Mystic Muses: Lol! A serious story for once that doesn't butcher the world of reality! There's no yaoi or anything, filled with innocence...Hopefully, that is...This starts before Battle City. I don't own Yugi-Oh! Enjoy…
Yami: Ahem!
MM: blinks yeees?
Yami: Aren't you forgetting something?
MM: Oh yes! Disclaimer: we/I don't own Yugioh because we/I am/aren't rich enough! But we/I do own this story!
Angel's Tears
Chapter 1
Sadist's Storm
Fuming clouds rumbled and stalked the stars across the night sky, hungry for a midnight feast. Cowering, the moon flickered and disappeared, victim to the coming storm's rage. The rain slathered across the rooftops as if a brokenhearted angel was shedding her tears above Domino city, pounding out a dreary augury. A few lights struggled through the night, trying to last till morn for the sake of the boy in the torn black jacket crawling down the road. Tanned fingers digging into the concrete blocks, he dragged himself toward the mellow warmth of the honey-colored light flooding out of the drowned window. His gold bracelets clinked as if in welcome of the nearby safety. Shivering, he peered between the wetted bangs clinging to his face.
A black shadow, hair falling around her round little shoulders, passed before the light, temporarily blocking its glow. Heart skipping a beat, the man pushed himself up off the ground an inch, staring longingly at the shadow.
Did she see me? Will she come?
The shadow turned, seeming to gaze with a musing eye out upon the world under the pouring rain. With a light groan, the boy sought to push himself up out of the shadows.
"Please...someone..."
With a twitch of muscles and a low growl, he dug his fingers into the pavement. Flexing his arm, he dragged himself forward, feeling the loose stone tear from the sidewalk and embed itself within his knee. A hot trickle of crimson liquid meandered down his leg, ecstatic to be freed from its host. His lungs twisted as he forced a gasp, trying to take in air but finding only rain. Gagging, he gently lowered his soft blond head to the ground, letting the mortal cold of the pavement sink in and seize his bones, greedily sucking out the warmth of his body. Lavender eyes fluttering, he let out one last sigh.
"Anyone..."
"No! I didn't mean to! Duke, please! He wasn't—"
"GET OUT! You're FIRED! Are you DEAF!" Roaring, Duke Devlin sank the toe of his boot deep into Derek's stomach. Panting, he felt his heart skip with excitement at the saliva and blood trickling out of his former friend's mouth.
"Duke, we used to be friends...please...in the name of that friendship, I swear he stole those cards, not me! I need this job..." Hand clutching his chest, Derek wobbled to his feet, begging for the three Dukes in his vision to focus into one.
"Well, you'll just have to find another one!" Laughing lightly with lightning dancing in his eyes, Duke slammed the door of his shop. The bang echoed in Derek's ears, over and over again, its reverberating voice cackling as it carried away his home and his future and dumped them out in a sea of nothingness.
Turning like a statue, he stumbled down the steps, foot testing each slab of marble for a dry spot. Eyes turning upwards, he sought for a comforting moon, his favorite beacon of the night, to guide him home. Instead, the wind howled into his ear, cackling at his loss and letting out more storm clouds from its sadistic embrace. The rain dug down into his flesh like worms into the soil, and, taking one last look at Duke's game shop, he started on his way home.
That man in the black robe stole the cards...I swear...it was after he left that I noticed the cards missing...Heaving a sigh, he stuck his hands into his pockets, ignoring the grit rubbing itself into his skin. But then again, I was supposed to be watching the cards, so it's hardly Duke's fault...
Time swirled around him, a nonexistent entity, an invisible monster that had swallowed everything and left him in the darkness of its belly. Closing his eyes, he could feel the acid in the monster devouring him and smell the sizzle of his own skin...
A single light tugged aside the fabric of the night, finding its way out onto the road. Realizing that it was his home, he slowed down, wondering how in the world he could explain away his joblessness and pain to his orphaned sister, how he could support them and their home for another month with only the money in his bank account.
He studied his house. A red roof, two bedrooms, a living room in the front with a kitchen the size of a bird's next tucked into one corner, all enclosed within a whitewashed wall and hidden behind a mahogany door...
It all sounded nice in his mind, but then he noticed the peeling of the paint, the moss invading the roof and establishing an empire between the red tiles, and the crumbling chimney that looked more like a rotting tree stump tucked into one corner of the house. And not to mention that inside that rusted mailbox nailed to the ground were a dozen bills waiting for his signature...
I'll get another job somewhere, he thought, listening to the splash as his shoe landed in a puddle and the water washed up his ankle, soaking his sock. Frustrated, he remembered that his sister Andromeda was in desperate need of some new clothes. I'll ask her to get a job, too...probably somewhere where she can get a discount on cloths...and a restaurant isn't bad...she can bring free meals home...
