Hi guys, thank you for your reviews. They are the highlight of my day! :) I have been very productive today writing this new chapter and also a new chapter for Golden.
I apologise in advance that this story will be a bit slow at times, as I need to build it up. I do hope you stick with it! and, I hope you enjoy!
~Jehbel
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Ryou stood in a field, his long hair whipping around him in a strong gust. But this was like no field he had ever seen- it was enormous, stretching as far as the eye could see, and completely barren of features except for a low soft plant growing in a thick carpet over the soil. The plant was grey, as was the sky, and all he could see for miles was endless colourless nothing. It was bleak.
It was also freezing. Ryou wrapped his arms around his slender form, rubbing his palms over the bare skin to try and friction some warmth back into his body. He looked around, and for the first time wondered where he was, and why.
"You're here because I invited you." The voice made him jump, and he tried to turn to the source of the sound, but it was all around him; it was as though God himself were talking to Ryou.
"Not a god,"the voice giggled, and the small teen jumped again.
"Who-"
"Who am I? I am nobody; I am everybody. I am you, Ryou Bakura."
"What-"
"You do not need to speak aloud. I know. I hear."
\Who are you, really? I don't understand. Where am I?
"This is You, Ryou. This is inside you. I am merely using what you supply."
Ryou looked around with faint dismay at the bleak and lifeless field.
\This is inside me? It's so… empty. There's nothing here!
"Yes, well, are you surprised? What is in your life but emptiness, my Host?"
The breeze picked up; it tossed his hair about in wild disarray. By his feet, the thick grey plant moved and crept about as though it weighed nothing. His stomach knotted tightly at the unseen person's words, but they were not yet finished. The voice moved closer; it was as though they were standing beside him now. The temperature dropped further and his skin erupted in goosebumps.
"Yes indeed, RyouBakuraHost. You have nothing in your life but emptiness. This place should be filled with the colours of love; love of family, love of friends. It should be saturated with hope and lust and dreams, or even flickering with the shadows of fear and hatred. But you… why, your place is full of flat grey nothing. Do you long for colours? Do you enjoy this emptiness?
Ryou hung his head, the words piercing him like little knives, digging deep into his inner doubts and worries. He felt tears prick his eyes, the wind whipping them away and drying them faster than he could produce the moisture.
He felt the Other's glee emanating around him. "No. You are nothing. You care for nothing, don't you? You're a shell."
The young teen could not answer, and he remained in place, simply staring with empty eyes at the swirling shifting moss covering the ground. He felt ill; the voice was like poison, creeping through his veins.
"I can help you, Ryou. Would you like me to colour this world of yours?"The voice was ever closer, and sweeter now. Ryou did not respond, his eyes watching the moving greyness. Vaguely, it occurred to him it was not so plant-like at all.
"Give Me your body; give Me your Self, and I will colour your mind with all that life can offer, Ryou. Submit to me, and I'll DRENCH this place with reds and blacks and yellows; with fear and power and lust." Closer, closer, it was now almost whispering in his ear. Intoxicating, the words were like foul fruit; their sweetness covered an underlying sickness that was rotting them away from the inside.
Ryou stood rooted in place, trembling like a startled deer. He could not escape the voice, the vivid mental imagery it was forcing into his mind, but he tried to block it out, watching as the greyness at his feet swirled and twisted and crept up his ankles. He realised now it was not a plant; how silly of him to ever have thought it was.
"All you have to do is give up, Ryou. You're so close already. Your soul is weakened; your mind drifts. Surely you do not need to Be any more? Give over to me, my Host, and enable me. Become my vessel, become my Partner. Become my aibou."
\…Smoke.
He could not see the invisible speaker, but he felt it physically recoil at this word. Turning his face upward, Ryou could feel a faint drop in the blustering winds; he could see the particles in the air. Ash.
"What did you say?"
\You heard me. You hear all and know all,right? This is smoke. This entire field is… is smoke. So there is something here, something to me, isn't there? He heard the voice hiss with anger, and move away from him again. Ryou scowled. \You come here, and say these things to me, but you don't even show yourself. Who are you? Even if you're a part of me, you must have a body? A form?
The disembodied voice growled, then chuckled cruelly. "Very well".
The smoke began to shift; faster and faster, it withdrew from around his feet, coalescing rapidly at a point just in front of Ryou. From all over the field it came; the smoke flowed in a rapid and insubstantial stream, drawing from as far away as Ryou could see. It solidified, and slowly grew, elongated, until a distinctly human shape began to form before him. Where the smoke had lay thick and still over the ground, now Ryou could see yellowed and crumbling bricks; distantly, he could make out a great high wall of the same brick material. It seemed to be getting closer, as though the field were shrinking and contracting; the wall even now was all around him, the sky darkening as even overhead he became enclosed in the brick barrier.
The trail of smoke thinned and eventually, disappeared altogether, amassing itself in the shape in front of him. Suddenly, Ryou could see features in the smoke; first of all, eyes, large and the same rich brown as his own, but glaring fixedly at his own face. A nose; lips too. The outline of hair, shaggy and unkempt, longer than his own, no colour defined yet. Ryou watched, spellbound, as eventually the figure stood before him, clarified. "What…?" Ryou murmured, his eyes large with surprise.
