It began on the blimp. It was dark, I was lonely, and he was looking for a prize. He didn't know I'd be awake; he didn't know he'd only vanquished the Spirit dwelling inside me and my Ring. He thought I was as good as dead. So he came into my room as though he owned the place, and he scowled in surprise when he saw me sitting on the bed, very much awake and alive.
He'd wanted the Eye, the one that the Spirit of my Ring had stolen. I was scared, I'll admit it, to see the unknown man towering over me like that with such a fearsome expression on his face. But then I was curious – why did he look so much like Namu? But it was clear that he wasn't, so I drew my own conclusions to who he was. My friends had warned me of a fearsome man named Malik Ishtar, who was evil and scary. Was this Malik?
I shied away from him and looked down at the bed in fear. "A-Are you Malik Ishtar?"
I felt tan fingers under my chin and they lifted my face up to meet his frightening face. He didn't murderous or fierce just for a minute. He looked proud, and happy. His other hand lay on his chest like a bragging woman. "Yes, I am Malik Ishtar." He grinned in a rather insane way and leaned down closer to my face. "Aren't you the smart one?"
Although I hated it, I felt a light flush settle across my face. I couldn't speak, because the piercing lavender eyes bored into mine and seemed to keep coherent thoughts from forming. I stammered out something, but Malik looked down at me amusedly and said, "Shush. You have the Eye, do you not?"
"Y-yes."
A cold smile appeared across his face. "Give it to me."
I was taken aback, I'll admit it. "No, I-I can't."
This displeased Malik. "Why not?" He growled harshly.
"The Spirit will be mad at me." I answered honestly. "I don't want that."
He was intrigued now. "Spirit? Oh, you mean the one in the Ring?"
I nodded slowly. He pulled something out from beneath his black tank top, and dangled the shiny gold Ring in front of my face.
"W-what?" I said, shocked. My own hands began patting down my chest – no Ring. "Where did you get that?" I demanded. "Give it back!"
"Why should I?" Malik said smoothly. "Give me the Eye, and I can make sure the Spirit never bothers you again."
"He doesn't bother me!" I said, my voice faltering.
"Are you sure? It seems that he does. Just give me the Eye." The Ring was dangled in front of my face again, and I swear that the unblinking on the front of the Ring coerced me into reaching into my pocket and handing the Eye over to Malik.
Malik seemed pleased and placed the Eye in his own pants pocket. The Ring was removed from my sight as he slid it back under his shirt. I stared after it desperately – that was MY Ring!
He chuckled, and sat down on the bed next to me, reaching an arm out and pinning me to the headboard. "So…who would you be, then?"
And all I did was stammer as he came closer and closer, eventually roughly touching his lips to mine. I could taste something sweet in my mouth, and something sour in my stomach.