Chapter Two: The Torch of Blame
One update per year... yes, that sounds about right for me. Would it help if I apologized?
...Didn't think so.
Alright, so I get distracted easily, what can I say? I got caught into a new fandom (Soul Eater ftw) and Gaia Online (addictive shit). But... at least I updated? Could be worse, people. Some of my favorite fanfics have been abandoned in mid-battle-climax. Yeah, and you think YOU have it bad.
Once again, I want to thank the lovely Hakurei Ryuu for 'tisk tasking' me until I updated at least ONE of my stories! And for being the best beta ever, of course~
Thank you to my reviewers! I love hearing from you so keep it up!
Hakurei Ryuu: That is true~ Hehe. Well, grammar has never been my strongest point, but I like to pretend I'm getting better at it. LMAO ah, so I'm so awesome that I almost wait for the anniversary of the first chapter to upload chapter two? Oh, yeah, that's awesome alright. XD And I hope I do continue to get readers despite my... disappearance from fanfiction~ ^^U Thanks for everything, hun!
BladeOfCrimson: LMAO yeah, all the chapters in this story are going to be long. I think in the long run it's better - I get more done, you get more to read. It's all good~ Thanks for the review!
YamiBakura1988:Thank you, thank you, yep, and does nearly a year count as 'soon'? XD
EgyptianSoul.88:Thank you very much, I'm glad I was able to do that for you! Yes, both characters are very tragic... but that's also why we love them, isn't it? We're all a touch sadistic that way (me more than just a touch but whatever XD)! Thanks for the review~
Eternal Eyes: I'm glad, I hope to continue that for this chapter... no promises, but I hope so! Uh, yeah, all chapters are going to be insanely long. Better that way for everyone. XD Thank you for the review!
Mizuki hikari:Here ya go~
Crystale no otaku: Thank you very much! Hope you enjoy the update!
Blue Demon: Thank you, I'm trying my best to keep everything very fresh and original. Yeah, the manga and anime completely failed Bakura and Ryou, no doubt. -_-U I hope you like the update!
Defenestration of the Mind: Uh, wow. Thank you so very much - I'm flattered. ^^U Yes, I'm hoping to keep this story as far away from 'predictable' as possible but I guess that's up to you to decide in the end. Yes, grammar is my enemy. -_-U I have improved though, I assure you! Thanks for the wonderful review! Hope to hear from you again!
Lady sesshomaru-sama: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the update!
Earthluva:Heh. Thank you! You're very kind. Hope you like the update!
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL AGAIN! And you! Yes, you who didn't review! I want to know what you think so drop me a line. The more reviews I get, the quicker the updates. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I do own my characters so back off, they're mine!
Lucifer's Angel
by: The Rasmus
Behind those eyes lies the truth and grief
Behind those beautiful smiles, I've seen tragedy
The flawless skin hides the secrets within
Silent forces that secretly ignite your sins
Fly away, fly away
From the torch of blame
They hunt you
The Lucifer's Angel
Never lived, never died
Your life has been denied
They call you
Lucifer's Angel
Beyond these clouds you can hide all your tears
Beyond this world you'll be safe from their wicked fears
And in their hearts they fear your demands
You know their minds won't accept you, they'll never understand
Fly away, fly away
From the torch of blame
They hunt you
The Lucifer's Angel
Never lived, never died
Your life has been denied
They call you
Lucifer's Angel
On your own - I know you can make it
Truth or bone - I know you can shake it
Survive alone - know you can take it
Fly away, fly away
From the torch of blame
They hunt you
The Lucifer's Angel
Never lived, never died
Your life has been denied
They call you
Lucifer's Angel
Fly away, fly away
Run away, run away
Hide away, hide away
Lucifer's Angel
Fly away, fly away
Run away, run away
Hide away, hide away
Lucifer's Angel
Fly away, fly away
Run away, run away
Hide away, hide away
Lucifer's Angel
Fingers pushed through his hair, Bakura's elbows rested on his knees as he stared blankly at the floor in front of him. Water still blasted from the tap above him, pelting down into the sink with such force that drops of water would splash back up onto the mirror and sometimes down onto him on the floor. The sound alone relaxed him, allowing his breathing to steady and his mind to rewire itself back into a normal pace... but the drain he felt on mind and body was even heavier now. The weight that he carried with him day to day was suddenly too much... just... too much.
He was tired, a state that no amount of sleep would ever cure him from. He could sleep for a week - hell, make it a year or more - and it still wouldn't be enough. This was the stress of over three thousand years worth of memories built one on top of the other on top of the other, a strain that the human mind wasn't meant to withstand. It could handle a hundred years usually, and even then it was permitted to forget. Bakura's mind was different; altered. Every minute of every day in his life, death, and imprisonment... he could remember it all as if it had all happened this morning. Nothing ever faded. Nothing.
))How much longer...?(( He closed his eyes tiredly. ))How much longer, Ryou?((
"...Use... u-use m-m-my... b-bod...y... a-and be... h-ha-hap... h-happy... f-find it..."
His brow tightened at the voice sounding in his head, one that was choking on its own blood. His host had asked of him to find happiness... but how would you even begin such a search? He hadn't a clue. Bakura had simply stepped into the flow of a modern life. Gotten a job or two. Rented an apartment. Annoyed his neighbours. Just... life. He did like working with cars, he would admit that much, but was he really happy...?
If he were to be honest, he would have to admit that he wasn't even sure what being happy would entail. What did it even mean? He supposed that was another thing that Ryou understood naturally.
"Where's your beloved Pharaoh now?"
Bakura was rage and hate. That's all he had known as 'emotions' in his unusually-lengthy span of existence. He had known darkness and pain, as well as the numbness that would follow. He knew the void quiet well, spacing out into oblivion as to escape the weight of his memories, and he understood what it took to break a person - both physically and mentally. He had had the training of a demon on his side for the majority of his time, teaching him how to blend into shadows and fight those twice as powerful as himself. He had spent millennia as a perfectly emotionless, perfectly relentless warrior...
...and now he was supposed to be happy?
))Never knew you were fond of torture, my little light.((
Slowly, he un-threaded the fingers of his right hand from amongst his hair, allowing his gaze to scroll lazily across the end of his limb as though examining it for something that only he could see. He flexed his fingers, the sting that had shot across his knuckles earlier long-since faded though a few scraps remained. He pondered what kind of mess would greet him when he left his pathetic little sanctuary. He knew he was fired, there was nothing to argue against that, and with such an incident attached to his name now, finding a new job would prove difficult. He didn't have the best attitude to begin with, so add assault to a woman on top of that...
))Assault.(( The word hung in his mind for a moment, considering a problem he'd only just realized. ))The bitch could take me to court if she wanted.(( His eyes narrowed, a keenness returning to their depths. ))Even if she doesn't, her little friends will. Shadow Magic is out of all our reaches now that the Items are gone, so they'll find another way to pin me down to make sure I don't hurt any present-day fools...((
"Bakura, look at me! NOW! BAKURA!"
He involuntarily shuttered, the vision of Zork burning fresh into his mind... as well as the feel of those damn claws sinking into him. It had felt so real... just like any other time he had a nightmare or hallucination. Sometimes, Bakura really did think that if he wasn't careful, Zork would land up grasping him through his dreams. After all the time they'd been attached, it wouldn't take much to make a link anymore. Bakura would have to find a way to thank Edward for grounding him...
Making up his mind, Bakura stiffly pushed himself up until he was on his feet again, catching hold of the sink with one hand to steady himself as he did. Pressing his fingers against his tired eyes, he let his hand drag down his face before it joined the other one braced on the sink. Taking a deep breath, he rose his gaze to its mirror image only to find that he indeed felt worse than he looked. At least it was good to know he was still good at pretending.
Turning off the rushing water, Bakura waited a moment longer to leave. He could hear the others moving around in the main room, talking to one another quietly. The loudest hushed voice was without a doubt Cheq's, Kobee's whispers coming in in second place with Christopher managing to add in a word here and there. Bakura couldn't hear any of the others, but he knew they hadn't strayed far. It was, after all, one of the rules of the shop: no one leaves during an 'event'. At least, not without Ed's say so. Usually it was a system that worked well... but, at the moment, he was cursing it. He didn't want to be bothered. He just wanted to talk to Edward and leave... but, from the sounds of the voices in the garage, leaving without a confrontation would be nothing short of a miracle.
))Either way, it doesn't matter.(( Turning where he stood, his hand found the door handle. ))I'm already as good as fired, so I might as well knock a few heads on my way out.(( Then the lock snapped open and Bakura exited his sanctuary to face the real world.
"...for all I care. Just don't expect me to be the one cleaning your guts off the floor."
Bakura couldn't help but raise a brow at the comment, eyeing the large, dark-skinned man across the shop who currently had his index finger stuck in Cheq's face threateningly. For what it counted for, the thief was glad that Kobee didn't seem to be the one wanting to tear him a new one - the mammoth stood well over six feet tall with muscled shoulders twice as broad as Bakura's. Not exactly a welcome opponent by any stretch of the imagination.
Cheq, on the other hand, was someone that Bakura had been in more than enough confrontations with even though he knew the risk was higher than was acceptable. The mid-thirty-something had a habit of pulling a gun when things started getting out of control, something he had yet to break himself of after getting thrown out of his own gang. He held about the same build as the thief, only a bit taller in stature, and he seemed to like sporting two different hair styles at once - his red hair super-short on one side only to continuously be left longer and longer as you changed sides, landing up grazing just over his shoulder. Like all the others here, his eyes held the hard experience of life behind his thin glasses and, if he was after Bakura like it would seem, the former thief knew to watch his back.
Then there was Blain standing amongst the small grouping whilst not saying a word, someone who would be considerably less of a hardship to deal with than an ant on the sidewalk. Dark blue hair stuck on top of his head going every which way, his grey eyes were like stone, but the nearly cat-like smile he had on his lips the majority of the time softened his other features. He was the casual joker of the group, but violence had already scarred his life on several occasions and now Blain would simply buckle rather than fight back, making him an easy target in a cruel world. Bakura could barely count the number of times he'd shown up to work black and blue.
