A/N: I do not own YGO. Here is Part II and the Conclusion, which is a bit shorter than the first part. Thank you for the reviews! Greatly appreciated. Some spellings of some words may be different because I'm spelling them out the way they are in my Canadian dictionary. =)

Seto snapped his eyes open and sprang to his feet. "Mokuba!" He cried out but stopped short when he saw the blackguard. A man about the same age as he was standing there with yellow fire for hair and red eyes. He was dressed in black pants and shocking yellow loose tunic. A smirk was plastered upon his face and Seto saw that he had managed to produce the image of a rather large python. The snake reared its head back, preparing to strike at its prey, which happened to be Mokuba. Somehow, Mokuba had gotten into his dream again.

Seto didn't waste time wondering why. He jumped into action, gathering all his energy and tried to think of something that would counter the snake. Meanwhile, Mokuba had leapt to the side, narrowly avoided the python's attack. "Seto help!" He cried, calling out the name of the only person whom he knew would save him.

Seto did not hear him. He was too busy concentrating his energy on one single image: The Blue Eyes White Dragon. It would take more energy this time to bring forth the majestic creature mainly because he wanted it to take Mokuba away from the danger as quick as possible. Plus he was in panic mode and that was taking away some of his energy.

All of a sudden, the snake attacked him instead. Caught by surprise, Seto could only watch as the python in slow motion it seemed, bite him in the chest. Although he could feel no pain and there would be no real venom or something, Seto could definitely feel his strength dwindling and he fell to the misty ground, defeated. "I'm sorry, Mokuba. I'm so sorry..." He whispered as his vision blurred.

"Seto, NOOOOOOOOO!"

Darkness. It was everywhere and it strangled him, blinded him, and taunted him. He failed. He had failed to save Mokuba, his human friend. He had allowed that horrible nightmare, that horrible snake, and that horrible, devilish blackguard to win. Even so, he could still see those blood-red eyes, the evil smirk...

"Seto!" A familiar musical voice prompted him out of his nightmarish trance. "Seto, can you hear me?"

Seto moaned softly, indicating he had heard. "Mokuba..." He croaked out. "Mokuba, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..."

"Seto, open your eyes." The voice instructed. The young man did as he was told and found himself in a soft bed, with Veeana at his side.

"Where am I?" He asked, feeling slightly dizzy.

"The infirmary." Veeana said softly, concern on her lovely features.

"I failed him."

"Seto, you have been drained of energy. It will take you about a year to recover from this violent assault." Veeana replied. "I will have to find your pet a replacement."

"He's not a pet." Seto growled, attempting to stand on his own feet. "I have to go back to him. He needs me! I can't let that happen again. I won't. I promised him-"

"Seto, listen to me." Veeana ordered firmly. "You are staying here. You are not going back until you are in good health. Your replacement will be a much more experienced caretaker. She or he will be able to withstand that blackguard."

"What kind of blackguard was he?" Seto asked, squinting at the Lady.

"A more advanced blackguard, sent to prey on children. Frightening children is what delights them most." The Lady responded.

Seto was silent for a moment. Then, "No. I'm sorry milady but I have to go back."

"You are staying here." Veeana repeated more firmly this time. "And I have enlisted the help of one of your friends to make sure you stay here." Veeana gestured to the entranceway where Tyden appeared.

"..." Seto watched as Tyden mournfully glanced at him and then bowed to the Lady.

"Tyden here has recently lost his pet to an earthquake. I will reassign him to someone different but for now..." Veeana stood up, smoothing the wrinkles in her dress. She then left the room leaving her words hanging. As much as he respected her, Seto was clearly angry with her. How could he make her, better yet, everyone else understand?

Tyden stayed in a standing position near the door, avoiding eye contact. Seto decided to break the silence. "I'm sorry about what happened to your human." Seto said quietly.

Tyden shrugged his shoulders. "Makes no difference to me."

Seto's head shot up. "How can you say that?" He demanded. "Humans are no different from us, and from what I'm hearing and gathering, we're no better."

