I Don't Believe In Myself
Notes: The people have spoken! Kouhei it is. I think Justice suits Seto well. Anywho, if this gets weird towards the middle/end I haven't slept since Tuesday and will probably be sleeping through Sunday and Monday so…bare with me.
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Chapter Two
The Song that No One Sings
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The shot rang out, a sharp crack that seemed to slice through reality. He saw every small movement as if in slow motion. Mokuba's body jerking backward and the smile falling slack. His body felling back while his hair went forward, fanning across his face, limp like a rag doll. No attempt was made to catch himself before his hit the ground.
He was like a puppet with the strings cut. He hit was a dull thud and a strangled cough, a wet gurgling noise as he tried to force blood past his lip and out of his lungs.
The blood seeped out, staining the world until everything was red. His hands were red, drenched in the blood of his brother, and his clothes were ruined and someone was telling him that if he washed his hands it would go away.
It would never go away.
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"Mr. Kaiba." A soft voice called him, coaxing him back towards the land of the waking. He opened his eyes then blinked against the harsh florescent light glaring down at him almost accusingly. Seto wasn't one to wake up slowly and he knew instantly what was going on.
The bastard was getting off. Well, he'd spend some time in a hospital for the criminally insane but then he'd be getting out. Seto figured they'd keep him a few months, give him some drugs for the voices he claimed were in his head, and then let his ass out as if nothing had ever happened.
Meanwhile his brother would consider to lie, a hollowed out body, in a bed in a hospital just barely living. Seto wanted to scream and rage and cry and laugh at the sickness of it all but could only bring himself to be mildly miffed that he'd passed out when the verdict had been read. Now he'd have to content with people pretending to worry about his psychical well being on top of everything else and Seto just…wasn't in the mood for any of that.
He just wanted to sleep it all away.
He pushed himself up, waving away the concerned young woman standing to his left who'd undoubtedly been the one to wake him up. It took a moment to realize he was on a stretcher in the back of what must have been an ambulance. Thankfully it was open and they weren't moving.
He rose to his legs, shaking for only a moment before steadying himself and making to walk out. The woman gasped and grabbed his arm.
"Mr. Kaiba, you can't go! You fainted in the court room and you seem dehydrated and we need to get you to the hospital right away so a doctor can see you."
He wrenched his arm away and fixed a glare on her. It must have been pretty bad because she put a hand to her chest and stumbled back, blinking dumbly. He hopped out, ignoring the bewildered EMT on the outside who had apparently been about to close the doors. They were outside of the courthouse and it seemed the reporters had finally vanished.
Thankfully.
He paid no head to the protests behind him and made his way towards the underground garage where he had parked his car. Still blessedly devoid of people. In fact it was so empty that it bordered on movie cliché. Seto couldn't help but feel that any moment someone was going to jump out and try to mug him or something stupid like that.
He found he didn't care much, as long as they were kind enough to kill him before they left. He winced again, knowing his brother would disprove of the morbid turn his thoughts were taking but he found he couldn't even bother to stop himself anymore.
They had all but let him go because he had some really endearing sob story to tell, of being fucked by the big bad CEO and his giant corporation and losing his picture perfect family and that made it okay to destroy someone else's family.
His shoes echoed in the garage and the only sound besides that was of his own breathing.
How could they do that? Did they have no sense of justice, of what was right? What his adoptive father may have done to that man didn't justify taking his brother's life, and letting him go didn't give Mokuba justice, it didn't set things 'even'.
He wondered what would happen if he killed the man who had destroyed his brother. Would they let him go because he had a pretty sob story about losing his family and having his reason for existing ripped from his fingertips?
Would that make it okay to them? Would that balance it all out?
He found his car but didn't get in. Instead he slumped against it and allowed himself to sink to the ground, weariness finally setting in. His limbs felt like led, his body screamed for rest and his mind screamed for peace but it all seemed distant and unimportant.
He didn't realize he was crying until he noticed the sleeve of his suit had a few dark spots on it. He touched his face, feeling the wetness, and smiled wryly. He supposed this was the finally breakdown, the cracking.
It was over and there was nothing he could do now except…accept his fate and wait for death to finally get around to claiming him. There was nothing left for him except the evening news and an article in the newspaper and soon event he reporters would grow tired and move on with their lives, leaving him to rot in peace.
He hoped as much anyway.
