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Marik Ishtar's vibing. Riding down a dirt road in some unknown part somewhere in California on his trusty motorcycle while his favorite Boston song plays on loop in his head. There ain't nothing better in this world.
Which is exactly why the multiverse opened a hole right in front of him, and he rode straight into a tree.
Thrown from his bike, he lands out cold a wing beat's distance away from a meek young lady, running away from her mother, the sound of the motor frightening her.
She jumps into a bush and draws a small slip of paper from her pocket. "WHO'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF," echoes through the forest, only to fall on naught but the ears of a young man writhing in pain on the ground.
Marik groans and disorientingly picks himself up. "H-huh? Is someone there?" He clutches the millenium rod from his belt. Marik Ishtar's vibing. Riding down a dirt road in some unknown part somewhere in California on his trusty motorcycle while his favorite Boston song plays on loop in his head. There ain't nothing better in this world.
Which is exactly why the multiverse opened a hole right in front of him, and he rode straight into a tree.
Thrown from his bike, he lands out cold a wing beat's distance away from a meek young lady, running away from her mother, the sound of the motor frightening her.
She jumps into a bush and draws a small slip of paper from her pocket. "WHO'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF," echoes through the forest, only to fall on naught but the ears of a young man writhing in pain on the ground.
Marik groans and disorientingly picks himself up. "H-huh? Is someone there?" He clutches the millenium rod from his belt.
The young lady, snapping back to her regular self, slowly rises from the bush. "A-are you okay? You look hurt..."
The moment her eyes met his, the young woman felt something within her heart, something connecting herself to this young man.
"Hmm? Right, I suppose I am in pain." Marik clutches his shoulder, which he landed on when he flew off his bike. "Where am I?"
"You're not from around here, are you? It happens," she hurries over to him. "W-we're outside the camp of the Shepherds, within the Haildom of Ylisse. I'll take you to them, m-maybe someone there can help you... I'm Noire..."
Marik starely blankly at Noire. Ylisse? Shepherds? He probably can't trust these people. "I'm... Malick. Malick Blishtar."
"M-Malik? That's a foreign name alright..." Noire grabs Marik's hand and darts off towards camp. Maybe this new person will distract everyone enough that her mother will forget about her...
A day in the infirmary to check after his wounds was just what Marik needed. Noire, as the person who found Marik, gets to keep an eye on him, which is just what she needed.
"S-so, Malik, where are you from?" She asks, trying to make small talk while they perform chores around camp.
"A place called Egypt," he says blankly, mindlessly folding the laundry.
"W-what's it like?"
"Hot, sandy, and an awful place to live if you can help it."
"Reminds me of where my mother grew up... Maybe that's why she's so bitter all the time."
"Are you calling me bitter?" he snapped, causing Noire to flinch and sink behind a pile of sheets. He quickly calms down and thinks for a second. "You know, you might have a point, considering my father, and all. Maybe the desert raises bitter people."
Marik, living mostly as the enigmatic world-hopping Malik in this world, worked tirelessly to try to find a way back. All the while, Flore- I mean Noire was by his side through most of it.
The pair grew close in their travels, Noire being surprisingly knowledgeable about dark magics and the like, and Marik being, well, Marik, couldn't let someone like that go off on her own using that power for trivial things.
Life has this strange way of bringing people together, even if it seems unlikely at first. The bonds you form with those people are like links in a chain, and it turns out, that chain is strong enough to bind worlds together.
Marik and Noire, wedded in matrimony and their shared goal at returning Marik to his world. Turns out, all Marik needed to return home was to add a link or two from this world, no doubt existing through his wife and daughter.
The two were shocked when the gate opened, years spending dormant, and on the other side, Marik's sister, Ishizu, now significantly older, caught a glimpse of her brother and his family.
"Don't hold your breath, Noire," he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her through to the other side.