Atem swam through the deserted ship, his skin crawling every time he passed a floating article of clothing. Seth willingly lived here…among death, along with the constant reminder that his family was destroyed by war.
Why would anyone do this to themselves?
It was even worse than an eternity in Confinement.

There was no light aside from the faint moonlight coming in from miles above them, which barely helped illuminate the rotting walls with peeling paper and rusty picture frames.

He heard a movement, and he whipped his head around frantically, his heart pounding rapidly as he tried to locate the noise. It was a broken sill rattling against an algae-covered window frame. Several fish were darting in and out of the hole, swimming aimlessly and whispering to each other about him.

Letting out a tight sigh, Atem swam forward a few feet with his eyes nailed to the dark window. What if a large creature came through and—

His shoulder bumped roughly into a wooden pole, and he jerked back, hissing in pain.

It was a human bed, framed with four large pillars on all four corners, and a ratty curtain was draped over the edges.

Was this…?

Seth's head appeared from underneath the cloth, looking disgruntled.

"The king," he said emptily, looking drained. "How can I help you?"

Atem took a deep breath and decided to start with the truth.

"I love him," he said in a rush. "I want to see him on land, but I can't, because my court has bound me underwater with a pact. Can you see him for me?"

Seth frowned handsomely and pushed the curtain back, patting the softness beside him invitingly.

"You can start by telling me his name," he said heavily, looking extremely depressed. "I don't want to hope anymore. I've given up."

The sorrowful expression threw Atem off guard and he sat down hastily beside Seth, patting his arm reassuringly.

"Seto. Seto Kaiba."

Seth drew in a sharp, trembling breath, his eyes widening slightly before they narrowed into thin slits.

"A coincidence" Seth muttered, clasping his hands on his lap, jerking his arm away from Atem's warm hand. "Don't touch me."

"I'm…sorry?" Atem's heart raced against his will as he recalled Kaiba saying the same words to him.

"He shares my name and my looks, but his surname is the one belonging to a murderer," Seth hissed, unable to contain his rage. "I can't accept it. I won't. This means he's forgotten about home. Or, he's been taken in by the murderer and is now committing crimes on land."

"He is not a murderer," Atem said gently, feeling as if fire was running through his veins at the possibly of Kaiba being Seth's brother. "Please, can you do this for me? Perhaps you will gain closure from this too."

Seth looked at him with dead, empty blue eyes.
Dark lines of misery and sorrow wrinkled at the corners when he frowned, and he shook his head tiredly, his long brown hair floating in the space between them.

"I've had my closure," Seth said rigidly, leaning further away from Atem, seemingly repulsed by physical contact. "His name is carved on the Shrine with mother and father. I'm not rising to shore to meet a murderer."

They sat together in tense silence before Atem decided to break it, holding his hand out firmly with his fingers outstretched.

"Let me give you a map to a private beach," Atem said, seeing his hand shake uncharacteristically with anticipation. "You don't have to go now…or ever, but you'll have this if you ever want to. What if he has remembered home and is trying to come back?"

"Unlikely," Seth said dully, reaching his hand out as he closed his eyes slowly. "But I will accept your map, King Atem."

Seth's hand slipped comfortably through Atem's and Atem instantly felt his cheeks burn with a sudden longing. The feeling of Kaiba's hand in his was something he had missed dearly…!

The moment was over quickly. Seth yanked his hand back, rubbing his wrist lightly with a look of doubt painted across his handsome features.

"I've never seen that shore before, so I will give it a try," the merman said solemnly, his blue eyes darkening. "Now please leave. I'd like to be alone."

"It's close by, we're very near!" Atem whispered breathlessly, resisting the urge to reach out to touch Seth again. "Please, can you check now? He's always waiting atop the rock where my men deposit—"

"I said I'd like to be alone." Seth snapped, lifting the cloth curtain higher above their heads. "Leave me be."

Deeply disappointed, Atem rose from the bed and swam sullenly to the exit, thinking that Seth was only nice for appearances, but underneath, his personality was very rough.

"I can hear you talking about me in your mind," Seth's voice trailed from behind him, sounding angry. "I am nice and its not just for appearances. Seto was always the mischievous one."

Atem turned to give Seth an encouraging smile over his shoulder, trying to hold back tears.

