I don't own Yugioh. I do own Maria, Gold, silver, and this plot… which is co-owned by Rei…figures, but nothing more,

/Blah/ Bakura-Diabound, Diabound-Bakura

'Blah' mental conversation

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Finding the offering chamber door a while later, Bakura and Diabound felt around a little ways down the hall and felt a hidden door shift when Diabound pushed on it. Chortling, Bakura strolled down the revealed hall, and didn't even notice the hazy cloud around the corner until he walked right into it.

The effect was instantaneous. Bakura doubled over, coughing and choking, trying to get the vapor out of his lungs, but only ended up inhaling more. Diabound, concerned about his master, moved him away from the vapor so he could breathe.

/Master, are you okay/ Diabound asked, laying the thief king down on the stone floor. Bakura took a ragged breath and weakly opened his eyes.

/Get me home Diabound/ Bakura replied, suddenly coughing again. Diabound complied, taking both of them through the wall into fresh air. Turning, Diabound flew to Thebes with all speed, trying to beat the effect of the vapor on himself.

Reaching the backyard of his and Rei's house, Bakura shakily stood and started to make his way into the kitchen, doubling over to retch on the way. Getting through the kitchen, Bakura groaned slightly as his vision swam before his eyes. Praying to Ra that Rei and Ishtar didn't decide to switch the furniture around, Bakura picked his way through the living room.

'Almost there,' Bakura thought, just as his legs gave way and he fell down with a thump. It was a matter of seconds before Ishtar emerged from his room with a yawn.

"Bakura? What are you doing on the floor?" Ishtar asked, when he saw his friend sprawled on the ground.

"I'm not feeling well, and my legs gave out and refuse to move now, so help me to my room damnit!" Bakura snarled, raising his head enough to glare at the blonde.

Ishtar's gaze narrowed. "I should leave you there," he spat.

"Then I'll tell Rei…and you don't…know what she'll do if…and when…she finds out…you…didn't…help…me," came the reply punctuated by painful coughing. Ishtar grumbled for a minute and then picking up Bakura, took the Thief King up to his room before going back to bed.

The next morning, Rei padded into the living room with a yawn. Looking around, she noticed that something seemed to be missing. As she scanned the room, it hit her. Bakura had gone thieving, but there wasn't a bag of treasure waiting to be sorted like there usually was.

Going upstairs, Rei hesitated in front of Bakura's door. Bakura always hated it if someone entered his room while he was sleeping unless it was for a good reason. Finally deciding that it was a good enough reason, Rei pushed the door open and entered Bakura's bedroom. She was surprised to see Bakura laying on top of his blankets, still fully dressed, including his coat.

Going to her brother to straighten him out because he was laying on the bed wierdly, Rei noticed that Bakura was convulsing. "Bakura! Wake up!" Rei said, shaking Bakura fiercely.

Bakura's head turned towards her and opened his eyes slightly, but didn't stop his twitching. "R-Rei," he whispered, obviously due to a dry throat, "get Maria… she'll know what's wrong."

Rei nodded and after smoothing his hair, went back downstairs. "Ishtar, Bakura's really sick. I need you to watch him for me while I get Maria. Make him comfortable," she said as she headed through the kitchen and out the back door to get Sekhmet.

Maria sat in the dining hall, laughing as Atemu tried to get Yugi to eat something new. Apparently Yugi didn't like it, so he was adamantly refusing his father's urges to finish it. "Atemu, leave Yugi alone. Apparently he doesn't like it," she pointed out once she stopped laughing.

Yugi giggled at the defeated look on Atemu's face. "Hi Rei!" he called, waving energetically at the door.

"What's wrong Rei?" Atemu asked as he and Maria turned and saw the look on Rei's face.

"Maria, Bakura's really ill. He asked me to get you because he figures that you'll know what's wrong," Rei explained.

"Let me go get Jasmine then," Maria replied standing and walking out with Rei keeping step right next to her.

