Just so you know, this is the EVIL Marik we're talking about here! You know, with the spiky hair and Eye of Ra. So don't read this if you don't like him or the idea of him with Ryou.
Summary: Ancient Egypt Ryou, the Pharaoh's top healer, is kidnapped by one of the Pharaoh's most hated enemies- Marik. But, he'll quickly learn that healing people is a lot easier than healing hearts. (Yaoi)
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The Power to Heal--
Chapter 1- Lost and Found
Ryou shuffled through the palace quietly, holding only a tray and towel. He was headed for the Curial Room where another patient awaited healing. He was already tired out from the last three patients but the Pharaoh placed faith in him that he could do it.
That was something that probably always kept Ryou going. The Pharaoh placed his ultimate faith and trust in him always. No matter how bad the cut or how serious the illness--- Ryou could fix it. He always could.
Faith can only go so far though sometimes. You see, every time Ryou performed a healing rite on someone, it drained his body. By the end of every day, Ryou was sprawled out in bed and asleep before dinner.
But still, people trusted him.
Maybe that was why Pharaoh Yami considered Ryou his top healer: if anyone is going to take your life into his or her hands, you want to have ultimate trust in that person. Everyone trusted Ryou when it came down to it. He was a wonderful friend, he kept secrets, and he never told lies. He also had this happy air about him.
Ever since Ryou had been appointed a healer, the number of deaths in Egypt dropped more than fifty percent.
Ryou walked into the Curial Room, careful not to make too much noise, and made his way over to one of the many beds. Many people, probably the person's family, were gathered around the bed either in prayer or crying.
"You don't have to worry anymore, soon this will all be over," Ryou said in a calming voice.
One of the members of the family looked up, with blood-shot eyes red from crying and ran over to him bowing down at his feet. "Oh please Ryou, please cure my little girl!" the woman cried.
Ryou leaned down and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I will." He helped the woman to her feet and walked her over to the bed where a little girl, around the age of 7, was breathing unsteadily and sweating profusely. "Malaria is it?" he asked.
The woman nodded, "Yes, she was fine a few days ago, but now this. Please don't let her die!" she pleaded.
"Of course not," he took the little girl's hand into his and closed his eyes.
Everyone else in the room seemed to disappear leaving Ryou alone with the little girl. There were no longer any beds, or people, or even walls. It was all darkness. The only light came from Ryou's body. His petit frame let off a calming glow that seemed to pulsate slightly until it passed from Ryou's body, onto the little girl. For a moment, the girl's form seemed encased in the light, until finally, it absorbed into her and was gone.
Everything reappeared after that and was back to normal. Ryou released the girl's hand and opened his eyes. A pair of big blue orbs was looking at him with confusion.
Everyone around the bed began to cheer. The girl would be fine.
Ryou took a deep breath and stood up from the bed. No one even seemed to notice him after that, which was more than fine for Ryou. He understood how important family was. After all, he had lost his.
Ryou wiped away the sweat that had beaded on his forehead and exited the room.
Almost as soon as he was out of the room, Yami stopped him. "Ryou, are you alright?"
Ryou forced a weak smile. "Just tired. You know how healing people affects me."
"Yes. Well, I want you to go straight to bed then. We can't have YOU getting sick; then what would I do? I'll see you tomorrow," he gave him a kind smile.
"Goodnight," Ryou said, even though the sun hadn't even begun to set. He walked back to his room, which was very tiring and practically fell into bed. His head was pounding, his skin clammy, and his face pale. He didn't feel good at all.
Can you imagine living every single day of your life like that? Ryou did, all because he had a gift- the power to heal.
Ryou hadn't always lived in the palace. He used to live the life of beggar actually. Ryou's parents had all been killed in a tragic fire leaving Ryou, their only child, to fend for himself. He lived alone until the age of 13. His parents had been the only people who had known about his gift until one fateful morning---
An emergency search had been called for healers of any kind. The young Pharaoh had fallen ill and was practically on his deathbed with a terribly high fever. No one could seem to be able to heal him. No ointments worked, no sacraments. Everyone feared the worst--- that he was going to die.
Ryou didn't know too much about his powers at that time, but he did know that he could help people. Being the shy person that he was, he quietly slinked up to the palace.
