AN: Chapter 16 is up! It's getting weird and emotional at the same time, just to say. And it's very different from the last chapters. Chapter 16 is the cornerstone of the ending of OMR. Yeah… we're coming closer and closer to the grande finale.

Just to make you prepared: CH16 is kitschy AF and as well dirty AF at the same time. Hrhrhr, I loved writing it. It's so lovely and so evil. And by the way: It's weird…very very weird. Hahaha. Just like me.

Well then, I hope you enjoy reading! :-) If there's something unclear to you feel free to PM me.

Chapter XVI

Prisoner Of My Own

"Shadi?" Jesara asked curiously and stared at the stranger in the traditional egyptian attire. His expression was still emotionless and she wasn't sure if she had to fear him or not.

"The struggle you are fighting with yourself is the reason for my visit. The world is in great danger and it's important that you get a clue about the affairs of your heart. Ishizu said the truth about your crucial role to save Marik from the shadows and help the pharaoh to win this battle. But a lot of thoughts stand in your hearts way." Shadi said with wiseness in every single world. He was an old soul and seemed to know more about her emotional world than her. But how?

"I don't understand…" She muttered and still had no idea what the stranger could possibly do to help her or Marik. He took three calculated steps towards her.

"I will help you to understand, Jesara." Shadi said firmly as his hand grabbed the golden ankh that hung in front of his chest. "The millennium key allows me to walk through your soul and I invite you to come with me."

Jesara raised an eyebrow curiously at his words. "So it's true. That's the millennium key. What do you expect to find in my mind?"

"Hopefully the solution for your inner fight." He said expressionless and lifted the golden ankh up to her forehead. She cringed slightly when the cold material touched her skin, but within seconds her vision got blurry. Suddenly she was surrounded by nothing but light.

xx

She opened her eyes slowly after the blinding light had vanished and inspected her new surroundings with utter confusion. Where was she? Jesara found herself in a long corridor which walls were made of crimson red brick stones. A shiver shot through her body when she felt the coldness of this place on her tanned skin. "Where am I?" She asked herself when she turned around. Her amber-olive eyes met Shadi's ghosty blue ones again; she didn't expect to see him here in god-knows-where.

"We are inside your soul and mind. Follow me." He said and started to walk down the corridor. Jesara stared at Shadi's back in puzzlement, hesitating to follow in his path. 'Inside my soul?' Was this really happening or was it just another nightmare she found herself caught in?

"Wait!" She cried out loud and Shadi stopped his pace. He looked back at her over his shoulder with his expressionless blank eyes. "Where are you going!?"

"Follow me, Jesara. You will see soon enough." Shadi said in reply and continued walking down the crimson red corridors which obviously were part of Jesara's soul. She hesitated for a split second, but then she decided to do how he said.

Their walk felt like it was an eternity. They turned left, then right, left again, staircase down, staircase up - where was he leading her? Jesara was about 3 steps behind the stranger all the time that somehow took her for a walk in her mind. This situation was weird… very weird. And she still didn't get the sense of what this was all about. What was he expecting to find in her mind?

After another few turns and staircases the corridor became darker; it was hard to see what was in front of them when Shadi came to a halt. "We reached what we were looking for."

Jesara blinked at him in confusion. "Could you be a bit more precise? Where are we?" There was nothing but darkness in front of them - just like their way faded into a blank space. Fear became more and more sensible the longer she stared into the nothing.

Suddenly a bright light enhanced from the millennium key to enlighten the black nothing in front of them. Jesara's eyes widened at what she saw when the light made visible what was hidden in the darkness. The corridor was barricaded by rocks of various sizes and shapes; it looked like it collapsed a long time ago. But why did Shadi lead her to a dead end? Instead of getting a better clue about 'herself' like Shadi said she was just more confused than before right now.

"We reached the room of your heart." Shadi explained as he gazed at her over his shoulder.

"Room of my heart?" She repeated his words in disbelief. "But there's just a barricade ahead, Shadi. I can't see a door or something like that."

"That's because you decided to seal it a long time ago." Shadi said and turned around to face the young girl. "What you seek and what you need to help Marik to beat his demons is buried under those stones of your soul. You decided to lock this door in the deepest corner of your soul. It's time to unlock it… That's why I brought you here."

