Morning seemed to come all too soon; the few hours of sleep he had managed to gain had been broken and littered with unsettling dreams. He had never been one to remember his dreams and being bothered by one was even stranger, so to have so many unpleasant dreams had been unusual and unwelcome. He was thankful for the little sleep he had managed though, knowing he would feel even worse had he stayed up all night.
He picked up the letter again, running through the words for any clues. He knew all too well what the comment about her binds meant, it had been for that very reason he had originally made her stay, something he later became very thankful for. It did mean that he'd have to be careful, but certainly it wasn't something that would be too difficult to solve. It was the clue to the location that was proving problematic, 'a place of rest hides within it darkness, which in itself hides that which you seek', it didn't really make a lot of sense, unless of course, you knew the answer.
"Damn it Kal, couldn't you have made this easier?"
"Getting annoyed with a piece of paper isn't going to get you very far hikari."
Malik blanched, having forgotten Marik was there. In this place, all the usual rules seemed to diminish, it was almost like Marik didn't exist; though that thought immediately made him feel awful.
"No, I know." Malik muttered eventually, trying to ignore the guilt he had set on himself.
"Perhaps it would make more sense to them?"
Malik was about to retort that it was a stupid idea, when he realised they had taken far closer attention to the land, and landmarks than he had, his only interest then had been gaining the God cards, and revenge. Nodding slightly, he placed the letter down long enough to pull his trousers on before picking it up again and exiting the room. He knew Marik wouldn't follow and was glad for it; he wanted answers, not questions.
"Malik-sama." Teran greeted as he entered the room, he nodded, but didn't respond, the line of the letter still playing through his head.
"It would seem…" He started loudly, catching everyone's attention. "That Kaldea left a clue."
"What is that, Malik-sama?" Teran asked, his excitement showing only slightly.
"A letter, only one line matters. I want to know if any of you know what it means. A place of rest hides within it darkness, which in itself hides that which you seek."
"Alkahna Tomb." A Rare Hunter replied after a few moments of silence.
Malik was about to ask more when Teran beat him to it. "Alkahna Tomb is located about 2 hours walk from here. Alkahna was a priest in the new dynasty, but he got caught with the wrong people, they did give him the tomb though, once the Pharaoh's guards had left him to rot."
"I see. Any more, useful, information?"
"I can get hold of some plans for it, but it won't help with the Dewat's."
Malik nodded, ushering Teran out. He didn't want to wait any longer than absolutely necessary. He wasn't made to wait long, within 30 minutes, Teran had returned with detailed plans of the tomb and had even managed to find an 'approximate guess' of the number of people likely to be present there, though Malik quickly decided he probably didn't want to know how Teran had attained it. After a few hours careful planning, Malik had briefly stepped into his room to retrieve the Sennen Rod and his deck before heading out to find Kaldea, and make the Dewat Group sorry that they'd ever crossed him. Of course, that last fact was to stay out of Ishizu and Marik's knowledge if at all possible.
Marik smiled slightly at his hikari's actions, it had been a while since Malik had been so determined and motivated and it was certainly a pleasant improvement. It did leave him bored however, he couldn't go out with Malik, as much as he wanted to. His presence would cause problems, something that needed to be avoided for the meantime. Malik needed to get things sorted as quickly as he could manage; he had never been particularly good at waiting for things, in Marik's opinion at least. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head to follow Malik to stop him from doing anything stupid, but he planned to ignore it, Malik didn't do stupid things, or if he did, Marik wasn't aware of them.
Sighing, Marik decided to look around the room, though he had been influencing Malik at the time, he had never paid any attention to the surroundings; petty details had not been a concern. Now however, anything was better than sitting around with nothing to do, boredom was one thing he had never handled very well, which was why he had made all his duels so 'interesting'.
Unfortunately for Marik, the room held very little of interest, back then, Malik had been equally unconcerned with 'petty things'. There were no decorations and very few personal items, most of which he assumed had belonged to Kaldea. All in all, it left him with nothing to do, something he was less than happy about.
