Ryou's Story

By: ACE329

Summary: This story is mine to tell. No, not the one whom most refer to as Bakura, the spirit of the millennium ring, just me. He already stole my name but I cannot—will not—let him take away the one thing that I have left…my words.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! Additionally, as a disclaimer, note that any comments (particularly religious remarks) do not express my own personal beliefs. And lastly, there will be tarot references in this chapter—any interpretations mentioned are my own summarizations based off a book from Dennis Fairchild simply entitled Tarot. I'm a novice at tarot readings, so I plead ignorance!

A/N: Alas, the time comes when I head back to college. So that means that updates will unfortunately be scarce. I'm deeply sorry to those who expect more from me, but what can I say, I'm just a poor decrepit victim of time constraints. Naturally, I will post an update when opportunity strikes! Keep in mind friends, that I'll be back. I always come back. (insert evil laughter here) Seriously though, thanks for sticking with me :)

A review, as always, is as appreciated to me as a nap is to a sleep-starved individual.

Chapter Eleven- In the Cards

"Pack your things."

These words were thrown to me as a guard would throw a prisoner his meal; harshly, of course, with a healthy dose of unwarranted hostility. Nameless stood before me in his usual haughty way, with a hand carelessly resting on his hip.

"Excuse me?" I glanced up from my homework, breaking out of a trance-like 'thinking' state that is guaranteed whenever I do math. I might also add here that Nameless had remained unusually silent for an entire day so I was surprised, to say the least, when I heard his sudden demand, delivered on an uneventful Tuesday evening.

"You heard me," Nameless answered firmly, "So do as you're told. Pack. Your. Things."

I gaped at the spirit. Was he serious? He very well seemed it. But he couldn't possibly expect me to drop everything and adhere to his strange request on so short of notice…

I managed to gather my composure. "If you want me to start packing, I would at least like a reason why."

Nameless briefly rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Eventually you're going to have to learn to stop asking so many questions and just obey. But I'll humor you just this once. We're going to a dueling tournament."

I felt my pen slip from my fingers as it rolled to the floor. I didn't bother to pick it up, unable to tear my eyes away from the spirit's form. "The one…the one Yuugi's going to?"

Nameless smirked. "The very same."

"Pegasus's tournament?"

"Is there another?"

I floundered with my words for a few moments, still registering this unexpected turn of events. Just a minute ago I was doing my homework for my math class the next day…

"But…the tournament starts tomorrow."

"Excellent observation my dull-witted host, which is why I'm telling you to collect your things now."

I shook my head at this, still at a loss. "We didn't get an invitation…you need something called a star chip to get in. Plus, we don't even have any dueling cards—"

"You believe these details escaped me?" Nameless questioned, his eyebrows lifting challengingly.

"Well, I…I mean yes," I admitted. "I just don't see how you can know these things."

The spirit burst out laughing at this, as I resisted the urge to wince. He was so loud…why did I have to be the only one who could hear him? He was maddening in every way.

He finally managed to quiet down enough to give a response. "Aside from the fact we share the same body and I can hear your childish little friends talking about the tournament, I also happen to hear the obnoxious babble of people in the streets…Domino is called the gaming city for a reason, yes?"

I frowned. "That still doesn't explain what we're going to do about entering a tournament with no cards or a star chip."

"Open your desk drawer."

"Why?" was my obvious response.

"Just do it, Landlord."

I already knew what was going to be in there before I even opened it. The way Nameless's eyes gleamed with triumph was enough proof. Yet I slipped open the drawer anyway.

I immediately did a double-take of what laid before me. It was unbelievable.

"How did you…? Oh, my God."

"Impressed? I'll take my bow now, if you don't mind."

"I do mind you…you thief! How on earth did you get so many…?" In my very own desk drawer laid hundreds of Duel Monster cards, piled in haphazardly and nearly overflowing from the sides. Of course, a single star chip was planted conveniently on top.

"I believe I already mentioned how the streets are loaded with gamers and those annoying champion-wannabes. Some actually had pretty decent cards, though."

I was speechless. In the meantime, I was putting two and two together while Nameless gloated over his stash of cards.

"So this—" I pointed to my abdomen where a scar still remained, "—is because of this?"

Nameless followed my gaze resting accusingly on the pile of cards and merely shrugged. "That sounds about right."

"That's terrible."

Nameless twisted his lips in his usual smirk. "Isn't it? The bastard who dismembered the ring from our body was absolutely livid when I took his precious star chip. He must have thought he actually had a shot at winning."

