AN: I hope you all have a wonderful sunday. I'm back with another update. Long story short: Enjoy!
CHAPTER III
Chasing Ra
Mozart's ninth symphony met my ears again as the elevator's doors slid shut. The melody had something comforting and calming - it was so perfectly unfitted for the situation and what we just did. An awkward silence surrounded us.
"Marik?" I said under my breath and felt how the blood pulsed through my veins. There was still a question on my mind that I wanted to ask him before he bolted into Hadad's office. It almost strangled my throat; I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear his answer - but not knowing it would give me sleepless nights of too much thinking.
Marik looked at me from the corner of his lavender eyes; waiting impatiently for me to speak as the elevator descended slowly.
"Why did you ask me for coming with you?" I pressed out nearly whispering. "I mean… Every other of your servants would have gotten the job done too." My amber-olive eyes met his. As I finished the question the eye contact intensified.
Then he looked back to the elevator doors in front of us. I raised a brow as he hesitated to say something and I felt how the elevator slowed down.
"I just rather prefer having you around me than anyone else." Marik said short and crisp. His words sounded so cold as they left his lips; emotionless. And still his confession made my cheeks blush. "I guess it's a trust-thing." He added and with that the doors of the elevator opened with a ping. The sound startled me a bit.
His piercing irises locked with mine again - more intense than before. No words were spoken. I sensed how every tiny hair on my neck and arms rose. His expression was unreadable for me, although I probably knew him better than anyone else.
"Shall we?" He broke the silence and stepped out of the cabin. I followed him on heel with still blushed cheeks while a wry smile played on my lips.
The Egyptian afternoon sun bathed the city streets of Cairo in a golden light as we stepped out of the building. Its warming strength felt so well on my skin, but his latest words kept echoing in my mind.
Suddenly he slipped my helmet on my head and closed its clasps under my chin. I blinked at him in surprise.
"W-What's next?" I asked stuttering and observed how he put on his own helmet.
"Next stop Luxor." Again he answered short and crisp and sat down on the crimson red chopper. "We need to be quick. Ishizu's millennium necklace could have already warned her about my plan and that I know where she hid the Winged Dragon."
"Oh okay." I said.
"Hop on." Marik commanded and stared at me from the motorcycle. His hand was ready to turn the key and bring the motor back to life. He was impatient, so I did how he said and sat down behind him. Then I wrapped my arms around his waist again - but this time my grip was tighter. As I saw him smiling at me through the rearview mirror I knew that he noticed my tighter hold. It was a warm and friendly smile, one of those he gave me before all of this awful things happened…since his initiation.
Then we sped off into the Cairo rush hour traffic.
xx
When we got back to the headquarter outside the city boarders of Cairo I hurried to throw on the deep purple cloak over my civil outfit. I was nervous; Marik wanted me to join him to the valley of the kings to find Ra. He again wished for my presence, although a teenage girl couldn't be of use for a job like that - I thought while I put on the golden belt I usually wore around my waist above the cloak. My stomach turned upside down - somehow in a positive way. It made me somewhat happy that he wanted me to come with him.
Marik decided to drive all the way down to Luxor by a car convoy. Two black SUVs were already waiting outside our headquarter as I stepped out. Daylight had already faded away and the sky had a beautiful navy shade during the blue hour. Ilias, one of Marik's servants sat on the drivers seat of the first SUV and Ausar sat beside him on the passenger seat. The already running motor told me that they were already waiting and ready to leave. Odion stood in front of the second black SUV; his body tense and expression serious as usual. But I could barely see a slight smile crossing his gaze when his olive eyes met mine. For me he always was like a brother and in some situation a bit of a father, who always had an open ear and good advice when I needed it the most. I often felt sorry for him on Marik's 'bad days'. He turned from someone so incredible kind into someone so…mean…most of the time. Since we left the tomb Marik turned into a kind of an atomic plant on two legs. And I also felt sorry for him that I somehow was the only one who had the honour to witness the little bit of kindness that was left. But Odion was okay with it; if I were in his shoes I would have already lost my mind and still I admired his endless loyalty.
As I stepped closer to the second SUV he gave me a slight smile and opened the back door for me to climb in. When the door opened I was met by piercing lavender eyes that also shone bright in the darkness of the egyptian night underneath the cape of his deep purple cloak. Marik already sat in the back seat, his legs and arms crossed elegantly but still so dangerously serious. In his hand his piano thin fingers held the golden millennium rod.
"Hi…" I murmured and sat down beside him. Odion shut the car's door with a bang; the sound startled me. The situation still filled me with unease and gratitude at the same time. His honest words from the elevator earlier echoed in my mind again. He preferred my company rather than anyones else; at this I smiled sheepishly mentally.
