A/N: Yeah, I know Malik/Marik isn't usally a main pairing for me. I did this for a contest challenge. It lived up to it's name. It didn't win, but I still like it, so here it is. The guideline was that the pairing was Malik/Marik (dur) and I had to use the lyrics to 'The Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel.
Takes place right before Battle City.
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We are not yami and hikari as the pharaoh and that tomb robber are with their other halves. Their souls are literally split in two. He is the embodiment of my hate. Hate for my father, the pharaoh... my sister, for being so damn smart. For Odion. Had he not been obediently by my side, it may not have come this far. Or perhaps it would have gone even farther. I feel him surface in my mind as I think of him.
"Hikari."
"Hello, Darkness. My old friend."
"Your words betray your true feelings, Hikari. Your hate? Is that all I am to you?"
He actually sounds a bit hurt.
"Forgive me," I ask him. "My mind wandered. I forgot you're always there, in the cluttered silence of my mind."
"Fool," he replies. "You do not know. Silence, like a cancer, grows. And so do I."
I decide a change of subject is in order. It's a long boat ride to Battle City, and I don't want to be dealing with his attitude the whole way. And this talking of silence does remind me of something... "I had a dream last night. It seemed more like a vision, actually, now that I think of it."
"You had a few last night, Hikari. Which one?"
"Within restless dreams I walked alone. In narrow streets of cobblestone, and 'neath the halo of a street lamp. I turned my collar to the cold and damp, when my eyes were stabbed by the flash of neon light. It split the night-"
"And you 'touched' the sound of silence. Yeah, that was one of your weirder ones. Your shirt doesn't even have a collar."
I roll my eyes. "Don't say you've never had a strange dream."
There's a miffed-sounding 'hmph' in my head.
"Come on, Darkness," I persist.
"You've probably already seen it. You don't need me to go over it again."
"Do we have anywhere to be right now?"
There's a grumble, and I know he can't find a hole in my logic. He's quiet a while longer, then starts talking suddenly. "There were ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening. People... writing songs that voices would never share. No one dare disturb the sound of silence."
"I don't remember that one. Your dream was like mine. Sort of."
"I suppose." I feel a familiar warmth about me, reaching to my soul. It seems he wants another change in subject. He speaks a familiar phrase, "Hear my words that I might reach you. Take my arms that I might reach you." His words echo not only in my mind, but in my heart as well. I could hear him speak that promise even before I was fully aware of his presence. That warmth and those words are usually a comfort...
He wants to help me. He wants to protect me. But despite that knowledge, I can't stop a fear that something is about to go horribly wrong.
When we dock, I'll be able to go the rest of the way on my motorcycle. A ride will make me feel better, I'm sure of it.
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Lyrics, for anyone interested:
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell, And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls."
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.