Chapter 3
It was raining hard and as every ice cold drop of it hit her skin she couldn't help but feel strangely alive. It was like a stinging reminder from the heavens and she liked it. It didn't take long before the entrance to her little basement hide came into view. As it did she muttered the now familiar words of her Glamouring spell and allowed her image to transform into that of a broodishly handsome male. She couldn't remember how and when she'd first discovered this little spell of hers, but she did know just how much it had changed her.
Her hand hesitated on the door handle as she realised it was unlocked. A momentary wave of annoyance moved through her; there was no doubt in her mind who had entered her hideout and she was more than glad this would be the last time she would have to deal with him. She made her way inside and locked the door after her, before descending down the stairs and into the gloom of the room below.
'There's no point in leaving the door open and the lights off,' her male voice was smooth, but contained gruff edges, 'I know you're here.'
'I hoped you would,' the basements strip lights flickered on revealing the white haired young man stood arrogantly in the middle of the room.
He was dressed in his usual long black leather trench coat, with his arms folded and the ever present look of amusement burnt across his face. He irritated her more than she would ever care to admit, even to him, and she was just glad he had no idea who she really was.
'I thought I told you never to enter this place without me,' she took out the packet of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one up, 'this is my lair, not yours.'
'You still wish I wasn't around, don't you?' He narrowed his gaze on her.
'If you've held up your end of the bargain and proven yourself useful to me then our encounter has been tolerable, but after tonight, no matter what the outcome, this is where things end between us.'
'I see,' he lowered his head slightly, 'pity, I was hoping you'd have reconsidered my original offer by now.'
'I told you, I have no interests in a partnership. This is my plan and I will not share the glory with anyone.'
'And I told you before; I'm not asking for a share in the glory, I just want to make sure you succeed.'
'I apologise if I don't believe you, but nobody just helps a guy like me out just because they can. Everybody wants something and, here, I can even prove it,' she pulled the golden eye out of her pocket and tossed it towards him. 'It was exactly where you said it would be, although why you couldn't have retrieved it yourself...'
'I told you before, my ability to manifest myself in this world is limited right now,' he pocketed the eye, 'and the place I'd hidden it was inaccessible to me in my current state. Now, I believe these are the items you've been looking for.' He swung the bag he was wearing off of his shoulders and tossed it towards her. 'Giya is such a nice place to acquire unusual things, but a living being like yourself would have stuck out like a sore thumb.'
'If you're about to give me some droll speech about how we need each other, save it; I don't care and I really don't want to know,' she shot him a look. 'But this had better be everything or I will hunt you down and beat your ass into non-existences,' she took a drag of her cigarette as she examined the contents of the bag.
'Oh trust me, it's definitely everything,' his face filled with an almost shark-like smile, 'including one extra little item not on your list I'm sure you'll be most interested in. An item which will allow you to hold that false form of yours indefinitely, provided nothing affects the inner strength of your magic.'
'What?' Her eyes shot up towards him.
'Oh please don't tell me you didn't think I'd figured it out?' He laughed. 'I know that's not your real face, but, to be honest with you, I don't care what you really look like. I'm just interested in seeing your plan succeed and my little gift will help you. So enjoy.'
Before she could make any kind of response to him he'd vanished into thin air. She grunted in annoyance and finished up the cigarette she was smoking before rummaging through the bag for a small pot of midnight blue paint. She then set about creating a large semi-circle across the floor, with the base of it connected to the back wall. There couldn't be a single break, crack or imperfection in the semi-circle she created or in any of the symbols she painted across the floor inside of it or along the back wall. Everything had to be done perfectly in the perfect order not just for the spell she wanted, but also to make sure what she was doing didn't flag up on any interested parties' radar. She couldn't be found out too soon. No, she wouldn't be found out too soon, not if she had anything to do with it.
As the hours ticked by the spell which created her disguise wore off, changing her back to her normal, boring self again. She also felt herself becoming light headed; whether it was from exhaustion or from the paint fumes, she neither knew nor cared. She couldn't stop until everything was ready. She'd been working too long and too hard to allow things as trivial as light headedness get in her way now. Outside the rain continued to pelt down, masking the dawn she instinctively sensed approaching. The last of the symbols were almost finished and even with the basements strip lights on she could still see the eerie glow her work was creating.
