Humming an ancient hymn from his homeland, Bakura unchains an unconscious Ryou and carries his weightless body to the vile bed. Poor little landlord screamed out his little lungs so much that he passed out. They were at it for hours. All of Ryou's fingers are broken, his face a bloody mess. More burn marks embellish his twiggy arms with pretty little patterns that Bakura designed himself. His exposed stomach is a farm for bruises and small cuts. Bakura places his little masterpiece on the bed. Looking over the boy, he figures that he should probably do something about the broken fingers so that he can break them again when he's in the mood. A kiss for each digit mends the fragile and malnourished bones. So skinny… reminds him of when he was homeless. It would probably be a good idea to take a look at the living situation around here and take control of his landlord's body. If he can assess the environment properly, he can use it to his advantage and rise to great heights to finally defeat the Pharoah. But first…
Bakura chains the landlord to the bed with manifested shackles. He kisses goodnight to the pathetic Ryou and heads toward the exit. However, he pauses. A memory comes into mind when he was a homeless little orphan boy on the brink of death by starvation. Though it was a desert, the nights were cold. It was extra cold when you were nothing but skin and bones wasting away. He used to struggle to stay warm in the bitterness called "nighttime" but ultimately would pass out from deep exhaustion. After becoming a thief, the night became an ally and he never had to worry about the icy touch of the darkness again. Now, he commands the darkness. Ryou, however, is just a broken human kid in this soulroom. How indicative is this to reality? How much will Bakura really have to work with? Ryou's cooperation won't be a problem it's just… will something else stand in his way?
Bakura cracks his neck to empty out the worry. He turns to Ryou's corpse-like state. That moment of burning flashes again. He could have sworn that he saw himself in that bed for a second. Cracking knuckles. No more thinking about that. Let's just give the boy a blanket.
Easy manifestation, he makes a wool blanket like that of his home village. It's nothing special, no dye, no design. Just something functional to cast out the frigid bites of the darkness. He stands back at his handiwork again. The scene looks better. Bakura twitches a smile and then leaves.
Time for a peek at the outside. It's been so long since the last time someone had his Ring so he fully expects the world outside to be different. Out from the door, he turns left and keeps walking. Eventually, he should find the door to the conscious world and reality. Each mindscape is supposed to have one. But… things have been abnormal in this one. For one thing, it is uncommon for the owner of a soulroom to not have control within it such as manifestation and healing. On the other hand, he is a broken little skeleton of a landlord who probably has been so psychologically damaged that it permeates his unconscious to no end. There's no telling how much his trauma has affected the mindscape, the door to the outside may even be somewhere else. But… if not there, then where could it be? The mindscape is huge and can be unending if you don't know what you're doing.
Oh wait there it is. Bakura's worries came to a halt when he reaches the door. Cracking his knuckles again left any lingering doubts behind. Dopamine's excitement courses through his veins for the event. Open the door. Open the door. Open the door. OPEN THE DOOR.
And so he does.
Light, darkness, spinning colors, shapes, form. It's coming together in his retinas. He feels nothing, then…
Pain.
Cold, sharp, unabashed pain. It hurts too much to focus on the surroundings let alone think. Why does it hurt so much? It shouldn't hurt to transition into reality.
Breathe deep. Numb the pain. There is nothing that can phase you as the God of Darkness's vessel. You feel nothing now. Just breathe.
The pain subsides.
Bakura looks around to see where he is. It looks like some sort of room, but everything is white, to an unholy degree. Similar to Ryou's soulroom, there is only a bed, but unlike the soulroom, this one is pure white. There's some sort of rectangular box on the ceiling emitting light. Is it some sort of fancy candle? Bakura tries to take a step to the center, but his efforts are halted due to his chained-up hands like Ryou. So they were literal after all…
Son of a –
Bakura looks up at the chains. His wrists are bony and malnourished. He looks over the body. Naked and starving, just like Ryou.
SON OF A–
Bakura frantically tries to pull at the chains to give way, but it's no use. He's too weak in this useless body to do anything. In frustration, he slams against the wall with an "argh!" This is a completely stupid setback. Of all the people to have the Ring, it had to be a slave of some kind. This was going to require some planning. Escape was definitely in order.
"What are you doing?" a voice interrupts the brainstorming.
Bakura looks up to find a short man in a weird white garment and a strange amulet standing at the door. His face is devoid of emotion, which looks a little creepy.
"GET ME OUT OF THESE CHAINS YOU PIECE OF–"
"Stop yelling or I'll get the sedative," the man never so much as blinks.
