Child at Heart
Chapter 3
" I'm telling you for the last time, I don't know how it happened!" He yelled, distressed. " For the love of heaven, that's all I know! I don't know what the heck the rod is all about, why the guy is after me in the first place, and what the stupid dream meant!"
" Then just answer this one question." I began. " Do you want our help?"
" I-" He sighed. " What do you mean?"
" Just that. Plain and simple. Did you want our help?"
He hesitated for a long moment.
" Yes! Yes! I did want your help!" He suddenly blurted out. " But it's too late now."
" Why?"
" None of your business." He looked defeated.
" Well, if you wanted our help, then it is our business." Yugi pointed out.
" I-" He threw up his arms. " Why are you doing this all of the sudden? I mean, at first the only connection between us is...Mo-Mok-ub-ba," There was a sob, " And now you're suddenly stalking me as if I were a criminal-"
" We're trying to help you, by Ra." I uttered an Egyptian curse under my breath. " By the Eye of Horus, just tell us already!"
" I don't know, alright!" He retorted. " I simply don't know! I just know it's too late." He fell into silent weeping, hugging his knees on the couch. All of us were struck dumb by his behavior.
" It was Mokuba." He suddenly whispered.
" What?" Bakura asked.
" It was all for Mokuba." He rocked himself back and forth. " Everything was for Mokuba. My parents died of cancer. Or one of them did. The other just died a few years later. And then Mokuba and I had to go to that dreaded orphanage. Do you know how much I hated it? But I stayed there for a long while, all for Mokuba. And then a man came, and took us both in. He treated us like rodents.
No one looks at you right except your own family, you know. You're just another mouth to feed. Only your parents, your grandparents, they look and see you as a person. No one else."
He rocked back and forth. " I did it for Mokuba. I did it for Mokuba. I did it for Mokuba." He started to chant as if he was delirious. Which he probably was.
At first we were speechless. Then I recovered. I pulled him into my embrace and he gradually silenced. Everyone was very quiet.
Cursing, Joey stood up.
" But at least he told us something." He sighed.
" Yeah." Tea nodded. I looked at him. He looked like a small boy, all curled up and shivering.
" At least he admitted that he needed help." Yugi said softly.
" He never did argue against that." I pointed out. " Come on, Seto. I'll help you up. You should get some rest after that...incident you've had."
" So...what do we do now?" Joey asked. " He did ask a good question, you know. Why are we doin this anyways?"
" For Mokuba." I answered, although now it sounded like an all out lie. " We're doing it for Mokuba. Remember? Just like he did everything for Mo-"
That was the closest I ever got to understanding him. I knew he did it all for Mokuba. But why? That was the logical question. But I received no answer.
" Well, if that's the case, then I'll say we have all we need to help him." Bakura said, very much confused.
" No. I think there's more to the story. You never did seem very responsive when you found out you have magic. You were very calm. When Yugi realized that, he didn't know what to make of it."
" Li-listen," He stood up, wiping his eyes quickly, " I'm tired, alright?" His voice sounded broken. " I'm really really tired. Please, leave me alone."
" You were lonely." Yugi suddenly snapped. " You were lonely. You needed help. Well, now we're here! Quit acting like you've just lost some kind of battle, will you?" He gentled. " We're here. We're not going anywhere until we find out exactly what you need."
He looked at us in bewilderment. I felt awkward.
" I'm not doing this." He started up. " You want to know what I need. I need Mokuba! There! But I'm not doing this, I can't keep this up-oh no," He started out of the room. Tristan blocked him.
" Ah ah, not today, Kaiba. You're not going anywhere."
His face twitched in a weird way as he studied Tristan. Then he suddenly lunged out, past him. Tristan grabbed his shoulders and thrusted him back into the room.
Then we saw the strangest sight.
His body became translucent. It had a shadow within it, and then the shadow became more and more clear, until we recognized it to be a figure of a boy.
Looking into his eyes, I started. His eyes were dull. But through them I could see who the boy was. The boy was curled up in a fetal position, about twelve years old, with dirty brown hair and closed eyes. He was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The boy uncurled, standing up straight. Blinking, his actual form began to flash. First there was the big form, then the small boy. Flash, the big form, then the small, until we were bewildered. And then, as if losing a battle, the small boy materialized and the tall sixteen year old faded like a ghost.
