Dazzling hues of red, pink and white flickered into and out of sight. These vibrant colors were all in the shapes of hearts that floated across several sets of television screens in a synchronized action. The hearts soon faded into roses with chocolates that seemed to be falling into an infinite void in the white background.
"Valenstine Day?" I murmured under my breath curiously. "What the heck is that?" I never heard of such an ill-tasting word before. And was the deal with all of the flowers and candy everywhere; not to mention the vile pink hearts that seemed to be cramming all of the shelves.
"It's called Valentines Day, not 'Valenstine Day' or whatever you called it." I turned to find that my lighter personality was the one to so 'politely' correct my minor mistake. I rolled my eyes as the blonde male ran one hand through his hair to brush a small handful of his golden strands out in front of his shoulders.
So now that I knew how to pronounce it, was anyone going to explain it to me? I awaited for my answer but instead of getting one, the others started walking further down the isle. Maybe one of them would answer my question as we moved on.
I waited once more with disappointment at their lack of response. "Well?" I snorted. I would not be denied this information when it might be some kind of ritual that if I broke it, I might go to jail. Not that it worried me, I just enjoyed being out of it more then being behind bars.
With a sigh, my other self only stopped to go through a crate of video tapes and DVDs that were on sale. Ishizu looked back at me then tapped her brother on the shoulder before pointing out some golden jewelry further on down.
Ra, was it so hard to answer a simple question? I then turned my gaze onto the only remaining Ishtar apart from myself. "Let me guess, you wish to follow them and ignore me too," I grumbled with disgust. Why did they all hate me so much? Oh wait, maybe it was due to the fact that I had tried to kill them all before when I had stolen control of Malik's body for a majority of Battle City… Yeah, that just might be the reason…
The lumbering giant peered down at me with an almost bored expression on his face. "I'm not into jewelry. At least, not that kind," he replied. Ah, the inside of our room flashed into my thoughts. I should have remembered that he was a person who preferred traditional things to that of the present.
A frown tugged at the far corners of my mouth. "Whatever," I growled in mild anger. No one was going to answer my question it seemed, so why not solve this mystery one my own? I brushed past my forced roommate and meandered deeper into the heart work of the great indoor market.
Scarlet, hot pink along with more white appeared to be taking over the whole market place. What was this madness and why was it never here before? I blinked with interest as a heart shaped box with a picture of candy caught my attention.
I moved closer to the shelf and picked up the bizarre creation. "Be mine?" What on earth? How could anyone belong to a box, this made no sense! A thin silver ribbon wrapped around one lobe of the heart's top with a glimmering bow in the corner.
Was the picture under the insane inscription true? I wondered with small delight at the idea of entreating myself with the sweet temptations that possibly resided within this box. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I felt the sensation of fear run through my body for a split second as I moved my fingers out from the loops of the bow and turned around.
"Oh, it's only you," I sighed dryly. "Honestly, do they pay you to follow me or do you get some sort of sick pleasure out of it?" Green orbs rolled in their sockets as the freakishly tall baldheaded Egyptian crossed his arms over his chest.
Ignoring my question, he took the box from my grasp and placed it back onto the shelf. "You didn't buy it now did you?" Rishid inquired. He knew fully well that I never had a desire for such trivial things as paying for what I wanted. Stealing was a much better rout in my own opinion and not once have I been caught. Well, not by a cop or security anyway, but baldy here saw everything.
"No, I didn't buy it," I answered before looking out past him at a bundle of balloons in the form of hearts, red lips, and fat naked babies that had a single ribbon covering up all the necessary parts while in their hands were bow and arrows.
My babysitter for the day turned around to see what I had been looking at and smirked to himself. "Still trying to figure out what all of this is for aren't you?" The urge to jump up and slap the back of his bald head nearly overwhelmed me to do so. Amazing however, I managed to look off into space instead.
"Who in their right mind would give a baby a bow and arrow, let alone a naked baby above all things," I grunted lowly. My spacing out had been short lived as one of the horrible cherubs floated in and out of my sight until it had demanded my full attention.
I heard Rishid chuckle from deep in his throat. "I believe that that 'naked baby' is called Cupid. He supposedly goes around wielding a bow with magical arrows that he fires at people to make them fall in love."
