A/N: I just watched DSOD, and my gawd, the Prideshipping is real, and it hurt my puppyshipping heart, but it made me think of this. So hello to JONO!
Platonic Jono and Thief King Bakura, and other relationships thrown into this
I don't know how to make things angsty...
._._._.
"BAKURA! BAKURA! BAKURA!" Joey heard someone call out. "BAKURA! BAKURA!"
"Uh, hello?" Joey looked around the desert he was randomly standing at.
"Bakura! It's me! Jono! I heard you! Please call out to me!" The voice yelled out desperately.
"Jono?" Joey tried to run through the sand to find him, but he found it difficult when his feet kept sinking in.
"Bakura! Please! Tell me I'm not too late!"
"Too late for what? Hello! I'm right here! I'm not Bakura! But my name is Joey! Where are you! Everything sounds like an echo in this place! And there ain't any walls!" Joey looked up at the blue sky that visibly showed the heat waves coming in. Joey thought that he might be going crazy because he thought he traveled back into the pharaoh's memories again because Jono only continued to yell out to Bakura. He tried calling out again louder, but Jono still didn't hear him from wherever he was.
It turned out to only be a dream when he found himself inside a normal bedroom. He felt confused for a second until he realized by the sight of ocean waters outside the window that he was on a ship. Joey noticed something weird smudged on the window's glass. He got up to take a closer look, and he swore that it looked like a foggy hand print. He tried to wipe it off with his own hand, but to his realization, the hand print was made outside.
He almost freaked out, but then Tristan knocked at his door to remind him that today was Atem's and Yugi's big ceremonial duel. Joey instantly threw away the weird dream and the freaky hand print in favor for getting ready for the big day.
Joey didn't want Atem to leave after all the adventures and duels they went through that made them better people, but he wanted his best friend Yugi to win the duel, so that Atem could rest in peace. Joey knew that Atem had his own family and friends to get back home to, and it's not like it's forever. Everyone dies, and it took Atem 5,000 years without his memories to reach to this point. A few decades was nothing, so he went into that shrine only looking forward to Yugi winning and Atem getting back home.
After the duel, everyone continued on with their lives with a little sadness lingering in the atmosphere, but they kept each other strong.
Even when Joey discovered that his father went missing after he returned home. It wasn't unusual for the old man to be gone for a few days, but when over a week passed, he called the police. It took weeks before they found a stolen car at the bottom of a river. It turned out that someone forgot to take their keys out of the ignition, and his father in his drunken stupidity got into the car and must've accidentally sped into the water.
Joey felt his entire chest drop at the news when the police came to his apartment. His dad wasn't the best parent to live with, but he was still his father and they used to have sweet moments that he clung onto. He went to identify the body to make sure that they got the right man, and they did. He felt his body shut down for a second, but then it rebooted and the heated tears fell through.
He cursed his father as he cried. He already lost someone. It was just like his father to make things worse when that happened.
When he could relax, the first person he called was Tristan to pick him up because he needed someone. The brunette came by his motorcycle, and he hugged Joey whose whole face was red, and the hazel of his eyes were more apparent. Tristan helped him get home and eat something while talking it out before heading to sleep. Joey didn't want to tell Yugi because he just lost Atem, but Tristan reasoned that they both needed to grieve together, so Yugi and Tea were told next. Yugi cried for him, and they both held each other to keep the other up on their feet.
Joey then had to tell his mother because he needed her permission to keep his apartment. The two were estranged from each other, but the woman gave him permission, and that she would be the one to inform Serenity. He was fine with that. He didn't know how to tell her in the first place anyway.
There was no money, but Joey's paternal grandparents who had split connections with their drunk son paid for all of it and attended the funeral. In fact, the family that abandoned him and his dad were there to pay their respects. However, they were actually there to express their sympathies to the immediate family for having to deal with such a man. Joey didn't want to hold hands with any of them except for Serenity and his friends. He didn't give any words for the whole thing because he didn't want to cuss at everyone including his old man. He didn't listen to anyone who said anything because they were all generic.
After the burial ceremony was done, he walked away from the cemetery to breathe. His mother tried to reach out to him, but his apathetic glare made her retract her hand. His friends and sister felt helpless as they watched him disappear off into the distance.
Joey kept walking through the city until he found himself before the cold rushing waves of the beach. It was fall, so no one was there. He took off his shoes and socks, so he could feel the icy sand and the blistering winds against his tender feet. He threw off his vest and tie carelessly before diving into the white thunderous foam.
His whole body was immediately attacked by what felt like needles upon impact, but when he was deep into the ocean waters, he felt a serenity.
He couldn't see anything before him in the foggy water until two streaks of dark liquid flowed passed his head. He began hearing thunder again, and thought that the waves must be crashing louder, but as he looked on, he saw something coming at him like a train on its rails. Red dots could be seen from afar, but as they came closer, he could see that they were eyes that belonged to a dragon.
The dragon came at him, but when it did in its liquid-like form, it slowly shaped itself into a man of black skin and hair with conspicuous red eyes but his face was identical to Joey's.
"Who..." Joey found himself talking underwater, but he doesn't question it. "Who are you?"
The man only pulls on his arm to help him resurface. Joey automatically gasps for air and pulls himself to the shore. He didn't understand what just happened, but he ignored it since he had to get home or else he'd die of hypothermia. He grabbed his shoes and other clothes, and then walked barefoot to his place.
On his way, Kaiba and Mokuba were driving by.
Mokuba was shocked to see the duelist in such a wet get up during a cold weather like this. "Hey, isn't that Joey?" He pointed out.
"Hm?" Kaiba turned his head just to take a glimpse since he was driving. "It is. Looks like he got rejected at prom and was pushed into the pool." He stopped the car safely to the side to call out to him, "Hey mutt, you look like you went through hell."
Joey looked at them, and he felt apathetic to their presence, but he found himself joking, "Yeah, it froze over." He continued to walk.
Mokuba quickly offered, "Hey! Do you want a ride?!" But Joey ignored him, so Mokuba got out of the car to get his attention. He grabbed his naked wrist and quickly pulled back. "You're like ice! You're going to die of hypothermia like this! What were you thinking?!" he couldn't help feeling upset that Joey was ignoring his health like this when it wasn't like him.
Joey didn't care for his reaction. He just wanted to go home, get out of these drenched clothes, and fall asleep, but Mokuba pulled him into the car, and made him sit at the back. Joey didn't have the strength to argue, and that annoyed Kaiba. "What's your problem?"
"Dad died." Joey felt himself sigh. His shoulders and chest felt like they collapsed; his lips were not caring for his words, "Drunk drove off a bridge while I was in Egypt."
