Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song Panick belongs to the artist and the company that recorded it and was used in this story with the best of intentions. Story elements © Hideki LaShae. No money was gained in the writing of this story.
WARNING: This story contains sensitive cultural practices and references that might offend some readers. The views and opinions of the cultures which condone these practices are not shared by this author, but they are included in this story for awareness purposes only.
Time to Duel, Mariko!
By
Hideki LaShae
Chapter Four
You Know What They Say Might Hurt You
Solomon motions to the chairs in the living room. "Sit down."
"I don't want to sit! I want answers!" exclaims Marie.
"Where is Yurito?" asks Solomon looking at Marie with his aging purple eyes.
Marie sees something in those eyes that calms her for a moment. "My grandmother died."
Solomon sits down quickly and puts his hand over his heart. "How? How did Yurito die?"
"Grandpa! Are you all right?" asks Yugi seeing his grandfather getting paler. He hurries over to Solomon and stands beside him.
I'm not gonna panick, panick…
"Sit down, everyone," says Solomon, "please…"
Seto sneers at the offer, but Mokuba moves over to sit in a chair.
Téa, Tristan, and Joey walk over to the couch and sit down.
"Tell me, Marie, how did my Yurito die?" asks Solomon.
"I don't owe you any explanations! I came here to get answers, not give them!" exclaims Marie angrily.
"What happened to make you hate her so much?" asks Solomon.
Marie's eyes widen. "What!"
"Why else would you refuse to tell me what happened to her? She was my wife once. My life," says Solomon, "The one I cared for more than any other in the world. I just want to know what happened to her? In the last letter she sent me, she told me that you both were doing fine. No illnesses to speak of, except that you did have heat stroke at the time. How was the archeological dig? Did you find what you were looking for?"
Marie sighs and sits down on the edge of Mokuba's chair. "On our last dig… the ground where we were wasn't too stable. We had several cave-ins. I was trapped underground on more than one occasion, but I was the smallest, so I had to go where the others couldn't… Everyone was caught at one time or another. When it was Grandma's turn to get caught in a cave-in… she came out alive but seriously injured… She died as I was taking her to a hospital. We had just barely got to the emergency room, but with her last breath, she told me to come here… to the Kame Game Shop in Domino City and ask Solomon who I really am."
"Yes… I can see Yurito doing that," says Solomon, "I will explain everything, Marie, but you must be patient."
"I don't want to be patient!" exclaims Marie, "Grandma left me without telling me a single thing! She had the time to tell me who I was, but instead all she did was tell me to come here to you! I've been patient long enough! I want answers! I want to know why I'm here!"
Mokuba takes Marie's hand in his. "Marie… Let it go…"
"I will not let it go, Mokuba! That woman lied to me my entire life! I want to know what else about me has been a lie!" exclaims Marie fiercely ripping her hand from Mokuba's grasp. She takes a long breath and takes Mokuba's hand again. She turns her eyes towards Téa, and she stares at the outfit the girl wears. She takes in another long breath. "Hurry up and get on with it, old man! I don't have time to sit around and play games!"
"First, since you are new to this area, I must introduce you to my grandson, Yugi, and his friends," says Solomon.
"I'm Yugi. This is Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor. You already know Téa," says Yugi.
The three people nod or wave when their name is called.
"How did you know my grandma?" asks Marie still staring at Téa. "Nice skirt… Téa."
"Why, thank you!" exclaims Téa smiling.
"I knew Yurito because I had been her husband," says Solomon.
Marie slides off the arm of Mokuba's chair and hits the floor with a loud thump. She jumps to her feet quickly and blushes a deep crimson. "What? You were not married to my grandmother! Impossible! She would have told me if she'd been married to anyone other than my grandfather! We didn't hide anything like that from each other!"
"She did hide some things from you though," says Tristan, "She didn't tell you who you are, did she? Why wouldn't she hide that fact too?"
Marie glares at Tristan for a moment before sitting back down on the arm of Mokuba's chair.
"She was only married once. I am your grandfather, Marie," says Solomon.
Marie swallows hard. She shakes her head with disbelief and stands up. "Stupid old man! I'm out of here!"
"Marie! Wait!" Yugi moves over to the bookcase quickly and pulls an old frame from the top shelf. He wipes the dust from the glass and holds the frame out towards Marie. "Is this your grandmother?"
Marie takes the antique frame and looks at the wedding picture within it. She squints at the picture as she turns around. Her hands clench the frame tightly until her knuckles turn white. She makes one step towards Solomon as she stares at the picture with wide eyes.
"What's wrong, Marie?" asks Seto moving over to her and taking the frame from her. He looks at the picture with distaste.
