Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Paranoid ❯ The demon is one ( Chapter 15 )

Hey there!! I'm really sorry I updated so late, but you know how school is….ugh…I unfortunately don't have any time to answer your reviews! But I read each and every one of them and loved them all!! Thank you so much!!! Thanks!! You guys make me want to write! Tell me what you think of this chappy!!!

 

 

 

 

Rishid gave his wife a weary glance from across the table. They were both seated in the kitchen, having a peaceful, quiet dinner. Isis was unusually quiet that morning, her normal chitchat reduced to a skeptical frown.

 

Rishid was getting exceedingly suspicious. First, Marik and Bakura had still not come down for breakfast, second Isis was acting all strange…what was wrong?

 

Rishid didn't fully trust Marik's paranoid mind yet, so he could only guess it had something to do with him. `If he's hurt Isis in any way, I swear I'll…' the bald man thought, but was cut off my Isis's voice.

 

“So…anything new dear? How was work?” Isis suddenly asked, in a pathetic attempt to bring things back to casual. Rishid sighed in response and took a few sips of coffee.

 

“Everything's fine.” He simply answered and glanced sideways at his wife “When did they get home last night?” he asked suddenly, making Isis look at him in a haunting gaze.

 

“Last morning, you mean. They came back at about three.” She simply commented, making Rishid nod slowly. Isis's tone implied that she didn't really feel like talking about it, but Rishid was quite obstinate when it came to these matters.

 

“Is there something wrong?” he tried a different approach. Unfortunately, that didn't work either. Isis simply shook her head and smiled at him reassuringly.

 

“Nah…Nothing's wrong. I'm just a bit tired.” She simply stated “Don't worry about Marik and Bakura, they'll be down in a few minutes…” she tried to comfort her husband.

 

The bald man huffed defiantly “I just hope Marik doesn't try anything funny…”

 

This made the tanned woman smile lightly “Don't worry…Marik isn't violent anymore. Actually, I think it's quite the opposite…”

 

At this insinuation, Rishid raised a questioning eyebrow. Isis took this as her queue to answer the unspoken question.

 

“Well, when they came back home yesterday night, they were kind of different…” she absent-mindedly started, a decidedly fond smile gracing her features as she remembered the boys. Rishid's eyebrows both shot up this time.

 

“Different?” he inquired. He had a certain feeling about this…Isis grinned at him.

 

“Yes, different…as in, abnormally happy, laughing all the time, touching each other when they thought I wasn't looking…you know, different.” Her face had broken into a full smile by now, and Rishid's eyes had widened to the dangerous size of saucers.

 

“But…But how can this be…I mean…you think that…?” he started saying with more than a hint of disbelief in his voice. Isis nodded, her crystal eyes sparkling with a light Rishid hadn't seen for a long time. It had to be true…If Isis was so happy…it had to be true…Marik and Bakura were back together again!

 

“But do you think it's safe? I mean, Marik is still recovering isn't he? And he doesn't have any memories, right? Maybe it's dangerous for Bak-”

 

But a slender tanned digit hushed him before he could continue his agonized rant. His wife's tantalizingly pliant lips were massaging his, and he found the familiar relaxing sensation comfort him. When Isis finally pulled away from him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and sat on his lap, grinning at him all the while. Well, if Isis was THAT happy, then it certainly had to be true.

 

“They'll be just fine.” She reassured her husband, and planted a loving kiss on his forehead. He fought to keep the worried scowl off his face. “But what if Bakura gets hurt again? Shouldn't I go check on them anyway?” he asked in the fashion of a worried parent, making his wife grin and shake her head in exasperation.

 

“You know, sometimes I understand why Marik says you're an over-protective bulldog…” she murmured in a teasing voice that Rishid hadn't heard in a long time. In fact, he hadn't seen his wife act so happy and at ease since Marik got crazy.

 

“Hey! What's that supposed to mean? And he actually calls me that?” Rishid inquired in mock vexation. Isis smiled lovingly and stroked her husband's bald head.

 

“Don't worry Rishido…they'll come down when they're ready.”

