Hey! Meesa hasa clear mind today. I'm kinda hyper right now as I type this beginning down, but I think it'll be dead by the time I hit the books (in ten minutes). Oh and did I mention that school is annoying? And--I have yearbook pics in 2 days... lucky me. I wouldn't mind it half as much if i didn't have this stupid zit form on my forehead yesturday. Oh well, guess I'll have to go get some more concealer. Enjoy the story and review pleeeeeease. If you can fire an idea at me pleeease do cuz after this party thingie with Seto I don't know what to do with him and Caleia next.
Disclaimer: its on the last 6 chapters, I'm lazy rite now, so bottom line... you c this, you don't sue, we all happy... okay?
I'm also gonna be lazy with the mental talking things but they'll be the same anyway.
Oh yeah and one more thing since last chapter this is backtracking like, 20 minutes or so-so the phone call did not happen yet. **********************************************************************
Chapter 7
Seto sat comfortably in his big leather executive chair at his desk, in his office, at his house. He had finished all of what was on his itinerary for today's work schedule and Mokuba wasn't going to be home from daycamp for another hour or so. He had thought about going down to the Dueling Corner to duel a little, but he just didn't feel like leaving the house right now.
Pressing a button on the speaker on his desk, Seto was about to tell someone from the kitchen to bring him up a glass of chocolate milk or something, but decided against it. At least going down there would give him something to do.
At the top of the staircase, Seto simply sat on the rail and simply slid down, a skill he had mastered through the years. As he slid though, his cards accidentally slipped out of his pocket. He made a feeble attempt to grab them, checking himself as he did not want to fall, then walked over to pick them up when he reached the bottom of the steps.
Straightening them, he came across on of his Blue Eyes. 'Seven Blue Eyes,' he thought to himself. 'And all this time I thought I had all of them. And Caleia. She's not all she seems. Underneath that image of pacifism is a hard-core duelist. And she always seems so confident with everything she does, and so sincere all the time.---I don't believe I'm thinking about her!' Abruptly closing his thoughts, Seto readapted his expressionless face as he resumed his trip to the kitchen.
He poured himself a tall glass of chocolate milk (sorry, my sudden obsession) and walked back up to his office. His desk a clutter of data disks and paper, he tried to organize them somewhat. He came across an unlabeled disk, 'label must have come off,' and slid it into the computer to check it out.
It turned out to be his schedule/calendar. Glancing at this month's activities, he groaned as he realized that the company's annual spring party was next Saturday---which means he'll have to go through finding a date--again. He refused to show up alone and without a date. Many of his important clients will be there and he just didn't want them all to know that he couldn't find a date.
He thought about who he could take. Last year he, out of sudden insanity, had asked Mai Valentine, but that was total disaster--she nearly cost him one of his most valuable clients. He thought about Tea, but immediately dismissed her--he could hardly stand Miss Perfect at school, much less here. And he pondered if he should just ask some girl at school, he knew a few who had crushes on him, but decided against it--they might take it the wrong way, definitely.
'Caleia.' a little voice from his mind suddenly said. (this is really just him talking/thinking to himself) "No!" he said aloud, his instinctual reaction. 'You know you want to,' his mind persisted. Seto stopped to think about it. He had never realized it, but maybe he did. Her dueling skills, and beating him that day, had definitely earned her his respect. And though he didn't ever want to admit it, even to himself, her confidence attracted him.
'But that isn't reason why I would choose her,' as he had to keep reminding himself. 'I'm not soft like that. She's just obviously the most suitable choice, considering my options.' Satisfied enough with himself, Seto picked up the phone.
He didn't actually know her number, but he had the resources to find it in a fairly short time. The phone rang twice before someone picked it up and said hello.
