AN: Update is here earlier than I thought! Easter got me a bunch of time and I was able to finish this chapter sooner. Thank you so much for every favouring, following and for every review! So many of you told me that you couldn't wait for this chapter. You really keep me motivated! This one will clear a lot of things up and I tried to put all the breadcrumbs I had put in the previous chapters together in this one.
After this update I change the Rating to M, because it contains physical violence (just to warn you) and I hope it didn't end up too brutally. And I hope you don't hate my version of Marik in this story after this hahaha! Girls love assholes, sometimes. :P Forgive me!
This chapter contains two narrated flashbacks. I hope I did a good job in writing & formating it the way that is understandable. Please mind:
- normal formatting means that I'm describing and writing the scene like I always do includung dialogues and speakings.
- Italic formatting are Ishizu's or Jesara's POV narrations during the flashback. It could also be thoughts of the acting characters of the flashback, but you will see the difference ;-)
Okay then! Enjoy & Happy Easter!
Please make sure to leave a review!
Chapter XII
Breaking Point
Jesara was moved to her private room as promised. But before she insisted on visiting Odion to look after him, but to her bitter disappointment he was still unconscious after all. The doctor also made sure to keep her connected to the heart monitor machine to check on her vital signs during the night. He recommended her to rest and stay in bed for the rest of the tournament. Ishizu and the gang came together at Jesara's room, they really had a lot to catch up and talk about. Right now she felt like she was sitting in the confessional box. Two years ago she left egypt, the Rare Hunters and especially Marik to leave it all far behind, to start over new and never talk about it again. But having Ishizu on her side gave her enough comfort to talk about this part of her life.
The light grey haired egyptian girl sat upright in her bed and leant her back against the wall. To make it more comfortable she stuffed a few pillows in between. Her thorax still hurt from the impact, but thanks to the doctor's magic painkillers it already was way more bearable than it was half an hour ago.
„Well…" Jesara inhaled deeply and let out a sigh, not knowing where to start and unable to find the perfect words. „First of all I want to apologise for everything… for not telling you everything, hiding the truth and lying to all of you… But I had a few reasons to keep it a secret. I hope that you can forgive me one day…"
Yugi, or to be exactly the pharaoh, stood around Jesara's bed and Ishizu looking at them with a curious expression. They didn't really knew what to expect.
„Ishizu… Jess…" Yami said strained. „What is this all about…?"
„And how does it come that Jess is the wife of an insane sadist with a horrible haircut who wants to rule the world?" Joey cut in, his face definitely annoyed and bewildered from the latest events.
Jesara forced a smile, but her eyes still expressed a mixture of unease and sorrow. „Child marriage, Joey… It's a common practice in egypt and especially for an ancient clan that lives like time stands still. I've been married to him one day before…" She paused and looked down to her bruised hands that laid in her lap. „…before he got initiated as a tomb keeper."
Ishizu sat herself down on the bed beside Jesara and gestured her that she wasn't alone with this right now. „I know you have a lot of questions, but let us start from the very beginning…" She said softly and stroked her fingertips across the golden millennium necklace around her neck. „Marik and I were born as the children of the ancient Ishtar clan which protected the tomb of the great pharaoh for the last 5000 years… your tomb, my pharaoh." Ishizu narrated and then locked eyes with Yami.
„5000 years ago my family vowed to the great pharaoh to stand guard in front of his tomb and watch over the secret of his memories. It was our ancient purpose to wait for your return and give you the key to your former power and lost memories as you wished us to do in ancient times. We used to live underground, far away from the modern world and society. And we never were allowed to go outside. For Marik it was hard to accept that it was his destiny to spend his life in the tomb waiting for your return. I understand that he did awful things to you and you will never forgive him for his actions, but I want you to know that he started his life as a big-hearted and innocent child like you and me. My brother still has this big-hearted side inside of him, but it got overshadowed by his anger. Jesara knows what I'm talking about…" Ishizu's piercing blue eyes drifted over to her. Jesara forced a smile and nodded at her sister-in-law, visibly a bit ashamed from the situation right now.
