The Age of Shadows

2

I really wanna bring Yugi's character into this a bit. I don't know why but I've re-fallen in love with him and his adorable ness.

Marik stares in shock between Joey, Yūgi and Ryou for a moment before he gulps, his mind on PAUSE to let him process this. His own autopilot guides him into a chair, one of the black wire chairs set up around the fire, flames trickling into the air with the tiniest puff of smoke emitting every few seconds. It's barely even a fire: it isn't warm, and only lights the room from its reflection off the windows. "Bakura? But how, if Ryou's here..." he asks. "Is he back in his own body?"

"No," Ryou shakes his head sadly. "His body was consumed by Zorc and the shadows, he hadn't had control of it for such a long time. He was just given my body, well a clone of it, as a vessel for his soul. He was immune to the shadows, they couldn't devour his spirit so he's just wandering in a shell now,"

"Bakura..." Marik contemplates, squeezing his eyes closed to force back the tears. It isn't that he cares about Bakura, not that. He just empathises with him, understands the pain of being trapped in a foreign body, on the inside looking out as what belongs to you is used as some depraved vessel by someone else. Being trapped inside yourself. He looks up at Ryou, who's felt it too. And Yugi, at least before the spirit of the Puzzle became friendly with him. "Ryou, I'm sorry, about all the stuff Bakura and I did in your body without your consent. I didn't get it then, I thought he was the dominant personality. But I get it now, and even if my apology doesn't mean jack shit, I'm sorry,"

Ryou sits up straight, completely taken aback. The Marik he knew would never have apologised. "Thanks, Marik. That actually does mean a lot," a pleased smile spreads across his face.

Marik smiles, but its artificial. It doesn't reach his eyes. "So what do you need me to do? I'm not joining your cause or anything, the world was broken before the shadows came," he explains. "But I'll help you out,"

"I just need to trace the inscription on your back, even write it down. And can you translate?" Ryou asks, perked up a little by Marik's apology and the good news, excited about getting closer to the shadows. "I hope we can bring the Pharaoh back with this, he's the only one who can banish the shadows,"

"Let's hope," Marik agrees, enthusiasm absent form his voice. He grabs the ends of his shirt and pulls it off, exposing his broad back and the inscriptions of the Pharaoh carved into it as deep scars. He would be excited, maybe, if his mind wasn't wandering to Bakura.

"Finished!" Ryou chirps happily when he finishes his drawing, skills in art meaning he gets the placement very close to the actual image, very carefully marking out the hieroglyphics. He hands the crumpled notebook to Marik, who skims his lettering for a second. Ryou holds out the pen, but he doesn't take it.

"I'll translate it," Marik decides. "But I want to see Bakura first,"

"What?" Yugi gasps, disappointment flooding his system. He thought Marik stopped being manipulative after Battle City, he said they're friends! Now he's holding the fate of the entire world for ransom, all to see Bakura.

Joey thinks of it in a different way, more perceptively perhaps. If Marik is willing to go this far to see Bakura, he must really miss him. He thought it was just mutualism in Battle City, but maybe the two were closer than he thought. "He lives a block over, the red apartment building, Door 4,"

"Joey-!" Yugi whines.

"Yug, trust me. Marik will come back and translate it," he assures, giving his boyfriend a hard look, his intense eyes whispering trust me. Yugi purses his lips together and nods.

"Okay,"

Marik grins. "Thanks. I'll sneak out - the shadows won't see me. I'll be back soon, maybe not today,"