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: Er…I believe I owe anyone who has read this story an apology. I can't believe it has been over half a year since my most recent update, which is undeniably quite pathetic. I have never lost interest in writing, but I had a tough battle with time. The spring semester was dreadful, and then I was condemned to summer classes and a cram session for the Praxis…well, we all know this sounds like a meager offering to the Excuse Gods, but it's all I've got. Will this story ever be finished? God, I hope so. But right now, I'm just going to worry about one chapter at a time.

Random grammatical note: It finally occurred to me that when I'm talking about the Sennen items, they are proper nouns so should be capitalized. Therefore I'll try to be consistent and capitalize these words, such as "the Ring," or "the Puzzle."

Chapter Eighteen- The Worst in Us

Seeing the Thief King standing before me for the second time in my life did absolutely nothing to alleviate my awkwardness upon seeing him. To put it plainly, I was a sputtering mess. It didn't help that he had just saved me moments before a giant monster-bug shredded me to bits. I wasn't even sure if that was real.

"I-I didn't t-think you…I mean I tried to…how?" Nice. I shook my head, giving up. So much for a suave second encounter. I guess I couldn't be articulate when he was staring at me with those unnerving ink-black eyes.

"Oh, I only come out when I feel like it," the Thief King said dismissively. "But, seeing as you were probably gonna get killed and the spirit of the Ring isn't around to interfere, I figured I might as well." He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "And we wouldn't want you diced up into pieces, now would we?"

I ignored his remark, choosing not to linger on the image. "How did you get rid of that monster anyway?" I asked. One moment, that "Man-Eater Bug" was about to lance me with its pincers and then next thing I knew it had vanished. As if all the Thief King had to do was will it away.

"Oh, details. How they bore me," the Thief King sighed. "Let's talk about something more exciting. Like how you were able to summon the monster in the first place."

"I didn't do anything," I insisted. "It just sprang from the card out of nowhere." It was the truth. I had only glanced at the card for a second before chaos ensued.

"Well, of course," the Thief King said with an edge of sarcasm. An unrecognizable look flashed across his face, perhaps suggesting he knew something that I did not. "But for the record my friend, not everyone can tap into the power of the Sennen Ring like how you just did."

"Really," I said, unconvinced. "So it was actually the Ring's powers that triggered that reaction from the card? Well then how do I know if you didn't just bring the monster to life?"

"You should use your head more," the Thief King chided half-heartedly. "That doesn't make sense. I came out to save you, why would I put you in danger in the first place, hm?"

I was stumped. "I don't know," I admitted. "But it also doesn't make sense I was somehow able to summon a monster just by looking at it."

"Yes, yes, you're right," the Thief King said, stroking his chin. "Guess it will just have to remain a mystery for now."

"Guess so," I said shortly. I could tell he believed I awakened a power within the Sennen Ring, though I was adamant to believe otherwise. It was beyond ridiculous, to even think that I had a scrap of the "power" he had suggested…

"Well," the Thief King said, cutting into my thoughts, "Now that I'm out, I might as well extend a hand of invitation to you."

I swiveled around to look at him directly. "For…?" Something told me I would not like what this offer would entail. Something also told me, despite the friendly guise of the word "invitation," I did not have the liberty to decline the Thief King's awaiting proposal.

"The spirit of the Ring, as you know, is on temporary leave within the bowels of the Dark Realm," the Thief King said lightly. I couldn't figure out why he had such an odd smile on his face. "Yet alas, the time has come for me to retrieve him. For us to retrieve him."

"You can't be serious." It took all my willpower to keep my mouth from stupidly gaping open. Before I could continue to explain why this was utter madness, that I would be more of a burden than a help, another thought overcame me. "Wait. You're the reason why Spirit is able to get out of the Dark Realm. Just like the last time." I was referring, of course, to Nameless' return after the spirit of the Puzzle defeated him.

"You call him 'Spirit,'" the Thief King noted with a grin. "It's interesting, the wretched soul lacks a name. He's sort of a nameless entity, isn't he? Just sort of there, a constant nuisance in your life." I twitched slightly at the Thief King's usage of "nameless," and also at the way he looked at me when he said it; it was as if he knew.

"You seem to lack a name too," I pointed out, more so to steer the conversation away from Nameless. "Or do you simply not want to tell me?"

"You ask a question I don't care to answer," the Thief King said mysteriously. "So I will bring us back to my request. Care for a little adventure Ryou? You will get the chance to see what is in this notorious Dark Realm, and what's even more exhilarating, you will probably live to tell the tale."

Probably? I swallowed, taking my time to respond. "And…and how will we get to this Dark Realm?"

The Thief King's smile widened. "Oh you don't know? Truly, Ryou? I'm surprised the spirit of the Ring has not enlightened you."

I folded my arms. "Hard to believe, but Spirit is not keen on telling me much."

"Of course not. How silly of me. He's a mysterious one, isn't he? Secrets, secrets." The Thief King clicked his tongue. "But I digress. The Dark Realm, Ryou, exists in every person's mind. There are a couple ways of getting there, the most common way involving an involuntary exposure to a Sennen item's power. But of course you know this, since you have seen this phenomenon twice already."

