"Well, well. Look who decided to grace us with his presence. King Bakura."

"Now, now King Atem. That's no way to greet a guest."

"That's hardly the category I'd place you under."

"Ouch. My pride."

"You've got plenty to spare, I'm sure."

"Oh, but I still feel the pain."

"I find that very hard to believe. Why are you here? The sooner you state your business, the sooner you can leave."

"Well, I was told something quite outstanding. I do hope it's not true, but I had to come see for myself."

"Which was?"

"That you kidnapped one of my citizens. But seeing how that boy resembles you almost perfectly, I'm inclined to think it true."

"It's not!" Yuugi yelled. "I came here all on my own!"

"Yuugi, please clam yourself," Atem asked. 'If his magic gets out of hand…'

"Yes, don't worry," Bakura added. "We'll remove whatever spell he has on you in no time."

"I have done nothing to him."

"Oh, I'm so sure."

"He hasn't! That place was hell! I want nothing more to do with it!"

"Yuugi, your temper." Atem walked over to the teen and caressed his cheek softly. "Please Aibou, I need you to stay clam. He's not taking you anywhere, I promise."

"How dare you turn your back on me!" the Light King roared. His body began to glow with magic. It whipped out to attack the other king, but it hit only air.

"Thank you, Seth," Atem said.

"Tch," the blue-eyed man replied. "You can't even take care of yourself."

The king stood and turned. "Yuugi's told me all about your 'faciltiy,'" he told the other royal. "I'd sooner kill you than send him back to it."

"Except you'd take joy in that action as well. If you could do it."

"Icing."

"I will investigate this. However, if I find nothing-"

"He's still staying here."

"If you abducted him, he will be returned."

"I didn't, so he won't."

Bakura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I know there's a being of Light in this room. I can sense him. And even if what you say is true, I know he's a magic user as well. Once he figures out why his magic doesn't work here, he won't want to be here anymore."

"There are ways around that."

"As you say." As soon as he was gone, Atem charged toward Yuugi, who held him as close as the king was holding him.

"Atem," the teen whispered. "Why doesn't my magic work here?"

The royal sighed. "Very well. Come with me."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Atem closed the door to his study and pulled the teen into his lap. "Bakura is a powerful magic user," he began. "And you've surely noticed how well we get along. He wouldn't attack citizens, but I began to fear for those in the palace, so I cast a barrier around it."

"That limits the use of Light magic."

"Yes. Any Light user within the palace walls can only use about 25 of their original power. And if I remove it, I will die."

"We don't want that."

"Good to hear."

"But you said there are ways around it."

"I… may have exaggerated a bit. There is one way. Only one. For you to become a Dark magic user, and therein an adopted child of Darkness. But that's only if you wish to continue using magic."

"I… can do that? Has anyone ever done that before?"

"Yes, you can, but to my knowledge, no one ever has before. And only if you wish to. I will not force you… even if you wish to return…"

"No! I would never want to go back there!" He paused. "But… how would I do that?"

"By speaking to the god of this kingdom. Only he can decide whether or not to accept you as one of his own. And… I cannot take you."

"Why?"

"Only the high priest is permitted to do so."

"But… don't you…?"

"Rank higher? Technically, I suppose. I rule this kingdom, yes, but the high priest is considered the ruler of the world beyond. At least here."

"Oh. So, who is…?"

"You knew him once as Seto Kaiba."

"Right! You called him Seth, I think."

"Correct."

"Is he still, um…"

"An ass? Not as much. It takes much to gain his trust and he's a bit stand-offish, but he's a good-humored man, mostly."

"Can I… uh… re-meet him?"

"Certainly. But would you like to rest first? It's been quite a long day."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep anyway."

"All right. We'll go see Seth."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Aibou, stand here please."

"What for?"

"Seth has a bad habit of attacking whomever has the 'audacity' to enter his study. I don't want you caught in the crossfire."

Yuugi gulped. Sure enough, as soon as he heard the door open, the sound of a magic attack followed it. But the chuckle after assured him his other half was perfectly fine.

