A CEO Scorned.
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WildEm: I have nothing to say now... And funnily, neither does he, of course that could just be because he has a gag tied around his mouth but hey, what's a girl to do?
"speech"
"thoughts"
"mindlink"
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Pouvez-vous m'aider?
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"Oh come now Kaiba-boy, is that any way to treat an old friend?"
Seto felt sick.
"You..." he fumed, "You... You sick sick bastard how dare you come anywhere near this place..."
"Who's that...? Huh!!! Uncle Max!!!" Elizaveta yelled, knocking Seto out of the way and giving Pegasus a bear hug.
"Zdrasvidye moj dorogaja!" he said, returning the hug. (A/N: meaning 'hello my dear' in Russian. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
THUD...
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"Um... Bonjour, Péséraelle..."
The psychiatrist took a seat next the the woman's bed, and took out a pen. She watched him weakly.
"Aw ibek... uh... Bon...jour..."
"Je suis," he said slowly, pointing to himself, "Docteur Dujardin. Docteur Dujardin." he said again, pointing to his chest. She nodded and pointed at him.
"Docteur Dujardin." she said slowly. He nodded and smiled.
"Oui." he said, nodding up and down like a Jack in the Box. "Et, tu es Péséraelle." he pointed to her. She pointed to herself.
"Tu... es... Péséraelle?"
"Non." he shook his head violently. "Je. Suis. Docteur Dujardin. Donc..." he held her wrists and made her point to herself. "Je. Suis. Péséraelle."
"Je suis Péséraelle." she said. The psychiatrist grinned.
"Oui!"
"Tieu..." she said under her breath.
"Tu es Docteur Dujardin?"
"Oui!!!"
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"Do you even watch the news, Kaiba-boy?"
"Yes!!!" Seto spat, glaring with all the force he could muster. Elizaveta chucked a cold flannel at him, which he caught with viscious reflexes and mopped his brow.
"And you, didn't, recognise the language that was coming out of her mouth?"
Seto didn't answer.
"I don't get it Uncle Max..."
Seto started choking.
Elizaveta continued. "... Why is there a problem? I mean, everyone who temporarily comes out of PVS talks gibberish, not that I can count many..."
Pegasus shook his head. "But this isn't gibberish. Far from it. Just because people don't recognise a language doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Or never has existed, I should say. She's talking Ancient Egyptian."
"Really?"
"Hm. And as Kaiba-boy here is the reincarnation of an Ancient Egyptian High Priest, well..." he shrugged, "I thought he might be concerned."
"What concern is it to me? Some French woman came out of PVS. Alright. Good for her. I, don't care. And anyway why didn't you take it to the Pharaoh and his dweeb patrol, it sounds like it's just up their street. Or Ishizu, maybe? I'm not sure I'm qualified as a psychiatrist."
"Uh.." Pegasus began, "You and Ishizu are the only two to have fully retained the ability to understand the Egyptian language over the millennia, and the Pharaoh's is, patchy, to say the least."
Seto glared. "Why me?"
"Um, Ishizu doesn't speak French."
"You know, I swear if I could move right now I would murder you with my bare hands!!!"
"Why yes!"
Kaiba launched himself at Pegasus, but Elizaveta caught him and shoved him back down on the sofa on which he had been placed after having lost consciousness. Kaiba scowled.
"So, what do we do?" Elizaveta asked Nina.
"We still need to get rid of Bakura. I think you should split up. You can prepare the stuff to take Bakura but don't go on your own. And Master Seto, I would advise that you take a trip to France."
Seto groaned. He reached into his pocket, took out his mobile and began texting.
"What are you doing now?" Nina yowled.
"Texting." he said.
"Mokuba, meet me the Kame Game shop when u get bck frm dinner. Dnt ask y, just take all ur stuff there.
Woteva u do, dnt come bck 2 the mansion - I'll tell u l8r. C u then. Seto"
He pressed 'send' and flipped his phone down. Elizaveta got to her feet.