"How long has he been sick?" she asked Rei as they entered the stables after Maria got different medications.

Rei frowned as she got back on Sekhmet and Maria got on Jasmine. "That's the thing. He was fine before he left for tomb robbing last night," she replied as they rode out.

"…I think I know what's wrong with him, but we have to hurry," Maria said, bending over Jasmine, urging the mare to go faster. Reaching the house, both slid off of the horses and hurried to Bakura's room.

Ishtar looked up and motioned for them to be quiet as they entered. "I got him to drink some water a while ago. He won't stop convulsing though."

Maria went over to Bakura and felt his forehead. "Bakura, what happened?" she asked.

"I-I don't know. I was heading down one of the old tombs, and I walked into a cloud of vapor that made me sick after a few minutes," he said, as he struggled to sit up, but was pushed back down by Rei and Ishtar.

Maria shook her head. "You walked into a cloud of poison. You're lucky to be alive. The poison that tomb builders put in the tombs of old were designed to kill after five minutes," she explained, pulling a flask out of her bag. "Drink this. It's an antidote for those poisons," she said as Ishtar helped Bakura sit up so he wouldn't choke on the antidote.

It took a minute to figure out that Maria had to hold the flask while Bakura drank, because his arms and hands were twitching too much to hold the flask at all. "This stuff is nasty," Bakura complained after a mouthful.

"Bakura, I don't think it should matter. It'll help you get better, won't it?" Rei pointed out. Bakura grumbled, but drank half of the flask without further complaint.

"Let's let him sleep for a while," Maria said, corking the flask and heading out of the room.

"Will the antidote work?" Ishtar asked.

Maria frowned. "It should," she replied, "Guards who patrolled the halls of the tombs would sometimes walk into the clouds by accident, so they carried around this antidote."

…

About an hour later, the three headed back up to Bakura's room to see the results of the antidote. Going to Bakura, Maria felt his forehead and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked as Bakura woke up.

Maria took a while to answer. "The antidote should have erased any sign of sickness by now, but Bakura's still feverish and clammy,"

Bakura regarded her with mild annoyance. "Are you sure you used the right antidote?" he asked. When Maria nodded, Bakura raised his hands and looked at them. "At least I stopped twitching," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked. Maria smiled slightly. "I'll ask father about the poison and I'll also see if there's an antidote for the rest," she said and then left.

…

Maria rode back into the palace grounds and immediately headed to Akunadin's chambers. "Father, can I ask you something?" she asked, opening the door and poking her head in.

"Certainly Maria, what do you want to know?" Akunadin replied, motioning for her to have a seat.

Maria sat on the bed. "Well, I know you are an expert on poisons, so I was wondering if you knew anything about the poison that old-time tomb builders used as traps," she explained.

Akunadin thought for a minute. "I don't know much about that certain poison. However, I know it's basic properties," he replied.

"Is there any possibility that it could have mutated in a sense?" Maria asked then, "The reason I'm asking is because Bakura was raiding a tomb and walked into a cloud of vapor poison. I gave him the antidote, but it barely worked."

"The thing you need to know about poisons, is that all will turn into something different over time. This particular one must have become more potent and have developed different effects, and since no one has gone into those tombs in years, there is no known new antidote," Akunadin said.

Maria stared at her lap, afraid to ask this next question, but knew she had to. "What's going to happen to Bakura then?" she asked.

Akunadin sighed and gestured that he didn't know. "I don't want to scare you by assuming anything," he said at last, "However, whose item can gaze into the future?"

Maria mulled over the seven items' abilities and then smacked herself in the forehead. "Of course! The Tauk will give me what I need to know!" she exclaimed rushing from the room.

A few minutes later found Maria sitting across from Isis, and Isis concentrating. Isis finally sighed and opened her eyes.

"What did you see?" Maria asked.

