Floating aimlessly down a stream of pitch darkness.
It felt relaxing, calming. His eyes were closed, his arms by his sides. The peace was wonderful. There was no curiosity about how he got here, no wonder as he travelled further down. His mind was clear of thoughts, of worries, of fear. Ryou enjoyed this feeling, of calm and silence.
Suddenly, muttering cut through the black. Fear, panic, pain. The once relaxing surroundings filled with the crackling of whispers, of judgement and of pain. Where was he? Why was he here? What was going on?
The world around him started to crumble, beams of white light peaked through the constantly breaking walls, screams, moans, terror was heard, and panic surged through Ryou's mind.
He awoke with a gasp, shooting himself up as quick as he could, breathless. The loud pants grew softer, and he slowly calmed. Just a dream...just a horrible dream
Taking a look at his surroundings brought another strike of fear, as his memories from the night before returned.
Yuugi and the others, had tried to lure Bakura. He had been the bait, though Yuugi had been far too polite to say it, but it wasn't Bakura no...not the Spirit of the Millennium Ring that haunted his every waking moment. It was a man, with chaotic blonde hair and bright, manic eyes that caused the shadows to surround him. That knocked his friends back and took him away. It was all he was able to remember before the world turned black.
Oh no, the others! He hoped they were okay. This was all his fault, Bakura was his dark half, he should be the only one suffering, not his friends, the ones who took him in, and protected him, helped him heal. Poor Yuugi would be feeling guilty, he knew the young man well enough to know he would be filled with guilt. Oh if only he could tell him it wasn't his fault. No one expected there would be another person involved, and not one so ridiculously strong.
The sound of the door opening caught his attention, and he turned to see a young man, about his age slip in quietly. He knew that face, Marik! So that...the one who kidnapped him had to be Marik's dark-half. He remembered now, that's why he seemed so familiar.
"Ah, you're finally awake. Don't worry, I'm here to help. We are both in the same situation right now, Ryou...isn't it?" Ryou gave a weak nod, and Marik sighed.
"Malik...My Darker half, who has not only stolen my life but has now decided to take on a version of my name, is the one who kidnapped you. They're working together. Your dark-half and mine, as well as the Thief from the time of the Pharaoh.
"Bakura's former self?" Ryou frowned, that was...that actually made sense. Atemu was here, why wouldn't...Akefia? Was it, something Egyptian anyway.
Marik gave a soft nod, staying by the door. "They have a plan, to take control of the world, which is actually predictable. But they want to use the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle to do it. I don't know their full plan, but I have heard them talking. I want to warn you, be careful around them. They're far more sadistic than they used to be. Just...ok?"
The whitette nodded, and Marik sighed. "Right okay, one of them will be coming to check on you soon"
"Most likely Bakura" They both said at once, and Ryou sighed, wrapping his arms around himself.
"Okay, I'll...thank you for telling me Marik, be safe yourself. I can't imagine living here is pleasant."
"Keep your head down and out of trouble, and they tend to ignore you. That's my advice."
With that the blonde slipped out of the room again, and Ryou hugged himself tighter. Back to hell. No rest for the wicked after all. What on earth had he done to deserve this torture? He had been kind, honest, friendly. He had given up his time to help people, worked...oh no, his work! They would fire him for sure. He didn't want to put them out of staff...
Did he hear himself? Worrying about Yuugi, worrying about his work. When he should be worrying about himself. Stuck in this room until the monster that haunted his sleep, and his every waking moment was lurking outside this room, doing, planning god knows what. He was back to square one, back with the being that had been apart of his life for so long, the darkness that killed his family, that removed him from the world, and forced him into isolation. Bakura seemed to like making him seem weak, and without friends or family to comfort him...
The sound of the door caused him to jump, before in walked the spirit...demon...man he had been dreading to see. It had been three blissful years of peace and quiet, no whispers, no threats, no shutting him away. Yet here he was, the cruel, heartless, monster that ruined his life.
"Ryou~" His voice was sickening, he felt like he was going to faint. Why? Why did he deserve this?! He clutched the sheets tighter.
"I have missed you, did you miss me? I don't doubt you did. What with you being so helpless and lost without me. I was wondering, all that time in the shadow-realm, how did you manage to stay alive, without me constantly having to guide you? No matter, I am back now, we do not need to worry about you being all alone any more. Or pathetic, as you tend to be."
