Starlight Luster: Oh dude, you don't have to worry about me taking dude personally(although I worry about that from time to time too:p) I'm from Cali so it's totally chill. Anyhow, if you loved THAT episode, you're going to love this one just as much! I hope this chapter doesn't fail though… I think it's got it's quirks to it though. Thanks for the review! Sequel here we go!
MythCreatorWriter: My darling! I'm so delighted to hear what joy you have for this story already! I have your PM reply saved in my e-mail, forgive me for taking so long to send it to you. I have written up most of it, so it shouldn't be long now. But in the mean time, yeah, I'm going to admit, the beginning of the last chapter was pretty awkward. There were other parts in that chapter that were awkward. You can never be too sure, people can get confused easily. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter! For you shall see, it's going to become VERY interesting quite soon. Thanks for the review!
Journey maker: Thanks for the review!
AmePiper: I wasn't expecting the sequel to be up so soon either, but then I sort of half was… considering I'm a rather fast updater since I can't really contain myself when it comes down to it. That sucks about how long you had to wait to read it! I hope that doesn't happen this time around… (even though it is prolly 1 or 2 in the morning over there) But still! I'm very happy to hear you think I pulled off the multi-POV well, cause I certainly didn't. First person is one of those things(for me) that I really have to get into the flow of things, so then writing two POVs for two different characters is proving to be quite hard, but hopefully I'll pull through. It's lovely to hear that you hold it so highly though! I'll prolly reply to your message of awesomeness soon. I had typed most of your message up as well, but then my friends came over and distracted me. I'm sorry! Anyways, thanks for the review!
Rena Redhead: Rena, Rena, Rena… what AM I going to do with you? I mean, it's just so obvious that I'm in love with you, but what can I do? People cannot force others to fall in love with them… but anyways. I hate the character limit too. Actually, everything about is annoying me, but whatever, I can learn to ignore it sometime. I'm really surprised that you didn't feel rushed, cause I sure did. And I'm triple surprised to hear how you think I contrasted them. I swear Rena deary, you find more purposes for my being than I do most days… Thanks for the review!:D Hahaha, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 2: Lost In A Wave Of Self Doubt
-M-
It was like I had felt before; things go wrong when people fall. I turned my head and looked up at my brother, his hand clasped around my arm was the only thing keeping me from falling into the violent waves before. The orphanage itself had completely disappeared at this point, and now Seto was holding onto me off the side of a cliff. I gulped and stared into his eyes; I didn't know another time where I was so desperate. A moment came to mind, but I couldn't think straight.
"Don't look down!" Seto said, trying his best to pull me up as slowly and securely as possible.
"Too late for that!" I said, trying my best to not look at my fate that lie miles below me, "Don't let go!" Seto was struggling to pull me up when the worst began to happen. I started inching downward, my hold on him was slipping. I held my breath and stared into his eyes once more.
"Hold on Mokuba!" Seto said, trying to move his other hand down to keep mine from slipping, but it was too late. My eyes widened as his hold on me slipped and there was a tearing sound that came from the sleeve on my arm. "NO!"
"Nii-sama!" My sleeve was left in Seto's hand as I began to fall downwards. The air was flying past me at amazing speed, and my body twisted so that now my back was to the water and I was looking up. I couldn't make out Seto's face as I fell, but the oddest thing was that… I wasn't scared. I didn't scream, I almost felt calm. All of the sudden, I was consumed by water as I had plummeted into the ocean.
Bubbles floated to the surface all around me, making it hard to see for a while. Then it settled as I began to peacefully sink to the bottom. My head was still turned and I was looking up at the surface of the water as I floated down. Still, I remained absolutely calm. I tried to move my arms and swim to the surface, but my body felt too heavy. I wasn't able to move at all. As a result, my body began to sink in a very peaceful manner.
Everything started to become darker and darker as I sank deeper. With my low tank of oxygen becoming more evident, a sleepy feeling started to come over me and my vision became fuzzy. This was it. I was going to die. But at the same time… I thought of all the times I truly thought I was going to die. Somehow, I never did. That was when I saw something jump into the ocean and swim towards me from above. I would've smiled, but it was obviously that my brain was malfunctioning.
A hand reached out towards me and grabbed my arm once again. I still remained motionless and calm as it pulled me up and put me in a more secure position. An arm came out of nowhere and wrapped itself across my chest. I looked up to see Seto fighting the waves and the current with only one arm to swim up with. I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell him thank you. But now my head was hurting.