Kaiba found himself chuckling. He knew well of Joey's living conditions, "Heh. You must be relieved."
Joey knew that those were cruel worlds, but after being at a funeral filled with half-hearted family members who looked down at his old man, he just sadly smiled. "Yeah. So fuckin' relieved." He closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
Joey once again found himself at the desert, but this time the person who was calling out to Bakura stood a few feet from him. The man had the same face as Joey, except his body was nothing but skin and bones without a jaw attached to his mouth. His body was littered with scars, and one huge healed gash was depressed over where his heart's supposed to be. His blonde dreadlocks reached midway his back, and exhausted hazel eyes appeared to be focused on him.
"You're Jono aren't you."
Jono nodded his head, and walked over to Joey. The teen didn't know what to expect when the man before him poked his head. He heard the man telepathically tell him, "Please find my body."
And then he disappeared. The next thing he knew, he heard grunting. He looked over to the side to see a fight going on. It looked like it was five bandits versus a couple. At the side was a blonde boy with dark golden brown skin and hazel eyes idly twirling a uniquely shaped dagger in his hand. When the brawl was over, he was approached by a woman whose fair skin became tanned after being exposed to the sun for so long. Her messy unkempt blond hair and snake-like green eyes highlighted the beauty she possessed with those high cheekbones and plump lips. Freckles kissed the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, my treasure." She bent down and kissed the corner of her son's forehead. "Oh, got some blood on you." She wiped it off with her dress.
"Is dad doing his thing again?" He saw his dad pull the beaten men onto their knees with their heads down and their hands tied behind their backs.
His mother held her child close as they watched. "It's necessary that there is a choice, Jono. We did not choose to live the lives of thieves. Your father was wrongly accused, and beaten into submission, so he could give a false confession, and was flogged unjustly." Her green eyes shone with admiration and what Joey believed to be lust. "Maybe your father was in the wrong or maybe he wasn't. In this world we live in, we don't know who is innocent and who is not unless you put your sins in display for the public to see. But even then, is it truly a sin?"
The boy puckered his lips with furrowed brows, "Mama, you ain't makin' any sense." He shook his head sadly, which got him a light tap at the back of his head, that made him smile mischievously.
The woman giggled, "Sorry. I was raised to be a concubine of the current pharaoh, and my teacher was quite the cryptic, flamboyant man. Perhaps you'd understand if you attended school."
"Papa's teachin' me enough."
"And I'm de smartest 'ight, Jono!" His dad approached them. Only one of the men that he fought was lying on the ground while the rest were gone.
"Yeah!" Jono ran over to his dad who squatted down to receive a kiss on the lips.
"Oh, got a bit of blood on you." He spit onto his fingers to wipe it, and his wife used her dress to get it off.
"So only one of them chose to die?" Jono walked over to the body, and carefully turned it around.
"Yeah. I gave them the ultimatums of whether they leave or take a sack of jewels and tablet drawings with them to the after life. This guy was already old and pragmatic, so figured he rather leave with something instead of nothing."
Jono nodded, understanding the situation. The family wrapped the dead body in a sheet, did the ritual prayer and practices for burial, and then buried the man with the things they promised. They made sure to place a special powder that would act as a curse to anyone who dared to disturb the grave.
The family then traveled on to Kul Elna. Joey followed them, but strangely, the desert moved itself, and he was already at Kul Elna and Jono's family arrived. Joey took a look around to see plenty of stone houses that had bars at their windows. He saw a lot of bandits as to be expected, but children and mothers also roamed the place. He was surprised to see children entering a building that looked like it was a school. The kids were all kneeling down and listening to some old guy about how to read and write. Joey was surprised to see a little kid who looked like Bakura attend, and he looked...focused on the subject with an innocent atmosphere.
Joey watched him for a minute before returning back to Jono. He saw the kid's dad hug someone who was accompanied with a mother holding the hands of twin girls. "King Jibril and Queen Samar! It's good to see my little brother so well with his loving wife!" He stepped back with a joyous smile.
The king nodded, holding an air of royalty but strange kindness. Joey never pictured the king of bandits to look so kind. It just didn't fit him. "Zulema, I am thankful that you made it out of your ventures alive." He looked to Jono's mother, "Cosima, you are as beautiful as when my brother kidnapped you." They kissed each other's cheeks.
Although the woman joshed, "You insult me. The kid my husband kidnapped was a pale flower in comparison to the cactus that I am."
Queen Samar agreed, "Ignore my husband. He deals with too many oafs that anything can pass as beautiful." She smiled down at their child, "Jono. Bakura is at school, but it should be ending soon. Won't you play with him?"
"Kay." The bored boy took his chance to run away, and Joey can't hear what the adults were saying anymore. He figured that it was because this was all Jono's memories, so he followed the kid.
It was at a good time because the kids were let out.
"Bakura!" Jono ran up to the kid, and Joey could see the kid's eyes lit as he hugged Bakura with so much strength that the poor smaller boy had the air knocked out of him. But what Joey didn't expect was the passionate lips pecking to happen.
"Jono, it's pleasant to see you again." Bakura sounded very polite and smart like the Ryou who Joey knew. "But you have to restrain yourself from kissing me in the blue. A greeting kiss should be done after we say our hello. Otherwise I feel molested."
Joey felt himself relax, realizing that ancient Egyptians kissed each other as a greeting.
Jono pouted, "C'mon! I haven't seen you in months while I was risking my life to get some food and water for this rundown village, and this is how you treat me?!"
Bakura huffed at him, "You still need work in acting more diplomatic, or else you'll create needless bloodshed. I see that you've gained your mother's beauty, but the gods neglect to give you either of your parents' heart."
"Hey! I have a heart, n' I learn ta be plenty of diplomatic to get by."
"You butchered that sentence like you butcher a mummy irresponsibly."
Jono's cheeks puffed up angrily. "Yeah! Well...You're a nerd!"
"Nice comeback against a seven-year-old. You're twelve, but I bet you still haven't had yours circumcised."
Jono flinched visibly, and then grimaced, "Uh yeah! But you see I have this thing to do n' I-I'm really busy!"
"You're scared of the big stone."
"Why de fuck do I have ta loose some foreskin ta show dat I'm a man?! I've seen plenty of men with their foreskin be de toughest of de toughest! It just doesn't make sense! When I become king, I'm gonna ban that sorta thing!"
Bakura rolled his eyes, and just moved the conversation along, "So how was your trip?"
Jono's eyes glittered at the question, and he went into full story mode. Joey listened to him, and he could tell that the boy was lying at some parts he was bragging about, but it was interesting nonetheless as the kid went on to describe the hazardous dust storms, the many bandits and soldiers they fought off, and how they carefully took away some of the past pharaohs' treasures without disturbing the dead or becoming cursed. He described the different villages he traveled to, and what the people, buildings, and farms were like.
