"It's been two weeks, Kaiba!" Bakura said irritably as he added more wood to the fire. "How long are we going to be playing Jane Goodall?"
"Until I'm sure Daphne is out of danger." Kaiba said calmly as he typed away on his laptop. "Completely."
"Argh…" Bakura muttered under his breath. "We've traveled from places to places already and so far, this is the site that I like the least!" He spat. Kaiba looked up.
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "I think camping was our best idea yet. My private beach house, cabin, and safe house hadn't felt this safe. Besides, being a tomb robber, aren't you suppose to be use to this kind of living conditions?" Bakura just growled.
"Yami, I told you!" Daphne's voice rang out from the side of the creek. The full moon had climbed over the steep cliffs and was pouring its reflected glory down into the canyon, filling it with light the color of rubbed silver. On the water, each ripple was like a white flame.
"Oh boy, they're at it again." Kaiba muttered, focusing on his computer. "Why couldn't he leave her alone?"
"The pharaoh thinks that this whole deal with the princess is his fault." Bakura stuck a marshmallow on a stick and set it above the fire. Ever since Marik had invaded into Daphne's mind, she's been acting peculiar. She had become quieter and seemed to have lost half of her enthusiastic and sweet self. "He's been trying to talk to her about things ever since we left Kaiba Mansion."
"I wonder if he's always been like this with Yugi?"
"Probably."
"How's your other half?" Kaiba looked up. Bakura turned the marshmallow above the flame and smiled proudly.
"Told me he got an A+ in every class and had 115% on his last test."
"I'm impressed." A smirk. "And what did he say about Yugi?"
"The twerp whooped someone's butt in Duel Monsters. Must have been a pathetic punk."
"Daphnia, wait!" Yami's voice was closer to them as Daphne suddenly burst from the fields of trees. She whirled around to face him.
"I told you, Yami." She explained quietly, and calmly, though anger was seething through her. "It wasn't your fault and I don't hate you. I love you but if you continue on blaming yourself for my past, I'm going to have to—" She stopped.
"Have to what?" Yami narrowed his eyes and eyed the young girl standing in front of him. She stared back at him and turned away, seating herself beside Bakura.
"Have to not love you." She stated simply, not meeting his eyes. Bakura's marshmallow dropped into the flamed and burned into charcoal as he tried hard not to laugh.
"Not love me?" Yami looked like a poor little puppy dog all of a sudden as he looked down at his shoes and scuffled them in the dirt. Kaiba also bit his lip, trying not to burst out with laughter. The pharaoh…the great almighty pharaoh, looked like a lost little boy.
"Yes." Daphne looked up. "I trusted you, Yami. Can you trust me? Can you forget about it? Forget it and never remember it again?" Her violet eyes were solemn and the orange flames reflected from her eyes.
"I trust you, Daphnia." Yami said quietly. "But I can not forget." He closed his eyes and remembered his promise to Delphinium, back in ancient Egypt.
"Yami, do you have to leave me?" Delphinium's lips trembled as she cling on to Yami's arm. He knelt down until he was eye leveled with her.
"I have to Delphinium. Seto leaves me with no choice." His voice was grim. Priest Seto, his most loyal priest, his most priced sorcerer, his best friend…had all but betrayed him. Trying to take over the world using Duel Monsters, trying to keep the princess from elevating to the queen. His best friend was gone ever since Yami first discussed his intentions of Delphinium with him. He remembered the look of betrayal in Seto's eyes. From that day on, Yami and Delphinium had lost a friend and gained a rival.
"But Yami," Delphinium swallowed and protested softly. "I'm sure Seto doesn't mean it. I think he just doesn't realize what he's doing."
"Mean it or not, I have to reseal those powers within the Millennium items. I must sacrifice for my kingdom, do you understand? It is the responsibilities of a pharaoh."
"I understand, Yami." Delphinium choked back a sob and flung herself into Yami's embrace. "I love you, Daddy." She sobbed. "I will never love anyone as I have loved you. I shall try to rule Egypt as the way you desired. I will be all you've taught me to be."
Yami wrapped his arms tightly around Delphinium and buried his face in her sweet smelling hair. Will he ever smell the fresh fragrance of her hair ever again? To hold her in his lap while she read in a foreign tongue? To sneak into her chamber late at night and watch her innocent smiling face as she slept? To hear her golden laughter echoed within the walls of the palace?
"I shall always love you, Daddy. Now and forever and until we meet again one day, promise me you won't forget." The princess's voice was muffled but Yami understood.
