Title: A Persistent Shadow (Chapter 25)
Pairing: Ryou Bakura x Yami Bakura
Rating: M
Summary: The Pharaoh uses a spell to force Yami Bakura out of Ryou's body, but unfortunately for Ryou it doesn't work quite as well as intended.
A/N: Since just about everyone was asking who the ghost-child at the end of the last chapter is, I'll just say here that it wasn't meant to be anyone specific. Just another random person, like the other two were. Some people suggested it might be Amane, but I wasn't really thinking that hard about it XD
Ryou prepared himself to wait for a very long time. He glanced over at Marik and was surprised to see him glaring at the floor, almost brooding. "What's wrong?" he whispered, not wanting to upset their captor.
"Nothing," Marik said, sounding frustrated. "It's stupid to think about it now."
"What is it?" Ryou asked. He hoped Marik wasn't still upset about giving in before he had.
"Well, this is my fault, isn't it?" Marik said. "I must have screwed up the exorcism."
"No, actually," Zorc replied. "You performed the exorcism perfectly, and it did exactly what it was supposed to do – it cast the Pharaoh out of the body he was possessing." He laughed. "I simply held on and went along with him. It's amazing what I can do now that I'm fully awake, isn't it?" He tapped the sword against the stone. "I wasted thousands of years trying to get at these items while still half-asleep, and once awakened it only took a matter of months to obtain them all."
"Awakened?" Ryou asked, but the answer immediately dawned on him. "You mean when we called you out of the ring."
"Yes."
"So this really is my fault," Ryou said. He'd already felt guilty enough about being the cause of the Pharaoh's possession. The boy hugged his arm comfortingly.
"You're really all at fault," Zorc said. "But the Pharaoh was the one who came up with the idea and insisted on carrying it out. So, I think we can all blame him for this," he added, smiling broadly. His eyes were rolled back into his head, as though he were looking at the Pharaoh trapped inside him while he said it.
The room fell back into silence. An indeterminate amount of time went by.
Ryou stared at the door to the stairs, wondering exactly how long it had been since Zorc had dragged them down there and tied them up. It felt like no one had said anything in hours, though he doubted it had actually been that long. Not that time really seemed to pass normally in the memory anyway.
He was starting to wonder if the High Priest had managed to defeat the spirit somehow when the spirit appeared in the doorway, having walked down the stairs without making any noise to alert them to his presence. Well, he is a thief, Ryou thought. He wondered exactly what the spirit had done to get away, but in the end decided he might not want to know the answer to that question.
Zorc immediately walked over to Ryou and seized his arm. He hauled him up into a standing position, shaking the boy off him in the process. He thrust Ryou in front of him and held the sword up to his neck. "It took you long enough to get here," he said. "But then, I can't say you've ever been especially quick about accomplishing our goals."
"Heh. You mean about accomplishing your goals," the spirit replied. He eyed the sword impassively, then caught Ryou's eye for a moment.
Ryou tried not to look as scared as he felt.
"Yes... It didn't take long for you to start working against me, did it?" Zorc asked. "But that doesn't matter now. Put the rest of the items in the stone." He pressed the sword closer to Ryou's neck.
"Why should I?" the spirit asked, sounding totally indifferent.
Ryou almost hoped he actually was that indifferent. It was painful to imagine, but at least Zorc wouldn't have any way of coercing the spirit into cooperating.
"Because if you don't," Zorc said slowly, as though talking to someone especially stupid, "I will take this sword..." He held the sword out slightly away from Ryou's body to display it. "And I will use it to slit his throat." He hit the flat part of the blade against Ryou's throat hard, as though to point out what he was referring to. It hurt badly and made Ryou feel like coughing, which he couldn't even do with the sword in the position it was in. He heard a muffled whimper from where the boy had fallen to the floor.
"I don't see how this effects me," the spirit replied, crossing his arms.
"If I kill him, you'll lose your only connection to the physical world," Zorc said. "You'll be left as a wandering spirit for the rest of eternity."
"Yes, but if I give you the items, he'll still die, and I'll still be left a wandering spirit for the rest of eternity," the spirit replied. "Only in that case the rest of eternity will be much shorter."
"You used to find that an appealing thought," Zorc said. He paused before continuing. "If you give me the items, you'll be destroying the Pharaoh and everything he holds dear."
"No, you'll be destroying the Pharaoh," the spirit pointed out. "It's hardly a very personal sort of revenge."
"Once you've given me the items, I'll allow you all the personal revenge you could wish for," Zorc said. Ryou found it odd to hear Zorc promising the destruction of the Pharaoh in the Pharaoh's voice, but then, he supposed it really wasn't any weirder than hearing Zorc talk about what an idiot the Pharaoh was in the Pharaoh's voice.
"For some reason I find myself unable to believe you'll keep your word," the spirit said.
"Suit yourself," Zorc said. "But the items go in the stone either way. Do it now, or I start cutting him up."
Ryou opened his mouth and tried to tell the spirit not to do it, but all that came out was a rough, garbled mess. He stopped trying moments after starting, the attempt to speak too physically painful to continue.
