Ryoura: This time.
Uh... ya... ALSO I'm going to Spain for a week tomorrow, so no more updates for yet another week!
Now, I know this parts a little boring, but the end of it's VERY important to the plot! Hope you guys enjoy, and because I'm in a hurry, I won't respond this chappy. Next time, kk? I LOVE my reviewers!
Oh, and Rowena Raven, HELLO! I haven't heard from so long! -glomp- Yay! Thankies for the complements, and your ToS story (haven't gotton 'round to reviewin' it yet, and I'm only popping on to update thing cause I'm supposed to be in bed, but I WILL REVIEW) was AWESOME! Hope you update it, tis great!
Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
"This is talking"
"These are thoughts"
The soul that had been following the group for the past few months sat at the edge of the opening Yugi, Ryoura and Bakura had created, one leg crossed over the other and arms folded. It's former had become much clearer over the past week, though it was still devoid of colour.
It -or rather his- strength had been building for months, but only lately had his form begun to change, also. He had been curious as to whether or not Yugi and the others had survived the fall, but was thankful he could still sense their life forces beating strongly below. Thankful in a sadistic sort of way.
He didn't know how they had survived, but he was looking forward to seeing them again. That boy, Ryoura, seemed to have seen him a few times, which was very odd. Then again, not all magic-users are the same, it's possible he had a gift for this sort of thing. Not that he was of any threat to him anyway, but the evil spirit was sure he could have some fun torturing the boy before his yami's eyes. Yes, that would be a wondrous experience... to see the helplessness on the yami's face as he slowly brought the boy closer to death.
And then there was Yugi.
The spirit ran his finger along the blade the rested at his side, a grin spreading acoss his face. Yes, he would deal with Yugi afterwards, once he had done away with the other two. He would like to have a 'chat' with him first, however.
But why rush things? He wasn't in a hurry, the longer it took the more satisfying it would be in the end, as long as he was the one to do away with them. So he decide he wouldn't approach them just yet, he would wait for them to find there way out. And if they didn't, he'd come down and finish them himself.
Bakura coughed and rolled over onto his stomach, groaning at the amount of effort it took to push himself to his hands and knees. His whole body was shivering uncontrollably, but not with pain. "What happened to me? Why can't I stop shaking...?" He coughed again and sat down, using his hands to stay upright. He looked around in hopes of finding some sort of light in the pitch black, but he couldn't, and an unexpected sound hung in the air; someone was laughing?
"Bakura?" Ryoura's voice sounded to Bakura's left, not far away.
"Are you all right?" Bakura asked, rubbing his head. That had been an extremely long fall, but he had lost consciousness on the way down. How was he not hurt?
"Ya, I'm ok..." Ryoura answered, sounding equally as shaken as Bakura felt. After a moment of silence Ryoura asked. "Pepper, am I going nuts or do you hear Yugi laughing somewhere 'round here?"
Bakura blinked. Now that he listened better, it was Yugi who was laughing. "I hear him too... what's gotton into him?" His hand ran subconsciously over the surface he was sitting on, and he narrowed his eyes as he picked up one of the many items that seemed to make the floor. He was pretty sure he knew what it was, but he needed light to be sure. Dropping the item and holding his shaking hands in front of him, he tried desperately to summon some magic to make a light. Unfortunately, a lot of effort only resulted in a few small sparks. "What is going on?" Bakura growled angrily.
Ryoura frowned at the anger in Bakura's voice and lifted his left hand on the ground in front of his face, so he was looking at the Millennium Ring. He reached up with his other hand and held the item, frowning. "Bakura... the Ring's cold... but now it's warm again..." Ryoura finished, a surprised tone in his voice.
"What happened before we fell unconscious?" Bakura asked, looking in the direction of Ryoura's voice.
"I have no idea, all I remember is Yugi's Puzzle lighting up, and then the Ring. You think he did something to it?" Ryoura asked.
"Well, I suppose that would explain why we feel like this..." Bakura sighed, pushing himself to his feet. He stumbled slightly, but quickly steadied himself. He reached his arms out and felt a wall to his right, and began exploring it with his hands. "If Yugi took powers from the Ring he drained it from us, too. It put us in a sort of temporary shock, and the Ring as well. The magic's going to be unstable until we can calm down."