 

And with a small kiss, Isis sealed the protests that were bound to come from her husband's lips.

 

Meanwhile, upstairs, the wooden door to the old bedroom was locked.

 

Inside, two figures were tangled in dark blue sheets, nestled in their dark, cozy cavern. Shallow, steady breathing echoed in the room and a general feeling of serenity floated around.

 

Marik was the one laying closer to the closed window, his back pressed securely against Bakura's chest. Thin, creamy arms were wrapped around the Egyptian's torso, as Bakura held his love tightly in their embrace. Their nude bodies were tangled in the sheets and Bakura's log mane was currently splayed all over Marik's shoulder.

 

It was magnificent really, the way their breathing rhythm was unconsciously synchronized…even in their sleep, they functioned as one. Somewhere in the back of Marik's weary mind, he knew that he had to wake up soon…but he just couldn't bring himself to move away from the arms that were wrapped so securely around him.

 

They way Bakura held him…the way Bakura talked to him…the way Bakura even looked at him…Marik was almost overwhelmed by the need and passion. How long Bakura must have waited for this moment! How much he had probably suffered throughout these years!

 

Marik was ashamed to have caused that pain to a person that loved him…he was ashamed to know how he had discarded Bakura's feelings and turned to insanity so weakly…

 

But it was all right now. In the end, everything was all right…He was back with Bakura now…He was back. Nothing could break them apart again…

 

Now that Marik was finally with Bakura, he started wondering how he had managed to even exist without the albino by his side. How could he survive without Bakura's love? Now that he discovered it, it felt like oxygen- the essence of life.

 

Bakura was like the air that Marik breathed, the blood that pumped through his veins. If the air was swept away from his lungs, and if the blood stopped circulating around his body, Marik would die. Just like that. If Bakura left him, he would die.

 

And then, something in the pit of Marik's stomach churned. And what if THIS world was the fake one? What if he suddenly woke up to find himself back in his `fantasy world'? What if he had to go back to a world where Bakura was cruel and brash and bloodthirsty? What if it was all a lie? In that case, which was the real world? This one…or the other one?

 

`If I lose him, I'm gonna kill myself.' Marik thought suddenly, having totally woken up by now. His heart started thumping a little harder in his chest `I don't care if I'm in this world or the other…I'm gonna kill myself. My life just isn't worth anything without him.'

 

His eyebrow twitched a little at the thought `Imagine how it would be like if I suddenly woke up on the Battleship?! I'd find Yami Bakura sneering and tossing insults at me. I'd kill myself. I'd rip my belly open, just so they can all watch my insides spill on the floor. Ohhh…how good of a revenge that will be to my Father…just killing myself and never giving him the satisfaction of torturing me with more nightmares…'

 

“It won't hurt anyone if you kill yourself; you know…you'll only hurt yourself. You can't hurt other people by inflicting pain on yourself. That's your eternal mistake, Marik…”

 

A regal, rigid voice pierced into Marik's ears, and the Egyptian's bright lavender orbs shot open in an instant. Since he was still a bit grumpy from sleep, he couldn't see very clearly…but he had surely heard someone speak to him!! It couldn't be Bakura…the boy was still latched onto him from behind, breathing steadily. Marik's vision finally started focusing, only to meet the ultimate terror.

 

Oh, someone was standing there all right. It was the figure of a young man -not very tall, but not very short either. The man was standing proudly next to the closed door, his dark figure covered in the tricky shadows of the room.

 

Marik's chest stared heaving frantically up and down as he tried not to make any sounds. Bakura was still sleeping peacefully, blissfully oblivious of the stranger that had just appeared in their room.

 

Marik's eyes widened in hoarse agony. There was a stranger! A stalker! Why had Bakura not heard? Why was the albino still sleeping peacefully? Was Marik the only one hearing and seeing this? Oh no…was he having hallucinations again…?

 

“What did you say?” Marik mouthed soundlessly, hoping that the dark figure would understand what he was trying to say. His heart had sped up a bit too much by now, and it was starting to hurt him with its painful beat.