"The Tauk showed me…" here Isis trailed off.

"What? Isis, don't leave me in suspense like this! Tell me, I can handle it," Maria urged.

Isis looked her queen in the eye. "Bakura only has about a week left to live. Over the course of that time, the poison will affect him again, and it can't and won't be reversed or stopped," she said reluctantly and watched Maria grip the table to keep from fainting, a pained expression clouding her eyes.

"I have to go. Isis, please explain the situation to Atemu for me," Maria said and left once again for Jasmine. Riding out, Maria decided to take her time getting to Bakura's, just so the three wouldn't see her cry. When she finally rode up, Maria no longer had tears to cry, and her face was dry.

"What did your father say?" Bakura asked when she entered his room. Once she didn't respond after a minute, Bakura pulled her down onto the bed and looked her square in the eye. "Tell me," he said softly, seeing the distress in her eyes.

Maria took a shaky breath to hold back the tears again and returned the gaze sadly. "It turns out that the poison mutated and there's no antidote for it," she said, hiding her eyes.

"So, is Bakura going to get completely better or is he just going to be disabled?" Rei asked.

"Bakura…has one week left to live," Maria forced out.

The others sat in stunned silence. Bakura? The thief that has never been caught for more than a few hours? Going to die by a careless poisoning? "A-Are you sure?" Bakura shakily asked.

Maria nodded, "I had Isis look into your future, and that's what she told me."

Bakura blinked and laid back onto his bed and looked idly over to where his coat hung. "This is going to suck," he said.

…

Sure enough, as the week progressed, Bakura's health deteriorated. Maria, Rei, and Ishtar did everything possible to make sure Bakura was comfortable. Maria was so worried about Bakura, she stayed at the house and slept in Rei's room. One evening, Rei was sitting with Bakura as he slept when she noticed his breathing become labored.

As she tried to wake Bakura up, she didn't sense Bakura's spirit rise out of his body. Spirit Bakura opened his eyes and looked around. "Why am I near the ceiling?" he wondered and then looked down, "Holy shit! That's my body down there! But if I'm separated from it, does that mean…"

"…That you're going to die? Yes, your body will die in about four minutes," came a voice behind him.

Bakura whirled around. "Who the hell are you?" he growled. The figure appeared, and Bakura blanched. "Shit, if Seth is here, nothing good is going to come from this," he said, going pale.

Seth chuckled, ignoring Bakura's comment. "Like I said, you are going to die. However, I have come to strike a deal with you, seeing as you won't pass the weighing of the heart."

"What deal?" Bakura asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I'll save you by removing the poison from your body and healing it up, and in return, you must give me something," Seth offered.

"What would I have to give you?" Bakura demanded and raised an eyebrow when Seth shrugged.

"I'll decide that later. You better decide if you want to take this deal quickly," Seth replied, consulting an hourglass that appeared out of nowhere, "You only have a minute left before it's too late."

Bakura looked down at Rei, then back at the hourglass, and made his decision in a heartbeat. "Deal," he said holding out his hand. Seth shook it, and Bakura saw a lot more sand fill the top bulb of the hourglass.

"I'll be back tomorrow once your body has recovered with my condition," Seth said, letting go. As soon as the god let go, Bakura felt a sucking sensation as he plummeted towards his body, joining body and soul back together. Regulating his breathing then, Bakura listened and heard Rei muttering.

"You asshole, don't do that again," Rei growled, hitting Bakura upside the head lightly and walking out, letting Bakura sleep in peace. Walking down the hall, Rei spotted Maria exiting her room, rubbing her eyes.

"Is it time to switch watch?" Maria asked after yawning.

"Maria, go home. If Bakura's health changes, I'll come get you. Trust me when I say he won't go quickly. A few minutes ago, it seemed that Bakura was going to leave us. But miraculously, his breathing returned to normal," Rei said gently, for once.