"GET ME OUT OR I WILL SMITE THEE! I AM YOUR GOD NOW!" Bakura's frustration is building up too much.
The man stares with a blank canvas of a face for a few seconds. Instead of obeying, the man gets some sort of clay tablet and writes on it. At least… Bakura is assuming it's a clay tablet. It looks more like papyrus on top of a clay tablet and some kind of metal thing jutting out at the top. If it was truly papyrus, then he would probably have an inkwell, but not once has he dipped his writing instrument.
"What sort of god do you identify as?" the man asks.
Huh?
Well, that's kind of a dumb question.
"I told you to get me out of here," Bakura glares.
"What sort of god do you identify as?" the man repeats.
Ughhhh. This man is getting annoying.
"I am the vessel for the God of Darkness, Zorc Necrophades," Bakura quickly dismisses, "Now get me out of here before I pluck out your eyes and cut off your tongue."
The man ignores Bakura and writes something on the tablet.
"And is the god you identify as from Egyptian mythology or Greek mythology?"
What the?
"The God of Darkness is no myth, heathen! He will destroy you and all you hold dear if you do not worship him," Bakura is getting really pissed off.
"Is the god you identify as from Egyptian mythology or Greek mythology?"
…
Nope. He's dead.
"I'll give you one last chance before I kill you," Bakura cracks his scrawny neck, "Take off these chains."
"Is the god you identify as from Egyptian–"
The rectangular box on the ceiling breaks and the light goes out. The air gets colder and colder as the darkness comes out to play. "Master, master, we will serve thee," the darkness sings. A smokey dark aura emanates from Bakura. Strange papyrus in the room blows this way and that and Bakura mutters his prayer to his God under his breath. The short man shows expression for once, though not too much. It is definitely fear. The man reaches into the pocket of his white garment for something, but Bakura can't really see what it is. The man rushes at Bakura full force and sticks his side with something sharp. Bakura assumes it's a knife or something, so continues his prayer, but soon his vision gets blurry and the room starts to spin. He feels his consciousness slip back into the hallway at the mindscape.
No, not yet!
Too late, though. He was back. He quickly tries to open the door again, but it's locked.
DAMMIT.
Bakura slams his fist on the wall. He's so pissed. He's going to kill that man for not obeying him. In a raging speed walk, he heads to Ryou's room. Maybe he can feel better with the paragon of obedience. He opens the door in a huff. Ryou still lies exactly as Bakura left him. Bakura slaps the little landlord to wake him up. Nothing. He's still out cold. Bakura exhales frustration and goes to his own soulroom. The iron door opens for him on its own and closes behind him.
At least doors obey.
He heads to the shrine to receive its grace and fulfillment. He manifests 3 pigs into the soulroom. Kneeling at the altar, he prays to his God for guidance to escape the predicament he's ended up in. And also help him kill that stupid man who defied him.
He takes a pig and binds its feet with rope. A dagger pops into his hand and channeling his anger, he takes it out on his sacrificial pig. Blood sloppily spurts in fountains and the pig squeals out its pleas. It struggles to escape, but its attempts are in vain. Eventually, it succumbs to death. Bakura pushes it aside and works on the next. It dies. Next. That dies. Bakura finally feels calm.
At least pigs obey.
It would be a waste to just leave all this pig meat here. After all, you can't despawn what has been manifested. Humming an ancient Egyptian hymn, Bakura cleans the blood off of the dagger and sets it on a manifested table. First, he manifests a door to a side room. This will be his work area. Then, he spawns 3 wooden rods and a long piece of rope. On the rope, he fastens the rods onto the rope in a row. Then, he manifests two hooks onto the ceiling of the workplace, and using the end of the rope without the rods, he throws the ropes through one hook. Satisfied with that, he goes back for the pigs and drags their bodies into the workroom he's prepared. On each pig, he sticks a rod through the back legs so it forces it to be spread. After, he leverages the pulley system he made and suspends the pigs in midair. Once high enough, he ties down the rope's end and manifests a long stick to hang the other side up on the hook. Three pigs dangled in the breeze with blood dripping on the ground. Bakura manifests a skinning knife and gets to work. First is removing the hide. He cuts down the belly of each beast and down the center of the legs. Then, using the knife, he starts to separate the skin from the fat and tissue. It's a tough job, but eventually, the task is done and all three pigs are skinned.