Bakura listened to him while the two walked along the village without any of the bandits bothering them despite not having any adult supervision. Joey could see that the bandits looked like bad news, but they were pleasantly cordial to the children, and diplomatic with each other. He saw a fight go on between two bandits, but their children who watched remained holding hands despite the bad blood obviously boiling between their parents.
Joey saw a brothel where prostitutes lured in men and women. He was surprised when Bakura and Jono entered the place nonchalantly. He followed them in and blushed at the barely clothed female and male prostitutes who appeared to not be worn down or soulless like the prostitutes he'd see on the streets at his part of town. He quickly followed the kids through a curtain to see a playroom for children.
Jono and Bakura immediately joined them in a game where they had to find all the missing dried body parts of the frog inside the room, and then they had to assemble the body pieces together in their correct places. Joey was really weird out because they were playing with a real life dead frog that was somehow preserved to be a toy.
The kids with the arguing parents and Bakura's twin sisters soon joined them in the room to play different games that were similar to hide-n-seek, truth-or-dare, and figuring out riddles. Of course there were times when kids would get mad and cry, but adults were around to put them in a time out before they chilled out and joined in again.
Bakura's older brother who appeared to be around Joey's age entered the room, and played the drums for the kids to sing and dance to. Jono was surprisingly good at singing and he ended up being the lead singer while the kids sang in the background.
Everyone was just having fun, and Joey wanted to join them.
The fun didn't end even when night came. It was Bakura's father's birthday, and as a show of gratitude for creating a village where bandits could live at without the fear of being taken in or killing each other, there was a festival.
Some of the food provided came from Kul Elna's own farm that was worked by the teenagers of the bandits who didn't want to follow in their parents footsteps. Their water provided came from an oasis. Other food and drinks were bought in. That's why Jono's family had been absent for awhile.
When the festival was to begin, there were actual security guards to keep watch of everyone so no blood shed would begin because of violent drunkards or people plotting. The bandits didn't mind this because they knew they were all underhanded and dirty, and they also liked that the security guards could keep their children safe from rival gangs as well. There was also the warning that if anyone were to do any misdeed, then they would suffer a painful, slow death.
Joey heard Bakura talk about how last year, a gang tried to take the opportunity to kidnap a child during the festivities and paid off a security guard to let them escape. But they didn't understand the fierce loyalty the guards had for the king. When this came to light, the children were first taken out of their custody, and they were held in court to decide their punishment. When they were found guilty, the leader's baby mama tried to plead for forgiveness. But when the king told her that her children would be given security and education with a roof over their heads and food in their mouths, she quickly spit at the leader's face, and had him dragged away.
The king just like Jono's father was both merciful and ruthless. When the boys met up with their dads, Zulema didn't hold back from giving his son a big hug and kisses over his face. Joey felt jealous at such affection that he'd been denied for so long, but then remembering the fate of Kul Elna, envy was quickly washed over by fear. His heart ached when he saw how Jono's mother affectionately ruffled his sandy hair and let him nuzzle his face into her tummy. They were just so happy. Joey looked over to Bakura, and Jibril greeted his children with a cordial pat on their heads or a hand on their shoulders, but the look in his lilac eyes showed a deep love for them. Queen Samar was the same and Bakura showed to favor her when he hugged her side, then held her hand as he told her with bright lilac eyes of how his day went.
Joey watched as a huge bonfire was created and dishes of food was served by the prostitutes. The heavy eaters got a larger plate that was served by two, and all of them were sitting at strategic positions, so they couldn't see the other bigger guys' dish and feel like they don't have enough.
Before alcohol was served, the king first had the pregnant women come line up before him, and be blessed for a healthy birth. Jono's mother was one of them.
Then the children were to be lined up and be blessed for a good future. Then the king gave his thanks to his hard workers for making this celebration possible.
The drinks were served and everyone went wild with cheers and dances. The kids all ran off to play around the bond fire that had a fence around it so they wouldn't fall in.
Joey watched as Jono crouched down with his hands on the ground, and he howled like a wolf. He then began chasing the other kids like a dog. Everyone laughed and the kids ran away from him. Other boys followed along and it was just a zoo with the boys chasing, and wrestling each other. Adults made sure their roughhousing didn't go too far.
Then the next thing people knew, the boys merged themselves in the crowd, and in a few minutes, girls were screaming. The boys came out of the crowd carrying females with them. Joey looked for Jono, and was surprised to see that instead of carrying a girl, he was dressed in girl clothing and had Bakura's older brother carry him to the bond fire. Laughter thundered in the village as Jono modeled beside the laughing or weirded out girls. Apparently, it was supposed to be a beauty contest. The crowd began chanting "Queen! Queen! Queen!" which Jono happily danced to until his mother took him away. His parents were flushed from laughter and Bakura's father looked embarrassed for the little boy. Bakura and his mother just shook their heads with endearing smiles while the twin sisters were happily chattering with Jono about whether he could pass for a queen or not compared to their mother.
Joey blushed out of embarrassment when he remembered when he tried to win a female beauty contest by cross dressing. Tristan never let him lived it down.
The night went on merrily, and the kids were put to sleep early while the drunken adults were left to sleep wherever they landed. The guards took turn watching over them to make sure nothing funny happens.
After that night, everything seemed to fast forward a bit. More thieves came to the village but none of them left. It turned out that because of the war that was taking over, it was too dangerous to roam around without being caught and killed by soldiers from either side. Kul Elna was strategically far from potential battlefields, and with how the pharaoh would need every soldier available, they didn't think he'd take the opportunity to take them all down.
Conflicts between rival gangs were a problem, so Joey saw King Jibril spend plenty of time creative diplomatic agreements and punishing those who dared defy his laws. His queen and Jono's parents helped him with these arrangements, and Jono was present, so he could learn how to be a good king of thieves.
"You have my respect like usual Uncle Jibril of how you can handle all this calmly. I wanted ta sock two of them in de face fer their rudeness." The king and Jono were currently taking a stroll across the crowded village.
"Oh really? You looked rather calm and diplomatic through the whole ordeal." Joey swore he was never going to get used to that calm, kind tone from the king.
Jono grinned smugly with arms crossed, "Of course! I can't let de enemy know what I'm thinkin'! I'm a hotblooded scorpion, but I know when ta poison meh foes! Papa's been teachin' a ton since we left! I know how ta read de stars n' find fresh water!"
"You definitely have matured the last time I saw you. Bakura secretly admires you."
