Chapter 45
As the swarm of dragons continued to grow, he quickly realised there was no way through. The whole situation was starting to look impossibly hopeless and unless they figured out a solution to it soon, Kaiba was pretty certain things would go from bad to worse.
'Why have you stopped?' The Paladin glared at him.
'Fighting's not working,' he shook his head, 'we have to go back, find another route.'
'There is no other route.'
'Fine, you stay here, I'm going back.'
'You mean you're forfeiting the race?'
'No, I'm going to find another route, preferably one that isn't blocked by a hoard of dragons.'
'I told you, this is the only route.'
Ignoring him, Kaiba turned his Blue Eyes round, only to discover the swarm had completely encircled them.
'We can't fight our way through them,' he gritted his teeth, 'there has to be another way.'
'What kind of a knight are you? There is only one way. You have to fight the dragons.'
'If that really was the only way, why isn't it working?'
'Because you're not fighting.'
'Whatever,' he rolled his eyes.
For a few long moments he found himself trying to figure out a solution to this whole mess. And as he did his attention turned towards the dueldisk still active on his arm. Piper's deck was slotted neatly into it and the Blue Eyes Knight lay face up in attack mode. He knew from previous experience real monsters can't hurt holograms and holograms can't hurt real monsters. So what if the reason this swarm was so hard to break through was because they were just holograms doing battle with real monsters? It wasn't a perfect fit for this situation, considering the fire ball he'd initially been struck with; but the rule did have a few exceptions and that might have just been one of them.
'Okay, it's time to fight light with light,' he didn't know where his sudden confidence in this idea had come from, but he wasn't going to argue with it, 'I summon Fairy Dragon of the Garden.'
Rapidly beating its dragonfly styled wings, in order to stay in flight, the delicate pink and white dragon appeared before him.
'What the hell kind of a knight are you?' The Paladin's voice was filled with disgust. 'What use is that poor excuse for a dragon to anyone? It's a girl's pet!'
'Is that what you think,' he smirked.
'I've seen female warriors with more fearsome looking beasts then that,' his lips curled, 'you're an embarrassment to your title.'
'Whatever,' he rolled his eyes, 'you'll be eating those words soon enough.'
'I doubt it.'
'Well then maybe its time I showed you what this girl's pet can really do.'
Mokuba was still feeling pretty confused about the whole identity mix up thing. He didn't want to keep thinking about it, but every single time someone like Catilin brought it up it just made his head hurt. More so when he knew some of the others still didn't totally buy it. Or maybe they did believe it but still found it so confusing it was just easier not to think about it.
He gave a heavy sigh and turned his attention towards the skyline. Tristan, or rather his brother who currently looked like Tristan, still hadn't returned yet. He'd been gone for a ridiculously long time now and Mokuba was starting to get seriously worried about him. What if he'd come off the dragon somewhere and fallen to his death? What if the Paladin had turned out to be some sort of psychopath and his brother was currently fighting for his life? What if...?
'Shouldn't they be back by now?' Mokuba cut off his own thoughts. 'I mean, how long does it take to race a couple of Blue Eyes?'
'Maybe Kaiba fell off and he's too embarrassed to come back and tell us he lost,' Joey shrugged.
'That's a terrible thing to say,' Mai shook her head, 'he is doing this for you, remember.'
'Will people please stop saying that, you're making me gag,' he rolled his eyes. 'You're all acting like rich boy is some kind of god, when deep down we all know he's just a cold hearted jerk.'
'That's not true,' Mokuba balled his fists.
'Of course it is and everybody knows it. He's a jerk and I hope he has fallen off his precious Blue Eyes.'
'What exactly is your problem with my brother,' he found himself challenging the older boy. 'You've done nothing but gripe about him since I got here. I mean, I know you're not his biggest fan, but you're never normally this bad.'
'I have my reasons.'
'And just what are those reasons exactly?'
'Well for a start he just stood there and watched as your evil future counterpart tore Tristan's soul card in two,' Mai gritted her teeth as her hands balled into fists. 'I'd say that was enough reason to be seriously pissed off at the guy.'
'You're right, it is,' Mokuba rocked back slightly, 'and I know how much he blames himself for it. But from what he told me there really wasn't anything he could have done to stop it and all he wants to do now is put it right.'
'This isn't something you can just put right Mokuba,' a strange look flittered across Joey's face. 'But it is something someone as selfish and cold as your brother can manipulate if he wants to. Hell we all know he has Tristan practically on a leash just because he can; keeping him around to keep the Pure happy and to appease his own sense of guilt.'
'You're wrong,' Mokuba shook his head, 'my brother cares about Tristan. I know he's too stubborn to admit it, even to himself, but I know he cares.'
'How can you be so sure about that? You have no idea what's really going on inside your brother's head.'
'I don't need to see what's going on inside his head to know how much he cares about Tristan,' he knew he was speaking out of turn, but he couldn't stop himself. 'It's there in all the little things he does whether he realises it or not. He cares, I know he cares.'
'How can you be so sure it's him and not the Pure?'
'Because I know the difference between them and I saw how he was when the power block was still in place,' Mokuba turned his head away. 'So I know... I know he cares and there's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise.'
'There really is no question about it in your mind, is there?' An odd look crossed Joey's face.
'Of course there isn't.'
'Why not?'
'Because I know... I know with everything in me that it's the truth.'
'But you have no hard evidence,' Joey shook his head, 'no real proof. All you have is what your instincts are telling you.'
'And I trust those instincts.'
'But what if you're wrong? What if you're mistaking the Pure's feelings for your brothers? And what if he is as well? He's already proven he struggles to separate himself out from her and, as much as I hate to speak badly of the Pure, I know she'd take advantage of that. So how can you be so sure he cares?'
'Because I am. I told you, I trust my instincts.'
'Well that's not good enough for me. I need real evidence that your brother is the one who cares.'
'Why?'
'Because I will not let Tristan get hurt by him,' Joey gritted his teeth. 'I know we're not as close as we used to be, but he's still one of my best friends and I will not let anyone hurt him.'
'My brother would never...'
'You don't know that and that's the problem,' Mai suddenly stepped into the conversation. 'Right now none of us know for certain if Kaiba's managed to sort his own feelings out from the Pure's and that's what makes this situation so dangerous. Because it's not just Tristan who'll get hurt if things go wrong.'
'The First will not allow anyone to hurt the Pure again,' Joey's voice was filled with notes of sadness as he took over from Mai, 'not even her host. You have to understand this situation is a lot more complicated than any of us would care to admit and in order for there to be a happy ended there can't be any doubt about who feels what. Do you understand?'
'Yes,' Mokuba's voice was as mute as he felt, 'I understand.'