Waving aside a nasty nightmare of himself begging Duke for his job back, he sped up, watching the world dip up and down with each step. If only the world were as easy to control, all at a step of his boot...
Squish.
"What the—" Stopping midstep, he blinked down in the absolute darkness.
Something groaned from beneath his feet, and he felt his heel slide from a tensed muscle. The darkness of the pavement shivered. As he watched through the onslaught of rain, the concrete twisted and changed, as if a shadow had suddenly decided to come to life.
"Help..."
Mind snapping away from his predicament, Derek leaned down, lifting the frozen corpse of a teen from the sidewalk. He could feel ribs expanding and contracting, trying to suck air into desperately deflated lungs. The body hung like a rag doll from his arm. Amethyst eyes opened and blinked blankly up at him, a trickle of blood much like Derek's own sliding from the corner of the young teen's lips. A few platinum hairs tickled his nose and lips, plastered by water and mud to his silky skin.
Frowning, he wondered why Andromeda didn't notice this teen lying outside her own door, and why she didn't come out to help. Hoping that he hadn't lost his sister's kindness as well as his job all in one day, Derek patted the teen on the back. Back heaving, the teen choked upon the rain, body heavy against Derek's arm.
"Who are you...?"
Sighing, Derek pulled the teen onto his shoulders, supporting the blond upon his bloody legs. His pitying eyes noted the tear across the black pants and the thin opening of the flesh beneath. Here was a man less fortunate than even himself...what else can he do but take him home?
"I'm Derek. You?" he added, pulling a friendly grin onto his lips. Conscious of the blood that must be on his face, he lifted a free hand to wipe it away, only to discover that the rain had done the job for him long, long ago.
"I'm...I'm Marik...Marik Ishtar," the man murmured as Derek pressed the doorbell. Footsteps shuffled inside, and the lock hurried out of its slot with a click as a hand tugged it. The boy's exotic eyes stared intently at the door as if trying to see inside it, then turned onto him. "Will you help...?"
For a second, the idea of leaving this teen out in the rain crossed Derek's mind, which would absolutely save him some money, then the image of Andromeda's loving indigo eyes. He sighed heavily, steel heart gone with the Ice Age. "Don't worry. My sister and I will take care of you now."
The door flew back as if leaping from a fire and a bouncy teenage girl's face lit the doorway with its smile.
"Brother! You're back early! I made mashed potatoes and clam chowder and baked some banana bread! Come on! I—"
Two indigo eyes stared curiously at the Egyptian slung across Derek's shoulders, outlining the lean form enclosed in the tattered remnants of black pants and jacket. Her little mouth dropped open, head cocking to one side like an owl regarding a cat fight below its tree.
"Oh dear! Come in!" Without looking up again, she held the door open as her brother struggled in, dragging along his bloody visitor.
"Andromeda, get this man something warm to drink. I'll go find some old clothes of mine." Dropping Marik unceremoniously into the depths of the old, springy couch and not bothering to see the stranger's limp body bounce up and down a couple dozen times, Derek shot upstairs.
After five busy and numb-minded minutes, Andromeda tumbled into the living room. For a moment, she studied the man in the emerald green blanket, the steam rising from her cup misting his face. A mop of platinum blond hair cascading onto closed eyelids, skin tanned like the sands of Egypt...
Caramel lips opening, the man let out a light groan. Andromeda watched from behind russet locks as two light violet eyes flickered open, weary yet still shining with a startling fire. Seeing her wide eyes and pursed lips, he tortured himself in trying to pull a smile onto his face.
"Andromeda, is it?"
Starting at the soft words, the said girl hurried forward, depositing the cup between two tanned hands. Surprisingly warm fingers brushed hers, tightening with more strength than meets the eye around the chipped china. Eyes downcast, she backed away, studying the amethyst eyes that stared right back at her.
"Thanks. You're Derek's sister?" the stranger asked, bringing the coffee to his lips. A sigh of contentment, lost in the howl of the storm outside, escaped him, even as the rain pounded at the window, roaring for the release of its prisoner back into its lethal arms. Oddly, now that he sat inside her home, the fragile, broken look within his soft eyes faded, leaving a harder metallic glint. Even his voice seemed to have lost its hoarse edge. Frowning, she smiled meekly, picking up a napkin and wiping at his leg furiously, trying to ignore the ravishing eyes burying into her skull, asking her to look up into his face.
"I am," she answered, feeling the stranger shift and cock his head down at her. Her hand worked faster until it seemed a blur of white sleeve and tanned skin.
With an amused spark in his smile, he looked down at the blood soaked napkin. "That hurts."
Like a dying engine, Andromeda's hand whirled to a standstill. With fear in her eyes, she lifted the napkin an inch and flinched. Suddenly realizing that she had rubbed his chocolate skin to a raw pink, Andromeda tossed the napkin in the trash with a decided thud. "Oh, sorry...errrr..."
"Marik."
