Prince of Egypt, another YuGiOh! story by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 4: Family

It was a beautiful misty morning in the world of the Ka, and Critias was walking along the beach that divided the land from the sea. He breathed deeply and sighed contentedly as he looked out over the pristine blue waters. He really loved this time of day when no one was up and about- not even the Winged Beast-type monsters. He looked down through the clear waters all the way to the Undersea Temple, where the Water guardian- King's Knight- was caring for the ancient sanctuary.

Critias stretched his arms behind his head as he looked out over the endless blue once again, deciding on a whim to take a quick flight over the waters. He didn't feel like fully transforming into his dragon form today, so he merely turned his cape into midnight-blue wings and took off from the sands- winging over the gently rolling waves like a true master of the skies.

Passing the Undersea Temple, Critias gently slowed his speed to a hover as he gazed out over the endless expanse of blue in every direction. If he focused, he could just barely make out the Castle of the Sun behind him and to the north, almost completely hidden by the morning mist. By those calculations, he guessed he was hovering over the exact spot that was halfway between the Castle where he now lived and the Temple where his friend was Guardian.

Giving into impulse once again, Critias grinned as he dove into the warm water, just floating on the surface of the water for a bit and relaxing for a moment. It took a herculean amount of strength to keep himself afloat with his armor on, but such things were second nature to the Knight now. He'd had eons to practice adjusting to life in a dragon form, and this armor was not even a tenth of his weight as a mythological beast. Compared to that, this was nothing.

Without warning, something below the surface of the sea suddenly caused it to bubble violently as if that area was boiling. Critias shot up out of the water in surprise as a giant maelstrom began to form exactly where he had been floating seconds ago. Critias swiftly winged out of the way as a sudden lance of lightning fell from the heavens and struck the eye of the whirlpool, which was now the size of the Castle and growing steadily larger. Looking up, Critias was surprised to see a reverse cyclone swirling in the sky, twisting the clouds above just as the waters were circling beneath them.

Critias watched the anomalous phenomenon with awe and just a bit of fear in his eyes. He had never seen such a raw display of absolute power in his long life, and he wondered if perhaps the Sky Dragon god was in a bad mood this morning.

"It is not I who is causing this." An immensely powerful voice thought-spoke to the timeless Knight, who immediately bowed as low as he was able while still remaining airborne. "It is the will of the Dominion itself that Atlantis rise again."

Critias' jaw dropped. "Atlantis?! Here?!" He gasped, looking down at the gaping maw of the ocean below him. Sure enough, he could barely make out a spire of the old castle rising from the depths of the waters.

Critias looked up to the sky deity in shock, and could now see his long red-and-black body twisting the clouds around, stirring up the upside-down tornado.

"We have spoken." The Sky Dragon imparted imperiously. "It is the realm's own will that Atlantis be reborn in the Dominion, but not so with her people. You and your brothers shall lead them into a new life in the human world." Osiris commanded, and Critias bowed his head again, accepting the titanic responsibility. Now all he had to do was tell Hermos and Timaeus. This was going to be fun.

-A few hours later-

"What did you say?" Timaeus cried, flabbergasted, as Critias explained what had happened this morning. The youngest Legendary Knight just grinned.

"If you do not believe me, fly out there and see it for yourself." He beamed. "It is in a terrible state of disrepair- as it has been underwater for ten thousand years- but it is there." He explained, his gray-blue eyes shining with wonder and unfettered happiness.

"That has been your greatest dream, has it not, Critias?" Hermos asked, happy for his brother Knight. "And now it has come true."

Critias nodded, tears in his eyes. "Atlantis can finally move forward. And we can too. After ten thousand years, our people can live again at last."

-KaibaLand amusement park, 3:00 pm-

"Did you girls see on the news? Domino City may have its very own superhero!" One high school-aged girl gushed to her friends.

"Ooo, yeah! He's made two heroic saves already! My heart's all aflutter just thinking about him!" Another of the girls squealed. [See 'Union of Two Dragons' for the first.]

