No, no, I'm not late, I still got an hour of the weekend left! ...right?
Okay so I was reading my reviews and a lot of them were like "Oh, Ryou's obviously going to get the key." And I'm like, what? Where did that come from? Why would you think that? And I couldn't figure it out but then I read over the chapter again and realized, the White Mage's gold staff, right? Crap! I didn't even see that coming.
Um… where's Yami no Malik you ask? Ah… um… (panics)
I can't believe it… school for me… is officially… OVER! (does happy dancings) Now I can focus all of my time on writing! And getting a job…
Oh and in case I forgot to say it before: "Chichiue" in Japanese is an extremely honorable way of saying father. Most characters in anime/manga that I've seen who use that word usually are the son/daughter of a King or Lord or Emperor or something. Malik calls his father Chichiue.
This chapter brought to you by: OMFG THEY'RE BACK! JOUNOUCHI AND KAIBA ARE BACK! YAY! I love those guys.
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Chyaputa 21: Castle of Dark Illusions
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Jounouchi walked out the doctor's office that day, glowing with happiness. He couldn't keep a smug grin off his face even as he winced down the hallway. His cast had finally been removed and he was free to once again walk on his own. True, his left leg was still a little weak and he had to go to physical therapy once every day to build its strength back up but still he was free. He was finally free.
And he already knew the first person he was going to show it off to. Jounouchi hummed as he approached his room, ready to brag to Kaiba his success.
"Hey Kaiba, guess what?" Jounouchi said cheerfully as he entered the room, still grinning but as his brown eyes landed on his roommate his mood dropped extremely.
Kaiba was standing across the room no longer wearing his white hospital uniform but a crisp business looking dress shirt and pants with a dark blue trench coat over top. There was a metal briefcase lying open on Kaiba's bed, most of his stuff already packed inside it.
"I see you got your cast off," Kaiba said casually, not looking at the blonde. Jounouchi shook himself, he had practically forgot.
"Ah… yeah, I did," he mumbled. It seemed stupid, even trivial now to be celebrating over such a silly little thing. "It's not perfect but at least I don't need help walking anymore."
Kaiba made a small snort. "Good thing too," he said coldly, packing his things as he talked. Neither one of them said anything for a while. Jounouchi was afraid to speak.
"So, you're leaving, are you?" Jounouchi asked trying to keep his voice casual.
"Yeah," Kaiba said shortly. It was really starting to annoy Jounouchi that Kaiba didn't even have courtesy to look at him.
"I thought your name was near the bottom of the list, your medical case wasn't even going to be looked over for another five months," Jounouchi said, eyeing his roommate suspiciously. "You slip some money under the table or something?"
Since the death of Ishizu Ishtar and the Head of the Hospital, the mental hospital had come under new management. After finding some hushed up projects hidden within the Red Wing the new staff had decided to re-examine every single patient's file that had ever been submitted into the hospital's care. Of course this process would take a long time; some patients would have to wait at least a year. Jounouchi had known that he and Kaiba weren't going to be looked at for least another six months, which was fine with Jounouchi, he had nowhere to go anyway.
"They made me an exception since I have a company to run," Kaiba corrected coolly. "And after they looked over the evidence Yugi gave me, it didn't take much persuasion to get them to agree that I was in perfect mental health." Jounouchi scowled, he was really getting irritated now.
"Bastard, it's not fair. Being treated special just cause you own a company," Jounouchi growled moodily.
"What? Are you in a rush to get out now? I thought you wanted to stay to save your precious alien friends?" Kaiba sneered cruelly.
"Ah, but I did help them escape," Jounouchi countered smugly.
"And when did you manage that?" Kaiba snapped. Then he paused in the folding of his socks and scoffed. "You can't be talking about Yugi…"
"Deny it all you like," Jounouchi said coolly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his white hospital jump suit determinedly. "But you saw him and those other guys from the Red Wing. Other halves? More like special alien powers! And you got to admit weird stuff's been happening ever since Yugi got here." Kaiba snorted, but there was an odd amused smirk playing on his lips.
"You really are dense," he commented. Jounouchi scowled, glowering at Kaiba from across the room.
