Kaiba lay wide awake in bed beside Atem, listening to his soft breathing and staring up at the tiny stream of bubbles that would occasionally float up to the ceiling. He was certain Atem was deeply asleep now. He'd been counting the passing minutes, waiting for the tell-tale signs of deep sleep so he could cast a protection pact on him.
Another stream of bubbles floated up to the ceiling and disappeared, so Kaiba decided this was it.
He rolled over onto his side and slipped his hand through the tops of Atem's warmer ones, curling his nails into his skin until he slowly pricked the surface, seeing soft wisps of blood curling up into the water before it got carried away.
Kaiba took a deep breath and recited the pact he'd prepared beforehand. The water grew still around them and after a few heartbeats, quickly returned to normal. Good, that was the first one. Time for the second one.
He held Atem's hand tighter, trying not to feel guilty about it while watching the pinpricks heal fast. Kaiba dug his nails down into the same spot and gave Atem's hand a steady squeeze, quickly muttering the second pact he had prepared and withdrew hastily.
Atem remained asleep. His delicate face was angelic in the low lights, and his impossibly long lashes nearly touched his cheeks while his chest rose and fell with every breath.
Kaiba grimaced and leaned forward to apologetically kiss Atem on his cheek before he snuck out of bed and swam out of the room. After checking to make sure the men's hall was completely empty, he darted into the women's wing with ease, gently pushing Adina's door open and floating inside.
She was deeply asleep, rolled up in the covers with her hair floating around her messily while she snored with her mouth open. The image instantly reminded him of Mokuba, and he felt a nostalgic pang of endearment sear through his chest as he hovered over her, quietly reaching down to grab her hand. He held it warmly and gave her a few tentative squeezes, wondering if she would wake up.
She didn't.
If anything, her snoring grew louder.
Smiling to himself, Kaiba dug his nails into the back of her hand and slowly pricked her skin with the tips of his claws, seeing a tiny wisp of blood float up into the water, so he hastily recited the pact, making sure to perform the second one as well the moment her cuts healed.
The water grew warm around his body the moment he let go of her hand, and Kaiba grimaced again. He was slowly learning how to interpret signs, and warm water meant it had worked…maybe. Or it was God's way of saying he disapproved. He had no idea.
Either way, it had already been done.
Slowly easing out of Adina's room, Kaiba froze when he saw a mermaid floating sleepily down the hall, and he cursed silently. It was Mana.
Mana gasped when she saw Seto floating ominously in front of Adina's room, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Kaiba saw this and darted forward with frightening speed, pressing a hand over her mouth and hissing, "don't lecture me! Also…you won't remember this tomorrow. You're tired."
Mana blinked rapidly, her body immediately growing heavy as her eyelashes fluttered, and she sank into Kaiba's arms, deeply asleep.
"…Fuck," Kaiba muttered, carrying her awkwardly in his arms. He didn't know his own strength, and his journals said he could command anyone who obeyed royals, so he figured this would be a good time to try it out. Clearly it had been too much.
Hopefully when Mana woke up, she'd forgive him.
"DADDY! WAKE UP!"
The bed dipped down violently and something thumped Kaiba on his chest with force, jolting him awake.
Adina was bouncing in the bed energetically, her eyes bright and her cheeks pink.
Atem bolted upright and pressed a hand to his face tiredly as Adina continued to flop violently between them, yanking on their arms.
"It's time to go up! It's my time now!" She insisted, grinning so widely, Kaiba could see her fangs clearly. "Warrior Mahad brought an entire parade of Guardians to escort me up to the Chrysalis! He says to wake you guys up, and I did, so… see you outside!"
She zoomed out of the room, leaving a trail of white bubbles behind her, and she didn't bother to close the door behind her, so everyone waiting for them in the hall turned red in the face when they saw Seto and Atem sit up sleepily from their bed.
Mahad darted forward to shut the door, and Kaiba blinked steadily, feeling Atem lean his head heavily onto his shoulder and sigh.
"I don't think I'm ready," Atem said quietly, and Kaiba tried to give the king a smile as he patted his hand, "You'll be fine." And he tried not to feel guilty about the pacts he'd made on Atem while he'd been sleeping.
Atem floated out of bed sleepily and began taking off his jewelry, sliding the golden armbands into the empty trays waiting for him in the treasury. He emerged from the seaweed curtain completely bare, giving Kaiba a shock.
"What are you doing?" Kaiba frowned, scanning Atem's bare arms and chest, slightly disturbed by his lack of finery.
