I'm back! I know it's been a month, but fanfiction had beef with me and wouldn't let me log onto the server – not anything to do with what I had done, just a massive system error in my area of the country :( Oh well, we're back up and running! I don't have the heart to make yet another one of my stories a tragedy, so I have planned out the last 4 chapters of this story and I'm hoping that everyone will be satisfied. Enjoy!
1wildrose1 .. x
Rating: NC-17
Pairing (s): You're just going to have to read, now aren't you?
Spoilers: Marik's plan in Battle City I guess...
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of the characters...sadface...I don't own Sleeping With the Enemy either but it's an AMAZING film. I really do suggest it.
Summary: What if Marik didn't lose that final duel with Yugi? Marik has succeeded with his plan to become the Ultimate ruler: Pharaoh of the world! With everyone aboard the blimp under his control and every world leader brainwashed by the combined power of the three Egyptian God cards, the seven Millennium Items and the ancient power of the Pharaoh, will Marik ever be stopped?
Warnings: Shounen-ai (Male/male relationships), Yaoi (Male/male sexual relationships – though there will be forewarning of the chapters that contain the explicit stuff), Language, Torture, Gore and possible Male/Female and Female/Female Sexual Relationships. Plus if you see it as a warning, OOC-ness.
Yami Marik = Marik, Marik = Malik, Yami Bakura = Bakura, Bakura = Ryou.
Chapter Seven
It seems that what most people would have called a confession turned out to be more of a realisation – an acceptance of something that had been there all along, rather than a feeling which had grown over time. Maybe it was just the irresistible magnetic attraction between the light and dark halves of our shared soul which made it inevitable. Probably. Whatever the reason for it was, those feelings were definitely there and they were overpowering – all I could think at the time was 'how can I tell Ryou?'
I still didn't know the answer to that question, but there I was – alone with him in the very same room as before, hands twined together and faces barely a breath apart. I was only doing this for his benefit, though. Before, I had been so unbelievably attracted to this boy that I couldn't stop myself from being pulled under his influence – now I felt...friendship, if anything. It was almost like Marik's new presence in my heart had overtaken Ryou's and had all but erased it.
"It was because of us wasn't it?" Ryou's eyes held such guilt in them – like he was blaming himself for the physical state that I was in. But I wouldn't lie to him again on top of everything else.
"Partially – it was more because..." I paused, unwilling to say it. What would happen if I really told Ryou the truth about everything? He would think I was sick, that's what – wrong in the head. So, once again, I settled on those frail half-truths which made me ashamed to be the person I was becoming. "He saw us on the security cameras – I'm sorry, I forgot about them..."
He hushed my apologies with a gentle kiss – a friend kiss. Nothing more. "You're not to blame – I knew they were there as much as you did. We were just...caught in the moment, I guess." He smiled coyly, making my stomach pang with sorrow – that smile should be for someone who deserved it. I had to tell him. I had to...But he beat me to it. "This isn't love, is it." He said it so calmly – so surely – that I knew it wasn't a question. He knew that I was not in it fully – he knew – but how much did he know? Or, at least, how much had he assumed?
His expression remained neutral – he didn't even go to change our position. I really should have been more shocked that he had said that, but I was kind of relieved to be honest. "No, Ryou. I don't think it is."
Ryou nodded, tracing the veins on my wrist with one placid finger. "This isn't love...because you love him." My jaw dropped and I scrambled to find an answer to that – how the hell did he know? I should have been glad to not have to tell him myself, but I was too mortified to discover how obvious I was – if I couldn't hide it from Ryou, how would I keep it from everyone else? Surely they were going to exploit it if they found out. "Don't worry, I get it."
I furrowed my eyebrows, confused as to why he wasn't angry or judgemental. "Get it? How can you get it?" I pulled away from his grip, only to find him holding on tightly, preventing my escape. "You're not the one who's in love with a psycho!"
"Am I not?" Ryou's eyes hardened as he spoke, still gripping my wrist tightly and staring me down – this really isn't how I thought it would go. "Don't I get it? Do I not understand what it's like to have some kind of gravitational pull towards another – much darker – half of my soul?"
"Oh..." Shit...I had forgotten about Bakura. Now I felt like a complete douche – of course he knew! Dear Ra...what the hell was I thinking? "I'm sorry...I forgot. Of course you..."
"Of course I didn't realise that you were lying to me all this time? No, of course not." His voice dripped in sarcasm, but he didn't seem mad – in fact, he was smiling again and his eyes were back to that soft chocolate brown as quick as they had changed. "My God, Malik – I knew that this wasn't the real thing. I just also knew that we both needed a break from everything that was going on and, yeah, I like you. But I love Bakura – and you love Marik. Just like Yugi loves Yami. We can't help it – the six of us are the literal definition of soul mates."