As 'luck' would have it, someone mistook him for a palace thief and dragged him straight to High Priest Seth. Seth harshly questioned him for about an hour before realizing that Ryou was here to try to heal Yami. He raced him down to the Pharaoh's chambers where Yami lay, barely hanging on.
Seth told him that if he didn't heal him he would be put to death! Ryou did his best and in the end, Yami was all right! But Ryou--- was not. He ended up falling unconscious and had to be in bed for days before he was able to walk again.
After that, Ryou would've been thrown back into the streets but Yami wouldn't allow it. He considered Ryou a very credible person and even gave him his own room and new clothes.
And he has remained there ever since.
Marik leaned against one of the city walls. That devious smile everyone knew so well was upon his face and his Eye of Ra glowed brightly. 'Heh, Pharaoh, very soon I shall take something very important away from you,' his smile disappeared, 'Just as you did to me.'
His dark lavender cloak flapped harshly behind him as he proceeded towards the palace.
Marik--- the Pharaoh's most hated enemy. He had done dozens of terrible things to Yami in the past, or at least tried to. He'd sent plagues, illnesses, and even men into the palace in hopes of killing Yami. Every single plan failed. Marik would get his revenge eventually.
He had most recently received the news that Yami possibly had a strong healer on his side. If that were true, the mysterious healer would be Marik's next target. 'By tomorrow morning, he'll be dead,' he thought in regards to the healer. Marik had never been so sure of himself in his life.
He had an excellent plan for capturing the healer, and even better plans for torture: a slow and painful death. The scheming smile once returned to his lips as he went over his plan in his mind.
Everyone in Egypt knew Marik. Everyone. He was the reason people kept their doors safeguarded at night, and their guard always up. Marik was NO ONE to mess with. People believed that Ra himself cursed his soul. It very well may have been true.
Marik wasn't alone though. He had his so-called 'followers' who traveled with him and even had his own little hideaway. Well, maybe it wasn't 'little' but rather quite large. It was in a well-hidden spot far from the city and palace. Many people lived there, whether they liked Marik or not- (most didn't) because it provided a refuge for those who were oppressed. That was really true because no one who was an enemy of Marik would come within 10 miles of him. Marik hated people, but did nothing to stop them. Besides, he didn't want to waste his energy on lowlives like them.
Marik stopped walking and looked up. He was at the palace, and, he was ready.
Ryou awoke early the next morning and headed down to the dining room for breakfast. A few of the palace guards were there, exchanging stories and whatnot. They paid Ryou no mind as he sat down at the table and began to peel an orange. ((AN: Yum...imported)
"So anyways, they say Marik's in the city today," one of the guards said.
Ryou looked up from his orange.
The other guard looked surprised, "Really? Is that why Yami has had extra guards placed around the city?"
"Yep."
Ryou cut into the conversation, "Marik? I've heard of him before. Is he really as bad as people say he is?"
The first guard nodded, "You better believe it kid. He's ruthless."
The second guard added, "I hear he raped and killed 10 innocent boys, in one day."
Ryou gulped, "All of them? That's horrible."
"Yes, it's just what they say though."
The first guard said, "I wouldn't doubt it though! They say Marik lives off of people's deaths. They say the last thing you see is that shining gold Eye of Ra."
"Yeah, but it's only a fable. How can someone live off of a death?"
"I don't know."
Ryou interrupted their conversation once more, "I doubt that anyone could live like that. How would they be able to live with themselves?"
Both guards stopped and looked at Ryou like he was crazy.
The first guard spoke again, "I guess you don't understand, Marik is a cold-blooded killer. If he got ahold of you, there's no telling what he'd do to you."
The second guard continued with, "I think all of his victims have been raped come to think of it. Raped, then killed."
Ryou shuddered. What a terrible person. He sat his uneaten orange on the table and was about to get up and leave, when someone suddenly came running into the room.
"Ryou! Hurry! Someone needs to be healed quick!" one of the lower healers said.
Ryou stood up from the table fast. "All right, are they in the Curial Room?"
"Yes, you must hurry! They say it's serious."
"I'm on my way."
Ryou darted out of room and raced towards the Curial Room. He reached it quickly and as soon as he was inside stopped to catch his breath. It was the same as yesterday. A figure lay on the table covered up and silent, and around six cloaked figures sat around the bed crying.
One of them spoke saying, "We think it's too late. He might already be dead."