"Speaking of Yugi, what's the matter with him?" Ryoura lowered his arm, still holding the Ring that was tied around his left wrist, listening. Yugi's voice wasn't too far away, but the echoes made it harder for Ryoura to understand what he was saying. "Yugi!" he called, but Yugi completely ignored him. "What is going on?" he muttered, getting to his feet also and shifting towards the wall also.
Bakura's hand slipped into a trench in the wall and he blinked, running his hand along the inside. It kept running across the wall, and it felt like there was some sort of mist inside it.
"What's up?" Ryoura asked, sensing Bakura's confusion through the Millennium Ring. He was standing next to his yami now, though he still couldn't see him.
"This is..." Bakura started, running his hand through the mist absentmindedly. "Can you feel the trench in the wall...? This is a type of magic that was used in secret tombs and passages in temples. It travels along the walls of the room and is used like a light. If we can focus enough magic into the mist, we should be able to light up the room."
"Light up the 'magical mist', huh? Kinda like a circuit?" Ryoura tilted his head, moving his hand away from the mist. "But you can barely make a spark..." he trailed off as a shiver ran through him, causing him to clutch his arms. He'd known there was something about this place that worried him, and now he was pretty sure it wasn't just the dark that was triggering his fears.
"Well, we'll just have to try harder."
Brushing his fears aside for the moment, Ryoura turned his attention back to the trench in the wall, placing his hand back inside the mist. "I think I've calmed down now anyway..."
Bakura nodded, focusing on his magic once again, but finding it much easier to concentrate now that the shock had subsided. Unfortunately, he was still limited on the amount of magic he could use for now, so he had to rely on Ryoura's magic as well.
Ryoura took a deep breath and closed his eyes, lowering his left hand to his side so his fingers touched the Ring hanging around his wrist. He tried hard to focus on the magic inside him, and sure enough the familiar warm feeling grew inside him, though much slower then usual. Through their link he could sense Bakura going through the same thing.
"Ready?"
"Yup.." At the same time, both Ryoura and Bakura allowed the warmth of their magic to leave them through their hands, running directly into the mysterious mist that they had left there hands hovering in, and slowly but surely they felt the warmth travel through the mist and all around their hands.
They continued to let their magic flow into the mist in this way, eyes still closed, until it was moderately warm on their hands, signalling it was quite bright now. It left them slightly light-headed, though, and when they both took their hands out of the trench at the same time Ryoura leaned himself fully against the wall to stay standing while he regained himself, Bakura stubbornly only using his hand to hold himself.
Ryoura opened his eyes slowly to let them adjust to the bright green, glowing mist that now ran through the trench in front of his face. He smiled lightly, then pushed away from the wall and turned around. The sight that met his eyes caused him to yell and slam his back against the wall in an attempt to recall in fear.
As Bakura had said, the trench ran around the entire room, lighting the area with an eerie green glow, but it's what stood in the centre of the room that had frightened Ryoura. Yugi stood with his back to Bakura and Ryoura, looking around him and smiling at the figures that flew around him; twisted, black figures that Ryoura recognised instantly as similar to the shadow he had seen following Yugi for the past number of weeks, though they looked quite different. Only now there were four black figures circling Yugi, and Yugi laughed as one of them knocked against him and caused him to stumble forward.
A large cracking noise echoed along with Yugi's laughter with every step he took, and Ryoura's eyes grew wider and knees weak as his eyes feel on the hundreds of bones and dozens of skulls that littered the floor beneath Yugi's feet, most still connected to each other to show a basic outline of the mangled bodies that had been left in this room; broken spines, legs, ribs... injuries of every sort. And now Yugi had succeeded in crushing the skull of one body and the leg-bones of another. He didn't seem to notice them, though, eyes locked on the spirits circling him.
Bakura took a step forward slightly in front of Ryoura, ignoring the bones beneath his own feet, and studied Yugi, eyes narrowed. "Lost souls..." he muttered to Ryoura, whose breaths had become shaky and uneven. He turned his head sharply and looked back at Ryoura.
"Don't believe anything you see here, there may be more of them and if there are they may do to you what they've done to Yugi." From what he could gather of the area, this area was a false entrance to the temple, and the bodies around him where those of the victims who had fallen in before, most not surviving the fall.
