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Emergence of the Tombkeepers	By : Aten Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2374 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Disclaimer:‭ ‬I don’t own Yugioh and make no money off of this.‭ ‬I do own the OC’s‭ (‬Aten,‭ ‬Aria,‭ ‬Umi,‭ ‬Robbie,‭ ‬and anyone else not Yugioh-related.‭)

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
WARNING: CHILD ABUSE REFERENCES, TORTURE REFERENCES.
//.........//=yami to hikari
/........../=hikari to yami
No Room For Malik
Malik opened his eyes as the darkness loomed around him. The air was warm,thin, and almost suffocating. He slowly clenched his fist on the soft surface where he felt himself lay. What just happened? Where am I? The mask had been removed from his face, though he had no recollection when that occurred. “Marik?”
//Tenshi, are you alright? You fell quiet.//
Malik’s head pounded as the images of his actions flashed before his eyes. Yugi....Glenn’s corpse swinging from above him....back and forth....back and forth....his eyes opened wide. His tongue protruding from his lips. The snap of his neck. He played the “Spell of Pain” card. Aten collapsed on the ground writhing in agony. Aten begged for it to stop. Robbie was too bloodied to struggle before he lost consciousness.
//Malik, you have to find Aten. Get up. Find him. Please.//
/I don’t know where I am. The air is thin. It’s warm. Dark. It smells.....familiar./
Malik pushed himself up into a sitting position and rose to his feet. His legs quivered as he sat back down on the plush surface. “Where’s the Millennium Rod?”
His hands searched nearby for his Millennium Item as a quick beam of light pierced through the darkness. Malik winced at the sudden flickering of light which illuminated a stone wall.
“Good, Master Marik, you are awake.”
Malik gasped as he saw the black-cloaked figure. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”
“Please come with me.”
Malik shifted off the bed and backed away from the cloaked man. With a deep breath, he stepped behind the bed. “N-No. I want answers!”
“All will be made clear shortly.”
//Malik, what’s going on out there?//
/There’s a cloaked creepy guy here. He wants me to come with him./
Malik winced as Marik’s soulroom door banged loudly. //Fucking door!//
/Marik, that hurts! Stop that!/
A low, guttural, rumbling growl emanated from behind Marik’s soulroom door. Yami Marik was pissed.
“Please, an old friend wishes to meet you.”
“And if I refuse to go with you?”
The enigmatic figure smiled. “Then he will come here to see you personally.”
Malik crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Let him come here, then.”
The figure bowed his head. “As you wish.”
“Where is my Millennium Rod?”
The figure walked calmly over to a wooden chest which Malik recognized instantly. /Marik, that’s mine!/ Malik’s eyes widened as he saw the scarab of the Sun God painted upon the chest. The five-thousand-year-old paint had faded considerably over the years, but had been restored since he had left the tomb. /Marik......we’re home./
//You wouldn’t be this stressed if we were back with Ryou and Bakura.//
/No, Marik. Home. Egypt. We’re back in the tomb of the pharaoh./
A heavy silence filled his head. //Fuck.//
The figure opened the restored chest and removed the glowing Millennium Item. “We made certain that we kept it safe for you.”
//I can feel it.//
The figure turned to Malik and approached him slowly.
//Just a little closer......//
Malik’s eyes rested upon the polished Millennium Rod as it slowly came closer to him.
//Yes......//
“Here you are, Master.”
Malik’s fingers gripped around the handle of the Millennium Rod. It glittered brightly, the light chasing the darkness away. “Oh my god. I’m in my old room!”
Malik’s eyes widened as he gazed upon his old bedroom. Murals of the Sun God, Ra, and Isis sprawled across the walls. Prayers from the “Book of Coming Forth By Day” had been carved upon the walls for centuries. Although his stone bed, desk, and chest remained in the room, some features of the room had changed since he left.
The walls were freshly plastered and repainted. His desk upon which he studied ancient scriptures for hours without end was reconstructed. His bed was new and soft.
Any trace of Yami Marik had been purged from the room. Upon one wall, an image of Pharaoh Yami sitting upon his throne and staring at him from centuries-old eyes had been replaced by a painting of the sun scarab. Yami Marik had angrily scratched out the eyes of Yami's image. Yami Marik had also defaced several carvings on the walls with ‘Revenge,' ‘Pain,' and ‘Alone.' All of Marik's carvings had disappeared behind fresh plaster.
//Not anymore, hikari.//
/It hurt, Marik. Everything./
Even behind his soulroom door, Yami Marik could feel the pain of his hikari. Loneliness. Anger. Fear. //............I know.//
Malik stood up and turned towards the black-cloaked figure. “Why have you brought me here?”
“All will be made clear very soon, Master Malik.”
Another person appeared in the doorway, taking Malik’s attention away from the intruder.
“Is everything alright in here?”
Malik’s eyes widened in surprise. “Odion?”
“Master Malik,” Odion responded with a concerned look. “Is everything okay in here?”
“Odion!” Malik exclaimed in surprise. “What is going on here? How did I get here?”
The Millennium Rod glowed brightly in the room as Odion found himself suddenly pressed against the sandstone wall with a growling, dark-eyed Yami Marik pressed against him.
