Adina's ear-piercing ceremony


Noah darted forward in the water, accompanied by two dolphin guardians while his parents swam anxiously behind him. His arms were aching from the heavy bags of snacks he was carrying, but it was all for Adina, so it was worth it. He even used part of his allowance to buy exclusive-flavored snacks for her, even though Mom and Dad offered to pay for it all.

They were escorted into the palace, and Noah gaped at the dramatic change. It had only been a month since he'd last been here, but the palace had gone through a magnificent transformation in that short amount of time.

The guards were now all wearing helmets, and their spears looked extra shiny. The pillars had been decorated with woven, colorful streams of kelp, and the sand underneath their fins had been combed to look extra neat.

Signs with arrows pointing down several hallways were tied to several pillars, and Noah squinted at them, trying to read it, but eventually gave up. It looked like a party was happening or something.

"NOAHHHHHHHH!"

Adina came darting out from behind a row of pillars and threw her arms around him in a crushing hug, nearly causing the bags to slip lower off his shoulders.

"Ow…Ow! Be careful! I'm carrying glass bottles!" Noah cried, steadying himself in the water as Adina pulled back to beam at him and lifted one of the bags of his body.

Her dark hair was floating everywhere around them, and Noah had to angle his head to the side to avoid getting strands in his mouth as she hovered excitedly in front of him, digging around in the bags and pulling out the drinks to read the labels.

"What flavor is this? Cante…loppe?" She said quizzically, tilting her head to the side and placed it back in the bag to greet his parents. "Oh! Uncle Moki! Auntie Ayame! Thank you for coming!"

Hand-in-hand, Mokuba and Ayame nodded stiffly at the princess, and she instantly caught onto the dark mood.

"Ooo are you in trouble?" Adina whispered knowingly to Noah, and Noah grit his teeth, shaking his head, replying silently, 'Well, no, but kind of. Yes. Did you get my message?'

Yep, talk more later, Adina replied smoothly, keeping her face eerily blank as she slipped the bag over her shoulder and gestured for the guests to follow her deeper into the palace. "Come this way! Since you guys are here, we can do my ear-piercing ceremony first!"

"Nice!" Noah nodded enthusiastically, trying to take a peek at her ears through her plumes of black hair. "Can I see?"

"No, not yet," she sniffed, patting her hair down the sides of her face as they came floating to a stop by the women's wing. "Let me put these snacks in my room! I'll meet you guys at the infirmary! That's where Papa and Daddy are right now."

"Okay," Noah replied cheerily, and when she swam away, he was greeted by his parent's worried looks again. Ugh… Maybe it wasn't too late to make an appeal to Uncle Seto.
He swam off towards the infirmary, not checking to see if his father and mother were following—he knew they were because he could feel them.
Before entering the Chrysalis today, he'd been grounded for an entire week.
Dad had threatened to cancel his swimming lessons if he kept 'acting crazy' in the ocean. This was supposed to be their last visit down here, and Dad was going to tell Uncle Seto about that later, and Noah kept feeling a horrible pit of dread swirling in his stomach.
He loved these underwater visits.
It wasn't just about seeing Uncle Seto.
It was about all of it: the architecture, their mermaid traditions, the ceremonies, Adina, Warrior Mahad, the annoying dolphins, and learning about what they ate and where they slept. It was like visiting another country, except better, because everyone here addressed him as 'Prince Noah.' And that was the coolest thing ever, right next to 'princess' or 'king'.

Mokuba gripped his wife's hand tighter in his as they silently followed Noah through a maze of hallways before arriving at a set of heavily decorated double-wide doors. He didn't remember the doors being this flowery last month….

Noah pushed them open and immediately saw Uncle Seto and Uncle Atem sitting casually in the beds near the far end of the room by the wall, where a row of glowing eggs sat on display. They were each cradling one, and Noah hovered to a stop above Uncle Atem's spiky hair, gazing down apprehensively at the milky white egg in his arms, contrasting drastically with his tanned skin.

