Chapter Eight: Aka no Seijaku
"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven." – John Milton (Paradise Lost)
VIII.
Pain…
Everywhere…
It was…
It was…
Unbearable…
Make it stop…
A pain…
Can never be healed…
The scar…
Blood…
Pouring…
Red…
Burgundy…
A rose petal…
Torn…
Red…
Lifeblood…
Torn away…
Overflowing…
The scar…
The horrible scar…
Red staining white…
The rose petals…
Innocence is lost…
Once again…
Ascending…
Descending…
Keeps coimng back…
Ever-shifting…
Look out…
Look out…
Sinking…
The change of heart…
False…
A lie…
Only to deceive…
Truth…
It is never enough…
She screams in agony…
Please…
Make it stop!
Make it stop now!
NOW!
"AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
She screamed in absolute agony, the searing pain scorching hrert skin like hot fire, red as her blood of which has stained the nightgown. The blade, one that was the Millennium Rod, was now decorated with the stream of her crimson, a ribbon wrapped around the golden blade. She was writhing in pain, her body trembling and in sheer agony, as if a thousand blades had climbed and sunk into her skin, and she fell onto her knees, with blood making its way down her back and onto the floor.
In front of her, Marik relished every moment of the art that he created, with her in complete submission and blood rising from inside by his blade and onto the white marble. He raised the blade, dripping with her lifeblood, and he wrapped his long tongue around the sharp knife, proceeding to lick every last drop from its sheath. He shuddered, the taste of her lifeblood almost making him weak in the knees, placing a hand on the wall to keep him upright. He felt the muscles in his groin pumping as though orgasm had been achieved, though this paled in comparison to what was going to happen soon. He couldn't help but pant slightly, eyeing the girl lecherously, licking his lips in satisfaction, allowing some of her ruby liquid to stain his mouth and make their way down to his chin.
Serenity felt her blood pool around her, stiffening at the very sight of it, covering her mouth to keep from retching at the spot. Her eyes were wide, so wide that one couldn't see the iris anymore, and she was shaking violently from the onslaught. The wound on her back kept pulsating, blood continuing to flow and creating a canvas on her back and lower back. She took deep breaths in an effort to control the agony that she was feeling, that he, the monster named Marik, had bestowed upon her, having christened her by marking his Millennium Rod on her.
A scar.
A horrible scar.
That's what it will be.
That's what it will become.
A horrible reminder.
A reminder that she is his.
He marked her, baptizing her even.
Why?
Why did she have to be so pure?
Why was she pure?
Why her?
Surely he was satisfied by eternal darkness.
But no.
It was not the case.
He was never satisfied.
And he never will be.
He never will be satisfied.
Never ever.
As long as darkness exists…
He will still exist…
Why was she pure?
Why is she still?
Even after he…
She didn't even want to finish that….
The pain…
Unbearable…
Make it stop…
Agony…
Belongs to her alone…
It is her agony…
It descends….
It ascends….
It descends again…
There was blood…
All around her…
The scar…
It will be there….
On her form….
On her shell…
Red…
The color….
It was beautiful…
Blood…
Both lovely and horrible…
The lifeblood…
Crimson…
Blood red….
Staining…
Creation….
A canvas….
A painting…
Red upon white…
Red consuming white…
After what seemed like an eternity, the blood stopped flowing from the newborn scar. She looked up and from where she was, she noticed that Marik eyed the blood that pooled around her, that had stained the nightgown and the white marble. It was as if he had been entranced by the painting of red upon white, with the patterns becoming more beautiful than ever.
She froze when he sauntered over to her and kneeled down to lock his red-violet eyes with her shimmering hazel orbs. He licked his lips of the vestiges of her blood, and reached out to stroke her hair before he would his finger onto her lips, studying the fullness of them. He then let a small but satisfactory smile mark his features.
"A beautiful painting upon a lovely canvas – all thanks to you, my dear." He then leaned in and kissed her lips, feeling her freeze at the very contact, leaving unanswered questions reach an impasse in her mind. She felt herself return the kiss slowly, but she nonetheless held back from provoking him and his sexual appetite.
It was strange, but she felt calm somewhat while her mind was terrified at what he was going to do next to her. With that knowledge, she pulled away from him, deep breaths making themselves known from her.
Surprised at first, but another smile crept on his face as he stood up and lent out a hand to her.