Bakura didn't even flinch as the three stares turned towards him, keeping his features like cold stone as he glared straight back with his thumbs hooked in his pockets. He really didn't need to deal with all of these numbskulls right now, he had enough on his plate already.
Light reflected off of Cheq's glasses for an instant, partially concealing narrowed eyes as he seemed to dip his words in acid before speaking them. "So do you feel any better now that you've beat the crap out of some little girl, Bakura?"
The former thief growled darkly, only for his glare to turn upon the old man that was practically standing next to him leaning against the wall. Nearly the same instant cold stares locked, Bakura ground out a single-word question. "Where?"
Diago stared right back, not bothering to move from his position that he had found to be quite comfortable. "Where do you think?" he asked gruffly.
Bakura's glare shifted to the door to the break room not far from where he stood. His mind raced even as his feet planted themselves right where he stood, trying to figure out exactly what options he had left. He wasn't used to be the center of attention in the garage and his concentration was suffering on account of the sudden change. In the nearly three years he had worked here, this was the most involved he had ever allowed himself to become in any given situation. True, he had gotten into a hell of a lot of fights and once in a while he'd throw some of his cutting 'wisdom' in the faces of idiots needing a wake-up call, but other than that he'd stayed on the outside looking in. It was, after all, the place where he felt most comfortable. He knew the people here better than they realized... and they knew next to nothing about him. Now they were getting a crash-course on how to deal with him. Something that, so far, only Ryou, Edward, and one other had ever managed to get past.
Three was more than enough.
In a motion that would have been a hell of a lot more dramatic with his trench coat, Bakura turned on his heel and headed for the break room at a solid pace. Glare gleaming like sharpened steel, the former thief only tensed further as his hand gripped the door handle, preparing himself to deal with that face all over again...
...and the memories it brought to the surface.
A low, looming voice spoke up, "you'd better make sure you're good and ready to go in there, Bakura," Kobee advised slowly, arms crossed over his muscled chest. "You only have this last chance to smooth things over before things get even further out of control."
His hold on the handle tightening, the white haired other threw a cold look over his shoulder to the dark skinned other. "I am well aware of that," he snapped ruthlessly. "It's none of your concern."
"And how do you figure that?" Cheq fired back just as coldly. "I think you need to stop and think for once in your life and remember why the hell the lot of us work here!"
Bakura tore back around to face the red haired other, pointing at him accusingly with eyes blazing with wild flames. "Don't you dare lecture me, you fool! I was here well before the likes of you dragged yourself in from the gutter!" His arm lowered itself stiffly, fists clenching at his sides as his eyes narrowed in keen challenge. "If I remember correctly - and I always do - you were so pathetically weak Edward had to coax me into helping him get you to the back. You were and are nothing but a spineless worm, incapable of helping yourself and only desiring pity!"
Cheq clenched his jaw, but it was Chris who suddenly spoke up from where he sat on a workbench in the center of the shop. "Guys, come on!" He jumped to the floor. "Don't turn on each other!"
"How can you turn on someone you never stood with in the first place?" Was Cheq's acidic response, eyes never once leaving the white haired other. "Maybe I was weak when I first showed up here, Bakura " he began, eyes narrowed, "but who was it today that was begging, no, pleading, to be 'let go'?"
The thief's eyes glinted dangerously, his snarl pulling tighter over his features as his clenched fists turned white at his side.
Cheq didn't take the hint, smirking instead at the rise he was getting. "Who was it that was a hair's width from having a mental breakdown, Ryou?"
Diago shifted off the wall, "Cheq, that's enough now."
Bakura's jaw throbbed from tension, his brow twitching like mad. "Don't," he warned through his teeth, burning glare locked on the red haired being across from him.
"Who were you trying to escape, Ryou?" The other man continued, grinning. "Who broke you like you were a child's toy? Who controls you?"
"NO ONE!"
Bakura lunged. The image of Kobee flashed into his vision briefly, but the former thief's instincts ducked him low under a giant arm and sent his elbow sharply into the mammoth's side, making the other stumble heavily. By the time Bakura straightened from his dodge, the thief was already throwing a left hook that caught nothing but air as Cheq staggered back just in time.
Diago rushed forward, but didn't dare get too close as a second punch hit air and Cheq ducked low before driving a weak fist into the thief's gut. "You idiots! Knock it off!" His elder stare caught two other figures moving. "Blain! Chris! Keep back, you morons!"
Bakura snarled, one arm curling around his mid-section for a brief instant before pushing past such a minor setback. Easily catching Cheq's next punch, the thief pivoted on the balls of his feet and drove his shoulder into the other's chest, sending the man staggering backwards into the workbench that Chris had been sitting on earlier – sending tools clattering to the floor. Taking the moment of opportunity for all it was worth, Bakura swiftly closed the gap between them and crushed his fist into the other's cheekbone - sending a pair of glasses flying. Remarkably, Cheq managed to stay standing, his hand gripping onto the bench for balance, but not by any means ready to receive another assault as Bakura's arm cranked back to strike again. Then a sudden flash of movement from his opponent made the former thief's eyes shoot wide and, just as suddenly, something hit Bakura sideways at the same time that a deafening BANG echoed throughout the garage. The entire shop stilled.
Blain stood where the former thief once had, his slender body trembling as he stared straight back at Cheq - the gun still poised in the red haired other's hand. The silent teen staggered slightly even as everyone else froze, trying to grasp exactly what happened, and then the door to the break room burst open to reveal a single figure. Edward's eyes were wide as he absorbed the scene, his lips hanging open in disbelief.
However, after a long moment more, Blain let out a shuddering breath before glancing across to where Bakura stood and smiled at the stunned thief. "You're lucky I'm fast," he spoke faintly, a heavy rasp attached to each word. When everyone could only blink, he sorely pulled back to fabric of his shirt where at hole was more than apparent - revealing a bulletproof vest. "You said I should protect myself," he explained to the white haired other. "It really does soften the bruises I tend to collect."
Bakura blinked once more, only to shake himself out of his daze with a low growl from his throat. "That was not what I meant!"
Blain offered his cat-like smile. "Don't care."
Edward jogged across the shop quickly, coming up to the teen's side and placing a careful hand on the blue haired boy's shoulder. Worry carved into his features, the employer shook his head in disbelief as he tried to judge just how much pain the boy was in. Bulletproof vest or not, it would still hurt like hell.
"Please tell me you're alright," Ed asked, fear evident in his tone.
The teen nodded. "I'm alright."
"Good... are you insane?"
The quiet, smiling other shrugged sorely, one hand coming up to hold his throbbing chest. "Probably."
The boss could only give a half-hearted smirk before he glanced around his employees, his features turning stern again. "What the hell happened?" He demanded to know, his glare falling to the red haired man who had finally managed to get out of his shock enough to lower his gun. Ed's jaw clenched. "CHEQ!"
Still leaning on the bench for support, the man immediately put his hackles up at the harsh tone. "Don't blame me! This barbarian attacked me!" He accused, gesturing wildly at the bristling thief.
"You had it coming!" Bakura snapped, snarl raising again. "Besides, it was you who pulled a weapon and used it, you insufferable delinquent!"
"ENOUGH!" Edward snapped, successfully cutting off at least three others who had their mouths open ready to speak out. "Cheq," he turned to the man, "you know my rules and you still broke them. Go home and take that thing with you. I'll talk to you tomorrow, understand?" When he saw a single nod, Edward glanced to the youngest of his crew. "Chris, shut down the shop for me, alright? We're closing early." He turned to Diago and Kobee. "Finish whatever work is left on that Ford quickly before you go home, we need it done for early tomorrow." Then, finally, his emerald eyes locked on the last two. "Bakura, Blain, come with me."
As three split up throughout the shop on their assigned tasks and one left the building completely (after picking up his glasses), the three others headed for the break room with Edward in the lead. However, before they even got near the door, Bakura suddenly grabbed Blain's shoulder and spun him to face him as they both stopped – not even bothering to lighten his hold when the thief caught the teen cringe. If anything, he held tighter.
"Never do that again," he growled the second he held eye contact, his glare boring down on the shorter other. "Understand, boy?"
Blain refused to let that stupid smile of his die despite the pain in his shoulder and chest. "If I hadn't, you'd probably be dead," he rasped out.
"Then that's my own damn doing!" Bakura snapped, only to force himself to steady before continuing, "only idiots sacrifice themselves for practical strangers. What is it about that that is so hard for your minuscule mind to comprehend? It's as though you enjoy being the world's punching-bag."
At that, a slight frown shadowed his joyful look, but he still offered a lopsided shrug. "I owed you, Bakura." Blain's smile grew stronger as the white haired other's features darkened. "You have patched me back together a few times since I've been here." He reminded, one hand lifting to gently touch a dark scar spreading across his neck. "Not to mention saving my life."
The thief's scowled. "I did not save your life. Those friends of yours just did a half-ass job and you wanted to keep living. Today was nothing like that. You were risking having your face blown off, you fool." His stare narrowed cuttingly, tone lowing. "Do it again, and I'll kill you myself." And, with that, he brushed past the teen towards the break room, finding Edward waiting patiently at the door.
Upon entry of the small group, Tea immediately found herself flinching under the brutal glare of her old enemy as he stalked in behind his employer. A young man she didn't recognize followed the first two in before closing the door quietly behind him - every moment stiff and awkward as he held his shoulder painfully tight. Though she wasn't sure about the gunshot, the only woman in the room didn't have to be told anything of what the sudden ruckus had been a few minutes ago - it was as clear as day right in front of her. She'd pissed Zork off, so, still being huffed after being pulled away from her, he had taken his anger out on this teen. Her suspicions were confirmed even further as the teen made his way to collapse down in the free armchair near her... and all the scars and bruises that marked his skin just became more visible.
