Yeah, it's been how long since we've seen an update for this? Sorry, guys—I've been trying my hardest to get around to this.
Here's the third part to "Catch the Stars," and a big shout out to a friend of mine in the choir. The lyrics to one of the songs she had to sing inspired this chapter…if you have the time, go to YouTube and look up "Sure on this Shining Night." Guaranteed to give you goose bumps if you listen to it.
PS: OMG WHAT IS WITH THIS ANGST MOOD MY BUNNIES ARE IN? THEY WON'T STOP WRITING IT D:
Rishid looked into the room silently, the left side of his face throbbing painfully as he stared at the mess in Marik's room. The child had put up a fierce struggle earlier as he had been dragged out, but then anyone would if they had to go through what his poor younger brother had.
The room looked as if a whirlwind had slammed into it: furniture was overturned and in some instances broken, paper and objects littered the floor, bed sheets were torn from their proper place and ripped, and shards of pottery were liberally scattered on the floor. The dim lighting of the room certainly didn't help anything, giving his surroundings an almost hellish look to it.
In the middle of the mess Ishizu was sitting on the bed, holding a small and broken child in her arms and looked as if she was about to burst into tears. She kept running her hand through her brother's sand-colored hair, unable to rub his back to comfort him. Her helpless blue eyes caught Rishid's golden ones and traveled over his features, flinching when they landed on the bandages wrapped around the left side of his face.
Rishid knew what this would mean when Master Ishtar saw what he had done; in more ways than one his actions could be seen as treason. Frankly, though, he simply did not care at this point—there was no way to hide it now, even if he wanted to.
Ishizu looked like she was struggling to put together a sentence, but whatever she had been about to say was lost when Marik's pleading voice, laced with pain, whimpered, "I want to see the stars again."
Ishizu's uncertainty remained a moment longer before abruptly dissolving, rising to her feet smoothly and squaring her shoulders as she stood. There was no trace of hesitation or fear in her eyes; it had vanished entirely and she exuded a confidence that had not been there before.
Her blue eyes softened as she gently dipped her head to their younger brother. "Take care of him, akhi," she said quietly to Rishid before she slipped out of the room.
Rishid did not question her tone, instead moving gingerly through the cluttered items on the floor and setting himself on the thin cot beside his brother. Marik shifted carefully, burrowing his head in his older brother's side. "They broke the vase you and Sister made me," he said softly, not looking up at him but at something on the floor.
The older Egyptian looked at the floor and saw what Marik's lavender eyes were looking at: a few shards of pottery that were carved with tiny and meticulously made holes. He chose to say nothing, gently placing one of his hands on his brother's head. The left side of his face ached, but he made himself ignore it: Marik did not need to see his discomfort.
Soft but audible footsteps in the hallway made him glance up sharply. They were hurried, and for one wild moment he was afraid that it was Master Ishtar. A few seconds later, Ishizu's slender figure appeared in the doorway. "The Guard is investigating a possible breach into the catacombs, but I cannot guarantee how long they will be gone," she said grimly. "Akhi, if you're going to take him to the tunnel you have to do it now."
Rishid stared at his sister mutely—she had lied to the Guard for them. Such an act was also dangerous, since Master Ishtar did not tolerate such things; then again, Ishizu was nearly invisible to their father (if he could be called that). Rishid hesitated before turning his back to Marik. "I'll carry you there, since you cannot walk that well," he said gently.
A brief pause, and then a light weight gingerly scooted along the bed and painstakingly moved onto his back; there was no way for Rishid to carry the child any other way. One of the boy's arms jarred his face and the action very nearly made a cry of pain escape him; as it was, Rishid violently flinched as he adjusted Marik's weight carefully before swiftly exiting the room, Ishizu close behind him as they moved through the dim halls.
Rishid found the tunnel easily enough—he passed by here more often lately because of Master Ishtar's tasks. He slipped through the familiar entrance cautiously, his eyes watching the shadows warily; Ishizu's own eyes were flickering in the torchlight as she too scanned her surroundings. If one of the Guard found them here no amount of explaining would spare them.
Rishid relaxed when he saw no one in the darkness, crossing into the chamber and onto the moonlit sand. He knelt down and Marik's grip loosened, his body almost melting to the sand as the boy slid off. Ishizu came alongside Marik's other side as Rishid sat down beside his young charge, watching his brother silently as the child's gaze immediately went up to the sky above them.
An indeterminable amount of time passed before Marik slowly lifted his hands upward, stifling a whimper as he reached for the opening above them. He struggled to keep his hands up, his facial expression a combination of pain and yearning as he looked at the stars.
Rishid felt his heart painfully clench as the dim memory of a younger Marik entered his mind; there was such a difference in between that time and the present, and it hurt him deeply that he could do nothing to change this situation. Ishizu's tortured gaze spoke the same thought, he noticed, when he looked over at his sister. The young girl looked completely at a loss; the confidence that had bolstered her enough to lie to the Guard had left in the wake of her younger brother's silent desperation.
One of Marik's hands wavered and nearly dropped, but the child was obviously trying to keep his hands up as long as he could in spite of the pain that had to be nearly crippling him at this point. The frustrated tears gathering in the boy's lavender eyes spoke as much.
Rishid hesitated for only a second, and then he found that one of his own hands was going to Marik's the same time that his sister's hand moved. Together, the two elder Ishtars gripped their brother's hands gently as they lifted them back up to the stars, holding them there. His shoulder began to ache minutes later, but he ignored it; he would hold this child's hand up for as long as he could possibly manage, and the determination on his sister's face mirrored his.
Not one of the three Egyptians spoke the entire time they sat in that patch of moonlit sand. There was nothing to say that had not been spoken already—but their identical sentiments were expressed louder than words could ever describe on their faces.
If there was ever a moment in which reality could be altered, it would be so that the three siblings could be anywhere but their underground prison.