fun stuff! new chapter! go me! hee hee...
anyway, thanx goes out to:
CETTIE-GIRL - (u get caps b/c i somehow lost ya last time... ) but yeah - end of school was crazy, but fun - thanks for thinking of me. also, u should find out plenty about the other side of the wall here & i hope to get some more on Seto soon, but we'll see... ttyl!
Isis - laughs well, not quite, though yami might think so... heee...
mom-mi-oh - wow! u've been so faithful to my little (well, not really anymore) fic - i can't thank u enough for all that. Saishu is my character who's sorta representative of fate & such. he's the guy that yugi had to go visit in order to rescue kira in the last part. he'll still have a role coming up, but that's not for a few chapters yet, i think... but now - hopefully to answer some questions about the wall.... cya soon!
Fyredra - and yay - more positive comments....i really luv ya guys... anyway, had to put a little Tea in there. i'm still kinda going for a Tea/Yugi bit, but i'm still not sure how far to develop it. maybe i'll write a story with more romance for them another time...but yeah...read on!
Part 2 (Chapter 12) – Melody
"Well," Bakura stood over the huddle form of his hikari, speaking more to himself than to his younger twin. "It seems my strength was nearly drained putting up that barrier. I don't have time to wait for my energy to return." That Pharaoh and his cadre are waiting outside. I have to finish them off before they try any more foolish rescues.
"Stand up!" Bakura stepped closer and gave his light a rough kick in the side. Ryou only absorbed the abuse, keeping his face close to the earth & his hands clenched tight in the shadow dust of his garden. Bakura just scowled down at him, "You're pathetic."
Bakura lifted his hand to take power from Ryou, but just before he started the spell, Ryou moved. Slowly, the fingers on his right hand uncurled, fingertips moving to rest lightly on the ground before his palm pressed down firmly. Then, Ryou's left hand performed the same, pain-staking ritual; and with a barely audible grunt, Ryou pushed himself to his feet and stood, facing his yami in a quiet submission.
Bakura couldn't prevent a sudden step back in surprise. He hadn't expected his command to be answered. And as the boy's eyes gazed aimlessly into his own, Bakura struggled to hold in a sudden shiver. A bright jade color swam before him, drawing him into Ryou's blank look. There was no recognition left. No fear, no regret, no anger. Nothing but a solid shade of green.
What's happening to you...Ryou? Your soul is changing. Bakura stretched out a hand towards his hikari, and only inches from Ryou's shoulder, drew it back suddenly, remember his purpose for coming in the first place. "Let's hope you still have power for me," he tried to laugh darkly, but to him it just sounded hollow.
Bakura stretched out his fingers and began the now familiar ritual. Ryou stood and watched him the entire time, not even pausing to blink.
"Yugi?" Kira shook the small boy gently back and forth. "Yugi, wake up."
"Hmm?" he mumbled sleepily, opening his eyes, then blinking them a couple times. The image of Kira kneeling over him suddenly cleared in his mind, and Yugi sat up suddenly, nearly knocking heads with the other girl. "Yami!"
Kira shook her head sadly, "I can't sense them at all, Yugi."
He rubbed a hand across his eyes, remembering. "They can't reach us either. We're on our own now."
Kira frowned. "I don't like this." She stood and turned to the wall right behind them. Now, when she felt it, it was solid, just like it had been under Kali's touch. "We can't get out. Bakura's trapped us."
"Are you sure?" Yugi asked anxiously.
Kira shrugged. "Sure enough. Only that devil would have the guts to pull a stunt like this."
"Well, what do we do now?" Yugi asked, pushing himself to his feet. He gazed seriously into Kira's eyes.
"The only thing we can do." She looked to her left, and Yugi followed her gaze. Misty-grey plants rose up, though few of them had any sign of buds on them. It was like a jungle of shadows. And somewhere in the depths was their missing friend. It was his soul garden. "We're going to go look for Ryou."
"Yami."
The ancient Pharaoh didn't move, but kept his face downward. "He's gone."
Kali sighed, and after a moment's consideration, set a hand on his shoulder. This whole 'sympathy' thing was rather new to her. "They're not dead, Pharaoh."
Yami raised his sparkling eyes to hers, and saw the other dark spirit trying to hide the emotion that he now knew so well. "How do you know?" he asked in barely more than a whisper.
Kali shrugged. I don't, she wanted to say. It just sounds good. But she had to encourage him. "They can't be dead. It won't just end like this."
"Real life doesn't always work out like you want it to, though," Yami pointed out."
"I suppose," Kali stumbled across a new thought. "Though, you realize that I'm still here," she pointed out. Which means that Kira is either alive, or that you were wrong when you talked about how closely our souls were connected.
Yami gazed at Bakura's wall once again, rising from his knees to stand next to the other dark spirit. "I hope you're right.
Yeah, Kali sighed inwardly. Me too.
A sudden, unexpected heat in his hand brought Bakura back to reality. "What?!" He jerked away from Ryou, pulling the remains of the spell with him. A bright light beginning at his fingertips had managed to wind nearly half the way up his arm, fading out close to his elbow. As Bakura pulled away from his hikari, the light around his arm disappeared. It's never done that before, thought Bakura with some alarm.