"Which is twice too many, if you ask me," I muttered. "So, since we are going to the Dark Realm voluntarily, does it make any difference?"

"Oh, it makes all the difference," the Thief King replied. "Allow me to show you where exactly it is." Then he smiled slyly at this, advancing forward and grabbing my arm. I distantly noticed the Sennen Ring glowing around my neck. And then, for a moment, everything went black.

When I regained my sight, I immediately recognized where I was.

"This is the hallway between my soul room and Spirit's," I said, vocalizing my thoughts as well as my surprise. "But why?" I couldn't fathom how the Dark Realm could be so alarmingly close to my soul room. It was an eerie thought, being on the brink of this mysterious whirlpool of despair.

"Here, as you know, is your soul room, Ryou," the Thief King responded, gesturing over to the room on the right. "And here, as you also know, is the spirit of the Ring's soul room." Again he made a gesture with his hand, only this time on the left. "So tell me, what's left?"

"Well, up north is sort of the way 'out' of here," I answered slowly, wondering where the Thief King was going with this. "It's the way I go when I want to materialize as a spirit when he has control of my body. But what's that got to do with-?"

"It seems to me we have one more direction to go that you are not familiar with," the Thief King swiftly interjected. "And now seems an opportune time for you to find out what surprises await us."

I reluctantly looked down that gloomy, stonily silent passage that lingered off in the distance. It somehow seemed visibly darker than any of the other sections of my mind. I fought down the urge to retreat.

"This isn't dangerous, right?" I asked more so to reassure myself. I think I already knew the answer. "I mean you're with me, and it seems you have gone through this before."

The Thief King laughed. "Yes, I am well acquainted with the Dark Realm. It's practically my home." He ignored the odd look I probably gave him and continued. "But considering my existence is currently only possible through you—very much like a parasite—I would not let you die, no."

"Comforting," I sighed. I just had to get used to the fact that my only value nowadays seemed to have derived from serving as host.

"Now I must warn you that in the Dark Realm, you might not be feeling quite like yourself," the Thief King said. "The Dark Realm is capable of finding your darkest emotions and thoughts and using them as ammunition against you."

I stopped midway of taking a step. "That sounds… you're sure I'll be okay?" By now, I was getting second thoughts. They were quite convincing. And as far as I was aware, I had never agreed to accompany the Thief King to begin with.

The Thief King started to walk in the direction of the Dark Realm and gestured for me to follow. Against all common sense, I reluctantly continued moving. "Again, you are needed Ryou, so I will ensure your safety," he said without a glance back at me. Based on his movements, however, I could tell he was untroubled. One would think we were venturing off to the grocery store.

"So when you say I might not be feeling like myself, you mean what, exactly?" I prompted after a few moments of thoughtful quiet.

"Oh, lots of interesting things happen," the Thief King said in a leisurely tone. "For one, if you happen to be the violent type, you might find it hard to resist causing harm to anything around you. Or, if you are more affected by sadness, you might forget what it's like to be happy."

"These effects aren't permanent…?"

"In time they are. But that doesn't apply to us," the Thief King replied. "Which reminds me. Do you have a lot of unpleasant memories, Ryou?"

I knew what my answer should have been, but I have a habit of euphemizing things. "Er…I suppose it's not any worse than the next person."

"Good, good. Because in the Dark Realm, be prepared for such memories to resurface in vivid detail. But if you don't have many…" he let himself trail off, casually sparing a glance over his shoulder. I refused to meet his eyes.

What I would have liked, I realized bitterly as I struggled adjusting to the noticeably thicker atmosphere around me, was for the Thief King to warn me when we stepped into the Dark Realm. Similar to the north entrance which allowed me to materialize as a spirit, this south entrance had no door to cross. Therefore the shock I experienced from the sudden changes was overwhelming. I resisted the urge to stop and crumble to the floor in desperation to shield myself from this strange, intangible force engulfing me.

It was like stumbling through a dense forest, one that had managed to absorb all forms of light. I wasn't prepared for the immediate shift in utter darkness, with only the sounds of the Thief King's easy breathing and his light footsteps to guide me. There seemed to be a constant, nagging hum that was interfering, however, making it far more difficult to locate the Thief King's whereabouts. Almost irresistibly, I focused my attentions on the humming; I soon realized the drone-like pitch was breaking up into syllables. I could barely make out snatches of the words.

"—unloved by all…"

"—forever alone…"

"—merely an insignificant—vessel—shell…"

"A shadow…"

Were these messages about me? Now I stopped completely, listening to clarify if it was true, if these messages were catered specifically to taunt me.

"Fearing death…yet wondering…"

"…if it would have been better…"

I couldn't bear to listen any longer. I clasped my hands over my ears, that whiney hum seeming to pierce through my skull to reach me…

Then I realized that the Thief King was no longer with me.

My heart shot up to my throat as I feared what this could mean. Surely it wouldn't take him long to realize we had been separated. I mean, for someone who was as perceptive as I knew him to be…and he said he wouldn't let me die…

But then again, one doesn't exactly die in the Dark Realm, now does he?

