I actually want to finish this before the month is over. Yeah a MUCH bigger goal than last time. I am confident in finishing it though because the last chapters all occur in the anime, so all I have to do is watch episodes and then interpret to my satisfaction!

I really hope that I did a good job of withholding information. Please let me know if I was too obvious about what was to come at all. Keeping info from readers is defiantly not my strongest aspect, and I will gladly take any advice on how to do it better! :)

Thank you to all who have reviewed/viewed/stuck with me as this story went through some odd times and a re-vamp. You guys are seriously AWESOME.

Onward to chapter 12!

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO.


Chapter 12

Holes and Leaks

Ryou realized that he was still in the Shadow Realm the moment his father got back from his dig in Egypt and started talking to him again roughly a week after Battle City. It wasn't that they didn't talk before, but their typical conversations went along the lines of:

Ryou: Hi, Father. How was Egypt?

Mr. Bakura: Hot and dry. We made progress though. How is school?

Ryou: Good. I made top of the class.

Mr. Bakura: That's nice. What do you want for dinner?

Ryou: I can make miso soup.

Mr. Bakura: Sounds okay.

However, when Ryou's father showed up this time, their conversation went more like this:

Mr. Bakura: Ryou! How was the tournament? Did you win?

Ryou: Erm… it went okay. I lost against Yugi early on and then I dueled my friend Malik for fun.

Mr. Bakura: Such a shame. You'll get them next time!

Ryou: Erm… thanks. How was Egypt?

Mr. Bakura: Hot and dry, but still it went really well. We managed to dig up another unknown pharaoh from the Valley of the Kings.

Ryou: That's fantastic news.

Mr. Bakura: It really is! We're going to have one of the experts take a look and see if we can figure out who they are. How has school been going?

Ryou: Good for the most part. I made top of the class again.

Mr. Bakura: Congratulations! That's so exciting! We should celebrate and go out for dinner. Where would you like to go?

Ryou: Uh… there is a little noodle shop a few blocks away that looks good.

Mr. Bakura: Alright! We'll leave in ten minutes!

Ryou's apprehension continued to grow for a few more days before he finally asked his father about his sudden happy demeanor.

"Father," Ryou knocked softly on the door of the guest room where his father usually lived when he came home from digs; he never stayed longer than a month in Japan before having to head back.

His father looked up from a book and took his reading glasses off. "Yes, Ryou? Come on in."

Ryou hesitantly walked in the room, standing at the foot of the bed. He could either start by accusing his father—a small part of him wanted to, but he knew he was raised better than to yell at an adult—or he could tread carefully. He went with the latter. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"What do you mean?" his father put the book down, some biography about an archeologist, and sat up.

"Well," Ryou chose his words carefully, "you seem awfully… chipper as of late."

"Nothing wrong with that," his father chuckled lightly. "Son, is something bugging you?"

The British teen sighed and folded his hands. "You've just haven't been this happy since…" he trailed off and looked at his father.

He nodded, understanding where his son was going. "I know. But this past dig…" he smiled at no one in particular. "It really opened my eyes. It's been over ten years. I still have a son to raise and I've done a terrible job of doing so. Being in the desert for months on end without any family can be very lonely. So I've decided to take a bit of a break and attempt to be a father again." He got off the bed and put his hands on Ryou's shoulders. "All we have is each other. And you graduate in a little over a year. I know it will be nearly impossible to make up for all those years I deserted you, but I can try, right?"

Ryou opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was speechless. This was… not like his father at all. His father, for as long as Ryou could remember, never let go of things. Ryou once did poorly on a test and his father never let him forget about it. He had vague memories when he was little about his parents arguing over his mother quitting her job to be a stay at home mom. Ryou's dad wanted her to continue modeling, but she wanted to raise her family. They argued over this until the accident.

And now… he suddenly wanted to forget about the death of his wife and daughter and move on with life? This wasn't Ryou's father. Not at all. But Ryou couldn't let him know that he was on to him.

"Thank you, Father," Ryou said, tears pricking at his eyes.

His "dad" smiled at him and they hugged for a time. Ryou released his "father," grinned at him, and walked out, his face falling, a very rare and black looking darkening his face.

So this is war Shadow Realm, he thought.

He'd never admit it later, but the times he was alone in the fake real world, he channeled his darker half.

:::^:::

About a week and a half passed before Ryou's suspicions were confirmed.

School was all and well. His friends seemed normal. Besides his "father's" oddness, everything was normal.