"I wonder who his next save will be? Do you think he would rescue me if I needed help?" The third sighed, her mind miles away in the clouds.

"He could rescue me anytime! And then we'd totally fall in love at first sight!" The first drooled, her irises and pupils turning into pink hearts.

"Now ladies, you must bear in mind that no one knows this hero's identity." A calm and cautionary voice sounded behind them. "We cannot be certain that this mystery savior is a young man. Jumping to conclusions often leads to grave misunderstandings." He imparted wisely, causing the fans to gasp and whirl to face the newcomer.

"Oh, it's that guy from the Black Magic shows." One fan realized, smiling at the armored spellcaster, who bowed back in greeting. "His show's pretty cool. We should go see one today!" Another observed, and Mahaad blushed at the praise. "Thank you." He smiled, grateful.

"I guess we were getting ahead of ourselves." The first admitted. "But wouldn't it be so perfect if they were a handsome young man? I've always wanted a superhero for a boyfriend!" She sighed dreamily. "Ooo! Me too!" The other two squealed simultaneously.

Mahaad had to try hard to resist rolling his eyes at the shallow group of fangirls, so he turned away for a moment. Luckily, the girls were too busy fawning over the mystery hero to even notice that he left. Seto would never choose someone like them, anyway. If his heart is led to any young woman, that person is truly special indeed. It will take a unique person to win the heart of our dragon hero. He thought to himself. These girls are merely infatuated with his fame and his mysterious identity. They are only chasing the unattainable. And with that, the elite spellcaster left the group of fangirls to prepare for his next magic show at 3:30.

-A few days later-

"Noah." Seto said into his intercom machine. "Come to my office when you have a minute." He told him, and the fifteen-year-old robot walked in within five minutes.

"You wanted to see me, Nii-san?" Noah asked, sitting down on the sofa.

"Yeah. It's about- what we talked about the other night. I- I know where she is." Seto sighed, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them as he looked at the computer screen.

Noah gasped. "Are- are you serious?! That's incredible! Where?"

Seto looked down at his keyboard. "See for yourself." He muttered quietly, not sure if he could actually tell the boy out loud while keeping a neutral face.

Noah cocked his head to the side in confusion, but then rose from the sofa and walked around Seto's desk to look at the computer screen. He frowned for a moment, then breathed, "But that's- isn't that the Domino cemetery?"

"Yeah." Seto nodded slowly. "I'm- I'm really sorry, Noah." He looked down at his feet with a carefully neutral mask as Noah continued to stare at the screen, the beginnings of tears in his eyes.

"I guess I didn't expect to find her alive, after everything that's happened." The boy sighed, closing the window and walking back to the couch, flopping onto it and leaning his head back. "I shouldn't have got my hopes up. Thanks for looking anyway, Nii-san."

Seto smiled sadly. "Anytime, kid. That's what family's for."

Noah echoed his stepbrother's expression, then stood up from his seat. "I'm all finished with what I was doing anyway, so I'm gonna visit the cemetery. I haven't been there for a long time."

Seto nodded. "I'm sure she'd like that. If he cared, I'm sure he would've liked that too. But we both know that's not the case." He grimaced, not happy about being forced to think of him.

Noah snorted. "Yeah, I'm not going to see him. He doesn't deserve it. But she does." He smiled, then waved to his stepbrother and left the office, heading to the elevator.

Seto waited with a somber expression until he heard the elevator doors open, then opened the window to Google Maps again. He panned over the cemetery, then zoomed in to a spot on the opposite end from the Kaiba's grave. He sighed and touched the screen with a few fingers, his mind in the past- in happier times. "Love you, Mom. Dad." He whispered softly, then he kissed the fingers of his other hand and brushed them gently across the screen that was displaying the headstone.

Noah weaved carefully between the headstones as he made his way to the wealthier part of Domino cemetery, looking at the names of the interred as the markers grew ever larger and more elaborate the further he journeyed. For some reason, the fog from this morning had lingered in the cemetery instead of dissipating like usual, and was quite thick for this time of day. Noah was so busy looking at the names on the gravestones that he didn't notice what was right in front of him until it was too late.

