AN: Update is here! :D I saw you liked Chapter 10 and so much thanks for your reviews!

A little side note for this and all duels that will come after this: I decided to follow the original rules of the game, this means I will consider the different phases you have to go through in your turns. Draw Phase, Main Phase, Battle Phase. For an example it's not allowed to switch your monsters to defense mode after or during your Battle Phase. It makes things way easier and ore transparent. :-)

You may have wondered about who will duel against Yami Marik since I kicked Mai out of this story. But it's obvious, isn't it? It's a completely different duel and there will be other cards in it. I tried to keep it a bit similar to the original; I also had a few ideal for fancy turns, but I decided to keep it as simple as possible. Things would have got too complicated - you know? But I think I did a good job in writing this duel.

Happy reading! Enjoy!

Chapter XI

Inferno

„My real name is Jesara Ishtar… Jendayi is my maiden surname…" she whimpered with a faint voice and dug her fingernails into her palm, her body flooded with panic and embarrassment, „I'm so sorry… B-but I had my reasons not to tell you…"

„YOU'RE WHAT!? HIS WIFE!?" her friends shouted out loud in unison. Jesara's unexpected confession left them with their mouths agape. From all possible things that could have happened they at least expected this kind of a coming-out. It was the secret she never wanted them to know, but now it just dropped like a bomb.

„You've been lying to us all the time…? B-but I thought you were a friend…" Tea stammered, tears gathered in the corner of her blue eyes when she looked at Jesara in puzzlement. The two girls had a close relationship since they were the only females in their clique. And Tea was the only person Jesara could talk to about girl and emotional stuff. „Then it was all a lie?"

Jesara cringed her fists so hard her long nails dug deeper into the flesh of her palms. Shame overwhelmed the light grey haired egyptian girl. Her amber-olive eyes were still glued to the floor, she wasn't able to look them in the eye just for a second. Too strong was the feeling of embarrassment that tightened her throat. She shook her head to negate Tea's question. „I-it wasn't a lie… I have nothing to do with his plans… please believe me…"

„How could we ever trust you again, Jess!? You let in a trojan horse!" Joey blamed her again for all the shit that happened lately because of Marik. For him it was hard to believe that Jesara had nothing to do with it. All the time she said nothing, she played along and left them unknowing about the danger right in front of their noses.

„How could you do that, Jess? You knew about everything… I can't believe we didn't see it earlier." Yugi, now again possessed by the Pharaoh's spirit, grumbled with narrowed eyes at the egytian girl with the light grey hair.

„P-please… let me explain." Jesara muttered under her breath. „There's a lot you don't know about me…"

„I guess it's far too late for apologies, Jess!" Joey yelled at her. Disappointment was plastered in his face. He couldn't believe that he had a crush on her all the time; on the one who lied to them since they came to know her. At this she said nothing more, there was nothing she could say to make them forgive her. She betrayed them. Why should they even listen to her explanations? For the second time in her life she lost everything she ever had.

Then she made a bolt for the elevator when it slid open and the medical aid team arrived on the deck to get Odion to the doctor's room. Her vision was blurry, her eyes burned again from the tears and she nearly stumbled over the gurney when she bursted into the elevator cabin. Jesara pushed the button downwards a million times to make the doors slid shut faster - but everybody knows that this never worked as wished.

/ Jesara's room

She stormed into her room and slumped onto her bed, burying her tear stained face into her pillows and sobbing heavily. This was a nightmare, a disaster. Jesara knew they won't be pleased about her bond to the one who tried to kill them, but she didn't expect that it would be so painful. Her whole life shattered to pieces once again. If betraying her friends and losing their trust forever wasn't horrible enough, something evil awoke inside of Marik… Something that scared her for life. And she didn't knew what it was. Within seconds his whole body language and behaviour changed completely, his voice, his expression. It was like his soul vanished away when a demon took control over him. Jesara had no idea what this entity was, where it came from and who he was.

Marik fought against it with all his strength, but he wasn't able to hold it back. She remembered the words he said to her before the evil entity awoke. ‚Run. Run away as far as possible. I don't want to hurt you.' She repeated his warning over and over again in her mind. Did he know what was coming? And had it something to do with Odion's knock-out?

