A Charter Mage Scorned...
Soul-Searching...
LAST TIME...
At Serenity's bedside still sat Joey, barely awake, barely conscious. But still there all the same. His head lolled and he struggled to keep his eyes open. She was more dependant on him than he could ever imagine right then...
But Joey was slowly breaking.
Breaking...
Breaking...
Broken.
Kaiba sat by himself, cross-legged around in the spot he had come to call his own, the Book of the Dead and the Book of Shadows in his lap. There had to be an answer in one of these books.
Somewhere.
As he flicked through the stiff, crumpled pages of the Book of Shadows and the fine, neat pages of the Book of the Dead. The paper was almost like tracing paper, the kind of stuff that was used to make Bibles. He had no idea how the Ancient Egyptians could have made it, and his only suspicion was that they didn't. It must have been made using some sort of magic. The Book of Shadows seemed tense, and kept trying to fire itself away from the Book of the Dead. Kaiba held it's spine firmly and scolded it, after which it remained motionless.
Scolding a book...
He comforted himself in knowing that he wasn't losing it, but it still was strange. However it had seemed to have had the desired effect so he didn't worry about it any further. He himself felt edgy, like something was going to happen, and his senses were egging away at him for a reason that remained unknown to him. He felt a bit like when it was going to rain, and you can tell from hours before beacuse of the grey clouds and close atmosphere. It was that same unmistakable hunch. Except he didn't know it was going to rain. He didn't recognise the sensation. It was horrible and looming and dark, but he was unable to identify it.
He hated it...
But that was the least of his worries.
Without warning, a sharp, excruciating pain gripped at his heart, like someone was ruthlessly cutting and prying it out with a blunt object. He clutched at his chest madly and fell to his knees, squinting and gritting his teeth to avoid any sound catching the air. His muscles stiffened unbearably and cramped and contracted. Every nerve, both magical and physical was burning and alive to the greatest extent that they could. It felt like his heart had stopped completely, and he tried to inhale air into his lungs, but his entire body was shut down, and his breathing was therefore shallow and rushed. He shut his eyes tightly, wishing the pain away. He then felt a terrible sorrow. A depression, and for one terrible moment he actually did want to die. He thought he was going to die. He fought it off and forced himself to his feet, rubbing and calming his screaming calves and thighs. he made himself breathe deeply, although an echo of the pain was still there, his heart ached. Oh it did ache, in a new desperation too. It felt heavy as if gravity was pulling it down. He had never been in more pain than that.
A vile sadness plagued it, and after a few seconds, Kaiba noticed tears running down his cheeks. They hadn't been there before, he knew, and it wasn't because of the pain.
It was because of the sadness that it had provoked. But what the Hell had just caused that?
Little Yugi sat next to Serenity's bed with his head in his hands. First Serenity, and now Joey! True, Joey was only sleeping, not comatose, but sleeping all the same. He turned his head to the beautiful girl and saw that she was slightly paler than usual, and he held her hand in his, giving her what warmth he had. His fingers wandered to her wrist to check her pulse...
It was difficult to find.
After a few minutes of searching, and after pressing on what he was sure was the right artery, he tried her neck, just below her jawline.
Nothing.
He began to panic, and woke Téa, who also tried to find her pulse, but to no avail. They then woke the others, but failed to wake Joey, and tried to ressusicate her.
Still nothing.
"ISHIZU!"
Ishizu came running and observed the scenario. She put one hand to her Millennium Tauk, and the other to cover her dropped jaw.
"It is too late..." she gasped, watching the desperate teenagers trying to revive her...
But Serenity Wheeler was dead.
"Kaiba!" yelled a distraught Ishizu as she ran across the gardens, "KAIBA!" She ran around the wall and found him, but not how she had imagined to find him. He was sat down, leant against the wall, his legs weak and now as good as useless. His face was peaky, his lip trembling ever so slightly, and his sapphire blue eyes were no longer icy, but were glassy and shook with agony, like those of the others. Maybe even more. His whole demeanour was shattered and he was shaking coldly, even though it wasn't cold. She bent down in front of him, letting her knees take her weight and she tried to make eye contact with him.
