After hesitating for only a moment, Marik bent down and picked up the Ring again, holding it tensely in his two hands.
"B-bakura?"
A voice rang out in his head. "Who else?"
Marik could hardly believe it. "I-I didn't think you still existed."
"A human soul can be destroyed by none other than Ammit himself. Zorc was destroyed, but the human part of my soul survived, and had nowhere to return but here," said the voice in his head—Bakura. The voice was really Bakura. He would know it anywhere.
"So you've been trapped in the Ring for three years?"
"Has it been that long? It's hard to judge time in here," the voice echoed in his mind again.
"Yeah," said Marik, trying to regain his composure. "It's been three years since you—since you've been gone."
"Happy to hear from me?" Bakura asked teasingly.
Marik jumped a little. "Why would you think that?"
"Because I heard you thinking about me," said Bakura. "That's why I was able to call out to you."
"So that's why I felt the urge to dig there," Marik realized. "You really could have gotten me in trouble, you know!"
"Well, you didn't get caught and it all worked out," said Bakura. "So, now that the formalities are out of the way, you can help me get my own body."
"You want me to..." Marik paused for a moment as he processed what Bakura was asking of him. "No way! In case you missed it, I'm good now! I'm not going to help you get a body just so you can run around killing people and trying to raise demons!"
"I'm not interested in doing any of that," said Bakura.
Marik rolled his eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"Yes," said Bakura firmly. "Zorc is gone, so he's not around to influence me anymore. But more importantly, why would I even want to do that? The pharaoh is dead and the spirits of my people have moved on to the afterlife. What reason do I have to cause trouble? Oh, believe me, I'm not saying I plan on being a perfect little angel like you're apparently trying to be— I've always been a thief and I always will be. But as far as murder and demon-raising? No, I have no plans for that. No reason for that. There would be no benefit to me."
"Even if I believed you and wanted to help you, how could I?" asked Marik.
"I know of a spell that will draw my spirit out of the Ring and give me a physical body of my own," said Bakura. "It's fairly easy to do. There are a few simple steps and some words in the language of ancient Egypt. I can tell you what to say."
"If the spell is so easy, why didn't you ever do this before?" asked Marik.
"A piece of Zorc's soul was already in the Ring when I sealed my soul in there," said Bakura. "The spell only works on a completely human soul— it wouldn't work while a piece of a demon's soul was still attached to mine. But now that Zorc is gone, doing the spell is a simple matter."
"If you want a body so badly, why try to convince me to help you?" asked Marik. "Why not just take over my body right now, while I have the Ring, the way you always did with Ryou? Then you could just use my body to do the spell. I have no doubt you've already thought of that, since it's pretty obvious."
"Of course I've thought of it," Bakura said. "But if I took over your body forcibly and made you do the spell against your will, I'm sure you wouldn't be too happy with me. And the sad fact is, I don't think I can afford to piss you off too much. Once I have my own body, I'm going to need you to work with me, not against me."
"And why is that?" asked Marik.
"For one thing, if I get you mad enough, you might attack me the instant I was in my own body—and you'd have the Ring, so I'd be basically defenseless against you. Even if you didn't do that, you'd try to keep the Ring from me, and then you'd probably run around telling everyone I was back."
"And you don't want anyone to know you're back?" asked Marik.
"It's the last thing I want," said Bakura forcefully. "Imagine if Yugi and his idiot friends heard that I was back. Do you think they'd just ignore it? They'd come after me and try to start trouble. And as much as you might not believe it, I don't want any serious trouble. I don't want to fight them. I'm fucking sick of fighting them. I never want to see their stupid faces again. I never even want to think about them again. I've spent the last three thousand years struggling and chasing vengeance and being trapped inside a damn piece of gold made from my family's corpses, and now I just want to live my fucking life.But do you really think anyone will let me do that after everything that's happened? What would your sister do if she knew I was back?"
Marik could see his point, and he could understand. "So are you talking about redemption?"
"Fuck no!" Bakura said so loudly that Marik rocked back on his heels. "I'm not sorry for one damn thing I did, and I already told you, I'll never try to be a good little boy like you think you are. I just want to be left alone and to live. That's all."
"So, you're not sorry, and you're not going to try to be good," said Marik contemptuously. "And not only do you want me to do a spell to get you your own body, you also want me to keep this whole thing a secret from everyone. Why would I do that? What would I get out of it?"
