Chapter 26
Lindsey POV
"I'm so glad you decided to stay with us Linds!" The raven hair kid smiled adoringly at Lindsey.
"It's not permanent Moki. I just don't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment and my apartment is the first place people would think to look." Mokuba frowned.
"So, you and Seto aren't official?" Lindsey heavily sighed.
"I refer to him as my boyfriend but Moki, I don't really know what we are. I don't want you to be under the impression that your brother and I are going to live happily ever after because its way more complicated than that. What I can tell you is that I love Seto, and he loves me." Lindsey smiled at Mokuba. "But when it is officially official you'll be the first to know!"
Mokuba beamed. "Yay!" He hugged Lindsey tightly. "I'll let you settle in! See you at dinner."
Mokuba ran out of the room that Lindsey had resided in so many times before. She sat on the bed and sighed at the all to familiar room.
No matter what I do, I always seem to end up in the same place I started. Maybe Zane was right. Maybe I should sort out my priorities…
A knock sounded at the door. "Come in." Lindsey chimed.
The door opened to reveal the brunette that always made Lindsey smile. Lindsey checked the time on her phone. "Why are you here?" She questioned. "It's only 4 o'clock."
"Work was slow." He stated.
"That's a lie." Lindsey fired. "Your company is never slow. A person with the most minimal IQ knows that." Seto smirked.
"Smart girl."
"So why are you really here?" She mused.
"I have company coming over. Get dressed. You're my escort." Lindsey's eyes widened.
"What kind of company? I don't even have anything to wear!" Fear began to set in. Lindsey knew nothing about the business world. She wouldn't know the first thing about talking to important businessmen. They were far from her usual crowd, the crowd being professional duelists.
"Several associates. And if you'll look in the closet you'll see you have quite the collection of formal wear." He was giving her the 'you don't have a choice' look, and Lindsey knew she couldn't get out of it.
"Fine." She huffed. "But you owe me!"
"You're staying in my house. I owe nothing." He smirked.
Lindsey smiled. "Touché."
Who are you?
Lindsey was staring herself down in the mirror. Her wild curly hair was pulled into an elegant up do with a few tendrils hanging down. She wore a deep maroon gown that flowed to the floor. It bore a slit up to mid thigh on both sides, and the halter style top plunged down to reveal cleavage. She wore diamond-embezzled black heels upon Seto's request. She was unrecognizable.
"Lindsey." Lindsey face twisted into a scowl. She shook her head. "Lindsey Walsh." She shook her head again. She raised a brow. "Lindsey Kaiba?" She pondered a moment before shaking her head one last time. "Get it together. There's no proper way to introduce my name." She tilted her head. "Or is there?" She tapped her chin. "Lindsey Nevaeh Walsh." She smiled, then quickly frowned.
"You overthink things to much." Lindsey turned toward the icy voice. "Although Lindsey Kaiba has a nice ring to it." He smirked. Lindsey rolled her eyes. "We have guests to entertain. Come out soon." He left the room without another word.
Lindsey took one last look in the mirror before giving a large sigh. "Time to go make a fool of myself."
She exited the room and made way to the main room. There was a large crowd of businessman with escorts looking far more elegant than her. She felt underdressed and not good enough to be the escort of Seto Kaiba. Lindsey scanned the crowd for the brunette, not wanting to be alone.
"Ms. Walsh? Is that really you?" A plump man wearing a grey suit had approached her. She turned towards him; panic beginning to set in. "Eric Commer of Commer industries, so pleased to finally meet you." He held out a hand and she took it hesitatingly. "I assume you've heard of my company, yes?"
Lindsey had never heard the name Commer but knew it would reflect badly on Seto if she were to make a fool of herself. She decided to fake it till she made it. "Absolutely!" She replied a little to cheerfully. "Who hasn't heard of such a successful name such as yours!" He smiled in response.
"So I assume you know of our latest project?" He asked.
"You know," She chuckled. "I have, but I don't really have full details of it, so if you don't mind explaining this project more thoroughly to me, I would be more than happy to listen."
"I don't mind at all!" He beamed. Lindsey was shocked at how easy this was. "We are currently researching a way to make the game of Duel Monsters more realistic, meaning instead of holograms, it will be real life monsters! Neat huh?"
"Isn't that a little unsafe Mr. Commer?" Lindsey questioned. "I mean, I don't want to be on the other end of a White Lightning attack." He tapped his chin and thought a moment.