Paranoid thoughts, ones that assumed the worst, bubbled within me. What if this was all a trap? What if the Thief King realized that he needed my body but my soul was nothing but expendable? My soul, as Nameless relished in pointing out, only got in the way. There was a faint voice that pointed out that the Thief King gave me his word, though suddenly I was having such strong doubts…

"Useless, worthless, nothing…"

"Cannot figure…where one nightmare ends…"

"…And another begins…"

"Shut up!" I suddenly found myself yelling. I was trembling all over. "Spirit! Make it stop!" No, that wasn't right. I intended to call out for the Thief King. Yet somehow "Spirit" came tumbling out. It must have been my panic that prevented me from thinking clearly. There was something terrible, something truly evil, that was giving these words a certain power to shred my sanity apart. It was like they could target every one of my insecurities and lance them with venomous messages.

Had I known that things were about to get even worse, I am confident I would have refused to venture with the Thief King on this destructive rescue mission.

Words no longer penetrated my mind, replaced by images, powerful and disturbing. The darkness that surrounded me ebbed away into scenes from my past, as if I had been carelessly tossed back into them. They were my memories.

/"Tell us again why you would want to go home."

I could feel the anger steadily rising in my chest. "My sister. I miss her. You sent her back home and you're still keeping me here."

There was my grandmother, facing me with steely blue eyes. In spite of her dark expression, a tight smile formed. "'Sent her back home?' No, Ryou, your father wanted her back. He did not, apparently, feel the same way about you."

Then there was my grandfather, who cleared his throat. "Lily, he's a child."

"I don't care about that," I lied. In a strange way, I felt glad, because at least Amane was free from my grandparents—no, my grandmother's—strict regime. My father had listened to my final plea with him after all. "Please just let me go home. For a visit."

"You see what I mean?" My grandmother turned on my grandfather. "He's ungrateful. He doesn't appreciate all that we do for him—"

"I know what you want," I said. "You want my mother's piano. It's worth a lot of money, I know it is, and you want it for yourself. Well I don't care what you do or say, I'm not letting you take it!"

In a heartbeat there was a sharp stinging across my cheek. My grandmother stared hard into my face, her hand still raised, her entire body shaking with anger. "You stupid boy," she said, her voice menacingly low. "You think that's what this is about?"

My grandfather stepped forward. "Lily—"

She held up a hand. "Child, your father doesn't want you. You are nothing to him but a bitter memory of his deceased, foolish wife. We agreed to take you because frankly, we need an heir to our possessions when we pass away. We are trying to condition you to be a proper English boy, Ryou, and you are failing spectacularly." She took in a deep breath, peering down at me as she would an insect. "No, no you will not get to visit for the weekend, or ever, for that matter. "

The sense of despair that washed over me, that overwhelming feeling of defeat, as I remembered, never quite seemed to go away./

I blinked, suddenly ripped back to the present. Despite my awareness that I was only reliving a memory, it somehow seemed so real. Every thought that ticked across my mind at that given moment was rallied up once more from the dead. I did not get much time to reflect upon this, though, because suddenly the humming in my ears grew in volume and before I knew it I was thrust into another memory.

/"It's shameful, really, the way you allow your hair to get this long." It was my grandmother again, this time snatching a fistful of my hair. It took a tremendous amount of willpower not to wince. "You should cut it."

I pulled away, trying to strain the alarm out of my voice. "It's none of your business."

My grandmother lanced me with a scathing glare. "You look like a girl. And with that feminine face of yours…"

I suppose up until that point, I had never given my appearance much thought. It had never occurred to me that my looks did not pass for "normal." But, of course, there was a reason I preferred my long hair…

"Oh," my grandmother said, as if reading my thoughts. "I see now. You must like to hide behind all that hair." She tutted when I did not reply. "Does it make you feel invisible, Ryou? Is that it? No, that is not acceptable behavior."

It didn't take long for me to connect the dots. "No," I said flatly. She couldn't do this to me. I needed my hair to hide from people when I didn't have the strength to look them in the eye. At times I couldn't bear the reproachful stares I would get on a daily basis. Suddenly I would feel I was drowning in a sea of loathing and the only buoy holding me up was my ability to vanish. I could slip behind the curtain and pretend nothing and no one was there. "Please, not that."

She was merciless, of course. "Don't be ridiculous." Her mouth twitched. "We will have to shave it all off."

The last thing she said before I was sent to her hairdresser was how I would soon look the part of the "proper" English boy she wanted.

Within an hour I marveled at how my head felt so impossibly light, and how the curtain of hair I hid behind my entire childhood so easily fell away in pathetic white tufts. I felt naked and vulnerable, and more than anything, I wanted to know who that boy was staring back at me in the mirror with such dead eyes. /

I felt sick as I snapped out of that memory. How exposed I felt when my head was shaved. Later when I permanently moved back to my original home, I refused to have my hair cut any shorter than shoulder's length, even when I no longer felt the urge to hide.

Realizing I had crumpled to the floor, I forced myself to straighten up. Those memories that bombarded me were not mere coincidences. I now knew what the Thief King meant when he said unpleasant moments would be used as "ammunition" against me. I just wish he would have given me a better warning. It was a terrible experience, having to relive memories I had gladly repressed up until that point. It would have been wonderful if the Thief King had told me a way to fight off these attacks from the Dark Realm.