"Hello, Caleia?--(one sided conversation again) This is Seto Kaiba.--- Good. Are you by any chance doing something next Saturday?---Ok, listen, my company is holding our annual spring party next Saturday. I am in need of a date---Well, yes, I do. Many of my important clients will be there and I do not wish to be embarrassed in front of them. You are, in fact, the most suitable person I could think of.---So will you come?---(long pause)---So you'll come?---Great. I'll talk about details with you later.---Bye. *Click*"
'That went fairly well, I'd say,' Seto thought to himself. The business executive smiled to himself before he took the disk back out, labeled it, and went back to straightening his desk.
*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*
(backflash) "And you accepted?" Tea asked Caleia
"Yeah." Caleia replied.
"Oh my god! You didn't! He didn't!" Tea stammered out. Caleia smiled.
"Yes he did, and yes I did." Joey decided to be a smart alik--
"I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you he liked you," he said. Yaku and the others, having quit their game of Super Smash Brothers when the conversation started, went over to Caleia and put his arm on her shoulder.
"Looks like someone likes you--again," he said, then looked at the others. Caleia smacked him hard in he head. "OW!" he said, but Caleia's glare quieted him.
Joey, who of course didn't get the message, piped up to ask, "likes you again? Wha?" Yami and Yaku looked at Caleia, who stared at the floor.
"Tell him," she whispered in her native tongue finally. It was obviously hard for her. Yami nodded slightly before he turned to the others.
"Millennias ago, when Caleia was princess and I was pharaoh," he started. Taking a deep breath, he tried to figure out how to recall the days. Caleia's expressionless face as she stared at the ground gave him no reassurances. "When Caleia was fifteen or so, I had to appoint her a mentor. Naturally for those times, it would be one of the priests. Caleia was there the day to pick--I let her choose and have a say, which my sons had not. I agreed with her decision, of course. She has powers to look deep into the hearts of others, or at least those who do not have the mind to keep strong barriers to keep her out." He looked at Caleia again. At least she moved. Yaku was holding her like she was his little sister who was afraid of the dark. He was whispering to her, but the words were barely audible. Caleia felt Yami's eyes on her and looked at him, her eyes telling him that she was okay, and to go on.
"The priest who was appointed her mentor was hardly older than she was, probably by a year or less. His name was Seto." He paused again to let the words sink into their minds. Joey, Tea, and Yugi stared at him, then at Caleia, lost for words. Yami looked at Caleia too. She seemed better. "Caleia and Seto---they fell in love. If it had been under different circumstances, it could have been fine---"
Caleia interrupted. "But he was a priest, my tutor, and by falling in love he violated his order." Everyone looked back at her. She stood up, willing herself to be strong. This was her story--she should be part in telling it. "We kept it secret for more than a year. There were other priests who were jealous of Seto--that he was so young, yet held such a high job. So of course, they were the first to discover our secret." She paused and took a breath. "And in that time, for Seto to have violated the priesthood code was a crime punishable by death. I used my authority as princess to order his safety--for a while. We both knew that there was only so much that my authority could do--only so far before the priesthood could overrule me.
'They took him away to face trial. I pleaded his case, Father did, Annya and Serashi did too, but they still gave him the punishment of death. That's when I took matters into my own hand. I used my powers to get him out. Annya and Serashi bought us time by delaying the pursuit, but we had no idea where we could go.
'But luckily we found Bakur--Yaku, and two other friends, Isis and Malik Ishtar, and they got us out of the city, helped us find a place to hide." Caleia glanced at Yaku, who gave her a reassuring look that settled her nerves. "I continued my duties as Keeper, but more subtly as to not draw quite so much attention to myself. I sent periodic messages to Father to let him know what I was up to, that I was okay, but I was wary to go back to Thebus yet. Seto and I had already moved twenty times in that first year in hiding to get away from the priesthood. They pursued him--us--endlessly.
'But I did finally go back, one and a half years after we went into hiding. I went back to visit one day, alone. To have Seto return to Thebus was way too risky. When I left, I had to make sure no one followed me, that no one saw where I went. Yaku, Malik, and Isis got me in and out the quickest and quietest way, then I'd have to bid them farewell again as I went back into hiding.
