Chapter 56
All of his plans had been put on hold the second he'd mentioned the names of the others the night before. His elder cousin had instantly gone off on one, accusing SK of all kinds of things half of which he wasn't sure he understood. Mokuba had saved him from his confusion by explaining what those names meant to the brothers and although SK felt Kaiba's reaction had been more than a little excessive, it did bring home the fact that Kaiba was still very much a teenager. It didn't matter how intelligent or together he was, he was still driven by teenage impulsive and irrational emotions. He could act mature. He could walk, talk and calculate like a business man, but he was still a teenager driven by excesses he didn't even realise were there.
It reminded SK of himself at that age. The single minded obsession. The compulsive need to be right and the best all the time because all those forces inside of you, you couldn't control wouldn't let you be anything less. It's why he'd earned his doctorate by the time he was twenty and why his cousin was the sixteen year old head of the Kaiba Corporation. Their kind of intelligence combined with teenage hormones was a powerful combination and the price was a little bit of irrational logic.
Knowing what he was faced with, SK allowed Mokuba to talk him into waiting until morning to find the others. It was much later than he'd thought anyway, but even so he still wasn't tired. He'd spent what night was left lying in the bed the Kaibas had provided for him staring up at the ceiling. His mind refused to switch off. He knew he'd had a long day, but he wasn't even remotely tired. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he had felt tired. The thought bugged him a little bit, but he pushed it away. Who cares when the last time he felt tired was, what did it matter anyway? It wasn't as though he needed sleep. Again the thought bugged him; of course he needed sleep, why wouldn't he need sleep?
He got out of bed with the dawn chasing away nagging thoughts about sleep and tiredness. He washed and dressed and made his way down through the house in search of the kitchen. He wasn't hungry; he just figured this would be where the Kaiba brothers would eventually come once they'd woken up. The house was quiet apart from a few pottering servant; most of them ignored SK's presence but a couple asked if there was anything he needed. There wasn't. Despite his vast intelligence, SK was a pretty simple guy. He'd never needed much and recently he'd needed even less. The only thing which mattered to him was his research. Food, sleep, human interaction, all these things had lost meaning for him. He didn't know when it had happened, but it had.
Something pulled at his stomach as he sat down at the table in the Kaibas' kitchen. It was only recently things had lost importance for him. It didn't feel right somehow. Didn't feel like him. His mind began turning over several thoughts he'd previously deemed unimportant. Where had all his friends been the last few months? Why hadn't he been feeling tired when he was barely sleeping or eating? And how had he made it to Domino City in the first place? He couldn't remember the journey at all, but then he'd been so focused on getting here nothing else really seemed to matter.
The door to the kitchen open and Mokuba entered. Relieved by the distraction, SK allowed his confusing thoughts to melt away. Within seconds they were gone and his focus was Mokuba.
'When I said you both might know them, I didn't think you actually did,' SK averted his gaze. 'I know I said all this last night, but I just want to drive my point home a little. Seto is the same age as Joey and Yugi; I figured they might have been in school together. But that was me assuming Seto still went to school. If I'm being totally honest with you, I had no idea Duel Monsters was such a big deal anyway. Not a big enough deal for Seto to have dedicated a large amount of his time not to mention his company's resources to it. I...'
'SK its okay, you didn't know, you don't need to convince me about anything.' Mokuba shook his head. 'Seto on the other hand...'
'What about me,' Kaiba appeared in the doorway behind Mokuba.
'I was just apologising again for last night,' SK licked his lips, 'if I'd had any idea what those people meant to you and your brother I would never have...'
'Save it for someone who cares.'
'So I'm... I'm guessing you won't be joining me in finding the others then. I mean, I more than understand your position on this one but... You see I was hoping that once I have a chance to talk to them... Well I'd still like for all of the descendents to be gathered in one place, it...'
'I'm a very busy man Dr Khoral and I'm still not totally convinced by your research or by you. I see no reason why I should waste my time with your so called project.'
'I understand your feelings about all this,' SK licked his lips again, 'but it would mean a lot to me if you would just meet with us all for a few minutes this afternoon. Half an hour tops, I promise. Just enough time for me to take some photos for my files, that's all I'm asking.'
'It's all you're asking of me right now Dr Khoral, how do I know you won't want more from me after this?'
'We're alike, you and I, when we set out minds to something we don't stop till we get it, because it's the only thing we want. The only thing which will make us happy,' SK licked his lips again. 'My research doesn't end with this project; this is simply my way in. My way of getting notoriety and further research grants. But right now the only thing I want is for all the descendents to meet with me this afternoon so I can put the first stage behind me and move on. After that the only thing I want from you and your brother is the chance to get to know you. A chance to give you back some sense of family. That's all.'
For a few long moments Kaiba was silence. Then he folded his arms and half turned away from him.