“What the fuck is this all about? Who the fuck do you think you are?” Marik snarled in rage, his spit flying against Odion’s white tunic. Marik gripped Odion’s tunic in his clenched fists and twisted furiously. His knuckles planted firmly against Odion‘s Egyptian skin, pinching him uncomfortably. “You have ten seconds to explain yourself before you find your soul torn into so many pieces, Ammut will not be able to devour your soul!”
Odion glared down silently at the Spirit of the Millennium Rod,who was responsible for the torture and subsequent murder of Malik’s father as well as the single person who caused Malik a great deal of physical, mental, and emotional agony for over twenty years. Yami Marik embodied all of Malik’s anger, fear, and pain. His relationship with Malik’s other half had always been strained, even when Odion visited the family prior to Aten’s death.
“I do not need to explain anything to you, Dark Spirit,” Odion snarled back.
Yami Marik’s lip curled with disdain. “I disagree.” Yami Marik slammed Odion against the sandstone again harshly. “Where is my boy?”
“He’s here,” Odion grunted, rubbing the back of his head in pain.
“Marik, let go of him!” Malik growled at Marik.
Yami Marik gripped Odion’s throat with his right hand. “If I find out that you harmed one single hair on my son’s head, I will bury you alive. Do you fucking understand me?”
“Marik, let go!” Malik exclaimed, rushing to Marik’s side.
”You stay out of this!” Marik snarled at his Light. ”This bastard has my son and I will not rest until I know he is safe! Now where IS HE?” Marik snarled with uncontrolled fury. “Where is my Ankhenaten?”
Odion glared at the cloaked figure. “Take him to Aten.”
Yami Marik released Odion. “Let’s get out of here, Malik. I don’t like the smell in here.” Marik spit on Odion’s feet.
“I would like a moment with Odion if I can, Marik.”
Marik turned angrily to Malik. “I’m not leaving you alone with this horse’s ass! You’re coming with me!”
Marik grabbed Malik‘s wrist, but the Light broke free of his grip. “Marik,I haven’t seen Odion in a long time. I want to know why he brought us here.”
“Aten hasn’t been dead that long, Malik. You saw him not too long ago. Why do you give a shit what he has to say, anyway? He brought us here against our will! That’s kidnapping! Ra only knows what you did to make my son scream like he was!”
Malik narrowed his eyes at Yami Marik. “I didn’t do it, though! That damn mask was on my face! I couldn’t stop myself!”
Yami Marik glared at Odion and back at Malik. “You keep your mindlink to me open at all times, do you hear me?”
“Why are you taking that tone with me?” Malik asked. ”I‘m not your child! I’m your husband!”
Marik pointed at Odion harshly. “I don’t trust him. I never have. I never will. I’m getting my son and we are getting out of here. All of us.”
Odion and Malik watched as the Tombkeeper lead Yami Marik out of the room.Malik took a deep breath as his yami walked away. He ran his fingers through his shoulder-length blond hair.
Odion smiled at the blond. “It is good to see you again, Master Malik.”
“I’m surprised to see you, Odion. I’m even more surprised to find myself here.”
Odion flipped a switch on the wall as a light illuminated the room. “You’ll find many surprises down here, Master Malik.”
“That wasn’t here before!” Malik said looking up at the light.
Odion smiled and bowed his head. “Many changes have been made since you have been gone, my brother.”
“I’m sorry about Marik’s outburst. You know how he gets.”
“He still talks to you like a child.”
Malik nodded. “Well, he’s protective.”
Odion stepped to Malik and put his hand on the shorter man’s shoulders. “Is it truly protection if he accuses you of wrongdoing where none exists?”
Malik sighed and slowly shook his head. “No. But he is right about the kidnapping part. Why was I brought here?”
Odion put his arm around Malik’s shoulders. “Let me show you around.”
“Odion, I was born and raised here. I already know all of the halls, twists, turns. I spent my entire childhood trapped in this dark, moldy tomb.”
“This will not take long.”
Malik looked around his renovated bedroom. “I can see you took care to repaint my chamber and replace my bed with a better one than the stone slab I once had.”
Odion nodded. “I wanted to make it more appealing. You know, you had so many terrible memories of this place, I wanted to make it better for you.....the way it should have been while you were growing up. You deserved better.”
Malik nodded. “I know. I’ve always felt that way while I was here.”
“If you like this change, you may be interested in what else I’ve done to make this tomb a home fit for a king....a true king.....a real-life pharaoh.”
Marik’s going to be a while with Aten. I guess I’ll have the time.
Malik stepped into the hallway decorated with repainted Ra and Osiris murals. “Did you do all this, Odion?” Malik asked as he examined the intricate detail of the painting.
Odion nodded. “After the final battle with the Great Pharaoh...”
“Stop.” Malik said, stopping quickly. “Yami was not a Great Pharaoh. He was a butcher, master manipulator, rapist, and a murderer. He should never have been given a tomb in the first place.”
Odion turned to Malik. “He may have been a despicable person, but he was still pharaoh. King on Earth. Your father chose to name you after that title because that is what you are, Master Malik. You are a king. You determine your own destiny.”
“This place was a prison, Odion. My prison. Your prison. My father beat you senselessly. If the pharaoh never had a tomb, if he never condemned my family to eternal servitude, none of that would have ever happened.”