So many questions crossed her mind. She felt lost, alone and blamed herself for everything that happened. Maybe things would be different if she told Yugi and her other friends about it earlier. But Joey was right, it was too late for apologies. She had to deal with the consequences of her mistakes now.

„Dear duelists! The half of the Battle City semi-finals are over and we're choosing the next pairing for round three in 5 minutes. Please proceed to the hall. Thank you!" Roland's professional voice came from the intercom. There was no way she would go out there; not in a hundred years. The embarrassment was too much, so she decided to skip on the lottery for now and hoped not to be chosen next. She needed to be alone right now.

Jesara cried into her pillows for another five minutes, ignoring the fact that she should be at the hall right now. But she had bigger problems to worry about than this.

„For round number three the duelists Namu- ähm, no - Marik Ishtar and Jesara Jendayi were chosen by the lottery. Please proceed to the stratos deck. The duel starts in 10 minutes!" Roland announced from the intercom. Jesara cringed when his words met her ears. What!? No. No no no no no. She looked over to the intercom computer in her room with her mouth agape. Her light grey bangs hung into her tear-stained face when she lifted herself up from the bed. From all possible pairings for the next round this was the absolute worst. ‚Karma is a bitch…' she sighed mentally and rushed into her bathroom to wash the tears away.

„Ishizu… where are you when I need you more than ever…" she murmured when she stared at her reflection in the mirror. „Please tell me what to do…"

It was time to get going, although it was the last thing she wanted to do. He or it, or whatever it was that controlled Marik, scared the crap out of her. And at least she didn't want to be around her former friends right now…

Jesara made sure to have her deck with her before she left her room. She was a bit late, but her footsteps felt like her feet were made from cement. Every step that brought her closer to the stratos deck, closer to him and her friends, felt like she was walking on shattered glass.

The elevators doors slid open in front of her and she was only met by silence and her friend's eyes glaring at her in disappointment. Jesara didn't expect to see them on the deck to watch her duel. It would've made sense if they would have spent the time otherwise.

„You're late!" Kaiba spat from the side and glared at her with his typical pissed off expression. „How dare you to let us wait!"

„Calm down, Kaiba… And buy yourself some manners, money won't be the problem." Jesara answered him and walked over to the staircase that led to the duelling platform. When she looked up her eyes locked with blank lavender ones that now had the shade of death and threat; he was already waiting for her. His devilish smirk gave her goosebumps; there was nothing like kindness left in his eyes. The Marik she knew had vanished away completely.

„My precious Jesara, what a wonderful coincidence." Marik's deep voice chuckled at her when she stepped onto the platform. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. He must have changed his outfit in the meantime to a beige coloured pant and a black-slim fitting muscle shirt. Around his neck and shoulders he wore the signature dark purple cloak of the Rare Hunters. „I have to admit that my pitiful father made a good choice to make you my wife." Again she balled her fists beside her hips and growled slightly.

„I'm not your wife, whoever YOU are…" Jesara murmured and positioned herself on her side of the platform. She felt how her body started to tremble from his threatening gaze that was fixed on her.

„I am the real Marik, my dear. Or to be exactly I'm the stronger version of his mind. He created me from his endless hate and pain." The dark Marik explained with a big smirk on his face.

„Where is he? What have you done to him!?" Jesara spat from across the field and glared daggers at the sandy blonde whose hair pointed up into all possible directions.

„You mean my weaker half? Mhhh… I guess he's having a little chitchat with my father in the shadow realm." He chuckled evilly and shrugged his shoulders. She gasped at his answer. ‚The shadow realm?' Jesara had heard about this place before, it was mentioned in the old scriptures she had studied back in her life in egypt. It was the place were souls were banned to as a punishment or if they lost a shadow game in ancient times. The Marik she knew also has sent a few of his slaves and Rare Hunters to this place when they disappointed him by using his millennium rod. Of course she had witnessed this kind of punishment for too often.

„Set him free! Release him!" Jesara commanded and pointed her finger towards the demon that possessed Marik's body.

He chuckled heavily again. „You really think it's that easy, my dear? I was held back by this fool Odion for so many years and now I'm finally free again. Do you really believe that I'm giving up control over my body again… just because you say so? You're very feisty, my dear. I like that."