'I won't promise anything Dr Khoral, but I will try to spare you half an hour if I can.'
'Thank you Seto,' SK found himself almost laughing with relief, 'you have no idea how much this means to me. And please call me SK.'
'Whatever.' Kaiba shrugged as he left the room.
SK's tongue skated across his lips as he let out the breath he'd been holding. His gaze then turned towards Mokuba who was looking more than a little relieved himself. For a few moments the two of them were silent.
'I can come with you when you go to meet the others, right?' Mokuba shot him a look. 'I know Seto's not keen on the idea, but... well I get on with them and... Well, you are my cousin, right?'
'Right,' SK smiled, 'I'd like that. I mean, its part of the reason I'm here.'
'Seto will come round you know, he's just not big on the whole trusting thing.'
'It's okay Mokuba, I understand.' SK licked his lips again. 'You're brother is everything and nothing like I expected.'
'What about me?'
'Huh?'
'Am I like you expected?'
'I don't know,' SK felt almost embarrassed by his question, 'I never really had any expectations about you. I guess because I never actually met you. You were just a name on a piece of paper to me. But please don't be offended by that, I want to get to know you, I just...'
'Had no expectations of me,' Mokuba waved his hand dismissively, 'don't worry about it. It's not like I had any expectations about you either.'
'You didn't even know I existed, what's my excuse?'
'I don't know,' he grinned, 'but if we look hard enough I'm sure we'll find one.'
Mokuba couldn't help but feel a mixture of apprehension and excitement. There was something about SK he liked and it wasn't just the fact he reminded him of his older brother. When SK talked about things which excited him you could tell they really excited him. It was the same level of passion Kaiba could have, only SK didn't mute it down or try to hide it. SK was how Kaiba would be if he wasn't so concerned with reputation and remembered he was still a kid once in a while. Not that SK was a kid anymore, not physically anyway, but it was clear to Mokuba he was still young at heart. Or at least young enough to still be an enthusiastic dreamer.
On the ride over to the Kame Game shop, Mokuba found himself engaging SK in idle chitchatter. It wasn't that he didn't have things he wanted to know about his cousin, he was just too afraid to ask. Besides, they would have plenty of time to get to know each other if SK really was serious about having a relationship with them. Solomon Motou was sweeping the doorstep of his shop when the limo they were in pulled up outside. To Mokuba's surprise, SK jumped out of the limo before it had even stopped moving. His face was filled with a wildly excited look and again Mokuba couldn't help but feel this is what his brother would be like if someone took him off mute.
'Mr Motou,' he grabbed hold of Solomon's hand. 'You are Mr Motou, aren't you?'
'Yes I am sonny,' Solomon stared at him in confusion, 'how can I help you?'
'Is your grandson about by any chance sir? It's important that I speak to him.'
'I'm afraid he's at the hospital taking care of friends of his at the moment, so I doubt he'll be up for a duel right now I'm afraid.'
'A what?' SK half shook his head.
'Hello there Mokuba,' Solomon nodded at him as he joined SK, 'is this young man with you?'
'Yeah he is,' Mokuba nodded.
'Well as I told him Yugi's at the hospital right now and probably not in the mood for duelling.'
'That's not why we're here,' Mokuba tried to keep his voice as level as possible. 'My cousin SK needs him to help with his research.'
'Your cousin?' Solomon frowned. 'I didn't know you had a cousin.'
'Neither did I till last night. He showed up out of the blue,' Mokuba suddenly felt uncomfortable. 'Anyway he needs Yugi's help with his research.'
'His research?' Solomon's eyes went towards SK.
'My research into historical genealogy,' SK licked his lips, 'you might not have heard about it, or about me, but I know you have met my friend and mentor Professor Hawkins.'
'Yes he's a good friend of mine.' The old man thought for a moment. 'In fact I think he might have mentioned a young man studying family lines from the Pharaohs to the modern day, you wouldn't happen to be Dr Khoral now would you SK?'
'Dr Seto Khoral,' SK nodded, 'I'm surprised Professor Hawkins mentioned me, I'm really not that impressive. Not yet anyway.'
'Perhaps not, but he felt your research was worth a lot of merit.' Solomon smiled warmly at him.
'It is,' SK licked his lips again. 'So... your grandson...?'
'Like I said, he's at the hospital taking care of friends right now.'
'Would he mind if I went to speak with him, only... well I'm not an impatient man, just...'
'Passionate,' Solomon laughed. 'Arthur did tell me you had a tendency to get wrapped up in the moment.'
'So do you think he would mind me seeing him now? Your grandson I mean.'
'I'm sure he'd be glad of the distraction.'
'Thank you,' SK bobbed him a slight bow, 'you have no idea how much this means to me.'
'No, I'm sure I don't, but I think I can imagine.'
'Thank you.'