“Wishing your family’s past away changes nothing. I could have wished that I was never abandoned at your family well while I was barely an hour old. However, that does not change the fact that I was abandoned....and saved by your family. I never swore allegiance to your father. It was your mother who earned my devotion and my loyalty. When Isis and you were born, I swore fealty to the Ishtar name. Never will I forget that day I carved the scars on my face as proof of my loyalty to you.”
Malik sighed. “You are right. When you unwrapped your face and showed me your scars, I was amazed that you would mutilate yourself to prove your loyalty. But, you didn’t need to do that to prove your loyalty.”
Odion stepped up to Malik and took his hand. He kneeled before Malik and bowed his head. “I know I didn’t need to prove my loyalty. But, I wanted to. That is why for twenty years, I have continued to live in this tomb, restoring it to its once-proud glory, and preparing it to reflect the splendor of the Ishtar family name.”
“I always wondered why you never chose to leave the tomb. This place held terrible memories of torture and pain.”
Odion raised his head to look Marik in his purple eyes. “This is the only home I have ever known. How could I make a living in civilized society? Who would accept me with my mutilated face? I have only known how to serve. This is how I have served you even through your twenty-year absence. I have dedicated myself to restoring the tomb, our home, and erasing the physical reminders of the terrible demons of the past.”
Malik shivered as he looked down the hallway, now brightly lit with lights. [Father, please! No! I don’t want to be a Tombkeeper! Help me, Odion!] His nine-year-old self pleaded as two cloaked men dragged him down the hallway. Tears stained his cheeks and his body trembled in terror.
“The memories remain as fresh as when they happened,” Malik glared down the hallway.
Odion rose to his feet. “There were not all bad memories, Master Malik. Remember when we would play with the ball in the halls? We played Senet.”
Malik’s eyes wandered to the kneeling Anubis mural down the hallway. His little self ran up the hallway, smiling ear to ear as he chased the leather-linen ball down the hallway. [Throw it again, Odion! Again! Again!] the small boy giggled as he ran to a much-younger Odion. [Please!] The happy squealing boy ran down the hallway towards him, holding the ball in his hand. “To think I was so happy in a prison such as this. I had no idea what would happen to me later.”
“This was your home, Malik. This is still your home. We can’t erase what happened here with your father, but we can make a better future here.”
Malik and Odion walked down the hall to the next door on the left. He knew which room was next. He spent hours sitting in that room, hunched over ancient scrolls, leather-bound texts, learning the sacred chants and scripture.
[As an Ishtar, you must learn every passage of sacred scripture. You are an Ishtar, the heir to a great legacy!] His father’s voice echoed within the stone walls. [This is your duty to the Tombkeeper legacy. If you fail in this, you are not my son. You will be beaten until these passages become part of your mind and soul! You will wear the clothing of Odion, draped in rags and whipped mercilessly until you can recite every passage of this book by heart!] Malik winced at his father’s threats.
He remembered standing in front of his father at eight-years-old, reciting prayers from the “Book of Coming Forth by Day,” the Egyptian Book of the Dead. [What then is the scepter of stone? Giver of winds is its name. What then---.]
[[Stop! It is not the ‘scepter of stone.’ It is the ‘scepter of flint.’]]
[I’m sorry, father!] the child whimpered as he took a step back.
Malik’s heart leapt into his chest as his father grabbed him by the hair and whipped his ass with a leather cat-o-nine tails. [[Scepter of flint! Scepter of flint! Learn it! What is it?!]]
[Scepter of flint!] the little boy wept as his father whipped him harshly then threw him onto the stone floor as his back and buttocks bled.
[[Start from the beginning.]]
Malik stopped. “Odion, I can’t go in there. I don’t want to.”
“I promise, Master Malik, the room is not what you remember.”
Malik felt his heart race as he approached the room. Beads of sweat formed on his face. His hands trembled. He held his breath. As he peeked inside the room with Sekhmet and Seth murals repainted in bright reds and dark black, his eyes widened at the comfortable plush sofa, hardwood side tables, lamps, and a television.
“How did you get electricity down here and a television?”
Odion smiled proudly. “Solar panels. Many have been installed on the surface and in the garden and they provide electricity to--.”
“Garden?!” Malik smiled excitedly. “We have a garden now?”
Odion nodded. “I will take you there to see it.”
Malik looked into the room on the right where Isis’ bedroom was located. A new table was lined with scented oils and a sleeping gown was folded neatly on top of a chest. Several books were piled on a wooden dresser. “Does Isis come to visit you?”
“Isis has moved back here to live with me.”
“What?!” Malik gasped. “She’s here? Where is she?”
“I don’t know. Probably with her nephew. That is where she was before.”
“I thought she enjoyed living in Cairo. She was close to the museum.”
Odion nodded. “She has found a happy home here.”
Malik looked at the next door to the right. Their father’s bedroom was next. The one room they were forbidden to enter. As Odion and Malik approached, the sound of voices echoed down the hallway.
Malik looked inside his father’s old room. Malik stepped into the room and turned on the light where wall sconces held fresh candles. A plush couch and a digital fireplace decorated the room as well as a Persian rug. A side table with decorative linen and a lamp provided just enough light for a reader. Old scrolls and texts which he used to read were arranged neatly on bookshelves. “A library!”
“I’ve even placed some modern literature into the room. You can only read those moldy tomes so many times before the smell gets a little...overpowering.”
Malik chuckled. “You’re telling me! Some of those texts smelled like horse crap!”
“So, we included some different books.”
