Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Visions of the Heart ❯ The Persian and the Priest ( Chapter 7 )

Unmei: -_- (has been dressed up in a red and gold Gryffindor sweater in honor of SJ's recent obsession)

WSJ: I've gotten emails lately regarding this series. Yes, I have every intention of continuing. However, before I continue with Sophomore (the latest in the series) I'm going to go through and revise the rest first. This could take anywhere from a month to all summer. Sorry folks, but that's the truth! So either settle in for a wait, or reread the edited Tales.

Unmei: Or just email SJ and bug her.

WSJ: (rolls her eyes at him) Disclaimer as usual. Off we go!

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Visions of the Heart

Chapter 7 -- The Persian and the Priest

~Bakura's POV~

I hated to admit it, even to myself, but I was beginning to get a little worried. Ryou was becoming more and more sullen by the minute. Or was it hours? Days? It was hard to keep track of time in the Shadow Realm.

Even with the Ring's sphere of protection, the Shadows were beginning to creep closer to Ryou. The purple mist was beginning to play over his skin again. He sat silent, his knees pulled up to his chest and his faded eyes half-lidded.

I growled and cursed at myself. Why should I care whether or not the Shadow Realm took him? He was pathetic, weak. If he couldn't hold off the Shadows himself then he deserved his fate.

But a small corner of my heart, or whatever was left of it, was telling me I was wrong. It was saying I needed Ryou to even be out of the Ring, which was something true that I hated even more to admit.

But eventually, even the Ring's near inexhaustable power began to wane. The Shadow Realm was steadily draining it of its magical properties, giving it no time to replenish itself. I would be fine even if the Ring's protection ended. I was a spirit, the life-sucking Shadows could not hurt me unless I was exposed to them for a very long time. But Ryou... he was vulnerable as soon as the magic of the Ring was removed.

Again I asked myself, why would I care? And the answer came to me. He was my hikari. I had to care.

I pushed the answer away and refused to believe it as the Ring's golden sphere of protection faded and died.

Ryou slumped to the side immediately, and I suddenly had to fight the urge to catch him as he fell to the stone floor. The Shadows swarmed over him and I somehow found myself in their midst, trying to fight them off. One of them tore at the strap around my neck and sent the Ring clattering to the floor. I swore but kept fending the things off of Ryou.

I lost track of time, swatting Shadow-things right and left. Sweat and blood ran down my face and mixed into one big foul mess. I was sure my hair looked gastly.

Ah yes, that idiotic hair... That was the reason for the very first beating I ever gave poor little Ryou. That stupid, stupid hair! Albino or not, white hair that fluffs and curls is damned inconvienient.

I battled on, ignoring the pain in my body and the dull throb that called out for me to give up. But I did not.

I could not.

What seemed like hours later I became aware of a soft glow, much like what the Ring had given off when it activated. It was a long way away, but seemed to be coming closer. I swiped at the bangs hanging in my eyes and took a chance. I knew it could be a demon that wandered the halls of the Shadow Realm, or a lost or stolen soul. But it the back of my mind I knew who it was.

"A little help here?" I growled, knowing he would hear me.

The golden sphere stopped for a moment, and then began to come towards us at a much faster pace. I sighed as the sphere washed over me, sending the Shadows packing. I dropped to my knees in exhaustion and glanced over at Ryou. He looked all right, but I didn't think he'd be waking up anytime soon.

"Thomas?"

Feebly I looked up into the face I knew would be there. That's why it surprised me that there were two, though it shouldn't have. I groaned and swayed slightly. Putting a hand to my head, I was only mildly intrested when it came away bloody.

"M-Make sure they d-don't get to R-Ryou..." I said before passing out. The last things I saw were my brother's concerned face as he caught me and the look of one-eyed amazement Pegasus was giving me.

(Ahh, and so arrives one of my most popular OCs to date... ^_~ Hang on, all gets explained later.)

~Ishtar's POV~

I skidded around a corner, Yami Yugi close behind me. Up ahead I heard a crash and sped up as best I could. "Any idea where he's going?" I panted.

Yami shook his sweaty bangs out of his eyes and nodded grimly. "I'm afraid so. Look up ahead."

I did and swore furvently. "Not good!"

He gave me a look. "Ya think?"

The two of us tried to pick up the pace as the massive buildings of Kaiba Corporation loomed above us.

~Kaiba'a POV~

There was a desperate knock, almost a pounding, on my door and I didn't even glance up from the contract I was reading. In hind-sight I really should have. "Come in."

The door burst open and this time I really did look up, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. There stood Yami Yugi and Yami Malik (or "Ishtar", as Yugi and his friends insisted he be called), both sweaty and panting. I rose half-way out of my seat. "What do you think you're-"

"Kaiba! Watch out!"

Yami didn't have a chance to get any farther as the window behind me shattered into a million peices. I was suddenly very thankful for all the terrorist drills we'd had and dived behind my desk, Yami and Ishtar joining me a second later.

"What is it? A helecopter?" I snarled, crouched down beside the two darks. "We're ten stories up!" I had a gun in the left-hand drawer of my desk, but I doubted I could get to it before I was shot.