"Yes, so it seems that way," the king said quietly, barely able to speak through his own turbulent emotions, and he disappeared into the other room.

Seth stared at the empty doorway where the fiery red hair was still stamped permanently in his mind, and he shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head.

The way Atem's thoughts raced about Kaiba had made his stomach twist with an emotion he hoped he'd never have to feel again: hope.

Leaning back onto the mattress, Seth gazed up into the darkness above him, running the map over in his mind. Perhaps he would pay that shore a visit, but only after the royals had left.

He didn't want them to see his inevitable break down when he discovered that the man on shore was a sixty-year-old aging human…not his brother.

Turning over onto his side, he shut his eyes tightly and forced sleep to come.


Kaiba stood on the beach, glancing down at the piles of books, alcohol, and clothes stacked neatly between Joey and Tristan.

Both men were flexing their muscles comically, doing a strange dance over the items, singing and celebrating gleefully.

Kaiba watched them with a heavy heart as they began packing them into large woven sacks, and he swallowed his turbulent emotions forcefully.

Joey and Tristan had said this was their last night here.

It had seemed so abrupt and out of nowhere.
A warning or a notice would've been nice, but they had had breakfast together like it was any normal day.

All the normalcy was shattered when Tristan loudly announced it was time to go home with his mouth full of food, and Kaiba felt his stomach drop to his feet.

"We are going to be hailed as heroes—no, kings!" Joey crowed, lifting a dark bottle of bourbon up to his face and giving it a kiss. "I heard this is Shadi's favorite drink."

"Which one is that?" Kaiba asked dryly, trying to ignore the horrible tugging inside his chest. "Forehead Tattoo or Face Tattoo?"

"Mr. Earrings," Tristan said, pointing at his ears and swirling them downwards. "The big ankh shaped ones."

"Forehead tattoo?" Joey wrinkled his nose while scratching his head. "That's Shada."

"Whatever," Kaiba said viciously, rolling his eyes. "Where are you taking this shit? This won't fit in your tiny hole in the wall."

"Shada is an Ambassador," Tristan said seriously, giving Kaiba a glare. "He travels to shore often. You might run into him sometime. Say hi and be nice. We're all on the same team."

"You are all on the same team," Kaiba sneered, wondering where his sudden hostility was coming from when he'd vowed to keep his temper in check. "I'm on the outside looking in."

"Classic resentment," Joey said apologetically, hefting a seaweed sack full of books over his shoulder. "These are going to the meeting spot, and Mahad will help us haul this stuff down. He's gonna be so proud of us."

"Tell that fucker I said 'hi'," Kaiba said, feeling as if he was becoming a broken record. He was always hearing about Mahad through other people and it was becoming tiring.

"That fucker will be told!" Tristan crowed, pointing up at the moon with a wide smile. "C'mon. We're gonna be late."

Joey nodded silently and threw Kaiba an uncertain glance over his shoulder, inadverdantly meeting his icy blue gaze which was unusually dark.

"L-Later bro," Joey shrugged, feeling a pang of uneasiness. "It was fun."

"We've spent so much damn time together and that's all you can say?" Kaiba fumed, wondering if careless goodbyes were mermen specialties. "How about 'thank you for letting me stay on your property?' Or, 'thank you for all this shit?' 'We didn't have to get jobs because all we did was spend out of your pocket!'"

"Alright alright, geez!" Tristan dropped the seaweed sack and dashed across the sand to throw Kaiba into a tight bear hug. "Thanks for all your help and generosity you pure-blooded piece of shit. Better?"

"Don't…touch me," Kaiba hissed, wrenching Tristan's arms off his neck as his skin burned from the sudden contact. "Fuck off already."

"Yeah-haah, hit me!" Tristan yelled, wrestling Kaiba to the ground with force. "You'd lose in a spear fight with me underwater any day. I dare you to come challenge me, rich boy!"

Kaiba's vision turned green as Tristan's arm slowly strangled the air out of him, and he kicked out weakly, hearing Joey laugh above him.

"My turn," Joey rolled up his sleeves eagerly. "I wanna choke him too. Do I get points if he doesn't wake up?"

"Ten points," Tristan grinned, shoving Kaiba across the sand towards Joey, and Kaiba felt a foot press down onto his chest as Joey stood over him with a gleeful smirk.