“This place is amazing, Odion! How could you afford all this?”
Odion grinned. “There was plenty of money in the pharaoh’s coffers for this.”
Malik approached a bookshelf with tiny ushabtis. “Isis said my mom treasured these.”
Odion nodded. “Those were gifts offered by a branch of the Tombkeeper family.”
Malik turned to Odion. “I can’t wait to see what else you did, Odion. This is really impressive.”
Odion bowed his head, appreciative of his Lord’s praise. “There is much to share yet. Come with me.”
Malik followed Odion to the next room where he saw Marik embracing his son tightly. He was glaring at Isis as Aten was clutching onto his father.
“This is uncalled for, Isis! Give me one reason why I should not tear Odion’s intestines from his belly and string them up on Ryou’s Christmas tree this year!”
Robbie’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “Ew, Marik. Gross. I won’t be coming over this year, then. I’ll pass.”
“Marik, if you just calm down for a moment,-”
“Calm down? Your goons send a monster to beat the fucking shit out me, mind-control Malik, cast “Spell of Pain” on my boy and kidnap him as well as Robert and you want ME to calm down? ME?”
“Sister!” Malik exclaimed with a smile. “I thought I saw your books.”
Odion glared at Marik. “Have you forgotten your manners, Yami Marik Ishtar? You should watch your words around women.”
Marik extended his hand and flipped up his middle finger at Odion . “Watch that, you son of a bitch!”
“Brother!” Isis smiled as she ran to her brother and embraced him warmly. “I’m glad to see you here. Have you seen what Odion has done to our home?”
“It’s amazing, isn’t it? My old study room, father’s room, my bedroom, it’s really surprising.”
Odion crossed his arms against his chest. “We’re not quite done yet. Isis, maybe you would come with us and leave your Dark with his seed.”
Marik pointed an accusatory finger at Odion. “Hey, this is the best damn seed around and don’t you forget it!”
Malik, Odion, and Isis left Marik, Aten, and Robbie alone in the renovated bedroom.
“Son of a bitch. I knew I should have killed him in Battle City. He was laying right there on the bed. All I had to do was lower my Ra-damned arm,” Marik grumbled looking towards his son. “Ankhenaten, are you hurt, boy?”
Aten stepped back from his father. “No. I must have passed out from the pain because the last thing I remember is closing my eyes on the pavement and waking up here. I don’t remember anything.”
“What about you, Robbie?”
“I’ll live. I haven’t found Heaven yet. They say they don’t have her.”
Marik narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust any of these bastards.”
“Who are these people, father, and why did they take us?”
Marik looked into his son’s mis-matched color eyes. Brown and purple eyes gazed back at him with anxiety. “They were known for thousands of years as the Tombkeepers. Before Yami’s death, he charged the Ishtar family with watching over his tomb until his return. I had already been dead at the time. Otherwise, I would have objected. Not like my father would listen to me because I had become a bastard child in his eyes, disowned from the Ishtar family blood line because of my relationship with Amunet.”
Robbie stepped beside Aten and put his arm around his husband’s waist. “You never got along with your father because of who you loved?”
“No. I was supposed to marry into a rich girl of another Noble family, but my heart was not set on her. For five thousand years, the Ishtar family has resided within these walls, cursed with the obligation to await the pharaoh until his return from the dead. Every male heir is commanded to bear the Tombkeeper’s Initiation, a painful tradition which.....” Odion, please, help me! Marik winced as he heard the young boy’s pleas through the Millennium Rod. “Malik bears the scars as his father before him and throughout the family blood line. The scars were intended to be a key to unlocking the pharaoh’s memories upon his return. Forbidden to see the outside world, the Ishtar family have only lived within these walls. Far away, the outside world continued, generations have come and gone, wars waged, famine and disease spread across the globe, and our family remained here. Brothers mating with sisters, cousins mating with other cousins, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, all in an effort to keep the family line pure. Procuring a spouse from the outside world was impossible.”
Robbie shook his head. “Gross.”
“What else were we to do? We were sealed inside. The family blood line had to continue, despite imprisonment.”
Aten raised a curious eyebrow. “If they kidnapped us, couldn’t they have gone above and kidnapped someone and brought them back with to make babies?”
“They would not have been full-blooded Ishtar. You, my boy.....my son.....are not full-blooded Ishtar, yet you bear my name.”
Robbie turned to Aten. “You’re British-Egyptian.”
“When they brought me here, they claimed I was Malik’s son. They said that I belonged to the family blood line.”
“Marik’s your dad, Aten. Maybe they didn’t know that.”
Marik crossed his arms against his chest. “They don’t acknowledge me as an Ishtar because I died before the family was condemned to the tomb. I am Malik’s yami, his Dark Side, his anguish, his pain, his fury, his terror. Thus, I am not Malik. I share no genes with him. Malik is my decendant somewhere along the family blood line. I know Amunet died while she was carrying.....” Marik looked at Aten. “You. In her womb.”
“Me?!” Aten asked surprised.
“However, after her death, I did frequent Bakura’s brothels. It’s very possible that---.”
Robbie giggled. “Malik’s your descendant through a prostitute?”
Marik shrugged. “I did sleep with Kesia, but she was slaughtered by the pharaoh’s guards. But there may have been more.”
Aten’s eyes widened. “You were a man-whore, father?”