"That's a very good point Ms. Walsh." He boomed with laughter. "Well not every idea can be a good one. On another note, what's it like to be a champion such as yourself?"
"It's cool, I guess. Since the new King of Games came around a lot of people forgot about me but I still meet a fan every now and then." She weakly smiled.
"Who would ever forget a gorgeous creature such as yourself?" He reached out a twirled one of her tendrils. "Such grace, such beauty, such talent. You would make the ultimate prize." He stepped closer to her and her eyes widened.
"Sir, with all do respect could you please not step that close to me?" Her voice was shaky. "It's for your benefit not mine."
"Who's going to stop me?" He mused.
"That would be me." Lindsey breathed a sigh of relief as the brunette appeared at her side. His cobalt eyes blazed with rage. The businessman stepped back a few paces as Seto snaked his arm around Lindsey's waist. "You fools already know not to mess with me and my girlfriend is no exception. Now get out of my sight before your failing game company is off the map for good."
"Y- Yes Mr. Kaiba." He stammered. "My apologies Miss." He bowed before quickly scurrying off.
Lindsey looked up at Seto with a brow raised. "Girlfriend huh?"
"For tonight." He responded.
"Why?" She questioned. "Yugi and I are done. You and everyone else know that." He didn't respond. "What are we Seto?"
"We'll discuss this later. I have guests to attend to." He started to walk away before she caught his arm.
"No! I want answers now!" She moved in front of him and put her hands on her hips.
"I'm not a rebound." He simply stated.
"Rebound?" Lindsey was appalled. "You didn't have this attitude a couple weeks ago when you were reveling at the fact I chose you instead of him!" Lindsey had raised her voice and a couple people had turned to stare. Seto growled with frustration.
"Follow me." He grabbed her wrist and drug her to his home office. Once inside he closed the door and turned to her. He was beyond pissed at her actions and she very well knew that. She kept her mouth shut, trying not to make the situation worse. Seto took a deep breath then spoke.
"I knew I had won you back before you had been informed of Yugi's actions with Tea. Had you left him for me before that I wouldn't have questioned it but now I don't know if you're with me because you want to be, or if you're trying to fuck the pain away. That's why I haven't touched you since New Years." Tears sprang in Lindsey's eyes. "You need to heal on your own. Anyone can see it."
"Maybe you're right, maybe you're not." Lindsey whispered.
"I'm always right." Lindsey looked up. Seto's face was like stone.
"Well, I'll just go then." She began to leave the room.
"Lindsey, that's not what I meant."
"No. You are right. I need to be alone. I need to," She paused a moment. "Sort out my priorities."
February
I've moved back to my apartment. Mai checks in on me every now and then, but other than that I haven't had contact with the gang or Seto. It's just me. I've perfected some new dueling strategies, and I plan to implement them in a tournament next month. It's time to get my old drama free lifestyle back.
March
Still no contact with the gang. Tournament was a joke. Obviously I won but no one was near as experienced as me. On the plus side, I won $1,000!
April
I didn't attend prom, though I saw the fun everyone else had through social media. I still see Mai every now and then, but our relationship has become more distant. I'll receive the occasional text from Lyris, saying she misses her twin but I tend to ignore it. She's been staying with Mai since our little spat last Christmas. Yami left a voicemail saying we needed to talk, yet he'll never get a call back. Seto hasn't even tried to contact me.
May
Junior year is over. The gang had gone on some trip to California, meeting up with some Rebecca girl. Seto had been working on a line of Amusement parks to be named Kaiba Land. The first one is set to open next month. It's going to be a long summer…
Joey POV
It was early in the morning and the gang was fully asleep. They had all been camping with Rebecca Hawkins and her grandpa Professor Hawkins. Rebecca and Yugi had met shortly after Duelist Kingdom, long before Lindsey was in the picture. They weren't on the best of terms at first, but now the little demon wont leave Yugi alone. She claims it's true love.
It had been awhile since they had caught up together, so the gang thought it would be fun to just get away for a while. Yugi especially was enjoying the peace. As the gang slumbered, he had escaped to the lake, not to far from their campsite trailer.
"Okay you slackers! Rise and Shine!" The small blonde beat a frying pan with a ladle, waking up Duke, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura with a start.
"All you guys do is eat and sleep." Tea commented.