He puts the skin in a basket that will be the waste, then continues his work. Ah yes, the legs. He puts down the skinning knife and manifests a big knife with a jagged edge. Sawing with his strength, he takes off the front legs of each pig at the joints. He tosses the legs like a ball into the basket. Next, he slices through the center of the ribs. Guts immediately start to fall out of the pig and onto the floor. He continues to slice from the chest to the throat and lets all the insides become exposed to the outside. Lovely. After each one is gutted, he scoops up the innards and puts them in the wastebasket. A heaping pile. Not surprising considering there are three. After gutting the pigs, he manifests a tub of water for washing the carcasses. Thoroughly he cleans the inside and outside of each pig of the blood. When done, he steps back to see the product of his butcher pretend play. For now, he'll leave the pigs overnight before cooking them. Using manifestation, he brings the temperature of the room to a frigid temperature.
Well, that was a great time killer. Is Ryou awake now? Better check.
Bakura takes the basket of guts and parts with him to the hallway before going to Ryou's room. It would just decay and stink up his new workplace if he let it sit. He saunters off to a faraway corner of the darkness and sets the basket down. The darkness gives him gratitude for his offering (even though it's just his trash) and he feels something brush against his skin. Something unexplainable joyfully praises him. Bakura ignores it and heads toward Ryou's room.
At least darkness obeys.
Bakura realizes he never shut the door behind his landlord's room before. A fidgeting Ryou turns his head to the entrance. Does being blindfolded make him more susceptible to sound? Bakura walks over.
"Did my little landlord sleep well?" he smiles something demented.
Ryou nods. Bakura scoots over Ryou's body and lays next to him.
"I saw a man today from outside," Bakura began his rant, "He was short with a white cloak and a strange amulet."
Ryou says nothing, but it looks like he's thinking.
"Who is he?" Bakura asks.
"I don't know his name or anything. I just know he's a doctor," Ryou answers in a hoarse voice.
A doctor? He didn't look like a doctor. Of course, this century might have different doctors than he's used to.
"Who lives in this place?" Bakura pets his property's head.
"They said they're doctors. There are two of them. A boy and a girl," Ryou's voice strains to speak.
It's getting hard to hear Ryou. He must be dehydrated. Bakura manifests a wooden cup of water and puts it up to Ryou's mouth.
"Drink this slowly or you'll throw up," Bakura commands.
Ryou obeys and slowly drinks half of the cup of water. Bakura takes away the rest to make sure his landlord doesn't go puking everywhere.
"Now," Bakura continues the interrogation, "are there other rooms besides the one we're in?"
"I don't know," Ryou's voice is much clearer now, "I've only ever seen that one."
"Are you their slave?"
"What's a slave?"
"It's when you're forced to work for someone because they own you."
"Oh… I don't really know. I'm not allowed to leave the room or do anything besides be chained, so probably not?"
"They don't do anything to you?"
"They just ask me a bunch of questions and make me hurt like you do, but that's it."
That's weird… a slave would typically be put to work in his time. If he's not being put to work, then what do they want? Is he a plaything to them? It's possible.
"How did you end up here?" Bakura softly strokes the burns he made on Ryou. He's really proud of his art on the boy.
"I don't know… I don't remember being anywhere else. I think I've always been in that room," Ryou ponders.
It makes sense. Someone so broken as his landlord would probably have been through this since birth.
"Well, I've decided that rent's first payment is killing those 'doctors' and burning the place to the ground," Bakura can't help his manic smile, "Does that sound good?"
Ryou's head perked up, "You can do that?"
"Of course I can. I am your God, Ryou," Bakura boasts.
Ryou gives a fidgety uncomfortable look. He looks like he wants to ask something.
"If you want to say something, then say it," Bakura commands the little landlord in impatience.
"What's a God?" Ryou innocently asks.
The boy truly knows nothing beyond that room. How pitiful. Bakura will be merciful for once and indoctrinate him to the ways of the God of Darkness.
"There are many Gods, landlord, but none are as powerful as Zorc Necrophades, the God of Darkness," Bakura begins a sermon, "Even Ra can't stop his might, but fools think that Ra is the greatest of all the gods."
Bakura brings Ryou's body closer to his and continues, "He is my God and now he is yours. He will destroy our enemies and bring about calamity to the world so that his followers can build it into something better." Bakura leads Ryou's shackled hand to his chest. "I am his chosen vessel to enact his revenge and calamity upon the world."
