Welcome to my first Yugioh fic, although it is a rewrite of a previous Yugioh fic I have written.
A few notes before I get to the full summary and a list of ships; there is Middle Egyptian language used in this fanfiction, for those who don't know, this is a form of Ancient Hieroglyphs. A translation of what has been written there is provided (it's also the name of the fic xD ) but I know this translation is right because I study Middle Egyptian.../ really it's just a chance for to show off and make me proud of me.
Second, I know this fic might seem rather Malik centric now but that is only for the first chapter, the sort of introduction if you will to the main story. It will change later xD
Third...this is basically a fic that will focus on a lot of ships that I ship in the Yugioh fandom, a list will be provided further down. There will be fluff, smut (well, almost smut), angst, no small amount of torture and a lot of problems. I'm open for recommendations about what you would like to see between a ship, but this is actually a story, it won't just be random chapters that don't fit in with each other. If you want a little fic on the side that can be a stand alone just drop me a PM and I'll write it for you.
Alright so, since has a restriction on the number of words in a summary, have a fuller one;
Malik is being plagued with strange dreams and he is striving to find the answer. Little does he know that the answer to the riddle will soon cast him back into the frenzy of the life of Yugi and his friends again. When the answer reveals itself Malik accidently sets into motion things that cannot be undone, but hopefully can be dealt with. In the meantime, while Malik is busy messing things up, Yugi and his friends are trying to get used to a normal, danger-free life, even now, a year on from when the pharaoh left them. Yugi is lonely and rarely sees his friends because he wants to keep to himself after the pain of losing such a good friend. Joey on the other hand rarely sees his friends because of a new relationship he has struck up, a relationship he would like to keep secret. Malik's arrival in Japan is about to change all this for the better, and maybe for the worst sometimes, because when he comes to Japan he doesn't come alone, and there is no return to Egypt.
And finally, since this as turned into a rather big note section, my ship list;
Puzzleshipping ( Yami x Yugi ) (( Yami will probably be referred to as Yami, Atem and the pharaoh on separate occasions throughout )).
Psychoshipping ( Yami Marik x Yami Bakura ) (( for the sake of the fic they will basically be Marik and Bakura ))
Angstshipping ( Malik x Ryou )
Puppyshipping ( Seto x Joey )
Warshipping/Regretshipping ( Seto x Alistair )
Polarshipping ( Joey x Mai )
Stepshipping ( Mokuba x Noah )
Chaseshipping ( Duke x Tristan )
and a whole lot of friendship.
Enjoy!
Malik rubbed at his eyes as he poured over the ancient Egyptian texts by candlelight, covering a yawn as best he could so he didn't alert Ishizu that he was still awake. His sister had caught him every night for the last two months and forced him to bed so that he didn't fall asleep during the day when she put him to work around the house. Just the day before she had found him curled on the kitchen floor with the mop fallen next to him. It was strange but Malik found he missed the home he had made for himself amongst the old tombs of the pharaoh Atem, even if it was lonely, but Ishizu had access to a massive amount of texts from ancient Egypt and Malik needed them right now. Sitting back in his chair Malik ran a hand through his hair and sighed, thinking back to the events that had started his search.
Three months ago Malik had found himself having a rather strange dream. His dream had been entirely dark, and no matter which way he turned he was unable to see anything. In this darkness Malik had felt extremely uncomfortable and isolated, panicked emotions rushing through him one after the other. When he had awoken the next morning there was a sheen of sweat on his body, his blonde hair plastered to his face and he had no idea what that sort of dream could have meant. The next night he had a dream nearly exactly the same, except for small flashes of light that disappeared as soon as he moved towards them. After a month of these strange, dark dreams, Malik eventually had a dream that he could make some sense of. Despite having never seen those that appeared before him in the flesh Malik knew that it was the six members of the pharaoh's court Set, Isis, Karim, Shada, Mahado and Ahknadin that materialised before him one after the other, the sockets of their eyes set with obsidian stones instead of their eyes. This sight in itself was extremely disturbing and Malik had woken up screaming before he had a chance to see the rest of the dream but he automatically knew that this dream had something to do with the pharaoh Atem. He had returned to his own world over a year ago after Yugi had defeated him in one final, fateful duel, but it didn't surprise Malik that the pharaoh still had the power to communicate with the outside world.
