Welcome to the House of Muse! Second chapter of Angel's Tears!

Marik: Yeah. More torture…thanks a lot, MM!

MM smiles: We only torture you because you're good enough to be torture worthy! Good characters who do no evil are here for the purpose of the story, not because MM has a special affection toward good guys! Anyways, here we go!

A BIG THANK YOU to 16forever and Sinister Voices for reviewing! tears MM's lone supporters for this story…why can't all other readers learn to be like them? Besides, you know that Dark Mystic Muse will beat up on her hikari if YOU don't review! HEEELP her little soul!

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh but this story is all ours! SUFFER, MEASLY CHARACTERS! MWAHAHAHAHA

Ahem. MM peeks at characters Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Grace's Gift

"Andromeda?"

Pivoting at the soft hand on her shoulder and weary voice in her ear, the girl fixed her indigo gaze upon the face of a limping Marik. His lips curved up in a sickle smile for her, sending a spark of something strange through the depths of his eyes.

"Oh, hi Marik!" She eyed him, a light chiding sneaking into her voice, "You should be in bed. I'll bring the candle and food to you." Nervously, her eyes glanced around the ghostly silent house. Javelins of gold lanced past the windows, crackling and snarling as it sneered at the darkness wallowing in their home. Faint dribbles and splashes of Derek's showering pattered in hushed notes, its tiny voice snuffed out by the hissing of the voracious storm. Thunder cracked in the air, close on the heel of its prey, lightning, and sent a spidery shiver scuttling around the kitchen.

Marik's wide eyes studied her curiously, scanning from the tapping toes peeking out from century old slippers to the feisty bush fostered on her head, forcefully tamed down into "hair." "No, it's okay, really. I needed a stretch anyways."

"Of course. Let's just go over to the…living room table with the mashed potatoes and stuff," she added. Frowning, the boy tried to decipher the smile plastered across her lips, a perfect mate for the pain trembling in one eye.

"Are you okay?" Swiping the dinner tray off its rickety perch, the Egyptian smiled uncertainly back at her.

"Umm…your hand is a bit hard on my shoulder," she blurted, face red as a strawberry without the leafy green cap and speckling seed freckles. For a moment, he stared, enchanted with something on her face. Then, placid as a rock, he lifted his hand.

The storm howled an inhuman shriek, clawing at the bleeding sky with its slicing talons while still thumping its mighty chest like an invisible King Kong. Forks of lightning shattered the darkness, sending shadows scurrying for cover in the pantries and stoves. Clouds rumbled, their bellies aglow, locking horns with their neighbors and shoving each other toward greater fury. The stars, utterly defeated, lay in their doom far, far away.

Marik's hand lingered in midair, hellfire suddenly dancing in his eyes with the glee of a thousand demons. Cringing, Andromeda ducked her head into the shade, trying to find shelter amongst the fleeing forms.

She opened one eye. A thick blanket wrapped around her thoughts, disappearing from her senses as if wiped away with a brutal eraser. Blinking, she shivered at the warm hand running through her hair, long fingers twisting themselves into the grassy tangle of her silky tresses. Stealthy like a thief in the night, a cobweb thread itself across her mind, cooing a gentle lullaby in her ear. Warmth caressed her like the Caribbean sunshine, stroking her hands and kissing her cheeks. Strangely, a soft voice echoed between the melodies, appearing like a specter in the midst of her peace.

"Close your eyes…"

Obediently, her eyelids wilted, content as a puppy with a turkey in its bowl. Marik's dark form stood still as a mountain before her, seemingly blind to the happenings within her mind. Sighing, she let her eyelids close, hypnotic tune seizing her mind with a jangle and carrying it away upon its wistful notes…

"Andry! Are you okay?"

"Whaa—" Gazing up blankly, the little girl found herself staring with one open eye at an amused Derek. His brow seemed to have lifted itself so high up that it officially could have joined the elite clique of his hair. One of his arms stuck out like a crutch, wedged against her shoulder.