"W-What is that?" Noah choked, his throat closing up as he eyed the other eggs sitting in their veiny containers along the walls. They were all different colors and sizes, and they were all…really gross.

"This is your baby cousin, please be nice," Atem said cheerfully, fully aware of Noah's disgust, because he'd felt the same way when he'd first seen Adina's egg.

"Baby? I-In that?!" Noah whispered, and he received a cold smile from Uncle Seto.

"Adina came out of one of these, and she's adorable. Where are your manners?" Kaiba said, the words barely leaving his mouth when Noah came diving at him with a hug.

"Missed you soooo much Uncle Seto!" Noah cried, tightening his arms around Seto's neck.

Kaiba leaned the egg away protectively and already saw Noah's tiny, clawed hand reaching out to touch it.

"Hey! You need to ask before you touch, and you need to be careful!" Kaiba hissed, and Noah gave him a wide-eyed look, his hand hovering in the water between them.

"C-Can I touch him please?" Noah asked obediently, and Uncle Seto slowly lowered the egg for him to place his palm against the warm shell. It felt strangely like skin, and it pulsed weirdly under his palm…like it had a heartbeat.
He could feel Mom and Dad hovering from afar, watching them.

Kaiba looked over Noah's head, making eye contact with Mokuba who reddened angrily and didn't look away.

Oh great. What'd you do now? Kaiba asked Noah silently, and Noah stroked the egg's shell with the back of his hand while he rapidly summarized his punishment.

I got grounded for a week because I went back in to get Adina's messenger when Dad didn't believe me, and Dad kept saying I should think about doing something else other than swimming, but I don't wanna! I don't wanna do competitive swimming either! I just wanna swim fast like Warrior Mahad! Also Mom is on my side but she fought with Dad about it last night. I heard them.

Kaiba grimaced and shared a significant look with Atem.

Noah saw this and looked between his two uncles, his hope rising. What? What was that look? Was it because they agreed Dad was being unfair…or, what?

Adina came bursting into the infirmary with a bunch of mermaids in tow, and Noah tried his best not to gape at all the pretty boobs, but it was hard, so he quickly turned away to look at the egg in Uncle Seto's arms instead.

"Everyone's here!" Adina announced importantly, tossing a lock of her hair over her shoulder to show off her one, perfect, beautiful, human ear. "Now it's time. Papa? Can I see the earrings you're gonna let me wear?!"

Atem nodded and rose from the bed to place the egg back into the incubator, feeling Noah hovering curiously by his elbow when the veins curled up to latch the egg into place.

YUCK! Noah grimaced and he received a sympathetic smile from Atem.

Very yuck, Atem said warmly, guiding Noah by the shoulders to sit down on the nearest bed.

Noah tucked his fins underneath himself neatly and watched everyone spring into action, pushing one bed into the middle for Adina while the medic swam forward carrying a tray with sharp metal tools that made his skin crawl.

Uncle Seto sat beside him, still cradling the egg while watching everyone darting around, floating around Adina's bed in a strange formation, even going as far to drag Mokuba and Ayame into place at the side of the bed.

Atem came rushing back into the infirmary carrying a giant, golden box, followed by Joey, Tristan, and Duke, who were also carrying large boxes.

Seto, what's happening? Noah asked timidly in his thoughts, and Kaiba shrugged.

Your guess is as good as mine, kid, Kaiba replied plainly. Ceremony shit. Just pay attention.

Noah nodded and his eyes watered when one of the warriors opened his box to show off rows and rows of glittering gemstone earrings. The mermaids ooh-ed and aah-ed politely, and the warrior even floated towards them to give them a look inside.

Kaiba made eye contact with Duke and gave him a stiff nod, showing that he accepted the offering. Atem's friends really went fucking overboard with this ear stuff.
It wasn't 'just jewelry…'and Atem had argued back saying it was 'just jewelry', it was like human clothes that displayed status.