"And? Your point is?" an angry Joey asked. Tea had confessed everything she had said to Lindsey way back over Christmas break. Yami was furious with her, as was the rest of the gang. While still a little stingy towards her, Yami had forgiven her being the nice guy that he was, but their friendship really was never what it was before. It has gotten better with time, but no one is fully trusting of her, as they shouldn't be.
"That reminds me," Duke chimed. "What's for breakfast?" Tea sighed.
"I rest my case."
"Wake me up when it's chow time will ya?" Joey yawned.
"I give up." Tea said.
Rebecca was frantically looking around. "Where's Yugi?"
"Huh? I guess he took off" Bakura stated.
"I hate when he does that..." Tristan sighed.
Mai POV
The two girls we're walking calmly through the woods for a quick moment of peace. The light breeze softly blew their blonde hair and the only disturbance was the sound of birds chirping. The green scenery was soothing and the clean mountain air was refreshing.
"So what now?" Lyris asked. "Senior year is approaching, and we have a whole summer to kill."
"Just enjoy yourself. We're only gonna be here so long before Yugi decides to fulfill the pharaohs destiny." Lyris frowned, but not without Mai noticing. "Something's wrong. Spill it."
Lyris groaned. "No one knows this, not even Lindsey, but I don't want the pharaoh to go."
"You love him?"
"No!" She defended. "Well, in ancient Egyptian times yes, but I don't want him to go because if he goes, I go." She looked down, unable to face a gaping Mai. "When he goes, all the millennium items will be gone with him. Everything associated with the Pharaoh and his time, will cease to exist in this present. It'll be nothing but a memory."
"You never thought to mention this to Lindsey?" Mai questioned.
"She hasn't even found out the pharaoh is leaving soon. Why make the pain greater. Right now she hates both me and Yami so she might be spared a little."
"She doesn't even know about the pharaoh?" Mai was shocked as Lyris nodded solemnly. "She needs to know. She'll act like she doesn't care but this will break her. She'll be-"
"Driven straight into the arms of Seto Kaiba where she belongs." Lyris interrupted. Mai looked confused. "He can protect her. He wont hurt her like we have. It's for the best."
"She hasn't spoken to him in months. He told her she needed time to herself. Which I agree, but it's been months. How much time do you need?" Lyris giggled.
"She really is me." Lyris looked over to see Mai looking lost. Lyris smiled. "Back in ancient times, I went through a phase where I couldn't choose between the pharaoh and a peasant boy from the nearby town. In those times royalty was forbidden to be with the help, but I wanted what I wanted, and I wanted both of them."
"So how does this relate to Lindsey?"
"Obviously I could only have one, but I didn't know what one. So I shut down. I cut myself off from everyone. It's how I dealt with my problems, and she's the same way. When she feels she has things figured out, she'll come back around."
"How long before you came back around?"
"I had to bounce back pretty fast. The peasant boy was killed leaving me with Yami. I wasn't disappointed, but I wondered what life would have been like if I could have gone the other route. But considering I don't remember much of my life at all after the pharaoh disappeared, I guess it doesn't matter."
"So you remember everything up until he went M.I.A?"
"Almost. I can't remember his name." Lyris' face twisted and Mai laughed.
"Random." The two girls laughed but then grew quiet. "I miss her." Mai whispered.
"I do to." Lyris replied. "She's bound to come around sooner or later."
"Hopefully sooner."
Lyris nodded in agreement. They walked in silence until they reached the lake. Mai noticed the familiar spiky haired boy on the other side, appearing to talk to himself.
"Hey isn't that Yugi?"
Yugi POV
The birds were chirping and Yugi was glad to have this moment to talk to the pharaoh. This has been a great trip and all, but finding silence with friends like Yugi's is a rare thing to come by. Yugi was staring at his reflection in the lake.
"Finally some peace and quiet" he said aloud. The spirit of the puzzle appeared beside him.
"We need it." He smiled.
"Yeah, after everything that's happened, it's nice to get away and think."
The pharaoh nodded in agreement but Yugi knew something was wrong. "What is it?"
"I sense a greater evil is waiting for us." Yugi nodded in agreement.
"Whatever it is we'll face it together. That's what makes us stronger. Together there's nothing we can't accomplish!" The pharaoh seemed to relax but Yugi could tell he was still in deep thought. "Something else is bothering you." He stated. The pharaoh just nodded. "Don't worry. You'll see her again. I promise you." Yami gave Yugi a weak smile.
"There he is!" Yugi turned at the sound of the tiny blonde. She was running up to him and Yugi braced himself for the impact. She slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.
