As dinner progressed into the evening, both Mokuba and Chance laughed, poked fun at each other, and pretty much forgot that the world outside would have had a field day with this. One of the benefits of being on a large and well protected estate.
The evening went on to include a horror flick, with the lights off of course, and a popcorn war. By the end of the movie both Mokuba and Chance had been scared silly and were laughing at each other's reactions through the movie. Mokuba turned the lights on and pulled the DVD out of the player to put it away when he noticed Chance looking around the TV room. "Hey Chance, want a tour of the place? I'm pretty sure you haven't seen anything except most of the first floor."
"That would be great Mokuba!" She chuckled. "I've always been curious about this place."
"Well let's go then." Mokuba took off ahead of her out the door and down the hall to the stairs that lead up to the second and third floors. As they both trekked across the mansion Mokuba pointed out all the interesting things and gave little facts about them. While there were some of the things you'd expect to find in a mansion, the occasional suit of armor, a couple of collectable antiques, the place was actually furnished just enough to say 'I'm owned by a guy who has more money than the imperial treasury.' Yet seemed almost Spartan compared to other mansions.
Mokuba explained that while some appearances had to be maintained, Seto didn't really care to display his wealth as others did. Instead he kept reinvesting the profits of Kaiba Corp back into the company, causing it to grow, and expand as it has in the last few years. Outside of the company, Seto was mostly interested in collecting Duel Monster cards and playing the game to beat Yugi.
Chance nodded. She could understand a single-minded drive like that. She knew a few kids at her grade level that were bound and determined to beat out her test scores or get into companies like Kaiba Corp. Her own drive to become a bodyguard had been very single minded to the point where she was taking extra classes whenever she could get away with it with her tutors.
Coming up in front of the last door on the third floor Mokuba grinned mischievously. Wondering what he had in mind he opened the door and said quietly. "This is Seto's office. Normally I don't come up here unless its important, but I want to show you something."
Mystified as to the now somewhat mysterious air that the younger Kaiba was putting on, she followed him into the room. The room itself was nothing spectacular. Mahogany desk, computer with flat panel monitor, phone, and the other equipment made up the basic workings of an at home office. What made it stand out however was the slightly golden glow that seemed to be shining over everything in the room.
Wondering what kind of lighting would produce such an effect she followed Mokuba over to the glass case that was centered on one of the bookcases. Inside that case sat the Millennium Rod. Looking at Mokuba and then closely at the scepter she was surprised to see an eye on it. "I've seen that eye marking before. It's on Yugi's pendant isn't it?"
Mokuba was surprised that she had noticed the similarity but was also pleased. Maybe explaining this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. "Well you're right about that. It's called the Eye of Horus."
"Eye of Horus? Isn't that Egyptian?" Chance interrupted.
"Yes, legend has it that this rod, the pendant that Yugi wears, which is actually a puzzle, and five other items were created in Egypt five thousand years ago to control and contain the powers of a place called the Shadow Realm. The legend goes on to say that the pharaoh of the times controlled a powerful magic, and the creatures of the Shadow Real wandered the earth, destroying everything in their wake. He created the seven items to help to control the creatures and contain the innate powers that came of the Shadow Realm." He looked carefully at Chance and noted that she was listening carefully, yet there was a healthy dose of skepticism on her face as to the legends she was being told.
Wondering internally if he was doing the right thing he continued. "The people of the land were safe again, and the Shadow games, which had been the root of the problem of the monsters getting out of control, resumed. This time under strict controls and only in specially prepared temples. One of the Pharaoh's mages at the time was also in control of the Millennium Rod, and grew to desire the powers of the Pharaoh himself. Whose powers were said to be immeasurable when combined with the magic that was contained with in the Millennium Puzzle."
Chance was starting to look a little uneasy now and she said. "Mokuba, why are you telling me all of this? I mean, its not like any of it has anything to do with the present. Does it?"