Zorc laughed. "It seems I've already injured him. Maybe I should give him an injury that won't eventually heal this time," he said, lightly rubbing the flat side of the blade against Ryou's neck.
Ryou tried to convey what he meant to the spirit using only his expression, but he didn't know if the spirit got the message. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, I'd rather be injured than give him the items, don't do it, don't do it, don't...
"Don't!" the boy said, echoing Ryou's thoughts with a different target in mind. He stood in front of Ryou and and looked up at Zorc fearfully. "Don't hurt him!"
"I have to," Zorc said. "He won't do what I ask of him." He turned the blade so that the edge was pressed against Ryou's skin.
The boy turned to the spirit. "Give him what he wants!"
The spirit didn't even look at him, though he did scowl after hearing the boy speak. He glared at Zorc, eyes occasionally flitting down to the sword at Ryou's neck. Ryou desperately wished that the spirit could still hear his thoughts just then. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it...
"Well, if that's how it's going to be..." Zorc pressed the blade down, cutting into Ryou's skin.
Ryou closed his eyes tightly, almost certain that he was going to die. But then, there had been plenty of times in the past where he'd been just as certain and had made it out with only a serious injury, so he still had some hope.
After a few agonizing seconds, Zorc pulled the sword away. "Good decision."
Ryou opened his eyes and was horrified to see the spirit walking over to the stone. He tried to protest again – No! – but it was no more effective than the last time.
The spirit stopped when he heard Ryou's distressed sound, but he didn't turn to look. He then continued on until he reached the stone. He put the eye down first, adding the necklace afterward. It was sucked down into the stone with a hiss.
Ryou suddenly felt Zorc jerk at his back as though struggling against an invisible force. Ryou held himself very still, hopeful that the Pharaoh would manage to retake control, but also terrified of the sword waving erratically in front of him.
The spirit paused, watching the fight warily. He gripped the rod as though looking for an opening to attack.
Unfortunately, such an opening never came. The struggle ended, leaving Zorc still in control. "Nice try, but I won't have you ruin everything by breaking free too early," Zorc said. He returned the sword to Ryou's neck and spoke to the spirit. "Now, put the last item where it should be."
The spirit put the rod in the final slot and stepped back. The items all glowed brightly, temporarily blinding everyone in the room. When the light faded, the items appeared to be sealed in the stone.
Ryou waited tensely, expecting something disastrous to happen at any second now that the items were all united in the stone. After a few seconds, he started to doubt what everyone had been saying about the items – wasn't the world supposed to be ending right then? Maybe it couldn't work while they weren't in the real world.
Zorc pushed Ryou forward, walking him over to the stone. He looked over the stone's surface. "Very good," he said. "Now there's only one thing-" Zorc jerked again, violently this time. He stumbled backward, dropping the sword. Ryou immediately dodged sideways, falling to the floor a few feet away, out of his reach. The spirit rushed forward just as Zorc seemed to recover a bit, and the two grappled with each other.
Ryou rolled out of the way and sat up near Marik. The boy hurried over to him, looking at the small, thin cut on his neck. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
Ryou nodded, throat still hurting too much to speak. He turned to the side to show the boy his hands, hoping the boy would understand what he wanted without being told explicitly. The boy knelt down and started tugging on the rope.
The spirit and Zorc were still struggling. They were fairly evenly matched, neither managing to completely overpower the other until Zorc abruptly had another fit, completely losing the ability to defend himself. The spirit slammed him down on top of the stone, grabbing the remaining rope on the cauldron and proceeding to tie his hands and feet into what looked like a very uncomfortable position.
"It won't come undone," the boy whispered to Ryou.
"Try mine," Marik said, holding his hands out behind him.
The boy rushed over to Marik and tried to untie the knot.
Ryou watched Zorc continue to struggle, though whether it was against his bonds or the Pharaoh's attempt to regain control, Ryou couldn't tell. The spirit stood next to the stone, clearly prepared to defend himself against another attack. Eventually the shaking subsided.
"It's alright," Ryou heard the Pharaoh's distinctive voice intone, "He's no longer in control of me."
"How can we know it's really you?" Marik asked. The boy didn't seem to have made any progress on untying him.
"I suppose you can't," the Pharaoh replied softly. "How is Yugi?"
"He's still breathing," Marik told him. "Beyond that I don't know."
The Pharaoh closed his eyes. "Yugi... I'm so sorry..."
"How very heartwarming," the spirit said, not taking his eyes off the Pharaoh. Ryou wasn't sure if it was because he didn't believe the Pharaoh was really in control or because he did believe the Pharaoh was in control and still didn't trust him. "I would never have thought you capable of an apology, not even to your dear friend."
Ryou wished the spirit would leave his position for a few seconds just to get one of them untied. He waved his arms out behind him until the spirit turned to see what he was doing, then looked at the spirit imploringly. The spirit rolled his eyes, then went to retrieve the sword from where it had fallen on the floor. He made as if to walk over to Ryou, but halted in his tracks when the Pharaoh spoke.
"I never thought I would say this, Thief," the Pharaoh said. "But I owe you an apology as well."
"Really?" the spirit said suspiciously. "And what is it that you believe you are apologizing for, exactly?"
