Dragon Emblem
Bijoukaiba: Hello! I hate the fact that FrontPage is screwed up on my computer and I'm forced to use stupid damn Microsoft Word... Grr...
Conan: Erm... right... peers at B-K with magnifying glass Curious girl....
Bijoukaiba: .................... . ........... here's Chapter 8.................
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Rurouni Kenshin, or Fire Emblem.
Chapter 8: Danger Lurks In Dark Waters
Seto finished a sip of his green tea. Marth took another bite of egg, then spoke to Seto.
"Kenshin and I are sending you to the ocean today, to-"
"Get another artifact, I know." Seto said, wiping his mouth. Marth nodded seriously.
"Not only that, but there's a bit of rescuing to be done, like you did for me and Mokuba."
Seto lifted an eyebrow.
Kenshin shook his head.
"No, not Miss Serenity. Marth's friends have been kidnapped through time, like he was."
Marth said,
"Their names are Oguma, Sheida, and Roy. Please, Seto, do your best to save them!"
"I will. And besides that, once I'm done, I'll have just two more artifacts to go!"
Marth nodded uneasily.
"Yeah..."
After getting dressed in a blue tunic, with Mokuba wearing a blue kimono donated by Yahiko, Seto was ready to go!
"Can you believe it, Mokuba?" Seto said after leaving the dojo. "We're getting really close to saving Serenity!"
"Yeah! I wonder what our reward will be..."
Seto looked up at the sky.
"Who knows..."
Mokuba grinned.
"Are you gonna kiss her when you save her?"
Seto flushed bright red.
"Mokuba! That is not true!"
Mokuba smirked.
"I don't know, your face seems to say so."
Seto put a hand over the mouth of his brother.
"Shut up and let's keep walking."
They walked onward towards the seashore, stopping to eat some fruit for lunch.
Just as they got up to leave, a voice caught their attention.
"Well, well. Looks like we got trespassers!"
Three soldiers stepped out of the bushes.
"I'm John, and this is Richard and Terrence!"
A girl's voice caught the attention of the soldiers and the Kaibas.
"And you're all major assholes!"
She rolled out of the brush nearby. There were leaves tangled in her pale blue hair, and she was dressed in the same type of clothes style that Marth usually wore. She looked up at Seto Kaiba. Her blue eyes met his blue eyes.
"You there, please help me!"
Seto looked at Mokuba.
"Should we?"
Mokuba nodded.
"Why not?"
Seto withdrew his blade and fought with each soldier. He took down Terrence with the Do-Ryu-Sen, and Richard was done in with Mokuba using a blowtorch attack. And Seto used Dancing Blade against John.
"Hyah!"
John and his two teammates lay on the ground bloody. Mokuba went over and untied the girl.
"You know," he said, blushing, "you're pretty!"
Ignoring him, the girl suddenly ran over to Seto and grabbed him by his blue tunic firmly.
"Okay, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MARTH?!"
"Oro? I-"
"Don't talk your way out of this, mister! You have to have hurt him somehow! Why else would you be wearing Marth's clothes and using his sword style?!"
"Miss, I did nothing to Marth Leau, that I didn't. He's actually a friend of mine!"
"Well then, what's my name? He must have said something about me..."
Mokuba grinned.
"Her name can't be Roy or Oguma, those are guy names. So I guess this is Sheida!"
She gasped.
"You do- know him..."
Seto smiled.
"He's very nice to me, that he is."
A hint of red glow began to form around Sheida's cheeks.
"Yeah... he's VERY nice..."
Mokuba frowned.
"Sure, he's nice, but what about me? I untied you & I helped keep Seto calm while fighting those bad guys!"
Sheida knelt down by Mokuba, and winked at Seto.
"Oh yes, you WERE very brave! If I get attacked again, I'll be sure YOU protect me! Such a good fighter; doesn't even need a sword!"
She kissed his cheek softly and Mokuba giggled. Seto laughed.
"Anyway, you lovebirds, I better tell Sheida which way it is to the Kamiya Dojo, where Marth is waiting."
Sheida went over, and Seto handed her a piece of parchment with directions scribbled on it.
"There you go, you can't get lost now, I don't think!"
"Thanks!"
"But before you go, I thought I'd let you know that I'm Seto Kaiba, and this is my brother, Mokuba."
Sheida looked from the younger to elder Kaiba.
