Atem gazed happily out the car window, taking in the scenery flying by and enjoying Kaiba's warm hand on his leg, which gave him the occasional squeeze.
This visit to shore was exhilarating. It kept getting better the more he came up here.
Everything sparkled when the sun hit it, and Atem was beginning to see why some warriors deserted the army just to stay on land. Kaiba had spared no expense and had brought along several bodyguards for their trip into the city.
The sky was a beautiful, clear blue as they whizzed down the highway, and Atem pressed his nose to the glass, still awed by the way the buildings seemed to touch the sky. The car pulled around a wide street and stopped in a narrow alleyway. Confused, Atem let Kaiba help him out of the car as the men in suits climbed out after them and filed out into the street.
Intrigued, Atem followed them and Kaiba's hand clamped down around his wrist.
"Stay close. Don't look into a camera if you see one," Kaiba warned, and Atem nodded stiffly, obediently falling into step behind him as they exited the alleyway and continued down the street.
It wasn't crowded, but Atem grew increasingly self-conscious the more he felt people turn their heads to stare. Then he realized they weren't staring at him, but at Kaiba, who was one step ahead of him, dressed in his usual sharp suit. The only startling difference was the long ponytail of brown hair draping down his back, almost grazing the tips of his fingers.
Atem stared at Kaiba's hair, his chest swirling with a strange emotion.
He kept staring at it, mesmerized by how it swung then whey walked up the steps of a large, glass building, and he didn't realize they had entered an elevator until he turned to see silver doors sliding shut behind him.
The bodyguards piled into the tiny space with them, and Atem leaned closer to Kaiba, his heart fluttering nervously.
"Where are we going?" Atem asked quietly, realizing he'd been so distracted by his new surroundings that he'd forgotten to ask about their destination.
"It's a surprise," Kaiba replied, sparing Atem a small smile, straightening his shoulders and trying to contain his own excitement. Hopefully the mer-king would approve.
Atem heard this thought and decided to keep his expression pleasant just in case. Whatever surprise Seto had in store for him, he would react positively to it. It was clear that Kaiba was trying extremely hard to please him, and that thought was pleasing enough.
The elevator floated to a stop and the doors slid open to reveal a sleek, circular floor with a few shops spaced apart by white pillars. People were sitting against a glass wall while their children were running around in an enclosure that had towering colorful structures, and Atem beamed.
"It's a playground!" Atem exclaimed happily, and he received a grimace and a shake of the head from Kaiba.
It…wasn't this?
"It's a play area for the kids while the parents do their shopping," Kaiba said, gesturing at the glowing doors all around them. Atem nodded and froze when he noticed Adina's name sparkling in sleek, golden letters set against a pair of metal doors. This was the only shop that didn't have glass doors or windows, and two guards with wires in their ears flanked the entryway with their muscular arms clasped seriously in front of them while they stood at attention, clearly guarding the vault Kaiba had named after their daughter.
"Wh-What's this? A treasury?" Atem guessed, eyeing all the red rope surrounding the sides of the store. It looked like a royal lived inside. Was this a royal…play area?
"Guess again," Kaiba said quietly, nodding at the two guards, and they opened the doors for them with a sweeping motion and bowed as they walked past.
Apprehensive, Atem followed Kaiba inside and swallowed thinly when he saw rows and rows of glass counters, all displaying jewelry.
Salespeople stood at each column and bowed when they strode past, and Atem glanced around fearfully, staring into the displays, his eyes watering from how much it all sparkled while his stomach twisted strangely. Was Kaiba selling mer-riches on land?! It seemed like it!
He disapproves. Figures, Kaiba thought dryly, waving a woman away from her post behind the counter and lifting the security banner for Atem to step through towards the glass counters for a better look.
Atem stood very still in the middle of the store, taking it all in piece by piece.
The room was enormous! It was as large as the royal dining hall… Maybe even larger. And the jewelry inside the cases were delicate and expertly made, reminiscent of the gems Kaiba had sent him over the years.
The most startling aspect was the décor on the walls. They were large screens displaying beautiful, smiling children, all wearing the accessories while they laughed and played. The photos would change, and Atem's breath hitched in his chest every time he saw the photo of a woman's hand touching a baby's wrist, the both of them wearing matching bracelets, strung with a colorful mix of pearls and polished agate.
"Like it?" Kaiba grinned handsomely and leaned against the counter, pointing directly beneath him at a set of necklaces. "It's the Mommy and Me 'crap rubies' Necklace."
Speechless, Atem moved closer for a better look, his heart skipping painful beats as the gems sparkled prettily up at him from the white velvet cushions.
