Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
I took back my refill and carefully went through it as Yuugi and I sat down. I read and reread everything I'd once written down, trying to focus my attention not only on most recent events but even the past ones, particularly the ones where Yami — I dismissed Yuugi's apology with a smile before saying that I'd expected them to write in it. That was why I'd handed the thing with a pencil, after all — had left notes, from interrogation points where he felt it needed clarification to words that brought forth ideas and speculations that I had been slowly working through on my own.
Mahaado's page had Black Magician written right next to it. The three Gods cards now had their full names written next to my speculations, along with more information that had, technically, more to do with their effects than actual symbolism, but that was something I could add in later. And Seto's page… Had Kaiba's name gingerly written onto it with an interrogation point along with the information that I'd collected from Mokuba just moments before.
Not reassuring. Not reassuring at all. And the fact that we were all coming down to the same conclusion was something I would have preferred not to deal with.
Yet, at this point, I didn't have much of a choice, now, did I?
I hesitantly erased the interrogation point and immediately felt a gaze on me that could not have belonged to Yuugi, no matter how hard it tried. I took a breath as I sat back and clutched to the blanket my brother or, more probably, Mokuba had earlier covered me with as I watched that look now settled unto the page, tone heavy.
"You realize what you're implying, right?"
"You really think I'd panic if it involved any less? No, what I'm implying is much worse, Yami."
Before I watched him settle back with a motion for me to continue, forcing me to take another breath and hope, "If I'm right, if my feelings haven't failed me, then Mahaado was a priest, like… Kaiba's incarnation. But Mahaado, as you've established, is a card, a Monster of the game. Kaiba's here. In this world. That means that there's a high probability that whatever power that priest had was stronger than Mahaado's, who, as I'm pretty sure we can both say, had to be pretty darn insane if he managed to link or make himself a Monster. And I know only one power that could rival that, even top it."
He frowned, "… The Pharaoh's? But I'm-"
"That's the thing! That right there! What if there was a succession? What if this entire mess expanded beyond the time you were alive? And what if — what if that successor, that person didn't want you to be forgotten, no matter what you sacrificed?"
Before his eyes opened wide and I felt not only surprise but disbelief.
No man, no one of Yami's type, would exchange eternal peace for the risk of freeing a thing that had, most probably, nearly killed his entire world. But grief was powerful. Grief, certainly when it involved people that felt like they'd given you the world, could make a person do some very morally gray things in the hopes of making someone who'd sacrificed everything, even themselves, get just a little of what the other felt they deserved.
And I knew only one person who would let grief control him.
"Are you saying-"
"That there's a high chance that you never wanted any of this to happen? Yes. That someone far more powerful than maybe even you managed to put all of this into action because they didn't want you forgotten? Yes."
"Hey now-"
"No, Yami, I mean it. You might be powerful, but you don't have it in you to affect the world directly. You can only do it through subtle changes and your games. However, Kaiba or his incarnation managed to create very, very real things that share this plane of existence."
"…"
Something that, apparently, was just starting to sink in for Yami.
A person like Kaiba with the powers of a recognized Pharaoh? With the power of godhood at his fingertips, all while grief was eating him alive? Plans would be drawn. People would be sacrificed. It wouldn't matter how long it took for the plan to get started. As long as it got set into motion, as long as it got him the results he wanted, it was all worth it in the end.
The ends justified the means, no manner how steep the cost.
"… Tell me you're joking."
"Can't be. It's too accurate. In fact, there's only one thing she's not mentioning. You were probably related."
A philosophy the entire Kaiba family lived by and could only cringe at as I heard Mokuba's voice rise from the bed, nowhere near as surprised as I should have been when I looked back and noticed him barely sitting up.
Related. Family. If Yami had been the same type of person as he was now, then Kaiba's past self would have gotten his priesthood on merit, would have gotten a considerable amount of respect depending on what he accomplished instead of his status as being related to the royal family, which would have led to a relationship born out of mutual respect and recognition. And that… was something Kaiba thrived on, built himself upon.