"Come with me, Serenity."
A little taken aback by his suspicious behavior, she looked away for a moment, fear and questioning mixed with doubt evident on her face. She knew that he had something planned for her, but she didn't want to be in this red painting under her anymore. Anywhere was better than this dungeon of white marble stained by crimson.
With hesitation, she took his hand and he pulled her up, almost too quickly because she nearly fell over before he caught her in his arms. She was reeling from the overpowering scent of blood, her own blood in that matter, and the horrible pain that slowly became a gentle numbness. There were fragmenting images spinning in front of her and getting less describable. There was a sudden feeling of the blood from the wound beginning to stain the inside of her thighs, a sickening feeling that made her stomach nearly turn inside out; she hoped to God that he didn't notice.
Amidst her slip of perception, she suddenly felt an arm under her legs and being lifted into his arms. She stifled a surprised gasp when he did such a gesture, but the ongoing metallic scent was too strong for her to even question him. Her vision relentlessly kept going in and out of blackness at every second.
She didn't feel like she was being moved or even moving at all, but her vision failed to assist her in that logic. Her head just hung over his arm, her hair nearly dragging onto the floor, which seemingly moved below them, and her arms felt limp and useless against him. She felt useless and lifeless, just like a doll, a doll for him to play with and nothing more than that. Even if she was still alive for now, she was lifeless whether she liked it or not, and it wasn't her choice to think that she was a doll or not – it was Marik's choice and that was all.
She then realized that he had stopped in his tracks, almost moving her a little in his arms, and he soon turned her over so she would be on her feet. She was still dizzy, so she nearly fell over before he caught her upright, almost forcing her to stand up, as if she didn't want to stand. She blinked a couple of times before her vision cleared, surveying everything around and in front of her with Marik holding her back from escaping if she wanted to.
Where am I? Is….Is this Heaven?
She shook her head, jolting a little, as if a stupid question like that was a psychosomatic way to place her back in the real world.
No.
It couldn't possibly be Heaven, not with Marik, not if he was there.
"Wh-Where am I?" She asked, her voice a little scratchy for unknown reasons before she cleared her throat hastily. She noticed that they were in a hallway, one that was very familiar to her now.
Familiar…
She started to shake in his grasp.
"We're in the Ship, my dear, where you and your friends have ventured and have taken residence earlier in the tournament. Such a pity that they all had to perish in this place, on this island, but it deems fit for such a conquest, does it not?" The demon called Marik spoke finally, great pride from conquering the tournament arising from deep within.
Such pride made Serenity shake a little, many fragments of what was before coming back to her.
The duels…
Joey….
His friends…
Her friends…
Téa….
Ryou….
Mai…..
Malik…
Yugi….
Ishizu….
The Pharaoh…
Duke….
Tristan….
Mokuba….
Kaiba…
They were all gone.
Everyone…
Gone, gone, gone…..
All gone…
All because of her….
Tears started to seep out of her eyes unwillingly, the heartache of their loss just too great.
Why did they have to die?
They did nothing wrong; do the innocent go punished when the evil go unscathed?
It wasn't fair….
Why couldn't it have been her?
It was her he wanted….
He should have just taken her and let everyone else go!
At least they would still be alive…
She could have been sacrificed to Ra's fiery wrath…she could have fallen into the oits of Hell and let everyone else alone…
At least they would have be alive…
She would have been a sacrifice…
At least they would have be alive…
Self-deprecating thoughts were shaken.
His mouth hovered next to her ear.
"They're gone, Serenity….nothing can change that."
She froze.
The words repeated relentlessly.
Echoing.
Branding itself…
"They're gone, Serenity….nothing can change that."
You only have ME NOW.
They're gone…
Nothing can change that…..
They were all gone…
All of them….
DEAD…..
Her brother Joey…
Téa….
Ryou….
Mai…..
Malik…
Yugi….
Ishizu….
The Pharaoh…
Duke….
Tristan….
Mokuba….
Kaiba…
All gone…
They were all there.
And then there were none.
"Stand up, Serenity."
W-What?
"On your feet."
She had then realized she had sunk onto the ground, almost pulling Marik with her, but he still held her up, just with her knees weak and wobbling.