"Awww, right on the ground where you belong with all the other sea urchins and rich, pure bloods," Joey snickered, grinding his heel down onto mercilessly Kaiba's chest. "You're—"

Kaiba grabbed Joey's ankle and gave it a rough twist, hearing him yelp as he pinned him to the ground in one solid motion and he hovered breathlessly over the blond merman, trying to catch his breath as his vision faded in and out.

"Fuck…you…both!" Kaiba hissed as a pang of deep resentment he hadn't felt in a while for Joey seared through him.

"Ow ow ow ow my leg! My leg!" Joey whined, and Tristan dragged him out from underneath Kaiba's grasp, laughing boisterously.

"A leg you won't have for very long," Tristan teased, helping Joey to his feet. "We'll be back by sunrise. Ready? Now we really gotta go." He threw Kaiba a warm look and smiled genuinely, holding his hand out for a friendly shake.

"Thank you for your help, Kaiba," Tristan said seriously, his brown eyes sparkling in the bright silver moonlight. "We really owe you one—AH! No asking about the Chrysalis location, but literally anything else, we can do. Wanna send more love notes to Atem? You got us to deliver them now."

"How reassuring," Kaiba said sarcastically, but the tightness in his chest had been appeased. "I'll be waiting."

Joey nodded silently and averted his eyes, seemingly at a loss for words.

"OK we gotta go," Tristan said for what seemed like the millionth time. "Watch our backs!"

Kaiba blinked rapidly and nodded too. Holy fuck…this was really a goodbye.

He watched as Joey gave him another half-hearted salute as they waded into the water, their silhouettes oddly lumpy due to the heavy seaweed sacks. His arms felt heavy as the two figures sank deeper into the waves, and he finally managed to raise his hand to return Joey's salute, feeling his eyes sting annoyingly with tears.

He wasn't going to be alone. They said they were coming up to deliver love notes.
But maybe that was just a formality.
Maybe they would forget about him in the midst of their drunken celebration.

How did they keep time underwater if they were so far below, there was no sun to mark the passing of days? That was how Atem had gone for months without seeing him, thinking it had only been a few weeks, but in reality, it was forever.
It felt like forever, and for Kaiba, forever was starting all over again as he was reminded of Atem's parting when the two heads of Joey and Tristan bobbed up and down in the waves.

An arm stuck upwards, giving him a solid middle-finger before it disappeared underneath the water, and Kaiba felt the corners of his lips curve upwards into a smile against his will. Cute.

Sinking down into the sand on his knees, Kaiba turned his gaze upwards to the moon, willing himself not to cry. They were not his friends. They were Atem's friends. They had taught him useful skills like spear wielding, cliff scaling, proper swimming postures, and many other tricks he had never bothered to consider.

The moon was a beautiful thin crescent, glowing silver against the indigo sky, and it was blurring in his vision, obscured by tears of frustration. Kaiba bit his tongue so hard, he tasted blood.

Hanging his head heavily, he sat down in the sand, absently tracing patterns with his finger, trying to keep his mind blank. He wasn't alone. They were Atem's friends. They weren't his friends. He would repeat this to himself as many times as he needed.

He heard a telltale splash against the rock in the distance and he jerked his head up, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Who was it?

Leaping to his feet, he climbed the wet rocky surface with ease, staring down into the dark wavy depths of the ocean, listening to the crashing of the water against the rock, seeing nothing and no one.

"Who's there?" Kaiba shouted, hearing his voice being drowned out by the ocean around him. "Show yourself!"

Underneath the water, Seth clapped a hand to his mouth and willed his mind to remain blank, but his heart was thudding so fast inside his chest, it had become a low hum.
Th-That voice! It sounded like his own voice.

"I'm jumping down…!" Kaiba called, bending down to sweep his hand into the water to make a threatening splash. "Joey? Is this a prank? This isn't fucking funny, you idiots. What happened to being late?"

There was no answer.

Seth edged around the rock, trying to find a good place to kick off without making a sound, and his fingertips grazed along a small opening. Shocked, he found himself staring into a hole carved deep inside the rock, with a row of empty metal hooks lined along the ceiling.

This was a storage unit and it was very cleverly made.
The curved, ridged walls were ingenious, designed to keep water in.
It seemed the contents inside would remain submerged even at low tide.
What interesting human engineering…unless it wasn't.