Tea could feel her heart twist in her chest, unable to keep her stare away from the mess of scars and bruise marks on his hands and face - their impressions disappearing beneath his clothes. The most hideous of the scars was drawn right across his neck from one side to the other, dark and jagged. She couldn't even imagine the pain he had been through... but she knew of someone else who probably could. Tea felt sick in her stomach again, because now she knew - now she knew that this is what Ryou had faced constantly... and this abuse was what had eventually killed him.
She clenched her fists in her lap. ((And he doesn't care!)) Her glare returned to her old enemy in full flame. ((How sick does someone have to be to do something like this to another person?)) He caught her glare, but she didn't back down. She could feel herself bristling, holding a front... and his own glare narrowed in keen challenge. ((No... not a person at all...)) she growled in her mind with venom practically dripping. ((You're just a demon!))
Bakura snarled at the woman's insistence to bore holes into him, deciding to shift his eyes away from hers before she fed his anger anymore than she already was. Deciding instead to watch his boss, the former thief paid half a mind to Edward tossing a second ice pack at Blain who caught the item fairly easily. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut through, no one seeming to know what to say or do as Ed hovered near the fridge and everyone else remained in their own chosen spots, absorbed in their own thoughts. However, Bakura was thankful for the silence no matter how strained... mainly because he knew it wouldn't last.
Tea steeled her resolve and straightened her posture before speaking with words cut with a precise edge. "I see you haven't changed much over the years, Zork."
He clenched his jaw at the name, forcing down the spike of fury that bristled beneath his skin as he turned his head away from the woman, choosing instead to glare icily at the wall. Nerves strained to the breaking point, he forced himself to concentrate on something out of this miserable existence that would calm him down. Unfortunately for him, he had yet to create such a list to go by and was currently drawing a blank... which, in itself, only pissed him off more.
))I need a fucking hobby.((
That voice came again. "What? First time in over three thousand years you're speechless?"
Bakura growled, speaking through his clenched teeth, "I have plenty of things to say..." he began coldly. "But none that I will waste on a Pharaoh's whore."
"Hold it." Ed cut in quickly, seamlessly interrupting a rather insulted Tea as her own anger rose up at such an accusation. Standing in the middle of the room between the two, Ed passed skeptical looks to each before he dared to speak again, choosing his words carefully as he kept his voice low. He didn't know exactly what a Pharaoh had to do with anything, but he just assumed it to be a nickname for someone. "We're all supposed to be civilized adults here, lets try to act the part for a while and talk like rational people. That sound okay with everyone?"
"'Civilized' and 'rational' are not in his vocabulary," Tea returned evenly, arms folded over her chest. "He did nothing but terrorize my friends and I all the time he was–!"
"Don't even start with your fucking friends!" Bakura shot out, arms crossed firmly. "The last thing I need is some little cheerleader ranting about sunshine and friendship defeating all worldly evils! Just grow up already!"
"Okay." Ed pressed his fingers against his eyelids, trying to relieve some tension. "That isn't helpful from either of you. Look, I'm sure neither of you want to pick another fight here AND..." he paused after the accented word, making sure he wasn't going to be interrupted as he shifted his stare from one to the other. "...Even if you do, this is my garage and I say hell no!"
"Believe me, if I still wanted to kill her, she'd already be dead," Bakura rounded back, not the least bit fazed. "Before was merely a slight lapse of judgement..." ((...And of reality,)) he added mentally. "That's all."
His boss quirked a brow. "No kidding," he responded, somewhat sarcastic as he shifted on his feet, trying to stretch the sore muscle on his side. "I'd have never guessed." Seeming to give up on his bruise at the moment, the middle-aged man sighed. "Even half-delusional you still fight like a fiend."
"'That's all'?" Tea picked out, glare nearly becoming cutting. "You attacked me and all you have to say that you had a lapse of judgement?"
"Quite a big one too," Bakura sneered. "You're still alive, aren't you?"
Tea huffed. "From what Mr. Johnson says, you're on the high-road now, so you shouldn't even be thinking of an act as dark as murder. Quite a remarkable goal for such a lowlife demon, don't you think?"
Ignoring the actual comment, the former thief's glare suddenly snapped to Ed with a heated glare. "You talked to her about me?"
Not ruffled, his boss only glared back. "Oh, clam it, Baku. You know better of me than that. She's just exaggerating what I did tell her. Standard protocol." He help up three fingers, folding them down with each point. "Name. How long you've been here. Why I hired you. After that, it's private." His stare narrowed. "Or are you doubting me now?"
Bakura had no comment.
"That's what I thought." He replied, warmth returning to his expression as he turned back to Blain quickly. "And how are you feeling?"
"Alright," the boy replied with a rasped tone, catching the startled look from the girl out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored it. People always felt uneasy when he spoke nowadays. "At least my chest doesn't feel like it's on fire now."
Bakura glared at the boy. "Your own damn fault. If you learned to keep out of other people's business, this wouldn't keep happening."
Tea bristled, her glare flying back to the white haired other. "Is that what you used to tell Ryou?" She asked lowly.
A growl emitting from his throat, Bakura's fingers clawed into his own forearms as he gritted his teeth tightly - all in a fleeting attempt to keep reins on a storm that surged like a virus throughout his system as he glared at the female across from him. It was at times like these that he could curse his hikari into oblivion - times where he would give anything to be like he used to be and not feel. He used to be in such control of himself, of his emotions... but all that was gone. Ryou had wormed his way into the soul of a merciless warrior and had injected warmth and life into what had been cold and dead. With the boy around, it had been fine, but afterwards... it became a living hell. To feel the agony of loss was not something that the great Thief King Bakura had ever wanted to bear again.
"I know this probably hurts your pride, but I saved you. Me. Your weak, little host."
'Saved' was most surely the wrong word. 'Infected' fit better, or maybe 'rebuilt'. Bakura had nearly shattered when Ryou had joined the faces of the former thief's family, of the people of Kul Elna... of all the people he cared for and would never see again. His hikari had been his life preserver in those five years - keeping him from being swallowed by his own rage, his own hate, his own misery. But now...
"You're not my son! YOU'RE NOT MY SON!"
Bakura pressed two fingers to his temple tightly as images flashed forward behind his eyelids, each and every one from that day three years ago when he had awoken as the sole resident in Ryou's body. His mind burned as still images wove together, threatening to swallow him back into the memory of it even as he struggled to push it away. It was still too easy for him to become detached from his shell and wander back into his mind - too easy for his thoughts to drift too far into what had been and take him away from what is.
Ed's voice seemed far away when he spoke, "Miss Gardner, what exactly are you accusing my employee of?"
Before the woman could speak, Bakura did for her: "Blain's countless injuries. She has assumed they are of my own doing."
"What?" Blain rasped out, only to swallow hard as his risen voice hurt his throat. Quickly, his eyes shot to Tea from beneath his straggly mop of blue hair. "That's ridiculous. Bakura's done nothing to me." He frowned as the woman's features darkened slightly, not convinced at all. "I... I get these from... old friends of mine." He offered a shaky smile, his hands digging into the arms of the chair he sat in. "They still like to... to corner me... from time to time." His stone stare swapped to the white haired other who wasn't even looking at anyone anymore - choosing instead to glare at a spot on the wall. "A while ago, they tried to... finish me off." Tenderly, he rose a pale hand touched his throat. "...But it wasn't a clean cut." He turned back to Tea. "I was supposed to be in for work that morning. When I didn't show up, Ed sent everyone out looking for me. Bakura... was the one who found me... and he wrapped up my injuries good enough until they could get me to the hospital."
The frown over Tea's features had become more and more faint as she listened to the injured boy speak - the words themselves coming out slowly so he could pronounce them properly. Listening to him rasp made her own throat itch, but she tried her best not to attempt to clear it out of impulse and focused solely on what she was being told. The only problem being that what she was being told didn't make a lick of sense. She remembered Zork vividly - remembered what he put them through over the years.
His burning glare.
His sadistic grin.
His maddened laugh.
Zork was the greatest evil that Atemu and Yugi had ever fought against... how is it even possible that he not only survived the last battle, but also escaped?
In any case, what she was being told sounded not just crazy, but 100% hands-down insane. Zork didn't help people, by any means. Well, not unless you wanted to be obliterated in the most painful way possible over the longest stretch of time - then he could possibly be quite helpful!
Tea bit her lip slightly, choosing her words for a response carefully as studied her own clenched hands in her lap. "I'm... so sorry for what happened. I hadn't meant to bring up such horrible memories for you. I'd... I'd just assumed that..." she stopped and shook her head, her hesitant stare rising to the boy seated near her. "I'm sorry."
"I'm alive," Blain responded, smiling. "That's nothing to be 'sorry' about."
She stole a glance at the gruff being across the room, only to find herself caught off-guard with the drop-dead glare she was getting back. For a second no one said anything, then his stare shifted to Edward with a decision already rolling off his tongue.
"It would seem that Gardner and I require some time to discuss matters of past and present," he informed coldly, a low growl seeming to underline his words to prove his own aggravation. "You and Blain can go."
The boss scoffed, a light glare darkening his kind features. "I think not. You're in no condition–"
"Don't tell me what the fuck I can and can't do," he snapped back, teeth clenched. "This bitch and I have to settle some matters. I can't do that with you here!"
"You idiot, would you listen to yourself?" Rounding, Ed turned to face his employee in full. "Would you just stop and think about what happened today? Hm? What the hell do you expect from me at this point?"
Bakura's hands fisted at his side. "What do I 'expect'? What can I expect? It's already obvious that you're firing me, so you might as well get it over with already, Edward. I'm not exactly a sentimentalist with these issues. Once that's done, then just leave so I can try to save the remains of my so-called life!"
Ed set his jaw, his body tensing. "You want to quit?"
Bakura growled, annoyed by the sudden turn-around. "Why the hell would I want–"
"That is what I'm asking." A chill was building in his tone, "are you trying to quit on me?"