" That's the kid in the dream!" Yugi whispered.
Blinking, his eyes having a sleepy expression, twelve year old Seto opened his eyes droopily and looked at us.
" Where's my brother?" Was the first thing he asked.
" Uh..." Joey blinked. " Um, who are you?"
" My name's Seto." The boy asked pleasantly. " Who are you? Oh, you're Yami, you're Yugi...I don't remember the three of you though, and Bakura! But...where's my brother?"
" Then," We ignored his question, " If you're Seto, then...who's the other one?"
" What other one?" The young child asked pleasantly. " You mean that?"
We were seriously confused, partly because of the whole magical work here. Turning to where the child pointed we looked.
There was a picture of him that we never saw before. He was holding Mokuba by the shoulders. There was the familiar cold expression on his face. He looked like he was glaring at the camera.
" Uh...yeah," Tristan said cautiously.
" Oh, that's me." Seto answered.
" Okay, let me get this straight." Joey bent down to the shorter boy's level. " You're Seto. You're Mokuba's brother. Are you the Duelist Champion?"
" Um...yeah?" Now it was the boy's turn to be confused.
" Are you the boss of Kaiba Corps?"
" Um...no? I let my shield do that. Business is too corrupt."
" Um...so are you the one that took Yugi's Gramps and challenged him to a duel for the Blue Eyes?"
" Took Yugi's Grandpa?" Seto looked at him, puzzled. " I don't remember. Maybe. I was feeling scared because I heard there was another Blue Eyes-"
" Wait." At first I didn't know where Joey was going, but I found out. " What do you mean by your ' shield'?"
" That." Seto pointed. Back to the picture of the cold Seto Kaiba.
" Um...how old are you?" Yugi asked.
Young Seto shrugged. " I am that is." He answered. " I don't grow old and I don't grow young."
" This is making my head spin." Joey muttered.
" So are you the real Seto Kaiba?" Bakura asked.
" I'm the only one." Seto looked at him, confused. " What are you talking about?"
" Well, you see," Tea said awkwardly. " We only dealt with Big Kaiba over there. Not...twelve year old Kaiba..."
" Call me Seto." The boy smiled.
" So we are kind of confused, you know," Tristan finished uncomfortably.
Young Seto looked at Tea and Tristan for a minute.
" Who are you?" He asked bluntly.
" Um, I'm Tea, and this is...Tristan? That's Joey...you know all the rest."
" Oh. So you want me to explain...okay, but...alright-" Seto cocked his head. " It's simple actually. When I couldn't find Mommy and Daddy, I was scared. So I used magic to create a shield. I had to take care of Mokuba, but I had to protect myself, so my shield carried out all the rest of the work and I took care of my brother. It grew, and I didn't. We're separate. And it takes a lot of energy to keep that shield up, you know? By the way, where's my brother?"
" You're brother...he's...dead..." I said uncomfortably.
" Oh..." There was a undecipherable look in his eyes that told me I shouldn't have answered.
There was a series of flashing afterwards, as the ' shield' tried to protect ' little' Seto. But in the end the shield lost.
Seto paled, as if realizing he lost his last defense, started to show real signs of fear.
" Don't be afraid." I sighed. " We're not here to hurt you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."
Too late. The shield went up, full power. And we saw the cold and ruthless champion, the most successful teenager we know. But now that we had a glimpse of the child within him, we started to know.
We didn't understand. But we started to know.
Kaiba became quite cold, which led to much confusion. I was certain he wasn't ungrateful, but there was something that made us keep our distance. I still don't know why. Perhaps Kaiba was trying to protect himself from us.
We never really saw Seto again for many a day. Kaiba protected him so well. It led to more confusion. Was Seto in control of his shield? Is his shield a separate person? But that would mean he has a millennium item, and there were only seven. Could it be the rod? But he had just found it. Or did he? Could he be lying? He lied about his magical powers. Is Kaiba Seto's dark side? Was Seto actually twelve years old? Is that actually Seto, or is it his soul? So many unanswered questions.
Who could have known, we got them all from the most unlikely person.