"Not that it matters to you," Jounouchi snapped harshly, hatred flaming up in his heart again. "You'll be out of here soon and you can forget this whole thing ever happened! Just like you want, bastard." Kaiba was almost done packing his things away now.
"Exactly," Kaiba agreed coolly. "There are only bad memories in this hellhole." Jounouchi was getting really angry now. He didn't know why but looking at Kaiba's smug face made him want to chuck something at it. There was some strange energy burning inside of him directed forcefully at Kaiba's great ego swollen head, that he couldn't quiet place.
"Well, I wouldn't want to stand in your way!" Jounouchi spat, his words were coming out a lot louder than he meant them to. "You want out? Fine, get out! Hopefully I'll get a roommate who isn't as narrow minded or as selfish as you! I don't ever want to see you again, you stuck up rich bastard!"
Kaiba closed and locked his briefcase with a sharp click. His head snapped around, blue eyes finally meeting Jounouchi's brown ones.
There was silence, neither one of them moved. Jounouchi's hands grew painfully strained from clenching them into fists too long.
Kaiba's expression changed, a look Jounouchi had never seen before that made his insides flop. A second later Kaiba had roughly grabbed a hold of Jounouchi's chin and forced his head back against the wall behind him then before Jounouchi could protest, Kaiba smashed his mouth against his.
Jounouchi's body went stiff; he hands flat against the wall behind him.
'Holy shit…' Jounouchi thought in shock. 'Is… is that his tongue? Yes… yes, that's his tongue…'
The contact didn't last long. As soon as it had began it was gone again, almost as though it had never happened. Jounouchi was still flat against the wall, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. Kaiba grabbed his briefcase from the bed exited the room briskly, face stone still and just as expressionless.
"Bye," was the last thing Jounouchi heard from him as Kaiba rounded the corner and disappeared down the hall. Jounouchi slid down the wall to the floor, too stunned to think.
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Malik's father was approaching fast with eyes containing no pity or love for his only son that he was about to slaughter. The red hot metal tips of the pokers were glowing like a pair of angry eyes. Malik knew what would happened next. He had relived it every day of his life and there was no way to stop it now.
"What are you waiting for?" a voice that sounded of oddly familiar chuckled. "Let your fear consume you... it's the only way to save yourself." Malik turned his head and saw his darker personality leaning coolly up against the wall, pale eyes dancing menacingly. Malik stared at him, mouth hanging open in shock.
"You're supposed take control of the body now!" Malik cried. "Why aren't you inside me? This isn't how it's supposed to happen! You're supposed to do this! Not me!"
Yami no Malik shrugged mildly. "Yeah well," he mused indifferently, picking dirt out from under his fingernails. "I don't really feel like it right now... Why don't you do it yourself then?" the dark soul taunted. He pulled a dagger off a nearby table and chucked it at Malik's head. Malik ducked in his panic and the dagger landed outside in the hall with a loud clang.
"What the hell are you doing?" Malik exclaimed, backing up. His father was getting dangerously close now, deadly eyes glinting.
"What? Didn't you say you didn't need me?" Yami no Malik hissed. "You wanted control of your own life, here you go. Kill your own father, don't let me take this precious chance away from you..."
"Why are you doing this?" Malik shrieked, his voice rising in pitch as his fear increased. "I can't kill him!"
"Oh well, I guess cute little Ne-san gets the bite," Yami no Malik sneered coldly.
"What?" Malik gaped. At that moment, Malik's father's hand fell. Malik flinched waiting for the blow when Ishizu suddenly jumped in front of him, protecting him with her body. The hot pokers hit and she screamed as they burned through the material of her clothing and scorched the skin on her back.
"Stop it!" Malik screamed. "Please!" Ishizu rolled onto the floor, moaning with pain, her back still sizzling. Malik's father approached Malik crouched on the floor next to his sister.
"You broke the clan's rules, Malik," his father growled. "Take responsibility for your crimes!" Malik groped for something on the floor to defend himself against his father's attack. His hands found the dagger Yami no Malik had thrown to him. Without thinking, Malik blindly picked up the weapon and pointed it at his father. The old man's movements stopped, eyes focusing on the blade. "What are you going to do with that, Malik?" Malik's whole body was trembling, fear climbing up his spine, digging its claws into Malik's flesh.