"Can I use your stuff for the potions?" she asked.
"Knock yourself out." he said, and then under his breath he muttered, "Literally, please!" He stood up, still glaring daggers at Pegasus. "I want a word with you."
Seto and Pegasus walked out into the garden, and Seto slammed the patio door shut, placing his hands on his hips in a way that gave no doubt as to who was controlling the situation.
"Right." he said, "What in the Hell makes you think I was born yesterday!!!" he seethed, "You come around to my house!!! To tell me about something I already know, nonetheless!!!! And then you ask me if I watch the news!!! Well, I got news for you, Pegasus, you can take your little act, and go and throw it and yourself off the top of the highest skyscraper you can find!!!"
"Kaiba..."
"NO!!! Pegasus!!!"
"Will you let me speak, please?"
"NO!!! And what's worse!!! You send your God-damn niece to..."
"She's not my 'God-damn niece'!!!" Pegasus said sharply. Seto was inwardly surprised. Was that, protectiveness there? "She's..." his voice faltered, "She's... Cecilia's niece..."
"Oh, so you're Uncle Max eh? That's a good one, but not that good."
"I wanted to ask something of you..."
"Oh now it comes out."
"Damn it Kaiba you know I did what I did for a reason!!!"
"I don't care what reason you did it for!!! What you did was inexcusable!!!"
"Kaiba..."
"I don't want to hear any more. Get out of my sight NOW!!!"
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"Seto, why did you want me to stay here for a while?"
"It's, not safe at the mansion at the moment kid. Yugi and his grandpa will take care of you. And besides, I need to talk with the Pharaoh."
Seto marched up to the door of the game shop and rang the door-bell smartly. Both of them looked up as Yugi reached up to the chain at the top of the door and opened up.
"Kaiba! Mokuba!" he exclaimed.
"Can we talk Yugi?"
Yugi shrugged. "Well, sure." He opened the door wider and beckoned them inside, shutting the door silently behind them.
"So, uh, what can I help you with Kaiba?"
"I need you to take care of Mokuba for me for a while."
"How long?"
"I don't know, but it won't be long. It's not safe for him at home at the moment."
"Sure, he can stay here." he turned around briefly, "HEY GRANDPA, CAN YOU MAKE AN EXTRA HOT CHOCOLATE???!!!"
"Alright Yugi." Grandpa replied from somewhere around the back of the shop.
"And I need to talk to you and the Pharaoh about something." Seto said, folding his arms in the businesslike way that he had had drilled into his brain.
"Okay, come through into the lounge and take a seat. HEY ATEM, COME DOWN HERE A MINUTE!"
They all heard footsteps on the stairs, and soon the slim form of the former Pharaoh came into sight. Normal attire, thank Rê.
"Kaiba!" he said, acknowledging Seto's curt nod.
"He has his own body now?" Seto asked.
"Well, no, but spirits can become solid. You should've seen him the other day, he forgot and walked straight into a wall."
"Well hello there everybody." Grandpa came in juggling four mugs of hot chocolate, narrowly missing walking into the doorframe between the sitting room and the kitchen, "I see you've learnt your lesson." he said, turning to Seto.
"Some lessons are never learnt." he muttered.
"Mokuba, I've got to order some new stock. Your brother's company supplies us and has just brought out an entire new range and I could do with some professional advice on what to stock up on."
"Me?" Grandpa nodded, "Sure Mr. Motou!" Mokuba slid off the sofa and went next door with Grandpa. Yugi took the oppurtunity to speak.
"So, Kaiba, why isn't it safe at your house at the moment?"
"You'll never guess who showed up on my doorstep today." he said, semi-relaxing into the sofa.
"Who?"
"Pegasus."
"Pegasus?" Yugi's and Atem's expressions were classic.
"Hm." Seto nodded, "And I don't trust him any further than you could throw him. You know Elizaveta Svyatoslaevna?"
"Yeah."