„As the son of the tomb keepers Marik was supposed to continue our families traditions and endure the initiation ritual on his 12th birthday." Ishizu continued with gentleness and wiseness in her words. The gang stared at her like little children at story time.
„Initiation ritual…?" Tea repeated her words with a questioning raised eyebrow.
Ishizu inhaled to answer Tea's question, but all of the sudden Jesara cut in. „As a tomb keeper Marik was supposed to carry the secret to the pharaoh's power on his back. It's an ancient scripture that was given from father to their sons to their grandsons over the millennials. And the initiation ritual is some kind of a official handover of the secret." She sighed when old memories of that day crossed her mind and closed her eyes before she continued.
„Since I know Marik he always was a brave, happy and warm hearted mind. But the closer the day of his initiation came, the more fear built up inside of him. Marik was well aware of the fact that by the time he received the initiation he would be bound to the tomb and the life underground for the rest of his life. I remember when he said that he is forced to sacrifice his life for an ancient pharaoh that will possibly never return. It made him sick that his life might be completely wasted. Well… Our adoptive brother, Odion, offered to step in for Marik so that he can be free and live his life. Odion is the most faithful person I ever met, he'd walk through fire to protect the clan and Marik. Marik's mother found him as a little baby, abandoned in the cold and they raised them as he was their own child. He wanted to give something back to the Ishtar family, but Marik's father went completely crazy at this and denied it." Jesara paused a few seconds to make herself a bit more comfortable again and pushed the pillows behind her back back in place. In the meantime Yugi and the gang sat down at the nearby table to listen to what the women had to tell. Then Jesara looked over to Ishizu, her gaze was begging her to continue.
The black haired woman smiled gently at her and nodded, then looked back to the pharaoh and the gang. „I'll never forget when out father and his servants came to bring Marik to the initiation chamber. He struggled against his destiny with all his strength, but to no avail. He suffered for nearly the whole day and his pain-stricken screams could be heard in the whole tomb… They echoed through every single corridor."
„Suffered…?" The pharaoh asked, wanting Ishizu to explain it a bit more.
„The secret of the pharaoh was carved into his back with a dagger… heated by fire to make sure the scars are deep enough to last for the rest of his lifetime… until he hands it over to his son one day." She explained with a pain filled voice and gaze.
„Oh my god… That's horrible…" Tea covered her mouth with her palm to express her concernment.
„Ishizu and I prayed the whole day for his well-being… But we'll never forget how his screams filled the whole tomb for hours and hours. I can't image the pain that he was forced to endure." Jesara cut in and wrapped her arms around her chest, she always got cold when she thought back to it.
„Marik blamed it on the pharaoh that he had to sacrifice his life to him. He never was the same again after receiving the initiation of the tomb keepers. Something malevolent awoke inside of him to come to terms with the pain and hate he felt. Odion felt so guilty for not being able to prevent Marik from it, so he performed his own ritual as a sign of solidarity and loyalty. That's what his tattooed face is all about. It was his way to prove his faith to my brother." Ishizu narrated as her voice grew sadder. „Just a few months later Jesara got sick, her fever was high and our own medicine savant almost gave up on her. Today we know that she had measles. We didn't know if she'd make it through the night and Marik begged me on his knees to sneak out and get modern medicine for her. It was a hard decision to make… On one hand it was prohibited for us to leave the tomb and get in touch with the modern world, on the other hand she might have died if we didn't break with our traditions. Odion and I were certain that losing Jesara would wreck his young mind completely. He had suffered enough for a boy of the age of 12. Our father didn't really care about it at all. He said that he'd get Marik a new wife to save the holy bloodline of the Ishtar clan, so for him Jesara's death would have been nothing more than a collateral damage."
„This guy sounds like a heartless creep…" Joey stated and rubbed his chin while listening to their story.
„JOEY!" Tea urged him and shot the blonde an upset glare at his disrespectful statement. „You're talking about his father!" At this she cuffed him on his backhead.