Now the name all should be familiar with. He's our regular multi-billionaire with some sort of mental problem. But the truth was, that eye of his cured all by itself so he's no longer one eyed, by some unknown blessing or curse, and unfortunately it wasn't the same color as his right one. This...healed eye, is more golden, and quite frankly, sees too much.
How did this happen? I really don't know for sure. It was one thing to look for him. It was another to meet him by accident. We did part with hard feelings, and when we met again, our greeting wasn't gentle.
" What are you doing here, Pegasus."
Right away I knew something changed about him. Pegasus didn't have the familiar sly look. Instead, he had a look of business and perplexity. But he answered in the old Pegasus manner.
" Why, little Pharoah, can't I go where I please?" He asked pleasantly.
That didn't make sense. As much sense as it would to other people like Joey and Tristan, it coming from Pegasus didn't make sense. It wasn't logical. Because someone as rich as he would not be walking around without his men around. He would be sitting in his car, or limo, whichever one he chooses. But the way he said it did make sense. It was just like Pegasus to aggravate his listener.
" What are you here for?" I asked again. I wondered briefly where the new nickname he called me came from. His eye-
Well, that was when I saw his eye. It was real, flesh and...fluid. But it looked so fake....
" I've heard about your friend." He answered pleasantly. But his eyes had a queer look to it. " Poor Mokuba. How I miss him. And I do bring some news too. Tell Kaibaboy that Mokuba's playing company with Yami Bakura."
It took me a moment to register that, and for a minute I looked at him, confused. Then I realized what he's getting at.
" What are you getting at? You liar!" I snarled. " It's just like you to-"
" Of course. It's just like me to make people feel bad." Pegasus waved at himself briefly. " But of course, it is the truth. I did not come here to waste my time with you, or your little friend Yugi. I've come here to see Kaiba. I've heard that interesting things have been happening to him recently..."
How in the world did Pegasus manage to get through? I do not know. As far as I can remember, the memory cut off short and began when we were already at Kaiba's mansion.
And the bad thing was, Seto at that very minute ran out of energy.
I guess Pegasus knew about Seto having magical powers, and perhaps he knew about Seto in depression, even that Seto had been attacked by whoever it was in the meadow. But I don't think he knew that Seto had a shield, and that whoever he really is happened to be a small twelve-year-old boy, who obviously did not know who he is for some reason, and had greeted him with the sweetest smile I've ever seen. Because the minute Pegasus saw Seto he stopped short and could have gaped if it were in his genes.
Kaiba tried to cover up Seto again. Pegasus and I witnessed the flashes. Kaiba lost. Seto continued to smile.
" Hi Yami." He said. " Who are you? Are you that guy named Pegasus?"
I thought the situation couldn't get any worse.
" Oh..." Pegasus answered. " Yes. Hm, this is a new development."
" It certainly is." I answered bitterly. I still can't remember why I didn't kill Pegasus right then.
" Well, child." Pegasus bent down to Seto's level, Seto being very short at the age of twelve. " Tell me. Do you remember anything several months before?"
Seto blinked. " Yeah. I dueled you. For Mokuba. I don't know what you did, somehow I dueled you. You stole my Blue Eyes." He answered bluntly, then giggled. " You like cartoons!"
Pegasus smiled. I had to chuckle at that. Pegasus didn't seem embarrassed, however.
" Anything else?"
" You turned Blue Eyes into a cuddly toy." Seto smiled at the memory. " He was cute too. Don't know why he didn't like that." He never mentioned who ' he' was. " And then somehow I lost. You sucked him into the card."
Pegasus remained silent for a long time, and then Seto started to look doubtful.
" Was it wrong?" He asked.
" No, no, it's not that." Pegasus looked at me sideways, then looked at Seto for a long time, a thoughtful and considering look.
" Do you know where my brother is?" Seto asked. " I can't find him. I've been looking all over the place!"
At this I was confused. Didn't I tell him that his brother was gone?
Catching that thought, Pegasus cocked an eyebrow at me.
" Well, I would tell you where Mokuba is, only, of course, if you promise to keep that shield of yours down."
Seto's voice hardened and his eyes filled with doubt. For a long time he looked into Pegasus's eyes, also thoughtful, also considering.
" Alright," He said uncertainly.
" Your brother is in the Shadow Realm." Pegasus said quietly. " I've come to talk to talk to you about it."
