NS: Howdy everybody! This was an Easterpresent for my friend...and she told me to post it.So, here ya go. I had to use my dad's comp...which is ancient.I was to lazy to seperate the chaps, so it's all one big story. Enjoy!
Prologue
I am here to tell you a true story of self-discovery, love, friendship and betrayal. Hello, my name is Seto Kaiba, self-made billionaire and CEO of the world's largest gaming company, KaibaCorp. I was a loner then, and I am a loner now; the only things I have now are my company and my little brother, Mokuba. But there was, at one time, another, and although I no longer have her, she is always with me. I am a changed man now, all because of her. So, I will tell you our story, the way I remember it.
Legend of the Blue Eyes
Ch. 1
It was, I would call it, an ordinary day at Kaibacorp, or rather, my home. As I recall, I had decided to work at home that day. I sat at my desk, piles of paper strewn across its glossy wood finish. There was always work to be done. As I pondered over mile-long contracts, my little brother, Mokuba, burst through the doors, panting as if he'd just run a marathon.
"Seto, there was a kidnapping downtown! Yugi saw the whole thing! He says a man in a cloak took off with some girl's father! He's downstairs!" He shouted almost incoherently.
"Who, the father or Yugi? Would you slow down, you're not making any sense!" I replied in a rather agitated tone. I was being too harsh again.
"Yugi. He's pretty banged up, and he brought the girl." Mokuba answered, leaning against the wall for support. I bolted past and swept down the hall, hitting the 'down' button for the elevator most definitely more than once. What kind of trouble could he have gotten into this time, and why had he come here? Not to mention, who was kidnapper, and why did they so resemble a Rare Hunter? I thought about this as I stepped into the elevator and hit the ground floor button, maybe a little too hard. A tiny crack formed across the shiny plastic shield. Great, something else to worry about.
Finally the elevator doors slid open and I saw Yugi arguing with my security officers. I glanced over to the door to see the mutt and the rest of Yugi's gang pile through the door. This was not what I needed to deal with today. It wasn't until I stepped out of the elevator that I saw her. I knew right there that she was no ordinary girl. As I gazed warily at her, I thought of my Blue Eyes White Dragon. I did not know why at the time, but I do now. Her hair was the color of blue-steel; her eyes like the deepest oceans. Her complexion and demeanor seem so frail that the slightest breeze could whisk her away. The clothing she wore was light, a white, gold-trimmed tube-top with beads hanging down her stomach, long, flowing white pants and a single splash of color in the royal blue sash tied around her waist. Her expression, though, was what took me. I had never seen such sadness in any one soul. It seemed to pour out of her eyes in a waterfall of regret and sorrow as she watched Yugi shout at Chemo. I saw her eyes begin to water and before, most likely, she even knew it, she was shouting herself.
"Please, stop, my Pharaoh! This will not solve anything!" Her angelic pleas calmed both sides, and soon, without any commotion left to distract them, everyone noticed my presence.
"Kaiba, it's urgent that I speak with you." Yugi said, his voice deeper than that of the 9th grader I knew.
"Well, I'm right here, get on with it." I snapped, noticing that the girl's eyes were piercing right through me.
"Yes, but you must listen. Look at this girl, does she look familiar to you?" He pointed to the fair girl, and once again I thought of my Blue Eyes White Dragon. I could see its wings wrapped around her very soul, as if coveting her.
"No." I replied as surely as I possibly could. I didn't believe in that Ancient-Egyptian nonsense and I had the distinct feeling that I was about to get a lecture.
"Well whether you believe it or not you do know her, and she needs your help once again." He replied over-dramatically. I swear, whenever I talked to them I felt like I was in the middle of a Broadway play rehearsal of 'Apocalypse Now'.
"I've never seen her before, making that quite impossible, and besides, why does she need my help, and why can't she ask me herself!" My voice echoed off the marble interior of the ground-floor lobby. An uncomfortable silence fell and Yugi glanced sideways at the girl, nodding.
"Please." Her timid voice floated across the room and all eyes softened as she spoke. "I-I require your help, Priest Seto…"
Priest Seto? That title sounded strangely familiar. More images flashed in my head, only now I saw myself in front of a mirror adjusting richly colored fabrics and gold bands that adorned my body. I reached forward and obtained a rod that resembled the one that freak Marik carried through my Battle City Tournament and examined in with pride, smirking. I quickly snapped myself out of whatever daze I was in and looked around the room at the others, then to the girl.
"What's your name?" I said carefully, sending a deadly glare to anyone who gave me a look I didn't like, one being the mutt, who flinched when my eyes narrowed at him.