"I doubt that it's that easy to help Marik with just unlocking a buried door." Jesara said, still not believing the stranger. She raised an eyebrow in doubt at him.

"May I ask you a question?" His blank blue eyes stared into hers. "What do you feel for him?"

Jesara shot him a surprised glance. "I- I'm not sure." She sighed and looked down to the crimson red brick floor underneath her feet.

"That's why you should see what's inside that door." He said and then turned his back towards her to kneel down. Shadi started to remove one stone after the other. Whatever was behind that door, now she was curious about it more than ever. Without hesitating she grabbed the first rock and lifted it to the side - and the next one, then another one.

After a long time that felt like ages Jesara removed the last rock. The door which Shadi talked about came to the surface. Since he said it was the 'room of her heart' she expected it to be more special, but it was just an ordinary wooden door that looked a bit outdated. Unloved. Unwanted.

"That doesn't look like what I expected…" Jesara stammered out of breath. She had a hard time with removing the heavy rocks one by one.

"Open it and see what you tried to seal away. That's the key to what Ishizu and Odion told you." Shadi said and took a calculated step back from the door. He gestured Jesara that it was time to open it. She could feel her heart beating up to her throat. What will she have to face when she walked through that door? Jesara drew closer to it and reached out her hand for the doorknob when Shadi interrupted her.

"Jesara." He said firm. Her fingers were just inches away from the knob.

"Huh? Yes?" She glanced back at him over her shoulder, curious about what he had to say before she opened that door.

"The heart works different from the brain."

Jesara stared at him with staggered eyes. She heard this words before from Ishizu. It's getting weirder and weirder. Why do they say that again and again? Without saying anything in return she pushed the door open.

She was blinded by radiant light but she kept on making one cautious step after the other. When the light faded she saw that she walked on a floor covered with lotus and white frangipani petals. As she glanced up she found herself in a scene of her childhood when she was just at the age of eleven. It was a memory she tried to forget for so long.

A small girl with long ebony black hair and amber-olive eyes stood in front of her, dressed in a traditional egyptian ceremonial dress. A wonderful golden headpiece adorned her forehead, just like Marik used to wear it in his early teen years. Jesara gasped; it was a younger version of herself. The young Jesara stood in front of a young boy with sandy blonde hair that were at shoulders length; his eyes had an astonishing shade of pale lavender and he also wore a traditional ceremonial attire and a similar golden headpiece. She always loved this special piece of jewellery on him.

Jesara's palm met her mouth. She just walked into the memory of the day she got married to Marik when they were just kids - not really knowing what they were doing. This was her room of heart? The young versions of her and Marik couldn't see or hear her, Jesara was just like a ghost in her own long forgotten memory.

"In the name of the Ishtar clan and with the help of the ancient gods I wive you. From this day forward you'll never walk alone." The young Marik read out aloud from a tiny piece of papyrus in his left hand while the other one held her younger selfs one. "I promise to never hurt or harm you and to always stay by your side."

She remembered how she felt in this moment, how her cheeks blushed slightly at this ancient vow that left his lips on the day she became a Ishtar - she was happy.

"In the name of the Ishtar clan and Jendayi clan, with the help of the ancient gods I take you as my man." Her younger selfs hands trembled in flutter as she read out loud the same text from a little piece of papyrus. "From this day forward you will never walk alone. I promise to never hurt you, to support you with all of your plans and to never leave your side."

'We both broke our promises…' Jesara said to herself in dismay as she watched the scene from her past and how the kids smiled sheepishly at each other. They were just kids and had actually no idea what they were doing right now; not sure about the purpose of the knot they tied. What this bond really meant wasn't of their concern, at least Jesara knew that their words were honest.

The scene faded, her surroundings blurred into a beautiful mixture of various colours before another scene from her past appeared in front of her. It was a memory from the time when she and Marik had already left the tomb. He already founded the organisation of the Rare Hunters. At this time Marik was about 15 years old, not a boy and not yet a man - but already the leader of a criminal organisation that sold rare cards to high prices at the international black market and earning millions.

Jesara could sense every feeling she had for Marik at this time of her life. The good and the bad ones. At this time of their life they already confessed that they had strong feeling for each other; and although Marik's change of mind wasn't easy to deal with she fell for him with every inch of her body.