„Shut up, you freak! It's not YOUR body and you're not welcomed here. And don't call me that!" She hissed back. Her knuckles turned white when she clinged her fists even tighter.

„Hahahaha. But what about a little deal, my lovely Jesara? If you win this duel I'll give you back your precious Marik." His low voice was filled with nothing but pure malice. The aura that surrounded him made her flesh crawl in fear.

„And if I lose it…?" She asked curiously.

„If I win this duel you'll have to accept your destiny as my wife and slave. But it could be worse, my dear. I could easily send you to the shadows too when you lose it, but it would be awful waste of potential." He shot her an amused glance and laughed heavily at her reaction to his offer.

„What!? I'd rather die than living a life in your slavery." Jesara spat back, clenching her teeth together in fury.

„Let's talk about this when you lost the duel, my dear." Marik chuckled and activated his duel disk that transformed into duelling mode within seconds.

„I won't. Take my word for it!" She muttered and activated her duel disk too, then she shuffled her deck and put it into it. „Lady's first." Jesara opened the duel and drew her first cards. She looked at them in concentration, considering what was best to start with. She had no idea what kind of strategy this entity had to offer, but she would soon find out. Before she could place a card onto her duel disk Marik interrupted her again.

„Before I forget, let's make this duel a bit more interesting." He said cooly with his threatening deep voice and grabbed for the millennium rod that he had attached to his belt behind his back. He held it up high and a bright light enhanced the Anubis eye on top of it. Within seconds the whole duelling platform was covered and surrounded by thick dark clouds, vanishing away every natural light from the night sky and the moon.

Jesara looked at her new surroundings in puzzlement. Was this dark fog that covered everything around her what she thought it was? „What have you done!? Where are we?"

„I thought it would be more fun to make this duel a shadow game. I guess our clan told you about what happens to the loser of a shadow game, mh?" Marik smirked evilly at her again.

„A shadow game!?" Joey bursted out from the side.

„Exactly. We're now in the shadow realm, things work different here. As I said before… When you lose, my dear Jesara, you can choose between accepting your fate as my wife and slave for eternity…" Marik paused to chuckle heavily. „…or you can loose yourself in the eternity in the darkness of the shadow realm."

Jesara stared at him with a shocked expression; he really brought them to the shadow realm. The loser had to pay a high price. A growl left her throat. „And as I said before I'd rather die than being doomed to your side."

„Then, make your first turn." He chuckled.

"I summon my Ancient Gear Knight (1800/500) in attack mode and place one card face down on the field. Your turn." She explained and put on her best poker face. A metal warrior appeared in front of her holding a massive shield. 'Whatever he comes up with, my trap card Draining Shield will keep me save until I figure it out.'

This didn't seem to impress Marik at all, his devilish smirk was still present in his face. "Nice turn, my dear. I'll start off with my Revival Jam in defense mode. (1500/500) Additional I play my Jam Breeding Machine; it will produce one Slime Token by every turn I make. That's all for now."

"That's all? I guess this will be easier than I expected." Jesara teased and drew another card from her deck. "Next I summon my beautiful Dark Valkyria (1800/1050) in attack position."

"Jesara!" Yugi, currently possessed by the ghost of the Pharaoh, shouted from beside the field. "Take care of his Revival Jam! He used it against me before!"

Jesara stared down to him in surprise. He helped her? Why should he after all what happened lately? "Yugi… Why do you help me?" She asked curiously.

But before the Pharaoh could answer her question he got interrupted by Marik's laughs. "Hahaha. You can't help her, Pharaoh. I promise you that my duelling skills are completely different and way stronger than the tactics of my weaker half. Whatever you've seen before was child play, this is much worse. Hahaha"

"If that's the case, why don't you show a bit more?" Jesara teased him with narrowed eyes. "I know that Revival Jam can't be destroyed. That's why I decided to end my turn."

"Wise decision, my dear. I activate my spell card Pot of Greed, this allows me to draw two new cards from my deck. Next the effect of my Jam Breeding Machine activates and it produces my first Slime Token. (500/500)" Marik explained when the huge machine on his side of the field ejected a smily little ball with a ghosty face on it. "Additionally I also play a card face down. It's up to you again, my dear."

