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Chapter 17: Way Back, Back in Time (II)
---Kaiba's POV---
"Wait up big brother! Your legs are longer than mine!" Serenity calls out. How young are these two? The mutt slows down and grabs his sister's hand.
"Wheeler! What is the meaning of all this?!" I ask him; but he doesn't listen to me....Why am I not surprised? "Mutt, answer me!"
Still, he continues to brush me off....as if I don't exist....
"Come on sis! Mom's gonna be mad at us if we don't hurry back!" Pulling his sister along, they both come in front of me.
Then, through me. What is going on?
They just ran right through me like I was a ghost! I turned around and watched the siblings run into an apartment complex....This place looks familiar....Then I notice another apartment building across the street from the mutt's; it's Elaya's! Why the heck am I here in the first place?
Wheeler probably has the answers to all of this....Following him, I make it to his apartment and let myself into it. Man, three words could sum this place up, 'What a dump'. Beer bottles and cans everywhere, newspaper scattered across the floor, wallpaper peeling....How could Wheeler live here?
"Joseph! Where have you two been?!" His mother asked, looking over her shoulder from the small and dirty kitchen.
"Sorry mum. Me and Serenity lost track of time...We were watching the sunset by the beach and--" Wheeler explained.
"When I tell you to be here before dinner, I mean it, mister!" His mom screeched, obviously pissed off that her 'darling' son was late.
"Mommy, please don't yell..." Serenity said, clasping her hands over her ears. In an instant, the mom was cradling her, telling her she was sorry.
"Woman! What is all this racket about?!" A tall man with dirty blonde hair-- like Wheeler's--walked through a walkway, which I presumed led to the bedrooms. He was furious....and drunk as well. I may be a ghost but I can still smell the stuff.
"David, please, not now..." Wheeler's mother pleaded, still holding a young Serenity in her arms. The way she spoke was one filled with fear....was she crying? I guess the dad must get a temper often.....
"What's for dinner, bitch?" He asked, swaggering towards the kitchen, almost knocking Joey off his feet. "Why isn't any....nothin' done?!" He walked right up to his wife and towered over her.
"David, stop...You're drunk, go take a nap...I'll have dinner ready when you wake up...." Joey's mom said, backing up into the little island inside the kitchen. Even Serenity began to whimper a bit. "Shh...Shh...Serenity, it'll be okay...shh..." Her mother cooed, trying to not make the father any angrier. From what I can tell, any noise will upset him. The mother simply put her daughter to the ground and instantly, she ran to Joey.
"No...." David slurred. His next move startled even me. He grabbed Joey's mother by her collar and pulled her towards him. "When I want something done, I want it done!"
"David, calm down.." She tried to reason, trying to get away from him. Shit...This is gonna get ugly....
"Don't tell me what to do!" David yelled at her. He raised his hand up.....and slapped her across the face. She stumbled to the floor, holding the cheek that stung.
Serenity screamed as she watched her mom fall. "Shut-up!" David screamed even more loudly as he walked over to Serenity, threatening to do the same thing.
"No! Stop!" Joey cried, coming up between them. "Dad! Please! It was my fault we were late! Stop!"
David simply hit Joey in the face as well, sending him backwards--pushing Serenity down beneath him.
I stared wide eyed at the scene in front of me. Both siblings were on the floor, and the mother was is worse shape. Someone has to call Child Services....
David, still being under the influence, staggered over to the couch and collapsed on it.
"Mommy!" Serenity called out, holding Joey up as she saw her mom use the kitchen island as support to lift herself up. Joey held his cheek too, moaning in pain. "Mom...are you okay?"
"Serenity, get your things." His mom said, making her way to the doorway of the rooms.
"Where are we going, mommy?" Serenity asked, as she picked up a nearby stuffed animal and a jacket.
"On a vacation." She stated, grabbing a duffel bag and making her way into the rooms. "We're gonna be visiting your Aunt Yuma for a bit, okay? You like Aunt Yuma, right?"
Serenity nodded, totally unaware that they'd be staying at her aunt's house for more than just 'a bit'.....Joey winced as he got up. "Why there, mommy?"
His mom did not answer him.....She continued to rummage in the rooms; she appeared moments later with two duffel bags in hand and a hand on her cheek. "Come on Serenity.."
The mom grabbed the younger girl's hand. Joey, just beginning to stand up, reached out to his mom. "Mommy, wait for me!"
But his mother did not wait. She quickly scooped up a screaming and kicking Serenity and headed for the door. "Mom! Wait!" Joey stumbled to his feet-- still a bit disoriented.
I stepped out of the doorway where I was standing this whole time and watched the mother walk out on Joey and his dad. That.....how could she?....
"Joey! Mommy, what about Joey?! Mommy?!" Serenity wailed, trying to get free and return to her brother.
"Mom!" Joey shouted, about to chase her out the door. A loud grunt diverted my eyes to the waking father. "Boy! Get back here...." Surprisingly, for a drunk, he caught up to Joey and pulled him back into the house.