She found herself in Marik's quarters of their former home, the headquarter of the Rare Hunters near Cairo. The young version of Marik sat on his desk made from finest dark wood, but immediately stood up from where he sat when somebody knocked on the door. He looked nervous as he stared through Jesara to the door like she was a ghost. Then her younger self opened it slowly and stepped into the room.

"You wanted to see me?" The young Jesara asked curiously but smiling as she made a few more steps towards him. She wore the typical deep purple cloak that everybody of Marik's organisation used to wear. The only difference was that she used to accentuate her it with a golden belt around her waist to add some kind of female silhouette to the attire.

"Yes." He nodded at her and gestured that he wanted her to come closer. She did as he wanted, still not sure if he had a good or a bad day so far. Since he got initiated as a tomb keeper his many bad days overshadowed his less good ones.

"Do you know what day it is?" The younger Marik asked with softness in his tone and gaze. Probably it was one of his better days.

Her younger self stared at him thinking, but then shook her head at his question. "No… I guess not. I'm sorry."

He cracked a slight smile at the young Jesara who just reached to his chin at that time. "It's our anniversary… if you want to call it that."

"Ah…" The young Jesara said in surprise. He was right, it was the day of their 'anniversary'. "Sorry that I forgot about it. Well, then… happy anniversary." She smiled slightly embarrassed to have forgotten it.

Jesara thought back to those days before she decided to leave, the feelings they shared although his once warm heart was cooled down. On some days he treated her like one of his slaves, on other ones they got closer to each other and he opened up his heart. They had their ups and downs, but at this time of her life there was nothing that could possibly break the bond that connected them.

"I have something for you." The young Marik said and dug deep into the pockets of his deep purple cloak. It was a small jewellery case covered with velvet in a dark crimson shade. Her younger self blinked in surprise as he took it out of his pockets and opened it for her soo see what was inside. Two astonishing beautiful earrings in the shape of an ankh sparkled in it; they seemed to be made from pure gold and possibly they have cost a little fortune. "It's a present. I thought they would look great on you."

The young Jesara was lost for words as she stared at the beautiful piece of jewellery. She always loved the ancient ankh symbol; it had so many meanings and it was believed that it is some kind of a sign of good look, life and love in ancient egypt.

"Do you want to try them on? I'd love to see how they look on you." Marik asked smiling slightly. She nodded at him and nibbled her bottom lip in excitement. Showing his handsome side and feelings was a rare thing to see.

Marik helped her to put them on and attach them to her earlobes gently; as he did so he stroked her tanned, slightly blushed cheeks with his thumbs. "Perfect." He whispered in a tone that was like honey to her soul.

Her younger selfs gaze drifted over to a golden framed mirror beside them. She looked at her reflection and shifted her head from side to side, the golden earrings jiggled elegantly beside her jawline. A bright smile crossed her face; they were just beautiful.

"T-thank you. They are breathtaking." She stuttered shyly as she looked back into his lavender irises.

"Just like you." He said under his breath as his thumb and index finger gently touched her chin and lifted it up a bit more to his face. At this her cheeks turned into the colour of a beetroot. "I wanted you to know that you're my anchor in life. You are the only good that happened to me in my life as a tomb keeper, Jesara. I love you."

Their faces were just inches away from each other. Jesara watched the scene from a corner of the room with watery eyes as her memories and old feelings overwhelmed her. She tried so hard to forget how happy she was and how hard she tried to lock those emotions in the darkest corner of her heart. Warmth filled her chest that heated up her heart that was bumping so hard and loud it echoed in her ears.

Jesara watched how Marik pulled her younger self closer to him and placed his lips into hers to kiss her. A tear ran down her cheek as the scene blurred again, although she felt like crying a thankful smile sat on her lips. 'Oh Marik, how could everything fall apart like that so easily?' She thought to herself while her surrounding turned into something else again. Now it was just a empty room which walls were made of the same crimson coloured brick stones like the endless corridors she had to walk as she followed Shadi before.

"Because you wanted to hate him with all your might." A young female voice said behind her. Jesara was startled and turned around, but she gasped as she looked into amber-olive eyes - her own eyes. Her younger self stood directly in front of her, eying her intensively with a soft smile on her face. She held a small suitcase in her right hand and an airline ticket in the other one.

