Malik stood alone in the room that he shared with Ryou and Bakura, blankly staring out the window. Any moment now, his darker half - or rather, the darker half of his other self - would be materializing in the room.

Under normal circumstances, Malik would not have willingly confronted him. But this time, he had an important matter to discuss with the embodiment of his inner darkness... as well as a proposition of sorts. However, he would have to wait and see how the discussion unfolded before making said proposition.

Any moment now...

The darkness was alive, as it ever was; curling and curving, shadows of inanimate objects, cast by the setting sunlight which streamed through the window. Malik's shadow was long, cast out against the floor; it morphed and twisted, then, to become something it would always be, and yet never the same.

Yami no Malik stood from the darkness, making no sound; he was sure the other would be aware of his presence. He was not smirking, nor frowning; there was no expression on his face nor in his eyes. He was just waiting.

Something was wanted from him. Yami no Malik was well aware of such, and he waited for the other to announce his business; as the setting sunlight cast through his hair, red and auburn hues in dark golden hair, and when Malik turned, this was where he'd be.

Any moment was this one.

Without turning around - he sensed the darkness behind him - Malik folded his arms and continued to stare out the window, his face taking on a rare serious expression. He wasn't quite sure how to begin; perhaps beating around the bush would do for now. His voice was slightly shaky as he spoke. "... You're aware of the... powers that were once in Ryou's hands, correct?"

Yami no Malik moved to stand beside him, posture perfect as ever; the light chased shadows over his face, with the grace from a different world as he moved, folding one hand over the other on the windowsill.

Deciding to indulge the other's wish to deviate from a topic which was evidently dark, he nodded simply. "Of course; he had the power of a God within him, one which he abused terribly. I sense that power is gone now; a blessing for the rest of you, I would surmise."

He made no mention of any other personal opinion on the matter, blank eyes staring out to the sunset, waiting still for some sort of answer.

A sarcastic smirk spread across Malik's lips as he considered the last bit of his darker half's statement. "I think it's more of a curse than a blessing." The smirk faded. "That's what it was even with the powers." His fingers idly drummed against the gold band on his upper arm as he contemplated his next words.

"And, as you said, Ryou was punished for fucking around with fate. Everything that he ever healed when he had the powers... be it a physical injury or a sickness of some sort... it was all undone." Malik's expression softened as he said this; all of the trouble they had gone through to cure Ryou of the shadow illness was for naught, as now he was burdened with that sickness again. "... And I do mean everything."

He hoped Yami no Malik would get the hint - surely he knew of the disease.

A soft laugh came from the lips of the Shadow Incarnate, Yami no Malik's eyes for an instant showing some sparkle of emotion; amusement, perhaps, or sorrow - it was difficult to tell through that trace of madness which slid through every move he made. "And so done is undone," He murmured, needing to speak no louder for the other to hear him; "The Gods most of all have a concept of justice, it seems."

The 'everything' clearly meant that his attention was supposed to be drawn to something in particular - however, Yami no Malik had promptly decided on notintending to play this game with Malik. If the other wanted something, he could spell it out and they would negotiate.

"Everything?" He turned his head to the side slightly, raising an amused eyebrow; "Even the cure for cancer? Such a pity."

Malik rolled his eyes. He should have known that the darker half would make things difficult. "Yes, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about the thing that caused this mess in the first place. Since you're obviously going to make me spoon-feed you the information, I don't see the sense in beating around the bush anymore."

That said, he glanced at Yami no Malik out of the corner of his eye. "The disease that Ryou acquired in the Shadow Realm. The one that forced Khons into his body in the first place..." Malik could feel his throat constricting, and his next words came out in little more than a whisper. "... It's back."

Marik turned his face towards Malik's, then; a glimmer of interest lurked within those eyes, now, a curiosity which verged upon scientific. The darkness which made his form, held him and inspired him could also cause a disease deadly to mortals, if what he had been told was to be believed. Yet, it had returned? In that case, it would be delightfully interesting to see the symptoms, to see just how the Shadows could effect one's physiology.

"What has that got to do with me?" He asked, his voice to all intents and purposes seeming simply bored; he knew exactly what the other wanted, of course. Darkness removes darkness; Malik wanted him to cure Ryou. Yami no Malik had no guarantee of his ability to do so, but that did not mean he would not use it as a bargaining chip.

No-one got anything for free.