"That's my grandmother's wedding photo," whispers Marie.
Yugi takes the picture frame back from Seto. "This is Grandpa's wedding picture."
"Yurito and I decided long ago that to protect our grandchildren from a great evil, they should be raised separately," says Solomon, "It was a great evil that would destroy the world… An evil that might need one or both of you."
Seto crosses his arms over his chest, obviously not impressed.
"What proof do you have that any of what you say is true?" asks Marie looking at Solomon, "I won't believe that I'm your grand-daughter or this wimp's cousin unless you can prove it!"
"Would your birth certificate be enough proof?" asks Solomon.
"Probably not, but it's a start," says Marie.
Solomon stands up and pulls a lock box from inside the drawer of a small corner table. He sets the lock box on the table and turns towards Yugi. "Would you bring that picture over here, Yugi?"
Yugi takes the picture over to his grandfather. "Here, Grandpa."
Solomon takes the picture and pulls the back off the frame. He draws out a small key from its position tucked behind the picture. Then he unlocks the box and opens the lid. He pulls out a crisp piece of paper. He turns towards Marie and holds it out. "Here it is, Marie."
Marie walks over to Solomon and takes the paper. She looks at it. "Marie Motou… Mother… Father… Multiple birth?"
"Multiple birth?" asks Yugi looking at Solomon with wide confused eyes.
"Multiple birth!" exclaims Seto angrily uncrossing his arms and clenching his fists tightly at his sides, "Marie has a sister?"
"Whoever said it was a girl?" asks Solomon pulling a second sheet of paper from the lock box and passing it to Yugi, "Her twin is in this room!"
"Yugi Motou… Multiple birth," says Yugi staring at his own birth certificate. He turns his eyes to Marie. "I have a sister."
"Seto?" asks Marie shakily.
"Yeah, Marie?" says Seto looking at her with concern as he moves the two steps to her side.
Panick, panick…
"Catch," whispers Marie a mere second before she falls in a faint.
Seto catches Marie easily and falls to his knees with her in his arms.
Yugi stands frigid, completely frozen from the shock.
Joey and Téa stand up quickly.
"Hey, Yuge, are you okay?" asks Joey.
"Marie?" asks Mokuba getting up and moving to her quickly.
Marie opens her eyes and blinks. She bolts upright and pushes herself to her feet. She slams the paper onto the table beside the lock box. "It's not true! You are not my grandfather! I am an only child! And Yugi Motou is my worst enemy, not my brother!"
Yugi shakes his head. He passes his birth certificate to Solomon who places both papers back into the lock box. "Enemy? Why am I your worst enemy? You don't even know me. Why do you hate me?"
"I hate you because Seto hates you!" exclaims Marie, "And that is a good enough reason for me!"
"It is true, Marie. Look at Yugi, and tell me that you truly don't believe that he is your twin brother!" exclaims Solomon.
"Why should I?" asks Marie. She turns her back to Yugi and Solomon. Her entire body shakes with her anger.
"So… when we went to Egypt to see Grandma at the archaeological dig," says Yugi, "When I was nine… that was when Marie was at dance camp with Téa, wasn't it, Grandpa? Marie had been sent to camp so we could go see Grandma."
Solomon nods his head.
"Whoa! What is going on here?" asks Tristan, "Mr. Motou, why didn't you ever tell Yugi he had a sister?"
"It was what we decided. Yurito and I both studied an ancient Egyptian tablet that showed us someone who looked a lot like our son, only younger, fighting an ancient evil. We believed that the person on the tablet was actually resurrected as one of our grandchildren," explains Solomon, "We believed that the other person, the evil one, might also be the second child. We wanted to save them from that destiny. So we separated them, thinking that they might have needed to have been together for the events to reoccur. I took Yugi, our grandson, and Yurito took Marie, our granddaughter. We wanted to keep you two safe… We planned to tell you about each other, and even introduce you on your seventeenth birthday."
"You knew her, didn't you?" asks Marie.
"Knew who?" asks Joey, "Yurito? We've already figured out that they used to be married!"
Marie spins around angrily. "I'm talking about Ishizu, you fool!"
"Ishizu? Can't say that I know her," says Solomon.
"Ishizu Ishtar! She possesses the Millennium Tauk! It has the power to see the future! Only she knew for certain that the events of the past would reoccur!" Marie glares at Solomon.
"I'm sorry, Marie," says Solomon, "I don't know how I knew the events would repeat. Yurito didn't believe they would, but I convinced her. I'm afraid that it was my idea that one child went to Egypt. So I suppose everything after that was my fault because of that one mistake."
