A Tomb Keepers Lot: Chapter 1
Marik shifted uncomfortably as he gazed out of the car window, the endless sands of the Egyptian desert stretching to the horizon, broken only by the silhouettes of dunes and an occasional palm tree.
A murmur of voices from the front of the car drew his eyes towards his brother and sister quietly talking as his brother drove. He smiled as he watched them, happy to have them near, but his smile faltered as his thoughts turned to the matters pressing on his mind.
They had almost reached the Valley of the Kings, where nearby lay the underground home of the tomb keepers – the home of his family.
But there was no peace or love in that home. In fact Marik had no desire to go back there - to those twisting, dark, musty catacombs where he had suffered so much torment as a child.
He looked at his sister Ishizu, who was sitting calmly and staring straight ahead towards their destination. Just looking at her made him want to chastise himself for being so selfish. It didn't matter if he wanted to go back or not – they had to inform their tomb keeper family that their centuries long mission was almost complete.
Since the days of the Pharoah the Ishtar family had guarded two of the ancient Millenium Items that had given the Pharaoh and his court power, as well as the secrets to the mind and memories of the ancient King, whose actions to save the world had cost him everything, including his memories.
Marik knew that even after he, the heir to the clan, and his siblings were gone, the remaining clan members would still be hard at work protecting the tomb of the ancient Pharaoh, even if they no longer possessed the secret key to his memories which had been their most important lot to protect.
'Or more specifically, my lot to protect', he thought bitterly, the scar on his back itching as memories flooded his mind – memories of darkness, his father betraying him, binding him to a table, and then the searing pain of a hot knife mercilessly slicing his back as it carved intricate symbols into his flesh.
The pain had been unbearable, and in the cold dark of the tombs, as Marik tried desperately to live through the torment, something was being born in his mind – something festering and hate-filled, wanting nothing more than to cause pain and torment for no other reason than the thrill it brought.
He twitched and subconsciously moved to rub his back. He had never wanted these marks, but as the first born son of a tombkeeper… he had no choice.
He was destined to bear the key to the long dead pharaohs memories imprinted on his back until the time came for the pharaoh to use it.
And as far as he had known, that was never going to happen.
So he did the only thing that made sense – he snuck out of that horrid grave with his sister and explored the outside world for the first time in his short life.
And because of that, his father tortured his older brother, Odion, because he had helped his little brother see the sun for the first time.
Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if they had left it at that; if their father had simply punished or tortured them – they might have been spared the years of anguish that followed that day; The day the evil that had been brewing in Marik's head broke free, and in a haze of pain and cruel delight he murdered his father and stole one of the legendary items he had sworn his life to protect.
It had been six years since then, and he hadn't returned to those caves since.
In fact, the rest of his clan hadn't seen him or his siblings since he ran off that day, his siblings chasing after him – chasing him for years, until finally their efforts at turning his heart back to what it once was were rewarded.
But the rest of his family … they were a completely different story.
Marik hoped that somehow they would find it in them to forgive him his crimes, but he knew that this was just a fool's hope.
He had betrayed the clan.
Disgraced his family.
And that was unpardonable.
'Still', he thought, 'I am the heir to the clan. That gives me at least a tiny bit of power over them. I may not deserve it, but they're bound by tradition to at least hear me out…. They have to.' With an ever sinking feeling, Marik leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes, willing himself to calm down before the inevitable encounter.
*Author's Note as of 1/15/13
Made a few minor changes to this first chapter - finally figured out how to edit old chapters without uploading a whole new doc.
Thank Heaven.
They're not very big changes, so even if you've read the old version, you might not notice. Or you might. They were kind of important changes.
Anyways, this first chapter is short and kind of just setup for the story, so please, give it a chance and read on!
