Chapter 4- Diverging the same differences
After the meal, Petra thought placing the cards on the table. Her vision was about the shadow and priestesses offering their allegiance of some sort. This trip is so lame by being stranded with an effeminate ring leader of the Rare Hunters. If a girl is stranded with him and ends up loving him…good luck princess! That won't be me because there is Ray. Then she remembered that he said to call her when she reaches Ethiopia. She pulled out her cell phone and dials the number on top. I wonder if he's still working but I am in Addis Ababa now. As she waits for the number to connect she looked at her nails. She sighs as she realises the under keeping of her manicure. Bit of her vibrant ruby nails had been chipped off. She a girl fashion is her priority and surely she'll need to go shopping. Ana is probably gonna go berserk with the load of shopping. She chuckled. Man, she's gonna say, "Ah Petriana, why collect rubbish every month? We don't have space for these clothes!" She laughed.
"Ray on the line, how can I help you?" She heard from her cell.
"Ray, I'm at Addis Ababa and I'm in one piece." She said
"How did you get there so fast?" he said
"Well I teleported", she joked
"Really, you did?" he laughed
"Nah caught a very limited cruise ship" she said in monotone, maybe it had super speed powers but yeah I'm really here. It's about the right timing as I first arrived to Egypt so no surprise." She said in deep thought.
"Yeah whatever you say babe, so have you eaten?" Ray asks slightly sounding concern
"Yeah I had a late dinner and ready to catch a lift to Gambela perhaps approximately 600 to 700km if we are from UK." She said cheekily
"Pete, I should have came along with you, my boss has gone on a trip so we're pretty free this evening. If you waited you know…" Ray said with some regret in his tone.
"And risk getting fired, hell no Ray. I'm here and I can call you whenever I wish and I'm always within your heart." She assured him. How ironic, Marik and the boss, goes traveling somewhere when I'm going home.
"I like your love philosophy Pete." He laughed.
"How's Cam and Lou?" she asks
"They're good. Cam brought home a kitten by the way." He said cheerfully
"Oh? I thought he's a dog person…" Petra said in surprise
"That's what I thought but with Cam, you know he's unpredictable in his taste of liking" He laughed
"Anyway get some rest sweetie, I'll call again when I reach Gambela."
"You're the one who's doing the traveling so you should rest Pete. Alligators babe!" he said
"Alligators Ray!" she giggled at their way of saying 'see you later'.
They both hung up at the same time. Shortly after, Bryn the bass playing Rare Hunter came. "Petra, is that right?"
"Bingo!"
"Your singing is remarkable!" Bryn said kindly
"No sweat. Love your playing although more chords and crescendo would be nice on the bridge, makes the song more… you know epic. Hey did I get you in trouble from that airhead boss of yours?" She said
He bit his lips, "Almost and I wouldn't say anything about Master Marik around here. You can't trust anyone in this place. I guess not even me when it comes to gossip." Bryn looked around to see if anyone is eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Dog eat dog world, huh?" she commented
"Precisely… however, I have to take you to uh, your home, by his orders." He said "That's a safe rumour". He joked
"Alright, let's roll!" she said jumping up from her seat and skipping around and out of the cafeteria and Bryn followed. Petra wasn't sure where to go and then said, "Maybe you should take the lead uh..."
"Bryn, by the way are you up for the old school traveling? I'm up for a bicycle run." He said
"Dude I am always up for the old school stuff! Let me grab my bag and go." She said going in her room and then later allowing Bryn to lead her to the storeroom.
They both retrieved a bicycle each, one namely is hers and one Bryn kept because Rare Hunters these days don't get enough fitness and he thought this is an opportunity for pumping up some adrenaline. He took off his uniform robe so that it doesn't cause any controversy in the public about their agenda to Gambela and placed in on the front basket of the bicycle. They both left the ship and mounted on their bikes. It was dark and a head light is ideal in these conditions. She remembered Ethiopia as though it was yesterday. The climate, the traffic and all she went pass stimulating her memories. The humidity she remembered as one she unusually enjoys. She pedaled faster to catch up to Bryn. "So whereabouts are you from?" she shouted.
"I'm from Ireland!" he replied
"You don't look it..." She said mistrustfully
"My father is but my mom, she's Nepalese." He explained
"Wow, how did that happen?" she asked
"Long story short, something they all go crazy about over cards… Duel Monsters of course, they met during a tournament and fell in love strangely." He said trying to brush the topic about his parents.