Bakura sits up on the bed and then rests Ryou's head on his lap. "But first, I must kill the one thing standing in his way, the Pharoah." He plays with Ryou's hair. "That's where you come in, landlord."
"Me?"
"Yes. I have to find the item that houses the Pharoah's soul and destroy it. The only way to find it on the outside is to use a body and mine died a long time ago."
Ryou nods. "If I do everything you say, will you help me get out of the room?"
"Of course. I'm a very generous tenant. I always pay rent for my landlord's body."
Ryou keeps silent for a moment. "What does rent mean?"
Bakura laughs. Stupid landlord.
"It's when you pay someone to use what someone else has," Bakura chuckles.
"What is pay?"
…seriously?
"Do you know what money is?" Bakura inquires.
Ryou shakes his head in Bakura's lap. Bakura sighs.
"I'm getting annoyed by your ignorance, landlord. Why don't you entertain me a bit while I explain," he says as forcefully pushes off Ryou's head and stands to his feet.
Ryou said nothing. He probably knew what was coming. Freeing his hands from the shackles, he dragged the boy from the bed to the chains on the wall. However, he paused before tying him up. The King had a better idea. Ryou's back was a bare canvas because it was against the wall last time. It's time to fix that, and the pigs from earlier gave him an idea.
Manifesting another hook on the ceiling, Bakura took one of the chains from the window and threw up through the hook. Ryou was a good boy and didn't move at all on the floor. Bakura ties the chain around Ryou's wrists and then using another pulley system, suspends Ryou into midair.
"I need to get something real quick. Stay here," Bakura commands.
Not that Ryou could really go anywhere, anyway. Bakura goes to his soulroom to get the skinning knife from earlier. It still has pigs blood on it, but it was fine. It's just going to get dirty again anyway.
"I'm back," Bakura announces as he steps through the door again.
Ryou's head perks up.
"Now, do you want to play a game, my landlord?" Bakura's tone is a bit manic.
"A game?" Ryou asks.
"Yes. It's called 'Ask a Question," Bakura smiles wide, "I'll flip a coin. If it's tails, you get to ask one question that I will answer. If it's heads, I'll get to cut a piece of skin from your back. We will do it best out of 10. Do you understand?"
Ryou is silent for a bit. "I don't get it… but can I scream?"
"Of course," Bakura ruffles the landlord's hair, "it's required."
"OK then. I want to play," Ryou nods again.
"First coin toss," Bakura manifests a gold coin and flicks it into the air.
Tails.
"How lucky. It's tails. You get to ask a question you have."
Ryou thinks for a moment and then asks, "What's money?"
"Money is the most powerful thing man has made. You can get anything you want if you have enough of it. Each coin is a set value and can buy something of equal value. Like if you want food, you can give the person selling the food some money and they will give you some food."
Ryou had a look of amazement on his face. The same look Bakura had as a child when he learned the true value of money and what can bought with it.
"Now, next toss," Bakura flips the coin.
Heads.
"It's heads, Ryou. Time to take your skin," Bakura laughs.
Bakura turns Ryou's body around to his backside. The skinning knife first cuts out the outline of a small square. Then, skillfully, he filets the layer off of the flesh underneath.
Ryou screams.
Such a good sound from his little lungs. Bakura wants more, but not yet. This is a game after all, he has to follow the rules.
He flings the piece of skin onto the bed and flips the coin again with Ryou breathing heavily.
"Tails, landlord. Speak your question," Bakura impatiently waits.
Ryou seems to be in shock from the pain. He doesn't ask a question and keeps on breathing heavily. Bakura caresses Ryou's cheek tenderly.
"Come on, landlord. You can ask a question now," he tries to snap him out of the trance.
Ryou's breathing slows and he gulps, "How did you get here?"
"My soul is trapped in the Millennium Ring and I can only come to those who wear it. You were lucky enough to put it on," Bakura wipes a tear from Ryou's face. "Come to think of it, how did you end up with the Ring?"
"The yellow thing?" Ryou thinks hard, "They put it around my neck one day and told me to keep it on."
So it's all them. Go figure. Did they know his arrival would come and then stuck him to such a pathetic vessel? Was this pre-planned?
Bakura pulled away from Ryou and flipped the coin again.
"Heads. Give me a really good scream, Ryou," Bakura smiles too much.
Another piece of skin is severed from its owner. Another perfect scream cries out from the plaything. Another coin flip moves the game forward.
"Tails. Say your questions."
Ryou catches his breath first and then asks, "Are you going to kill me someday?"
