Wind.

It was a new sensation for Marik to relish. How it sounded harsh, and yet felt so soft to the touch, as if it were barely even there. After spending only a few moments within it, the young boy realized that the wind held its own voice, that it can whisper as well as howl. As he waited with the camels by a small well, Marik pulled on his hood over his head, afraid to be seen. The last thing he wanted was to go back underground without even a chance to see the sunlight again. But he couldn't help but think about his brother and sister, how they were dealing with his actions. If he were to go back home, would he be welcomed with open arms or would he be locked away out of anger?

Do they even think of me?

"Marik."

The young boy turned around, only to see Akefia and his men, holding more bags than they had brought to begin with. They quickly got on their camels. As the rush went on, Marik felt himself being lifted from the ground and was thrown in front of Akefia as they rode off. He protested and began yelling out of surprise, wondering what was going on.

"What happened?" Marik shouted, terrified. The older man kept silent as they rode on.

"Marik!" A voice called out to him.

"Don't you dare look back," Akefia snapped at the young boy.

Just like always, Marik obeyed.


The next few days passed without any major event whatsoever. If anything, the Ishtar siblings' relationship remained just as strained as it was days before, filled with silence and its persistent, unnecessary tension. To add on to the stress, Marik forced himself to avoid excess contact with his siblings to the point where he barely said a thing. He would only let them know if he was leaving or returning, nothing more.

What did I do?

School went on as normal ; he would arrive, tend to his studies and hung around his friends until it was time to go home. However, he would often take a detour home, usually spending some time with Ryou. The two hadn't known each other for very long, but their friendship grew faster than anyone had anticipated. Perhaps it all started on the first day they hung out at the cafe. Since then, going to the cafe became an after school ritual, in which they would meet up and talk about the days events. On the days that Ryou had a club meeting, Marik would either wait in the school's library, using one of the computers or joined in on the club's activities. Either way, Marik anticipated the moment he and Ryou would leave school together.

"So how do you play this game?" Marik inquired, looking over Ryou's shoulder.

"Well basically," the other began. "Your moves depend on the numbers you roll. For instance, you get two of the same numbers, then you can attack the enemy."

"But for your turn to start," Yugi cut in. "Also depends on the number you roll. If you roll a high number, the more of a chance you get to go first."

"That seems easy enough," Marik said with a small chuckle.

The Gaming Club had been recently established, as far as the Egyptian knew. Their activities ranged from all sorts of gaming, from cards to mmorpgs to tabletop games. Although he struggled with rules to some of the basic games at first, Marik eventually got into the swing of things and managed to participate whenever he felt the urge to play.

"You should consider joining permanently," Yugi said. "It'd be nice to have more members, since the club's kinda small and all."

"He's right," said Katsuya. "Besides, I'm tired of being called the new recruit."

"I'll think about it." Marik gave his friends a small smile. As much as it would be nice to join the club, he was still unsure. It wasn't as if he cared whether or not his father would object to his decision, if he chose to join. What really bothered him was his current housing situation. How long would he stay here in Japan? Would it be long enough to even finish the term or would he have to leave in a matter of weeks? That was the most frustrating part of constant moves, constant changes ; he would never know how long he could stay in one place.

"Marik, what's wrong?" Ryou asked, waving his hand in front of the other's face. "You're kinda spacing out."

The Egyptian shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm just tired."

Before he even realized it, Marik got up and began to gather his things, much to the other's surprise.

"You're going already?" Yugi asked.

Marik only nodded and left without saying a word, leaving everyone else to be confused.

"What's up with him," Yugi asked Ryou. The white-haired boy just shook his head.

"I don't know," he murmured.

As Marik descended down the staircase, he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. His head was pounding along with his heart as his chest tightened. What was going on? It had been a while since he last had a panicking spell. Although he could never find out what the cause was, the Egyptian just assumed that they had just went away, never to be seen again. As his breathing labored, Marik began to unbutton his shirt, hoping that he could breathe more easily. However, his struggle refused to cease. By the time he reached the last flight of stairs, his knees had given up, sucumbing to his anxiety.

God damn it, he thought as he sunk to the ground.

He let out a hoarse scream as a call for help. His voice echoed throughout the hallways as he held his head between his hands. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't this happen or someone else, or better yet, not at all? As his screams travelled, footsteps came from upstairs. He continued on, only to be interrupted by a stinging sensation across his face.


Wake up, idiot!

Marik's eyes shot open as he gasped for air. Once he felt comfortable enough, he let his eyes adjust. There he was, safe and sound in a bed. Was that all just a dream? But if it was, why did his face still sting? He looked over to the side, looking for some kind of clue. To his surprise, he saw Bakura, walking away from his bedside.

"It's about time you woke up," he muttered.

"What the hell's going on?" Marik demanded, looking around the room. It wasn't his home, or any other place he recognized. Where was he? And why was Bakura with him?

"I'm guessing you had another nightmare," Bakura said as he sat down by a desk underneath a large window. He picked up a few papers, examining them closely.

"No, I mean, what am I doing here?" the Egyptian asked.

Bakura let out a small, amused hmph.

"Don't you remember? You're my hostage."


Here it is! Finally, after all this time. Sorry folks, for taking forever on this.
The good news is that summer school ended and I got my high school diploma :

However, now I must stress over college life. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.
To help raise money for college, I opened writing commissions, which can be found on my deviantART account ( check my profile!)