"I was referring to the fact that you stole all of this junk."

Nameless shook his finger at me mockingly. "Ah, but it isn't junk, Landlord! These cards will take us far…"

"Yes, far away from home, away from school, where I should be," I groaned despairingly. "The tournament's on an island, you know."

Nameless grinned. "Exactly right. We'll be heading off for Domino Pier tomorrow morning."

I gritted my teeth. "But we need tickets to get on the boat!"

Nameless gave me a look, which in turn resulted in another groan from me. "We're sneaking on, aren't we."

"See look, I don't even need to throw explanations at you anymore—you already know what I'll say."

Suddenly, an alarming thought came to me. "Wait, you stole a star chip."

"We already established this, yes."

"Implying we're going to be entering the tournament?" That would have been horrible. For one, Yuugi and his friends all knew that I couldn't duel, I didn't even know about it until they brought it up! They would think I was crazy! And more than anything, they would wonder how on earth I ever received an invitation.

Nameless put me out of my misery. "Of course not. I have no intention of dealing with brainless tools wandering the premises in hopes for a one in a million chance of victory. The chip is just for security purposes, if we're ever asked to show proof of our welcome there."

"Then why are we going to Pegasus's island?"

"For his millennium item, my pathetic Landlord! Why the hell else," Nameless paused here, letting a wicked smile darken his features. "And if we just so happen to gain possession of the boy's puzzle, then so be it."

"I really should have known," I muttered bitterly. I wasn't even going to ask how Nameless knew about the millionaire's possession of the ancient Egyptian relic.

A quick flashback of Yuugi stating his refusal to part with his treasured millennium item occurred to me. How he held onto it so protectively.

"Just so you're aware, I highly doubt you'll be getting the puzzle anytime soon," I commented.

Nameless appeared unfazed. "If I happen to fail in my attempt to attain the puzzle, then so be it. In fact, I have a feeling the boy will eventually start collecting the items for himself, which is fortunate for me to have such an oblivious fool do all the dirty work."

Confusion settled in heavier than before. "Why would Yuugi ever want to collect the items?"

Nameless gazed at me momentarily before brushing me off. "Don't even try to wrap your mind around it. Just leave me to my so-called 'treacherous' ways and from there on it'll be smooth sailing. And then you can get back to your wretched little schoolboy antics."

Dismissing the spirit's usual jab at me, I let out a long, distressed sigh, feeling like it was hours past midnight when it was only eight. "How do you live with yourself?"

Again, another shameless smile. "Easy. Through you."

I let myself wallow a few minutes in my misfortune before kicking back my chair grudgingly. "I guess I should start packing."

"You realize most normal brats your age would be thrilled to miss about a week's worth of school," Nameless noted, stretching his arms behind his back.

I ignored him. "What will I tell Father?" I asked mostly to myself.

I couldn't just say to him, 'Why hello, Father! Guess what? I'll be off to a random island to participate in a card game tournament for about a week! That's right! I'll be missing school to play silly, ridiculously childish card games! Well, goodbye!' I mean, it just wouldn't work, especially after that argument I had with him the other night…there was just no way he would let me.

"Tell him the truth, you sniveling fool," Nameless answered off-handedly, "Or don't tell him at all."

I stopped halfway through riffling through a few drawers to turn around and look at the spirit. "Stop making things seem so simple. His approval of this trip is paramount to whether or not we can go."

"No, you need to stop making things so complicated," Nameless returned, "And regardless of what your father says, we're going. I'm afraid a three thousand-year-old spirit carries more authority than a washed up, middle-aged man."

I silently scowled at Nameless's description of my father. Yes, he annoyed me too, but only I had the right to say that!

"Wait," I said, stopping once more from my search for pack-worthy clothes, "You're three thousand years old?"

"Give or take a few years," Nameless replied briskly. "Now if you're done asking mindless questions, I'll leave you to your packing."

"Fine," I sighed, glad to have the opportunity to keep to myself. Nameless was just on the verge of dissolving into thin air when yet another question made me stop him.

"Just out of curiosity, doesn't a duel deck need a theme of sorts? I was just hearing Yuugi and his friends talking about how it was important—"

"That doesn't concern you," Nameless interrupted, "But to shut you up, I'll say I haven't the faintest idea."

I face-faulted. "B-but—"

"Believe me, I will know when the time comes," Nameless said forebodingly. "Oh, and while on the topic of the tournament, think of it as a good thing. After all, we wouldn't want the accusations about your murder to fester, now would we? Consider this as an opportunity to let things cool down…"

He vanished with a taunting chuckle before I had the chance to come up with a response.