"What…did you do?" Atem breathed, leaning against the counter as a sudden rush of dizziness overtook him. He wasn't angry, but he felt nauseous.
"Need to sit?" Kaiba asked shrewdly, eyeing the salesperson's stool a few feet away. "But before you lecture me, I'll have you know that these stores singlehandedly resurrected Seth's kingdom."
Our kingdom, Kaiba added nervously, noticing Atem's forehead beginning to shine with nervous sweat.
Crap. Atem really didn't approve.
"We have an inhouse jeweler who is training an apprentice, so what better way to study up than to make kid's jewelry?" Kaiba said conversationally, hating the silence between them while Atem concealed his thoughts. It was making him anxious. Did Atem hate it or not?!
Atem's fingertips whitened against the counter as he struggled with himself.
So this was how Kaiba had put his kingdom back on the map so quickly. Was this considered exploitation of humans? Or exploitations of mer-people for their gems? Perhaps both?
"Relax," Kaiba growled, reaching out to give Atem's arm a squeeze. "If you take a closer look, they're not anything special. The main selling point are the designs. We don't have an online store because we want to prevent plagiarism."
"It's—" incredible, Atem choked on his words as he leaned down to gaze into the glass again, seeing a set of tiny rings made for infants, or were they earrings?
Kaiba had turned mer-currency pennies into jewelry for human children. It was touching.
"You don't sell emeralds? Or diamonds?" Atem asked nervously, and Kaiba gave him a handsome smirk that made his heart skip a beat.
"Want to see the catalog? Here," Kaiba pushed a glossy magazine towards Atem's elbow and leaned back to watch the mer-king flip through the pages, his violet eyes wide with wonder.
Every page had beautiful pieces photographed with stunning clarity. The backdrop for the jewelry was a large ocean wave splashing across every page, and Atem read the tiny text beneath a set of matching stud earrings.
"RUBY RED PAIR [ITEM #4099]
- infant safe
- hypoallergenic steel
- ethically sourced gems (clarity: S12)
*please see sales counter for more information or call (000) 000- 00000"
Similar descriptions were printed underneath every piece of jewelry, and Atem shook his head, fanning through the pages, looking for the prices but finding none until he got to the very end.
[ITEM #0001] ––––– GREEN PERIDOT RING ––– 2,400¥
[ITEM #0002] ––––– BLUE LACE AGATE RING ––– 1,900¥
[ITEM #0003] ––––– MOSS AGATE PENDANT ––– 2,200¥
[ITEM #0004] ––––– NATURAL CARNELIAN CHARM ––– 2,900¥
[ITEM #0005] ––––– CORAL PINK POLISHED PENDANT ––– 2,900¥
[ITEM #0006] ––––– POLISHED ABALONE BEADED NECKLACE ––– 2,500¥
[ITEM #0007] ––––– GLOWING AMBER TEETHING BRACELET ––– 1,900¥
[ITEM #0008] ––––– FIRE MOONSTONE STUD EARRINGS ––– 3,800¥
Frowning, Atem lifted his head and met Kaiba's unwavering gaze, his heart thumping nervously in his chest as he said, "When I came up here with Joey for the first time, the biggest bill we had was 2,000. The stuffed toy I saw in the store was more than this!"
"You…what?" Kaiba bit the inside of his cheek so hard, his eyes watered. He thought Atem had broken his pact alone and risen to shore with an entourage of men, but by the sound of it, he only had Joey. Well, at least that dolt was good for something.
"Yes, it was astounding to me that a soft toy could cost 4,000 yen," Atem continued, unaware of Kaiba's shock. "I thought you'd be charging more for these gems, but I'm happy to see that you've made them available for everyone. People must come here in big crowds!"
Kaiba folded his arms and leaned his hip against the glass counter, scoffing, "Yeah, we had a line out the door for a month straight."
Atem closed the magazine delicately and gave Kaiba a warm smile. "Please don't worry. I like what you've done here. Shall I contribute the remains from my treasury too?"
Relieved, Kaiba nodded and managed to give Atem a stiff smile in return. "Yeah, if you want. That'd be great."
"I'm honored, "Atem declared, giving Kaiba a playful nudge and glancing around the store again. "Where is everyone? You said there were crowds."
"They open at 11," Kaiba grinned, stepping out from behind the counter and walking to the door. "It's still early. We have to share a meal with Mokuba today before we leave, so let's go."
Atem nodded eagerly and fell into step beside Kaiba, admiring the shiny glass counters one last time before they walked out the door, every step lighter than the last, reassured by the thought that if Adina were ever to come to shore, she'd be amazed that there was another kingdom waiting for her.
