Title: Millennium Vessels

Rating: M

Warnings: WIP, M/M, Yaoi, Shonen ai, Anal, Oral, Rape in a later chapter.

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Chapter Eight- A Yami's Life

Mokuba hurried over to the Ferrari, tossing his book bag into the back before dropping into the seat. Strapping himself in, he smiled over at his brother and was about to launch into his normal summary of his day when he realized the person beside him was not his brother.

Well, at least not all of his brother.

"Seth?" Mokuba asked incredulously.

"Yes?" the spirit of the Rod answered calmly as he slipped the car in gear.

"Nii-sama's letting you drive the Ferrari?"

"I would think that was obvious." Seth replied as he carefully pulled the high performance vehicle into traffic.

For a moment Mokuba was silent as he stared at Seth. That was fine with the spirit. He had extensive practical experience at operating a car- the first thing Seto had done once he accepted Seth's presence was to make sure he had all the tools he needed to protect Mokuba if something happened including how to make a fast getaway in any type of vehicle- but it was not enough for Seth to feel entirely comfortable behind the wheel.

"Did something happen to Nii-sama?" Mokuba asked nervously.

Seth was not sure exactly how to answer that question. He knew Seto was angry at him but that did not explain why he had left Seth in charge to pick up Mokuba.

"He is…" Seth paused, trying to figure out how to phrase his answer. "He is fine. He is angry at me for something that happened at school today, but I believe that is all."

Mokuba frowned. "That doesn't explain why you're driving, Seth."

Sighing, Seth answered, "He is not talking to me right now." the spirit answered irritably. "I am hoping he will switch places with me when we reach the mansion. You can ask him then what is going on."

Giving Seth a shrewd, sympathetic look, Mokuba asked, "And then let you know what he said?

"No." Seth said, shaking his head. "He will tell me himself when he is ready." Seth felt a grimace cross his face as he added, "And he does have a good reason to be angry at me right now."

"What did you do?" Mokuba inquired. Eyes narrowing in thought, he asked, "Does this have to do with that minor indiscretion you mentioned a while back?"

"Yes." The spirit didn't offer anything more and, for once, Mokuba did not push. Seth knew Mokuba would later once he had more facts from his brother, but for now Seth was grateful for the silence.

He was not looking forward to what was going to be said once Seto did decided to talk to him again. And he was not looking forward to having to explain why he had taken over without asking then suddenly abandoned that control because of one simple word.

His name, spoken by someone who had once loved him, body and soul.

No, he was definitely not looking forward to explaining that.

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Atemu wandered through the Puzzle's confusing maze without getting lost, without ever getting lost. He always knew where in the Puzzle he was and could never reach those parts he wanted to explore until the Puzzle was ready to let him. Though tonight he had no real destination in mind.

He simply walked as he tried to straighten out the confusion in his own mind.

When Yugi played the Black Magician card, Atemu had acted instinctively to protect it, trying to remove it from the Thief King's influence, before all the memories connected to it unfolded in his mind. He had already remembered how Bakura had ended up in the Ring but the memories following that event had not revealed themselves until that moment.

And those memories had made him want to take the card even more.

But something about the Thief King's reactions had not been quite right, had somehow been far from what he had braced himself to expect. The spirit had actually sounded defeated and somewhat desperate to get rid of the card and yet had ended up taking it back.

He could not have expected that, especially now that he remembered who the Black Magician was.

And then there was Seth.

Atemu would never have expected his High Priest to run like that. That wasn't the man he used to know.

Atemu stopped and looked up into the confusion of corridors and doors above him, an accurate reflections of his emotions right now. Just thinking about Seth's action's made it difficult for Atemu to move again. He found himself wanting to stay right where he was, wanted to ignore what had happened and what it meant, but a tug against his mind force him into motion.

Ryou had entered the Puzzle and Atemu would never let his host wander alone in here.

That could be more than dangerous.

He caught up with Ryou just as the boy stepped out of the plaza area and into the darker corridor Atemu was in, drawn to his location through the link they shared. Ryou appeared startled when Atemu slipped up silently beside him and Atemu winced, upset with himself for putting Ryou on edge.

A guilty look washed over Ryou's face as he muttered, "Sorry." while dropping his head, a slight blush warming the color of his cheeks.

Atemu gently tilted the boy's head back up as he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I just wanted to check on how you were doing."

Atemu was surprised and asked, feeling a little confused, "Why would you be worried about me, Ryou?"

The blush grew a little deeper. "I, um…" Ryou glanced at him carefully out of the corner of his eye then suddenly sighed. "I didn't know if you wanted someone to talk to about what happened."

Atemu dropped his hand away from Ryou and turned away. He was uncertain as to what emotions might be visible in his eyes at the moment since he was unsure exactly what he was feeling.

