Chapter 4

Separation

It had settled. It was final. They were orphans. Mokuba, however, was trying to deny the fact.

"No, mummy's still alive, mummy will come for us!" he protested.

"As far as she's concerned, dad's still alive. As far as the government's concerned, both of them are dead."

"But mummy's still alive!"

"But they don't know that do they?"

"But…" Mokuba had run out of excuses.

The orphans were silent for a few moments until Mokuba broke the stillness.

"Let's think about something we like because mummy said if you think about something you like, you have nice dreams!"

"But what is there to think about?" Seto enquired.

Mokuba hummed as his line of thought went through a selection of his favourite things. Ice-cream, Duel Monsters, his Fire Kraken plushie, hotdogs, then, something he really liked came to his mind. Something really important. "Daddy."

The orphans dreamt of life if dad hadn't died. Mokuba dreamt of their smiling father, taking them to the play park after school, helping them with their homework and tucking them in at night. Seto however, saw their dad for the broken man he was. He dreamt of the man who always had something else on his mind, the man who was always missing something, the man who cried every night. The man who was their father.

Seto was cringing and wriggling for ages, the thoughts of his deceased dad made his head swirl. As soon as he was about to cry out, the door swung open and slammed into the wall. The brothers jumped like a lion pouncing on unsuspecting prey. Their heads swung round vigorously only to see the old woman who seemed to run Wicker House standing at the doorway. She burst straight into the topic she intended to carry.

"Change of plans Mokuba, you're coming with me." she muttered.

Mokuba reluctantly stepped out of the bottom bunk. "What's happening?" he enquired.

"You're getting a new room."

Seto's eyes widened and he started sweating constantly. "WHAT?"

"But I don't want a new room." said Mokuba, unworried.

"You have no choice, come on." The woman grabbed Mokuba by the wrist and wrenched him out of the room.

"OW! My arm!" Mokuba wailed.

"You can't take Mokuba! He's my brother! We're meant to be together!" Seto argued.

The woman stopped in her tracks, turned round and marched back to Seto, all the while shaking Mokuba about the room dangerously. "Do you think you'll be sharing a room with your brother when you're adult?" She spat as she talked. "You had better start growing up, boy, or you'll never survive out there." She turned around again, twisting Mokuba around the room. She marched out harshly, dragging Mokuba behind.

"MOKUBA!"

"SETO!"

Seto jumped out of bed and ran to the door. "MOKUBA!"

"SETO!"

Seto wanted to run up, wrench Mokuba back and run away to somewhere, anywhere, but he felt powerless.

"QUIET CHILD!" screamed the old woman. "You aren't the only people here you know!"

Seto thought different. His brother, his younger brother, his only sibling was being torn from him. He did feel like the only person there. He felt like the only person in the world. Nobody was there to comfort him, to soothe him, to help him defeat the evil that was destroying his family. As his only trace of family was being torn from him, he felt like the only person in the world. He was alone, and there was nobody to help.