When Seto is silent...
" I really don't want to do this again." Seto said tiredly to the Cyber Commander. " You guys screwed up at the library. I'm not going to go out again and take you guys on some kind of weird tour."
Seto coughed a little before shutting his eyes. Why me? He asked himself.
Outside, the Skull Dragon gave a great roar, frightening all the pilots. Mokuba was playing with Kuribo and Baby Dragon. Seto held his face in his hands. This is too stupid.
He sighed. The Dark Magician he could handle. Every monster imaginable that he can't. The mansion was big, the territory bigger, but when you have a lot of giants like the Giant Soldier of Stone and the Summoned Skull, well. That gets a little squishy.
The Mystic Elf was kinder to him than anyone else and put her arms around him comfortingly.
" Arigatou." Seto muttered bitterly. The Mystic Elf was silent but she's always silent. One good thing about her.
The Swordstalker and the Rude Kaiser were trying to catch the Harpie Lady
Sisters when they realized something was wrong with the Dragonchild. They
stopped their frivolous activities and came over.
" What's wrong?" They asked.
" The Blue Eyed Child got a headache from people like you." The Dark Magician
answered. " Calm down. The child has gone through much. He could only handle so
much now."
" I was hoping for some peace and quiet this week on my rare week off." Seto
muttered. " Now I got a headache, a bad cough, and it's probably going to turn to
either bronchitis or pneumonia. Right, my life's a blast."
Ding dong!
" Let's hope it's Yugi and his little group rather than anyone else." Seto stood up
and walked to the door.
" Hi Kaiba...I see you're quite busy here." Yugi looked past Seto to see the
Thousand Dragon snorting.
" Oh look, say hi to Exodia. Since when did he come?" The Celtic Guardian looked
up next to Seto.
Indeed, the big guy Exodia was rampaging through the trees.
" Why me out of all people." Seto muttered as he let the humans in. " I think you'll find it extremely interesting here."
It was quite interesting, Yami found. It was extremely entertaining to watch
the Dark Magician in a t-shirt and jeans bustling about the place, and the Celtic
Guardian in baggy pants and a sweater.
It was a total mess.
" If Pegasus ever sees this he'll meet something as crazy as himself." Ryou noticed.
" Poor Seto." Anzu mused.
Seto was leaning against the wall when an arrow pierced his lower leg. He
immediately collapsed. It was Jou who caught him.
" Maya!" Onen growled. He studied the arrow before yanking it out. Along came a
shower of blood. Seto yelped.
" Now, can you all settle down?" He gritted his teeth, trying to stand up but failing.
To the amazement of others, there was a sudden silence in the room.
" Is he okay?" Asked the Change of Heart.
" Who shot that arrow?" Asked the Rude Kaiser.
Seto slid back down and growled. " Can you give me a hand here?"
Onen knelt down and helped him up. Mokuba came running in.
" Are you alright, Oni-san?" He asked.
" I've been better." Seto answered bitterly. He winced as he accidentally forced
pressure on the wounded leg.
The Princess of Tsrugi walked into the room and blinked.
" What happened to the Dragonchild?" She asked.
" Some baka shot an arrow through his leg." Onen replied.
I think my head is going to literally spin. Yugi thought. This is crazy!
While the Black Luster Soldier and the Dark Magician brought Seto upstairs
to his room to tend to his wound with the healer, Yami and his group decided to try
to get things in order.
It was fairly easy to get those who actually have human form in order, such as the Magician of Black Chaos, the Mystic Elf, the Dark Elf, those like that. It was not easy to get the Curse of Dragon under control, nor was it easy to get the Man Eater Bug under control either. Fortunately, none of the monsters got angry, or angry enough to attack ( eat) them, so they succeeded somewhat.
Late at night Yugi relaxed into the bed, feeling his Yami's presence inside the
puzzle and closed his eyes. The day was trying-he was so exhausted. He couldn't
imagine what Seto might be doing now.
There was a sound. A musical sound, a voice of a creature in the dark
shadows. Yugi looked around.
