Going On

Disclaimer - (Sephiroth) She still doesn't own them. If she did, my life as one of her muses might actually be easier.

Author's Notes - Not much to say here. Just review, if you please. She needs something to cheer her up after a hellish weekend.

Chapter 12 – Unwelcome Awakenings


Yugi moaned, opening his eyes slowly before attempting to rub them. He frowned when his hand wouldn’t move, and glanced over at it in consternation. Amethyst eyes widened in shock when he discovered he was bound to the four-poster bed.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a voice murmured from the other side, causing him to squeak slightly and jump before he turned his gaze to the speaker. Bakura lounged in a chair beside the bed, his dark eyes haunted as he met the amethyst gaze. “How are you feeling?”

“Like hell,” Yugi croaked. “Kage . . .”

“We know,” Bakura murmured, interrupting him. “Trust me, we know. I need you to tell me something, Yugi . . . do you think you can use the link to find Yami?” Yugi frowned slightly, feeling for the door within his mind carefully. It was silent . . . Yami was either unconscious, or had managed to block him.

“I . . . don’t know,” he whispered finally. He took in Bakura’s haggard appearance, and made a guess as to what had caused it. “You had flashbacks too . . . didn’t you?” he asked quietly. Bakura started, meeting his gaze angrily before he sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“Yes,” he replied quietly. “I did.” He shifted uneasily, uncomfortable with those memories . . . Kage forcing him to suck him off, forcing him to swallow his vile, tainted seed. He had told very few of what had been done to him . . . and those few had been threatened with death if they ever spoke a word of it to anyone. But he had been forced to relive that agonizing, disgusting, humiliating moment again as he’d struggled against Kage for control of the link between the Pharaoh and his hikari, and now he was more than a little disturbed and severely pissed off. After being violently sick, everyone had asked questions . . . questions that he had steadfastly refused to answer. He’d finally snarled at them to leave him the hell alone, and with the murderous glint in his eye, they had done so . . . although Ryou had been quick to give him a brief hug and a whispered ‘I love you’.

“We have to find Yami,” Yugi whispered, breaking him out of his thoughts. “If the link can do that . . . then I have to. I . . . we can’t leave him with Kage.” He turned tearful amethyst eyes to Bakura, worried, confused, and in pain for his other. “We were so close,” he murmured. “Just as we had a breakthrough, Kage came and is destroying it all over again. Will . . . will we never get to be happy?” He sobbed suddenly, closing his eyes tightly and turning his head away so Bakura wouldn’t see the tears that were gathering there. The Tomb Robber hated weakness . . . and how could this be anything but weakness?

He was surprised when Bakura untied him, only to pull him into the pale man’s arms and cradle him to his chest gently, one callused hand rubbing lightly at his back as the crystalline tears poured down his face, his slim frame shuddering with the force of his despair.

“I don’t know, Yugi,” the thief murmured, his own voice suspiciously husky. “I truly don’t know.” They remained like that for a long while, each finding comfort in a person who had gone through or was going through the same pain.


*-------*-------*-------*-------*


Yami hung from his wrists, crimson eyes dulled with pain as agony flared up and down his spine, blood dripping to the floor below from the tattered remains of his back. He barely even heard the harsh crack of the whip, nor felt the sting of the lash as it opened another welt upon the fragile flesh.

Kage had left him shackled to the floor in his humiliating position all night, unable to clean himself and shuddering with disgust as he felt the demon’s seed trickle down his thighs to mix with the blood that had already been spilled. And then this morning, his dark had returned to pull him to the wall, shackling him there by his bleeding wrists before starting in with the whip. He’d lost track of the hours since that time, the numbing fire of his back, insides, and mind making it all the easier to block out what was happening to him.