“No, Bakura was the only one for me and the woman whores, too. But, most of that happened after Amunet’s death. I missed the touch of a woman.”
“Alright, dad, that’s enough mental trauma for today,” Aten said.
Marik lowered his head. “Amunet.....I loved her. But.....the pharaoh took her from me. He took away everything from me. My family. My wife. My life.” Marik fell silent as he backed away from Robbie and Aten. “When I discovered the Ishtar family was condemned to live in this shithole, I was enraged. What else was the pharaoh going to take away from me? Then, the morning of Malik’s Initiation into the Tombkeeper legacy was written, Malik’s arms and legs were secured onto a stone altar. The fires burned.....” Marik shuddered, his face began to glisten from sweat. “My, how they burned, my child. Malik’s father heated the ceremonial dagger and began to slice into Malik’s back.”
Aten swallowed nervously as he gripped onto Robbie. “Like my grandfather did to me.....the word ‘MINE’ carved onto my back. It was the same. Stone altar, candles, hot knife. Robbie....”
Robbie took Aten’s hand as he felt fear, pain, and terror flow through his mindlink with Aten. . “I’m here, Aten. Deep breaths.”
“It was horrible,” Aten said through a tightened throat.
“Through the Initiation, I was summoned. Given new life. I killed Malik’s father, skinned him alive, shoved his own flesh down his throat, and stabbed him visciously.”
Robbie stepped closer to Aten and wrinkled his nose. “Ouch.”
“I told Malik that he no longer needed to live in this place of pain and despair and we emerged from the tomb. For over five-thousand years, Malik was the first to live outside the tomb, free. But even he wanted revenge on the pharaoh who caused him so much pain. He turned his back on his family’s destiny, but created the Rare Hunters, also known as the freaks who lead me in here. They searched for rare cards during Kaiba’s tournament in Battle City, specifically the God Cards and tried to procure the Millennium Items.”
Aten gripped Robbie’s hand. “The God Cards were powerful monsters.”
“My family worshipped the Sun. Hence, we were given the Winged Dragon of Ra in honor of the Sun God. That is the reason why I named you after the Sun’s light, but also the heretic Ankhenaten, who declared Egypt would only worship one god, the Aten. I was a heretic to my family.”
“So you named me after a heretic, too?”
Robbie turned to Aten. “It’s better than Bob. Or Hank. Or.....Alphonse.”
Aten turned to Robbie. “Alphonse? Where did you get that name?”
“I would call you ‘Alfie’ for short,” Robbie giggled wickedly.
Aten looked at his father. “And here I thought I was the crazy one.”
“Calm down, Alfie,” Robbie said with a grin and patting his lover’s buttocks.
“Yes, I named you after him. It was customary in the Ishtar family for fathers to name their sons. So, Ryou never questioned. He allowed me to name you. Bakura named your sister. Ryou did name Therion, though. Odion and I have never seen eye to eye. He has always believed me to be a threat to Malik, but he doesn’t realize that I saved that boy’s life. That fucker owes me.”
Aten kept staring at his father. “I knew you never liked him, but I never knew why.”
“I never wanted to stay here. Too many bad memories and oppression. A gilded cage is still a cage. Odion wanted Malik to remain here, but Malik longed for a life on the surface. Malik wanted to come visit here a few days ago and I forbade it.”
Robbie nodded. “I can see why. Especially if you’ve had no good memories down here.”
“I remember a few, but not many. Not enough to make me want to stay here a moment longer.” Marik approached Aten and cupped his son’s cheek in his hand. “This is not the life that I want for you. I want better for you, my son.”
Aten sighed. “I told them that I was your son, but they wouldn’t listen. They said that I was Malik’s bloodline.”
“Well, you are an Ishtar. That blood does run through your veins. Well, it did before you died. But its still there. You have half of my genetics. I still do not want you to remain here. This is not the life I want for you.”
Aten shook his head. “No. I don’t like it down here.”
Robbie looked at Marik. “Are they really just going to allow us to walk out of here?”
Marik’s ears perked up as he heard a noise at the doorway. He turned his head to see several men in black robes standing in the arch. Marik turned to face the men as Robbie and Aten quickly moved behind the Egyptian yami.
Marik narrowed his eyes angrily as he gripped the Millennium Rod in his hand. “Don’t count on it, Robert Allen.”
*********************
Malik’s eyes widened in amazement as he stepped into the only area of the tomb exposed to the outside world. Above them, the blue sky loomed as birds flew overhead. The open space which had previously included a couple stone benches now held rows of flowers and vegetable gardens. The centerpiece of the garden was a hot tub. Malik slowly stepped onto the path between two rows of plants. He kneeled before tiny pink flowers with red pigments which appeared to fall from the flowers. “Bleeding Hearts.Odion, how did you--?”
“I may not be of Ishtar blood, but I have known my brother all his life. I know you love them.”
“I remember only being permitted to look at scrolls of flowers. Father never allowed me to have a garden. In a world of stone, they offered a beauty not found anywhere here.” He ran his fingers across the bed of soft, brilliantly-colored petals. “They’re so beautiful, Odion!” Malik stood up and approached the hot tub. “How is it powered?”
“Solar power, too. Everything here doesn’t rely on Cairo’s power grid. We grow our own food, produce our own power.”
Malik turned to Odion. “What about meat?”
“You neglected the pen in the corner.”