"W-what? You can see me? B-but how…?" Jesara was lost for words, why could she be seen by her own demons that tortured her mind and heart for so long? Until now she just was like a ghost in her own memories.

"Jess…" Her younger self said softly. "A wise man once said that forgiving is like setting free a prisoner and to discover that the prisoner was you. Forgiving is a decision of your heart. It's time to break free - for Marik's sake and for you."

"I- I don't get what you mean by that…" Jesara stuttered in puzzlement.

"What you sought has always been so close. And the proof for it hangs around your neck… in front of your heart." Her younger self smiled at her in wiseness and with that everything turned white again. She squinted her eyes to protect herself from being blinded by the brightness of the light that surrounded her again.

Jesara inhaled deeply as her eyes shot open again as like she just awoke from a nightmare. She was back - back in her room of Kaiba Craft 3 - back in the reality. The stranger was gone and nowhere to be seen. It took her a second to let sink in what just happened. Did she just have a talk to herself in the darkest corners of her heart?

'What you sought has always been so close. And the proof for it hangs around your neck… in front of your heart.' She tried to recall the incident and her younger selfs words mentally to get a clue about their meaning. '…in front of your heart.'

She lifted her hand to lay it onto her upper chest where her heart beat a million miles a minute. She felt something hard under her palm and under the material of her tank top. As Jesara realised what it was she broke out in tears; now her younger selfs words made perfect sense. It was her wedding band that hung on a gold chain in front of her heart. Everything made perfect sense. The stranger called Shadi helped her to help herself by unlocking her mind and heart.

Her younger self was right - she was a prisoner of her own broken mind and hate. The answer has been always within arms reach; she pushed him away while she pulled him closer at the same time. While her fingers gently touched the ring underneath her top she felt guilty that she wasted every chance to tell him what she felt for him because she was too stubborn to see it earlier. Right now she would give her fingertips just to touch him one more time.

All the time she was the biggest problem herself.

xx

The door to the medical room slid open as she walked in; Jesara actually had no idea how long she was away to explore the deepest corners of her mind with the stranger and his millennium key. But much to her chagrin all she found was an empty bed and a doctor who was rubbing the back of his head in confusion.

"Doc?" Jesara spoke up behind him. "Where is Joey and the others? Did he wake up?" Jesara was afraid that she probably was away longer than she thought.

"Yes… and I don't know how he could recover completely that fast." The doctor sighed, doubting his own medical knowledge and skills.

"Really!?" Jesara exclaimed in delight his words. "But where did they go?"

"I told him to rest a bit more, but then they all ran off to see the duel of my boss and this Yugi guy." He answered with a shrug. Without saying anything in return Jesara turned on heal and headed out the room and outside the aircraft as she suddenly bumped into her sister-in-law.

"Ishizu!" Jesara exclaimed in surprise. "Do you know where Joey and the others are?"

"I'm afraid not, but…" Ishizu said in a concerned tone and paused to take a deep breath. "Marik, he wants to challenge his dark side again… I'm afraid he's acting too reckless."

Jesara stared at her in puzzlement. "Marik!? B-but how?" Within seconds her stomach turned upside down.

"Marik took control over Tea's body again and said that he's sorry, but he needs to take the consequences. Jesara, I don't know what he's going to do, but you need to stop him before something terrible happens to him!"

"Were did he go?" Jesara asked with horror in her voice.

"He ran off to the duel tower… But I don't know where exactly he is now…" Ishizu muttered with her eyes narrowed to the floor.

"I'll find him…" She stated and sprinted off in the direction of Kaiba's duel tower, not sure what to expect. But at least she was relieved that Marik was strong enough to take over Tea's body to talk to them.

/ TOP OF THE DUEL TOWER

Something was wrong with the millennium rod. During Yami's duel with his rival Kaiba in the finals it somehow activated itself and had shown them a something that Yami Marik wasn't able to see. The fact that his millennium item didn't obey him at this particular moment drove him crazy. What could this incidence possibly be about? Was there something he didn't know?