Fill my heart with terror
Do the worst you can do
Shivers up my spine
I'm not afraid of you…
"It was your fault? You take the blame then?" asks Marie with shock-filled eyes.
Solomon nods.
"Are you stupid or just ignorant?" yells Marie clenching her hands tightly into fists, "Do you have any idea what they do to female children in that part of the world?"
Seto's eyes widen. He looks at Marie fearfully. "What did they do to you?"
"You are not one of their people," says Solomon, "They wouldn't do that without the permission of Yurito!"
"What wouldn't they do?" asks Seto reaching out for Marie's arm.
"Oh, so then, you're ignorant!" yells Marie swinging her arm, without thinking, out of Seto's reach, "You knew what they would have done to me, yet you did nothing to stop it! You just sat back here and let your own granddaughter get mutilated!"
"Mutilated?" asks Seto turning his enraged glare to Solomon.
"They didn't!"
"They did!" exclaims Marie hissing angrily.
"Yurito told me that someone had suggested it," says Solomon shaking his head in disbelief, "For your tenth birthday…"
"You even knew when!" exclaims Marie shaking angrily, "And you didn't try to stop it! Oh, I get it! I really do! All that you care about is your precious Yugi! Your little boy! You never cared about me! Did Yurito despise me too? Is that why she let them do that to me?"
"Marie! What did they do to you?" asks Seto turning to her desperately.
"Camaro? Talk to me, please!" exclaims Téa.
"Marie? Grandpa? What happened?" asks Yugi.
Marie clenches her fists tighter and winds up her left arm for a swing at Solomon.
Seto grabs Marie's wrist to prevent her from finishing her punch. "No… Marie. If either one of us is going to punch that old man for what happened to you, it's going to be me! I hit harder than you do!"
"You want someone who will hit harder, huh?" asks Marie raising her right hand into the air above her head. Her fingers close around the base of the Millennium Scale, which magically appears in her hand. "Ma-Ri-Ko!"
A swirling wind starts up around Marie and whips her clothing fiercely around her body. Marie's triple colored, spiky hair flares out within the confines of her ponytail holder as if a lightning bolt had just hit her. Her bangs stand up into high, arched spikes. Her white T-shirt shortens and appears to crawl up her stomach to reveal her tanned skin. The purple jacket with the white cuffs and collar grows longer to extend to the middle of her thighs instead of her waist.
Marie's pants transform themselves into a deep purple set of hip-hugger Capris, and the white pumps she wears change into a set of white stiletto heels to add a good four inches to her height. The dog-tags style locket she wears reflects the sunlight as she places the Millennium Scale back at her right hip where a strap appears to bind it to her purple belt.
Mariko clenches her fists and smirks at Solomon. Her voice is harder and deeper when she speaks, "I can't believe what I'm hearing! And to think that this body was almost perfect for me!"
"Where'd the Millennium Scale come from?" asks Mokuba, "Marie left that at the house!"
Mariko reels back with her right fist preparing to punch Solomon.
"Grandpa!" exclaims Yugi jumping in front of Solomon just in time to take the fateful fist to his own jaw. He falls to the floor.
"Yugi!" exclaims Téa moving in front of Mariko. She kneels beside Yugi and helps him to sit up wearily. "How could you do this, Marie? Are you okay, Yugi?"
Joey moves to Mariko's side and spins her towards him. "Why'd you have to go and hit Yugi? He didn't do anything to you!"
"He stood in my way. I had no intention of hitting him at all! I wanted that old man!" exclaims Mariko, "For what he did to me, he deserves a lot more than a simple punch. Now, get your hands off me, you filthy mutt!"
"I'm not a mutt!" growls Joey.
"You're right… Mutts are cuter!" exclaims Mariko.
Joey growls.
"And better behaved!" exclaims Mariko.
Tristan grabs Joey from behind to prevent him from lunging and attacking Mariko.
"Now, Marie… Mariko, sit!" orders Seto.
"I don't obey orders!" exclaims Mariko.
Seto's eyes flash angrily.
Mariko's hair falls back down to its normal state, and the clothes revert back to their original form, covering most of Marie's exposed skin. Marie speaks in her regular, girlish voice, "You said 'sit', huh? What makes you think I want to?"
"That is an order, Marie!" exclaims Seto, "Don't defy me!"
Marie sits down in the chair where Mokuba had been seated.
"Everyone, sit!" orders Seto angrily.
"Don't argue, Joey, just do it," says Téa pulling Yugi over to sit down on the couch.
Yugi rubs his cheek and feels the swelling start.