Except for the Spirit had remained dormant the entire time.

Ryou was relieved at first, but the inactivity of his dark then started to worry Ryou. From what he could remember, the longest he went without the Spirit possessing him after he revealed himself to Ryou was four months, but that was seven years ago. Now he was lucky to go a week. But it had been over two weeks and the most he heard was a door open and close. Ryou's curiosity and worry steadily grew until one day he decided to do something he had never dared before: visit the Spirit in his soul room.

There was an unwritten rule that Ryou was not to disturb the Spirit—not that Ryou ever wanted to—but desperate times called for desperate measures.

So one day after school he went to a quiet part of the local park near his apartment, closed his eyes, and entered his soul room.

The last time he was in it, it was pitch black; the only thing visible was a clock on a wall. However, now everything was visible, he couldn't stop the small smile from crossing his lips.

The room was neat and tidy, not plastic looking, but cleaned on a regular basis. Awards of good grades and other achievements hung on the walls. One wall was lined with bookcases filled with books about everything from gaming to Harry Potter. Another wall had a cabinet filled with game boards, cards, dice, and his favorite games. The carpet had dark blue swirls intermixing with light blue swirls. The walls were painted a light cream color. He looked through an open window with white curtains lazily swaying in a summer wind. Countryside with rolling hills and a small village met his eyes. He gasped.

"England," he breathed.

He turned and almost bumped into a huge RPG table that stood in the middle of the room. A desk with papers and pictures of his current friends and friends from the past strewn across the surface was pushed in a corner: the only messy part of the room. A cozy microfiber couch was flush against the desk and wall. A simple, but comfortable bed was on the opposite side.

"So this is what it looks like," Ryou said, walking over to the desk and ruffling through the papers and pictures, smiling here are there as familiar faces grinned up at him. He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing himself one moment of peace before opening the door of his soul room and peering out.

The hallway between his soul room and the Spirit's was dark, only lit from Ryou's open door. He looked both ways, the hallway seeming endless on both sides, but he knew that if he walked either way it would circle back. He rotated his head to straight across and swallowed. The Spirit's door was gold, embedded with rubies and sapphires and diamonds all entwined in an Ancient Egyptian design; it was beautiful.

"Perfect for a thief," Ryou took a breath and reached out, knocking twice on the door.

It seemed like forever passed before the door slowly opened. The Brit inhaled sharply, shocked that he was actually going to be allowed in the Spirit's soul room. A key materialized in his hand—the key to his room—and he pulled his door shut before walking across the hall and pushing the Spirit's cracked door open.

The room looked like a pharaoh's throne room. There was treasure and gold everywhere from every era. Hundreds of intricate clay pots sat haphazardly in the far left corner. A throne, cracked and broken, sat in the middle of the room. Six square pillars stood parallel to each other in lines, two next to Ryou, two next to the throne, and two behind. Columns of fire lined the walls. Ryou looked up and gasped, dark shadows and Duel Spirits floating forty feet above his head. Quiet sniffling caught his attention and he looked at the opposite corner of the pots. A little boy with short white hair and a ruined tunic crouched in the corner, his back to Ryou. A shred of pity tore Ryou's heart and he slowly walked toward the crying child.

"Hullo," he said softly, "are yo—"

"How did you get in here?"

Ryou froze mid-step and fear replaced his pity. Cautiously, he turned and his heart sank to the deepest pits of Hell as his eyes connected with the furious blood red pair of his darker half.

"How the bloody-fucking-hell did you get in here?!" He demanded again.

"Th-the door," Ryou stammered. "You opened it."

"I did no such thing."

"I knocked," Ryou continued, his voice meek. "I knocked and the door opened."

Bakura's eyes flashed to the child in the corner. "Did you open the door?"

The boy, either ignoring Bakura or unaware that he was being addressed, continued crying and didn't turn.

"Akefia." He barked.

The boy, as well as Ryou, flinched and turned, his startling light lavender eyes filled with fear and a deep sadness. He hesitated for an instant then nodded.

Bakura stormed over and grabbed the boy by his hair and pulled him up. "Why in Ra's name did you let him in? I told you to never open the door!"

Akefia whimpered something incoherent and Bakura pulled harder, the boy crying out.

"I was lonely and you're always mean to me!"

"Well you're a little shit."