"Ki-Kisara." She answered quietly. Once again the images clouded my mind, this time of myself laying a corpse down in front of a stone sculpture of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. I was whispering her name over and over and-was I…crying? I could not tell, because I had pulled myself from the vision and stood again to stare at the silent crowd.
"Fine. If she claims she needs my help, she'll get my help. I'll have a private search party scour the city for clues to the whereabouts of her father, however, I insist that you and your cronies stay out of this, Yugi."
"Who you callin' a crony, Kaiba!" Wheeler shouted, showing off his ever-so-choleric-temper.
"Shut up, mutt! I have better things to do than to listen to Yugi's fairy-tales and your whining, and as if I don't have enough on my plate, you go and leave a girl on my front doorstep for me to take care of. I am not a catch-all for every one of your little problems!" I shouted, causing Kisara to flinch as if my words had hit her like venom. Seeing this, I inadvertently changed my tone, though it's kindness was obviously forced. "Chemo, please escort our guests out. Kisara, if you'll be so kind as to follow me to where you'll be staying."
With surprisingly nimble grace she stood and followed me to the elevator as Chemo shoved Yugi and his pals out the door.
"Kaiba, you must fulfill your destiny, whether you believe in it or not!" Yugi shouted as he was pushed out the door.
"My destiny is to defeat you, Yugi!" I added before both the front and elevator doors closed. I laughed quietly to myself: he acted like a nut-job when he got into his stories.
"I'm surprised you would speak to the Pharaoh in such a manner." Kisara said timidly as I pushed the button for the floor we were headed to.
I paused for a moment, taking in what she said, before responding with humor, "Pharaoh? You buy into his stories? Ha! Every time he gets into that 'Pharaoh mode', he sounds absolutely insane."
She lowered her eyes and did not reply. A loud 'ping' sounded moments later, indicating that we'd arrived at our destination. She stood in a quiescent manner, waiting for me to lead. As I exited the elevator, so did she, and I led her down the hall to what would be her room.
"This is where you'll be staying." I said, opening the door to one of our quaint guest-rooms. She looked around with what could've been awe and I pointed to the closet. "I may not have a clue about how women dress, but I've hired people who do, so you should find something to your liking in there. Also, please let me or any of my associates know if you need anything."
"Thank you." Kisara replied, a happier expression across her face for a short while. "They…they can't get to me here, can they? They can't take me like they did my father, yes?"
"Of course. Dinner is at 7, if you'd like to join me. I'll have someone to remind and escort you." I said finally, turning to leave. However, before I did, I felt like she needed more assurance, so I continued, "Remember, for you this is a prison without walls: it's not here to lock you in, it's here to keep unwanted visitors out; you are free to roam this house."
I saw much of the sorrow lift from her face and she gave me a small smile as I walked out the door. That made me think that maybe it wasn't just the money that gave me all that wonderful charisma.
Ch. 2
I went back to my study after that, though I found I just couldn't focus on work. All of those visions were starting to get to me. I even got so irritated by them that I ran an Internet search on 'Priest Seto', but to no avail. I would have to ask Kisara herself at dinner. As this thought was running through my mind, Mokuba burst through the doors and pounced on my, knocking me out of my chair.
"How many times have I told you not to do that?" I said as calmly as I possibly could while he proceeded to straddle my stomach.
"Seto! You have a girl in the house! A pretty girl! What's her name? Where's she from? Are you gonna marry her? Can I be ring bearer?-Oof!" I got up, causing him to topple off of me.
"Would you slow down? No one's getting married, she just needed some help, that's all."
"Help, huh? What, is she lonely?" Mokuba joked, wagging his eyebrows slyly.
"You're such a child! That's not it at all." I replied, and he scrambled to the door. "I'll see you at dinner, right?"
'Nah, I'll eat in my room tonight…so you two can have 'alone time'." He winked and fled the room, just in time to dodge the paper wad I threw at him. That little brother of mine could be a menace sometimes!
I leaned back on my hands and continued my train of thought; soon realizing that I'd already come to the conclusion of asking Kisara herself before the munchkin had pounced on me. A knock at my door reminded me I was still on the carpet and so I stood and dusted off, straitening my black and silver attire before taking a seat.
"Come in." I said as if trying to sound interrupted. The door opened and there stood Chemo.
"Sir, the kitchens have informed me that dinner is ready, should I go get the girl?" He asked.