"You'd be surprised Chance. I think that its wrong that Seto didn't tell you about these, because the Millennium Items have been a near constant source of trouble for him, Yugi and the others. You see, Seto is the reincarnation of the mage that battled with the Pharaoh for his powers. Yugi isn't the reincarnation of the Pharaoh, but looks enough like him that he could have been had the Pharaoh's soul not been trapped inside of the Millennium Puzzle for the last five millennia. Instead Yugi sharing his body with the Pharaoh, we call him Yami now, and has been ever since he put the puzzle together." Mokuba shook his head thinking over all of the insanity that had happened because of one or more of the Millennium items. Pegasus and his eye, Bakura and his ring, Shadi with the scales and key, the Ishtar siblings with the rod and necklace and of course Yugi, Yami and all of the weirdness that came with the puzzle.
"Seto wasn't the original owner of the Millennium Rod. One of our last, adventures brought us in contact with Marik and Ishizu Ishtar. That was when Seto's part in history was revealed. At the end, Marik turned over the rod to its 'rightful' owner, and Ishizu gave Yugi the necklace telling him that it no longer showed her the visions of the future, but perhaps it would help him to keep the world stable. My part in all of this has primarily been kidnapping bait for Seto to try to get to him or Kaiba Corp."
"And so when the tournament ended, your brother had enough of you disappearing and sent out the call for bodyguards, and putting things in motion for me to be here." Chance finished up for him. She wasn't sure what to make of the mystical mumbo jumbo, but she was quite familiar with the corporate schemes of taking family and loved ones to get the owner or CEO to kneel. She was surprised that with all of the implied times that Mokuba had been taken; he wasn't more traumatized than he already was.
Mokuba could see the conflicting emotions of understanding and disbelief warring across Chance's face, and even if there was no chance that anything could happen to them all now, he knew that she would eventually find out about what happened anyway. Especially if she listened to his conversations with Yugi and the others long enough. Pressing a small hidden switch Mokuba then opened the box and pulled the rod out of its casing. He handed it to her to let her get a feel for the item and mentioned. "Careful, its not just a rod, its also a rather wicked dagger."
Chance looked the item over, it looked completely harmless and she could not for the life of her understand how an item like this could cause such problems as she had been told about. Being careful, she pulled the dagger from its sheath and was surprised to see that it was indeed very sharp. Not something one would play around with. Putting it back she gave it back to Mokuba who put it away and reactivated the security system around it.
As they left the room Mokuba challenged Chance to a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters. Chance who had been watching the training sessions agreed with a smile and the two took off for the TV room where the games were stored, neither of them noticing that the eerie glow in the office increased to brilliant before dying down to its original levels.
Chance and Mokuba were about halfway through their game when they heard the front door open and close. Moment's later Seto's voice came down the hall looking for them. "We're in the TV room Seto." Mokuba called back, finishing his roll and managing to get another monster out onto the field.
~We?~ Thought Seto as he walked down the hall. Looking in the room he was slightly surprised to see Chance across from his brother and getting ready to finish up her turn. Chance looked up to see who was in the doorway and nodded to Seto as she rolled. Nothing for this turn, but she had more movement and defense crests to add to her pools.
"I thought you had this evening off?" Seto half commented half questioned.
"I did, but Mokuba called me up and asked me to dinner since you were going to be out all evening." Chance commented offhandedly.
"Mokuba, what did I tell you about asking your bodyguard out on a date?" Seto asked in a severe tone.
Chance and Mokuba both turned so swiftly to face the elder Kaiba that they knocked the pieces out of place on the game board. That didn't matter though as they both looked at Seto in shock before the realization set in that he was smirking slightly at the looks on their faces. Soon he couldn't contain it and a small chuckle escaped him, the look on Mokuba's face was classic, but the look on Chance's face was completely priceless. A portion of his mind wished he had a camera at that moment to capture that look before his chuckle released the air of tension in the room and the other two relaxed.