"Hey! Where did you come from?" Snapping back as if a lion had just nipped her nose, Andromeda scanned his brother's confused face and Marik's what-did-you-think-you-were-doing expression. She opened her mouth to answer—

With a puff and a sputter, little stars twinkled to life within their house. Glancing up blankly, Derek peered at the ancient light bulbs as they flickered indignantly back to light, laughing out in joyful mockery of the thunder that pounded angrily at the window. Suddenly, with a suckle and a slurp, the clouds opened up their giant mouths. Screaming in fury, the rain, thunder and lightning stretched out their arms in one last attempt for utter destruction. Adamantly, the graying clouds with howling winds at their heels leashed their stormy children. Upon immediately quietened footsteps, the barrage of storms fled to another unlucky place. Crossing his arms, Derek turned back his narrowed blue eyes upon his sister.

"For goodness sakes, Andromeda! You have a boyfriend, don't you remember? And here you are, hitting on some injured guy who now thinks you are a weirdo!" he roared, pointing a rather rude finger at a now thoroughly discomforted Marik.

Huffing up her shoulders to defend her vulnerable head, Andromeda glared with a million daggers at her brother. "I wasn't—"

"I know what I see, Andry! You were never promiscuous, so don't start now! I—"

With a timid cough, the Egyptian gripped Derek's shoulder. Suddenly furious at the guest, too, Derek turned tempestuous eyes upon him, too, each blue orb a raging sea.

"She wasn't hitting on me, Derek. I think she was fainting. In fact…her eyes closed and she fell forward and I caught her arm…you caught her shoulder," he explained, rosy embers threatening to peek out from under his tanned cheeks in an embarrassed blush.

Fortunately, the moon, freed from its misty prison, decided to amble out from behind the retreating clouds now, casting its sallow gaze upon the ruffled Andromeda. Suddenly having developed an acute interest in her bare toes, she studied the ground, face paler than the stars now emerging from behind their watery enemies.

"Andry, you okay? You're pale!" All anger fleeing upon falcon wings as the winds of brotherly worry blew upon its feathers, Derek took her little face in both hands.

"I'm fine! I know I still have a half-boyfriend! I just want you guys to eat before you both starve!" Prying her brother's hands off her cheeks, she grabbed whatever Marik had not already taken off the counter and hurried into the living room.

Sighing and muttering something that sounded like "Sorry, but you really don't have to act all freaky," Derek followed her, gesturing for Marik to come along, too.

The celebrating lights and even the vainglorious moon shied from Marik's face as he stared after his two future victims. Behind his back, he stroked his golden bat-like treasure, the Millennium Rod. Its eye glowed lightly, like the sun above the Egyptian deserts. Faintly, he grasped the wispy tendrils of a teenage girl's emotions, their fuming waves netting together into a maze like jumble.

"By Ra and by Deshret, Andromeda. You are the perfect little tool…"

Slapping a smile across his toothy sneer, the Egyptian tottered painfully to the table and collapsed with a bounce into the couch. Quickly, Derek said a prayer and they dug into the food. Though each had a tummy that growled worse than a pack of wolves, they ate more like pecking pigeons, minds obviously somewhere else. Putting down his spoon halfway through a second serving of chowder, Marik studied his helpers.

"Thank you for what you did today. I mean…I…I thought that I was gonna die out there till you came along. I've never been beaten like that," he murmured, voice soft as the brush of an angel's wing.

Looking up from her bowl with surprise mottling her indigo eyes, Andromeda put down her spoon, too, and wiped her lips decisively. She eyed Marik suspiciously, scanning his bruises. Finally deciding that it was not too impossible that a gang had gotten their nasty fingers around the Egyptian, she asked, "Someone beat you up!"

Flushing a strange mauve that he wasn't used to at all, Marik looked away, noticing Derek's eyes upon him, too. "I was walking down this street in the rain, trying to find a taxi to take to the dock. The streets appeared deserted, so I wasn't really happy. Then, I heard this little boy scream right before a crash of thunder. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but then I looked down the alleyway next to me and found this boy on the ground, crying his eyes out. A large figure loomed over him, holding something above his head. I was concerned, so I ran over. The guy was dressed in this weird black cape like some mobster, and he was holding the boy's Duel Monster Cards. The boy had a livid bruise on his arm. Of course, I stalked up and told the robed guy to drop them and scat, but he just turned to me and sneered."