Akefia's face scrunched up in fury and he spat on Bakura's face. Bakura's eyes widened, but he just threw the boy to the ground and wiped his cheek. Akefia resumed crying. Bakura then whipped around to Ryou and growled, but let his head fall back before sighing, "You might as well stay while you're here."

Ryou blinked. "Wh-What?"

"Quit that stuttering," Bakura snapped. "There is…" He groaned and stomped over to the throne, sitting carelessly on it, throwing one leg over the side. "This is just a mess."

The Spirit's mood swings threw Ryou. It wasn't that he has never been moody before, it was just the manner in which he was doing it.

"...What is going on?" Ryou asked hesitantly. "Why did you call him," Ryou pointed to the little boy, "Akefia and why is that name familiar? And why haven't you kicked me out yet? And when did you start using such coarse language?"

Bakura blinked slowly and huffed. "That bastard shadow demon tricked us. I called him Akefia because that is his name. I don't know why you recognize it. I haven't kicked you out because I have some questions of my own. And you have to keep with the times, yadonashi." He grinned menacingly at Ryou and the Brit shifted anxiously.

"Since you are aware that we were tricked," Ryou asked, "are you still an apparition?"

"No. I am but a small part of the true Bakura. The main part of me is still lost in the maze."

"How—"

"Uh-uh," Bakura interrupted. "My turn for questions. How did you sense my presence? Usually the small fragments of the main part aren't sensed."

"In the blimp when I put the Millennium Ring on I heard the door open and close."

"Ah," Bakura tapped his pointer finger to his lips. "That must have triggered the soul room to reset."

"Reset?"

"I'm not an idiot," Bakura stated blatantly. "Just as I was about duel Marik I made a failsafe in your mind just in case. It was only to trigger if anything in the Shadow Realm that resembled a Millennium Item came in contact with you."

"Why?"

"Because I knew that someone would be messing with you if you came in contact with anything that seemed like a Millennium Item."

"And why this care about me?"

Bakura, who was examining his fingernails while answering, slid his eyes to meet Ryou's and looked at him darkly. "You should know I am very possessive of my property."

Ryou narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"What exactly is the trap that Azazel set for us?" Bakura inquired.

"It looks like I'm back in the real world," Ryou stated. "But there are some major glitches. He didn't do a very good job creating the mirage."
"Examples." Bakura demanded.

"Dad. His character is off."

"How? Oh, just come here."

Ryou jerked forward, but stopped. "Why? Can't you see what's going on?"

"No. We don't have the Ring, so I can't see the outside world. I'm trapped in here. Whenever you hear the door open and close, that's me trying to get out. Obviously it's been relentless, but this part of me is stubborn."

"I can think of a few other adjectives," Ryou muttered.

"You have quite a lip today," Bakura curled his lip. "Just because I'm being civil right now doesn't mean I will be in the next minute."

Ryou swallowed and walked forward. Bakura sat up in the throne and touched his middle and pointer fingers to Ryou's temples. Ryou stiffened.

"What are you doing?" he asked cautiously.

"Calm down," Bakura rolled his eyes. "I'm seeing what you've done since you walked through the portal. It won't hurt." He closed his eyes and the Eye of Horus glowed briefly on his forehead before flickering out. Bakura pulled his fingers away and crossed his arms. "There. Painless. And now I'm all caught up."

"How were you able to do that?"

"You two are connected."

Ryou and Bakura both turned their head to Akefia, who had stopped crying and was looking curiously at them.

Bakura's eyes flashed and he glared at the little boy. "Don't say another word."

"But maybe he can save you!" Akefia yipped.

"Be quiet."

"Maybe he could save us!"

"I said," Bakura swiftly got up and rushed the boy, covering his mouth and grabbing his hair again, "be quiet."

Akefia's expression changed to anger and he tried to kick Bakura in the shin. The Spirit expected that and picked up the little boy and swung him over his shoulder.

"Nice try," he growled and walked over to one of the piles of treasures. He kicked gold, silver, gems, and precious jewelry aside to reveal a trap door. He skillfully opened it with his foot and threw Akefia into it. "I'll let you out when you learn how to keep your mouth shut." He spat into the trap door.

"I know how to get out of here!" Akefia's annoyed voice echoed from below.

"We'll see," Bakura said ominously. He whistled and a vapor of shadows shot down from above, clearing to reveal Dark Necromancer. He smirked at the Duel Spirit and she blinked back. "Guard him." He slammed the door shut, shoved treasure over it and walked back to the throne, once more lounging in the chair.

