Authors note: /strongHello again! So I think this is going to be the penultimate chapter (not including an epilogue, which I have already written out) Thank you again if you are still following this story, or if you're new to it. I am so close to finishing it and its been well over due an ending. I apologise at the shortness of this chapter, but I'm fully intending for the final one to be a bit beefier, plus an epilogue too. I hope you enjoy and if the mood hits, let me know your thoughts. Peace out. /p
Chapter 46 ~ the penultimate chapter
"I'm waiting." He growled rather impatiently as Hina stood staring at him wide eyed. She hadn't consciously made the decision to try and tell him what Zorc had told her. She wasn't entirely convinced the beast wasn't listening in on them, despite Bakura's reassurances. Hina shuffled her feet awkwardly, unsure how to begin. How do you break it to someone that their entire purpose in life had been built upon a lie? That was if he wasn't already aware.
"Girl." He growled the word warningly as Hina struggled to formulate words. It would be very easy to just smile and tell him it was nothing. She was becoming very tempted to do just that. Hina swallowed and took a deep breath.
"I… I don't trust… Zorc." She began lamely, ringing her hands. Bakura snorted with cold laughter at her words and Hina knew why. The monster had pretty much tried to destroy her, so of course she didn't trust it.
"What I mean is," She began determinately, "I don't think you should trust it." She looked away.
Silence fell between them as Bakura surveyed her with an unreadable expression. Hina wasn't sure what to say, what more could she dare to say for fear of the repercussions. Would he even believe her if she spilled the entire truth to him? Hina took a deep breath again and met his eyes determinedly.
"He… He told me something when he took me… and… I just… you can't trust him." She finished imploringly. Hina hated this, she hated trying to navigate this. If she were smarter, she'd find a way to out the creature without having to beg the man to take her word for it. She couldn't though. She couldn't think of a way and Hina wasn't even sure there was one. It had to be this, she had to tell him. Despite herself, she found herself caring for the man. Again. It was ridiculous and stupid and foolish, but she couldn't help it. She was learning about him, about his past and all he had suffered. Was it any wonder he had become the villain stood before her? Wasn't it exactly the same as what she herself had done? She'd faced a tyrant of a King, responsible for orphaning her, taking her friends away from her. In that moment she saw herself in him more than she ever had before. The moment didn't last long.
"Zorc has been with me from the moment my family, my friends, were murdered at Kul Elna." He snarled nastily, anger evident across his face. Hina blinked, surprised by the malice in his tone.
"He has allowed me to conquer my deepest desire and defeat the Pharaoh and rule the world." He continued, taking a menacing step towards Hina. She stepped back instinctively, the fury radiating off him unnerving.
"He lent me his power to achieve world domination." He spoke still ferocious in tone as he continued to back Hina up. She felt her body press against the wall of one of the stone houses and tried to shrink against it as he approached her, his grey eyes narrowed. He stopped before her and leant forwards, slamming his hands against the wall either side of Hina's head.
"He gave me everything I ever asked for and you tell me not to trust him." He spat. Hina tried to steady the panicked fluttering in her chest as she met his angry gaze. Her expression hardened in preparation of her retaliation.
"You only got all that because both your desires aligned." Hina glared up at him. When he didn't retort other than to growl wordlessly at her, Hina continued.
"Do you think for a second, he'd have helped you if you wanted anything differently to him?" Hina demanded a little more defiantly than she intended. She had to remind herself this was going to be a very difficult and delicate subject to navigate.
"He lent me his power to destroy my enemies." Bakura snarled, slamming his hands against the wall angrily again. Hina contemplated for a moment.
"He used you." She whispered. She hated saying it aloud. Bakura stood back and let out a bark of laughter. He sneered cruelly down at her and Hina couldn't help but think of the kiss earlier. How different that moment had felt compared to this one now.
"We used each other." He laughed, no real humour in it. Hina stepped closer to him. She wanted to reach out and touch him, reassure him that she wasn't lying. She resisted however, afraid of his reaction to her.