Mokuba shook his head while smiling. How easy it had been for his brother to turn Chance's words around on her and get them both at the same time. Chance on the other hand was still slightly red from embarrassment even as she grinned. "So, the mighty CEO /does/ have a sense of humor after all." She commented with a wicked grin.
"Don't tell the world about it, that's for me and Mokuba, and now you to know and them to never find out." Seto retorted.
Stepping into the room and pulling up a chair he looked at Chance oddly before asking. "Did you walk across town to get here? I didn't see your car."
Chance's eyes flashed slightly before she shrugged. "No, the car's in the back. I don't care for the media getting ideas again by seeing my car here this late at night."
Seto nodded. "Sensible. Certainly has more common sense to it that having walked across town. For that I'm sure Mokuba would have had you picked up." He pinned his little brother with a glance. "Right?"
"You bet." Mokuba grinned back insolently.
Chance smiled as she realized that she was seeing something few others saw, even her most of the time. Seto with his guards mostly down. She was caught off guard by the yawn that escaped and she looked at her watch. Her eyes widened as she realized what time it was. "I need to get going, otherwise I won't get any sleep and if memory serves, you will be gone for the weekend starting tomorrow morning Seto, so I will be doubly on call."
Seto waved aside the need for her to leave. "I'll have one of the guest rooms prepped, you can stay here. That way you do not need to worry about the media, and I will not have to worry about Mokuba come morning."
"It's a good idea Chance. When you wake up we can restart the game my brother so rudely upset with his entrance." This time it was the younger Kaiba pinning the elder with a mock glare.
Chance thought about it. The idea did have merit and she knew how to get off the estates with the minimal amount of fuss during the daylight hours. "Deal. I'll get a change of clothes tomorrow after I am up and mobile."
With that decided, Seto and Mokuba took her up to the second floor and showed her to one of the guest rooms and bid her good night while they continued on to their own rooms. Seto would be up extremely early to catch the flight to the States for an international technology conference and would probably be up and gone long before either Mokuba or Chance even stirred from their sleep.
The evening went on to include a horror flick, with the lights off of course, and a popcorn war. By the end of the movie both Mokuba and Chance had been scared silly and were laughing at each other's reactions through the movie. Mokuba turned the lights on and pulled the DVD out of the player to put it away when he noticed Chance looking around the TV room. "Hey Chance, want a tour of the place? I'm pretty sure you haven't seen anything except most of the first floor."
"That would be great Mokuba!" She chuckled. "I've always been curious about this place."
"Well let's go then." Mokuba took off ahead of her out the door and down the hall to the stairs that lead up to the second and third floors. As they both trekked across the mansion Mokuba pointed out all the interesting things and gave little facts about them. While there were some of the things you'd expect to find in a mansion, the occasional suit of armor, a couple of collectable antiques, the place was actually furnished just enough to say 'I'm owned by a guy who has more money than the imperial treasury.' Yet seemed almost Spartan compared to other mansions.
Mokuba explained that while some appearances had to be maintained, Seto didn't really care to display his wealth as others did. Instead he kept reinvesting the profits of Kaiba Corp back into the company, causing it to grow, and expand as it has in the last few years. Outside of the company, Seto was mostly interested in collecting Duel Monster cards and playing the game to beat Yugi.
Chance nodded. She could understand a single-minded drive like that. She knew a few kids at her grade level that were bound and determined to beat out her test scores or get into companies like Kaiba Corp. Her own drive to become a bodyguard had been very single minded to the point where she was taking extra classes whenever she could get away with it with her tutors.
Coming up in front of the last door on the third floor Mokuba grinned mischievously. Wondering what he had in mind he opened the door and said quietly. "This is Seto's office. Normally I don't come up here unless its important, but I want to show you something."