I forced myself to start walking in search for my runaway guide. Did the Thief King even realize I was gone? How long had we been separated? It was so easy to lose track of time. Then, like an oncoming tide, I felt another memory lap at my feet, begging to wash over me. I tried to resist it, but before I could think of a way to block out unwanted thoughts I felt my conscious mind slipping away…

/ "I wish you could stay here." It was my sister, Amane, who spoke. For her sake I tried to smile.

"I'd rather have you living with Dad than at our grandparents," I said evasively. "So don't worry about me."

"I miss your hair," Amane said suddenly. "You look weird without it. I can't get used to it."

"Oh, you miss my hair?" I would have laughed if I weren't so miserable. A strained silence fell between us.

Amane frowned. "Why can't Dad let us both stay here?"

"I'm lucky I was even allowed to visit for the weekend. Grandmother forbade it, and she'd been true to her word until now." My voice sounded automated, dead, like a robot.

"Even witches can feel sorry, sometimes," Amane speculated. "But you're held like a prisoner, Ryou. We've got to get you out. I'll have to convince Dad to take you back." She lowered her voice. "What did you do, Ryou?"

"Amane, I don't really—"

"Why doesn't he like you?" she blurted out. She recoiled, suddenly realizing how awful her question sounded.

The truth was, I didn't think my father really liked either of us, not since my mother died. I was told time after time from my grandmother how much of a nuisance Amane and I were to my father. We were sticky little reminders of a tarnished dream, a thorn in his side. Between the two of us, however, I knew my father liked Amane more. I couldn't say I blamed him.

"Amane, you have an art lesson to go to," I said in a measured tone. "You shouldn't be late because we were talking about this."

"You sound too much like an adult," Amane hummed. "I'll go when I'm good and ready."

"Which is now, young lady." We both turned to see Amane's main caretaker, Claire. She was barely a year over thirty, but she looked much older. Her dark eyes swept over the room. "This place is a mess," she muttered to herself. "I'll have to get to it later." With a jingle of keys, she breezed through the door, gesturing for my sister to follow. Amane and I exchanged glances.

"You promise you won't leave at least until I get home?" Amane asked. "You said you're being picked up soon."

"Even if they come for me, I'll make sure I see you first," I reassured her. "Or else they'll have to drag me." Amane brightened at this and moved to collect her art bag. She lingered at the doorway for a moment then turned to look at me. A strange look passed her face.

"What?" I asked.

In a couple strides she made her way over and hugged me. "Bye," she said. And then she was gone.

How confused I was. It was as if she knew something I did not, as if she had discovered some detail I had overlooked.

It wasn't until a brief period of time later—I don't know if mere minutes or a whole hour passed—when I heard sirens. I thought nothing of this.

Until time continued to march on and my sister never returned home. /

A cold sweat had broken out and I was trembling harder than before. I cursed my inability to block this memory out, which was the one I would have given anything to forget. I didn't care it was the last living memory I had of my sister, it only brought me pain when I thought of how easily she slipped away from this world. It froze my very soul to think how fragile life was and all the things I could have said and done that were more meaningful than looking at my sister with a dumb, blank expression as she walked out the door. It could drive me crazy to think of the what ifs.

But that memory sent me over the edge. I had enough of this. Under no circumstances could I let another awful memory stab through my defenses. I knew I didn't have the strength to stomach reliving every painful memory lurking in my brain. And where was the Thief King during all this? Was he even looking for me? Anger prickled my insides as I fumed over my situation. I should have never allowed him to bully me into this. And for what? To save Nameless, my personal tormenter who leeched off my soul? I could think of a thousand other ways to waste my time.

Even in this dismal place, I still had some shred of a conscience, I suppose. There was a tiny voice that chided me for thinking such nasty things, and maybe I thought more of Nameless than a parasite, but it wasn't by much.

"Thief King!" I yelled. My voice bounced off invisible walls, eventually diminishing in the darkness. I tried again, frustration welling in me. How could he not hear me? How far away was he? Not to mention, I felt absolutely ridiculous calling this manifestation of Nameless the "Thief King." What nonsense. I waited for a moment, and, reluctantly concluding he likely wouldn't show up anytime soon, began walking. I came here, albeit unwillingly, to find Nameless, and so that was what I would attempt to do.

It wasn't long before I could feel another onslaught of memories creep at the edges of my mind. Which awful occurrence would be selected this time? I braced myself, and hoped the answer would be none of them, as I willed every one of my thoughts to remain rigid and solidly resistant of any unwanted invasion. I would keep them locked away, safely quarantined with no chance of release. The urge to succumb to a memory, however, only increased.

"No," I growled through gritted teeth. To what I was talking to I had no idea. "Stay away." But an unexpected thing happened. I noticed a golden film outlining my body, stretched over my skin as tightly as a latex glove. It was remarkably similar to what had happened earlier in the day when I accidentally summoned a monster card. And before that, when a security guard was about to harm me, that same golden light erupted from nowhere to protect me. I didn't understand why it was happening, or what caused the light to form, but I felt immeasurable relief and the pull to fall victim to a bad memory faded away.

I tentatively held up a hand, fascinated by the golden barrier. What caused it to form?

"Ah, I see you've used the Ring once more."