Jono's eyes sparkled at the news. "Really?"
"Oh yes. He likes to pick on you so you don't laze off your duties, but he sees the big heart you have, the justice that resides in your very soul, and the never ending potential in your treasure eyes. I can see that you will definitely be the true king of thieves once the gods are done with my sins."
Jono looked up at his uncle with admiration and love. He then looked forward with straighter shoulders and a raised chest. The two then went to the training grounds that was made to teach the helpless to protect their loved ones. Little boys, girls, and women were learning to fight with wooden tools. The more experienced ones held real blades.
The twelve-year-old was given a genuine sword by his father who was present there. Cosina held onto hers and Joey thought that he would watch Jono be trained by his mother, but instead, he found himself in Jono's body, and he could see, feel, hear, touch and sense so much more as if they became one. Joey felt his own body move with Jono's, and at first it felt so alien to him, but when he got the hang of it, he truly felt like he was Jono.
After the training was done, Joey found himself as just himself again, but he still felt the experience of being in such intense training. He hoped his body in the real world wasn't destroying anything though.
The rest of the week was similar to that until Bakura was let out of school for the day. Jono always ran over to him to play, or for the younger boy to teach him what the school had taught him so far. Joey inspected Bakura closer since he truly was different from the Bakura he knew. This one was a lot more calm and he could be vicious but he was never spiteful when he was wronged. Instead he acted all matter-of-fact and just moved on to solving the problem in a quick and efficient way. Joey didn't know what to make of this tuned down version of Bakura, but he did seem to be a good kid.
Joey began to forget a massacre was going to take place until everything seemed to slow down one night while the two boys were still awake and lying beside each other. They were near the door because they wanted to see the stars.
"So you're going to become a teacher?" Jono asked in the darkness.
"It's a resourceful job. Besides, our teacher is in need of retirement, so someone has to step up to the mantle."
"Heh, so we'll both be here in Kul Elna since I'll be the next king of thieves."
"Yes. Unfortunately."
"Hey! I can be a good king!"
"I do not underestimate your ability in being an effective leader. I only worry that you will have to fill in acts of bravado to hide your stupidity."
"That's not what your daddy said you think about me."
"Yes well, opinions differ as they grow."
Jono lightly hit Bakura's arm. "You're such a dork."
"And you're the stepping stone downward."
"Nerd." Jono cuddled up to Bakura, and the two slept soundly together.
Everything turned dark for Joey, but he was immediately shaken when he heard Cosina's and Samar's hushed yet worried tone. "Jono. Bakura. Wake up. We have to move."
Joey heard the rushed footsteps and clanging of metals behind him before the building and everything else became clear. The boys were confused when they slowly woke up.
Zulema hurriedly told Samar, "Quick! Take the boys to the shelter! More are approaching!"
That startled the kids wide awake.
"Mom?" Jono looked to his mother who had a sword in her hand and a helmet on her head.
"Go with Queen Samar, Jono. I'll explain everything when it's all over." She caressed her son's cheek, and for some reason, Joey felt her touch against him.
Jono looked reluctant, but he obeyed orders. He held Bakura's mother's hand and the three of them ran off. Jono looked around to see Egyptian soldiers fighting against the armed bandits. More were approaching from all side by charging in with their horses or climbing down the stone cliffs. Other children with their guardians were trying to reach the shelter without being caught in the bloodshed.
Something bright lit up in the sky, and to their horror, the lights were arrows lit on fire. Samar quickly took the children into one of the buildings.
"Mom!" Bakura cried out when he could see soldiers creeping forward from the shadows.
Samar quickly unarmed one of them, and took the sword that she used to slit their throats smoothly. Jono threw his dagger cleanly through the skull of a soldier that she missed. Samar took it out and handed it back to him.
Joey remained outside of the building, and for some reason, he could clearly see what was happening to other people. He then heard the older Jono's voice, "Through using a spell, I saw the death of our families."
While the children were hiding from the flames, Joey witnessed Cosina unleash a wyvern from her soul that took care of the arrows above, yet the sorcerers on the other side cast their spells to constrict her movements. This allowed for a few of the arrows to pass through and lit the village on fire. Although this was supposed to kill a few of the bandits, they were far too experienced with life and death situations than the soldiers that they easily used them as shields.
Bakura watched this horror before being pulled by his mother to reach the shelter.
Jibril with his son and Zulema fought off the soldiers while protecting Cosina who was able to break free from the sorcerers' control and kill off the archers and the remaining soldiers coming down the cliffs. Yet that upperhand was only short lived when several lightning bolts immediately struck from above. Her scream made Jono turn around but Samar kept him moving. However, she had to stop when a man trying to protect a pregnant woman got his throat slit. Samar let go of the children to stop the soldier from getting to the woman, but she was too late to stop the blade piercing through her womb.
Jono and Bakura were frozen in place, but Samar charged at the soldier, took his sword and chopped off his head until it came right off before crying out in pain. She looked back at the children with tears of anguish, and with her bloodied hands, continued to pull them to shelter. It didn't take any longer to reach it, and Bakura's younger twin sisters were already there with their aunt. Samar looked around, and was further heartbroken, "They're not all here."
The aunt tearfully replied, "Some of the soldiers were able to sneak into the houses through their black magic before a guard realize what what was going on."
Joey covered his mouth and couldn't hold back the pain he felt when Samar dropped to her knees and cried out her anguish.
He didn't want to see anymore, but he found himself go back in time to when Cosina just fell to the ground burnt by the lightning bolts.
"COSINAAAAAAA!" Zulema yelled out to his wife, and he cut through anyone to get to her. The soldiers feared his ferocity, so stepped away to allow him to hold his true love in his arms. Cosina's green eyes were faded emeralds, and her body shocked her husband, but he did not dare let her go. "Cosina...Cosina, please speak to me. Please. We were supposed to see him one last time together with our son. One last time. Please don't break that promise!" He pleaded, but his wife was nothing more than a doll-like corpse.
Zulema roared out to the sky that the whole village could hear his agony, and that was followed by the roars of his fellow bandits and warriors who felt the same.
The loving husband and father looked down at his lifeless true love and kissed her lips before lying her gently on the ground. He then stood up once again with his sword and slaughtered the soldiers with greater ferocity, but that unfortunately wasn't enough. They were heavily outnumbered since many thieves weren't strong at heart to handle a raid against them and that led them to their demise. The shelter was only known by the women and prostitutes.
Jibril saw his oldest son drop to his death, but he continued on to kill with Zulema at his side. Joey wanted them to win. Over a hundred soldiers dropped to their death, and less than ten were still alive. The two thieves were surrounded, and seeing that it was just them, Aknadin finally rode into the village with his sorcerers.