"What..." Ryoura pressed himself harder against the wall, eyes locked on the lost souls around Yugi. He couldn't form words easily anymore. "What... what are they...?"
"Do you remember what I told you about them? They only have to look at a person and they know everything about them. As souls themselves they can see your soul clearer then the Millennium Key ever could." Bakura and Yugi had explained to Ryoura the use of each Millennium Item during their travels in Egypt, as well as each items specific weapon, such as Bakura's sabre and Yugi's bow and arrow. "For some reason these souls don't seem to be trying to make Yugi suffer like most others usually do..."
Ryoura pushed himself away from the wall, though he was still weak at the knees. "How could they torture anyone?"
Bakura frowned at Yugi as he spun around and took chase after one of the black shadows, bones crunching under his feet as they did. "I've already explained-"
"I know how lost souls do it," Ryoura interjected, stepping up beside Bakura, "but I don't think these guys would be capable of it."
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, looked over at Ryoura. The teen standing next to him was slightly paler then usual, and looked thoroughly sickened when looking at, not the bones on the ground, but the blurred black spirits themselves, so he kept glancing at the floor. A thought occurred to him. "What do you see around Yugi..?"
Ryoura looked at Bakura, surprised. "Don't you see them?"
"I see them," Bakura said, nodding, "but I'm sure we do not see the same thing..."
Ryoura blinked in confusion at what Bakura was saying, trying to make sense of it, but spoke all the same. "I see actual people... not like the one following Yugi, though I know they're the same thing..."
Bakura looked back at the blurred figures in front of him, confused, then back at Ryoura.
"Their just kids, Bakura..." Ryoura said sadly, glancing back at the spirits which, compared to what Bakura saw, were quite clear. "Little kids. They must be just lonely or something..."
"You can actually see they're children?" Bakura asked, surprised.
"Ya, can't be older then thirteen," Ryoura answered, looking at Bakura. "Why? Is that not supposed to happen?"
Bakura stared at Ryoura in shock for a moment then shook his head, turning his gaze to Yugi. "No.. it's just a very odd gift. But children or not, they're still dangerous. If you're right in saying their doing this out of loneliness, they'll never let Yugi leave this place..."
Ryoura frowned and looked down at the bone-covered ground, then up at Yugi. Unfortunately, his view was blocked by another black soul that darted up out of the ground right in front of him.
"Ryoura!"
The world around Ryoura fell completely dark as the black figure before him quickly took the shape of a human, twisting and morphing until it fell into a perfect form, colouring spilling over it like a liquid, until a ghostly image of a human floated before Ryoura. The teen stumbled back quickly, but he could no longer see the world around him, but the ghost before him.
The ghost tilted it's head and frowned. "Are you all right Ryoura?"
"G-get away from me!" Ryoura yelled when the ghost floated towards him. "Bakura said nothing here is real... it's not real Ryoura, don't listen to it!" he thought to himself. When he had yelled the ghost had stopped looking hurt.
"Ryoura-"
"I know you're not my mother!" Ryoura cried out, moving away as the woman reached her arm out to him. The ghost before him had taken on the perfect image of his mother, Casandra, who he himself had seen die all those years ago at the hands of Kage Ishtar.
'Casandra' chuckled lightly, "Ryoura sweetie, what's the matter?"
Ryoura's breath caught in his throat; she sounded just like her... Just like all those times Ryoura had come to her after a nightmare or seeing something that had scared him. She even spoke to him in the same manner as he remembered, as though he was still a little child, but it didn't annoy him. "It's not her!" he yelled at himself, yet he didn't move then the ghost approached him again.
"Come on, you can tell me what's wrong, can't you?" Casandra smiled, reaching her hand out and letting it hover over Ryoura's shoulder uncertainly for a moment, then holding his shoulder lightly, smiling. "What are you scared of? Is something wrong?"
Ryoura took a deep breath and looked down at the ghostly hand on his shoulder, then into the eyes of the woman claiming to be his mother. How could any ghost imitate her so perfectly? Everything about her, from her eyes to her voice, was exactly how he remembered her. Was it really one of those dark souls? She looked so real, exactly how his mother would look as a spirit.
