A/N: Uhh…sorry about not updating. This story completely slipped my mind the past month.
I regret to announce that this chapter is the second-to-last, and my next update will be my last one concerning this fic. I made it short because I was afraid I would run out of steam before I finished.
Nothing much to say about this chapter, other than that it is very poorly written. I'm sorry but I'm a bit too lazy to edit it and everything, so just bear with me. You can get the main point of it, though.
Just a suggestion: anyone want to do an analysis on this fic? Because it's the first story where I actually consciously inserted a couple of symbols and other literary devices, and I was just wondering if it was effective. Don't really care either way, though.
All right, on, on!
GUARDIANS: CHAPTER 7
Yugi opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Jounouchi's face visibly paled. "Those men are dragons?" he cried.
"So he does recognize us." They all turned, but could not tell which of the dragons had spoken.
"He told us the boy would know," the left one said.
"Wait a minute," Yugi said, finally able to form words. "If you're Duel Monsters, what are you doing here in our world?"
"And why do you look human?" Jounouchi added.
"And where the hell is my brother?" Mokuba demanded.
The dragon standing on the right cocked his head, perplexed. "Such simple questions," he whispered.
"Do you not see?" his companion said a touch impatiently, indicating with his arm the giant statue still towering in the middle of the room. "This temple is a shrine to the dragons of our world."
"And we have dominion over all other dragons because of our power and our wisdom," another said.
"As for why we have appeared before you…" the one in the middle said, and turning, he faced the statue and murmured something alien in a low voice. There was a flash of light, and slowly a spinning luminescent white sphere materialized in front of the statue. It continued to revolve and expand until it was roughly large enough to allow a grown man passage through, whereupon its interior seemed to dissolve from the center outward, revealing a clear, starry, moonlit night sky beyond.
"What is that?" Jounouchi breathed.
"It's the monster world," Yugi said in an awed whisper. "This temple must be a bridge between the two worlds. That's why Kaiba's dragons were able to cross to our side."
"Okay," Jounouchi said, turning to the three dragons once again. "I can understand how you got here, but I still don't get why you look human. Last time I saw you, you looked pretty damn different."
The middle one smiled, and for the first time Mokuba noticed the prominence of his sharp canines as he answered, "We have always been able to take human forms; it is a trait unique to the Blue Eyes White Dragon. However, we prefer not to do so."
"Why's that?" Yugi asked.
The one on the right blinked his cerulean eyes. "Humans are weak," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Weak?" Jounouchi repeated in a voice charged with annoyance. "You wait until my Red Eyes Black Dragon shows up. Then I'll show you 'weak.'"
"Your dragon will not come," the middle one said.
"We'll see about that," Jounouchi said, drawing his card.
The dragon smiled, laughter dancing in his sky-blue eyes. "So naïve," he whispered, almost to himself. "It is no wonder he despises you so."
"You can call for your dragon," his companion said, "But he will not come."
"Why not?" Yugi asked, digging through his deck for his dragon cards. "You said this was a temple for dragons, and that it's a bridge between our worlds. So shouldn't our dragons be able to cross over too?"
"Yes," the one with the cyan eyes said. "But they do not wish to."
"You, who consider yourselves lords of this…game," the middle one said, pronouncing the word with nothing short of derision. "Perhaps it is true that you possess skills that our master does not. But he also has one thing that you do not."
"As we have said before, we are friends and guardians of Seto Kaiba," the dragon to his right said. "We are devoted to him, and he to us. He shares a bond with us that the likes of you could never understand."
"That is why your dragons, who are loyal to you but are little more than your attack dogs, remain dormant on the other side," the one in the middle said. "They do not care for you."
"We, on the other hand, recognized our master's pains and his sorrows," the one to his left said. "We wished to help him, and so we took these forms and delivered him from his life here."
"What…does that mean?" Mokuba asked, speaking it seemed for the first time in many years.
