Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ All Saints Night ❯ All's Well That Ends Well ( Chapter 7 )

Unmei: Well, there's the conclusion, minna. Enjoy.

Ka: *Moves a piece on the chessboard between him and Chiot* Check.

Chiot: *Growl*

Unmei: Eh, anyway, WSJ does not own YGO, just various OCs.

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All Saints' Night

Chapter 7 - All's Well That Ends Well

"Ryou?"

Ryou turned his head slightly to acknowledge Yugi's quiet question. "Hm?"

"What the hell did you just do?!"

Yami's jaw dropped. "Aibou!"

Ryou was quiet a minute. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure. I knew Bakura was hurt, and the power was just there, so..."

"Is that what you did earlier too?" Yugi asked. "What is it anyway?"

"Psychic manifestation," Bakura supplied. "We recently found out that Ryou's a telepath. He can teleport, speak mentally, create force-blasts, give and receive visions, perceive the future, cause himself and other objects to levitate, and, apparently, heal. We really don't know how much he can do, or how strong, " he paused, then cleared his throat. "There was also one instance where he was able to erase very select memories in a lot of people and plant false ones in their place. That left him extremely exhausted,"

Bakura watched as a look of slight amazement dawned on each of their faces, one by one, as they realized what he was referring to.

"So what happened in the alley to make you so mad?" Yami asked.

Ryou was quiet for a moment as he sensed the questioning stares of Bakura, Malik and Yugi, and their yamis on him. "I-I'm not sure... I had some sort of a dream/flash-backie thing, and-"

"Whoa, hold up," Bakura said, pulling himself into a sitting position. "You had one too?"

"You did?"

Bakura pretended to scowl. "I asked you first, but yeah, I did. Of my life back in ancient Egypt," He said no more about it.

"Mine was..." Ryou ducked his head slightly. "Of last Halloween, at Duelist Kingdom..."

Bakura let out a long, low whistle and pulled his hikari into a hug. "Oh aibou... I'm so sorry you had to relive that..." There was a pained expression on his face. "If I could go back and undo that day, I would!"

Ryou sniffled and nodded into Bakura's chest. "I-I know,"

Yugi was frowning slightly in thought, and suddenly memory kicked him in the head, causing him to gasp. "Oh great Gaia! That night! No wonder you attacked us for betrayal..." He dropped his head in shame, and even Yami looked remorseful.

"What did you do?" Bakura asked sharply, hugging Ryou closer to him.

A flash of indignation appeared on Yami's face, but he quickly forced it down. Yugi spoke up before the pharaoh could. "We saw what happened, and watched... But we didn't do anything about it, because at the time we couldn't! You've got to believe us!"

"I do," Ryou said quietly, pulling away from Bakura a little. "It just hurt that you didn't even say anything... And then when she told me to attack you, I just sort-of snapped... Please forgive me,"

Yugi's eyes widened slightly. "You're asking us to forgive you?!" But he was quickly overpowered by Yami, Ishtar, and Bakura's combined "Her?"

Ryou nodded to both questions, and shuddered slightly. "Yes. She told me to kill you, Yami, because you ruined her life, or some such thing. And you, Bakura, because she wanted revenge. And I, I couldn't stop her!" He looked ready to burst into tears.

"It's okay aibou," Bakura quickly assured him. "They're fine, so am I, thanks to you. But who is she? Do you know?"

The Blind One shook his head, his bangs flopping into his face. "No, I don't. She just said that she wanted revenge, because you wrecked her plans,"

Bakura drew in a sharp breath, and then let it hiss out through his teeth. "Briar-Rose, I'll bet," he growled. "She used the same sort of mind-control spell on Kaiba when we were in the Shadow Realm..."

"Briar-Rose?!" Yami's eyes widened. "She's in the Shadow Realm?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Bakura asked, blinking at the Spirit of the Puzzle.

Yami pressed his lips together and leaned back in the chair he'd dragged in from the kitchen. "In Egypt Briar-Rose was, believe it or no, a priestess to the god Set. Second-Highest, if I remember correctly. Ringing any bells?"

Bakura groaned. "Right, Kaiba was High Priest of Ra... So you think they had an affair or something?"