I craned my head around to look at the other through questioning eyes. "And they call me insane." My mumblings must have struck the other as humorous since he was now covering his mouth with one hand to muffle his snickering. An act that was all in vain.
"That's just a myth to this holiday," He managed to work up once his snickering had subsided. Wait, if he knew that then perhaps he did know more about this 'Valentines Day' thing. His green olive eyes looked back down at me as his ghastly smile melted back into a scowl. "You're not stealing anything today Marik," he murmured bluntly.
I could feel my face scrunch up from anger. "I wasn't thinking about that! I want to know what is going on with all of these cursed hearts and roses!" I hissed out loudly. A baby started to stir in it's stroller before bursting out into a high pitched cry.
"Thanks a lot!" Sneered the baby's ticked mother. The woman took her toddler's hand before moving past the two of us while pushing the blue stroller out in front of herself. I merely grinned as she walked on completely unaware of the deodorant stick that had been slipped into her baby bag.
My triumph was short lived as the pony tailed haired man loomed over me with narrowed eyes. "Did you have to do that?" I merely shrugged in response then smirked broadly at the scar faced male.
"What do you think?" I chuckled only to see a couple walk past before they both stopped in the middle of the walking path. The male coughed to clear his throat as the girl he had been walking with had watched him with an awe-struck look.
The guy soon fell down upon one knee and pulled out a tiny white box. "Will you marry me?" the dark haired mortal snapped opened a box which contained a sparkling ring on the inside. What was said after that, I had no clue for my attention remained on the glimmering object that captivated the simpleton inside of me and my greed for the expensive piece of jewelry as well.
My daydream of sweet theft was deluding into the back of my mind as I stumbled forwards trying to regain my lost balance and failed. Crack! A low groan mustered itself out of my throat as a maddening throbbing sensation pounded in the side of my head.
"Ra…" The sharp pain spread with warm heat throughout my upper body and knees that made actual contact with the hard tile floor. Something cold ran in under my armpits and the world under me was wrenched away. "Get off me," the words came out as if I had a mouth full of cotton balls. At least it felt like that is what was happening.
"Calm down Marik, I'm not going to hurt you…" The voice reassured. Somehow it wasn't at reassuring at it was meant to be. "I didn't mean to throw you to floor but by the way you were eyeing that ring, it just screamed 'Potential crime spree'," Rishid added.
Hmp, the only reason he wasn't going to cause me harm because he already did so! "I'm fine and will remain so if you leave me alone!" The hate filled words crept out of my mouth once I had been placed back onto my feet. I wasn't released until he had been sure that I could support myself as I had implied.
The scared faced Egyptian turned his head almost sadly to one side. "Come, Malik and Ishizu are beckoning us to leave," he replied as if I really gave a fat rat's behind. A tan hand reached out for my shoulder but I slapped it away as soon as I saw it.
"If you touch me again, I swear you'll never be able to sleep in your bed with any guarantee of seeing the morning again!" The people around us were starting to stare and whisper to one another.
The two others have walked over with a quick pace to their step. "What's going on?" Malik hissed in a failed attempt at a whisper. His violet eyes were soft as they gazed upon his step-brother but stiffened as they rolled on over into my direction.
"Stop looking at me like I'm running around ass naked!" Sure enough, this only caused more people to look at me like I were mad. "I said to stop it not look at me even more!" Several more eyes bore their putrid gaze onto my framework. Their ignorance was pushing my mind further into insanity.
Gnashing my teeth together as all of my thoughts swirled in a dizzying whirlwind. I spun around and took in all of the images that I could see; Disgusting pink hearts, roses, people holding hands and staring at me like I had just broken out of jail with a dirty spoon still in my hand.
"Rishid, do something before he-" The females voice was drowned out by the sound of hundreds of boxes crashing onto the floor. Dozens of the cursed hearts split open, allowing their contents of chocolate goods to rolls across the white floor. "Marik, stop it!"
Stop what? Trying to escaped this frilly hell that one would expect to find in Anzu's mind or the third level of hell? I couldn't help but laugh at the gasps that enraged my soul. If these morons valued their lives then they had best evacuate the building before I did something worse.
