The moment I awoke that morning, I felt a chill run through my entire body. It wasn't particularly cold in the room- or, at least, anything I wasn't used to. But still, something felt… off. I wasn't sure where exactly it was coming from, or when I would have felt it in the past, but it felt nostalgic somehow. It was almost as though a sort of dread had swept over me, attempting to warn me of something occurring in my future. Of course, my mind immediately went to the worst-case scenarios that could apply to my situation- there were a variety of choices, after all, and each one seemed to be more of a possibility than the last. But in the end, I ended up exactly as I had begun: completely without a clue as to what the feeling could be warning me about.

For a moment, perhaps out of habit, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the future, praying that some sort of vision would come through. I remembered faintly a time when I had been able to see the immediate future, relying on the help of the millennium necklace. And for a brief moment, I sincerely believed that I could still use it now. But it was a ridiculous idea, considering how long it had been since I had even seen the item. Besides, even when I had given it over to Yugi it had been losing its power, and I had no doubt that even if Mariku had taken it- which, given his new position, he had to have done without hesitation- there was little use left for it. I was blind for the first time in years, and even though I should have grown used to it, I couldn't help but feel almost handicapped without it. Not knowing things was completely new to me, and it made me the slightest bit nervous.

The feeling of unease never fully disappeared, at least in what I assumed to be the couple of hours before Mariku appeared in the doorway. He had been appearing much more frequently since his long absence, sometimes entering my room multiple times a day. He never tried to repeat the conversation we had had that day around a week ago. He never said much at all, actually. When he did speak, he was just as arrogant and condescending as he had been in the past. But he almost seemed tired, leading me to wonder what exactly he was doing when I wasn't with him.

Today when he came in, he looked even more stressed than usual. His hair was sticking out in even more different directions than it normally did, and his eyes seemed a bit duller than last time. He didn't say anything as he approached me, only giving me a harsh glare as he grabbed me by the wrist. I looked up at him, expecting some sort of explanation, but he turned and looked forward, avoiding my gaze completely.

"What are you-"

"Shut up. You're the one who complains about being locked up, so you had better show some fucking appreciation." I paused. He was… letting me out? I was going to see the world outside of this small, cramped room? For a brief moment I was blinded by the possibilities of escape that could present themselves- I would be outside. I would be free. I would never have to deal with Mariku again, I wouldn't be in the dark, I would-

This was Mariku, though. I came crashing back down to reality almost as quickly as I had left it. Mariku was insane; there was no denying that. He had no issues with murder, felt comfortable with taking hostages, and never played by the rules. But while he was impulsive and extreme in his actions, he wasn't stupid. Malik hadn't been stupid, and no matter how Mariku ended up taking my brother's body, a small part of that would have to have come off on him. He had no intentions of letting me run free- that wouldn't serve his purposes at all. There was something he hoped to gain from letting me outside, and I could only shudder at the thought of what it could possibly be.

Mariku yanked on my hand, pulling me forward and onto my feet. I stumbled a bit, but followed behind him. He didn't let go of my wrist, and used his free hand to grab the door knob. But just before he pulled it open, he paused, finally turning back to look at me.

"Don't you dare try to run," he said, his voice low. "If you so much as think about escaping, I won't hesitate to kill you. Understand?" I nodded, just wanting to get outside. I couldn't run. I had known that much from the very beginning- that was how it had always been. But somehow, hearing those words directly from him sent a sharp pang of disappointment through my chest.

Mariku, apparently satisfied by my response, finally turned the knob, opening up the door to the world of light that had evaded me for so long.

Immediately, my eyes started to hurt, and I had no choice but to force them shut- although the lights outside were dimmed, it had been far too long since I had been exposed to this much light, and my eyes simply weren't ready for it. It took close to a minute of slowly blinking my eyes open to be able to get even a short glimpse of my new surroundings. Mariku never stopped pulling me along, moving quickly and purposefully- did he really have some sort of purpose for dragging me out here, like I had feared?

But as my eyes adjusted and I finally got a look at the rest of the place I was being confined in, all thoughts of what could be happening to me faded away in an instant. The place was absolutely stunning. The hallway was built up out of an expensive-looking type of stone, and designs of what I recognized to be pure gold adorned the walls. It looked like a castle- and knowing Mariku's current position over the world, I assumed that it most likely was.

We walked for what felt like around five minutes, neither one of us saying a word to the other. Instead, I entertained myself by admiring my surroundings. I couldn't help but feel slightly in awe of the elegance of the world around me, that I was only just now getting to see.

Finally, we stopped in front of a simple door. Compared to everything else around it, its plainness stood out, as it was nothing more than common wood- nothing that couldn't have been found anywhere else. Mariku looked back at me, his face completely devoid of emotion. Then he opened the door, immediately leading me inside. The door slammed behind us almost ominously- there was no going back anymore..

It was dark, just as my room had been. After finally adjusting to the light, it took my eyes an extra moment to make out even the simplest of shapes.

Mariku sighed impatiently. "Ryou, I thought I told you to light the candles before I got here." My ears perked up. Ryou… the name felt vaguely familiar, although I couldn't entirely remember where I had heard it before.

There were a few small, hesitant footsteps, followed by a voice that I thought I knew from somewhere. Was this Ryou…?

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I'll take care of it right away." I heard the striking of a match, and a small light appeared towards the back of the room. This repeated a few more times, until the majority of the room was visible.

At first, I wasn't paying complete attention to what was around me. I couldn't have been, for it to have taken so long for me to notice the reason that things had felt so wrong all day. I heard Mariku's voice a split second before I finally did see what was going on around me.

"Ryou, leave us alone for a bit. I want it to just be the three of us." And as Ryou ran off after a quick "yes sir," I saw who he meant. Of course the first two of the "three of us" was Mariku and I. That much was obvious. But when I finally processed my surroundings, and I realized who the third person was, it was all I could do not to scream.

Mariku grinned as he noticed my reaction. "I see you noticed, sister. About time- I was getting tired of waiting for you." My entire body shook, and my mouth moved wordlessly. It couldn't be. I had to be seeing things. There was no way that he would still be here. It wasn't possible in the slightest.

"No…" it was all I could bring myself to say. "I… he can't be… he was…"

Mariku laughed harshly. "Sister, you always were the type to make assumptions. Try to remember- did I ever say whether or not I had let him die?"

…It had to be a dream.

"I've been waiting for this day to come for a long time, you know."

…There was no way this could be my reality.

"Are you going to say anything, sister? Aren't you going to greet him?"

…I couldn't.

"Just say his name."

Silence.

"Say it."

I swallowed. My mouth was dry, and couldn't for the longest time form the word I wanted. But somewhere in me, underneath all the fear and confusion that had just clouded over me, there was a small bit of strength that allowed me to get it out.

"…Rishid."

Xxx

Yeah, that's right. I finally updated this thing after ANOTHER longish break, and it ended up being really short. But if you read this far, then you can see why I would find it fun to leave it off where I did. That's right. I finally mastered the art of the cliffhanger. (Well, maybe not. But this is still a step for me.) But the good news about this is that I'm finally on summer break. Which benefits all of you for one reason- I'm going to have more time to write things. At least, I think that's a benefit… I don't really know. But either way, that's how it is. So I'll try to come back to this relatively soon. So until next time, guys. Feel free to actually, you know, review this. It takes as little as five seconds, and makes my day that much brighter.