Ryou winced at the insult. Backhanded compliments, polite words filled with threats. There was no doubt, this was Bakura.
"You have your own body now, how does that feel?" Ryou tried to sound uncaring, as he glanced the man up and down.
"No need to share with a host, no need for a host at all. Which brings forward the question, what do you want with me Bakura?"
Bakura's grin grew wider, as he stepped further into the room. Circling Ryou, arms behind his back, eyes never leaving the younger. He was like a hawk, circling it's prey, assessing the situation. With a soft click of his tongue and a gleam in his eye, he closed the gap between them, and Ryou couldn't help but flinch.
"Well, where else would I get my fun. You know this place better than me, you know the workings, the lives of people, you have your ordinary, boring, simple hopes and dreams. I figured I could take them from you, and bring you back to reality. Did you forget the promise you made to me long ago, when you were just a child, with no friends, no company, just the voice in your head?"
Ryou looked to the bed, gripping his arm tightly. "We'll always be there for each other. You promised never to leave me alone, to always be beside me. At the time I thought we were making a promise of friendship. You're no friend Bakura, you're a monster, a demon. WHY ARE YOU BACK?!"
The yell caught Bakura by surprise, and he stepped back instinctively. Ryou did not wait, pushing himself up with all the strength he could manage, and slammed at Bakura's chest, causing the other to get knocked back slightly.
A switch clicked, Bakura swept Ryou from the floor, slamming him brutally against the wall.
"Don't forget little host, I'm in my own body now, I am far stronger than you, I have the advantage. You do not wish to make me your enemy Ryou. You know what happens to my enemies."
The younger scrambled at Bakura's hand, trying to claw him off his throat, gasping for air when he could.
"P...please Bakura, o...okay...I...I'm sorry" He whimpered, and gasped as he was dropped roughly to the ground.
And just like that, he was back to smirking. Like another switch had went off. Bakura's emotions had always been sudden and unexpected, but of course he was in a body now, they'd switch like rapid fire.
"Promise me you will never leave me, and I'll think about sparing your friends a visit" Bakura smirked, kneeling down beside Ryou.
"We'll be together forever Ryou, just promise me you'll never try to escape. You could spare me from torturing Yuugi, hurting that wretched Pharaoh, so many delicious ideas come to mind. But you can stop them all so easily"
"Fine" Ryou let out a breathe of air, rubbing his neck softly.
"Fine, I'll stay with you, I...I wont leave you again. BUT you have to promise you wont harm them" He wouldn't give in entirely, but he couldn't let his friends get hurt. And this was if he tried to escape, still nothing stopping him from being rescued...if they cared that much. A hopeful dream, but they wouldn't go through all that trouble to become his friend, just to abandon him in his time of need. He trusted them, he needed to start believing in them more. They're his friends.
"Deal~" Bakura sneered, before turning on his heel.
"Oh I should tell you, we have three people staying with us. You have already met the man that kidnapped you, Malik. We have his light-half Marik here as well, just ignore him, he does not talk much, well he never talks to me, not that I am complaining. As well as those two we have Akefia, some how the... whatever it is, brought him back here as well. Not sure how, or why. But I am not complaining, he is rather quiet, but does what I tell him to do. Scared of the Spirit of the Millennium Ring and what not."
Ryou pushed himself up clumsily the minute Bakura stopped hovering over him. Was he to follow, was he to stay here? He decided to follow, sticking to Bakura as the door to the main room was pushed open. He could see Marik lingering beside Malik, who had his eyes closed resting on a chair.. The light was brighter in the main room, and he noticed a rather large bruise covering Marik's eye. That looked...painful.
He assumed it was Akefia at the table over at the other side of the room, sharpening one of many knives that lay in front of him.
"Sleeping beauty is awake" Bakura smirked, and Malik opened one eye lazily.
"Hmm, yes finally. I thought my magic may have been too powerful for him. I did not mean for him to be asleep for that long. He is a pretty thing, is he not? I can see why you are fond of him Bakura."