"Last fucking chance, you goons! Show your faces or I'm coming down there to fight you," Kaiba said dully, palming his face tiredly. His heart couldn't take any more of this hide and seek.

Didn't they just fucking say a long, drawn-out goodbye?

Seth heard this and decided it was time to leave.
He kicked off the rock but to his horror, something landed on him heavily from above. Strong arms wrapped around his neck, slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs as they began to tighten.

Lashing out furiously, Seth fought back, but his elbows were pinned tightly to his sides while his attacker wrapped his legs around his chest and clung on tightly.

"Hold…still!" Kaiba growled, seeing a flash of brown hair in the darkness amidst all the splashing. "Tristan!"

Kaiba froze when he discovered the hair was long…too long, and it tangled tightly against his fists while the merperson struggled, and he leaned away frantically with his heart stuck in his throat.

It was girl! Holy fucking shit!

"Who are you?" Kaiba gasped, and an elbow came smashing into his cheek, causing his head to ram painfully into the rock behind him. "FUCK!"

Stars dotted his vision and Kaiba was filled with a renewed sense of rage. Who was this annoying stranger? Was she here to steal his stash?

Stash? Seth thought anxiously, realizing he was accused of being a thief, and the hands around his neck and tightened again, choking the air out of his body.

I don't care about your useless garbage stash, human! Seth shouted, managing to free the end of his tail and kicking off the rock with fury, and he bolted for deeper water, hearing the man laugh maniacally while clinging onto his back.

"Yeah, take me down there!" Kaiba jeered, spitting out several strands of long brown hair caught inside his mouth. "Tell me where you fucking live and I'll make your life hell!"

Seth skidded to a halt, realizing with terror that this was indeed a horrible idea.

The legs wrapped around his stomach gave him a stifling squeeze, and Seth let out another pained gasp, reaching up to pry the arms off from around his neck but to no avail.
This…human was…stubborn! Also, how was he able to talk and breathe underwater?

"Hey! Turn the fuck around," Kaiba growled, digging his claws into the man's chest.
It was man, he was sure of it now that the hair had settled around them.
There was a pair of muscular arms and broad shoulders, and the tail was a magnificent dark blue with a tint of green, waving stiffly beneath them, keeping them buoyant.

"Or, I'll stay here until you drown, and then you'll let go," Seth said shakily, regretting this outing immediately. "Release me."

Kaiba froze, his arms loosening with shock as he heard the merman's voice.

It sounded…exactly like his own voice.

Seth heard this thought and he broke free by whipping his tail back and shoving his elbows into the stiff ribs behind him, hearing an oof! as the arms fell away from his neck.

Kaiba doubled over, gasping for breath as a wave of nausea consumed him, and he curled his knees up to his chest, wheezing.

Seth risked a glance behind him as he swam away quickly, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

It was a mirror image of himself with shorter hair, curled helplessly in the water clutching his stomach while he gasped for air.

What have I done? Seth thought frantically, dashing forward to grab Kaiba around the waist and dragged him up to the surface.

The human didn't struggle. Instead, he was cursing fluently in his head as they zipped through the water. Seth rode a short wave to shore and rolled onto the wet sand, shoving the human away from him ferociously.

Coughing lightly, Kaiba pushed himself up on all fours, finally getting a good look at the thief, and his heart nearly stopped in his chest when he found himself gazing into a familiar pair of clear blue eyes which were wide with surprise.

The merman was a mirror image of himself, right down to the slender jawline, but his hair was long, so long that it hung down past his waist and curled wetly in the sand beside his fins.

"Mermaid magic or some shit," Kaiba muttered when he finally found his voice. "Very cool. Joke is over. Who are you?"

He coughed weakly again, his stomach churning with nausea.
All of this rapid surfacing was making him sick, dammit.

"Mermaid…what? I'm a man!" Seth cried, feeling awfully exposed as a wave lapped thinly at the tips of his fins. Damn…he had rolled too far away from the water in order to give this human air. He'd have to crawl back to the tide in an undignified manner.

"I'll fucking throw you back in," Kaiba growled in response, his head throbbing terribly from the fight. He palmed the water off his cheek and was slightly terrified when it came away dark green in his hands. "Ugh!"

