"That much didn't, though more serious injuries did," Bakura answered. "With other summoned monsters, when your ba ran too low, the summons just disappeared. But with your kaa, the wounds could stay with you."

The ghosts, which until this point had been so quiet they may as well have been asleep, murmured faintly at that. They remembered very well the day that Bakura and Diabound had met, the day he'd first returned to Kul Elna. How furious they'd been to discover a survivor and yet conversely, how relieved: they were not entirely forgotten.

The thief had paused to listen briefly, as if making sure they did not want something, before continuing to speak. "No. I didn't even realize he was part of me, at first. There was... a lot to take in, at the time and I wasn't very old."