Yami Marik paced impatiently back and forth on the top of Kaiba's duel tower and stared at the golden rod in his hand. No matter how often he commanded the rod to show him the same what it had shown Kaiba and Yugi during their duel it didn't obey him. A deep furious growl left his lips, his blank eyes narrowed dangerously slits as he tossed the rod to the ground in anger. It slid a few meters away from him on the ground before it came to a halt. He turned his back towards the rod and crossed his arms in front of his muscular chest.

"You should treat that item a bit more cautious." A distorted voice said and made Yami Marik turn around in surprise. It was Tea who companied him and lifted the millennium rod from the ground, staring at the wicked guy with blank eyes. "Thank you for making it that easy for me."

Yami Marik wasn't dumb, he knew within a split second that this girl wasn't actually Tea. "Long time no see, Marik." His alter ego said arrogantly with his arms still crossed in front of his chest. "So you control this little girl, huh? I have to admit that I didn't expect that."

"I'm here to get the body back that you took away from me." Marik's words left Tea's lips with confidence; now that he was in control of the millennium rod the tables had turned to his advantage. "And I will send you to where you belong… to the shadows."

"Oh Marik, I guess that are my lines." Yami Marik chuckled evilly.

Marik pointed the millennium rod towards his evil side and made one calculated step after another closer at him. "It's time to end this. You caused enough damage."

"Hahahaha. Damage? I'm just getting the job done that you weren't capable of, my dear Marik." His darker side smirked with sarcastic innocence and shrugged. "You were too weak to fulfil your plans. Hahaha. And you also failed in protecting your precious Jesara."

His words provoked Marik to the bones of Tea's body. A growl left her lips; the millennium rod still pointed on his evil side.

"Stop that!" A familiar female voice yelled. Jesara arrived at the top of Kaiba's duel tower, lucky to find Marik just in time. But she wasn't sure what she could possibly do to prevent Marik from doing something reckless.

"Talk of the devil and his imp appears." Yami Marik chuckled in amusement as he looked at the light haired girl.

Marik cringed as he heard her voice behind him and immediately turned halfway round out of instinct. Their eyes locked for a second; so intensely like they didn't see each other for a lifetime.

"Marik, look out!" Jesara shouted out loud as she saw Yami Marik running up to him and grabbing Tea by the wrist roughly. Within a split second he disarmed Marik and whipped the millennium rod out of his hands. His evil side tackled Marik/Tea so hard that he/she tumbled to the ground. Marik was defenseless again.

„Nice try, nicy try." Yami Marik grinned and forced himself between Jesara and his weaker half lying on the cold steel ground. A startled gasp left Jesara's lips as Yami Marik grabbed her by her light grey hair, dragging her roughly in front of him that her back was faced his chest. She whimpered in pain, trying to squirm out of his tight grasp - but to no avail. He pulled her closer to him so much so that her head laid on his right shoulder, her left cheek touching his skin to skin. Jesara felt the vibrations of his ribcage on her body as he chuckled heavily at this unfortunate twist of fate.

„Release me." Jesara whined in misery as she gave up on trying to break free from his brutal grip in her hair.

„You should know by now that it's senseless to fight back, my dear. I have to admit that you had a perfect timing coming here." Yami Marik sneered and looked over to her from the corner of his deadly blank eyes.

„Let go of her! Jesara has nothing to do with this conflict! Don't you dare to harm her!" Marik commanded, slowly propping himself up from the cold floor. He was seething inside from seeing how roughly he treated her.

Suddenly Jesara felt something cold and sharp pricking her throat, it slowly went from her chin down to her collarbone. Yami Marik had unpacked the millennium rods dagger and ran it slowly over her skin, using enough pressure to prickle and giving her a hurty feeling, but less enough pressure that he didn't cut her. As she felt how the tip of the dagger ran down her throat her heart bumped a million miles a minute. What if he was capable of just cutting her throat?

„Tell me, Marik…" Yami Marik warbled away evilly. „What could you possibly do or say to make me stop?" His words scared almost scared her to death; she felt like a sheep ready for slaughter. Marik tried hard not to make any sudden movement, although he was furious enough to kill. A warning growl escaped Tea's lips. Jesara could tell from her blank, dangerously narrowed eyes that Marik didn't know what he could do to help her without risking her life.