"You're bleeding!" Seth gasped, pointing a shaking finger at the thin trickle of dark green blood running down Kaiba's temple. "I…hit you…"
What kind of human bled green blood?!

"Who are you?!" Kaiba shut his eyes, riding out another wave of nausea while doing his best not to shout. "Fuck off. The joke isn't funny anymore."

"You think I'm joking?" Seth asked incredulously, propping himself up on his elbows and sitting up with effort. He glanced down at himself and realized he was bleeding from several long claw marks across his chest.

Shooting a terrified glance at the human, he saw pale hands sporting long, untrimmed claws.

Those…were a merman's hands, and they looked identical to his own.

"Stop using my face," Kaiba hissed, curling his lips upwards into a snarl to expose his fangs. "Show yourself before I spit on you."

Seth rolled away angrily, eyeing the water's edge before throwing Kaiba another glance, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw Kaiba's fangs retract as he pressed a hand over his mouth to suppress a dry heave.
The human was deathly pale, and the tips of his fingers were sporting a greyish tinge. His pupils were dilated, and his heart rate was extremely high.

"You're sick…!" Seth whispered, unable to move from his spot in the sand as he stared incredulously at Kaiba. "…Shore sick!"

"Oh, you fucking think?" Kaiba raged, managing to sit up on his knees and wincing in pain as his lungs ached. "Who the fuck are you? Did Atem send you? How many times do I have to tell you people that I'm actually dying here?"

"You…people?" Seth echoed, curling his fingers so tightly in the sand, his skin burned. "Merpeople?"

"Yes! Fuck—!" Kaiba shook the water out of his hair and took several deep breaths, trying to compose himself. Who the hell was this guy? He had popped out of nowhere and was asking stupid questions. What's more, he was wearing his face.

"Do you have strange dreams?" Seth asked immediately, feeling as if a fire had been lit deep inside his chest. "Do you remember anything from your childhood? What did your mother and father look like?"

Kaiba gave the merman a long hateful look.
No. He wasn't in the mood to answer intrusive questions from a stranger look-alike.

"Get off my beach," Kaiba growled, slowly attempting to stand, and his knees trembled violently, not cooperating with the rest of his body. "Shit."
That fight had really weakened him.
Joey had warned him about overexerting himself.

"What color are your tears?" Seth pressed, inching forward across the sand on his stomach, holding his hand out invitingly to Kaiba. "Do you know…who I am?"

Kaiba pointed angrily back to the water with a shaking finger. "Get off…my property. You haven't answered my questions so I'm not going to answer yours. If you weren't sent by Atem, fuck off. This isn't a rest stop."

"Your property?" Seth fumed, his anger flaring quickly to match Kaiba's. "You can't own land touching the ocean."

"Yeah, actually you can, and if you don't know shit, don't come by anymore," Kaiba raged, grabbing a fistful of sand and resisting the urge to lob it at his look-alike's face. "You annoy the fuck out of me, and I don't know why. I'm leaving."

Rising unsteadily to his feet, Kaiba swayed on the spot before walking slowly back towards the house, hearing the merman call out frantically to him.

"Wait please…Seto! Is your name Seto?"

Shutting his eyes furiously, Kaiba rode out the low bubble of nausea clawing its way up his chest as he responded in his head.

No. My name is 'fuck off'.

Seth's mouth dropped open in dismay, watching the human stagger away in the darkness.
Such hostility! It sounded so rehearsed, and he was…getting father away, so he called out desperately again, "Come back! I do have a message from Atem! He came by my colony to visit, and he gave me a map to this shore!"

Kaiba blinked, freezing on the spot as he realized what this meant.

Atem had found his fucking twin underwater and sent him up here? Why?
To show him that he was replaceable?
That merman was real? He wasn't a fucking illusion?

An alien rage reared its ugly head and swallowed him whole as he whirled around to glare at the merman lying stomach-down on the sand in the distance. Hell…fucking no. He was not going to let Atem replace him!

His energy came back in a sudden rush and Kaiba sprinted back towards the merman, his vision burning red as he tackled the man in the sand and wrapped his hands around his throat, squeezing him tightly while hissing, "Did you fuck him?! He's mine, you piece of shit! Answer me!"