"Please... Chichiue..." Malik pleaded. His father was unmoved as usual.
"Are you begging now?" his father asked threateningly, voice very low and rough. He loomed over Malik's crouching form, hot glowing metal raised at the ready. "The leader of our clan will not be weak!" He stabbed. Malik shrieked and rolled to the side, slashing the dagger blindly.
Warm red blood splattered Malik's arm as with another clang Malik's father dropped the iron rods onto the stone floor. Malik looked up fearfully to see his father slumped over on the floor beside him, blood dripping onto the floor from a large deep wound in his chest. Malik's whole body was shaking, brain numb.
Someone was clapping in the room where Rishido's body lay.
"Good! Very good, main personality-sama!" Yami no Malik cackled with glee, thin hands clapping together, the sound echoed hollowly down the hall.
"Chichiue..." Malik whimpered. He cautiously crawled over to where his father was doubled over on the ground. His father coughed violently, spitting up blood.
"Malik... Do you wish to murder me?" the man questioned fiercely, rage-filled eyes glaring hatefully at his son. "Do you wish to murder your own father!" he screamed, hands flying out to grabbed Malik's throat. Malik tried to scream but there was no air in his throat, currently being crushed under his father's large strong hands.
"Oo, what are you going to do now?" Yami no Malik asked curiously, eyes rolling sickeningly, wide and staring. He looked as though he were enjoying himself thoroughly. "Are you going to die? Well, hurry up and disappear then. I'll have a nice empty body all waiting for me when I get out."
Malik couldn't breath; his lungs were on fire. His father was too strong; Malik couldn't pull his hands away from his throat. Malik's brain was buzzing, he couldn't think, his arms thrashing helplessly at his sides like a dying bird.
'I'm going to die... I'm going to die...' Malik thought. Then he remembered, the dagger was still in his hand. With the last of his strength, he stabbed wildly at whatever part of his father he could reach. Again and again and again, driving the knife madly into his father's flesh. His arms were soaked up passed the elbows in deep red blood. His father had already let go and had stopped moving by the time Malik realized what he was doing. His arm paused in mid air, ready to strike again. Malik's eyes found his father's face in the red mess, still untouched by the dagger, his eyes wide with surprise as if he didn't know he was dying.
The dagger dropped from Malik's limp hand. It bounced off the floor and lay still barely two feet away on the stone floor. Malik was still staring at the body, horror and realization echoing in his still numb brain. There was silence, not even Yami no Malik was speaking now. Slowly Malik bent down near his father's body; trembling hands clutched his father's shoulders desperately.
"Chichiue...?" Malik said, voice cracking. The man didn't move, didn't speak. "Chichiue?" Malik said louder, shaking his shoulder as if the man was just asleep and Malik was trying to wake him up. "Chichiue!"
"Stop screaming," Yami no Malik ordered coldly, no longer smiling. "He's dead. He won't wake up."
"But I..." Malik protested weakly, leaning his forehead on his father's bloody shoulder. "I was only trying to defend myself, I didn't want him to die..." More silence. Malik sobbed, his body shivering, tears squeezing themselves out of his tightly shut eyelids. "I didn't want to kill him!"
"You didn't," Yami no Malik growled angrily, walking over to Malik crying on the floor. "I killed him, remember?" Malik pulled his face away from his father's body, tears streaming down his face.
"What?" Malik asked, confused. Yami no Malik scowled and sat down on the floor next to Malik.
"Chichiue has been dead for five years! This is only an illusion," the dark soul explained curtly and annoyed. "Chichiue is already dead so you couldn't have killed him." Malik stared at his darker side unbelievingly as though he couldn't understand.
"But..." Malik protested.
"Remember where we are? In the temple. You've been trapped in this illusion so long you can't remember. You're getting passed the last test to get the dark power," Yami no Malik reminded him harshly. Malik blinked, wiping away his tears with corner of his sleeveless shirt because both of his hands were still covered in blood.
"That's right, I remember..." Malik continued numbly looking down at the floor. "But... It's still my fault that he died." Yami no Malik shrugged.
"Well of course," Yami no Malik agreed coldly. "Because you created me and I killed him." Malik looked down at the floor, eyes strangely empty. Yami no Malik saw the look that he feared.
