Chapter 38

'Okay, didn't we have someone staying with us?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow as he re-entered the room he'd left Chazz in, only to find it empty.

'He's had a lot to deal with,' Kaiba sighed, 'I'm sure he'll be back, I'm just hoping it's before he opens his mouth and…'

'Completely ruins your reputation,' he finished for him.

'You read my mind,' he smirked slightly, before sighing again and massaging his temples. 'Are any of the items missing?'

Tristan made his way towards the table for a mental inventory of the items there. His eyes scanned up and down a few times just to be on the safe side before he turned back towards Kaiba.

'It's all here.'

'Well at least that's something.'

'Do you think I should go out looking for him?'

'Yeah, that's probably the best thing to do.'

'I'll go get Mokuba then,' he let out a sharp sigh, before walking back towards the door.

'Wait, don't go,' the piercing voice of Chazz's duelling spirit jarred through him.

Gritting his teeth, he turned back to face the annoying yellow thing. It didn't surprise him in the slightest Chazz had opted to leave it behind; he'd have done the same.

'What is it?'

'You have to help my boss, he's been possessed.'

'He's what?' Kaiba gave a vaguely amused half laugh.

'He's been possessed.'

'By what exactly?'

'By something called Tay.'

'What?' A jolt of shock ran through Tristan. 'Are you sure?'

'Yes, his friend Chumley came and started talking in these really weird voices, then one of the voices possessed my boss. You've gotta help him.'

'Does Taylor even have that power?' He turned towards Kaiba.

'I don't know,' he shook his head, 'but... if his telepathic abilities were belated somehow then... maybe.'

'This could be bad,' he closed his eyes, 'what if…?'

'We need to find him. And we also need to let the others know,' despite everything that was going on it was good to hear the commanding tones back in Kaiba's voice.

'Agreed,' Tristan nodded, 'and I doubt we have any time to waste.'

'Okay,' Chumley blinked round at his friends, 'you guys mind explaining to me exactly what's going on?'

'Maybe we should introduce ourselves first,' Chazz was still using Taylor's voice. 'My name is Taylor Kaiba and this is Lus Moto,' he pointed towards Syrus, 'and Arados Lutoni,' he indicated to Jaden.

'Right... and what exactly are you doing in my friends and why were you in me for that matter?'

'Because we needed bodies of our own, just for a little while,' Jaden's voice was calm and level, but definitely not his own, 'and, as I'm sure you heard my sister say, we're not the real Taylor, Lus and Arados; we're not totally sure what we are, but we don't have a lot of time left.'

'We have Tay to thank for that,' Syrus nodded. 'He somehow managed to trap little bits of us in these doodles of his right before we struck our deal with Nayta,' he lowered his gaze. 'I guess deep down we all knew she couldn't really be trusted.'

'Deal with Nayta?' Chumley frowned.

'That would be the woman my evil counterpart's currently calling his mistress,' Chazz sighed. 'See, she told us if we worked for her she'd cure my Dad.'

'Cure your Dad?'

'Nayta put a curse on Kaiba that made him go blind,' Syrus pulled a face.

'Kaiba's blind?'

'Yeah,' Chazz lowered his gaze sadly, 'and it's all my fault too; I'm the reason Nayta put the curse on him.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's complicated.'

'And we don't really have time to explain it now,' Jaden added. 'Every second we're in these bodies are essence degrades that much more. In less than a few hours they'll be nothing but our evil counterparts left.'

'Only they're not really evil,' Syrus voice broke with notes of desperation, 'they're just being controlled by it.'

'And it's all my fault, just like everything,' Chazz lower lip quivered slightly.

Taking a deep breath, Chumley took some time to evaluate the situation. He could sense there was something genuine about the boys currently possessing his friends and even if they had made one hell of a mistake, they were only human and everyone makes mistakes from time to time. The only thing he couldn't see was how exactly this mistake could possibly be fixed. Still, he was more than willing to try. How could he not?

'So what do we do now?' Chumley broke the silence.

'We get Crovell to duel us all,' Jaden's lips pulled into a sad smile, 'I mean, our evil counterparts.'

'Why?'

'Because my brother is the Heir to Chaos and the only one capable of stopping Nayta.'

'Then what are my friends doing here?'

'I'm not sure,' he shook his head, 'but my guess is they're here for the same reason our counterparts were told to kidnap you. You're all capable of using Reama magic.'

'Reama magic?'

'Shadow magic,' Chazz pulled a face, 'Dark magic, whatever you want to call it. Only a few Standings can control it and my guess is that you four are amongst those who can.'

'Does that Nayta woman also control Reama magic?'

'She should, but she had it stripped from her when we were born.'

'Why?'

'Because she's evil,' Syrus's face filled with a duh look. 'She tried to kill the three of us and she put that curse on Tay's Dad.'

'But if she doesn't have her powers anymore, then how did she brainwash the three of you?'

'You don't need to be able to use Reama magic in order to control Reama technology and the gold cuff bracelets our counterparts are wearing are Reama technology,' Chazz pressed his lips together. 'That's one of the things that make Reama technology so… It's why I prefer Ohpayo.'

'Ohpayo?'

'It means light,' all three of his friends puffed their chests out proudly.

'And we,' Jaden's eyes glinted, 'are the Heirs to it.'