" Is this the Shadow Realm?" He asked.
All around him was darkness. A pitch black darkness so that it seemed to be covering something that wasn't there. Yet Yugi himself was visible, as if glowing with light all by himself, completely misplaced in the world of sheer black.
He walked on, not sure where he's going, not sure if it mattered either.
" Yugi!"
Yugi turned around. " Yami...you're here too?"
" Hai. I don't know why. Do you hear that?"
The musical voice sang on.
" Hai. What is that?"
" That's the Blue Eyes White Dragon."
" Seriously? I never knew it could sound so beautiful..."
" Not when its attacking."
" How do we get out of here?"
" I do not know. Perhaps if we walk towards the sound..."
The two walked down the empty darkness without fear. The darkness seemed friendly all of the sudden.
Suddenly, they passed through what seemed like a void. And nothing could compare to what met their astonished eyes.
Grasses. Grass covered the meadow, and all around them were trees. In the
middle, was a huge Blue Eyes White Dragon, cuddling a baby dragon to her. The
sky was blue and there were no clouds. The sun shone brightly. Flowers covered
the meadow like a fragrant bed.
" Wow..." Yugi breathed. " What is this place?"
The baby blue eyes woke and blinked its sleepy eyes at them. The mother dragon didn't seem to care that Yugi and Yami were there, so she didn't stop the dragon from getting up and toddling towards them. Halfway there, the dragon was surrounded by mist, and when the mist cleared, there stood a child.
" Seto?!" Yami cried, in disbelief. Yugi blinked.
" So it's true then." He breathed.
Seto was clad in soft blue, the color of the dragon. He wore a silver chain around his waist that was covered with sapphire and diamonds.
" Seto..." Yugi knelt down. " Is it really you? Do you know who we are?"
Seto looked at him up and down. " Iie," The child answered, " But I know you will cause me great pain."
Yugi woke up in cold sweat.
/ Yami! Yami! Wake up!/
// I'm awake.//
/ What was that dream about?/
//...I don't know.//
/ What did Seto mean by that?/
Yami did not answer.
Seto screamed.
He sat up in bed and winced as his leg protested. But he was more concerned
about the dream.
" Is it a memory?"
" Hai." Said the Dark Magician.
" Onen!" Seto sighed. " You scared me."
It was odd, Seto thought, how the Dark Magician seemed to be always there. Ever since Onen first came he was always by Seto's side. Wasn't the Dark Magician Yugi's monster?
" So I knew all along who Yugi was." Seto lied back down.
There was a moment of silence.
" Onen, did Yugi and Yami travel back into the past?"
Onen didn't answer for a moment.
" They did." He said finally. " Get some rest, little one."
Seto sighed. He closed his eyes.
" Aren't you going to get any sleep?" He asked finally.
" I'm fine." Onen answered.
" I'm not ready to go back. All this nonsense today isn't going to make me.
Especially that mermaid and her arrow."
He thought he saw the magician nod.
" Perhaps." Onen replied.
" Why are you being so reserved all of the sudden?" Seto was getting annoyed.
" Go to sleep, Seto."
Seto growled in annoyance. Great. Just great.
" Big brother?"
Seto looked up and saw Mokuba standing at the doorway.
" I had a bad dream."
What will happen to him if I went back? Seto thought to himself.
" Come here." He told the child, and the boy, holding his stuffed animal, rushed
over. Seto lifted the covers and the boy slid in. Onen watched this in silence.
Mokuba didn't even know he was there.
" Good night Mokuba."
" Good night, Oni-chan."
When Onen awoke Seto was out of bed and so was Mokuba.
Walking out of the room he went downstairs and found Seto sitting on the couch. The boy didn't even raise his head, but Onen was use to that.
" Ohayo, Seto." He offered. But the boy was silent. Onen knew that it was normal.
The Rogue Doll appeared at the doorway to the kitchen.
" Ohayo!" She chirped at Onen. " Want a cookie?"
" No thanks. Seto, do you want..." Suddenly, Onen felt that something was wrong.