"No, but–"
"Then why the hell are you telling me to fire you?"
This time, the former thief stopped short. "...You weren't going to fire me?"
"Are you accusing me of turning my back on my employees?" He shot back, obviously more than a little pissed at the accusation as his green eyes steeled over. "I have never turned any of you away. Not once. I've always taken events in stride... or are you under the delusion that you are some kind of special case?"
"There is more at stake here than you comprehend."
Bakura's thoughts spiraled at the sudden voice from the past, but he hid it well behind stone features. This stress wasn't helping him at this point... and, it would seem, neither was arguing with Edward. Why argue over keeping your job? In any case, Bakura held his tongue.
Ed sighed, a hand raising to rub his temple in stress before he glanced back to the other two in the room. "Give us a few minutes here," he said.
His stare then swapped back to the white haired employee with eyes reading 'come' before he turned and went over to where a makeshift kitchen was set up in the room. Logically, it was the best place for a few whispers to be exchanged. It was right across the room from where the others were sitting and, width wise, it was away from the door to stay away from any eavesdroppers. It wasn't ideal by any means, but it would have to do. Bakura just followed wordlessly, placing his back to the others just as Edward was.
Ed didn't waste any time getting to the point, knowing that all of their nerves were fried as it was without adding stressed silences to the mix. "Look... just how serious are you about speaking to Miss Gardner alone?" He asked, tone hushed. "Would it really matter any if there was... a fly on the wall while you talked?"
Bakura's glare found the other out of the corner of his eye. "...This is about the past I left behind, Edward. I don't want you knowing too much of it."
The boss' stare hit the counter in front of him, hands braced on the edge. "...For your security or my safety?"
"Call it a bit of both."
"You are nothing more than a pawn driven by your own memories."
Ed nodded, pressing his fingers against his closed eyes before letting his hand drag down his face tiredly. "Alright... but, first, you have to do something for me."
"If it's apologizing to Gardner while I'm at it, I already figured I'd have to choke that out at some point."
A small smirk lifted, but it was a dead gesture. "No, that's not what I was going to ask. No matter how good of an idea that would be later on, an apology cannot be asked for, only offered."
"Poetic. What it is then? Just spit it out already."
Edward's brow furrowed further, then, without a word, he opened the door of the fridge beside him and reached inside. Still keeping his back to the others, he retrieved something in his hand before closing the door once more... and offering what he had to his employee. The sight alone was enough to make the former thief bristle.
"I want you to take some of this," he said, but it sounded more like a plea.
Bakura glared at the small glass bottle of clear liquid and the small syringe that were being openly offered to him, his arms uncrossing to hang tense at his side. The container had a printed label written in that coded language that only doctors could figure out, but he knew what it basically was. A sedative.
"I'd say the punishment fit the crime."
The former thief lifted a cold look to his employer. "I don't need it," he growled out.
Edward sighed, eyes closing, but he didn't retract his hand yet. "Bakura, you've always said that people need to accept reality and quit fooling themselves with fantasies of how things should be. That sometimes the truth may be hard to face, maybe even painful, but it's better than running and hiding from it." Lifting his eyes, Ed stared evenly back at his employee. "Then let's have a look at the facts - at reality. Within a span of an hour, you've attacked two people in two different situations, had hallucinations, and nearly had a mental breakdown right in front of me. Whoever this woman is to you, she obviously stirs up a lot of pain from your past... and if you want me to trust your self-control enough to let you and her speak alone, then I need to know that you have a handle on that anger." His eyes darkened. "You have no idea how much I want to be able to just drain this crap down the sink... but we both know at this point what that would be doing."
"Run and hide all you want, you fools. For no matter where you go, the shadows will always be waiting to welcome you."
Bakura's glare shifted back to the offered items, mind racing. He didn't want to admit that he had to follow his own cutting wisdom, but he also couldn't deny that he wasn't able to keep his boiling temper down. He couldn't do this all on his own, not right now anyway...
"It'll relax you," Ed added quietly, "and it should help... quiet the voices."
"Meet my dad."
Schizophrenia. Sometimes he really did want to believe that's all it was. He'd gone insane. It was bound to get him eventually. It was actually a wonder he'd only snapped this recently. Happens to the best of us. Nothing big. He'd just be sporting the 'tied-up' look for the rest of his life. A nice long walk down to the funny farm. It would be absolutely brilliant. Lots of trees, and flowers, and chirping birds...
Mentally, he groaned. ))No more Dr. Demento for me...((
"Bakura?"
"Yeah, I know," he muttered under his breath, finally taking possession of the two offered items. "...Just cursing basket-weavers."
"Ryou! Amane! Supper's ready!"
If Edward made a comment to that, Bakura didn't hear it. With precise efficiency, the former thief filled the syringe with a decent dosage and went straight to finding a vein before he could convince himself not to. Even with the years gone past, Bakura's skill with handling human tissue was still embedded into him, letting him find a vein with ease without even the need of a tourniquet. He drained the fluid quickly before tossing the syringe away carelessly - Ed having already taken the bottle back while the employee was otherwise occupied. Bracing his arms on the counter, Bakura let out a heavy sigh, eyes sliding shut as he tried to convince himself that he couldn't feel the drugs traveling into his system with every heartbeat. It sickened him to have to put Ryou's body through this just so he could keep his mind in line.
))I'm sorry.((
"W-Who...? Y-You're... y-you're... me."
"Bakura, how are you feeling?"
))I'm sorry...((
"Bakura?"
"Fan-fucking-tastic, so shut up."
Ed smirked. "Good to hear it, Baku. Are you ready to get this over with?"
He growled, eyes opening just a bit to glare at the mess of magazines over the surface in front of him. They really needed to clean this place once every millennia or so. "I'll never be ready."
"Alright then." Ed's smirk wavered slightly. "Just... don't make me regret this, Baku." Then the man turned around to face the other two who seemed to have lasted through the stretch of silence just fine. In fact, it seemed as though they'd been chatting a little. Covering his worry with a smile, he passed a kind look between both of those seated. "Alright, I think we're all set." He looked to Tea. "If it is fine by you, Blain and I will be stepping out now."
The teen employee blinked slightly, but Tea's eyes narrowed just a touch before she nodded calmly. "That's fine." However, beneath her exterior, her mind was racing.
Bakura turned to Edward. "I can handle this."
The man hesitated still, but did nod. "Alright. We'll be just outside. Call if you need anything." It only took a small motion to Blain for the teen to stiffly rise to his feet and follow his boss out. The door was shut an instant later.
Bakura didn't allow a silence to draw out. "First things first," he began, leaning back against the wall in an effort to get comfortable. He wasn't planning on sitting. "I will attempt to answer whatever idiotic question you manage to concoct, but, in exchange, you are to hold your tongue concerning today's unfortunate events. No police reports, no charges - not on me or even this business. Just forget it. My words for your silence. Equal trade." His sharp glare finally turned to her. "Agreed?"
Tea stared straight back, studying. "...And how much honesty can I trust to be in your words, Zork?"
The Thief bristled. "You really need to stop calling me that," he snapped harshly, only to then force himself down. "I am no demon, though I suppose some would claim me to be even though I was born human. I am Zork's previous host from Egypt, a Tomb Robber and Thief King. It's nearly funny how you fools have latched onto his name as being your enemy... when I was the one you were confronting the most."
Tea frowned. "So... you're an ancient spirit? Like Atemu?"
His eyes rolled. "Amazing, I do believe she's caught on," he rounded back, sarcasm dripping.
She let that pass. "But I thought–"
"Yes or no, little Tea," Bakura cut in. "Do we have a deal or not?"
As though such an act was intimidating, her eyes narrowed. "If you swear to tell the truth." Inwardly, she continued, ((though I doubt you will.))
He pretended to draw an 'X' over his chest with his finger, smirking as he did. "Thief's Honor."
The young woman nearly scowled at his joking manner. She wasn't sure if she'd made the right choice, but even if… whoever this is was lying, it's not as though a police report would do much anyway. Shadow Magic couldn't really be stopped by bullets, after all. Zork would always be powerful, so she had to be careful… but at least this way she had a chance to get information from him before phoning Yugi and the others tonight.
Her brow furrowed at the name of her childhood friend, eyes falling to her lap. ((Yugi... what are you going to say when I call? Is it even fair to call you after...?)) But, before she could dwell, she shook herself of the thought. She had to concentrate. Not doing so at this point would probably go down as the stupidest thing she'd ever done…
"Having a nice trip down Memory Lane?"
Tea sent as cold of a glare as she could muster at the smirking demon. She didn't care if he denied it: he was a demon, whether human-born or not. "I suppose I should call you 'Bakura' then? It seems like that's what you have everyone else doing."
"And why shouldn't I? It is my name."
"No, it's Ryou name," she shot back. "You just stole it from him."
The thief growled in warning, but seemed to chew on his words for a minute before picking his response. "...It's the name I chose for myself a long time ago."
"When you were first freed."
Bakura nearly laughed at the irony. "When I was condemned."
Tea frowned at that, the bitterness attached to those words making her second-guess herself in pushing the matter. She supposed that it didn't really matter what he called himself, even if it was the name of one of her friends. After all, there were plenty of people in the world that had the same name as one another… this one was just born in a different era than everyone else. Besides, 'Bakura' had been the family name. It wasn't as though this spirit was demanding to be called 'Ryou' after his reincarnation, as though to replace him. He was just using a name that, apparently, he had had before even entering this modern world.
((What are the odds of that?)) She wondered, but pushed on. "Last time I saw you – or Zork, I'm not sure which – it was during that whole Memory World affair. Atemu sealed you away. The whole Shadow Realm was supposed to be sealed off. How did you get out?"
"Both of us were there. It was our final front, after all," Bakura returned, features as solid as stone. "If you must know, I managed to crossover and inhabit Ryou before your beloved Pharaoh sealed me into oblivion with those doors of his." He seemed to mull something over for a second, then continued, "...Ryou helped me make the crossing."