"No. Please, you have to listen to me. He told me, himself. He said he told Aknadin to make the items!" Hina said pleadingly. She had to get him to believe her. She wouldn't deceive him, not about this. His face twisted in revulsion.
"Liar." He snarled. "Do you really think I would fall for that?"
"Please, I'm not lying. I wouldn't, not about that." Hina protested desperately. He laughed again and this time Hina saw a flicker of the same cruelty he'd worn back in the real world, back in Ryo's body. He strode forwards and grabbed Hina by the throat, slamming her back against the wall harshly, his mouth twisted into a snarl.
"What did you believe would happen?" He demanded harshly, bringing his face closer to hers.
"That I'd believe your lies, that I'd let you go to reclaim your body?" He laughed. Hina didn't respond. She tried desperately not to react to him, keeping her expression neutral and biting back the hundred retorts on her tongue.
"You are mine, your soul is mine and your body is mine. I am not giving you up." He spoke gruffly. Hina had to fight herself to not feel a little flattered at his words. She knew in which way he meant it and she couldn't allow herself to believe anything else no matter how much she craved to. She was nothing more than another pawn to him, a tool he was using to try and win. She couldn't let him. Guilt ate at her very suddenly. Hina had forgotten her real purpose here. She had to regain control of her body, if only briefly. If only for a moment. That's all it would take. Hina felt a grim determination settle over her. She'd known it from the start of this pointless journey into his soul. Unless Bakura gave her body up willingly, there was no way she could expel him and his stupid monster from her soul. The only loophole Hina could think of, could truly find, was they couldn't exist if there was no body to inhabit. She would sacrifice her life to save the life of her friends out in the real world.
"I know that." Hina retorted angrily. "I know there is no way out of here and I'm resigned to my fate. So why would I lie?"
Bakura stood back, releasing his grip upon her. Hina rubbed her neck as the skin felt sore from his grip. She scowled at him whilst he returned the glower with one of his own. He folded his arms across his broad chest. Silence fell between them, tense and uncomfortable.
"Aknadin didn't need a creature of darkness whispering into his ear. His darkness came from within." Bakura spoke breaking the silence. Hina shook her head slightly.
"Zorc whispered to him in the same way he probably did to you." Hina retorted.
"Let me prove to you Aknadin's darkness." Bakura growled, grabbing Hina's upper arm roughly. Hina didn't protest as the man marched her back along the street. The surroundings suddenly darkened in an instant and Hina started, afraid Zorc had returned to take her again. When she looked closer, she realised night had fallen in an instant upon the scene and that whatever she was to witness next happened at night. He dragged her along, coming to a stop outside the home they'd previously been inside of. He released her and Hina stepped away from him in an instant. He didn't protest and instead turned to glare down the street, arms folded once more. Hina frowned, then looked in the direction he was glaring. She could just make out a figure in the distance and had to squint to see them. The figure approached quickly, faster than Hina would have thought possible. As they neared, Hina saw why. The person was riding a horse, whose hoof falls echoed around the dark empty street as it thundered along towards them. A flash of white hair gave Hina all she needed to work out who the figure on horseback was. She stood back nervously as the creature approached and the figure upon the horses back pulled on reins, halting the beast. Hina's eyes widened as the man launched himself off the horse, pulling his hooded cloak further up his head. The Bakura of the past looked older than when they'd last seen him. He had grown several inches and his body had become more like that of the man stood besides her than that of the frail boy who'd been disfigured. Past Bakura stormed into the house and Hina instinctively followed.
Once inside, Hina saw the mess with a jolt. Every shelf had had its contents thrown from its surface. The floor was littered with jagged broken ceramics and the contents of the containers scattered everywhere. The simple furniture had been overturned and smashed. Hina felt her mouth drop open in shock as the younger Bakura searched frantically. He pulled damaged items big enough to hide a person from the floor.
"Kiya? Merit?" He called out frantically. He strode over to the open doorway, the curtain that had once separated the rooms in tatters at his feet. He peered into the room and called the names of the two women again. Young Bakura returned to the main room and looked around desperately, pleadingly. He sank to his knees and it wrenched Hina to see the anguish cross across the man's features.
