hey people. it's been awhile, i know, but things have been difficult lately. haven't been able to write in a couple months and it's been driving me insane. see - my computer got sick a while back, and we still haven't figured out what's wrong with it. sighs it's still half-usable, just that what's wrong with it has made it nearly impossible to type anything. i'm home on spring break now, with access to the computer here, so you get this fun chapter in the meantime! hopefully my computer will get fixed eventually. in the meantime tho, i'll just try to be back as soon as i can.
on a happier note - much thanx to all the people that have stuck with me so far:
Cettie-girl, kalathetrumpeter, , Sakura30, Phantom Phoenix, fenne, Sumiko Kenchi Haimoto - sorry i've been torturing you guys.
Part 2 (Chapter 19) – Tears, for a New Tomorrow
Dead. The word rang in his ears like some ritual chant. Dead. Bakura killed Ryou, and Kira...and Kali. They're dead. Try as he might, Yugi couldn't get the memories out of his mind – how Kali fell to the ground, the way Kira's feet fell as she tripped into Bakura, the way she stumbled back onto Ryou, the way Ryou's sleeping expression never once changed, and then the turquoise light that surrounded them – that beautifully awful blue light of Bakura's magic mixing with Kira's own life energy. Even now, he couldn't clear its brightness from his vision.
What now? The shadow realms were strangely quiet and empty now that Bakura had disappeared. Almost as though this whole world around us is silent – for...them. Doesn't even feel real though – that Ryou's gone – the Ryou that was my friend. His soul isn't just trapped anymore – it's been destroyed completely. Does Bakura get his body for keeps, or will he be dead when I go back? And Kira? Will I have to face her death too, all over again, when I go back? How can I?!
Yugi hadn't even realized that he was holding Yami fiercely until the dark spirit moved, sliding through his arms to the ground. Yugi pulled back in surprised and down at Yami's slumped-over form. Surprised violet eyes met two maroon ones, their color already covered in a fine mist.
Yami?!
"Hmm?" Something cold and wet against the bare skin of his arm pulled Bakura out of the strange, somewhat muddled state of confusion he felt his mind trapped in. Looking down, he watched, still slightly dazed, as the drop of water rolled off him and splashed lightly against the ground. It was followed almost immediately by a second cool splash.
Moving his fingers to his cheek, Bakura was surprised to find the damp feeling there as well. Tears? He stared at a third drop as even the reality of it became something completely alien to him. But why? I don't have anything to cry about... his thoughts trailed, betraying him. ...even if, as a dark spirit, I would ever destroy my dignity with such an act! Bakura stuck the palms of both his hands firmly against his eyes and rubbed hard, trying to destroy any bit of evidence, even though no one would be around to see or care.
Kuso! I thought things would be better once everything was through! He let his memory drift briefly across Ryou's body, remaining still as the last piece of soul left it – the serene expression on the face, pure and untouched by any kind of darkness... Furious with himself, Bakura shook his head vigorously. No! Why won't these thoughts leave me alone?! I don't want to remember!!! Throwing out an arm, Bakura didn't bother to restrain any power that left it. Pure energy flowed out and over the soul garden, blanketing it in a matter of moments before the entire thing was whisked upward in a spurt of sapphire flame.
Taken aback by his suddenly increased strength, Bakura slowly pulled his hand back in towards his body. Part of him wanted to marvel and gloat at the new glory he would soon make for himself. But there was a small thought, hidden inside his mind, that reminded him in whispers of the place and the person he had gotten that power from...
Surrounded by an eternity of light and color, three figures slowly took form. Bright and still, their bodies were wound by the swirls in the air the moment they began to materialize. Soon, they were tethered tightly, unable to move no matter what force might even be able to so much as try to awaken them.
Funny. The thought that watched the three forms had a tone of very slight amusement to it. The other two fought so hard to prevent it, when the only certain thing to happen just did.
"Nothing is certain." A little girl, no older than five, with wiry black hair and grey eyes specked with blue appeared from behind. "You of all people should know this...Saishu."
The shadow guardian finally drew his gaze up and out of his orb. His darkness was faceless, though his demeanor was smiling. "With you to remind me, how could I forget?"
There was silence for a moment, then the girl drifted to older one's side. "Things aren't over yet," she spoke softly. "Destiny has yet to finish its role."
"So it does," Saishu spoke neutrally. "The balance is beginning to shatter. Things are happening that my millennia of lifetime has not yet seen."
"It was Bakura," the child whispered. "His choice at the end – even we did not expect it to be carried out."
Saishu seemed to glance sideways at his companion, "Yet it was in his destiny that only for him would such a feat even be possible."
"Life is still a matter of choices," the little girl sighed. "It's just...this one may be enough to undo all that we have spent these 5000 years on."
"Then," Saishu replied softly, "Let us pray that he finds himself first."