"She'd come back twice a year, unannounced so that the priesthood could not prepare to follow her," Yami interrupted again. "They could not dare touch her, but they knew that if they followed her she would most likely lead them to Seto. A year or so later, when Caleia came to visit, she was bearing a daughter with her. She asked me to raise her in the palace, to train her like I trained Caleia, to help her have a more--"
"Stable childhood, normal childhood," Caleia finished. "To have to grow up in hiding was not what I wanted for her. I wanted her to be able to play freely without worrying about who was around her, possibly spying on her. I knew--and Seto knew-- that with the arrangement I would only see her twice a year, and Seto even less. I could at least visit her in the palace. She would have to be snuck out of the city for Seto to see her, and that obviously drew attention."
Joey interrupted. "Ya really did love her, ta sacrifice so much for her. I don't know if I coulda done that if she were my kid."
"You would," Caleia said to him. Joey looked back at her, confused somewhat. "I can see into the souls of people. You have the courage to do what I did--all of you do."
"We can only pray that you will not have to show that courage," Yami whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
There was silence again. The subject, thanks to Joey, had changed, and everyone either did not want to bring it back up or completely forgot about it.
It was only interrupted when Mist walked in and announced that she had finished washing the dishes. Caleia thanked her. The Eye of Anubis glowed on her forehead as she recalled the elf back into the Shadow Realm. In a bright flash of light, she was gone.
But the effects of opening a portal to the Shadow Realm sent shivers through Caleia and the two yamis. A flood of dark energy, even more than the usual darkness that the Shadow Realm radiated, had flowed through their end. This was not dark energy like that the dark magicians and other spellcasters used--this was by far more sinister. Caleia slammed the connection closed. She looked at Yami and Yaku. Both still had a faint glow of the Eye of Anubis on their foreheads, residual effects from the unexpected onslaught of dark energy.
The three looked at each other. They didn't say a word, didn't have to. Each was thinking the same thing.
Something evil and powerful was there.
***********************************************************************
....how was that? I had a sudden burst of inspiration for the end, but considering I still need more on Seto and Caleia falling in love, I'll probably only be able to hint here and there and add a few details on it in the comming chapters. I seriously need help Caleia and Seto falling in love so throw a few ideas at me ^_^ Review please!
~Kirsta~
Disclaimer: its on the last 6 chapters, I'm lazy rite now, so bottom line... you c this, you don't sue, we all happy... okay?
I'm also gonna be lazy with the mental talking things but they'll be the same anyway.
Oh yeah and one more thing since last chapter this is backtracking like, 20 minutes or so-so the phone call did not happen yet. **********************************************************************
Chapter 7
Seto sat comfortably in his big leather executive chair at his desk, in his office, at his house. He had finished all of what was on his itinerary for today's work schedule and Mokuba wasn't going to be home from daycamp for another hour or so. He had thought about going down to the Dueling Corner to duel a little, but he just didn't feel like leaving the house right now.
Pressing a button on the speaker on his desk, Seto was about to tell someone from the kitchen to bring him up a glass of chocolate milk or something, but decided against it. At least going down there would give him something to do.
At the top of the staircase, Seto simply sat on the rail and simply slid down, a skill he had mastered through the years. As he slid though, his cards accidentally slipped out of his pocket. He made a feeble attempt to grab them, checking himself as he did not want to fall, then walked over to pick them up when he reached the bottom of the steps.
Straightening them, he came across on of his Blue Eyes. 'Seven Blue Eyes,' he thought to himself. 'And all this time I thought I had all of them. And Caleia. She's not all she seems. Underneath that image of pacifism is a hard-core duelist. And she always seems so confident with everything she does, and so sincere all the time.---I don't believe I'm thinking about her!' Abruptly closing his thoughts, Seto readapted his expressionless face as he resumed his trip to the kitchen.
He poured himself a tall glass of chocolate milk (sorry, my sudden obsession) and walked back up to his office. His desk a clutter of data disks and paper, he tried to organize them somewhat. He came across an unlabeled disk, 'label must have come off,' and slid it into the computer to check it out.