Seto swam faster and faster. I really needed air sometime soon, my brain was getting wacky and so was my consciousness too. There was a loud splashing sound and it took me a couple moments to realize that we had reached the surface where there was oxygen. I could finally breathe. Seto looked down at me, his face was mixed and torn with worry.
"Mokuba, are you alright?" Seto asked, trying to talk loud enough over the waves. I opened my mouth to reply, but a wave came up and came crashing down on us. We were forced back into the ocean once more, twisting and turning in all directions. I felt a strong hold take me once more and pull me back up to the air that I so desperately needed. Water was beginning to clog my throat. Seto tried speaking again.
"I'll get you to safety Mokuba, stay with me," Seto said, more like a command then a comforting phrase. I tried to nod to let him know I understood, but my body felt all too heavy. It was like my head had been disconnected from everything. I started to lose track of where we were or what was going on and slip into a state of deliria. My eye lids began to feel heavy.
Seto pushed and pulled to get us to the shore up ahead. I felt this really was it. We were really going to die. I looked up at Seto, feeling an immense urge to tell him something I had been holding back. My greatest sin and deepest regret, I felt it was my duty as his brother to inform him before we died together at sea.
"Nii-sama…" I said in a quiet voice, not even sure if he could hear me, "I have to tell you something…" To my surprise, Seto had actually heard me. He continued to look ahead and focus on swimming to safety, but he still replied.
"What is it Mokuba?" I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. Seto shook me a bit and tried to keep me awake, "Come on Mokuba, stay with me. What's wrong? Talk to me, don't bail on me now."
"I have to tell you… that… at Duelist Kingdom… Pegasus-" A wave came and broke right onto us. We were tossed once more into the depths of the water, our bodies thrown around as if we were nothing. Not only was my mind drifting in all directions, but now I was dizzy too. But even through-out the horrific tossing and turning of the ocean, Seto's arm still remained around me to keep me safe.
At some point we had re-surfaced once more. I heard Seto's voice echo in the distance, which was odd because I was pretty sure I was right beside him. Or was I? I wasn't sure anymore if I was drifting off to sea or not.
"Mokuba… Wake up… Don't go…" I opened my eyes once more and was surprised and thankful to see a shore up ahead.
"Nii-sama, I have to…"
"Sh… it'll be alright, save your energy…" Seto's voice seemed so calming, I could do nothing but obey his words. I turned my head slightly to look into his face as we were finally pushed onto shore and he began to drag me into a nearby cave. He was panting continuously, but he refused to give up until we had reached shelter.
"Nii-sama…" I said, I wanted to thank him. But… my eyes began to slowly close just as he had laid me down and collapsed close by. I glanced over at him, his eyes had already fallen shut. I did the same and finally felt my body go to rest just as Seto's had. I would drift into a series of wonder and despair…
-S-
"Uh…" I felt myself moan. My head felt like it was spinning and my body wasn't far from feeling the same way. I rolled over onto my side and opened my eyes slightly. My body felt so heavy and weak… but I was alive. I looked all around without moving as I started to recall everything that had happened. The story seemed to reveal itself backwards.
I was in a cave, and before that, I was swimming through an ocean, and before that, Mokuba had fallen off a cliff. And even before that… we had been trapped in a virtual world by some green haired punk who was out to get me. Yes… I was beginning to realize the seriousness of the situation all at once. Then my mind went back to the cliff and then I became worried. Where was Mokuba?
I sat up immediately and shook my head, trying to wake myself up. It would take a while to get my body to fully function again, but for the most part I was awake. I looked around the dry cave, searching for Mokuba. I felt relieved when I spotted Mokuba on the other side of the cave. But then I saw something more, there was another figure kneeling beside him.
I heard a small whimper come from Mokuba, as he started to come back to reality. But I wasn't focused on that, for I was concluding that there was some sort of man in armor, whose hand was on Mokuba's head. Mokuba groaned with pain and shifted his body as he began to wake up. The minute I spotted a sword hung on the man's side, things became clear and I realized I had to act.
"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" I yelled with uncontrollable anger and fear as I sprinted forward. The man looked up and jumped back, flipping out the sword that had been concealed in it's case.
"Woah, chill out psycho man!" The person yelled back. This was around the same time that my opponent was no man, but a woman with short hair. No matter what gender the person was, I did not plan to stand around while someone attempted to hurt Mokuba. I stood beside him in a protective position, ready to fight the woman's sword, even though I was clearly unarmed. Mokuba sat up.