Ryou froze. No, not dead. Not yet.
Yami had heard the commotion and had followed Ryou into the room to see what was the matter.
Ryou rushed over to the figure on the bed. The blanket had been pulled up over their face. No, they couldn't have died yet. No. Ryou hadn't lost a patient in three months. No. He took ahold of the cotton sheet that hid the person's identity and pulled it down.
The next few seconds were a blur. Ryou felt a sharp pain in his neck, fell, and was grabbed by someone. There was a lot of screaming, confusion and cluttering before all was silent.
When Ryou opened his eyes, he saw Yami, eyes wide in shock, but not looking at him.
"Let him go, Marik!" Yami growled.
Ryou shook his head. Marik? No. The terrible person who had been the subject of this morning's 'breakfast'? He struggled to look up and saw the face. Tanned skin, deep lavender eyes, spiky white hair, and, an Eye of Ra. It was him for sure.
Marik pulled out a dagger and pressed it hard onto Ryou's neck. "'Him?'" He asked, slightly confused, and pulled Ryou's face up by his hair to get a better look at him. "Oh," for a second he seemed captivated by Ryou's graceful facial features, but in a moment, the look was gone replaced by a conniving smirk that was directed at Yami. "Well, well. This makes things interesting. You know how much I like boys."
Ryou trembled. How was he going to get himself out of this?
Yami started to make a move towards Marik, but that only caused Marik to press the dagger's blade even harder causing Ryou to cry out in pain. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Yami, or you may find you pretty friend beheaded."
Yami narrowed his gaze even more but stopped, "Marik, stop this now! Let him go and you are free." He ignored the men who formed a semicircle around Marik, protecting him.
Marik laughed, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Besides", he looked down at the shaking form under his arm, "I think I want him for myself." He backed away slowly towards the window. "Ta-ta Yami. Oh, and if you even think about sending your men after me, this little trinket dies," he said referring to Ryou.
Yami gritted his teeth, "You'll kill him anyways."
"You know, you're absolutely correct. But, I have other plans for him before I kill him."
Yami gasped. "No!"
But it was too late. Marik had jumped out the window!
Ryou screamed as they began to plummet towards the ground, but not too long after they had started to fall, Marik grabbed onto one of the fabric roves, which immediately ripped, but at the last second he caught onto a window ledge not to far up from the ground.
Ryou opened up his eyes and looked down. He could barely see a dark gray object right below them. Marik let go and they landed not too hard onto the unknown objective, which Ryou finally noticed was a horse. Marik grabbed Ryou up in front of him by his collar. "I swear to Ra, if you so much as even try to escape, I'll kill you so fast you won't know what hit you."
Ryou couldn't help what he did next, he started to cry. He hadn't cried for a long time, but it was definitely one of those moments where it was allowed. Ryou knew what was going to happen to him. He was going to be raped and killed, just like those children the guards had talked about. There was no hope for him. No hope at all.
Marik rolled his eyes, "Do not start in on that!" he backhanded Ryou so hard he knocked him out. 'Whatever works.'
--
Ryou groaned and opened his eyes. He felt terrible. He brought a hand to his cheek, which almost immediately began to sting and quickly drew it back. He looked around and noticed he was in a small room- on a bed no less.
"Ah, so you're awake I see. That's good," Marik said coming into view; that same haunting smile on his lips.
Ryou's eyes widened as he remembered the morning's events. "N-No, please," he pleaded, scooting back away from him.
"Aw, are you scared? You should be-" he walked over to the bed, "-because tonight, you will be mine."
---TBC---
Yeah! I like the way that chapter came out! Despite the total evilness -- But, I'm not about to go making Marik all ooc just because I want to get him and Ryou together. Ha! This is gonna work, I know it.
Ok, this fic won't always be so depressing, but I had to make it lifelike! You just have to be patient. IT WILL GET HAPPIER!
Oh, there's attempted rape in the next chapter people! You have been warned. This fic is rated R... because, ehem, mature stuff can and will happen and I'm not going to warn you when it does. I'm telling you this so you don't read it and go... "Lalala, oh my gosh... they didn't just... what the hell?!" Lemon in this fic is inevitable.
REVIEW! My first Ryou/Marik fic NEEDS REVIEWS! Please tell me what you guys think.
Thanks for reading!
AmethystRoze