has a bit. It's growing. You have that too. It's starting to cling to you more and more every second. And Serafina has loads. Only it doesn't make her harder to see or anything. It actually makes her clearer."
The witch was looking immensely interested. "Have you ever seen Dust before?"
"No." Ryou was still looking around. "Your yami doesn't have any," he added casually to Malik. The Egyptian seemed taken aback.
"What, you can see him? I thought he was in his soul room." He started looking around with a worried expression.
"He is. But I can still see him. He's looking at me." Ryou didn't elaborate further, simply staring hard at a space next to Malik.
Will was, to put it frankly and in his own words, 'weirded out.' "Why is Ryou seeing Dust and no one else? And what does it mean? Because you seem to be forgetting that, for all the times Lyra and I have encountered or heard about the stuff, we have no idea what it does."
"We witches have a few ideas. We do know that it seems to have been around almost as long as humans have existed; also that it is attracted to us, and to adults more than children. But as to what it does or what effects it has, we are as ignorant as you are."
"It's falling into that chasm," Ryou said suddenly. "Really quickly! And it isn't coming back! We have to stop it!"
Blank looks from everyone. "Huh?"
"I guess some of it must be replenishing every second, or it would all run out. But we have to stop it all falling away!"
"…How?" Will finally managed. "…We can't even see it!"
"Why can't you? It's in front of you!" Ryou sounded almost impatient – a rare emotion for him.
"What is? I don't even understand what this Dust thing is!" Yugi protested. "And in case you've forgotten, we have to get back to our world in a matter of hours or our yamis are going to die, and us with them!"
"But we can't just leave it-" Ryou was staring desperately at the gaping hole. "It's important, I know it is! You can't let it all be lost!" He couldn't explain the reasoning behind his conviction, only that he knew he was right.
"Then we'll do something about it," Lyra said suddenly, surprised by the strength and conviction in her voice. "You three have to go back to your world. This thing is happening to my world, and Will's. It's up to us to deal with it."
"What, this Dust thing just appears in your two worlds?" Malik demanded, suspicious. "I don't think that's true. I think it affects all the worlds. So it's up to all of us to sort it out."
"Without trying to be selfish, I think the first thing us three should do is go into our world again," Yugi told the Egyptian. "Then we can come out again and discuss this."
"What, just pop in and out of our world, and that'll heal our yamis? Can we do that?"
"Don't see why not," Will said with a shrug. "This guy Lyra and I knew, called Sir Charles, he used to do have a secret window which no one knew about, and would just go in and out every now and then so his daemon could stay healthy."
"What happened to him?"
"Lyra's mother killed him. With poison."
"Don't call her that," the girl said with a flash of anger. "Call her 'Mrs. Coulter.' As far as I'm concerned, she isn't my mother."
"Sorry," Will answered humbly.
Malik was curious, but knew better than to ask. He knew from experience how embarrassing it was when people asked awkward questions about dysfunctional parents. "So how do we get back to our world again?"
"Through one of these windows." Will pointed to a massive hole in the air just ahead of them. It resembled a stained-glass window in that it was split up into thousand of openings, like panes of glass, the edges of which being jagged and fractured. But instead of each pane being a different colour, they all held within them different landscapes, each belonging to a different world.
"See yours anywhere?"
"You're certain it's here, right?" Malik quizzed Lyra.
"Positive."
"Good, because this might take a while." The Egyptian began to walk to and fro, surveying the different openings like someone inspecting a new house.
Lyra brought out the alethiometer from her rucksack with the intention of asking for a more detailed answer about where their world was, but hesitated as she felt Will's eyes on the back of her head. She turned, fingers fumbling on the velvet cloth. "What is it?"
He flushed, face flooding with colour. "Nothing."
Ryou was watching the Dust around Will with interest: it told him more about the situation than any words ever could. "Don't worry about it," he said quietly to his dark-haired friend. "It's because she doesn't have much Dust yet, but you do. But she'll gain it in time."