Malik did not wait for another dream. He called his sister, Ishizu, who usually lived either in Luxor or Cairo and worked in museums in both cities and told her that he was coming to stay with her for a bit. Ishizu did not complain, she worried about Malik living alone out in the desert of Egypt. Malik had arrived a couple of hours later on the doorstep of her Cairo home and had immediately asked if Ishizu could get him access to the ancient texts that still existed. He was not sure what he was looking for but Malik had poured over every text that Ishizu had managed to procure for him.
The lurching of his chair brought Malik from his memories and he found himself staring up into Ishizu's narrowed blue eyes.
Laughing rather sheepishly Malik reached over to the table and shuffled the papers together into a neat pile. "I know I know, 'go to bed' right?" He asked as Ishizu moved back from his chair and surveyed his rather dishevelled appearance.
"No Malik, not this time," She replied. "It's obvious that whatever it is you are looking for is important since you are not sleeping in order to search for it, so I am going to take you to the archives of the museum, to the texts that I cannot take out because they are so fragile."
Malik gaped at her, shocked that she was finally accepting his search, and still without questioning what it was exactly that he was looking for. When his tired brain finally caught up with what Ishizu had said he jumped from his chair and started looking around his room for his shoes. Ishizu had managed to buy an extremely nice house from money that she claimed came from the jobs that she held although neither Malik nor their brother Odion believed that was the entire truth. Because the house was rather bigger than Malik was used to he usually trailed his stuff behind him when he wandered around to get food and drink during the day and then couldn't find something he was looking for. Ishizu watched with an amused smile as Malik dove under his bed.
"Malik please, calm down. You'll have to be quiet when we enter the museum, since it is after hours. There will be guards everywhere so please don't bring attention to yourself." Ishizu called over the noise Malik was making by throwing his things around trying to find his shoes.
"Ishizu you know I had experience breaking into highly guarded places." Malik laughed, finally managing to extract a battered pair of trainers from under his bed.
Ishizu couldn't help but laugh at Malik's admittance although his criminal past did make life difficult sometimes. Slipping on his shoes Malik straightened up and saw Odion stood at his bedroom door, his arms crossed but a smile on his face.
"Odion, you have to stay here," Ishizu stated firmly.
"Oh come on Ishizu," Malik said, "This can be the first thing that me and Odion do as brothers since we watched the pharaoh return to his own time."
"Something criminal to commemorate the past, Malik?" Odion asked but he was still smiling and Malik returned the smile with some enthusiasm.
"Why not?"
"Alright fine!" Ishizu relented, her mouth set in a thin line but her eyes were sparkling with laughter. "Odion you can come and help. It'd be of no surprise to me if Malik had told you what it was he was searching for." She continued, "But if we are all going we have to go now."
"Well I'm ready," Malik stated.
Ishizu and Odion exchanged somewhat sceptical looks before running their eyes over Malik. The blonde looked down at what he was wearing and blushed a little when he saw just how dishevelled he looked. Ishizu had purchased a grey jumper and some grey jogging pants for Malik to wear when he was cleaning the house for her while she and Odion were working and Malik had been wearing them for three days now. Granted, he had showered everyday and changed his underwear but without thinking he had simply put the grey clothes back on again after getting out of the shower.
"Should I get changed?" He asked quietly.
Ishizu nodded. "You brought nearly all your clothes with you Malik, it's not like you'll have a hard choice."
"I suggest that black tank top you own with some dark pants as well, Malik." Odion suggested as Ishizu ushered him from the room. Malik grinned at his older brother and shut the door behind them. He quickly changed his clothes, shoving on the clothes that Odion suggested, along with a dark hooded jumper and when he was done he charged from his room, pausing long enough to grab the 'emergency lock-breaking kit' as he called it, in case he lost his keys. Malik wasn't entirely sure why he lied about it, Ishizu and Odion both knew exactly what the things he kept in that small bag were used for in the past, Malik hadn't gotten rid of them because it did in fact come in handy sometimes to have tools on hand to pick locks.