"Kaiba?" she said softly, and he looked up to meet her sad yet surprisingly intimidating gaze. Her eyes widened as the possible reason for this nastily out-of-character behaviour.
"Do you love her?"
He opened his mouth to say no, but his heart refused to let his voice sound and he shut his eyes and turned his head away to avoid her. That much said it all.
"You do..." she whispered to herself in discovery, "But I See her living yet..." the silver crest on his collar shone in the moonlight and caught her eye. She looked up at him determindly, "You know what you have to do. It is time." she said, before getting to her feet and walking back to the mourning teenagers. The meaning of what she had said dawned upon him, and he set his jaw in determination. He closed his eyes, and a frost came over his body, as if he had been deep frozen in that position. The lights were not on and there was no one at home. He had gone where he had to go:
Death.
To bring her back.
Death was cold, far colder than Life, and a grey, dark, yet bright light illuminated the river, a light that seemed artificial, but had no source. It lit the water - if you could call it water - but not the riverbanks, which remained veiled in blackness... Were there riverbanks? No one knew, for a large part of how Death appeared was how Death was perceived, and it changed a bit every time. However it was always familiar and similar to the Abhorsen...
Except this one...
Well, they say there's a first time for everything... And not even the great Seto Kaiba was an exception. And there was another problem...
He had no Bells, and no sword...
The things that no necromancer or Charter Mage would ever go into Death without. But he was the Abhorsen for his time era, not Seth's, so therefore Seth still carried the Bells and sword. They would be waiting for him in 2006.
But he wasn't in 2006.
The water gushed past his thighs, and he found that moving in this river was much easier than moving in normal water. There was less resistance, and he could run if he had wanted to, but he didn't because the riverbed was a trickster, and took every oppurtunity to make anything that resisted it fall and be taken away by it's current. Normally, a Charter Mage or necromancer would carry a sword, point down, so that if they fell the sword would hit the riverbed and stop them from falling into the ruthless current.
But, of course, Kaiba didn't have a sword.
He went as quickly as he could, and passed the First Gate, the Second Gate, the Third Gate, the Fourth Gate, the Fifth Gate... But there was no sign of her. He would sense where she was, and all he could sense was that he was getting closer.
"Serenity..." he whispered gently. The whisper echoed all around and became louder, louder, louder. It rang throughout Death, making the water jump and dance to the sound. So close, yet so far away. He looked down at his wobbly reflection in the water, and saw his Charter Mark discreetly light up. A disturbance in the water made him look up. A ball of light arose from the water, and Kaiba's heart skipped several beats. It slowly changed shape, and took a form. The form of Serenity. She was as beautiful in Death as she was in Life and every other plane, and once more he felt that unbearable pain erupt. She stood with his back to him, looking forward to her supposed destination. Her spirit had not changed in any way. Only the purest souls could travel through Death without disfiguring and transforming. Her red hair blew in a non-existant breeze and she turned around, the clear water flowing around her hips. He walked up to her as she gasped and a smile appeared on her face.
He did love her.
He knew it now, although how exactly it had happened was a mystery to him. She likewise.
"I knew you would..." she whispered, "I was afraid..." He smiled, and like a flash, bent down and slipped his strong arms under her, picking her clean out of the water. He kissed her softly, cutting off any words she might have had, and headed back towards Life.
It was almost morning once again, and while the others lay sleeping with exhaustion, one remained awake, tears running down his face. Mokuba Kaiba was the only one with any energy left. When Joey had woken up, Yugi, as the best friend, had the task of breaking to him the news that his sister had in fact passed away. Joey had gone over to her, felt her pulse, shook her several times, and collapsed at her side, sobbing and wailing into her sleeve, repeatedly saying ''Ren, 'Ren... please no...'. He hadn't even been able to say goodbye to her. The others had cried too, and the palace walls heard nothing but sorrow and mourning. Now they were asleep yet again... Except Mokuba. He couldn't sleep. She had been a mother figure to him since he had met her, and now she was gone horrible memories of his parent's deaths were brought to the surface. She had died peacefully. Hadn't she? He wanted to know, and he still held her hand and told her how he would miss her.