With silence once more dominating the room, I turned back to my drawer, unhappily picking my attire for the next day.

Ah, it kills me to say this during the rare times this happens, but I guess I will reluctantly admit that he was somewhat—somewhat—right.

I was in my soul room again.

Usually what would happen during the night is that I would be completely unconscious in my slumber while Nameless prowls the streets doing God-knows-what. However, due to my anxiety over my sudden change of plans over the course of a week, I was restless. Which, of course, left me to sit around in my soul room, idly watching as leaves endlessly rained around me. Well, it was better than counting sheep.

Eventually however, the time came when sleep refused to overtake me, and I grew bored with just sitting around. I sighed, rising to my feet, deciding to look around.

One would think that as the owner of my soul room, I would be well acquainted with everything inside it. But it was strange; rummaging around this still foreign place was very much like an adult revisiting an old storage room from his childhood. The items neatly packed into the sole bookshelf of my soul room were things I had long forgotten.

I was flipping through one of my favorite childhood books, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, when a small rectangular box literally fell off the bookshelf with a resolute thud. That was odd. I didn't see how it could have fallen without anything to coax it out. When my gaze fell on the small box however, I forgot my previous thought as I immediately recognized what it was. My tarot cards! I haven't used them in ages. I suppose ever since the spirit of the ring entered my life, I forgot about a lot of the things I used to do. Although when I thought about it, not using the tarot cards was senseless, considering that I needed their guidance now more than ever.

I would like to add here that even though I am considered Christian by association, I never said that I followed all the 'rules.' I suppose that's horrible, isn't it? I think coming to Japan— where Christianity isn't viewed as intensely as from where I used to live— influenced me to sort of neglect my religious obligations. And, truthfully, I can't help but wonder; how do people know for sure what the 'right' religion is? In any case, I don't see why some people view tarot cards as 'evil.' As I have always felt, nothing is evil until your intentions are.

Gingerly setting my book aside, I reached over to pick up the deck of cards. I felt a small smile creep across my face as I held the box, remembering how often I used them. I even memorized the meaning of nearly all the cards.

I opened the box, very carefully depositing the cards into my hand. They were just as beautiful as I had remembered them. I swiftly thumbed through each individual card, wondering if I recalled how to do a reading. Undoubtedly, it would be interesting to see what the cards had to say.

The moment was short-lived, though.

"I see you're having fun. How adorable."

I jumped at the voice, startled by the disrupted silence. I kept my head lowered and didn't answer, condensing the cards back into the palm of my hand. I made a motion to put them into their box.

"What's that you got there? Go Fish cards?" Nameless asked, barely able to mask the sarcasm in his voice.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded instead. "Shouldn't you be off stealing things?"

"You speak as if that's all I do," Nameless said in mock hurt.

"It is. And you didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine."

I tilted my head to take a look at Nameless to gauge his seriousness. As always, he was impossible to read.

"These are tarot cards," I said with a defeated sigh, "They sort of tell your future and guide you in making decisions."

Nameless stared at me with a completely sober expression. "Do you believe they work?"

"Well I—I'd like to think so," I said guardedly, "Now will you please tell me why you are here?"

"I'm here because I could tell you were awake and conscious in your soul room."

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes, actually. It gets distracting."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said dryly. I obviously didn't know Nameless all that well, but I was positive there was something more to his answer. He clearly wasn't going to elaborate, though.

"So tell me, Landlord—why are there tarot cards in your soul room? Interesting, don't you think? Every single item in here says something about you."

I blanched. Of course I knew that, but the fact that Nameless could evaluate my soul room and learn more about me than I would have liked disturbed me.

I gave the spirit an honest answer to distract his attention. "I used to do tarot readings a few years back…I used them a lot, actually. I was fascinated with the fact that the card that represented my past was always the 'V of Cups.'"

That definitely snatched Nameless's attention. "Always?"

I nodded my head.

"Well what does it mean?"

"Something about deception and moving on," I said dismissively, not caring to go into further detail.

Nameless was silent for a few seconds—a rarity.

"Give me a reading."

"W-what?" I was unprepared for that one. Really? Why would he care? One would think the spirit, out of anyone, would scoff at such subjective matters.

"You heard me. I want one."

Demanding, wasn't he? One look into the spirit's unwavering garnet eyes told me he was set on getting a reading. Well, this could get interesting.

"…All right," I finally agreed. "But you can't get upset with me if you don't like what you hear."