"How did you become a Rare Hunter?" she asked curiously
"The other guys that jammed with us were my school friends and we had our own band and were into Duel Monsters typically. One crazy week turned upside down when I got disqualified in a tournament from a false accusation of stealing a strategy with the same cards an opponent had in a previous round, which I didn't know. So I was expelled. The other one was all three of us had a performance and due to one technical difficulty blew our reputation and the others got cut automatically from music class. So we fled to this organisation like a circus, to steal cards and duel with freedom, jamming once in a while."
"Sorry to hear that though, but don't you think stealing is wrong?"
"What like you have never stolen before in your life? It happens every day whether you like it or not." He said nonchalantly
She thought for a while. She has stolen before when she was 6 years old, a slinky from a hobby shop. She smiled at the thought. "This is the direct train to Addis Ababa" Petra said stopping with a screech of the tire. An express train specialised for business trips. The crowd was heavy so all kinds of verbal conversations were futile at this point.
"Yah, I have stolen before… a slinky when I was six." She confessed after 3 hours of train traveling in silence.
They both laughed and stopped at a railway crossing for the train to go pass. Then as the train's last carriage passed, the boom gate lifted as a signal for safety. Bryn led again cautiously. "So what were your parents' reaction about Rare Hunting?"
"They were ecstatic about it. They only knew that I'm working abroad in a secure job after being cut from school altogether, so they didn't ask any further." He said plainly
"Would they freak out if they know you lied?"
"It's not lying if I didn't say what kind of job this involves, so just not feeding much on the detail is safe to say it ain't lying." He explained with a shrug
"That makes sense I guess." She said
"This is now the Addis Ababa central. We only stopped at DD." He informed her.
"The rest of the trip is by bus, hope you don't mind?" Bryn informed her
"Coolios, I like that idea." She pressed the break at the same time, well close, as Bryn did. I was quiet with crickets debating in the night. A bus with a distinct yellow sign saying 'Gambela via Addis Ababa' pulled over as the driver noticed his potential passengers waiting for a ride. "Today is Monday right? Master Marik will join you on Thursday for shopping or something I think". He said. "Unfortunately, this is where I take leave Petra. Pleasure is jamming, chatting and riding with you." Bryn saluted bidding Petra farewell.
"Pleasure is mine, Bryn! We'll do this again someday." She smiled and waved as she got on the bus.
"Sure!" he shouted as he watched her leave. Last thing she saw was his sweet smile, he was only 13 years old. He's no different from me, even though he's a Rare Hunter. She thought.
Petra paid the bus driver the ticket and slept during the trip.
~Tuesday 6:15 am, Metu~
Petra was woken up by the sudden jerk of the bus and caused her to bump her head on the window hard leaving a lump. "Oww!" The sunrise crept ascended slightly from the mountainous horizon, with a display of warm hues of dawn. A touch of slight chilly breeze tickled her face. She yawned followed by a loud perky high pitched sneeze making the other passengers react in various ways. Some woke up in shock, some giggled, some rolled their eyes and some ignored her uniqueness. She stretched realising she didn't pack for these few days of travelling. No food, no drinks or change of clothes. Oh crud! Where did I inherit the absent minded genes from, seriously? She frowned at her apparel and looked inside her bag rummaging through her belongings. She sighed and slumped back down trying to feel as comfortable as possible as she was crammed with her bike in front of her leg space.
~Tuesday 6:15 am Addis Ababa~
At the Hotel, Marik watched Petra through him Millennium Rod as he woke up feeling groggy from the humidity. He wasn't used to the near tropical climate even though he enjoys the heat Egypt offers. After all Egypt was the driest country in the African continent. Though he couldn't read her thoughts but he could read the body language of someone and grasp the idea from his study of psychology in minds of all kinds of human beings. He chuckled at the sight his item displayed in his sight. "She should have followed me regardless but I guess her mind is incapable of comprehending the prospect." He said and rummaged through his oblong black leather bag. He packed Petra's iPod she left in his throne room. "After all, they didn't call this trait 'absent minds' for a reason." He scrolled through the music in the iPod while lying down on his bed putting the ear phones in his ears. He switched to 'Rolling in the Deep', as he remembered Petra's extravagant voice. He subconsciously imagined her voice covering the original singer until the next song was on.
~Tuesday 2:10pm, Metu South West Border~
She then asked the driver in Oromifa of the meaning, "Where are we?"
With strong Yiddish accent of the same language, he replied, "We're at Metu border."