Malik looked in the corner of the courtyard where a wire surrounded a small flock of chickens. A chuckle escaped Malik as he walked over to the pen. “Marik would go CRAZY!”
/Marik, come check this out! We have chickens!/
//No.//
/But you love chickens! They’re clucking! Oh, Marik, they have chicks! Baby chickens! Come see them, yami!/
//No.//
/But they’re yellow and fluffy!/
//.....Get back here. We’re leaving. Now,hikari.//
Malik swallowed nervously. Marik meant business. He could feel his yami’s rage burning between their mindlink. It was festering, breeding something beyond rage, beyond wrath, beyond contempt. It was rage bordering on a desire for slaughter, to watch blood flow in rivers. Malik remembered this feeling in Battle City.
“Odion,” Malik said uncomfortably. “We probably should go.”
“Do you want to see more of--?”
“Marik’s......unsettled,” Malik said quietly as he looked up at his former manservant.
“My brother, your hatred has ruled you for far too long,” Odion said stepping up to Malik. “I have made this place, which have known only as a prison, a safe haven for our family. It is clear that Marik is angry now, no?”
Malik nodded. “That’s a nice way of saying it, but it goes much deeper.”
“Master Malik, while there is no way to emotionally remove the terrible memories within these walls, there is a way we can rewrite the atrocities of the past.”
Isis stepped beside Odion. “My brother, we would like to welcome you home to where we belong.”
“But, sister, we wished for our lives to be lived outside these walls,” Malik said. “Why would we want to stay here?”
Isis folded her hands in front of her. “Father is dead. We wanted to live in the outside world to be rid of him and his tyranny. But now he is gone. We have nothing to fear from him anymore. We can have the life here that we always deserved.”
Malik looked at the garden. Desolation had been replaced with beauty and life. His old study room was now a place of comfort. Every evidence of a painful memory had been eradicated. Odion had made the tomb into a home from a place of torture and oppression.
“We’ve spent our entire childhood here, Malik. We were never part of the world above.This is the only life we had ever known. Life on the surface was nice, but when I left the tomb, I felt that something was missing. When Odion brought me here and showed me all that he had accomplished, I couldn’t turn down his offer.” Isis put her hands on Malik’s shoulders. “We are Ishtars. Our place is here. We can...build a new home for our family.”
Malik looked into his sister’s eyes. “But what about the Tombkeepers’ legacy?”
“The Tombkeepers’ legacy will be rewritten, my brother.”
“The Tombkeepers’ oath was to watch over his tomb until the Great Pharaoh returns. He is now gone from this world,” Odion said. “Our destiny is clear. Revive the pharaoh and challenge all who stand against him.”
Malik stepped back from Isis. “But Yami is evil! Why would we want to bring him back into this world?”
“Define evil,” Odion said.
Malik swallowed nervously. “He tried to kill children. He attacked innocent people.”
“Who did he attack that was innocent?”
“Bakura, Ryou...”
“Are they truly innocent? Bakura was a thief. Murderer.”
Isis nodded. “But he also abused Ryou, the one he loves. His hands are just as bloodied as Marik.”
Malik nodded. “True.”
“Ryou said he loved you, but did he really show it? Bakura and Ryou had more of a relationship with Marik than you.”
Malik nodded and shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. “True.” Bakura and Ryou were always clinging onto Marik. He was always closer to them than I was. Marik would rather sleep with Ryou than me. Many nights I laid awake listening to them through the walls. Watching them from the top of the stairs. I saw Bakura screwing Marik on the couch more times than I can count and vice versa. They’ve always paid more attention to Marik than me.I felt left out. Unloved. Forgotten. I had more attention in the tomb than in my own home in Domino. After Aten and Aria were born, I was left by the wayside. Marik was Aten’s son with Ryou, so they determined what was best for him. Bakura and Ryou were Aria’s parents, so they had a bond together through her. Me? I didn’t have any children by Ryou. If I did.....maybe we would have been closer.
Aten should have been my son. I’ve said this before. Maybe I should have been downstairs that night.
//Are you going to come here or do I have to drag your ass out of this tomb myself?//
After the kids were born, there was no room for me. No room for Malik. The house we lived in was paid for by my sister. But the Itemris strutted around as if it was theirs. They kicked me out of the house! Me! Kicked me out of my own house! Then it burned to the ground. Then Seto paid for the brand new home’s construction. And now, there’s the new brat. I’m sure Marik’s just begging for a chance to make a new one with Ry. It’s only a matter of time. Then I’ll still be ignored.
//I’m losing my patience.//
At least here, my sister and Odion are here. They’ve never ignored me. They love me. I love my sister and I love Odion as my brother. They have been more family to me than Ryou and Bakura. I....I don’t know why I have been so blind as to not see it before. They used me. I’ve been nothing more than a cheap babysitter and housebitch to them. Now with the new baby, the same old cycle will continue.
“What about your Dark side, Yami Marik?”
“Yami attacked him, too,” Malik said.
“Are you going to argue that he is innocent, too, and did not deserve Yami’s wrath? Look at what Marik did to you. Look at what he is still doing to you,” Odion said.
Isis shook her head. “Yami Marik has not changed, brother, nor will he ever change. I can tell he is not happy at the moment. I can see it in your face. I can feel it in my heart...and it saddens me.”
