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!

A/N: Sorry for the delay! I was working on a bunch of one-shots, and even another multi-fic story which I haven't posted…yet. And for the record, summer classes suck.

And notice that Ryou's dreams have switched from third-person limited to third-person omniscient. That's merely to reveal more and more information in this partial side-story we get through Ryou's dreams.

Chapter Sixteen- The Darkness In My Heart

"Your grandparents are greatly looking forward to seeing you, you know."

The boy didn't bother to say anything in reply, only giving the room a quick glance as he tentatively walked in. He came to loathe the very room he was standing in, his father's study.

"Shut the door behind you." With deliberate care, the boy obeyed.

The father took a brisk gulp from his glass before slamming it down. "Don't look so solemn. When you see your grandparents tomorrow morning, I want you to act like you actually want to be there. They've gone through great lengths to prepare for you and your sister's arrival." Was this supposed to convince the boy to view his departure in even a slightly less hostile way? It wasn't working.

Standing completely still with perfect posture, the boy waited for the real reason he was summoned once more to his father's study. Whenever he was brought in, it was never good news.

"I understand that you've been putting ideas in your sister's head. Telling her lies. Even she's been coming to me, begging me to reconsider." The father's gaze caught on a picture frame on his desk, one of his deceased wife. It was a simple, faded picture of only this woman in her favorite sundress, the sunlight behind her making her skin glow. Her flowing blond hair was disheveled from the wind and she looked caught off-guard from the picture, but she still appeared happy. The father's fingers slowly grazed over the surface, almost hesitantly. His frown deepened as he pulled away. "I know better. Amane is a complacent girl and you're telling her to question me."

The boy eyed the picture frame as well, but still said nothing.

"As I've said, your grandparents have been anticipating you for a long time. This is something to look forward to." What a miserably disguised lie that was. He desperately wanted to get rid of the boy and his sister. Ever since his wife died, he fell into an inescapable pit of grief, barely able to function through life. Perhaps looking at his children was a daily reminder of the responsibilities he was avoiding. But this was only the boy's guess.

"Therefore, it's your job to make sure you don't scare your sister with that wild imagination of yours," the father continued. No, he was wrong. The boy had every right to be afraid. He had never seen his grandparents before, and now all of a sudden they planned on keeping him and Amane for at least a year? What motivation could they possibly have? He was only looking out for Amane when he told her his theories.

The father ripped his gaze from the picture frame, thrusting it face-down on the desk. "Say something, boy."

The child paused only briefly before meeting his father's eyes.

"I will never forgive you," he finally said, his small voice sharp, "if you forget about us."

The father stopped midway of taking a sip from his glass.

"If you don't want me, at least keep Amane. She'll be happier here." There, he said it. If it would take sacrificing himself, at least Amane could escape from whatever their grandparents were planning. But on the other hand, did he really want his little sister to be stuck with a drunk for a father? It frightened him to think that maybe that was the lesser of the two evils.

"You do realize," the father said, "That acting this way won't change anything. You're making something out of nothing, boy. Thinking that anything 'bad' is going to happen to you is ridiculous. You've always been so paranoid." Instead of looking at his son, he peered into his glass. The man suddenly scoffed, laughing to an internal, humorless joke. "Just like your mother—well, I suppose she had a right to be." His bottom lip trembled for a fleeting second, but the boy caught it.

A considerable amount of time ticked by in an eerie stillness after this, occasionally disturbed by the clinking of ice cubes as the glass tilted. Finally, relenting a bit, he said, "I'll come back for you two. Like I said, it'll only be for a little bit." This was another lie, of course. The truth was only a luxury he couldn't afford.

The boy dared to take one step closer. "Please. Amane—"

"That's final. I'm not changing my mind," the man snapped. He looked angry now.

The boy wouldn't give up. "I just—"

"Ryou, be quiet."

"But—"

"Enough!" Suddenly, the boy found himself wincing at the glass that was hurled at him, barely missing his temple, whizzing past to meet with the wall in an explosive shatter. He watched in a mild state of shock as shards of glass skyrocketed out and finally to the floor, all in a matter of a few seconds. His heart was racing, yet he couldn't bring himself to react as he knew he should have—running. Slowly, he turned back toward his father.

"Why are you doing this?" He wasn't sure if he was referring to the outburst or the threat that lingered barely a day away.

But the man only leaned back in his chair, as if he hadn't just tried to harm him, to tilt his head sloppily towards the ceiling while closing his eyes. He said nothing in response, finished with the conversation.