I whipped around at the voice. "You." The Thief King swaggered toward me. Thanks to the light formed around me, I could see his face completely devoid of concern. This caused my previous anger to rise again, egged on by his total disregard to the danger he had just put me in. "You left me. Where were you?"

But he only chuckled at this. "No, no I did not leave you, Ryou. You were the one who could not keep up."

"I yelled for you…"

"Sound carries differently here. You can't count on anyone to hear your screams but you. But if you would like to place the blame on me, then I accept." I could tell that guilt was a foreign concept to him, and regardless if I felt either fondness or frustration towards him, he couldn't care less. Clearly seeing that rousing a response out of him would be useless, I grudgingly dropped the subject. It was not the first time I felt I should have let the Thief King get Nameless on his own.

The two of us continued walking, and I had a much easier time keeping up now that undesired thoughts could no longer bombard me. Plus, the light around me ensured I could always see the Thief King directly ahead.

"So tell me, Ryou…" the Thief King began, "do you even know what you're doing when you summon the Ring's powers?"

"No," I said earnestly. "It just sort of happens. I was hoping you could tell me what makes it react."

"Hmm. As I said before, I guess it will have to remain a mystery." I noticed the Thief King eyeing me curiously, which made my face redden. There was absolutely nothing special about me, and I found it frustrating that the Thief King felt otherwise. But he didn't understand, I wanted nothing to do with the Ring or some latent power within me to interact with it. Was this ability any indicator of the "evil" inside me? The mysterious man who ran into me on the boat, Shadi, warned me against the growing evil inside of me. Was it possible that he was right? I was deeply troubled by this thought.

"I forgot to say," the Thief King piped up, "but when you see the spirit of the Ring, do not be surprised." I waited for him to continue talking, yet he stopped. He had an infuriating habit of never saying enough. It was as if he grew bored of talking so allowed his thought to trail off.

"Why do you say that?" I prompted. I picked up my pace to keep up with the Thief King's longer legs. The gap between us was increasingly growing and I was determined not to get lost again.

He remained oblivious to my struggles. "When one is unwillingly sent to the Dark Realm, the Shadows slowly eat away the soul. I'm sure the spirit of the Ring's soul isn't very tasty," he snickered.

I was stunned at the Thief King's insensitivity. "'Shadows'…what do you mean by that?"

"Oh. Hm." The Thief King paused, temporarily stumped. "These 'Shadows' are manifestations of…evil, I guess you would say. They come in a bunch of forms…sometimes they're called Messages as well."

I sharply inhaled. "Earlier, there was something trying to tell me horrible things, like it knew every insecurity I had and voiced it…"

"Yesss," the Thief King smiled. "Whatever'll do damage."

"But what about when I am forced to relive awful memories?"

"Messages," the Thief King nodded. "They are tricking your brain to pull up these memories and convince you that it's real."

I shuddered. "It's a good thing I was somehow able to block these Messages out after a while." I knew it could have been so much worse. Other occurrences in my childhood would have been even more painful and humiliating than what I already dealt with.

"Ahh. Ryou, do you feel it?" The Thief King suddenly tilted his head up with a knowing smile.

"Feel what?" I cautiously asked. It probably wasn't good news.

"The atmosphere. Everything. There is a change." I glanced around me uneasily. There wasn't much to see except the small distance ahead of me from the light the Ring provided, but the Thief King was right; I became suddenly aware of a change in the environment. It somehow grew colder and it became much harder to breathe, as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the Dark Realm. My skin began to tingle, the hairs on my body standing on end.

I took a step closer to the Thief King, just to be sure he wouldn't get out of my sight. "What's happening?"

"That's the feeling of walking into an area where the number of Shadows has infinitely increased. They are gathered together."

I stayed silent. It dawned on me for what reason these Shadows might be conglomerating.

"Yes…" the Thief King continued as if I had asked him a question, "they are attracted to the spirit of the Ring's soul. Always, they are hungry for victims. That is the difference between a soul walking into the Dark Realm willingly and a soul being forced here."

"They are tearing his soul apart," I whispered, almost too horrified to say it. What had happened to me earlier, I realized, was nothing compared to what Nameless was probably going through. Plus, without the Ring's powers at his disposal, what defense did he have?

"Will…will he be…?"

The Thief King lifted his arm slowly, pointing. "See for yourself."

Nameless was sitting not too far away. I was unable to see him before because he was so close to the ground. His limbs were sloppily folded under him and his arms were hanging limply at his sides. When we approached him, he made no indication he was aware of it. He just stared ahead blankly.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked. It was the strangest thing, seeing him so passive, so dead. I had at least expected him to be able to talk, or acknowledge me.

"He's trapped in his own personal hell," the Thief King replied. I turned to look at him. He seemed a little too happy. He then shrugged dismissively. "That's what happens when you lose a Dark Game."

"Well, make him snap out of it!" I ignored the curious look the Thief King gave me. Tentatively, I moved directly in front of Nameless; or rather, his corpse. I stared down at him as a frown settled on my face. "We can fix him, right?"

"Hmm." The Thief King moved next to me. "Two things. One, you make it seem like he's a toy that only requires a new part. It's not that simple. And two, any particular reason you want him 'fixed'?"

I flinched, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over me. He leaned in closer. "I mean, he is your personal terrorist, yes?"

