Rock Bottom: Season Two

Concession

Marik kept his gaze straight ahead as he rode the small elevator down the Duel Tower with the referee. The teen couldn't remember the man's name, but he was impressed by how calmly he seemed to handle witnessing so much magic with no explanation offered to him.

The elevator reached the ground and the doors slid open, the referee exiting first with Marik close behind. The wreckage occupying most of the island confused him; splintered metal, shattered concrete, twisted structures that meant nothing to him, but it must have been something before. It must have meant something to someone.

He continued following the referee up onto the blimp, and followed him all the way to the infirmary. The door to it was in sight, only a few meters away, when it opened.

"Ishizu!" Marik cried out in relief, surging forward to embrace her.

"Marik," she whispered, arms wrapping around him to return his tight hold. "I'm alright, Marik."

They were so wrapped up in each other that they almost didn't notice the referee edging around them in order to check on Kaiba. A few moments later, Ishizu loosened her hold and Marik did the same.

"Come, we need to talk," she said, her eyes bright as her face turned serious.

"Yes, we do." Marik suspected they had different topics in mind, though.

She led him to her room, and once the door was closed, she turned and took both his hands in hers.

"How are you feeling?" he asked before she could speak.

"I feel fine. Do you have my Necklace?"

"Yes." Marik freed one hand from her hold to reach into his pocket and offer it back to its owner.

She took it with a look of relief and fastened it around her neck. She touched the central eye for a moment, then reached for her brother's hands once more.

"Marik, this is very important. I need you to tell me how the duel between Noah and Seto ended."

"What?" Marik shook his head, confused. "No, that's not–no."

"I need to know–"

"I couldn't even see their duel," he interrupted, squeezing his sister's hands. "None of us could. I can't tell you anything about it." He saw the disappointment in her eyes and didn't understand it. "That's not what we need to talk about, though."

She blinked at him curiously, and Marik swallowed hard.

"I need to talk to you about your husbands."

"Oh." Her expression shifted, and she dropped her gaze. "I see," she murmured. "This is because of my duel with Kaiba?"

Marik took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

"Yes. By some point, I figured out that none of them loved you. I don't think most of our people loved each other at the time they got married. I think... they learned to love each other."

"They learned contentment," she corrected quietly, staring at her brother's shirt. "Some of them did, at least. And most of them had the freedom to choose. I didn't."

"I know." That was something they had both shared: a lack of choice. "But, did they..." He faltered. There was no tactful way to ask this. No way to not pry into the most personal parts of his sister's life. He braced himself and asked, "Did any of them hurt you on purpose? In any way?"

Her gaze dropped lower, staring at the floor now as she grappled with herself, with what she'd been taught to never speak about.

"Yes."