The boy gazed at his father silently for a moment. He finally realized, there was nothing he could say that would save either him or his sister. His father was a wreck, and his grandparents were likely no better. Perhaps more malicious, who knew? It didn't matter. In the end, he and Amane were destined for a doomed life. Normalcy was no longer an option.

His mind couldn't help fretting over the next day, though. It wasn't just a simple, normal visit, he just knew it. As the boy's grandmother said in the letter, she wanted to get them checked out at what was politely labeled a "mental health facility." The boy had no idea what exactly that entailed, and that terrified him.

But one thing was certain. To put Amane through something like this…it was unforgivable. She was just a little girl. Nothing was "wrong" with her, and yet she was at the mercy of whatever the doctors saw fit. What bothered him more than anything was that there was nothing he could do about it. His father robbed from him the one thing he felt defined his worth—the ability to protect his sister. And now he was useless.

Wordlessly, he backed out of the room. As he shot his father a final look, there was a strange feeling that had pitted itself in the core of his stomach, something that nauseated him while causing fiery emotion to pump through his veins.

Hatred.

It was right when he was about to head down the hallway that he heard his father.

"I just…I just can't handle dealing with you both right now." It was probably another sickening excuse. Or maybe he had no idea the boy could hear him. If anything, he was probably too drunk to care about what poured out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry Ryou, oh God, I'm so sorry."

There was then a muffled sound oozing from the room, almost like the man was being strangled.

But the boy knew better. He was crying.

With a perfectly blank expression, the boy continued walking.

"There's some sort of breakfast line or whatever on the other side of the ship," Nameless said the second he was aware of my consciousness. "Be sure to fill up on everything. You'll need something more substantial than a weightless piece of fruit. As I've always said, we can't be sure when your next meal will be." He impatiently crossed the room from my bedside to the door. "There's a lot to choose from, at least from what I saw." With a jerk of his head he turned away. "Now let's go."

I stared at him foggily for an extended moment of silence, still trying to absorb the first half of what he was saying. I eyed the clock warily. "…You understand how early it is, right?" I mumbled. "I mean, there's really no need to head over at six in the morning when they're probably serving breakfast until…I don't know, until much later." I closed my eyes once more, barely conjuring enough strength to ponder if I could get away with sleeping for even ten more minutes.

Nameless didn't seem too happy about this, stalking back over to me to loom threateningly above my bed. "Doesn't matter. As I've said many times before, I don't want your circus of friends seeing you." I opened my eyes just in time to see his scowl transforming into the slightest smirk. "And I happen to know that they will be sleeping in today."

I turned away from him to bury my face in my pillow. "As they should. Sleeping is just as important as eating." But the odd, patient silence that followed my statement made me horribly suspicious. I rolled back over to face the spirit. "How…how exactly do you know that?"

Nameless lifted an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like I did anything. They were all oblivious to the drug in their drinks. Hence they're now sleeping it off." He began to laugh, wickedly amused. "Heh, you should have really seen—"

"Did any of them get an interrogation?" I demanded, suddenly concerned. "There's no way any of them would get out of it without revealing any important information."

"That's what I was getting at," Nameless said, annoyed. "The other Yuugi came out, and—"

"Wait, the other Yuugi?" I was sitting up now.

"Stop interrupting me!" the spirit hissed. "Yes. The other Yuugi. And for a large portion of the night, he had to keep his friends out of security's way. I think he had to resign to using his puzzle a few times. I bet he's exhausted by now." Nameless once more began laughing, way too entertained by the thought. "Having to actually do some real work for once. Shame."

"I hope he's okay," I fretted. How despicable that Pegasus had to resort to drugging everyone on the ship, and my friends had to pay for it. That the other Yuugi had to pay for it. And all for what, a few answers? By some odd change in fortune, Nameless somehow was able to identify the threat before I fell victim to it as well.

Nameless' look of amusement quickly melted away. "Who cares. My only regret is that he didn't get caught. Now will you get up already?" Before I could think of a retort, he vanished back in the ring.

I wallowed in the early-morning stillness for a few moments longer, vaguely wondering why Nameless really despised the spirit of the puzzle so much. I didn't care enough to ask, simply assuming that he just hated everyone. But at the same time, there did seem to be an unusually high degree of hostility towards the other Yuugi. Maybe if Nameless was bored enough to talk I'd ask him.

Groaning, I finally swung my legs over the bed, noting how sore they felt. What on earth did Nameless do while I slept? It was a question I would always continue to ponder, yet I had a feeling that last night he was really taking advantage of my unconsciousness. Apparently he was spying on my group of friends for a considerable period of time, checking out the dining services, probably stealing some random object I'd find in my book bag days later…and who knew what else.