"Yugi." Yami squeezed his eyes shut tight while tears pricked at the corners. "I'm sorry. This...this all happened because of me." He clenched the fist at his side, "Because I didn't—"
"Don't," Yugi hushed him, a bit surprised. "Don't blame yourself. There's no way you could have known what Bakura was planning to do. None of us knew."
"But I was confident that he wouldn't do exactly what he did." Yami's tone seemed haunted. "I misled you all. Maybe if I hadn't...if I really had been ready for anything, I wouldn't have stood there watching at the end. I wouldn't have...let your friends die. I've failed you, hikari."
"No!" Yugi shook his head fiercely. "We came and fought as a team. None of us expected it. If there is any blame for our side, I share it with you. But Bakura is still the one at fault. No matter how you look at things, he's the one ultimately responsible. It was his decision, so he takes the blame! It was his choice to...to kill them..." he ended in a sad murmur.
"The boy has that right at least."
Yami and Yugi both looked up in surprise to see sparkling, childish eyes. The little girl standing before them gave a genuine grin. "Come now, Pharaoh, now's not the time to be so melodramatic; let the blame be for a while. For as many years as you have behind you, there's still quite a bit to learn about the rules of the shadow realm. Maybe you were in your puzzle a bit too long?" she suggested lightly.
"You!" Yami lunged at her. "You know something about this! You have to!"
"Yami," Yugi started softly, but his dark didn't hear him.
Yami missed the little girl again, but his fury remained. "You always come around, but you never give any answers – only continue to challenge us to find out what sick little game it is that you play!"
Somehow, without moving, the child had managed to avoid all of Yami's futile attempts to grab her. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, Yami paused to catch his breath. Eyes closed tight, the little girl spread her arms slightly, palms open. "You disrespect the presence of your superiors."
"I see no..." Yami started, but was cut off by Yugi's tight grip on his arm. "Yami," Yugi whispered. Yami looked down and was surprised to see the lack of color in his hikari's face. Slowly, he let his eyes travel to the strange shadow, slowly taking form behind the little girl. "That's...Saishu."
Yami remembered Yugi telling him about the dark dealer of fate, the one that his light had once been forced to battle in order to save Kira's soul. But that time, he, Yami, had not been allowed inside that realm.
Darkness seemed to radiate from the figure of a man, as everything else visible seemed drawn into the void that was his body. Shadowed hand clenched a sturdy staff, atop which a large, swirling ball that sent forth every color that seemed to be drawn in by his body. Around the group, mists and shadows shifted and moved, agitated by some unknown force. The change was invisible when watched, but soon, they were all standing in an empty place, blank of both darkness and light. Yugi voiced the question that was filling his yami's mind. "What's going on?"
"Tea?"
"Hmm?" she replied rather dazedly.
Seto sighed and paused their movie, "You've been lost in your own world for some time now. What's wrong?"
With a sigh, Tea pulled her legs up against her chest and rested her head against them, her eyes still pouring over the strange design marking Kaiba's wall, though her thoughts were far from that. "I don't know. I mean, I've never been extra-perceptive or anything, but I just can't shake the feeling that something's really wrong."
"Wrong?" Seto set a gentle hand on her shoulder, drawing closer to catch her gaze with just a tinge of anxiety in his voice. "How?"
"That's what I can't quite figure out." Tea shook her head. "It's just a general feeling really. I don't know what's going on. Only...I think it's Yugi. I think he's hurting."
"Oh." Seto didn't move his hand, but his eyes almost immediately froze over.
"I'm scared," she whispered. "I know I have to be strong for his sake, but when he's not here – when I can't see that he's safe..."
Seto saw the sharp pain in her eyes and sighed inwardly. "Here." He wrapped an arm around Tea, and when she didn't object used the other to pull her close in a tight embrace. Silently, he held her and treasured the moment, even though he knew that the support he gave her was that of a friend.
Even if you haven't realized it yet yourself, Tea, you love him. Yugi holds that special place in your heart. I'm just sorry it couldn't be me...
"Hmph," Malik grimaced as he paused to steady himself. Yet another tremor had forced itself through the ground beneath his feet. Though faint, these rumblings were starting to become frequent, shaking different parts of the shadow realms without rhyme or reason.
The dark spirit's brow furrowed, digging into the bridge of his nose as he thought, trying to discern these new disturbances. While the shadow realms could sometimes be modeled after the real world, they were never truly more than mist and shadows. It was imagination and occasionally strong magic that made them anything else. The ground that he walked on was also an illusion, but a more necessary one as most minds found anything else hard to comprehend.
And now the shaking. This world was not physical, it should not have been subject to any physical faults, and yet, it was being moved by something. Only a very powerful magic, greater than any that Malik knew to exist, could move something so vast and limitless. Either a great magic indeed had been recklessly released into the shadows, or the very foundations of the realms themselves were somehow being threatened.