"Yeah, but remember, you're not 'getting' her, you're 'escorting' her. You 'get' troublemakers out of my house; you don't 'get' polite young women. I figured that bafoon Pegasus would've at least taught you some etiquette. Should I send you back or do you find yourself competent enough to learn by example?" I replied, slightly irritated; my staff had become less…sharp as of late.
"Sorry, sir, I'll continue to work on that." I said, bowing and bolting down the hall after closing the door with a snap. I shook my head and laughed. Now I have him bowing. Not a minute later there was another knock. However, this sounded playful, like the theme of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. Only one person of my staff was Gothic enough to do that.
"Come in, Seika." I said, not at all irritated: she usually brought good news.
"Hey, Mr. Kaiba, I have your prototype." She said, a large smile adorning her face. She was very Gothic indeed. She was the only member of my staff I would let wear clothing that was out of dress code. She liked to wear long black pants strung with chains, elegantly designed shirts, usually black or red, and boots, very big boots. She was absent of her trench coat today and her long, black hair was tied back, meaning she'd been working tirelessly. Then again, she always worked tirelessly. She had such taste in trench coats that I let her design mine. She was a dedicated worker, which is why I favored her so much over all the other idiots I tended to hire. Plus, she never bugged me for a raise.
"Excellent! Best news I've heard all day! Let's see it." I replied, leaning back in my chair. She placed a silver object on the table, which was about the size of a duel-monster's deck.
"Tada!" She exclaimed. "I give you my newest invention, the portable table-top dueling device, patent pending."
"How does it work?" I asked, examining it; it looked fairly simple.
"This pocket-sized machine is a small alternative to Duel Disks and arenas, observe." She hit the tiny button on top and it folded open to an extremely thin mini dueling arena. "It had standard dueling spaces for Monsters, Traps, Spells, Fields, the Deck, Graveyard, Fusion and Side Deck, plus an automatic Life Point calculator. It even comes complete with it's own mini holograms."
She placed a Monster card on it and a hand-sized hologram of a Dark Necrofear appeared above it.
She continued, "It houses it's own card database which can be up-linked to any computer and updated via the Internet. The cable is retractable and is hidden in this compartment." She pointed to a small opening in the side of the device.
I couldn't speak for a moment. It was pure genius; she'd done it again. She was, after all, the original designer of the Duel Disk. I usually just told her how I wanted things to look and work; she did all the schematization. She even programmed the machinery to make them. Oh, yes, she was getting a raise.
"Seika, you're a genius. Once you get the computers programmed to make them in mass, I want you to take a week's vacation." I said, picking it up and admiring the design: flawless. She'd even colored coded the fields: one blue and one red. "Then again, make it two."
"Thanks, Mr. Kaiba." She replied, smiling. "I'll have it done right away, ready for the market by the end of the month."
"But it's already the seventeenth!" I replied, glancing at my calendar. "It's impossible to have it ready in two weeks!"
"Nothing's impossible, Mr. Kaiba. I'll have advertisements out in 3 days and the devices will hit store shelves on the 1st. Goodbye, sir." She bowed, took the device and left. She was amazing. I promised myself then that if she did all she said, she was getting a huge raise and a THREE week vacation. Maybe even a Christmas meat basket, but that was months away…I absent-mindedly looked at my clock. 6:59p.m.
"Damn!" I shouted at myself, bolted out the door and hit the elevator button continuously until the doors opened. Then I ran in, hit the button labeled 'Dining Hall' and pressed 'Close Doors' a few times, noticing that the formerly broken button was now covered with a sticky note. I took it off and read it:
Temper, temper Mr. Kaiba. Elevators have feelings too.
G.S.
There was a small, thorn-wrapped heart drawn next to the initials. I looked down to see the button fixed. G.S. must've stood for "Gothic Seika".
The elevator halted and I stepped out, bolting into the dining room. I must've startled Kisara, because she jumped out of her seat at the far end of the long, oak dining table and bowed.
"It is good to see you, Priest Seto." She said. She had changed into a silver crushed-velvet shoulder-less top with long, bell-bottomed sleeves and a pair of white pants. That same royal blue scarf, however, was still wrapped around her waist. Even seeing her in those modern clothes did not stop me from envisioning my Blue Eyes White Dragon.
"Please, just Kaiba or Seto. I'm not a priest." She nodded, frowned and returned to her seat silently, hands folded in her lap. Soon after, a waiter brought out multiple plates of delicious looking food and set them across the table. He bowed and left, leaving Kisara and I to eat in silence. It was too quiet. It wasn't that I liked to eat my meals in silence or anything-however this was a great improvement over Mokuba's mindless chitchat-but this was quite literally torture.