"I can't wear anything that'll seal into my skin," Atem replied, and to his dismay, Kaiba threw his head back and burst out laughing.
"What!" Atem folded his arms haughtily, his cheeks reddening. "Stop laughing! This is serious—"
"The Chrysalis only affects your fins," Kaiba said confidently with a smirk. "Anything you wear above your waist is fine. Trust me."
Atme narrowed his eyes and contemplated going back in to put on his jewelry before he changed his mind and hovered closer to the edge of the bed. "How do you know that?" The king asked suspiciously, his red fins waving to and fro in the semi-darkness.
"I read about it," Kaiba replied earnestly, floating to the door and pushing it open. "You grow a new set of fins every time you soak in the water. Anything you eat on land might affect the color when you return, so be careful."
Atem's breath left his chest in a tight whoosh! and he darted after Kaiba in a rush, hanging onto his arm, his body gripped with fear at the strange news.
"Wh-What! I don't want my fins to change color!" Atem cried, and Adina heard this too, zooming forward to throw her tiny arms around her father's pale waist, clinging onto him and wailing, "Does that mean my fins will change color too?! Then…I don't wanna go anymore!"
Mahad shot Prince Seto an alarmed glance.
Had he heard that correctly?
This was sacred knowledge of the Chrysalis that only Warriors knew about.
"That is a myth, my dear princess," Mahad began, and to his horror, Kaiba cut across him rudely, "so make sure you eat healthy, otherwise when you soak in the Chrysalis again, you'll find yourself with orange fins."
"NO!" Adina shrieked, grabbing her hair in distress while Atem looked equally as horrified.
Gritting his teeth, Mahad swam forward and grabbed Kaiba by the arm, pulling him to the side while hissing in his mind, A WORD WITH YOU. NOW!
Kaiba winced and let the warrior drag him behind a large pillar. Adina's whines were audible in the entire wing, but Mahad's furious ranting filled his mind before he could brace himself.
You cannot say such things! It's not proven! Mahad fumed, and Kaiba gave him a cold look.
"Or…it happened so long ago, no living merperson has memory of it. Fuck off, Mahad. Do your job," Kaiba sniffed, swimming out from behind the pillar and Atem darted right into his chest to throw his arms around him in a tight embrace, crushing the air out of his lungs.
Stunned, Mahad kept his distance, his skin tingling at Kaiba's words.
"I'm going to miss you so much," Atem whispered, squeezing Kaiba tighter in his arms and feeling him stiffen awkwardly.
"I'll be up soon," Kaiba said lightly, feeling an odd wrenching in his stomach he recognized as dread. Crap.
He didn't know if that was true.
What if he was stuck down here doing King Duties until the end of the month?
"Daddyyyyy…!" Adina wailed, dashing forward in the water to hug him around the waist again. "Will you come up to see me lots?"
"Yes, I will. I promise," Kaiba said firmly, and he received sharp glances from the two ambassadors floating at the end of the hall.
Two giant octopi emerged from behind Atem and Adina, curling silently around the stone pillars, waiting faithfully to escort them to the Chrysalis.
Kaiba leaned down to give Adina a crushing hug and kiss on her cheek before straightening up to receive a fiery kiss from Atem on the lips that made his head spin.
"Ew," Adina muttered, floating away from her father with her nose upturned. Her parents loved to kiss on the mouth so much. It was gross.
Finally, they broke apart, and Kaiba hung onto Atem's hand for as long as he could, noticing that Atem's aura had lightened at last.
"You're not angry with me anymore?" Kaiba asked breathlessly, and Atem blinked innocently, his cheeks tinged pink as Adina yanked insistently on his hand, trying to pull him away.
"I wasn't angry about anything," Atem said stiffly, and he spared a nervous smile for Kaiba before he gave in to Adina's furious tugging and let her drag him closer to the Guardians waiting for them.
Kaiba swallowed thinly and clenched his fists at his sides, watching the octopi swim protectively around Atem and Adina, with Mahad bringing up the rear, their fins swishing magnificently in the water until they disappeared into the distance.
I'm not concerned, Kaiba told himself rigidly, turning with an arrogant swish of his fins. The pacts he'd made would work, so he had no reason to worry.
His main priorities now were to 'do God's bidding,' which was to first obtain Solomon's blessing.
Then, he could worry about visiting Adina and Atem on land.
He floated to a stop in front of Solomon's ornate door and raised his fist to knock before he changed his mind and called out in his thoughts instead.