Chapter 3
" I'm telling you for the last time, I don't know how it happened!" He yelled, distressed. " For the love of heaven, that's all I know! I don't know what the heck the rod is all about, why the guy is after me in the first place, and what the stupid dream meant!"
" Then just answer this one question." I began. " Do you want our help?"
" I-" He sighed. " What do you mean?"
" Just that. Plain and simple. Did you want our help?"
He hesitated for a long moment.
" Yes! Yes! I did want your help!" He suddenly blurted out. " But it's too late now."
" Why?"
" None of your business." He looked defeated.
" Well, if you wanted our help, then it is our business." Yugi pointed out.
" I-" He threw up his arms. " Why are you doing this all of the sudden? I mean, at first the only connection between us is...Mo-Mok-ub-ba," There was a sob, " And now you're suddenly stalking me as if I were a criminal-"
" We're trying to help you, by Ra." I uttered an Egyptian curse under my breath. " By the Eye of Horus, just tell us already!"
" I don't know, alright!" He retorted. " I simply don't know! I just know it's too late." He fell into silent weeping, hugging his knees on the couch. All of us were struck dumb by his behavior.
" It was Mokuba." He suddenly whispered.
" What?" Bakura asked.
" It was all for Mokuba." He rocked himself back and forth. " Everything was for Mokuba. My parents died of cancer. Or one of them did. The other just died a few years later. And then Mokuba and I had to go to that dreaded orphanage. Do you know how much I hated it? But I stayed there for a long while, all for Mokuba. And then a man came, and took us both in. He treated us like rodents.
No one looks at you right except your own family, you know. You're just another mouth to feed. Only your parents, your grandparents, they look and see you as a person. No one else."
He rocked back and forth. " I did it for Mokuba. I did it for Mokuba. I did it for Mokuba." He started to chant as if he was delirious. Which he probably was.
At first we were speechless. Then I recovered. I pulled him into my embrace and he gradually silenced. Everyone was very quiet.
Cursing, Joey stood up.
" But at least he told us something." He sighed.
" Yeah." Tea nodded. I looked at him. He looked like a small boy, all curled up and shivering.
" At least he admitted that he needed help." Yugi said softly.
" He never did argue against that." I pointed out. " Come on, Seto. I'll help you up. You should get some rest after that...incident you've had."
" So...what do we do now?" Joey asked. " He did ask a good question, you know. Why are we doin this anyways?"
" For Mokuba." I answered, although now it sounded like an all out lie. " We're doing it for Mokuba. Remember? Just like he did everything for Mo-"
That was the closest I ever got to understanding him. I knew he did it all for Mokuba. But why? That was the logical question. But I received no answer.
" Well, if that's the case, then I'll say we have all we need to help him." Bakura said, very much confused.
" No. I think there's more to the story. You never did seem very responsive when you found out you have magic. You were very calm. When Yugi realized that, he didn't know what to make of it."
" Li-listen," He stood up, wiping his eyes quickly, " I'm tired, alright?" His voice sounded broken. " I'm really really tired. Please, leave me alone."
" You were lonely." Yugi suddenly snapped. " You were lonely. You needed help. Well, now we're here! Quit acting like you've just lost some kind of battle, will you?" He gentled. " We're here. We're not going anywhere until we find out exactly what you need."
He looked at us in bewilderment. I felt awkward.
" I'm not doing this." He started up. " You want to know what I need. I need Mokuba! There! But I'm not doing this, I can't keep this up-oh no," He started out of the room. Tristan blocked him.
" Ah ah, not today, Kaiba. You're not going anywhere."
His face twitched in a weird way as he studied Tristan. Then he suddenly lunged out, past him. Tristan grabbed his shoulders and thrusted him back into the room.
Then we saw the strangest sight.
His body became translucent. It had a shadow within it, and then the shadow became more and more clear, until we recognized it to be a figure of a boy.
Looking into his eyes, I started. His eyes were dull. But through them I could see who the boy was. The boy was curled up in a fetal position, about twelve years old, with dirty brown hair and closed eyes. He was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The boy uncurled, standing up straight. Blinking, his actual form began to flash. First there was the big form, then the small boy. Flash, the big form, then the small, until we were bewildered. And then, as if losing a battle, the small boy materialized and the tall sixteen year old faded like a ghost.