Yami gulped and it didn't do me any good to see fear in his eyes. "I'm afraid that isn't really an issue with him..."

I stared at him in disbelief. "What?" I peeked up over the top of the desk and almost wished I hadn't. Outside my shattered wall-long window floated a huminoid shape, outlined and glowing a brillient red-scarlet color. His eyes glowed with the same gastly shade as he smirked triumphantly at me.

I ducked back and stared in amazement at Yami. "Bakura?"

He shook his head, a scowl settling onto his face. "No, a demon that took advantage of Ryou's weakened state and banished Bakura to the Shadow Realm."

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. "What's wrong with Ryou, besides too much of your hocus-pocus?"

"Too long of a story." Ishtar growled from my other side.

"Ok then, we'll try this. What does it want?"

"Unfortunatly," Yami said. "We don't know that either."

It was that moment the demon chose to speak. "Oh Seto Kaiba, come out come out wherever you are! I've got a bone to pick with you!"

I made no move to answer, but suddenly I was hovering three feet above the two yamis, who were staring at me in shock. I gaped back, and then my head was forced around to look at the demon. He smirked and floated closer, taking my chin in his hand. This close I could see the utter hatred in his eyes, and tried to flinch back, but found I couldn't. "What do you want with me?"

"Revenge. This will teach you for locking me in the Shadow Realm all those years ago!"

"But I never-"

Flowing purple robes...

A golden Rod in my hands...

Passing down the Pharaoh's sentence to a Persian prisinor of war of death by Shadow Realm...

A promise to come back and kill me...

I let out a small, strangled cry as the thoughts, no, memories? came back to me in a small tidal wave. "Kuroi Karasu!" I managed to gasp around the choke hold he'd tightened around my neck.

He sneered and moved his face closer to mine. "That's right, you miserable preist! And now I can finally fulfill my promise!" With that he turned and flung me back, right out the newly-broken window.

"Kaiba!"

I heard Yami's and Ishtar's shouts as I dropped away from the building, and Kuroi's demonic laughter rang in my ears. I closed my eyes as the sky fell away. Fleetingly I wished all of the magic nonsense Yami and Yugi were always spouting could be true. Perhaps then there'd be a way to get out of this, summon a Blue Eyes or some such thing.

Some way that I wouldn't have to die.

'I'm sorry Mokuba...'

~Yugi's POV~

Joey gaped at us as Malik and I finished up with the explanations. "No way!" he said, his eyes wide and his face a little paler then normal. He looked over at Ryou and a pained expression came across his face. "What are we gonna do?"

Malik and I looked at each other, and then back at him. "We don't know..." I said, mournfully. "If our yamis were here, they might be able to help. But they're out chasing that demon thing..."

Joey swung around to look at us. "What? So you're just going to give up on him? Come on! I know you better than that Yugi! We've got to help him... Somehow..."

We sat silent, simply watching as Ryou's skin seemed to get darker and darker. Was there really something we might be able to do, like Joey said? I frowned, fingering a corner of the Puzzle. Yami had been spending a lot of time going through it lately, unlocking new doors and new memories. I remembered he had said something recently about unlocking some new power... Something about time...

"Maybe there is something we can do," I mused softly, leaning over Ryou. I guided the Puzzle so the point was hovering over Ryou's arm, which looked like someone had mistaken it for dinner. I gulped and shut my eyes, reaching into the Puzzle and hoping I was activating the right power.

On either side of me, I heard Malik and Joey gasp. I opened my eyes again to find the Puzzle glowing a buttery yellow, and Ryolu himself shining dimly white. After a minute the glow faded and I sat back. "I'm not sure what I did..."

Malik reached forward and untied the bandages around Ryou's arm. All three of us gaped as he pulled them away. Though the scars were still vivid, they looked several weeks old instead of just a couple hours.

"Gosh, Yugi..." Joey muttered.

I cupped my hands around the Puzzle. "I don't know..." I repeated. "I think Yami said something about the Puzzle controlling time..."

"Well, if that's what you did, you did it right," Malik agreed.

//Kaiba!//

I jerked and looked at Malik. Apparently, he'd gotten the same yell from his own other.

"What?" Joey asked, looking a little paniked. He could tell when something was wrong. "What happened?"

I swallowed hard as a tear slid down my face. Joey's jaw dropped a fraction of an inch, and then he put an arm around me. "Oh Yugi..." he breathed.

I took a deep breath and hiccoughed, trying to keep my tears in. "Not Yami. Kaiba."

Joey looked at me in shock. "Kaiba?"

Malik nodded mournfully, and I was surprised to see a tear slide down his cheek as well. It seemed to me he was holding the Millenium Rod a little tighter, and I suddenly remembered Yami telling me that its original owner had been Kaiba. Or rather, Kaiba's preincarnation.

"Yes," Malik said, his voice barely a whisper. "Seto Kaiba is dead."

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WSJ: (grins) I'm so evil for leaving it there, aren't I? Stay tuned though, that's not the end of him by any means!

Unmei: (sarcastically) Of course not, that would mean you'd have to give up one of your favorite torture victims.

WSJ: But of course! ;) Reviews!

God bless minna-san!