„It's okay…" Ishizu sighed. „Our father was a strict and traditional man. We know that not all of his decisions and thinkings were human. But let me tell you the rest of the story…"
/ FLASHBACK
„Okay, Marik…" the young Ishizu sighed and glanced over to the heavy breathing little Jesara who laid in the bed next to them. Her fever got up to 104 degrees F° lately, by now her condition was life-threatening. If they didn't act now she'd probably won't make it through the next 24 hours. Jesara was asleep, but the high fever caused heavy sweating and shivering at the same time.
„I will cover you while you're outside and make sure that father doesn't recognize that you left." Odion reassured and smiled softly at the young siblings. „We can't let her die…But she will when we don't get some modern medicine. Master Marik, I know what she means to you."
The young Marik nodded with teary eyes and wiped away the sweat from his best friends and wife's forehead with a wet towel. Wife… That sounded so surreal and strange.
Marik and Jesara have been best friends for years, they were inseparable like soul mates. Of course they didn't love each other like adults do; both were only 11 and 12. Their childish minds didn't get the purpose of marriage and the meaning of it at this point of their lives. But being just an inch away from losing the only person he had in his life - besides Odion and me - showed him how much he really ‚loved' her. And so we stole out of the tomb without our father knowing, risking a lot of trouble… At this point I didn't know that it was the beginning of the real trouble…
Marik's lavender eyes gleamed and looked fascinated at his surroundings. It was a huge market, hundreds of people strolled around the place to buy or sell things. The sun burned on his skin and the warmth felt incredible comforting. He had no idea of how the outside world would look like.
„Sister, where do we get those things called medicine from?" Marik asked his older sister curiously while his lavender eyes scanned the place for an indication of what they were looking for.
„I think I see a stall for healing methods and medical supplies over there! Maybe they have what we need." Ishizu said and pointed her finger towards the stall she mentioned. The two siblings approached it to see what they had to offer.
„Are you looking for something special? May I help you?" An older man with a long white beard behind the counter asked kindly. Marik stared at him like he was some sort of an alien; he never spoke to someone else than his father and siblings. Social skills weren't his best talent.
„Yes sir, we need medicine for our sick sister." Ishizu explained, but she decided to cut on the sister-in-law and wife-part of the story. Things would have gotten too awkward then. „She suffers from high fever, shivering and she has red tiny spots all over her body… We don't know what to do and we need medicine to treat her with."
The old man looked at them with a thoughtful gaze, after a moment he looked like he had an idea of what might help their ‚sister'. „I see… And I think I have something." He stood up from his seat behind the counter and grabbed something from the drawer behind him. Then he placed it on the counter before them. „This medicine should cure her fever and help her body to fight the illness. I think that your sister has the measles - just from the symptoms you described to me. I don't want to lie to you, but that's a deadly disease and even if you treat her with this there's still a chance that she dies. But at least she will have a 50-50 chance to survive."
Tears gathered in Marik's innocent lavender eyes at the words of the old man. This wasn't what he wanted to hear, but this was better than nothing.
„We take it. What do we owe you?" Ishizu said and waited for the old man behind the counter to tell them the price of the medicine.
„This comes to 950 egyptian pounds, miss." He answered and smiled at the black haired teen.
„Oh…" She gasped and checked the amount of money she managed to find in her fathers quarters when he wasn't around. „I'm afraid that we don't have that much money…"
„Mh…" The old man murmured. „Maybe you have something else to swap?"
Ishizu sighed and shook her head in dismay. But then her little brother cut it. „I have!" The sandy blonde boy exclaimed and struggled to get something off of his finger. When it finally came off he placed a ring made from pure gold on the counter. The ring was very special, hieroglyphs were engraved into it incredibly detailed. Marik knew that it was much worthier than 950 egyptian pounds, but right now he didn't see another chance to buy the medicine.
„Marik!" Ishizu shouted out loud when her younger sibling offered his wedding band for bartering. „You can't give it away! What would Jesara say when she finds out that you sold it?"
„I won't have any more use for it when she dies. So I rather give it away if it saves her life." Marik said and looked back at the old man behind the counter, who eyed the golden ring to check its quality.