"What did he mean by 'us'?" Ryou asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"None of your business," Bakura rumbled.

Ryou, feeling oddly brave after seeing this offbeat bipolar version of the Spirit who was strangely calm around Ryou instead of cruel and indifferent, pressed anyway. After hearing the interactions between Bakura and different parties, he had formed his own theories and wanted to test them.

"But the name Akefia seems familiar…" he continued.

"It shouldn't." Bakura warned.

"I remember!" Ryou ran to the door and opened it. "I'll be right back!" He unlocked his soul room and ran to the desk, rummaging through the papers until he found an old piece of parchment he vaguely remember seeing when he was young. He ran back out, closing the door behind him, and rushed back into Bakura's soul room. He ran up to the throne and showed his dark the parchment.

"Right here!" he exclaimed, pointing to the parchment. "It talks about Ancient Egypt when Shadow Magic was still used and about a thief named Akefia."

Bakura looked down at the parchment and slowly, he began to laugh. It was a terrifying, heart-chilling sound, cold and meaningless. A chill ran down Ryou's back.

"Oh, I was so careless when I first found you," he was still smiling, a harsh and sharp grin. "Too careless." He turned to Ryou. "Do you know what that is written in?"

Ryou shook his head.

"Look again."

He did so, and Ryou's jaw dropped as the English words morphed to hieroglyphics. "H-how—?"

"I was so careless," Bakura interrupted, still smirking but strangely composed. "I can't believe I let that slip." His eyes widened and he snapped his head behind the throne. Ryou looked as well, and little Akefia was leaning against one of the golden pillars, a small and mildly familiar sneer on his face.

"You." Bakura snarled. He whipped to Dark Necromancer. "You were supposed to be guarding him!"

She shrugged and yawned before disappearing in an explosion of shadows.

He groaned and once more looked behind to Akefia. "You leaked information."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Ryou suddenly realized that all the conversations Akefia and his dark had were in Ancient Egyptian, but he could still understand them.

"You're why he can understand our conversation," Bakura stated as if reading Ryou's mind. "Why he can read hieroglyphics and speak my language. Why he recognizes your name, and all the little realizations he had in the past." Bakura got up and his Shadow Aura, dark and menacing, pulsed around him.

"The opening and closing of the door wasn't always you," Akefia replied.

"When did you do it?"

"When you possessed the boy," Akefia said, speaking like he was older than Ryou though he didn't look older than seven. "That's when you let your guard down the most."

Bakura closed his eyes and breathed a small "oh."

"I'm surprised you didn't catch on earlier."

"Well I suppressed him, didn't I?" Bakura said cockily. "How was he going to be able to read any of the information you slipped when he was in the dark?"

"I wasn't talking about then," Akefia continued. "I'm talking about when he confronted you in the Shadow Realm and after his Shadow Magic was released."

"Other things were on my mind," Bakura said distractedly.

Akefia scoffed. "Are you telling me that you didn't notice? And you claim to be so observant."

Bakura's Shadow Aura pulsed more violently.

"What are you going to do? Beat me again? Pull my hair? Throw me in the trap door?" Akefia shook his head. "You're just hurting yourself. Stop resisting."

"Don't you see?" Bakura walked forward. "We are so different. You're just a past reflection. I'm now. I'm me."

"No," Akefia insisted. "You're warped. And not this small sadistic part of you. All of you. You're a host, and I'm what's left of the true self."

Tense silence, heated and eclectic, fell. The two started at each other and Bakura suddenly seemed to remember that Ryou was in the room. "Get out."

"But—"

"GET OUT!" he bellowed and a shadow flew from his foot and shoved Ryou out the door, closing and locking it behind him. He pressed his ear against the door but heard nothing. Confused, shaken, and scared, Ryou left his soul room and returned to his body, leaving with more questions than he entered with.

:::^:::

For the next two weeks Ryou went with the motions. He and his "dad" started doing stereotypical father-son things like going to sporting events and camping. When summer vacation started, he attended Duel Monsters tournaments and his "father" attended every one. It was off and wrong, but a part of Ryou liked this version of his dad.

His "friends" were the most normal out of everything. Azazel must have done his homework in that department because they were spot on. They hung out together and even once became suspicious of the Millennium Ring and Bakura's lack of activity. Ryou obviously didn't tell them about the odd encounter with his dark, so he made up that he'd been remaining dormant and probably planning nothing good. They bought it with no hesitation and life continued.

