Mageshipping (Ryo Bakura x Mahad)


Ryo was sweeping up the mud clumps that Jonouchi had tracked in when he noticed the little corner peeing out from under his couch. He set the broom against the coffee table and fished the little card out from under the couch. His eyes widened when the light caught against the holographic front of the precious card – how could Yugi have possibly forgotten his Dark Magician card here?

Ryo placed the card carefully on a side table and padded off to find his cell phone. He would need to send Yugi a text to let him know it was here and that he would bring it to school tomorrow.

As he retrieved the phone from his nightstand and started to click out a message, he shook his head at Yugi's forgetfulness And all of a half hour ago they had been discussing Duel Monsters and its spiritual aspects. Yugi had been adamant that they were living creatures, or at least, doors to living creatures. And then he had gone and forgotten his most treasured card.

With the message sent, Ryo set the phone down and returned to putting his living room in order after Jonouchi and Honda had made their mess.

It was well after ten o'clock when he finally got to bed.

He placed the Dark Magician card on his nightstand right next to his alarm clock, so he would be certain to remember it. Then he reached for the lamp and clicked it off.

Darkness swallowed up the room, but for the single nightlight that popped to life at the hint of darkness. He could no longer sleep without it. Even a year after his dark half was gone for good...the total darkness still terrified him.

The glowing numbers of his alarm clock gleamed across the holographic card that sat before it. Ryo stared at it, watching the light flicker across the slightly rainbow surface each time the minutes changed.

"I don't just think that the Duel Monsters are real anymore," Yugi said. "I know that they have to be...think of all the crazy things we saw in our first two years of high school!"

"I know," Ryo said. "Still, the cards themselves having power? Maybe the God cards, but they were just such powerful creatures that they marked anything they touched. Are the cards themselves really that important?"

"Of course they are," Yugi said adamantly. "They're like...little doorways. Between our world and theirs. It's our bond with them, with our idea of them, that gives those little doorways the power to open. And then they can come through. Like the tablets they used to use in ancient Egypt – I don't think they were really sealing the monsters away. They were just attaching the monsters to channels. Doorways."

Ryo understood Yugi's ideas. He wanted to like them, too. But the idea that Dark Necrofear could just pop through it's doorway into reality was...frightening, if he was honest. He still hadn't been able to let go of his old deck, despite the horrible memories that accompanied it.

He stared at Yugi's favorite card. The Dark Magician held its staff before it, gentle but firm gaze staring up at Ryo from beneath the brim of his wizard's hat. There was a calmness to his pose despite being obviously ready for battle. There was no malice, no hatred towards his inevitable opponent. The being was kind, just. Ryo's eyes started to flutter closed. Yugi was lucky, to have bonded with such a Duel Monster... His eyes fully closed.

There was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Or at least, something happened to make his nightlight go out. He knew when it happened, even when he was sleeping, because suddenly he was choking. He was falling through the blackness and the shadows were strangling him.

He tried to scream – no sound came out. He scrabbled for something to hold onto but he just kept being dragged down. Somewhere up above him he could hear him laughing, the evil sound echoing and bouncing all around him until that was all he could hear and the desperate tears bubbling over his eyes were all he could feel and the silent scream for help was all he could manage to think about –

And it was bloody hot.

Ryo blinked. The sunlight completely blinded him and he gasped, covering his eyes.

"Don't do that. When you open your eyes again, it will only be worse."

Ryo did not recognize the voice. But he did peer through the cracks between his fingers, trying to see through the glare.

"Coming out of the darkness hurts a bit at first," the young man's voice said reassuringly. "It's hard to see. But you have to keep looking or you'll never quite adjust."

Ryo finally adjusted enough to the light to let his hands drop from his eyes.

The man in front of him was a half head taller than he was; bronze-skinned with dark lines drawn around his gray-violet eyes. The glare of the sun glinted across his golden headpiece, and Ryo winced. The man seemed to understand where this came from because he reached up and pulled his headdress off, revealing the long, warm brown hair beneath.

"Are you feeling all right?"

"I...I guess so."

In all honesty, his heart wouldn't stop beating a mile a second and he still felt clammy despite the sudden intense heat, but he didn't really want to say that out loud. He glanced around at his surroundings.

They were standing in what appeared to be a small patch of desert and blue sky above, like a dome around them. Outside the dome, although it was hidden behind the veil of the sky, he could barely make out the swirling darkness that he had just been dreaming of – or was he still dreaming?

"You were crying out for help," the man said, drawing Ryo's attention back to him. "I thought I'd bring you into at least a small pocket of light. Until you wake up."

Ryo hesitated. There was something familiar about this man's face...as though he had just been looking at it a moment before –

He drew in a breath.

"You're the Dark Magician," he said.

The man smiled softly.

"I prefer Mahad," he said. "But yes, that is my title. And you are Ryo Bakura, are you not?"

Ryo blinked. The man smiled a bit wider.

"You are one of Yugi's dearest friends. I know quite a bit about you."

"I...I don't...understand."

What was Dark Magician – Mahad – doing here? Was this a dream? It felt real enough. The heat was real. The sand slid beneath his feet. The man before him was real.

Mahad inclined his head.

"Please pardon me for intruding into your soul room," he said.

Then Ryo understood. This was a dream, but it was just as real.

"My...soul room. Then..."

"I assumed that you didn't want to be trapped in that chaos," Mahad said, nodding to the darkness. "But please, pardon my intrusion all the same."

Ryo shook his head.

"Thank you," he said. "It's not...it's not an intrusion at all."

Somewhere far away in the depths of his soul room, currently in turmoil with his nightmares, he could hear the faint echo of his laugh, continuing despite this bright refuge. He flinched.

Mahad stepped towards Ryo, his presence somehow radiating calm.

"Don't worry," he said. "He's not here. And he never will be again."

Ryo couldn't stop the tremble in spite of himself.

"Can I stay here until morning?" he asked.

Mahad smiled, and nodded. He placed a gentle hand on Ryo's shoulder. The touch was light and warm, and Ryo felt like he could breathe.

"As long as you like," he said. "But on one condition."

Ryo blinked, looking up at Mahad. The man's eyes twinkled.

"You have to help me spread this little light until it chases all the darkness from your soul room," h said. "So that you never have to fall into that darkness again."

Ryo hesitated. And then he felt a smile grow shyly on his face.

"I can do that," he said.


A/N: Well, didn't this one give me some trouble. OMIGOSH YOU GUYS I'M DONE WITH THE M'S. Next is Lynchshipping (Thief King Bakura x Yami no Marik x Marik).