Sigilshipping (Yami Marik x Dartz)

. . .

The passing memories of spirits sometimes got snagged in strands of the Orichalcos. Dartz was used to the occasional appearance of a confused spirit passing through the seal while he was meditating on past and future events. They were harmless, for the most part.

He was positive this was not the case with this particular spirit.

There was something in the young man's flat violet eyes that felt less than human, more predatory, hungry. The way that his lips twitched into a twisted, mad smile...the third eye that glowed on his forehead, barely concealed with the short blond bangs that had not made it into the spiky mass that otherwise framed the tan bronze face.

Lost spirits did not often acknowledge Dartz, or if they did, they only asked where they were, confused and lost and uncertain. This one looked right at Dartz almost immediately, eyes flashing and smile growing, madness sparking in those flat eyes.

Dartz frowned, drawing his robes about him a bit more tightly.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

He was alone inside the Orichalcos' boundaries with the spirit, floating in a place of darkness only illuminated by the sigil's glow. He could drop the seal at any time and leave the spirit behind, but he had been in the middle of an important vision and wanted to return to it soon. Dropping the seal would mean he would have to start over from the beginning, and he didn't have time for that. He would just have to wait for the spirit to pass on its way, as they always did.

But this one...this one felt dangerous. Dartz felt a nervous tingle run down his spine as the spirit's eyes raked the darkness, examining the seal and its glow for a moment. He didn't respond to Dartz' question, instead turning in a slow circle to stare at the design of the seal under his feet.

Only then did he glance back up at Dartz, and flash a smile.

"Well, well," he muttered, voice tinged with a hint of Kemetic accent. How odd. The young man was dressed in modern clothing, and yet his voice reminded Dartz of the time he had spent in Egypt three thousand years ago. "I haven't sensed this much power in a long, long time..."

Dartz hesitated, eyes narrowing. The spirit should not be able to get a read on the seal's power. He was just a wandering soul, nothing more.

"You should be on your way, spirit," Dartz said. "This is no place for you."

The spirit's smile widened, teeth flashing against the darkness. Like a predator.

"Go? I don't think so. I've been stuck in the darkness for...a little too long."

He grinned wider, eyes widening with madness as he stepped closer to Dartz. Dartz took a quick step back involuntarily. Instinct told him that he needed to keep out of the spirit's reach.

"Leave the seal now," he commanded.

"I don't think so," the spirit said, laughing. "See, I've been looking for a way to get back for a while now...and it looks like you've got the power I could use to get out of here."

His eyes flashed down to the Orichalcos stone that Dartz wore around his neck. Dartz instinctively put his hand on top of it, hiding it from sight.

"I'll be wanting that...that's what's keeping the seal here, isn't it? Give it to me."

"You would not be able to control it's power," Dartz snapped. "You are dead. Accept it and move on."

The man threw his head back and laughed. The sound echoed through the darkness, sending further shivers crawling down Dartz' spine. This creature wasn't just mad—he was barely human. There was more animal in his stance than anything. The way that his fingers curled into claws, how his teeth flashed like fangs, the flatness of his eyes—

"I was never really alive in the first place," the man said finally, his laugh dying down. "Just a figment of a young boy's broken mind~ And I'd like to get back to that mind. So if you would hand that stone over, I might decide not to kill you."

"You have no power here."

"Don't I?"

Dartz almost didn't see it coming. He was lucky to have been holding the Orichalcos stone close because he almost wouldn't have had the time to defend himself when the shadows rose up like an ocean wave ready to swallow him.

He swore under his breath, drawing from the stone under his fingers. Green light splayed over his head, forming a network of threads that stiffened in anticipation. The wave of shadow crashed against the web. But Dartz was untouched—another spear of darkness shot for him.

He swore again as he spun, cloak rippling. He snapped his hand up, coated with the Orichalcos' energy, and caught the spear. He wrenched it up to divert it.

The spirit wasn't even moving. He just stood there grinning at Dartz' dodging—was he really manipulating the shadows with just his mind? Who was this spirit?

Dartz almost stumbled at the third strike—when had that shadow wrapped around his ankle?

He ground his teeth with frustration. He didn't have a choice—he was going to have to drop the seal.

"Go back to the darkness," he said.

For a moment, the man's eyes flashed with brief surprise.

But then the seal began to break down around them. Dartz felt himself becoming insubstantial as he faded from this plane. Rage deepened in the lines of the spirit's face. He shot forward with a wordless cry, swiping uselessly at Dartz—

And then he was gone.

Dartz was sitting crosslegged before the altar to Leviathan, still feeling his heart racing. He sighed, letting his eyes flutter shut for a moment.

Who exactly had that been?

. . .

A/N: I don't even know. You're back to your regularly scheduled chapter with Sightshipping (Pegasus x Ishizu) next time.