When he said it like that, I couldn't help but feel like an absolute idiot – I had been sneaking around and lying to him for no reason at all. "Oh...well...sorry." I dragged my fingers through my hair, feeling at least a part of my stress being lifted. "I just thought that because it was Marik, it would be hard to...wait! You're in love with Bakura?" I cocked my head inquisitively, trying not to seem judgemental – after all, he hadn't said anything negative about me and Marik. "I thought you said that you didn't return his feelings."
He let out an embarrassed giggle and stared at his feet. "Well...um...when I saw him again after all that time apart, I felt better than I had in ages and then...I don't know – I realised that I couldn't be without him again and we...well, after Marik took you away, I got really upset and Bakura took me away from everyone else to calm down...One thing lead to another..." He peered up to see my reaction – which was a surprised grin – through his white fringe. "I felt so guilty when you come back in this condition – I mean, I had been...doing that when you were suffering."
I shook my head and pulled him into a tight hug, feeling lighter than ever. "You shouldn't have – it may have been bad, but I didn't feel it when it happened. I wasn't exactly suffering at the time."
It took a moment before Ryou's eyes widened in comprehension as he scanned my abused face. "What do you mean? That doesn't hurt?"
I shrugged a little and trailed my free hand across my wounds. "It didn't hurt at the time because he used his powers to stop me feeling it – he kind of lost his temper after what he saw on the security cameras – but, I'm not going to lie, it hurt a damn sight more the morning after. Until Seto sorted it all out, that is."
He pursed his lips in an unsure expression, tilting his head. "I'm sorry it had to be him."
I nodded slowly, biting back the sudden irritation that had flared in me when Ryou had said that – I understood what he meant, but hearing him say that about Marik...it really pissed me off. "I guess." I took a deep, calming breath and looked at him – really looked – and saw something that made me glad. His cheeks were pinker, his eyes were shinier, his lips curved upwards – he was happy. Truly happy. And that was the best thing in the world that could I have seen. "I'm glad that you have him."
Once again, he smiled – just smiled – and said the two words that told me that this was how it was going to be from now on. "Thank you."
XxXxXxXxXxX
The room fell silent as soon as I walked in, every face directed towards mine. Thanks for talking about me guys – nice to know that you're making me the centre of your world. Note the sarcasm. "Um, hi."
"Hey." Ra, that was creepy – they all said it in unison. I clucked my tongue against the roof of my mouth and continued to return the stares awkwardly. Okay...
Mai suddenly turned to Joey and whispered something to him which made him blanch and shake his head. "No! We can't ask him to do that."
I frowned, turning towards them. "Ask who to do what?" I really didn't want to assume that the who was me just in case I jinxed it to be bad or something...but it was pretty obvious.
The two blonds exchanged an intense look – clearly arguing it out whether or not they should tell me – before Yami stepped in with a slightly pained look on his face. "We were discussing ways of escaping."
Oh, I see. "You were thinking of ways to get rid of Marik." I sounded pretty calm about it, in my opinion – I mean, my stomach clamped in on itself painfully when I thought of how they would get rid of Marik and I was able not to cry out halfway through the sentence...kind of. They all shuffled around nervously and mumbled small affirmations. "You do realise that there are cameras in here?"
Yami nodded and gestured at the four security cameras in the corners of the room. "Seto was the one who approved the designs of this blimp, remember? We disabled both picture and sound days ago." He rolled his shoulders and leaned heavily against the wall behind him. "Malik, how close are you and Marik?"
Shit...um...what do I tell him? I felt Ryou shift uncomfortably beside me, having entered the room with me – he knew what they had been talking about before I walked in...had he been keeping me away from the discussions until they come to a decision? No...Ryou wouldn't do that...I really hoped he wouldn't, anyway – I couldn't deal with him turning out to be a back-stabber. "Look at my face and judge for yourself." The injuries still lay there, providing me with an excuse to back away from the question.
Yami's eyes lingered over the bruises and tightened his jaw a little, coming to a conclusion. "So you would help us then?"
No, not really. "Uh...it kind of depends on what you mean by help." Don't you look at me suspiciously, Yugi.
Seto nodded and waved Yugi away when he tried to comment. "That's fair enough." He turned to me with a serious expression. "We are asking you to seduce him and get him to lower his guard." Didn't he still think Marik raped me? He just asked a victim to get close to their attacker – that would not have gone down well if it really happened. I made myself stiffen up and look terrified. "W-what? How do you expect me to do that after what happened? I can't..."
"He's your yami – he won't hurt you again." Bakura suddenly interrupted. "That was a one time thing, I assure you." I really don't want to know why he was so certain of that fact – especially since Ryou shrunk into himself and stayed very quiet.