To have all of it related to a family member…
"That's-"
"Impossible? I'm sorry but other than giving you a card, Yami, what the heck has he done for you so far? And, if you don't mind, compare that real quick to everything my brother's done for me or that we've done for each other in just the time we've known each other. I tried to kill you, remember?"
"Your bother-"
"My brother sacrificed both his life and sanity for me more times than I can count. You were related. That's all there's is to it."
Would just make the stakes even higher, certainly if the personality didn't change, which, considering that we were talking about Kaiba, had a meager chance of happening, even if it made his circumstances hard to explain.
… I was going to need a talk with the Ishtars by the time we were done. If only to make sure that I wasn't making an assumption about how souls worked.
I heard chairs creak as I took my refill back and writing down the vague things I could remember about souls from the myriads of books I'd read. I felt more than saw someone reading over my shoulder as I wrote, and someone began to pace around the room, clearly upset.
"Do either of you realize how insane you both sound?"
But I only looked up when Yami finally spoke up, not only doubtful but upset.
Not used to it. Not used to being in the middle of speculations and realizing that things were more complicated than they looked. This might have been standard fare for me due to the recurring dreams, but it wasn't Yami's. Yami just took the information and rolled with it. His job was simple as far as he was concerned. Find the evil and punch it in the face.
This — this was finding out what the hell had caused this, which would, hopefully, give us an insight in the next part.
It was no longer about a game. It was about people.
"If you're both looking for someone to blame, then congratulations, you've found him. But I don't see how any of this-"
People who went much further than they were supposed to be capable of. All for one man.
"So you don't want to know why not only a priest sacrificed his life for you and another grieved so much, he set up an elaborate, three thousand year plan to get you from your spirit state into one which you can be reached?"
One man whom we'd managed to scare with the implications.
"You asked me earlier if I realized what I was implying, Yami. I told you that I did. I also said that my implications went further than you thought they did. This is what I meant. This is what I was trying to get to. Because if Mokuba and I are both right, then the state you left yourself in was so bad, even a god with a will capable of breaking the future couldn't do anything for you. He could only plan, produce things that would be helpful down the line in the hopes that you could find the answer or that someone could figure out a new way to contain it that didn't involve losing you.
"Now, excuse me if I sound a bit abrupt, but if you've started to figure this out, wouldn't you want to know if you've not gone crazy? If you're right in your assumption that someone else was involved, that they were Pharaoh and were willing to put an entire family through torture to ensure your return? And if you're right, how fucked up the seal you had to make had to have been to the point where even all of this technically still wasn't enough for a smooth transfer?"
Of which I didn't blame him for.
"… You're terrifying."
Really didn't blame him at all.
I smiled. Crooked and unable to help the sad expression on my face, but I smiled before I got up, grabbing the refill as I spoke, "You're not the first one to tell me that."
"… Where are you going?"
And stopping to look at him as he did, looking almost… desperate.
He'd been hoping for solid ground. I was robing that from under him. Sorry, Yami.
"I need to talk to the Ishtars. I need more information about the soul before I draw my conclusions. You're more than welcome to listen."
"Is any of this-"
Really sorry.
"Necessary? Yes. Because if I'm right, this is it. For parts of your past to emerge like this and you possibly being granted access to your own past, this has to be it. And I'd rather make sure we're as well aware as possible as to what we're going to find on the other side, so we don't make a mistake. 'Cause, again, if I'm right… mistakes are going to cost us a lot when we get to it."
But there was no avoiding any of this.
The Sky Sage: Can I just say that life has been a nightmare? My husband works from home, and his schedule has shifted three TIMES in the past month. Good luck finding time to do anything or readjusting one's schedule to this insanity. Thankfully, this schedule looks like it's going to stick. Thank freaking GOD. I'm sorry for all the delays. I swear it's just because I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off.