"We're in Metu border now, eh? Then very close." She replied
"Why it is ma'am, are you from Gambela or a local? The bus driver asked.
"Sure am! Gambela is my home and I'm just visiting for a while."
"Then you'll have no trouble directing me towards the capital because this my first shift to Gambela."
"Yeah, I guess I can direct you there." She said hesitantly feeling her stomach protesting in hunger. It was audible enough for the bus passengers to pick up a growling of starvation.
"You know we can stop at the petrol pump for food since you a bunch of us have just woken up. That's what I'm here for." The bus driver said kindly.
"You mean it?" she said excitingly
"Here we are!" he said
Petra literally ran out before the others to the bathroom. She then came back out to buy all the meals covering dinner, breakfast, lunch and dinner again; a 'Rolling Stones' magazine for the reading, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrush. Presumably she is going home first and then meets Marik the next the day, she ought to wait for the shopping trip to settle in, boy is he a stalker or what?
"Young lady, eating is prohibited on board." The driver warned as he looked at her groceries. He pointed to the obvious sign to prove his point.
"Oh of course, I knew that. This is just for provisions. I won't eat in here sir", she said in false courtesy.
She remembered living in Gambela when she was younger, Ana and her mum Janice would refuse to go to the temple their ancestors built next to their home. It was a historical heritage of the Sorukhan but would go to a Coptic Church and often pray and cry for forgiveness of the 'past'. The rest of the relatives would still go to the temple, just not them. What a strange past but she was the only child to witness tales of lost
Flashback*
Janice made Petra's bed. Petra came in and realised her night gown was not in its usual place. "Mum, where are my nighties?" Janice then held it for her and put it over her. "Mum did you want another baby? I want a sister and a brother and play hide & seek and-"
"Petra, I- I can't anymore." She looked down on the ground sadly
"Mommy? Did I do something wrong?" Wondering if she did something naughty like typical 8 years old girls would.
"The temples next to us used to be the temple we go to. Ana and the other aunties used to be priestesses of a god Sorukhan. They use to summon a realm Voidiatress to give to the babies to be the one that maintain the Shadow Realm in our ancient past. Sadly grandma tried the tradition on me while I was in labour 2 times."
"What's labour?" she was confuse about that word only.
Janice smiled at her forcefully, "To have a baby…" she said plainly
"Oooh, I see what happened?" hoping that her mum would say they are around in another country and she could go see them.
"Voidiatress took away your two baby sisters and you were the final experiment otherwise they are sacrifices but Ana and I saw the pure evil in the ancestors' time", Janice burst into tears
"Mommy!" she hugged realising who she was in her family. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Listen, you were the last experiment and you survived meaning you are Void-" she discontinued her sentence "Never going to offer you to anyone, never!" She cried
For a child to know her routes made her who she is. Is she darkness, can she wipe out duality and the balance of darkness and light. She must have been more important than Sorukhan if she is the incarnate of Voidiatress or something along that line of inheritance.
*End Flashback
~ Wednesday 8:10am, Flying through Ethiopian Airline~
"Attention passengers, we hope you are enjoying flying with us on the Ethiopian Airlines. We will now show some exclusive footages of the Gambela. We will arrive approximately 10:30am. So sit back and enjoy the flight." Typically Marik booked the first class front row, in the middle of the aisle seat. He flipped though the documents of the Rare Hunter's failures and successes. Ironically the higher ranks are the younger teenagers predominantly. They succeeded mostly in acquiring rare cards, hacking, technologies and all that assists the organisation to keep flowing. The mid age would take longer and often get side tracked in the mission for womanising, rape, murder, serial killing, carjacking, theft not related to Duel Monsters and the usual crimes. He made a quick scan for Ray Jules, a Rare Hunter controlling the marketing sector. He's always been successful but if only the recent one succeeded, he would have been a contestant to battle the Pharaoh faster. Though there is also this trip that attracted him, the Shadow Realm's roots is of Ethiopia. I wonder what she is hiding. I could tap into her memories and find out but that wouldn't be an adventure. Bryn, Jun Yoon and Bailey were the youngest members. Those three made the best tag team nailing every command he assigned them. One downturn is their innocence made him nauseous when he first recruited them.