Everyone returns to a seat.
Mokuba sits down on Marie's knees, and Seto leans up against her chair's armrest.
"Now… old man… since you seem to know, tell us what happened to Marie," says Seto in a commanding voice.
"It isn't my place to say," says Solomon, "If she wants you to know, she'll tell you."
Made my stand right here…
"Fine! Coward! I'll tell you, Seto!" exclaims Marie blushing a deep crimson and keeping her eyes averted from Seto's face.
Seto looks at Marie and raises an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "What happened to you?"
"Cover your ears, Mokuba," says Marie quietly.
Mokuba looks at Marie, but he doesn't comply.
"Well, in Egypt, young girls are kind of circumcised so that they will remain virgins until they are married," says Marie turning her eyes further from Seto.
"Big brother, what's circumcised?" asks Mokuba looking up at Seto.
Seto blushes a bright red. "Cover your ears, Mokuba!"
"But, big brother!"
"Cover your ears, Mokuba!" exclaims Seto still blushing bright red, "What do you mean, Marie? How do you circumcise a female?"
Mokuba covers his ears as instructed by Seto, but he still finds it quite easy to hear.
"Well… in some areas… they will either…" Marie's voice trails off.
"They will what?" asks Yugi gently.
"They will either remove the clitoris or damage it so much that the woman would never be able to enjoy sexual activity," says Marie.
Seto's eyes widen. "They did that to you?"
Marie shakes her head. "I said they did that in some areas. I don't really know what all they did to me. I was one of the lucky girls. I was actually in a sterile environment with a real doctor and proper medical tools. They even gave me anesthesia. I was so groggy during it all that I don't know what happened during my surgery exactly… whether or not they did what they wanted to do, but I know that they planned to do a full infibulation on me… the Pharaonic circumcision."
"What is this Pharaonic circumcision?" asks Yugi with wide eyes.
"Oh, no!" exclaims Téa bursting into tears, "I'm so sorry, Camaro! I should have been there! We could have fought them off together!"
"Marie, what is infibulation?" asks Seto, "What exactly did they do to you?"
Marie takes a deep breath and stares off into space. "That's where they remove the clitoris, labia, and prepuce… then they just sew the girl's vagina closed, leaving only a small opening for necessary bodily fluids. Then her husband will know if she is still a virgin before they are married when he has the opportunity to inspect her. Then, after they are married, he cuts the stitches with a double edged dagger, takes her, and then sews her up again if he ever has to go on a trip without her so that no other man could have her without his knowing. That is what they did to me on my tenth birthday."
"Those stupid jerks! How dare they!" exclaims Mokuba lowering his hands, "How dare they take anything out of you or sew any part of you closed!"
"Mokuba! What did I tell you?" shouts Seto.
Mokuba clamps his hands over his ears again. "Sorry, Seto."
Téa continues to sob as she moves over to kneel beside Marie's chair. She takes her friend's hand and cries into it.
Seto looks at Marie, still staring off at the wall away from him.
All you've done wrong
I will set right…
Seto rests his hand on Marie's shoulder. "Don't worry, Marie. Nothing like that will ever happen to you again! I swear it!"
Téa chokes on the words as she sobs. She pulls herself up and sits on the armrest so she can wrap her arms around Marie's neck and hold her close. "I… I can't… I can't believe they do things like that! I'm so sorry, Camaro!"
"Did it hurt you, Marie?" asks Mokuba lowering his hands, "When they did that to you?"
"Like I said, I was lucky… It was painful. More than anything I've ever experienced, Mokuba," says Marie, "Even more than losing Grandma! And it will probably always hurt me."
Mokuba looks up at Seto with pleading eyes.
Seto sees the look on his younger brother's face. He glances over at Yugi through the corner of his eyes. He sets his jaw. Then he looks at Mokuba again.
Marie sits staring off into thin air with a blank expression on her face. Her best girl friend clings to her neck crying uncontrollably into the tri-colored hair, and her young friend sits upon her knees staring at his older brother.
"Move, Mokuba," says Seto.
Mokuba smiles and jumps up off Marie's lap.
Seto quickly sits down across Marie's legs and grabs her chin with his hand. He turns her head so that she looks into his eyes. "You remember what I told you, don't you?"
Marie nods.
Yugi moves to pull Téa away from Marie, and she immediately turns in his arms to cry on his chest so he rubs her back gently to comfort her.
"I meant it then. I mean it now," says Seto, "I'll arrange a doctor's appointment for you in the morning. We'll see if there is anything that can be done to correct what has been done to you."
Téa sniffles as her tears finally slow down and stop flowing from her eyes. She pulls back from Yugi just enough to wipe her eyes but remain safely within his arms.