They stepped into the elevator and Atem leaned against Kaiba's arm, gazing up at him lovingly and receiving a smile so soft that he had to look away briefly because it made his ears heat up.
After reaching the bottom, Atem tried to take in as much of the shiny buildings around them before Kaiba's guards whisked them back into the car. The heavy door was shut for him and the scenery began shifting outside his tinted window again.
Kaiba rested his hand on Atem's leg, giving him a reassuring pat. He could feel the mer-king tensing and relaxing awkwardly, and it was cute to watch the king behave this way, so out of his element.
Atem placed his hand gently atop Kaiba's much paler one and turned to give him a warm smile, just as his stomach grumbled loudly, and Atem looked away in embarrassment, his cheeks tinged a light pink.
Kaiba let out a laugh and draped his arm around Atem's shoulders, sliding his phone out of his pocket to give Mokuba a call, already seeing a long text waiting for him on the screen.
Master Kaiba_CELL_WORK: hey big bro. kemo told me you have his phone. We should work on getting you one, so you don't have to keep stealing from our head of security and cause breaches. I'll make sure the phone has everything you need on it every time you come up here with legs.
I assume you want to leave the other phone inside the Chrysalis permanently.
Btw you are late.
Where are you guys?!
And don't say "on the way!" I wanna know where!
Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Kaiba replied carelessly.
"K just turned the corner chill tf out," and he stuck the phone back into his pocket. He felt Atem lean his spiky head onto his shoulder and speak quietly, "It's strange," the mer-king mused. "Your brother who shares your blood keeps time so strictly. Is it an act or is he really upset?"
"He's really upset," Kaiba growled, rolling his eyes. "Don't get me started."
"Does he want to see the inside of a Chrysalis?" Atem asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. "He's aging faster than you, almost at the pace of a real human. You know, even Marik, who is half-human doesn't age nearly as fast if he sits in a Chrysalis with Shadi every year or so."
Kaiba bit the tip of his tongue and said nothing. He wasn't sure how Mokuba would react to the idea of immortality. In fact, his little brother seemed perfectly content aging normally and living his life with his wife.
"I will relieve you of the burden of asking," Atem said regally, squaring his shoulders back and eyeing the glass doors of the building through the car window. "He'll be more receptive when he isn't hearing it from a family member."
"That's not going to be the main issue," Kaiba muttered, now dreading the outcome of this lunch. The door was opened for them, and Atem stepped out first, boldly following the bodyguard into the building. Kaiba had to hurry to catch up, his heart thudding nervously in his throat as he tried to imagine the look of anger or shock on Mokuba's face when he found out.
His stomach churned horribly when they stepped into the elevator, and Atem seemed to feel it too. He gripped the silver handrail and blinked rapidly, pressing a hand to his mouth, wincing as the lift rose slightly too fast.
"Am I…experiencing shore illness?" Atem breathed, leaning against the wall and letting one of the guards grab his arm to steady him. "You too, Seto?"
"Well, I'm…used to it," Kaiba replied through clenched teeth, but his ears were ringing with horrible familiarity. Great. It was time to head home already.
He'd only had his legs for all of two days.
The guards escorted them out of the elevator and down a brightly lit hallway, and Kaiba swallowed thinly, hating how he could taste bile rising in the back of his throat every time they passed a private dining room. A guard pushed the door open and stood to the side, and Kaiba was nearly toppled over as Noah came rushing at his legs to give him a crushing hug.
He staggered to the left and bumped into Atem before steadying himself and bending down to give Noah's tiny shoulders a pat.
"Uh, you two don't look so good," Noah said brashly, pointing at Atem who had sunk into the nearest chair, looking green. "You guys okay?"
Mokuba and his wife stood up out of their chairs, their eyes wide as they darted between Kaiba and his spiky-haired partner. Both men were unusually pale.
"This is the fish equivalent of altitude sickness," Kaiba explained quietly, sitting down beside Atem and staring at the tablecloth in front of him, feeling Noah's hand growing clammy in his. "I used to be sick all the time. It means we have to go back."
Noah pouted and threw himself down into the tall chair beside Seto, pouting. "Aw…okay, but what about Adina? When can we play together again? Even though I saw her last night, I feel like it's been forever!"
"Speaking of forever," Atem piped up, and Kaiba shot him a warning look, shaking his head.
Oh please. Not before the food.
Mokuba was not receptive on an empty stomach.
Suggest the Chrysalis after the food.