He had enough of looking through these papers. He filed them neatly in a file. As he stood, he reached for the overhead baggage compartment and placed his file in the bag and back up. A stewardess asked him kindly to sit back down pointing to the seat belt sign still on. "The seat belt sign is still on sir, would you like to sit back down? Please sir you must sit, I have a trolley and I like to get through." He ignored and walked towards the lavatory and bumped into another stewardess as she came with a trolley with drinks. The trolley toppled on her and she did the same on Marik like domino tiles. Cups and jugs tumbled and a display of artistry waterfall beverages splashed them both. Fortunately they were cold drinks. He would often seek the assistance of his Millennium Rod but it's in his bag at the moment and sending these stewardesses to the Shadow Realm or mind control defeats the purpose of paying for service. He was drenched. The Stewardess quickly stood up and saw her colleague giggling at Marik which non verbally shows 'I told you so'. Marik was so embarrassed; he just changed into new clothing as though this never happened. God forbid this!
~Wednesday 12:00pm Gambela Bus terminal~
Marik arrived two hours prior to meet Petra once again. Feeling the most stenches of sugared drinks on him made him agitated. As he saw Petra on the bus arriving, she was day dreaming even as she hopped of the bus looking at the sky as though all of her life energy had been sucked out of her. Amused with the sight, a smug smile crept.
"Petra? Looks like you lack nourishment my dear." He chuckled as he walks towards her and then looked at her bicycle filled with fresh groceries.
She cringed at the 'my dear' part. "I haven't eaten since the Koshari and this was prohibited in the bus to eat." She said lethargically. "Weren't we meant to meet on Thursday?"
"I guess you have been misinformed." He said nonchalantly." I boarded the plane and had a lavish time staying at a hotel. If you were smart enough, you should have abide with the deal we had." He said almost scolding her in his mocking statement.
Petra suddenly held her nose in a pincer grasp, scanning for the source of the stench she realised it was in front of her and not her. Without any second thoughts she commented. "Something smells like garbage juice, did you have a shower?" She pressed further realising she could tease him a little. "Did the hotel run out of shampoo or something with wrong shampoo?" It was her first attempt of smirking as she saw so much from Marik inserting insults at her.
"That's none of your concern!" He snapped at her. He crossed his arms remembering the scene vividly.
"Did they ran out of roo-"
He then growled. "Nothing with the hotel, it's the incompetent buffoon of the airline, not heeding where they're going with drinks!" Realising he just made an embarrassing confession to Petra.
Petra snorted with a burst of laughter. Then Marik narrowed his eyes. "Shut up!" He lightly pushed her on her shoulder, almost like a playful nudge but slightly harder. "Well since you are absent minded as usual, so the jokes are still on you, little Petra." He said but Petra seemed not to hear him decided to walk towards the restroom.
She came out to walk towards the cab stand while Marik followed her without another word. She seems to know what she's doing since it's her homeland, more precisely her home town. She signaled for a cab to pull over and take her to a hotel. "May you take us to the destination please… it is Arenguade Hotel, sir." She informed him. Marik dumped his bag in the cab booth along with her groceries while the cab driver loaded her bicycle on the roof of the vehicle and off they went to the place of adjournment.
Author's Notes
This is the end of the light-hearted humour for now. Things get more serious in this story. It's a mixed genre pretty much because I also imagine Marik to be learning about the world as he goes so his ignorance isn't all overcoming and all. Anyway most MarikxOC stories are all about Marik taking charge but this is about him wishing he had what others had even if he has all his goals planned out. I also believe Yu-Gi-Oh has not really explained Shadow Realm so I decided to make a story of a deeper concept.
Voidiatress: A realm that made the Shadow Realm but devours light and even darkness itself.
Route of the Voidiatress: Ethiopia Gambela is close to Egypt so technically a certain group had an agenda to uphold darkness. Priest and priestesses passing down through generations realised they created a deity named Sorukhan. It is Zorc in actual fact but it's a pretend parallel.
Petra Rosaline Tyrimelovan: PRT who is the supposed chosen incarnate of the Voidiatress was a descendant of the certain group. Without the bearer or incarnate of the Voidiatress, the Shadow Realm could not exist. The 'sacrifice' ritual/ experiment was the priest and priestesses way of protecting Sorukhan's existence, hence Petra is the last. She had siblings but they were unsuccessful. Her childhood flashback and her vision links. Hope my notes are clear but anyhow hopefully not too obvious.
Overall: Let's just say I have so many ideas and they are all over the place. There is Egypt OC characters relationship and Gambela OC characters relationship I have to focus on. EEEK! :O
Enjoy the story and original story is obviously by Kazuki Takahashi but my originals as based around his and mainly Marik Ishtar.