Chapter 6
After Dark
Yami sat on the edge of the sofa, his mind in a whirl as he offered Ryou a hot drink. Ryou smiled but Yami saw his hands shake a little as he drank it. He looked whiter than usual and it just made Yami hate the Spirit even more.
The pale boy spoke after a moment; "So...let me get this straight; Marik has a sister, Ishizu..."
"Yeah, the crazy one who doesn't mind evil Spirits hanging around her," Joey said helpfully. Tea elbowed him in the side. "It's true! She is crazy."
"Right," said Ryou, "and that other man is Odion, Marik's adopted brother?"
"It's all just one big messed up unhappy family, isn't it?" Duke said cheerfully, leaning over the couch, just behind Serenity. "I'm liking it better than the card games, personally."
Tristan rolled his eyes; "It's fine till demon dark halves start getting involved. And I'll remind you Ryou could have died."
Duke just continued to smile at Ryou; "but you're alive, so it was a nice happy ending, wasn't it?"
Ryou's smile was very forced, and Yami saw the look in his eyes, as though he was remembering something they could not understand. Yami wanted to, though. He needed to, if only to satisfy his own confusion.
He spoke to Ryou gently; "Ishizu told us everything, not long after Marik's...erm, possession, as it were. She told us there was always something inside of Marik...Can you remember much about it?"
Ryou rubbed his arms; "Unfortunately, yes. I'll just have to add it to my ever growing list of traumatic experiences," his grin was much more genuine, but he sighed tiredly when he looked at Yami; "Marik's...dark half, whatever it was, seemed to be really powerful though. Maybe...maybe more powerful than the Spirit."
A short silence hung about the room, and Yami could feel the uneasiness settling about everyone.
"None of this explains why it gave the Spirit it's own body, though," Joey broke the quiet.
"I think the dark Marik was trying to bargain with the Spirit," Ryou said slowly. He stared at his drink like it might have something very strange inside of it; "for a while I thought...well, me and Marik thought the Spirit would take the offer up. It nearly did, too."
"That would make a whole lot more sense," Tea murmured.
"Yeah," Ryou nodded. "But...I think Marik knows more about the Spirit. He managed to get it to help us out, somehow. It was like he had a connection with it." Ryou paused; "I know I have one, through our link, but this was different. I know Marik got through to it somehow," Ryou looked at Yami, as though he expected him to say something about that.
Yami frowned; "there must be an explanation. It wouldn't help you for nothing."
"That's what I thought," Ryou shrugged.
Yami leaned back, and felt Yugi's link poking him. Yugi had been watching and listening to everything, and Yami always felt bad about taking over his body for long periods, even if it was a joint decision.
Today it hadn't been so joint, but Yami couldn't help it. Whenever the Spirit Bakura appeared, Yami felt an anger and need for confrontation he could not control. He knew the Spirit felt it too, and that was what told Yami that the Spirit was a part of his past. And even if it was an unpleasant presence, it was still a precious link to something he needed to remember.
"Let's get some sleep. We can work this out tomorrow." Yugi's voice echoed in his mind, understanding as usual.
Yami nodded, and he looked round to see a lot of his friends seemed to have the same idea. Everyone was tired and pale, especially Ryou.
"It's been a long night," Yami said. "what do you guys say to bed?"
"I say that's the best plan ever," Joey yawned. He rolled his eyes to the door though, and looked cautious. "Do you really think it was a good idea, letting that looney Spirit near Ishizu and Marik?"
Yami had not thought it was a good idea, but he remembered Ishizu's assuring face; "Ishizu should know better than any of us, I suppose."
"Oh yeah, she's got those crazy item powers too, hasn't she," Duke said. "Man, I want an item."
"She's got the Necklace," Yami nodded. "She'll be safe."
"Well I'm not hearing any screaming," said Joey. "That's always a good sign."
Yami felt in his pocket, and found the Millennium Ring with some comfort.
It had been his main objective; as soon as the Spirit, Ryou and Marik had sprung back into the real world of the blimp, Yami knew he had to get the Ring.
At least without that, Bakura was somewhat defenceless.
Tea looked unhappy; "It's still the Spirit. We should all be careful."
"What are we supposed to do? Keep knives under our pillows?" asked Duke conversationally.