 

“I said…” the unknown figure started again, and Marik registered the tone of that voice. It sounded vaguely familiar…that gruff sound…that scrawny figure…that unruly hair…OH no. It couldn't be…

 

“You always make the same mistake.”

 

Pharaoh.

 

Marik's eyes widened and he couldn't suppress a hateful hiss when the figure stepped into the spotlight, the ruby eyes glinting with majestic charm. Long purplish hair mixed with platinum on the newcomer's head, and the skinny boy's frame was bandaged in leather belts. Yugi's detached eyes smiled eerily down at the Egyptian's suddenly exposed figure, and Marik let out a loud hiss. The King's eyes were ruby red, but not nearly as blood-dipped as Bakura's. Noo...the King's eyes had a much more crystallized effect in them. They weren't sinful and passionate, like Bakura's - they were like frozen scarlet, locked in a refrigerator for far too long and finally starting to warm up.

 

Not able to control his convulsions of hate, Marik hissed loudly and tried to sit up. Naturally, the sounds Marik was making combined with the Egyptian's spasmodic moves alerted Bakura to an awoken state. When Marik moved away from his partner's arms, Bakura gave a small worried glance and groan that Marik never noticed. The Egyptian's eyes were glued on something, but Bakura didn't seem to understand what was going on.

 

“Mariku, wha-?” Bakura started saying, as he stroked Marik's arms sleepily. But Marik silenced him with a hush.

 

“Someone's there!” Marik declared, as he pointed an accusing finger to the now smirking Pharaoh in front of him.

 

Hearing this, and confused as he was, Bakura didn't care to look at where Marik was pointing. Upon hearing that someone was supposedly watching them, Bakura instinctively latched onto Marik's body and tried to hide his nudity behind his lover.

 

“Where?” Bakura simply asked and finally got a chance to see what Marik was pointing at. Bakura's confused gaze turned from Marik to the doorway.

 

“There! He's standing right by the wardrobe! Can't you see him?!” Marik whispered feverishly, as though afraid someone would hear them. Bakura's eyes hazed with worry and he turned tentatively back to the wardrobe.

 

Bakura sighed slowly, caressing Marik's tense shoulder-blades carefully. “Marik, there's no one standing there.”

 

Marik turned a frenzied, desperate stare at his love “What? Can't you see him? He's just standing there! Look!” Marik tried to justify his thesis. Bakura nodded carefully and turned his eyes back to the wardrobe, heaving a sigh.

 

Meanwhile, Marik was glaring daggers into the hateful eyes of his archenemy- Yugi. The ruby eyed boy simply smirked at him crudely, in a very strange manner.

 

“Don't try to hide from me Marik…I know everything that goes on in your mind. I'll get you, Marik. I won't let you win...”

 

Marik's eyes narrowed ominously. Damn him!! It had only been two minutes, but Marik could already feel the familiar sound of blood surging in his temples and pumping furiously. He bared his teeth maliciously, in a fashion that he hadn't done for about a month now…Suddenly, Yugi didn't seem at all like a hallucination. He seemed very real and very tangible…and Marik felt the familiar itch in his fingers: if only he could tear that throat apart!!

 

The Egyptian was oblivious of the bloodshot eyes that were cautiously observing his every move. “Mariku…” Bakura started soothingly, but his words were lost in the oblivion of nothingness. Marik was too focused on the Pharaoh to hear his beloved's call.

 

“Pharaoh…” the Egyptian spat out the word venomously, letting every single fiber of his body taste the crazed malice in his soul.

 

At the sound of that single, ominous word, Bakura's eyes widened to an incredible size. He started shaking and forcing Marik to look at him, but the Egyptian simply shook the other boy off with a sudden jerk of his hand.

 

“Mariku! Listen to me! Listen to me! There's no one there!! Mariku!!” But Bakura's words fell on deaf ears as Marik's smile broke into a decidedly maniacal grin. He didn't even glance at Bakura as he spoke the next words.