Perhaps it was a little of both.
"Please!" Yugi's voice was the first to break the silence. "Please, won't you tell us who you are? Is there any way to bring our friends back? You wouldn't have brought us here otherwise, right? They can't really be..." he faltered.
The girl looked at him with compassion, but did not fail to ignore his last question. "For my part, you may call me...Unmei."
"Unmei..." Yami brought his eyes up, full of surprise. "You're...Destiny?"
She shrugged. "That is one way of putting it, yes."
"Then, you've been controlling us all along!" Yami demanded.
"No," she shook her head. "I do not control. I only...suggest."
"It's the same thing," growled Yami. "You've been playing with us."
The girl's once blue eyes had darkened to a cold black stare, not unlike that of Saishu's entire substance. "I do not play."
"Was it hopeless?" Yugi asked. "Everything we did? Would it have turned out the same no matter what we tried to do to stop it? Would Kira and Ryou still have," he swallowed hard, "died today? No matter what?"
"Little Yugi," she smiled again, ever so slightly. "I am sorry that you had to go through so much for the few years of life that you've had. But if you hadn't, there would have been no light to fight the dark.
"No," she continued, "Nothing is certain. Neither Saishu nor I can see all of the future. Nor do we forget ourselves and ever assume to control it. Instead, it is up to people like yourself to write the future." She spread her arms open. "I'm just here to help you find the different stories to write it from."
"And the point is?" Yami demanded, just a little rudely, ignoring the nudge from Yugi. He bowed slightly to the twosome, "Begging your pardon, but I don't see how all this talk directly concerns us. You seem to be avoiding our question. Where are Kira and Ryou and can they be brought back?!"
"Well," the girl's smile was broad. "That part is up to you."
Yami just stared.
"Of all people..." Saishu murmured, then inclined his staff slightly in the Pharaoh's direction. "Unmei already gave your answer. Listen."
"You said that we write our own future," Yugi thought out loud. "I can't imagine my future without either of my friends. Are you saying I still have that choice?" Unmei nodded. Yugi's breath quickened, "Then, please! Let me make it now!"
"You have that choice," Unmei repeated. "But that one is not mine to offer you. Instead, find it for yourself or leave your friends."
"I won't leave them," Yugi insisted. "Ever."
A wind swept up, throwing mist back into that place. Through its fierceness, Unmei's smile was sad. "Then your path will be a difficult one."
Saishu spoke again – his voice coming from somewhere in the roar surrounding him. "First, learn to trust each other. Find the balance inside yourselves, and then try to restore what's been broken."
As Yami and Yugi were finally swept away, Unmei's last words were lost to oblivion.
When the blankness finally settled in again after the storm, Unmei blinked once and moved her hands to sooth her tousled hair. "Well."
"If they don't hurry," Saishu whispered, "Then there may not be much of a future left for them to write."
Unmei turned, the last bit of color in her face fading away as her body flowed into a white form, contrasting sharply with her still black pupils. She grinned. "Wouldn't that be interesting."
Yami, where—
Home. Somehow, he explained. We made it back to your room.
But it wasn't just a dream?
Hardly. It seems our fight is far from over.
Maybe so, but I'm not giving up. Yami grinned, proud of his hikari's determination. Not while there's still hope.
You won't forget me – not that easily.
"I don't even know who you are," Bakura murmured, tiredly. He was tired of fighting his strange emotion, tired of the headache his magic was giving him, and tired of the voice that seemed to know just which nerves to touch.
But you do, the voice reasoned. You called me into your mind when you tried to destroy the boy.
"I'm a spirit myself," reasoned Bakura. "I can't be possessed."
You stole my soul. The voice accused. It needed some place to stay. Call it fair payment.
"Impossible!"
What's impossible? For a spirit to take a soul? For a spirit to feel things – to laugh...and cry? To want to change the past? To actually have cared about someone other than yourself?
"Shut up!!!" Bakura raged. "That's not me! That's not who you're talking about! It's not...like that..."
Sure it's not, the voice almost laughed. You're stubborn, but I'll forgive you. You have given me a place to stay, after all. I can't really be mad anymore.
"No..." Bakura shook his head. Those words, and they way they were said, were so achingly familiar. Somehow, a small part of the ache inside him felt better. "Ryou?!"
END OF PART 2
eep. and i told myself that i wouldn't be evil and make you suffer through another cliffhanger at this point. oops. ; don't let it bother you too much...
yeah, so i finally finished part 2. as always, i hope it wasn't too confusing for ya. That little part at the end with Ryou? - surprised even me. it just sorta...happened as i was writing, lol.
otherwise, i'll try to be back soon. pray my computer gets fixed, and in the meantime, enjoy whatever spring breaks you may have.
oh, and don't forget to stay tuned for Part 3 - "Fate's Game"
luv ya all!