Yami Marik just had his weaker half at the very perfect point to play his evil mind games with him. He was in control over the one thing Marik wanted to protect, just an inch away from taking it away from him forever. Little did he know that Yami Marik's intentions laid elsewhere, killing Jesara wouldn't make any sense for him.

„Don't panic, my dear Marik." He said in false gentleness. „I won't kill my wife."

„She's not your wife." Marik muttered angrily and glared daggers at his alter ego, close to losing it as the demon who possessed his body slightly licked Jesara's cheek with the tip of his tongue. She whimpered again at the disgusting touch.

"Are you really sure?" Yami Marik asked and raised a provoking brow with a smirk. "Let me prove the opposite to you." With that a golden light enhanced from the eye of Anubis at the top of the millennium rod that he slowly withdrew from her throat. Jesara's muscles eased off instantly, her eyes and face turned expressionless and blank as Yami Marik let go of her hair.

His hand slowly ran down her spine while he shot his weaker half a confidently, provoking grin. Marik's darker side knew well enough how to infuriate his victims with minimal effort; having Jesara under the control of the rod was such a thing. She was now totally submissive to Yami Marik's will. So she turned around to her punisher and wrapped her arms around his torso as her emotionless gaze met his grinning face.

Marik narrowed Tea's eyes dangerously as he had to witness how his split personality played with Jesara like she was a marionette. But his blood began to boil as she pulled Yami Marik closer to her and face, pressing her upper body against his and placed her lips on his smirking ones. Marik growled as she tried to hold back his fury, well aware of the fact that it might be senseless. He had to watch how she deepened the kiss more and more, how his alter ego bit her lips playfully, grinning into the kiss as he watched Marik's reaction from the corner of his eyes.

But when Yami Marik's hands drifted down Jesara's lower back Marik couldn't help himself from freaking out. He immediately got up to Tea's feet and rushed forward, but his alter ego instantly rose the millennium rod and sent a shockwave in Marik's direction to strike him down to the ground again. A painful moan escaped Tea's throat as her butt hit the ground at full tilt.

"Hahahahaaha. There's just nothing you can do to stop me, my dear Marik." Yami Marik laughed diabolic, still holding Jesara's submissive body tight to his. "And now it's time for you to go back to the shadows." With that a golden light enhanced from the millennium rod once more and Marik's soul vanished away from Tea's body.

"What is going on here!?" Yami yelled in fury from behind Yami Marik and Jesara. The eye of Anubis appeared on his forehead as like his whole body was filled with energy and power. Yami and the gang arrived right on cue. Their eyes widened in dismay as they saw Jesara cuddling herself against Yami Marik's chest; her mind and body was still under his control.

"What are you doing with Jess and Tea, you disgusting freak!?" Joey shouted and clenched a fist at him. By now Tea regained from being controlled by Marik and blinked in confusion as her eyes scanned the scene she suddenly had awoken in.

"Oh, I was just having a bit of fun, pharaoh." He shot Yami an amused glance.

"Let go of Jess' mind!" Yami commanded with narrowed eyes. The eye of Anubis started to glow with more intensity at his words.

"Hahahaha. I wanted to continue this little date with my wife later either way, but first I'd prefer to send you to the shadows and wrench your power from you, pharaoh." Yami Marik chuckled and released his grip on Jesara's mind just as easy as clicking his fingers. She immediately fell to her knees, her palms met the cold steel ground and her breath was heavy like she just ran a marathon.

Yami Marik then started to walk up to the pharaoh and came to a halt just inches away from him, glaring into is eyes with a provoking smirk. "I can't wait to destroy you, pharaoh." With that he walked away and disappeared into the staircase that led down the duel tower, laughing heavily.

"Jess!" Joey ran up to her and helped her up from the ground while Tristan and Duke helped Tea up to her feet. "What the hell happened?"

"Marik…" She muttered, still out of breath from the influence of the millennium rod. "He tried to challenge his darker side… That's all I remember…" Jesara's gaze drifted over to her friend Tea. Her eyes narrowed down to the ground as she realised Marik was gone again… maybe forever.

AN: I hope you liked the kitschy, dirty, very weird little chapter 16. I think it turned out quite well so far. Chapter 17 is already underway and up soon.

I'd love to have your reviews and thoughts! So please make sure to leave one :-) I'm very curious about how you liked it and what you think.

Happy weekend! :-)