Chapter 8

Bedtimes were a flexible thing for a natural born trouble maker and sneaking around the house after hours was all too easy when your parents believed you were asleep. It then became a game of how much you could get away with without getting caught. There was no denying that, when it came to late night mischief, Lus with his invisibility gift was definitely the best. But out of Arados and Taylor, he came top. But then again, Taylor didn't need to leave his room to cause trouble. Just so long as he had a flat surface and a pen he could cause all kinds of havoc without ever getting caught.

Still, there was no thrill in such a passive mode of mischief; after all, he rarely got to see the chaos his living doodles had created and faining sleep had only led his parents to believe he could use his gift in his dreams too. To compensate once a week he would sneak downstairs and either witness the aftermath of his gift in action or simply watch the grownups. It was strange, but sometimes just being up and downstairs after bedtime was all the excitement he needed.

Out of curiosity about what school his parents were going to send him too, Taylor had opted for watching the grownups. He'd been too afraid to ask them in person and they'd been careful enough not to mention it whilst he'd been in earshot. Still, he felt as though he ought to know what was going to happen to him; he just had to hope that's what they'd be discussing when he got downstairs.

'What does Taylor look like?' His Dad's voice drifted out from his study.

'Like his Dad, only smaller and squishier.'

Taylor couldn't help but smile, he'd been told more than once those words were his Parto's initial description of him. But he also knew hearing him say them now could only mean one thing; Parto was trying his best to cheer Dad up the only way he knew how. Creeping closer to the partially opened study door, he glanced in. He could see the gentle half smile on his Dad's face; it was something Taylor hadn't seen in a long while and it made him strangely happy to see it.

'His Dad?'

'Yes, you,' his Parto nodded, his voice mimicking child-like tones, 'you're his Dad and I'm his Parto.'

'And does his Parto love him?'

'Not as much as I love you.'

'Why not?'

'Because you're bigger than he is and there's more of you to love.'

At that his Dad pulled him into a kiss. Rolling his eyes, Taylor turned away from them. No child, no matter how much they loved their parents, wanted to see them making out. He was just about to make his way back upstairs, when he heard...

'Seto, are you okay?'

Glancing back, he could see his Dad had pulled away, with an almost sick look of distress on his face.

'Seto?' His Parto stared at him.

'I…' his Dad stammered, 'I can't even see light anymore.'

'What?'

'When I opened my eyes just now everything was in darkness,' he slowly backed away, as though he were afraid of himself. 'Tristan it's gone. It's completely gone.'

'Seto, its okay, we can get through this,' his Parto moved towards him, but his Dad blindly battered him away.

'I don't want to get through this. It's too much. Don't you get it? It's too much,' his body wavered for a moment and he somehow managed to catch hold of the desk to keep himself upright. 'I just... I just wanted to see him grow up and she took that from me.'

'I know, but what can we do?'

'You can go to her, make her take this curse away.'

'How? I don't have anything she wants and I don't think she fears anything I could do to her. She's like Re; she would much rather watch you suffer.'

'I can't live like this, Tristan please, I can't live like this. Maybe if you told her...'

'No, Seto we can't and I can't believe you of all people would even think that,' his Parto's voice was firm. 'You get all jittery at just the smell of cigarettes even though you know it's not her and she can't hurt you. Do you really want to make her an actual threat by redeeming her?'

'I...' he took a jagged breath in. 'How... how does she still have so much power over me?'

'Because you almost died because of her,' his Parto pulled him into a protective hug, 'she tortured you both mentally and physically and you almost died because of her. You being terrified is nothing to be ashamed of and this... this right now is just you being terrified because she's the one who did this to you.'

'But I... Tristan...'

'I know,' his Parto's voice was soft and gentle, 'but I would rather make a deal with the devil himself than allow her her freedom.'

'But I... I don't... I don't want to live like this.'

'I know. But you're not alone here Seto; you have me and Taylor and everyone. This doesn't make you weak, I promise. So how about we get through tonight and deal with everything else tomorrow?'

Stunned Taylor took a few staggered steps away from the room before sinking down against the wall. He'd known for a long time this day was coming, but a part of him had never truly believed his Dad was going blind. A sick feeling of guilt moved through him; it didn't matter what anyone else said, if he'd never existed then his Dad wouldn't have been cursed and this day never would have come. It was his fault his Dad was blind and everything thing in him wished there was something he could do about it.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to hold back the tears welling up inside of him. He was too old to cry and even if he wasn't he had no right to cry right now. Not when this was his fault and not when he had no intention of ever using tears as a way of getting himself out of trouble.

'Shouldn't you be in bed Taylor?' Serenity's voice sounded gently from above him.

His eyes lifted to meet with hers, but doing so just made them water even more than they already were and his resolve not to cry was definitely wavering.

'Hey, hey,' she crouched down in concern, 'are you okay?'

'It... its Dad,' he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat, 'he... he's…' but he couldn't go on.

Instead he threw himself into Serenity's arms and burst into uncontrollable tears. Behind him he heard the door open pull fully open.

'Is he alright?' His Parto's voice was filled with concern.

'Is Kaiba?' His aunt's voice was almost tight as she scooped him up into her arms. 'You should worry about him right now; I'll put Taylor to bed.'

'Okay...'

Before anyone could say anything else, Serenity had started making her way towards the stairs. Taylor wasn't sure if he was just light for his size or if Serenity being part Veronsen gave her strength enough to carry him, but he didn't really care. All he knew was being carried by her like this was somehow comforting and more than anything he needed to be comforted right now. It was a shame that comfort didn't last; almost as soon as his body hit the cool covers of his bed, he felt his insides well up with pain. He knew he was going to cry himself to sleep no matter what anyone did or said next.

'Your Dad's strong Taylor,' Serenity's voice was soft as she tucked him in, 'I know he hasn't been coping particularly well recently, but... he's been through hell and he's survived; he'll survive this, I know he will.'

'What if he doesn't,' Taylor's sounded both dull and strained at the same time, 'what if he just continues being sad? What if he's never happy ever again? What if...?'

'You need to stop worrying so much about this Taylor. You're Dad will eventually get through it; he's just going to need you and your Parto to help him, okay? You can do that for him, right?'

'I'd do anything for him,' Taylor's lower lip quivered, 'he almost died for me.'

'I know; and that's how I know he'll get through this Taylor. You'll see your Dad smiling again before you know it, I promise.'

'But what if he doesn't? What if...?'

'Taylor it will be alright,' she gave a heavy sigh before kissing his forehead. 'Now you get some sleep; I'm pretty sure we've all got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.'