Will deliberately pretended to misunderstand. "What are you talking about?"
Ryou gave a small smile, annoying in its knowingness, and shook his head.
Unaware of Will's feelings towards her, Lyra had just received a reply from the alethiometer, explaining that the opening into Yugi, Malik and Ryou's world was near the middle, and parts of Japan would be visible through it.
"That's really strange. Your world isn't aligned with mine in the way that Will's is."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that right now we're in Lapland, in my world; and if we opened into Will's world we'd also be in Lapland, but if we cut into your world we'd be in Japan."
"Oh. Strange."
Oblivious to the conversation, Ryou announced to the world as a whole: "the Dust is gone."
"Huh?"
"…Actually, no, I think it's still there. Yes, it must be. But I can't see it anymore." He sounded crestfallen, looking around uncertainly and blinking, like someone who has just lost something.
"I'm sorry to say that that really doesn't disappoint me, owing to the fact that I still have no idea what this Dust stuff actually is." Malik was still searching for the opening to their world. "…Ah-ha. Is this it?"
Yugi went over for a look. "…I think it is!" He let out a cheer. "Now we can go home!"
"Do you want me to make it bigger?" When they nodded, Will unbuckled the Subtle Knife from his belt, carefully undoing the leather fastenings that held it in place. The material felt stiff and sturdy under his fingers, but a simple sideways slip of the knife and it would disintegrate. Unseen by him, Dust glimmered in the air around it, reflecting off its silver blade. He used it to stretch the edges of the opening sideways, like putting a needle under a stitch and pulling it out as far as it could go. He continued doing this until it was almost a metre wide.
Gait jerky and uncertain, like a puppet on a string, Yugi tentatively stepped through the window. At once his face burst into that of wonder, as if finally believing he was in their home world. "It…it's Japan…our Japan…" The Puzzle around his neck was afire with newly found strength, casting shadows over his face as the light radiated forth.
Ryou almost stumbled up to him through the window, feet tripping over each other as every particle of his being strained for its home world. It was like being one of the opposite poles of a magnet drawn inexorably towards the other, and then that sudden surge of energy and contentment as they connected.
"Does it feel any different?" The third Item-holder stepped slowly through, reluctance holding his body back.
"Like I've just been plugged into an electric socket." Ryou's very words seem to hiss and tingle with sparks of power, like a sparkler.
An imperfect reflection of himself shimmered into view beside him. "I swear having an orgasm doesn't feel this good."
"Yami!"
"And yet another sensitive and profound comment from our favourite tomb robber." Yami's tone oozed royal disdain.
Bakura gave a mock-bow. "Just as long as it has your approval, Pharaoh."
"I take it this means you want to go back to your homes?"
Silence, in which there was much lip-chewing as the five wrestled against their consciences.
"I don't like the thought of running of and leaving you two to cope with sorting out this Dust," Yami said eventually.
Bakura, who wanted nothing more than to go home as soon as possible, fidgeted but said nothing. Why did the Pharaoh always have to be so unselfish about everything?
Ryou was thinking along the same lines (although not without guilt), and he and his yami exchanged frustrated looks.
"Four," Lyra was correcting the Puzzle-spirit. "And it isn't like we don't have experience. Will and I have encountered Dust before; we know more about it than all of you. Also, this is very much our problem, just like getting home was very much yours. You can share it and have sympathy for us but at the end of the day all that matters is that you solve it. I'm sure you're all dying to go home."
Yami opened his mouth, no doubt about to voice another frustratingly noble and unselfish speech about how friends should stuck together (and in the process setting a good example to his lighter half) but, luckily for those of the group who weren't quite so generous, Bakura jumped in.
"That's really thoughtful of you to say so. And the truth is that we really do want to go home. So how about we leave you two to deal with this Dust thing, and go back to our world? I've got this awful craving for Japanese food."
Malik was grinning broadly.
Yami was trying to glare at a certain tiresome tomb robber, who was carefully avoiding his gaze.