I cleared my throat, causing her to glance up for just a moment before she looked back down at her plate and continued eating. At a loss for words, I did the same. Wonderful, an awkward silence. I never realized until then how much I hated them. We completed the meal and then were presented with dessert, which we continued to eat in silence. It finally became too much for me, and so I went out on a limb and tried to start a conversation.
"So." I began, jolting her out of some form of reverie. "Where are you from?"
"Florida." She replied simply, "A small town in Central Florida."
"I see." I replied as my grip on the conversation slowly slipped. "That's quite far from here."
"Yes, well, my father and I moved here a short while ago." Her head bowed and she stared at the floor. "They knew though, they knew we were trying to find you."
"And why were you trying to find me?" I asked, inwardly grateful that she'd gotten to the subject I wanted to talk about.
"Because, you alone have the power to destroy them. You alone can protect me."
"Protect you from what?" I asked slowly. Before she could answer, the dining hall doors burst open and Chemo entered, breathing heavily.
"Sir, there's been a break-in in the east wing. I'm having the guards pursue the perpetrator as we speak." He said quickly. I saw Kisara's face go paler than it already was and her expression become one of pure horror.
"I want every guard in pursuit, and get the dogs if you have to!" I ordered, standing. "Find Mokuba and take him to the Moutou Game Shop as quickly as possible!"
"Yes sir." He bowed and left. I turned to Kisara.
"They're after you, so we have to make sure they don't get to you, come on!" I said, taking her hand and nearly dragging her behind me. We swept down the hall and I once again hit the elevator button repeatedly. I saw a few guards pass us as we entered the elevator. I slid my identification card into the slot and hit the button for the underground lab floor, labeled 'U.L.-Restricted'. A mechanical female voice chimed "Access granted." This caused the car to move. I leaned onto the back wall as the elevator took its sweet time, noticing that Kisara was still holding my hand and arm with both of hers. I could see and feel that she was shaking violently. "Don't worry, Kisara, you'll be safe where we're going."
She nodded and swallowed hard, not shaking quite as much, but still clutching my arm. That was a bit awkward at the time for me, but the girl was terrified, so I let it slide. Suddenly the elevator car shook as if something had landed on it. I managed to keep my balance, and Kisara clung more tightly to my arm.
"Today just can't get any worse, can it!" I shouted as the elevator halted. I looked at the meter over the door: we were in between floors 5 and 6. Perfect, just perfect. The assailant attempted to get in, causing the sharp sound of metal cutting metal to echo through the car. Kisara released my arm and covered her ears at the deafening sound. I looked around, trying to find something to work with. Seeing nothing, I started to pry open the doors. Surprising myself, I managed to open them nearly all the way and to my great relief, there was about a two-foot opening near the ceiling of the elevator that led to the 6th floor. "Kisara, go, now!"
I lifted her up (she was as light as she looked) high enough that she could grab the ledge and climb through the opening. She scrambled onto the floor and as she did, the elevator sunk, making the hole a foot smaller: not enough for me to climb through.
"Seto!" She called, reaching her arm through the door.
"I can't get through, quickly, take the stairs to the first floor and get one of my drivers to take you to the Moutou Game Shop. I'll meet up with you there later!" I called, shielding my eyes as shards of metal began falling from the ceiling.
"No, I won't leave here without you!" Kisara replied. I was quite taken aback by this comment, but what she did next was even more surprising: as the elevator began to sink more and more, she reached her arms into the car and started pushing on the ceiling. I knew there was no way for her to lift the elevator on her own, so I called for her to stop. As I did, however, her eyes glowed bright blue and I saw a silver aura take over her body. Her arms were covered in a shroud of mist that took the form of what looked like claws and much to my amazement the elevator began to rise. When there was enough room, she reached out her arm and pulled me up through the hole. Once I was on the floor she punched the elevator's roof with such force that it was sent careening down a few stories. I did not turn around fast enough to see who-or what-was on top of it.
Snapping out of my daze, I realized that Kisara was safe and so I shot up, grabbed her hand and ran to the stairwell. I dragged her down multiple flights of stairs and out to the courtyard, passing a few guards as we did.
I saw my limousine parked out front as it should always be, and I ran to it, shoved Kisara in, got in myself and slammed the door.
"Where to, Mr. Kaiba?" The driver asked, starting the car.
"Moutou Game Shop, and step on it!" I barked.
"Yes sir." He replied, doing exactly what I'd told him to do: he stepped on it.
I reached over the panting Kisara and grabbed my mobile phone, speed-dialing Seika's cell phone. One ring and she answered.