"If it's unflattering, then it's nonsense," Nameless sneered. "But humor me anyway."

I sighed, hastily shuffling the deck. No good could come of this.

I handed the spirit the deck, gesturing for him to sit down. "I'll need you to divide the deck into four piles, from left to right in a line."

He grabbed the deck from my hands and wordlessly dropped to the floor across from me. Meticulously, he dispensed the cards into the allotted groups. He glanced at me expectantly.

"Now take the first card from the far left pile and place it face down right here."

The spirit did so, and we repeated the process, taking the first card from the top of the other three decks, and placed them face down as well. The final result had four concealed cards in the formation of a diamond.

"Okay, so now we have four cards in front of us. These are the ones we'll be evaluating."

"I can see that," Nameless needlessly interjected. I glared at him.

"The one that makes the top point of the diamond represents your present situation. It addresses what you must contend with now. The point on the left symbolizes issues or concerns you've dealt with in the past. This is considered important because it helps to identify what influences you today."

Nameless critically eyed the cards in front of him, but surprisingly, refrained from speaking. Doubt practically oozed from him.

"The card that's at the bottom of the diamond gives you advice to consider," I continued, "It's usually a guide to direct you to your goals."

"That is going to be the most useful card then," Nameless commented.

I shook my head in disagreement. "No, I think the final card—the one that makes the final point to the diamond—would be the most useful. It may not only reveal the future, but directly deals with how to obtain your goal."

Curiosity sparked in the spirit's eye. "Well then let's get on with it."

I guess I was amused that Nameless was so absorbed with what I was telling him. After all, how often does one get to tell an arrogant three thousand-year-old spirit something he doesn't know? (Or, something that he will actually admit he doesn't know.)

Without delay, I flipped the first card, the one representing the present, over. "'The Page of Cups' tells us that presently, you should be prepared for things to not go as you had hoped. You should consider your reactions to situations and avoid childish behavior." Huh. I suppose that fit Nameless rather well.

The spirit snorted at this, waving his hand for me to continue. I turned the second card face up.

"'The Magician of Arcana,'" I announced, "And it's reversed."

"So?"

"Well first off, when any card falls into the Major Arcana category, it represents major life lessons that are either learned or evaded. Since this is your past, I'm assuming this card implies a life lesson that you already learned or avoided. 'The Magician' in particular deals with your actions. Since it's reversed, it means you failed to think twice before acting. And it warns of arrogance."

"Excellent job at making this seem believable, Landlord," Nameless jeered, "Unfortunately, I've caught onto your little game and question your ability to do these so-called readings."

"I'm not lying," I said indignantly, scowling at his accusation. "I've been doing this for years! Do you want me to continue or not?"

The spirit grunted an inaudible response, which I assumed meant yes. I flipped the third card over.

"For this card, which deals with information for you to consider, we have 'The X of Wands.' This card indicates that if you pursue your goals too aggressively, it will result in some serious setbacks. And of course to start looking for new approaches." My eyebrows lifted at this, vaguely noting how accurate the cards seemed to be. But then again, what did I know?

"Get to the final one," Nameless demanded, interrupting my musings. God, was he pushy.

Upon revealing the final card, I felt a spiteful smile spread across my face, struggling to conceal it.

"'The Tower,' one of the Major Arcana cards," I informed the spirit. "And like 'The Magician,' it's reversed."

"Which means it isn't good."

"Pretty much."

Annoyance darted past the spirit's face as he jutted out his chin—a tendency whenever he attempted to mask his frustration. "Well, you might as well get on with it."

I chose to speak candidly. "A fall from glory is likely."

Nameless appeared suspiciously calm. "You also mentioned how this card represents how to handle the situation."

That was unexpected. I didn't think he was listening that closely.

"You're right," I admitted slowly. I was hoping Nameless had forgotten that one small detail, yet of course he hadn't. I wondered, would answering his question be helping the 'enemy'?

I sucked in a deep breath, my gaze matching the spirit's steady one. "This card would suggest that you can't achieve victory, or attain your goals, alone."

"Oh, really?" Nameless mused. The corner of his mouth was beginning to edge upwards. "Then I'd say that I'm pretty set then. After all, I have you to thank."

Suddenly my mood wasn't so neutral. I glowered at him. "Don't say things like that."

But the spirit kept on talking. "You know, you might be on to something, dealing with these tarot cards. There's something about the supernatural…" Nameless trailed off, his eyes swimming with thought. "…Yes, there's something about occult matters that practically beg for attention."

