Chapter 3

Unable to sleep, Bakura was busy making himself a mug of hot chocolate in the hope that it would help. For the first week after Emma's death he had been unable to sleep at all from the guilt that he had felt about how he had turned away from his friend as she pleaded for his help whilst dangling from the bridge. He still felt the guilt now but exhaustion was beginning to take over and allowed him a couple of hours sleep ever other day.

He looked down at his drink while he stirred in with a spoon and watched the chocolate swirl round as it mixed in with the milk. Dark and light both becoming as one, although it slightly disturbed him to see that the mixture was darker than what he had intended. His thoughts turned to Sarah as she had been concerned about him more lately. She had reminded him that she was always there whenever he needed her and that together she would help him get over the death of their friend.

"Hello Bakura." he heard a soft voice from behind him as he took a sip from his mug.

He had been hallucinating many things lately from his lack of sleep and didn't find the voice strange at all. He turned round and stared at the goddess that stood before him. "I know you don't I?" he asked and was repaid with a nod from the strange woman. He looked at the golden head dress that she wore and recognized it as the one worn by the Egyptian goddess Hathor. He spoke her name quietly as he looked deep in to her emerald eyes and saw his friend staring back at him. "Emma!" he exclaimed as he dropped his mug that smashed on the floor, and the hot chocolate spread out across the floor increasing in size with the puddle it made.

"Almost." Said Hathor staring at the mess on the floor before she returned her view to Bakura. "That part of me no longer exists. Now I am just Hathor."

"I'm sorry for what I've done." Bakura said with his voice wavering as he dropped down on to his knees. "If you've come for revenge then I won't try to stop you." He waited and wished for her to end his suffering but she didn't.

"I'm not here for revenge, nor do I blame you for my mortal death." Hathor told the boy as he knelt in his spilt drink across from her. "I know what powers the spirit of the millennium ring has over you."

"But I gave up fighting and let him take control." Bakura tried hard to keep himself from crying but failed. "He made me choose between her and Sarah, friendship and love."

Hathor watched as Bakura continued to cry. Again she felt unsure of how to react in the situation. "None of that matters now." she told him and he began to ease his sobs but not completely. "I just want you to tell me the where abouts of the two millennium items that were within your possession."

"I don't know." Bakura sniffed. "The spirit hasn't revealed to me where he hides the ring, and Emma never revealed to where she had originally hidden them."

"The millennium items that she dug up were fakes." Hathor stated and saw a look of surprised horror appear on Bakura's face. "I myself have also just found out tonight."

Maniacal laughter filled the kitchen. "It took you both long enough to find that out." The spirit of the millennium ring appeared stood between them both. He glared at Hathor; "So you really were a goddess after all. Have you come back for more torment? You should know that I eat your kind for breakfast."

"I highly doubt that since you failed to defeat me in my human form. You may have killed her but you never broke our spirit." Hathor saw anger flash in the spirit's eyes as he remembered back to the night that Emma had died as she hung on to the edge of the bridge while he tortured her until she fell to her death in the river below. "Now hand over the two millennium items that I seek." she forcefully commanded. "I know that you have at least one of them."

"That's were you're mistaken as I don't have either of them." the spirit smirked. "But I do know that Yugi has the ring." He glared down at Bakura who turned away like a small child who had misbehaved. "Didn't this pathetic fool tell you that? No, he wouldn't since I'm the one that decides what I allow him to remember."

"You're lying about the items." Hathor told him. "It's true that Yugi was given the millennium ring, along with the necklace and rod, during the Battle city tournament. But when he came to check his bag during the time that the two mortals switched bodies, it was no longer there."

"It took him all that time to check the items that he should have been guarding with his life!" The spirit seemed surprised before he broke out in to laughter. "When that back-stabbing, double-crossing fool had been defeated, I was then able to command my puppet to retrieve the millennium ring during all of the commotion caused during the departure of the island. So it had been in my possession ever since, allowing me to make a replica to throw off anyone who came looking for it. When you thought you had defeated me I laid low until the time I was ready to strike again. And that night on the bridge was perfect for me getting my revenge against you before I returned the millennium ring back to the boy's bag with the other items."

"That makes no sense." Hathor wasn't sure that she had understood everything that the spirit had told her. "Why return the ring when you want all seven millennium items? And just how do you manage to control this boy from such a distance?"

"This way I know were they are and that they are safe until the time comes for when I need them." the spirit answered Hathor's first question. He looked down towards Bakura who still looked away from him. "As for my control over this mortal, I did say that we had a strong bond. So strong that you could say that we are the one and same person." he glared at the weaker boy knowing that he had messed with his head so many times that he had given in to fighting back.

"You're not me!" Bakura yelled, much to the spirit's surprise.

"You know, for once you're right." the spirit said as he crouched down beside Bakura who was still turned away. "Because Sarah notices the change and she likes it."

Bakura tried to block out the spirit's voice as he knew that he was messing with his head again, but when his girlfriend's name was mentioned he found it hard to do.

"When you're with her you hold hands and exchange kisses, but when I'm with her ……." he trailed off hoping that the boy would turn to face him but he did not. His lips turned up at the corners as an evil grin appeared. "Let's just say that we do much more."

"No!" Bakura screamed as he lunged at the spirit but fell straight through him and landed hard on his arm on the cold floor. He heard the spirit laugh and began to sob hoping that what had just been said wasn't true.

Hathor glanced from the crying boy to the laughing entity. "It's clear that you have more power over him but is it really necessary for you to torment the mortal?"

The spirit of the ring stopped his laughter. "You gods don't seem to have any idea of fun do you?" he rose to his feet and approached Hathor. "Of course not since you're not a superior being like me."

"You think that you're better than this mortal and I?" Hathor asked the spirit as he stood right in front of her.

"I am!" the spirit declared. "I've destroyed many mortals over the millennia and also a fare few of your kind."

Hathor didn't feel intimidated by his boasts. She had seen many of her fellow people disappear over the centuries and was determined to bring them back from the shadows to their rightful place with the rest of the elders. Including Sobek, who she had sent to the shadows herself.

"Would you like to be added to my list?" The kitchen began to get darker as the spirit of the ring began to call on the powers of the shadow games. "You'll be the first one that I've destroyed in a long while. In fact you'll be the first since I destroyed your precious Ihy!"

Hathor's eyes filled with anger at the mention of her son's name. Her headset began to glow and a beam of light emerged from the solar disk and cut straight through the spirit and the darkness, leaving only Bakura and herself in the room.

"Is he gone for good now?" Bakura asked breaking the silence.

"Only temporarily, I can not say when he'll return." Hathor looked down to where Bakura sat on the floor clutching his arm. "But he will return, and you must be ready for him. I suggest that you brake connections with all those whom you care about to stop him from using them against you."

"But that would mean braking up with Sarah." Bakura spoke more to himself then to Hathor. His eyes began to water. "I can't do it, I love her!" closing his eyes he added; "I need her to help keep me sane."

Hathor watched as Bakura fort to hold back his sorrow. "Then her fate will be the same as your friend's and your sister's." she told him.

"No!" Bakura screamed as the recent images of Emma's death where replaced with those of his sister's from years before when he had first been given the millennium ring. He breathed deeply and sniffed. "I won't let that happen again."

"Then you know to do what must be done." Hathor replied as she disappeared in to the light that had opened behind her.

Bakura was left alone in his kitchen. He didn't move from where he sat on the cold floor covered with hot chocolate. Slowly he pulled himself tightly in to a ball and continued to cry all the way through the early hours of the morning.