Malik knew that his yami knew what he wanted. It was just how it was between them; the little darkness that still remained - and would always remain - in Malik's heart was like a chain binding their minds to each other. However, in order to clarify exactly what he wanted, he went off into a little tangent. "When Ryou was confronted by the gods, and the curse was placed on him again, Ra said that since darkness was what put it there in the first place, darkness would remove it."

He turned his head to look directly at the darkness; "Hypothetical situation: if I were to ask you to lift the disease from Ryou, what would you want in return?"

The darkness looked back at him, lurking within the black pupils of Yami no Malik's eyes. "Darkness takes darkness, indeed." He smirked lazily, "Ra seeks to make a hero out of thin air. How very like a God." A strange situation, was this one; normally, the darkness chased the light away, but now the light was following the dark for help. Very strange indeed; unaccoustomed to the idea of being asked for help by anyone at all, Yami no Malik turned away from the sunset to stare in the opposite direction, leaning back on the windowsill.

He looked as ever he did; the calm and poise gained from Malik lasting through to his own form even now, but there was a slight uncertain flicker on his face; fading after a moment to a self-assured smirk.

"Hypothetically, it would certainly have to be something I would very much be interested in possessing."

It was a vicious cycle: darkness could not exist without light - likewise, light could not exist without darkness. There must be an equal balance of both for things to right themselves. Ryou's light was rapidly being overpowered by the darkness; an imbalance between the darkness and the light would not bode well for anyone. Not to mention it would result in a few very depressed people, which there were certainly enough of as it was.

Malik turned around and took a few steps away from the window, deep in thought. He idly chewed on his thumbnail as he thought about what he could possibly give to his darker half as collateral. Yami no Malik would have no use for money - not like Malik really had any - nor would he be able to use something like sex. It had to be an item of some sort.

And then, it hit him - the one thing that Malik had not brought with him on the cruise. He doubted it would be a very wise decision to hand it over to the darkness incarnate, considering the power he already had at his disposal, but really - his yami had said it himself; he wouldn't do anything unless provoked.

He turned his head, looking at Yami no Malik over his shoulder. "... What about the Millennium Rod? Hypothetically, of course."

Marik's eyebrows raised; not one in enquiry this time, but both in sheer surprise. Of all the things the other could have offered him, Malik had managed to select the only item that he would even think about accepting.

"Hypothetically, I would agree to such." He answered calmly, arms folding over his chest; somewhere above a bird screamed, or was it an angel?

Returning the Millennium Rod would birth the Shadow Incarnate anew; fully fledged and liable to destroy. Yet, there was no real malice this time; no reason to enact this malice on the world. Yami no Malik, with the Millennium Rod, would be a loaded gun without anyone to aim it, and he was prepared to stay that way at least for the time being.

However. He was not necessarily prepared to venture into this even for the Rod if it were something that would be too dangerous for even him to destroy.

"I will need a full explanation of the Shadow Disease within itself."

Malik blinked, once again gnawing on his thumbnail in contemplation. What would be the best way to explain it to his darker self...? He finally settled on talking about how Ryou had progressed throughout the first time with the disease - how it had started off as a nagging cough, and eventually spread throughout his entire body. With Khons' powers backing him up, the progression had been extremely slow through the first several weeks. Not to mention, the various other injuries Ryou had suffered - being shot in the shoulder, imprisoned in Atlantis, and the gang fight with Bakura, just to name a few - had pushed the progression along.

After the encounter with the gods Horus and Seth, Ryou had been left with the lasting impression of Khons' powers; those had been what kept Ryou alive through the whole thing. Whenever he'd had to use a significant amount of those powers, the ones restraining the shadow disease had weakened. Before long, even the full extent of the powers was not enough to keep the illness in check; they'd had to resort to other means in order to destroy it. With the assistance of the gods Osiris, Obelisk, and Ra, they'd had to literally go inside Ryou's body and destroy it from there.

When Ryou had been confronted by Ra and had the disease placed back on him, this time he didn't have Khons' powers to restrain it, nor did he have any major injuries aside from the one in his arm. He was progressing through it much faster than he'd done the last time. "... So if he isn't cured soon, then..." Malik didn't want to consider the possibility that Ryou would die - again. "... Then he will die."

It pained him to even think about it.

Yami no Malik had listened patiently throughout Malik's explanation, taking in everything his weaker self had said. It sounded as if this apparent disease was both highly complex, and highly fatal. Obviously not transmittable to him, seeing as he was shadow; yet, was it contagious to others? Did it have further implications after the shadows were lifted?

It was certainly something he needed to see for himself.