"Maybe sleep with one eye open?" Serenity suggested.
"I wouldn't feel safe with both open," said Tea, hugging herself. "The sooner we're off this blimp, the better."
Yami wished he could say she might be overreacting, but they were dealing with the Spirit of the Ring. Even though they were on course back to Domino City, when they got back Bakura would still be existing. They couldn't very well leave him to his own devices, knowing what he was capable of.
Millennium Ring or not, Bakura was deranged and not to be trusted.
The grim thought followed Yami to bed. He paused outside Marik's room and stared at it. It sounded quiet in there, but Yami imagined this was the silence that followed a manic Spirit's killing spree.
He pushed the door open. He needed to see.
Marik was sitting up in bed, looking sleepy and worried as he rubbed his eyes. Ishizu sat by the bed, her face faintly relieved as she stroked a hand through her brothers hair. Slumped against the opposite wall, and mostly in shadow, Bakura was sleeping.
He didn't look too manic when he was like that.
"It's okay. He's been out for a couple of hours, now," Ishizu smiled at Yami.
"I see," Yami stepped quietly into the room, watching Bakura a moment more before turning to the bed. "How are you feeling, Marik?"
Marik looked up at Yami, still rubbing his eyes; "I'm sorry, Pharaoh," he said dully.
Yami saw how tired he was; "Don't worry, Ishizu told us everything."
"Everything?" Marik blinked at his sister.
"I'll explain tomorrow, when you've gotten some more sleep," she said gently.
Yami nodded; "Your darkness is gone, you're safe now."
"No, Pharaoh," Marik shook his head, and his eyes were helpless; "You're forgetting. He has the Millennium Rod."
88
When Bakura awoke he looked straight at the bed and saw Marik wasn't there anymore.
He stood up, far too fast, and felt dizzy and like he might sit back down again. He slouched against the wall, managing to keep his balance, and wondering why he felt so drained. His limbs were stiff, his mouth felt too dry and his stomach was making disturbing noises.
Clutching his chest, Bakura remembered he didn't have the Ring. He cursed the stupid Pharaoh, tipping his head back against the wall. It connected with a pang of pain, and Bakura remembered the brief fight last night. He cursed the Pharaoh more enthusiastically.
Pushing himself away from the wall, he saw the sun streaming through the window, hurting his eyes. His head felt strange and fragmented, like he'd been dreaming too long, but slowly bits of reality were seeping back into it.
Marik flashed in Bakura's mind more vividly than anything else, and he moved forwards on instinct, almost falling down again.
He grabbed the wall and felt along it as he walked from the room, feeling ridiculously weak and mixed up. The strange feeling in his head had doubled a few times, and now it was giving him a headache.
Bakura had never suffered such weaknesses before; he'd had no body to feel such things. He could almost begin to sympathise with humans, if this was what they had to work with.
He thought vaguely about his host, and wondered if he should feel sorry about him. It was true he'd taken possession of Ryou numerous times, but never for whole days. He would just retreat back into the Ring whenever he felt the aches of mortality creeping up his host's body.
He couldn't do that now, though. No Millennium Ring to return to. No host to blame.
Bakura felt oddly lost.
He walked down the corridor as fast as he could manage, trying to find the link that wasn't his host, but the one he knew better than anything else now. The tugs of human presence were stronger than the stinging headache, and as he walked he could feel the presence getting stronger.
He didn't realise he'd been running until he flung a door open and leant a hand heavily against the wall to catch his breath. He looked up to see Marik in the room with his back to him, sitting by a bed.
"You're alright," Bakura said after a moment, and closed his eyes shortly against the headache. When he opened them Marik was staring at him, his eyes all watery. Bakura
was starting to recognise that look rather well. Humans used it far too much, and when Marik used it Bakura felt like he should do something. It wasn't fair.
He shook his head, trying to get rid of those disorientating thoughts, trying to reach the link he was sure he had with the human.
He couldn't feel anything though. The link was closed and Marik's face was cold when he spoke;
"Bakura, you're awake," he said, and turned back to the bed.
Bakura straightened and stared at Marik's back. He was still a little breathless, and now he felt foolish for it too. He wasn't sure what had made him run, or why it was so important to run in the first place. But Marik was okay now, so it didn't really matter.