Tea's eyes suddenly widened as she shot forward in her seat, unbelieving. "He did? Why?" She all but screeched, only to freeze as her actual choice of words registered in her mind. She cringed slightly, carefully observing the former tomb robber's reaction... or lack of reaction.
"I won't help you. You… you've hurt enough people."
Bakura stared back at her for a long moment, emotions kept firmly in check as he watched the girl before him fidget... but, even though he didn't look it, his mind was elsewhere. A flurry of images flashed before his conscious all at once as overlapping voices rushed over his hearing, the coherency of it only suffering a little as a result of the sedative. Blood splattered across his mind, both his own as well as the blood of others. A million faces, a million voices… all ending in one.
"Look, I'm not leaving until we talk… so you might as well come out."
"Um… B-Bakura?"
"B-Bakura?"
"...I don't know," he finally responded.
Tea blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I don't know why he helped me out of the Shadow Realm," he repeated to clarify. "He was just... Ryou. It was his nature."
"So, all this time... eight years..." The young woman frowned. "...You were still...?" She gestured with one hand to close the gap.
"Around?" He finished for her, eyes narrowing cooly as he shifted his weight on his feet. "Yes."
"H-How long has Ryou been…?" Tea struggled to get the words out that she wanted. It was hard enough to have the question in her mind, but to voice it…
"…Three years." Bakura muttered, answering the unsaid question as he glared fiercely across the room. For her sake, he hoped the wench would be smart for once and find a new topic quickly.
Tea's gaze dropped to her lap, eyes misty as she furrowed her brow even further. She could just imagine how people would jeer at her right now, telling her to get a grip. It had been eight years since she had last seen her friend... and, some would argue, he hadn't even be her friend at all. She had never really known him very well… or well at all, for that matter. He'd been a face moving in and out of her life, usually under the most desperate of situations… all under the control of him. Ryou had always been quiet, sinking into the background if he could, but Tea had seen him. More than that, she had noticed him when he was around – even back at Duelist Kingdom, she was the one who always seemed to notice.
Now, her heart ached as she wished she had done more than just 'notice.'
She had wanted to get to know him, truly, she did... but it was far, far too late.
((A mechanic.)) She shook her head, her gaze lifting to the tense figure who seemed to be trying to kill the wall across the room with his glare alone. ((Why all this… for a job as a mechanic? He's been obsessed with power for thousands of years... a mob-boss would probably be a better fit…))
He spoke before she could. "Are we done here?"
Tea shook her head firmly, needing to know something. "I... I want... to know why you did it." She didn't flinch as that glare turned against her fiercely, staring him in the eye the best she could. "I want to know why you... killed him."
He growled, tensing even further. "I just killed him. What more do you want to hear, wench?" A bitter smirk took his features, eyes closing. "Ah, I see. At heart, you're a little sadist. Well, then which do you want to hear about first? About how his blood coated everything in sight? The sounds he made as he was torn apart? The expression on his face as he stared up at me in his last mo–"
"Stop it!" Tea screeched, flying to her feet with arms held straight at her sides, fists clenched. She stared into dark eyes, her own stare drowning in unshed tears as she struggled to not let her emotions break into her voice. "Just stop! How can you stand there and say those things about him? You said yourself that he saved you and this is how you repay him? By stealing his life and then spitting on him in death?"
Cold eyes narrowed against her, the only emotions apparent being mass amounts of annoyance and anger. "At least I do not shed tears on the empty grave of someone I didn't even know," he spat back, warning practically dripping in his tone. "Your sorrow is as empty as your head, you fool."
"There was nothing in it for you!" Tea yelled back regardless, tears finally let loose over her cheeks for the second time that day. "Ryou stood against you before as you fought the Pharaoh - even in Duelist Kingdom, he was what made you lose! But you decide to kill him five years after Atemu moves on? When there's no way you can use a mortal body as your own to claim the Items? Why kill him for a lousy job as a mechanic? Why?"
"Oh, SHUT UP!"
Tea staggered backwards, not being able to help the gasp that escaped her at the sheer volume and tone blasted against her. She stared into the eyes of the devil, feeling captive under that burning glare that made her feel as though she couldn't look away even if he told her to. She could practically see him trembling in his own rage, a snarl drawn tight over his features and fists clenched until they were white at his side. The image of a lion staring down its cornered prey swept into her mind, but she banished it. She didn't want to think she could land up being at his mercy again, didn't want to think that she was trapped…
"Are you done?" He snarled, his eye twitching... only for the door to fly open, making Bakura yell even before he saw who it was. "Don't be fucking checking up on me, dammit! I can handle this, just leave me alone!"
Chris stopped, hand still poised on the doorhandle as he quirked a brow at the white haired other, shrugging loosely. "Alright, whatever. If yelling at the top of your lungs is what you call 'handling it' then that's fine by me."
Bakura gritted his teeth at the child, forcing his hackles to settle down as he ran a quick hand through his knotted hair. "Who the hell asked you? What do you even want?"
"You asked and I want my bookbag." The kid answered easily, smirking... only to nearly cough from losing air when his bag was thrown at him with such speed he more or less caught it with his stomach than his hands. "H-Hey! Easy on the merchandise, would you?"
"Just get out!"
"What's your problem? Is it your time of the month again?"
"Brat, I swear–"
"Okay, I think that's enough," Kobee cut in seamlessly as he came into view in the doorway - filling most of it with his sheer size. He looked down upon the youngest employee of the garage, trying his best not to smirk. "Ed told us not to bother them, Chris. That would include you." When the boy beside him scoffed, arms crossed, the dark-skinned man turned his solid stare to the former thief. "Sorry, Bakura."
"Whatever," Bakura grounded coldly. "We're done here anyway."
Tea couldn't help the glare she sent him. "No, we're not! I still have questions!"
"Too fucking bad for you." He growled, a single canine flashing within his snarl as his lethal glare swung back to the wench with him. "You should have thought of that before you pissed me off!"
The young woman nearly growled herself, hands fisted at her side. "I want to know why you killed Ryou, Bakura!" She snapped, obviously just as pissed as he was. "I want to know why now - after all these years!"
Bakura nearly pulled out his hair. "By the sands, woman! Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because Ryou was my friend!"
"Well, he certainly didn't see it that way, you impudent fool! I would have thought the note he left for you morons the day he left would have made that clear! Or did you not even get it?"
She skipped over that the best she could. Wanting to believe something else. "He left because of you! He didn't want you to hurt any of us anymore!"
"Neither of us wanted anything to do with you, you bitch! He left because he was sick of all your bullshit! How many times did you offer him your goddamn friendship only to practically ignore him? Did you think he didn't notice? Did you take him to be that stupid?"
"No! We just–"
"–just what? Just couldn't be bothered? Just couldn't take the time from your busy schedules to make sure he wasn't falling into depression? That he wasn't under the control of a lunatic in his head again? Fuck it, you're still full of crap, Gardner!"
"We tried!"
"Don't lie to me!" Bakura snapped back, eyes glinting in warning. "Not about him. Not if you value your life."
Tea scowled, even more annoyed with how effectively he had managed to turn all this on her and back her into a corner. However, she refused to back down. "We were just kids, Bakura. We shouldn't have had to be worried about Ryou in that way... that was all your doing, so don't pin it on us!"
"I thought you said you were friends with him?" Bakura cut back, precise in every word. "So where exactly were you when your friend needed you most?"
The young woman flinched visibly, a single hand rising to clench over her chest. "You're the one that made it turn out this way." She hit him with a glare, but it was far from cold as tears were more than visible. "All of this was pain from YOU! You created it! You manipulated it! And Ryou PAIDfor it! And for WHAT? For a job as a mechanic? Why? Why here of all places?"
"Because I belong here, Gardner! Where the hell else would I go?"
"I don't know! The mafia?"
"Yeah, right, and exchange one bloodbath for another! I've watched enough people die for one existence, alright?" He snapped out, more words flowing than what he meant to. "I'm sick and tired of being surrounded by death and misery!"
Tea blinked, obviously taken a back... at first. Then her eyes narrowed again in suspicion. "You almost sounded sincere there."
He growled, not at all amused by this little game. "I already told you once, you fool. I am not a demon. My agenda was revenge. However, since his Highness no longer graces us mere commoners with his Godly presence anymore, I needed a new purpose to my existence."
The young woman gave him a bland look, motioning limply with one hand to the shop on the other side of the wall. "By fixing cars?"
"Would you rather I was stealing them?"
Silence.
"...You actually have to think about it?"
"Well, to be honest, you stealing cars is a lot more believable."
Silence.
"...What? It is!"
Bakura pressed his fingers tiredly against his shut eyes. "I swear," he muttered lowly, "I'd have better luck trying to reason with a wall." Dragging his hand down his face, his glare resurfaced as it swapped to the two silent figures in the door. "Speaking of which, when are you two flies planning to screw off?"
"Immediately," Ed answered, coming in between the (rather speechless) two with a hand landing on each of their shoulders. However, a smirk was toying on his features when he spoke, "sorry, Bakura. Seems my orders don't mean much today."
Chris rolled his eyes. "I was just getting my bag. You said we were going home, so I needed it."
Ed allowed the smirk to win. "And I'm guessing getting into an argument is part of the package?"
The boy shrugged, slinging a tattered strap over his shoulder. "It's Bakura. Arguments kinda happen naturally."
The thief scoffed, an easy smirk lifting his dark features ever so slightly. "Funny... because I think there's a vertically-challenged squirt I know with a similar description."
Chris stuck out his tongue.
"One day I'm going to cut that thing off, boy."
"I'd like to see you try!"
"I wouldn't," Kobee cut in. "So I think now is my cue to get going."
"Sure." Ed gave a nod. "See you in the morning. Rest well, we'll have a lot of catching-up to do." Then, when the large man turned and left for the front of the shop, Edward's gaze turned back to Bakura's. "You should do the same. It's been an... exciting day for all of us. I need you alert tomorrow."