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?" She asked. I could hear a man in the background saying something along the lines of 'What could he want at this hour?'
"Meet me at Moutou Game Shop in five minutes. I'll explain there." I said quickly.
"Yes sir, I'll be there in two." She replied, hanging up. I reached back over Kisara, who wasn't panting as much as she was shaking and plugged in my phone.
"Are you okay?" I asked her, she nodded. "What was that, what did you do back there?"
"It's the reason why they're after me." She said quietly as we pulled into the driveway of our destination.
"Here we are, sir." The driver said as we got out of the car. Kisara and I entered the Moutou gaming shop only to be gaped at by a multitude of eyes.
"Kaiba? What are you doin' 'ere?" Wheeler asked, pointing quite rudely at the both of us.
"Shut up, mutt." I snapped. "The same people that kidnapped Kisara's father are trying to kidnap her."
Before anyone could respond, the doors opened behind me.
"Sorry I took so long, it's a little hard to run down the street in heels." Seika said, causing me to notice that she was actually dressed up. She was wearing a pleated black skirt that went just past her knees, a fancy long-sleeved red shirt, black high-heeled shoes and her hair was put up in a bun with two curls lining the sides of her face. Just then, Mokuba poked his head out from behind her back. He ran towards me and embraced my legs, causing me to wobble and almost fall. "Oh, I ran into Chemo and he asked if I could take care of Mokuba for him. He said he had to get back to the house; that there was some sort of break in or something."
"Why are you all dressed up?" I asked, for once in my life insanely curious. I could've never in my wildest dreams imagined Seika all dolled up and there she was, standing right in front of me, all dolled up.
"I was on a date with my boyfriend. I do have a personal life, you know." She said, her words lined with humor and sarcasm. "So, what was so important that you dragged me away from the love of my life?"
"Very funny. There's a kidnapper after Kisara and he's at my mansion. You have a major in psychology and I knew you could help us figure out how he/she or it operates." I said, she nodded in thought.
"Sounds sensible enough." She replied. "All right, why don't you start from the beginning?"
Ch. 3
After Yugi explained how Kisara's father was kidnapped I stepped in and explained everything that had happened up to the point of us getting to the game shop. After every detail had been dealt, everyone sat in silence as Seika thought, and even wrote out, a complete psychological profile for the kidnapper. After much scribbling, erasing and waiting, it was complete.
"Okay." She said finally. "What I can figure from your descriptions is that we're not just dealing with a regular human. Normal humans can't jump down an elevator shaft and claw away at the steel with their bare hands. I might just be going out on a limb when I say this, because I know that you, Mr. Kaiba, don't believe in this kind of 'Hocus pocus nonsense', but I think that ancient forces may be at work here."
"Oh, great, now Yugi has you believing his fairy tales!" I said, exasperated. Yugi gave me a stern look, well, stern for a little kid.
"Now, Mr. Kaiba, I never said that I was sure." Seika reassured. "All I'm saying is that that attacker you met up with today was not human, and it wants Kisara, who has her own amazing powers. From what I can gather, her father was never the target."
"What can they do?" Yugi asked, now sounding like the childish 9th grader he was, and I noticed, looking a lot shorter than before…strange, I thought.
"They're best bet is to stay with me." Seika replied. "This kidnapper is smart, meaning it's only a matter of time before he realizes you're here, and KaibaCorp is out of the question. I have a nice-sized house, a security system, 5 guard dogs and my boyfriend will be there. No worries, you'll be safe."
Kisara looked to me, hope in her eyes, and so I nodded. Mokuba, Kisara and I would spend the night at Seika's.
The drive was silent, save for Seika giving directions to the driver. Kisara sat motionless next to me, staring at the floor. I too sat rather still, staring out the window and thinking. Mokuba did the same, staring out the window in thought. Soon we stopped at a two-story house with a well-planted front lawn and a lighted fountain and arch at the entrance.
"Welcome to my humble abode." Seika said with a sigh. "Come, I'll show you in."
She led us down the flagstone driveway to the front door, though Kisara and Mokuba took their time to 'smell the roses', admiring the beauty of the garden. I saw a man answer the door, though I couldn't see him clearly. It looked like he had light-colored, shoulder-length hair and he was a few inches taller than Seika. I saw her put her hands on his chest and lean up to kiss him, saying something along the lines of, 'Give me a minute, I'll meet you upstairs.' He gave her a sly smile and disappeared inside the house.
We reached the door and Seika showed us in.
"I know this is nothing compared to your mansion, Mr. Kaiba, but you'll each get your own room." She said, leading us past the adjacent formal living/dining rooms. Mokuba glared in awe at the creamy wallpaper and gold chair-runners.