Marik just nodded at me without saying a single word. Again I felt like I did anything wrong. Did I let them wait for too long? Then Odion climbed onto the drivers seat and started the motor. With the headlight flasher he singled the front SUV that we were ready to get going. The convoy drove off into the blue night that bathed the desert in white moonlight. We would probably arrive in Luxor by the end of the night.
An awkward silence filled the car while we drove at full speed through the deserts. I risked to look at Marik beside me from the corner of my eyes every once in a while, but he did nothing than staring out the window into the endlessness of sand and a black sky. I wondered what he was thinking of while his lavender eyes were fixed on nothing in particular. After all those years on his side I still didn't know how to act around him - his frequent mood changes made it impossible for me.
"So…" I sighed, still wondering if it was a good or a bad idea to break the silence. "What will you do when we found Ra?"
Marik's gaze snapped back to me and his lavender orbs hit me like a sledgehammer… and they gave me somehow cushy goosebumps.
"I will care about the whereabouts of Slifer and Obelisk when Ra is finally in my possession, Jesara. First things first." He answered in a firm tone.
"Okay…" I mumbled and decided to say nothing more, well aware of the fact that another question about that topic would lead nowhere. As my gaze drifted back to the night sky outside the window I thought back to his words earlier - again. 'It's a trust-thing.'
While the convoy sped through the endless desert and night my thoughts held my mind in a tight grip. I wished Marik would act a bit more often like that… like he was when we were younger. The older we got the more I didn't know how I should describe what he made me feel like. Although he seemed to have built a huge wall around him, wether it was to protect himself from emotional damage or to lock away his still so soft core, I sometimes felt like the only person on earth who held the key to the inside. I wished I had the guts to ask him how he felt about us. And yet I wouldn't know what to answer to it if he'd ask me the same.
Even Odion didn't say a single word during the following two hours, which felt like an eternity. My eyelids started to get heavier with every mile we let behind us and still our surroundings didn't change visually. Eventually I drifted off into a dreamless slumber and cuddled myself into the soft material of the deep purple cloak.
xx
I felt something gently tickling my nose and forehead, my eyes still closed while I slowly awoke from my slumber. Although it was a bit annoying I didn't want to open my eyes just yet, instead I lifted my right hand to brush away what felt so strange in my face. Maybe I could get a bit more sleep until our arrival.
A soft sleepy moan left my throat as my hand stroked over my forehead and nose; I wasn't sure what it was what tickled my face but it felt like hair between my slight fingers. But I didn't care for that in my half sleepy state. Then I cuddled my face and shoulders back into that cushy material underneath my cheeks, which felt so adorably warm.
I sensed a bit of a breath on my forehead, maybe a smirk, maybe the whiff of a silent chuckle. Where did it come from? Was my mind still drifting though dreams? I let out yet another soft moan.
"Time to wake up, sleepyhead." I heard a familiar voice whispering close to my face, but I rarely heard this voice speaking with such a gentleness. Slowly I opened my eyes, my vision still a bit blurry from my sleep. Sleepyhead…
I slowly lifted my head from where it lay and looked up as my vision got sharper. Lavender eyes stared into mine, closer than I expected them to be after I closed my eyes the last time. I cringed as our eyes locked with each other with barely no distance between our bodies. Just then I realised that I must have slept with my head laying and cuddling on his shoulder. And he let me. My heart beat a hundred miles a minute.
A slight smirk, but a yet so soft one, played on his lips as my cheeks started to blush again. "We're almost there." He whispered and didn't do anything to put some distance between us. Marik lifted his hand and stroked some of my ruffled hair strands out of my face and behind my ear. A comfortable shiver shot through my upper body at his touch.
I froze and didn't move for what felt like an eternity. Those pale lavender irises had a hypnotising effect every time they stared into mine.
"Master Marik." Odion cut the silence and with his words we immediately broke eye contact. I sat myself upright again. "We are there. Your commands, Master?"
"Just drive as close to the entrance of king Sethos' grave as possible." Marik said with seriousness in his voice. The softness from before was gone within a second. 'Oh what a two sided sword you are.' I sighed mentally and looked at what was in front of us. The other SUV in front of us came to a halt before an entrance barrier, two security officers came closer to the black car. Both of them armed with a Glock attached to their belt. My heart skipped a beat and I felt fear as I saw the uniformed men with weapons. It was still dark outside; I had no idea what time it was.
"And the security guards?" Odion asked and looked back at Marik through the rear view mirror.
"Just drive, leave those fools to me." He answered sternly. Then a golden very familiar light came from the millennium rod in his hands.