Adina was eyeing the Medic's tools with apprehension, and Kaiba sensed her panic, so he hastily got up to set the egg back into the incubator to comfort her properly. Many months ago, he'd promised to do the piercing with her, but as time went on, she insisted she was a 'big girl' and didn't even need to hold his hand. Secretly, Kaiba doubted that, and his suspicions were right as Adina hiccupped fearfully, watching the Medic begin cleaning and sharpening the already-sharp piercing tools.

Noah instinctively clapped a hand to his finned ears, staring at everyone's ears in the room. Everyone was wearing earrings, except for his Dad and Uncle Seto. All the other men in the room had ear jewelry too, and if he recalled correctly, Warrior Mahad had earrings as well.

"Have you picked out something you want to wear?" The Medic asked kindly, and Atem swam forward with his box, opening it to show off a pair of glittering, wing-shaped earrings.

"If you wear those as your first earrings, you must be very careful you don't tug on them in your sleep," the Medic said kindly, seeing Adina stiffen with fear and nod, appearing to not really be listening.

There was a tense silence and Kaiba read the room quickly, pushing his way to sit on the bed beside Adina and wrapping his arm protectively around her tiny shoulders.

"I'm going first," he said brashly, earning shocked looks from everyone surrounding them, and he turned to playfully chin the top of Adina's head. "Sorry kid, I called it, so I'm going before you. I'm hijacking your turn."

Adina looked down and clenched her fists tightly in her lap, her cheeks burning.
She was relieved and slightly embarrassed, but ultimately thankful that Daddy was so perceptive of her fear.

"V-Very well…My prince," the Medic stammered, eyeing Adina nervously, noting that the princess had gone eerily silent and had her head lowered.
Aw… She was frightened.

"This is great! What would you like to wear?" Atem asked breathlessly, his face flushing with excitement. What a pleasant and wonderful change of heart! Seto was going to wear ear jewelry after privately mocking everyone mercilessly about how it looked stupid.

"I don't know. Help me pick. Noah? Come help us pick," Kaiba called, giving Adina a nudge at the same time, hoping she would raise her head to look at the large display of jewelry being presented to them. He had a feeling that if she backed out of this, no one would blame her for being frightened, but everyone had already arrived with gifts, so it was rude to turn them away.

Noah darted over excitedly and pointed a pair of plain sapphire studs in Tristan's box, "THESE! I like the blue… it matches your eyes, r-right Adina?"

Adina said nothing and nodded, feeling a horrible lump rising in her throat. The nicer everyone sounded on the outside, the worse she felt, especially when their thoughts clearly said something else.

She accidentally caught a few stray thoughts from Auntie Mai, Anzu, and Mana, that made her stomach twist.

Poor thing… She's obviously scared. Oh well. I expected as much. She's a baby after all.

She's too young to be getting pierced! I had a stern talk with Atem about this… Her other ear isn't fully formed yet! Why only do the one? For the Procession? Then she'll have to go through this twice!

Gosh, she looks miserable! This is supposed to be a coming-of-age ritual and it's traumatizing her!

Kaiba heard these thoughts too and grit his teeth in anger, wondering if everyone knew their thoughts were leaking. It was upsetting Adina more than the metal tools on the medic's tray.

He squared his shoulders back and decided to take matters into his own hands as much as he could for Adina's sake, pointing at a shiny stud with three tiny diamonds grouped together in the shape of a triangle.

"I like that one, what do you think?" Kaiba asked, aiming this question more towards Adina, but he was answered by Atem who nodded vigorously.

"I had those paired down from the handful of gems you gave me," Atem said excitedly, bending down to catch Adina's eye, but the princess kept her head resolutely lowered and a dark aura swirled around her.
Oh dear….

"I like the gold and diamonds look," Kaiba said, moving to point a long finger at a few other diamond hoops from the tray Joey was holding. "Nice shapes. I like these small hoops too, Adina, look at these, do you want me to wear these? Pick now or forever hold your peace."

Adina slowly raised her head, biting back tears as she glanced half-heartedly at the array of diamonds in Warrior Jounouchi's display and nodded.
This was so…embarrassing!
So annoying and embarrassing.