A few lazy minutes later slipping on clothes and cleaning myself up in the joined bathroom (I couldn't believe everyone had such lavish rooms!), I was walking down the darkened hallway without an apparent sense of direction. All Nameless said was that the buffet was on the "other side of the ship," which was entirely too vague on its own terms, yet I was too disinterested to ask. I'd find out eventually.

Glancing out the round ship windows as I passed them, I couldn't help but notice how the days were growing increasingly shorter. It was the middle of autumn and the weather was certainly cooler as well. I desperately hoped that Pegasus had rooming accommodations for the participants in the tournament, just as he did on the ship. Surely he wouldn't allow people to simply camp outside in the chilling weather.

On the way down the long stretch of hallway, I noticed a vast lobby that resided to my left. Peering in, I wondered if it was as nice as my room was. I couldn't get over how extravagant my room (well, Haga's room) had been for a privately-owned cruise ship. But a quick once-over gave me reason to pause—there were many people who were crammed in there, mostly sleeping and sprawled about couches and even the floor. My discreet glance turned into blatant staring.

Nameless appeared beside me. "Yes, if you haven't noticed already, not everyone was granted a room. Only the dueling champions of specific tournaments were given such a luxury."

I turned to face him. "You mean everyone else has to sleep here?"

"Of course. You think Pegasus is really that generous?" Nameless shook his head, his mind caught on something. "Rich people never are, Landlord."

I couldn't believe it. Pegasus would really have the nerve to invite people over to his island, yet deny most his guests a room on his cruise ship? What sort of host was he? I slowly began to see the correlation. "So if Pegasus didn't give people rooms on the ship, he's not likely to on his island, either."

"Don't look too surprised. This is the same man who drugged his passengers as well." Nameless considered his words before adding, "And it's not like this is some sort of vacation. It's a competition, one where he's obviously trying to weed the weaker ones out immediately."

"Even still." I gave the lobby one final sweep with my eyes before spotting Yuugi, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda. They looked out. "I hope they're all right," I frowned.

Nameless knew whom I was referring to without glancing over. "They're still here, aren't they?" he replied. "Now let's get moving. You get distracted too easily."

"Why don't you take over then, if you're so sure what we're doing," I grumbled. Nevertheless, I continued walking again.

"Is that a request?" Nameless quipped. "I'd be happy to oblige."

"No," I replied stiffly. After a pause, I said, "And in any case, even if you did take over, I'd bother you just as you're doing now."

"Never forget whose doing the terrorizing here," Nameless replied, unfazed. Then he was drifting directly in front of me, crossing his arms. "Which reminds me, tell me exactly how you were able to get out of your soul room to materialize as a spirit."

I blinked, slightly confused. "The door had opened by itself."

Nameless' eyes narrowed. "Don't lie to me. That wouldn't have been possible." A frown etched deeper into his face. "I made sure of it."

I dragged my mind back to the one moment I had walked out of my soul room. Then it hit me. "Well, I'm not exactly lying," I told him. "Although I did hear footsteps outside, and the next thing I know, the doorknob had twisted on its own and pushed open. As if someone else had done it."

The reply was sharp and immediate. "Are you sure? That's exactly how it happened?"

"Well, yes." My confusion increased when I saw how intensely Nameless was considering this. What was bothering him so much? "I mean," I amended, "it could have easily been—"

"Did you see anything unusual?" He drew in closer. "Did you see anyone?"

"No…" I supposed now wouldn't have been an ideal time to tell him I had left my soul room door open. Regardless, his question seemed a little absurd to me. "Who else would be in my body besides us?" Well, in theory, I guess there was one other person…

Nameless seared me with a long, hard stare. Somewhat nervously, I sidestepped him and continued to walk down the hall. It was nearing the end now, and I could see a sign that read, "Dining." Nameless trailed after me. "You're hiding something," he declared.

I kept my gaze straight ahead and my voice level. "Not anything of importance." Seriously, what was the big deal? I would have known if something was wrong.

Nameless' response was really strange. "If there is anything that you suspect that isn't right, you need to tell me." Once more, he was standing in my way. I stopped. "Look at me, Landlord. You will tell me."

What was wrong with him today? Was he just being paranoid? To get him to stop harassing me, I gave a curt nod. "Yes, I hear you."

Nameless growled. "Hearing and listening are two different things." He shook his head. "You think you can act however you please when really, it does nothing but display your sheer stupidity."

"Oh, so you believe you're entitled?" I demanded. At this point I had already made it inside of the small cafeteria-style room. Nameless didn't bother to answer me, opting to disappear back inside the ring once we were in the presence of people. There were a few workers who were replacing a few food trays and filling up coffee urns, but generally there weren't any duelists. There might have been one sitting in the corner of the room breathing in his coffee, but he looked too dead to notice me.