Zulema and Jibril knew that this must've been the work of the pharaoh, but Joey could see it in their eyes that they recognized the man before them with disgust. "Aknadin?" Zulema hoarsely whispered before falling into a rage again with Jibril. "AKNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADIN!" They murdered the remaining soldiers and they were able to throw daggers at the horses throats which threw the sorcerers off, but that was all they could do before the lack of blood finally exhausted their strengths, and the gods took their souls away.
Joey felt his heart seized up. "No!" He ran over to them to help them get back on their feet to kill this son of a bitch, but Joey returned back to the shelter to find Bakura, his sisters, aunt and Jono try to comfort the sobbing Samar while everyone else was crying out of fear. Hours must've went by since, and Joey didn't want to see anymore. He wanted to stop looking. He understood that this was a village of thieves, but they were no different from the streets he grew up in. A lot of these people were put in unfortunate circumstances, especially the kids. They didn't deserve to die for the sins of their parents. They didn't deserve to suffer like this.
Then the next thing he and everyone else knew, the earth shook for a few seconds. They thought it was a normal earthquake or an explosion, but children began screaming when their bodies morphed. Legs of a spider grew out of one of them. Another had her eyes pop out and her teeth turned sharp. Bakura watched as his twin sisters merged into Siamese twins and their body expanded into a beast.
Ghosts suddenly filled the room, which drove these child-turned-monsters insane that they began killing the adults and attacking each other. Samar held Bakura close to her and reached out to Jono, but even he began to produce black scales all over his body. Joey wanted to do something, but he couldn't touch Jono who launched into the bloodbath.
Joey retched at the sight of Jono splitting Bakura's sisters apart. Their blood splatted across the room. Samar tried to pull Bakura out of there, but someone's claw shut out and plunged through her back. She dropped dead in an instant that Bakura stood beside her corpse dumbstruck. In slow seconds, he felt his own rage drive his mind insane enough to unleash the beast, Diabound, from his soul to kill everyone.
The beast proved to be powerful as it sliced through all of them deftly, except for Jono who fought the beast with equal strength. Him and Bakura continued to fight until Jono was able to release a powerful inferno blast that made the monster disappear.
Bakura dropped to the ground, clutching his bloody shirt. Joey quickly got in between him and Jono who stared at Bakura with his red eyes. The spirits continued to swirl around them, chanting for the dragon child to kill Bakura. Jono launched himself.
"STOP!" Joey pleaded, but he was surprised to see Jono hugging Bakura.
Bakura looked up to see Jono's distant, fearful hazel eyes. "What the fuck happened? Bakura...What the fuck did I do?"
The smarter of the two broke into tears and screamed. Jono continued to hold onto Bakura for he was still too shaken to be bothered by the child's loud cries in the echoing grave.
Joey immediately sat up in the real world breathing deeply.
"Jo-joey?" He heard Ryou's startled voice. He looked to the side to see that he was really there, and Joey immediately held him close in desperate need for comfort after what he just witnessed.
He heard other voices in the room before he fainted again.
Joey found himself once again in the shelter where the children were still holding onto each other among the deadly spirits who were not happy with this. They demanded for blood and for Jono to spread chaos across Egypt to avenge their damned souls.
Bakura was fearful of death but still held onto his potential murderer. Then he gasped when he felt something in his soul. "He's coming back." He whispered. "The monster in my soul is coming back, and he wants to kill you Jono..." He whimpered. He pressed his eyes against Jono's shoulder. He breathlessly pleaded, "Kill me...Kill me please! I don't want to kill you, Jono! Please spare me from being alone!"
Jono caressed Bakura's hair and took in a whiff of the fresh scent of sunlight. Then the twelve-year-old plunged his claws into Bakura's chest.
"NO!" Joey tried to pull Jono's arm away, but he just phased through him again.
He was about to curse, but then Jono was chanting something. He looked at the child's face to see a recognizable golden eye on his forehead. Suddenly Jono's parents, Bakura's family, the women and children and the bravest bandits appeared around them in a spiritual form of golden energy.
"What's happening?" Joey was deeply confused.
The older Jono's voice explained, "During the creation of the millennium items, black magic filled the village and looked for vessels to house their power. Those vessels were to be the children. After the millennium items came to being, the murdered souls of Kul Elna were split apart to good and evil. There was more evil than good, so it took time for the good to come together and prevent me from killing my beloved cousin. With their power, I saw reason and learned secrets. Then with my own strength, I trapped Bakura's diabound in its stone, and then sealed the evil souls within the oasis of our village."
Joey watched as Jono extracted Diabound from Bakura's body with his claws, and do as the older Jono told him. Joey followed the evil souls to the oasis and watched them fill into the water before the good souls formed a stone well from pieces of the village, and then sacrificed themselves to become its seal. Joey was returned to the shelter, and he saw the monsters return to human, but their limbs and organs were still scattered.
Jono stood on his dragon-like feet, and helped Bakura to stand on his own. He kissed his younger cousin before the golden eye disappeared from his forehead. The two exit from the shelter to know what truly went on.
Joey watched the two take in the devastation of the massacre. It was bright out and they saw plenty of the dead Egyptian soldiers laying on the ground, but no dead male bandits were nearby. This confused the boys that they went off to search for their fathers and Bakura's older brother but their corpses was nowhere to be found. Strangely, every male adult body was missing. Only the dead women and children were left.
Jono was able to find his charred mother.
He couldn't utter a word as his whole being seemed to have dropped its weight to his feet. His weakened, vulnerable body lied his face on her stomach to nuzzle the death of two. He remained there immobile. Bakura eventually knelled down behind him and placed his head against his warm back. That seemed to have woken up Jono from his airy thoughts. He leaned back where he took in the bloodied sight before him and screamed his anguish. He then grabbed a sword and began stabbing the faces of the dead Egyptian soldiers. He roared from the top of his lungs, "WE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! YOU THINK BY DOING THIS, YOU CAN GET RID OF PEOPLE LIKE ME! YOU HAVE NO HEART, STUPID PHARAOH! I SWEAR ON THIS DAY THAT I WILL SEE IT THAT YOUR JAW IS RIPPED OUT OF YOUR SKULL AND YOUR HEART RIPPED OUT SO THAT YOU MAY NEVER ENTER THE AFTERLIFE!"
"Jono! JONO!" Bakura cried out to him.
Jono stopped. He just then realized he was no longer using the sword to ruin the soldiers. He had returned to his half-dragon form and was using his claws to strike each one. He looked over to Bakura to see the fear in his eyes. Jono quickly turned back to human, and held Bakura who hugged him to keep his only family left by his side.
