Within a soulroom whose whiteness is now ash and can no longer be used as a hiding place, a boy thrashes to awakening. He is still screaming.
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Alister knows that sound, remembers that sound, hates that sound. He knows that sound because he has heard it so many times as he awakens from dreams of Mikey and his mother and fire and war. Alister remembers that sound from the elderly shop owner who watched his sons be killed by Gozabura's men and who screamed every night until he hung himself from his store's rafters. Alister hates that sound because it is the sound of someone's sanity dying.
The couch in the living room and the fitful sleep that accompanies it are left behind. Within moments, Alister is standing in the bedroom doorway. Ryo's larger friends, Joey and Tristan, are trying to hold the boy down. Those screams are still piercing Alister's ears as he forces himself to move towards Ryo. The young man freezes when he meets the boy's eyes. Pure terror resides within them as well as that realization that that nightmare was no illusion or dream. Your family is dead. You are truly alone.
When the boy breaks free, Alister is still stuck back home, watching everyone burn again. However, when Ryo begins to push past him, Alister awakens, remembers the bridge, and makes the connection.
I cannot escape. I cannot return home. Something traps and constricts me. What is-
Alister holds onto the boy, even when Ryo tries to pull away, to twist and turn out of the young man's grip.
I want to go home and see Mother and Sister and Brother again. Why am I being stopped? Why-
"Ryo, it is okay. Calm down, please." Yugi's voice wavers.
An anchor, but it is not Amane. It is not my anchor.
Maya cries from the spot she was sleeping in. Miho and Tea stare on in horror. Joey and Tristan are still sitting on Ryo's bed. Alister is silent until-
"You're being selfish." Like the elderly storeowner who left his baby granddaughter behind.
"I know it hurts, but you live with it. You don't delude yourself with thoughts that you're going home and not leaving anyone behind."
What am I doing?
It takes a moment for the words to sink in, but eventually they do. The screaming turns into sobbing and the struggling into the same latched on grip as under the bridge.
The world has reoriented itself. Yugi, Maya, Alister, Tristan, Joey, Tea, and Miho are my anchors now. My sanity. My balance.
The boy looses the will to stand. Alister helps him sink to the floor slowly. Yugi comes and places a hand on Ryo's shoulder.
They are my home now.
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Ryo has not talked to Miho for two days, but that is fine because at least he is eating. Miho sits next to Ryo and watches as he spoons the soup into his mouth. He eats one slow bite at a time, and sometimes he will pause for a minute and stare dully at his food. However, that is okay because at least he is not just staring at his food with empty eyes as Miho attempts to feed him forkful by forkful. Miho never ever wants to do that again. She has often daydreamed of feeding Ryo, but those dreams are fun and romantic. They are not like yesterday's little nightmare.
Halfway through the bowl, Ryo pushes it away.
"Are you done, Ryo?" Miho does not expect an answer. Ryo was eating on his own and that is good enough for now.
YOU ARE READING
The Ghost
FanfictionAfter defeating the malignant Ring Spirit in a game of Monster World, Yugi and the gang think that the their troubles with it are over. However, as the magic of the Ring loosens and Ryo begins to regain memories about his family that have long been...