'This is way too easy. Why is he playing so defensively? I guess he wants to summon Ra and sacrifice his slime tokens for it. I need to get rid of them.' She thought and drew a card from her deck. ‚I bet an eye that his face down card is a trap to negate an attack… But I never find out if I don't try.'

„Okay, you jerk. I activate the effect of my Dark Valkyria. It allows me to decide to raise her power by 300 attack points or to destroy one of your monsters instead. And I decide to get your Revival Jam out of the way." Jesara explained and her dark fairy-like monster began to glow in a violet light. Just a second light Marik's Revival Jam shattered into millions of pieces.

„Nice turn, my dear. My weaker half and Odion were good teachers." He chuckled and waited for her to continue and finish her turn.

„You'll soon be laughing on the other side of your face. I expected more than this." Jesara taunted him. „Ancient Gear Warrior, attack his Slime Token!"

After she finished her command the ancient monster started his attack and rushed towards Marik and his spooky slime figure when suddenly his face down card flipped open. „Not so fast, my dear. I activate my trap card Wall of Disruption."

„No! Not this trap card!" Jesara gasped when her eyes shot wide open and let out a deep growl.

„Yes yes…" Marik teased and grinned at the light grey haired girl in front of him. „This trap card reduces the attack points of your monsters by 800 points for each of them. So I guess both loose 1600 points! Hahahaha"

„B-But that means that my monsters have just 200 attack points left…" Jesara stuttered. Her Ancient Gear Warrior was now weaker than Marik's Slime Token and got destroyed from his attack on it. Jesara's life points dropped to 3700, but the damage could have been worse.

„That's correct, my dear. And because you've already entered your Battle Phase you can't switch your Dark Valkyria, which is just a picture of misery by now, into defense mode anymore. You're an easy prey now, sweetheart." Marik explained with narrowed eyes and sadistic smirk on his face.

„Your turn…" Jesara growled slightly, she knew she was in serious trouble now. His next turn could cost her a big amount if her life points, but at least she got rid of his Revival Jam thanks to the effect of her Dark Valkyria.

„I summon Makyura the Destructor (1600/1200) in attack mode, additionally I equip it to Makyura and raise its power by 500. (2100/1200) And then I set one card face down again." He explained as a tall monster with a dark amour appeared in front of him, wearing a dark amulet that gave him even more power - enough power to beat Jesara's now extremely weakened Valkyria and take a lot of her life points from her. „And now, attack the Dark Valkyria, or better what's left of her!"

When the beast bolted towards Jesara's monster she smirked at him. „Thanks! You activated my trap card Draining Shield! It negates your attack and the equal of your monsters attack points will be added to my life points!" She flipped her trap card open by a little click on her duel disk.

„Ts ts ts…" Marik taunted again. „I guess this won't work, sweetheart. I activate my spell card Remove Trap."

„No!" Jesara shouted when her Draining Shield shattered to pieces in front of her and Makyura sliced her Valkyria into two. Immediatly her life points dropped to 1900. „You'll regret this."

„I can't wait to see you take revenge, my dear Jesara. But first I'll attack you directly with my now two Slime Tokens!" He threatened. Jesara gasped when she realised that there already were two of his slimy figures, 500 attack points each. She must have missed that his Jam Machine ejected a new one. They rushed towards her with high speed and thrusted directly into her stomach, making her bow in pain when they hit her. Again her life points dropped to 900.

„Argh…" She moaned and struggled to catch her breath. „W-what freaky kind of hologram is that?"

„Did you forget that this is a shadow game and things are pretty real here?" Marik teased from across the field; his arms crossed in front of his chest. He stood tall and his muscular arms looked a lot stronger than she remembered from… the real one.

„Guys… although I'm really upset with her after all the shit that happened earlier… things aren't looking that good for her. Why is this freak messing his wife up like that? By now I understand nothing anymore…" Joey whispered loud enough for his friends around him to hear.

„I can't tell you that, my friend. But she needs a big amount of luck right now if she wants to win this. I feel the same about her as you, but it would be fatal if Marik wins this. It would get him closer to finish his plans." The Pharaoh replied quietly to not interrupt Jesara's concentration up on the platform.