I'm not going to cry in front of everyone! Adina thought furiously, digging her claws into her palms and willing her eyes to stay dry, but the horrible pressure was already building behind her eyes.

"Right, so I'd like to do an entire set," Kaiba said calmly, aiming to draw attention away from Adina's silent tantrum. "Up and down the whole ear. I like that golden cuff there, too, Atem, hand it to me."

Shaking slightly, Atem detached a curved golden cuff from the cushion and handed it to Seto, seeing him nod at the Medic and pull his hair back.

"One here, here, up here…cartilage here, and here," Kaiba said quietly, pointing up the curve of his ear, aware that the entire infirmary had gone deathly silent.

Adina blinked rapidly and jerked her head up to stare incredulously at her father.
Daddy wasn't going to do just one?! He was doing…so many!

"U-Um…. A-Are you suuure?" Anzu piped up, gripping onto Mai tightly, who nodded, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? Are you trying to stop me?" Kaiba challenged, seeing the Medic prepping the long, threatening needle at his side, and even Noah had swum fearfully back to his father's side to hide behind his mother, peeking at Seto with a fearful look.

The Medic approached him with the needle, and Adina's eyes widened.

"So…starting from the lobe…?" The Medic said calmly, and Adina leaned away, terrified, just as her father's pale hand came wrapping around the tops of hers and gave her a squeeze.

"Adina, hold my hand…" Kaiba instructed, and he felt her grab onto him so hard, his arm went numb.

Everyone watched with bated breath as the Medic used both her hands, one to steady the needle and the other to support the lobe as she quickly slid the tool in to pierce the skin, and the metal stayed poking upwards in Kaiba's ear while she reached for the jewelry and slid it through the opening. Before Adina could even blink, there was a sparkling triangular stud in her father's earlobe, gleaming prettily at her in the low lights.

A mirror was handed to Kaiba, and he lifted it up, barely looked at it before he pointed at the sapphire stud Noah had chosen and said, "Now put that one really close next to it. If you can fit five or six in a row—"

"Five or six?" Atem cried, and his shock was echoed by Tristan, Joey, and the other mermaids.

"Dude, what are you going for here?" Duke muttered jealously, and to his horror, Kaiba made direct eye contact with him and said, "the most. And come closer so I can pick something that matches Atem."

Frozen with disbelief, Adina watched as the Medic swiped a cleaning kelp over her daddy's earlobes again and positioned the long needle above his ear, and it came swiftly down into the skin again, and another beautiful gem appeared in its place. The first one had already healed nicely because the redness was gone. And a third gem quickly came afterwards, followed by a diamond hoop, and another cluster of diamonds set together in the shape of a moon, which Atem had picked out last minute as the Medic was reaching for the tray.

Now the Medic was moving up Seto's ear, passing the metal thread through the upper curves, and Adina noticed her daddy wincing once and giving her hand a squeeze, but then flashing her a handsome smile as a golden cuff hugged the top of his ear.

"I think that'll do it!" The Medic leaned back to take a breath, fanning water across her face as everyone bent forward to inspect her handiwork.

"That's so cool, Seto," Noah cried, leaning over the edge of the bed's coral railing, and Mokuba rested a restraining hand on his son's shoulder. Great. More of Seto's bad influence. He was literally piercing his infant daughter's ears and she was clearly scared. Now if Noah got up one morning and said he wanted eight earrings too, he might just lose his shit.

Kaiba admired his ear in the mirror, pointing at the blank spots in the side curves of his ear, drawing a neat line down to his lobes, "I want cuffs and small hoops all the way down here. Solid gold, nothing flashy."

Atem swallowed thinly and felt a rush of admiration for his partner as the mermaids let out more dramatic gasps.

"What are you trying to do exactly?" Mana pressed, already seeing the Medic prepare the needle again and approach Seto's ear with it. "That's too much!"

"Is it?" Kaiba asked mildly, feeling the needle pass through his ear again.
It was a sharp sting and nothing else.
It was actually taking him more effort not to heal the wound the moment it happened.
Was Adina done seeing it happen repeatedly yet?
Was she still scared?
Because he was showing her it was really no big deal.