The rich smell of food wafted heavily in the air, yet it didn't particularly appeal to my senses. It was far too early in the morning for me to work up an appetite, yet I knew that Nameless would start acting up if I failed to do as I was told. I made my way over to the breakfast line and took a plate.

"Get that," Nameless piped up as I was just about to skip over the sausage in favor of pancakes. I frowned down at the ring. I did know, however, it was useless to argue over what to eat so piled a few sausage links on my plate grudgingly.

"Am I to assume to just get one of everything?" I wryly asked, shoveling a spoonful of eggs onto my rapidly-growing mound of food.

"Heh. Pretty much," was the reply.

By the time I made my way over to an empty table to sit at, I was balancing a couple plates in each hand. I ignored the baffled looks from the wait staff. I carefully set down my plates, eyeing the frightening display in front of me. "This is beyond ridiculous," I managed with a gulp.

"Believe it or not, you'll be thanking me by the end of this tournament. Everyone will be whining about hunger while you will be perfectly fine."

"Right," I answered, "because we're both so sure that Pegasus will try to starve us."

"Just pick up the fork and shut up."

I almost would have laughed at that one if I didn't actually need to immerse myself in this revolting act of gluttony. In the end, I obediently ate away, all the while continuing to brush off the looks of shock and mild disgust as the wait staff removed plate after plate.

I could only hope that I'd be able to walk after this.

~An Innumerable Amount of Calories Later~

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"It wasn't so bad."

"Says you. But really, I honestly think I'm going to—"

"No. You must keep it all in. We need every bite you just ate."

"Ugh, I'd take starvation any day over this."

"Stop complaining. I'm done talking to you."

"Good. I don't need another reason to want to vomit." Thus went the conversation right after consuming my overly-indulgent breakfast. Never in my life had I eaten so much, nor did I plan on doing so again. I seriously resented the spirit of the ring for insisting that I eat all that I did, yet somewhat unwillingly I knew that it wasn't without cause. His theory that Pegasus would be as unaccommodating as possible during the tournament was likely correct. After all, forcing most of the participants to sleep in the lobby spoke volumes. I was really beginning to dread what awaited me during the competition. If Pegasus was serious about "weeding" people out, as Nameless put it…

"So what now?" I wondered aloud. I had a feeling Nameless wouldn't bother to answer me, as if to say in his silence, "Figure it out." I supposed that my best option was to retreat back to my room and wait until the ship arrived at its destination.

"Excuse me, do you know when we'll make it to the island?" I asked a nearby employee as I was heading out of the dining area.

The man eyed me critically. I was the same person who had just consumed a mountain of food, after all. "In a couple hours," he replied slowly. I nodded my head with as much dignity as I could muster before exiting. I was glad to be out of there.

The sun was up by now. It filtered in through the windows, casting long streaks of light across the wooden floor. I could see that fortunately, it was going to be another beautiful day. I suddenly had the urge to head up to the deck, just to get some fresh air. Maybe it would make me feel better, if only slightly. Ignoring the cramps in my stomach, I trudged over to the nearby stairwell and made my way out.

The sobering morning air immediately rushed to greet me as I entered the top floor of the ship. I let out a long exhale, relieved to be out of the stifling confines of the hallway. If I had any intention of going back to my room to nap off the food, it would have to wait. I walked a few paces out towards the railing and draped my arms over it to steady myself. I looked out towards the rising sun, watching the way its light made the water shimmer in blinding bursts of light.

I began to wonder about Nameless' paranoia towards my soul room door opening. He wasn't normally one to waste his energy on such details, especially ones pertaining to me, yet oddly enough, he seemed to want to know everything. I remembered the way his face searched mine, perhaps attempting to mask his unease while scraping up what details he could. Naturally, his reaction gave me reason to second-guess my previous indifference. If there was even the smallest chance for disaster, it would certainly find me.

A firm hand on my shoulder made me jump so abruptly I had to grab onto the railing from tipping over. A gasp lodged itself in my throat.

"My apologies for disturbing you," a man said in an even tone the instant I whipped around. He didn't look sorry.

"Can I help you?" I managed. I placed a hand over my heart to steady it. It was then that I noticed how strange this man looked. His attire could hardly pass for being from this time. Clothed in a long, ivory robe and turban adorned with hulking pieces of gold jewelry, he stood out sharply against the other passengers. But then again, there was no one on deck for me to compare him to.

His heavily-rimmed eyes seared into mine. "My name's Shadi." He paused only slightly before cutting straight to his purpose. "I'm the protector of the millennium items."