"I promise you, Delphinium, I promise. I shall never forget."
"I promised you, Daphnia" Yami replied quietly. "I promised you I would never forget and my word is my bond."
"Yami," Daphne stood up abruptly. Her voice was sharp and her eyes flashed. "I know your words has always been your bond. But your words don't love you! I DO!"
"Daphnia…"
"Please, Yami, just…go away." She backed away from the campfire, away from Yami. "Why don't you believe me? Do you even care? Do I even know you care?"
"Daphnia, I've always cared." Yami murmured and looked up. "And that's why I've got to know. It had always been my fault in the past, now let me amend my past with my future. Let me make up to you for the pain I've caused." Yami immediately regretted the last sentence as it left his tongue. From the expression on Daphne's face, he knew he had made a big mistake.
"Just leave me alone, Yami." She whispered before turning and running into the darkened forest.
"Daphnia, wait!" Yami scrambled up from his spot. It was too late when he got to his feet, Daphne had already disappeared. All that was left of her was her fragrance, which lingered about them like the shadow of darkness.
"Never thought I'd see the day the great pharaoh has to run after a girl." Kaiba smirked, adding more wood to the fire. "Though I warn you Yami, You better be treating her right."
"You have to go after her, Yami." Ryou's British accent urged as he stood up also.
"Ryou?" A look of confusion crossed Kaiba's features. Then he narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I…uh, persuaded my yami to let me take a few days off from school and tag along." Ryou smiled sheepishly as Kaiba arched a brow. "I knew you wouldn't have let me come along so he kept the secret between us."
"So he has been telling me lies all this time? About you and Yugi?"
"Not quite, the part about Yugi was true." Then Ryou, remembering why he had taken over all of a sudden, turned back to Yami. "You must to after her, Yami, she could be in deep—" A shudder suddenly went through the albino haired teen, a change that even Seto Kaiba knew Bakura was taking over.
"Go after her," the tomb robber snarled, doubling his fists. "I knew this was going to happen, you old retired pharaoh! Get going before I personally escort you to hell!"
Before Yami could retort, a scream echoed through the air. Yami didn't wait another second to wait and find out what Bakura was going to say next, he turned and ran in the direction Daphne had ran off in.
"Daphnia!" He shouted as he stumbled through the darkened forest, trying in vain to locate his daughter.
"Don't," Bakura grasped Kaiba's arm as Kaiba got ready to tear after Yami. "There's something in the air. Something is not right. If you go, you just might never make it back. Yami can withstand the darkness and the wicked of immortality, but you don't stand a chance." Kaiba yanked his arm away.
"And why do you care about me?" He scoffed, standing helplessly. Bakura gave him a cocky smirk.
"I don't care about you. But I do care about Daphne."
A distressed Yami continued after the girl. "Daphnia, come on, I know you're near, answer me!" Yami caught himself before he fell face flat from tripping on a tree's root.
"This just isn't my day." He muttered as he pushed through the thickets. He stopped suddenly, his hands frozen as they were in act of pushing away a tree branch. There it was again!
A faint crying sound.
"Daphnia…" Yami whispered hoarsely as his hands slipped from the branch. It slapped him full force in the face, leaving a dark angry mark. The pharaoh cursed in Egyptian as he hurried on.
"Daphnia, answer me!" He ordered as he pushed his way through, the crying was near. "Daphnia?" Yami hesitated outside the bushes, then pushed through bravely. "Daph—" he began, the his voice died in his throat, and his heart pounded against his ribs as his jaws dropped open from shock and a sudden burst of panic. His breath was caught and his heart tripped a beat.
Daphne was lying helplessly on the ground. Her silvery-white robes torn and the rest barely covered her creamy flesh. Dark blood dotted and stripped her body. She turned her head away as she saw Yami.
"Go away, Yami." She said flatly, her eyes dull, but Yami's sharp eyes caught sight of the two tears trickling down her pretty face. He could have sworn he saw relief, though covered with pain, in her eyes before she turned away. Freed from his shock, he dropped down on his knees beside her.
"Oh, for the love of Ra," he whispered, afraid to even touch her, to lay a finger on her, in fear of hurting her. "What happened?"
"Yami, please…" Daphne's voice cracked, still not facing him. "Leave me alone, please…"
"This is no time for that, Daphnia." Yami said sternly, hoping his voice didn't shake. He had a pretty good idea what happened.
"Yami, no." Tears were streaming openly from her face now, as the amethyst-eyed pharaoh tried to pick her up as gently as he could. "Please Yami…" Her fists weakly pushed against his chest.