King Solomon? Kaiba called, feeling awkward using the title even in his thoughts, but he steeled himself to do it. The sooner he took care of this chore, the faster he could get up on land to meet with Atem.
Solomon was hovering on the other side of the door, listening intently, and the second he heard that thought, he bristled and yanked the door open.
"Go away. You only care about playing on land. I heard you," Solomon said haughtily, eyeing the empty wing behind Seto's pale shoulders.
"Yeah, because that's where my family is," Kaiba replied genuinely, feeling a headache coming on. "I need your blessing. Please give it to me."
"Ha!" Solomon turned around angrily and floated back to his desk to sit down in the large, sponge chair. Pure insolence!
Kaiba grit his teeth when heard this and reminded himself to keep his temper. He floated into the room and jumped when the old man barked at him, "who said you could come in?!"
Grimacing, Kaiba swung the door shut behind him with a thunk! and crossed his arms, not to be intimidated. Elder Iota had thrown a boot at him, so he could take whatever shouting Solomon had in store for him.
Actually…this old man might be useful for something after all.
"Fine, well, I tried," Kaiba said, rolling his eyes and hating how the water was warming up around his fins. "I have another question, and you might be old enough—I mean, wise enough…to answer it."
Solomon eyed him suspiciously with his round, violet eyes and tucked his fins underneath him in the chair, giving Seto a formal nod. This prince was young and seeking his wisdom. He would entertain it, only because this man was Adina's father.
"Thank you," Kaiba said, bowing his head hastily and feeling his ears redden with fury, but he kept up the act. "Can you give me any memory of a banished elder? She held the title of Elder Iota, and her last known location was the Outer Cities of my colony before the war."
There was a stony silence and Kaiba raised his head to look into Solomon's face, seeing the old man's brow wrinkled as he combed through his thoughts.
"She was banished because she was in love with a human," Kaiba added, trying to supplement information that might help jog the old merman's thoughts. "I recently learned that my memories are locked with her, and I need them back because…I want to take this kingdom seriously."
Those words seemed to do the trick because Solomon's expression softened instantly.
"I see," the old man said deeply, his long silvery locks of hair floating around his face, framing him eerily. "Well, I'm afraid I only have one memory of her, and its…not a pleasant one. Are you ready?"
"Yes," Kaiba lied, secretly dreading what he would see. He couldn't prepare himself because he had no fucking clue what to expect.
"Then come here," Solomon commanded, holding his hands out regally and turning his head to the side, the tips of his ears slightly pink. "I will show you, but this is not my blessing!"
Kaiba let his breath out slowly and dove down to the old man's sitting height and grabbed his hands roughly, trying to keep his expression neutral as his fingertips closed around soft skin. U-Ugh…
"Now…no crying or screaming after you've seen this," Solomon said seriously, and Kaiba lost his patience.
"Just show me already—!" And he was sent reeling into a vision so bright, his eyes stung. He was floating in a beautiful structure that was close enough to the surface for sunlight to stream warmly into the circular courtroom. There were giant, white pillars, each marked with a letter from the Greek alphabet, and an old merperson was floating beside their respective pillars, wearing the golden circlet around their heads.
An old woman was bent forward in the sand in the middle of the room, her white hair floating around her face like a thin, white curtain while she remained silent and dignified. Remnants of a human net were caught around the base of her fins, but no one moved to help her.
The silence was stifling, and Kaiba wanted to scream. He realized this was Solomon's feelings, and he felt a rush of compassion for the old man. Whatever the fuck that was happening was clearly…wrong.
He glanced around the room, taking in the other merpeople sitting in the sand by the pillars, all wearing crowns and finery. Kings and Queens from other colonies. Kaiba glanced up and saw an elder wearing the Gamma circlet floating above him, and his chest tightened with respect.
The Kingdom of Muran was protected by Elder Gamma.
"A motion to banish her and remove her from our sacred circle? Cast in your intent!" The Elder wearing the Phi circlet demanded, glancing around the room with sharp eyes. "Speak! We can't hold this off forever. She broke our rules and used her rank to obtain access to a Moon Pool! To mate with a human! This is unheard of! This is wild, dangerous behavior! She was also seen by a fisherman on the way back down! This can't go on!"
Hands were slowly raised, shakily, and no one wanted to look at the elder hunched forward in the sand in the middle of the beautiful room, and Kaiba felt his eyes heating up with tears.
Oh fuck. Why was he going to cry?