I could sense Nameless' unrest the second these words were spoken. Under normal circumstances, he would have probably taken over at this point, yet this time he didn't. Regardless, I knew he was listening intently.

I slowly shook my head, panic overwhelming my senses. I wanted to run, yet felt paralyzed in my spot. It was still hard for me to absorb that there were other people who knew about the items. "Is it my ring you want?" I asked quietly, instinctively gripping onto its cold metal. There was a distinct tremor in my voice as I spoke. I wasn't quite sure why I felt afraid, seeing that this man didn't appear as a threat on the surface. Rather, I felt that he was.

Shadi took a step back to allow me room to calm down. "I do not desire your ring, no. I'm here to give you a warning." A warning? From what? What disturbed me the most at the moment was that this man knew enough about my life to be issuing a warning in the first place. A million questions were flooding my mind, yet I kept my lips tightly pressed together.

Wordlessly, Shadi held out his palm. A faint outline of some sort of bulky object appeared, rapidly becoming more tangible until I could see it was a scale. My eyes widened in shock, aghast at how this person was able to make an object appear out of thin air.

"This is the millennium scale, one of seven millennium items," Shadi said in his unnervingly even voice. So there were seven of them. I was too transfixed to begin wondering where the others were. "I am here to inform you that you are starting to tread a very dangerous path, Ryou."

A sound of surprise and annoyance emerged in the back of my throat. The fact that he knew my name was alarming, but I suppose when the millennium items are involved, I shouldn't have been surprised. I had no idea what powers were granted to each item—perhaps mind reading was this one's. It did bother me though, that he felt he had the right to address me by my first name. That all aside, the notion that he somehow knew about my future froze my entire body in fear.

"What could you possibly know about me?" I said, so quietly it came as a whisper.

He stared at me with his blank eyes. "You, I know everything. You are one of the factors to the outcome of Pharaoh's destiny, and it is my job to ensure events play out as they should." My head was spinning so fast from this assault of words I didn't know what to say.

"'Pharaoh'?" I repeated lamely. "Who—"

I was cut off when he thrust the millennium scale at my chest. "This weighs the darkness in your heart," Shadi murmured. "Your sins." I suddenly felt very cold, as if icy fingers had swept through my brain to claw out memories. In an instant, the scale began trembling, then visibly shaking, until one side of the scale dipped so abruptly it fell out of Shadi's hand in an explosive clatter. I could only stare with wide eyes.

Slowly, Shadi reached down and picked up the scale, watching me the whole time. "There is an irrevocable evil inside you."

This came to me as a sharp slap to the face. No, a head-on assault. I began to shake my head. "There is also a spirit inside me, the one from the ring. He's the evil one, not me."

Shadi didn't appear fazed in the slightest. "I was looking into your soul, Ryou."

At that moment, my heart swelled with a mixture of things—disbelief, frustration, mostly pain. Me, evil? What could I have done that would make the scale tip over so badly?

"How could you possibly know what I'm like?" I said, injured. "I never saw you a day in my life…" I stopped, too overcome with emotion to speak. I bit my lip hard.

"Boy, this isn't your fault. It's only natural that your soul becomes corrupted after certain influences of wayward spirits."

"I'm not a 'boy,'" I snapped rather viciously. I hated being referred to as that. It reminded me of my father, who addressed me as one after being particularly annoyed.

Shadi shook his head. "I did not come here to upset you. I wanted to inform you that you are in the midst of a perilous balancing act, one side representing good, and the other evil. You're about to fall, Ryou, and I know on which side."

"What are you even talking about?" I demanded, although my voice lacked any force. "I know exactly where I stand, and believe me, it has nothing…nothing to do with evil." I was growing increasingly upset, and struggled to keep myself composed. It was Shadi's unwavering collectedness that shook me the most. As if he were pointing a finger, condemning me to hell without batting an eye.

"Landlord, calm down," Nameless finally said. He chuckled quietly. "This man is nobody. He rarely knows what he's talking about."

"You've met him before?" I thought back.

"You could say that." There was a secretive smile in his voice. I turned my attention back to Shadi, who was watching me intently.

"This spirit inside you…how do you feel about him?"

I flinched. It was a question I was never asked before, and had never given it much thought. But then again, not many people knew about Nameless in the first place.

"I hate him," I flatly replied. "Naturally." Oddly enough, the words didn't sound natural as they came out of my mouth. I frowned.

"Hate is a powerful word," Shadi said, his gaze now on the millennium scale.

"It is," I alleged, "But I have plenty of reason to feel this way. If you know 'everything' about my life as you claim"—I still didn't believe him, to be honest—"then you'd be aware of all the horrible things this spirit has done."

