Title: The Light Within

Pairings: Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, maybe others?

Summary: Three misguided teens, led away from their intended paths by the darkness. Can the balance be restored by the light halves of their souls?

Warning: Shounen-ai. Swearing. Light violence. Death.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and I make no profit from this, it's purely for the enjoyment of myself and others (though I'm not certain about that…)

Here's the next chapter! No Yami and Yugi I'm afraid, but that'll come next chapter. Be prepared for Bakura and Ryou interaction! Quite a bit, actually. Anyways, last chapter I forgot. .! But here's the to all those that reviewed chappie 3:

Chelley Angel – Thanks!

cloud-1-3-5 and Ame Emi Dai – o.o; Um…when you say it like that, it sounds so horribly perverted. Eek. Though I suppose if you don't look at it that way it's still a weird thing to do. But that's our Marik – as freaky as they come! Thank you, I'm trying to keep them as in character as I can, obviously without Yami being all full of friendship and protective of Yugi.

Angel Reaper – I forgive you, don't worry. -grins- Seeing as you complimented my story. Ah, well Marik didn't know Malik was there. He's just a good actor and expected something to happen as the Sennen Rod had somehow appeared in his room/cell.

Anime Crazed – I'm glad you like it, I'm attempting originality.

Rikainiel – Nah, Yami would never lay a finger to hurt Yugi. At least, not in any of my fics. I can't say the same for Yugi, however. He has a lot of power over Yami – power which I think is well deserved – and may put it to good use in the future. I've taken all my exams now. I hope you did well in yours!

AngelStareFire Hikarist II – Well your questions about Marik will be answered this chapter. I'll try to keep updates coming, but it's hard for me, as putting my ideas into words is quite the task most of the time. There are rare occasions where the words just flow, but that's not been happening lately, especially for Hentai Ryou. -pouts- I'll try, though!

Glitnir-Gebo - flushes Thank you. I'm glad that you think so!

citcat-chan – Yup. And you'll like this chapter (hopefully) as there's quite a bit of Bakura and Ryou in it. Well, it's most of the chapter, actually.

Field of View – Hehe, Yami and Yugi make such a cute pair, don't they? I love making a mischievous Yugi, he's so adorable! -huggles- None of them this time, though. -shakes head-

Dragon Pearl1 – Yes, poor Marik-kun. Wait till you see how Malik treats him. -cackles- And I totally agree with you about Yugi!

TaleneIsMyYami – Aw shucks, stop it! -blushes- You're making my ego inflate, and that's never a good thing. I'm glad you think so, and that you like my story.

Sansi – Lucky you. I still have school to return to. -sniffles- I'm joining sixth form, so I still have two more years of school. -sigh- I'll survive somehow. Hehe, I'm looking forward to writing Yami, Bakura and Marik meeting as well. Expect conflict!

Carmen5-Nemrac – Thanks for reviewing!

Millennium – XD If I got home and everything had been cleaned I'd be pretty confused too. My room's a MESS. I suppose I'd be pretty happy too, though. Cleaning… -shudders- Yes, it was Shadi, actually. You were the only person to say anything about it. Well done!

Yami-Yugi3 – Yeah, Yami/Yugi – can't get enough of it! But none in this chapter, I'm afraid. Don't worry, more will be coming soon! Well, my definition of soon, anyway…

OnlyHAUNTED – I am having fun. -beams- Well, apart from the sucky weather and stupid boys that irritate me. -grumbles to herself- ANYWAY, thanks for reviewing!

Maruken – I'm glad that you did. Thanks for reviewing!

RaineKitsune – Thank you. Well here it is!

Shar – Thanks for your review.

Anime Girl8 - -cackles- I know. Eventually the Yamis will be clued in, but the Hikaris will remain in power. -grins evilly-

Chapter Four – Explanation

"Myself?" Bakura asked in confusion. The uncertainty was quickly wiped from his face and replaced with a scowl. "I don't need saving from myself," he sneered.

/Oh contraire, dear Yami,/ the soft voice said merrily.

The tone of voice caused Bakura's anger to flare. Did this…thing, think his predicament was a source of amusement?! He was confused and cold and – dare he admit it? – scared, and he was being laughed at!

/I have a name, just so you have something to refer me to. I don't think 'thing' is an appropriate term, personally. My name is Ryou./

"I couldn't give a flying fuck as to what your name is! Let me out of here!" Bakura snarled, pounding on the door once more.

A sigh filled the room, followed by a less than cheerful 'all right'. Bakura felt that indescribable sensation again, and was abruptly thrown back into control of his own body.

The sudden action caught Bakura off guard, and he fell to his knees, feeling disorientated and very, very angry. Someone was going to feel a whole lot of pain.

The first thing Bakura noticed was that he couldn't feel the chill of the cool night breeze he had when he was outside. The second thing Bakura noticed was that he wasn't alone. Rising to his feet, the teenager could only stare at the figure sat on his bed.

His bed in his room. How had he gotten here?