"I'll let Marth know you're all right, Seto. Good luck on... well, whatever you're doing!"
She hugged Seto quickly and ran off towards the dojo.
Seto and Mokuba continued walking to the sea. Dark clouds were starting to lurk overhead.
"A little jealous, Mokuba?"
"Eh, shut up. Sheida only HUGGED you. She kissed ME! Besides that, Seto, aren't you forgetting about Serenity?"
He looked up dreamily, his cheeks a faint red color.
"Oh yeah..."
"And anyway," Mokuba added, "Sheida seems to like Marth a lot..."
"Guess you're out of luck!"
Seto laughed until a hurtling ball of fire from the blowtorch barely missed his head.
The closer they came to the shore, the darker the clouds seemed to get.
"Gee," Mokuba said nervously, "the sky's gotten a lot darker..."
As they heard the roar of soft ocean waves, rain had begun falling.
"Man..." Mokuba groaned. "the sea looks really rough... you could be killed sailing out there!"
Seto put a hand to his head.
"And what's worse is, there's an island out there, and Oguma or Roy might be held there..."
"Well, there's a boat down that way..."
A familiar voice made Mokuba and Seto spin around.
"Here we go again..."
The purple-robed shopkeeper approached them.
"Hiya! Right down there, it is. It isn't really the best boat on the sea... but I'd rather ride in it than go swimming to rescue Roy or Oguma..."
"QUIT SPYING ON US, YOU STALKER!"
"It's wooden and fits two passengers, paddle-propelled."
Seto went over beside the boat, and let his blue-gloved hand slide over the paneling on its sides.
"For a wood boat, it's not so bad... thanks for the help, I guess."
The shopkeeper turned and began to walk away.
Mokuba smiled.
"See, Seto? You act like he's a mean guy, but he's pretty nice!"
The shopkeeper suddenly ran over.
"What's wrong?" Seto asked.
"I forgot something!"
"What?"
The shopkeeper panted for a few seconds more, then held out his hand.
"That'll be ten yen!"
Mokuba sighed.
Maybe I spoke too soon...
After the shopkeeper was paid and left, Mokuba climbed into the boat.
"Let's go, Seto! We gotta save Roy and Oguma!"
Looking back out at the sea, Seto took a deep breath.
"No, Mokuba."
"Hmm?"
"You stay here. The sea is too dangerous. Besides, the boat only fits two people, so I'll need room for either Oguma or Roy."
Mokuba looked down worriedly.
"But Seto..."
His older brother placed his hands on his shoulders.
"I promise I'll be alright, Mokuba. Wish me luck."
As Seto pushed the boat into the violent waters, he climbed in and began paddling.
As he drifted away, he called back to Mokuba.
"Just keep the blowtorch with you, Mokuba! Be careful!"
Mokuba watched as the boat grew fainter on the horizon amid the stormy waves.
Just promise me you'll be careful too, Seto...
An hour had passed since Seto went out to sea.
Shaking his head, he cleared up feelings of seasickness. The waves were rocking him about madly.
The sky had turned what could almost be described as greenish black, and the pouring of heavy rain created an obscure curtain that one could barely see through. As Seto took a break from paddling, letting the waves toy with his small boat, he looked back from his departing point, then to the direction he was heading.
"Man," he said, nervously, "the sea wasn't nearly THIS rough before..."
He placed the paddles back in the water and continued making smooth strokes despite the stormy waters.
Thunder began to rumble softly. It had been windy and raining, but there hadn't been any thunder or lightning...
Seto looked up at the sky.
How could this get any worse?
A loud clap of thunder jolted Mokuba awake. He had begun to sleep, clutching his blowtorch. Shaking his head, he watched as a bolt of lightning struck down far away, illuminating the sky, beauty and death in a spectacular light show.
It's too dangerous now...
Mokuba stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed as loud as he could.
"SETO!!!!!!!! SETO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SETO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He listened for a reply, but no sound could be heard.
He fired a shot from the blowtorch into the sky, like a signal flare, but still, no reply.
Mokuba looked up into the stormy sky.
Where are you?............
Seto had to fumble furiously to paddle through the water. It seemed as though the ocean sensed his fear and was trying to scare him even more.
But I have to be brave! For Mokuba! For Kenshin and Marth! For Oguma or Roy! And most importantly, for Serenity...
He looked up at the stormy sky.