"It's interesting," Shadi murmured, ironically lacking any interest in his voice, "but the scale isn't in conjunction with your words." In other words, he was calling me a liar.

"I know how I feel," I said bluntly, facing him directly, "And I'm telling you the truth. He is the evil spirit, not me, and I hate him." It sounded harsh even to my ears, but he had to know. To suggest I felt otherwise was absolutely ridiculous.

"As you say," Shadi said, almost dismissively. The scale vanished from his palm. "But remember what I have told you: as a factor in the Pharaoh's destiny, any deviation from fate could ruin everything."

He needed to stop being so cryptic. How did he expect me to understand him if he was speaking such nonsense? What was all this talk about a Pharaoh?

I turned away from Shadi to stare out at sea. "I think you're giving me too much credit. Anything that I do or decide doesn't matter." I absentmindedly brushed my hand over the ring. "None of it does." I knew that whatever Nameless chose to do, I couldn't stop him. It almost hurt to admit, but my struggle against the spirit felt so futile at times I often wondered if I could do anything of use. Which also made me think, if I had intentions of stopping Nameless in the first place, how could I possibly have the evil in my heart that Shadi claimed I did? A large part of me refused to believe him. But another part, a much smaller one, was absolutely terrified, almost hysterical, that Shadi might have been right.

Maybe I could ask Shadi to look inside my heart again. The scale could have somehow been looking at Nameless, or—

I blinked back surprise when I turned my head to see the man was gone. "Shadi…?" There was nothing but the wind that murmured in reply. Did he somehow disappear? But that wouldn't have been possible, unless…

"So you hate me, huh?" Nameless had appeared beside me, his arms folded in their usual manner.

"Does this come as a surprise to you?" I returned dully, still disheartened that I couldn't ask Shadi to reevaluate my sins.

"No, it doesn't." Nameless broke out into a pleased smile. "I'm sort of relieved, actually."

In spite of myself, I laughed at this. It felt odd, to be laughing, but I was too entertained by the fact that only Nameless would be the one to seek out hatred and relish in it.

Nameless frowned. "I wasn't being funny."

"I know." We stood there in silence for a brief period of time, not feeling the need to speak, until I glanced over at him. "Spirit."

"Hm."

"Am I…" I hesitated, tightening my grip on the railing, "am I evil?"

The spirit shot me an amused expression. "I don't know. Are you?"

"I'm asking you."

"Well, you're a wimp," Nameless started, and despite the dirty look I gave him, he continued, "and a crybaby, and sort of too feminine for your own good"—now I was really glaring at him—"yet the combination of all these things doesn't strike me as evil. No, definitely not." He scoffed, as if tossing an idea around in his mind. "You know, people can't be labeled strictly as 'good' or 'bad' as easily as one can distinguish between black and white." He glared at the water. "That's why Shadi's an idiot; always has been. It's not that simple. You could kill countless of people, but maybe it was because you were defending yourself. Or anyone you care about. Still, that could easily be seen as evil." His eyes narrowed. "At the same time, there could be a group of people—let's assume they're a lot wealthier and have more power—who could destroy an entire village because they thought it would be for the best and would be considered heroes. Somehow, they're considered 'good,' depending on whose perspective it is." He was clenching his jaw now, the muscles in his neck straining. "So who the hell knows anything about what defines the evil in one's heart."

All I could do was stare at him. As blatantly as I'd ever dared. He had never spoken so much to me the entire time I knew him, let alone spew out something as thought-provoking as this. But no, it was more than that. His examples were far too specific to have been randomly tossed out for the sake of accentuating his point. Was this an important, huge part to the spirit's past that I thought I would never get to know? I was suddenly intrigued, overwhelmingly curious. If my theory was correct, what else was there that had happened to him before he became trapped in the ring?

"Spirit…" I began. Nameless took one look at the expression on my face and immediately recoiled. Abruptly he had snapped out of his odd mood and glared at me.

"What, Vessel? Why the hell are you staring at me like that?" He bristled with anger. "I can't tell you a damn thing without you taking it the wrong way." It was weird, seeing him so visibly uncomfortable, so I opted out of pressing the subject. He would only close up more if I even thought of it. Besides, in his own twisted way, his point on a person's 'goodness' actually consoled me a bit. I guess for that, I at least should have spared him of a potentially awkward moment.

"Hmm…" I seamlessly began to switch topics, "I was thinking that I like when you call me 'Landlord,' better. It sounds less harsh. 'Vessel' is such an ugly word."