He walked slowly to the tomb keeper's side and stared at the bed, where the man he knew as Odion lay. Bakura looked at him, and didn't know what to think of it.
"He's still unconscious," Marik said distantly. "I thought he'd be better now."
Bakura started to reply, but realised he didn't know what to say. Instead he scraped a chair up next to Marik and sat down. His headache dulled a bit. It was a nice relief.
He noticed Marik's arms twitch, and then the red marks there, like fingernails.
"Your arms-"
"I'm sorry I couldn't give you the Rod," Marik said at the same time.
"The Rod...?"
The Rod had not occurred to Bakura; it probably should have done.
"I know Yami has the Ring," Marik said, his eyes still on the bed. "I guess I lost you another item, instead of gaining you one."
Bakura supposed he had. He realised he wasn't angry about it.
"I've got lots of time. I'm immortal," he reasoned, more to himself than anything else.
He had forgotten about the items, if only for a moment.
He rubbed his temples, and tried to think about what should matter...the human...the Rod...the items.
It was strange; Bakura could not remember a time the items had not been somewhere at the forefront of his mind. They'd always been there, because that was why he existed. It was the only reason he could remember existing sometimes.
He rubbed his head again; the ache was prickling at him.
"Bakura,"
The hand on his shoulder snapped him back to attention.
"Yes?"
Marik looked at him properly; "I...I can't be sure," the human's eyes narrowed a bit; "what I saw inside of you, in the Realm, I mean."
Bakura frowned; "You mean our link?"
"Is that what it was? Is that what made you forget the darkness?"
Bakura tried to think, but it was so hard to remember. The darkness was cunning like that. It would consume you bit by bit, and you wouldn't notice till it was too late. It was rather tiring even trying to remember.
All Bakura knew was that he had liked the dark, and he'd liked Marik pulling him away from it too. He hadn't wanted Marik to get hurt, and yet he knew he'd hurt him...
He looked at the human's marked arms again, and then at his own white hands, scowling. His mind felt skewed, his headache was getting more painful...
"Don't you remember?" Marik asked, his voice soft yet surprised.
Bakura felt the human's hand squeezing his shoulder; he hadn't even been aware that it was still there, and now Marik was staring at the shoulder with strange interest.
Bakura raised his brow; "Marik?"
"Your body," the human said. "It's still so cold."
"What did you expect?"
Marik shrugged; "I don't know. Warmth, I guess. Like a real body."
Bakura was confused by his disappointment.
"Well, I'm still dead mostly," he felt he should remind the tomb keeper, "Being a three thousand year old Spirit usually indicates that."
"I know," Marik said waspishly. Then he removed his hand only to replace it on the Spirit's chest.
Bakura would have jumped back, if not for the combination of the chair and a stilling shock. Instead he just sat stiffly, staring at Marik's hand on his chest. It wasn't an uncomfortable sensation, but it was uncomfortable experience.
"Er," he said. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for the heartbeat, stupid,"
"Oh." Bakura covered his confusion with a frown. Marik's hand pressed against him a little harder, and Bakura saw the tomb keeper's face light up.
"There, I found it," Marik said. "You're not dead, that proves it. Here, like mine," Marik snatched Bakura's hand and placed it on his own chest.
Bakura felt the vibrating movement beneath his palm before he could protest. It was fascinating and warm, and if he closed his eyes he could imagine being back in the Shadow Realm, making sure Marik was alright in his body.
"Can you feel it?" Marik sounded close.
Bakura opened his eyes and nodded. He pulled his hand away from Marik's chest and felt his own.
It had a beat, but it was cold and almost too hard against his palm. It didn't feel right.
He turned away from Marik; "You shouldn't give your dark half so much credit. I'm a Spirit, and his powers cannot make me properly alive."
Marik's body jerked, like he'd been stung. He turned to the bed again. "I don't give him credit, Bakura. Look what he did to my family...my brother, it drove us all apart."
"Darkness will do that," Bakura nodded. "It's a manifestation of your own hate. You can't expect it to bring about anything good, surely?"