 

“Not now Bakura…Just wait…wait till I rip his throat…wait…just a minute…” Marik started to slide away from the bed. At that moment, it didn't matter if he was naked or not. It didn't even matter that he didn't have a weapon. His thirst for the spiky-haired boy's blood was so great, it could tear his body asunder if not quenched. He distantly acknowledged Bakura's distant calls, but conveniently blocked them out.

 

“I promise Bakura…no more problems…just let me kill him…”

 

Bakura pulled the bed covers around him in the fashion of a frightened kitten. He watched Marik's every move, his pale face a mask of desperation. “Mariku…”

 

But the Egyptian never heard. All he could hear was his own thoughts `Just wait, my love…let me complete this task…then we can live peacefully…let me rid the world of him…' he thought happily, as the notorious insane grin hovered on his face. The lavender eyes glazed over with unbidden darkness…the darkness he had grown to fear over the last few days…the darkness of his Father…

 

Yugi' s regal face smirked back at him, begging to be mercilessly assaulted. Marik took a few predatory steps towards the dark figure. Ha! Yugi was much shorter than him…Much weaker…It would be so easy. SO easy.

 

Even though Marik raised his hand dangerously close to Yugi' s throat, the King didn't even flinch. He just smiled at Marik in that challenging, mocking way.

 

`Just this once…and then I'll be with Bakura…' Marik thought decisively. With one swift movement, he lunged towards Yugi and tried to grasp the unmoving boy's neck in an effort to strangle him.

 

But he didn't grab anything.

 

Instead, he only touched thin air.

 

His eyes widened ominously, and the seriousness of the truth finally started to dawn on his dazed mind. This was…this was…

 

A lie.

 

Yugi's sharp face smirked back at him. “Too bad.” The Game King sneered at Marik's thunderstruck face.

 

Suddenly, Marik was all too aware of Bakura's anxious, watchful eyes. Bakura was right…there was no one there…just thin air…

 

But then why was Yugi smirking back at him?

 

And now that he thought about it, Yugi's eyes weren't really purple or ruby anymore…Now they were more of a dark violet…turning rapidly into bright lilac…

 

Yugi's short, thin form suddenly started to change in front of Marik's terrified eyes. The Pharaoh's generally pale face started to darken with mocha tan, and his purple spiky hair started to grow longer and more bushy.

 

Before Marik knew it, the Pharaoh wasn't the Pharaoh anymore. Now, haunting maniacal eyes much like his own peered back at him. The hallucination in front of him had changed form- now it was…himself. Yami Marik. The worst demon of all.

 

“Miss me?” the murderous voice leered, as a tongue came darting out in a brash gesture.

 

Marik took a step back in shock and pulled his hand away from were it was hovering. “What do you want from me?” he simply whispered, not daring to take his eyes from that raving, horrifying lavender glare.

 

Yami Marik sneered as multiple veins started pulsating on his lean cheeks. “I just thought I'd give you an ulterior motive…You know…To show you who you really are…Make the real Marik come out…”

 

Marik's eyes narrowed in hurt understanding. “Stop haunting me! Demon!!” He finally said, as he threw his arm though the wraith in front of him, hoping that if he just ran his hand through Yami Marik, the devil would disappear.

 

The evil counterpart just sneered “I can't stop following you. I AM you.” He stated, making Marik frantically shake his head in denial.

 

“I'm not like you!!” the Egyptian said pathetically, slowly returning to the frightened boy he really was. At this, Yami Marik raised a fake-comforting hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. Marik couldn't really feel the touch, but he did feel cold all over.

 

“Fine…I see. You don't like to see me as a part of yourself…” the devilish voice breathed around Marik's senses, and Marik wasn't even sure if the voice was in his mind or around his ears anymore. He shut his eyes tightly, and tried to block everything out. Even Bakura's hoarse breathing from the corner…

 

“Is this any better?”

 

The voice was different now. Much deeper from before. Slowly, Marik opened his eyes.

 

And gasped at what he saw.

