.:. "Ah…I'm getting blisters on my blisters" Tea says as she removes her sandals, placing her feet in the water. "At least you aren't lugging around a duel disk," the Pharaoh remarks to her and they all laugh. Having no idea where to go, they had come across a river. People always were near water, they had agreed, and so they figured they would follow the river until they came to somewhere. Besides, the tracks had been near a river. They hoped that, if lucky, they might just run into them and follow them to Joey and Tristan.
After fifteen minutes of resting they bean on their long trek again. It seemed that they walked endlessly for hours. They'd have spurts of conversation every now and again, but for the main part of the trip it was silent among their group, their only focus placing one foot in front of the other.
It was similar where Joey and Tristan were, plodding along the tracks carrying the body of Rex with them Looking up at the sky, Joey groaned "When is this gonna be over?" "I dunno, man." Tristan says. "Whenever we get wherever we're goin'." "I am not carrying this all the way to Florida." Joey says. "Neither am I." Tristan agrees.
"Hey, what's that?" Joey says, spying colorful lights in the sky. "Haven't I seen those before?" And it hit him- the night they were walking around, when Yugi had pulled out Timeaus for the first time. That eye had been in the sky with those lights. "Oh man." Joey says. "That can't be good."
"C'mon, let's hurry!" Tristan shouted as they began running. "Hey! Wait for me!" Joey says, starting off after him. "Too slow, bro." Tristan says laughing. "I notice you aren't the one carrying around a hundred pound weight." Joey retorts.
"What's that?" Tea says. "It's pretty." They look in the sky. "That's that same thing that was in the sky the night the eye was there." Yami announces to the group. "So…it's not a good thing then, is it?" Tea asks. "No, I don't think it is." The Pharaoh repeats. "Quick, let's follow it."
They began running towards where they believed the source of the light to be. They came to a grassy clearing; it seemed as if they had left the desert behind them through a wall of rocks. On the ground they saw a plane with the Kaiba Corporation logo on it, nearby helicopters bearing the same symbol.
"Mister Kaiba sir, is everything alright?" they hear as men in black suits rush towards the plane that has crashed to the ground. "We're fine, no thanks to you." Kaiba says hopping down on the ground. In his arms is the unconscious body of the one with ruby hair that they had seen in the alleyway and on top of the buildings that night. "Raphael, Valin." The Pharaoh said, ticking them off on his fingers. "That must be Alaster." He says, remembering Kaiba's comment on his trying to take his soul.
"Are you okay?" Tea says as their group approaches Kaiba and Mokuba. "Yugi" Kaiba says. "What a surprise." "Hello, Kaiba." The Pharaoh says. "I see you've been busy." He says, nodding towards Alaster. "Hey, Pharaoh!" They hear Joey call from behind. "Wait for us!" Tristan says, now trying to keep up with Joey, still carting Rex's body. They halt in front of everyone, out of breath.
"So, how've ya been?" Joey asks pleasantly, standing up. "Shut it Wheeler." Kaiba says and walks into a large plane. "Hey, you mind if we get rides with you?" Joey calls to him. "I'm not waiting on anyone." Kaiba says, and they all scurry onto the plane.
"What are you doing out here? Walking to Florida?" Kaiba asks them. "We were taking the train," Yami leads off with. "It was then that we ran into trouble." "And some of us have been carting it around for a while." Joey says, nudging Rex's side as he lays down on the floor.
"Well, isn't that nice?" Kaiba asks as he fiddles with his computer. "What are you doing?" Joey asks him, trying to peer over his shoulder. "I found out more about this museum in Florida, these hieroglyphics. I've sent a team of mine down there to take pictures and copies of everything. They should be done by now." He says.
"That was nice of you, Kaiba." Tea tells him. "Don't worry I wasn't doing it for you." He says. "I have a few things of my own interest that led me to this." "Thank goodness." Tea says. "The copies that the professor had were destroyed along with his house. "That's my brother; always one step ahead." Mokuba says proudly. "Hello?" they heard on the other side, and all conversation stopped.
"How far along are you?" Kaiba asks, getting directly to the point. "Almost finished, sir." Another voice says on the other side of the phone. "we are ready to upload the files to your computer."
"Then do it." Kaiba says, as a meter begins to rise showing the updated files. In the background they can hear a pounding on a door. "Yes? Who is it? What are you doing? No!" they hear people shout. "What's going on?" Kaiba demands. "Someone's breaking in." they say. "They're trying to delete the files." He says. Kaiba eyes the meter. "It's almost to one hundred percent." He tells Mokuba, hitting a few keys and it speeds up. His eyes glued to the raising bar, Kaiba ignored the other sounds coming from the other line. Right as it reached one hundred, it was shut down.
"Did you get it?" Joey asks. "Yes," Kaiba says. "Though I had to speed up the connection. Odds are the images will be too fuzzy to make out on this computer. We'll have to use my main one at my company."
