Author's Note: This chapter I dedicate to Dahlia, because Dahlia does the cutest bishoujo-style begging in the entire world.

Love is Sweet, Jealousy is Bitter

x.x.x

Pegasus had all the appearances of calm patience as Malik strode into the main guest hall of the castle on Duelist Kingdom. But Malik could sense the burning curiosity that lay beneath that polished façade. Malik hadn't let Pegasus get far enough into his mind to determine his intentions. As far as Malik was concerned, Pegasus was far too quick to use the power of the Millennium Eye. A guy had to have some secrets, after all.

"You know," Pegasus commented after a moment of studying Malik, and the veritable army of Rare Hunters that stood behind him. "I don't believe you were on the guest list."

"We rather invited ourselves," Malik said. Malik closed his eyes briefly. As always, he could feel that dark, warm presence inside of him fighting for complete control. It was always a struggle to keep it on its leash. Malik would give his dark side what it wanted, but only on his own terms. He would not let it control him.

Finally the dark presence quieted and lay still, but Malik could feel it watching warily. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Malik opened his eyes and smiled blandly at Pegasus. "We don't plan on staying long," he continued, as if the pause had not occurred. "I am simply here to collect something from you."

"Oh?" Pegasus raised an eyebrow, studying Malik. The Millennium Eye flashed slightly, reaching out tendrils of power, though not as much as he would need to read the boy's mind. He was not going to make that mistake again. That dark… parasite inside of Malik would leap on that power immediately. All his Millennium Item could sense at the moment was that desire for something, and… apprehension? Fear? Interesting… "And what would that be?"

"You really don't know, do you?" Malik's grin widened, and Pegasus could sense more of that dark presence now. "No, I don't suppose you do. After all, you can't read my mind, can you? You're too… scared."

Pegasus frowned at him, but didn't offer a reply.

Enough of this, whispered that dark presence in Malik's mind, sounding sullen. You are wasting time. Simply overwhelm him with the Millennium Rod and TAKE it already!

Malik grit his teeth, willing that dark creature to be silent. He hated it when the thing spoke to him. He always felt like he'd bathed in filth afterward. You deflect the powers of the Eye, he reminded it, but similarly, he would have protection from the Rod. So shut up and let me take care of this!

"I know they're here," Malik continued speaking to Pegasus when the dark presence offered no more demands. "I can feel their presence. So kindly hand them over."

"It would help a lot more if you would tell me what you're looking for," Pegasus said.

"The God Cards," Malik said, feeling that dark thing inside him fairly tremble with want. "The three Egyptian God Cards. I know you have them. You made them."

Pegasus blinked. The God Cards?! Damn, he'd meant to dispose of those, have the three cards buried in some far, remote location. But he'd completely forgotten, having been busy with the preparations for Duelist Kingdom. They were still here, locked away in his private vault. "Oh, those," Pegasus said slowly, trying not to see shocked at Malik's demand. "What do you want those old things for?"

"I do not have to explain myself to you," Malik all but snarled, that dark thing in him rising in irritated anger. "All you need to know is that I want them. I can… pay you for them."

That made Pegasus chuckle. "Dear boy, does it look like I need whatever amount of money you could offer me?"

Malik growled, clenching the Millennium Rod, which had begun to glow softly.

"No, I wouldn't try that if I were you," Pegasus murmured, glancing that the Malik's Millennium Item. "We would be evenly matched, you and I. Furthermore, I do not think you would have the willpower to control something as powerful as the Egyptian God Cards. You already seem to be battling within yourself. The cards would eat you alive."

Malik was almost speechless at that. Battling within himself? With that dark presence inside of him? No, he had that perfectly in control… most of the time…

"I'll tell you what…" Pegasus drawled thoughtfully. "Prove to me that you can handle the God Cards, and perhaps I will allow you to have them. Everyone I know, myself included, is overwhelmed by their powers. But if you could handle them, well, perhaps they should rightfully belong to you."

"Prove it?" Malik demanded. "Prove it how?"

Pegasus shrugged lightly. "Join my tournament. If you survive it, you'll advance to the final round. And if you win, well, then it would prove I was indeed wrong about you. Win the tournament, and the Egyptian Gods will be your prize."

Fool! hissed that dark presence in Malik's mind. This could take days. You will debase yourself to play by his rules?!

Malik frowned, then nodded curtly to Pegasus. "Then I will join your little tournament. And I will win." He turned to leave, seething a little. Yes, he had wanted to have the cards in hand by now, and be on his way home. But he was going to play through this tournament, if only to spite that dark thing inside him. He would teach it not to make demands.