Bakura nodded, turning to look at Ryou. "Hmm, I guess so. He looks like me, so I can't really tell. I mean softer features of course. But oh well, he has promised not to fight back. So that is the main thing"
"I can see you have already scared him with some good old fashioned violence" Malik pointed to the bruising beginning to form on Ryou's neck. Ryou was able to glance in a mirror, but kept quiet about it. So these were the monsters behind everything. Just the thought of Marik having to put up with them for, as long as he had was terrifying.
He glanced over to Marik, who was looking in the other direction at something. Well, they were trapped together anyway. Whether that was a good thing or not he had no clue.
"Akefia, come meet our new guest. This is Ryou, the Millennium Ring holder of this era. Looks like you, does he not?" Akefia lifted himself from his chair, walking over to the pair of them.
"He would fetch a high price with slave traders, which is a good thing. He could bring in a lot of money."
Bakura shook his head, giving a soft sigh.
"I have explained this to you already. We are not in your era any more. We do not sell people for money, well some people do, but I am not sure how profitable it is. Everything works differently in this time. Besides, I would rather no one get his hands on Ryou, he belongs to me"
Akefia frowned. But shrugged. "I still think the money would be worth more. I mean unless he can clean and cook. I mean what is the point in looking pretty if you do not have any other talents?"
Malik gave a soft chuckle, pushing himself up. "I think looking pretty is very good. Having someone to stare at all day would make my life so much more interesting."
"You have your Hikari, leave Ryou alone Malik." Bakura still didn't trust him, or like him particularly, but he did stick to his promise. So maybe he could be trusted. There was no way he was letting his guard down though.
Ryou had kept quiet, examining Akefia closely. This was the Thief King? He was definitely intimidating. Cold, and quiet. That scar across his eye, the shocking contrast between his skin and the white hair. Though he was very familiar to him, for some reason. He had seen him somewhere before, he was sure of it.
Akefia glanced over to him and he looked away quickly, causing the other man to smirk. He saw him, oops. He had to be more careful around here. With Bakura threatening him...he rubbed his neck at the thought of that, and Akefia...well he didn't know how Akefia acted, and what he was supposed to do around him. Was he similar to Bakura? He had no idea.
"Anyway back to the matter at hand. We have your precious Hikari out of there, now we deal with the Pharaoh" Malik snarled, standing up.
"But you promised not to hurt my friends!" Ryou gasped, and Bakura turned to him.
"The Pharaoh doesn't have 'friends'. He is a stuck up, selfish, royal bastard who is only happy when he sees things going his own way. I bet if he had to choose between his 'friends' or that precious Hikari of his. He would give you all up in an instant"
Ryou shook his head, Atemu wouldn't do that. Atemu had helped him, and the others. They would work together, he trusted he would...or would he.
Those two always stayed close to Yuugi, true they were friendly, but their main priority was Yuugi, you could tell by the way they stuck by his side, helping him with things and...well they didn't really go out on their own. Either with each other, talking about one thing or another, or with Yuugi.
"You think I am right, do you not~" Bakura purred, everyone was looking at Ryou, even Akefia raised an eyebrow as he watched the internal struggle.
No...Ryou was in shock. Bakura...was Bakura right? Well obviously, he noticed it. They all had, everyone in the house. Atemu and Yami, though very nice, were only friends because of Yuugi. A conversation he had with Joey once, walking to University, had brought that to light. Not that they minded. Yami and Atemu were part of Yuugi, of course they would be closer to him.
But that meant, Akefia and Bakura...were part of Ryou...did that mean he have to be closer to them? The way they all acted when they were together. They just worked so well off each other. When Yami or Atemu was in the room, Yuugi relaxed immensely, he wasn't as stressed looking. They had an aura about them...that just showed how close they were to one another. Ryou sometimes wished for that connection to someone.
Bakura's smirk had grown wider as Ryou nodded softly.
"Why are you telling me this? Atemu doesn't have to consider me his friend, I consider him mine!" But the doubt was still there, should he? Should he give a damn about them if they didn't give a damn about him. No, no that was Bakura talking, Bakura was trying to manipulate him, turn him against his friends, leave him with no one to rely on...it happened last time, he would do it again with ease.
"But when have I ever lied to you Ryou? Everything I ever told you was the truth. You know that, you witnessed it yourself. I saw your life through your eyes remember, no one else's"
He was panicking, he had to calm down. He had to focus, to remember what Yuugi and his friends taught him. He was strong, he was brave. It was easy enough to fight against Bakura's manipulation, he just had to want to.