Another shrug. "Well, I guess I am a little sad that my pet had to go but I couldn't do anything to stop it. But you know the rules. We cannot form bonds or become friends with our pets."

"Forget the rules!" Seto stood up, swaying slightly. Immediately Tyden straightened, worried his friend might fall over or faint from lack of energy. "I used to think the same thing too until I met Mokuba!"

The other caretaker's eyes widened. "Did you...appear to your pet?" He whispered.

"Yes." Seto stated flatly. "And you know what? I was glad I did. For over ten years I had sensed the pain and agony he was going through. I wanted so much to comfort him. I felt like a...big brother. The feeling was good, seeing how neither of us knows what it's like to have a brother or sister, or some type of family." He went on. "For the first time in my existence, I felt good to have someone to watch over and interact with. Someone who isn't so...serious all the time. And I don't mean you but everyone else."

Tyden looked slightly hurt. "Well, Jenna isn't always serious...Seto, everyone else is more happy and carefree. Just you and I and the few others like us are the serious ones."

"I don't care anymore." Seto stared at the floor, eyes narrowed. "I have to get out of here."

Tyden bit his lip, wondering what he should do. He could not defy the Lady's orders but Seto was a good friend and mentor to him and he didn't want to lose that friendship. Friendship was highly valued among the caretakers as a replacement for family. He was torn.

Seto suddenly faced him, a glare upon his face. "If you are my friend, you will help me get out of here, unseen." He demanded, showing his blackguard side. For a moment, Tyden thought he saw something like blue fire in Seto's eyes. "Well?"

Tyden shrunk back against the crystal wall. "I...I don't know."

"You are no friend of mine!" Seto said sharply, standing up. Tyden's face fell and he looked truly wounded. Seto instantly regretted his words. His intention had not been what had happened. "Tyden, I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I didn't mean it...but surely you must help me regardless! I cannot leave Mokuba for any reason."

Tyden nodded numbly. "I wish I could but you know I can't."

Seto sighed. If Tyden aided him in his escape...he could lose his privilege as a caretaker and that was the last thing he wanted. "Very well. Thank you anyway...Wait! I have to do something so that they don't punish you for not 'watching' me." Seto turned to his longtime friend.

Tyden swallowed hard. "What are you going to do?"

Seto looked apologetic. "Sorry but I have to do this." He swung his arm as hard as he could and knocked Tyden out cold with his elbow. The young man fell to the floor, seemingly lifeless. Seto winced. "Sorry my friend." He whispered and poked his head out the door. Seeing that no one was around, he stepped out and carefully made his way to the room where caretakers came and went.

Mokuba sat on a chunk of ice in his dream form in the middle of a freezing lake. He was pale and shivering despite the fact that it was not real but a blackguard can make anything seem real. A caretaker had been assigned to Mokuba but had been quickly wiped out by the powerful blackguard. "Seto, where are you?" He moaned, not knowing if Seto still existed.

"I'm right here." A familiar voice filled his ears like music and Mokuba snapped his head up, seeing the form of the man he had come to love as a brother.

"Seto...you're alive!" He cried. Forgetting his current situation, he tried to stand up but fell backward. "AAHH!"

"NO!" The cold lake disappeared and Mokuba landed in a pile of...pillows. Seto breathed a sigh of relief as Mokuba fell back onto something much softer.

Mokuba scrambled to his feet and ran to Seto's outstretched arms. Sobs shook his whole body as he remembered the nightmares and the anguish felt in the past week during Seto's absence. "I thought you were never coming back!" Mokuba cried out his soul. "That...that...that thing did horrible things and he made my nightmares seem so...real!" Mokuba clung to him tightly.

Seto held him. "What sort of nightmares?" He asked.

"My foster parents did even worse stuff to me..." Mokuba hesitated. "I was caught in a fire...I was trapped in a pit full of scorpions..." Mokuba began to cry again as he remembered the vivid and disturbing dreams. "The last one was about you."