Seth gasped for air, thrashing his fins in the sand and raking his claws down Kaiba's forearm, drawing a stream of blood, but Kaiba seemed not to notice. His clear blue eyes were narrowed into hostile slits and his expression was positively ugly with his fangs bared and his nose wrinkled.

I-I can't…breathe! Seth gasped thinly, trying to roll away but that only caused Kaiba's hands to tighten further around his neck. We're…brothers! Don't…kill me you…idiot!

"Brothers? Is that your excuse? Too bad I don't like sharing," Kaiba answered coldly, digging his knees tighter in the sand beside the merman's slender hips, feeling frothy, acidic spit gathering behind his teeth. "I'll melt your face off. Answer my question! Did you fuck him?!"

Seth shook his head frantically, his lungs bursting for air as his head throbbed painfully with every passing second. NO! Mating with Atem was the last thing on his mind! The girl Mana was prettier by far…!

Kaiba heard this thought and hesitated, contemplating letting him up just as long arms jerked upwards and locked around his neck, and he was rolled forcefully onto this side in the sand.

The merman dug his elbows onto his shoulders, pinning him down by leaning heavily on top of him, gasping for air as he glared venomously down at him, his wet brown hair hanging in thin strands off his shoulders, grazing his cheeks.

"It's me, you idiot!" Seth panted, his throat burning with a horrible fire as he doubled over, coughing violently. "You were always so aggressive. This is why you got sent up here! You haven't changed!"

Kaiba stared resolutely up into his twin's face, taking in the slightly rounder cheeks, the same blue eyes and slender nose that dipped down into a pair of feminine lips which were parted with desperation.
This crazy loon was talking like he knew him. As if.
Who was spreading these lies about him underwater? He wasn't a fucking fish.

"You don't remember…" Seth whispered, raking his gaze down Kaiba's blank expression which was clouded with anger. His arms were trembling with weakness, so he rolled gently off of Kaiba's chest and onto his back, gazing up into the dark night sky, his chest heaving.

"I don't know who you are," Kaiba answered dryly, also trying to catch his breath. He finally found his voice, but the pit of anger was still bubbling low inside his stomach.
Tiny puddles of blood dotted the sand around them.
He needed answers, now.

"Then it doesn't matter," Seth said emptily, biting back tears of anger and frustration. "It's better this way."

"Oh no you fucking don't," Kaiba hissed, losing his patience with this cryptic merman. "You don't pop up here telling me shit like 'we're brothers' and say it doesn't matter. It clearly does."

Seth stared at him for a long second before he launched into a tirade like a man possessed, speaking so fast Kaiba could barely keep up.

"Your favorite color is the most common color, blue, like the sky and the ocean. You bully people for fun and can't make friends because of your arrogance. You like to fight, and you're too smart for your own good. You hate following rules, and you break them the first chance you get. How am I doing so far?" Seth seethed, his heard thundering in his chest as he saw Kaiba's eyes widen slightly.

Was it enough?

"So you've read about me in a magazine, congrats," Kaiba rolled his eyes, sitting up in the sand and tucking his knees to his chest, trying to quell his own rage. "Want me to make assumptions about you?"

"There, you see?" Seth cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Do you have trouble getting rest? You've always been a troubled sleeper, but you have the mind of Scholar and the body of a Warrior. You were always stronger and faster, is that what you want to hear?"

"Thanks for the compliments," Kaiba shot back nastily, feeling a trickle of blood run down his arms again and he wiped it away with disgust.

"Your blood isn't even red!" Seth continued, pointing a shaking finger at the dark green stain on Kaiba's skin. "Look at your hands, your claws! Can you hear people's thoughts? You can speak and breathe underwater. Do you think that's what normal humans can do?"

"Of course I know it's not fucking normal," Kaiba spat, growing tired of the merman's obvious statements. "Are you done?"

Seth glared, swallowing his rage as he folded his arms across his chest, determined to continue. "You cry Tears of Light and you're very stubborn."

Kaiba shot his look-alike a withering look. What the hell were tears of light?

"Clear white tears!" Seth exclaimed, his annoyance rising to an all-time high. "Humans call them diamonds. Perhaps you've been selling them, so you use the money to buy…land?" The merman gestured at the empty beach, sounding close to tears himself.