"My fault... it's all my fault... Chichiue," Malik mouthed. Malik's trembling fingers found the dagger on the floor. "This is the only way…" Malik said weakly, pulling the dagger up to his eyes, transfixed by the weapon in his hand. "It's only way I can end this. To bury you and me as a payment to my father…" He brought the golden dagger up to his own throat, its blade glinting in the torch light. "Forgive me, Chichiue…"
"Don't-" Yami no Malik cried out, falling backwards in surprise. "Don't do that!" Yami no Malik finished angrily, looking utterly terrified at his lighter half. "What the fuck are you doing! Put that thing away!" Malik turned his fierce violet eyes on his darker half.
"My father is dead because of me! It could have been like this! I was the one who broke the clan's rules! I might as well have been the one holding the dagger!" Malik screamed. Yami no Malik sat motionless on the floor, pale eyes wide. "This is the only way I can make up for my father's death. I don't deserve to live..." Malik said, voice hollow and empty.
"Don't say that," Yami no Malik hissed, slowly reaching towards the weapon in Malik's hands. "Don't do this, main personalty-sama…"
Yami no Malik lunged for the dagger. The weapon flew out of Malik's hand, barely missing Malik's throat and skittered across the floor out of his reach. Malik shot forward, trying to reach it but Yami no Malik grabbed onto both of his arms and pinned him roughly to the floor.
"Let me go!" Malik screamed. "Get off of me!"
"No!" Yami no Malik cried angrily back, sitting on top of Malik's stomach so he couldn't move. "Don't use me as an excuse to kill yourself!" Malik's struggling paused for a split second, shocked by his darkness' words.
"I'm not…" protested Malik.
"You want to escape your guilt and your pain, that's why want to kill yourself isn't it!" Yami no Malik hissed acidly. "Because you can't face the facts, because you are weak!" Malik shook his head violently.
"That's not true! I hate you!" Malik shrieked, struggling madly again, voice echoing painfully off the walls. "I hate you! You bastard! Fuck you! Get off of me! I HATE YOU!"
"I will not," Yami no Malik growled. Malik's flying fist connected with Yami no Malik's face. Yami no Malik grunted but did not get up. He did not move, no matter how much Malik scratched at his skin or bit him, Yami no Malik would not move. Finally Malik tired himself out, his throat raw from screaming, his arms sore. He lay motionless under Yami no Malik; head turned to the side so he didn't have to look at his darker half.
"Why…?" Malik wouldn't look at him. "What reason do I have to live?" Malik asked. "Without Ne-san or even Chichiue telling me what to do, what will I do with myself?" Yami no Malik snorted.
"That's a stupid," Yami no Malik sneered nastily. "You don't need someone to tell you what to do, main-personality-sama. There might not be any purpose in life but you can at least find something interesting to do while your stuck here. Just because you don't know what to do doesn't mean your life is useless. Living is unexpected." Malik glared up at his darker side, suspicion glowing in his eyes.
"You suck at this convincing thing," Malik commented coldly. Yami no Malik scowled deeply, searching for another tactic.
"Then tell me, main personality, what is waiting for you in righteous death of yours?" he asked fiercely.
"Peace," Malik answered. Yami no Malik rolled his eyes.
"You can get peace living," his dark personality argued.
"Peace from you," Malik spat.
"How are you going to get peace from me if you die? I'll be dying with you," Yami no Malik snapped. Malik hesitated, apparently he had not thought of this before.
"I didn't think about that…" he mumbled. Yami no Malik smirked.
"I'm a part of you, you can't escape me," Yami no Malik growled. "And as long as I'm here, I'll make sure you survive. I was born to protect you, even from yourself." Malik remained silent for quite some time.
"I hate you," Malik grumbled in defeat. Yami no Malik shrugged.
"Why struggle? Everyone always dies eventually, you only get to live for a little while," Yami no Malik suggested.
"Why do you want me to live so bad?" Malik asked coldly.
"Why do you want me to die so bad?" Yami no Malik countered cunningly.
"Because I hate you," Malik growled, getting frustrated.