„Young boy, that's a beautiful piece. But I have to be honest that this is worth much more than 950 pounds. That's not a good deal for you." He said to make them aware of the fact.
„Then give us some more medicine and supplies with which we can treat her. But please promise me that you don't give it away and that I can buy it back from you when I have enough money one day, okay?" Marik asked with teary eyes.
The old man nodded in agreement and put the medicine such as a few other things into a brown paper bag and handed it over to them. „I promise it to you. I appreciate how much you care for your sister. She must mean a lot to you, little boy. I'm here every day and I will have your ring here so you can buy it back every time. Thank you and good look."
Marik was sad that he had to give away his wedding band, but at this moment he was left with no choice. Material things never meant a lot to him and if it helped him to save Jesara's life it was a low price he had to pay. Then we wanted to make our way back home as soon and as fast as possible. But my brother found a magazine laying on the sandy ground, especially the picture of a motorcycle caught his interest. It was like love at first sight; I could see the fascination in his eyes and he wanted to take it with him. I gave in because we didn't have the time to argue about it. I'm afraid that this played a part in contributing to why he refused his purpose as a tomb keeper and left the tomb about a year later. I introduced him to the outside world and I guess it empowered the darkness inside of him just more.
On our way back we bumped into a stranger who seemed to know about our clan and our mission. He said that a great evil will rise and put the worlds sake at stake. The stranger also told us that the pharaoh will be back soon and that we should prepare for his return. At this point we didn't believe in his words… We ran back home as fast as we could, but when we got back we had to recognize that our father found out about our little trip to the modern world. He went totally crazy and beat Odion half dead. Our father wanted him to leave forever and never come back. We tried to explain it to our father - but to no avail.
„Oh no! Odion!" Ishizu cried out when she saw Odion lying on the cold floor. „Please stop, father! Let me explain!"
„Ishizu! Marik! You knew that it's not allowed to go outside for any reason! And now Odion has to suffer and leave because of your dumbness!" He yelled back, completely out of his mind. They never saw him that outraged.
„Father! Please!" Marik begged, but suddenly an intense headache troubled him. He clung his head with his hands, but the pain got worse and worse. His sandy blonde long hair rose from his shoulders and pointed in all possible directions. His lavender eyes were half narrowed, his irises turned blank and dark. Also his voice was suddenly much darker and lower than usual; it didn't sound like Marik anymore, but like something else - something malevolent.
This was the first time Marik's dark side took control over him. We had to watch how he killed our father with the millennium rod and sent his soul to the shadows. Marik's dark side also wanted to kill Odion and me, but Odion managed to stop him. I believe that Odion's loyalty and faith towards my little brother is the reason why he managed to hold the evil spirit inside my brother back. But when Odion got hurt today Marik's dark side was finally able to break free again.
When Marik became clear again and saw what happened to our father the stranger appeared again. He said that my brother has to change his direction as long as it was still possible. But Marik believed that his fathers death was caused by the pharaoh, who took revenge for our failure to leave the tomb. We never told him that he…or to be exactly his dark side killed our father. We decided it was better when he didn't know the truth. This was another failure we made.
Since then Marik was the wielder of the millennium rod and I inherited the millenium necklace. Because of Jesara's condition she didn't witness what happened and we never told her about it either. We told her the same as Marik when she got better because of the medicine we bought at the market. She didn't have to know that my brother's mind was the home of another, evil entity.
/ END FLASHBACK
„Ishizu!" Jesara gasped in horror. „Why didn't you tell me!?"
„I didn't want you to fear Marik… You were his only person to rely on since that day. Please forgive me for my decisions." Ishizu explained and locked eyes with her sister-in-law beside her.
„So this entity that controls your brother now is his dark side that killed your father?" the pharaoh asked to be sure he understood their story correctly. Ishizu nodded at him with sad piercing blue eyes. „And because he believed that I did kill him all those years he wanted to take revenge?" Again Ishizu nodded at him.