The white haired other gave a slight nod, but didn't move from his position. That was all the hinting it took to get Ed to steer the young boy beside him off - closing the door as he did. The silence that hung in the room felt thick, making them feel as though a weight was pressing on their chests as they each found themselves lost in their own trains of thought, their own lives. He with his glare placed firmly on the floor before him; her with her stare fixed on him.
He acted differently towards the others. She had noticed that straight away. Even with how he engaged such a loud child as Chris - there was a rough sense of... brotherhood, perhaps, amongst them. They appeared to be close but...
((...but it was Ryou who paid the price for this.)) A pang of sadness hit her chest as her eyes slipped away from the figure across from her. ((I can't walk away now... I need to know why.)) She spoke quietly, "I have to know why such a sweet boy is gone..."
The former thief's stare fell shut. He was far too tired to argue this anymore. If she wanted to know what had caused his hikari's death, then he would voice it... no matter how much it hurt. He deserved the pain, anyway. He deserved all the anguish in the world for ever laying a single finger on that boy. Amazingly though, Ryou had survived the torture, though not without scars, and had forgiven his darkness... then, in a split second, it all ended and Bakura was alone.
Well, almost alone.
If it hadn't have been for the one other person - someone who'd been around since Duelist Kingdom - who knew of his existence within the British boy then Bakura knew for a fact that he wouldn't have pulled through like he had. It was pathetic, he knew that, but it's not like he'd been given a choice in the matter. He could still remember the worlds that had pulled him from the depths of his mind...
"Stay out here with me, Bakura."
When the thief spoke, his words were but a cold mutter, "I wanted a life." Those few words tasted like bile on his tongue, but they were truth... his truth. "I wasn't content with the role I was playing and pushed for more."
She regarded him carefully, hoping that, by not speaking, she was leaving the door open for him to continue. Unfortunately, he did not. He had given her his answer and nothing else - like he had promised he would. In the end, he was trying to keep his word.
"That life," Tea spoke quietly, "was not yours to claim."
His eye twitched, but he forbid himself to react. "...Go home, Gardner." He turned his stare to lock onto hers. "Go back to your little friends and stay there. As for me, well... I still have a promise to keep."
Tea blinked slightly, surprise evident in her features. "'Promise'?"
His brow furrowed slightly. "...Thief's Honor," he nearly whispered, his stare slipping back to the floor in front of him.
The young woman frowned but, this time, she agreed it was time to take her leave. Taking the tattered blanket off the couch, she quickly folded it and laid it over the arm of the couch before picking up her purse. Her paces to the door weren't nearly as hurried as she had figured she would have upon leaving the room and, when she reached the door, she stopped and turned back to the solemn figure. Something in her view of him changed in that second and, for the first time, she thought that she could almost see a trace of misery in those stone features.
It nearly made her stop from asking one final question... but not quite.
"Bakura?"
He didn't look up, but, somehow, she knew he was listening.
"Do you... have the Ring again?"
This time, his eyes closed. "No."
She believed him. Nodding, she turned without another word and left, letting the door close behind her with a solid clunk. However, on the other side, she found herself needing a moment to align herself and carefully leaned back against the wall beside the door. Her hands clutched her purse tightly - her mind replaying everything that she had just gone through one more time... as if the first fifty times weren't enough.
Taking a small flip-mirror from her purse, Tea glanced over her appearance quickly and - though the bruise on her cheek was more than a little noticeable - she still tried to smooth down her hair with some last shred of vanity. With a heavy sigh, however, she soon abandoned the idea and tossed the item back into her purse. Her eyes viewed the shop around her - so eerily still - but a movement in a large window across the way caught her eye.
Ed's office.
She could see him flipping through files, though she doubted he was actually doing anything. He was probably just pretending to work so he could keep an eye and ear out for his employee and her. Not that that bothered her. In fact, it came as a bit of a relief. Someone really was keeping a sharp eye on the thief, keeping him in line...
((And no Shadow Magic required.)) She nearly gave a slight smile at the thought, but a pain in her cheek stopped her. A second later, she had her hand placed tenderly over the spot. ((He's still dangerous,)) she reminded herself. ((Yugi has to know.))
So, deciding it was best for her to just head home at this point, Tea simply left the garage and flagged down a taxi to take her back to her apartment. The thought made her sigh - she didn't have a 'home' right now. Since she had only stepped into her new living area for the first time yesterday and had yet to unpack most of her things, it didn't really feel like a home yet and she wouldn't call it one until it did. However, the question now was whether she would stay long enough for the patch of space to ever feel like a home. She honestly didn't know.
Dance schools or not, she really didn't want to live in the same city as him.
Bakura stood unmoving for what felt like forever - his muscles becoming stiff in their locked positions as his mind took him through the day's events. He had honestly never thought his luck would turn so bad that he would come across one of them. It wasn't that he was ashamed of what he had done to them, nor did he care what they thought of him... but it was Ryou. Always Ryou.
When was the worst? Before they had arrived at Domino, or after? It was all a blur of violence and blood unless Bakura took a second to organize everything in his mind. One thing usually just piled on top of another, events blurring into events with no rhyme nor reason. Every detail was perfect though. Every word he remembered had been spoken in exactly the tone he remembered it spoken in. Every action, every reaction - it was all exact, he knew he could rely on that much. He had the perfect memory. It just sort of... got jumbled together if he allowed it to. He tended to prefer it that way - kept him from dealing with exact reruns.
Ryou was alive for the majority of those memories - suffering, but alive. How was it that the Pharaoh and his gaggle of fools hasn't seen it? Were they blind? Ryou had been fading by the day... and no matter how hollow Bakura made him become, no matter how many 'lessons' he taught... no one noticed Ryou change. No one.
))What the hell was wrong with the Pharaoh that he didn't even notice how fake you acted? He should have seen it... he should have come after me... banished me...(( Bakura's head bowed further, swallowing his face in a dark shadow. ))But... he did banish me, didn't he? Him and little Yugi... I just always came back... each time met with less and less resistence. You couldn't fight me anymore... not like before. In Duelist Kingdom... I had made sure... that it would never be an option for you again...((
((You promised!))
Sitting with a tree stump between his opponent, none other than the newly-awakened Pharaoh, and himself, Bakura cackled inwardly - his smug smirk merely growing on the outside - at his host's feeble cries. Turning his attention inside their minds for the moment, he allowed the duel to fade into the background momentarily as the sharp eyes of his soul turned... and found the source of the noise.
The pathetic mortal stood shakily between their two doors, staring down the corridor towards the yami with keen determination and a streak of anger written over his features... but there was also incredible fear. His limbs were shaking, though he was trying his best not to show it - not wanting to appear as weak as he was. It was a useless attempt. Ryou would always be but a sniveling fool.
Bakura, standing at the edge of the corridors with merely one step out from full awareness to the outside world, smirked at the sight. Who did the boy think he was dealing with? "You shouldn't be so loud, little Ryou," the thief taunted cooly, the words nearly seeming to slide past his lips. "You'll make me annoyed."
Ryou couldn't help the hesitation he gave, but he wouldn't back off. Not now. The others were counting on him to stop this before everything got out of control! "You promised, Bakura."
A sharp grin suddenly cut the thief's features. "And I gather you think I'm breaking my word? Don't tarnish my name, boy... Thief's Honor, remember?"
"You swore you would leave them alone!" Ryou suddenly shouted, glaring at the spirit even as his frail form trembled. "It's the Pharaoh and Yugi you want, so leave the innocent out of it! Joey, Tristan, and Tea have done nothing to deserve what you're about to put them through! S-So... so be true to your word and let them go!"
The shot came fast and hard - only a mere blink in time - but it sent Ryou crumpling against the wall beside his yami's soulroom door with the fresh pain from a crushing fist in his cheek. It was fine though. Ryou would take whatever he had to at this point, he didn't care. Why would he? It was just another injury among the many - he had learnt to carry the burden of them. His entire soul was a mess of beaten flesh, cuts, and scars... what difference would another beating make? Nothing at all. In fact, he almost welcomed it. It may give the others the time they need to figure out how to escape...
"How is it..." that voice growled darkly, "that you find it in your place to give me orders? Have you forgotten already who your soul belongs to?"
The boy shivered beneath the tone but, though his legs begged him to allow it, he refused to let himself shrink to the floor. Terror clawed at his mind as he took a shuddering breath, already knowing what he must look like: A frightened mouse; a broken bird. Pathetic. Weak. Useless. He'd already heard all of that before.
But it couldn't be true.
He'd survived this far, hadn't he?
"L-Let... l-let them g-go..." Ryou choked out, voice barely audible. "I p-promised... to do whatever y-you wanted. I... I promised t-to help d-de-defeat Yami. I've... I've kept my word." Desperate eyes rose, meeting that burning glare... and trying not to cower under it. "Please... keep yours."
A corner of his lips lifted. "Do you not trust me, host? Such a shame... as I have been very true to my word, just as you have been thus far."
Anger sparked in that wearily glare. "You sealed their souls into cards!"
SLAP!
Bakura calmly lowered his hand with a sadistic grin on his lips - loving the sound the backhand made on his hikari's bruised skin. It was like listening to bells chime. "Do not raise your voice to me, vessel. Haven't we been through this already?" He seemed to pass over the subject entirely, picking up their previous one. "Incidently though, by sealing their souls into their favorite cards... have I not protected those little fools from the crushing weight of the Shadow Realm?" He chuckled darkly as Ryou's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Weak minded mortals... they would not have lasted a minute without the aid of Shadow Creatures. I gave them that relief, as per my deal with the likes of you, landlord."
Ryou's teeth gritted. "They'll all be killed. If the Pharaoh loses...!"
"What the Pharaoh does with his chosen army is of no concern to me." Bakura returned, slowly making his way back down the hallway to rejoin the waiting duel. "If the fool so chooses to sacrifice the lives of his host's friends in order to try and win, then that's no crime of mine... little Ryou." He paused just before the black void. "Enjoy the show, boy."