What if she's stuck in this desolate storm too? Is she still alive? I wonder what she's thinking right now...
As Seto had predicted, Serenity was being held far away, inside a cage. She looked to the stormy area over by the sea. It was pretty cloudy there, too... wherever she was...
"What did I do to deserve such a fate?" she asked. "I'm just here to deliver some medicine..."
She brushed a strand of her auburn hair away from her face.
"I guess it could be worse... it could be storming here, but it's not..."
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Whoever is stuck in THAT storm... I'd really pity them... especially if they were coming to rescue me and help those little children..."
Tears began welling up in her eyes.
"Why hasn't anyone come yet? General Espa has to have sent SOMEONE... I don't care who comes to save me..."
She began sobbing softly.
"Just send someone... anyone... as long as the medicine gets through... Yugi... Joey... Tea'... even Kaiba... anyone..."
Serenity straightened up a bit.
Just please help the children...
The torrent of rain continued to flush at Seto's face, and he kept pushing himself on. He had to keep going, no matter what. It was getting harder and harder to paddle, and he had cramps in his arms and shoulders.
This is just perfect.
A powerful wave caught a paddle and ripped it from his grasp.
"Shit," he muttered, bending over near the water to find the paddle.
Yes indeed, just perfect. There's no way this could get any better...
A wave struck the boat and Seto flipped out into the water. He was right; the current really was powerful!
As he swam back to the surface, a wave knocked him back under, the torrents still messing with him, dragging him under constantly. Exhausted, Seto finally caught a breath of air above the surface, yet he went down under again. The strength he had left his body, and Seto passed out.
Seto stood up shakily. He was on dry land, but he wasn't wet or near the sea.
Where am I?...
Two African men walked past.
"We have to deliver the news."
"No matter how tragic."
They paid no attention to Seto. Curious to his sudden inexistence, he walked over to a window. He looked for his reflection, but it wasn't there.
It's as if I don't exist anymore...
He walked over and noticed a sign that read, "Mombasa, 16 mi. east."
I really AM in Africa... in Kenya, to be exact.
He heard a knocking on the door about nine or ten yards away.
Seto walked over to see the two men talking to a nurse by the door.
"I'm sorry," said one man, "but we have some bad news to deliver."
"You see," said the second man, "Serenity was kidnapped by a mysterious figure, and they sent an agent to get her. You know, right ma'am? General Espa and the IDA? Anyway, he was lost at sea about two days ago... and because of the circumstances, it'll take a month before they can get another agent suitable for the mission."
The nurse spoke.
"So you're saying... the medicine won't be here in time?"
The man nodded.
"Not in time for those children."
Seto gasped as he heard the first man speak again.
"We're going to lose them."
Walking around behind the hospital, he gazed in a window. The children were displaying symptoms of pepper fever- the sweating and red faces. It was just like that little boy's life he had saved when he went to fight Morpho.
So this is what... could happen?...
He looked down.
I can't let this happen...
A tapping sound was heard a distance away. Seto walked over to see a man hammering nails into wood. He walked even closer to see he was building a coffin.
Everyone doesn't believe in me... but I'll prove them wrong! Somehow...
He suddenly felt sopping wet and he was standing on a beach.
The spray of water at his face awoke Seto. He sat up and brushed the sand from his hair. His clothes were moderately damp. The storm appeared to have subsided.
How long have I been sleeping anyway?
He had only begun to stand up when he sat back down again quickly as two soldiers walked past. He was sitting behind a large wall of large rocks, so he was fortunate they hadn't seen him.
"Do ya think that Roy kid is gonna escape from us?"
Roy IS here!
"Nah, he ain't got a snowball's chance in Hades!"
Seto waited till they were a safe distance away, then began to follow them.
Hiding in some brush nearby, he watched soldiers cooking some fish over a fire, apparently beginning to prepare an early dinner. And sitting across the fire-
-was a boy in shackles. He had fire-red hair and blue eyes like sapphires. He wore a red tunic and yellow armor, once again, in the style of Marth's clothes. The boy also looked to be Mokuba's age.
That must be Roy!
Now lay the predicament. He had to free Roy, and there was no way to sneak by the guards. There was only one open option, Seto realized, staring at the guard dozing with the keys.
"YAHH!!"
He leapt into the open and everyone gaped in confusion as he dove forward, grabbed the keys off the ground, and threw them to Roy.