Mokuba jumped into the back of the limo and held the door open for his cousin. SK moved towards the door, then his eyes rested back on Solomon for a moment and he frowned.
'Mr Motou did you ever…?' SK stopped himself and licked his lips again. 'Never mind.'
'No, go on young man, what were you about to ask me?'
'It doesn't matter; you'd probably just think I was crazy anyway.' He gave a friendly nod and pulled himself into the limo. 'Goodbye Mr Motou, thank you for your help.'
With the door to the limo now closed they pulled away. For a couple of minutes there was silence and Mokuba found himself studying his cousin carefully. There was a deeply thoughtful expression on his face mixed with just the slightest amount of confusion.
'SK are you okay?'
'I... I'm not sure,' his tongue skated across his lips again.
'What... what were you about to ask Mr Motou anyway?'
SK was silent for a few moments, then his gaze flicked towards Mokuba.
'Before my parents died my aunt, your mother, held a rather extravagant birthday party. It was an adult only affair so your brother and I were put up in the nursery to keep us out of the way.' He licked lips yet again. 'Alongside me and Seto there was one other kid in the room with us that night. Can't remember his name, but he was a similar age to your brother, I think. See his mum was one of my aunt's friends and was suppose to have spent the night being looked after by the woman's father or father-in-law, I can't remember which, but her husband for some reason couldn't make it, so she decided to invite the old man instead; of course that meant the kid had to come too. Anyway whilst your brother and the kid slept I snuck out into the hallway to watch the party going on below and the old man spotted me there and came to talk to me, said he felt out of place down there with all those lively young people. We chatted for a long time, can't really remember what about, but…' he hesitated. 'I've not thought about the party in a long time and I can barely remember what the old man even looked like, but... seeing Mr Motou like that just now I... I could have sworn he was that man.'
Somehow Tristan had managed to talk Jay into getting some sleep, not that the dead really needed to, not according to Jay anyway, but Tristan felt it would help level the guy out a little if he got some rest. Serenity had settled back down for a few more hours sleep of her own shortly after leaving Tristan as the only awake being in the whole room until morning. When morning finally hit the others started to come too slowly.
For a few long moments Tristan envied them their calm. He didn't know why, but the dread stirring within him suggested it was something he and he alone was feeling. That only he was ever going to feel. It was a lonely thought and one he prayed wasn't true, but something within him told him unless something major suddenly changed none of them would ever experience this. Tristan tried to shake the thought from his head, but it was as impossible to get rid of as it was lonely. Something he didn't understand was happening to him and it was already pulling him away from his friends.
'Tristan are you alright?' Yugi placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.
'I... I'm just tired,' Tristan tried to smile at him, 'I didn't get any sleep in the end.'
'Are you still getting that feeling?'
'Yeah, but I'm sure it'll settle down once we sort this Catilin mess out.'
Tristan tried to fill his face with a believable expression, but he could tell Yugi wasn't convinced. He turned his head away and sighed.
'What's happening to me Yugi, why do I feel this way?'
'I wish I could tell you Tristan.'
'I want it to stop. I really, really want this feeling to go away.' Tristan flicked a glance in his direction. 'Because I think... I think it's pulling me away from you guys and I don't understand why.'
'We won't let you get pulled away from us Tristan, you know that, right?' Joey suddenly appeared beside him. 'I know there's a lot going on right now, but I promise no matter what we'll all be friends, always.'
'That is what we promised, right?' Téa grinned as she joined them. 'That we'll always be there for each other no matter what. You'll never be alone Tristan, even if we're really far apart, none of us will ever be alone.'
'Thanks guys,' Tristan smiled at them wishing he could believe what they were saying, 'I feel a lot better now.'
'Well I'll feel a lot better once we have the whole Cat situation sorted out,' Joey's expression became firm. 'So what's our plan of attack on this one?'
'I'm not sure,' Yugi tilted his head to one side, 'do you think that woman you spoke to meant we were the others you needed or...'
'I don't know.' Joey folded his arms. 'I guess we have a lot of talking to do before we have this all figured out.'
'Right,' now it was Jay's turn to make an appearance, 'and I guess that talking starts with me.'
It had remembered everything. It knew what it was now. Who it was. It remembered how things had become so lost to it and it knew why it needed this body so much. A long time ago it had been powerful, strong, with a form all of its own. But then something had happened. A single moment of betrayal had destroyed everything and now it was incomplete.
'You're an insane little bit, aren't you?' It stared up at its reflection. 'There are some who would say I was insane too, wanna find out why?'
'I won't let you hurt anyone.' Its reflection glared back.
'But it won't just be me hurting them,' it moved towards the mirror, 'don't you understand that? You're a part of me now.'
'No.'
'Don't you get it little girl, I'm inside your head now. I control you; everything about you, even your fear of me is my doing. You are powerless.'