"If you're sure," Maria said reluctantly. Rei nodded and Maria went downstairs and out to the back yard where Jasmine was grazing in the early morning. Whistling, Maria called Jasmine over and sleepily climbed on. "take me home girl," Maria yawned and relaxed as Jasmine started off. It only took about ten minutes to reach the palace since there wasn't anybody in the streets yet. Approaching the gates, Maria nodded to the guards who opened the gate upon recognizing her.

…

"How's Bakura?" Atemu asked once waking Maria up. He had woken up to find Maria asleep on one of her favorite couches.

"I think he's as good as he's going to be. Rei told me to return here. She promised to send word if Bakura's condition changed," Maria replied, shrugging into her sleeping outfit.

Atemu smiled and kissed her forehead. "Get some rest love, You'll run yourself ragged if you don't," he said before leaving to the throne.

Maria smiled slightly as she climbed into the bed. At least Atemu would tell the servants to stay away from the room today. Curling into her usual spot, she fell asleep almost instantly. It was several hours later when Maria was awoken, just by feeling a gaze on her. Opening an eye, she looked into sparkling amethyst and smiled slightly. "Hello Yugi," she murmured.

Yugi smiled back and crawled to lay next to his mother. "I wanna nap with you."

"Okay, but why? It's still afternoon. How come you're not playing?" Maria asked as she cuddled with the little boy.

"It's too hot to do much, and your room is cool and breezy," Yugi pointed out. Maria thought about this and nodding, drifted back off to sleep with Yugi following soon after. Neither of them felt the gaze watching them, laughing at how the peace the royal family had now, would be shattered very, very soon.

…

Towards evening, Bakura's mind was just starting to wake up when it felt the same feeling that it did when he was dying, as his soul had separated from his body. Snapping his eyes open, Spirit Bakura struggled to right himself, wondering why this happened again when he remembered Seth's words the night before. "Aww damn, just as I was about to wake up and eat," Bakura muttered to no one in particular and 'jumped' when he heard a laugh.

"Not to worry," Seth said appearing, "this meeting will be brief."

"I take it you figured out what you want from me?" Bakura asked.

"Yes. I want you to be my faithful servant, doing everything I say without question, and also allowing me to posses you in a way," Seth said smoothly.

Bakura was surprised at the condition. "And if I refuse?" he asked saucily.

Seth's expression turned into one of irritation. "I'll kill your body here and now. You don't want that, do you?" he sneered.

Bakura reluctantly shook his head and then once again held out his hand, not looking at the god in front of him. Seth shook Bakura's hand and a feeling like an electric (for lack of a better description) shock traveled up Bakura's arm and snaked around his wrists, ankles, and neck and then dissipated, leaving strong bands of an unknown material around the areas that it circled.

"What did you do to me?" Bakura angrily demanded, looking at the bands.

"It's just a precaution. Every time you disobey, these bands will give you a nasty shock," Seth explained with a smirk.

That pissed Bakura off. "This isn't a precaution, you enslaved me!" Bakura shouted, lunging at the god. Before he got very far, shocks coursed through his spirit, making him stop his assault.

Seth just chuckled at the pained expression on Bakura's face before sending the now enslaved spirit back into his body, but not before combing a portion of his insane self with Bakura's spirit.

Bakura felt the remaints of the shock treatment coursing through his body. Groaning, he rolled over onto his side and tried to will the pain to stop, not even hearing Rei enter the room.

Rei looked at the bed and noticed that Bakura had shifted onto his side. Rolling her eyes, she gave Bakura a light push so he rolled back onto his back. Stepping back to observe her brother, Rei noticed that he didn't look flushed or sickly anymore. Putting a hand on his forehead, Rei's normally narrow and emotionless eyes widened in surprise and shock. Bakura's skin was actually cool!

Just as she pulled her hand away, she felt a hand grab her wrist with a strong grip. Looking down, Rei saw Bakura's eyes half open, and he was smirking at having caught her wrist. After a minute of the two siblings staring at each other, Bakura suddenly grinned.