Excitement moved through her in the same way it had when she'd first accidently stumbled across that scroll. She couldn't remember what it was she'd actually been looking for at the time, but it didn't matter now. She knew then the same thing she knew now; it had been her destiny to find that scroll just like it was her destiny to bring about...
She forced herself to stop her own train of thoughts; she was getting ahead of herself now. There was still a lot which needed to happen before she could be absolutely certain the rest of her destiny would truly come into fruition. Not for the first time since finding that scroll she felt an inner conflict of some description brewing within her, but before it manifested itself into anything she pushed both sides of the argument away. She didn't have the time for turmoil right now; she'd already decided she was going to do this and that was it; there was no turning back.
Stretching contently, he snuggled his head into Kaiba's chest; it was nearly seven am and he was trying his best to stop his companion from getting up for work. With his eyes closed and a faint smile across his face, he listened to the sound of Kaiba's steadily beating heart. The alarm clock beside the bed buzzed loudly. He gave a disappointed groan, but didn't move and after a few seconds the buzzing stopped.
'You have to move now.'
'No.'
'I have to get up.'
'No you don't.'
'Yes I do.'
'Take the day off.'
'You know I can't do that.'
'You're the boss, of course you can.'
'Tristan move.'
He didn't reply, instead he snuggled closer in.
'You're impossible.'
'And you're not going anywhere.'
'Yes I am.'
'No.'
'I'm not joking.'
'And neither am I.'
'Do you have to do this every morning?'
'Yes,' Tristan could feel the cheekiness of his own smirk, 'because one day it might actually work.'
'Move.'
'I don't want to.'
'Move or I'll move you and I won't be gentle about it either.'
Sighing reluctantly, Tristan shifted his head back onto the pillow. To his surprise this action wasn't immediately followed, as it normally was, by the movement of Kaiba rising from the bed. Curiously he opened his eyes, to find out why.
'Are you okay?'
'I'm fine,' Kaiba slowly shook his head, 'I'm just…'
Suddenly his eyes bulged and his hand flew to his mouth. Leaping to his feet, Kaiba then dashed out of the room. Alarmed, Tristan followed him and was horrified to find him throwing up.
'You're not going into work now.'
'I'm fine,' he stared up at him, his face sickly pale.
'No you're not; you're ill.'
'It's nothing. You can't stop me from going in.'
'Yes I can,' he folded his arms stubbornly.
'No you can't,' shakily Kaiba rose to his feet.
'Seto you are not leaving this house and that's final.'
'But I have to go in.'
'No you don't; your staff are actually competent enough to run your company without you, you know. You've let them do it plenty of times before, so why not let them do it now? You're ill; you need to stay home and rest.'
'Don't take care of me,' he lowered his gaze as his jaw line hardened. 'I'm supposed to take care of you; don't take care of me.'
'You're sick.'
'I'll be fine.'
'No you won't.'
'Yes I will.'
'I'm not letting you go anywhere today,' Tristan placed his hand under Kaiba's chin and forced him to meet his gaze. 'You're sick; you have to stay home.'
'I'm fine.'
'You're not.'
'Tristan...'
'Seto.'
'I'm supposed to take care of you,' reluctantly Kaiba shuffled into his arms.
'Not today you're not.'
'But I take care of you. That's what you need me for. That's what I have over her.'
'You have a lot more than that over her,' Tristan's grip tightened, 'for a start, I actually like you.'
'But what if…' he hesitated, 'what if she finds a way to make you like her?'
'Impossible.'
'But what if she does? What if she finds a way to give you something I can't?'
'Seto, I told you, that's impossible, I will never like her. I hate her. She knows that. That's what makes you stronger than her. That's what will destroy her in the end. And when that day comes, I'm going to hold a great big party to celebrate.'
'But what if…?'
'No buts Seto, I love you and nothing she does will ever take that away.'