"I'm ready," He called as he raced down the stairs. Ishizu and Odion were waiting by the front door for him, neither of them smiling anymore for they knew what they were about to do could land them in a lot of trouble if they were caught. Malik made a mental note to properly thank Ishizu for putting her job on the line for him when he had only kept her in the dark about what he wanted these texts for as he left the house and followed Odion to the car.
"Okay Malik, I am doing this for you so you can finally get some sleep, I've not seen like this for a while." Ishizu confirmed, more for herself than either of her brothers, "But you are not allowed to take any of these documents out of the archives, they are much too fragile for that."
"It's okay Ishizu I brought a camera," Malik replied. Ishizu opened her mouth, her brow furrowed but Malik laughed and cut her off, "Don't worry Ishizu I know, no flash photography. I'm not going to turn the flash on."
"I'll be in trouble if any of these documents get destroyed Malik," Ishizu warned her brother as Odion started up the car and began the short distance to the museum.
"How will they associate you with it?" Malik asked.
"There are only a few people in the museum who have access to these particular archives Malik and I am one of them. And, sadly, when you have two brothers with criminal pasts you are the first one to get suspected." Ishizu reported rather morosely. Malik did not say anything in reply to that, swapping a look with Odion through the rear-view mirror. They knew that it had been hard for Ishizu to get a job at either Luxor or Cairo museum because of Malik's criminality in the past and Malik was truly sorry for it, but Ishizu rarely brought it up and when she did she made sure that her tone of voice was not accusative.
"When we get near Odion park the car, we'll walk the rest of the way okay?" Ishizu advised and Odion nodded. Malik let his eyes rove over whatever it was that came past his window until the car jolted to a halt. Ishizu climbed out quickly and checked to make sure there was nobody about. Odion turned to Malik as the youngest Ishtar fastened his burglary kit to his belt.
"Malik that won't be needed, I'm sure." He stated firmly and Malik smiled and shrugged.
"Better safe than sorry."
"Come on you two," Ishizu hissed from outside the car. Malik and Odion nodded to each other before exiting the car and joining their sister. Ishizu beckoned for them to follow her before leading them down several streets towards the large museum. Malik busied himself with trying to remember every aspect of the dreams he had been having while Odion and Ishizu had a whispered conversation in front of him.
"We're going in the back way okay Malik, so pay attention." Ishizu murmured. Malik glanced up and nodded.
He didn't in fact pay attention to the way they were going as Ishizu directed them through the dark corridors of the museum towards a staircase hidden in one of the back rooms. Odion in fact had to guide Malik around some of the exhibits because he was too lost in his thoughts.
"Down there Malik," Ishizu pointed as she spoke and Malik squeezed past her in the thin corridor they were now standing in, trailing his fingers along the wall to find the light switch. Odion followed his brother while Ishizu stayed put at the bottom of the staircase, acting somewhat as a guard.
Malik found himself in a large room full of filing cabinets but when he pulled the nearest draw out he saw that they were empty except for one document, and a glass pane had been slotted in to protect the papyrus and keep it at a hotter temperature. While Malik examined this text Odion went to find others, assuming that Malik was indeed looking for documents relating to Atem, which of course he was.
"Over here brother," Odion called quietly. Malik hurried over to him and found Odion examining a rather large sheet of papyrus that started with the hieroglyphs 'sḏd.i rf n.k' or 'I shall recount to you' and went on to explain about a strange phenomenon that had occurred when the pharaoh Aknamkanon's wife had been due to give birth to their child. Odion left Malik to read the document alone and stand with Ishizu at the bottom of the stairs.
The document went on to explain how a priest had had a strange dream relating to the future of the pharaoh's court and the fate of Aknamkanon's son after the pharaoh died. Malik bit his lip to stop himself from gasping when the document recorded how the priest had seen black stones in the place of eyes, and had experienced extreme emotions during the dream. This is the same dream…or a similar dream at least, Malik thought as he continued to scan the document.
There was nothing else of interest on that particular document but when Malik opened the drawer below he found a continuation of the document and this particular document had something of interest for him.