"Oof! Oh, excuse me, ma'am! I'm sorry!" He apologized quickly, bowing contritely as the woman turned to look at the boy who'd bumped into her.

"No harm done, young man. Are you here to pay your respects too?" The woman smiled, and Noah nodded, still keeping his gaze downward. "That's nice. You're a very polite boy. Most your age wouldn't be here except to cause mischief." She chuckled.

Noah smiled wryly. "I guess, but I'm not exactly a normal teenager." He joked as he finally looked up at the headstone that the woman had been studying. "Hey, this is it!" He gasped, feeling a sweat-drop run down his face at the ostentatious monument. It was carved from a single piece of black marble and was at least twice as tall as all the others. Figures Father would go overboard with even this. He thought to himself. "Not too subtle, was he?" He growled aloud.

The woman chuckled. "No, I guess he wasn't." She smiled sadly at the epitaph. "Both my husband and my son are buried here, both of them falling to tragic fates- quite literally in my husband's case." She sniffed, but somehow Noah got the feeling that the woman was mourning her son only.

"Gozaburo Kaiba." Noah read. Then he mentally recited the dates, the last being about eight years ago.

"Father, President and Conqueror

'Nevermore'

Heh. That's a good one. Wonder who wrote that on here." Noah mused, silently laughing to himself. Seto probably did that. It sounds like something he would do. Or hey, maybe Mokuba did it. He shrugged.

"I think it was the new president of Kaiba Corporation- my stepson, though I've never met him personally." The woman smiled wryly. "I'd heard he was very smart and clever. This just proves it." She sighed. "But I like what he wrote for my son."

Noah looked up again at that, then read his own inscription- the date of his death being about nine years ago.

"Noah Kaiba

Beloved son and brother

'May his spirit find eternal happiness'."

"It's funny, Noah didn't have any brothers. Well, by blood, anyway." The woman mused, still smiling.

"Mokuba probably wrote that one." Noah chuckled. "Seto didn't like me that much back then."

The woman gasped, having overheard the boy's muttering. "What- what are you saying, young man?"

Noah didn't even look up. "Do you remember your husband saying that there might've been a way to save your son? By digitizing his mind in cyberspace?"

The woman gasped again. "Yes, but I thought he was just mad with grief. How do you- know about that?"

"It worked." Noah answered calmly, still not meeting the woman's gaze. "Your son was alive in cyberspace for six years after his accident, and then two years ago was freed and given a robot body so he wouldn't have to be stuck in that glitchy VR nightmare anymore. His step-brothers built it for him." He smiled, thinking of his beloved brothers.

"So then-" Mrs. Kaiba gasped, coming to a realization. "You're saying that-"

Noah finally looked up, smiling into his mother's blue eyes. "Hi Mom." He laughed shyly, the same blue eyes watering with joy.

Mrs. Kaiba collapsed to her knees as she embraced her long-lost son, tears streaming down both their cheeks.

Back down the row a few hundred feet- leaning up against a headstone, folding his arms and smirking- was Seto Kaiba himself. A mix of emotions was battling in his thoughts, but all of them were happy ones. He was happy for his younger stepbrother that he'd finally found his mother, proud that he'd actually managed to track her down, and feeling victorious that his little surprise had worked. Noah had just assumed that she'd been buried in the cemetery. He hadn't expected that she would be visiting a grave. Seto snorted to himself. Apparently he still had a bit of a mischievous streak. He'd thought that had dried up long ago with his childhood. Taking one more look at the embracing mother and son, Seto turned and walked back up the row. It had been a long time since he'd said 'hello' to his own parents.

-Months later-

"Domino City is in a state of shock. Just this morning, a beloved surgeon of this town was found comatose in her home by a close friend who prefers not to be named at this time. Miss Itonami Hana was rushed to Domino General hospital, where she remains in a catatonic state. The doctors are trying everything conceivable to awaken her, but have not yet met with success-" Click.