And he had already done enough damage today where Ryou was concerned.

"I'm still not sure if I am ready to talk, Ryou." Moving away, Atemu looked back up into the Puzzle as he said, "I'm beginning to doubt my feelings about Seth. The Seth in my memories would have answered me honestly when I called out to him. He would not have left things for his host to deal with."

"Maybe he doesn't remember as much as you are expecting him to." Ryou commented reasonably as he stepped to his side. For a moment, Atemu sensed Ryou reaching out an arm as if to embrace him before hesitating. Through their link, the spirit of the Puzzle could feel his host's confusion about how to comfort him.

Atemu's first thought was to reassure Ryou that he would be fine but his emotions were not under control and he knew his words would not match what Ryou would feel in the link.

Instead, Atemu surprised himself when he leaned into the offered contact, letting his head drop to rest on Ryou's shoulder. For a moment Ryou stood frozen in place and Atemu could not help but to smile in amusement even as his host carefully wrapped him in a hug as if afraid he might break the spirit.

A sigh slipped from Atemu as he let his mind be calmed by the link even as he rested in Ryou's arms. "Thank you for being so patient with me, Ryou." Atemu murmured.

"I will always be here when you need me, Atemu." Ryou promised softly. "I want you to know that."

"I know." Atemu answered even as he thanked the gods for allowing him to share the soul of one such as Ryou.

He doubted if he would survive in this world if he were with anyone else but Ryou.

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The spirit of the Ring followed Jonouchi to his apartment, giving the blond only a small portion of his attention. The rest of it had turned inward to try and figure out why the hell he had reacted like that in front of Pharaoh.

For that matter, he wanted to know why he had let Yugi play the Pharaoh's vessel in the first place. It wasn't as if that damn card was going to stay hidden in the deck when he was there, why would it. Bakura never went for the whole 'heart of the card' crap Pegasus had spouted before losing the Eye to him, but the spirit could not deny the fact that one card had a mind of his own.

And Bakura would not put it past that damn magician that he might just be haunting him for the fun of it. Hell, he should be in Pharaoh's deck, not his.

Why in the gods name had he taken it back?

Deciding that thinking was only making him more confused and pissed off, he stopped to wait for Jonouchi to unlock the door to his apartment, Bakura shifted Yugi's backpack to a more comfortable position and gathered a little magic from the Ring. He had no intention of putting up with Jonouchi's father right now- he seriously needed a beer and the quickest way to get one was through the old man's stash. However, he didn't need to bother. For once, the apartment was quiet.

"Shit, wonder where he went this time." Jonouchi grumbled as he tossed his book bag toward his room before heading for the kitchen. Bakura didn't bother following him and instead shuck the backpack and school jacket before sprawling across Jonouchi's bed. Hearing the blond enter the room he looked over and caught the beer tossed his way.

"So, what the hell was that all about during lunch?" Jonouchi asked as he dropped onto the floor, his back against his dresser.

Leaning against the wall the bed was shoved against Bakura answered, "Nothing, just a stupid game." Tilting his head back he guzzled a large portion within the can before focusing back on Jonouchi, only to find the blond scowling at him.

"You want me to rephrase that?" Bakura snarled.

Letting out an annoyed breath, Jonouchi responded, "Nah, don't bother. I still remember the last time you rephrased something."

For a while they drank the beer, not bothering to talk, and it wasn't until they each started on their third can that Bakura begin to unwind. A pleasant buzz was beginning to wash through Yugi's body and he realized with annoyance it was time to get the runt home. Standing, he grabbed the backpack and jacket and headed out without a word. Jonouchi, used to Bakura's silence, climbed to his feet and followed him to the door, giving him a slightly slurred, "See ya tomorrow." before closing the door and locking it.

Bakura would rather stay and drink himself into a stupor and maybe do a few other things with the blond, but unfortunately it was a school night and he didn't need the idiot Priest tracking him down if Yugi didn't show up for school tomorrow. He had heard the phone call the elder Motou had received yesterday after his host managed to drag himself back into his bedroom while forgetting to shut the door. Yugi had dropped into a half sleep and Bakura was able to listen around his host to the half of the conversation going on in the living room downstairs.

It had not been hard to figure out what the discussion was about.

He didn't need to give Seth a reason to make an appearance anywhere other than school. That was bad enough.

Ignoring the old man completely once he got inside, he headed straight for the bedroom and shut the door before falling onto Yugi's bed. Letting his soul settle into the hallway separating his soul room from his host, Bakura waited for Yugi to open his door.

If he couldn't drink himself into a stupor tonight, he'd find another way to entertain himself. It wasn't as if the runt would deny him a little play time.

And Bakura had yet to tire of the novelty of fucking someone who looked like Pharaoh into submission.

The only thing better would be fucking Pharaoh himself.

He'd have to work on that one.