Jesara's breath was still heavy. Marik's Slime Tokens had hit her at full tilt; her abdomen still hurt like hell from their attack. She stood there slightly bowed; her hands covered her stomach area by instinct.

„I wonder how she was able to qualify for the finals with her amateurish skills in duelling. I guess that everything I heard about Jesara was fake." Kaiba stated cooly from the side of the platform, loud enough for everyone to hear. He stood there like he was some sort of king or ruler of the whole world. Sometimes she wished she could kick his ass so hard that it would launch him into outer space.

„Shut up, Mr. Rich Bitch Without Manners and mind your own business. Get yourself a girlfriend, maybe you'll be more endurable then. But I guess that there's not a single female out there that would take you voluntarily!" Jesara hissed down and glared daggers at him, still bowing in pain. At this he said nothing more, but sat on his signature arrogant smirk.

„DISSED!" Joey shouted out laughing heavily.

„Don't you want to make your turn, my precious Jesara?" Marik taunted. Everything about him was threatening.

Jesara said nothing, but shot him a bugged glare when she drew a card from her deck. Right now she needed a miracle to win this duel; she had not a single card left on the field for her protection. ‚Card Destruction… that might help me out of this misery. And I also have my Guardian Angel Joan in my hand… but I need to summon her somehow… with a big amount of luck.'

„Alright… Let's see how you like that, you freak. First of all I activate Card Destruction! That means we have to send all our cards on hand to the graveyard and draw new ones." She explained and put all her cards on hand into the graveyard section of her duel disk and drew new ones.

„Sweet. The last breaths of the prey… Hahaha" Marik laughed as he also sent all his cards to the graveyard. When he looked at his new cards on hand he began to smirk heavily. Little did she know that playing Card Destruction was a huge mistake.

‚Thank Ra… I just drew the one card I needed right now.' Jesara thought when she looked at her new cards. „I play Monster Reborn! And because I've sent her to the graveyard with Card Destruction I can now summon my Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)! Additional I play two cards face down." She declared as a tall, angel like figure appeared from a bright light in the fogged sky above them. White feathers fell down to the field, they sparkled like diamonds in the dark atmosphere of the shadows. „She will get me back some of my life points thanks to her special effect. Joan, attack his Makyura and send him to the graveyard!"

With a bright and intense light beam Joan did how Jesara commanded; Marik's monster bursted into millions of tiny pieces. Marik's life points dropped to 3300, while Jesara's life points rose to 3000 again because of the special effect of Joan. „I end my turn…"

„Welcome back in the game, my dear." Marik chuckled and drew his next card. As he looked at it he bursted into a heavy laugher. „Hahahaha. The duel is almost over, my dear!"

Jesara narrowed her eyes with curiosity and disgust. ‚What did he draw?'

„What a pity that this little game of ours didn't last that long. But all good things come to an end, aren't they?" He placed the card he had just drawn into the spell/trap card area of his duel disk and a hologram of it immediately popped open in front of him. When Jesara's amber-olive eyes looked at the card every color vanished from her face. ‚Not Brain Control…'

„For the price of just 800 life points I can take control over your Guardian Angel Joan until the end of my turn, my dear." Marik explained with his dangerous low voice and suddenly Jesara's Angel Joan switched to his side of the field. Her eyes widened in shock; she was defenseless - again.

„And because you played Card Destruction earlier you made a huge huge mistake, sweetheart. You made it possible for me to draw Ra earlier." He grinned at her.

Her heart skipped a beat at his words. ‚Ra? Oh my… He has enough monsters on his side of the field to summon it…'

„I guess you know what's next! I sacrifice two of my Slime Tokens and your Guardian Angel Joan to summon my egyptian god card The Winged Dragon of Ra!" Marik shouted out loud when his slimy figures and her Guardian Angel blazed up in fire. The whole platform was surrounded by flames and a blinding, golden light appeared above him. Jesara could feel the heat on her face and body from the inferno that surrounded her now. Yugi and the others stood beside the platform with their mouths agape and widened, shocked eyes.

A large birdlike dragon formed from the blinding light; it was bigger than anything else she'd seen before. Its body seemed to be made from pure gold and its roars were deafening.

