Chapter Six - Afraid of Fate

"Okaa-san, can you tell it to me again?"

"But Seto, I've already told it to you five times already…"

"That's because it's my favorite!"

"Who about I tell you another one, a very special one - one that has been in our family for hundreds of generations?"

"Really?"

Sitting tucked in bed, six-year-old Seto Dyama waited in bated silence for his mother to begin he special story. His mother, world famous Egyptian historian Arsinoe Dyama was the best person in the whole world. With her dusky bronze colored skin, long ebony hair and large warm golden brown eyes; a trait from her birth country, most thought at first sight that they were beholding an exotic fairy. Although she could hold her own in any situation, she was very gentle.

Smiling down at him, she began to spin her magic and the tales of Egypt were his favorite…

"Once, a little over five thousand years ago, seven sacred golden items were forged in the hopes of bring peace to a war torn country. But they had been created through darkness and the death of ninety-nine sacrificed souls, so they were connected to the shadows. Years later, these seven items we owned and used by the reigning pharaoh and his high priests. When the pharaoh died, his item - a golden pyramid puzzle blessed with the Eye of the Wisdom of Darkness - passed to his young son who would become pharaoh in his place.

But the late pharaoh's brother, his younger twin who wield his own item- a circular eye that replaced his own - wanted the throne for himself. For years he plotted and planned and now it was the time to set it into motion. It was deadly - far worse then even Setekh, the God of Chaos could have accomplished. Yet five other priests and their items remained to stand in his way.

The were the holy anuk, the Scales of Truth, a tauk, a hanging ring and a rod that concealed a dagger within. But there was another man that wished to have the items for himself, King of Thieves, the single survivor of the slaughter that had created their items. He would seek to wipe out the priests in order to get what they possessed. In order to call upon the God of Evil, the other reason to which the items were forged, all seven would have to brought together.

All I can tell you is that the evil priest did not win nor did the tomb robber that wished for revenge. The young pharaoh took drastic measures to keep the people of his country - and the world safe. He sealed his soul and that of his priests into their items to keep the evil of the shadows from overwhelming everything. But that was only one half of the story as it remains unfinished. In time you will discover that you -"

She paused in her tale as the doorbell rang downstairs.

"I'll be back in a minute kiobito" she smiled and kissed his forehead. "You'll take good care of Mokuba for me while I'm gone won't you?"

Seto looked over to where his year old baby brother lay sleeping peacefully.

"With all my heart"

"I love you Seto"

"I love you too Okaa-san…"

His mother smiled once again before getting to her feet and leaving the room. He listened to the soft sound of her footfalls on the carpet and her decent of the stairs. He heard the door open and then the sound of angry voices below. Soon his mother screamed and his father was yelling.

Seto's eyes grew wide and his heart began to pound - his parents never raised their voices. Something was wrong. Slowly slipping out of the bedroom he shared with his brother, he padded silently down the hall towards the top of the stairs. He had just reached the top of the stairs when the sound of a gunshot and a scream stopped the small boy in his tracks. He caught sight of his mother, sobbing in fear and his father laying on the floor. His mother's scream was soon followed by another shot and she dropped to the floor to lay still next to his father. Although he would see nobody, the sound of footsteps fleeing the house and the slamming of the front door was all there was until the horrible silence.

"Okaa-san! Otou-san!"

Unable to stay where he was, the boy let out a cry and sprinted down the steps three at time. Kneeling next to them, pooled blood soaking into the knees of his pajamas, he urgently shook his mother's shoulder.

"Wakeup…" he whimpered. "Please wakeup…"

There was no response.

"Please wakeup… please wakeup… please wakeup…"

"Seto, wake up"

Instantly Seto Kaiba awoke with his heart pounding and his adrenaline pumping. As the young CEO swiped at tears that had escaped him while he slept, he looked around with blurry eyes at the concerned faces of Ari and Naku. The two twin dragons were the only one awake while the rest of the group snored happily in their sleep. Had he a camera and have been in a better mood, Seto would have taken a picture of Davis using Veemon as a teddy bear for blackmail. But not now.

"It was another nightmare wasn't it?"

Seto could do nothing but nod as he drew in a deep breath to try to calm himself. It had been a whole week since he had received that accursed Crest of Destiny. And it was a week that he had been plagued with nightmares so horrible that he would wake up crying. He didn't know if they were meant to be warnings or just that he had finally lost his mind. Secretly he hoped it was the latter.

"How much longer do you think they'll last?"

When his two partners gave him no reply, Seto sighed heavily in defeat.

"I think you should get some sleep," Naku said as she hopped up into her partner's arms to snuggle, making Ari sweatdrop in the process.