"Get up and stand up, Serenity. On your feet." His voice had developed a ahrsher tone with her; she flinched at the very sound of it. She gripped onto his arm, proceeding to lift herself upright. Her legs were heavy as two dumbbells, but she manged to stand on her feet, with a little help from a reluctant Marik, who then pulled her to a door next to them.
He opened it and they proceeded to go inside, the door closing behind them. Black was all that Serenity could see, nearly blinding her before a light flickered on, effectively doubling her vision with the light and darkness coaslescing in her pupils. She shook her head before she finally knew where they were.
A room.
One of the rooms in the Ship.
There was a bed, a closet, closed windows draped with curtains, and a closed oor, which was proably the full bathroom that everyone had in their rooms in the ship.
The tournament…..
Battle City….
She felt herself being led to the bed, and she doubled over, landing on the softness in a heap. She was face down, the soft material against her bruised cheek and her legs were curled as to offer protection. The bed was very different from the floor, seeing that it was more comfortable and softer than the hard floor. It was a nice change of scenery and she felt herself fall asleep immediately.
That was short-lived, since she then felt Marik turn her on her back and loom over her, straddling her so she wouldn't get away from him.
"Serenity, my dear….it's quite lovely, isn't it? Your namesake….it speakes to me, telling me of what tranquility I shall obtain with your presence. I've never had someone like you in my posession, with all the other souls I have, that is." Marik tilted his head, giving her a sideways glance, a baleful glow lit in his eyes as he spoke. "Of everyone I have seen on this very ship, only you caught my eye, but since I had to vanquish the follish Pharaoh, I was preoccupied and I couldn't get close to you. Except of course…..there was that one time…" He chuckled at that memory, eyes twinkling maliciously at her wavering hazel pools.
Serenity trembled under his gaze, her form literally shaking in fear. She felt her intake of breaths shortened. The red-violet orbs she stared into were the floating fragments of the oblivion that he sought after, the oblivion that he wishes to create. His burgundy marked the vestiges of lust that personified many minutes before, which was a foolish mistake on her part, when she simply gave into him.
Marik straightned his head and leaned in so Serenity's vision was filled with his face. Hazel found themselves reflecting the red-violet eyes that crinkled in amusement and awakening lust. "Yes, you remember that occurrence, as I told you right before my blade created a beautifuk mark on your back. I wanted to see your blood upon the white nightgown that you wear, such beautiful and delicious blood. It is the only lovely paint upon an empty canvas."
His eyes grew smaller by the minute, with such excitement growing inside of him, so much that the girl underneath couldn't look away from those eyes. She then stilled when seeing the reflection of hazel eyes upon his burgundy orbs, each color of their own existence yet they were amalgamated to become one. This thought frightened her and she shut her eyes tightly, but she then heard him growl low in his throat, feeling him move and lowering his head to murmur agaonst her throat, his lips brushing against her skin.
"I want you, Serenity; it doesn't matter whether you don't give in, my dear. I'm now in the tapestry of immortality, which means that I can never die and neither will you. We can create Oblivion together, where no one will disturb us."
A twisted giggle emerged from his lips, making way to her, whilst she was in complete confusion and shock. Immortality? What did he mean by that – could it possibly be Oblivion?
"Aaahhh..." the demon purred. "You are the key to the Oblivion and I shall bring you forth to your fate very soon, my sweet Serenity." He paused just then, tilting his head to look at her with glittering blood-violet eyes and he leaned so no space was between them, his fangs ghosting over her lips before he pressed his mouth onto hers and between her and the bed, he began to run his hand down to her back until he pushed her against him.
Serenity shut her eyes, making her world black and so that she wouldn't see him; but sensation betrayed her this time, for she was not asleep. Recalling his lips and his bnrutal touches from before, she suddenly gathered som estrength within her and she pressed her hands onto his chest, trying futilely to push him off her, but his grip was too strong. She then suddenly shoved him off of her, breaking the kiss and allowing her to retrieve the much needed air into her lungs.
Marik was taken aback by this sudden rebellion, but soon a lecherous grin crept upon his features, finding the fighting spirit in her strangely arousing and addicting. He leaned in once more, only this time she kept herhands on his chest, pushing him away from her again.
"Get away from me, you pervert! Get away from me!" She shouted, her throat raw from the lack of sustenance, and she swallowed while she stil resisted his advances. This only provedto excite him even more, he saw her as playing a sadistic seduction that mused fervently in his mind. Marik moved away from her, breathing heavily and the grin was still upon his face.