"Funny, I don't share your feelings," Yami no Malik hissed, a mischievous light glowing in the darkness' eyes. "We are opposites, main personality-sama. The more you hate me, the more I can't seem to keep myself away from you," the darkness admitted. "You fascinate me." He leaned down so that his head was inches away from Malik's face. Malik suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
"Get off me," Malik ordered fearfully. Yami no Malik smirked and twisted his head around so that his mouth was above Malik's exposed neck.
"But I don't want to," Yami no Malik whined. He licked Malik's copper flesh with his dark pink tongue. Malik shivered. "You might try to kill yourself again."
"I won't, I promise. Now get off!" Malik ordered more forcefully. Yami no Malik turned his head around so that he was facing his light directly again, his face barely centimeters away from Malik's.
"I like that promise," he breathed. Malik's face was heating up; a strange feeling writhed at the area below his stomach. Yami no Malik's eyes flashed knowledgeably, he could sense Malik's discomfort. Malik saw his darkness close his eyes before leaning in.
Yami no Malik's mouth met Malik's lips. The kiss was surprisingly not painful unlike the one the he had given his light before in the illusion world, although perhaps just as forceful. The dark soul bit on Malik's lower lip teasingly before shoving his tongue into Malik's resistant mouth. Malik's body went very rigid, his hands grabbed Yami no Malik's arms, not sure whether to push him away or pull him closer.
Yami no Malik eventually pulled away on his own, grinned madly. Malik looked away, lips sore, face slightly pink.
"W-we've got to go and meet up with the others," Malik mumbled. Yami no Malik frowned, looking disappointed.
"They can wait," Yami no Malik growled, placing his elbows on either side of Malik's neck, getting more comfortable. Malik's cheeks turned red.
"We shouldn't…" Malik protested weakly. Yami no Malik licked his lips suggestively and Malik closed his mouth.
"You should stop talking," the dark personality hissed leaning forward and devouring Malik mouth once again.
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Ryou was frantically running along the outside of the castle courtyard, he knew if he stopped, Zork would certainly hit him.
'But I can't keep running,' Ryou thought, a sharp painful stitch had already formed in his side. 'I'm almost out of magic points and I'm getting tired.'
"White Magic Flame!" Bakura Ryou cried, voice thin from exhaustion, pointing his staff behind him. The attack spell hit Zork square in the face, it wouldn't do much damage but it would blind the monster for a turn. The Dark Master roared, his cry echoing off the stones around him, stomping his feet in rage. Ryou dived behind the stone staircases, heart thundering against his ribs, nausea building up in his stomach.
'I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this,' Ryou chanted hopelessly. 'I'm only one fighter, how can I…? I bet mou hitori no boku could figure out a way to beat him…' Ryou thought to himself. But Yami no Bakura wasn't there to help him anymore. He wasn't going to jump in at the last second and save the day like he had before. Ryou shook the frighten tears out of his eyes. If his yami could think of a way out of this then he could too. 'This is a game,' he reminded himself, 'There has to be a way to defeat him!' Thoughts were rushing around Ryou's mind in a blur. Then suddenly he remembered. The writing that had appeared on the wall just before Zork had appeared.
"Its true name is the key," Ryou repeated, voice raspy between swallows of air.
'What's Zork's true name?' Ryou asked himself. 'Zork is his name!' Ryou shouted at himself. 'Could it be that easy?' Having nothing to lose, Ryou stood up behind the edge of the stairs to see Zork shaking off the last of Ryou's last spell.
"Your true name is Zork Nekurohades!" Ryou cried.
Nothing happened. The monster's red eyes found the White Mage; he got in position to attack again.
'It didn't work!' Ryou thought to himself as he ran out of the Dark Master's reach. 'What the hell am I supposed to do?'
At that moment, Ryou tripped on the hem of his long white robe; his arms flew out to protect himself from a harsh landing with the ground. He looked up to see Zork standing above him, readying another fireball attack.
'No choice,' Ryou thought, he rolled over on his back, pointing his magical staff at the Dark Master, 'I can't dodge it, I just hope I have enough magic points.'
"Shinning Shield Level-" Ryou began and then winced as he felt the last of his power give out.
He had used his shield too much already; he had run out of magic, Ryou couldn't protect himself against the next attack.