"…So I guess this is goodbye then," Will said uncertainly.
"Seems so."
Everyone shook hands (it was an English custom, Ryou explained to a bewildered Yugi and Malik) and Bakura clutched Lyra's daemon, who was clinging to his shirt.
"Don't go," Pan mumbled to him. "You…you can't all disappear like this. We might never see you again."
"You might. Will can find our world now. You should come and visit us all some time."
"We will."
He caught flickers of something which might have been jealously from Malik and Lyra, and hastily handed the daemon back.
One last round of farewells, the familiar litany repeated so many times already it was starting to lose meaning, and then the three Item-holders and the two yamis stepped through the window into their world for the last time.
"Don't forget us," Malik said suddenly.
"Forget you? How could anyone forget you?" Will stared. "Considering the lengths you and Bakura went to to steal my knife, I'd have a hard time not remembering you."
A bashful blink from the aforementioned Egyptian, and an unrepenting grin from the other one.
"That was one of the best things I've ever stolen."
"I preferred the time I got my hands on the Pharaoh's Puzzle." Malik stared dreamily off into the distance.
"Technically it wasn't your hands, seeing as you were possessing Bandit Keith at the time," Yami interjected calmly. "And Yugi won it back."
Bakura scowled at the memory. "I know. One of the most wasted opportunities of all time. If Malik had actually won that duel-"
"What the - you were the one who broke my control over him! If you hadn't-"
"But you should be happy that he failed, seeing as if he hadn't I wouldn't be here."
Bakura sighed at what might have been. "A happy thought indeed."
Will and Lyra stared as the three Egyptians started arguing again. "…Are they always like that?" the latter ventured apprehensively.
"All the time," Yugi affirmed. "You get used to it. They like arguing over the past."
"At least you were conscious for all of it," Ryou shrugged, in a rare moment of grumbling. "I don't have any idea what happened during Battle City. My yami blocked me out," he added in response to Lyra's curiosity.
"Oh."
"Anyway, what happened to us going back home?" Malik suddenly broke off from the argument. "We're not going to stand around and yell at each other for the rest of the day, are we? I've wasted far too much of my life doing that already."
"It's fun though," Bakura said sulkily.
"Well, see you all sometime." Yet more handshakes. Then, with a sad smile, Will stepped forward.
The last thing they saw from that world was his arm drawing across the window as he reached for the edge. Then, as if a curtain was being swept across the window, they were gone.
……………
The five figures stood there for a moment, gazing at the space where Lyra and Will had been visible.
"I can't believe they're gone," Ryou whispered.
"I can't believe we were in their worlds for just two weeks." Malik stared at the date on his mobile. "Doesn't it seem like we lived there for months and months?"
"God, yes."
"My grandfather is going to be furious," Yugi piped up. "Where am I going to say I've been? That I accidentally ended up in another world for two weeks? He'll never believe me."
"Isis is going to slaughter me," Malik muttered under his breath. "Especially when she finds out I went round to Ryou's house instead of getting the shopping."
Bakura grinned. "This is the reason why I love the fact that Ryou lives in that apartment on his own. Well, apart from when he has those girls from school bothering him-"
His light's face was so red it could have glowed in the dark.
"You do know that your face clashes with your hair when you do that, don't you?"
"Yami!"
…………
A/N: (punches air in triumph) Wohoo! The last official chapter is now FINISHED! Now all I have to do is write the epilogue. I know this chapter wasn't as good as chapter seventeen (I think that was probably my best one anyway), but if it felt bitty it was because I kept stopping and then coming back to it later. Some patches are definitely better than others, but I can't help that. I'm going to try and make the epilogue REALLY good, to make up for crappiness in this chapter. Ra, I put down my work way too much. It comes from being a perfectionist/pessimist. (sigh) Must…learn…to like my work…
Anyway, review! This chapter took waaaaaaay too long to write, which isn't really a good sign quality-wise, but I need reviews to keep my self-esteem up! I write total shit when I'm depressed…