Here, he paused for breath, noting that the two others stared at him intently. A shadow had passed over Derek's face. Still, Marik continued. "So, I grabbed his arm and wrenched the cards away. The guy tried to punch me in the face, but I ducked. I heard the little boy get up behind me and run away. Then, these black shadows fell from the roof all around, and footsteps and splashes rose. I turned around and found a mob of those robed guys behind me. One punched me in the stomach. I dropped the cards and tackled him and…well, you can imagine what happened after that," he finished, eyeing his bruised knuckles with a sad grin.

"Ooooh!" Eyes wide as two lakes, Andromeda reached over and took a tanned hand of his, fingering the purpled spots and avidly ignoring Derek's huh-so-you-say-you-don't-like-him face. "I'm sorry," she added.

Silence reigned eerily, hushing the voices of its citizens. Distantly, a lone bird sounded its miserable tune, a mournful augury for the aged moon. The chirped notes flowed away upon the hustling breeze, leaving to tickle the ear of someone else who lay meshed in solitude in a faraway place.

Derek's words rang through the air, shattering the magical spell.

"A black robed guy. Really?" he asked.

Marik nodded. "Yeah. Isn't it strange? Nobody wears things like that any more."

"Did he have a mask covering half his face?" the brother added grimly, eyes suddenly lit with stars.

Marik's brows furrowed, eyes almost shifty. "Yes…how did you know?"

Sighing and burying his forehead in a palm, Derek studied his knees. "That was the guy who stole Duke's cards."

"What?"

Hand slipping off Marik's, Andromeda's head whipped to face her dejected brother, hair trailing behind her with a scream.

Derek the Unblushable finally did the unimaginable. Little droplets of red appeared on his cheeks, then reached outwards with watery fingers, greedily absorbing the rest of his cheeks and dignity.

"I…I…I…err…" Crossing his arms and looking away, he ignored the stab of grief clawing away with a mad cackle at his bleeding heart. Images of those bills with the red NOTICE stamps slashed across their fronts, the rusted mailbox lying out in the open rain, the bank agents with thickset brows soon to come to foreclose their little home…Andromeda in her graying T-shirt and ripped jeans, toes loosening more threads from her slippers as she wandered the filthy streets…

"Yes?" Andromeda's arms encircled her brother's slumping form, and her little fluff ball of a head nudged its way up to the crook of his neck. "You what?"

"I lost the job!" he blurted, feeling his sister's arms stiffening. For one horrible moment, he thought she would lean back, hatred lighting her brown hair aflame, tears streaming from the overflowing lakes of her eyes.

Instead, she hugged him harder. "It's okay, Derek. As long as we are good people, we will find jobs. I'll take on a position somewhere, and you can find another job, perhaps at Yugi's grandpa's store," she added, snapping up her head with a grin. "You have the experience!"

"But you know how upset Yami Yugi was when…you know," Derek muttered, looking away. Slowly, her back to Marik's confounded gaze, Andromeda disengaged herself from her brother and sank back down into her seat. The moon lit the living room with its silvery arms, but storm clouds rose behind Andromeda's eyelids, blocking off rescue and trapping her in darkness. The lone bird's call still echoed in her ears, suddenly purposeful in its tune. Each note dug in, its howl calling back a memory…

()Past()

With cold certainty, Andromeda pushed Yami away, heart sealed by stone against the broken look in his eyes. Two beacons sought a path out to her from behind those violet mists that swarmed his gaze, struggling and finally surrendering with a shiver as she turned away.