"NO! Lemme go! MOM! Wait!" Joey's flaying arms did nothing to remove his old man's grip from his shoulders.
"Yer mother don't want ya, boy, get it?"
"No! MOM! SERENITY!" Joey continued to thrash around.
"Let go of him." I heard myself say as I ran up to the older Wheeler, trying to break the grip--only to have my hand go through his......like the ghost I was.....
The car outside began to start; and it startled everyone. David released his grip slightly and that's all the young Joey needed to break free and run outside. "MOM!" I chased after him, running behind him until I reached their small driveway.
From my position, I could see into the car's rear-view mirror....His mother was looking into it.....crying.
And mouthing out 'sorry'.
She pressed her foot on the gas and continued to drive out of the driveway. "MOM! NO!" Joey continued to chase the increasing speed of the car. At one point, he was up to his sister's window, banging on the glass....now, he was barely at the back trunk.
"JOEY! Big Brother!" I saw and heard Serenity from the back of the car. She was pounding on the glass, holding a small stuffed animal in her hands....A little puppy.
"SERENITY!" Joey cried, his arm outstretched towards her as his legs could no longer keep up with the tires of the car. "SERENITY!"
He collapsed on his knees, several meters in front of me.....crying and muttering his sister's name.....
"I told you boy....She don't want ya...Get back in the house...." The dad muttered, returning to the place that he--they--called home.....
"Serenity...NO!..." Joey cried, his tears running down his cheeks.....The car was barely visible...
My surroundings began to fade as this 'memory' ended....
Then, it went black.
---In the Marketplace--Reader's POV---
Pegasus watched the marketplace go on with its normal busy routine. [Wasn't I in the Tomb?] He thought as he continued to watch people barter.
Suddenly, two small siblings, one with black hair and another with light blonde hair came through a hustle of people.
[Is that Marik Ishtar and Ms. Ishizu Ishtar?] Pegasus thought as the similarities were striking. [What are they doing here? They look too young to going out without their parents....] He smiled.
"Come quickly Marik, we cannot stay outside for long." Ishizu said, pulling her brother's hand.
"But sister," Marik cries, almost stumbling over his own two feet as she pulled him too fast. "I want to see this all! Slow down!"
[Hmm....Why can they only stay outside for a short time? Are they vampires or something?] Chuckling to himself, he decided to follow the two young Ishtars to see where they would go and what they would do.
After following them for what seemed like hours, Pegasus grew bored. [It is as if these two have never seen the light of day in their entire lives!] He thought, not knowing how right he was. Everything they would pass by, the two Ishtars would stare at for at least five minutes. [Sheesh. These kids need to get out more often....]
"Brother! The sun has almost disappeared! We need to get home before father finds out!" Ishizu cried, surprised to see that their time was up.
Reluctantly, Marik followed. "Alright sister..." [Finally!] Pegasus thought. He had decided long ago that he was somewhere in the past-- Ishizu's and Marik's to be precise--and that he was watching things unfold as they would those many years ago. [When is the action gonna start?]
"Children!" A loud voice called out to the two siblings. The both gasped as the form of Shadi appeared. "My child," He started, looking at Marik. "You have awoken a terrible evil....It will grow inside you until the one who protects you is destroyed; then it shall be let loose and all its evil shall be as well..."
"Marik!" Ishizu cried, pulling her brother away from the stranger that only Pegasus knew the name of. "Quickly! Leave us alone stranger! We have done nothing wrong!" After his sister pulled his arm hard enough, Marik took off in the direction of where they came from; Pegasus followed too, eyeing Shadi strangely before running after them. [What did Shadi mean? Could the evil he spoke of be the one that made Marik fall to his knees?]
Soon, the three of them came to a clearing. A large stone fortress stood up from the desert sand; Marik and Ishizu walked over to it, finding a little trap door that lead to the dark depths of their home.
Ishizu was already pulling up on the door, but Marik was walking towards a stone that looked like the picture he found at the marketplace. [What is this kid doing?] Pegasus thought, as Marik sat on the rock and pretended it was a motorcycle.
"Marik, please, not a second longer..." Ishizu pleaded. She opened the door and gasped.
"Sister, what's wrong?" Marik asked, hurrying over, looking at the door that lead to their home.
Pegasus also came over to look at what was so frightening. "We have activated a trap Marik! Father knows we have been outside!" Ishizu cried, pointing a finger at the single thread of hair; Pegasus recognized this device. If the hair was snapped--as in this case it was--it would signal that someone has left or came back in. He wasn't sure if he was correct, but it seemed logical.
"Oh no!" Marik cried, as both of them hurried down the steps; Pegasus following. A loud shouting was heard the further they went down. The two siblings looked at each other and cried, "ODION!"
[Odi--who?] Pegasus thought, confused. He continued to follow the two, eager to find out what Shadi meant, and what was happening now.
"You worthless boy! How could you let them go!" A cruel sound of the whip made contact with flesh and another scream was heard. "You know perfectly well that us Tomb Keepers are not allowed out!"
