Chapter 54

Yugi watched the stare off between Tristan and Octan with tense anticipation. Eventually one of them would have to give, but it was impossible to say which one. Beside him he could sense Joey's growing impatience. If one of them didn't break the silence soon, then Joey would probably storm through it like some kind of wild bull.

'You don't have the guts to tell them,' Octan gritted his teeth, 'if you did you would have by now.'

'You're wrong; I'm just waiting for you to turn back into Jay so I can start.'

'You really think I'm going to let you tell him?'

'I'm not giving you a choice.'

'Tristan just tell us what's going on already,' Joey balled his hands up into fists. 'If this has something to do with Cat...'

'It has everything to do with Catilin,' Tristan continued to hold Octan's gaze, 'doesn't it Octan?'

'Tristan...'

'Turn back into Jay Octan, so I can tell him what you did.'

'Tristan, stop making unreasonable demands and tell me what you know about Cat,' Joey grabbed hold of him. 'Right now all you're doing is wasting time. Time which could be better spent helping Cat.'

'Don't get angry at me, get angry at him,' Tristan gritted his teeth and jerked a finger towards Octan. 'He used and manipulated Catilin and if I have to be in his presence for a second longer I swear I won't be held responsible for my actions.'

'And here was me thinking you didn't like Catilin all that much,' Octan smirked and folded his arms.

'You know as well as I do it's not the who, it's the what.' Tristan glared. 'My reaction would be the same no matter who you'd done this too.'

'I'm sure that's not true,' he laughed, 'I'm sure there are a few people in the world you'd be more or less outraged over.'

'Shut up and turn back into Jay already.'

'If I refuse will that stop you from telling everyone else what I did?' Octan cocked an eyebrow.

'No.'

Tristan pushed Joey out of the way and stalked towards Octan. He then grabbed Octan by the collar and glared menacingly into his eyes.

'If you're going to tell them anyway, why should I bother turning into Jay?' Octan remained calm.

'You really don't seem to get who has the power in all this.' Tristan shoved Octan back against the wall. 'I know what you've done and I know enough about you and Jay to know he may eventually forgive you for what you did. But that forgiveness might take a little longer if I tell him how you really feel.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Continue to push me and you'll find out.'


For a few long moments Mokuba just stared at the guy trying to work out if this was for real or not. He knew his brother would be filled with suspicion and disbelief, but a part of Mokuba couldn't help but feel excited at the notion of a long lost cousin. After all, he was too young to remember all that much about his birth family and what he did remember was tainted by their betrayal. Somehow that took some of the shine off of his momentary excitement.

'So how are we related exactly?' Mokuba tried to sound calmer than he felt.

'My dad and your dad were brothers,' the guy licked his lips. 'Mine was older than yours by about five years and a few years after yours was born their mother died. Their father raised them and they had a mostly happy childhood. I remember my Dad telling me him and his brother were like best friends. They always had each other's backs and they remained close even after my Dad got married.' His eyes glazed over and for a moment he appeared to pause in thought. 'Anyway shortly before I was born their father fell really ill and died. Dad and my uncle were devastated, but the tragedy just brought them closer together. My Dad was your Dad's best man and the two would have done anything for each other. They saw each other all the time and it was a pretty happy time. It wasn't until my aunt was pregnant for the first time that I was told about this weird little packed they had,' the guy averted his gaze for a moment. 'A pact which concerns you, Mr Kaiba,' the guy's eyes locked with Mokuba's brother. 'I can still remember thinking… well I don't want to spoil the end of my story just yet.' He laughed nervously, before licking his lips again.

'So if our parents were so close, how come you went to live with your grandparents and not with us?' Mokuba frowned at him.

'My mother had them down as her next of kin. She'd meant to change it so my aunt and uncle would have me; I mean I know they discussed it all the time, but... Well I don't think anyone expected them to die like that. I can remember being taken out of class by the headmaster to be told what happened. Without hesitation I remember asking if I was going to be taken to my aunt and uncle's now, to live with them. The head looked at me as though I were barking mad and told me my grandparents were already on their way. I cried when he told me that.'

'Why?'

'Well I didn't really have much to do with my Mum's side of the family; they lived a long way away. I'd maybe seen them once or twice throughout my whole life up until that point. When the head said I was going to be living with my grandparents I thought he meant the dead ones. I guess it doesn't really matter how smart you are, if you're in shock the illogical always comes to you first.'

'Humph,' Kaiba half turned his head away and Mokuba couldn't help but wonder if his brother had been affected by their parents' deaths in a similar way.

