Chapter 25

The wolves were still howling when he heard their footsteps on the path behind him. A part of him felt strangely relieved to know they were on time and slowly he turned round to wait for their arrival. The second Duke spotted him his eyes went visibly large and he came to an automatic halt. It was a sign of recognition, that much he could be sure of. Catilin on the other hand kept moving towards him apparently oblivious to Duke's startled reaction.

'Why are the wolves howling like that?' Catilin studied him as she came to a stop a few paces away from where he was standing. 'Why are they saying she's escaped? Who's escaped? Mai? What's going on?'

'You know you need to let someone answer one question before you give them another, right,' he sighed and half turned away from her.

'Who are you? Why are you here?'

'You're doing that on purpose now, aren't you?'

'Uh...' she blinked at him, 'why aren't you answering any of my questions?'

'Because most of them you already know the answer too,' he lowered his head slightly as the howling came to a stop. 'That's not a good sigh; we need to get out of here.'

'Mm,' Catilin nodded, 'the wolves have been acting a little crazy; it's not safe anymore.'

'But… but what about Mai?' Duke stammered.

'The wolves say she's escaped, so right now she must be okay,' Catilin met his gaze. 'Besides, hiet braysta will make sure she's safe no matter what.'

'I'm not so sure...'

'Look, Catilin's right,' he took a step towards Duke, 'wherever Mai is right now she's a lot safer than we are. We need to get going, okay?'

Duke stared at him for a long time, before turning his head away and saying nothing.

'We need to get out of here now,' within seconds Catilin had hold of Duke's hand and began pulling him away.

'Okay,' Duke nodded, 'let's go.'

'Josephine Lutoni?' Mai's whole body vibrated with shock. 'You mean you're… you're mine and Joey's daughter?'

'Welcome to the future Mai,' a soft smile filled her face.

'But I… I don't understand.'

'I wouldn't expect you to,' she lowered her gaze, 'this must all be very confusing for you.'

'But… but you said you hated the First.' Mai tried to get her head around everything she'd been told so far. 'The First is Joey, are you saying you hate your own father?'

'Weren't you paying attention Mai? My father is dead. He's been dead since before I was born; I never knew him and... and it was all her fault.'

'How...?' Mai stared at her.

'She let him die,' for the first time real anger appeared on Jo's face. 'She could have saved him but she chose to let him die instead. There was no need for his death, there wasn't, I'm sure there wasn't. She could have acted... she should have acted, but she didn't.'

'I… I'm sure she had her reasons.'

'And that's what you've spent nearly my whole life telling me,' she blinked back angry tears. 'But do you know what Mai in the end it doesn't make any difference; she should have saved my father, but she chose not to. I can never forgive her for that.'

'But surely…'

'No Mai,' she shook her head, 'there is no but. Not when you're living in this slowly dying hell, doing everything you can to keep what's left of your family alive. Not when you've spent years trying in vain to fight off the inevitable, because you know when it does come everything and everyone you know and love will be gone. No bodies, no homes, no nothing. And then... then you'll have to start again and rebuild everything whilst you're living with the pain of losing everything. No,' she gritted her teeth, 'I will not accept that fate and nor will my brother.'

'What do you mean?'

'If I have to choose between my future and theirs, then I'll choose theirs. My sisters... what's left of my family... they deserve the chance at a better life, I know Crovell's right about that.' Her voice was soft and her head was strangely lowered. 'It was a decision we made a long time ago and one I know even now in my heart of hearts is the right one. No matter how hard it might be, I know it's what we have to do. For them... for my sisters.'

'You're sisters...? I have more children?' Mai felt confused.

'They're Ahna's girls,' Jo shook her head, 'but I think of them as my sisters, so they might as well be.'

'I see... but... why do I get the feeling you're heart isn't as into this as you're trying to make me believe.'

'I told you,' her arms tightened around her stomach, 'it was a choice between their future and my own. I know it's the right decision to make, but sometimes those are also the hardest.'

'Are you...' Mai hesitated, 'are you pregnant?'

'Does it matter anymore,' she turned away from her. 'The light is dying. Soon everything around us will be gone and all that will be left is me and my brother. How can I justify keeping the one thing we'll gain over everything we'll lose?'

'It sounds like it was a hard decision to make,' Mai lowered her eyes.