„Stop this Marik! That's insane!" Yugi, or to be exactly the Pharaoh, shouted out loud to make Marik stop - but to no avail.

„Hahaha, Pharaoh…. Why should I? Didn't she betray you and lie to you and your friends all the time? I guess I'm doing you a favor." Marik chuckled and glared at the Pharaoh with his blank, narrowed eyes. In the meantime Jesara's eyes were glued to the golden phoenix in front of her. She never felt such a fear.

„It doesn't matter! You can't hurt anybody just for fun!" The Pharaoh yelled at him.

„Than look closely. I can." Marik smirked as his gaze wandered back to the frightened Jesara.

The Winged Dragon of Ra gained his attack points from the monsters sacrificed to summon it. That meant his attack points were 3800 now, enough to wipe away all of Jesara's remaining life points.

„And now, my beautiful god! Attack her directly and win this shadow game for me!" Marik commanded the golden phoenix and pointed his finger in her direction. Again a deafening roar filled the air around them; it was so loud that she felt how everything around her vibrated. The dragon rose up into the sky and a huge fireball formed in its mouth.

Jesara was unable to move or breath. The dragon finally darted his fire ball attack down towards her and it hit her at full tilt, carrying her off her feet completely. Flames surrounded her, making her feel the unbearable heat on every inch of her skin. Ra's attack had such a power that it knocked Jesara flying, overturning several times before she hit the railing of the duelling platform with her back.

„Oh my god!" Tea shouted out in shock and covered her mouth with her hand. Everybody down the platform, of course except of Mr Rich & Famous, stared at her in fright.

Her life points finally reached zero. It was quite a miracle that she didn't lost consciousness from the impact of Ra's attack. Trembling from pain she managed to get back on her knees, bracing herself from the floor with shaking, bruised hands. Slight moans racked with pain left her throat as she lost balance again and sat herself down to the floor. A sharp pain from her abdomen shot through her body as she tried to lift herself up again. The impact of Ra's attack has left a cut above her left eyebrow and bottom lip; blood streamed down from the two injuries in her face. Every bone and inch of her body hurt, especially the right side of her thorax. Maybe she cracked one or two of her ribs when she hit the railing. Jesara gasped for air; not sure if it was a panic attack or because every inch of her body felt bruised.

From the corner of her eye she saw that somebody came to a halt beside her, from the color of the pants she knew who it was - Marik, or the entity that controlled his body.

„Tell me again how I can take your word for it that you can beat me, my dear Jesara." He chuckled with his evil, low voice that sounded like it came straight from hell. „I hope that didn't hurt too much." Jesara looked up at him at his sarcastic words. Her expression was a mixture of hate, disgust and especially one thing: fear.

He kneeled down and leaned in to her, staring at her intensely with his bright evil smirk. „You should've run away as far as you could like my weaker half told you before I took over control. Now it's to late." But she was to weak and pain-stricken to answer him.

„Well well, my sweetheart. Do you still decide for the shadow realm than accepting your fate given purpose as my sweet wife? It would be a pity to lose something so beautiful." He asked while his blank eyes locked with her exhausted amber-olive ones as he lifted her chin up a bit with his index finger and thumb.

„I have nothing more to lose… The shadows sound like a spa treatment than a life as your slave." She muttered and coughed. Although fear filled every inch of her bruised body she tried to keep her poker face on.

„What a waste…" He sighed with an evil smile as he grabbed the rod from behind is back and held it in front of her. Again the typical golden light enhanced from the Anubis eye on top of it. Jesara pressed her eyes together, awaiting her world to go black, silent and cold.

But.

Nothing happened.

She was still there, her soul attached to her aching body.

„What's wrong!? My rod resists my commands!" Marik growled loud and tightened his grip on the millennium rod. „Obey me!"

Meanwhile the Pharaoh, Joey and Tea had climbed onto the platform after Roland declared Marik as the winner and rushed to her side to prop her up. Jesara opened her eyes slowly, a feeling of gratitude overwhelmed her when she felt the comforting touches of her friends on her back and arms to give her some balance.

„What's wrong, you maniac!? Low battery in your toy or are you just too dumb to use it?" Joey taunted angrily and glared daggers at him. „Jess, are you okay?"