However, there were glaring glitches with the trap. Ryou from time to time would catch glimpses of his Shadow Aura while doing random tasks or dueling. The night sky always seemed to look like it was breathing. Sometimes streets just ended but cars would drive to and from places.

The one thing that was actually physically his and not a mirage was his deck. Knowing that he had his physical cards gave him a sort of comfort, but they were also indicators that he was still in the Shadow Realm. Once while dueling, he put his Lady of Faith on the field and she turned and gave him a pitying look. Other times his monsters would sometimes ignore him when they were summoned during a duel. Dark Necromancer was especially sassy.

It was about two and a half months living like this before Ryou couldn't take it anymore. It was wrong. Everything was so damn wrong. He felt alone and missed his friends. He missed walking aimlessly in the Shadow Realm with Malik, telling embarrassing stories and hopes for the future. He'd rather be lost than trapped in a cage. He even missed the Spirit. He tried once more knocking on Bakura's soul room door, but no one answered. So Ryou decided to take matters in his own hands.

"Hey Father," he said one day.

"Yes?"

"Can I take a trip to Egypt? I want to see an old friend."

"Isn't this a bit sudden?" his "father" replied. "Does he know your coming?"

Ryou smiled. "I thought I'd surprise him."

Ryou's "father" thought that was a splendid idea and booked a flight the next day.

The reason he wanted to go to Egypt was because he knew in the real world it was the most Shadow Magic heavy. If Azazel wanted to keep true to his maze—well, sorta true anyway—then that aspect should still be true. And he needed a fresh image of Malik's face if he was going to Shadow Travel directly to him.

Egypt in the fake world was much different than the actual country. For one, the sand had a grey-ish tint and everyone, everyone, wore turbans.

"Malik" was very surprised and very happy to see Ryou. He and his siblings were very welcoming and opened their house up to Ryou. "Malik" seemed much happier—which was something that Ryou did believe would happen once they got out—about almost hyperactive. After two days of lying low, getting tours of the Cairo, and catching up, Ryou went through with his plan.

"You wanna play a game of Duel Monsters for fun?" Ryou asked at 2:30 A.M. on day three.

"Are you kidding?" "Malik" said. "I haven't played in ages! Of course!"

A few turns passed and Ryou was kicking "Malik's" ass.

"You're lack of playing is showing!" Ryou laughed.

"I know!" "Malik" sighed. "This is really embarrassing."

"Well then," Ryou smirked as he pulled the card he'd been waiting for, "then you're going to be beet red with this move!" In a flurry of shadows and crackle of light, Ryou brought the Dark Door card to life. The door opened and he imagined Malik's face bright and clear in his head. The door folding in on itself and a rip was in place of the door.

"Yes!" Ryou shouted and ran toward the rip. Something caught his ankle and he fell to the ground. He turned over and "Malik" looked confused and mildly angry.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Ryou kicked him away and reached to the hole, grabbing on the rip and pulled himself up. The puzzled face of Malik and a mirror image of himself equally confused looked back at him. It was his friend. His actual friend. He could've cried, but there wasn't enough time.

"MALIK!" he howled, fear and anger in his voice. "That isn't me! We're still in the Shadow Realm! Spirit was right! Azazel tricked us! Help m—" he was cut off when a tanned hand flew over his face and pulled him backwards. He landed with a "thud" and looked up at "Malik" who briefly looked through the portal.

"Ryou," he scolded. "You can't just go and try to shadow travel places!" He looked back at where the rip was, but the portal closed. He sighed and glanced back at Ryou. "Especially someone who is in the middle of a duel! That's just rude!"

Ryou breathed heavily and smiled, glad that now, if Malik hadn't known before, did now, and because his plan, though not a total success, worked. "Sorry," he apologized. "I just thought I'd play a trick."

"What was all that yelling about to those two people?" "Malik" asked.

"I said it was a trick," Ryou continued. "I thought I'd scare you. Did it work?"

"Malik" nodded. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

Ryou smiled.


Okay this chapter ended up being way longer than I thought it was going to be because things went in a totally different direction, so I split it up into two different chapters. I'm posting this one now and hopefully the other one should be up either tonight or tomorrow.

For the record, my headcanon is that Ryou's mother worked as an albino model while in college and a bit while Ryou was little until Amane was born.

Also, the hallway between the soul rooms is narrow enough that you can knock on the opposite door while standing in the doorframe.

Review?

Over and out,

Mahersal