"While this dream continued a spell appeared before my eyes, jumbled at first but then startlingly clear. It seemed to be a spell calling down Osiris, and I suddenly felt compelled to collect four items belonging to the recently deceased pharaoh and recite this spell at the same time. When I awoke I refused to do anything such as this for I was afraid. I will forever wonder what would have happened but I will never, ever, do such a thing for only bad things could have happened. I am recording the spell here so that if future generations have the dreams that I have had and feel braver than I they can recite the spell and see what happens," Malik read out the document, filling in the words that he couldn't see properly or that were omitted by the scribe. The spell was written below and Malik pulled out his camera without thinking and took a picture quickly, just remembering to turn off the flash before he did. He had no idea what would happen if he recited this spell over four items that belonged to Atem but these dreams were telling him to do this and if this would stop the dreams Malik was going to do it.
"Are you done Malik? We should leave soon." Ishizu asked quietly from the door. Malik whirled round, spooked, as the room had been completely silent and he had not heard his sister approach him.
"Yeah I think I've found what I want. Thank you so much Ishizu. I'm going to go back to my home now okay? Odion, would you be alright to take me there?" The blonde said rather quickly, shoving his camera away and following Ishizu back through the museum.
"Of course Malik, I'll drop Ishizu off and then take you home." Odion agreed.
"I'll need to pack a bit first." Malik laughed. Odion chuckled as they slipped free of the museum and hurried back to the car. Ishizu said nothing, she had grown used to Malik being rather more secretive over the last year, but Malik knew that she was worried about his recent attitude.
The three siblings climbed back into the car and Odion drove them home slightly quicker than he had driven them there, he could sense Malik's urgency. Ishizu fidgeted with the hem of her dress all the way home, nervous as she was that it was going to be obvious that she had taken her brothers down into the archives. Malik wasn't nervous but excited; he was nearing the end of his journey of finding out what these dreams meant and all he needed to do was recite that strange spell over four things that belonged to the pharaoh. Yugi had given him the Millennium Puzzle just after the pharaoh had departed because even though the power had gone from it, it served as a reminder of what he had lost on the day of that fateful duel. That was one thing. He lived in a house that connected to the tombs where he had been raised, so he was sure he could gather some things from there. If only he had the three Egyptian god cards, they could have served his purpose well. Malik was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realise that Odion had pulled up at home until his brother had come back and was sliding Malik's duffel bags into the back seat next to him.
"Odion what are you doing?" Malik asked, sliding forward between the two front seats so he could sit up front with his brother. Ishizu bent down next to the passenger window so Malik rolled the window down to speak to her.
"We arrived home but you seemed so lost in thought that Odion decided to pack your bags for you and drive you without disturbing you." She explained as Odion piled another bag into the car before slipping in next to Malik and starting the engine.
"Oh okay. Thanks. And thanks for helping me Ishizu, I'm sorry I've been so secretive." Malik answered.
Ishizu smiled a rather knowing, cheeky smile. "Oh my dear little brother, you seem to forget that I saw which document you were looking at, I can easily go and check what you were researching."
For the second time in several hours Malik gaped at his sister as she smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheeks.
"Have a nice journey brother." She added before tapping the top of the car. Odion took this as the sign to drive away and did so, waving slightly at Ishizu before speeding off away from her house.
The drive was done in mostly silence and Malik was sure that he fell asleep halfway through it because he did not remember driving up to his house but suddenly he was there and Odion was shaking him awake.
"I hope you know what you're doing Malik." He said firmly as Malik made to leave the car.
"I have no idea Odion." Malik replied with a short laugh.
"Perhaps, whatever you are doing should be tested on something else first?" Odion suggested.
"Maybe…" Malik murmured before climbing out of the car and going to the back door so he could get his bags.
"I'll let you know what happens Odion, thank you for driving me."
Odion smiled and shook his head, "Any time brother," He said before reversing away from Malik's home and driving back to Ishizu. Malik watched until his car disappeared and then headed into his house to 'test' what he had learnt.