"Hi!" he said and then laughed at the dumbfounded look on Rei's face.

"Okay, what the hell did you take to make you suddenly well and happy?" Rei demanded, yanking her wrist from his grip.

"I honestly don't know," Bakura lied, since he could hear Seth's voice telling him to tell no one.

"you don't know?"

"Nope," Bakura said and then started laughing again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Rei demanded.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong with me, I'm just insane," Bakura replied seriously once he stopped laughing, a crazed gleam appearing in his eyes, courtesy of Seth's 'implant.'

Rei looked uneasy. 'This is exactly how Ishtar was after he killed his father,' she thought, 'he would say something serious and then he'd laugh insanely…like Bakura was just doing.'

"Come on then psycho, let's find you something to eat," she said, masking her wariness with indifference, and walking out of the room.

Bakura's expression saddened. He was scaring Rei, but he was just trying to obey Seth. If only he could tell one of them, they would be able to put up with his insane outbursts. 'You'll do no such thing,' came Seth's voice, floating across Bakura's mind.

'And why not? My sister has a right to know!' Bakura snapped back as he stood and heading out of his room, walked down the stairs.

'Just try to tell her,' Seth sneered and then laughed darkly. 'It would be interesting to see if a corpse can talk,' he mocked.

'Fine I won't try anything. What are you going to want me to do?' Bakura asked bitterly as he entered the kitchen and grabbed an apple.

'Nothing until tomorrow, for I'll be taking over then. I'm forbidding you to go to the palace tonight.'

'Why?'

'You'll disrupt my plans.'

Bakura sighed and rubbed his forehead as he walked out into the backyard to get away from Ishtar and Rei for a while, since he knew they'd be bursting with questions. 'Can't I at least go for a little while to tell Maria that I'm okay? I won't tell her how I truly recovered, I'll make something up,' he asked, feeling guilty that Maria would be left in the dark about his recovery.

Seth was silent, mulling over the pros and cons. Using one of his abilities, Seth looked a little forward into the future and saw that it would cause more chaos than what he originally planned. 'Fine,' Seth finally replied, 'But don't stay too long.' Nodding in consent, Bakura scaled the wall and headed off towards the palace.

…

A little while later, Maria sat at the mirror in her and Yami's room untangling her long hair. "That's the last time I sleep for so long without braiding my hair first," she laughed to herself.

"I agree. Your hair looks so much better unsnarled," a laughing voice came from the balcony.

Maria froze and slowly turned towards the balcony, remembering the incident from now three months ago. "Who's there?" she demanded, seeing a shadowy figure standing on the balcony. The figure moved into the light and Maria gasped and then ran into the person's arms. "Bakura! You're all right!" Maria cried, "I was so worried about you. How did you recover from the poison?"

Bakura laughed gently. "Did you forget who I am?" he asked, wiping some stray tears away from Maria's face, "I'm the Thief King Bakura. Nothing will hold me back for long."

"That's bull and you know it," Maria said with a laugh, "but I won't press the issue. Come in."

Bakura sensed Seth clear his throat and shook his head. "I'm sorry Maria, but I still tire easily. I just came to tell you that I miraculously recovered. Besides, I had to slip away from Rei, and you know how hard that is," Bakura said with a chuckle and felt Maria hug him again.

"Very well, rest up though. I expect you to visit again," Maria said, puling away and heading back in as Bakura left the balcony and headed home.

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YSF: How long did that take me to type? A week? Don't ask me how I got inspired. Also a little note: I know people are reading this, so why aren't you reviewing? All I ask is that you review. It doesn't have to be a long review, you can just put nice or good in it and I'll be happy.

By the way, if anyone would be so kind as to read my best friend's fic: Immortal Death by Night Spirit1. She needs five reviews, so please help her out. It's really a good story.