At the devious note, my eyes wondered off to the sparkling necklace around one woman's neck. The multicolored shimmer was to thrilling that I couldn't just allow the poor thing to suffer by clinging around that wretched woman's pale neck.
By the time, I had reached out and curled my fingers around the shimmering sliver cord that was studded with the clear gems, a sharp pain coursed down my arm and crawled up as well only for my limb to fall limply to one side. What was this source of treachery?
"GAH!" My other arm also fell numb as my control over it fleeted. Turning my head to the left, I saw that my arm was still suspended in midair thanks to a tan hand that held it there; my hand lay limp even though I tried to will life into them. "Rishid?"
This shouldn't have come as any surprise to me but as I went to curse that foolish roommate of mine, the world around me started to fade as something bit the back of my neck. The world was soon nonexistent…
(I was told to tell when the story shifted views so, here's my heads up.)
The gaping group of spectators watched on as the psycho madman had fallen backwards into their savior's arms. "I'm sorry Master Marik," he whispered into the unconscious man's ear before kneeling down a little to slips his arms in under Marik's knees to carry him in a better angle.
The female of the 'merry' Ishtar clan looked at her relatives and then out to the crowd. "I apologize for my… brother's terrible behavior. I assure you that we shall make up for it as best as we possibly can," she encouraged with a grim and forced smile.
Turning slightly, she addressed for the others to take Marik out to the car while she settled things down with the market people and prayed to the gods and goddesses of Egypt to keep them from being band from the great indoor market for all eternity.
The blond and his servant quickly obliged. The only real reason Malik went was to avoid any more trouble and to get the car door since the market ones opened automatically and the car one did not. The three then awaited for the last member of their dysfunctional family to return.
Near twenty minutes had passed since the two men waited patiently, their dark spirited fiend remained out cold and propped against the side door in back next to Rishid. His head lulled over to one side causing him to fall over onto the other's lap with his lips parted slightly as he lay without making noise.
"He's not so bad when he's sleeping…" The olive eyed male murmured as the girl slammed the door shut. The slumbering lad lay their impervious to the loud slam.
"Try explaining that to all of those people he terrified," The raven haired woman sighed lowly as she took the driver's seat. With a simple flick of the wrist, the engine roared to life. "We're lucky that no one called the police to arrest any of us but needless to say… We have been asked to purchase food elsewhere."
The tomb keeper threw his arms up into the air from frustration. "At this rate, we'll have to pay someone to do our shopping for us!" Malik's real concern was about how he was to buy more clothes and food that contained no meat to keep his slim figure. The golden haired Egyptian turned to his side and laid his arms up against the door before resting his head upon them. "What set him off anyway?"
"I'm not fully sure, but I think it was something that I did." The two members up in the front seats grew quiet as the car backed out of the parking slot then shifted into drive. The ride home after that was virtually silence. What could be said? No one wanted to point the blame to their beloved step-brother but since Malik's other self had been a destructive hell raiser from the beginning, no one had trouble point the finger of blame at him…
None bothered to check how long the drive back to their humble abode was but it felt like eternity with that awkward silence that had filled their cab. Thank the gods that the sound of car horns broke this taboo and set an ease back into their mists once the first car door was opened.
"It's getting late, if anyone is hungry, I'll make dinner," the lass replied with a small smile as she opened the front door, pocketing the keys to her car into a fold of her dress. Rishid inclined his head as a symbol that he agreed to the offer as his master complied as well; the suggestion of something fruity was his only specification.
From there, the gang went inside and to their separate ways. The sassy limp hair blonde went into the living room, the girl into the kitchen it fulfill her promise of food, and Rishid continued to carry the other to their room.
Kicking the door in with his foot, the large buff Ishtar went over to the bed that was covered with a tattered bed sheet; providing that one could call such a thin and torn piece of fabric much of a covering. A small frown lay upon the tan man's face as he put the other onto his bed and slipped his arms out from under the limp body. Those pressure points were painful so he only used them when a situation was to much for him to handle without doing so.
Looking back at the sleeping other, he knew that they would be awaking soon so he decided to go out and see how the others were doing…
(Oh look, we're going back into Marik's point of view. Yay!)
"Ugh, my head…" Why did I feel like some freak kids took baseball bats and used my head for their piñata? Peering around the darkening room, a few weak strands of sunlight seeped in from under the blinds that inched up across the floor and walls.