Only one thought gave him comfort at this time . . . as long as Kage was preoccupied with him, Yugi and his friends were safe. For that, he would bear any humiliation, any pain. No matter what Kage said to him, or did to him, as long as they were safe he could hold on to himself and his pride, and not succumb to the numbing despair that cried out from the depths of his soul to simply submit. That siren’s call would damn him as surely as if he harmed Yugi himself, and that was something he would never do.

At last, the crack of the whip ceased, and his head was jerked around harshly to meet the sharp blood-red eyes of his darkness. He almost smiled at the disgruntled disgust on his other’s face . . . Kage was becoming frustrated with his lack of response.

“Pathetic,” Kage growled, squeezing his fingers tightly against the golden flesh until pale marks surrounded his fingers on the golden skin, trying to force some sort of reaction. “Utterly pathetic . . . retreat from the real world all you want, Pharaoh, eventually you will have to come back.” He released Yami’s face harshly, a snort of disgust accompanying his leaving as the tri-haired head simply fell forward limply, as if there were no life in the body it belonged to. But Kage knew differently, and he would force the Pharaoh to acknowledge him as the stronger . . . one way or the other.

Yami chuckled slightly, the barest wheeze of amusement passing his lips as he listened to Kage storm away. His dark had been so sure of himself that he hadn’t bothered to check the link with Yugi . . . the link that Yami had, during the night, tightly closed and sealed off. It was still there, still in existence . . . but it no longer allowed Yugi to experience what was happening to him. That in itself was a relief . . . Yugi did not need to be put through this horror again, not when his aibou still suffered nightmares from Kage’s actions two years previous.

His thoughts turned to Malik, and he hoped that the others were all right. He still didn’t know why Malik was loose, nor why he had turned against Kage when he had, but he was thankful for it nonetheless. He only hoped Marik was okay, and not being held against his will within his soul room . . . and that Malik was not playing both sides of the field.

Forcing his legs under him to bear his weight, he stood slowly, taking his weight off his battered and torn wrists, wincing slightly as fresh blood slid down his arms from the tattered skin. He leaned against the wall to take some of the stress off of his legs, and hoped he could last long enough for the others to think of a way to destroy Kage . . . before it was too late.


*-------*-------*-------*-------*


Marik shifted slightly, moaning softly as lavender eyes flickered open to stare at the wall in confusion before the previous nights events flickered back through his mind. He sat up abruptly, hissing as pain shot through him . . . but it was more a spiritual pain than a physical one, and easily dismissed after a moment.

Turning to his right, his eyes came to rest on the bed nearby, and the figure that still reclined upon it. Malik . . . the yami born of his own hatred, pain, and jealousy, separate and whole, apart from him. Had this been the smart thing to do? Rising from the bed, he padded across the short distance to settle next to his prone dark quietly, one finger reaching out to trace the markings underneath the closed violet eyes gently before he sighed.

He was so damn confused it wasn’t even remotely amusing. Had Malik truly meant what he had said? Had his darkness come to love him? Was it even possible? Shifting uneasily, he turned his back on his dark and leaned over, resting his head on his hands with his elbows propped up on his knees, staring at the floor.

Too much was happening, and he was really having trouble adjusting to all of it. The sudden reappearance of Yami and Kage, the difficulties between the Pharaoh and his hikari, Malik’s sudden change of heart . . . and now Yami was in Kage’s hands. His mind simply didn’t want to work the way it should, and he longed to simply curl up and forget the entire world for a while. But he had a duty to his Pharaoh, and said Pharaoh was in serious danger. Standing slowly, with a last lingering look at his dark, he strode to the door and pulled it open . . . only to stop dead at the gathering in the hallway.

“Did I miss something?” he asked, concerned. Kaiba turned to look at him, and nodded unhappily.

“Kage . . . has reconnected Yami and Yugi. Yugi . . . we had an episode earlier. Kage raped Yami . . . and made Yugi feel every minute of it.” Lavender eyes widened before the blonde brushed by all of the gathered friends quickly, heading for Yugi’s room. No one tried to stop him . . . they all knew how seriously he took his guardianship over Yugi, and none of them were willing to fight him.