But it wasn't really neccessary...
He fell silent and sank into his thoughts. Why? It had been completely out of the blue. Completely unneccessary.
What was that?
His head snapped up to look at her face. He could have sworn that she just squeezed his hand. He studied her face more carefully, and on closer inspection, he could see the muscles in her face tightening slightly.
"What the Hell..." he murmered under his breath, "Serenity?" he asked hopefully, "Serenity? Can you hear me?"
"Hmm..." she hmmed quietly, but loudly enough for him to hear.
"Oh my God..." he gasped, as he felt her pulse beat strongly again.
"Seto..." she whispered, her eyes still shut tightly, "Seto..."
"What? Serenity it's me, Mokuba..." he said with new enthusiasm. She smiled weakly.
"Hey Mokuba..." she murmered. He perked up and grinned from ear to ear.
"GUYS! GUYS!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The gang was jerked out of their sleep, even Joey - heck that was a first, "SHE'S ALIVE SERENITY'S ALIVE!"
"WHAT!" they all yelled in reply, and he pointed at the bed. They scrambled to their feet and crowded around her, and grinned and laughed out loud when they saw her move and open her eyes. Joey threw his arms around her, cutting off her air supply,
" 'Ren Oh my God I thought I lost yas!" he said from his bear hug. Serenity gasped and pointed to her throat, "Oh, sorry 'Ren." he said goofily.
Joey was back.
"Joey I love you so much big brother..." she said happily, grinning herself.
"I'm gonna go tell Seto!" said Mokuba, before darting out of the door. He screeched to a halt when he saw his big brother on his feet, leaning against the wall, looking in on the others.
"Hey Seto!" he shouted.
"Hey Mokuba." he replied.
"You'll never guess what just happened!"
"Try me."
"Serenity just woke up! She's alive she's alive she's alive!" he bounded up and down on the spot. Kaiba smirked to himself, and Mokuba saw it, and narrowed his eyes. Ishizu had told him about his brother's powers and Marik's little theory.
"That's good"
"And I have something to ask you Seto."
"Hm?"
"How was it, that the first word that came out of her mouth was your name? Your first name?" he asked with an eyebrow raised, and watched knowingly as his brother broke eye contact with him.
"She said my name?"
"Well, she said 'hm', but technically 'hm' isn't a word, so..."
"I'm flattered."
"Seto, is there something you're not telling me?"
"I don't believe so."
"Well I think there is. I talked to Ishizu..."
"Whatever possessed you to do that?"
"I wanted to know what was going on! Anyway, you..."
"I just saved her from Death that's all."
"Oh right! That's all!" he said, before taking on a quieter, more serious tone, "You fell in love with her didn't you?"
"What?" he covered, but Mokuba could see the red on his brother's cheeks, no matter how subtle it was. He was going to kill Ishizu, and then bring her back so he could kill her again.
"Oh come on Seto I know you better than that! To you, other people are like Marmite."
"... ... Explain."
"You either love 'em, or you hate 'em. And you don't give a damn about those you hate. So the only reason I could think of for you saving her was because you love her..."
"Mokuba..." he said as he was dragged by his wrist to the others.
"Go on Seto! Tell me I'm wrong! Go on! Tell me!" Mokuba demanded. He looked away and bit his lip, "HA! I'm not wrong! You do love her! So you gotta come see her then!"
"Mokuba..." he complained again as he was dragged through the door.
"He's not going anywhere this time." Mokuba told the others.
"Hey Kaiba." they all said, even more brightly than usual. He kept his uniform expression, until he saw her. She was sat on the edge of the bed with Joey's arm around her. He felt like someone had just knocked all the air out of him with one punch. He stopped in his tracks and looked at her almost nervously. Everyone thought this was due to Kaiba not knowing she was now alive. How wrong they were. Serenity got to her feet for the first time in days, but it was as if she had never been dead, or comatose. She flung her arms around Kaiba, and he hugged her back, both of them too happy for words. He really wanted to kiss her again, to taste her mouth again, but there was a time and a place. Everyone had fallen silent.