"Oh little landlord, I won't kill you as long as you obey me," Bakura pets the boy's head, "I have a feeling you're a good boy, though, and things will be just fine."
"Oh…" Ryou sounds a bit disappointed for some reason.
"Do you want to die?" Bakura asks.
"I don't know… I just don't want to be here anymore," Ryou passively states.
"I promise I will get us out of here, Ryou," Bakura speaks softly, "So no dying, alright? Be a good boy and live. If you die, I will go back to the Ring and have to find another host."
Ryou nods. What a good boy.
"Now, next toss," Bakura flips again.
Another tails.
"Lucky you, two in a row," Bakura rolls his eyes.
"What's a cat?"
Bakura got caught off guard from that question. What does that have to do with anything?
"It's a small, magical animal with hair all over its body. They bring good luck and eat pests in your house," Bakura got through that one quickly.
"What's a magical?"
Bakura slaps Ryou's face.
"You used up your question. Don't break the rules," Bakura hisses.
Ryou bites his lip.
"Don't bite your lip either. You tend to make a mess," Bakura forcefully squeezed Ryou's face in his hands.
Ryou relinquishes his lip and becomes severely quiet.
"Are you going to follow the rules like a good boy?" Bakura angrily squeezes harder.
Ryou nods. Good boy.
Bakura flips the coin for the 7th time. Heads.
"Heads again. You better scream enough to put me back in a good mood," Bakura grips the skinning knife so hard his hand shakes.
This chunk is a big one. Ryou deserves it for being a little punk. At least his screams are on point. Bakura flips the coin again as Ryou sobs.
"Tails," Bakura looks over at the sobbing boy. Pathetic. He wipes the tears off of Ryou's face.
"Stop crying and give me a question," Bakura commands.
Ryou holds his breath. This stops his crying, miraculously, and he begins.
"What's a mother?" Ryou says in a hushed tone. Too much screaming has hurt his throat.
Bakura goes silent. A memory comes in a flash. His mother and father being murdered in front of him. The sound of screams and the smell of burning flesh. All in the name of the Pharoah.
Back to the present, Bakura matches the question's hushed tone with a hushed answer.
"A mother is the person who gives birth to you."
A dead silence awkwardly lingers.
Bakura flips again.
"Tails. Ask another."
"What is a birth?"
"It's when a baby comes into the world and separates from its mother's womb."
Flip.
Heads. Finally.
"It's heads, landlord. Scream for me."
Because this is the last one, Bakura decides to be creative and carve a little pattern out of the skin. A hawk spreading its wings seems like the easiest to do with basic geometric shapes. Carefully he makes the picture come to life. Ryou screams a song of pain to his masterpiece. Lovely.
When he's done, he takes the skin chunk and gives it a little nibble. It… doesn't taste that good. He throws it aside.
Ryou is still hanging and breathing heavily. At least he's not crying.
"That's the end of the game, Ryou," Bakura pulls down the chains from the ceiling, "The score was 6-4. You won."
Ryou gives a confused look. "I won?" he says in an extremely hoarse voice.
Bakura fetches the rest of the water cup and guides him to drink it. "That's right. You won the game. You get a prize."
Ryou says nothing. Perhaps he doesn't know what a prize is. He sure doesn't know anything else in that stupid brain of his.
"Your prize is this," Bakura faces Ryou's back and holds his shoulders. He licks the blood from each of the skinless patches and indulges himself. Sweet, sweet blood fills his hungry stomach. Ryou makes a small sound. Was that a moan?
Bakura continues drinking off the boy. Each square patch slowly begins to heal as he collects what he wants. Soon enough, he finishes and the wounds are completely closed. Ecstasy. Bakura buries his face into the bony back. He could hear fast breathing slowly slow down to a hypnotic rhythm. What a sweet little landlord.
Bakura notices the grime that covers the boy's body. What a filthy little landlord.
"You're disgusting, landlord. When was the last time you had a bath?"
"I don't know…"
Bakura stands up and frees the boy from the restraints.
"Come with me. We're going to take a bath," he instructs. He heads toward the hallway. Once he gets to his room, he looks behind him. Ryou isn't there. What the?
Bakura goes back to Ryou's soulroom to see what was holding things up. Ryou is army crawling on the ground. Stupid kid.
"What are you doing?" Bakura gives a judgemental glare.
"Oh… Um…" Ryou stops the weird movement and looks embarrassed, "I don't know how to walk…"
…
That burning fire in Bakura's chest came again. He knew that this was probably because of the "doctors." Aren't doctors supposed to heal? Why are they inflicting ailments?