He opened the door slowly, not surprised to find the bed empty. What did surprise him, however, was the fact that Bakura and Yugi both sat within the arms of a high backed, overly plush chair . . . and they were both out cold, with Yugi cuddled into the pale thief’s chest as Bakura’s arms held him protectively.

He walked softly over to the two slumbering forms, his hand reaching out to lightly brush the golden bangs away from the tear-stained face. Otherwise he left them alone, retreating from the room and closing the door softly behind him. That he had even managed to do so without waking Bakura meant that the thief had gone through his own hell recently . . . usually, no one could get within five yards of the thief without him awakening. He met the concerned gaze of the others, and realized none of them had dared enter the room since the episode. Had Bakura told them he wanted to be alone with Yugi? That would explain it . . . if Bakura had threatened death to anyone who walked in there, no one would have tried to do so. The former Tomb Robber’s reputation for anti-social psychosis and violent tendencies did still carry some weight, after all.

“Okay . . . talk to me,” he said, sinking down to the floor with his back against Yugi’s door. “What happened?”


*--------*-------*-------*-------*


Kage snarled, putting his fist through another wall with an unsatisfying crunch as he vented his anger and frustration. The Pharaoh should have been on his knees, begging him by now . . . instead, there was almost a stoic defiance in the way he submitted to everything that was done to him. As if nothing Kage did to his body could touch his soul, and it was the soul that he needed weakened.

He needed Yami broken in mind, body, and spirit . . . or else he would continue to deteriorate. He flexed his hand, beginning to feel the weakness there that had begun recently in his legs, and snarled at the offending limb, wishing he could rip it off. However he had managed to separate himself from the Pharaoh, he had not done a complete job. His form was slowly dissolving . . . and soon he would either be back in the Puzzle, or back in the Pharaoh. If he could break Yami, he could rejoin with him and gain control of their body . . . but Yami had to be unable to fight for him to do so. And this strange resistance the Pharaoh was putting up was holding up his plans.

He would try once more . . . and then he would have to make a move for Yugi if it didn’t work. Yugi truly was the Pharaoh’s greatest weakness as well as his greatest strength. If he broke Yugi before Yami’s eyes, the Pharaoh would break as well.

But how to get at the hikari? The little minions would be more on guard now that he had Yami . . . getting at Yugi again would be far more difficult than it had been. If he could draw Yugi to him . . . draw him out of his shelter . . . an idea formed, and Kage smirked slightly before licking the blood off his knuckles. Yugi, like the Pharaoh, would do anything for his other half. All he had to do was contact the hikari with a chance to save his yami . . . and Yugi would simply fall right into his hands.

With a sigh of contentment, he lay down to rest and plan his next ‘lesson’ for his weaker self. If this didn’t do it, than he would implement his plan. Either way . . . he would be whole again.


*-------*-------*-------*-------*


Yugi moaned in his sleep, amethyst eyes moving rapidly behind closed lids as his mind traveled a route that had long been disused.

Startled amethyst gazed around the room in shock, barely able to believe the changes that had taken place in this room . . . his Soul Room. He’d been too preoccupied before to notice the changes, but now that he wasn’t being held captive in here, he could look around and note the differences.

The walls were no longer the shining white they had been before Kage, but neither were they the bare stone that dripped blood as they had been the last time he was here. Now, they were a dark ivory color, the somber purity of it a reflection of the pain his soul had been through. Toys no longer littered the room . . . rather, it was neat and tidy, a vast difference from the usual living quarters he maintained, which was usually in some stage of wreckage. Only one item seemed out of place . . . a picture frame, resting over the bed . . . in which resided a shadowed picture of his love.