"Never mind," Atem said simply, reaching for the glass of water to pass it off as nothing. He'd heard Seto's frantic thoughts and decided it would be wiser to wait.
"What? Say it!" Mokuba sat back down and snapped at Noah. "No toys on the table! Those are dirty. Put them back in my bag here."
"NO!" Noah raised his voice and Kaiba winced when the sound brought a splitting headache searing between his eyes
"Noah…?" Ayame pleaded coaxingly, holding her hand out for the toy. "Give it here."
The child clutched his action figures to his chest and turned to give his Uncle Seto a wide-eyed look.
"Noah, please. Toys down, food first," Kaiba hissed, tapping his slender fingers against the edge of the table. "I'm really not feeling well. Don't scream again or I'll throw up on you."
Noah laughed brightly and made a face. "Ewwww…!" But he obediently got up to tuck his toys back into Mokuba's bag and clambered back into his seat just as the doors opened behind them and people came in to serve food.
Carts of food were wheeled into the room and Atem watched with interest as the staff began setting the plates before them. Someone even reached across his chest to tuck a napkin in his lap while someone else filled his glass with wine.
"Atem, don't drink that," Kaiba said warningly, eyeing the red glass and hating how his head pounded. "Saltwater helps." He turned to address the first face he made eye-contact with, "bring us a box of salt. Doesn't matter what kind, and extra glasses. Oh, and a pitcher of water. Hurry up."
Atem eyed the drink longingly and nodded. Fine. Kaiba was the most knowledgeable in all symptoms of shore illness, given how he'd been ill for decades.
"Okay, now that we're settled in…." Mokuba prompted, nodding at Atem. "Tell me what you were saying earlier."
Atem threw Kaiba a nervous look and received a tense nod in response, so he drew in a deep breath and said in a rush, "We are formally asking if you would like to sit in the blessed water to reverse the effects of aging on land."
Kaiba palmed his face in agony, realizing Atem was trying to circumvent saying the word "Chrysalis".
"If it means I turn green and throw up every two weeks, no thanks," Mokuba replied coldly, digging his chopsticks into his food and taking a bite, feeling his wife tensing beside him, so he turned to reassure her. "Don't worry. I'm not interested."
"You're half-human, so you won't feel these awful side effects," Atem continued delicately, setting his utensils down. He'd lost his appetite.
"Oh yeah? Well, still not interested," Mokuba said gruffly, feeling his wife give his leg a tight squeeze under the table, and his face burned. He couldn't deny that the words coming out of Atem's mouth were enticing, but scary. Mokuba was sure there were a lot of hidden consequences to never aging. Seto was currently taking the bulk of the abuse online from the media every time he showed his face, and rumors would spiral wildly about Seto Kaiba clones popping up all over the world anytime he was photographed in another country.
"We have a doctor on my team. His name is Marik," Atem continued conversationally, aware that little Noah was listening intently. "If you'd like to talk to him about it—"
"I said, no thanks!" Mokuba snapped, raising his head to glare at Atem and his brother from across the table. "You know what I want to be? Normal. Can we try for that, Seto? A normal family meal for once?"
"Normal doesn't exist, kid," Kaiba fumed, setting his chopsticks down and leveling his gaze with Mokuba's. "This is our normal. Deal with it."
There was a tense silence before Noah leaned his chest against the edge of the dining table, giving Atem a bright-eyed look.
"C-Can I sit in the angel water?" Noah asked timidly, and his mother spoke up sharply.
"No!" She cried, her eyes narrowing in concern. "Noah, you want to grow up, don't you?"
Atem gave her a kind smile and offered an explanation. "His growth and maturity won't be stunted if that is what you're concerned about—"
"The answer…is still no," Mokuba insisted, his cheeks flushing dark pink. "You raise your kid, and I'll raise mine. Noah, don't listen to their stupid fairy stories. It's not good for you. We live on land, they live underwater."
Atem bristled at Mokuba's words and shot back heatedly, "If the child wants to experience life with fins, you do not have the right to keep it from him. It's in his blood too! He deserves to swim underwater just as much as Adina deserves to walk on land, at least once in their lifetimes."
Kaiba held up his hand and pinched his brow with two fingers, his headache thrumming at Atem's words.
"Whoa whoa. You want Adina to come up here with legs? Atem…" Kaiba shook his head nervously and caught a vicious nod from Mokuba's wife.
"You see? You feel the same way!" Ayame insisted, her cheeks also growing pink. "It's not appropriate. They are children. Don't mix them up!"