„Sacrificing his life for you by being a tomb keeper, losing his father and the pain he suffered by receiving the initiation, seeing the outside world and what he was meant to never have… All of this caused that the anger and hurt inside of him became stronger and so also his dark side grew stronger. Little time later my brother decided to leave the tomb and his life as a tomb keeper behind. He took Jesara and Odion with him, founded the criminal organization of the Rare Hunters and made plans how to become pharaoh himself… And that's why things are like they are now…" Ishizu explained.
„Let me guess… Marik needs the three egyptian god cards and my puzzle to claim ‚my' power?" the pharaoh asked and raised an eyebrow.
„Yes… He needs to collect all of them and win your puzzle in a duel. If he succeeds the whole world could be destroyed. His evil side has the very same plan, but well… he's much much worse. My brother's alter ego was born from his hate and dismay. This entity just wants to destroy and take revenge. Please, my pharaoh, you need to stop him and bring my brothers good side back…" Ishizu begged him with sorrow in her eyes.
„But there's still one thing I'm curious about…" Joey cut in and rubbed his chin again. „Jess, why did you keep all of this a secret? And what the hell happened to your back? The doctor said you might have been abused or something?"
Jesara cringed at Joey's question. He was right, there was still a part of the story untold. Her story, her secret. „Well…" She inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm her nerves. „Marik, Odion and I left the tomb. I vowed to him that I'll stay by his side come what may. At this time I didn't know that I will have to break this promise. He founded the organization of the Rare Hunters to collect rare duel monsters cards and sell them on the black market by high prices. I have to admit that my life with Marik at this time was quite luxurious. We earned a lot of money and the organization grew bigger and bigger. One could say that I had everything a girl could ever dream of like clothes, jewellery, an intelligent and good looking husband, a yacht, butlers etcetera etcetera. One day Marik had the idea to become pharaoh himself - I mean, the manual to do so was carved into his back. He knew everything about it. Why spend the rest of his life stealing cards when he could rule the world? In his opinion he deserved to be pharaoh himself and that he had suffered enough in his life. From the moment of his initiation he became angrier, more and more frustrated, manipulative and stern. It overshadowed his true nature like I came to know him. But after all I always felt uncomfortable being a part of a criminal organisation and I never agreed with his whole taking-over-the-world-plan. I could have left earlier, but I stayed because I promised it and we were some kind of soul mates; after all he was my anchor in life. And I guess I was his."
The pharaoh and the gang listened to her attentive, but then Joey cut in again. "Did you…" But sometimes Joey's mouth worked faster than his brain. By the second he started to speak he wished he didn't. Tea narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. Asking what he wanted to ask was extremely indiscreet.
Jesara paused for a second and said nothing; she knew what he wanted to ask and of course everyone wanted to know. Joey just said it out loud. She smiled slightly, but her eyes were still telling the opposite. "…love him?" Jesara finished the sentence and looked at the blonde teen for reassurance. "More than you think. We were best friends from the day we met, we walked through everything together and friendship turned into love. That's how it works sometimes I guess."
Jesara felt a heavy weight lifting from her shoulders; it felt good to clear things up once and for all. Old memories came to her mind. "And I also did when Marik changed for the worse. We became more and more distant to each other because of it, but it never really influenced my feelings for him. Odion and I shared the same opinion about his plans and change, but we stayed."
Ishizu patted her shoulder to spend Jesara some comfort. Her sister-in-law seemed somewhat proud of her that she spoke about her feelings and secrets upfront.
"And why did you leave then?" The pharaoh asked sternly. Jesara's gaze grew sadder again and her body language told them that he hit her weak point.
"To make one thing clear… I had a million reasons to leave, but I stayed… until this one particular day. Marik always said that everybody has his breaking point." Jesara said with a touch of melancholy. "He found mine."
/ FLASHBACK
At this time our headquarter, home or whatever you want to call it was located in the deserts a few miles away from the city borders of Cairo. Marik succeeded in finding the well hidden egyptian god card "The Winged Dragon of Ra", although Ishizu helped Pegasus to make sure the three god cards won't ever see the sunlight again. He commanded Odion and a bunch of his other slaves to find "Obelisk The Tormentor" as well, but he failed. Ishizu's necklace warned her and so she was able to cross Marik's plans this time. When Odion came back to our headquarter to deliver the bad news Marik freaked out completely. I never saw him out of his mind like that before. Marik was like a hurricane at that moment and lost control over his actions.