"Wait," Pegasus commanded, standing.

Malik turned to look back at him.

"You'll need this," said Pegasus, tossing a glove to him.

Malik caught it, studying it carefully. A simple reddish glove, with an odd metal cuff at the wrist. The cuff had ten star shaped indents in it, one of which had a golden star already inserted into it. Malik looked at Pegasus questioningly.

Pegasus smiled. "Enjoy the tournament."

x.x.x

Seto was a little uncomfortable in such a large crowd of people. Joey had dragged him, Yugi and Mokuba up to the main deck of the boat, where it seemed like ever duelist in Domino had gathered, playing games, trading cards, and trying to talk over one another. Under normal circumstances, it may have been fun. But Seto kept expecting to see one of his stalkers somewhere in the crowds. If Noa showed up, things would be bad enough. If Bakura found him here… Well, Seto didn't really want to think about what new amusement Bakura would come up with.

But an hour passed, and neither showed up. Seto relaxed a little, enough to play a couple of duels with some of the other passengers. His favorite duel so far had been with a boy named Rex Raptor, or something like that. That boy had seemed so surprised when his "ultimate weapon," the Red Eyes Black Dragon, had suddenly come up against Seto's Blue Eyes White Dragon. Rex had almost burst out crying.

Seto finished his duel, standing and looking for his friends. Joey was still having a loud, heated argument with a rather stunning blonde girl who had introduced herself as Mai Valentine. She'd claimed to know her deck so well, that she could psychically predict her cards before she drew them. Joey hadn't believed her, until she'd shown him her little trick. After that, it was like the two couldn't help but piss each other off.

Seto smiled, watching them for a moment. The two were practically made for each other.

Yugi and Mokuba had tired of trying to break up Joey and Mai's arguments, and had moved over to another group where people were trading cards. Seto moved through the crowd to join them.

"Some of these cards are really neat," Yugi said to Seto, after examining a few the other duelists wanted to trade.

"I don't think your deck needs any improvements, Yugi," Seto said. He smiled. "It's at least equal to mine, since you've got a Blue Eyes White Dragon too. Ours are the only two decks in the world to have them." Actually, Seto amended silently, there were three decks in the world that had them. Bakura still possessed the card he'd taken from Seto, the one he had bound Seto's soul to. But he couldn't exactly tell Yugi that part.

"I really hate to tell you," Yugi said, grinning a little, "but I've got something even better than Blue Eyes. You want to see?"

"Better than a Blue Eyes?" Seto said skeptically. "Nothing's better than a Blue Eyes. Except…" He frowned at Yugi.

Yugi grinned. "C'mon, I'll show you." He got up, leading Seto and Mokuba out of the crowded room, to one of the small tables out on the deck. The lights from the window cast a yellow glow on the outside deck, and the full moon above made the ocean gleam with silver. Seto hadn't realized it was so late already.

"Alright, so what's the big secret?" Mokuba demanded, once they were in a quieter area. A few other duelists milled around outside, but it was nowhere near as noisy as inside.

Yugi rifled through his deck for a moment, pulling out five cards. "These," he said, showing them to his companions. Each card was a piece of one of the rarest card sets in all of Duel Monsters, Exodia the Forbidden One.

"Where did you get these?" Seto murmured, staring at the five cards in awe. "I was almost certain these were a legend."

"I don't know where Grandpa got them, but they were part of the deck when he gave it to me. Nobody's been known to assemble all of Exodia in duel before, but if it ever happened, all three of your Blue Eyes wouldn't stand a chance." Yugi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Seto shrugged. "Like you said, nobody's ever been able to play all five cards at once, so as impressive as those are, I probably don't have anything to worry about."

"Yeah, you're right." Yugi grinned, putting the cards back into his deck, shuffling it. The three of them wandered back inside, where it was more crowded, but also warmer than the outside deck. "But if I could, though, wouldn't that be cool?"

Seto was about to agree that yes, that would be very cool, when he was promptly tackled, for the third time that day, by none other than Noa Kaiba.

"Noa," Seto groaned, from his newly acquired position on the ground. "Don't you have any less violent ways of greeting people?"

"Seto," Noa all but whined as he got to his feet, offering Seto a hand up. "Why did you run away from me earlier?"