Marik’s not innocent. Not by a long shot. Did he deserve Yami’s wrath? Probably. He’s ignored me, too, cut me for his pleasure. Made me bleed for his entertainment.
//You are headed for a one-way ticket to a bruised ass, hikari.//
Odion looked at Malik. “You are the one who summoned him, Master Malik. He has tortured you for far too long. He has no power here. This is your kingdom, Master Malik. As your father’s first born son, this is your home. You have a voice here. Do you have a voice in the outside world?”
“..........No,” Malik said sadly.
Odion stepped up to Malik and hugged him. “Marik won’t hurt you anymore. Your new family will protect you.” Malik looked beside him to see hooded figures in black and purple cloaks. “The Tombkeepers and the Rare Hunters will defend you against those who would do you harm.”
Malik stepped away from Odion’s embrace. “The Rare Hunters? I thought I disbanded them.”
“They have been and always will be your eternal servants.We have been and always will be your family. We can restore the Ishtar family name to greatness. Vengeance shall be ours. No longer will you be ignored or be used for someone else’s gain. You say the pharaoh was evil, but evil is relative. Is Marik evil? He may kiss you on the cheek now, but does that erase the memories of everything he has done? Does it wash the slate clean?”
“....No,” Malik said with more conviction.
“MALIK RAMSES ISHTAR!” a booming voice exclaimed from the archway.
All eyes turned to Yami Marik, Aten, and Robbie.
“You are coming with us right now, hikari! We are leaving!”
Malik stepped closer to Odion. “.......N-No.”
Marik gripped the Millennium Rod in his hands. Marik chuckled. “I’m sorry, hikari, I could have swore you told me no.”
“I...I did.”
Marik took an angry step forward. “I was not asking you to come with me.”
“I’m staying here.”
Marik narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what you are saying? Do you hear yourself, tenshi? I said....we’re leaving. In English, that means all of us are departing from this place. The important words are...All. That means you, too. Now let’s go.”
“I told you, Marik. I’m staying here.”
Aten swallowed nervously as he grabbed his father’s arm. The cloaked figures narrowed their eyes in their direction. “Father? We should leave.”
“I agree, son. But that includes you, Malik Ramses. Now, let us go. Now. I’m not spending a second more in this shithole.”
Malik narrowed his eyes. “Hey! Odion spent a lot of time and money to make this place feel like home.”
“But this is NOT your home! You belong with me! Your family!”
Malik stepped in front of Isis and Odion. “Oh, now I’m family? Now that I won’t bend to your whim? I’m not your little bitch!”
Marik’s lip curled in disdain. “You little runt.....”
Robbie stepped close to Aten as he saw the threatening glances of over one hundred men glaring at him. “Aten, I don’t like the looks of this.”
“Father---.”
“Silence!” Marik growled loudly over his shoulder. He turned to Odion. “What have you done to him?”
Odion crossed his arms against his chest. “I’ve done nothing but open his eyes to reality.”
“And whose reality are we talking about here, baldy? Your reality? What do you know about reality, cooped up in here like a hermit?”
“I know about true reality. You have used Malik to your own selfish ends. You have caused him nothing but pain and misery and now he is finally standing up to you.”
Marik took another step to Malik. “Are you going to allow him to come between us?”
“You have come between US, Marik,” Malik said. “You have spent more time with Ryou and Bakura than myself. I’m nothing more than a convenience item to you, aren’t I? You need to get your dick wet, you come to me and toss me aside. Otherwise, I’m nothing to you.”
Marik held the Millennium Rod towards Malik. “You think that is all you are to me?”
“I am staying here, Marik! And you know what? Aten is staying, too!”
A black-hooded figure grabbed Aten’s blond and white hair and tugged him away from Robbie. Marik turned at his son’s cry of pain. Robbie grabbed the hooded figure’s arm and punched him. His hood flew back, making Robbie gasp.
“BANDIT KEITH!”
“You little dweeb!” Keith growled, shoving Robbie against the stone wall.
Two plurple-cloaked figures grabbed Robbie’s arms. “Let me go, you freaks!”
Robbie gripped his cane tightly and slammed the handle against the person’s head. Robbie released one hand and whipped the cane across the Tombkeeper’s face.
Keith held a knife to Aten’s throat. “You’d best calm down there, Limpy.”
Aten held his breath as the metal pressed against his skin.
“Keith, release my son!” Marik growled.
“They no longer answer to you,” Malik said calmly. “I am their sovereign.”
Marik glared at Malik. “Let him go. He doesn’t belong down here.”
“He should have been mine!” Malik screamed at his yami. “Because of him and his fucking sister, I no longer had a place at home. We were happy before they were born! You and I were happy!”
“Stop acting like a whiny brat!” Marik sneered as he stepped toe-to-toe with Malik.
“Stop him!” Malik bellowed.
Robbie watched as purple and black robed figures grabbed Marik’s arms. “Malik, what are you doing?”
A hooded man twisted Marik’s wrist, making him drop the Millennium Rod and call out in pain. “Malik, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“This has been a long time coming, Yami Marik.” Malik reached to the ground and picked up the Millennium Rod. He walked past Marik and stood in front of Aten. Robbie reached for Aten, but the Rare Hunters grabbed him harshly, preventing his escape.