"I do apologize," the king was saying. "Did we come at a bad time?"

"I just had to waste my precious time filling out some damn report for Mahado's records just because you had to have a pissing contest with Bakura! Yes, you picked a bad time!" was the angry reply.

"Good-humored, huh?"

"I did say 'mostly,' too," Atem reminded his shorter half. "Seth's just a bit moody after filling out paperwork. But me asking for his help has a way of changing that."

"What the hell do you want now?"

"He still sounds angry to me," Yuugi stated.

"It's ok, Aibou. He always does."

"Wait," the priest suddenly said. "You want me to take him to the god, don't you?"

"Sharp as always," the king praised him. "But only if he himself wishes for it."

"Leave us a moment."

Yuugi felt Atem's hand on his shoulder. "I'll be right outside, Aibou." The teen nodded, practically hearing Seth roll his eyes.

"Geez, I'm not going to torture him. That's what the pup is for."

"The… pup?" the diminutive teen asked.

"Jou," Atem explained. "He and Seth… I suppose you could call them a couple…"

"OUT!!!"

The teen heard another chuckle, then the door closing. Seth then asked, "It's still Yuugi, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I never liked the one at the orphanage."

"I see. So you just adopted your former one."

"Pretty much. How long have you and Jou been dating?"

"We're not dating."

"Still the master of denial."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Anyway Yuugi, I can't take you to see the god yet, if that's what you want."

"Why?"

"Bakura has a deep darkness within him."

"That's a given. What about it?"

"You fear it."

"Oh. Is that bad?"

"You can't be a child of Darkness while fearing it. Overcome your fear of Bakura, and we'll talk."

"O… ok."

"Yuugi," Seth said, as if complaining. "Stop looking like I hit you. I'll never hear the end of it."

The teen giggled.

Just then, there was the sound of the door slamming wide open. The voice that followed it was familiar, but extremely pissed off.

"What the fuck, Set?!?!?!"

"Good afternoon, Jou. I see you received my gift."

"GIFT?!?!" the blonde continued to yell. "This ain't a- oh, hey Yug."

"Hiya, Jou. Should I ask?"

"A collar!!! For the third time this month!!!"

"And yet, it never gets any less funny," the blue-eyed man smirked.

"I curse the day your memories as Kaiba returned!!!"

"Says the one who assisted me in retrieving them."

Jou growled. "Take this back, ya prick!" he yelled. A sound like a smack sounded, but Yuugi was pretty sure it was the collar hitting Seth.

"You two fight like an old married couple," he heard his other half say. "All your encounters end like this; with Jou storming off. How do you two stay in the same room long enough to-?"

"This is just how the public encounters end," the high priest replied mischievously. "A shame, really. He would've looked good in this one."

Yuugi felt ill. "My head did not need that mental image."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Aibou," the king purred. "Are we breaking your innocent little head?"

"Very funny, Atem."

"I thought so."

"Could you two flirt somewhere else?"

"Flirt?!?"

"It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Sorry. Kind of a reflex. The very insinuation could get you in serious trouble in the Land of Light. Being underage, anyway."

"Underage?" Atem sounded confused. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"And their age of consent?"

"Twenty one."

The king laughed. "You have no such worry here, Aibou." He leaned in to whisper to his other half. "Age of consent is sixteen."

Yuugi suddenly felt very warm. And judging from the snickering, it showed.

"Well, are you two done?" the royal asked.

"If Yuugi doesn't have any more questions," Seth replied.

"Not for you," the teen told him. "But Atem, just out of curiosity, how old are you?"

"Twenty one. I became king two years ago. That made it much easier to search for you."

"It did?"

The priest's voice cut in. "Daddy didn't approve. Now will you two give me some peace and quiet?!?"

"Certainly, Your Huffiness," the king joked, taking his shorter half's hand. "We'll just be on our way now, won't we, Aibou?"

"Yes we will, Atem," Yuugi replied, playing along.

A small smile formed on Seth's face as he watched the duo go. "That runt's just fulfilling prophecies let and right, isn't he?" he said softly, then turned back to his work.