"Don't you think I deserve something from you, after all I've done for you?" Bakura's voice was loud, angry, making his ears ring. "Going along with your plan to fool Yugi and his dumb friends? And then risking myself to try to defeat your alternate personality so he wouldn't destroy your soul and kill your family? And you never even gave me the Rod like you promised! I'd say you owe me."
"I don't owe you anything!" cried Marik. "You failed! You lost the duel against my dark side— why should I give you something in return when you didn't actually accomplish anything that benefited me?"
Marik heard a deep growl inside his head. The next time he heard Bakura speak, it was with barely controlled rage.
"Fine, brat. I'll offer you something else, then. I heard you thinking about that tournament that you want to enter. I'll help you get whatever you need to get into the finals— I assume it's like other tournaments, where you have to collect a certain amount of pieces in order to get into the finals."
"Yes, you need eight Isfet Tokens to get into the finals. But how could you possibly help me get those?" asked Marik.
"By doing what I do best. Stealing them, of course," said Bakura.
"You really can't seem to get it through your head that I'm good now. I don't want to get into the tournament by cheating."
"Relax," said Bakura. "Once you got into the finals, you'd be on your own— you could win all the games by yourself without cheating at all. So it would still be a legitimate victory. But wouldn't it be sad if you never even made it to the finals because you couldn't get all the Isfet Tokens you need? Do you really think you have enough time to win them all before the finals start? I do believe you've never actually played in a single Duel Monsters tournament yourself. Your other personality, your mind slaves...but never you. If you're as terrible at dueling as you were at being a criminal, you're in trouble."
"Hey! I'll have you know—"
But the voice in his head cut him off. "Have you ever won a game of Duel Monsters, Marik?"
"Well...no..." Marik admitted sheepishly.
"Then I think you need my help getting those Isfet Tokens," Bakura said. "Of course, you can't steal them yourself since you're so good now, and it would be very bad for your reputation if you got caught. So I'll have to do it for you. I won't get caught or even allow myself to be seen—I'm too good a thief for that."
Marik thought for a moment. He really wanted to win the tournament, and he supposed it wouldn't hurt to have Bakura's help. And besides, what else was he going to do? Throw the Ring away and leave Bakura trapped there for eternity? He didn't think he could bring himself to do that in any case.
"Alright, it's a deal," Marik said finally.
"Nice to be working with you again." There was a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.
"Yeah, just tell me how to do the spell," Marik said. "No sense in waiting, if it's as easy as you say."
Bakura's voice sounded markedly happier as he launched into the details. "Okay, it won't take long at all. The first thing you'll need to do is clear a spot on the floor and draw a scarab. You can draw it with anything. A pen, a pencil, chalk, whatever you have lying around."
"A scarab, huh?" Marik asked with interest. He recognized the meaning of the object. In ancient Egypt, scarabs were the symbol of life restoration.
Marik grabbed the first writing utensil he could find at his desk— a crayon he'd been using to underline major concepts in his school notes— and returned to the kitchen. Briefly, it dawned on him that he'd have to wipe off the crayon from the tile after the spell was complete— which would be an absolute pain— but then he dropped down to the floor with the Ring still in hand and set to work.
He drew the scarab to the best of his ability, letting its round body span from the edge of the fridge to the legs of the kitchen table. When it was complete, he waited for more instructions from Bakura.
"Good," he finally said. "Now, stand in the middle of the drawing and concentrate on my spirit. Make sure you're concentrating on me, so that you don't bring back some other random spirit. Then say these words."
He told Marik the words of the ancient Egyptian spell. Marik felt them on his tongue, acquainting himself with the pulsing, olden magic.
"And you're sure this will work?"
If he could see Bakura, Marik would have guessed that he was standing with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at him for even asking.
"I'm sure."
Marik stood up. His hands tightened around the Ring as he held it close to his chest.
He took a deep breath and focused his gaze on the trail of green crayon underneath his feet. He fixed an image of Bakura in his mind and then began speaking the words that Bakura had told him.
"N pnm t di ankh..." he started, "hsi nu sahk..."
The words were ripped out of his throat, leaving a blazing fire on his tongue. The magic scorched his lips as he finished the spell.
"Ha sahk tah."
And then, with his heart hammering in his chest, he asked Bakura, "Did it work?"
But he received no reply.
AN: Thanks for reading! If you're wondering, the words of the spell are actual ancient Egyptian words, and they do mean something in English. Also! We think we'll have the next chapter out in about a week. Please review and let us know what you think!