Mystified as to the now somewhat mysterious air that the younger Kaiba was putting on, she followed him into the room. The room itself was nothing spectacular. Mahogany desk, computer with flat panel monitor, phone, and the other equipment made up the basic workings of an at home office. What made it stand out however was the slightly golden glow that seemed to be shining over everything in the room.
Wondering what kind of lighting would produce such an effect she followed Mokuba over to the glass case that was centered on one of the bookcases. Inside that case sat the Millennium Rod. Looking at Mokuba and then closely at the scepter she was surprised to see an eye on it. "I've seen that eye marking before. It's on Yugi's pendant isn't it?"
Mokuba was surprised that she had noticed the similarity but was also pleased. Maybe explaining this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. "Well you're right about that. It's called the Eye of Horus."
"Eye of Horus? Isn't that Egyptian?" Chance interrupted.
"Yes, legend has it that this rod, the pendant that Yugi wears, which is actually a puzzle, and five other items were created in Egypt five thousand years ago to control and contain the powers of a place called the Shadow Realm. The legend goes on to say that the pharaoh of the times controlled a powerful magic, and the creatures of the Shadow Real wandered the earth, destroying everything in their wake. He created the seven items to help to control the creatures and contain the innate powers that came of the Shadow Realm." He looked carefully at Chance and noted that she was listening carefully, yet there was a healthy dose of skepticism on her face as to the legends she was being told.
Wondering internally if he was doing the right thing he continued. "The people of the land were safe again, and the Shadow games, which had been the root of the problem of the monsters getting out of control, resumed. This time under strict controls and only in specially prepared temples. One of the Pharaoh's mages at the time was also in control of the Millennium Rod, and grew to desire the powers of the Pharaoh himself. Whose powers were said to be immeasurable when combined with the magic that was contained with in the Millennium Puzzle."
Chance was starting to look a little uneasy now and she said. "Mokuba, why are you telling me all of this? I mean, its not like any of it has anything to do with the present. Does it?"
"You'd be surprised Chance. I think that its wrong that Seto didn't tell you about these, because the Millennium Items have been a near constant source of trouble for him, Yugi and the others. You see, Seto is the reincarnation of the mage that battled with the Pharaoh for his powers. Yugi isn't the reincarnation of the Pharaoh, but looks enough like him that he could have been had the Pharaoh's soul not been trapped inside of the Millennium Puzzle for the last five millennia. Instead Yugi sharing his body with the Pharaoh, we call him Yami now, and has been ever since he put the puzzle together." Mokuba shook his head thinking over all of the insanity that had happened because of one or more of the Millennium items. Pegasus and his eye, Bakura and his ring, Shadi with the scales and key, the Ishtar siblings with the rod and necklace and of course Yugi, Yami and all of the weirdness that came with the puzzle.
"Seto wasn't the original owner of the Millennium Rod. One of our last, adventures brought us in contact with Marik and Ishizu Ishtar. That was when Seto's part in history was revealed. At the end, Marik turned over the rod to its 'rightful' owner, and Ishizu gave Yugi the necklace telling him that it no longer showed her the visions of the future, but perhaps it would help him to keep the world stable. My part in all of this has primarily been kidnapping bait for Seto to try to get to him or Kaiba Corp."
"And so when the tournament ended, your brother had enough of you disappearing and sent out the call for bodyguards, and putting things in motion for me to be here." Chance finished up for him. She wasn't sure what to make of the mystical mumbo jumbo, but she was quite familiar with the corporate schemes of taking family and loved ones to get the owner or CEO to kneel. She was surprised that with all of the implied times that Mokuba had been taken; he wasn't more traumatized than he already was.
Mokuba could see the conflicting emotions of understanding and disbelief warring across Chance's face, and even if there was no chance that anything could happen to them all now, he knew that she would eventually find out about what happened anyway. Especially if she listened to his conversations with Yugi and the others long enough. Pressing a small hidden switch Mokuba then opened the box and pulled the rod out of its casing. He handed it to her to let her get a feel for the item and mentioned. "Careful, its not just a rod, its also a rather wicked dagger."