" Seto?" The Celtic Guardian sensed it too.
The two immediately rushed over to Seto, and all the others wanted to go too, but the Dark Magician and the Celtic Guardian cleared them out.
" Seto, Seto, are you alright?" Onen asked.
Seto remained silent, his blank eyes staring straight ahead of him.
The Celtic Guardian felt the boy's face.
" He's ice cold!"
" What happened to him, Crusche?" Onen asked.
" I don't know." the Celtic Guardian felt his hands. " Hands are cold. He's
completely ice cold."
" What happened to Oni-chan?" Mokuba cried. The Mystic Elf hushed him and
turned him away, leaving the group. Onen thanked the gods that there was such a
creature like Anestel.
" Seto, Seto," He shook the boy. Then, leaving him to Crusche, Onen went and
grabbed the telephone.
" How do you use this thing?" Onen blinked. " Call Mokuba! Tell him to
call...Yugi!"
" He's not responding." Yami waved his hand in front of Seto's face. " Could it be
the dream?"
" I don't know." Onen replied. " And he's cold...as if he's sick..."
Yami sighed and thought for a while.
" Maybe his soul's somewhere else," Jou suggested. " Like that time with Pegasus."
" Hai, his soul's definetely somewhere else, but...where?" Yami looked up.
Seto laughed. This place was marvellous! He could see the sea from up
here. The beautiful sea...
Child...
What was that? Seto looked behind him. Who was that?
Lost to us, lost...
Something was coming for him. Something was-
He stepped back and began to fall...
" Ungh." Seto jerked, his dry eyes blinking. Everything was a blur, but it was slowly
clearing. What happened?
" Seto, hai, that's right, breathe slowly." Seto noticed that he was choking. He
jerked again. There was something supporting his head and back. Something...
Yami. Yugi. Jou and Ryou. They're here. Why are they here? What just happened? Why-
" Seto, breathe slowly. It's going to be alright."
Seto noticed that he was wrapped tightly in thick blankets. He still felt cold though. So cold...
" Seto, can you speak?" Yami asked.
Seto looked at Yami dumbly. He couldn't reply.
" Seto?"
Silence.
" Seto, can you hear me?" Yugi asked.
Seto hurriedly nodded, too fast to be normal. He was shakened.
" Then why aren't you talking?"
Seto opened his mouth but no sound came out. He looked from one person to the other, then closed his mouth.
Then he started shivering.
" Seto, it's alright. Don't be scared, you're safe." Onen tried his best to calm him.
Anestel is better at this.
" Anestel!" He called. " I need your help here!"
The Mystic Elf immediately came over, leaving Mokuba to the Magician of Faith and taking her place by Onen's side.
Seto was not afraid. No, he wasn't afraid. He was uneasy, and that's very
different from fear. He was cold, he was shakened, he was nervous.
Fine. He was afraid.
But of WHAT?
Seto didn't know. He shifted uncomfortably as the Hayabusa Knight came in.
" How's the Dragonchild now?"
I wish they would stop calling me that. He thought.
" I don't know what's wrong with him." Onen replied. " But he seems better now, seems to be frightened by something."
Stop talking as if I'm not here! I'm NOT frightened!
Not, Seto mused, that it would have made a difference whether they were talking to him. He couldn't answer. It seemed his voice was lost. Why is he so cold?
Seto squirmed and Onen quickly let go of him. He got out of bed and stood on the good leg, but all of the sudden a wave of dizziness and nausea took him. He held his head and collapsed. Crusche caught him.
The Witty Phantom suddenly entered the room.
" Is he alright?" The Phantom asked.
" I think the Dragonchild's sick." Onen stated the obvious quite dully. " He doesn't
look well. Come on."
They let Seto get back into bed and one of the Duel Monsters put him to sleep. Then they left, all of the worried.
" What's wrong with him?"
" Maybe he's already stirring?"
" What if he's got him already?"
" He has to go back soon, we're losing a lot of time..."
Seto closed his eyes. He was so tired...