They stood in a big, windowless room from the size of a saloon. The floor was made from finest marble and egyptian statues decorated the corners of it like it was a royal place. On each side of the saloon stood a bunch of Marik's slaves in their typical Rare Hunter's attire in rank and file. At the end of the saloon three marble steps led to a golden throne which also was decorated with egyptian signs. Marik, who was dressed in his signature deep purple cloak, sat on it with his legs crossed and his right hand held the millennium rod. Additional to it he wore a golden headpiece which also had the Anubis eye on it like the ancient millennium items always had. The light in the saloon was dim but bright enough to see the faces underneath the purple cloaks. Jesara, dressed in the same attire, stood beside Marik who lifted from the golden throne with a jolt when Odion and two other cloaked men entered the saloon. A deep growl left his throat when they approached and kneeled down respectfully.
"HOW DARE YOU ALL TO DISAPPOINT ME!? HOW COULD IT HAPPEN THAT YOU DIDN'T BRING OBELISK WITH YOU!?" Marik shouted at the top of his lungs, raging and glaring thousands of daggers at Odion and the two others close behind him. Jesara and the other Rare Hunters cringed in fear when Marik started to scream. They knew their master was someone you should never mess with - never.
Odion still kneeled before the raging sandy blonde teen and didn't dare to lift his head to look at him. "Master Marik, I'm sorry to disappoint you… But Ishizu has been warned by the necklace that we were coming to steal Obelisk and hid it in another secret location…" Odion explained with regret in his low voice.
"YOU'RE ALL USELESS FOOLS! ALL OF YOU! IT TOOK US MONTHS TO FIGURE OUT ITS LOCATION!" Marik spat in fury. Jesara made a careful step towards him and stretched out her hand for his shoulder to calm him down a bit, but he immediately slapped it away. "Don't you dare to touch me right now!"
She said nothing but stared at him in shock. Although she got used to it that he treated her like one of his slaves sometimes but Marik never got physical towards her before. It was best to remain silent this time and wait until the storm was gone. She took a step back again and shot Odion an apologising glance. Her lips formed a silent "I'm sorry."
"LUMIS!" Marik yelled to catch the attention of one of his other servants who stood on the sides of the saloon. The short man cringed at his name and made a step forward and then he also kneeled down to show his master some respect. A pale light enhanced from Marik's millennium rod while there was only silence. Since Marik was used to it to have a mind link connection to all of his servants Jesara was certain that he told him something mentally. Lumis cringed again and looked at his master in dismay.
"M-Master Marik…" the short man stuttered. "Do you really want me to…?"
"OBEY ME AND STOP TO QUESTION MY COMMANDS OR YOU'LL BE NEXT!" Marik yelled at him. At this Lumis stood up and left the saloon in a hurry. Jesara was curious about what Marik had told him, but she was sure this wasn't good at all. Still she didn't dare to say just one word. When Lumis came back she covered her mouth with her palm in shock; her eyes widened when she saw what the short man brought with him.
"I guess you all have forgotten that I don't accept any failures and it seems that I have to remind you about that." Marik stated in a bit more calm tone now, but his expression still scared the crap out of his slaves. What was this all about? "And because of that, Odion - you useless fool - I will let you feel how much I don't accept failures! Maybe 20 strikes with the whip will make myself clear once more."
At this statement Odion said nothing, but stood up and started to undress from the den purple cloak. His loyalty towards Marik was nearly endless and if this was the consequence of disappointing his master he was ready to deal with it without any question. Also his expression didn't change at Marik's threat. The bulky egyptian accepted it. Lumis approached his master to hand over the whip he brought from another room of the headquarter.
"NO!" Jesara shrieked and forced herself between Odion and Marik to protect him. "I can't let you hurt Odion! You're overacting, Marik! Please calm down! We'll find Obelisk in no time, I'm sure! You don't have to do this!" She begged him with watery eyes. His dangerously narrowed lavender eyes locked with hers.