"As if you get a choice in what I choose to call you," the spirit said bitterly. "Vessel." Still, he took the bait and we moved on as if we had never had that odd conversation seconds ago.

"So where did you get this 'Landlord' term from?" I asked. "It's definitely new."

"No, it's not," Nameless said, "I've always considered your body as 'renting out space.' I simply grew tired of calling you the same thing over and over."

"Yes, until you abuse 'Landlord," I replied dismissively. I suppose it didn't matter, as long as he stayed clear of calling me by my real name. It was too disconcerting.

"Look, there's land!" someone had called exuberantly from a distance away. More and more people began filtering out from the floor below, rushing over to catch a look at the small green slit which would be our landing point. Pegasus' island looked rather small from here, but I figured that with the harsh conditions he probably had set up—no room, no food—people would drop out quickly. And given that the other Yuugi's in the competition, with allegedly people who might be as fierce as he is in a duel, I'd bet that about half of the participants would be gone by later tonight.

"Well, we got here rather quickly," Nameless commented. He was right. It couldn't have been much past eight, and there were undoubtedly many passengers who were still sleeping. I briefly remembered one of the employees telling me we'd arrive in a couple hours—he was way off. Perhaps this was one of Pegasus' subtle ways to shave off even more participants. If any accidentally overslept, undoubtedly the ship would head back to Domino Pier without depositing them.

"Grab your things in your room and let's get going." Nameless disappeared while I started for the stairwell. It would probably be about twenty minutes until the ship arrived at the dock, so fortunately I had some time. It was a bit of a struggle to squeeze past the increasing crowd, but eventually I found myself back in the main hallway and heading towards my room.

But something was wrong the moment I slid my room key through the scanner and entered the room. As my eyes immediately evaluated my surroundings, I knew someone had been in there. All the drawers had been opened, the sheets tousled carelessly to the floor, and of course my only bag was gone.

Nameless had materialized next to me cursing.

"Who would possibly—"

"Shut up. I'm thinking," Nameless snapped. He looked like he wanted to hit someone.

"I guess now we know how it feels to have a room taken from us," I tried.

"Shut up!" he said again, much angrier this time. He began to walk about the room in a weird sort of pacing. I watched with an anxious silence until suddenly, he whipped around to face me.

"Okay. Change of plans. Since obviously our duelist's glove and star chip have been taken from us, we can no longer wander around the island as I'd hoped—it's too risky." Surprisingly, Nameless didn't sound too remorseful. His eyes were wild. "So instead, we are going to head straight over to Pegasus' headquarters and steal his bloody millennium item from him."

"How do you figure that placing ourselves directly into enemy territory is less risky?" I demanded. "And besides, there is no way we can get away with that. You just can't walk right up to someone—let alone the facilitator to this tournament—and take their millennium item."

"And why not?" Nameless said indignantly. "He just did that to us."

"I—what?"

"Well, not literally him, but still one of his employees," he alleged. "No one could get past this door unless he had the exact room key to match it. I checked this door myself—it's impossible to get in by picking it or by force. He must have ordered someone to enter this room and take our belongings."

I was still lost. "But why would he do that?"

The spirit shrugged, still looking peeved. "Looking for something, retribution, I don't know. Perhaps I didn't give him enough credit. I should have seen that he would have done something like this."

"Well, there might be surveillance cameras around the ship," I supplied. "He might know that we stole this room."

Nameless stopped fidgeting. "It's likely," he admitted, "which also means he knows about the ring."

"So why isn't he going to stop us?" Before I asked the question, I already had a good idea what the answer would be.

Nameless smirked wryly. "Why would he? Pegasus wants us to come to him, I bet. He wants the ring almost as bad as I want his own item."

"'Almost'?"

The smirk widened dangerously. "No one wants those items more than me."

In the end, seeing that we had nothing to collect, I worked my way back on deck and waited for the ship to dock. It was undoubtedly crowded now, but not nearly as much as it had been a day ago. I'd wager that a good portion of the passengers were still sleeping.

"Oh look, guess who's up." I turned my head to glance at Yuugi, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda, all trudging around aimlessly looking like they had just finished running a triathlon. None of them looked happy to be there, not even Yuugi.

"Was it really that bad?" I asked the spirit. He didn't even need to be visible for me to sense the amusement in his voice. "Let's just say it wasn't an ideal night." I shook my head. I hoped they would make it through the tournament all right.

Nameless seemed to be reading my thoughts. "Spare them your concern. They've got the other Yuugi with them. Apparently he doesn't lose." The spirit paused here for dramatic effect. "Until I get my hands on him."