/
Two hours after Malik had arrived home he was sat in the tombs he had known as a child, four things that belonged to Atem on his right, including the Puzzle, and four things that belonged to him, including his favourite duelling card, the jewellery he had worn during Battle City and the Millennium Rod. He was sure that nothing was actually going to happen if he gathered four things that belonged to him and recited the spell, but it was worth a try to see what happened. Pushing the pharaoh's things to the side Malik arranged his own things, one facing north, one south, one east and one west. He had already studied the picture he had taken and memorised the spell, so he stood in the middle of his items, raised his hand, made a little cut in his palm and let the blood drop to the floor. Once it had stained the floor Malik began the recitation of the Egyptian spell, his eyes closed, his lips forming the ancient worlds easily. Had he had his eyes open he would have seen the slight golden glow that originated from the four items he had gathered on the floor. When he came to the end of the spell the golden glow became extremely bright and Malik's eyes flew open as the light enveloped him, blinding him momentarily. A wind seemed to be blowing around the room and Malik was afraid for a moment until he didn't have time to think for it seemed as though he had been shoved in the chest and he went spiralling to the floor, a heavy weight above him. Though he could not see it, two golden bangles appeared from nowhere in the middle of his gathered items.
"Ow…" Malik murmured, struggling to move because of the pain of his chest. Blinking until the spots of lights in front of his eyes had disappeared Malik realised that there was actually somebody lying on top of him. Terrified for a moment Malik threw the weight off him and scrambled to his feet, his chest heaving and aching, but ended up doing a double-take when he finally saw who it was sprawled on his floor.
"No way, no bloody way," He whispered, nudging at the unconscious figure with his toe. Sandy blonde hair, tanned skin that was for some reason unclothed, but that did not bother Malik for it was a body he knew well. Marik lay before him, a near perfect copy of Malik if only not for his hair. How was he here? Was it even possible? Malik had defeated him during Battle City and regained control of his own body and Marik had been destroyed, he had disappeared…but here he was, in his own body. Without thinking Malik turned to grab a blanket to cover up his body and it was then that he spotted the golden bangles on the floor. Snatching them up he fastened one around Marik's wrist and then snapped the other one on his own wrist before grabbing a blanket and throwing it over Marik. Taking a deep breath to calm himself Malik examined the bangle and found that there was a Horus eye decoration on his bangle and assume the same thing was on Marik's.
"So…if I do this over the pharaoh's things he'll come back to life in his own body, without the needed support of the soul-bond with Yugi…hopefully." Malik stuttered, a little thrown because, well, Marik was lay on the floor in front of him.
Without wasting anytime Malik grabbed Marik's arms and heaved his unconscious 'evil' side over to the wall and placed a pile of books next to him so that when he moved they would be knocked over and alert Malik that Marik was awake. Gathering the pharaoh's things Malik laid them out exactly the same way that he had done with his own and stood in the middle, cutting his palm again and letting the blood drop to the floor. This time he kept his eyes open as he recited the spell and watched as the glow began again. Malik was also ready for the blow this time when he reached the end of his spell, and held out his hands so that he could catch the falling body of the pharaoh properly. The force of it still knocked him backwards and winded him again.
"I am never doing this again," Malik grumbled as he pushed the pharaoh's body off him and stood up again. Averting his eyes because the pharaoh was naked Malik felt like jumping up and down in happiness because obviously the dreams had been telling him that the pharaoh was not done with this world yet. Taking another blanket, really why did he have so many blankets, Malik laid it over the pharaoh and examined his face. Surprisingly he had come out with the same colour skin as Yugi had, instead of the tanned skin the Egyptians usually had, but apart from that Malik was sure he looked the same, with his tri-coloured, spiky hair and Malik assumed he still had orchid-ish coloured eyes.
Straightening up Malik cast an eye over Marik and found that the being that had once been his 'yami' was still unconscious. Malik wondered how long it would take for them both to wake up as he collected the things he had used to bring them back and went in search of a mirror big enough so that he could see what sort of damage had been done to his chest. As he made his way out of the room to find said mirror he paused to pick up a set of ruby coloured bangles that had appeared on the floor.
It turned out that Malik had time to examine his ribs and prod at the bruises forming there from Marik falling on him. He also had time to boil some water and make some tea, which he quickly abandoned for coffee to give himself some energy considering he had not been sleeping very well for at least three months. He found himself sat on a desk chair perusing a guide to the Cairo museum he had taken from Ishizu's house once accidently among his things when Marik finally started stirring.