It turned out to be his schedule/calendar. Glancing at this month's activities, he groaned as he realized that the company's annual spring party was next Saturday---which means he'll have to go through finding a date--again. He refused to show up alone and without a date. Many of his important clients will be there and he just didn't want them all to know that he couldn't find a date.
He thought about who he could take. Last year he, out of sudden insanity, had asked Mai Valentine, but that was total disaster--she nearly cost him one of his most valuable clients. He thought about Tea, but immediately dismissed her--he could hardly stand Miss Perfect at school, much less here. And he pondered if he should just ask some girl at school, he knew a few who had crushes on him, but decided against it--they might take it the wrong way, definitely.
'Caleia.' a little voice from his mind suddenly said. (this is really just him talking/thinking to himself) "No!" he said aloud, his instinctual reaction. 'You know you want to,' his mind persisted. Seto stopped to think about it. He had never realized it, but maybe he did. Her dueling skills, and beating him that day, had definitely earned her his respect. And though he didn't ever want to admit it, even to himself, her confidence attracted him.
'But that isn't reason why I would choose her,' as he had to keep reminding himself. 'I'm not soft like that. She's just obviously the most suitable choice, considering my options.' Satisfied enough with himself, Seto picked up the phone.
He didn't actually know her number, but he had the resources to find it in a fairly short time. The phone rang twice before someone picked it up and said hello.
"Hello, Caleia?--(one sided conversation again) This is Seto Kaiba.--- Good. Are you by any chance doing something next Saturday?---Ok, listen, my company is holding our annual spring party next Saturday. I am in need of a date---Well, yes, I do. Many of my important clients will be there and I do not wish to be embarrassed in front of them. You are, in fact, the most suitable person I could think of.---So will you come?---(long pause)---So you'll come?---Great. I'll talk about details with you later.---Bye. *Click*"
'That went fairly well, I'd say,' Seto thought to himself. The business executive smiled to himself before he took the disk back out, labeled it, and went back to straightening his desk.
*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*
(backflash) "And you accepted?" Tea asked Caleia
"Yeah." Caleia replied.
"Oh my god! You didn't! He didn't!" Tea stammered out. Caleia smiled.
"Yes he did, and yes I did." Joey decided to be a smart alik--
"I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you he liked you," he said. Yaku and the others, having quit their game of Super Smash Brothers when the conversation started, went over to Caleia and put his arm on her shoulder.
"Looks like someone likes you--again," he said, then looked at the others. Caleia smacked him hard in he head. "OW!" he said, but Caleia's glare quieted him.
Joey, who of course didn't get the message, piped up to ask, "likes you again? Wha?" Yami and Yaku looked at Caleia, who stared at the floor.
"Tell him," she whispered in her native tongue finally. It was obviously hard for her. Yami nodded slightly before he turned to the others.
"Millennias ago, when Caleia was princess and I was pharaoh," he started. Taking a deep breath, he tried to figure out how to recall the days. Caleia's expressionless face as she stared at the ground gave him no reassurances. "When Caleia was fifteen or so, I had to appoint her a mentor. Naturally for those times, it would be one of the priests. Caleia was there the day to pick--I let her choose and have a say, which my sons had not. I agreed with her decision, of course. She has powers to look deep into the hearts of others, or at least those who do not have the mind to keep strong barriers to keep her out." He looked at Caleia again. At least she moved. Yaku was holding her like she was his little sister who was afraid of the dark. He was whispering to her, but the words were barely audible. Caleia felt Yami's eyes on her and looked at him, her eyes telling him that she was okay, and to go on.
