Anubis let the chains fall slack, as Ammut reached out her lion-like claws. She touched the chest of the thief, in order to slit it open. But suddenly, her body grew cold, and her eyes trembled with uncertain fear. She stopped.
"Lord Osiris!" Ammut called out, shuffling her hippopotamus-like feet backwards slightly. "I beg your forgiveness. But I cannot devour him!"
Bakura raised his solemn head, scarcely believing what he just heard. His hands fell to his side in surprise, the necklace falling just above his heart.
"What!" Osiris bellowed, shaking the entire holy chamber. The tribunal whispered amongst themselves, also in shock. "What do you mean, you cannot?"
Anubis strode towards Ammut, pointing his staff.
"You are ordered to devour the souls of the wicked! How can you deny your duty?" he shouted, his tone as stern as that of Osiris.
"He holds a heart scarab." Ammut lowered her head. "It has therefore been decreed that he be protected from a second death."
"He what!" Osiris was infuriated. His shouts rocked the foundation of the Hall of Ma'at, and feeling the tremors, Ryou started to regain consciousness.
"That is impossible." Anubis added, staring at the body of the thief. "His mortal body fell on the spiritual battle ground of Kul Elna, village of thieves. The pharaoh had no such protection, and certainly, this criminal cannot, lest he stole it from Horus himself!"
"My lord, one carries with them now what they brought with them from death. And he carries with him a protective amulet." Ammut pleaded. She bowed her head respectfully, but her body only trembled. "Should I take his heart, I will cease to exist!"
Ryou heard the words of the gods, but could scarcely acknowledge them. His mind was still far too hazy from the duel. He knew they were both about to be devoured, but he couldn't understand why they were arguing about it.
"Protective amulet?" Bakura gasped, not sure what they were talking about either. He looked down. The only thing that hung from his neck was the tiny piece of jewelry Ryou had given him. Ryou hadn't said anything about what it was – just that his father had given it to him before he died.
He stared at it for the longest time, attempting to remember where he had seen it before. Eventually it struck him. It was on the body of the mummy he dragged out from the tomb. It was under several layers of wrapping, which had been unceremoniously torn off as he dragged it through the open roads.
"A scarab given to pharaohs to… to help them in the afterlife?" he gasped, still not believing it. "Ryou… gave it to me… on… on purpose!"
"I cannot devour him." Ammut lowered her head. "You will have to find another punishment."
She returned to the Hall of Ma'at, not even looking back at Osiris. The lord of the dead could not believe it.
"Anubis, was he wearing that when you retrieved him from his three thousand year prison?" Osiris questioned the deity that served as his right hand.
"No, my lord. He was not." Anubis answered. "He could only have gotten it from one source."
The jackal-headed god pointed his staff at the barely conscious Ryou.
"It must have belonged to him."
Ryou blinked.
"…w..what b..belong..ged to me?" he weakly asked, still trying to focus his eyes.
"Ryou!" Bakura shouted, thankful for the soft voice that cut through the chamber's thunder.
"He must have given the scarab to the thief before the trial." Anubis exclaimed. "What can we do, my lord?"
Osiris sat back down, and let out a long sigh.
"We can do nothing, I am afraid." Osiris answered. The god let his hands fall weakly at his side. "He who wears the scarab is protected from a second death."
Bakura, as well, could not believe it. His own heart almost fell through the chamber at those words. And if he could not reach his second death, that meant Ryou would not either.
"However, his crimes are so infamous that he cannot be led into the western kingdom. He cannot be allowed to reach paradise." Osiris continued. "The scales of Ma'at have spoken. His soul is so wicked that it could not be weighed!"
"Then what should be done, my lord?" Anubis asked again, almost pleading. Such actions were unheard of. Never in eternity had such a predicament arrived in the court of Osiris.
"Anubis." Osiris ordered plainly and unemotionally. "Bring the prisoners forward."
The jackal-headed deity nodded, and ordered the prisoners to stand side by side, facing the lord of the dead. "I, myself, will determine their punishment."
Anubis personally thrust the thief Bakura back onto the platform where he was originally standing trial. The two carrying Ryou Bakura dropped him atop the platform as well. Unable to stand on his own power, he slumped to his yami's feet.
Bakura, even with chains wrapped tightly around his wrists, bent down and picked up his hikari. And he would hold him until he was strong enough to stand on his own power.
"Ryou Bakura." Osiris addressed him directly. "It appears you have bested me. Not in the game of duel monsters, but in another duel entirely."
Ryou blinked wearily. The last thing he remembered was The End of Anubis surrendering on the field. And now, Osiris was telling him that he… he won?
"Before you even challenged me, you made certain that your 'yami' would not be sentenced under my hand. You could have left this realm, undiscovered, and simply waited for his return." Osiris stated. "But you did not. You showed not only true kindness, but also true sacrifice. You would rather have died a second death with him, than live without him."
Ryou leaned into his yami, trying to stand on his own, but he was still too weak.
"You gave your heart to protect him. And I cannot overrule that." Osiris lowered his eyes.
Anubis could not believe what he was hearing, and neither could Thoth. The scribe struggled to quickly write down Osiris' words, to catch up from his state of frozen disbelief.
"He… he is free?" Ryou looked up at the god weakly. He smiled, resting his weary head on his yami's shoulder. Tentatively, he put a little weight on his own feet. They withstood the strain, albeit poorly.
"No." Osiris quickly answered. "A challenge was made, and it must be honored. I cannot bestow upon this criminal the gift of second life. And whatever punishment is decreed, you must still share is fate."
Bakura looked down at his hikari, suddenly quite concerned. Neither of them knew what the deity had in mind.
"But because of your actions, I will indeed show mercy."
The chamber was silent.
"And so your punishment will be this – Bakura, king of thieves and stealer of souls, you are sentenced to remain forever in a state of imprisonment. You will neither have life, nor will you have death. You will be sealed for all eternity in the millennium ring, a spirit that can never be laid to rest!"
Bakura made no sound. He only looked down at Ryou.
"And you, Ryou Bakura, the mortal that would so readily give up his life for another, you have done so. You will remain imprisoned inside the ring as well, for all eternity."
Ryou nodded weakly. There was nothing he could say either.
"Just as the thief Bakura will never know the pain of a second death, Ryou Bakura, never will you know the wonders of paradise. But they will forever have each other, and that is how fate decrees it."
The tribunal was silent as Osiris lowered his head. Thoth recorded these last few words, and carefully set his stone at the base of the podium.
"This trial has ended."
No sooner had Osiris ceased his voice, the pair disappeared from the platform, leaving behind no trace of the massive battle that was just fought in the Hall of Ma'at. Anubis left, to bring in the next waiting soul.