But looks weren't everything.
His eyes darted to her hand and narrowed. They were cold, and though they tried to be soft he could feel a presence of anger. This spirit was trying to torment him, unlike the children around Yugi, most likely because he and Bakura showed signs of interference. He raised an arm and touched the spirits arm lightly, feeling it was solid, then swung his arm and hit her away. "Get away! I know you're not really my mother!"
Casandra looked taken aback. "Ryoura what are you saying? What's gotton into you?" when he didn't reply she frowned, reaching a hand forward, "Ryoura-"
"Stop it!" Ryoura screamed, covering his ears and shutting his eyes tight. He felt her hands touch his arms -even by that second of contact he knew the spirit was not his mother- and quickly hit them away. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"
"Ryoura!"
"No!" he threw himself right at the spirit, trying to knock her aside, but stumbled right through her, crashing headfirst into Bakura instead and causing the spirit and him to fall to the ground. He quickly pushed himself to his hands and knees and looked around, bewildered. "What...?"
"Ryoura?" Bakura sat up, holding his head which he had hit hard off the ground when Ryoura tackled him. He looked over his hikari's shoulder and saw the black figure that had been following Ryoura was fading away. He smirked. "Well done, you beat it."
Ryoura's breaths were coming in gasps and he couldn't make sense of the area around him for a moment. When he'd finally calmed down he noticed a few drops of water on the floor beneath him and, raising a hand to his face, he realised he was crying. He cried them quickly and looked up at Bakura, who sat quietly waiting for him to collect himself.
"Are you alright?"
"Ya, fine..." he muttered, drying his eyes quicker and feeling embarrassed. A spirit darting between him and Bakura caused them both to jumped, Yugi darting past them after the spirit. "Is he... playing tag with the souls?" Ryoura asked, blinking in confusion.
"Look's like it."
"We have to snap him out of it!" Ryoura pushed himself to his feet and pulled Bakura up too. "He can't run around here for the rest of his life! What are they doing? Trying to trap his soul here with theirs when he dies?"
"Precisely," Bakura guessed, by Ryoura's expression, he'd only been joking. "We have to wake him up, but I don't know how to do it..."
Ryoura looked at Bakura with surprise. "What? I thought you knew all about these things!"
"Did I ever say that?"
"Well..." Ryoura paused, then looked down. "No..."
"I don't know how we can bring him back from that little dream-world they've dragged him into, but the sooner we get him out the better..." Bakura thought for a moment, then looked at Ryoura. "I could..."
"No!" Ryoura yelled, reading Bakura's thoughts. "They didn't do anything wrong, you're not sending them to the Shadow Realm!"
"Fine," Bakura huffed, "but it was the simplest way.."
"Man, your like an addict! No. No sending people to the Shadow Realm for you!" Ryoura scolded in a light-hearted tone, trying to lighten the situation despite himself. "Pep's right, I just can't help it can I?"
"All right then, what's your plan?" Bakura asked, folding his arms.
"Um... Scream at him?" Ryoura grinned nervously, taking a step backwards when Yugi ran by again, this time the spirit following him. As Yugi ran past Ryoura saw the faded mixture of black and purple in his pupils, unfocussed and filled with what looked like very light fog. It was like he was hypnotised. Bakura raised an eyebrow at Ryoura's suggestion and he shrugged, "Well.. he might hear us sooner or later..."
Bakura huffed and looked back at Yugi, who was now laughing uncontrollably. "I still like my idea better..."
"Yami st-op!" Yugi laughed, trying to push the Puzzle spirit away as he attempted to tickle him again. He ran a few steps further away, but was stopped when Joey latched his arms around him.
"Got him Yami!"
"Joey!" Yugi yelled in protest, but still laughed. Through his laughter, however, he knew something was wrong. He couldn't shake this odd feeling inside him that these people weren't really his friends, but he assumed it was just because he hadn't been with them all in such a long time.
"Yugi..."
Yugi's laughter stopped abruptly, his eyes shooting around the black area in search of the owner. It was the very same voice he had heard before he passed out!
"Yugi please..." the voice sounded so upset, as they were starting to cry. "Don't let them fool you..."