Marik looked at him, his face hard; "My darkness murdered my father, Bakura," the tomb keeper's eyes grew large, as though he'd only just realised his own words; "...my sister, she told me that, just today."
Bakura remembered conversations with Marik in the Soul Room. He looked at the ceiling; "but you hated your father."
"Not enough to kill him!"
Bakura shook his head. All he'd ever heard of Marik's father had been hateful words, and Marik's own hateful face to go with them. Marik should have been pleased that the miserable human was gone.
Human logic baffled Bakura once again.
He closed his eyes; the headache was still there but it was tolerable for now. His link with Ryou still existed; he could feel the familiar human presence and knew he could open it if he desired. Marik's presence was strongest, though. Almost overwhelming, and so distracting.
"I need to get the items," he spoke aloud, like that might clear his head.
"Bakura?"
Bakura looked at Marik, and easily recognised the unbearable human emotion set on his face.
He still knew humans, even if he didn't always understand their actions.
He knew the way Marik looked at Odion. He knew the expression on Marik's sister's face in the dark bedroom last night. And most of all he knew the forgiveness in the Pharaoh's eyes when he'd looked at Marik.
Bakura didn't need to connect with such emotions to know what they meant. But it was still rather unpleasant to realise.
"So you will be helping the Pharaoh now, then?" he asked.
Marik bowed his head; "I'm sorry."
It was what Bakura had expected, but it was still hard not to feel some sort of upset. He stood up and started towards the door, not paying Marik's voice proper notice.
"Where are you going?" the tomb keeper called after him.
"To get back my Millennium Ring back, of course."
8
The lounge was big and included a few of Yugi's unbearable friends.
Yugi was sitting at the table, along with Bakura's host Ryou, who was smiling in between mouthfuls of food. The woman Bakura remembered as Marik's sister, and who had not minded him, was also there.
Sprawled out on the couch was the one called Duke, and he was talking with a sweet face to the girl Serenity. Standing over them, looking very angry about what was happening on the couch, was Tristan.
They all noticed Bakura, and their faces changed to varying levels of apprehension. Except for Marik's sister, who was indifferently eating strange food from a bowl.
"Sleep alright?" she asked.
Bakura was almost too surprised to answer her. He managed a nod and ignored the hand that shadowed his shoulder. He knew Marik would follow him.
"Bakura, don't," the human said, so only he could hear.
Bakura shrugged him off and walked to the table. Yugi and his Puzzle were there.
"How are you, little brother?" Ishizu said to Marik.
"Better," Marik smiled nervously, and followed Bakura.
Bakura kept ignoring him and glared round the table.
His host was watching his plate, his smile having vanished along with the conversation that had been fluttering about the room. Nobody was talking and everyone was trying to look like they weren't watching him.
Humans were not very good at that sort of thing, and Bakura easily caught Yugi's eye.
The boy's mouth formed a thin sort of smile; "hey," he said, almost a question.
Bakura ignored him and looked at the Puzzle hanging round his neck. The Pharaoh was almost definitely watching, and Bakura hated him for it.
"So, you're the guy who tried to kill everyone that time, right?" Duke said from the couch, like he was remembering a trip to the park.
Serenity coughed, like humans did when they didn't want an awkward situation. Bakura didn't mind, he didn't care what any of them thought of him anyway.
"That's right," he grinned, and sat opposite Yugi. He noticed Yugi hold his cup tighter, and then how his host pretended his food was the most interesting thing in the world.
Bakura smiled pleasantly, enjoying their squirming and imagining the Pharaoh's angry face inside of the Puzzle. This could be fun.
"Would you like a Pepsi?" Marik's sister asked, coming to the table.
"Pepsi?" Bakura repeated.
"It's a drink," Ryou said helpfully. "I prefer milkshake, personally." he blushed when everyone looked at him, then he went back to his extremely interesting sandwich.
Bakura shook his head; "No wonder the Pharaoh is always taking control of your body during duels, Yugi. You humans are not especially bright, are you?"
"You're the one who doesn't know what a Pepsi is," Marik pointed out. He was sitting at the table now, his face more worried than annoyed.
"I didn't frequent my host enough to learn about different drinks," Bakura glared at the Puzzle. "Unlike some, I used my host only when it was completely necessary."