"What's going on?" The Egyptian 'Yami' asked, his voice a little croaky as he opened his eyes.
Malik lifted his eyes to look at him. "I found a way to bring the pharaoh back to life in his own body but I wanted to test it on you first." He lied. Marik didn't need to know that Malik had no idea that Marik would come back if he did indeed test the spell.
"Charming." Marik said simply, stretching and examining the blanket. "Why am I naked?"
"Dead people don't just magically come back in the clothes they were wearing when they died," He snapped.
Marik gave a short laugh, "I didn't die Malik, you banished me."
"Well evidently wherever you were banished to was a place where clothes weren't something granted to those existing there." Malik growled.
As he did that Malik heard a low moan come from the pharaoh and moved to his side just as his eyes cracked open.
"Malik…what is going on?" Yami asked, lifting his head a little to look around the rather messy floor he was lay on.
"I…I'll explain it to you when you're up and dressed pharaoh." Malik replied.
"Please Malik; call me either Yami or Atem." Yami requested, taking Malik's offered hand and sitting up, using his other hand to hold the blanket in place. He froze when he saw Marik sat against the wall opposite him.
"What is going on here!?" He demanded.
Marik shifted against the wall and Malik's eyes went to him automatically but the other blonde was merely wrapping the blanket around himself completely so that it was between his skin and the wall. He laughed at Yami's angered stare.
"Please…Yami." Malik began, discarding the fact that it felt weird to call the pharaoh by his name, or one of his preferred names, "You're naked and Marik is naked and that should be addressed first. Then I'll explain things." He continued. Wrapping an arm around Yami's shoulders Malik directed the pharaoh to hold onto the blanket before helping him to his feet. He had no idea what state the pharaoh would be in, whether he would be weak, unable to walk, but since he could talk and knew who Malik was the Egyptian was confident that Yami had his other basic skills.
"What clothes will I wear?" Yami asked as Malik helped him towards the door.
"Um…you'll have to wear some of mine for the moment," He replied after a moment to think, "I know I'm a little bit taller than you but at the present time I don't think that matters." He added before turning back to Marik, who was still sat against the wall. "Don't try anything while I'm gone." He warned him. Marik shrugged, his head lolling against the wall, eyes half closed. Malik was not convinced that Marik was tired but he left the room supporting Yami and led the pharaoh to his bathroom.
"You can…well…I'd say get cleaned up but you're not exactly dirty…I'll go get you some clothes. When you're dressed I'll explain everything to you." Malik stuttered over what he wanted to say, a little unnerved about having to dress the pharaoh in his clothes. He should have prepared better, what else could that spell have done, especially if it called on Osiris, a god known for his death and resurrection.
"Thank you Malik." Yami said simply. Malik scurried from the room and back to the one he had left Marik in to find his 'yami' rummaging through his clothes to find some to fit. He had abandoned the blanket on the floor but had already found some tan combat pants to wear, which Malik was glad for, he didn't want Marik walking about the place naked.
"So, why did you bring the pharaoh back?" Marik asked as Malik grabbed a hoodie and some baggy, khaki coloured combat shorts from a random drawer in the room and examined them.
"If you give me a moment I'll explain." Malik replied shortly. Marik extracted a black tank top, the same top he had worn in Battle City instead of Malik's purple, hooded one and slipped it on, shaking his hair back into place when he was done.
"Got any food?" He asked as Malik hurried from the room with the clothes.
"Stay there Marik! I'll sort it out in a minute." Malik called, hurrying back to the pharaoh. He wished he had knocked before entering when he opened the door as he found Yami examining his body. Malik quickly closed the door as Yami dove for his blanket.
"I'm sorry! Here are some clothes," Malik said, his voice more of a squeak than anything as he opened the door a crack and pushed the clothes inside. Yami took them from him with a quiet word of thanks.
Okay Malik, stop freaking out, Malik thought to himself as he leant on the closed bathroom door taking deep breaths, you're just tired and now have two unexpected house-guests, it'll all be fine if you're calm. Concentrating on breathing deeply and evenly Malik poked his head around the door to get Marik only to find it empty.
Fuck.
"Marik!" He cried, racing down the corridor to find where the other blonde had gone. Malik almost ended running right into his face as Marik popped his head around the door of the kitchen at the call, a piece of bread in his teeth.