" That's the kid in the dream!" Yugi whispered.
Blinking, his eyes having a sleepy expression, twelve year old Seto opened his eyes droopily and looked at us.
" Where's my brother?" Was the first thing he asked.
" Uh..." Joey blinked. " Um, who are you?"
" My name's Seto." The boy asked pleasantly. " Who are you? Oh, you're Yami, you're Yugi...I don't remember the three of you though, and Bakura! But...where's my brother?"
" Then," We ignored his question, " If you're Seto, then...who's the other one?"
" What other one?" The young child asked pleasantly. " You mean that?"
We were seriously confused, partly because of the whole magical work here. Turning to where the child pointed we looked.
There was a picture of him that we never saw before. He was holding Mokuba by the shoulders. There was the familiar cold expression on his face. He looked like he was glaring at the camera.
" Uh...yeah," Tristan said cautiously.
" Oh, that's me." Seto answered.
" Okay, let me get this straight." Joey bent down to the shorter boy's level. " You're Seto. You're Mokuba's brother. Are you the Duelist Champion?"
" Um...yeah?" Now it was the boy's turn to be confused.
" Are you the boss of Kaiba Corps?"
" Um...no? I let my shield do that. Business is too corrupt."
" Um...so are you the one that took Yugi's Gramps and challenged him to a duel for the Blue Eyes?"
" Took Yugi's Grandpa?" Seto looked at him, puzzled. " I don't remember. Maybe. I was feeling scared because I heard there was another Blue Eyes-"
" Wait." At first I didn't know where Joey was going, but I found out. " What do you mean by your ' shield'?"
" That." Seto pointed. Back to the picture of the cold Seto Kaiba.
" Um...how old are you?" Yugi asked.
Young Seto shrugged. " I am that is." He answered. " I don't grow old and I don't grow young."
" This is making my head spin." Joey muttered.
" So are you the real Seto Kaiba?" Bakura asked.
" I'm the only one." Seto looked at him, confused. " What are you talking about?"
" Well, you see," Tea said awkwardly. " We only dealt with Big Kaiba over there. Not...twelve year old Kaiba..."
" Call me Seto." The boy smiled.
" So we are kind of confused, you know," Tristan finished uncomfortably.
Young Seto looked at Tea and Tristan for a minute.
" Who are you?" He asked bluntly.
" Um, I'm Tea, and this is...Tristan? That's Joey...you know all the rest."
" Oh. So you want me to explain...okay, but...alright-" Seto cocked his head. " It's simple actually. When I couldn't find Mommy and Daddy, I was scared. So I used magic to create a shield. I had to take care of Mokuba, but I had to protect myself, so my shield carried out all the rest of the work and I took care of my brother. It grew, and I didn't. We're separate. And it takes a lot of energy to keep that shield up, you know? By the way, where's my brother?"
" You're brother...he's...dead..." I said uncomfortably.
" Oh..." There was a undecipherable look in his eyes that told me I shouldn't have answered.
There was a series of flashing afterwards, as the ' shield' tried to protect ' little' Seto. But in the end the shield lost.
Seto paled, as if realizing he lost his last defense, started to show real signs of fear.
" Don't be afraid." I sighed. " We're not here to hurt you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."
Too late. The shield went up, full power. And we saw the cold and ruthless champion, the most successful teenager we know. But now that we had a glimpse of the child within him, we started to know.
We didn't understand. But we started to know.
Kaiba became quite cold, which led to much confusion. I was certain he wasn't ungrateful, but there was something that made us keep our distance. I still don't know why. Perhaps Kaiba was trying to protect himself from us.
We never really saw Seto again for many a day. Kaiba protected him so well. It led to more confusion. Was Seto in control of his shield? Is his shield a separate person? But that would mean he has a millennium item, and there were only seven. Could it be the rod? But he had just found it. Or did he? Could he be lying? He lied about his magical powers. Is Kaiba Seto's dark side? Was Seto actually twelve years old? Is that actually Seto, or is it his soul? So many unanswered questions.
Who could have known, we got them all from the most unlikely person.