"Jesara, that's none of your business. Step beside." He commanded in a dangerously calm tone. She knew he was close to losing it again, but letting him hurt Odion was out of question for her.
"No." She said short and crisp; her heart bumped a million miles a minute right now. A low growl left his throat at her stubborn negation.
"I give you one last chance, Jesara. Step beside." Marik warned her one last time; his voice was close to exploding. Jesara swallowed hard while her frightened eyes were still locked with his.
"Then you'll have to force me. I won't let you hurt him with that stupid whip." Jesara denied and shook her head.
"As you wish." He said stern and handed the whip to Lumis again, still locking eyes with his wife. "Lumis, my precious wife wants to step in for this fool of a servant. 20 as I said and make sure she counts every single strike."
Jesara and Lumis gasped in horror at his words. Her body froze and within seconds she was unable to move herself just one inch from where she was standing. Has he just commanded Lumis to punish her instead of Odion? Marik has never hurt her physically.
"Ambra, Ilias. What are you two fools waiting for!?" Marik spat at two of his other servants and commanded them to relay to grab and hold her in place to them. They hesitated a second and looked at each other in puzzlement, but then they decided it was better to obey their master. Jesara shrieked when they grabbed und pulled her away from Marik and forced her to kneel down to the floor. She squirmed under their tight grip that held her down - but to no avail. Her whole body fell into some kind of state of shock.
"M-Marik…." She gasped and looked at him in horror.
"Master Marik! Stop this! I will take the consequences like a man! She has nothing to do with that!" Odion stood up behind her and tried to make Marik change his mind again.
"SILENCE!" Marik screamed all of the sudden and raised the millennium rod towards the bulky egyptian who dared to speak up against him. A beam of light enhanced from the golden item and with a jolt an invisible force pinned Odion against the wall behind him. Marik used the rod to make him unable to move.
In the meantime Ambra and Ilias ripped off Jesara's purple cloak and top she wore underneath it from her trembling upper body. Sobbing heavily she wrapped her arms around her chest to cover her femininity from all the eyes which stared at her from all directions of the saloon. Fear suffocated her and made her unable to say just one word to beg him to stop.
"Master Marik!" Odion screamed, still pinned to the wall and unable to move. "Stop that!" But Marik ignored his pleads and glared over to Lumis, who still stood there in puzzlement with the whip in his hands.
"Lumis!" Marik spat in rage to catch his attention. "I'm waiting!"
But Lumis didn't move when his eyes met his master's lavender eyes. He hesitated and his hands trembled heavily. Lashing his masters wife was too much for him. "I-I can't… p-please Master… d-don't force me to d-do that." The short man stuttered.
"You fool!" Marik insulted him, grabbed the whip out of his hand and shoved him so hard that he lost balance. "You'll probably be next when I'm finished with her!"
His sharp words sliced through her ears like knifes. Jesara squinted her eyes and tightened her grip around herself while her bare back was still faced towards Marik. She didn't know what was coming next, her brain seemed to shut down because of fear. Tears ran down her cheeks and her heart beats echoed in her head. But then she let out a painful cry when the first whip stroke hit her like a sledgehammer. Jesara bowed down in anguish when the sharp pain shot through every inch of her body. She felt how a warm liquid slowly ran down her spine.
"COUNT!" Marik spat from behind her. "Or I'll make it five more!"
Jesara whimpered before she managed to press out a word with a faint voice close to breaking. "One…"
Within seconds the next stroke hit her back at full tilt and she exhaled another pain-filled scream. It felt like someone sliced her into pieces with a dull knife. "Two…" She whispered under her breath.
We did this 18 more times before he stopped and let go of me and Odion. By this time my body switched into some kind of state of shock. I don't remember the pain of the last ten strokes and it seemed like my brain shut down to protect me. Who knows…
Odion and another one of Marik's servants brought me out of the saloon and away from him. It took almost the whole night for Odion to disinfect, stitch and treat my wounds. I never felt such a pain in my whole life and I never expected Marik to be capable of hurting me like that. This night was my breaking point.