"Well, you certainly have better taste than my brother." He said, admiring the classic paintings lining the walls.
Seika laughed. "Why thank you, Mokuba, but your brother and I are two very different people. He has rather good taste on his part."
"Should I take that as a compliment?" I asked dryly, not sure what she'd meant by her last comment.
"I would." She said simply, leading us past the kitchen and up a surprisingly wide metal winding staircase. They usually tended to be very narrow, but this one was wide enough that three people could walk up it, side by side.
First we were shown to Mokuba's room. It was a nice, cozy and the bed was up in a loft. He was very excited about that. After that, Kisara was led to her room, which was actually pretty girly, with a netted canopy over the bed and an almost Indian theme to it. Mine, much to my relief, was very basic: a couch, table, dresser, walk-in closet, mirror, TV and a king-sized bed with neutral sheets. It was basic, simple, perfect.
"Well, kids, I'm off to bed. Get a good night's sleep, okay?" Seika called down the hall as she made her way to her own bedroom. The three of us nodded and disappeared into our rooms.
Realizing I had no clothes to sleep in, I raided the closet. Much to my surprise I found a pair of black flannel pants and a plain white shirt that was slightly too large for me. I turned out all the lights and fell back onto the bed. Also comfy. I remember thinking to myself that it wouldn't be such a bad night after all. I crawled under the sheets and closed my eyes for no longer than an hour before awaking at the sound of the door across the hall snapping shut. Fearing the worst, I bolted out of bed and flung open my door, only to be pounced on by someone other than Mokuba.
Ch. 4
I stood there, slightly in shock and awe as Kisara crushed herself against my chest, holding tightly to me with her arms around my waist.
"Kisara, what's wrong?" I asked, completely bombarded by confusion.
"I'm afraid, Seto." She looked up at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You almost got killed in that elevator and it's all my fault!"
"But Kisara, you saved me." I said softly, putting my hands on her shoulders (it felt awkward just to keep them at my sides, however, the whole situation was already rather awkward to begin with).
"What if I can't do it again? What if my powers don't work?" She sobbed, burying her head in my chest once again. "You could die because of me."
"You came to me for protection, didn't you?" I asked not nearly as softly, pulling her away from my body and forcing her to look at me. "Well, didn't you?"
She nodded.
"Well, then, my protection you will have." I said finally. "Don't worry about me, Kisara, you just worry about yourself."
"But…" She whispered, hugging me closely again.
"Not 'buts', we'll be fine. I'm sure that Chemo and the others back at the mansion have captured the thing who tried to get you." I said, not so sure even myself.
"It's not human, it can't be stopped." She whimpered.
"Yes it can, and it will be." I reassured. "I promise, Kisara."
I didn't know then that I would come to regret those words as I threaded my fingers through her silky silver locks, pulling her closer to myself. All I knew was that for some reason she meant more to me than life itself. I was never one to believe in love at first sight, but when I saw her that day in my mansion I knew she was special. As cherished by me as the Blue Eyes White Dragon that I held so dear.
Things seemed to move of their own accord that night; I remember her lips against mine on more than one occasion and I remember the smoothness of her skin against the soft cotton bed sheets. I can also remember her curling up against me and feeling secure, like a dragon's wings had enveloped our bodies to protect us from harm. I especially remember hearing the words 'I love you' as we drifted off to sleep. But what I remember the most was waking up that morning, tangled in sweat-drenched sheets…alone.
I rolled off the bed, panic-stricken, and changed back into my work clothes, noticing that Kisara's discarded clothes were gone. Making my way to the door, I turned the knob to exit, but the door was jammed. I frantically pushed and pulled at it, but to no avail. I then attempted to bust it open by banging my shoulder against it. When that didn't work, I became fed-up and impatient enough to kick the door down. It jolted out from the grip of the chair that had been wedged under the outside knob and I ran out of the room just in time to hear Kisara scream my name. I glanced down the hall to see her being carried off by a…ninja?
"Kisara!" I called, running after them. I followed them around a corner to find that they'd vanished. "Kisara!"
"Mr. Kaiba! Over here!" I turned to see Seika in front of another door in the hall. "Follow me."
She beckoned me down an old wood staircase to what must've been a basement. She flicked on the lights and there I saw Kisara, on her knees and chained to the ground. The ninja I'd seen was standing behind her, armed with two small swords. He resembled a Duel Monsters card I recalled being named 'Strike Ninja'.