"I'm hungry and you were busy." He explained simply as Malik raised an eyebrow.
"Okay just…warn me next time."
"Malik…do you have any idea what these mean?" Marik asked as he held up his wrist to indicate the gold bangle.
"No idea."
"Well…since you brought me back it puts you in control. I have no power, no evil power that I can use and I cannot use any sort of power from the Millennium Items for an evil purpose, since you used the rod in the ritual to bring me back. We're connected. It's like the soul-bond Yugi and the pharaoh had when his spirit was in the Puzzle except that we have separate bodies. If you're looking for me you will automatically know where to find me, the same goes for me if I am looking for you." Marik explained nonchalantly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Malik merely stared at him.
"You knew what I did then?" He asked suddenly, "You knew what I'd done to bring you back, even though you asked."
"When I saw these I did," Marik confirmed, shaking his wrist so the bangle bounced about. "It's funny, you technically formed two soul bonds tonight, but I guess since that's not strictly possible, or allowed to happen, you'll have to transfer one to someone else. Who knows what things you've done Malik, when that spell is recited things change, terrible things can happen." He continued.
"Wait, wait, wait." Malik said, shaking his head as he tried to accept all that Marik had just suddenly dumped on him. "So you're telling me that you know about this? All the things these bangles, that spell, does? How can you know all this? It took me three months to find it."
"I saw it happen once. You don't remember, I kept this memory from you. It disappeared along with me and I don't intend to tell you what happened because you probably wouldn't believe me-." Marik stopped speaking suddenly, his eyes on a spot behind Malik. Turning Malik found the pharaoh stood in the doorway, looking extremely odd in Malik's clothes and Malik guessed he was feeling a little uncomfortable too.
"Pharaoh…ah Yami I mean, come in, sit down. I'll make some sandwiches. And some tea!" Malik exclaimed, ushering Yami in and pushing him into a chair at the small table in the middle of the room. Marik took a seat opposite the pharaoh and smiled.
Malik reached for the tea-leaves but wrinkled his nose and put them aside, saying "No not tea, I'd rather have coffee," at the exact same time that Marik did. Marik smirked in amusement and Malik had to take a deep breath to calm himself. Nobody spoke as Malik threw together some sandwiches, hardly paying attention to what he put on them and poured three cups of strong coffee.
It was Yami who broke the rather uncomfortable silence that settled when Malik sat down, drained his coffee and then got up to pour another cup.
"Please explain what is going on Malik." He requested, sipping at the coffee, his eyes on Marik as he wolfed down the sandwiches.
Malik nodded and launched into an explanation, taking Yami through the entire story as he knew it from the start of the dreams to when Yami had woken up on his bedroom floor, leaving out the significance of the bangles for now because he himself wasn't sure about them. Marik seemed to know a lot about them, so if necessary his 'yami' could explain. Yami himself however seemed fairly satisfied.
"It was strange, but though I was happy to be in my world, with my friends and family again, there was something missing. I could never quite place what it was then, even though now it was obvious, and that longing to be back in this world must had found a way to you Malik, the one person out of all that could have found a way to solve the problem." Yami laughed as Malik flushed at the compliment, "I bet you didn't expect to have Marik either though." The pharaoh added as an afterthought, his voice still carrying a jokey tone.
"No," Malik admitted, "But I can deal with -."
"So," Marik interrupted, "If you know what the problem is that made you come back to this world, what do we do now?"
"We?" Yami asked sceptically.
"If we have to travel Yami I am not leaving Marik unattended." Malik said quickly before Marik could say anything, but the smug smile that came onto Marik's face told Malik that would have been his reply.
"I can understand that." Yami agreed, "But he is not helping me with this…'problem' as he puts it. It is not a problem so much…just someone that I miss."
Malik immediately realise why Yami had wanted to come back to this world and smiled at the thought.
"Well Marik I know what we're doing now." He said surely. Yami and Marik both looked at him, Yami over the rim of his mug and Marik over the crust of a sandwich.
"What's that then?" Marik inquired.
Malik downed the rest of his third mug of coffee in an hour and grinned. "We're going to Japan of course."