"Hey, how much for me to get more done as well?" Duke muttered, more to Tristan than anyone else, but to his extreme displeasure, Kaiba heard him again and answered, "you can be next. I'll pay for it. Pick whatever you want."

"Really?!" Duke cried, elbowing Mai aside and nearly spilling the box of gems in his excitement. "I-In that case, I'd like that diamond arrow! And-and those…ruby flowers! I made those!"

"Hey! I'm next! You can be last!" Adina said, speaking up for the first time since she sat down, and the whole room breathed a collective sigh of relief. It seemed the princess was back to her normal self after watching her father get pierced multiple times.

"I still have my other ear, so you'll have to wait," Kaiba replied playfully, lifting the box of earrings from Duke's arms and placing it in her lap, running his finger across the neat rows of earrings. "Pick a whole set that matches. Maybe I can even match with you."

"I want a tiny one and a big one," Adina said quietly, realizing she was openly stating that she wanted two piercings, but she didn't feel scared anymore. The more she looked at her daddy's ear dripping with gems, the more her longing rose for her ear to also look like that.

"No, you only get one," Kaiba said firmly, giving Atem a look, and Atem nodded gravely.

"Yes, only one. You're still growing. Maybe when you're fully an adult you can slowly add to your…collection," Atem said kindly, eyeing Kaiba's ear and itching to add a few cuffs to his upper curve as well.

Kaiba admired himself in the mirror again, thinking he would take them all out once no one was looking…but he decided he would keep them all in for the next month and see how it went.
It did look a bit excessive, but who cared?
These were all his diamonds anyway, sprinkled in with a few of Atem's colorful gems.

"Adina, darling, I'm going to step in front of you in line…" Atem said hastily, scooping his daughter up in his arms so he could sit beside Kaiba. "Miss Medic, please give me a golden cuff with similar placement—"

"NO FAIR!" Adina screeched, reaching up to tug on Atem's spiky blond bangs with her tiny fists. "It's MY TURN!"

Kaiba threw Adina a smirk and patted his lap. "Come here and watch your Papa get his ear done. My other side is still blank, so…you're last."

"Ha ha!" Noah added, making a face at his cousin, and Adina crossed her arms, her cheeks red as she pouted.

"This will give you more time to pick," Kaiba said genuinely, pulling the tray of gems closer to her. "Which one?"

Adina eyed the needle approaching her father's tanned ear and didn't even blink when it passed through the upper cartilage and was quickly decorated with a shining, golden cuff.

"I want…a matching one with you and papa," Adina grumbled, seeing Atem's hand with many rings flitting over the tray of gems and picking out the diamonds in the shape of a crescent moon, directing the Medic to put it as a second piercing above the one in his lobe.

She pointed at the moon and bravely tucked her hair behind her ear, seeing the Medic smile gently at her and approach her with the needle. Kaiba felt her squeezing his fingers tightly, and Atem's hand came to rest over her other one, caressing her warmly as the needle stung her ear, and Adina's eyes watered dangerously.
It was over in a flash.
She saw Auntie Medic snatch the gem off the tray and the cold metal touched her skin, along with the steady throbbing….and then…nothing.
It was over.
It didn't even hurt, just like how Mana said.

"Look! So pretty!" Kaiba beamed, holding the mirror up for her to see, and Adina turned her head to the side breathlessly, her chest tight.

An elegant crescent moon sat on her lower lobe and shone with a delicate white light.

There was a tense silence as the room held their breath, waiting for the princess's verdict.

"I love it," she breathed, and everyone burst out into applause, swimming forward to hug and kiss her on her check, raining compliments down upon her.

"It looks so good!" Mana gushed, lovingly stroking the princess's hair away from her ear so everyone could get a better look. "Nice choice, Atem!"

Atem beamed and met Kaiba's blue-eyed gaze, admiring the diamonds dripping from his ear as well. Yes, it was quite nice.

