Mnemoshipping (Yami no Yugi x Marik)
"I will believe in your one point of life."
Every time Marik's back ached, he hated him even more. Every time he tried to twist around and found that the scars on his back made him too stiff to move, he hated him more. Every time he tried to sleep and instead found himself spiraling back down into that dark room with the knife cutting into his back, he hated the pharaoh even more. It was the only motivation he needed – it was the prickle that spurred him on every time he faltered and thought, perhaps, he was the one that was wrong.
"I will believe in your one point of life."
When his eyes finally met the pharaoh's, albeit through the eyes of his puppets, his hatred only swelled. He met those fierce red eyes with his own raging violet. I will kill you, he would think. I will put out that fire in your eyes. I will be the victorious one. I will avenge my family.
Every loss only made him angrier, caused his hate to grow into a twisted flower in his heart, squeezing him with its thorns. But the stems were strong, supporting him. He knew he would fall if he cut that flower, and he might never get up again. So he continued to hate him. It was the only thing he knew by now.
"I will believe in your one point of life."
Pretending to be his friend merely fed the flames. He smiled at the useless host with his bland smile, but in his mind he imagined ripping the soul of the pharaoh from that tiny frame and tearing it into pieces, making him feel the pain of his ancestors, making him understand the pain in his back. His smile only barely masked that evil flower of hate, and somewhere in the back of his mind he hoped, he wished that somehow the pharaoh would pick up on his hatred and fight back. Because he would fight back. Those red eyes could not lie. The pharaoh hated him as much as Marik hated the pharaoh – Marik was certain of it. After all, Marik was the one who would end his rule before it had begun. The power-hungry pharaoh would certainly hate him simply for that.
Of course the pharaoh hated him. Because Marik hated him – and he knew the pharaoh had to hate him back, or this battle was pointless.
His hatred was the only thing keeping him alive.
So Marik wasn't sure whether he should be angry or grateful when the pharaoh took his hatred away.
The darkness ate away at him as his darker half laughed. He had merged with the god of the sun, turning himself into the monster. If there was ever a time for the pharaoh to hate him, it was here, facing Marik's true darkness and looking death right in its gaping mouth. If there was ever a time for Marik's hatred to be turned back on him, it was now.
But he didn't. In that moment, Marik realized that he had been wrong.
The pharaoh didn't hate him. He had never hated him. The only hate that had been there had been his own, projected into the pharaoh's eyes. That was not rage in his eyes, nor hatred. It was determination. A determination to cut through the darkness, to defend the ones he cared for, and to protect the world he loved. It was the opposite of hatred.
He had nothing left to support him. He had been wrong. The pharaoh was not the enemy...Marik was the enemy.
He latched himself onto his darker half, forcing his words through his mouth.
"I can never make it towards the light. Strike me down, pharaoh."
Those red eyes met his head-on. And he spoke one sentence that reverberated throughout Marik's entire being.
"I will believe in your one point of life."
All this time. All this hatred. And the pharaoh believed in him.
Why? Why? Why?
The pharaoh struck. The darkness vanished. Marik's own evil filtered away...taking his hatred with it.
Could he even stand anymore? The flower with its thorns had been cut. What was supporting him now?
"Why did you believe in me?"
It was only moments after the duel, after he had revealed the secrets of the pharaoh's memory to him. Marik stood alone in the dark hallway of the Duel Tower with the pharaoh. His red eyes glinted in the half-light, steady. Without hate.
He smiled ever so slightly, and the change it made to his face was dramatic. No longer did he have that harsh determination, but instead, his face was almost gentle.
"Because everyone can step out of the darkness, Marik. No matter how deep they are. As long as you cling...to that last point of life."
Days later, Marik stared out of the window of the plane.
"I will believe in your one point of life."
He looked down at his own hands. Then he smiled. That's right. He still had one point of life left. That flower of hate would not support him. So he would cling to that last, tiny point.
A/N: Geez, I tried finding fanfiction on this one for inspiration, and apparently no one even wants to try doing this pairing within a canon setting. They always do some kind of AU for it, which makes me sad, because although I'm not a huge fan of yaoi, I can see the potential for this pairing in the actual series, even as just a platonic friendship. The transition from Marik's hatred of the pharaoh to his loyalty to him is an important character development that I think many people overlook, and I think we all underestimate the strength of Marik's loyalties by the end of this arc. I wish we had gotten to see Marik and Yami no Yugi's interactions after Battle City. I would have been interested to see them officially, privately make up with each other. After all, the pharaoh seemed to feel guilty about what the Tombkeepers went through, and Marik definitely felt guilty about what he had done. So I would have liked to see them apologize to each other and then forgive each other. Next is *squee!* Mizushipping (Priest Set x Kisara).