Ryou looked up from pretending to eat his food, his eyes cautious on Bakura.
Yugi frowned, which wasn't very threatening on his face; "At least Yami doesn't possess me unwillingly."
"That so?" Bakura grinned. "Did you have any control last night, when your dear Pharaoh was trying to throttle me?"
Yugi didn't say anything; he couldn't, because at that moment the Puzzle began to glow and the Pharaoh was suddenly in Yugi's place. He glared furiously at Bakura.
"Proves my point," Bakura said "Sleep well, Pharaoh?
"What do you want, Spirit?"
Bakura smiled; "I just want my item back. It wasn't very nice of you to take it from me like that."
"I need the Millennium items," the Pharaoh said coldly. "I'm keeping the Ring."
"You need them?" Bakura quirked a brow. "Well, we're working toward the same goal then, aren't we?" He leaned forward on the table, easily feeling the crackle of tension between himself and the other Spirit.
There was definitely an unknown link there, that neither of them had bothered tapping into.
"What are you getting at, Bakura?" the Pharaoh moved back in his chair, looking highly suspicious.
"Isn't it obvious? We both need the all Millennium items together, so why not help each other to get them? You already have my Ring. I may know where the others are."
"I already know the Rod is in the Shadow Realm," the Pharaoh said dismissively. "I spoke with Marik about it this morning."
Bakura turned to the human he knew best. Marik looked awkward, his faint smile falling away.
"I couldn't exactly keep it a secret," the tomb keeper said rather helplessly.
Bakura shook his head; it shouldn't be so surprising that Marik had done that. He looked at the Pharaoh again; "Far too assuming, as usual Pharaoh. I know about more than just the Rod."
The Pharaoh's face flashed suspicious interest, and everyone else stared at Bakura, like they expected him to tell them everything he knew all at once. Bakura smirked; humans always expected to get things the easy way first.
The Pharaoh's chair creaked forwards as he leaned across the table, his eyes narrowing; "Well, are you going to tell me," he said in a dark voice, face straining to stay anywhere near patient; "Or am I going to have to force you?"
It was Ryou who grabbed the Pharaoh's arm, pulling him back with surprising force.
"Please! Let's not fight!"
Everyone stared at Ryou like he'd only just appeared in the room.
Ryou shrugged; "I just hate it, that's all." he looked between Bakura and the Pharaoh with a beseeching face. "Can't you two try not to kill each other, just for a few minutes?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Marik nodded, smiling across the table at Ryou.
Bakura looked between them both; it was disconcerting how alike they both were in that moment.
"I'm sorry," the Pharaoh said to the table, and grimaced when he looked at Bakura. "Will you tell me what you know of the other items, Bakura?"
"I will, if you give me the Ring back first," Bakura leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, enjoying the impatience that danced under the Pharaoh's face. "Then I might be kind enough to summon the Realm and retrieve the Rod for you. Think of it as my apology present." he thought for a moment; "I saved your human friends too. Don't tell me that isn't worth something to you?"
Someone snorted on the couch; "don't listen to him, Yami," it was Tristan.
The Pharaoh's face was mostly suspicious, but Bakura detected the uncertainty there too. He grinned; maybe the Pharaoh would be easier to convince than he'd thought.
The Pharaoh shook his head after a long minute; "No, Bakura. There's no way you're using the Ring again, no matter what the purpose."
Bakura twirled a spoon in his hand; "Shame. Guess it'll have to be the hard way then, hm?"
"Hard way?" Marik sounded worried.
"There's no way about it, Bakura. You're not getting the Ring back."
"Maybe it could be an idea."
Everyone stared at Ryou like he might be an alien for a second time.
"What?" said Bakura.
"I mean," Ryou looked very meek, and talked very fast; "we need all the items, don't we? So it couldn't hurt to get the Rod back. I think...I think the Spirit knows the Shadow Realm better than any of us," he looked down at his plate; "well, it was just a thought."
Bakura gave Ryou a careful glance over. This human had been surprising him quite a bit recently.
"See?" he smiled at the Pharaoh, "even my harmless little host approves."
"Well I don't."
Bakura turned to Marik. The human's eyes were flashing a worry that Bakura was very familiar with now, and it was more than a little bewildering in that moment.