Bakura sighs and mutters under his breath as he scoops Ryou into his arms. At least he was light.
In his soulroom, Bakura manifests another side room like the workroom. In this blank space, he makes a small hot spring pond sticking out of the ground. It was definitely only possible for something like this to exist in a soulroom. Hotsprings can't be inside. That would be crazy.
In a basket, he manifests soaps and oils from that would have been very expensive in his homeland. If only it were easy to manifest items in the outside world as it was in the mindscape. Oh well.
Bakura sets down Ryou on the ground and undresses.
Oh… his clothes are covered in pigs blood. Whoops.
He tosses aside what he was wearing before and manifests new clothes. Then, he places the Millennium Ring on top of the clothes. A thought comes to his head… what does his new form even look like? Is he as sickly as Ryou? His clothes were the same from his last residency. Was his form still that of the one before? He knelt down beside the water of the hot spring to see his reflection.
He looked similar to Ryou, his hair was long and white, his eyes were brown instead of the original purple from his birth, instead of sickly, his structure was lean and slightly muscular, and most of all, his face was more feminine. Perhaps… this is what Ryou is supposed to be? Is he a pretty boy when not a skeleton?
Bakura smacked the water's surface. He faced Ryou, "Take the blindfold off, we're getting in."
Ryou instantly starts to panic. "No, please! Don't make me take it off, it's supposed to keep me safe!"
…
Stupid landlord.
"It's going to get wet if you leave it on," Bakura was growing impatient.
"No, please! I can't look! I don't… I can't…" Tears start to fall from his hidden eyes.
Bakura sighed. Insane broken child. He kneels in front of Ryou and wipes away the tears.
"You can't look at what?" Bakura says annoyed.
"I can't… look at everything. It's too much to look at," Ryou starts shaking.
…
Bakura yanks off the blindfold. Ryou instinctively shields his eyes with his hands.
"Give it back! Please!" Ryou's voice cracks.
"Obey me, landlord. When I say take it off, you take it off," Bakura is getting irritated.
"I'm gonna die… I can't…"
"HEY," Bakura yells and snatches Ryou's face in his hands, "STOP IT."
Ryou's eyes remain squeezed shut as he breathes fast, shallow breaths. His body trembles in fear.
Bakura finally realizes that, for some reason, this boy fears sight. This was strange, though, because his body in reality had no blindfold. This must be something subconscious he manifested for himself. What sort of horrible thing did he see that made him never want to see again?
It doesn't matter. An order is an order. He has to obey. That's what he's here for.
"Open your eyes, Ryou, or else I'll bite your nose off," he threatened.
Ryou stopped shaking. He seemed to be debating whether or not to take that chance. Well… he does have a higher pain tolerance than others. Maybe violence wasn't a good motivator.
"If you open your eyes Ryou, I promise nothing bad will happen," Bakura bargained, "In fact, if you look in my eyes, you'll feel really, really good."
This was something he picked up from a couple of landlords ago. He had discovered his God had blessed him with the power to mesmerize others with eye contact. It becomes addictive to the person being ensnared in the spell after so many times. A wonderful trump card for exceptionally stubborn landlords.
Ryou doesn't move for a moment. Still debating, probably, but it doesn't last long as Ryou finally steadily opens his eyelids. He flinches from the brightness of the room and lack of exposure to light for who knows how long. Blinking rapidly, he slowly adjusts to it and stares his pretty little eyeballs into Bakura's.
"Good boy," Bakura pets Ryou's head as he lets the spell work its magic.
The little landlord relaxes and his eyes glaze over. Happy little dreams are probably going on in his head. Bakura takes this opportunity to bathe with his property in tow. He scoops up the dazed little human and steps into the indoor hot spring. Into a deep part, he sits down and places Ryou on his lap. The hot water was nice. Bakura took a moment to relax in the soothing water and closed his eyes with an exhale.
His tension and worries melt away. He mutters a thanks to his God for hot springs. After a few minutes, he looks at the spell-bound Ryou. Was it going to wear off soon? Was he going to have to wash him? He really doesn't want to have to do that kind of work… Unfortunately, he can't break the spell at will and has to wait for it to wear off. He curses his lack of power under his breath and splashes water on his face. Stupid landlord should have just done what he said. He is tempted to drown the boy in the waters of the hot spring but resists. If he kills the Ryou in the mindscape, then he will go into a vegetative state and Bakura will no longer be able to use the body.