Aten’s brown and purple eyes watched in fear as Malik unsheathed the dagger hidden within the Millennium Rod. “I wish you were never born.” Malik plunged the blade in Aten’s chest, piercing his heart.
Aten’s eyes widened as he gagged on fresh blood.
“ATEN!” Marik bellowed furiously as he struggled in the grip of the Rare Hunters and Tombkeepers. “Just wait until I get my fucking hands on you!”
Aten took a shallow breath as his body shuddered. He went limp in Keith’s arms.
“Drop him.”
Aten crumbled face-down to the ground, clutching his bleeding chest. His cheek brushed against stone as he struggled to rise to his knees. Gagging sounds escaped Aten’s throat as the pain radiated through his body and the stone was christened in dark crimson.
“You stabbed me through the heart, Aten. It’s only fair that I do the same to you.”
Aten crawled to Robbie’s feet and trembled as he curled into a fetal position.
“Malik, you son of a bitch!” Marik growled as he clamped his teeth on a Rare Hunter holding his shoulder. Blood filled his mouth as he broke free from the grip of his captors.
“Restrain him!” Odion called to the men.
Marik lunged for Malik, grabbing the Millennium Rod. “You’re dead!”
Robbie stomped his good foot on a Rare Hunter’s foot and threw his head back against a man holding his arm around his neck. Robbie broke from their grip and cracked his cane against their heads, sending them to the ground.
“Aten, let’s get out of here. Come on, baby,” Robbie said, grabbing Aten’s wrist.
Aten gasped for breath as he looked up at Robbie. Robbie helped him to stand as he struggled to his feet. “Father....”
“Aten, go inside the scepter! You’ll feel better!”
Robbie watched as Aten’s bloody body disappeared inside the Scepter of Ra.
Turning his attention to Malik, he growled. “My son is more important than your foolishness!”
“Stop them!” Odion called to Malik’s followers.
Marik reached for Malik, but the hikari jumped back to avoid his hand. Marik grabbed Robbie’s blue-and-white striped shirt. Marik held up the Millennium Rod as the area was blanketed with complete darkness. The blue sky above was quickly replaced by clouds.
Marik harshly pulled Robbie from the room, twisting him on his good foot. “How do we get out of here, Marik?” Robbie asked, his cane tapping quickly against the ground as he tried to run with his clubfoot.
“I can’t leave without Malik!” Marik growled.
“Are you crazy, Marik? We can’t go back for him! Those guys will rip us to shreds!”
Marik looked over his shoulder as other Rare Hunters appeared behind him. “Fuck. Turn right, Robert!” Marik pulled Robbie to the left.
“I thought you said right!”
“Do you really think I’d let them know which way we’re turning?”
Robbie looked over his shoulder as the angry mob drew closer.
“There’s a switch to get to the surface.”
“We’d better make it fast! Those guys seem pretty intent on having us stay here.”
Marik gripped the Millennium Rod tightly as the lights suddenly shut off, plunging them in complete darkness. “I know this place like the back of my hand.”
“I can’t see!”
“Run faster, Robert!”
“You try running with a crippled foot and see how fast you go!” Robbie fired back.
Robbie winced at the pain in his foot. The cane offered little support as he breathed heavily, cursing at his twisted foot.
“Here it is!” Marik exclaimed as the Millennium Rod glowed with a dim light.
The lights illuminated the hallway as Marik growled. “Fuck. Odion must have installed a backup generator.”
“They’re gonna find us quick if we don’t hurry up.”
Marik pulled down a lever which commenced gears, pulleys, and ropes grinding.
Robbie gasped as the crowd of angry people turned the corner. “Marik, here they come!”
“Quick, Robert!” Marik exclaimed, pulling Robbie between the slowly-opening doors of the tomb. The yami held up the Millennium Rod as a purple mass surrounded them and a familiar chill.
Robbie looked behind them to see the tomb and sands had disappeared only to be replaced by the chill of the Shadow Realm. Robbie breathed heavily as he stopped running. “Damn. What was that all about?”
“Check on Aten,” Marik said as he heard a dragon’s roar above him and the heavy metal stomping footsteps approaching.
“Alright...”
/Aten, are you alright?/
//....As best as I can be considering I just got stabbed in the chest!// Aten grumbled. //Ow.//
/Sorry. Your father and I were worried about you./
//I’ll be alright. I just....need....time to rest.//
/I love you, Aten. You rest up./
//Love you, too, Robbie.//
Robbie felt Aten slip into slumber. “He just fell asleep.”
“He’ll rejuvenate in the scepter. It will take some time, but he’ll recover faster in there.”
Robbie looked up and saw the Machine King standing before him. “Machine King, make sure nobody follows us.”
“Yes, my master,” the Machine King said with a bow of his head.
Marik watched as the Winged Dragon of Ra landed in front of him, a low growl rumbling in his throat. The dragon lowered his yellow head. Marik reached out slowly and pet it lovingly. “My dragon...”
“You look.....sad,” the dragon said. “Your soul looks.....different.”
Marik took a deep breath and his eyes narrowed. “If Malik wants to stay with those fools underground, fine! I won’t have any part of it.”
Robbie watched as Marik walked away from him. “Marik! Hold on! I don’t know my way around this place yet!”
“Then keep up, Robert,” Marik said harshly.
Robbie followed Marik through the Shadow Realm, his silence deafening and his body language clear.
- 5
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Emergence of the Tombkeepers