'The next few weeks was filled with lots of rows between my grandparents and your parents. Nobody asked me what I wanted and that hurt a lot. Eventually my grandparents just took me away and that was the last I saw of my aunt and uncle. But it's not the last I heard about you, obviously. I mean, a really long and detailed letter arrived to tell me about Mokuba's birth and my aunt's death from your father. Then another came a few years later about my uncle. It was just a few hurried lines written by a solicitor at your father's request. No details. No warmth. Just that he was dead. I still have both the letters you know, I keep them with me as a reminder of the family I lost. Maybe that's a little hard for you to understand, but...'

'No, I understand,' Mokuba gripped the duel monsters card shaped locket around his neck. 'So... what's the end of your story?'

'Huh? The guy licked his lips again.

'You were about to say something before about a packed between your Dad and ours, but you said you didn't want to spoil the end of your story.'

'Oh right, well like I said before our dads were close, not only to each other but also to their own father. When he died they both wanted to honour him in the same way. And maybe the way they chose is a little weird and I'm sure if they weren't such good friends it might have caused a problem. But... well they both wanted to name their first born sons after their father and... they both did. You see,' a slight smirk appeared on his face, 'my name is also Seto. I am Dr Seto Khoral.'


'Ah, Tristan,' Octan's eyes filled with sudden confusion, 'what are you doing?'

'Jay,' Tristan let go of him and backed away, 'sorry, I just didn't know how else to get Octan to switch with you.'

'Look, I know the guy can be a little... abrasive sometimes, but...'

'Look, I'll explain everything now.'

'Could you start with the part which involves Octan becoming Jay?' Téa cocked an eyebrow.

'Octan and I share a body,' Jay smiled at her. 'I don't know what he looked like before he became a part of me, but this is what he looks like now, which is how I looked when I was alive.'

'Alive?'

'Did you not cover the part where I was also dead?' Jay shot Tristan a look.

'It didn't come up,' Tristan shrugged, 'and since nobody had any problems talking to Octan...'

'Yeah, but Octan did that whole dying without dying thing,' Yugi frowned. 'Least that's what I read. So I guess everyone figured...'

'Nope, the body is mine,' Jay grinned. 'The death was too. Although since Octan was bound to the Mistresses still I kinda... Well I might as well have suffered his fate.'

'You're about to suffer a whole lot more than that,' Tristan turned away from him.

'What do you mean?'

'I have to tell you what Octan did; it's the only way any of you are going to make sense of what's going on with Catilin right now.'

'Tristan, why do I get the feeling I should be asking two questions at once here?' Jay stared at him. 'What did Octan do and what's going on with Cat?'

'He manipulated her into killing your father.'

'He what?'

'He manipulated her into killing your father,' Tristan gritted his teeth as the shock of his words set in with the others. 'That's the real reason you were supposed to keep her on Sil. He used her mental instability to create a monster and now that monster is loose. It's loose and we have to work out a way of controlling it until the Mistresses can stop it.'

'I don't think the Mistresses plan on stopping it,' Joey's voice sounded dry. 'I think... it's a... it's a mortal problem, they... they're leaving it up to us.'


Mokuba's jaw had very nearly hit the floor when the stranger told them his name. Kaiba on the other hand remained unnerved. He'd always tried his best not to think too much about his family, but there were certain facts and details he kept locked away inside his mind just in case he ever needed them again. This was one of those pieces. But just because he knew about his cousin, didn't mean the man standing in front of them was him.

'So you're telling me your name is Seto Khoral?' Kaiba narrowed his gaze on him for a moment.

'Most people just call me SK, but yeah I am Dr Seto Khoral.' SK licked his lips. 'I know you would have been little more than a toddler when we last met, but do you remember anything about me at all?'

'I don't remember you, but my father did mention something about a cousin with the same name as me. In my childhood naivety I used to imagine how strange it would be to meet this cousin of mine. Then my father died and my mother's relatives bled us dry and dumped us off so I quickly lost interest in meeting any relative of mine again after that.'

'I guess it must have been hard for you,' SK's tongue skated across his lips again.

'I grew up fast and made sure my brother and I had the best possible life we could, with no help from anyone else, especially not a family I couldn't trust.'

'But... I mean... I was still a child when... I wasn't even around... I...'

'Save the begging me for forgiveness part of this little act of yours,' Kaiba met and held his gaze, 'I'm not even totally convinced you're telling the truth about who you are yet, never mind anything else.'

'I'm not…' SK's tongue made a nervous path across his lips, 'I'm not lying I swear. Why would I do that?'

'How should I know, maybe there's something you're after.'

'What could I possibly want off you?'

'In case you haven't noticed Dr Khoral, I'm a very wealthy man and…'

'Oh to hell with money!' SK cut him off. 'I can get a research grant like that,' he snapped his fingers, 'I don't need money from you and I'm insulted you would think so.'

'Fame then, maybe you want a share in the reflected glory of the Kaiba name.'