I turned away, folding my arms. "Y-you make it sound so black and white."

The Thief King smiled wryly. "Isn't it, though? You either want him to suffer, or you don't."

My gaze was pulled back to Nameless. "He's in his own personal hell. I wouldn't wish that on anybody." I was telling the truth. Although Nameless was a constant thorn in my side, I took no delight in knowing he was living in a nightmare.

The Thief King seemed amused by this idea. "Well, well. Looks like I'm in the presence of a saint." He shook his head. "If I were you, I'd demand revenge. Oh yes, with what he's done, I'd say, 'Let him burn in hell.'" He snorted. "And you're asking for some damn mercy."

"Then why did we come here?" I demanded. I angrily gestured over to Nameless with a swipe of my hand. "We come all this way, and you mean to tell me you don't want to save him? Why did we waste our time, then?"

"I never said I wouldn't restore him," the Thief King pointed out lazily. He elaborated after my puzzled silence. "I only wanted to know how you'd react."

My jaw slackened a bit. "…Why?"

The Thief King tapped the side of my head. "To figure you out. To see how you tick."

I edged away from him, brushing my surmounting confusion aside. "I'm not all that interesting," I remarked stiffly after a short pause. Judging from his look of appraisal, the Thief King probably thought of me as some delightfully unpredictable experiment.

"Well. I beg to differ, but who am I to say...?" The Thief King shrugged before prodding Nameless with his foot. "Now let's get him moving, hm?"

Maybe it was the absurdity of the entire situation, but I almost laughed at this. "I must be going crazy," I sighed. To think a part of me wanted Nameless dragged out of the Dark Realm mystified me.

Any humor I had was soon wiped away when the Thief King said, "And you're going to be the one to restore him."

I whipped around. "W-what?" But he obviously had done the job many times before, why did he want me to get directly involved?

"Problem? But Ryou, you just said you wanted to see him fixed, yes?" Chuckling, the Thief King grabbed a fistful of Nameless' hair and yanked him to his knees. Nameless' arms dangled loosely at his sides, very much like a marionette. "Or were you all lies? Would you like to see him remaining like this?"

"Stop." I turned away, refusing to look at Nameless any longer. Not like this. "What do I have to do?" Was this compassion? Or stupidity?

A foreign look shadowed across the Thief King's face. He flung Nameless to the ground again and reached for me instead. "Give me your arm, Ryou."

I tentatively took a step forward. "My arm?"

He flashed me a grin, his teeth bared. "Oh, yes."

A shudder coursed through me. Common sense told me what I was about to subject myself to would be something I would not approve of. Nevertheless, I held out my arm.

The Thief King's large hand encircled my wrist as he rotated it so it was facing up. My eyes widened in horror as I saw him whip out a dagger from his waistband.

"Wait, hold on!" I tried to wrench myself away but the Thief King's grip was too tight. He didn't seem to notice I was attempting to pull out of his grasp. "Is this necessary?"

"Do not worry Ryou! It will only take a second. Maybe two." Before I could protest any more, I felt a sharp stinging drag across the inside of my wrist, sparks of pain shooting up my entire arm. I bit back a cry, expecting to see blood. I was wrong. In its place, oozing from my cut was what appeared to be a white fog.

"I forgot to say, we do not bleed in the Dark Realm," the Thief King explained as he released me. I waited for him to continue, but he did not.

"So what is this?" I reluctantly touched my wound, feeling a tingling sensation through my fingertips.

"Your soul." The Thief King had said this so casually, as if this wasn't news. "Now, hold your wrist up to his mouth."

I made a sound of disgust. "What's going to happen?"

"Enough questions! Don't be boring. Just do it."

"I would like to know what's going to happen to my soul…" Nevertheless, I obeyed the Thief King's instructions, kneeling down so I could draw my wrist closer to Nameless. I did not like where this was going, but what choice did I have?

It was strange, what happened. As if the white fog were magnetically attracted to Nameless, it began to seep out of my wound in a thick stream and directly into his mouth. And as I watched this happen, I realized that I wasn't exactly feeling any pain from doing this, and the sharp stinging I had experienced from the Thief King's dagger seemed to have vanished. Yet I began to feel slightly nervous when, during this whole process, my head started to prickle as if I had a mild migraine.

"All right, I think that's enough," the Thief King piped up, waving a hand dismissively.

I withdrew, still watching Nameless. I was looking for a sign that he would soon rouse out of his blank state.

"Would you mind explaining to me what I just did so I at least know what's going on?" I asked after a short pause, knowing that the Thief King would not be likely to explain anything unless I specifically asked.

"Nothing of importance," the Thief King said. "You probably lost a couple memories…"

Color drained from my face. "You're joking."

"Silly Ryou, look at you, acting like that's some huge sacrifice," the Thief King jeered. "What good are memories, anyway? Can they be used as currency? No. Do you need them to survive? No. You tell me what good 'memories' are. They only carry worth in the Dark Realm."

"Memories define who we are," I said incredulously. "You could have warned me this was going to happen!" Anger flooded through me. Perhaps something of importance had escaped me, and then there was the Thief King, acting as if this wasn't a big deal.