"Sir…that's what I've been meaning to tell you." One of the men says coming forward. "What?" Kaiba asks, narrowing his eyes. "Sir…the unknown buyer, he…he bought the number of shares he needed." He says. "What?" Kaiba shouts. "But how could he…we have our own shares to keep this from happening!" Kaiba yells angrily. "Somehow they authorized the transfer." He tells him. "What's this mean?" Tristan asks, looking between the two. "Well, to say it plainly, it means that someone has taken over my company, and that I'm no longer the president and chairman of Kaiba Corporations."
"What?" they all gasp as Kaiba clenches his fists. "I don't care about these stupid fools that try to irritate me. I've worked hard to make this company worthwhile. No one, and I mean no one, messes with my company." He says, gritting his teeth. "Mr. Kaiba, we understand." One of the men in black suits said. "Don't bother." Kaiba told him. "I'm not your boss anymore." "That doesn't matter, sir." One of them said. "We've been with you and Mr. Mokuba for a long time. We'll stand by you until you sort this out."
With angry determination Kaiba begins typing on his laptop again. "What are you going to do now?" Tea asks him. "I'm connecting to my computer in my office. If I download the files to there now, they can be done cross referencing by the time we arrive."
"That's good." Tea says. "It would be," Seto said, angrily as he laid a hand on the top of his laptop as if he were going to shut it. "If only I could get through!" he shouts, closing it quickly. "What do you mean, Seto?" Mokuba asks him. "What I mean is someone reprogrammed the entire system already. My password and account no longer seem to be there. "Isn't there a way to go around that?" Alyssa asked. "I already tried, thank you." He says angrily.
"We should probably call Rebecca." Tea said. "Do you have a phone on board?" she asked. "I have the videophone n my laptop, but I'm not feeling very generous right now." Seto says. "When does he ever?" Joey whispers to Tristan and the pair sniggers.
"How can you be so rude?" Alyssa asks him. "Excuse me?" he says. "Might I remind you that you are sitting in my plane?" "Yes, and you weren't very kind about inviting us on." She says. "OH, I'm so sorry." Seto says sarcastically. "How can you deny someone the simple service of a short phone call when you own a plane? It would mean nothing to you." She asks him. "Right, so why bother with it at all?" "Because it's still helping another person, if you even know how to do that." She says.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asks her. "Merely that I think all your money has gone to your head. You are still only a man, Seto Kaiba. You are no immortal being." "I'll have you know that I worked hard for all this." He says gesturing around him. "It was not merely handed to me." "Congratulations," she tells him. "It doesn't give you the right to be so foul with other people." "Listen lady, if you knew what my life was like, you wouldn't think so poorly of how I act." He says. "At least you can remember it." She lashes back, though she doesn't expect him to understand.
"On my plane you will show me some respect." Kaiba says. "Or else what?" she asks. "I've seen how you act before. I've seen nothing to show me that you deserve any respect." Kaiba narrowed his eyes at her. "You take that back or I'll have this plane landed right now and you can walk out." He says. "Try me." She says, looking back. "I dare you."
They glare at each other for a moment before Seto looks away. "It's not worth my time." He says, fiddling with his computer some more. "Besides it would be a waste of fuel for us to land and take off again." "I'm sure." She says, turning away from him. The rest of the group merely looks at each other.
"And all over a phone call." Joey whispers. "Shut up, Wheeler." Kaiba says, and the ride is silent once more.
.:. "I don't know, mother." She says as she twists the ring around on her finger. "I never thought to ask." She finished as they sat on the large bed, chatting about the next day.
"You aren't even curious as to how he'll look?" she asks her daughter. "I know how he'll look." She told her mother. "And how's that?" her mother asked her. "Wonderful." She said, and she could feel her cheeks reddening again. Her dress had been finished the day before; it was beautiful. It was entirely white, with long fans falling from the sleeves that had been made of lace. There was a slit on the side of it which narrowed as it went up to her hip. Two bands of gold were supposed to go around her waist, as well as her upper arms, wrists, ankles, and one on her right thigh that was exposed by the slit. She felt decorated and had insisted she didn't need so many things. She was also to wear earrings and a few rings on her fingers. He had asked her if she would like another one the day of the wedding but she had told him no; the one he had given her but a few days ago suited her perfectly. She did not want anything else.
She was hemming the dress that the Pharaoh had kindly asked be made for her mother. It was floor length, but her mother did not want the beautiful and expensive fabric to drag upon the ground. She had come to her asking if there might be a way to raise it just a bit so that it wouldn't do so.
Her father looked wonderful in his fine clothes as well, a cape of his own in red given to him as well. Alyssa would have made them things on her own, but she was overjoyed as well when she saw how happy they were with their fine clothes. She did not think she ever would have had enough to buy such fabric for them in time.
It was as she was finishing the last few stitches and laughing over something when a messenger came in. "the Pharaoh calls for you." He says. "He is in his throne room." He told her. Looking up, she asked "Did he say why?" "No miss, I was not given a message to tell you." The messenger says. "Thank you." She tells him, looking at her mother quickly. "I'll be right down."