And it was the last time I saw him… until now.
/ END FLASHBACK
Silence filled the room. Nobody dared to say a word as they stared at the young girl with the light grey hair and dark roots. With her bruised hand she wiped away a single tear from her left cheek.
"Oh my god… I-Is that why you never joined the swimming lessons…? Jess, I'm so sorry…" Tea muttered and sobbed slightly. Jesara forced a smile and nodded at her female friend. "Exactly…"
"Oh man, Jess… I knew this guy was nuts, but hell… Marik is worse than I thought. How could he do such a thing? Promise you, Jess, I'll kick him off of the blimp next time I see him around here!" Joey growled and again Tea slapped the back of his head to make him shut up.
"Could you be a bit more careful with your words!?" Tea hissed.
"It's okay…" Jesara sighed.
"What happened next? How did you come here?" Yami asked curiously to get back to the current topic.
"After Odion treated my wounds I asked him for a favour. I was done with my life at Marik's side and I didn't know how to carry on with him after what he's done to me. I was ready to draw the line under this part of my life. So I begged Odion to help me to get away without Marik's knowing." Jesara continued the story and remembered when Odion came back to her room to get her prepared for her escape. "Odion managed to get me a secret bank account with enough money on it to cover all possible expenses for about a year. Additional he got me about 9.000 egyptian pounds in cash, packed my most important belongings into a small suit case and got me a faked passport. When we were sure Marik was asleep he smuggled me out of our headquarter and sat me into a taxi to the Cairo International Airport. There I bought the first one-way ticket I could get… Well… And here I am. The first available flight was to Domino City. One week after I got here I met you…"
"And why for gods sake didn't you tell us about it? At least when Marik tried to kill Joey and me?" Yami asked again. His arms were crossed in front if his chest and his tone was still firm, she'd better have a good explanation for keeping it a secret. But before Jesara could answer his question Ishizu cut in.
"It was my fault, my pharaoh. Please forgive me. My millennium necklace showed me that there was a chance to change my brothers mind and bring the old Marik to the surface again. It showed me that Jesara could possibly have enough influence on him to stop him and save us from the worst. She came to the museum and I begged her to keep it a secret from you for at least a while. If she told you everything about her connection to Marik we would have forfeited a chance." Ishizu explained with a sorrowful glance towards the gang.
"To be exactly…" Jesara then cut in. "It's true, Ishizu begged me to dig out the good Marik from underneath his anger and hate. But Odion asked me the same too. After Marik kidnapped us I had the chance to talk to Odion. He said that Marik was sorry for everything he had put me through, that he still loves me and I could possibly be the key to bring him back to mind. Well, Odion was right… He still has some kind of feelings for me and I have some kind of influence on him, but I still didn't figure out how to make him stop. However… It was necessary to keep it all a secret from you. If I told you everything I could have lost the last bit of Marik's trust. I'm sorry… very sorry…" She apologised with watery eyes.
"Don't apologise… I can now understand why you didn't tell us everything. It's okay. You had a good reason for it." Yami said and gave her a slight smile.
"My pharaoh, you need to stop my brothers dark side and defeat him… Please, help us to get the true Marik back…" Ishizu pleaded and her piercing blue eyes looked at Yami in hope. "I'm sorry for what he has done to you."
Yami nodded at Ishizu's plea in agreement; then his look drifted over to Jesara again. "I only have one question left…" He said and locked eyes with her. Jesara looked at him curious about what his last question was. "Do you still love him?"
Jesara froze at his question. She really didn't expect that and she lifted her right hand to lay it onto her chest to feel the ring on her necklace underneath her tank top while she thought about what to say.
"I don't know…"
AN: Yeah, very emotional and brutal chapter. But I hope you liked it anyway and you don't mind :P Sorry I didn't get more detailed about this lashing part of the story, but I didn't want to make it a massacre! :P
Please make sure to leave a review and let me know what you think about this chapter.
Happy Easter! :D