"Now Ryou, be reasonable," the Thief King smiled. "How can you miss any lost memories if you can't remember what they are? And something tells me you would have gone through with it anyway."

I finally stood up, turning to face him. "If you don't care about your memories, why didn't you go through with it instead? Why did you bring me along?" It made absolutely no sense. Clearly the Thief King revived Nameless many times before, yet now he wanted me to do the job for him?

The Thief King scrutinized my face. "You're upset." He took a step towards me, yet I warily kept my distance, glaring at him. "Ryou, the thing is, I would have done it myself, but you see, I don't have many memories left to give."

I paused. "Exactly how many times have you saved him?"

"Doesn't matter," the Thief King said. His gaze lazily trailed over to Nameless. "Oh look, he's coming back."

To be honest, I don't know what I was expecting from Nameless when he came back into consciousness. Maybe a feeble acknowledgement for my efforts, a hint of surprise, or perhaps even a scrap of gratitude?

But I did not expect, the moment his eyes focused in on me, for him to bolt across the distance between us and strike me.

I heard the crack in my jaw where his knuckles collided before I felt it. Soon the pain came gushing from my face and dominated all my senses. The initial shock from the blow slowly ebbed away, a toxic reaction beginning to boil within me.

Normally, I would have likely backed away from Nameless and feel wounded for the rest of the day. Yet something strange and inexplicable came over me, and before I could think about the next course of action, my body reacted: I punched Nameless right back. I don't think the force of my attack was nearly as powerful as Nameless,' and there certainly wasn't a satisfying crack from coming into contact with his jaw, yet the damage had been done. The Thief King seemed to fade into the background, as all I could focus on was the utter astonishment washing over Nameless' face, which soon transitioned to rage.

"I'm going to kill you," he growled. And at that moment, I knew he meant it.

"Now, now, I'm sure that would be counterproductive," I heard the Thief King yawn a short distance away. I didn't pay him any attention. Before I could take in even a breath, Nameless lunged at me again. This time, however, I was ready. I heard the whoosh of air as his fist missed me by a finger's width.

"You are the reason I lost that damn match with Pegasus!" he snarled as he attempted another jab at me. By some miracle, I dodged that as well. I could see how severely anger contorted his face. He looked absolutely feral. "It's your damn fault, you worthless, backstabbing, pathetic worm!" Finally my luck ran out as I felt a rush of force crash into my stomach as I doubled over.

Instantaneously, it was as if with that blow he had transferred some of his anger over to me. With only a half-second to catch my breath, my head snapped up.

"You want to start calling names?" I hissed, taking a step towards Nameless. "Fine! Where do I begin? You're a moron because if any activity in your brain called a thought occurred, you would realize that I was here to drag your ungrateful self out of the Dark Realm! How does that make me a backstabber?" Steady fury colored my words and kept me going. I ignored all else but ensuring Nameless heard and understood every word. "Which brings me to another point: to be a backstabber, I had to have been on your side to begin with. What, tell me, what makes you think I betrayed you if I never wanted you to succeed from the first damned day I met you? Yet still, here I am, trying to save you. And who knows why, considering I would love nothing more than to see you rot here. You deserve it!" I folded my arms as I watched a strange look come across Nameless' face. Perhaps a grudging revelation.

"It wasn't you who made me lose." Nameless wasn't asking me; it was a statement.

Excellent observation, I wanted to snap, but I didn't feel like rousing another screaming match. All I could do to keep from saying something nasty was nod once.

I saw Nameless' eyes cut over to the Thief King, and I too remembered he was there. The Thief King raised his eyebrows.

"No, please, keep going, I love seeing you two fight. It's really something else," he said. "I mean, I didn't think Ryou had it in him, but then again, the Dark Realm is easily able to extract the worst in every individual and enhance it a hundredfold. Looks like Ryou here has more suppressed rage than one would think—"

"Why did you let him come?" Nameless demanded, his voice shaking with the dregs of his previous temper. "Why were you talking with him to begin with when you could have easily brought me back yourself without his help? I told you this before and I'll say it again: we had a deal. You are not to be contacting him under any circumstances."

The Thief King's eyes flashed wildly. "While you were away, dear spirit of the Ring, Ryou was almost obliterated by one of your monster cards. Naturally I had no choice but to interfere."

"That's beside the point, you were merely straining for a reason to—he activated a monster card?" Nameless was scowling now, sparing only a cursory glance in my direction.

"I'm right here," I pointed out crossly. "Ask me." Regardless, Nameless ignored me.

"Oh yes, I think so," the Thief King said. "There is no other possible explanation, I don't think."

"Figures." Nameless whipped around to look at me disdainfully. "You apparently have the 'power' to summon a monster, yet lack the ability to control it. As always, you're worthless."

"And you're ungrateful," I fired back. "I didn't have to come here—"

"I didn't want you to come!" Nameless snarled. He switched his attention to the Thief King with a jagged motion. "Why did you bring him here?" It interested me how, like the other time I saw Nameless interact with the Thief King, Nameless' face was strained and his muscles were tense, like he would flee at any given moment. I could see past his bold demands and flashy displays of anger; he was genuinely terrified. I had no idea why this was, because to me, the Thief King seemed the least dangerous of the two. Just alarmingly detached.