Attempting to sit up right, my elbows ached while a muffled crumpling sound drifted up and reached my ears. Where was it coming from? I paused before finally pushing myself up the rest of the way. The crumbled sound appeared to be coming from nearby.
"What is this?" Something crimson was resting on my stomach which startled me. Was I bleeding? I reached down to caressed the ruddy color to find the texture to be rough and sighed in mild relief. So, if I wasn't bleeding then, what was this? I curled my fingers around the item and held it up before my eyes to examine it. "What?"
It was a black heart cut out of construction paper with a rich ruby colored piece of paper that was fastened onto the top of that. The red was wavy and dipped down in several small valleys that collected into large drops of what I assumed was to represent blood.
What is this? It looked familiar somehow… One of those commercials flashed into the back of my thoughts from something I had seen before proceeding into another flashback of a voice uttering the words 'Valentines Day'. This appeared to be one of those cursed valentines that were at the great market place only so much… better looking.
Creak… I looked up from the anti-friendly valentine and glared towards the door. The invader of my room turned out to be none other then my roommate. "Great, what do you want?" I growled before looking back to the devilish heart. A single question now taking over the rest of my brain; who was it from?
"I wanted to see if you were hungry," he grumbled. I shook my head even though my stomach would complain about being denied such splendors such as eating later. "I see… Hm, well then. I'm going to help Master Malik with his motorcycle. Don't bother Ishizu or turn my bed into a bed of nails." A ghastly smirk pulled at the corner of his lips, a gesture that was to be short lived. For some reason I thought it must have been the markings on his face that always prevented him from being able to ever produce a genuine grin.
I grunted from in my throat to show that I didn't care. The forced roommate of mine then left and sealed me within the confines of my bedroom chamber yet again. Scowling from anger I couldn't rightfully place to any particular face; I lifted the handmade heart and looked it over with a faint trace of growing satisfaction.
How could something so mercifully simple be so.. Beautiful? Like my light half, he was simple in the head but his looks made up for all of the intellect he lacked. I turned the paper object over to find the back was empty of words or pictures.
Sighing a bit disappointed, I put the item down onto the nightstand that had amazingly lived though several tosses to the floor from pervious bouts of anger I had experienced over the time I have been living here. An odd feeling was creeping into the edges of my soul in a glorious yet minutely frightening way.
Was there really someone out there who cared enough for my existence that they would actually give me something and not request for anything in return? I had long given up hopes for my other half to ever feel affections towards me after the last time he had screamed into my face about how he wished me ill death and attempted to stab me with his nail filer.
Sorrow soon took over this short lived feeling as I growled to mask my emotions with anger and rolled over in my mangled bed. I then pulled the gnarled bed sheet up to hide myself from the invisible eyes of the world and closed my own eyes before forcing myself into sleep…
(Almost done, oh, and point of view change again.)
If Marik would have waited a little longer, then he would have been able to see the hidden message on the back of the black heart. 'To Master Marik, I'm sorry it isn't much but I figured with your mixed sense of what is beautiful and what is gruesome that you would enjoy this valentine. If I could bring myself to such a length, I would ask you to be my valentine for just one day and be content with just that but I know you would never accept such an offer from me… But fear not Marik, I know of the emptiness that lurks inside of your heart and your need of a companion. Maybe one day you might find the comfort that you seek, I just wish it would be in me. With eternal devotion for this life and the next, Rishid.'
The candle that once had been lit extinguished itself out and threw the room and all of its occupants into total darkness. The message that had been written in clear ink was never to be revealed again until the next dancing flame of fire would bring it into view once more…
(I hope I haven't scared you all but I also hope that I didn't put you all to sleep as well. You see that, I hate Saint Valentines Day but I couldn't resist a story about Marik and the possible desire of love he might secretly crave. However I put Rishid as the other 'main' character because he is often neglected and never thought of. So I put them together to make up for both of their possible wants! Anyway, I've also been getting slightly obsessed with Negateshipping thanks to hearing Ishizu say something like "Rishid has been the only one able to keep the darkness within Malik at bay." and that set me off for my freaky growing addiction. If you want, go ahead and stone me for this story... Just give me a review, good or bad and I'll thank you all the same. Ja now.)