"I know, I can call Yami, he's probably worried by now, or maybe just angry…"
"Moshi moshi?"
"Yugi…is Yami there?"
"Marik? No he's-oh wait, I think he's back. Hold on."
Marik sighed audibly, he hadn't wanted to talk to Yugi, nor did he want to be sat around waiting, the call would cost a fortune and Malik was likely to throw a fit when he received the bill.
"Marik, where are you?" Yami's voice only held a trace of annoyance; mainly he just sounded concerned, much to Marik's relief.
"Egypt, following my idiot hikari, well, sat waiting for him to get back is more like it. I am so bored, but I'll mess things up if I try to help."
"What's going on, has he…"
"Nah, he's gone to rescue his girlfriend, don't worry."
"What?"
"Forget it. I'll call you when he's back, assuming I don't die of boredom before then…"
"Okay. Later."
Marik pushed the end-call button, knowing Yami wasn't exactly happy with the situation. He supposed he couldn't blame him after all the trouble they had caused, but he thought it was more because Yami didn't know what was going on, which always seemed to bother him immensely. Marik smirked slightly, knowing all too well what the reason was, Yami was an absolute control freak from his days as Pharaoh, he had always known everything he wanted to know, so now, it irritated him no end if someone refused him information. Sighing once again, he decided to try to sleep some of the time away, knowing he would only suffer otherwise.
Malik smirked, the tomb was most certainly the place they needed to be and it seemed they weren't expected. It could be a risk going in, considering the Dewat Group's lacking morals, though the element of surprise would help.
"Everyone ready and willing?" Malik asked quietly, he wasn't about to make them go against their own will again.
"We all stand behind you as always Malik-sama, let's go save her and deal some payback." Teran replied, making Malik smirk again.
"Then let's go."
Surprise certainly worked in their favour, five of the group were 'removed' before anyone even realised they were there, when they were finally discovered, there was too much disorganisation and confusion for them to prove too much of a threat, and with the Sennen Rod back in hand, things had little chance of falling into the well-being of the Dewat Group.
"You. Well, well, showing up after all this time, what a surprise…" Malik held back a snarl at the taunt made by Adryn, the leader of the Dewat Group.
"Where is she?" Malik asked tersely.
"It makes no difference Ishtar, you can't take her."
"I wouldn't be here if I believed that. She's mine, I am taking her back."
Though speaking of Kaldea as a possession made Malik cringe internally, it was something he knew he needed to do, if they found out how much he cared for her, things would become very difficult. Adryn responded, but Malik paid him no heed, his attention fixed on Kaldea, though she was definitely even paler than she had been, she seemed to be in good health.
"Get back inside!" Adryn yelled, snapping Malik out of his reverie.
Malik could see her hesitate and unfortunately so did Adryn. "You dare defy me?! Kill her!"
It took a minute for Malik to comprehend the order, a slight hesitation hardly constituted death, even if Adryn was an asshole. He knew she couldn't fight back, he also knew he couldn't reach her in time.
"I don't need to…" He whispered, not even aware he had spoken.
The Sennen Rod could stop the idiot following Adryn's order and it would still constitute to breaking her binds to Adryn, allowing Malik to take her back with him. Adryn growled at Malik's actions and lunged for him. Malik dropped to the floor, narrowly avoiding the blade of the dagger Adryn had pulled out. Teran stepped in quickly, but it was clear early on that even with the weapon advantage, Teran was no match for Adryn. To make matters worse, for whatever reason, the Sennen Rod didn't seem to affect Adryn.
He noticed Kaldea stepping forward, but had not expected her to have her dagger in hand, apparently she intended to fight Adryn herself. "Adryn, why not play with me instead, if you want me dead so badly?"
"That's just fine bitch, I'll teach you!"