"It was a High Priest of Egypt who ordered the destruction of this village," the Pharaoh said. "Even if I didn't have any direct personal responsibility for what happened here, I still owe you an apology on behalf of Egypt."
"Well," the spirit said. "It's good to know that you're willing to give such an apology, despite not having any direct personal responsibility." His tone was overly sweet in a way that Ryou recognized as dangerous. Ryou tried to call out for the Pharaoh to just stop talking, since they already had enough problems right then, but the words stuck in his throat.
Ryou glanced at Marik and saw him cringing. He wondered if the Pharaoh had given him a similar 'apology' for what had happened to him.
"You know, it's the strangest thing," the spirit said, walking back to the stone, sword in hand. "But the first time I told you about what happened to Kul Elna, you didn't even stop to consider that it might be true. Why was that?"
"I still don't have any memories of my past, so I don't know what I was thinking," the Pharaoh said. "But if that's true, I'm sorry I disbelieved you then."
The spirit laughed softly, making Ryou very nervous. "If it's true... if..." The spirit shook his head, laughing again before abruptly stopping. A disturbing smile filled his face. "So, what prompted you to apologize now?" The spirit's grip on the sword tightened until his knuckles turned white.
Ryou tried to say something to distract them, either of them away from the conversation they were having, but it was no good. They'd made through being caught by the ghosts, being confronted by the High Priest, and even held captive by Zorc without anyone being killed, and now that they were almost safe, it looked like the spirit was about to commit murder. Why did the Pharaoh have to choose that moment to give the worst apology he could possibly-?
Ryou frowned. Something didn't seem right about this... It reminded him of the many times the spirit had seemed to be defeated, but had only been biding his time. Fragments of memories echoed through Ryou's head, trying to link up with each other: 'Nice try, but I won't have you ruin everything by breaking free too early.'
"I'm apologizing now because of what I've seen," the Pharaoh told the spirit. "No one deserves this. Not even thieves."
Ryou winced at the Pharaoh's comment, but he was still preoccupied with his own thoughts. Zorc couldn't really have intended for the Pharaoh to regain control all along, could he? How would that help him?
'After I have all the items united together, he can say and do whatever he likes.'
"We aren't thieves!" the boy shouted. He stood up, abandoning his attempt to untie Marik.
"It doesn't really matter," the Pharaoh said. His gaze was fixed on Yugi, so he completely missed the expressions on the faces around him. "Either way, they didn't deserve to have this happen."
"Of course," the spirit said, laughing again. He waved the sword around. "Why would it ever matter what the people of this village were like?"
Ryou didn't like how close that sword was getting to the Pharaoh...
'Once you've given me the items, I'll allow you all the personal revenge you could wish for.'
"It doesn't matter," the Pharaoh replied, not seeming to notice anything off about how the spirit was acting. "That's what I'm saying."
"Oh, I heard you," the spirit replied, eyes wild.
"We still need to be untied," Marik said, looking as uneasy as Ryou felt.
"I'll take care of that later," the spirit said, raising the sword above his head.
'...he'll require a sacrifice... a willing murder or suicide on the part of someone else...'
Stop! Ryou tried to shout. He struggled against the rope binding his hands, managing to pull one partway through the rope looped around his wrist. You'll summon Zorc into the world!
The Pharaoh finally turned his head to see what was going on near him, catching sight of the sword in the spirit's hand. "I see. You may have given up your alliance with Zorc, but you haven't really changed, have you?"
"Oh, but I have," the spirit replied. "I used to want you to have an elaborate death, but I've recently come to the conclusion that simpler is better." He shifted his stance, preparing to plunge the sword down into the Pharaoh's back.
The boy ran to stand between the spirit and the stone, holding his arms out to block the spirit from coming closer. "Don't!"
The spirit backed away slightly, clearly wary of having the boy touch him again. "Get out of my way. I'm about to kill the Pharaoh."
The boy stood his ground. "No!"
The spirit tried to dart around the boy, but the boy kept blocking him, aided by the spirit's obvious desire to avoid touching him. The spirit stopped again, glaring at him. "Our whole family was slaughtered and he's mildly sorry on behalf of Egypt. He only even believes it happened because he was forced to see it."
"But he'll die," the boy said, looking frightened of seeing more death.
"Our whole family," the spirit said, voice growing louder. "To make a trinket for him to wear. To help him rule Egypt." He was yelling now, voice uneven. "And he still thinks he's the one whose opinion matters when deciding who deserves death."
Ryou jumped to his feet, still trying to get his hands loose. One of his hands was halfway through the rope – he just needed to get his thumb past and he would be free.
"You still can't just kill him!" the boy said.
"I can and I will," the spirit declared, feinting to the left before going to the right and bringing the sword down.
"No!" The boy rushed at the spirit, hitting him right in the middle with his whole body. Their forms merged together, a blinding light concealing the spot where they stood. Ryou heard the spirit scream in agony, the sword in his hand clattering harmlessly to the floor. The spirit stumbled backward, then fell to his knees, clutching his head with both hands.
Ryou finally managed to free his hand and immediately rushed over to the spirit.
What the hell just happened?