"He'll die, will he?" Well, that was a certain bargaining tool; Marik certainly was not above using someone's feelings against them. "In that case, you had best deliver the Rod to me. I won't be able to lift any curse of that power without some kind of focus."

Malik nodded. "I didn't bring the Rod with me; it's still at home. I'm not sure when we'll get back to Japan, but we arrive back at the port in Florida on Wednesday. It could be a week from tomorrow before we're back home." ... He hoped Ryou would be able to hold out for that long.

"If all else fails, couldn't you just materialize in my room and take it?" Malik was rather anxious about this and wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possibly, before Ryou suffered any kind of pain. But that suggestion hadn't been entirely serious; he wasn't sure if his darker self would be able to do that or not.

"Oh, and the disease isn't contagious," he added, offhandedly. "If it were, I think half the city would be afflicted with it."

"Don't you remember the stigma attached to the Millennium Items?" Yami no Malik answered off-handedly; "I can't simply take the Item - they're generally won, if you recall, which is why the thief has fared so badly with them."

He shrugged, then; "Thus, I do not know what you wish to do. Your friend is suffering, I would assume? Yet, while you are stuck on a ship I can do nothing about it."

He paused. He could try to lift the curse without the Millennium Rod, but he would have to borrow someone else's lifeforce. Someone mortal. Yet, it was highly unlikely Malik would buy into such a thing, seeing as neither of them trusted the other, so he remained silent about it; falling into silence, and waiting for Malik to draw a conclusion.

A thoughtful, almost sad expression crossed Malik's face as he contemplated this. He turned around completely so that he was facing the darkness, yet his eyes were cast to the plush carpeting below him. Yami no Malik was right; they wouldn't be able to do anything about this until everyone was back in Japan. Unless there was another way to lift the sickness from Ryou, Malik would have to curb his impatience.

He glanced up at his darker self, hoping said impatience wasn't too evident in his eyes. "... There's nothing that can be done until we're back home...?" Considering how rapidly the disease was progressing this time, he wasn't sure how sick Ryou would be by the time they arrived back in Domino. He was already in slight pain; Malik could tell. And their friends were starting to grow concerned about Ryou's health. Only a handful of those who were with them on the cruise knew the full extents of the shadow illness - those who didn't would be highly confused and not to mention worried if Ryou happened to pass out while they were there.

Yami no Malik could feel, pre-emptively, that this entire episode would likely be one major headache for him, not to mention a draining of the power which made up his form.

"Do you have anything else to offer me besides the Millennium Rod?" He asked simply; "If you can get hold of another Item, I can likely cure it now. I am reluctant to do so because removing the Shadows without the Rod will make me a shadow of myself."

He laughed a little at the play on words, shaking his head; it was far too serious a situation for Malik to joke, but that didn't mean that Yami no Malik could not. Ryou was more of an annoyance than anything to the Shadow Incarnate; only what he could gain from this was important to Yami no Malik, and nothing else.

"..." Malik sighed. If Bakura still had the Millennium Ring, it was possible that he would use it in order to aid Ryou. However, the Ring was no longer in his possession, then that was out of the question. There was also the Puzzle; unfortunately, Malik was unsure if Yami had it or if it was in the possession of his lighter half. Though, even if Yami did have it, he seriously doubted he would use it to help out. The other Items were unaccountable - the Eye, Ankh, and Scales were who-the-hell-knows-where, and the Tauk was now defunct, not to mention it was still at home.

Malik's voice was almost monotone as he spoke again. "... No, I can't offer you anything else." It looked like all that they could do was wait until they were back in Domino; Malik would just have to ask Ryou to hold on to the best of his ability.

"You're useless as ever, I see, weaker half." Yami no Malik answered simply, standing from his leaning position at the windowsill; "If you have nothing else to offer me, then I will leave you here until you can offer me something else of use, or deliver to me the Rod."

He was not going to put his energy on the line for a minimal reward of one Item; not when he could have the Rod within a week in a manner which would include less exertion. His shadow lengthened as he stepped away from the window, mingling with Malik's; the sun was very low in the sky, now, obese and red in the air. Hell burning in his eyes, Marik smirked over at his weaker self.

"Farewell." He said simply, and started to sink into not his own shadow, but rather Malik's - as he was the incarnation of the other's personal darkness, it was only fitting.

Once the other had disappeared into his own shadow, Malik sighed and flopped down onto the bed beside him, throwing his forearm over his eyes. It was going to be a very long week...