"What're we going to do?" Bakura sobbed.
The twelve-year-old took in a deep breath. He thought back to what his father taught him, and then answered, "We have to bury the dead properly to make sure they reach the afterlife peacefully. Will you help me, Bakura? You will have to dig their graves, go through their things, and carry their bodies."
Bakura was horrified to do such a thing, but he didn't want his mother to not have safe passage to the afterlife. He bit his bottom lip and forced himself to nod. Jono forced himself to smile bravely for the younger boy like his father would for him. He hugged Bakura again to reassure him that he would keep him safe despite how frightened and confused he was, too.
Joey watched the two work hard at digging the graves for all the children and women. It took almost three days to put them all in their graves, place valuable belongings with each of them, and carry the bodies in the shelter outside. For the Egyptian soldiers, Jono used his new strength to throw them into the shelter where he set their bodies on fire.
Jono apologized profoundly to Bakura for murdering his sisters, but his cousin didn't blame him. He was just as guilty as Jono, and all that they can do is find ways to repent and avenge their fallen village.
"We will make the pharaoh suffer for this." The seven-year-old promised on his knees before the grave of his mother and sisters.
Jono agreed, but said, "But not right now. You have to remember that our parents taught us that you have to put the security of your life first before anything else. We lost everything, Bakura, so we'll have to build it back up."
"We'll build an army."
"We'll create a home." Jono held Bakura's whitened hand. "A place where we can return to after we have our vengeance, and as we do, we'll become stronger. The pharaoh still has years ahead of him and still doesn't have a heir. But once he does, we'll rip away everything he has, the same way he did to us. I promise you, Bakura, we will kill him and the next pharaoh and Egypt will crumble beneath our feet."
Joey's face went slack when the boy claimed to kill Atem. The teen feared that he was going to be used for some sort of plot to destroy Yugi to get to Atem.
Yet Jono's older voice assured him, "I was filled with so much anger back then, and I kept a third of that promise, but I didn't try to do the rest out of love."
Joey tried to find the guy to talk, "You sayin' that you fell in love with Atem?"
"No. Not that kind of love." There seemed to be mirth in his tone. "Although, he thought otherwise."
"What? Who?"
Older Jono just chuckled. "It looks like time is up."
"What?"
Joey found himself at the middle of the desert, and Jono in his crippled form stood before him again. "I was able to establish this connection with you because of your exposure to the millennium items' power. Your travel to Atem's memories sealed the deal for us to meet this way, but alas, there's still so many obstacles to get through before you can set me free."
"Why not just tell me where you are?" Joey didn't get why make it so complicated.
"That's the problem. I don't know where I am. After I was killed and disfigured, my soul became trapped here looking for Bakura while my body was dumped somewhere. I could just fast forward to the time I died, but I need you to understand who Bakura and I are. To understand why and how the Zorc disaster came about. I already been stuck here for over 5,000 years. I can wait for a few more years."
"Years?!"
Jono laughed, "It's quite a long story! And our connection can only strengthen to this level every few days or so, but don't worry. I'll try to keep it short by having my memories come in episodes. I will make sure to cut out the needless ones to save us time. See you another day, Joey."
"...Years huh." Joey thought he was getting a grasp of this. And he simply thought that this might not be so bad. "Yeah. See you, too, Jono. And don't worry. I have a feeling in my gut that you're a good guy. And something must've happened to Bakura because he did what he did after you died right. So whatever it takes, I'll help you find your body! You can trust Jumpin' Joey Wheeler ta get ya outta trouble!"
If Jono had a jaw, he might've smiled.
Joey woke up. He looked up at the ceiling and immediately knew that he wasn't at home or the hospital. He looked a bit around to see that it looked like a room that belonged to a mansion. He saw a lit laptop at a computer desk. He thought it might hold clues, so he got off the bed and saw that he wore new silk pajamas, and that fluffy slippers were waiting for him on the floor. He took advantage of the comfiness as he strode over to the desk.
He saw the KC save screen, and that reminded Joey of what happened after he jumped into the ocean. He cursed himself for acting like a total idiot and jerk, even if he had some right in doing so. He was going to return to bed, but his sleeve accidentally touched the sensor sensitive touch pad. Joey took a peek at the screen to see some sort of blueprint for some sort of space craft. There was also some sort of new duel disk being thought out.
Joey thought it was cool, but he didn't think much of it, so he just looked for his clothes. He found them in a bag at the nightstand. He went to the bathroom to strip off his clothes and throw it into the clothe bin. Once naked, he checked out his body in the mirror to check for any problems, and he was surprised when he turned around and a pair of tattooed wings were on his back.
"Either I got really drunk in vegas, or it really wasn't a dream. Jono, huh. So he's my what's it again? He was me in de past right? But he was like de prince of thieves since he was supposed to be de king of thieves...And he's stuck somewhere. I think I remembah seein' him in de waters when I dropped in cuz I was bein' an idiot. I hope I didn't give anyone a heart attack. I should go apologize..."
Joey stared at his face, and felt his jaw. "Egyptians can't go into de afterlife unless they can say their name. It sucks because what if you're born a mute? What if you're in some freak accident that turns ya into a mute or speakin' gibberish..." the duelist stopped his wandering to move on.
"If you're changing, I advice that you closed the door." Seto Kaiba made himself known. "Finally awake I see."
Joey looked over at Kaiba, and he was still deeply thinking about the whole Egyptian thing. Jono knew Atem, or it seemed like he did, so Seth should've known him, too. But then shouldn't they have known Bakura, too. Now, he really wanted to see the whole story to understand what the hell happened to him in another life.
"What?" Seto questioned at the staring. "Did your brain remain frozen from the cold? That might actually be a cure for your hotheaded antics."
Joey should've gotten angry at that, but he was still reeling from the feelings of what he saw. He witnessed children slaughtering each other and everyone else suffering from the massacre. He just witnessed something entirely mind blowing by the fact that he was the red eyes black dragon in the past, and that's because Jono's mother was a dragon summoner, and the whole evil magic thing must've fused Jono and his dragon as one. And all of this happened because of Kaiba's father in the past life.
Seto was bothered by the lack of response. "What the hell's wrong with you Wheeler. You're acting like you've lost a duel that finally showed you your place."
"I'm going back to sleep." Joey once again ignored the insult. He wanted to sleep since reality was currently hard to get a hold on, but then his stomach rumbled. Seto expected him to say "Not before breakfast", but Joey just breathed deeply before saying, "Or better yet I should go." He put his clothes on. "Thanks for everything, Kaiba. And tell Mokuba sorry for being an inconvenience." He made his way out of the bathroom quickly. For some reason, he felt the compulsive need to run away.
