Broken Velvet Chapter 8

He stirred between sleep and reality, his mind fatigued and weak delved into his past life. The fire burned, she roared and was engulfed in a white light. Her eyes, those crystal blue orbs of pain. Stones flew around them and Kaiba felt a cool washcloth on his forehead, pulling him back to reality. Wearily he opened his eyes, caught in a fog. Kisara stood over him.

"Mrs Ishtar has arrived," she announced softly, pressing a glass of water to his lips. Shakily he took the glass and downed most of it, relieving his dry, parched throat. Shifting to sit upright, his injured foot fell from the table and Seto winced in pain, letting out a deep growl. His companion grabbed a pillow and elevated his foot again, moving the table over to keep it stable. He took a few deep breaths and tried to make himself presentable.

"Send her in, and go occupy yourself for a while. This is private," he ordered cooly, his voice raspy and dry from the medications. He took another drink while she followed his instructions. Ishizu strode in wearing a thick tan shift, her hair was pulled back and tied loosely at her neck. She looked over at Kaiba and smiled softly.

"You've looked better Mr. Kaiba, how are you feeling?" she asked as she sat across from him. The curator couldn't take her eyes off the cuts on his face, neck and hands. He was in rough shape, but seemed to be lucid.

"I'm foggy from the medication, and pain but I'll manage. I'm sure you know why I called you," he remarked. Looking down he noticed his jacket had been removed, and assumed Kisara took it off while he was sleeping, or dreaming or whatever it was that he saw.

"You found Kisara," she stated simply with a polite nod. Her green eyes sparkled against her tan complexion.

"I found her eating out of the garbage. She had no idea who she was, and still doesn't have all of her memory back. She's obsessed with the idea that I'm the reincarnation of the High Priest Seth," he mumbled. His words were beginning to slur together, an effect of the medication and it caused him to clench his jaw in defiance. He hoped she wouldn't say anything about it.

"Because you are, Mr. Kaiba," Ishizu stated. Seto chuckled and took another drink while he thought of a witty retort.

"Of course I am, next you'll tell me Kisara and I have to save the world," he mocked making sure to enunciate and separate his words. Ishizu sighed and shook her head. She should have known how stubborn he was going to be.

"No Kaiba. Eventually you will come to believe it on your own, I'm not going to try to convince you. All I can tell you is that you are the key to unlocking Kisara's purpose. The reason she's here lies with you." He couldn't help but laugh at her words. "Once you're well you should bring her to the museum," she added, ignoring his inappropriate laughter, and deducing it as a side effect of his medicine.

"If I was the reincarnation of the High Priest, how come I'm not in love with her?" he sneered. The woman frowned and wrinkled her brow in frustration at the tyrant's ignorance.

"In my opinion, it's because a cold hearted egotistical narcissist like yourself is incapable of love," she quipped to the man's surprise. Seto smirked coldly.

"I can't love, how poignant of you. Next you'll tell me I have daddy issues," he teased coldly, before he realized, he did indeed have daddy issues thanks to Gozaburo.

"Stop mocking me, and take this seriously. Kisara and Mahado have returned and it's pertinent that they discover why they're here, or should I say potato?" she joked back, referencing his auto correct error. Kaiba sighed and scratched his arm roughly, easing the itching crawl that invaded his skin.

"Believe it or not, I have been helping, just ask her. I just want to stay as uninvolved as I can," he admitted with a slight slur. He stopped caring about his speech, it was difficult enough to just form words. Ishizu crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knee.

"She should visit the museum, it holds several of the pieces of her identity, and you should tell her everything you experienced on your trip to Egypt," she suggested firmly. Kaiba finished his glass of water and put the empty glass down with a clink.

"Can't you do it? You know more about Egyptian history than anyone," he scoffed with a slur. He shifted in his seat, careful not to move his injured leg.

"This is true, but you witnessed many things first hand that I can't account for, and you have a spiritual bond with her and her dragon. It will hold a bigger impact coming from you." Seto rolled his eyes, unamused by her words. He hated talking about what happened in Egypt, it was all a big mind trip for him, like someone gave him acid when he landed, and the whole thing was some bad heat induced acid trip.

"Fuck," he muttered in exasperation. That was the last thing he wanted to do, especially after the day he'd been through.

"If you can handle your injuries you can handle this Kaiba," she assured with a gentle smile. Seto sighed, his mouth dry and parched.

"I"m not saying I can't handle it. I just don't want to," he admitted in a rough tone. Ishizu was not surprised by his selfishness.

"Of course not, heaven forbid you put the well being of another in front of your own. Kisara is caring for you, putting you first, the least you could do is return the favor even if it's just for a short time," the woman stated flatly. He did not feel like getting into an argument with her and let the remark slide.

"I'm tired, please show yourself out and send her back in," he announced dryly. Ishizu nodded and stood up. Walking to the door she couldn't help but pity Kaiba for the life he led, the solitary busy schedule that never ended.

"Get well soon Kaiba," she remarked before she left. The man sat, counting the minutes till Kisara returned. Foggy and in pain he didn't like being left alone. At least now he knew what he had to do, even if it unnerved him. His white haired companion returned and poured him another glass of water which he drank eagerly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she looked deep into his blue eyes. One hand sat on his wrist, taking his pulse.

"Foggy, tired and in pain. I want to go to bed," he answered, sounding much like a little child who had stayed up too late. Kisara smiled and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Then let's get you to bed," she concluded, before gently putting his injured leg back on the floor. Using the last of his effort he stood up and looked for his crutches. Instead Kisara threw his arm over her shoulders and helped balance him while he hobbled to the bed and sat down with a sigh. It had been more difficult than he thought, and his arms and legs felt like lead. She pulled off his shoe and sock before leaning over him and unbuttoning his shirt. Her pale cheek inches from Kaiba's face. He watched her intently as she fawned over him. Once the buttons were open, Seto shrugged the garment from his shoulders and pulled his aching arms out of the sleeves. The quiet pale girl disappeared into the bathroom before returning with a clean rag and a bowl of water. Tenderly, she washed the blood from the scabbed over cuts on his face, arm, neck and shoulders. The warm water was calming, soothing. Finally, she patted his torso dry with a fluffy towel and he laid down, more than exhausted. Sleep consumed him faster than he expected, taking him in it's grasp as soon as his head hit the pillow. Dreams and flashbacks would haunt him the entire night, the high Priest called out to Kisara, begging for help.

End Chapter

A/N: Kisara's hair is white apparently. I heard it in the dub, so I'm going to go with that. I may need a few days to brew up the next chapter...I think I have something dark and twisted planned...but we're not quite there yet.

I was going to post this chapter last night, but I ended up getting really sick at work, so I came home and went to bed. My bad