It took the guards only a minute to realize what had happened as Roy stood up, liberated at last.
"RUN!!" Seto cried, driving his blade through an attacking foe.
"Oh, right!" The red head prince began running off with Seto in close pursuit.
"This way!"
An arrow whizzed past Seto's head.
"Wha? Arrows?"
"What do we do?"
"Run FASTER!!"
Picking up the pace, Roy and Seto fled with their pursuers trailing when suddenly…
"Cliff!" Roy shouted.
Seto stopped at the edge, watching pebbles plummet into the water. But on the shore below was the boat he had arrived in!
The soldiers faced them, arrows held erect at them from their bows.
Grabbing Roy's hand, Seto said only one thing to his companion.
"Trust me on this."
Roy gulped as he felt a rough yank that almost seemed to wrench his arm from his socket.
"Jump!"
Leaping into the watery depths, the younger prince shouted.
"Before we die, I have one question to ask!!!"
"Yeah???!!!"
"WHAT'S YOUR NAAAAAMEEEE???"""
"SETO KAI-"
They landed into the water with a large splash. The soldiers watched from above for awhile, then, after waiting long enough to be sure that they had drowned, walked away without their prisoner.
Seto and Roy had swam around the edge of the cliff to take a breather, then after watching the guards retreat, they swam back to shore and sat in the boat merely talking, eager to be resting.
"So you're also friends with Marth?"
"Yeah, and I've already met Sheida too! Say Roy, do you know where I may find Oguma?"
"Oguma? Huh… sorry Kaiba, but I honestly have no idea."
"Hmmm…. Well, we oughta head back now that we're feeling better. Mokuba's probably worried sick."
"Mokuba?"
"My little brother, I forgot to mention. I have a feeling you'll like him."
Each with a paddle in hand, they rowed back to the opposite shore in two hours.
"Seto!!!" Mokuba cried, hugging his brother, "Seto, you- hey, you're soaking wet."
Roy and Seto chuckled.
"No matter how late it is, we better go find Oguma… and the artifacts."
The annoying voice returned again.
"Hiya! As in like an indigo colored letter 'U' and a pretty gal's picture?"
(((Bijoukaiba: . Guess who?)))
Seto turned around.
"Twice in one day?"
Roy gazed back at the figure.
"Is it…"
The shopkeeper spoke.
"You can have the artifacts for-"
"Name your price."
He smiled.
"I have no interest in money this time. I want the red-head prince!"
Roy leapt up.
"Hey! I knew it was you! Him! He's the one who bossed those soldiers around to catch me!"
The shopkeeper leapt back.
"Wha-what?"
Roy spoke again.
"He's also been commenting that this time he's going to stop Seto Kaiba, IDA or not! That's you!"
Seto stared back at the shopkeeper.
"I thought I recognized your voice elsewhere! You haven't been just some greedy shopkeeper, you must have some other grudge with me! And based on what Roy's said, it must have taken place before the IDA was founded!!"
The shopkeeper jumped up and down angrily.
"NO! NO! NO! YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM!"
His jumping caused a golden scepter with a golden winged eye to fall out of his robes.
"Ooops…."
Seto gasped.
"The Millennium Rod?"
The shopkeeper was beginning to sweat heavily.
"What's that? I've never heard of it!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU USED IN THE PAST TO TRICK MY FATHER INTO SURRENDERING ME TO YOU, BASTARD!!"
Roy tackled the shopkeeper angrily and at long last, his purple hood from his robe slipped off, to reveal the shopkeeper had a deep Egyptian-tan complexion, pale sandy brown hair, and hauntingly deep purple eyes.
"You brat!" Screamed the shopkeeper.
"MARIK ISHTAR!!!!" Seto gasped.
Marik grabbed Roy into a firm hold and reached into his robes for a dagger.
"Don't try me! Or I'll kill the boy!"
He pointed it to Roy's chin.
"Seto, help!"
A well-aimed fireball knocked Marik away from Roy.
"Who says Seto can do all the helping?" Mokuba asked with a grin. He nodded to his older brother.
"He's all yours, Seto!"
Marik sheathed his dagger and drew a small sword.
"Draw your blade, Kaiba!" He snarled. "We do battle now!"
Seto unsheathed his sword. With a cry, the two foes dove towards each other.
As their swords clashed, a voice echoed in the air.