"Hold on, Wheeler." Kaiba demanded, but the blonde was already out the door. "Wheeler!"
Joey walked through the hallways quickly on his bare feet. He just needed to get out of the place. He didn't understand it, but he felt like someone was out to get him, and he needed to run away. But then before he knew it, he found out that he went to the wrong stairs that led to an arcade. He just walked away, and tried again and again until he could get out of this huge place.
He eventually lied against a wall, panting. The events of the Kul Elna massacre flashed before his eyes in a blur, but the emotions it spurred were raw in his chest.
It made him think back to the problems he faced in his own life. The constant fights between his parents that led to a divorce where Joey was thrown in his father's abusive custody because nobody wanted him. He remembered how he had to grow up in dangerous streets alone, so he had to depend on the support of a gang to get by. He thought life was better when he became friends with Yugi, but the memories of nearly drowning, being possessed, being struck by lightning, being left to burn alive, being turned to stone, being tasered, nearly shot, and everything else was striking at him like knives. They weren't a problem before because he had his friends nearby to help soothe the trauma. They helped him accept the situation and feel wanted and safe.
Yet, he couldn't feel safe now. He thought about the millennium puzzle that Yugi cherished so much, but now realizing that the flesh, blood, and bones of Zulema and Jibril and Bakura's older brother was an ingredient for the weapon, his memories turned sour. He felt himself retch when he imagined the piles of dead bodies being cut apart and stuffed into a melting pot of gold.
He lost track of reality again, so when he felt someone about to touch him, he instinctively pushed the person back against the wall with his forearm, and almost squeezed his throat before realizing that the person was Kaiba by Roland's cry, "KAIBA-SAMA!"
Joey looked up to see Kaiba's horrified expression. "Oh shit." He let him go. "Sorry. I...What de fuck's wrong with meh." He was breaking down to tears because he just couldn't control himself.
"That's what I'd like to ask." Kaiba remained calm, and told Roland that he was. He then approached Joey without fear. "You're acting like some soldier on PTSD. Then again, you've always acted recklessly that you must finally be feeling the aftereffects now that your little adventures with Atem are over."
"PTSD?" That sounded about right for Joey who heavily panted. After seeing all that, how could he not be freaking out like this. However, he couldn't explain any of this to Kaiba. He realized he couldn't tell this to anyone. Ryou didn't want anything to do with Bakura, and he didn't want any of his other friends to feel guilty or badly about the millennium items or Atem or anyone.
Kaiba cut through his thoughts, "Roland will bring you back to the room where you will have your meal. Don't bother arguing with me, mutt."
Joey felt that he should've growled at him for that insult, but he just wanted to go back to feeling safe.
Roland bowed for his boss. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba. Mr. Wheeler, excuse me, but I will hold onto your arm since it appears that you can't concentrate." The man gently grabbed his arm and rose an eyebrow. He touched the blonde's forehead. "It appears that you have a fever, Mr. Wheeler. I'll have medicine and a cold pad provided for you immediately with your meal." He helped the confused young man back to his room and had him changed into a new pair of pajamas. Joey then remembered, "Wait, what day is it? I have school and work."
"You have been asleep for two days, but don't worry, both had been contacted about your situation, so you have been given days off."
Joey guessed that was alright. Roland reclined the bed, and maids came in with an over bed table and his meal. Joey didn't feel like eating at all, but having experienced hunger too many times during his childhood, he knew better than to reject food. He just gulped the soup down and his drink with his medicine in one go. He thanked Roland and the maids who stared dumbfounded.
The shook out of it and simply bowed before leaving with the table and dishes. Joey took in a deep breath and then lights went out for him in an instant. When he woke up again, it was night time, and the flashbacks of the massacre was still fresh in his mind. He hugged one of the many pillows to help him feel secure as he tried to run away back to the tranquil sea of darkness in his head.
But he heard soft clicking of a keyboard. He looked over to the table to see the shape of Kaiba's silhouette by the bright glow of the laptop. Curious as to why he was here, he got up and approached him. He stopped when he saw what was a diagram of the millennium puzzle and pictures of the destroyed shrine.
"Are you finally sane enough to speak, or do I have to turn you into an asylum?" Kaiba inquired without looking back to check if Joey was behind him.
Joey halfheartedly snapped, "Shut it, rich boy. I'm just working through some things." He really wanted to hug that pillow again.
"Then work through them faster. Time is money, and your little stunt worried everyone including Mokuba."
Joey almost forgot about them. Guilt settled in his heart, "Sorry 'bout that. I'll get out of your hair now."
"You won't. Right now Mokuba wants to see you awake and well, so you will remain here until breakfast. Your school uniform had been delivered here from your home by the tall one in your dork squad. After breakfast, you will be escorted by Roland to Domino High, so they don't have to make their little visits here."
"Great. Since your smartass finally took his diploma, I won't hafta see your face." Joey spoke that with little heat. He despised Kaiba for the asshole he is, but he didn't deny that they had a small bond formed through Yugi and Atem. And despite all the complicated stuff going on in the screen, he understood what the bastard was doing since he understood Kaiba in his own way. "Y'know bringing back Atem is crazy, but knowing you, you'd be able to pull somethin' as crazy as that. Hell, you could defy anything n' go into the after life just ta meet him."
"What makes you say that I will go that far for some outdated pharaoh?"
"Cuz of yer bond." Joey said like it was obvious. "Yugi n' de rest of us formed a bond with Atem, n' yur no different, but you were so obsessed with not believin' dis whole magic thing n' building your company that you never got to spend as much time with him like de rest of us. And even if Yugi is de true king of games, he's not Atem. He's not yur rival who you never got de chance ta beat, but I get de feelin' that yur not reachin' out ta him jus' ta even de score. You miss him like de rest of us, but you can't cope since it was too late for you to truly know who your first friend was."
Kaiba didn't respond nor did his fingers typed away.
Joey thought nothing of it as he turned back to the bed. "Yugi believes Atem is gone fer good til we die, n'..." For a short second, the ill feelings towards the millennium items that affected his love for Atem poured acid on his chest, but he told himself that Atem was innocent in all this, and that Aknadin's selfish actions shouldn't affect that. "...I guess I do, too, but prove me wrong. Anyway, see ya at breakfast." He got comfortable, and tried to fall asleep, but his brain ached to get much need action from reality.
But being in reality just reminded him of the massacre. He tried to make peace with what he saw. He promised to find Jono as soon as possible to solve this. He promised to do whatever it took to appease their deaths if Jono hadn't been able to. He made whatever promise to cope with the bloodshed. He found himself crying when he thought about how Zulema and Jibril died. His father's funeral was fresh in his mind, and he thought of the romanticized sweet memories of the two spending time together. But those memories disappeared before he was 10. He subconsciously made a comparison between his and Jono's father, and just felt unfortunate. Hating himself, he got off the bed.