"So cute! Maybe I can get a second piercing too," Mai mused, fingering her ear thoughtfully. "Don't want something like a moon though, that's really basic mer—"

"It's adorable!" Anzu said firmly, shooting Mai a warning glare. "Adina, you were so brave!"

Only the men hung in the back, watching this with apprehension while Duke whined loudly in their heads.

Royals, man! He said he'd pay for it! When is it a polite time to ask them to do me next? Hey, do you think they'll make me take some out if I ever get deployed?

Shuddup, Joey eyed the door apprehensively, itching to leave because the ceremony was over now that the princess had finally pierced her ears. Yo, Atem? I'm gonna head out and grab some grub! Later!

Atem waved blithely and the men swam out of the infirmary, leaving Duke hovering behind Mokuba and Ayame, eyeing the trays of jewels with longing.
Unfair.
Unfair.
Unfair.
Would he get demoted for saying something right now?
Would it be considered begging?

"Now it is that warrior's turn," Adina declared, holding the mirror over her head and aiming it at Duke. "Here, someone take this mirror."

Ecstatic, Duke darted forward in the water and planted himself on the edge of bed beside Atem, accepting the mirror from the king's clawed hands, pointing hurriedly at his ear.

"Here…here… and here… Oh and don't forget this curve here, and the inner part…"

The Medic smiled gently and passed a strip of cleansing kelp over the needle, thinking this was more like a piercing party than a piercing ceremony.

"Good job, Adinaaa," Mana sang, reaching down to grab the princess's hands. "Were you scared at all?"

"Nope," Adina puffed her chest out proudly and earned hearty laughs from Atem and Kaiba.

The Medic finished tending to Duke, and she straightened up, looking a little worn out as she asked, "who is next?"

"Still me," Kaiba said plainly, pointing at his other bare ear. "I'll look ridiculous with only one side like this."

Mokuba made a strange noise, but Kaiba ignored it. He already knew that Mokuba thought he looked ridiculous without having to listen to his thoughts.

"Can you wear this one, Daddy?" Adina asked, blinking prettily at him while pointing at an elegant golden bar.

"Sure, but that'll take up a lot of space," Kaiba said, thinking he wanted both ears to at least sort of match, but it really didn't matter, did it? He could always take them out, heal the holes and get them re-done again. Who the hell had time to do that type of vain shit? Oh, right. Royals.

"How about this one?" Atem asked hopefully, already knowing Kaiba would reject it because it had a dangling chain, but to his pleasant surprise, Kaiba nodded and said, "it can go higher up here." The Medic expertly applied it to Kaiba's upper cartilage. The golden chain draped down over the curve of his ear, nicely accentuating the thin golden bar creeping up his lobe and the one tiny stud in the inner shell of his ear.

Atem and Adina leaned into his face, both their eyes shining with joy.

"Daddy! You look so handsome!" Adina squealed, and Atem blushed happily in agreement.

Kaiba beamed at them and barely glanced at his reflection in the mirror before handing it back to the Medic with a nod in thanks.

She looked relieved to be done, and she hastily packed up her tools while everyone slowly filed out of the infirmary, leaving Mokuba, Ayame and Noah, floating apprehensively by the bed.

"Seto, can we talk?" Mokuba said tensely, and Noah hung onto his mother's arm even harder, hating everything.
Great. His punishment was about to begin for real. He was going to miss this underwater kingdom so much.

"Sure," Kaiba said smoothly, feeling Adina squeezing his waist in a hug as she ranted in his head.

Thank you thank you thank you Daddy! You're the bestest! You saved me when you knew I was scared! I love you so much! I was so embarrassed! Don't tell anyone I told you, okay?!

Adina finally let go and watched her father float out of the room with Uncle Mokuba, and Atem turned to her with a soft smile.

"Shall we go try on some other sets of jewelry to match that ear?" Atem asked warmly, and Adina dove into his arms and nodded, pressing her soft cheek against his chest and gazing up at him with large, loving eyes.

Carry me to our room, Papa. I order it to be so!