"Oh? Isn't that what you were sure of the last time?" As I'm sure he remembered, the outcome of the RPG he'd set up was not good. That is, for either of us. I rubbed my left hand absentmindedly.

"That was merely practice," Nameless said brusquely, his tone edging towards impatience. "Now that I know how he plays games—unfairly—I've got a large advantage over him."

"The other Yuugi does not play anything unfairly!" I huffed indignantly. "He won Monster World out of pure skill and focus—"

"This is where you shut up before I get really pissed off," Nameless interrupted. "Why you idealize him as much as you do, I haven't the faintest idea. Gods, the thoughts that run through your petty mind…"

I felt my face darken as I clenched my jaw. It really wasn't fair, how easily Nameless could read my mind. It was bad enough he had access to my dreams, but with my thoughts it was much worse. At least with dreams I could claim that anything that goes on couldn't be controlled; with my thoughts it was purely a conscious process. Now of course, Nameless was ridiculing me for how often my mind flitted to the other Yuugi. In my defense though, it couldn't have been helped—he saved me after all, and seemed like he genuinely wanted to protect me just as he did with his friends. I admired how willing he was to sacrifice himself for the safety of others. He was a true martyr, a hero.

It was this association of heroism that I attached with the other Yuugi that I made an unlikely connection. "Spirit, when Shadi was talking about my part in 'fate'…he mentioned a Pharaoh."

"Oh, so you noticed?" He was being utterly sarcastic, yet I continued as if he hadn't been. "The other Yuugi is an ancient spirit from Egypt, just as you are…"

"Do not compare us," he growled irritably.

"…the other Yuugi was once a Pharaoh, wasn't he." I felt a warm wave of triumph here, as if I had solved some extraordinary mystery. Well, it was in my mind, considering that I had yet to figure out anything about the history of the millennium items, Nameless, or anything of that nature. Naturally my curiosity only grew the longer I was kept in the dark.

"How do you know I'm not the Pharaoh?" the spirit posed casually.

I suppressed the urge to laugh. "I don't need your clarification to know that you're not. I'm sure of it."

"Oh…? Really?"

I wanted to brush this question off, yet I couldn't help but hesitate. "Yes, there's no way you were a Pharaoh back in ancient Egypt." Despite my words, there was still a hint of doubt in my tone.

The spirit clicked his tongue scornfully. "Foolish Landlord. Believe what you want." My brow furrowed at this. Nameless would take any opportunity to mess with me. I still wasn't convinced with what the spirit was suggesting, but the question still hung in the back of my mind quietly. If for some odd chance Nameless was a Pharaoh, then what would that make the other Yuugi?

At last the ship had settled at the dock and people were boarding off. Aside from having to avoid my small circle of friends, it was pretty easy slipping off the boat and breaking off from the pack. Security was preoccupied with randomly re-checking passengers' luggage, which left me to sneak off into the nearby woods. It was regrettable that I no longer had any belongings to make my stay here easier, but at least I didn't have to concern myself with carrying them along. I casually reached into my back pockets, just to see if I had stashed anything in there, then blinked back my surprise when I pulled out a small, compact duel deck. From the thickness I could tell there were around forty cards.

"Lucky I stored these in your pocket," Nameless commented from over my shoulder. "They will definitely come in handy."

"Right, because Duel Monsters cards will be our one saving grace," I said with a frown. "It's not as if we can compete anyway."

Nameless smiled mysteriously. "These cards aren't necessarily just for dueling." I was too distracted to look too far into that statement, my attention snagged on the impending castle that practically hovered over the entire island in its enormity.

Nameless caught onto my thoughts. "Pegasus' castle," he announced with an air of mockery. "I guess now's the time to strike, eh, Landlord?" In an instant, Nameless switched control with my body, flexing his fingers as he stared up at his newest target, leaving me to watch his actions from my soul room. He grinned dangerously, practically glowing with daring.

"He'll never know what hit him."

A/N: First thing, yes, I know that Nameless (or Bakura) had called Ryou "Landlord" several times in the past, but he primarily stuck to "Vessel." To me at least, that term represents something colder, while "Landlord" at least implies something is owed to Ryou. In other words, a slightly warmer relationship between Ryou and Bakura— albeit grudgingly—is beginning to form. Take that as you will ;)
Secondly, small technicality, but there are forks on the cruise ship instead of chopsticks because Pegasus is an American, and we Americans like our mini-shovels! (I'm just throwing out random disclaimers here to spare you of pointing it out lol)
Third thing, I'm thinking that my sudden spurt in random humor is beginning to pollute my precious "Ryou's Story." If you think it's a bit much, definitely tell me, okay friends?

AND lastly, of course, don't forget to drop a review on your way out! :)