He walked over to it solemnly, standing on the bed to take it down so he could look at it more closely. Surprisingly, it was a portrait of his other that had never actually been taken in real life . . . the night they had stood together after Duelist Kingdom and reflected on everything that they had been through together. Pale fingers ran over the soft smile his dark bore, the amethyst eyes welling up with tears at the love and warmth shining in those crimson orbs. He’d been too blind to see it then . . . too caught up with the strange mystery and fear he still held for Yami, not understanding this strange soul who had suddenly come into his life.

“I wish we could go back to that time . . .” he murmured unconsciously. His eyes found the door to his Soul Room, and he set the picture down gently on the bed before walking over to it, opening it hesitantly before stepping out into the corridor that was ‘neutral’ ground between his room and that of Yami. He gasped in horror as he spied his dark’s soul room door . . . the bronze was awash with coppery blood, shadows swirling around the edges as if they were only held at bay by the metal doorway.

“Yami!” he whispered, rushing across the hallway to press his hands to the door. It didn’t budge . . . it was locked from the other side, protecting him in the only way Yami knew how. “Oh gods . . . what is Kage doing to you that you’ve locked me out so solidly?” he moaned, pressing his hands desperately against the cold metal. It was freezing . . . as if the soul inside were trapped in an ice age of death. He wished he could go in there . . . not knowing what hell Kage was putting his other through was almost worse than knowing and feeling it himself.

Tears trickled silently down his face as he turned his back on the door and slid down it to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them before burying his face in his arms. Lost in his despair, he almost didn’t feel the door behind him suddenly beginning to emit a strange warmth, comfort and love drifting over his mind in a silent wave.

“Do not cry for me . . . aibou . . .” a voice whispered just beyond the tightly closed door. “Better he turn his wrath to me . . . than to practice it upon you.” Yugi stood abruptly, turning back to press his hands against the door again, wishing he could will himself through it to the soul on the other side. “I cannot open the door, little one,” Yami murmured in response to his thought. “I cannot risk being unable to close it again. I will not submit you to this . . . not again, my light.”

“But he’s killing you!” Yugi choked, feeling his dark’s pain even though he knew Yami was trying to hide it from him.

“No little one,” Yami replied softly. “Merely trying to break me to his will . . . for what purpose, I do not know, but he cannot succeed as long as I know you are safe.”

“Where are you?!” the smaller man asked. “Tell me where you are . . . we can come rescue you, we can stop this!” He sensed Yami shaking his head.

“We are in a warehouse of some sort, my love,” the husky tenor replied. “Other than that, I can give you no help. But do not come after me, Yugi. If Bakura and Marik insist upon it, let them do it . . . but do not accompany them, my light. We cannot risk you falling into his hands as well . . . or he wins. I cannot . . . I cannot continue to resist him if you are in danger as well.” He paused for a moment. “Promise me, my light . . . my aibou. Promise me you will do as I request and stay in safety. Please . . . for my own sanity, promise me.”

“I . . . I promise,” Yugi whispered reluctantly. “I will remain in safety . . . but you promise me something in return.” He felt his dark’s confusion, and smiled slightly.

“I would promise you anything, my love,” came the reply after several moments. Yugi nodded and took a deep breath.

“Promise me . . . that you won’t run away from me again. Not after that dream. I need you, Yami! With me, beside me . . . I need you to hold me and love me. Promise me you’ll try to be with me . . . no matter what.”

“I want nothing more, little one,” Yami whispered. “I promise to try, my love.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” Yugi said softly. They fell into silence, simply content to feel each other’s presence again, even if it was only spiritual in nature. The lull was broken as Yami abruptly backed off, the warmth fading from the door.

“He comes, Yugi,” Yami said. “I must close off the link again. Do not worry for me, my light. I will survive. It is you that is important. Be strong . . . for me.” Yugi whimpered slightly as he felt Yami leave him and crept back to this Soul Room to fall onto the bed, dreading what was happening to his dark and sobbing quietly into the soft white comforter until sleep claimed him once again. His last thought was to wonder if he would ever see his dark again.