"What?" Bakura snapped at the tomb keeper.
"Isn't there another way?" Marik looked straight at the Pharaoh, avoiding Bakura's gaze, which was annoying because Bakura wanted the human to see just how angry he was.
"There is another way," the Pharaoh nodded; "My Puzzle can summon the Realm too."
Bakura snorted; "why would you do that! You may as well cut your losses, send someone you really hate to do the job. You can always hope he won't come back again, right?"
"Bakura!" Marik looked shocked.
"I like that idea," said Tristan.
The Pharaoh just glared at Bakura; "Believe me, it's a tempting offer. But I know you're up to something, Bakura. And with the Ring I know what you could do to us."
"The Shadow Realm?" Bakura sneered; "Why are you even afraid, Pharaoh? You just said yourself, you have the Puzzle."
"I'm not afraid," the Pharaoh's voice shook with anger. "I just don't trust you with the Ring."
"I wouldn't expect you to," Bakura tipped his head; "But you can't deny I could help you get the Rod back."
"Why would you help me?"
Bakura rolled his eyes; "we both need all the items together. Were you even listening?"
"That's not the question," the Pharaoh narrowed his eyes; "why would you help me?"
"Does it matter?" Bakura grinned, feeling wicked; "Or are you still so proud and conceited that you can't accept someone else's help? Same old Pharaoh, same old arrogant ways-"
The table suddenly flew forwards, and Bakura jumped back before it could catch him, but too late to avoid the furious weight of the Pharaoh and his angry fists. Bakura hit the ground fast, and felt a dull pain on his face for only a few seconds. He clawed at the face in front of him, mildly satisfied to hear the Pharaoh's pained cry, before the weight came away with a sudden shriek.
Bakura scrambled upright, only to find two sets of hands holding his arms, preventing him from rushing at the Pharaoh. He recognised Marik's death grip fingers on his wrist.
The Pharaoh was being restrained too, by Tristan and Duke. Serenity was standing nearby, rather pale.
"Please, I thought we weren't going to be killing each other, just for a few minutes?" Ryou's voice was despairing and close to Bakura.
"Well that plan pretty much failed then, didn't it?" Joey said from the doorway. Tea was standing next to him, holding a tray of drinks.
"I take it we missed all the action?" she stared at the mess of plates and cups on the floor.
"Not really," Duke shook his head and managed to look disappointed, "There wasn't even any Realm type action."
88
Marik held onto Bakura's wrist as hard as he could. The Spirit was strong in his rage, but Marik had Ryou and Ishizu helping him, and their combined efforts kept the struggling to a minimum.
"That was bad, really, really bad, really bad," Ryou was repeating a nervous mantra, somewhere on the other side of Bakura.
"It's alright, we can all just calm down," Ishizu looked at Bakura, who was starting to let up a little, but still growling profanities.
"Let go," the Spirit tugged sharply away from Ryou, and it took all Marik's strength to hold onto the Spirit himself. He wasn't going to let go, he wasn't afraid.
Ryou backed off, bumping against Ishizu as she released Bakura. Her face was a calm contrast to Ryou's.
They had reached Marik's bedroom somehow, and Marik elbowed the door open, dragging the Spirit with him.
Bakura staggered in and managed to wrench himself free. He turned on Marik, his eyes full of contained rage.
Marik ignored this - he had to - and turned to Ryou and Ishizu, who stood in the doorway with their contrasting faces.
"It'll be fine. I'm going to talk to him," Marik nodded at his sister. He gave Ryou a weak smile. "It will be fine."
Ryou looked very distressed; "I just don't want the evil Spirit murdering you to be on my conscience, that's all."
"He won't," Marik said, then considered. "Maybe hang around for a bit, though. If you hear me scream-"
"I'll bravely go and fetch Yami," Ryou nodded.
Marik grinned; "thanks." he looked at his sister, who was smiling a bit too. "Speak soon, sis."
He shut the door and locked it fast. Too late to change his mind now. He could almost feel Bakura's intense hate behind him. It was almost too tempting to just run back out the door.
Marik turned round very slowly.
Bakura was eyeing him, posed to attack at any moment. He was furious, but it didn't frighten Marik so much. This rage was real, and it was nothing like Bakura in the Shadow Realm.