"The priest who was appointed her mentor was hardly older than she was, probably by a year or less. His name was Seto." He paused again to let the words sink into their minds. Joey, Tea, and Yugi stared at him, then at Caleia, lost for words. Yami looked at Caleia too. She seemed better. "Caleia and Seto---they fell in love. If it had been under different circumstances, it could have been fine---"
Caleia interrupted. "But he was a priest, my tutor, and by falling in love he violated his order." Everyone looked back at her. She stood up, willing herself to be strong. This was her story--she should be part in telling it. "We kept it secret for more than a year. There were other priests who were jealous of Seto--that he was so young, yet held such a high job. So of course, they were the first to discover our secret." She paused and took a breath. "And in that time, for Seto to have violated the priesthood code was a crime punishable by death. I used my authority as princess to order his safety--for a while. We both knew that there was only so much that my authority could do--only so far before the priesthood could overrule me.
'They took him away to face trial. I pleaded his case, Father did, Annya and Serashi did too, but they still gave him the punishment of death. That's when I took matters into my own hand. I used my powers to get him out. Annya and Serashi bought us time by delaying the pursuit, but we had no idea where we could go.
'But luckily we found Bakur--Yaku, and two other friends, Isis and Malik Ishtar, and they got us out of the city, helped us find a place to hide." Caleia glanced at Yaku, who gave her a reassuring look that settled her nerves. "I continued my duties as Keeper, but more subtly as to not draw quite so much attention to myself. I sent periodic messages to Father to let him know what I was up to, that I was okay, but I was wary to go back to Thebus yet. Seto and I had already moved twenty times in that first year in hiding to get away from the priesthood. They pursued him--us--endlessly.
'But I did finally go back, one and a half years after we went into hiding. I went back to visit one day, alone. To have Seto return to Thebus was way too risky. When I left, I had to make sure no one followed me, that no one saw where I went. Yaku, Malik, and Isis got me in and out the quickest and quietest way, then I'd have to bid them farewell again as I went back into hiding.
"She'd come back twice a year, unannounced so that the priesthood could not prepare to follow her," Yami interrupted again. "They could not dare touch her, but they knew that if they followed her she would most likely lead them to Seto. A year or so later, when Caleia came to visit, she was bearing a daughter with her. She asked me to raise her in the palace, to train her like I trained Caleia, to help her have a more--"
"Stable childhood, normal childhood," Caleia finished. "To have to grow up in hiding was not what I wanted for her. I wanted her to be able to play freely without worrying about who was around her, possibly spying on her. I knew--and Seto knew-- that with the arrangement I would only see her twice a year, and Seto even less. I could at least visit her in the palace. She would have to be snuck out of the city for Seto to see her, and that obviously drew attention."
Joey interrupted. "Ya really did love her, ta sacrifice so much for her. I don't know if I coulda done that if she were my kid."
"You would," Caleia said to him. Joey looked back at her, confused somewhat. "I can see into the souls of people. You have the courage to do what I did--all of you do."
"We can only pray that you will not have to show that courage," Yami whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
There was silence again. The subject, thanks to Joey, had changed, and everyone either did not want to bring it back up or completely forgot about it.
It was only interrupted when Mist walked in and announced that she had finished washing the dishes. Caleia thanked her. The Eye of Anubis glowed on her forehead as she recalled the elf back into the Shadow Realm. In a bright flash of light, she was gone.
But the effects of opening a portal to the Shadow Realm sent shivers through Caleia and the two yamis. A flood of dark energy, even more than the usual darkness that the Shadow Realm radiated, had flowed through their end. This was not dark energy like that the dark magicians and other spellcasters used--this was by far more sinister. Caleia slammed the connection closed. She looked at Yami and Yaku. Both still had a faint glow of the Eye of Anubis on their foreheads, residual effects from the unexpected onslaught of dark energy.
The three looked at each other. They didn't say a word, didn't have to. Each was thinking the same thing.
Something evil and powerful was there.
***********************************************************************
....how was that? I had a sudden burst of inspiration for the end, but considering I still need more on Seto and Caleia falling in love, I'll probably only be able to hint here and there and add a few details on it in the comming chapters. I seriously need help Caleia and Seto falling in love so throw a few ideas at me ^_^ Review please!
~Kirsta~