 

Bakura's face, smirking back at him. Marik didn't even know what to do, as the eyes of the one he cherished so much glared back at him. Suddenly, the hair on the back of Marik's neck raised on end. A cold shiver ran up his spine as he observed the figure in front of him…

 

Oh he had seen this Bakura before. In fact, it was the Bakura he had always known…the torn shirt…the bandaged, bloody arm…the absolutely murderous, lethal glare…And that ring. That glowing metallic dreamcatcher shining eerily through his shirt…

 

Bakura…standing in front of him. But…but wait a minute…wasn't Bakura on the bed?

 

Marik turned to the bed and saw Bakura sitting on it, his bloodshot eyes staring desperately back at him.

 

Then, the Egyptian turned back to the figure standing in front of him. Bakura. Another Bakura…(1)

 

Yami Bakura.

 

“What's wrong Mariku? Cat got your tongue? Or was it me?” Yami Bakura's impending glare leered at him as the phantom took one step forward. Immediately, Marik backed away, searching frantically for an escape route.

 

Not him! Not Bakura! Anything but Bakura! He couldn't bear to see the eyes he adored so much glare holes into his head. He couldn't watch the albino's gentle red gaze twist in malice and paranoia… Desperately, he turned to the bed and saw the soft, worried gaze he had grown used to. Bakura…

 

“I never knew you were so endowed, Mariku…You should have told me before I made that deal with you about the Millennium Rod…” Bakura pointedly stared at Marik's exposed and very naked body, and the blonde felt his face grow hot with anger and embarrassment at the same time.

 

“Watch it, Bakura.” Marik hissed at the ghost in front of him. From the bed, Bakura curiously looked at him.

 

“What are you talking about Marik? I'm right here!” his beloved albino spoke, as he slipped away from the bed and towards Marik. The Egyptian watched, transfixed, as Bakura came to stand right in front of him, oblivious of Yami Bakura standing a few feet away.

 

Now Marik was face to face with two of them. Two. One of them he adored and one he despised with all his being.

 

“Marik, snap out of it!” Bakura begged his lover, as he took Marik's shoulders and stared deep into his eyes. But the Egyptian was preoccupied with looking at the fiend a few feet away, Yami Bakura's glare piercing into his brain.

 

“Don't listen to him! This world is fake! Come back to the world you know is real…Back to the Battle ship! You've known me for a fair amount of time…Who will you trust, Marik? Him or me?” Yami Bakura's taunting voice asked, and Marik couldn't bare looking at the face of the one he loved, convulsed in that hideous smirk. It was almost as bad as watching himself as Yami Malik…

 

Right…

 

He looked in the eyes of his lover, who was still pleading with him and telling him no one was in the room…And then he averted his gaze to the phantom which plagued his memories…

 

Bakura…

 

Bakura…Ryou…

 

Marik turned to look at the Bakura that he had grown to love, red-dipped eyes drowning in desperate, needy love…

 

Ryou…

 

And then he averted his gaze to the wraith which was glaring right at him, the red-brimmed eyes frantic with insanity.

 

Bakura…

 

And finally, Marik started to understand. In the midst of his hallucinations, he had strived to create a new personality for Bakura…just like he had done with himself…

 

The person he called `Ryou' in his hallucinations, was merely a representation of the person he had fallen in love with…And `Yami Bakura' symbolized a more evil side to the albino. But in the end, it all came down to one thing: Ryou and Bakura were the same person. The person that was standing in front of him, holding his shoulders so comfortingly. The REAL Bakura was the one he had fallen in love with. The REAL Bakura was neither too angelic like `Ryou', nor too demonic like `Yami Bakura'…The one he loved had wonderful qualities of everything inside him: serenity, calmness, fiery passion, kinkiness, playfulness…everything.

 

This was the real Bakura. Neither a demon nor an angel: just a normal person. It was just like himself and Yami Marik in a way. Marik surely had parts of Yami Marik inside him, but that didn't mean he was a devil, right?

 

So there could only be one solution…

 

“Listen to me, Mariku…there's no one there. Do you understand me? You're hallucinating. What you see does not exist. Do you understand?” Bakura's soft words rang in his ears.