Surprisingly, at least to Malik, she seemed completely unafraid, but then, he quickly realised that unlike himself and Teran, Kaldea knew exactly what she was doing, the flawless movements showing more expertise than the angry attacks of Adryn. Her lithe frame made his attacks easy to avoid, something for which Malik was truly grateful for. After a while, it was clear Adryn was getting tired, while Kaldea was still fine, having put little effort into the fight so far. Adryn made one last, hate-filled lunge, Malik held his breath, afraid that she would be unable to move aside in time; Kaldea however remained calm and stepped aside at the last moment, leaving Adryn wide-open. One simple but swift movement and Adryn dropped, though she hadn't killed him.
"You're a waste of time Adryn, I hope this proved that to you. We're going now, if you bother me again, I will kill you."
Malik smiled softly, whether she meant it or not, the words had the effect she had intended; Adryn wouldn't be bothering them again. He stood up, taking the time to look over her; there were definitely a few cuts and bruises, but nothing that seemed too bad. What worried him most was that Adryn, or one of the others, had taken advantage of her. Seeming to sense his thoughts, Kaldea met his gaze and shook her head, smiling. Relieved, he held his hand out, beckoning her to him, when she stepped close enough to him, he took hold of her hand and led her outside, though he wanted to reconcile, he didn't want to stay in the tomb any longer than necessary. The sooner they were safe, the better.
Marik awoke to the sound of celebration and couldn't help but smile, it seemed Malik had been successful in his quest. He opened the door slightly, wanting to see the girl who held his hikari's attention, but without drawing attention to himself. After a few close calls, he decided to give up and wait for Malik to introduce them on his own accord. Her being there did bring problems, which could prove to be difficult. If he was lucky, she would agree to return with them to Japan, otherwise, he expected Malik would refuse to return with him. Ishizu would be happy with that decision of course; she had wanted Malik back with her since their defeat at Battle City, though there was always the possibility that he would stay with the Rare Hunters. All of two days ago, he would have laughed at that idea, but Malik seemed to have fallen right back into place and equally, the Rare Hunters seemed more than happy to welcome him back in charge of them.
"Marik? Are you okay?" Malik's voice was quiet and not particularly sympathetic.
"Yes. What's going on?" Marik asked neutrally, though he already knew the answer from Malik's tone.
"I'm staying, so you can go home, everything is okay now."
"Malik…"
"I'm keeping the Sennen Rod, just in case those idiots come back, but I'm not going to fall back into old habits, you don't need to worry about me Marik."
"No one is going to like this idea and I can't blame them."
"I'm the nice one, if they can accept you then this shouldn't be too hard. To be blunt, I don't care whether they do or not, to be honest. I'm staying here regardless."
Marik sighed softly, knowing that there was nothing he could say to change Malik's mind, but wanting to try nonetheless. It was selfish, but he really didn't want to let Malik be so far away, he depended on him far too much. "Can't she come with us instead?"
"She could, yes, but we don't want to leave, and it isn't fair on everyone else. I know you want me to take care of you Marik, but Yami can do that instead. I have to live for myself; if I don't do this I'll regret it. Please Marik, just leave."
"Do I at least get to meet her?"
"Yes, later. Sort everything out, we'll be back in a few hours."
Avoiding the automatic reaction to sulk, Marik simply nodded and watched Malik leave. Reluctantly, he made all the arrangements he needed, but decided against calling Yami as he said he would, he was in no mood to speak to anyone. Eventually, Malik returned as promised, Kaldea in tow. Marik had to admit that she was beautiful and certainly her personality seemed to be good too, not like Yugi's idiot friends, but not as harsh as himself or Bakura.
The next day, Marik set back to Japan, leaving Malik in Egypt. He knew it would cause problems, especially when Ishizu found out, but he knew it was unavoidable. It was time for both of them to begin new lives with those they loved, no matter what anyone thought. He did worry that Malik would forget about him and that he would lose contact with his hikari, but if that was what Malik chose, he could only accept it. Things were changing and it was time to move on, but that didn't mean it was a bad thing. Come what may, he could only believe everything would turn out okay.
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Finished at last! Yay! Hope this is okay for you Shaami; I finished it for you at least. Hope anyone who has read this has enjoyed it, and thanks for the reviews. Just Always to go now, then my YGO fics can finally be put to rest… Anyway, I'll shut up now. Ja ne!