"I just found out that she's some distant relative of mine, and he is her uncle."
"Ouch."
Seto nodded. "Precisely. She and... I... have concerns about Bakura."
"We all have concerns about Bakura." said Atem scathingly. He had loathed the thief ever since he found out that he was the cause of the death of his most loyal Priest.
"He's not done anything recently though." said Yugi.
"I agree, but Bakura doesn't just do nothing, which means he's probably up to something, and am I right in saying that you want to cut it off before it gets messy?"
"Yes, so to speak." Seto said, "But we're more concerned about his occupation of the Millennium Ring. We all know he's not supposed to have it. Fate... And I really can't believe I'm saying this... Fate is no longer parallel to Destiny. Bakura was supposed to die 5000 years ago. Instead the Ring changed all that. If we seperate Ryou's soul from Bakura's and get rid of him, there is a good chance that we can revive the Ring's Master, which is how it's supposed to be."
"By 'getting rid' of Bakura, you mean kill him?" Yugi asked. Seto nodded.
"I have no objections to that." said Atem, crossing his legs, "He certainly deserves it. But how does Pegasus come into this?"
"Have you heard about that French woman, Péséraelle Lavoie, who's just woken up from PVS?"
"Yeah." Yugi and Atem said in unison.
"Well, he came around, and told me that. But, you know how people who wake up from states like this often talk gibberish for a while? Well this woman is talking Ancient Egyptian."
"So?"
"This I knew before he even knocked on the door. As you said, Pegasus doesn't do stuff like that. He knows very well that I know, so I'm worried that he's after something else. Which is why I want Mokuba here because it's not safe with Pegasus snooping around."
"But, Kaiba, if you can't protect Mokuba, what makes you think we can?" Atem asked.
"You have powers don't you? Use them!!!" he snapped.
"Alright who are you and what have you done with Kaiba?" Yugi said.
"I've been asking myself the same question."
Atem lay back in his chair and thought. Would now be a good time to give Kaiba the Rod? He gave a quick glance to the man who had gone from being mortal to having powers that he couldn't even come near to matching. Seth had been different. The same powers, but slightly less proud in the presence of friends. Kaiba was magically ready to receive the Rod, but was now a good time?
"Aibou, do you think Kaiba is ready to receive the Rod?"
"Yes, but now?"
"If not now, then never, I would have thought."
"Alright. Go for it."
"Wait here." said Atem, heaving himself off his chair and plodding back upstairs. Yugi and Seto waiting until he returned with the Rod wrapped in a red cloth.
"What's this?" he asked.
"I think you know." Atem said, unwrapping it. Seto stared. "It won't kill you."
"Tell that to yourself." he said. Atem laughed.
"That was always the difference between you and Seth." he said heartily, "The reason Seth was never quite as cold as you was because he had magic. He was content. Whereas you were so driven, so motivated, but you didn't have a direction in which to go. Magic was that direction. You're content now. You've changed. It's obvious, because if I'd been saying this to you a few months ago you'd have probably whacked me over the head with one of your shiny briefcases."
"Oi, hello? What part of I'm a little busy right now don't you understand?"
"What? You mean you can't handle it?"
"I never said that..."
"And, by the way, I know a certain High Priest who's gonna be very pissed off with you for making him wait. Take it from me, being shut up in a piece of metal for a few thousand years really gives you cramp in the legs..."
Yugi laughed. "I think that's a little off topic."
"Yeah okay, anyway, it will get back to you. And we would rather not be on the receiving end of Seth's wrath. So just take it."
"On one condition."
"That being?"
"Speak any French?"
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WildEm: Bonjour. The French is really easy in this chappie. Basically Péséraelle and Doctor Dujardin establish how to say "I am -" and "you are -". I have to start things happening in this fic. Next chappie they go and see Péséraelle.
Seto: You can't be serious!
WildEm: You know me better.
Seto: (faints)
WildEm: Okay, we've gotta get over this...
Seto: (looks up from the floor) Review!!!