Kaiba stared blankly at the horizon, trying to discern where the sky ended and the ocean began. This fish was saying they were related. That was fucking impossible.
Mokuba was his brother, and they had been together since the orphanage.
If they were related, it was only purely because they looked similar.

"You really don't remember me?" Seth whispered, reaching out to press his hand over Kaiba's hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "What happened to you? Have you really forgotten? Look at me!"

Kaiba slowly swiveled his head around to gaze into the merman's eyes which were dark with sorrow. He waited for a jolt of familiarity, a short vision, a flashback…anything, but his mind remained blank.

"No, I don't know you," Kaiba said plainly, shrinking his hand away, and the merman looked torn.

"N-Not even my name?" The merman choked, and his eyes glistened with tears. "…Nothing?"

"Nothing," Kaiba repeated, giving the merman a stiff nod. "Now you said Atem visited you. What did he want?"

"To confirm if we are brothers!" Seth cried angrily, curling his fingers in the sand and resisting the urge to throw a fistful of it at his twin. "I've been alone all this time, thinking you had died! How dare you take on the last name of the human who murdered our parents! You want to be treated like a mass murderer? I hear they're calling you Seto…Kaiba!"

Kaiba blinked rapidly, feeling himself sinking deeper into the sand while his mind raced with furious confusion. What the fucking hell?

"Tell me all of it," Kaiba felt his lips move against his will and his voice had gone strangely hoarse. "If you think we're related, how did I end up here?"

"You were sent up here!" Seth shook all over, unable to contain himself, so he chose to lie down in the sand on his back before he continued talking.

"Before the Era of King Solomon, a war was brewing between humans and merpeople for petty riches. A queen was imprisoned, and the people panicked—"

"A queen? Atem's mother?" Kaiba interrupted gruffly and Seth gave him a sad nod.

"We were fresh hatchlings, and our people thought we would win the war if they sent children to shore," Seth said, pressing a hand to his forehead as he recounted the horrible events of the past. "Between me and you, they chose you! We cried so much trying to fight the Draft, and when we couldn't, you tried to kill yourself! You don't remember that? You were barely a decade old when you tried swimming into a volcano to avoid Shore Service!"

Kaiba shook his head slowly. Fairy tales. This merman was spouting fairy tales.

"Then, after the war had ended, I heard that humans were hunting immortal children," Seth continued, giving Kaiba's hand another squeeze, feeling the human stiffen in his grasp. "So Solomon issued a decree saying children were no longer allowed to serve as tactical warriors. Several hundred years passed before another war was started by a man named Gozaburo Kaiba. He discovered our existence and wanted to cage us in glass tanks for money."

"Sounds like him," Kaiba said coldly, dragging a finger in the sand slowly, remembering all the investments Gozaburo had made towards war machinery. "Heartless bastard."

He couldn't remember anything before that. Why?

"King Aknamkanon, who is Atem's father, fought this war bravely and lost his life," Seth said, his voice shaking with emotion, still lying flat on his back. "Our parents rose to shore to fight, and they tried looking for you. Did they find you? They did, didn't they? Is that why you're alive?!"

Kaiba threw his twin a nervous glance and decided to lay down in the sand beside him, gazing up at the silver stars twinkling in the sky, his head spinning with an oncoming headache while the tide rose, and a warm wave lapped at his ankles.

"I've never had parents," Kaiba said emotionlessly, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. "All I remember is being shuttled from orphanage to orphanage with Mokuba beside me. I chose Gozaburo because I saw that old man as an easy target. I forced him to adopt us. He was a way out and nothing else."

"Who is Mokuba?" Seth turned his head in the sand to gaze wide-eyed at Kaiba. "A friend you made?"

"Mokuba is my little brother," Kaiba muttered, frowning. "But he's not so little now. He's having a kid. Can you fucking believe that? It's a girl, or so they think."

"I don't understand—but…" Seth blinked wildly, his chest tightening with dread and confusion. "I'm your brother!"

"Stop fucking saying that with no proof!" Kaiba hissed, propping himself up on one elbow to glare at his twin. "Give me a blood sample."

"No need!" Seth snapped, sitting up too. "Just take one of my memories and see if it matches one in your head."

"I have no memories of you!" Kaiba breathed, beginning to lose his patience. "I rely on science. Memories can be faked."