He didn't know this old hag!
The moment that thought left his mind, the old woman lifted her head up to gaze shrewdly around the room, to see who was casting her out.
Kaiba's heart skipped a painful beat when he got a good look at her face.
Dark, beady eyes, high cheek bones, a sharp jaw, and an unmistakable strong, almost masculine, square brow. If he took away the long white hair and obvious breasts sitting on her chest, she looked exactly like the female version of…Isono.
H-Holy…fuck.
Kaiba wanted to pull out of the memory and explode, but he was frozen in place with his heart thundering in his ears.
Excitement. Nausea. Fury. Joy.
He couldn't discern his own emotions apart from Solomon's.
Elder Phi was counting hands, swimming around the circular room to nod at each Elder, and Kaiba dared himself to glance up, relieved to see that their Elder had not raised his hand…but he was the only one out of four others who didn't. Not great odds.
"Twenty out of twenty-four," Elder Phi announced coldly, and Kaiba bit the inside of his cheek, a scream clawing its way up his chest.
No. No.
No.
"Goodbye, Elder Iota. We will be wishing you well at the gates. Please return your circlet to the Guardian at the…."
Kaiba mustered up all his willpower to jerk his hands away from Solomon's, and he reeled with grief and rage, unaware that tears were leaking out of the corners of his eyes as he spiraled wildly in his mind.
Of course Elder Iota knew so many secrets about the Chrysalis.
She snuck in and out of it regularly.
The journal had been wiped from his memory because, why?
She'd changed genders on land…to protect him?!
The Chrysalis could do shit like that?!
But she had died, possibly from old-old-old age in a male human form and had been buried.
She hadn't been placed in a pod to slowly decompose. She'd never entered the ocean again to return her energy into the 'circle of life' bullshit Seth was always spewing about.
Oh fuck.
Did that mean she was unreachable?! FOREVER?!
Isono had died without leaving much behind, not even the house cleaning schedule, which he'd kept in his mind, like an insane person—like a paranoid, old, merperson.
Then…where the fuck was Isono keeping his memories?!
Oh fuck.
Oh fuck.
"M-My boy…I'm sorry, was that too much?" Solomon asked uncertainly, nervously eyeing the door and wondering if he should call for help. The prince was sounding very unstable in his mind, crying silently on the floor while his fins were tucked neatly underneath his body. Small piles of gems were slowly forming around his fins, and Solomon could only watch helplessly.
"Were you…attached to her? Y-You're not related, are you?" Solomon asked gruffly, nervously reaching out to pat Seto on the shoulder, but withdrew his hand at the last second when he changed his mind.
Taking deep, shuddering breaths, Kaiba cursed under his breath and swept the gritty tears away from his cheeks, hating himself for skipping Isono's funeral now more than ever.
"I know where he is," Kaiba said flatly after finally finding his voice. "But he died on land with me. I couldn't save him—her. I don't fucking—"
His throat closed up with emotion and he lowered his head furiously, now wondering if he should ever tell Mokuba about this. Mokuba saw Isono as a kindly father figure…. … Shit.
Solomon grimaced and watched Seto's pale shoulders shaking as he took more deep breaths to calm himself down, and his heart went out to the young prince.
"That was the only memory I could provide. Can I help you in any other way?" Solomon asked carefully, and he was thrown off guard by the sudden change of tone and expression on Seto's face.
"Yes. You can give me your blessing," Kaiba said stiffly, dusting the sand and diamonds off his fins in a contained rage. "So I can align myself with your Kingdom, finish what needs to be done here…and possibly exhume a body when I go up to get my memories!" Kaiba's chest tightened again, and he willed himself not to cry.
This explained his extreme emotional attachment to Isono.
God…fucking…dammit.
"I don't trust you to rule over us without your memories," Solomon scoffed, and he immediately regretted saying those words when he caught a look of pained anger across Seto's handsome face.
There was a tense silence, and Kaiba decided he was done trying.
He turned to leave, and the old man called out to him, "wait!"
"What?!" Kaiba whirled around, no longer in the mood to play nice. He was always trying to do the right thing for Atem and his kingdom and his child. Children, now, plural.
Why was this old man being so damn difficult?!
"I said I'll give it to you!" Solomon cried, holding his hands up defensively when he realized Seto hadn't heard him at all the first time. "My blessing. You may have it. Please, find your memories on land before you start ruling—"
"Fucking finally. Thanks," Kaiba sneered, pointing at the diamonds littered in the sand on the ground by the old man's desk chair. "You can keep those for your trouble. I'll find an octopus to help you pick them up. And I expect you in the throne room for our first meeting. Now."