Atem beamed and scooped her up in his arms, floating past Ayame and Noah, giving them a formal nod before disappearing out the door as well.

They passed Seto and Mokuba, having a heated argument while half-hidden behind a pillar decorated with shells and pink coral.

"What do you mean this is the last time you're coming down here?" Kaiba asked furiously, his temper flaring. "Noah told me you've been grounding him for receiving messengers."

"Okay, that is incorrect!" Mokuba shot back, his eyes flashing as he crossed his arms stiffly. "Noah is spending too much time…chasing this fairytale!" He gestured at the over-decorated pillars surrounding them, and Kaiba felt his blood boil.
Atem had spent a lot of time on those designs because apparently the variety of shells and colors mattered to mer-people, not that he knew the difference himself.

"This 'fairytale' is currently my life, Mokuba," Kaiba growled, wondering if this was a trauma reaction to being a mer-person. "I actually have shit to do down here, even I can't believe I'm busier than I was when I ran the company! Take that in for a moment, won't you?"

"Oh, sure," Mokuba scoffed, his eyes darting to the side as he relented slightly, but he didn't back down from his initial argument. "I'll keep coming down to visit you if you want, but Noah isn't growing fins anymore. It's confusing him."

"Or is it confusing you?" Kaiba raised his eyebrows, reminding himself to be patient with his little brother. "He seems to know exactly what's expected of him, and we make that very clear when he's here. I'm getting reports of the tutor who meets with him twice a week to tell him 'stories'. Seth says, 'Prince Noah is very receptive'. So you're the problem right now, Moki. Face it."

Mokuba grit his teeth and clenched his fists, feeling his face burning. He just wanted a normal life, was that too much to ask?!

"Also, Atem and I are planning on sending Adina up for private school," Kaiba said carefully, watching Mokuba's face for any changes. "I need you to cooperate with me on this. It's for her sake. She needs more perspective."

"Up where?" Mokuba asked dully, and Kaiba blinked, wondering if they were speaking two different languages.

"Up…to you! To shore! On land!" Kaiba cried, resisting the urge to reach out to give Mokuba a shake. "She's a fast learner and is—I don't know if this is the right word—but she's outgrowing the kingdom. She's acting out because she doesn't know what to do with herself, so I'm sending her to Noah's private school for one year."

Mokuba stared at Seto, slowly processing his words.

"Wait. You're going to make me babysit her for a year?" Mokuba immediately began to wonder if Ayame would agree to having another kid under their wing, because Adina was younger than Noah!

"Atem and I will alternate coming up to see her every month. I'll even send up help, like Warrior Mahad, or those two mermaids, Mai or Anzu," Kaiba said reassuringly. He'd only had a few brief conversations with them, but they were illuminating enough. Both women knew their ins and outs about land and wouldn't bother breaking some rules to get shit done, and he could appreciate that.

Mokuba was not reassured, and he looked increasingly more stressed.

"I don't wanna take care of two kids!" Mokuba whispered, the pitch of his voice rising higher, and Kaiba realized Mokuba was whining, so he quickly suggested the easiest solution that came to mind and blurted it out.

"Then give us Noah for a year. We'll do a trade."

Mokuba stared at him in stunned silence before hissing, "no freaking way, Seto! I'm trying to get him to stop thinking about mermaids!"

"And the more you discourage it, the more he's going to want to," Kaiba rolled his eyes. "So just let him learn all about it until he decides he's had enough. You can't stop him, and deep down, I know you know that. You think I'm comfortable with letting Adina parade around an elementary school reading the teachers' minds and claiming to be queen of the playground? It's not a good feeling for either of us."

Mokuba grimaced and fumed silently for a moment before he turned with a swish of his fins and said over his shoulder, "I'll talk to Ayame about it. It sounds like it could work, but I'm not approving it yet."

"I'll ask Noah," Kaiba said encouragingly, following Mokuba back into the infirmary and seeing the child dive towards them, his face twisted into one of silent begging, his eyes darting between his dad and uncle Seto, wondering what the verdict was.