 

Marik drew a shaky breath and nodded at his lovers wonderful words. His glance didn't even leave that of his beloved albino, and he didn't even see the red-eyed fiend growl menacingly. Yami Bakura shook his head slowly. “Your loss” he only said.

 

Then, with a flash of mist, the figure had changed again, only to be replaced with the form of Marik's personal demon: Yami Marik.

 

“I'll be waiting…” the demon simply stated, and finally dissipated in smoke, leaving the Egyptian to wonder about that last phrase. So it was never Yami Bakura…It had always been Yami Marik…

 

What was that devil playing at? Why was he so desperate to get Marik at his side? And since Yami Marik was obviously the source of all his hallucinations...who's to say that the whole `Yugioh dreamworld' had not been Yami Marik? Maybe it was all the same demon…that damned creation of his pent up feelings.

 

That's what Yami Marik was. His feelings. A part of his soul. His one and only demon.

 

“Marik, look at me. LOOK AT ME.” Bakura ordered somewhat shakily, placing his palm on Marik's cheek and forcing the Egyptian to stare at him.

 

“What do you see?” the albino inquired slowly, his eyes set on a clearly anxious frantic gaze. Marik sighed slowly and raised his hands to grasp Bakura's shoulders.

 

“Nothing. It's gone now…I just…I'm so sorry.” Marik finally confessed, his eyes set on the floor. Bakura slowly tilted his chin up so he could look into his lover's eyes.

 

“Did you see him…this `Pharaoh' of yours?” Bakura had this worried voice that warned Marik of the albino's crumbling hope. But he couldn't help it. He had to be honest.

 

“I did. And I saw you.” He simply stated, and watched Bakura's face turn impossibly paler.

 

“M-Me?” he finally asked. “What do you mean?” the albino croaked out, making Marik smile in spite of himself.

 

“I mean I saw you. But you were a little different.” Marik inwardly laughed at the cruel irony. `A little different', eh? As if…

 

But the next words were interrupted by warm lips on his throat. Bakura slowly took away the problems with his silent ministrations, Marik relaxing against his lovers caresses.

 

“Can you tell me…about it?”

 

It was merely a whisper, spoken fleetingly in Marik's ear, but Marik could still detect the agony and eagerness in Bakura's voice. Marik meant to ask a question, but nearly forgot the words he wanted to utter, when Bakura's fingers trailed slowly down his biceps.

 

“A-About what?” Marik made a last effort at avoiding the hurtful subject…but he knew it wouldn't last for long. After all, Bakura's imposing lips on his exposed neck were not helping.

 

“About what you see…” came the muffled voice. Marik very much feared this answer. He tried to focus on Bakura's absolutely insatiable libido instead of the question. He could only imagine how much Bakura had missed him these last two years…the albino couldn't get enough of him.

 

“W-Why? Why do you want to know?” Marik stammered a bit. It came as a surprise when the albino ceased all his ministrations and raised his head to pierce Marik with the trademark bloodstained stare.

 

“Because I deserve to know what took you away from me.”

 

Marik felt his throat go dry and he nodded slowly. He watched his own hand raise absently and stroke Bakura's long silver strands of hair. He couldn't deny the boy the right to know. Bakura was right. It was fair. Bakura had to know.

 

And Marik had to tell someone.

 

And Bakura was the greatest choice.

 

Marik looked deep into the pools of blood he cherished so, and felt himself get lost in the depth of swirling, demanding emotions hidden in Bakura's soul windows.

 

“Fine.” Marik finally started with a nod

 

 

“I'll tell you”

 

 

Hey ppl!! Hope you like it!! It's a cliffy, sortof!!! I'm so happy about the way this is turning out!!! So happy!!!!!! I LUV MARIK/Bakura!!!! Don't forget to tell me if you liked it!!!

 

(1): In the Japanese version of YUGIOH, Ryou Bakura and Yugi Mutou always refer to their yamis as: “The other me” or “mou hitori no boku”…in this case, `Another Bakura' comes from Yugioh, where people refer to Yami Bakura as “mou hitori no Bakura” or “another Bakura”