It was himself. But, it was also not him. This person was taller, more solidly built. His hair, the same startling white shade as his own, was longer and thicker, with uneven lengths sticking out at odd angles. His eyes glared with a white-hot rage and his teeth appeared to be slightly pointed. He was greater, more beautiful and more terrible than Ryou would ever be.
"Are you surprised? I did say that I was you, after all." The being crossed his arms, glaring with savage amusement at Ryou's reaction to him.
Ryou did not know how to answer; this was beyond him, beyond his understanding. He could feel though, to his very bones, that this being was not of him; he was something different, foreign.
Something dangerous.
"You have no idea." The being replied, answering Ryou's unspoken thought. "What I am, and where I came from, it matters little. What does matter is that you are my Host now, and you will give yourself over to me. When I am finished, I may even give you back your body intact."His doppelganger gave a feral grin, taking a stalking step toward him; Ryou on instinct retreated a step.
Ryou shook his head, fear beginning to trickle down his spine. This creature may look like him, but it was completely and utterly different. It was dangerous, and it wanted to control him. "No… No. I am sorry, but no. You can't just use my body like a puppet." His voice, spoken out loud, sounded weak and high with fear.
"You have no choice. I will take it whether you say so or not. But if you give yourself over willingly, I will not destroy you. You should thank me really, that I brought you here to give you warning."
"I'm dreaming. This is a dream, right now, and you're not real." Ryou shook like a rabbit, his large brown eyes wide as the Other prowled around him like a circling shark. It chuckled at his words, low and measured.
"Oh yes, believe that if it helps you. Believe whatever you want to believe. If-" His words were cut off suddenly, the being cocking his head and scowling as he looked up at the ceiling. Ryou could hear it too, a faint shrill ringing, growing ever-louder. Ryou looked about, bewildered; the smell of smoke became stronger as the being suddenly began to dissolve. "Remember this, little one- I WILL have your body, and I WILL use it as I desire. So, make your departure easier on yourself and come to me willingly. I will have your answer tomorrow night."The glaring brown eyes flashed momentarily crimson. "Tomorrow, Ryou."The voice echoed oddly around him, bouncing off the dull brick; his body was gone, leaving nothing but vapour and smoke around him, becoming thicker and darker by the second. Ryou coughed, looking around frantically for signs of a fire, but he was alone in the empty brick room.
"What is this place? H-Hey! Where are you? How do I get out? Help!" The ringing was louder now, almost too loud to tolerate, creating a sense of dreadful urgency. He had to get out, now. Something bad would happen if he stayed in this room. He could barely see through the smoke, his eyes watering furiously, his throat raw. Stumbling blindly through the thick air, Ryou saw the outline of a door appear in the brickwork, its outline flaring briefly with yellow light. Stomach knotting in terrified relief, the teen ran toward it, one hand reaching to grasp the handle, his other tightly grasping his blanket for dear life.
Wait- his blanket?
Ryou looked around, bewildered. He was in his room, standing by the window. He had pushed the panes open with one hand and his torso was leaning out, his arm outstretched as he reached into open air. He was wrapped in the blanket off his bed, his spare hand keeping it bunched tightly around him. It was the grey-blue shadowed darkness of early morning; even now he could hear the occasional bird whistle as the world began to wake up. The ringing went on and on; his alarm was wailing at him to wake up and get ready for school. Dazed, confused, Ryou wandered back to his bed, absentmindedly pushing the snooze button to cut off the horrible racket. He sat on the bed, his eyes wide. It really was just a dream. Wow.He looked about his room with unseeing eyes, remembering the vividness of the nightmare, the strange alter ego he'd spoken to.
Shaking his head, Ryou stood, wavering slightly, disoriented and still frightened from the nightmare. Why have I been dreaming such crazy things lately? He scratched at his head with confusion, mussing his white mane as he did so. The faint smell of smoke drifted about and he realised with a jolt that it clung to his skin and clothes; whipping around, the teen looked about his room, but could see no sign of a real fire. What…? Why? Why do I smell all smoky if it was just a dream? Ryou again felt the tickles of fear down his spine and he shivered all over. This is too weird. Maybe- maybe I just walked in my sleep, and… and there was some smoke, or something.Even in his own mind it was a flimsy excuse.
"Arrgh!" He scrubbed at his hair with both hands in explosive frustration, as though to shake the smoke from it, and perhaps clear his mind of his confusion and fear. "This is ridiculous!"
The teen padded into the bathroom, determined to wash the smell from his hair. Put it from your mind. It was just a dream, nothing more.He determinedly ignored the fact that he was avoiding looking in the mirror, as afraid that he may not recognise what he saw in the reflection.
He was only very barely surprised to find that the ring was round his neck again.
As he bathed, the hot water slowly eased his fear, and removed the horrid memories of the nightmare along with the lingering odour of smoke.
Ryou put his face under the steaming flow of water, working hard to keep his mind blank, absorbing only the sensations of the heat and steam.
With all his might, he ignored the chuckling of the water as it drained into the plug, sounding so very similar to the laughter of a dangerous being, a thousand miles away in a dark cold nightmare.
Tomorrow, Ryou.