Seto ignored the offered help, standing on his own. "I don't know, maybe because I don't like being around you?" He rolled his eyes as Noa happily ignored that, and practically attached himself to Seto's arm, hanging off him like some sort of giggling fan-girl.

It was just no use. There really was no getting rid of Noa. Seto looked to Yugi and Mokuba, to see if they had any ideas. Yugi and Mokuba looked at each other, then shrugged helplessly. They didn't know how to get rid of Noa either.

Well, until Noa's presence became entirely unbearable, Seto resolved to simply ignore the boy, dragging him around like some sort of dead weight. If you just pretended he wasn't there, it really wasn't so bad.

"Come on," Seto said to Yugi and Mokuba, moving through the crowds, ignoring the way Noa trailed along beside him. "Let's go see if Joey's finished trading insults with Mai."

x.x.x

Bakura leaned against one of the walls of the crowded room, hidden from sight by the sheer mass of people milling around. He'd found the perfect vantage point from here, hidden in plain sight, but able to keep a close watch on his target.

Originally he'd come up here to keep watch on that boy, Yugi, owner of the Millennium Puzzle. But Yugi, of course, had come with friends. Among those friends was Bakura's newest acquisition, Seto Nishimura. And Seto was fascinating to watch.

Bakura had simply been musing about what more he could do with Seto, when some aquamarine haired nuisance had come along. Bakura had never seen the kid before, but whoever it was, he was following Seto around like a loyal dog, hanging all over him whenever he got the chance. And Seto, he was permitting it.

And that, inexplicably, made Bakura very angry.

Seto knew who he belonged to. And that boy, how dare he presume to touch Seto! Bakura had always jealously coveted what belonged to him, and he did not like presumptuous mortals putting their dirty hands on his things.

Bakura reached into his pocket, grasping the card he had put there. It felt warm, pulsing gently. The soul trapped within it wanted out. Bakura smiled slightly, his Millennium Ring beginning to glow softly.

Come here, he called, his power reaching through the card, calling to the one it once belonged to. Come to me.

From across the room, Seto tensed slightly, looking around. His gaze met Bakura's, and Bakura was pleased to see the rush of emotions that flooded through Seto, a touch of fear among them. Bakura smirked gently, then moved through the crowds toward the nearest exit. He could feel Seto watching him all the way.

Bakura stepped out into the cold, glancing up briefly at the moon. Nobody was outside anymore, they had all moved back inside to stay warm. It wasn't too hard for Bakura to find someplace nice and secluded. He leaned against the wall, watching the moon as he waited for his quarry.

About two minutes later, Seto found him there, having made whatever excuses necessary to his friends, and run out to find the fiend that had called him. Already Seto was a little flushed from the cold, his breath fogging lightly as he waited for Bakura to tell him what he'd called him for.

But Bakura said nothing, watching Seto with an inscrutable gaze.

Seto shifted nervously under that gaze, finally asking, "Well? Did you want something? It's really cold out here, and I'd much rather be back- mmph!"

Seto was effectively silenced in mid-sentence when Bakura grabbed him by the collar, pulling him forward and pressing a demanding, possessive kiss to his lips.

Too stunned to speak when Bakura finally released him, Seto could do little more than stare at the fiend. Bakura licked his lips, his wicked grin almost gleaming in the moonlight.

"Say it," Bakura demanded, reaching to lightly pet Seto's cheek, then scratching him very lightly with his fingernails, just enough to feel it.

"Say what?" Seto asked softly. Why was it so hard to find his voice, all of a sudden?

Bakura's eyes flashed as he watched Seto. "That you belong to me."

It was a direct order, and so Seto was unable to disobey it. "I belong to you," he said obediently.

Bakura glowered at him. "You don't really mean that, do you. You don't really believe it."

"No," Seto answered honestly. "I don't." He shrugged. "Sorry."

Bakura said nothing, letting the silence stretch out until he sensed Seto was uncomfortable with it. "I want you to come to me tonight. After everyone else is asleep. I will make you believe it. Make sure you remember it."

"I-…" Seto didn't really have much of a choice. Bakura owned his soul. "Okay," he finally said. "I'll be there."

"I know," Bakura murmured, grinning. "Go back to your friends. They must be missing you terribly."

That too was a direct order, but at least it was one Seto was happy to obey. He wanted out of here, away from Bakura, as far as he could get…

…until tonight…

Seto grit his teeth slightly, resolving to not think about that particular command. Maybe if he forgot it, he wouldn't have to obey it? He almost laughed at his own stupidity. As if he had much chance of forgetting that.

x.x.x