„Get away from her!" Tea spat at the dark Marik when she kneeled down to her friend.

„That's enough, Marik. Stop it now!" The Pharaoh commanded and forced himself between Jesara and Marik.

Marik stood up and growled dangerously, still focusing his blank eyes to the rod. „I can't send her to the shadows…" They could tell from his face that he was raging, still confused why the rod didn't want to work.

„He's still there… somewhere deep down…" Jesara whispered with a slight smile before her vision turned completely black when she lost consciousness.

/ Medical Room

„Jess?" a familiar male voice cut through the darkness and it sounded so far away… dull.

„Miss Jendayi's got a mild concussion, several contused ribs and bruises. She will recover completely, but it will take a while until she wakes up." another, but unknown voice said. Still everything around her was black. The voices echoed through the darkness.

„Are you sure? I hope you're right, Doc." Jesara wasn't sure, but this female voice sounded like her friend Tea.

„Yes, we ran a few tests on her during the last hour. She'll be fine, but things could have been much worse. She definitely got a guardian angel." The unknown voice said again.

„Okay…" the familiar male voice sighed. Did this one belong to… Joey?

Did they care for her although she lied to and betrayed them? They worried about her.

„I know I shouldn't ask…" The voice that obviously belonged to Kaiba's doctor on the aircraft said curiously. „But when we ran the tests on her we saw that her whole back is completely covered with deep scars. They look like they were caused by a knife or whip or something like that. I guess it happened about 2 or 2 and half years ago… Do you know something about that? Since she's not full-aged I have to report this to the youth welfare if she got abused by her parents or her relatives."

When the voice fell silent in the endlessness of the darkness she could make out several voices gasping and some „What!?"s and „Oh my god!"s talking across each other. Although her head and body hindered her on getting her thoughts straight again, she tried to understand the words that were spoken and catch the meaning of them.

Scars? Back? Abused…?

„I'm sorry, Doc… But we hear about this the very first time… we had no idea…" Tea's voice said in a sad tone.

„There's a lot you didn't know about her and her past. But she didn't want to lie to you in first place, she just wanted to forget and leave it all behind. She just didn't tell you." Another, very familiar female voice said softly. She knew this voice; it sounded so wise, so comforting and… Ishizu?

„Ishizu… What happened to her?" Tea's voice asked and echoed through the darkness.

Slowly the darkness lifted and turned into different shades of orange, grey and and red. Jesara tried to move her fingers to feel what was underneath them. It felt cozy and warm, like a blanket?

„I-Ishi…Ishizu." She stuttered as loud as she could, but all she could manage was a slight whisper. When she opened her eyes slowly her vision was still blurred, but she could make out a clean and sterile looking lamp and a stylish pattern above her. Then she saw a silhouette of what could possible be a face with blonde hair.

„Jess? You're back!" The familiar male voice said loud. It took Jesara's eyes a while to focus, but then she was certain. The blonde silhouette was Joey!

„Mhm…" She murmured and tightened the grip of her hands on the blanket. Her head still ached a bit, so did her whole body. Jesara tried to sit up, but was held back softly by gentle hands.

„Don't move, Jesara. It's fine. You need to rest." Ishizu said gently and forced a smile, but concernment was way too present on her face.

„You're here… H-how long did I… sleep?" Jesara muttered and smiled at her black haired sister-in-law. She wore a beautiful white dress and veil made from finest egyptian silk. A golden headpiece held everything in place.

„2 hours. It's a miracle that you're already awake again." Ishizu answered.

By now Jesara had regained full consciousness and vision. They were all there, all of her friends. Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan, Serenity, Duke. They looked at her with a concerned expression.

„Y-you did find out about… my sca- my back?" Jesara asked in a sad tone. Ishizu nodded and her piercing blue eyes grew sadder. Jesara sighed, but tried to accept the situation like it was. She never wanted to tell them about it and everything about the why, when, where, who. All she wanted was to seal those memories somewhere into the darkest corners of her mind. „I guess we have a lot to catch up…"

„But first you need to rest, Jess." Joey said gently from beside the bed she was lying on.

„Miss Jendayi, how do you feel right now? I can dose you with some more morphine if the pain is too hard." The doctor interrupted them and checked on her pupillary light reflex with a tiny flashlight.