Now the name all should be familiar with. He's our regular multi-billionaire with some sort of mental problem. But the truth was, that eye of his cured all by itself so he's no longer one eyed, by some unknown blessing or curse, and unfortunately it wasn't the same color as his right one. This...healed eye, is more golden, and quite frankly, sees too much.
How did this happen? I really don't know for sure. It was one thing to look for him. It was another to meet him by accident. We did part with hard feelings, and when we met again, our greeting wasn't gentle.
" What are you doing here, Pegasus."
Right away I knew something changed about him. Pegasus didn't have the familiar sly look. Instead, he had a look of business and perplexity. But he answered in the old Pegasus manner.
" Why, little Pharoah, can't I go where I please?" He asked pleasantly.
That didn't make sense. As much sense as it would to other people like Joey and Tristan, it coming from Pegasus didn't make sense. It wasn't logical. Because someone as rich as he would not be walking around without his men around. He would be sitting in his car, or limo, whichever one he chooses. But the way he said it did make sense. It was just like Pegasus to aggravate his listener.
" What are you here for?" I asked again. I wondered briefly where the new nickname he called me came from. His eye-
Well, that was when I saw his eye. It was real, flesh and...fluid. But it looked so fake....
" I've heard about your friend." He answered pleasantly. But his eyes had a queer look to it. " Poor Mokuba. How I miss him. And I do bring some news too. Tell Kaibaboy that Mokuba's playing company with Yami Bakura."
It took me a moment to register that, and for a minute I looked at him, confused. Then I realized what he's getting at.
" What are you getting at? You liar!" I snarled. " It's just like you to-"
" Of course. It's just like me to make people feel bad." Pegasus waved at himself briefly. " But of course, it is the truth. I did not come here to waste my time with you, or your little friend Yugi. I've come here to see Kaiba. I've heard that interesting things have been happening to him recently..."
How in the world did Pegasus manage to get through? I do not know. As far as I can remember, the memory cut off short and began when we were already at Kaiba's mansion.
And the bad thing was, Seto at that very minute ran out of energy.
I guess Pegasus knew about Seto having magical powers, and perhaps he knew about Seto in depression, even that Seto had been attacked by whoever it was in the meadow. But I don't think he knew that Seto had a shield, and that whoever he really is happened to be a small twelve-year-old boy, who obviously did not know who he is for some reason, and had greeted him with the sweetest smile I've ever seen. Because the minute Pegasus saw Seto he stopped short and could have gaped if it were in his genes.
Kaiba tried to cover up Seto again. Pegasus and I witnessed the flashes. Kaiba lost. Seto continued to smile.
" Hi Yami." He said. " Who are you? Are you that guy named Pegasus?"
I thought the situation couldn't get any worse.
" Oh..." Pegasus answered. " Yes. Hm, this is a new development."
" It certainly is." I answered bitterly. I still can't remember why I didn't kill Pegasus right then.
" Well, child." Pegasus bent down to Seto's level, Seto being very short at the age of twelve. " Tell me. Do you remember anything several months before?"
Seto blinked. " Yeah. I dueled you. For Mokuba. I don't know what you did, somehow I dueled you. You stole my Blue Eyes." He answered bluntly, then giggled. " You like cartoons!"
Pegasus smiled. I had to chuckle at that. Pegasus didn't seem embarrassed, however.
" Anything else?"
" You turned Blue Eyes into a cuddly toy." Seto smiled at the memory. " He was cute too. Don't know why he didn't like that." He never mentioned who ' he' was. " And then somehow I lost. You sucked him into the card."
Pegasus remained silent for a long time, and then Seto started to look doubtful.
" Was it wrong?" He asked.
" No, no, it's not that." Pegasus looked at me sideways, then looked at Seto for a long time, a thoughtful and considering look.
" Do you know where my brother is?" Seto asked. " I can't find him. I've been looking all over the place!"
At this I was confused. Didn't I tell him that his brother was gone?
Catching that thought, Pegasus cocked an eyebrow at me.
" Well, I would tell you where Mokuba is, only, of course, if you promise to keep that shield of yours down."
Seto's voice hardened and his eyes filled with doubt. For a long time he looked into Pegasus's eyes, also thoughtful, also considering.
" Alright," He said uncertainly.
" Your brother is in the Shadow Realm." Pegasus said quietly. " I've come to talk to talk to you about it."