"I was worried about you." Tea said.
"I was even more worried about you than Tea!" Rebecca laughed as she nudged Yugi's face and Tea growled furiously.
"Uh… Thanks I think?" Yugi said slightly frightened. "Can I get up?"
Rebecca kept laughing and Tea's rage grew. Through clenched teeth she said, "Come on you two lovebirds, everyone is waiting." Yugi and Rebecca got to their feet and the small girl huffed.
"Fine! But I get to hold his hand."
Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Joey, Serenity, Duke, Bakura, Mai, Lyris, Rebecca, and Professor Hawkins sat at a picnic table enjoying a nice afternoon brunch. They would soon be leaving no matter how much they wanted to stay. It was finally summer vacation, the perfect time to help the Pharaoh with unlocking the past.
"Thanks for everything but we should all be getting home soon." The gang nearly dropped their forks in unison and stared at Yugi.
"What!?" Rebecca whined. "How can you leave when we haven't even gone out on one single date yet!?"
"Beck is right!" Duke interjected. "Well, not about the date part, but we should stay and relax!" The gang nodded in unison, agreeing with Duke. Yugi felt a little uneasy. He needed to help the pharaoh unlock his past, but he too wanted to stay. The pharaoh's voice rang in his head.
"Yugi, I've waited 5000 years to unlock the secrets of my past. I really don't think another day or two is going to hurt."
Yugi smirked. "Well guys, why not? We can stay for a little while longer!" The gang cheered as a response.
"You da best Yug!" Joey said with a mouthful of food.
"Don't you guys get tired of being tired?" Tea asked the lounging boys.
"Duh! Dat's why we take naps!" Tea rolled her eyes at Joey then focused her attention on the small blond sitting by the lake, clutching Yugi with a vice like grip. She couldn't help but not so subtly hide the irritation on her face.
"Hey guys? When is our flight home? Someone made plans right?" Joey, Tristan and Bakura's eyes snapped open. Tea froze in place, and Mai, Lyris, and Serenity stopped in their tracks.
"Uhhh…." Everyone said in unison.
"What's wrong?" Beck asked.
"We all bought one way tickets." Joey said. "We can't afford a return flight."
"You're kidding me!" Tristan yelled. "Why did we let Joey handle the flights?"
"Hey! No one gave me a set amount of days we would be gone so I found us all some one-way tickets. No big deal!"
"Except we can't get home Joey!" Mai yelled.
"You didn't think to tell us this till now?" Bakura voiced.
"It neva occurred to all of you either!" Joey countered. The gang groaned feeling defeated.
Just then the wind whipped up. Everyone looked up to see a huge black chopper. "That's Kaiba's chopper!" Yugi exclaimed. The gang took cover as the chopper landed. They ran over to see the doors opening. Out popped the raven-haired kid everyone knew and loved. He smiled when he saw them.
"Looks like you could use a lift." The gang's eyes sparkled. "Under one circumstance of course." Mokuba smirked.
Lindsey POV
Lindsey drug her feet across the floor as she made way to her mailbox on the ground floor. She hadn't checked the mail in a few days and she was waiting on a package containing a new deck box. She had the gold key in one hand, ready to open up her mailbox. She stuck the key in and unlocked it, revealing no package, but an array of letters. She sighed irritably. She locked the box again and walked to a trashcan. She sifted through the letters, throwing the junk in the trash.
"Junk….Junk….Junk….Ju… Seto?" She froze when she got to a letter with the all to familiar KC logo on it. She put the stack of remaining letters on top of the trashcan and opened the one in hand.
Dear Lindsey Walsh,
You have been cordially invited by Mr. Seto Kaiba to attend a tournament in honor of the opening of Kaiba Land. This will be a tournament like no other. I myself have searched worldwide, tracking down the 14 best duelists the world has to offer in hopes of crowning a new King of Games.
Guests will arrive Sunday, June 10 at promptly 5PM for a formal dinner with the opening ceremonies following immediately after. If you are to be late it will result in immediate disqualification.
This tournament will be a once in a lifetime event you wont want to miss. Best of luck and we hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Seto Kaiba, CEO Kaiba Corp
"Unbelievable." Lindsey whispered.
So this is your idea of bringing me back into the world Seto? Well, if it's a new King of Games you want, that's exactly what you'll get. I'm going to make you feel as lost and hurt and you made me Yami!
That's a promise I'm very well going to keep!