„I'm fine… And please, let's be honest from now on. My surname is Ishtar… I'd appreciate it if you call me by my real name…" Jesara said with a still weak voice, but she felt better by every minute. Ishizu smiled at her with an unreadable expression. Was it relief? Happiness? Maybe both.

„We'll arrive at our final location tomorrow morning. I'd like to have you under medical supervision during the night, Miss…Ishtar." The doctor insisted.

"Uhm… Would it be possible to move me to my room anyway? It would be okay if you come and check on me every hour if that's necessary. But I really need to have a talk in private with my friends and this can't wait. And I don't want to disturb Bakura as well…" Jesara asked kindly and looked over to her white haired friend who laid on the bed next to her - still unconscious.

"I don't think that's a good idea." The doctor determined with unease in his voice and gaze. "But if you insist on that…"

"She will be with all of us. If there's a complication we'll inform you right away." Ishizu asserted forcefully and smiled at the doctor who just replied with a sigh and a nod.

"Please give me 10 minutes to prepare everything for moving you into your private room. I'd like to keep you on the heart monitor overnight." He explained and headed into a tiny room which was attached to the medical room and closed the door shut behind him. Maybe he had some paperwork to do first. Who knew.

"W-what happened while I was knocked out? And Ishizu… where do you came from?" Jesara looked into her sister-in-law's piercing blue eyes as she managed to sit herself up a bit, but grimaced from pain when she did so. Joey rushed to her side to prop her up until she had enough balance to sit upright at her own.

Ishizu sighed before giving her an answer. "I'm sorry that I didn't show up before, but it was necessary. I qualified for the finals as duelist number 8 and while you were asleep I duelled against Kaiba. My necklace predicted that I would defeat Kaiba and help you to get a step closer in saving my brother from his demons."

Jesara raised an eyebrow at Ishizu's explanation. "Did you?"

Ishizu shook her head. "No… My necklace was wrong… I don't know what that means." The black haired egyptian woman sat herself down on the edge of Jesara's hospital bed and stroked her hand to give her some comfort. She had several abrasions on her hands and arms, such as a few bruises from the duel disk that was attached to her arm during the impact of Ra's attack. The cuts in her face were patched; thank god she didn't need stitches.

Jesara sighed and looked down to her bedsheets. Ishizu's millenniums necklace was always right, how could it be wrong this time? A sudden change of fate? Or had it something to do with the appearance of this demon that now had control over Marik's body.

"Ishizu…" the pharaoh spoke up and locked eyes with her. "Marik wanted to ban her soul to the shadows with his millennium rod. But something went wrong or didn't work properly… Do you know what happened? Why he wasn't able to send Jess to the shadows?" He asked with concern in his voice that usually was much deeper and more adult than Yugi's. Jesara gave him a puzzled look. She only remembered some pieces after Ra's attack hit her and she did remember that something was wrong with the rod. Marik was just inches away from banning her soul to the shadows. From this moment on she had a complete back-out.

"A piece of my little brothers soul is still present in his body, although he's too weak to regain control over it again. But he was still strong enough to hinder his dark side on hurting you with the rod. My necklace showed me that he promised you to never harm you with the millennium rod, am I right?" Ishizu explained and looked into Jesara's still puzzled face again. Her blue eyes stared straight into her soul, like she already knew everything about what had happened between them before the real Marik lost control. Of course she knew.

Jesara nodded slightly when Ishizu gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes… He did promise that…"

AN: No cliffhanger this time! :P I loved to write this chapter and I had an amazing flow. It was done in only a few hours, although I didn't plan anything that happened in it. It nearly wrote itself haha. This chapter puts a few pieces together, but next the next chapter will answer a lot of questions about their past and former relationship. :-) Chapter 12 is also already pre-written and I'm actually doing the finger work on it. I guess I will update on Saturday.

I really hoped you liked it!

Btw: I'd love to have your scene suggestions for some Yami Marik & Jesara encounters! :P I'm still in the love mode, but I could need some inspiration to get myself into the very very evil & dark mode. Hope you know what I mean!

Also I want to thank everyone who left a review or favored the story so far! I'm so happy you enjoy it.

Please review and let me know how you liked chapter 11.

xoxo