"Stink. Gonna shower."
"There's another set of pajamas for you in the closet." Kaiba spoke as he continued to work.
Joey took the clothes with him, and used the toilet first before moving into the showers. Warm water immediately sprayed on him the moment he entered. He saw that instead of the traditional knob, there was buttons that were colored from red to light red and then from light blue to dark blue. He enjoyed the warm water a bit before the ill feelings in his chest flood the front of his chest, and his back shivered in disgusts and fear. He made the water hotter, but that only made him think back to the flames of the arrows and the lightning that struck Cosina and him. He quickly pressed the button that made the water be at its coldest. That helped him remember the first time Jono approached him in the sea, and that soothed him somehow. He stood under that cold shower without awareness of time.
It took Kaiba charging in, "What the hell, Wheeler! You were nearly killed by hypothermia! I'm starting to think that you're trying to kill yourself on purpose! Was the death of your pathetic excuse for a father that heartbreaking for you! Well here's some advice: Get over it!" The taller man turned off the shower and he pulled Joey out to wipe him down.
That woke up Joey from his stupor. "Hey! I can do that by myself!" He took the towel away and wiped himself accordingly.
Seto sighed out his building frustration. "Does this actually have something to do with Atem? Guess it would be hard to have to mourn for two deaths at once, and then discover that the rest of your family was nothing more than imbeciles who'll throw you under a bus to get what they want."
Joey paused wiping his hair. For some reason he felt that Seto was reaching out to him, and he actually hadn't thought about the bullshit family he had. He understood that he needed someone to talk to, but there was no one that won't pick up warning signs except for the person currently with him, and he subconsciously dropped his walls in that instant, "You know how the millennium items were created by killing the thieves at Kul Elna, right?"
That was completely off topic for the CEO. "Yeah, so?"
Joey wasn't facing him, and that made it easier for him to say, "Well, when you really think about it, that Aknadin bastard only needed 99 of them, but there's no way that there would just be 99 thieves available in one village, and for no one at all to know about its destruction. What if...there was this big event that had all the villagers of the place go there, and stay for a week after because Egypt was at war and they didn't want to get in the middle of it. And Bakura was just a kid there. Then there had to be a ton of kids at the village...with their moms. So they were killed, too, so no one knew about what happened..."
Kaiba was speechless at the questions thrown at him. What Joey said made sense, but there was no point in thinking about the tragedies of the past when it had nothing to do with them. Gozaburo created military weapon that murdered millions and left thousands suffering, but that wasn't Kaiba's concern. "What are you getting at, Wheeler?"
"...Nothing. With all these deaths going around and seeing spirits and stuff, I guess this stupid brain of mind thought too hard and went out of course. That's all." He continued drying his hair.
Kaiba knew Joey was lying, but he didn't see how this was any of his concern. Yet, he figured that he could at least put this situation at ease by giving the damn idiot some direction with his nonsense, "If you're going to be like that Wheeler, then let me tell you that your theory is pointless since those who died must've passed over to the after life while those who did possess evil souls were sent to the shadow realm by Atem's father's sacrifice. It's tragic that they died the way they did, but it's all in the past. Or what? Are you sympathizing with that psychopath who tried to destroy the world?"
Joey took in a deep breath. It was surprisingly good to hear Kaiba make sense of the situation. For his question, Joey answered, "If I was in his position, I'd probably do de same. Being left alone with little ain't easy." His body felt more balanced. He visualized thief king Bakura before his eyes, and all of his ill feelings vanished. He understood that that was a betrayal, but if things could've gone differently, he would've reached out to the king, and let him know that he wasn't alone. He visualized Jono embracing Bakura despite what he's done. The golden children who died surrounded them, and they turned into starlight after Zorc's and Aknadin's death.
Aknadin may have gotten his wish, but he would suffer for it, and Joey hoped his soul never comes out of the shadow realms.
Kaiba's voice cut through his malicious thoughts, "Are you telling me that you had psychotic thoughts of massacring Domino's citizens?"
"Nope. I went through a divorce, not a massacre. Big difference!" Joey looked over at the mirror to see that his dragon wings tattoo were gone. No wonder Seto hadn't asked about them.
Kaiba smirked at the old Joey coming back. Joey used the hairdryer, and then looked over to Kaiba with familiar bright, honeyed eyes, but Kaiba took notice that the brightness in them seemed to have been dyed by a different light. There was something wrong, but Kaiba ignored it. "Thanks fer de talk, Kaiba, n' sorry fer de trouble. I really am an idiot." He visualized priest Seto as the pharaoh. His light feelings became heavier that his lips dropped. He forced the man to vanish from his thoughts, and tried to get back to his own emotional stable state.
Kaiba noticed that jump of emotions from the many times he dueled someone. It was an irritating sight to take in that he frowned, but he didn't have time for this. "Glad to see that you finally accepted who you are."
"Fuck you." Joey flipped him the bird.
Kaiba just made his way out with a offhanded comment, "If you can't sleep, then I suppose that the safest thing you can do is take advantage of the latest games we have in the room we put you in."
That lit up Joey's mood easily that Kaiba wished he said something about that sooner. Joey quickly turned on the lights of the room. Kaiba scolded him for forgetting to put on some clothes on first. Joey just put on his pants and put in the game he's been wanting to play.
Hours went by with Joey playing through the games and Kaiba doing his work. After finishing a ton of levels, Joey finally asked, "Hey, why are you working in this room while I'm sleeping, anyway?"
"Because your little stunt frightened Mokuba, that he would remain in this room with you while you were asleep. I thought it was ridiculous, but I failed to remember that Mokuba witnessed you almost dying three times during Battle City. You were practically dead when you stupidly gave up your soul during the Dartz fiasco. When you lost subconsciousness in the car, Mokuba checked your pulse and panicked when he could barely feel it. We quickly drove here to the mansion where a doctor and the latest medical technology are always present in case Mokuba or I have an accident. Your symptoms weren't severe, but if you had walked the rest of the way home in your condition, you might've died."
Joey thought he was guilty before, but now he felt like a complete and utter asshole. "Oh fuck. Sorry. I honestly don't remember why I jumped in. I know I went into the beach because that's where my family used to have fun at. But I don't remember why I jumped in." He thought about how Jono came to him. He thought that that might've been why. His past self could only connect to him through the water...Which was weird since the guy was living in a desert...Joey felt like there was a connection somewhere in that thought.