"Yeah…" her brother replied dryly. "It going to be a long day tomorrow"

"No. I don't think I could sleep anymore… not after that nightmare…"

His two partners looked sympathetic for a moment before shrugging it off as normal Seto behavior and went to sleep. When he was sure that Naku would wake back up, he returned her to her place next to Ari. He looked up at the darkened sky, unconsciously fingering the crest around his neck as thought about home and what he had left behind in the Real World when this whacked out adventure started. He shuddered softly at what Yugi and his annoying friends would say about it if they even knew. Why did those damned idiots always have to try and open old wounds? He had ever right to refuse what he knew was true.

It had always been about his mother. The last time he had seen Egypt had been the day that he and Mokuba were being sent to their only living relatives in Japan. He remembered how badly he had wanted to fight against the Social Service hacks that had overseen their transfer in order to in the country of his birth, but for the love of his baby brother, he relented. And it wouldn't be long before his aunt and uncle would have their inheritance spent and be dumping the pair off at the closest orphanage they would find.

That was why he hated fate. For Seto, fate was what had destroyed his family. The assassination of his parents, the abandonment by his relatives, the adoption by Gonzaboru Kiba and the torture that would follow at his hands. If fate or destiny really existed, then why had he been forced to suffer with that?

The thing was, Seto had never found an answer.

"Hey guys, look at this"

Half asleep, Yugi Mutou raised his head from were it had been plastered to the side of the couch and yawned. With the fabric print engraved into his cheek, the tri-haired boy got shakily to his feet to make his way over to where Tristen was plunking away at Kaiba's large computer. He was joined by Joey and Tea moments later as the three gathered around their friend and looked up at the large screen in front of them.

"You are not going to believe what I just found" Tristen gasped. "I was looking through some of Kaiba's personal crap when I came upon a file of interest. Without the password to open it, I had hope the internet would have the information we needed…"

Tea groaned. "And that would be?"

"This!"

The brown haired teen clicked on a closed file and brought it to life. An old newspaper article from Egypt appeared, its front page title nearly screaming.

World Renowned Historian and Archeologist Murdered

The shocking murder of Egyptian historian Arsinoe Dyama and her husband, Japanese archeologist Shiro Dyama last week has caused much sadness not only for the city of Cairo, but for the whole world. Known globally for their discoveries; ancient scrolls, lost histories and artifacts dating back over three millennia, had gained them much fame in the historical society.

The only witness of the crime, their son Seto, six, had not seen the murders as they fled the family home and has not yet answered any further questions for the authorities, remaining closed off and seeking to comfort his infant brother Mokuba. It is not know when the Dyama children will be sent to their father's sister, Mrs. Deidara Inouye of Japan, but sources say it will be as soon as soon as the funeral has taken place…

Yugi's eyes widened and he suddenly found himself more awake then he had ever been in his life. Could it really be…

"And check this out. Adoption records"

The four looked up a the private adoption records. A Seto and Mokuba Dyama, both born in Egypt, had been admitted to a Japanese orphanage two months after the deaths of the parent's, Arsinoe and Shiro, death. They had been given over by none other then their legal guardians, Deidara and Kuroku Inouye. Six years later they would be adopted by a one Gonzaboru Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corporation.

Tristen clicked the mouse one last time. What appeared on the computer screen next was a family portrait. A handsome young man with pale with short chestnut hair and blue eyes was hugging the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. She was bronze tanned with long ebony hair and golden eyes that seemed to hide secrets. In her arms her she held a little boy with a shock of black hair and dark eyes. And standing in front was a grinning little boy with big blue eyes and brown hair that was waving happily at the camera.

"Is that Kaiba?" Joey gapped.

"Of course it is"

They four friends turned to see that Yami had appeared. The pharaoh stood back, a saddened look on his face.

"Mokuba looks like his father with his mother's hair and Kaiba… he looks like them both"

Yugi turned to his other half. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. Everything just makes more sense. The murder of his parents must have caused Kaiba to stop believing in magic and fate. He was born in Egypt and his mother was a historian - she must have told him tales about the ancient days. Do you remember? Kaiba never looked very surprised with what happened, but always denied it as the truth. He's afraid of remembering"

"But Kaiba's not afraid of anything" Joey protested. "That tyrant made sure of that"

But the pharaoh shook his head.

"But he is. He witnessed a murdered at only six years old. That causes lots of trauma. If I'm correct, then his parents were killed for knowing too much. Kaiba knows that, but he can't do anything about it. He could do nothing to stop what he had his brother have suffered. The one thing he can't change is fate… and it terrifies him"

Okay, so I know it could have been longer (I wish it was) and that I haven't updated this story in a coon's age, but when the creative flow deserts you, most time you move on to something new. This chapter is here due to the fact that I'm stuck at a writer's block for the fifteenth chapter of Kijutsu no Izou, and I'm not sure when this one will be updated again. Really sorry. Hope that I'll get a good brainwave for this story soon - if you have any suggestions, let me know. Well anyway. Later!

P.S. If anyone who's read Shattered Realities, I'm currently working on the next chapter in that story (but I can't seem to manage getting it past the second page).