'To hell with that too, I'm happy being a Khoral. It was the name I was raised with and the one I shall take to the grave with me. Fame is overrated anyway; so long as I'm respected in the academic circles I don't need anything else. And in case you're wondering Mr Kaiba I'm already very respected.'

'How do I know you're not lying?'

'Are you trying to tell me that everything I have worked so hard for, all the research I've shown you and you've agreed is worth merit, is just to piece together some goddamn elaborate lie to get my hands on something I don't even care about?' SK slammed his fists down onto Kaiba's desk. 'Are you really that egotistical? I came here for two reasons and two reasons only; to gather together the direct descendents of the Brotherhood of Brothers and to finally fulfil my promise to reunite myself with my own lost family. If you don't believe me on the second point then at least co-operate with me on the first.'

Kaiba and SK's eyes locked together. There was still something intriguing about the guy. His passion, his determination, his self-motivated attitude, it all reminded Kaiba a lot of himself. Not that he would be willing to admit it to anyone; not at this point at any rate. After all, this guy could still be nothing more than a brilliant actor. Until Kaiba had verified both his identity and his motives he wasn't going to trust the guy.

'I believe you SK.' Mokuba broke into Kaiba's thoughts. 'I believe you really are my cousin.'

'Mokuba,' Kaiba couldn't help but feel annoyed at his brother's trusting nature.

'I know you don't trust him Seto, but I do,' Mokuba shot an almost pleading look at him. 'I believe SK really is our cousin. There's something in his face... I know it sounds crazy, but he looks a lot like you.'

'It doesn't sound crazy at all.' SK appeared to sigh in relief. 'I've always been told I took after my father's side of the family for looks so it's only natural there would be a resemblance between us.'

'And there really is.'

'You might have fooled my brother, but I'm still not convinced,' Kaiba folded his arms. 'Not by the cousin side of your story anyway. I will for now agree to go along with your research. It will take a few hours for my people to verify it and once they have...'

'Once they have I hope I'll have gathered your peers together.' SK licked his lips again. 'I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but when I get excited about something I just have to keep going until I'm done. So I'd like to gather the others together tonight if possible.'

'Whatever. Who are these others anyway?'

'Locals, so you might know them,' SK's face filled with a nervous smile, 'Joey and Serenity Wheeler and Yugi Motou.'


Jay was having a hard time processing the information he'd been given. The idea Octan had manipulated Catilin was almost too horrifying to believe, but at the same time lots of little things started falling into place. Things which told Jay without a doubt Tristan was telling the truth. It hurt. It was like someone had shoved their hand through his chest and ripped his unbeating heart out of him. How... how could Octan do this? How could he hurt him so much?

'At least I know now why you've been trying so hard to get away from me,' he mentally shot at his other half.

'Your father needed to be punished. He got what he deserved. I was justified.'

'And what about Cat? Did she deserve you taking advantage of her like that? You abused your power over her. You abused her trust and mine. Are you trying to tell me that was justified?'

'Yes.'

'I don't believe this. I don't believe you,' Jay clutched his hands to the sides of his head.

'She was insane anyway; I don't see what the problem is.'

'You don't see what the problem is? You don't see what the problem is?' A burst of anger shot through Jay. 'Let's just ignore for a second the fact you abused an innocent girl here and focus on the fact that you created a monster in the process. Now tell me you don't see what the problem is.'

'Jay...'

'I don't want to hear it Octan. I don't want to hear anything from you right now. You have no idea how much you've hurt me.'

'I do. I... I can feel...'

'Then I hope what you feel from me racks you with guilt.' Jay gritted his teeth. 'I hate you so much right now. You took the one good thing about my afterlife... the one thing I which made me happy and you ruined it. I shared my life with you. I share my death with you. I should never have shared her with you. She was mine. And now... now you've ruined her.'

'Jay...'

'I told you I don't want you to speak to me right now. I just want you to shut up and feel every inch of pain you've caused me. I want you to feel more guilt than you ever thought possible. I want you to know I will never forgive you for this.'

'We both know that's not true.'

'Do we?'

'Jay...'

'Why did you do it? Tell me why you did this.'

'I did it because your father hurt you, killed you, he needed to be punished. I was justified.'

'But why her?' Jay felt his eyes sting with tears. 'You could have used anybody, why did it have to be her?'

'Because she was there and I didn't think you would get so attached.'

'And that makes it alright, does it?'

'You shouldn't have allowed yourself to get so close to the living Jay, you're dead.'

'So are you, but that didn't stop you from getting pretty attached to me.'

'That was different.'

'Was it? Or are you just trying to alleviate your own guilt somehow.'

'I was justified Jay.'

'Yeah well I hate you Octan,' Jay levelled his mental voice enough to deaden the impact of his words, 'and I'm feeling pretty justified about that.'