"Let me out now," Bakura hissed.
Marik leaned back against the door and shook his head. "Don't think so."
Bakura gaped at him; "You want me to make you?" his voice rose with his incredulity. "Is that what you want?"
"You know you won't do that," Marik said.
"You...what?" Bakura looked plainly shocked.
"I know you won't," Marik swallowed. He didn't know, he didn't know at all, but he needed to try. "You won't hurt me."
"You don't know what I'll do," Bakura said slowly. "Don't play games with me."
Marik folded his arms. He saw the hesitation in the Spirit's eyes, and he felt a bit more confident. "I thought you liked games?"
Bakura snarled but didn't say anything.
Marik ignored his own thumping heart; "And I thought I knew you so well, too," he played back what Bakura had told him in the Realm, it was easy to remember frightening things like that.
Bakura seemed to remember that, too. His eyes widened, and his lip curled nastily. He stepped forwards.
"I told you, don't play with me. Let me out, now,"
Marik moved a hand behind his back, feeling for the handle of the door.
"You'll have to make me then," his mouth felt dry.
He watched, feeling his hope diminish as Bakura advanced; his eyes dangerous and his mouth set in a snarl. Marik could feel the anger sparking off the Spirit, it was almost tangible, the closer he got.
They were barely inches from each other, and Marik grasped the door handle in a slippery hand, gritting his teeth. Maybe Ryou was going to have to live with that guilty conscience after all.
The last thing he looked at was Bakura's burning eyes, before he squeezed his own shut. It was too much;
"I don't want you to go back there!" he cried. "I won't let you!"
There was a thick silence; and Marik braced himself, expecting something painful to connect with his face at any second.
All he felt was the strange suffocating heat of anger dissipate away from him, and then Bakura's voice, rather quiet;
"What?"
Marik cracked his eyes open. Bakura had stepped back, and his expression had surrendered to blank confusion. His arms were hanging at his sides, all anger forgotten.
"What do you mean?" the Spirit said.
Marik grimaced. There was no point in being delicate; Bakura wouldn't understand any other way;
"I don't want you to go back to the Shadow Realm," Marik said. "It's dangerous...you don't...you'll go into the Shadows again..."
Bakura stared; his pale face was still all confused, and Marik wanted to shake him.
"Don't you understand?" he snapped. And he grabbed the Spirit's shoulders, almost shaking him anyway. "I don't want you to disappear!"
Bakura looked steadily at Marik's eyes. "Why would I disappear?"
Marik shook his head, despairing; "you don't remember, do you? The dark nearly took you away, Bakura-"
"I do remember," Bakura said, and he stared at Marik's hand on his shoulder. He seemed to consider it for a few seconds, then he frowned at the ground; "I suppose I just picked you instead."
Marik blinked, his hands on the Spirit went slack in his own surprise. "What?"
At that moment a voice emitted timidly from the other side of the door;
"Er, I heard yelling. Shall I get Yami?" Ryou's voice.
"No, no," Marik shook his head at the door, "It's fine, Ryou. You can go, if you like."
"Oh, um, okay."
Marik turned back to Bakura. The Spirit had stepped away from him, his expression careful.
"I just want to get the item back," he said.
Marik lowered his arms, still feeling the warm traces of Bakura against his palms. But the revelation had gone now.
"The Rod?" Marik asked weakly.
Bakura nodded. "I still need-"
"The Millennium items, I know."
Marik moved to the bed and sat down. His head was aching a bit; he couldn't tell how much of it was Bakura's link, or just his own reeling thoughts.
For a little while Marik had thought he could hate Bakura. It should have been easy; the Spirit had helped his darkness, it had no moral code. It didn't even exist as a human.
But Marik had woke up that morning and Bakura had been there, fast asleep and uncomfortable looking. Marik had watched him a bit, remembering everything that had happened in the Realm, and the way Bakura had looked when the darkness had started to fall.
He wasn't that creature right now, just as he wasn't when Marik had found his link, or something within in. Whatever it was, it was different and did not belong to the dark.
Marik stared up at Bakura, who was still watching him with a guarded face.
"I want to help you," Marik started. "But-"
Bakura watched the bed. "Don't apologise. I know you can't help me with the items anymore."