"You need help, Daphnia. You're hurt." Yami tried to sound calm and cool. His voice had its usual deep, smooth, rich tone, but his stricken face definitely told otherwise.
"Just leave me, Yami," she begged. "How can I face the world after…this…?" The girl went limp. Yami looked down at the pinched white face and hurried back to camp.
"Ryou, pack our stuff!" He ordered as he charged through the opening. "Kaiba, call you driver!" He hurried over and stomped out the fire, causing bit of ashes and burning charcoal to fly onto the CEO sitting beside the fire.
"What in the world do you think you're doing, Yami!?" He demanded as he jerked back from Yami's furious stomping.
"Daphnia," Yami gasped. "She's—" He didn't have to go on, he couldn't anyway. Kaiba took one look at his pretty cousin and his jaws dropped. His eyes narrowed and looked murderous as he picked Yami up by his collar. Ryou made a noise that's half gasp and half squeak.
"Yami," Kaiba said through gritted teeth. "What have you done?" His hands were trembling with rage.
"I haven't done anything, Kaiba." Yami struggled with the weight of the girl and Kaiba's laming anger at the same.
"Guys," Ryou said anxiously. "Shouldn't we be getting Daphne to the hospital? Maybe she's—"
"In the name of Ra!" Bakura's voice suddenly boomed. "What have you mortals done?!"
"Back off, you albino tomb robber." Kaiba snarled back, his eyes never leaving Yami. "Yami is mine to kill."
"Who wanted you, mortal!?" Bakura took a threatening step forward. "Hand her over, I'll kill the two of you later." Without waiting for permission to be granted, Bakura seized the pale girl from the pharaoh and began to walk away from the duo.
"And where do you think you're going with my cousin?" Kaiba demanded as he dropped Yami with a thud and hurried over to Bakura.
"Unless you humans are too stupid to notice, Daphne isn't in the best shape to listen to the both of you argue." He scowled walking faster. Seto opened his mouth to retort, but Yami gave him a shove.
"You can stay here if you want, Kaiba." The former pharaoh growled. "But I'm not going to leave my treasure in the hands of Yami Bakura. No way."
"Watch your language, Yami!" Kaiba snapped. "She's mine more than she's yours." He flared as he ran over to the two spirits.
Not many words were exchanged during the ride to the emergency room, only a few growls and glares, though the worried expressions on their faces couldn't be hidden behind their rough exteriors.
They weren't all the quiet when they stumbled over each others' feet, trying to get into the hospital, though. The nurse on the nightshift nearly passed out when she saw them. No, it wasn't Daphne that she was taken back from but the scene of three young men shouting at the same time, urgent and even angry, their words melted into one another. Kaiba was slamming on the counter with his fist, demanding for a doctor. Yami was so nervous that he was yelling instructions out in ancient Egyptian. And Bakura was struggling to hold Daphne up while his lighter half was battling to come out.
"I swear in the name of Ra, Ryou!" He gasped through gritted teeth, struggling. "If you don't stop, I'm going to kill you along with the rest of them!"
It didn't take long for doctors and nurses to come rushing from their stations from the loud racket the boys were making. Daphne was whisked away among the mob and the boys found themselves waiting impatiently in the waiting room.
"Kaiba, if you don't stop pacing back and forth, you're going to wear a hold through the second floor." Yami frowned, irritated.
"I'll do what I please, just try and stop me." Kaiba stopped pacing for a moment to lay out his threat.
"What's taking the doctors so long!" Bakura shot out of his seat for the nurse for the fifth time that night. Yami raised his head up to see the nurse's frightened expression as Bakura proceed to yell at her.
"It's all my fault," he murmured sadly, burying his face back into his hands.
"For once, you're right." Kaiba snapped bitterly. Then stopped and his expression grew a bit softer, though still grim. He slumped down next to Yami on the chair. "She'll be okay." He said as he wondered if he had said that to convince Yami or himself.
"They don't know a thing." Bakura stomped back into the room. "I should just go and seal all of them in the Shadow Realm." Then he looked thoughtful for a moment, as if really considering the possibility. "Maybe I could—"
"Drop it, Bakura. Don't be stupid." Yami said curtly before resealing himself within himself. Bakura was surprised to see the change transform in Yami. Out of the three, Yami had taken the hardest to Daphne's accident.