"Fool... me...?" Yugi blinked, confused.
"Eh? What you say Yug'?" Joey blinked in confusion, letting his friend go and looking down at him. Yugi seemed to be in some sort of daze. "You ok?"
"Huh? Uh, ya, I'm fine!" Yugi said, smiling happily.
"Yugi please, listen to me! They are not your friends, they're an illusion!"
"Illusion...?" Once again Yugi found himself whispering aloud, looking around him, but finding nothing but darkness. Suddenly, he remembered the voice, and felt stupid and surprised he hadn't before. "Yami?" he yelled in shock. But why? Yami was standing right before him, wasn't he?
"What?" the Yami before him tilted his head, glancing at the ground around Yugi. Was the boy starting to realise what was happening?
"Uh, nothing..." Yugi muttered again, turning his gaze skywards. What did Yami mean by that; 'illusions'?
"Yugi, what's going on?" the dark soul representing Téa demanded, looking angered all of a sudden.
"What? No, it's nothing, really," Yugi insisted.
"You're lying..." 'Tristan' growled angrily, advancing on Yugi, who stepped back fearfully.
"T-Tristan?" Yugi stuttered, backing until he bumped into Yami. He spun around and faced the boy behind him, who shared the same angered expression as Téa and Tristan.
"You're not going anywhere..." Yami ordered, gripping Yugi's arm tightly as he tried to back away, squeezing it hard so as not to lose grip. "We've been alone here to long..." his voice seemed to lapse into that of a younger boy, his eyes turning an odd green colour as the spirit slowly began to show signs of it's real image. "We don't want you to go..."
"Let me go!" Yugi yelled, pulled against 'Yami's' grip, but the spirits grip merely tightened.
"Yugi! I know it's hard but you must use your Puzzle! You must force them away from you!"
Yugi thought back on the amount of magic he used before he fell uncoscious and frowned, trying to pull his arm away from 'Yami' and jumping when Joey grabbed his other. "But how? I've used to much power already!" he yelled aloud, unsure how to speak to the voice in his mind.
"You have to try! Defend yourself!"
"I can't!"
"Yugi!"
And there was the feeling again, his empty hand was held by another and the world froze, just as it had when he had been falling into this place full of lost souls. Only now he knew whose hand it was, and gripped it tightly. It didn't force him to use his magic this time, though, and Yugi realised Yami was trying to encourage him this time, not force him to use his magic.
"Please Yugi... you have to try..."
"Ok..." Yugi whispered, clenching his free hand into a fist. Summoning all the magic he could use without endangering is life too much, the Millennium Symbol appeared on his forehead, glowing a bright golden, though not as much as it usually would have. The spirits around him recalled at the sight of it, afraid.
"Yugi now!"
Yugi cried out and released a wave of magic from his body, pushing the spirits away. It was just a warning, but it drained him, so he was glad to see the spirits flee in fear and the darkness around him dissolve into an unfamiliar green-lit room, Ryoura and Bakura standing around him looking shocked.
Yami's hand, once again, drifted from grip, and he subconsciously reached out to grab it again, but the room spun before his eyes and he stumbled over, caught in the arms or either Ryoura or Bakura, eyes drifting closed as he tried to regain himself.
Ryoura began to bombard Yugi with questions of concern and Bakura scanned the area with his eyes for any sign of any remaining dark souls, Yami spread his silvery white wings as he drifted upwards and sighed, smiling down at Yugi. "That was a close one Yugi, but the real battle has yet to come..." he whispered, narrowing his eyes and looking up at the dark spirit that sat atop the opening, running his hand over blade at his side.
Shutting his eyes tight, Yami unclenched his hand, a small orb off light drifting out of it and floating slowly downward towards the others. "I'm so sorry Yugi..."
To Be Continued
It's longer then most, but the endings rushed 'cause my mom wanted me off the computer. No offence, but if she wants me to practise writing stories so much, why is it every time I get into writing them she wants me to do something else? Honestly, mothers.
Nah, just kidding, I love my mommy! -glomp- though I do get kicked off very VERY often...
Welp, I'm off to Spain tomorrow so expect nothing for a week! Sorry guys, but it can'tbe helped. Slán til next time!
Bay Bay!
Bayleef
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