"Nii-sama… what's going on?" Mokuba asked in a dazed voice as he rubbed his head. My fists were in the air and my fighting stance remained the same.
"It's nothing to worry about, there's just another virtual adversaries sent by Noah to kill us. I bet it's one of the Big 5... They seem to have taken the form of some sort of duel monster…" Mokuba got to his feet and stared at the woman in amazement. "Mokuba, stay back!" I commanded.
"Joan?" The woman lowered her sword and smiled.
"Hey little buddy, did you miss me?" I will admit I was… confused, to say the least, but my guard was still kept up and my fists held high.
"What's going on here?"
"Nii-sama, this is Joan, she's my…" I looked over at Mokuba, whom looked confused himself, "Friend." He finally said. I stared at this apparent Joan and put down my fists. My eyes were still glaring here down. "What are you doing here anyway, Joan?" Joan shrugged.
"I'm not really sure myself, cause this definitely doesn't look like the Shadow Realm. Too creative-looking. But what about you? What are you doing here? I was pretty sure I'd never see you again."
"There's a bit of a situation… you see, there's this guy that kind of trapped us in this virtual world and-"
"You got kidnapped AGAIN? Jeez, kid! Didn't you say you had some sort of older brother that's supposed to be taking care of you? Don't tell me he walked out on you again!" I felt a sudden feeling of shame and anger, but anger was more relevant as I stepped forward and crossed my arms. I coughed extremely loudly and grabbed hold of Joan's attention. Joan turned and looked at me without much concern.
"Whose the stuck up ass?" Mokuba gave an embarrassed smile.
"That's kind of my brother." Joan looked satisfied.
"Oh really? Well, maybe I can show the man what's what with my-" Joan was about to come at me with her sword but she stopped.
"Joan, no!" Joan looked over at Mokuba.
"What?" I was not fearful of this Joan anymore. But I did know that it would be best to get out of here while we still could. Joan might be seen as Mokuba's friend, but I was beginning to learn faster than everyone else that this virtual world worked best while working a person's human emotions. It was a good thing that I didn't have many to play on.
"Mokuba, we're getting out of here. Now." I walked over to grab his arm and lead him out, but he refused.
"Wait, Nii-sama, what about Joan?"
"I said we're leaving right now, without 'Joan'," My eyes narrowed, "If that is your real name." Joan glared at me back. I wasn't scared though. I inched over to Mokuba once more and this time really did grasp his arm with my hand. "Come on Mokuba, we should get out of here." Joan stepped forward.
"I'm coming with you."
"Are you really?" I asked, almost amused by her silly remark. Joan looked down at Mokuba like it was her duty to follow him. As if he had needed protection of some sort.
"Yes, and there's not a thing you can do about it." My grin went away. I was beginning to become rather annoyed with this person's attitude. Who was she to judge whether or not Mokuba needed to be protected? After all, he had me. No questions asked; I was the best one for the job. I opened my mouth to refuse her another time and threaten her, but Mokuba had stopped me.
"Nii-sama, let her come along. She won't do us any harm." Mokuba pulled away from me and began walking along side Joan as they exited the cave. I felt almost… forgotten, dismissed. Abandoned in some ways. How could this random woman have gained the respect and concern of Mokuba so fast? I tightened my fist by my side as I thought how I had lost most of those things. The most important being trust.
Something had happened on Pegasus's island, something that Mokuba wouldn't tell me about. Every day, it stung inside. And in moments like these… it was just another reminder of my failure. How could I possibly even command such obedience from Mokuba, after the incident I had let occur?
I decided in that moment that I would put aside my self loathing for the moment and look ahead. For there were bigger matters at hand; we were still stuck in a virtual world, there was still someone out there looking for revenge, and particularly looking to hurt me to get it. Now, on top of everything else, we had a duel monster and apparent ally, coming along with us. Even with all these issues at hand, my mind still felt that this 'Joan' was the most important issue at hand.
She couldn't be trusted and something had to be done.
A/N: So there you have it. Chapter 2. I still didn't feel all that strongly about this chapter either, but it's all still a little rocky right now. Don't worry, I feel the next chapter will be a bit more solid(even though I have nothing planned for the next chapter) But that just makes it all the more fun, am I right? Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the chapter all the same. Sorry if it felt like it was going on and on at times, or if it was just plain random or obnoxious at others. I hope you'll forgive me and trust me to do a better job next chapter. Thanks for reading!