"Yami, look. You know that Derek is working hard at Duke's, and that I'm not doing any good by spending so much time with you and leaving him home to cook when he's tired out. I know that you've been helpful, buying me the new clothing and dinners, helping me out with the schoolwork and all, but the truth is, I need to help my brother." She sighed, recalling those evenings that she had spent out with him, haunting the streets and cheering their friends on as they danced, mocking Seto Kaiba that one time when Serenity bumped him so he fell crashing off the stage…and how she had always arrived home at eleven or midnight to find her brother collapsed across the couch, the dishwasher still running cacophonously in the distance. His clothing had plastered to him and his hair rose and fell in wild mats against the laws of physics, sticky and slicked by the relentless rain. And that food that he had left in perfect array across the table for her, the new pair of jeans and extra pocket money laid out in her bedroom with a note about his salary raise…

"I…I'm a horrid sister this way," she murmured to Yami as his hands fallen from hers. "He does so much for me…he gives all his salary to me…he never has fun, never goes out with his friends or a girl, and spends all his time working and cooking for me and to keep the house in our hands. When my mother died, she…she asked me to watch over him, to make sure that he doesn't overwork himself paying Father's debts, making sure that…that I was a good sister. I've not done any of those things! I haven't…I can't…if I died tomorrow and met Mother…" A single, pearly tear slid down her eye, searching for the vast sea, only to drop to the ground in the end. It laid there for a moment, spreading its fingertips for any sign of water, then gave itself up for lost, letting the sun bake its moist face away, far from the ocean to another place.

"I see…" Shifting uncomfortably and afraid to hug his girlfriend in case she jumped up as if stung by a porcupine, Yami tried to send a comforting look, which succumbed quickly to the spears of his own misery.

"You're still my boyfriend, Yami. After all, you've done wonderful things for me…it's just that I think I need some space and time right now to fill my role in my own little family, to help my brother and make sure that Mother is smiling down at us from Heaven…instead of crying down nights of rain." Reaching over, she gave him a squeeze around his thin frame. "Perhaps after all this…perhaps when I find a job or something and we're better off, you and I can go out again," she finished.

With a horrified twinkle in his eye, Yami's jaw dropped, quivering unstoppably as whips lashed across his mind. "'Perhaps'?"

Sending a melancholic smile fluttering across her face, Andromeda blinked, her long lashes wiping away her tears. "Yes. Perhaps. For all I know, I may be wandering the streets of Egypt a month from now, poorer than a church mouse."

Her lips lighter than the summer breeze upon her boyfriend's brows, Andromeda turned, leaving a cold mourning spot upon his forehead.

"Goodbye, Yami."

()Present()

"I can only hope that he'll forgive me," Andromeda whispered, her thoughts rushing her back to the present. "But I only told him the truth."

Nodding, Derek patted her back, watching her control the raindrop like things threatening to storm from her eyes.

A light cough broke the moment.

Turning, the two orphans looked upon the very left out Marik. He sat, an empathetic spark bursting across his tanned face.

"You have both done so much for me. This is the least I can offer in return. I…I am manager at this Duel Monster card trading place. I need to hire a few people, and I'm good with the boss. It sounds like you have some experience with this kind of vocation. So, if you want…you can come and work over there with me," he finished in a hurry. "I can offer you lodging and I can buy you both some new things. Cell phones are a necessity, too, so I'll be getting you those. Then, if Andromeda wants to…errr...make up for the errors of the past, or whatever she's regretting about, then she can!" he added.

Astonished, Andromeda's wide eyes met Derek's, their depths quivering with something that threatened to set her whole face alight with a radiance that made the sun's pale in comparison.

Smiling, Derek turned to the Egyptian.

"Marik Ishtar, I accept your offer."

MM: Okay, that was a horridly slow chapter…basically getting through the logistics…well next chapter will be all plot and no explaining.

Marik: Wow, you JUST realized that?

MM: Be quiet, will you? Go plot Yami's doom. Anyways, next chapter actually gets romance-yyy gulps …please review, give suggestions, and recommend…right now, I actually need names for Rare Hunters and their "clients." The Mystic Muses are hoping to get a few more reviews before putting up chapter 3…sad eyes…they sometimes suffer from low self-esteem…? So please click on the little scrollbar to the left there and help! Anyways, a big THANK YOU beforehand for sticking with us and see you next time!