"Can't stand to be away from you for long, eh?" her mother teased her. "Doesn't e know that there will be plenty of time for the two of you to spend together now?" she joked. "I'm sure he does, mother." She said. "Your dress is finished. Would you like me to put it in your room for you?" she asked her. "Nonsense." Her mother told her, taking the dress. "You can't keep the Pharaoh waiting." She says, and exits the room.
Nervously Alyssa began walking down the halls. He'd never called her before, save that one time when he'd first asked that she play for him. "What if he's changed his mind?" she worries, and her heart stops at the thought. She couldn't bear that, not now. Not after everything that had happened. "It can't be that." She told herself, chiding her silly thoughts. "But…what else could it be?"
She entered the room and knocked on the door, noticing the dancers on the ground. "You called for me, my Lord?" She says, bowing her head slightly, her palms together. She hoped that the others could not hear he voice shaking as she had. The Pharaoh looked over at her. "I don't recall doing so." He says, sending questioning glances to his friends that are all around him. Each shakes their head unknowing about the action.
"No, I don't believe I did." He says. "But you may stay if you wish." He says, smiling at her. She hesitates before making her way towards him as he sits in his chair, his friends lounged about on others that had been brought in. She takes a seat on the floor next to his throne. I did not mean to interrupt anything." She says to him, glancing about at all the people gathered about him. "No, it's nothing." The pharaoh replied.
"It's just a little send off for the Pharaoh, to make sure he's ready to leave all this behind." One of them says, gesturing towards the dancers as they spun around, their tight tummies sparkling with gems and markings that had been painted on them. "He could always have this if he wished." She says in response looking at the ground again.
"Yeah, but it wouldn't be like this." One of them says, prodding her lightly in the side. "It's just a little party for him, before he makes a decision he can never take back." His friend says, emphasizing the last part so that others could hear. The pharaoh merely concentrated on his millennium puzzle. Apparently he had undone it and was putting it back together again for fun.
Alyssa felt very out of place as she looked at the dancers below, knowing that many of the eyes in the room were on her. "What would you do if he changed his mind, eh?" one of them asked her. "It would be his decision" she heard herself say shakily. "And I would abide by it. The Pharaoh may do as he pleases." She said. "And if it were to happen as you were standing in front of everyone? If right when he was to give his vow to make it complete, and instead said 'I've changed my mind'. What would you do then?"
"Again, it would be his choice." She said, even more nervous inside. Perhaps he was trying to use his friends to see how she'd react when he broke her the news. She could feel herself growing on edge and nervous. She wanted nothing more than to leave and hide in some unknown place as she felt the eyes of one of her interrogators bore into the back of her head.
She felt like she was on display as they sat there and tormented her with their questions. She was blinking back tears, trying to find polite answers to the questions as these were still his friends. The Pharaoh sat on his throne, oblivious to all things as he continued to work on his puzzle. She was beginning to feel a little sick and dizzy and figured it might be best to go to her room.
"After all, he could get anyone he wanted." He heard one of them comment quietly to another. "I don't see why he ended up with her." Anguish fell on her heart like a heavy weight as she heard the argument she'd presented to him that night. He'd said that he still wanted her though, and she should trust in that.
"Why don't you get down there and show us what you can do." Someone said, giving her a push towards the dancers. "Yes, why don't you?" another echoed. "I will when you do." She told him, angered that they had pushed her so. "I'm not a woman." He said, laughing. "Really? Could have fooled me." She said coldly in response.
"Oooooohh!" his friends taunted him and she could see the look of anger on his face as he shook a mad finger at her. "Finished!" The Pharaoh said, and hung his puzzle around his neck. Looking down, he noticed her discomfort and obvious anxiety.
"What's the matter?" he asked her, worried. "It's nothing, my Lord." She said, looking away. "No, there is." He said, taking her arm so that she stood up and sat on his knee. "What's the matter, have they been teasing you?" he asked her, pulling her in for another hug. "No, my Lord." She mumbled into him. "Is that the truth?" he asked her. "Well…maybe… just a little." She said hesitantly.
"It's only teasing." He told her, running his hand through her soft hair. "They are rather…protective of me, I guess I should say. They were probably just testing you." He said. "I see." She said, burrowing her face deeper into him. Who cared what they said anymore?
"I know I'd be very angry if I found that they were hurting you in any way." The Pharaoh said pointedly, receiving a chorus of "Oh no." "Never." And, "We were just playing."
He tugged on her ear with his teeth and the gesture made fish swim up her spine. "They were actually quite enthusiastic when they heard about it last night." He told her. "Don't worry." He said. "After tomorrow, everything will be fine."
"Hey Yami, between that puzzle and your girl your missing all the dancing!" One of his friends teased him. "I don't need one of these." The pharaoh says good naturedly, referring to the party. "I am secure in my decision. I'm only here because you took the time to set it up for me, my friend." He says, laughing.
She fell asleep in his arms and awoke just as his small party ended. She'd insisted on walking, though he'd offered to carry her, and they went up to their suites.
"Forget them." He told her. "They are not changing my mind." "I am glad to hear that." She told him honestly. He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and wished her goodnight before she walked into her room and lay down. Afterwards he went into his own, both excited about what the next day would bring.