Silvery hair so similar to his own seemed to glow in the moonlight, and soulful brown eyes met his glare without even flinching. Bakura guessed that this was Ryou, but the figure was so feminine, Bakura wasn't sure whether it was a very girly boy, or a very pretty girl.

Annoyance flashed in Ryou's eyes. /I'm a boy./

The soft-spoken words were heard in Bakura's head, yet Ryou's lips had not moved. Overall, Ryou made an ethereal – if not chilling – image, with his gleaming silver hair and soft, beautiful features.

"What the hell is going on?!" Bakura cried, extremely unsettled by recent happenings and his own thoughts.

His life had done a complete one eighty in a matter of hours. Being locked in a dark room, hearing voices, having blackouts – was he going insane?

Ryou sighed and shook his head, the hint of a smile on his face. "I know this is hard to take in, but…that ring around your neck," Ryou gestured with a hand, "the Sennen Ring, has allowed the part of your soul that has been missing to be brought back to you, via me."

Bakura stared blankly at him. "What?"

Ryou rolled his eyes heavenward. "Okay, people have souls, right?" He asked, trying a different approach.

Bakura snorted. "Whatever."

"Well, unlike most people, your soul was unbalanced. Only the dark part of your soul remained. To fulfil your destiny you needed to have a full soul. So…here I am!" Ryou finished, grinning.

Bakura narrowed his eyes sceptically, seeming to be in thought. "Sounds like a load of bull to me," he said eventually.

Ryou sighed in exasperation. "Well how do you explain everything that's happened? The room you were in? The voice in your head?"

Bakura scowled at Ryou, grudgingly admitting the other boy had a point. "I can't. But I'm guessing you're going to?" he said snidely.

Ryou smiled, shifting his position to get more comfortable. Raising an eyebrow at Bakura, he said, "Are you just going to stand there? I suggest you sit down, because this is going to take a lot of explaining."

Grumbling, Bakura joined Ryou on his bed, making sure to keep distance between them. If Ryou noticed, he said nothing.

"Okay, you probably want to know what the room you were in was, correct?" At Bakura's flat look, he continued. "That was your soul room. It portrays the real you – cold, dark, empty. The door you were trying to go through would have taken you to the corridor of your mind, with my soul room opposite yours. Any questions so far?"

Bakura wanted to argue about the fact that he was apparently cold, dark and empty, but the soft-spoken boy had piqued his interest. He shook his head.

A smile ghosted over Ryou's features. "As I am created by the magics of the Sennen Ring, I have more control over our abilities than you do. I am able to take over your body if I so wish. This means that your half of our soul has nowhere to go, so you are sent to your soul room. I wouldn't normally lock the door, but you were…uncooperative, so measures had to be taken. Once you know how, you'll be able to use the Ring to manifest yourself as a spirit that only I would be able to see."

Bakura 'hmm'd thoughtfully. "But what I don't understand is how you have your own body, and when you take over me I can't do the same," he murmured, reaching forward and touching Ryou's leg, only half surprised to come in contact with it.

Ryou let out a short, amused laugh, causing Bakura to snatch his hand away. "Well if I took over you and you then had another body, it kind of contradicts the whole point of me taking over in the first place, doesn't it?"

Bakura frowned. "I don't think that's fair. It's my body, why should you get to control what I do?"

Ryou merely smiled, not at all intimidated by Bakura's returned bout of anger. "It's our body, and considering your lack of ethics, I'm given the power to make sure you don't exceed in your inhumane activities. Consider me your conscience."

A thought suddenly struck Bakura. "Why me?"

The abrupt question seemed to catch Ryou off guard, and he blinked owlishly at Bakura. "What?"

"I'm sure I'm not the only person with an off-balance soul, or whatever. I mean, there are many psychopaths and murderers out there in a worse state of mind than myself, so why me?"

Ryou smiled again, causing Bakura to have conflicting emotions. The smile was infuriating, as the other boy seemed to find this all in good fun, acting as it if they were discussing a hobby or something. On the other hand, the action caused Ryou's deep chocolate eyes to sparkle and in turn cause Bakura's heart to speed up slightly.

"Well, you play a significant role in the salvation of the world," Ryou said simply, shrugging.

"I – you…what?!" Bakura spluttered, unprepared for such a statement.

"Not on your own, though. You and two other people are to work together to prevent the releasing of the Shadows on the world. You have me, as well, of course, as I'm going to be by your side until the end."

"The end of what?" Bakura asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Ryou's eyes seemed to lose some of their light, and he gazed at Bakura sadly. "I don't know."

Bakura didn't like the idea of someone who seemed so carefree to be sad, so opened his mouth to say something, when a bang to his door caught both occupants by surprise.

"What?!" Bakura snapped once he'd regained composure, knowing who was on the other side.

"What are you doing in there? Do you know what time it is? You better not have anyone in there, young man!" Kakuei scolded, opening the door, to find his son looking quite startled, sat on his bed with the television on.

"I was…watching television?" Bakura said as he stared at it, though his voice wavered, as though surprised to be doing so.