Yami's gaze lingered on Bakura – contempt clear in his eyes – but he ignored the clear meaning behind his words to turn back to me. "I know it will be hard to face him again after that, but we need you to..."
"Don't do that – it's not even to do with what happened. Like Bakura said, Marik is his yami – that's like asking Yugi to betray you, or me to betray Bakura. It's not fair to try to guilt trip him into this." I really wanted to hug Ryou for that – how could I have thought that he had tried to stab me in the back?
"It's not the same thing at all – Marik wasn't made in the same way as our yamis." Why did Yugi continue to make me want to punch his teeth out? Can't he be sensitive to anyone's feelings ever?
"No, it's not the same thing, Yugi." I ground my teeth together, ignoring the strange look that I was receiving from Ryou. "You was born with half a soul, destined to find the missing part of you – but you can still function on your own because that's always how you have been. I came into this world with an entirely whole soul which got split in two, so I am always half empty – I am never complete on my own. In a way, the bond between Marik and I is even stronger than yours because the two halves know each other – they yearn to fuse once again." I took in a breath and studied the surprised look on Yugi's face. "I know that you cannot be apart from your yami for a long time, but you can for a while. I can't. Betraying him like that would mean that he would eventually be gone."
"Exactly – he would be gone." Even Yami gaped at Yugi in shock when he said that – how could he be so damn heartless when he had a yami himself?
"What's your problem? He just explained why he can't help – get off his case." It was just after Joey spoke that a high-pitched, bouncy tune played throughout the room, making us all jump and breaking the mounding tension. What the...? That was my phone!
I reached into my pocket and stared at it in wonder. I hadn't even realised that I still had it – no, I was sure I didn't have it. Marik had taken it after the final duel, as well as everyone else's, to stop contact with the outside world. How had I gotten it back? The caller was not listed under my known contacts, so I had to answer it to find out. "Hello?" I was well aware that everyone else was waiting in tender hooks to see who it was.
"Malik – brother, how are you?"
"Ishizu!" Oh Ra, it felt good to hear her voice again. I hadn't even realised how much I had missed her...how bad a brother am I? I had forgotten about my only sister – the one person that I should have been protecting. I began talking to her in Arabic, which we had grown up speaking. "What has happened? Where has he kept you all this time?"
"Hush, brother, I am fine. Myself and Odeon are no longer on board. Marik sent us away from there so we wouldn't interrupt his rule over you."
"Over me? What do you mean?"
"His one way of keeping control is to keep your shared soul intact. Malik, please be careful – he will use you."
How dare she say something like that about him – she wasn't even here to witness what was going on. "Why call me now, after all this time?" I was well aware of my change in tone – as were the others in the room.
"I have only recently managed to convince him to allow us to speak. He agreed to give you a mobile phone so we could talk."
So that's where it come from – Marik must have slipped it into my pocket. "Okay...but you don't need to warn me – I know what I'm doing."
"And just what are you doing, brother?"
"..." What was I doing? Did I just expect this to be my life from now on? I had somehow not considered the future – I was too focussed on now – and that was not a smart thing to do. "I'm...I can't discuss it right now – there are too many people around." I'm such a wimp – I can't even tell my own sister how messed up my life was becoming.
"I see..." She knew I was lying...damn, I hated how intuitive she was. "I must go now, brother – I will see you soon." With that, she hung up, leaving me stunned. I would see her soon? How?
Seto was the first to speak up into the thick silence that followed. "Can you not see her?"
I shook my head – I knew he couldn't understand what I had been saying, but he had obviously heard me say her name. "They aren't on the blimp – Marik sent them away so I couldn't see them." I didn't even meet his gaze.
He was about to say something back – probably to slander Marik and say that he had no right to keep me away from my sister or something – when the door burst open, revealing the man himself. It was the earliest in the day that he had appeared and that fact alone made me wonder, once again, what he did during the day.
I think I froze when he spoke – he used that tone he used when he was angry. "Malik – we need to talk. Now."
About what? What had I done? I instantly made my way towards him, only to find Seto's hand curled around my wrist. "If you hurt him, you'll have a lot to answer for."
Oh Ra...he just threatened Marik! What was he thinking? My jaw fell as I looked between the two, battling it out with their stony expressions.
Then Marik said something no one expected. "Thank you." Seto fell silent as Marik shocked him with his words. "You took care of him when I lost control – thank you for that."
I was dragged out of the room, leaving behind a stunned crowd of people staring after us. Marik had just given them a clear show that I meant something to him – surely they were going to use that against him...and I found myself afraid – scared that Marik was going to be taken from me.
I couldn't let that happen. No matter what.
I apologise to any Malik/Ryou fans, but this was always going to be a Bronzeshipping fiction – I may do either an Angstshipping or Deathshipping series soon...actually I'll probably do both XD