Oh… speaking of.
Ryou stirs back into reality. He looks around in confusion and like he's lost.
"Welcome back," Bakura says in a sarcastic tone.
Ryou looks at Bakura with a pitiful, confused expression.
"I can see…" he looks like he's about to cry.
"No crying," Bakura scowls, "I'll put it back on after you're clean."
Ryou looks down and nods. Good, he's cooperating now. Good boy.
Bakura gets up and grabs a couple of soaps and oils from the basket then comes back to Bakura. First, he'll work on that hair, as he doubts that Ryou can do it by himself. Bakura pours himself a handful of oil and plops it on top of Ryou's head. Ryou flinches, but Bakura continues to work his fingers into his hair and untangle it as best as he can.
After some silence, Ryou pipes up, "Can I ask a question?"
"Sure," Bakura half pays attention. So much hair…
"What happened to me when I looked at you?"
Bakura chuckles as he pours more oil into his hand, "Why? Did you like it?"
Ryou nods.
"It's magic from my God. I can do it again but only if you obey me and do as I say," Bakura explains.
Ryou nods again, "I want to do what you say. You don't lie to me."
What? What's he talking about? Is this just landlord nonsense?
"What do you mean?" Bakura asks.
"Seeing is scary… but you told me that if I looked, then I would feel really good, and I did," Ryou looks at Bakura with a small smile. Right now, Bakura couldn't help but see Ryou as some sort of small child. His mannerisms, his ignorance, his messy hair… His broken self is just a dumb, scared child at the end of the day. Bakura forces Ryou's head back down and continues his hair escapade.
"Of course I didn't lie. Why would I lie about something like that?"
"Well… they always lie. They give me food and say it's ok to eat but then I get sick. Then they ask questions and say that I can go to bed but then they start hitting me awake. And sometimes…" Ryou holds his arms for safety, "They tell me that I'm going to die tomorrow and then I don't."
…
Chest fire. Bakura silently untangles the hair fiasco and contemplates. What is with them? Their behavior just seems nonsensical and strange. If it was for the sake of torture, then there would be no need for strange questions like the ones that the man asked Bakura. And it's not slavery either, Ryou debunked that.
"Our captors seem insane," Bakura tries to conclude, "Their methods are bizarre and seem to lack motivation. However, I won't lie to you like that. It's pointless to make vacant threats if nothing backs them up."
Ryou nods, "Thank you…"
After forever goes by, Bakura finally finishes Ryou's hair. FINALLY.
Bakura makes another handful of oil and works on himself. His own hair is way easier to untangle than Ryou's and he gets done in a few minutes. He dunks his head in the water to rinse off the oils.
"Hold your breath," Bakura commands as he grabs Ryou's head and dunks it, "Can you stand?"
Ryou shakes his head.
Bakura sighs. This is going to be difficult. He picks up Ryou from the tub and goes to a shallow end of the spring. He hands a bar of soap, "Rub this all over your skin."
Ryou nods and scrubs away. Bakura works on his own form. Random pigs' blood surprises get washed away with the bar of fat and lye. He glances over at his landlord who struggles to wash his back.
Bakura chuckles. It's kind of funny watching him struggle. He watches for a bit until he uses his own bar of soap to scrub Ryou's backside. Ryou washes his legs as his back is washed. The scrawny little boy has nothing but bones for legs. Bakura finishes the tough-to-reach spots and works on himself. When he's done with the easy stuff, he sits in front of Ryou.
"Scrub my back," he commands.
Ryou obeys and weakly washes it with two hands. It takes a bit longer than Bakura wants, but he gets the job done. When it's over, Bakura inspects Ryou to make sure he actually cleaned right. Only his face and dick were still dirty. He notices some scars on Ryou's penis and inner thighs. He cringes at the thought. Not fun.
"You need to scrub this better," Bakura pointed at the cringey dick, "And your face."
Ryou nods. He takes time to do a better job. Bakura decides to clean off Ryou's face for him. It's not like he can look at his own face, after all.
Ryou finishes and Bakura carries him to the deep end of the hot spring. Ahhh… nice and hot. He places Ryou next to him. They relax in the elegance of sulfur water. Ryou starts to nod off, but Bakura smacks him upside the head.
"Don't fall asleep in the water," he commands.
A startled Ryou nods.
30 minutes pass. Ok, we're done.
Bakura picks up Ryou again and brings him out of the water. He shakes the water from his head like a dog. Now… they gotta wait to dry off.