"What on earth are you getting at?"

The spirit looked utterly pleased with himself as his smirk widened. "Landlord."

I miserably eyed the spirit. "What?"

"Thanks to you, I found a suitable theme for my deck. Wouldn't you say an occult theme fits perfectly?"

Oh, no. I actually had a hand in deciding the spirit's deck? No, no, no….

"Um, well, I don't know, it seems kind of—"

"Don't be so hard on yourself Landlord, it was a great suggestion," Nameless said sarcastically.

"But I didn't suggest anything!" I protested. Seriously, this just wasn't fair!

"You did enough," Nameless felt obligated to point out. "Your ability to read these cards was exactly what I needed."

"If I knew I would be helping you, I would have never done it," I replied icily.

"Why? Is giving me a simple tarot reading blasphemous to Mutou's cult?"

I felt my anger begin to bubble as I saw the amusement dance in Nameless's eyes. Why did he always seem the most smug whenever in an argument?

"This isn't a joke," I said as evenly as possible. It wasn't even an iota funny to think that Nameless saw me as his tool to manipulate. Or worse, an ally.

"If you say so," Nameless casually replied. "Although I do think your paranoia on this subject is quite humorous."

"Why is everything I do funny to you?" I burst out. "How can you possibly see the humor in making someone so miserable?"

Another thought came to me. "For instance, where's the joke in destroying my piano?" I paused for only a second to catch my breath before shooting into my next accusation. "Or better yet, how can you kill someone and simply laugh at my reaction?"

I didn't mean to bring up the subject—it was an issue that I could barely swallow—yet I couldn't help myself. Even still, I couldn't fathom that a spirit who lived through me, a spirit who allegedly was me in another life, was capable of murder.

And the spirit's taunting mood vanished, just like that. In its place, I'd imagine was anger, exasperation, hostility, or perhaps a combination of the three.

"Landlord, you honestly sicken me."

Much to my dismay, I watched my vision blur from tears. I didn't know why that trivial insult, out of all the others that were stabbed at me, made my façade crack. I promised myself I wouldn't allow my emotions to go uncensored in front of someone so heartless. More than anything, I was frustrated with myself for losing my composure so easily. I sharply looked away, refusing to even glance in Nameless's direction.

"You killed someone just because I refused to listen to you, and you say that I'm sickening? Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

Strangely enough, Nameless said nothing. In my peripheral vision I could tell he had straightened up to leave. It made my degree of self-consciousness rise when I could feel his eyes resting on my form.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Will you just leave already?" My voice wasn't strong enough to sound demanding; and it was because of that, I'm sure, that Nameless decided against leaving and threw yet another curveball at me.

"He asked to die, you know."

I uneasily whirled around. "What?"

Despite my frustration, there was an obvious question that popped up in my mind. What exactly was Nameless scheming? I mean, there had to be a reason why he hadn't left and was still talking to me.

"That boy. Your little friend's brother."

No. There was no way the spirit was talking about this. I glared at Nameless with all the resentment I could muster. "I'm tired of you lying to me and being a part of another one of your jokes—"

Red eyes flashed. "Believe me you moron, I wouldn't be wasting my breath on you if it weren't true."

"But why would he—"

Nameless sneered. "Ask to die? He hated his life. The monotony of it. How every day was like a circle, always ending up where he began—"

"You're the moron, you don't grant suicidal people their wish to die!" I hissed at Nameless. Unbelievable. Was the spirit of the ring actually trying to justify his heinous act? I was entirely appalled.

For once, Nameless brushed off my insult. "Why is his wish not valid, Landlord? Wouldn't you have liked someone to release you from this nightmare of a world if that were your desire?"

My mind spun with a dizzying amount of answers here, so I picked the simplest one. "But I don't want to die. My life isn't over yet."

Nameless scoffed at me. "Oh…? How do you know that? You can't guarantee whether your life is finished or not. That boy—foolish as he was—knew nothing better was going to come out of his life."

My hands involuntarily clenched. "His name was Botan. He had a family, and friends, and I can guarantee you he must have had a future. Suicidal people are twisted in the brain, Spirit. They don't see a way out, no matter how obvious it may be. "

"Again, you're wrong," Nameless asserted, folding his arms resolutely, "Only he could have known what his life was like. Your point of view is biased from your friend's perspective. You only know what she told you."

"How could you possibly know what 'that boy' would have wanted?" I demanded. My own voice sounded so harsh, and so unbelievingly accusatory.