"Actually, no," Yami said. "Seth was a very noble man, and he thought Briar-Rose was despicable. She became so angry at his rejections that at one point she attacked him. He sent her to the Shadow Realm. She's been there long enough now that she could have become a demon like Kuroi. If she's working for the Shadow Realm, then we could be in trouble," He seemed to think of something, and sat up straighter. "But how would you know about her Bakura? That scandal was kept remarkably quiet."

Ishtar looked back and forth between the two of them curiously, and finally spoke up. "You never did explain what happened in the Shadow Realm during the Locking Rituals, Bakura. Maybe it's time you did."

Bakura closed his eyes a moment, then shook his head slowly. "No, not now. But I will say this much: Briar-Rose was the one who pin-pointed Ryou as the heart she wanted, and she was mind-controlling Kaiba to make him do the sacrifice." He inclined his head slightly to Ishtar. "You got us out literally just in time,"

Through this Yami's frown had been deepening, and now he sighed. "Well, we can't do anything about it right now... But I do have another question," To the surprise of everyone else, he turned toward his hikari. "What did you do Yugi? I know you helped out somehow,"

Yugi blinked and looked back and forth around the circle of faces. "I helped mend time," he said in all seriousness. No one laughed, so he continued. "This guy who called himself Time showed up and told me I had to fix this 'Web of Time' thingamajigger. It was all tangled up, and I had to straighten it out. He told me that I was the only one who could help, because my Puzzle was forged in Time itself,"

Malik was nodding slowly. "Right, I remember that... 'Ring, Rod, Puzzle, Tauk, Eye, Scales, Ankh. Fate, Hatred, Time, Death, Desire, War, Passion.' Was that it?"

Yugi nodded, slightly in awe, while both Yami and Ishtar gave the blond long looks. "How could you know that?" Yami asked.

Malik snorted and turned around in his chair, pulling his shirt over his head and revealing the hieroglyphics scored into his back. "Section 2, paragraph 6," he said dryly.

"Oh..."

Ishtar chuckled and smacked Malik's shoulder. "Put your shirt back on hikari, I think you're making the almighty pharaoh get grossed out,"

"No way," Yami said indignantly, but Malik put his shirt back on anyway, much to the displeasure of the fangirls.

"So Kuroi's really dead?" Yami asked, and Yugi nodded.

"The only reason he came back was because time got all screwed up."

Thinking about time, and in particular, the Web of Time, Yugi began to worry. The things he'd seen and heard while he held Ryou's string worried him. Particularly that gunshot. He hadn't sensed any pain, but that didn't mean that no one was hurt. He'd have to stick close to Ryou to make sure nothing happened to him. Maybe he'd talk to Yami and see what he thought...

In the silence that followed, Ryou spoke up. "I have a question,"

"What is it?" Ishtar asked.

There was a pause, punctured by a yawn from Yugi. Ryou chuckled. "Case in point. Can we go to sleep?"

Malik blinked and jumped up. "Oh gosh, yeah. Sorry. Ryou, you and Bakura can have the guest room, and there's a pull-out couch in the den for Yugi."

There were thanks all around, and then Yugi phoned home to tell Grampa where he was. Twenty minutes later everyone were on their way to their various rooms/soulrooms, doing their best to ignore the loud music blasting from Isis's room. "Does she always sleep with loud music?" Bakura asked just before he entered the guest room behind Ryou.

Malik chuckled. "Yeah, actually. I'll go tell her to turn it down, but I doubt it'll do any good. There's earplugs in the bathroom."

In the guest room, Ryou leaned against the door and smiled. He chuckled lightly to himself. "I just may be called upon to heal again tonight..." The Blind One paused and listened to the music still coming from Isis's room, although it had now quieted somewhat. He smiled and quietly sang along with the well-known (at least to him) lyrics. Thank Ra they were no longer true about his life...

Distraught with tears, I wander with aimless stares
Does it matter where I am? Nobody cares…

Bleeding hearts weep crimson tears
Please take away my pain and fears

Crouching near dead bodies galore
Hysteria envelops the surrounding gore

Giggles ensure every now and then
Blocking me reality, my only true friend

Hidden violence is revealed
Close the door, my soul is sealed…

And so continues the lives of the far-from-normal occupants of Domino City...

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WSJ: =3 Well, that's that! Head on over to Sacrifice of Shadows, the third in the series.

Ka: *Calmly moves a pawn* Checkmate.

Chiot: >__<

Unmei: Ka, 367, Chiot, 0.

Chiot: Oh shuddup....

God bless minna-san!