"Seto!" Kisara called, tugging at her binds, which glowed with an eerie ultraviolet light whenever she pulled on them.
"Kisara!" I ran to her, but as I did the ninja swiftly knelt down next to her and placed his swords dangerously close to her neck.
"Now, now, Mr. Kaiba. We wouldn't want you to release her and spoil our plans, now, would we?" Seika said, walking casually past me. The ninja shook his head. "I'm very disappointed in my Strike Ninja, Mr. Kaiba, you see, he usually doesn't give his victims enough time to scream."
She circled around the two, stopping next to the ninja.
"You've gotten sloppy." She barked at him, causing him to cringe.
"What's the meaning of all this, Seika?" I shouted, a million thoughts and questions racing through my brain. Why Kisara? Why Seika? Why me?
"You don't believe in 'Hocus Pocus nonsense', Mr. Kaiba, meaning you wouldn't understand why we kidnapped her." Seika said, chuckling to herself. "She has powers far greater than even she can imagine."
"And we intend to take them for ourselves." A dark voice said. Out of the shadows came a familiar silhouette…Seika's boyfriend. He looked strangely familiar to me.
"I know you!" I said. "You're Bakura, you lost to Yugi in the Battle City Finals!"
"That's quite a rude way to remember me, however it doesn't matter. You won't remember anything when you're dead." He growled lowly, his voice floating around the large room.
"Now, Bakura, we agreed not to kill him until after the ceremony." Seika reminded him, and he pouted slightly.
"Well, all right, but make it quick; I've been wanting to wring that expensive neck of his since I first laid eyes on him…" That comment did not comfort me, and neither did the menacing smirk that he threw in my direction.
Ch. 5
"Observe, Mr. Kaiba, the fruits of our laboring research!" Seika shouted, raising her arms. As if pulled by invisible wire, a giant stone tablet rose from the floor to her left. It depicted an Egyptian carving of a Blue Eyes White Dragon. "The Blue Eyes Ka of the blue-haired Kisara of Egypt, imprisoned for 5,000 years."
Another item rose from the floor, this time a large jade statue of a Blue Eyes White Dragon shaped as if it were flying strait up from the ground, which was positioned to the right of her.
"The Blue Eyes kenpei of the white-haired Kisara of Japan, imprisoned for 2,500 years." Seika continued, running her fingers across the smooth surface of the sculpture. "And now, the Blue Eyes life-force of the silver-haired Kisara of America. Together at last."
"What do you mean? There's only one Kisara and she laying there next to you!" I shouted pointing to Kisara, who looked at me sadly, desperate for the help I couldn't give her.
"No, you arrogant bastard, you're wrong!" Seika barked, surprising me with that language. "There are 3 Blue Eyes White Dragon life-forces. Each one of the carriers, mainly Kisara, was killed. The Egyptian was protecting you're former self, the Priest Seto and the Japanese was protecting you other former self, the great Samurai Seto. With their deaths, their life-forces were sealed within ancient containers by an evil entity in hopes of using them to destroy the world."
"And we will succeed where they have failed." Bakura chimed in, walking over to the stone tablet. "Now that we have obtained the third, we will be able to summon the Ultimate Blue Eyes Ka Dragon."
"Patent pending, Mr. Kaiba." Seika said with a laugh, which infuriated me.
"You set me up, didn't you? This whole time you were just getting information for your boyfriend so he could get a hold of Kisara. You even let that kidnapper into my mansion, didn't you?" I screamed; everything was starting to make sense.
"Disabled the security system on my way out." She said in a singsong fashion. It sickened me.
"You kidnapped her father to lure her to me!" I added with hatred.
"Kidnapped and killed." Bakura said, chuckling to himself. I heard Kisara gasp.
"You even offered to let us stay at your house as a so-called friendly gesture, which actually turned out to be a death trap." I continued, completely maddened by how much thought was put into their elaborate scheme.
"A pre-determined death trap, right you are, Mr. Kaiba!" Seika replied in a mocking tone that angered me to the core.
"I can't believe I fell for your 'employee of the month' get-up. You're sick and twisted, nothing more." I spat.
"That's what I love about her." Bakura said with a lusty growl.
"And now, I'm going to show you how twisted I really am. Meanae!" At her call, a brown haired girl sporting a thorny whip came out from the shadows. It, like the ninja, resembled a Duel Monster's card. This one looked like Dark Scorpion-Meanae the Thorn. "Strike Ninja, return."
The ninja obeyed, retreating to Bakura's side.