Then he was gone.
Ryou stood trembling - not from fear this time though, but anger. Hands fisted tightly, the boy glared with fiery contempt at the image projected within the darkness at the end of the hall - the world through his own eyes... under the control of him. It wasn't right. The thief was just twisting everything around again! He was going to ruin everything again! Ryou had just begun to settle into Domino, he's just begun to do well in school again... he'd just begun... to make some friends.
An array of figurines filled the boy's mind, but he shook his head clear of the images. This wasn't going to turn out like that. He swore it wouldn't! Not this time! Not ever again!
"This one is my favorite."
"The... Change of Heart card?"
Ryou steeled his resolve, mentally preparing himself while Bakura was too busy with the duel to pay attention to him. ((They aren't the only ones connected to this game. I'll show you what your 'little host' is capable of!))
Vaguely aware of the door creaking open nearby, Bakura just braced himself for what he knew was coming next...
"N-No, B-Bakura, pl-please! Please... s-stop! S-Stop, I... I'm s-sorry! P-Pl-Please...!"
A shiver trailed down the thief's spine as a horrible scream from his memory tore forward, burning his mind as good as any fire. He remembered it all too clearly. It had been Ryou's hardest lesson in obedience. Bakura had returned from the Shadow Realm while the Pharaoh and mutt had been dueling the Paradox brothers, but, though Ryou was aware of his presence again, Bakura didn't do anything - just watched with a boiling temper. He barely made any communication with his host, letting him pretend he really was one of the gang... until Bakura had been forced to step in when Pegasus had turned his Shadow Magic on him. He'd dealt with the situation, throwing everyone back in their rooms, then he had returned to his own before heading back into his soulroom.
Then... Ryou had had the nerve to thank him for it.
Calling that night a 'beating' would be far too kind - Bakura had tortured Ryou within the boundaries of the boy's own mind. Every trick he knew, every method he had learnt over his long life, he used to his fullest advantage, dealing out far more than Ryou should have been able to take. Piece by piece, Bakura had unleashed a symphony of agony into the teen and had listened joyfully as Ryou screamed and begged for his life and death until his throat itself bled. He watched him cry blood, watched him wither and break before Bakura would claim to be done... making that fresh scream when the thief squeezed broken bones together thereafter all the more delicious. Then he'd begin with a new pitch of pain.
Blood had always stained his host's soulroom, but that night it had been coated in it.
After that, Ryou did as he was told.
"You're not very good at sneaking," Bakura informed coldly, not even looking up at his boss standing across from him.
Ed smirked, a single thumb hooked in the pocket of his jeans. "I wasn't sneaking," he assured, seemingly more relaxed now that he knew for sure he wasn't going to suddenly startle his gruff mechanic. "Look, Baku... I'm all for giving you time to think things over, but... that girl left over two hours ago. You haven't even moved a muscle."
Bakura lifted a frown to his boss, the question in his eyes reading 'two hours?' before he glanced over to the clock on the wall. ))How the hell...?((
Edward sighed, running his hand through his hair quickly before deciding it was still his turn to speak. "Baku, sitting in here isn't going to do you any good."
The thief stare returned to the garage owner. "Neither is sitting back at my place."
Ed smirked and, stepping forward, he slapped his hand onto his employee's shoulder. "Come on, you pain in the ass. That silver bullet still needs to get running... what do you say we both take a crack at it?"
Bakura couldn't help but smirk back, slightly amused by the suggestion. "Since when are you any good with modern cars?"
"...Shut up."
The rest of the day had spun by all too quickly as Bakura and Edward worked on the car until the typical closing time. The entire time, Ed had done his best to keep the sarcasm and jokes rolling in an effort to distract his employee's mind from drifting back into the day's events and - probably - past ones too. Whether anyone believed him or not, the man knew that his worker was actually a rather decent man beneath the 'I'll rip your head off' attitude problem - Bakura had just been broken. Ed didn't know when or how or why, but, somewhere along the road, the world had laid a multitude of beatings on the white haired jackass... and the injuries sustained had never healed. Perhaps they never would.
The world created Bakura.
Like the old saying goes: it takes a village to raise a child.
Ed, in all honesty, hoped to NEVER have the misfortune of meeting that 'village'.
However, no matter how much of a relief it was on the thief to have Ed as a distraction during the day, it only made the company of Bakura's own mind that much more grating when they had both taken their separate routes home at the day's end. It's not that he disliked what life he had... it was just... the past. It was ALWAYS the past. It hung over him like a blanket that only seemed to get heavier the longer he trudged on.
Yes, he liked the paper-thin walls of his apartment, he liked annoying his neighbours and how the hot water always ran out... the roughness kept him grounded. Besides, it was still the lap of luxury compared to what he'd grown up in. What he DIDN'T like was some wench coming after him all these years later, spewing all those questions... dragging a rusted hook through his past to open up old wounds.
Having been walking mindlessly through the familiar streets, Bakura blinked back to reality as he suddenly sensed open space around him - the park. The grass was browning from lack of water and the trees looked a little brittle, but it was the park... a place big enough in the middle of downtown to be able to get away from the concrete and pavement... and the noise. The noise alone was enough to drive him mad. But then you ask: Why stay? The question was simple, just as simple: Where would he go? He'd known this city for eight years, there was no reason to leave it just to start new again somewhere else. He didn't like change. After an eternity of never knowing what was going to happen, a little routine was good to bring his blood pressure down.
He slowly walked over to the small pond, leaning his arms on the railing as he watched the fish swim beneath the surface of the water. Life was so much simpler for them...
He growled at himself. ))Great, now I want to be a fucking fish. I should just commit myself and be damned with the whole thing already before my common sense collapses completely.(( His eyes narrowed upon a fish coming up to the surface close to him, its large mouth gaping at the surface. "What the hells are you staring at?" He snapped, not really thinking. "Don't mock me or I'll fry your ass."
Two more gapping mouths then the fish swam away, leaving a smirking Bakura behind. He swore the damn thing had just told him to 'fuck off'... either that or it was calling him an asshole.
He took a deep breath before letting it out again, his eyes lifting to the setting sun that he could barely see through the array of buildings. The sunlight had taken on a glorious orange colour, bathing everything in a strange light. It reminded him of the same light that had soaked the city the night that Ryou and he had taken off to enter in that night tournament... the night Bakura had killed him with his own foolishness.
How could he ever hope to fill Ryou's place in the world? There was a missing link in the chain, a piece that had snapped three years ago without anyone even noticing. Bakura wasn't his host. He couldn't even understand the boy let alone be him. The boy that had saved him from the Shadow Realm; the boy that would hold open doors and carry things to stranger's cars for them; he'd been a rarity - a jewel amongst rocks. He hadn't belonged on this mortal plane and it was only when he disappeared that people realized how much he had lit up the dark. Everything just seem that much dimmer now.
))What the hells are you doing?((
Ryou couldn't help but jump slightly at the demanding voice, only to then breathe a slight sigh - a soft smile taking his features - as his dark half emerged from him to stand as a ghost beside him. Bakura still looked like complete hell - beaten and weary - but the tomb robber somehow managed to keep that tense look to him, like he was about to get ambushed at any moment. The Brit did hope that eventually he would come to relax a bit... if only to let himself heal faster.
Arms resting on the steel railing in front of him, Ryou didn't reply as his gaze turned lazily back to the wide open ocean that stretched into the far horizon where the sun was setting peacefully. The waves rolled in, crashing into the concrete platform that the boy had found himself on at the edge of the city. He really didn't even know how he got here, but it was almost as though something had wanted to show this one site to him before he left Domino for good in the morning.
He had to admit: looking out over the ocean and watching the sunset in this lazy moment... the city didn't seem half-bad.
Bakura frowned at his host. He knew the boy was a bit doped from all the migraine pills he'd been taking, but this was more than a little odd. ))...Do you... not wish to return to London?((
Ryou couldn't help but chuckle, surprising even himself with how at ease he felt inside. After all, he was still being possessed by the same short-tempered ancient tomb robber, but it just... felt different this time around. Bakura's attitude towards him felt different. Even now, Bakura had never been one to pick and choose his words but, for some reason, right now he was trying to... not that it suited him the slightest. The teen, however, just let it be, deciding that it was probably the thief's way of trying to be nice and say 'thanks, brat.' Ryou didn't need it though - he appreciated the fact that Bakura seemed appreciative of what he'd done. That in itself was more than enough.
((Of course I want to return to London. It's my home, there's nothing for me anywhere else.)) Ryou responded contently, not once looking away from the scene depicted before him. ((...Isn't the sunset beautiful?))
A long pause was his answer for over a minute, then he heard Bakura growl. ))Fool, how many of those damn pills did you take?((
And, for the first time since they'd 'met', Ryou dared to roll his eyes at his yami. He never realized how freeing such a random reaction could be! ((Bakura, I'm not drugged up.))
))You're delirious.((
Ryou laughed a little, turning to the tense spirit beside him with one brow lifted in question. "Because of a sunset?" He asked out loud, thankful no one was around.
Bakura growled through clenched teeth. ))Because of what you're asking about. What are you? A woman?((
((You're unbelievable. Haven't you ever watched the sunset?))
))Of course,(( he snapped far harsher than what he needed to. ))I am from Egypt. The place is nothing but sun and sand.(( Cold eyes turned to the burning object, scowling, ))I was always glad to see it go. Darkness would coat the land, gifting the perfect cover for me to work. Mortals have always feared the night...(( He smirked, throwing his host a chilling look. ))...and the monsters that lived within it. It has always seemed like there is nothing more terrifying for you fools than the unknown.((
So much for watching his words.