"Marik, that is enough!"
Mokuba gasped.
"It's God!"
Seto was in awe and so was Marik.
"That- voice-!"
Marik growled.
"Hey! I can take this guy!"
"You've served your purpose! You can go retreat to the Shadow Realm now!"
A black and purple lightning bolt struck Marik. He collapsed to the ground, all color gone from his eyes.
"Whoa!" Mokuba cried. "He's been sent to the Shadow Realm!"
Seto stared into the sky.
"But why? Who are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Because I'm going to be the one who has the honor to defeat you in battle this time!"
This must be… that guy that Wooly warned me about!
"What do you want with Serenity though?"
"Isn't it obvious? I had friends of mine force the Rip Tides and Star Raptor into other missions, leaving solitary agents. Yugi and Mai were previously injured, and Mokuba and Rebecca are too young for the missions, despite their experience. This corners it down to Serenity, the only good agent remaining in the IDA. After she was captured, all that remained was a stupid and weak new recruit who barely passed the tests a week ago!"
"Watch your mouth, asshole! What do you have against the children?"
"Oh, this has nothing to do with CHILDREN anymore, I'm afraid. No, no, we're talking about the fate of the WORLD, no, possibly the UNIVERSE!!!!"
Seto, Mokuba, and Roy were speechless.
"Those children were merely bait to lure Miss Serenity away and leave the weakest link in the guard to defend! Pepper fever was an illness that had 'died out' many years ago, around this era. Using our technology, we went into the past and retrieved the virus then spread to the weakest immune systems we could find to cause an epidemic, and our answer was Kenya! Those children don't really matter, they were just stupid bait!"
"You… BASTARD!!!!!" Seto shouted. "YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY SICK AND HEARTLESS!!!!"
An evil laugh filled the air as the voice diminished in volume until it absolutely had faded out.
Seto was left standing there in silence.
"His voice… it sounded so familiar…"
Roy walked up to Seto and said,
"Um… here are the artifacts."
"Thanks. We'll show these to my friends, and then we can come back with Marth and Kenshin and save Oguma."
The Kaiba brothers and Roy arrived at the Kamiya Dojo around seven that evening. Everyone was given dinner before discussing the artifacts. It turned out by sheer luck and some brute fighting, Oguma had escaped to the Kamiya Dojo.
"Tomorrow, I'm gonna go get the last set!"
Marth sighed. "I was afraid you would say that, Seto."
Kaoru said, "See, there's only two places left to go- one's the final stop, and the other's a friendly village. So we're short some artifacts I'm afraid."
Seto fell back against the wall in defeat.
Oguma looked confused.
"Artifacts?"
Marth nodded.
"Seto needed to collect fourteen, but he only got twelve."
Oguma sighed.
"Oh… cause all I found was a sculpture of an 'S' in the shade of purple and a horseshoe."
Everyone lurched forward at Oguma.
Seto laughed.
"Mokuba! We're going to Fortius Plateau!"
"It's time to save Serenity, big brother!"
"And as for the clues?" Yahiko asked.
"We find out who my enemy is!"
After ten minutes, they still had no clue.
Sheida suggested,
"What if we somehow look at the clues together?"
Yahiko scoffed.
"Oh please! Like the feathers and paintbrush mean the artist can fly. Or with the horseshoe, a flying horse!"
Mokuba scowled.
"A flying horse is not a crazy idea! Sheida's very creative!!"
Seto sat up.
"A flying horse… a flying horse who's an artist, filthy rich, drinks wine, relates to myths, loves cartoons, and adores that girl…"
Mokuba looked at Seto confused, then his eyes widened.
"Seto… are you thinking what I think you're thinking…?"
Seto looked up at everyone, eyes wide in surprise.
"Seto-san?" Kenshin asked.
He uttered only six words.
"My final enemy……… it's Maximillian Pegasus……"
Bijoukaiba: Did I catch anyone by surprise?! Seto's fighting Pegasus!
Bakura: Oh my.
Kagome: Oh yes. PS, Bijoukaiba now accepts questions about the future of Dragon Emblem. Like one thing that might be on your mind is…
Naruto: Will there be a sequel to Dragon Emblem?
Bijoukaiba: The answer is yes! I am currently working out my ideas for the second one! What's gonna be in it, I'm not gonna say!
Ishizu: Please, now submit your reviews!