Bakura placed Ryou on the ground and sat next to him. Maybe a conversation would pass the time.
"Dear landlord, what did you see from my spell?" Bakura gives some small talk.
"Um…" Ryou thinks about it, "I didn't see anything. I just heard pretty music and I heard you talking."
"What did I say?" Bakura lays down to get more comfortable.
"You said weird things I couldn't understand," Ryou continues, "and then you gave me food!"
He seemed particularly happy about that last part.
"And you liked that?"
Ryou nods.
Hm… strange. Is that what's shown in the spell? Who'd have thought?
"What do you want to do once I kill them and burn the place down?"
"I want to eat food!" Ryou smiles.
… He's starting to see a pattern here.
"Are you by any chance hungry?" Bakura laughs.
Ryou nods, "I haven't eaten food in a long time."
Bakura sits up, "You look like you haven't eaten food in a long time."
Ryou looks at his body to confirm. Yeah, you're a stick.
Bakura thinks about the pigs he killed recently. They still need to sit overnight before he can cook them, but maybe he can give some to Ryou. But… why should he give him food? Why does he want to give him food? It's because he doesn't want his host to starve, right? That's the reason, right? But… eating in here won't change the fact that his body is starving and dying on the outside.
Wait… he's starving right now. He could die soon if he's not fed something.
There's a time limit running for rent. He has to do something as soon as possible.
"How long has it been since they fed you?" Bakura earnestly asks.
"Um… I think… 90 days?"
…
How is this kid still alive?! This is impossible!
"There's no way you haven't eaten in 90 days! Are you sure you know what you're talking about?"
"I'm pretty sure… it's been a long time since they gave me food. They told me that the tube they put in my arm is my new food," Ryou tries to explain, "But I don't eat it, it just puts stuff in my arm."
Bakura clenches his fist. Nothing makes sense with those "doctors." Stupid doctors. Stupid landlord. Everything is too confusing!
Bakura cracks his neck to let go of the stress. Ryou looks at his trick with awe.
"I guess I'll have to pay rent very soon then," Bakura cracks his knuckles.
Ryou's awe turns to admiration of the weird habit. He tries to crack his knuckles too, but no sound comes out. Bakura grabs his clothes and his Ring and dresses himself. Stupid things can wait for now. If he hasn't died by now, maybe he won't die tomorrow.
Ryou points at the Ring hanging around Bakura's neck, "That's the yellow thing that they gave me!"
Bakura looks down at his prized possession. How ironic that such an artifact ended up in the hands of this pathetic kid.
"This is one of the seven Millennium items," Bakura explains while putting on his shoes, "It's called the Millennium Ring."
Ryou nods, "It's pretty."
The memory of the people slaughtered in front of him as a child flashed.
"It's made from…" Bakura trails off before shaking his head. He should probably give the boy some clothes. He manifests a linen kilt and belt and hands it to the boy.
Ryou looks up confused.
"Put it on," Bakura commands.
Ryou hesitantly tries to wrap the kilt around his shoulders.
"No, not there!" Bakura snaps. Stupid landlord.
"I'm sorry…I've never worn clothes before," Ryou sheepishly makes the excuse.
…
Burning chest again. Bakura sighs and cracks his knuckles. Ryou makes a little smile.
"I'll help you," Bakura snatches the kilt from the boy and wraps it around his waist. Then, he ties the belt to hold it together. Bakura steps back to look at the boy in proper Egyptian attire. Satisfied, he manifests a blindfold of linen. Ryou gives a smile of relief as Bakura wraps the cloth around the landlord's eyes. This seems… right. Like things were supposed to be this way. Everything is in perfect order.
Bakura picks up the fresh new landlord and carries him to Ryou's soulroom. In all honesty, Bakura had fun cleaning his toy, despite the setbacks. Not that he can admit it.
Ryou is placed on the bed, shackled, and covered with a blanket.
"Now, go to sleep, my little landlord. I'm going to try to pay rent tomorrow," Bakura kisses the clean forehead of the pale skeleton. This seems… right. Like things were supposed to be this way.
Everything is in perfect order.
Wait… what? What does that mean? What the heck is he thinking? Bakura snaps out of it and walks out of the room and into his own.
He kneels in front of the altar. Today has been crazy and exhausting. He can't help but think of that stupid man that defied him. He will learn that disobeying means death soon.
At least doors obey.
At least pigs obey.
At least darkness obeys.
At least Ryou obeys.