"We have watched Seto Kaiba suffer for a long time," the middle dragon said. "We wanted to give him a chance for a better life, so we approached him with an offer, and he is one of us now."
"I don't get it," Jounouchi said.
"Where is he?" Mokuba demanded, suddenly extremely annoyed at how the three dragons always seemed to dodge his questions.
The dragon on the right smiled, and his eyes took on a glint of mischief. "You can see for yourselves when he returns."
"What do you—" Yugi started to say, and was abruptly cut off by a familiar roar, seeming to grow eerily closer and louder by the second. All three boys looked expectantly at the dragons, but they had not moved and neither did they seem surprised by the sound. Mokuba opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it when the spinning sphere in front of the giant statue emitted a blinding flash of light. The starry night sky melted into a white blur and the sphere once again began to expand and change shape. At the same time, a thick and quite familiar blue laser shot directly out of the sphere and over their heads, causing Mokuba, Yugi and Jounouchi all to duck frantically. The White Lightning soared so closely over them that they could feel the heat, before breaking out of the temple and dissipating into the desert night.
The sphere changed and began to take the form of a dragon. However, just when it seemed the dragon of light had fully materialized, its shape became distorted once again and it began to shrink and morph in appearance. Mokuba had just barely realized that its new form was humanoid when the light finally faded away, revealing a fourth man, long white cloak barely brushing the stone floor, tunic neat and fresh, dark blue eyes shining. A few moments passed before Mokuba recognized his brother.
The hood Seto wore concealed his brown hair for the most part, but his necklace stood out prominently against his tunic. His skin, also, was not pale like those of the dragons, and indeed seemed flushed and healthy. His eyes, usually so cold and emotionless, were now filled with a light that Mokuba only saw on those rare occasions when his brother was truly happy. He had, in essence, never seen Seto this way before.
Evidently, Yugi and Jounouchi were just as surprised as Mokuba was when Yugi blurted out in a voice nearly choked with shock, "Kaiba, is that you?"
Seto took a moment to reply, but when he finally spoke he did not slow in his speech as the dragons did. Cocking his head slightly, he said in a tone that was nothing short of scornful, "Why are you here?"
Yugi frowned. "I was about to ask you the same question."
"Mokuba was the only one invited," Seto said, his voice becoming hard and his eyes taking on that familiar dangerous look. "You two get out. This is sacred ground."
"Sacred ground, my ass!" Jounouchi snapped. "Just what the hell are you doing in that get-up anyway?"
"We already told you that he is one of us," one of the dragons said. "Why not the attire?"
"One of you? And just what the hell does that mean?" Jounouchi continued, turning to face them now, "What, did you magically transform him into a Blue Eyes White Dragon or something?"
No one answered.
A long moment of silence passed before Jounouchi finally blurted out in a much more subdued voice, "Oh—well…crap." Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned away.
"K-Kaiba," Yugi said, barely able to speak, "You—You became a Blue Eyes White Dragon?"
"Is it that hard to believe?" Seto asked. "You must've seen more impressive things, what with your fancy Egyptian magic and all." He turned then, and addressed his little brother in a soft voice that was almost gentle. "Mokuba…there's something you need to know." He paused to take a deep breath. "Since I'm a…well, you know I can't stay here in this world."
"A dragon can only survive in the realm of his brethren," one of the dragons said.
"Mokuba," Seto said. The boy did not look up, but he continued, "I'm signing Kaiba Corp over to you; do with it what you will. I know you'll be able to make it even more successful…Mokuba, are you listening to me?"
The boy's hands had clenched into two fists, and his entire body was shaking. "You…" he whispered.
"Mokuba, are you all right?" Yugi asked.
"You…" A teardrop glittered as it made its way slowly down Mokuba's left cheek. "You…" His head snapped up, and in the light all could see his face streaked with tears. "You bastard!" he shouted, his voice high and near-hysterical. "How dare you leave me alone! How dare—" And he launched himself forward, barreling toward his brother even as Yugi and Jounouchi cried out for him to stop.