"Ooh feisty now, are we? You know you can't resist, my dear Serenity, you never did, never have and you never ever will." He said in a sing-song voice before he laughed mockingly, furthering Serenity's burning intent of making him pay for what he did.
She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth as he inched towards her, and once he moved in, everything happened in a milisecond.
All hell broke loose.
She lunged toward him.
Darted forward.
Straddling hips.
Surprise and strange arousal.
Pinning both wrists with one hand.
Leaning in.
Eye to eye.
Face to face.
The fierce glow of her eyes.
An excited smile upon his face.
"Stop it! Stop tormenting me, you sick bastard! How dare you, Marik!" She stressed his name so it was interlaced with the hatred and the disgust she felt for him. "How dare you exist, how dare you take advantage of my grief, my grief which exists because of you! You killed my brother, you killed my friends! You killed innocent people, and you don't feel guilty at all! Don't you have a heart?! No, you don't! You don't have a heart! You have no soul!" She trembled and tried in vain to regain her breathing. She was quite surprised at what was such anger from her, but it was absolutely necessary. Marik is a demon, a monster and he desrved her tirade.
But why did he smile?
That ugly smile.
That beautiful smile.
A throaty chuckle emerged from him, an amused grin painted on his face, his eyes tinged with the lust that was there still.
"Oh, how I love the feel of you…."
Eyes widened amd became the size of a single raindrop as realization hit her.
She was doing what he wanted her to do.
Blood-violet eyes widened and he used his lower body strength, seeing that she was straddling him, and lifted her from him, resulting in her to let go of his wrists in surprise and fall back onto the bed. Serenity then felt herslf being straddled by Marik and her wrists seized by one of his hands and pinned above her head.
It was the same trap that she used on him. That was just unfair.
"As much as I would love to have you on top of me, I'm afraid I can't grant you that one wish, my sweet." Marik then chuckled softly, his smile widening and his face mockingly cruel.
Serenity quivered under him, her heart beating and punding like a jackhammer; she was most definitely afraid. She was afraid of what this monster would do to her at thios very second, hearing those mocking words flow right to her.
Without warning, Marik suddenly caught Serenity's lips with his own in a ferocious kiss.
It happened so fast for her, she couldn't even breathe. So much force was put upon her: the weight of her world collapsing, the guilt of being the only one alive, and becoming Marik's key to this Oblivion.
After what had felt like an eternity, he finally unlocked his lips from hers and proceeded to kiss her neck fervently, shuddering at the very feel of her skin on his lips. Serenity shut her eyes and moved against him, tossing and turning in a attempt to escape from this sensual assault upon her.
"Get off me, you pervert! Stop it, stop it please! Stop it! Stop it!!!' She cried out in vain, tears blurring her vision and trailing down her cheeks, wishing that this was all just a bad dream, a horrible nightmare and when she woke up, everything would be all right.
But no.
That was not the case.
She started to sob as he proceeded to kiss her, lowering his head to exposed flesh down her collarbnone. He still had her wrists in his bind, in his one hand as he kissed, nipped and licked the newly bruised skin. He was so caught up in his lust that he nearly shuddered again as she cried out in pain when his teeth left a mark on her neck, little droplets of blood oozing from the newborn wound.
She bit her lip, stil shaking under his grip. She didn't want this to be happening, not to her and not to anyone else.
He loved hearing her cries of pain; it was the cacophany of her coming pleasure and hisa oblivion that he had dreamed of.
He relished the thought of the oblivion coming to pass; soon it will be born.
Very soon.
All he had to do was make the girl become one with him, whether she wanted it or not.
That would be when Oblivion will come to pass.
VIII.
A/N: Once again, I am so sorry for taking so long on the update of this story. I truly didn't mean to take so long. I am just caught up in a series of school obligations, regarding senior year, upcoming graduation plans and the rest of the play that is in production. The next chapter will be darker and longer, so I just wanted to give you all a heads-up.
Soundtrack:
"Behind (Callea Club Remix)" Flanders
"Which Way You're Going" Robbie Rivera
"Das Glockenspiel (Schill Out Mix)" Schiller
"Strange World (Underwater Kingdom Remix)" Push
"Fine Day (Mike Koglin Mix 2002)" Kirsty Hawkshaw