Marik invaded their mind, controlled their will and obviously commanded them to open the gate. We drove through easily.
Just five minutes later the convoy came to a halt again. I saw how Ilias and Ausar got off the SUV in front of us and so did we. The air was chilly, our surroundings dangerously silent. Ilias got a tool case from the trunk and waited for Marik's commands.
"According to my latest informations The Winged Dragon of Ra is hid in a secret chamber in the rear end of the burial chamber." Marik explained; his face still half hidden underneath the cape of his cloak. Then he threw an envelope over to Ausar. "It's marked on this map of the chamber. I expect the job to be done properly and without delay. Understood?"
Ilias and Ausar nodded and then opened the entrance to king Sethos' grave with a crowbar. Marik followed them on heel inside the chamber, the millennium rod always present in his hands. Odion and I were the last behind them. I've never seen another tomb beside the one we used to live in a long time ago. It was fascinating how small this one was. Our tomb was huge, like a city underground. This grave was just a long corridor that led us down; the air was incredibly thin and the odour was almost unbearable. It was hard to breathe in here.
Then we reached the final chamber; the one which inhabited the sarcophagus of king Sethos.
Marik stood with his arms crossed and watched his two servants studying the map he gave them. Soon they found the wall which separated us from this 'secret room'. But it didn't look like there was an entrance to that room.
"Marik…?" I whispered and drew closer to him from behind carefully.
He said nothing, he just looked back at me over his shoulder with his typical expressionless face. "Mh?"
"How do we get in there? Are you sure that there's a secret chamber behind it?" I asked with my voice close to a whisper.
Marik blinked at me a few times before answering. "Ra is here. That's a fact. Hadad could have lied to me, but nobody can betray the power of the millennium rod, Jesara." He said cooly, not a single trace of regret in his voice.
Odion and the other two of Marik's Rare Hunters started to break the wall in the rear end of the chamber with a sledgehammer. I cringed with every loud boom that echoed through the ancient tomb.
"It was very smart of my sister to hide Ra somewhere so highly frequented like the valley of the kings. Thousands of people and tourists come here every day. I have to admit that I didn't expect that Ra could be hidden in a place like this." Marik sighed and watched his servants do their job. Slowly the wall started to tumble down. His body tensed up with every piece Odion and the others removed. Hadad didn't lie, there was for sure a secret room behind this wall.
A few minutes later the hole in the wall was big enough for Ausar to crawl in; the light of the torch in his hand enhanced the chamber. Within seconds the air we breathed seemed to be somehow electrified. I stood close behind Marik and focused on Ausar and the hole in the wall.
"Master Marik." Ausar's voice came from behind the wall. His eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed once more. I was sure his heart was beating a hundred miles a minute at this moment, so did mine.
"We found it. The Winged Dragon Of Ra is here, my Master."
A triumphant laugh left Marik's lips. Today he got a step closer to his goal. Ausar crawled back from the hole, then he straightened himself and bowed down before Marik. Then he handed over a duel monsters card, well sealed in a case of glass.
Marik's slight fingers took it from him and he eyed it carefully. A bright smirk played on his lips. "Finally The Winged Dragon is in my possession. Only two more to go." He chuckled quite evilly. "Good job, my servants."
Odion, Ilias and Ausar nodded thankfully and bowed slightly at his compliment, grateful that they pleased their master.
"What are you waiting for?" Marik spat suddenly. "Pack our stuff and let's go before the sun rises over this place of death."
They cringed at his words and hastily stuffed the sledgehammers and other tools back into the case. Then we made our way back to the surface. Ilias and Ausar walked in front, Odion right behind. I followed at last right behind Marik, who's eyes were still focused on the golden beauty of the Winged Dragon of Ra.
As we finally reached the surface the sky started to become lighter; by now it had a beautiful shade of dark blue, which was slowly replaced by the golden shade of the Egyptian sun. We walked back to the SUVs not far away from the entrance of the tomb. I followed close behind Marik; again a lot of thoughts crossed my mind. He wanted me to come with him, but I had no purpose here… except being present. Marik never did something without a good purpose or reason. So why did he take me with him…?
Suddenly fast footsteps, which didn't belong to me or the others, startled me out of my thoughts. I heard them coming closer to me from behind. Within seconds fear filled my body and I turned around intuitively. But before my eyes could get a catch something or someone I felt a stinging pain shooting through my whole body from my waistline. All I remember was that I shrieked at the top of my lungs. The last thing I saw were shocked piercing lavender eyes, which faded into darkness when my vision went black.
AN: Sorry, not sorry for the cliffhanger :D Hope you liked the chapter and the story so far. Slowly the plot forms and builds :-)
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Let my know how you liked it and what you think happened :P
Merci