There was a loud ear-splitting boom as Zork's fireball fell down upon him. Heat, light, and air exploded, Ryou screamed as the magic staff melted in his hands. It felt like a thousand tons of red-hot iron had fallen on top of him, crushing his bones as well as burning him alive.
The fireball finally burnt itself out and Ryou was left on the floor, his skin badly singed, his body so broken that Ryou was sure he would never be able to move again. Zork readied yet another attack.
'I must be practically out of Health Points,' Ryou thought mildly to himself. The world around him seemed to be moving in slow motion. 'One more attack will kill me…'
Even as Ryou lay there on the stone covered ground, certain of his inevitable death, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Ryou turned his head slowly to the side and saw a small piece of glass catching the light from fire forming once again in Zork's hands.
'Broken glass?' Ryou thought dully. That's right, there had been a mirror underneath where the words had been written. Zork must have smashed it when Ryou wasn't looking. 'Mirror…' Ryou's brain suddenly sprung into life, his eyes widened. 'It's a clue to finding Zork's true name!' Ryou realized. 'What is a mirror?' he asked himself. Zork turned to face the defeated White Mage lying on the ground. 'A mirror reflects, it shows you a reflection of yourself… yourself…'
"Your true name…" Ryou said very loudly, head pounding with excitement. Zork was getting ready to throw, fireball hissing and spitting tongues of flame in the monster's hands.
"Your true name is Bakura!" Ryou screamed.
Zork, the Dark Master's body froze for a split second then immediately exploded into a thousand wisps of smoke and ash. Ryou sighed in relief and rested his head back down against the cracked stone floor, breathing heavily.
There was a bright light from on top of the castles mighty steps. Ryou peered up to see three doorways appearing on the castle wall. Was that his way out? As slowly as possible, Ryou pulled himself up on his elbows, hissing with pain. Most of his skin had been burned in that fireball attack. Rolling onto his side, Ryou shifted his weight so that his feet were underneath him and he pushed off the ground, getting light headed as he finally stood up.
'I need to make it to those doors,' Ryou ordered himself. He shuffled forward, barely managing to lift his tired feet off the ground. As he passed the remains of Zork's body, something golden caught his eye. Seemingly against his will and even though every step was causing him pain, Ryou turned aside to see what it was.
There was a strange object in the pile of ashes. A golden triangle surrounded by a golden ring. There was a golden eye carved into the center of the triangle and along the bottom half of the ring were five hanging pointers that clinked pleasantly as Ryou leaned over to pick the object up. The metal felt pleasantly warm in his hands.
"But which path do I take?" Ryou asked out loud, looking around. The strange golden object in Ryou's hands vibrated. Ryou looked down to see the center pointer at the very bottom of the ring pointed directly towards the center doorway, trembling almost as though it were being pulled. "That doorway?" Ryou asked curiously, not unnerved at all that a inanimate object was giving him directions. "Ok, let's try it."
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Yami no Bakura's path ended and a set of stone steps began in its place, the staircase climbing steadily upward. The dark soul walked up them and emerged from the dark corridor to find himself outside the temple in the thief town Shadi had brought them to earlier that day. Only it was nighttime and the dark light-less sky was black with smoke of burning pillaged buildings; screams and stench of blood filled the air. Yami no Bakura smirked coldly.
"What could be going on here?" he asked himself, dark eyes looking curiously around at his surroundings. "Something interesting?" Just then, a group of ancient-looking soldiers passed by him, their spears flashing the orange light from the fires, red with blood. Yami no Bakura didn't seem catch their eye, which meant that he was most likely invisible to them. So this was a test he was only meant to observe, not influence.
"How many more sacrifices are needed?" one asked another who looked like his superior.
"As many more as the priests need," he said coldly. "Probably at least another forty of these sinners."
"Sacrifices?" Yami no Bakura repeated skeptically, eyes narrowing in seriousness as the soldiers disappeared around the corner. Another troupe of soldiers came into view, this one driving a group of poor, scrubby villagers ahead of them. The prisoners were screaming in terror as the soldiers, jeering and laughing cruelly, forced them down into the temple that Bakura had just exited from. Yami no Bakura stood at the side, letting the group pass.