'No. No if that were true you would have left this room by now.' Its reflection shook her head. 'I'm the one keeping you here. I'm the one making you stay. Because that's my body and I still have enough control of it to...'
Its laughter cut off the reflection's words. It ran its hand gentle down the glass and laughed as she quivered at its touch.
'Kneel for me.'
Its reflection did as she was told, making it laugh again.
'You see, I was right, I control you.'
'No... I...'
'Don't try to argue with me little girl, you know I'm right. I'm inside your head now; I can make you do anything I want.' It touched the cheek of its reflection and smirked as she flinched away. 'You fear me because I want you to fear me. You fear me because you have no control. Say it.'
'N-no...'
'Say it. Say you have no control.'
'I...'
'Say it.'
'I have no control.'
'You can't be serious.'
'I am.'
'Are you really that afraid of a mortal threat?'
'Who said this had anything to do with fear?'
'No, of course it doesn't, you're just doing what you always do. Feeling guilty and instead of helping to resolve the situation you feel so guilty about you're choosing to run away from it. One of these days you're going to have to actually do something. Or let me do something.'
'I am the eldest, the most powerful and the leader, that makes it my decision, not yours.'
'So you say what you always say. You decide we should hide ourselves away and let someone else deal with it. Well I'm tired of doing nothing; I say we stop this before it gets out of hand. A mortal threat...'
'It's more than just a mortal threat, something's changing, don't you feel it? Something's been wrong ever since that incident on Giya.'
'Isn't that what I've been saying for the last eighteen months? Does your apathy make you slow on the uptake as well as unable to act?'
'You have to get out of here, now. You have to hide.'
'You mean we have to hide, right?'
'No, you. I want you to gather our sister and hide somewhere safe. Things are about to change.'
'What do you mean things are about to change? Don't tell me the queen of doing nothing is about to...'
'I want you and our sister somewhere safe. I won't forgive myself if either of you gets hurt. Do you understand?'
'No, no I don't understand. What are you planning to do exactly?'
'Things have to change and we've known this change was coming for a long time.'
'You can't be serious.'
'It's the only way. It's the only way to make this right.'
'You're wrong. I won't let you do this.'
'I'm not giving you a choice. I won't see the two of you hurt. If this is what it takes to save you...'
'You can't mean that.'
'I can. Take our sister and hide, there's no reason it has to be all three of us. Just me will be enough.'
'But you don't do anything. You never do anything. Why now? I don't understand.'
'I don't either. But this is what my gut is telling me to do.'
'No, you're lying. Your gut is telling you to do what it always tells you to do. Nothing. You're going to face this threat and do nothing to stop it, aren't you? You think it's like those others, don't you? The one's from Giya. You think it's going to come after us and that it's going to be satisfied with just you.'
'I am the most powerful and this is a mortal darkness. Powerful, yes, but born from mortal anger, just like the others were. I don't know what drives them to come after us, but if I had to guess I'd say it was to do with power. They want to prove they're more powerful than we are.'
'So you're going to let them think that?'
'Isn't that why we had this plan in place to begin with?'
'I didn't realise it was a mortal threat we were so worried about. I thought... No, don't tell me you think...'
'I think that it's coming after us, but it's only going to find me.'
'What can you tell me about this thing controlling Cat,' Joey narrowed his gaze on Jay.
'Not a whole lot. I mean, its Octan's doing not mine and... and I really have no idea what he did. All I know is the Mistresses were very keen to keep Cat on Sil after.'
'Octan said something about them having some kind of backup plan,' Tristan pressed his lips together. 'When I mentioned it to you last night you said something about that plan being us, right Joey?'
'Err... yeah, I guess I did.' Joey gave a nervous laugh. 'If I'm being totally honest with you I can't remember what I did and didn't say last night. With everything going on...' he rubbed the back of his neck.
'Just tell us what your visitor told you,' Tristan massaged his temples.
'She said it was a mortal problem created by a friend of theirs,' Joey searched back through his memory. 'She also said she and her sisters had been watching the three of us again and that we would have to be the ones to stop it.'
'Three of us?' Yugi looked confused for a moment.
'She meant the three members of the Brotherhood of Brothers,' Jay gave a muted half laugh. 'Of course, it makes sense. Anything they could do to help would be too much for Cat's body to handle, but if the three of you were to act in their place...'
'Three of us?' Yugi repeated, cocking an eyebrow at Jay as he did. 'Which three?'
'The three Khines of the Brotherhood of Brothers,' Jay pressed his lips together, 'Veronie, you and...'
Before Jay could finish what he was saying, the door to the room flew open to reveal Mokuba and a young man. A man who, for half a second, Joey had almost mistaken for Kaiba in a bad wig. But then the definite visual differences crept in leaving Joey to wonder where his initial instinct had come from. Instead he joined the others in staring at the guy and waiting with a mixture of annoyance and anticipation for whatever was about to happen next.