He pulled his knees up to his body and bowed his head, making himself as small as possible. He couldn't help but be reminded of his youth and laying in Mokuba's bed during storms, his shivering brother curled up as tightly as possible against his body and him…he was the strong older brother who would protect Mokuba from anything.
Only he hadn't. Hadn't even come close to protecting him and had just stood, dumb, as his brother's life spilled out over the ground and his hands. It had felt like forever before he had washed his hands clean of his brother's blood but even now…was it really gone?
How could it just be…gone? There had been so much of it. Where could it have all gone, really?
"You look pathetic." A deep and slightly raspy voice said tauntingly. "The Great Seto Kaiba reduced to crying on the floor of a parking lot."
Seto wiped at his eyes, angrier with himself then whoever had caught him in this moment of weakness. He pushed himself up, ignoring the screaming pain in his body, and turned to face the person who'd spoken to him, more than prepared to show them that even when the world was crumbling he was not one to be mocked.
Only when his eyes fell onto the man he forgot what it was he was going to say. The man was tall and lean, dressed in a black suit that looked even more expensive than the ones Seto owned. He was holding a briefcase in one hand and the other was in the pocket of his jacket.
However it wasn't any of that that gave Seto pause. It was the face. Or, more accurately, whom this man looked like. Which was to say Seto himself.
Not completely like Seto of course. His skin was a very deep caramel color, he had the beginning of wrinkles around his eyes, and his hair was a rust color. But the sharp features, mocking smirk, and glittering blue eyes were all things Kaiba was used to seeing in the mirror.
He blinked. What the hell was going on?
"You look good Seth, crying aside. Your mother would have been proud."
"What did you call…my mother? You knew her?"
The man shook his head. "Not the woman you know as your mother in this life no, I never had the pleasure. But in your past life, in Egypt, the woman who bore you was one of my priestess. Sister to the pharaoh and probably the most beautiful woman I had the pleasure of lying eyes upon."
Seto groaned and put a hand to his head. Part of him wanted to tell the man to shove it up his ass and rotate, because he wasn't interested in that past life crap at the moment. But, in the more logical but less scientific part of him, he knew he couldn't do that no matter how annoyed his was at the moment. He'd pretty much gotten over the whole 'he was never an priest in ancient Egypt' thing when he'd walked into Yugi's game shop one day and found three shadow wielding spirits standing inside, now with bodies of their own and more than willing to 'convince' him.
He had also come to terms with the fact that when someone called him 'Seth' he couldn't very well walk away and pretend it happened.
"What do you want?"
"To make you an offer." The man smiled but it was far from a pleasant smile. It sent shivers up Seto's smile. "I don't suppose you remember who I am? That's fine; I'm far from offended. I am Anubis, Ruler of the Underworld. I protect souls who have passed on and ensure they get where they are going. To you, however, I was father."
Seto blinked. "Are you trying to tell me you're Anubis, one of the Egyptian gods?" The man nodded and Seto groaned, earlier decision to stay and hear this guy out gone. He turned, reaching into his pocket to get his keys. He knew Yami claimed that Ra was his father, literally, but that was just farther than Seto was willing to believe, no matter how many monsters were paraded in front of him.
He grabbed his keys then looked up, intending to unlock the door.
Only his car was gone. In fact the entire garage was gone. He was standing in the middle of the desert with the impossibly hot sun beating down on him and trying to bake him inside of his suit. He gasped, both from surprise and the sudden heat, before realizing the man was suddenly in front of him and smiling thinly.
He no longer wore the suit but instead what one would associate with ancient Egypt, and looking very regal as well.
"You aren't the first person I've seen use magic."
The man sighed dramatically. "Fine Boy. You've always been such a skeptic, why should I be surprised? Forget it, don't believe me, it hardly matters. I'm here to offer you what you want more than anything."
"A vacation?" Seto asked, not able to hold back the quip.
"Revenge." The world seemed to come at a halt and the word seemed to slice through to the very core of his being and he could only stare.
Revenge.
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Mechante: You hit the nail right on the head with that one. How non-involved does Yami plan to be…after all, he isn't going to let Seto go around beheading people, right? I mean, Yugi probably wouldn't approve. Not that Yugi would know…
NJ: I'm sure we all agree with Yami. Ahh, how we long for the days of Egypt. In this case anyway. And you're right; being a vegetable is worse…that's why I choose that. If Mokuba was dead maybe, possibly, Seto could move on but with him like this…it's a constant 'living' reminder.
Tal: I'm glad you like, and I'll try to update…regularly.