"Me?" Seto raised an eyebrow. The blackguard had seen him but how did he know about their friendship?

"Yeah...you were being beaten to death and you wouldn't get up. You just stayed on the ground...dying!" Mokuba looked up at him. "I don't want to go through that again! I...I hate my life!"

"Mokuba, settle down." Seto bent down and looked at him straight in the eye. "I'm sorry I failed you but that will not happen again. These were just nightmares, images created in the mind, fueled by a person's fear. You have nothing to worry about."

Mokuba sniffed, nodding. "But my foster parents—what will I do about them? I've been trying to act good so that they don't throw me out or bring me back to the orphanage. But I think I'd rather go back there."

Seto stood up, hands on the young boy's shoulders. "Well I'm back now and I'll make sure that blackguard doesn't come back again."

Mokuba looked up at him worriedly. "Did you get better from that attack?" He asked, eyeing him with great concern.

Seto shifted uncomfortably. Now that he thought about it, he was still a little woozy. "I'm fine, Mokuba, don't worry about me." He reassured the boy. "Try and go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

Mokuba waited for the drowsiness to return. He hadn't gotten a goodnight's sleep all week and this one would be welcomed with zeal. Seto smiled at the boy but it quickly faded when he saw something red flashing in the distance. Two small slits... "No!" The blackguard was back.

Seto pushed the boy behind him and braced himself for the attack. He had to hold off the blackguard for as long as he could. Maybe the Lady or Tyden or someone else would notice his absence and assume he had gone back to Mokuba. He hoped so and almost regretted returning without healing a little bit more. 'Please, somebody help...' He thought numbly. He was starting to feel weak as the blackguard approached, darkness swirling around. Something was gathering in the inky blackness and he had a bad feeling about it.

Mokuba opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw. The thing was back! "No, please!" He whimpered, hiding behind Seto. "Please, no more!" He pleaded, not wanting to endure the illusory torture again.

"So you're back for more." The blackguard spoke in a raspy voice smirking. "The rule breaker." He noted and his expression went blank. He closed his eyes, his shocking yellow hair blowing around his face wildly. The darkness sprang forth and whipped around Seto like a rope, shoving Mokuba back. "I will deal with you soon, human." The blackguard whispered.

"Seto!" Mokuba could only watch as several unseen things began to lash out and strike the young man. "NNOOOO!!"

"Aahh..." Seto fell on his back having been punched in the jaw by something so very strong. In a way, Mokuba's nightmare was coming true. This time the real Seto was there and not some conjured likeness of the caretaker.

Seto tried to sit up determined to protect his young friend. Wham! Another unseen predator sent a blow to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He fell back once more, reeling from the pain. "Can't...give up." He winced as something sharp cut him on his chest. A thin line of blood was soon visible, a sharp sting felt.

The blackguard silently ordered his assassins to finish their brutal assault on the caretaker and then to move to the boy. It would be one grueling nightmare.

Seto lay on the ground, wounded and beaten, but his will to save Mokuba still was going strong. "I won't give up. I promised..." He heard the cries. "I WILL NOT!" He shouted and forced himself up on his knees much to the surprise and annoyance of the blackguard. "Get away from him." Seto growled, trying with all his strength to ignore the agony he was in. When the blackguard did not show any sign of stopping, he squeezed his eyes shut, preparing to gather what little energy he had to make the situation so much better.

"Your mind is weak." The blackguard sneered, noticing his futile attempt. According to him that is.

"No it is not." Seto countered, relieved that the blackguard had switched his attention to himself now. Mokuba lay on the ground, beaten only a fraction of what Seto had endured. He watched with tearful eyes as Seto summoned his last bit of strength and vigor. "My body is weak but not my mind and will." A new perseverance filled him and he shot out four single words. "BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!"

Almost immediately, the obedient creature appeared, roaring with all its might, in all its splendor. "Blue Eyes!" Mokuba yelled and the Dragon flew over towards him, ready to rescue him.