Marie takes a deep breath.
I won't give up
I won't break down
I'm not gonna panick…
Seto pulls Marie into a long, open-mouthed kiss.
Yugi's jaw drops, and his eyes widen.
Téa sees the expression on Yugi's face and turns to see Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp and richest person in all of Japan, sitting on Marie's knees and kissing her passionately. She tries to force her eyes away from the sight, but her eyes don't move away from the shockingly disturbing sight.
Tristan simply stares in amazement. He never would have guessed that someone as cold and cruel as Seto would ever be seen lip-locked with an attractive woman.
Solomon's eyes widen in shock as he stares at Seto kissing his granddaughter. He clutches his hands over his heart again.
"Ew! My eyesight is permanently damaged!" exclaims Joey clamping his eyes shut, "I just saw Kaiba kissing Yugi's sister! Ew!"
Seto pulls out of the kiss and moves to get up.
Marie grabs Seto's arm. She looks down at the floor. "Let it go this time, Seto… for me…"
"That mongrel insulted you," says Seto glaring at Joey.
"I don't want to let you go…" Marie closes her eyes and hangs her head.
Seto looks back at Marie intending to argue the point some more, but when he sees her looking so weak and fragile, as if her very soul had been shattered, then he changes his mind. He wraps his arms around behind her back and pulls her up tight against him. "Fine… for you, Marie!"
Marie moves her head to rest against Seto's shoulder, and her body shudders.
Seto raises his eyebrow. "Marie?"
Marie takes a sharp breath and inhales the scent of Seto's cologne taking in his strength as well as his aroma. Her voice is strong and commanding when she speaks, "Move…!"
Seto stands up and looks down at Marie with slightly worried eyes.
Marie stands up quickly as the fire and anger return to her purple eyes. "You stupid old fool! How could you honestly expect me to survive in Egypt when you knew full well what that culture would do to me?"
"I knew of their culture, but I never believed that they would force it upon someone from a different culture," says Solomon, "Not without Yurito's permission, and I knew she would never give it!"
"You are stupid!" exclaims Marie, "Let's settle this once and for all… with a Shadow Game!"
"A Shadow Game?" asks Tristan.
"No!" exclaims Yugi moving away from Téa finally and looking directly into Marie's eyes, "I'll play your game, Marie! Not Grandpa! I know that you're angry with Grandpa because he sent you to Egypt, and what happened to you there should never happen to anyone! But it really isn't his fault! You can't blame him!"
"Well… let's see about that, Yugi-boy! If you happen to win, I will forgive your Grandfather for what happened!" exclaims Marie, "But that is all I promise to do should you win! But if I win, I will send his soul to the Shadow Realm forever so that he can be tortured there in much the same way that I was!"
Yugi looks at Solomon.
Solomon nods. "If you wish to accept her challenge, Yugi, I will be willing to face the punishment should you lose."
"I won't lose!" exclaims Yugi, "You have a deal, Marie!"
Marie smirks at Yugi. Her eyes drift down to the upside down pyramid around Yugi's neck. "Is it true, Yugi? Does the Pharaoh's spirit reside in the Millennium Puzzle?"
"Yes. He's called Yami," says Yugi.
"I can't wait to see who is stronger… Mariko or Yami?" exclaims Marie. She turns her eyes towards the boy who she now believes to be her brother. She looks at Yugi's spiked hair, at the trio of colors. She pulls the ponytail holder from her hair, and her hair automatically stands up on end to be the mirror image of Yugi's hair. She gazes into the deep purple eyes, so much like her own.
Yugi stares back at Marie. "I never thought I had a sister, Marie."
Marie pulls her hair back down into the high ponytail and wraps her elastic holder around it. She turns to look at Seto. "When I said I wanted a brother like you have, Seto, I meant I wanted your brother, not one of my own!"
"Let's duel, Marie!" exclaims Yugi, "I'll duel you, but I must warn you, I learned how to play Duel Monsters from our Grandpa!"
"Get your duel disk, and meet me outside!" exclaims Marie moving quickly to the stairs. She stops and turns towards Yugi. "And I must warn you, I learned how to play Duel Monsters from our Grandma!"
"Deal!" exclaims Yugi.
Marie hurries down the stairs with Seto and Mokuba following quickly.
"Hey, Yugi! I'll be outside finding a nice place to watch!" exclaims Téa.
Yugi smiles as Téa hurries down the stairs with Joey and Tristan following behind. He hurries to his room to get his duel disk and his dueling deck. Then he heads downstairs and outside with Solomon.