Kaiba looked at his watch, "I really need to get back to Kaiba Mansion. Mokuba's there alone. I should go check on him." He looked uneasy. He walked to the exit, then walked back, took a look at Yami, sighed, prepared to leave, but walked back again, unsettled at just leaving Daphne in the hospital.
"We'll take care of it, Kaiba, just go." Bakura waved him off. Yami barely looked up. Kaiba finally nodded and took something out of his trenchcoat pocket.
"Here," he said briskly, handing Bakura a credit card. "Hospital bill and whatever else you and Yami would need."
Ten minutes after Kaiba's departure, a white lab-coat doctor swept into the waiting room.
"Daphne Kaiba?" He squinted at the two spirits that slumped over the chairs. Yami shot to his feet. The doctor frowned and nodded. "Follow me."
Yami swallowed hard and gingerly walked after the doctor. Bakura sulkily trouped after them.
"We have reasons to believe Daphne was violated." The doctor began to explain as they walked down the long, empty, quietly creepy hallway. Yami clutched his fists and despair filled his heart. So their suspicions were confirmed. His Daphnia…innocent and naïve, golden and beautiful, was now the mistress of a shattered world.
"But we checked her blood and found no other DNA in her body except her own." The doctor continued.
"So it was an attempt." Bakura said simply, his stark white face betraying nothing.
"A very close attempt." The doctor stopped in front of a door. "Now, gentlemen, you must realize, she had been a victim and might not be very comfortable to have any of the opposite sex close to her. It might be wise if you don't—" Yami ignored the doctor and yanked his hand off the knob and jerked the door open. Then he and Bakura bolted in.
The room was dark and empty. Yami felt the tears of pain and frustration built up behind his eyelids and long for the room to be filled with daylight. Daphne had always belonged in the sun and the dimness of this room only added on to his anguish.
Bakura was already by the bedside, his slender finger stretched toward the figure on the bed. But for the first time his life, Bakura seemed afraid. Afraid of her pain, afraid of her darkness, afraid of her shattered world, afraid of…being afraid.
"Yami," he whispered urgently in the dark. Yami snapped back to reality. He hurried over to Bakura's panicked voice. He looked at the sleeping form on the bed and the frenzied Bakura. Then, for the first time that night, Yami felt like he was in charge. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He was Delphinium's father and he still is Daphne's guardian. He knows her better than anyone, even Bakura and Kaiba. Whatever she's gone through…they'll stick together and work things out. Daphne stirred as she felt Yami's soothing cool hand on her forehead.
"Yami…?"
"Oh, Daphne." Yami whispered as he sat on the side of the bed. He put his arms around her shoulder and lifted her up against him. Daphne looked up at him, her eyes even more pained then they usually were and Yami felt his heart break into pieces. Daphne's velvety violet eyes looked absolutely shattered. He stared deeper into her eyes and nearly screamed himself when he saw the events that had unfolded. Without any words, she reached out for Yami, a sob escaping her throat. He let her cry, all while stroking her long hair and rocking her tenderly. "It's okay, baby." He murmured into her ear. "Everything is going to be fine…I'm here now." But he knew in his heart, not everything would be fine.
He held her tighter, letting the younger girl cry out her heart as Bakura hovered above them, worry and confusion lining his face. But Yami's eyes caught the look of steely determination in Bakura's eyes and were sure his own eyes reflected the same thing.
Whoever did this would pay for hurting their pearl...
"So," Bakura swirled on the doctor. "What are the chances of locating the violator?"
"Less than zero percent." Doctor answered flatly. "Better give up on the idea. You're never going to find him." Bakura turned to walk out, but turned back and gave him a ghost of a smile.
"I will find him."
The doctor felt a cold draft permeate his bones. Daphne's companion had smiled when he made his last comment, but his eyes told another story. They were cold…deadly.
Back in the quiet silence of Kaiba Mansion, the scream of the phone scared Kaiba so bad that he dropped his pen and the letter he was writing on his computer turned into a mess of unidentified letters and symbols. He snatched up his phone. "Hello?"
"Kaiba…it's true." The voice was soft…chilling. Kaiba gritted his teeth.
"I'll be there in two seconds, Yami." He hung up without another word. He was silent, then his fist slammed down upon his desk, with so much force that he almost shattered his coffee mug.
"DAMN IT!" His eyes were burning and had a murderous look among the blazing flames. "If I ever meet the bastard that did this to her, I swear to God I will rip out their gallbladder and make them eat it raw for breakfast!" Kaiba knew he was acting immature by saying things like that. But he couldn't help it. That's all he had…words. Words that would express his anger because nothing else can.