And he turned with a furious swish of his fins to swim out the door, making sure to slam it as hard as he could behind him.
Solomon sat in stunned silence in his chair, blinking at his closed door, trying to sort through his tumultuous feelings. Seto threw tantrums like Atem did when he was a Hatchling, even demanding guidance in the courtroom in the same rude, and impertinent way: "Granddaddy! Come into the throne room with me now!" so on and so forth.
"I'm never retiring," Solomon muttered, folding his arms and swiveling around to face his desk, letting out a sigh.
It felt nice to be needed.
Kaiba swam into the throne room furiously, shoving the seaweed curtain aside and seeing Ambassador Shadi hovering behind a pillar in the semi-darkness, trying to be invisible. He ignored him and floated up to Atem's throne, the gold gleaming at him as he swam closer to inspect the royal seat. He'd never been close enough to touch it, because protocol always had him floating the furthest away from Atem in the throne room meetings, and his attention always strayed anyway.
His heart was always somewhere else when Atem held open court, and Adina was often tugging on his arm, distracting him by singing random nursery songs because she was bored too.
Now, he had full reign—full responsibility of the throne and of the kingdom itself—and that thought was daunting.
I'm not going to sit on it, Kaiba thought darkly, turning away from it with a swish of his fins, seeing Isis and Mana float into the throne room slowly, followed by Mahad, Rishid, and finally, Solomon.
Everyone looked surprised but didn't say anything as the aging merman floated gracefully into the room and hovered protectively beside Seto with a determined look on his wrinkled face.
"I've given him my blessing," Solomon announced, just as Ambassador Shada zipped in through the seaweed opening and froze on the spot, paling significantly. His horrified look was mirrored by everyone else's dark faces, and Kaiba swallowed thinly, feeling the water grow cold with discontent.
W-Wow….
Everyone here hated him.
There was a frigid silence as no one made eye contact with him, and Kaiba swallowed thinly, gathering the courage to speak, but before he could open his mouth, the room faded suddenly, and his vision brightened so much that his eyes ached, and his head pounded. He let out a hiss and curled forward in the water, reeling into a vision.
He was in an unfamiliar cavern where piles of gems were neatly organized on all the long worktables, and Seth was beside him, bobbing eagerly in the water, watching two mermen toiling away at a glowing red hearth brimming with lava.
W-Were they inside a volcano?! The water was unbearably hot all around him.
Seth grabbed his arm and gave him an excited shake, his shrill child-like voice piercing his ears, mixing unpleasantly with the startled shouts of the people in the throne room, "isn't this cool?! We finally get to help father make a throne for another colony!"
"SETO?! PRINCE SETO?! Someone call the medic!"
Kaiba shut them out and focused intently on Seth's chubby, rounded cheeks. He remembered looking like this when he was about 10 years old. They really were identical twins….
Their father turned around from the hearth, wiping sweat off his brow as the goldsmith held a spiked piece of metal in his prongs, beaming proudly.
"…For the backrest," the goldsmith puffed, his cheeks red from the heat. "Now who wants to add the signature brand of Our Great King Helios on this piece?"
"MEEEEEEE!" Seth screamed, barging in front of Seto so fast, his long brown hair whipped him across his cheek.
Kaiba's face stung with a slap, and the darkness of the throne room ceiling came swimming into view. Mahad's concerned face hovered inches from his nose, and Kaiba turned his head away automatically in disdain.
He was sitting upright on something hard, and Kaiba realized with a jolt that they'd propped him up against Atem's throne, and his blood ran cold with dread. His energy came rushing back, and he lunged out of the seat, aiming for the space between Shada and Solomon's bodies, his cheeks burning with fury as Mana's startled cries rang in his ears.
"What's wrong?! Is it Adina? She's hurt?!" Mana cried, panic-stricken, and Solomon's face paled with fear as well.
Kaiba shook his head and clenched his fists at his sides, growling, "no. She's fine…and don't fucking touch me, Mahad—"
"You fainted!" Mahad insisted, turning pink in the cheeks and holding his hands up defensively in mild fear. "Don't shout at me for helping you!"
The Medic burst into the throne room breathlessly and grabbed Seto by the arm so tightly, she nearly drew blood. Kaiba tensed in shock and felt his body heating up as she evaluated his vitals rapidly before he jerked his arm out of her grip, fuming.