"Oh no! Hana!" Mokuba cried, racing to his brother's office door and wrenching it open.

"Mokuba." Seto called sharply. "Stop."

"But how come, Seto? She's our friend! We gotta do something!" The teenager cried, little tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"There's nothing we can do, kiddo." Seto sighed as he turned away from his laptop for a moment, wiping some tears of his own away from his face. "Josephus' curse finally took effect. Hana's gone for good." He sniffled, trying and failing to hide his emotional slip.

"Stupid Josephus! Why'd he have to do that?" Mokuba punched the armrest of the sofa angrily. "She didn't even get to say goodbye! I really liked her! She was my friend!"

"She was my friend too, Mokie." Seto agreed sadly, sniffling again. "I don't like it either, but there's nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is honor her memory and never forget her. Be thankful for the time she did have to spend with us." He sighed, closing his laptop until he found the strength to resume his work.

Just then, something occurred to the black-haired teenager. "I don't really get it. If that curse was supposed to take Hana away, then how come her body is still here in Domino? Shouldn't she have disappeared without a trace?"

Seto shook his head. "That's Hanna Sierra, Bret's sister. Hana's hikari. As far as I know, none of us have ever met her." He corrected his brother, and Mokuba looked down in understanding. The young woman he'd grown to love was no more, and had died long ago in ancient Rome.

"It's not fair!" Mokuba repeated angrily, hitting the innocent sofa again.

"No it's not." Seto agreed. "Just like it wasn't fair when we lost our parents. But Life just doesn't work that way, kid. Not for us." He sighed again, putting a hand over his eyes and leaning his elbow on his desk. "She'll always be in our hearts, if we never forget her. Friends never really say goodbye." Seto smiled sadly, opening up his computer again and clicking a few keys- typing up invitations to a special service for their friend. He would make sure that there was a monument built here- in the Domino cemetery- where her friends and family in the modern world could pay their respects to their best friend and sister. There was no body to bury, and he would have to explain to Domino's reporters what was going on- especially with Miss Sierra in the hospital- but he wanted to have something in Domino to remember his friend by, not some three-thousand-year-old grave all the way in Rome- halfway around the world. When he had finished typing up the invitations and got them looking the way he wanted, he sent the command to the printer and pressed the intercom button for his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba?" came a sweet, cheerful voice from the other end of the machine. Seto had to smile. Kisara hadn't even been working there as his personal secretary for two months, and yet she already sounded like a seasoned professional.

"I just sent something down to the printer by your desk. Can you make about fifty copies and send them out to all our friends around Domino? It's not urgent or anything, but I would like to hold the service this weekend if possible." He requested, and he could almost see Kisara's nod as she agreed. "Of course, Mr. Kaiba. I will get on it right away. Is there anything else you need? You know, while I am already up?" Seto could hear the barest hint of teasing in her voice, but he knew it was all in good fun. He smirked to himself. "Well, if we got any mail today, you could bring that up with a cup of coffee." He suggested, throwing in a little teasing note of his own to keep the ball rolling.

"Oh! Of course, sir! I will be right up!" Kisara squeaked, cutting off the conversation abruptly as she took her finger off the intercom button and rushed to complete her newest tasks. Seto smirked to himself. He could almost see his sister-in-law dashing around her desk like a headless chicken.

"Okay, what's so funny, Seto?" Mokuba grinned, noticing the pronounced smirk on his brother's normally stoic face.

"Nothing important." Seto answered as he shook his head lightly to erase the amusing image. "It's just that Kisara should learn to take things more slowly and not at such a hectic pace. She's gonna overheat at this rate." He chuckled.

Mokuba laughed too. "She's not a computer, Seto." He giggled. "But I got the pun." He snorted. "You sure seem to be in a good mood a lot more often, Nii-sama. You'd never have joked around like this five years ago." He observed thoughtfully, glancing at his brother.

