Peggi-Blah blah blah, chapter 19 up!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"So, how can you tell when a Millennium Item is near?" Marik asked her.

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain. When an item is near I can feel the power. It makes my stomach hurt and my head too. It's just a big pain. . .literally."

"So, right now it hurts you?"

Suddenly, she realized she was in pain. The Rod and the Puzzle and the Eye were hurting her, but she'd been around then for such a long time, she couldn't feel it anymore.

"Yeah, it hurts, but I'm fine."

"I could leave the Rod with Zoë if it would help. . .with your concentration."

She smiled at him. "No, it's fine. Besides, I don't want to put Zoë in any kind of danger."

They wandered around until they were hungry; they figured it was around noon.

"Marik, I'm starving, can we stop to eat?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm hungry too."

He led her to an expensive restaurant that seemed overly-priced.

"Marik, I don't have any money. We can't eat here!"

"Sure we can. I do have a Millennium Item, you know."

"You. . .you'd use it to get free food!"

"Well, not usually, but I. . .uh. . ."

He didn't want to finish his sentence, which meant he wasn't telling her something, which meant he knew something she didn't, which meant she wanted to know.

"You what?"

"I. . .I just. . .I. . .uh. . ."

"Well!"

"I. . ." he began to turn a deep shade of red. "I gave all of my money to charity. . ."

"WHAT! YOU! MARIK ISHTAR! GIVING AWAY MONEY! TO CHARITY!"

"Yeah, well, I'm getting more soon from my sister as soon as she can send it to me from Egypt."

"Charity!"

"It wasn't a big deal. Just some 'save children from abuse' thing. Like it even matters."

Suddenly, she realized it. She'd considered it before, but now she knew. He was only pretending to be aggressive and harsh. He was really sweet and kind deep inside, but it was hard for anyone to see past his thick, yet ever-so-adorable outer shell.

"So, we eating here or not?"

"Yeah."

As they entered, Miranda realized how huge it really was. Elegant tables with candle lighting, a chandelier was hanging in the center, and there were diners only in the finest clothes there. As they walked in further, the head waiter approached them.

"Reservation name, please." Suddenly, his eyes glazed over. "Right this way, please."

He was under Marik's control. Miranda was amazed by how different the man looked. His eyes were glazed over, his face was completely expressionless, and Miranda noticed he no longer had a surrounding aura. He led them to their table and instructed a waiter to. . .well. . .wait on them. She had been told by Shadi what it was like when he briefed her, but she never imagined how different mind slaves could really look.

Marik offered Miranda a chair and she sat down. As she looked at the table, she noticed the silverware. . .it wasn't silver.

"Um, Marik. Are the knives and spoons and stuff real gold?"

"Yeah."

"And uh. . ." she realized there was more than one of each of her settings. "Which do we use for what?" (couldn't resist this situation from 'Titanic'!)

"Well, when I come to a place like this, I use the ones on the outside, work my way in, and when I run out of things to eat with them, I steal the rest and sell them."

Miranda wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but she smiled, nonetheless. The restaurant was more elegant than she'd first realized. The table cloth was made of pure Japanese silk, as were the napkins. There were pure crystal water glasses, and plates lined with real gold. Each plate alone had to be worth more money than Miranda's entire outfit that included the fake diamond necklace that she was wearing.

She looked up at Marik, and when she did, he quickly turned away. Without thinking, she turned to sarcasm instead of blushing like a normal girl.

"Take a picture, make it last."

"Yeah, well how do you know I wasn't looking at you for comic relief?"

"Excuse me, but here are your menus." The waiter calmly offered.

Embarrassed, both teenagers took their menus.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Sparkling white wine." Marik ordered.

"Um. . ." Miranda had never had alcohol before, but she had to seem just as 'worldly' as Marik was, so she quickly said the first thing that came to mind. "I'll take a wine spritzer, please."

As the waiter nodded and walked off, Miranda smiled widely at Marik, who just stared at her.

"Show off." He teased. "Spritzer. Heh. You probably don't even know what that is!"

"Oh, and sparkling white wine? Why couldn't you have ordered white wine or dull white wine?"

"Yeah, well-"

"Caviar?" asked the waiter who was returning with their beverages.

"Yes please." Miranda said. She wasn't sure what it was, but when he handed it to her, she noticed it looked like red and black coffee grounds.

"Do you even know what that is?" Marik asked her when the waiter walked away to another table.

"Yes, of course I know! It's caviar." She replied.

"Yeah, but what's caviar?" he asked smugly, a smile spreading across his face.

"This." She replied, pointing to the coffee-looking food.

She took a spoonful and put it into her mouth. It tasted. . .fishy. . .

"Want to know what it is?" he asked when he was sure she'd swallowed it.

"I told you, its caviar."

"Raw fish eggs." He smiled when he saw her eyes widen.

"R-Raw fish e-eggs!"

"I thought you knew what caviar was." He tried not to laugh as he took a cracker and put cream cheese and a spoonful of caviar on it. "And by the way, this is how you eat it."

As he ate the cracker, he stared at her mockingly. Suddenly it occurred to her. He was obviously not new to this formal dining stuff. She couldn't help but laugh at herself for her caviar mistake.

They ate their meals in silence. Marik had ordered Koshari, an Egyptian meal, and Miranda ordered chicken cordon bleu. The first one to speak was Miranda.

"So, you come to places like this a lot, huh?"

"No. but I used to. With Aishisowo and Hana."

"Who?"

"Oh, Shadi didn't tell you about Shio and Hana?"

"No."

"They adopted me when my father was killed by my Yami."

"Couldn't your mom take care of you?"

His eyes lowered. "No, she died when I was born. . ."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I. . .had no idea. . ."

"You had no way of knowing."

END OF CHAPTER

Peggi-I'd like to introduce you all to my friend Resa. She and her little sister are here at this site as "Resa and Harmony". She helped me type this chapter. . .actually she stole the keyboard from me. . .sniffle

Resa-Oh, we're all so sorry for you and your shortcomings. hands her a bouquet of flowers better?

Peggi- yup!

Both-Reviews are loved!