Chance looked the item over, it looked completely harmless and she could not for the life of her understand how an item like this could cause such problems as she had been told about. Being careful, she pulled the dagger from its sheath and was surprised to see that it was indeed very sharp. Not something one would play around with. Putting it back she gave it back to Mokuba who put it away and reactivated the security system around it.
As they left the room Mokuba challenged Chance to a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters. Chance who had been watching the training sessions agreed with a smile and the two took off for the TV room where the games were stored, neither of them noticing that the eerie glow in the office increased to brilliant before dying down to its original levels.
Chance and Mokuba were about halfway through their game when they heard the front door open and close. Moment's later Seto's voice came down the hall looking for them. "We're in the TV room Seto." Mokuba called back, finishing his roll and managing to get another monster out onto the field.
~We?~ Thought Seto as he walked down the hall. Looking in the room he was slightly surprised to see Chance across from his brother and getting ready to finish up her turn. Chance looked up to see who was in the doorway and nodded to Seto as she rolled. Nothing for this turn, but she had more movement and defense crests to add to her pools.
"I thought you had this evening off?" Seto half commented half questioned.
"I did, but Mokuba called me up and asked me to dinner since you were going to be out all evening." Chance commented offhandedly.
"Mokuba, what did I tell you about asking your bodyguard out on a date?" Seto asked in a severe tone.
Chance and Mokuba both turned so swiftly to face the elder Kaiba that they knocked the pieces out of place on the game board. That didn't matter though as they both looked at Seto in shock before the realization set in that he was smirking slightly at the looks on their faces. Soon he couldn't contain it and a small chuckle escaped him, the look on Mokuba's face was classic, but the look on Chance's face was completely priceless. A portion of his mind wished he had a camera at that moment to capture that look before his chuckle released the air of tension in the room and the other two relaxed.
Mokuba shook his head while smiling. How easy it had been for his brother to turn Chance's words around on her and get them both at the same time. Chance on the other hand was still slightly red from embarrassment even as she grinned. "So, the mighty CEO /does/ have a sense of humor after all." She commented with a wicked grin.
"Don't tell the world about it, that's for me and Mokuba, and now you to know and them to never find out." Seto retorted.
Stepping into the room and pulling up a chair he looked at Chance oddly before asking. "Did you walk across town to get here? I didn't see your car."
Chance's eyes flashed slightly before she shrugged. "No, the car's in the back. I don't care for the media getting ideas again by seeing my car here this late at night."
Seto nodded. "Sensible. Certainly has more common sense to it that having walked across town. For that I'm sure Mokuba would have had you picked up." He pinned his little brother with a glance. "Right?"
"You bet." Mokuba grinned back insolently.
Chance smiled as she realized that she was seeing something few others saw, even her most of the time. Seto with his guards mostly down. She was caught off guard by the yawn that escaped and she looked at her watch. Her eyes widened as she realized what time it was. "I need to get going, otherwise I won't get any sleep and if memory serves, you will be gone for the weekend starting tomorrow morning Seto, so I will be doubly on call."
Seto waved aside the need for her to leave. "I'll have one of the guest rooms prepped, you can stay here. That way you do not need to worry about the media, and I will not have to worry about Mokuba come morning."
"It's a good idea Chance. When you wake up we can restart the game my brother so rudely upset with his entrance." This time it was the younger Kaiba pinning the elder with a mock glare.
Chance thought about it. The idea did have merit and she knew how to get off the estates with the minimal amount of fuss during the daylight hours. "Deal. I'll get a change of clothes tomorrow after I am up and mobile."
With that decided, Seto and Mokuba took her up to the second floor and showed her to one of the guest rooms and bid her good night while they continued on to their own rooms. Seto would be up extremely early to catch the flight to the States for an international technology conference and would probably be up and gone long before either Mokuba or Chance even stirred from their sleep.