Seto turned pensive as well. "Yeah, you're right about that, kiddo. I guess Hana rubbed off on me a little. She was always in a good mood. She always had a smile, even when things were chaotic around her. And she always managed to put on a brave and cheerful face for her friends."

"She was one of a kind." Mokuba agreed sadly. "A true princess to the very end."

"Well spoken, kid." Seto smiled. "I think I'll use that in the eulogy. You don't mind, do you?" He asked gently, and Mokuba shook his head.

"Knock, knock!" came another cheerful voice at that moment, accompanied by two sharp raps on the door. "Come on in, Kisara!" Mokuba called, a wide grin back on his face. Kisara was his second favorite person at Kaibacorp., surpassed only by his beloved Nii-sama. Noah was a close third, and Roland didn't really count 'cause he wasn't a Kaibacorp. employee, but their personal Head of Security.

"Here you go, sir." Kisara smiled brightly as she set the mail next to his laptop. "One mug of espresso with one cream and one sugar, and today's mail. If that is all you needed, I gotta get back to those copies of yours." She winked, and Seto smiled at her- unable as ever to keep a straight face around his lovable sister-in-law.

"Thanks, Kisara. Now that'll be all." Seto nodded, selecting the first envelope in one hand and his letter-opener in the other. It appeared that the elder Mr. Wheeler had considered his offer and had sent in his reply. He was concentrating on the letter, so he didn't see Kisara nearly dance out of the office and wave as she closed the door behind her. Mokuba saw it, though, and he grinned at his interminably happy sister.

"Huh. I didn't expect him to accept, but- for once- this surprise is welcome." Seto observed as he skimmed the business letter. "I'll have to schedule an interview later then." He continued to himself as he put the letter aside and picked up the next one. "From Yugi?" He asked, surprised, wondering what the King of Games could possibly want to ask him that couldn't be said in person. Opening the uncharacteristically fancy letter, Seto scanned the elaborate calligraphy with ever-widening eyes and rising eyebrows. When he got to the end, he actually laughed out loud. "HA! Well, it's about time!" He laughed.

"What is it, Seto?" Mokuba asked, noticeably alarmed. "What happened?!"

"The King of Games has finally found his Queen, or- more accurately- he finally asked her. It's been a long time coming, that's for sure." Seto chuckled, a grin once again spreading across his features. That had been happening a lot lately. And Mokie's answering grin was alarmingly close to splitting his face in half. "YUGI FINALLY ASKED TÉA?!" He bellowed, and Seto had to cover his ears at the volume. "Jeez! A little louder next time, kid. I think there's still some people in America that didn't hear you." He joked, making the excitable teen blush.

"Sorry, bro." Mokuba muttered, appropriately abashed. Seto shook his head exasperatedly at his kid brother, then turned his attention to the next letter in the pile. To his worry, this one looked very similar to the Motou's letter.

"Uh oh. Here comes another one." He grimaced theatrically as Mokuba skirted the desk to come read the letter for himself. Slitting the envelope, Seto expertly withdrew the missive from its packaging and flipped it open, nodding approvingly at the neat and elegant script. He guessed that Mai had written these invites. "And it seems the Mutt and Ms. Valentine will soon be tying the knot as well. How lovely." He groaned sarcastically, honestly happy for the two but making a face for his little brother's amusement.

It worked. Seto earned a mock punch on the upper arm and a glare from Mokuba. "Seto." He chided. "Be nice."

"I know, I know." He chuckled. "I was only teasing." He set the invitation aside and reached for his coffee this time, taking a sip before diving into the next letter in the pile. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous." He groaned. "Three in a row? Either they all conspired to work out the timing of these invitations, or somebody's been letting the mail pile up down there." He growled and grinned, making sure to push the intercom button so that Kisara could hear too.

"It was not me! I promise!" came a surprised and slightly indignant squeak from the machine, and Seto snorted. "Gotcha, sis." He laughed, and Kisara laughed too from the other end. "Yep. You sure did. Good one, sir." She giggled. "But, in answer to your question, I am pretty sure they all planned for this to happen with the invitations."