"Oh," Kakuei said, blinking. "Well turn it off, it's well past midnight!" he admonished, before turning and walking back out, shutting the door behind himself.

Ryou appeared on the bed once more in a brief flash of light, smiling in amusement. He waved a hand through the air and the television turned itself off again. Bakura gaped slightly, seeing something unexplainable happen before his eyes was hard to take in, despite all that had happened recently.

Ryou giggled, and Bakura snapped his mouth shut, eyeing Ryou warily. "What else can you do?"

Ryou shrugged. "Many things. You'll find out in due time."

"Can I do things like that?" Bakura asked, waving his hand through the air in an imitation of Ryou. Nothing happened.

Ryou giggled again, trying to stifle his laughter with a hand. Bakura, insulted and slightly embarrassed, glared at the smaller teen. Realising his dark expected an answer, Ryou's expression sobered slightly. "Well…yes, you can."

Bakura's expression brightened, as images of what he could do with such power appeared in his head, and what he could do to whoever tried to stop him. Ryou's eyes widened as the images went through his head as well.

/No!/

Bakura jumped as the distressed voice interrupted his train of thought. He dared a glance at Ryou and was taken aback. Ryou's expression was furious, causing his usually bright eyes to darken significantly and his aura to appear much more threatening. Bakura decided he didn't like this side of Ryou.

"Have you not listened to anything I've said?" Ryou said angrily, out loud this time.

Bakura watched Ryou with wide eyes, but said nothing. The very air around them was crackling with energy, he could feel it and almost see it, causing a shiver to go up his spine.

"Sorry?" Bakura tried, fighting the instinct to flee. He would not run away, he was no coward.

Ryou breathed in heavily, forcing himself to calm down. The images had been horrible, how could someone wish something like that on other people, just for his own personal gains? He should have expected this. Bakura wouldn't simply change the instant he entered the other's life. Bakura had little to no morals, and it would take a long time for Ryou to help Bakura.

Ryou just hoped that he hadn't arrived too late.

Ryou spared Bakura one, disappointed glance before he vanished in the blink of an eye.

Malik's eyes widened. So he knew. But knowing about him and knowing how to handle the powers of the Rod were two different things. True, Marik had used it as a dagger in his youth, but he had not been taught how to wield the Shadow magics. That much Malik knew.

Malik caught his composure and glared at the teen in front of him. Now was not the time to play nice and make friends. "Oh really?" he sneered.

Marik continued to smirk, nodding once. His eyes travelled down and back up, lazily taking in the translucent form in front of him, his smirk widening slightly. He lifted up the Sennen Rod, pointing it at Malik and closing his eyes.

The Rod glowed for a moment before the light died down again. Marik opened his eyes to look at Malik, but his triumphant smirk slipped from his face as he took in the sight of the glaring teen.

"Oh dear," Malik simpered, "it seems as though things didn't go according to plan." He let out a short, amused laugh. "Did you honestly think that you could use that against yourself? You don't know anything. You were bluffing, weren't you?" Malik said accusingly, lavender eyes narrowed dangerously.

Malik was angry with himself. He couldn't believe he had almost fallen for that! Creating the hikaris was not thought up until recently, so how could Marik have known about him all those years ago? Though Marik had made no reaction to him what so ever when he appeared. His dark was quite the actor, it seemed.

He was such a fool. He could just read Marik's mind to confirm any suspicions, yet he had allowed himself to be tricked. It was painfully obvious that his darker half could not be trusted.

Marik scowled, knowing he'd been found out. "I know of some things, but I try to forget my past. I'm not part of that family anymore," he said, voice dripping with disdain.

Malik was about to answer when he caught the sound of faint footsteps. His eyes widened. The guard was coming to let Marik out! The grin on Marik's face was a telltale sign, and the fact that the Rod in Marik's hand now had a long and very sharp blade protruding from one end confirmed Malik's suspicions.

Marik was going to make a break for it, and he had no inhibitions on killing to do so.

The footsteps grew louder until they finally stopped, and the jingle of keys could be heard outside the door.

Malik sighed and closed his eyes, his form disappearing from the room as he took over. Opening his eyes and blinking a few times to get used to the darkness, Malik returned the Sennen Rod to its original state.

/Don't worry./ Malik informed Marik from his location inside his dark's soul room, ignoring Marik's outraged protests. /I'll get us out of here - my way./

Malik readied himself as the key was turned and the door slowly opened. He only hoped the other two hikaris were having better luck than he was.

Slight, slight fluff between Bakura and Ryou. Though mainly Bakura admiring Ryou's looks… but nyeh, it's all you'll get for now. XP I hope that scene cleared more up, as well. I tried explaining the situation as to why the hikaris were actually there, and I hope I did okay.

Anyways, Hentai Ryou is being worked on as we speak, but it seems I'm having a bit of trouble. I know how I want things to go, it's just putting it into words, you know? I think I've got about half way through the 14th chapter, so it should be done soon. Fingers crossed.

Review, pretty please?