With more cautiousness and less enthusiasm, Bakura restarted the soul transfer, trying once again to take power from his light. Almost immediately, the glow around his arm returned, and this time, something also reached up, even to his ears. Ever so faint, Bakura could hear music.
"I...I don't understand," Bakura fell back, and this time, he couldn't hide the slight fear in his voice. What's happening to me?!
"Bakura!"
The dark spirit spun around at the shout and stopped short in his tracks to stare at the most unexpected sight he could have imagined.
Kira's surprised movements echoed Bakura's, and her further threats caught in her throat. Evident within the spirit's expression was confusion and - nervousness? - she couldn't quite tell. Whatever it was, she didn't expect to see it in Bakura's eyes, and it put her off guard.
But a split second later, Bakura returned to his usual malicious gaze. "I don't know how you got here, but you won't be around long enough to even cry for help!" He threw both hands forward, touching at the wrists, and let a dark blue light shoot out towards the girl that had disturbed him.
"Kira, look out!" Yugi cried, assessing the situation in less than seconds. Instinctively, he threw his body to the side, knocking her out of the way and to the ground, though he wasn't quite fast enough for either of them.
Bakura's magic hit Yugi squarely against his torso, and sliced along Kira's side. But before any pain could register, a sweet song wrapped around the two hikari, shielding them from the majority of Bakura's attack. Together, Yugi and Kira slid backwards against the ground, and landed in a heap some yards back. Kira was the first to rise, and immediately gripped her side groaning. She was going to have one heck of a bruise after the whole thing was over. If I even survive, that is.
"No." But instead of the fury she expected to hear in Bakura's voice, it was more like a stunned disbelief. Something had changed about this spirit since they had last met.
"I don't understand," Bakura gazed at his hands, then met the eyes of the girl called Kira. "Why is everything different? What is this music?"
Kira balked. "You can hear it too?!"
"Hear..." Yugi grunted, managing to stand next to his friend, "...what?"
"Music," Kira whispered, never talking her eyes off of Bakura.
"A song - to be more precise."
Kira spun quickly, but she was past surprise by now. Bakura just groaned, and slapped a hand against his forehead. "Not again!"
"You seem to appear at the strangest of times," Yugi commented neutrally, eyeing the young girl that had appeared just behind him and Kira.
"At least you don't seem scared of me anymore," the child glanced to Bakura and laughed lightly.
The dark spirit just scowled, "What is it you want now?"
Kira glanced between the two spirits in slight surprise that they apparently knew each other.
"You were wondering about the music you heard," the girl reminded him.
"Look," Bakura clenched and unclenched a fist, "If you've got something to tell me, just say it outright - otherwise, scram."
The youngster raised her eyebrows, "Better watch that temper of yours, it might get you into trouble one day. Really," she crossed her arms and closed her eyes with a bit of a smug expression. "You might get along better with people if you learned to respect them a little more."
Yugi just shook his head in amazement, watching the strange sort of banter between the two. It was nearly impossible to imagine Bakura respecting anyone.
"Anyway," the girl continued. "I'm in a bit of a rush myself, so I'll go ahead with what I came to say."
"Good," hissed Bakura.
"This song you've just heard - it's something that your light has been hearing all along - something that these two hikaris can hear as well."
"And that concerns me how?"
"You really are short on patience today, aren't you?" She sighed, "Actually, it's just in this garden that you've created that people can hear this music. Each song is unique to a person - a sort of representation of their soul - and it's what makes people human."
"And why exactly is it that I can hear this song now too?" Bakura demanded.
"Well," the girl shrugged nonchalantly, "You have a soul now too."
"WHAT?!?!"
Kira and Yugi back away uneasily as the dark spirit suddenly started to glow out of pure fury. The little girl, however, was unmoved. "It's your own fault, really," she explained. "You've been drawing power out of Ryou to strengthen your own magic, but that power comes directly from his soul. You've been ripping it away, piece by piece. And now, you've gathered enough of it inside yourself, that part of his soul is now a part of you."
"Curse you!!!" Bakura lunged at the young spirit, but just before he could land a blow, she vanished. Left with only empty air, Bakura pounded a fist against the ground in frustration. "Why?!" Is this what I've done to you, hikari? Is this why, when I look into your eyes, something seems to be missing? "It was supposed to be so simple," he whispered, more to himself.
Kira stepped cautiously forward, curious as to what was tormenting the dark spirit so. But the next moment, Bakura rose with only a fierce anger and determination in his eyes. "So be it," he growled down at her and Yugi. "It seems that I can't kill you outright just yet. So I'll take care of your other selves first, then come back for you. After all," he grinned slightly. "I doubt you'll be getting out of here anytime soon, so make yourselves at home. I don't think I'll be too long." And that said, he vanished into thin air.
Kira ran in disbelief to the spot where he had stood seconds before. Yugi followed closely behind. "We have to help them!" he cried. "Bakura's going to attack Yami and Kali. We have to warn them or something."
Kira shook her head. "We can't. We've lost our links to them, and don't you remember - the wall won't let us get back through."
"We've got to do something! We've got to at least try!" Yugi spoke in frustration.
Kira glanced around, and her eyes suddenly settled on the still-standing Ryou. He had been nearly forgotten in the argument with Bakura, but now, just maybe, he held some sort of hope for them all. Kira nudged Yugi, pointing out their long-lost friend to him. "Maybe there's still a chance."