All three dragons responded, lifting their hands and holding them out, palms facing the boy. White light began to gather in the center of their palms, but Seto waved dismissively at them and they promptly lowered their hands just as Mokuba rammed into his brother. Seto took the impact with only a slight backward shuffle and held the boy back as Mokuba beat down repeatedly with his fists, screaming, "You made a promise! You said you'd stay here with me! How dare you leave me alone—all alone—" And then he collapsed forward, going entirely limp in his brother's arms, and began to sob.
Yugi and Jounouchi looked away without being asked as Seto bent down and gently disengaged his little brother. Mokuba shied from his touch but Seto gripped him firmly by the shoulders, forcing his brother to meet his eyes. "Mokuba," Seto said, brushing the boy's tears away with his hand, "Why are you crying?"
Mokuba gritted his teeth and tried not to tremble. "You're…You're leaving me…all alone…"
Seto's voice was serious. "Remember what I told you," he said, "We're different, and to be different is to be alone."
"But I wasn't alone. You were there too."
"Yes," Seto said, "But I don't need to be." Mokuba looked up, and Seto smiled and continued, "You're independent, Mokuba. We both know that. You don't need me to take care of you or protect you anymore; you were capable of that a long time ago. I can't always be here, and you know that too."
"Yes," Mokuba stammered, "Yes, but it's easier when you're around, because they don't understand. You said so yourself."
"Of course they don't understand," Seto said. "How can they understand what we've been through? But that's not important, because you're independent, and you don't need them to support you. Just like you don't need me."
"Niisama…" Mokuba bit his lip. "I still don't understand…how could you agree to this? How could you just let your entire life go?"
At this, Seto straightened. "Do you really want to know?"
Mokuba nodded. Seto turned then to face the spinning sphere of light, which had reverted to its original state, still portraying that sensuous night. "Follow me then," he said. "I'll show you everything." Without hesitation he reached out and touched the sphere, and in a flash he was gone.
Jounouchi swore in surprise. "Where the hell'd he go?" he cried.
Mokuba looked up at the three dragons. One of them nodded and motioned to the sphere with his hand. Turning, the boy ran forward and pressed a fearless hand to the light, and he disappeared as well.
Jounouchi cursed again. "Not you too!" he yelled and started toward the sphere of light as well, with Yugi following. However, they soon found their path blocked by the three dragons.
"Get out of the way!" Yugi commanded.
"You were not allowed passage," the middle dragon said.
"Like I care!" Jounouchi snapped and pushed forward. The dragon on the right, however, grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him back. He gave a cry of pain before he even hit the ground, and when Yugi helped him up, he saw that the blond's shoulder had been lightly slashed, and blood had stained his sleeve.
The dragon lowered his hand, sharp claw-like nails still fresh with Jounouchi's blood. "If you try to advance, I shall devour you," he said.
"Seto Kaiba wishes only for his brother to remain unharmed," another dragon said. "Therefore, we will not hesitate to kill you if you do not cooperate."
Jounouchi got slowly to his feet, drawing his Red Eyes Black Dragon card. "I'll fight you if I have to," he threatened.
"You can summon your dragon," one said. "However, even if he does come to your aid, can he fight all three of us?" A lightning-like flash of light seared the room a brilliant white for a brief instant, and in that flash both Yugi and Jounouchi saw not three men, but three powerful dragons facing them, wings spread, necks arched and mouths open in a silent roar. The light retreated as soon as it had come, but Yugi and Jounouchi both knew they could not expect to win the battle.
"Can you at least tell us where Kaiba and Mokuba went?" Yugi asked after a moment.
"To our world," the middle dragon said. "You may remain here until they return." Jounouchi seemed about to protest, but a look from Yugi stopped him. Instead, he crossed his arms, and he and Yugi began to wait.