Apart from this observation, I also noticed there was something off about Nameless. I stared hard into his pale face, confirming my suspicions. His left eye would occasionally twitch, and his eye movements were frantic. He looked a step away from absolute madness.

"I thought it would be useful to show little Ryou around the place, you know, to familiarize him with it," the Thief King said without a trace of humor.

"But you told me you didn't have many more memories to sacrifice," I said accusingly. "That's why you wanted me to bring Spirit back instead of you."

"You—you what?" Nameless' eye twitched. He jerked toward the Thief King. "You let him bring me back?"

The Thief King rolled his shoulders indifferently. "Why not? As I explained to Ryou, who needs memories anyway? In any case, I was interested to see if he would do it."

"So this was just an experiment to you?" I asked the Thief King. "Why? Why does it matter whether I go through with it or not?"

"Hm. I'm bored with this conversation. We accomplished what we needed to, and so now we must go back." Without so much as a warning, the Thief King grabbed both my wrist and Nameless' as I felt the wind get knocked out of me. When I next opened my eyes, we were back at the "crossroads" area of my mind, which was blessedly silent compared to the constant drone in the Dark Realm. I glanced over at Nameless, who was now holding his head in his hands. He looked visibly sick, his skin still drained of all color. Now that we were out of the Dark Realm, I could see far more clearly how damaged Nameless really was. What was truly amazing was his ability to mask it. He caught me staring at him and immediately straightened up, back to himself.

All the hostility I felt previously subsided. I could see how much in pain Nameless was in. "Spirit…" I began. But Nameless cut me off before I could finish my thought.

"How long have you two been wasting time around here? Vessel, it's foolish to abandon your shell of a body for this long. What would happen if someone approached you?" A cruel sneer curved Nameless' mouth. "Then again, you usually have a vapid expression on your face anyway. Perhaps a passerby would not know the difference."

A wave of shock washed over me. I only wanted to make sure he was okay. Who knew why I would even try to ask, let alone why I cared. Time and time again, Nameless would lash out at me and further prove how senseless it was to feel anything towards him other than hostility. And of course it was stupid to think Nameless might express gratitude at my willingness to save him. Instead, it seemed he was even more determined to mistreat me.

"I suppose you would rather have a nice sit in the Dark Realm, then, is that it?" I asked coldly.

"Right, because you're so useful, Vessel, that you just saved me all by yourself. It was all you. Actually," Nameless said, his eyes darting between me and the Thief King in open hatred, "I think I would have rather rotted in there than fall victim to your pity. Spare me."

The Thief King looked highly amused. "A little salty about the rescue mission, eh? My apologies for forgetting to take your pride into account. Heh." Nameless appeared as if he wanted to murder the Thief King, yet he remained silent.

Wary of the conversation and Nameless' sour attitude, I decided to slip back into consciousness, back in my physical body. I didn't bother to say anything to either the Thief King or Nameless, because I suddenly found myself very tired of the both of them. Nameless, as usual, was being his unpleasant self – if not worse—while the Thief King was starting to rouse my suspicions. I did not know if I could trust him. The reason he gave me for taking me to the Dark Realm differed from the reason he gave Nameless. If it was not such a big deal, why didn't he simply tell the truth? Clearly there was something important that he was not telling me.

I blinked against the sunlight, realizing that it was approaching evening already. More time passed than I thought. The autumn sun was beginning to set, settling behind the trees in the distance. I speculated it to be around dinnertime, though thankfully I wasn't hungry. Apart from the large meal I had earlier in the day, I felt slightly nauseated from my bitter encounter with Nameless. There was a part of me that was hoping for a different reaction when Nameless regained his senses. I suppose I had hoped he would realize that I didn't want to hate him. There was some irrational part of me that wanted to form a connection. Ridiculous.

I set off in the woods again, noting the lack of people nearby. I wondered if anyone approached me while I was off on my "adventure." That would have been interesting. As I walked, I distantly considered that I had no idea where I was going, though I was too tired to care. I would always be on this stupid island no matter which way I went, condemned here until this awful tournament was over. But then, I found myself in such a bad mood I thought everything to be awful. I stomped around the forest area for a considerable time longer, brooding about my circumstances.

It took me a while to notice that the sun had dropped below the horizon, dragging the light with it. I tripped a couple times in the dark, dreadfully ungraceful in my footing. Walking across a forest, let alone in the dark, was asking for a disaster with a clumsy person like me.

With that in mind, I guess it was practically inevitable when I literally stumbled into my high school friends. They were sitting around a campfire—Yuugi, Anzu, Jounouchi, and Honda—and looked up in absolute shock when I tumbled past a particularly cumbersome bush and into their circle. I was just as shocked as they were, not expecting to see their faces.

Yuugi looked incredulous, squinting to make sure he was seeing right. "Bakura?" The group examined me as if I were an alien from a faraway galaxy. And I don't blame them for their surprise, either, considering just now I had decided to show up. How strange it must have seemed to them to not see me for the entire ship ride or on the island all day, then make a grand appearance. I know it didn't make sense. But it was an accident, what could I do?

I brushed myself off, ignoring the uncomfortable stares in my direction. I raised a hand awkwardly in greeting.

"Er…hi."