"C'mere Noah, family meeting time," Mokuba said gravely, and his wife joined him at his side, hooking her arm casually through his and giving his chest a reassuring pat.

"I hope you guys didn't fight," she said, giving Seto a worried frown, and Kaiba gave her a grimace. They'd had a medium fight. This wasn't as big as their fights before.

They floated together in a loose circle in the far corner of the infirmary, and Noah glanced around at all the adult's faces, trying to read their thoughts but hearing nothing, which caused his anxiety to rise.

"So, Noah, do you want to do a year of study down here with Uncle Seto and Atem?" Mokuba asked, knowing the answer immediately when his son's face lit up brightly.

"YES?! Can I?!" Noah gasped, darting back and forth in the water from Seto to Mokuba, wondering who he should hug first. But wait…a whole year down here meant he'd be held back a year in school.
Eh, whatever.
This would be so worth it!

"Adina will be living with us while she does a year of private school," Mokuba said, speaking more towards his wife. "Seto says he'll come up every other month with Atem to check on her, and send up help…like, Warrior Mahad, Mai, Anzu… What do you think, Ayame?"

"O-Oh…I don't know…" She pressed a hand to her mouth and saw Noah clasp his hands together, holding them high over his head, begging dramatically.

Pleeeeease Mom, pleeeeeeeeeeease! You can even come down here to visit me anytimmmme! I'll be REALLY good! I'll listen in all my classes and do all my homework! They don't even have a TV here that I can watch! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—

"Yes, okay, yes! Stop that!" Ayame admonished, wincing as she placed a finger to her ear, feeling a headache coming on. There was nothing wrong with Noah learning about the mer-people's way of life. If anything, it would hopefully make Noah a wiser and more compassionate child.
It would be like sending him overseas, except easier, because he wasn't too far away, and it was essentially…free? Because they were keeping it in the family.

"Good, I'll then start making arrangements-s…Noah!" Kaiba choked on his next words as Noah came zooming for his stomach to hug him, nearly clawing his sides.

YAY OH MY GOD YAY! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER! I'M UN-GROUNDED AND I GET TO STAY HERE! Noah celebrated so loudly that the injured or medicated mer-people woke up from their beds and raised their heads to stare, disgruntled.

"Okay, time to exit," Kaiba growled, leading Noah to the door and feeling his parents follow closely behind. "You need to pick out furniture for your room in both colonies—" YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Noah wasn't listening. He was doubling back to hug his mother tightly around the neck until she turned purple and then he dove into Mokuba's chest, giving him a lung-crushing hug too until his father's face turned dark red.

"Kid! Listen!" Kaiba cried, grabbing Noah by the arm and trying to calm him down while he wiggled furiously.

Breathless and panting, Noah stilled obediently and gazed into Seto's face with deep admiration, listening intently.

"Since you're staying here, you need to attend the Procession with Adina," Kaiba began, and Noah's face fell dramatically again. "Because people need to know you exist, okay? So you're going to Atem's room with me to pick out something nice to wear and practice greeting people…"

"Noooo!" Noah cried, shaking his head. "That's Adina's job! Not mine!"

"Stop whining," Kaiba said firmly, already feeling tired from all the explaining. "What's your title here?"

There was a silence as Noah replied begrudgingly, "…Prince."

"Yeah, so greeting people and looking nice is part of your job here, as well as studying as much as Adina, if not more," Kaiba said firmly, seeing Ayame and Mokuba nodding fervently in approval out of the corner of his eye.
Yeah, it wasn't going to be fun and games here.
This was about running the family kingdom and business so they could keep it alive…properly.

"Wow, kid, I don't envy you," Mokuba said coolly, looking significantly more relaxed after hearing Seto place even stricter demands on Noah than he himself ever had on land.

Noah opened and closed his mouth silently, wondering if he'd messed up by agreeing to something bigger than he could possibly imagine.


Author's note:

More to come! -eyebrow wiggles-

let me know what you guys think about these continuations (:

hugs,
Ugli