The night was still. Every star shone extraordinarily bright, the altitude of the blimp adding all the more to the mood as the huge full moon shone down. The lunar glow illuminated everything in its path…the outer shell of the blimp, the dull silver of the dueling stations…the pure white trench coat that hung on the shoulders of the man at the uppermost railing. A soft breeze ruffled auburn hair, a pale long-fingered hand going to brush the strands back into place as cerulean eyes surveyed the night sky.

This whole business with Noa had been…disturbing at the very least. Every cell at the center of his being had been so consumed by hatred towards his…stepbrother, was it?...that he had overlooked what Mokuba had not- the pure humanity that still resided inside the green-haired boy. Every time he saw Noa, it had been as if he was looking back into himself, that part of himself that he had yet to completely bury beneath his layers of ice. The up-turned nose, the casual cruelty, the manipulation…Mokuba would of course deny it, but Seto had been that boy…however much he tried to deny it.

Seto Kaiba growled into the sky as he leaned against the railing, the island so very close now…and the memories surrounding it and the present situation so very annoying, perturbing, and frustrating. How was he going to put his past aside, even if he DID beat Yugi (which he would), what with everything that had happened? Mokuba certainly wasn't going to let him forget their most recent trip into virtual reality, their closest scrape with death thus far…. The CEO let a small sigh slip through his façade, not bothering to push his hair back into place as the wind pushed it into disarray once more. This whole situation was not to his liking…he should be at the top of his game for this- not correcting his every action and word he had said these past few days. …Then again, he did that every day- why stop now?

A groan escaped him, two fingers going to one temple and rubbing it slightly, trying to soothe the growing headache. At least the sky was clear of the infuriating "shadow magic" mist bullcrap that seemed to surround every duel thus far…between the resurgence of his past and the assertions of the kooky Egyptians that he was some "priest in another life", his life had been hell. Couldn't they just leave him alone…? Seto bent over the railing just a bit more, looking down at the shimmering waves of the ocean as he fought down a wave of impatience and annoyance, trying to lose himself in the deep blue hue and small sparkles of light as the moonlight kissed the small continuous rises…. At least, throughout this entire ordeal, this small detail would stay constant, an anchor of normalcy he could cling to when everything seemed to spiral out of control. For now, there was only him, the railing, and the calming sound of the ocean moving below….