"No, it's not that. Well, not just that-"
Bakura shook his head; "I just forgot for a while."
"Forgot what?"
"That you're still all human," Bakura leaned back against the wall, and looked at the ceiling; "your dark half escaped for that reason."
Marik bit his lip; "My dark half has been a part of me for a long time, Bakura. I just never realised it till now."
"Maybe so, but he broke away from you when he realised you wouldn't be a part of him-"
"-that's when I retreated to your Soul Room," Marik realised.
"Yes," Bakura nodded, "you saved your own soul in a way. It's to be expected, though. Humans don't cope well with the dark. They'll do anything to get away from it."
"Are we so predictable?" Marik found himself smiling a bit.
Bakura tipped his head; "In some ways." he frowned; "Well, your hiding place was a little surprising."
"The Ring was a safe place,"
Bakura shrugged; "you didn't have to choose the Ring. Anyone else's body would have done as a temporary host."
"I knew I was safe with you," Marik said at once.
Bakura looked at Marik with odd interest.
Marik felt himself heat up. He cleared his throat and looked at the floor; "I mean...I knew...It seemed the best place to be at the time," he looked at his lap; "...and I thought I might try and trust you. You got my body back okay, right?"
"I guess," Bakura looked hesitant, and he rolled his eyes to the locked door.
Marik had forgotten all about that; but he watched with happy surprise as Bakura sank down the wall into a sitting position. He wasn't going anywhere.
"If you can trust me now, you should know I'm only going back to the Realm for the Rod." Bakura said after a long moment.
Marik gritted his teeth. "But you can't know-"
"You said you trusted me."
"It's not as easy as that!" Marik said. "What about my dark half!"
"He shouldn't be there anymore. Not in any real form anyway. He was consumed by the Shadows."
Marik stared at Bakura, hoping he was right; "How are you so sure?"
Bakura ignored the question, and looked very thoughtful; "your sister seemed to tolerate me."
Marik was confused; "What?"
"She didn't mind me staying in your room. She wasn't afraid of me," Bakura explained patiently.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Marik was suddenly alarmed. "Do you like my sister?"
Bakura rolled his eyes; " I know she has the Necklace, Marik."
"Oh," said Marik, feeling stupid and relieved all at once. "Yeah, the Necklace."
"I have a plan," Bakura stretched his legs out; "to get the Rod back."
Marik lay back on his bed, and frowned at him; "I promised myself I wouldn't listen to your plans anymore."
"You don't have to help," Bakura was undeterred. "I already said I don't expect it, anymore."
"Then why tell me?"
"I'm just giving you fair warning, really. Since it's your sister, you have the right to know."
Marik sat up fast; "don't you dare get my sister involved, Bakura."
"Calm down. It's just the Necklace I need."
Marik was not comforted; "You're going back, aren't you?" he rubbed an arm over his face, feeling hot and frustrated, "And I can't stop you."
"No, you can't," Bakura agreed, smiling a bit. "But you can trust that I'll come back with the Rod."
"And you're going to give it to the Pharaoh?" Marik asked bleakly.
"I said I'd help collect the items."
Marik shook his head. "You're awfully confident, for saying you don't even have the Ring yet. Just what do you think you'll do? Asking for it back didn't exactly run smoothly, did it?"
Bakura grinned; "well, I was anticipating the hard way."
Marik tipped his head, entirely confused. "What's that, then?"
"Marik, are you forgetting what I am?"
"Erm," Marik pretended to think. "Taking into account recent events...a complete lunatic?"
"You cut really deep," Bakura smirked, and shook his head. "I'm a thief. And I plan to put the title to good use very soon."
Marik stared at the Spirit, feeling hopeless. There was no reasoning with him; Bakura would do what he wanted, and whatever Marik said otherwise wasn't going to change anything.
It wouldn't have been half so bad, if he didn't care what happened to the Spirit.
"I'm not helping you," he sighed, watching Bakura move to the door.
"I know."
Marik lay down and faced the wall, listening as the door clipped shut. His head was running with too many thoughts, and he felt Bakura's link warm and familiar amongst them.
There was a gentle tap at the door;
"You're not dead in there, are you?" Ryou asked.
88