Ryou nodded slightly, unfazed despite the slight flip-flop in his stomach at just the sight of that sadistic little smirk. It was WAY too familiar. ((I can't deny that,)) he agreed. ((Humans have been known throughout history to try and destroy entire races of people simply because they were different than them and therefore couldn't understand them. The Human Zoos, the Witch's Hammer, the Ku Klux Klan, the concentration camps in World War Two... you can't exactly say that we're an understanding species. ...Still though.)) That unfaltering smile grew slightly. ((There's good in people. We just haven't had much practice using it.))
Bakura said nothing, turning his glare back out to the sunset. Finally, he'd had enough of the silence. ))What do you see in it that's so captivating then?((
((Well... what do you see when you look at it?))
))A burning orb.((
((Bakura, it's more than that. You just... have to look past the surface.)) Ryou sighed, content for the moment as he bathed in the last rays of sunlight. For the first time in years, a weight was lifted off of his shoulders and he felt relaxed all the way down into his soul. He didn't even notice his yami's stare snap to him, having felt the change from the boy's soulroom across to his own. ((It's... special.)) He finally added as an afterthought.
Bakura blinked, his stare flipping from the orb then back to his host. ))...How?(( He was genuinely curious, to say the least.
Ryou chuckled, shaking his head. ((I don't know, it just is!)) Catching the odd look his other half gave him, he shrugged helplessly. ((It's... hard to explain. It sort of... changes from one person to another. You'll figure it out for yourself one day, Bakura. I'm sure of it.))
Well, it wouldn't have been the first time Ryou was wrong about something. Bakura still saw the sun as a burning orb that used to betray him constantly in Egypt, letting the guards see him on his way out of a job or, even worse, revealing his white mane to superstitious eyes on the streets. That's as far as his thinking would ever take him... or maybe as far as he would let it take him.
Bakura sighed heavily, watching the sun sink out of sight to bring light somewhere else. The night closed in on the city around him and, just when he was nearly content beneath its ever-blackening blanket, he growled as the street lamps flickered on. He glared at the offending object - people were truly pathetic with how they feared the dark. There was nothing to fear... except perhaps the odd youth pulling a knife. In which case, the reaction is simple: beat the living crap out of them and steal THEIR wallet. Back in Egypt, it took talent to be a successful thief, not like today. Then again, back then, everyone carried one form of blade or another, so waving around some little pick-stick wouldn't do much.
Having had enough of the illuminating city, Bakura forgot about getting something to eat and quickly made his way home instead - letting himself into his apartment and thankful for the darkness that greeted him. Heavy curtains drawn shut, the room was practically a black abyss, but he loved it. The darkness made him feel relaxed, stilling his mind from its repetitive circles to let him rest for the next day. He supposed that there was little that he would ever truly change about his habits - they'd been part of survival in Egypt, but now they just felt right. Ryou had been the only light that he came to not mind being in the presence of.
Even now, Bakura knew that the first thing his hikari would do upon entering the thief's home would be to push back the curtains... and then maybe clean up a bit.
He didn't bother eating or watching some TV, nor did he turn on the radio. Bakura just laid on his bed in the darkness, only getting up to shower before returning to his bed. His thoughts kept him awake, replaying the day over and over again... which, of course, lead him on to think of times buried even deeper in his past. Hours ticked away into the night and Bakura was quite thankful when, finally, he was claimed by sleep.
Even his nightmares felt bearable when compared to the pain of reality at this point.
It wasn't until deep into the night that something sent the thief's hairs on end as his slept, his instincts screaming out to gather his mind... and Bakura bolted upright, the blade that lived beneath his pillow lashing out in a flash of gleaming steel. He growled, muscles on fire as he scanned his dark room carefully... because he knew someone was here with him. He could feel it right down to his core.
To prove their own intelligence, the being didn't wait for the thief to decide whether or not to kill first and ask questions later. A deep voice rose from the door, calm and collected. "Thief King Bakura... you always have given me the warmest of greetings."
The spirit snarled - he knew that voice. "Well, well, well... if it isn't my favorite spineless goon." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rose to his feet, always looking in precise control of every muscle in his body as he stood tall and confident in the darkness of his apartment. His eyes narrowed upon the figure across from him, noting a briefcase in his hand but nothing more that he could see. "Do you often have suicidal tendencies, fool? The simple act of knocking may lengthen your life considerably in the future."
Short, brown hair dashed with salt and pepper, the man lowered his head in respect. His words were tilted by a distinct German accent, "I will remember that. However, I do believe this to be a step up in comparison to the knife you held to my throat in our last encounter."
"Don't speak too soon, Volker."
"Quite. I trust I am not intruding on anything in particular?"
Bakura growled, "you broke into my home in the middle of the night, how the hells isn't that intruding? You're lucky you're not dead."
The man's grey gaze matched Bakura's in full confidence. "But this is not your home, Thief King."
Cold eyes narrowed. "Just name your business and get the hell out."
"Very well." Lifting up his briefcase, he set it on the kitchen counter that seemed to try to separate the kitchen at the front of the apartment from everything else in the back. "My Master sends a gift."
"Really? It's not even my birthday either." He scowled, not impressed. "Does your 'master' even have a name? Or should I just refer to him as the fucker who doesn't have the balls to come see me himself?"
He didn't even bat an eye. "My master will make himself known when he feels the time is right."
Surprisingly, Bakura smirked, chuckling to himself almost softly... and that smirk only grew when Volker tensed. "I've been tolerant enough with you and your fool of a master - whoever he is. I don't like being disturbed and, more than that, I hate people knowing more about me than what I know of them. So far, you've all be testing my patience and, unfortunately for the likes of you, it's about to wear through. What exactly do you fools want with me? And, better yet, how did you even find out about me?"
He seemed to contemplate something for a brief moment, studying the thief carefully before daring to speak, "...we were expecting you to be bothered with such, so my master sent this gift for me to deliver to show good faith."
"Not good enough," the thief snarled, stepping closer. "Either I get answers or you get tortured. Shall we flip a coin?"
The older man sighed silently, shoulders lowering ever so slightly from their usual stiffness. "...We merely desire your cooperation."
"With what?"
"There are... several pieces of my masters plan in which your... particular skills and knowledge would be of great value to him," he said, choosing his words carefully. "We are prepared... to offer something that you lost several years ago."
))My dignity?(( Bakura's eyes narrowed cuttingly. "And what is that?"
"I'm a thief and stealer of souls."
Stone grey eyes narrowed against hazel. "The Millennium Ring."
"Let the destruction commence."
Bakura blinked, his entire demeanor shifting all at once as he made sure he had heard right... only to burst out laughing. "You fool! You actually think your pitiful little master would be able to make such a find? The Millennium Items fell into the void with the passing of the Pharaoh - each one of them cast into the darkness to never again see the light of the day. They're all lost."
"Come on, it's a game! You should try to have some fun!"
"Things only become lost so they may be found again." Responded the man evenly and, opening up his briefcase, he, ever so carefully, lifted an item from its depths.
"I'll paint the palace walls with your blood."
An all too familiar jingling touching the still air of the apartment, the ancient artifact was held up by its rope with the utmost of respect - its eye already locked on the thief who froze before it. Its golden surface gleamed though no light touched it, its ancient call radiating off of its form to stretch out towards the one it demanded to be held by. A dark pressure weighed onto Bakura's shoulders, willing him to give in as he found his gaze locked on what had been his prison... and his power. He couldn't move under its gaze. It was waiting for him... always him...
"With a new hand comes a whole new perspective. The game... ever shifting. New dangers surround every turn."
"This belongs to you, as always."
"Can the guardians come out to play?"
Bakura, despite himself, took a step forward... only to force himself to stop, shying back like an animal would from an all too easy find - a trap. His muscles burned, his mind raced off in a tangent... and yet he still couldn't pull his eyes away. He'd lost the Ring years ago. It had fallen into the abyss below the Millennium Stone... it shouldn't have survived... it shouldn't... have survived...
"The M-Memory World w-was your Game... and y-you screwed it up."
Volker slowly placed the Item on the counter, breaking its gaze, before closing his briefcase and bringing it back to hang at his side once more. "We will be in touch," he informed, not flinching as a haunted stare met his own. The suit seemed to almost leave, only to hesitate. "...And, Bakura..." His brow furrowed deeper. "...Tread carefully. You are worth more than you know... both alive and dead." Then he turned and slipped out of the apartment, closing the door quietly behind him.
"Who would have thought you had a heart... let alone one so easily broken."
A shiver trailed down Bakura's spine, its chill shaking him to the bone as he practically fell backwards, only kept up by the wall. He closed his eyes to the world, but it didn't do any good... he could feel the pull on his soul... and it was so close. The Ring wanted him, needed him... desired him and him alone. He was the only one - or, at least, the one best suited - that it would accept - the one it demanded. He heard a soft whisper amongst the shouts of thousands of years worth of memories, a soft promise... of all the power in the world. It told of such wonderful things...
"Your whole life is a puzzle wrapped in a game."
...of saving his people... he could still hear their screams...
"You can regret your foolishness in Hell!"
...of seeing Ryou again... if only once more...
"Don't you realize that I am the darkness?"
...of changing the world... destroying this place of cruelty to make way for a far better future...
"You do remember the legends, don't you?"
...of revenge... finally making the pain go away...
Then, a different voice, "m-my arm... it... hurts..."
Bakura hissed, his hand whipping up, covering an almost-faded scar on his left arm. He pressed his eyes shut tighter, clenching his teeth as tight as he could in a desperate attempt to force the voices to stop. He let loose a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding, quelling the fire that had been scorching his lungs into ashes as his legs became too weak to support him any longer and he slowly slid down the wall beside the window. He shuddered, the heartbeat of the Item across the room echoing across the space to where he sat, each second cutting into his very soul.
"Somebody... p-please... I... I don't feel w-well at all... I n-need to lie down and get some rest... please..."
He curled his legs into his chest as another shiver drove through him, chilling him to his core.
))R-Ryou... where do I go from here?((
Alright, Chapter Two. Hope everyone enjoyed it. I think I'm getting the hang of Tea now... maybe? I don't know... so tell me what you think!