'It wasn't a decision I was allowed to make,' her voice was mute. 'My brother and I had set about changing everything long before this became an issue. It's made things harder, my resolve less certain, but it has not changed what must happen. We have to save the multiverse and make a better future for everyone in the process.'

'And you're going to do that by changing the past,' Mai found herself studying Jo again.

'Crovell tried three times to alter the events surrounding his birth,' she sighed. 'He wanted to delay it, so that the events which would follow... the ones which would result in our father's death wouldn't happen. Three times he failed, because you cannot stop someone from being born when they are meant to be born.'

'Wait, you're saying Crovell was the trickster?'

'Yes, I am.'

'But if he failed three times to stop the birth what makes him so sure he can stop the death?' Mai felt her whole body tense with fear.

'Mov already gave you the answer to that once,' Jo smiled, 'deaths aren't written into stone like births are; they can be changed. Besides he has to succeed this time.'

'Why?'

'Because this is our last shot.'

Tristan wasn't sure how he felt about the news Téa was in the hospital. The part of him which couldn't stand her rigid inability to change made it hard for him to care, yet somewhere beneath all that he could still feel the tugging ties of friendship. Despite all the anger and annoyance she caused him, he still somehow considered her a friend. A friend he could barely stand maybe, but a friend none the less.

A heavy sigh escaped him as he re-entered the room the weapon was housed in. His gaze went immediately towards Kaiba. The look on his face brought Tristan to a standstill and for a few long moments there was silence.

'That is not my brother.'

The words hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. Tristan's mouth felt dry and several waves of uncertainty moved through him. His phone conversation with Yugi had made him forget Mokuba's entrance into this room along with his strangeness earlier in the day. But now both things came crashing back through his memory with no purpose other than to taunt him.

'Didn't you hear me?' Kaiba's eyes met with his.

'I heard you,' Tristan turned his head away, 'I'm just not sure I want to believe it.'

'What are we supposed to do?' He shook his head. 'Our changes are supposed to make things better, not worse.'

'I know,' Tristan gritted his teeth.

'So what are we supposed to do?'

'I don't know.'

'Tristan...!'

'I said I don't know, okay?' Tristan balled his hands up into fists. 'We need time to think about this.'

'And in the mean time that... whatever it is continues to run around with my brother's face?' Kaiba shook his head. 'I don't think so.'

'What are you suggesting we do exactly?'

'We lock him up, we tie him down, we get him under control somehow.'

'And if your brother comes back whilst we have him bound and gagged, what then?' Tristan rolled his eyes. 'It'll be the second time you'll have imprisoned him Seto; he might have been able to overlook it before, because he believes you honestly don't remember what happened, but I'm not so sure he'll forgive you a second time.'

'I'll explain the situation to him, he'll understand.'

'Maybe he will, but between it and all the secrets you've been keeping the last few months... Everyone has a breaking point Seto and Mokuba's so close to reaching his. Why do you think I've been treading so carefully with him? We want him to want to remain loyal to us, rather than make him feel his loyalty has been gained through force or manipulation. That's their way of doing things, not ours.'

'I know,' Kaiba half glared at him, 'but something has control over my little brother right now and that is not allowed.'

Tristan took a few steps towards him and placed his hands on Kaiba's shoulders. For a few long, silent moments their gazes locked.

'Seto, I promise you, we will save your brother from whatever it is controlling him right now,' Tristan kept his voice as calm and level as possible, 'but we will do it the right way, with as few negative consequences as possible, understand? I don't want to risk doing anything which might drive your brother away, because...' he hesitated for a moment, before lowering both his gaze and his voice, 'because I couldn't stand to see you hurt.'

'Tristan...?'

'I'm sorry,' he pulled away, 'I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable.'

There were a few long moments of silence as Tristan found himself staring aimlessly at the ground. A part of him hated himself for the way he knew he was just setting himself up to get hurt, no matter how he tried to look at the situation. But he'd gone through hell and back learning to accept these feelings as a part of himself, so pretending they weren't there really wasn't healthy anymore.

'I...' Kaiba's hesitant voice broke the silence.

Tristan lifted his gaze back towards him, but Kaiba's expression was too hard to read.

'We should decide what we're going to do with this being possessing Mokuba,' Tristan gave a nervous cough.

'Uh...' Kaiba looked confused for a moment, 'yeah,' he half turned away, 'you're right, we should.'