In case anyone's confused, this is set after the battle with Yami and Slyther.
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Miles away from light at noon
Come and have a look inside
I can see the wide horizon
Many nights in our lives before
Total eclipse of the moon...
I'll see you soon.
Total eclipse of the moon
Many reasons to believe in life
Just listen what it's telling you.
Total eclipse of the moon
I'm feeling just lonely without... without you...
But debts have to be paid
Our ways will cross again someday
Believe, and come back to you... I'll see you soon.
I was dreaming to be just beside... beside you.
~Enigma - Total Eclipse of the Moon
The last thing he remembered was staring down the double gullet of a huge, serpentine dragon and his arm feeling as though someone had stabbed it. Holographic cards and ghosts were floating before him, and he remembered Yugi - or was it that other Yugi? - standing in front the dragon, looking just as bewildered as he was. He said something, but Ryou was too dazed to hear it.
And then he felt his body taken away from him. It almost felt like someone was standing before him, arms spread protectively, and white light enveloped everything...
And now he was stumbling through darkness. Somehow, he knew he was unconscious and this wasn't really happening, but ever since the ring had come into his possession, reality seemed rather subjective. He felt drugged on top of everything else, which didn't help.
Suddenly, there was a wall in front of him. No, not a wall - a door, an ancient door with a familiar stylized eye carved into it.
That was... new.
Ryou was aware of the other presence in his mind, but it didn't speak to him much. It taunted him occasionally, but now that the spirit had full control over him and could take over Ryou's body as it pleased, it - he - said little. Ryou wasn't about to try and engage him in conversation, either, because as much as he tried to be brave, he was quietly terrified of the spirit and the darkness it brought to his mind. The boy was pretty sure his sanity was in ruins, but he had come to accept the strange circumstances of his madness. What else could he do?
Should he open the door?
He touched it curiously, and it started to open by itself. Ryou jumped back and tried to look inconspicious. He considered running, though he wasn't exactly sure where he was going to go - probably because he wasn't exactly sure where he was.
But as the room behind the door was revealed to him, he was too shocked to do anything.
Ryou didn't know what he had expected - some sort of evil dungeon or hellish inferno or something, but that certainly wasn't what he found.
The walls were made out of tan bricks. There were some plain pots and baskets to one side, and a bit of hay littered the floor. A distinctive crack ran down the corner of one of the walls, and despite how barren it was the place smelled earthy and felt comforting. Outside of another doorway, it was night, and the wind rustled softly through the moonlit reeds, a cool breeze blowing into the house. He could even hear a river in the distance.
There was a mat in the middle of the floor, and on that mat sat the spirit - the taller, twisted version of himself he had unfortunately become familiar with. His arm was even bound up with a bloodied bandage like Ryou's own, and he was staring at the wall intently.
Despite his indifferent expression, Ryou thought he saw redness around the spirit's eyes.
He had been expecting that even less than the plain room. Without thinking about it, he asked.
"W-what's wrong?"
The spirit turned his head sharply and bristled, apparently surprised to see Ryou standing there. He quickly stood, looming over his host. "Get out of here!"
"S-sorry! I didn't mean, I just - I found -" Ryou sputtered, backing away, but the spirit advanced, raising his hand as though to strike him.
Ryou winced, closing his eyes - but the blow never came. He dared to open one eye.
The spirit - Bakura, he liked to be called, adopting Ryou's surname for reasons the boy didn't understand - seemed frozen, staring down at him. His eyes had been angry, but now they had a faraway look to them, almost... sad?
Strike him, you fool, just a... stupid mortal.
The words were whispered across the room like a thought given life, and Ryou realized they belonged to the spirit. He opened his eyes fully, but he didn't get out of his defensive position against the wall.
...don't you remember what happened last time you started to care...?
Ryou blinked, watching an internal conflict wage behind Bakura's eyes.
...you could have won that duel! Marik said...
Ryou frowned. Marik? What on earth was Bakura talking - thinking about? Did he know Ryou could hear him?
But... that foolish child hasn't seen the pharaoh's cruelty first hand...
The spirit's hand was shaking in the air.
...you were a lot younger then. Just because you have a teenage body again -
But after a period of silence, the hand was forced down, back to Bakura's side.
...I couldn't let the pharaoh kill him again...
Ryou tilted his head. Bakura's eyes were staring at him, and Ryou returned the gaze. The spirit's red pupils had always been one of his more fearsome traits, red for blood and violence, Ryou supposed, but now...
Now they looked a little different.
He wasn't use to seeing tears in them, afterall.
...couldn't lose him again...
Ryou almost wondered who Bakura meant, but somehow, his subconscious knew.
Unbidden, words came to him, and he softly spoke them before could stop himself.
"Don't cry..."
A strange look crossed Bakura's face, and he quickly turned around, going back to his mat. Ryou took that as a sign that he was suppose to leave, and he headed back towards the ancient door -
"Ryou."
Ryou paused, lifting his head. He wasn't use to hearing the spirit talk - actually talk. He never called Ryou by name, either.
"It's a cold night of our soul..."
Bakura was resting on the mat again, his back turned.
"...come sit beside me."