"Now, Meanae, don't kill her. I don't want to harm that beautiful dragon life-force of hers." Seika said with a smirk, at which the girl nodded and struck, catching her whip across Kisara's back. It ripped through her flesh and left a trail of blood across the floor. Kisara's scream pierced the air and she lowered her head, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Kisara!" I cried, running to her.
"Strike Ninja!" Seika barked, at which the creature ran at me, stealthily disappearing only to reappear behind me, his sword to my throat. "I want you to watch, Mr. Kaiba, watch and listen. Meanae, again!"
I cringed as the whip cracked and struck Kisara again, causing her to scream on agony even louder than before.
"Stop…" I choked, unable to bear the torture they were subjecting her to. "Just stop it!" I screamed, pulling away from the ninja's grasp and running over to kneel next to Kisara. The whip, however involuntarily, struck my leg and I stifled the cry of pain that attempted to escape my mouth. Kisara looked up at me, eyes glassy and faded, with such helplessness that I felt the pain all over again and groaned with that feeling, clutching my bleeding leg. This must have triggered something in Kisara's soul, for her eyes glowed blue and she collapsed onto my chest.
A stream of blue light was coming from her body; collecting above her and connecting with two more that were shooting out of the ancient artifacts.
"Yes! Come out, Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Seika shouted, taking out a familiar rod from behind her back.
"That thing belonged to that freak Marik!" I yelled, recalling seeing him with it during the Battle City Finals.
"He may notice it's gone. After he gets out of the hospital, that is." Bakura said with a maniacal laughter that rang throughout the room.
The lights above us were now twisting and contorting around each other, forming a solid shape. Finally, with three screeching roars the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon made its presence known.
"At last!" Seika said in awe, staring at the sparkling beast. "The Ultimate Ka beast…It's beautiful…"
With a wave of the rod, more chains came up from the ground and encircled the dragon, creating a collar around its neck to which they were all connected. It roared and struggled, but no amount of power could break the binds. I turned to Kisara, lifting her lithe form away from my chest.
"Kisara?" I whispered, coaxing her with a shake. There was no response.
"Her soul is connected to her life-force, meaning she couldn't move if she wanted to. She is weak without her dragon." Bakura explained, approaching the monster. "Truly marvelous…"
"You will obey me, dragon." Seika said, holding the rod up to the dragon's center head, whose eyes were glowing with the same light as the rod. In that instant I remembered the vision I'd had when I first heard Kisara call me 'Priest Seto': I'd seen myself with that rod. It was only a long shot then, but it was all I had to work with, so I gave it a try.
"I know for a fact that that rod used to belong to the Priest Seto, and since you're so convinced that I'm him, perhaps I should be taking it back!" As if of it's own accord, the rod flew out of her hand and into mine, ceasing to glow.
"What? That's impossible!" Seika yelled, staring at me with a look of sheer terror.
"Remember, Seika, you said yourself that nothing's impossible." I said with a smirk, walking over to her slowly. She backed away into the wall, giving herself nowhere to go.
"You can forget about that raise, bitch." I said, swinging the rod into her temple. She flew a few feet and landed on her side, blood trickling from the side of her eye. I spat by her body. "And take a permanent vacation."
I approached the dragon, perhaps not as cautiously as I should have, and touched the collar. I pulled back only to realize that the binds were disintegrating. As they did, the dragon nudged me lovingly and disappeared, leaving me with only Kisara's still form. I knelt down next to her, able to lift her now that the chains were gone.
"Kisara?" I whispered, hoping, praying to any god listening that she would just wake up and be all right again. "Kisara, wake up."
"Mmmnnn…Seto…" She replied, slowly opening her eyes.
"Kisara, you're alive!" I said, smiling. She smiled back, putting her hand on my cheek. I held it there; she was so cold.
"I'm holding on to my everything." She said, her smile slowly fading as her eyes drooped closed. That was the first time I ever cried. I cried and held her near to my heart, staining my coat with blood. A door slammed, and I assumed Bakura had escaped, taking Seika's body with him. But I didn't care all I wanted-all I needed was she.
"They took you away from me," I said, picking her lifeless corpse from the floor and leaving that wretched place. "…But now I'm taking you home."
Epilogue
That was the first and last time I truly fell in love. It was, in truth, less than two days, but we loved each other enough for an eternity. She was my everything and more. I gave her a special burial just outside the Kaiba mansion, a beautiful Blue Eyes White Dragon statue as her grave marker. I visit her every day and find peace by her tomb. As it says, engraved upon the stone base of her final resting place, 'She was, still is, and ever shall be as dear to me as my Blue Eyes White Dragon, my Blue Eyed Kisara…'
End.