"Odion!" Ishizu cried, watching wide-eyed as her father whipped her half- brother [1]. The young man known as Odion looked up at the two Ishtars and muttered "I am sorry, master Marik..." He then fainted from the cruel whipping.
"NO! ODION!" Marik shouted. His father looked down at his only son. "Where have you been?! You know that Tomb Keepers are not allowed out! You will be severely punished for this! Answer me!"
But Marik did not. Something in his eye told Pegasus that the action he wanted was coming soon. [His--His--His face! It has changed!] He thought.
Marik walked over to the stone box where both the Millennium Necklace and Rod were held and picked up the latter item. "You should of never hurt Odion father....Now, for your just punishment!"
"Marik!" Ishizu cried. [His voice!] Pegasus cried, remembering the voice from when Marik fell on his knees and matching them. [That thing that possessed Marik earlier is here! Is this how it all started?]
"Marik! Put that Item down!" The father cried. But, once again, Marik did not. "Your just punishment!" He repeated as he drew the Rod out at arm's length and aimed it at his fearful father.
"No!" His father cried as his son unleashed the powers within the Rod and sent his father's mind to the Shadow Realm. The body of his father was thrown backwards into the nearest wall.....then crumbled at his feet.
Something inside Marik snapped. "Huh? What happened?" He looked around and saw both Odion's and his father's body on the floor. "Ishizu, what happened?"
Ishizu, mouth in a perfect 'o' shape, said nothing.....Pegasus blinked twice before realizing that it was getting darker in the room.........
Then, he reappeared in the same dark corridor he found himself in the first time he woke up.
---Inside the Puzzle--Yami Bakura's POV---
"Hmm..." I mutter, watching everyone wander around aimless; trying to get rid of the memories that come near them. "Interesting...It appears that Pegasus has stumbled upon your birth, Yami Marik..."
"Really?" He asked with less enthusiasm than I expected......Believe me, I expected very little.
"Yes. Quite touching, actually....How your hikari used the Rod to kill his own father...." I grinned.
Yami Marik didn't answer, but instead leaned against the wall. "Can we go now?"
"No, not yet....Your sister and Shadi have not been in a memory yet.....Apparently, they can see where they are." I mutter, pissed off that Ishizu and that freak have not gotten lost yet.
"Not only that, but they can see were WE are too." Yami Marik snarled, pointing to a light coming towards us. The shape was in the form of one of the many Items I wish to possess; the Key.
"Brother!" Ishizu cried. She can't honestly think that she can bring him back by calling his name, can she?
A strong arm from Shadi stopped her from running towards us. "What are you doing, spirit of the Ring?" He asked me.
"Well now, what do you think, hm?" I ask, not moving from my spot near the entrance/exit of the Pharaoh's mind.
"You are trying to gain all seven Items, correct?"
Smirking, I say, "Did you figure that out all by yourself?"
He frowns at me and moves closer to me. "You must stop this quest of yours, spirit of the Ring."
"Why should I?" My grin furthers as he doesn't answer me. "I'm just taking what should be mine!"
"No! You're wrong!" Ishizu cries. "Those are the Pharaoh's!"
"You think the Pharaoh is all great, don't you? Well, believe me, he has tainted blood. He isn't the best thing....." I said, remembering exactly what his family did to mine all those millennia's ago.
"That is no reason to plan against him." Shadi mumbles in that annoying tone of voice. I want to strangle him.
I run up to him, and grab the Key from his hands so quickly, he barely had time to register what just happened. "My reason is a fucking good reason. Yami Marik, now!"
Using his powers, Yami Marik pushed both Shadi and Ishizu backwards into the darkened corridors where they came from.
"Hmph." I grunt, holding the Key in my hand--careful not to touch the actual thing; I'm just holding it by the rope in which he ties it around his neck. There is a myth, that if someone impure, much like myself, touches the 'holiness' of the Items used for good, their hand will burn. Since Pegasus used his Eye for his cheating ways, I was safe to pull it out of his socket.
"Nice work....I guess that's why they call you 'Thief'." Yami Marik said, walking up behind me. "A good fucking reason, eh? Wanna share?"
"None of your concern you bastard." I mutter, resuming my position in front of the entrance of the Pharaoh's mind. I have people to look over; to make sure they all get lost. "We'll leave soon, Yami Marik; now that I have the Key in hand and that all the other Items are back in the Tomb...."
I just want to make sure the Pharaoh sees what he did......And he's gonna fucking pay for it....
Ta-da! Done!
[1] Odion is kinda like their half-brother....since, the mom found him when he was a baby and took him in. He was an orphan--poor guy--and was accepted into the Tomb Keeper's society.
Well, not one of my favourite chappies....I hate writing with Pegasus....He's so annoying. Any memory ideas, comments or flames, leave them in the review. So, I hope you enjoyed this chappie!
OMG! They have this new Quick Edit thing on fanfiction.net! Well, they won't let me have those little stars and swirly lines anymore....! Anyway, if I have missed anyone, please tell, because I'm so confused.....too many people!
PLEASE REVIEW!