Had Serenity just hugged Kaiba?...
Kaiba just returned it?...
Kaiba's not an android!...
Kaiba has feelings!
"KAIBA! GETCHA PAWS OFF 'A MA SISTA!"...
Joey was flipping his lid and blowing steam out of his ears. He had a mini-fit and blew some more steam before marching up to Kaiba and waving his index finger around. The only people not laughing were Kaiba and Joey themselves, with the slight exception of Tristan, who was putting on a brave face.
"Paws? That's rich coming from you mutt. Oh, wait, no it's not, it can't be can it..."
"Shuttup Moneybags."
"Cool it you two." said Serenity, and both of them obediently stilled their tongues.
Is now the best place to end the story? With a happily ever after? Well, as long as Joey doesn't mind too much... But they were, of course, still in Ancient Egypt, with no idea where their counterparts had buggered off to. The palace was peaceful, but the Priests and Pharaoh were far from that now. Many lives were lost at the hands of Zork...
"Hey," said Serenity, "If I'm alive again, why aren't we going home? Where's the portal?"
Everyone looked around, and then to Ishizu. Kaiba and Serenity did love each other, the Empath could feel it, still, there must be something more...
"Don't look at me I don't know!" she said, "We can't be finished yet." Everyone groaned. It was far from over. It picked up when Seth orbed back to the palace with Mana. Blue lights swirled and the two figures appeared.
"Mana? Seth?" asked Ishizu gently, "What the Hell happened?"
She had reason to be concerned. Mana was fine, tired, and upset, but she was physically unharmed. Not so much could be said for Seth. His clothes were torn and tattered, and his body was covered in bruises and open wounds. He no longer wore his blue headdress and the rest of his attire was bloodstained. He leant against the wall and breathed hard, his cheeks were redder than normal and were peaky, like he had been crying but had stopped a few minutes prior. Mana collapsed to her knees and sobbed into the ground. Seth closed his eyes as if he were blocking out a terrible, unwanted reality. Mana tried to answer but then choked on her own sobs and Seth took over.
"Dead..." he said painfully, "Everyone."
"What do you mean?" asked Ishizu.
"Isis, Mahado," he listed. Mana wailed at the sound of her teacher's name, "Karim, Shaada, Akunadin, Atem... And Kisara..." his voice broke then, "No one survived..." he paused for breath, "Except us."
"Ra let me go with them! Why did you provide me with safety and them not! Why!" Mana cried, and Seth fought hard to swallow his own tears. He suddenly grasped at a wound in the side of his abdomen, and when he removed his hand it was covered in blood. Kaiba went over to his lookalike and made his hand hover just over Seth's heart. A warm glow appeared in his hand and Seth's wounds began to disappear. Bruises faded and open wounds sealed up and blood vanished.
"Thank you." he said, as pain ebbed away and the ease of normal existance returned. Mana continued to cry, and Mokuba was suddenly hit by a brainwave:
"Bring them back." he said.
"What?" asked Seth.
"Bring them back. You can can't you?"
"I could bring back some, but not all of them I am weak." he said, "And I could not bring back some and not others. I couldn't make that decision."
"You don't have to, Seto will help you."
"Eh?" said Kaiba warily.
"You've pulled your power before! You can! Hello? Two Abhorsens! Double threat that doesn't happen often! And what will happen to Egypt? With no Pharaoh and no Priests there is no Egypt. Have you got anyone to take their places!" he rambled. Seth shook his head, "Well then?" Mokuba saw Seth starting to think about it, and used his final persuasion tactic; "For Kisara. You want her back don't you?" Seth's head snapped up and he sighed,
"Alright." he said, looking to Kaiba, who nodded, "Let's go soul-searching."
And by that, he meant literally.