"I'm not sick! It was a vision of a memory," Kaiba spat, and the Medic backed away nervously, her eyes wide as she bowed out of the throne room, eager to make herself scarce.
The royal transition was happening with a lot of shouting. Absolutely terrifying.
The throne room fell deathly silent, and Kaiba crossed his arms defensively across his chest. What? Why was everyone so fucking quiet? They were so eager to give him a piece of their mind when Atem was here.
"Care to tell us what it was about?" Ambassador Shada broke the silence first, and Kaiba grimaced, eyeing Atem's throne for a moment before swimming towards it, feeling everyone part respectfully to let him pass.
He stared at the various glittering gems encrusted on the pillars running down the armrests and wondered if another memory would come rushing back. Nothing happened.
"…Seto?" Mana spoke up tentatively. "Do we need to postpone this meeting? Do you need to rest?"
Kaiba grit his teeth and shook his head, his gaze still fixated on the large diamond embedded in the gold as he finally found his voice to speak.
"I remembered…a throne being forged. Possibly not this one," Kaiba said hoarsely, feeling like he was lying. Where was the goldsmith's mark? He needed to go back into that memory somehow to find it, and then match it to any mark he could find on this throne.
Or…not. There was no point. What would that even prove? Nothing.
He composed himself enough to turn around to face everyone and noticed the looks of shock sitting on their faces, and his blood boiled. Could they stop gaping at him like he was an alien?!
Solomon's white hair floated around his cheeks while he eyed the young prince and said, "I demand that you rise to the surface and find your missing memories with Elder Iota before we continue any further."
Kaiba ground his teeth and rounded on the old man, almost spitting in his direction. "He's dead!"
"And?! She holds the key to your life before you were damaged as a human!" Solomon roared, and Kaiba blinked, his heart skipping nervous beats as he realized he was actually being yelled at. Even Mahad jumped in fear at the sudden volume.
A stunned silence followed.
"I command that you rise to shore and find your memories," Solomon sniffed, pleased to have shaken Seto by raising his voice. "Court will not resume with a reckless, mindless prince at the helm of this kingdom. I've retracted my blessing. Don't come back until you've found yourself, Prince Seto."
Kaiba opened and closed his mouth, his throat constricting as he struggled to retaliate.
It was suddenly hard to breathe, and his body weakened significantly.
Kaiba recognized this as a pact activating, and the old merman eyed him beadily with his dark, violet eyes.
"Remember who broke the pact you so carelessly made with Atem several decades ago? Yes, that was me. I know some tricks too," Solomon scoffed, turning to swim for the door. "Your royal duties include obeying your court, which is me, and everyone here agrees with me. All in favor?... Hm, I see everyone nodding. Good day, Prince Seto. I'll hold us over until you return."
With that, the old merman swam out of the throne room, leaving everyone floating shell-shocked behind him.
The pressure around his lungs finally lessened, and Kaiba pressed a hand to his chest, gasping.
H-Holy fuck! With age came power.
That was probably why he revered Elder Iota so much in his journal writings, and this was why Atem had a hard time disobeying Solomon.
Fuuucckk…
He'd just been commanded!
And he'd lost the damn blessing he'd groveled so hard for.
He was back to where he started, possibly further back than before.
"What just happened?" Mana breathed, and Mahad shook his head with a grimace, hating how the water was icy cold around his fins.
That was the most blatant display of power he'd ever seen Solomon exert over anyone, and that was terrifying. Perhaps because Seto wasn't his blood, he could afford to show the Prince some tough love. If that had ever happened with Atem, there might be some broken trust and further tantrums.
"Shall I escort you to the nearest Chrysalis, my Prince?" Mahad asked coolly, secretly thankful that Kaiba had been humbled so publicly, even if it was only for a short amount of time. "I'll call a Guardian to approve of this entry and to escort us. Bring only what you need and I'll meet you at the gates."
He darted out of the throne room without another look behind him, aware that Kaiba was cursing him silently in his mind.
Kaiba watched Mahad's violet fins vanish through the seaweed curtain, and he sagged lower in the water with exhaustion. Great. Finally.
A legitimate visit to a Chrysalis, but only because he'd been forced to.
Author's note:
kaiba gets some karma in his face. He's commanding ppl left and right and then grandpa comes along to pull rank on him :muscle emoji:
must not feel great
wonder how atem and adina are doing on land!
This was kaiba's backstory, part 3 of 5