Seto however collapsed to the ground.

The blackguard had been defeated.

Two weeks passed and Seto found himself once again in the infirmary. He groaned as the light from the crystals nearly blinded him. Lady Veeana came in at once knowing he would want to go back. It was like déjà vu. "Seto I am thoroughly disappointed in you." She said in a quiet voice. "You disobeyed my orders and almost died because of it. What were you thinking?"

Seto was silent for several long moments. He was enjoying a finally peaceful rest. "I'm still here? Amazing..."

"You have some dedication." Veeana answered, a small smile forming. "Now tell me, what possessed you to go back in your state?"

"Mokuba. I can't leave him. He's my..." A wistful smile appeared on his face. "...Little brother." He finished softly. He paused. "How is he?"

"Lucky for you, a good friend of yours volunteered to watch over him while you were unconscious."

"Who?"

"Tyden is his name I believe."

'You really are a friend of mine.' Seto thought smiling. "What about his own human?"

"Someone else took his place for the time being."

"My Lady...I have a request." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Is it possible for me...to actually become human? To be born a few years older than Mokuba?"

Veeana's eyes widened. "Why...yes it is but..."

"Please! I am more than willingly to go through with it." Seto begged. He wanted to be able to protect Mokuba from things far worse than dreams.

Veeana bit her lip and said nothing for what seemed like an eternity. "Are you absolutely, positively sure? It is irreversible. You will have no memory of your life as a caretaker or anything of our existence."

"Yes. I am sure." Seto nodded, more sure than he would ever be. "Can you do it?"

Veeana nodded and then smiled. "I will gather your friends. I'm sure they would want to say goodbye before you leave."

A lump formed in his throat. His friends...he would never see them again. Ever. Veeana left the room and Seto lay back on his bed.

Later on, Seto was standing in front of his blue crystal home, never to step in it again. It would go to someone else. Tyden and Jenna were there as well as his trainer and the Lady. Jenna, with tears in her eyes, ran forward and embraced him tightly. "We won't forget you, Seto." She whispered.

Tyden was next. "Take care, friend." He said, smiling for the first time in his life.

"You were the best I ever had." Seto's trainer said.

"I will make sure you and Mokuba get the very best of caretakers we have." Lady Veeana said the final words. "Farewell, Seto."

Seto smiled at them all, tears in his own eyes. "Farewell." He repeated softly. He had been told that he would be conceived in the first year of his new parent's marriage, five years before Mokuba would be born. Veeana warned she could not be certain that they would have their parents forever but Seto replied he was ready for anything.

Five years later...

"Please, son! Just go see your little brother!" Seto's father spoke, tears streaming down his face. The mother had passed away during Mokuba's birth and Seto was angry with his baby brother for that. It was only natural he'd feel hostile at first but his father believed Seto would warm up to him eventually. "Your mother would want you to protect him." He said and Seto reluctantly obeyed.

The five-year-old boy made his way across the hall to the nursery-viewing window and peeked in on tiptoes. He could see his newborn baby brother, crying his eyes out. 'Maybe he isn't that bad...' Seto thought, sympathizing with him. Looking back to make sure his father or anyone else didn't see him, he tiptoed into the nursery past the other babies and headed for Mokuba.

Mokuba stopped crying for a second when he saw his older brother. And then he started up again. "Ssshh!" Seto put his finger to his mouth. "Quiet...Mokie." He whispered.

Mokuba soon stopped his whining and only a whimper every now and then was heard. He stuck out a tiny fist and Seto gave him his finger. The young boy frowned. There was something familiar about it... He shook off the feeling and shrugged. "Daddy and I will take good care of you, Mokie. I promise we won't leave you. I promise."

Mokuba gurgled happily.

A/N: That's it. If you liked this fantasy fic, keep an eye out for my next fantasy fic not only with the Kaiba brothers but with the entire gang as well. It is set in the Middle Ages. It should be better than this one. Thanks for reading.