"Our memories are forever," Seth choked, losing his resolve the longer Kaiba glared daggers at him. "You've probably buried them because you experienced trauma…!"

Kaiba grit his teeth and said nothing.

"Take one now," the merman insisted, reaching both hands out shakily as he sat up, waving his tail slowly against an oncoming wave, and he shivered. "Come on. I know just the one."

Kaiba swallowed thinly, staring at Seth's tail waving gently in the water that was now pooling around their waists. The tide had risen, and the sky was turning a wonderful light blue.

After a moment of deliberation, Kaiba shook his head, looking away guiltily.

"I don't want to see whatever hallucinations you're going to show me. I don't believe in that bullshit."

Seth withdrew his hands, looking deeply offended before nodding slowly, reminding himself that it was going to take a while to hammer his way through Seto's defenses, so he had to be patient.

They sat together in heavy silence, watching the sun rise steadily over the horizon, and Kaiba tried his best not to stare at Seth's tail. It was glimmering with beautiful sheens of green and blue, looking almost transparent underneath the steadily brightening sky.

"I'll be leaving now," Seth said finally, swallowing the thick lump in his throat as he inched towards the water. "I'll come back to convince you again."

"Or how about this? Don't," Kaiba responded viciously, his eyes watering as a strip of sunlight caught him in the eye. "You're annoying—"

Seth reached forward and placed a warm hand on Kaiba's cheek, catching him off guard.

"You annoy me too," Seth said firmly, grateful that his voice wasn't shaking. "…because we've always annoyed each other. You are my blood, and I won't abandon you up here. I will find a Chrysalis for you using all of my efforts. I don't care how illegal it is. I will do this for you…for us."

Kaiba blinked rapidly, unable to lean away from the warm hand resting on his cheek and his chest tightened painfully.
Sure. He wasn't going to say 'no' to extra help. This fool was fucking crazy anyway. He could think whatever he wanted as long as a Chrysalis was within his reach.

Seth's hand slipped away from his face, and Kaiba felt his skin burn.

"You've got the wrong person," Kaiba said finally, watching his look-alike push off the shallow beach and bob steadily against a wave, his fins already hidden underneath a rush of foam.

"The more you the talk, the more convinced I am that you are my kin," Seth replied aggressively, giving Kaiba one final look over his shoulder. "Get some rest. I will bring you medicine and leave it in the cave underneath if you're not here."

"I won't be here," Kaiba said instantly, and Seth gave him a warm smile before sinking slowly into a larger oncoming wave.

"I don't even know your name!" Kaiba shouted, rising to his feet and giving the sand a rough kick. To his mild surprise, an answer came in thought-form.

My name is Seth! See you tomorrow, Seto.

Grinding his teeth, Kaiba stalked off back towards his house, his blood boiling with a strange, indescribable fury.

Why couldn't he remember anything the merman was telling him about his so-called past? It sounded like he was listening to a story about someone else's life.

Even Joey was convinced at once point that he had been a fish at birth.

They clearly had him mistaken for someone else.

Biting back a sigh, Kaiba paused mid-step and took a moment to enjoy the beauty of the yellow sun casting white sparkles off the surface of the water before he entered the house.

His phone was vibrating like crazy on the foyer counter, and Kaiba raced forward to snatch it up, seeing Mokuba's name flashing across the screen.

Hastily answering it, Kaiba pressed the phone to his ear. "Moku—"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Mokuba shouted, sounding incensed. "MY WIFE IS IN LABOR! Why can't I reach you?! Even Isono is here! Are you at the beach house? Get here now!"

Kaiba's stomach dropped to the floor and he tightened his fingers around the edge of his phone, nodding frantically even though he knew Mokuba couldn't see him through the screen.

"Yes, Mokuba, I-I'm coming—" Kaiba breathed, but the phone had already clicked off in his ear.

Cursing, Kaiba raced up the stairs to grab a dry change of clothes along with a dosage of scales.
Holy fucking shit. The appearance of his twin in merman form was throwing him off.

I'll deal with him later! Kaiba berated himself, nearly tripping on his own feet down the stairs while his ears rang with a tinny sound.

Everything was going to be fucking fine.
Mokuba was having a kid…!


Author's note:

Oipppppppppppppp! Little bit of a time skip. Just a several months but enough for a human baby to emerge!

hugs!

-Ugli