But did he want to? He had relied on Bakura for so long, it would be...easier, to let him take control, let him make the rules. Bakura was wise, true dangerous and terrifying, but he wasn't stupid. He kept them both safe for so long, he knew what to do.
"I am not going to let you hurt them Bakura, you promised. As long as I listen to you, and do what you say, and not try to escape. You are not allowed to hurt them. You said you never lie, we made a deal, you have to stick to it" Ryou had no idea where that surge of confidence came from, but he wasn't going to back down now. At least to protect Yuugi and the others, he had to protect them from this monster.
"Fine, Ryou. Have it your way, but you do whatever I say. The minute you break, or fail, then I get to do whatever I want to your precious friends. First of all, you need to tell me what you know about the Millennium Items." Bakura glanced over to Malik, who rolled his eyes but gave a quick nod. They would have to plan something else. Not that it mattered, they needed the Pharaohs magic, they could find a way not to hurt him.
"Why do you want to know? The Pharaoh said there was no magic left in the items. They are in Ishizu's care anyway, and well guarded, I doubt you could take them" The younger man crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. Bakura could still hurt him, but he wasn't giving him the pleasure of being an obedient little Hikari like he had been in the past.
"That's all I know though. I've never seen the ring since the last time you were around. Not that I would want anything to do with that wretched thing any more."
Bakura rolled his eyes, and shrugged. "Just curious. No reason for alarm, also how many people live in that house with you?" this caused Ryou to raise an eyebrow. Well, he knew they all lived together anyway. Shouldn't he know who was all there?
"Eight of us." He didn't like having to give this information. He had to remember not to give details, just answer questions with basic answers. The less information he could get out of him, the better.
"Well this interrogation seems to be going nowhere. Your Hikari is rather stubborn. Why don't you just beat him up and force him to do as you say" Malik stood up with elegance, and Ryou flinched.
"Unlike you, I think there are other ways to get my point across, Malik. I don't want to cause a fight. Me and Ryou settle our differences quite well, and violence only happens when he is...hopelessly uncooperative. Just because I came from the Darkness of the Ring, does not mean I am pure evil. I have some decorum. Fighting with words and wit is far better than fighting with fists. Besides, what good would that do? We both know who would win in the fight. Ryou is not that strong after all"
Ryou had to admit that was true. Bakura had only ever been violent to him a few times. He usually caused psychological trauma. Locking him away, forcing him to watch images of the deaths of his family and friends, sticking him in a dark room for hours, days, or weeks...oh god, the torture. The memories were just as bad.
"Hmmm, violence gets the point across quicker" Malik suggested with a smirk, turning to Marik.
"I mean look how easy it was to get my lighter half to obey, all it took was a quick beating." Bakura rolled his eyes, and Akefia stood back up.
"Different people act in different ways. Bakura is better at psychological torment, as we all know far too well. One thing that may work for you, may not work as well for him. We want Ryou to talk, not clam up completely. He is the only one in our group that has been close to the Pharaoh for any length of time. So that information is important"
"Thank you Akefia, but please, sit back down. We don't want to give away all our secrets" Akefia was still glaring at Malik, wanting to defend the Spirit of the Ring. Ryou still had to learn about their relationship. Was it similar to his and Bakura's. Bakura seemed to be taking control, and was obviously in charge. But Akefia was known as the Thief King, he had to have more to him than how he was acting.
"Fine, I will let you all be best friends, I have a job for Marik anyway. So while you all play house, I will be finding more information. But Bakura, we need to talk about our plan soon. The Pharaoh is now onto me, and probably onto you as well. So hurry up"
"Of course Malik, we are not going to be playing house" He snarled, and Malik smirked, dragging Marik along with him.
"Of course, keep telling yourself that. Enjoy your new housewife. We should not be too long if Marik cooperates."
When Malik was out of the room Akefia relaxed visibly.
"I do not like him Bakura, I do not trust him. We should get rid of him now he has brought your lighter half to us."
"And get on his bad side? You have not seen that lunatic at his worst Akefia. Besides, he could still be helpful. But right now, let us have some fun with our new guest~"