"I dunno." Seto argued. "I can see Yugi and Joey conspiring like this, but Mahaad too? He doesn't really strike me as the impulsive type." He continued, but then at that moment recalled a few instances where Black Magician had been rather impulsive- such as wagging his finger at him during Seto and Yugi's duel atop the rampart of Pegasus' castle. He was pretty sure that the holograms hadn't been programmed to allow that.

"Perhaps not, but Mana probably had something to do with it. We all know how mischievous she can be." Kisara answered wryly, and Seto could almost see her rolling her eyes. "And she is master Mahaad's sister." She reminded him.

"True. Maybe it runs in the family." He guessed, opening the third invitation, this time from two of his favorite spellcasters. When he opened the letter, however, he had to bite back a bark of laughter. "HA! Oh, Mana. She actually wrote this in hieroglyphs! She does know that not everybody can read those, right?" He laughed as he scanned the invitation.

"What are you talking about, Seto?" Mokuba frowned as he too read the missive over his brother's shoulder. "I can't read hieroglyphs, but I can read this just fine! It's written in plain ole kanji, just like the other ones." He observed, confused.

Seto raised his eyebrows. "She must've put a spell on it so that the characters could change to whatever language the reader is fluent in. Either that or you can somehow read hieroglyphs now, like I can." Seto observed, glancing at his brother with an impressed smile on his face. [Actually, it's both. Mokie can read hieroglyphs now, and Mana put that Translation spell on the invitations. XD]

"You mean like when you translated that Hieratic text on the Ra card?" Mokuba asked, and Seto nodded. "But I couldn't read it back then, I had to wait for the computer to translate it. I don't get it."

Seto shrugged. "You were probably too young back then. If you're anything like me, your magic was probably latent until you turned thirteen. That's about when mine started up. And that's about when Mahaad said that most magical abilities start to manifest themselves."

"I have magic too?!" Mokuba squeaked, and Seto grinned. "Well, yeah. You're my little brother, aren't you?" He grinned, grabbing his little brother in a sudden headlock and giving him a noogie. "Ack! Seto!" Mokuba laughed, and the brothers laughed together for the first time in far too long. It felt good to laugh like that again.

One thing was for sure: After today, nothing would ever be the same in Domino.

End of Chapter 4

Next chapter teaser: Moving On

Well, this was an emotional roller-coaster of a chapter, wasn't it? First it surprises you with what Critias witnessed, then it makes you roll your eyes at fangirls, then it makes you go 'Aww!' with Noah, then it makes you sad with Hana(and Hanna), and then makes you LOL with the wedding invitations flooding Seto's office. And then finally another 'Aww' moment with the bros. "Whew! Roller-coaster chapters are fun." The author deadpans.

If you couldn't tell already, I'm trying to set up for a next-gen story with 'Prince of Egypt'. (Not the DreamWorks movie, this story.) You've already met the main hero in ch. 3, now I'm trying to set up for the other main characters. There's four in all: Ramses Kaiba, Yugi and Téa's kid, Joey and Mai's kid, and Mahaad and Isis' kid. No, I'm not telling who they are just yet. You'll have to wait for the coming chapters! More fun cliffhangers!

It's been nine stories since 'Flower of Life', and I still feel bad for killing off one of my OCs. First it was Hanna Sierra, now it's Hana Itonami. Like I said before, they won't be coming back. I didn't want Hana and Hanna to turn into more Mary Sues. FF has enough of those already. However, I'm curious to hear your opinions on the subject. What'd you think of Hana? Was she too much of a Mary Sue, or was she enough of an interesting character to avoid it? I welcome ConCrit, but please no flames. I've been burned enough by trolls. As have many of you lovely readers, I'm sure. *wry smile*

Well, that's all for now. See you later, alligators! In a while, crocodiles!

God Bless!

Tsunami Storm