Lifting his leg, he wrapped the blanket around the wound, choking off the blood screaming to be let free.
"Marik Ishtar, technically."
Andromeda shrugged, blushing in the awkward silence that stretched Time to a thin scream. The lightning outside flashed, lighting up Marik's face with something other than pleasant thankfulness. Thunder yelled out in relentless anger at the world below that it cannot control, leaving bedlam upon Domino and itself.
"Marik, why don't you change into these?"
Head snapping around, Andromeda shot to her feet and quivered like a bowstring, smiling crookedly at the brother that had snuck up on her.
Between the crashes of lightning and thrums of rain, Derek managed to cut in a few words. Without a response, Marik grasped the arm of the couch, biting his lip as he gasped, a fresh stream of red darting from the blanket around his knee. Reaching over tentatively, Andromeda wrapped her arms around Marik's shoulders, supporting his weight as he limped toward Derek.
A warm body nestled next to hers, drying the white shirt with golden chains plastered against his skin. A bruise or two dotted his waist, she noted, and a patch of blue and black decorated the end of one knuckle. Hand tightening on her shoulder, he pulled himself forward as Derek grabbed his other arm.
"Come on. You can use Andry's room," Derek explained, nodding at Andromeda.
"WHAT!"
Almost dropping her guest, Andromeda whirled around to face her brother, only to find herself glaring at tired violet eyes.
"It's alright...I should be leaving anyways...I...I never even thanked you..." looking away down at his now crimson sock, Marik shook his head lightly, stopping in his tracks and finally glancing toward the front door.
Derek opened his mouth.
CRASH
A bolt of lightning lit up the living room, and with a crack, something outside shivered and smashed into the unforgiving ground. Sparks leapt across the sidewalk. Sputtering and gasping to keep their heads alight, the light bulbs flicked on and off, grasping desperately for something to use in the war against the darkness of the storm outside. With one last puff, the lights sputtered out, leaving the little house in the triumphant artificial night.
"Oh, come on, Derek!" tugging on Marik with sudden vigor, Andromeda half dragged the poor guest up into her room, tossing him—unceremoniously, yet again—upon the tidy, yet tiny, bed.
Before Derek's eyes even adjusted to the darkness, she was already banging her way down to the kitchen like an elephant on a staircase.
"Umm...errrr...sorry, my sister is prone to...errrr...bursts of hyperactivity," he explained, shrugging and turning to his charge, who stared after her with a twinkle of amusement in one eye.
"It's quite alright. It's only natural for...a puppy like herself." Lying down, Marik sighed, pulling one arm over his eyes, sending drying bangs ruffling wildly above his head.
In the distance, the tinkle of silverware and the crash of pots and pans tried to hide themselves behind thin walls. Flushing, Derek tossed the towel, bandages, T-shirt and khakis at the other teen. "Here. I'll leave you to change now. I...really don't know how to deal with wounds...Andry will find a candle..."
Smiling up at his savior, Marik shook his head. "It's all right. I can take care of myself now. Thanks..."
With a last embarrassed wave, Derek darted out the door.
For a moment, Marik rested in the darkness, staring up at the asbestos dotted ceiling and counting the flashes of lightning that lit the room. The comfy fluff of the pillow and the giant teddy cuddled him toward sleep. Closing his eyes, he listened to the crash of thunder, the cry of the wind, the rustling of the trees...somehow, he found such sounds and times soothing, the few moments when he got to be alone in cold darkness.
His right eye opened, peering at the door. Closed. Without a grunt of pain, he reached behind his back, pulling out a gold object that reminded even himself of a skewered bat. Holding it above his head, he stroked the eye carved across it, too comfortable to think of the worse times ahead.
"Rishid."
His cold voice struck the item in his hand, and suddenly, an adult man, curious because of the scar across half his face, heard his master's voice from over sea and under stone.
"Yes, Marik?"
Marik smirked, all pretence of helplessness washed from his face at the echo of Rishid's voice in his mind.
"Tell Umbra he did a good job stealing those cards from Duke. Derek looked a crying shame! Reward him. Is the ship at the dock?"
Immediately, the voice answered. "Yes, Master. And the Rare Hunters are tracking Yugi Moto as we speak."
Sneering at the shadows, Marik climbed to his feet without a whimper of pain. The blood had stopped streaming from his knee.
"Perfect. I will be at the dock with Derek and his sister shortly. Such a kind little boy would never give up the chance for money to support his sister."
"Yes, Master."
Closing off their connection without another word, the teen flicked his hand, watching the item disappear. Ripping off the blanket around his knee, he wrapped a bandage around the already sealed wound. Pulling on the new clothes, he opened the bedroom door.
Okay! Hope that was not too bad for a first chapter! PLEEEEEAAASSE review and give suggestions and recommend! puppy dog eyes If you don't, then I guess I at leasta know that it's useless to put up another chapter! See you next time, hopefully!