"What happened?" Hina asked quietly, fighting back her own inexplicable emotions. The man behind her didn't answer straight away and Hina had to wonder if this painful memory still affected him.
"Aknadin came for them. The Pharaoh caught wind that Merit and her granddaughter were treating criminals. Aknadin himself rode out here, with his soldiers and took them to the palace. They were sentenced the same night. Sentenced to death." He spoke in a low furious voice as he relived the past. Hina turned to him, eyes wide.
"I… I'm so sorry…" She whispered, genuine anguish in her expression. Bakura turned and walked out of the house and back out into the night. Hina followed him. He stopped in the centre of the street.
"I was too late to save them." He growled. Before turning back to Hina. She stopped a few feet away from him. He strode back to her, anger alight in his eyes once more.
"That monster made them walk out into the desert and keep walking." He snarled.
"Merit barely made it a day before perishing in the heat. Kiya made it three before succumbing to dehydration and exhaustion." Bakura continued. Hina could picture it. She almost saw in her mind, Bakura searching horseback, the vast endless planes of sand, trying desperately to find the girl who'd helped him at his most vulnerable time. He would have stumbled upon their bodies, half buried in the endless sands. Hina knew without a doubt the spirit still mourned them and she couldn't blame him. They had appeared kind and caring. They should not have died for showing indiscriminatory compassion to their fellow humans. It also had not escaped Hina's attention that Bakura seemed more tense when speaking of Kiya's fate when he spoke. If she hadn't spent as much time as she had with him, Hina might never have been able to pick up on the slight change in his tone. She suspected there had been something more than mere friendship between the man and Kiya, not that she'd ever dare ask him.
"People don't need to do evil because they have Zorc whispering in their ear," Bakura's voice brought her attention back to him with a jolt.
"People have darkness within their souls that allows them to do evil. You have it too, don't you Hina?"
"Me?" Hina asked, caught quite off guard.
"Yes, when you threatened to Kill me, to destroy me. Whenever you swore vengeance. That pit of hate within you, that's where your evil resides." He sneered, approaching her. Hina didn't flinch or step back. She wasn't going to be intimidated by him.
"You felt that darkness within you, telling you to kill me. And you never had Zorc whispering in your ear, speaking to your very soul."
"Didn't I?" Hina replied coolly, meeting the mans steely gaze unflinchingly. When Bakura didn't reply, Hina felt her annoyance with him push her to continue.
"Wasn't he right there, merged within you?" She asked, prodding him pointedly in the square of his bare chest. He didn't respond other than to sneer at her. She sighed, tired. This conflict wasn't helping things. Hina needed to convince him, get him to understand. She couldn't understand why the need was there, but it was an incessant itch in her mind. Bakura had to recognise the creature had used him and had caused him torment without him ever realising.
"Zorc creates that hate. Then uses it for himself. He killed your village and created the darkness within you. I saw that boy you were, you showed me that. He would never have embraced the dark if he hadn't witnessed what he had." Hina squared her shoulders and glared at Bakura. She wouldn't back down from this final battle with him, no matter what it took. He would believe her.
"So persistent with your lies." He retorted, the scowl creasing his brow as he bared his teeth. It took a lot for Hina to not roll her eyes at him. Stubborn, impossible idiot. She cast her eyes around the empty street, thinking. How could she convince him? She needed proof.
And idea occurred to her. A terrible, frightening idea. There were three souls fighting within her. Three, not two. Her own, Bakura's and the monsters. Hina returned her gaze to Bakura. Was it possible? She was witnessing Bakura's memories because he was allowing her to, so was it even possible to witness Zorc's? She remembered having to cross the desert to reach Bakura's soul. What would it be like trying to cross into the beasts?
"I have a proposition for you." Hina said calmly. Bakura rose an eyebrow at her in cruel amusement. Taking that simple gesture as and invitation to proceed, Hina continued.
"If there is any part of you, any tiny, miniscule part, that considers what I'm telling you could be true, let me try and prove it."
"And how do you intend to do that, girl?" He demanded.
"We go into Zorc's memories."