He watched as soldiers packed the prisoners down into the temple, violently shoving men, women and children down the steps, poking them with their spears and swords as though this was some fun sport. The hallway Bakura had just exited from had disappeared and instead the prisoners were forced into a large underground stone room with a huge pot in the center of it that Yami no Bakura had never seen before. Three tall dark figures in long black robes stood around the pot, chanting ancient dark words that made Yami no Bakura's ears throb.
Next to the cauldron was a set of stairs and a plank that hovered feet above the boiling red contents of the caldron. An important looking soldier selected three thin scruffy looking older men and a woman from the crowd and forced them up the stairs. The woman screamed, it sounded like her lungs were being split open as she frantically tried to get away from the man and the pot. The officers surrounded her and the old men and threw them into the boiling cauldron.
There was a hiss and a splash as the villagers were boiled alive. The final scream of the woman before her lungs were burned and her skin melted, echoed in Yami no Bakura's brain. He watched the whole thing, voice stuck, limbs frozen, unable to think, for some reason unable to comprehend the scene.
In his normal state of mind, Bakura wouldn't think any of this. He had never before now been moved by human suffering but there was something utterly unsettling about this particular situation that made Bakura sick. The smells and eerie golden steam that wafted away from the giant pot's rim made Yami no Bakura's stomach turn. Mind numb with horror and confusion, Bakura found himself fleeing back up the stairs, one hand on his mouth and the other on his stomach, desperately holding the nausea down.
He escaped from the temple, stumbling out of the entrance. He took a deep breath of hot smoke-filled desert air from the outside; the stench of blood was still strong on the wind.
And then Yami no Bakura saw him. A little boy with pure white hair and golden copper skin kneeling by the entrance of the temple, watching as people were forced into the pot, their blood boiling out of their skins. Yami no Bakura's body froze. How could he watch? How could he keep on looking down at that dark place watching the people being boiled to death? Bakura's head was spinning violently.
"What is this place?" Yami no Bakura demanded the boy furiously. "Why am I being showed this?" The boy turned his head to face Yami no Bakura; he had violet eyes, wide and terrified.
"It is the truth," the boy answered.
"Why look!" a rough slurred voice called out. Yami no Bakura and the boy turned to see two soldiers walking toward them. They smelled like they had been drinking. "One little brat that got away from the patrols! Watching our little show, thief devil?" he spat, leaning forward and catching the boy by the arm before he had a chance to run away. The white haired boy was trembling like mad, scared out his mind. Again the two men seemed unable to see Bakura. "Should we throw him in the pot of fire for the priests?" he asked partner playfully.
"Nah, they got enough sacrifices," the other soldier growled. "Besides this one's so scrawny he probably won't even count!" He picked the boy off the ground by his hair. The boy cried out in pain. The men laughed. "Let's have fun with this one…" he suggested, pulling out his knife. He placed the blade on the boy's chest. The boy whimpered, eyes still wide and terrified.
They dragged the boy off into a shadowy corner, the boy shrieking. Yami no Bakura watched them from the street. His feet did not move. He did not even try to stop them. Hands hanging limp at his side, eyes wide and staring. He watched the men play with the defenseless little child. More and more prisoners were forced down into the temple, their frantic screams covering up the boy's shouts of pain.
And Yami no Bakura could only stand there and watch, eyes very wide.
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Heehee. Oh Kaiba, silly Kaiba…
There you go. Malik and Yami no Malik action. Everyone happy?
Yeah, Yugi and Yami didn't make an appearance but they each had two scenes last chapter so they'll be fine.
Ryou's amazing. I guess that answers the whole "does Ryou have the key?" question. (in case you didn't get it the first time, the answer is no. That whole golden staff thing is just a coincidence. I guess Kazuki Takahashi really likes ankhs but then again who doesn't?) There's your "true name", Psychotic Tendencies.
NEXT CHAPTER: Yami's in major trouble; he's really freaking out and who knows how much more physical and mental abuse he can take. Yugi's slowly making progress while Ryou follows this "mysterious" golden item that brings him to place where he really shouldn't be.
REVIEW IF YOU LOVE JOUNOUCHI AND KAIBA AS MUCH AS I DO!
And if you don't like that couple very much then…
REVIEW IF YOU LOVE MALIK AND YAMI NO MALIK AS MUCH AS I DO!
And if you don't like either then review because Yami no Bakura needs some love right about now.