Nameless watched me with his calculating gaze. "I heard his final words. The night of his death, he literally walked away with me and told me he wanted to die."

It felt like lightening had stricken me down.

"I don't believe you." I mean, who would do that?

Nameless tilted his head in challenge. "Would you like to hear his words, verbatim?"

"No."

"'Listen. I know you aren't really asking for directions. You either want my money, or you're on a killing rampage. Well, fine. Do it, just don't harm my sister. I've been meaning to die for a while now, so you'd be doing me a favor.'" A slow smile draped across the sprit's face as his murky eyes met mine. "Or, something like that."

"You're a liar," I simply said to the spirit, shaking my head. It felt like I had been accusing him of that far too frequently. As if I thrived off of denial.

"Stop denying yourself the truth," Nameless told me, voicing my thoughts, "Open your eyes for once."

"They are open, and I'm seeing a horrible monster who has no trouble killing someone without hesitation," I snapped at the spirit.

Again, I was expecting Nameless to reach over and smack me across the face or stab an insult at me, but nothing happened. Instead he stood there, still intently watching me.

"Stop looking at me like that!" I shouted. "It's like you're waiting for me to do a trick or something!"

"Well as often as you accuse me of being unpredictable, I'd say you're equally as much," the spirit smirked. "I often can't determine whether you'll break down and cry like a child or go on a ranting streak. It entertains me, to say the least."

I glared, feeling the heavy throbbing near my temples whenever a headache commenced. Again, he said I entertained him. I was so revolted. "What would you like me to do, then?"

I was being completely sarcastic, although Nameless chose to answer my question seriously. "I want you to believe me when I say that I killed the boy because he asked for it. His desire for someone to grant him death would be something I would have wanted for myself before I sold my soul to hell."

It was like my train of thoughts had suddenly crashed into a boulder. I had forgotten everything I meant to say to the spirit, all because of his last comment.

"…What?" I hesitantly questioned. What did he mean, he 'sold' his soul…?

But the spirit did not give me an answer. Instead he said, "So now you know why I committed the murder…although I must say, choosing to kill him in your living room was a nice touch." A cold smile formed on the spirit's face as I looked away in disgust.

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked him as stoically as possible.

"Because I grow tired of your constant moaning and wailing about my evil deeds," the spirit answered smoothly, a hint of dry humor injected in his words. "Perhaps this will at least shut you up, albeit momentarily. My nosy Landlord always needs an explanation, doesn't he?"

I could tell the spirit's question was purely rhetorical, so I remained silent. That is, at least for the moment. But I couldn't help myself.

"That doesn't make what you did right. You still killed someone, and you still destroyed my piano."

"Very true," the spirit agreed, "So consider that as a generous warning for rebellion."

I shot daggers at the white-haired fiend standing across from me.

Honestly? I believe he was lying. After all, why else would he owe me an explanation to his actions if he ever planned on doing worse than that?

It was like the time when Nameless lashed out to strike me, although he was in his transparent form.

Although inherently cruel to the core, I at least had a suspicion that Nameless tended to act under false pretenses.

So I relaxed my shoulders and turned back to my tarot cards. "Fine."

Nameless wasn't quite finished yet. "Landlord," he snapped.

I sighed, as I returned his gaze for a moment. "Yes?"

His eyes narrowed at me. He turned away. "Nothing."

My brow furrowed in annoyance, yet didn't say anything. I began shuffling my tarot deck as I saw Nameless head back toward the mysterious door in my soul room out of the corner of my eye.

I was also vaguely aware that, right before turning the doorknob, he stopped. His back was still turned.

"I trust you won't be taking the ring off again."

I frowned as I noticed a stray card had fallen out of my deck, face up.

"You already know the answer to that," I said distractedly. The card read 'The Devil.' It was one of the Major Arcana cards. Now what did that card mean again? I did know that it was an ambiguous card that meant what one wouldn't expect. I always had trouble remembering the details, though.

"Getting rid of me, even for a day, is dangerous. The last thing I need is a dead host."

"The only thing dangerous out there, at least to the common person, would be you," I returned, still eyeing the card.

Nameless scoffed. "You'd be surprised," he countered ominously. And then he left.

My eyes finally trailed over to the door that was yanked shut.

The spirit of the ring was acting very, very odd.

I didn't know what scared me more: the evil Nameless was capable of, or that tiny pinprick of humanity he just showed me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__ The Devil__

Beware of your dark side, and your impulsive nature too. The pursuit of certain desires could taint your ability to think clearly. There is a relationship that may prove to be poisonous.