"I'm not mixed up!" Noah protested loudly, thumping his tiny fist on the table. "Don't you think if Adina wants to walk, she'll say so? She can ask if she really wanted! What if I wanna try being a fish?"
A heavy, stony silence blanketed the table, and no one was eating anymore.
Kaiba was the first to break the silence.
"You want to be a fish?" Kaiba asked nervously, unsure if he was ready to stomach Noah's answer.
"No, but what if I do? Like later, when I'm older? Like…when I'm a big kid, in high school?" Noah challenged, and the entire table seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
"Then we can talk about it when you're a big kid," his mother said gently, lowering her head so much, Kaiba could only see the top of her hair. "…And then we can talk about what you want to do with your life."
"I want to be cool like Uncle Seto," Noah replied firmly, and Mokuba's face paled significantly.
"What's so cool about him?" Mokuba snapped, feeling like he had some tough competition, even when trying to gain points of admiration from his own son. "He's a walking mess. He only just got his life together. If you think swimming is so cool, why don't you take those lessons seriously?"
"I do!" Noah shot back, his eyes narrowing at his father. "I like those swimming lessons! I'm preparing myself!"
"For what?!" Mokuba hissed, his cheeks reddening further.
"Baby…please, no more shouting, please?" Ayame rested her palm on Noah's tiny shoulder, trying to calm him down, but he was working himself up into a hysterical rant.
"Maybe you don't like Uncle Seto because he has a cool fish life underwater and you don't want me to be with him, dad! You don't like Uncle Seth that much either! I can tell!" Noah cried, and Atem bit the inside of his cheek so hard, his eyes watered.
Oh dear.
Family fighting….
"And this is all your fault," Mokuba hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Seto before slowly swiveling to also point at Atem. "Both of you—"
"Now wait just a second," Atem narrowed his eyes, ready for war. "Noah's desires to grow fins might stem from the way you're oppressing your true nature. The more you fight it, the more he'll want to join us under the water. It wouldn't matter if he'd never seen a merperson before. The ocean affects us differently. I'm sure you feel it too, Mokuba. Don't deny that you're never happier when you're on a beach."
Atem stood up and grabbed Seto's arm, tugging him to his feet too.
"We will visit again next week for Adina's playdate with Noah on Wednesdays as promised," Atem continued, and Kaiba felt a rush of gratitude and admiration for Atem.
The king was good at diffusing tense situations.
"Now, we are leaving, and we both apologize for this…sour parting. Good day." Atem announced, turning and pulling Seto out with him through the glass doors of the dining room, his heart thumping painfully in his chest at Mokuba's words.
This also showed they had much to consider when it came to their children.
They stepped into the elevator together and Kemo followed closely, along with the rest of their security. Kaiba took this chance to ask Atem, "You really want Adina to see the inside of a Chrysalis? She's an infant."
"She can if that's what she wants for her coming-of-age present," Atem replied earnestly, reaching out to give Seto's hand a squeeze. "We are all offered the choice when we come of age. I'm betting that you chose land, even if you don't remember."
"Then what did you choose as your coming-of-age gift?" Kaiba asked gruffly, walking out of the elevator and letting the security team usher them to the waiting limo.
Atem sank into the leather seats and waited until the doors were closed before he turned to give Kaiba a warm smile and answered, "My pet whale, Jin. He lived to a ripe old age of eighty decades and we shared a close bond. I'm thinking about getting Adina a pet too, but I have a feeling I will be the one feeding and taking care of it…"
"If that's the alternative, then I definitely chose land," Kaiba muttered under his breath, trying to imagine a tiny Atem swimming alongside a large whale. He couldn't do it.
Atem gave Seto a handsome smirk and settled back into the leather seats, glancing out the window at the afternoon sun rising higher in the sky.
"What now?" The mer-king asked, wondering how family fights usually panned out in the Kaiba family. He'd never had enough family to fight with, so this was a new experience.
Kaiba drummed his fingers against his knee and gave Kemo a command, "Stop at the nearest department store and pick up some cleaning supplies. We're going to fix up the…" He stopped himself before he said the word 'Chrysalis' in front of his entire security team.
"Community wading pool?" Atem offered helpfully, and Kaiba beamed at him.
"Sure, that," he said dryly, rolling his eyes, barely catching a nod from Kemo, and he settled back into the seat to casually drape his arm around Atem's slender shoulders, enjoying the rest of the car ride because he had a feeling it'd be a long while before he was in a car again.
Author's note:
Family shenanigans. Atem realizing all family is crazy and that arguing with his grandfather is nothing like arguing with Mokuba.
Also, changing the title of this story to "underwater community wading pool" real quick brb
