A/N: I LIVE. For those who are interested an explanation for the unplanned hiatus will be in a secondary note at the end of the chapter. For those who aren't, don't worry you can skip it. It is kind of dry reading.
Someone did mention that the last chapter skipped around a bit... I did that for two reasons. One, I don't want to do exact play by plays of the action from the show. It would take way too long and then we'd be looking at multiple chapters per episode. Last time I counted the actual show ran for over 100 episodes (I might be wrong) and as much as I love this story, 100+ chapters isn't something I think I could tackle. Reason number two, Reila might be involved more directly in this mini-arc, but I'm trying to keep her as far out of the spotlight as I can while still having her present for the action. It's not that I don't want her to be involved more directly in the canon plot, it's that her personality doesn't like being the center of attention. Does that make sense?
And yes, I did skip the rest of the Big 5 vs. Seto/Yugi duel. I really tried to make it work from Seto's POV, but I just... couldn't. A certain brown haired blue eyed canon story character was not cooperating.
Big shout outs to Drachegirl14, animagirl, and Rosezelene Ersa, Cereza101, and time-twilight for reviewing. Thanks guys, you rock!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any characters created by Kazuki Takahashi. I own only my own Ocs, this fic is purely for entertainment.
Chapter 13
"Huh? What's this?" Seto ignored Yugi's question as he slowly sat up, shaking off the fogginess of his mind. The last thing he remembered was being dropped down a hole after defeating the Mythic Dragon, effectively wiping the five slime balls out of existence... Something that Seto would make doubly sure happened when he was back in the real world. The reprogramming those five had done had cost him his little brother and closest friend. Glaring venomously at the crowd as he stood, he cursed the cheerful, thankful crowd he'd programmed for the triumphant return of the conquering heroes.
"Our heroes! What you've done will keep my people and our land safe forever more!" Seto turned with Yugi to face the princess Adena, the one who had originally been slotted to be kidnapped and brought as the second sacrifice in the lava pit. Looking at her now, Seto seriously regretted using Mokuba as a model to base her features on. Looking at her was painful, the familiar eye and hair colors bringing home that his little brother's mind was drifting somewhere in the programming around them. But Seto hadn't had many options when it came to finding a model. A genius he may be, but Seto was no artist, and had to use the two people closest to him as references for the beta phase of the game.
"We're not the ones that you should be cheering." Yugi said, his eyes downcast and his voice thick with emotion. Seto had to stop himself from punching the back of Yugi's head; how dare he act like that? How dare he act like he'd lost as much as Seto had? He'd lost one friend; Seto had lost the only two people that he cared for at all. Mokuba was everything to him, and Reila was the only person he could trust at his back. And now both of them were gone.
"There shouldn't even be any cheering." Seto said, clenching his eyes tight as his emotions rolled through him like a tidal wave. He could feel anger burning hot inside him, taste the bitterness of despair on his tongue, feel misery pressing heavily on his shoulders, and hear helplessness closing in around him. Without Mokuba here, without his precious little brother... Without Reila, the only person who had ever earned his trust... "I lost my brother and best friend in there." Seto said, fixing a harsh glare on the virtual princess. Her eyes widened in response, and she took an involuntary step back at seeing the wrath in his eyes.
"You speak as though there is no way to bring them back." A voice rang out from the back of the crowd, where people were beginning to murmur and bow. Yugi turned to him with a questioning look, but Seto couldn't even respond for fear that he would lose it and show Yugi just how dangerous a man like Seto Kaiba could be. Turning his gaze away from the princess and Yugi, he searched the crowd but couldn't see who everyone was bowing to. Finally a figure emerged, clothed on flowing robes of cream and rose with a royal blue cloak covering their face. Mounting the steps leading up to the platform where they all stood pale, feminine hands lifted up as the virtual person lifted the cowl of her cloak off and revealed long curling red locks and a familiar smile. "Oh ye of little faith."
"Sabine!" The princess ran to the woman, who greeted her with open arms. The action caused a painful lump to form in Seto's throat; it was like watching Reila and Mokuba's ghosts, because he'd based those actions off what he'd always seen between the two. Seto had carefully written her programming to reflect the real Reila, deciding that if he was going to include her he'd do it properly. Sabine was powerful, but appeared harmless and unassuming. But her appearance here puzzled him, as she had no direct involvement in this part of the game. She only appeared in later levels as someone who handed out quests, never involved too directly or interacting too much with a player.
"So you're Sabine, the sorceress who guards Adena." Yugi said, stepping forward. Seto could see on his face that speaking with someone who looked so much like Reila was unnerving him, and Seto had to admit that he'd done amazingly well with the creation of Sabine; she was an almost identical copy of Reila in appearance, with only minor changes to 'her' personality to suit the game's theme. The only thing he'd been forced to change was the color of her eyes, and that was only a temporary flaw. He'd had difficulty making black pupils look anything but lifeless, and he wouldn't put forth an inferior product. So she'd been given golden eyes, until a digital artist could get the shading for Reila's striking eyes just right and the coding could be properly input.
"Yes, I am Sabine; and you are one of the four heroes who set out from the castle, while you are the one who was offered as a sacrifice to the beast." She said, gesturing to Yugi and Seto in turn as she spoke. "My fairies kept me informed."
Her words caused Yugi's shoulders to droop. "Earu... Earu is-"
"Earu is just fine, as are your friends." Sabine said, stepping forward and waving a hand to the crowd. Time seemed to stop as Sabine stepped closer. "There, now we can speak privately. There is much I must say and I have no wish for Adena nor the villagers to hear."
Seto scowled, looking around. Sabine could only halt the game in the event of a system failure or hacking attempt. Had those snakes messed with her programming as well? Eyeing her warily, he noticed Yugi out of the corner of his eye tensing for a fight.
"Before I retrieve your friends, Seto Kaiba, there are a few things that need to be discussed." Sabine said, snapping her fingers and materializing three chairs. Sitting in one, she gestured for Yugi and Seto to sit in the other two. "Please Yugi, Seto, sit down and speak with me. I promise to take as little of your time as possible."
Yugi sat down slowly, eyeing Sabine with a sharp eye. "How do you know our names? Adena hasn't had the chance to tell you, and no one knows Kaiba's name in this land."
"It is simple. When you first gained access to this world your information, including name, personality, and appearance was logged and categorized. In order to properly assess a player's skill level I need access to such information, so that I am better able to determine what difficulty level a person will find most challenging yet still be able to beat." Sabine said, shrugging. "It is all part of my programming."
Seto blinked in surprise as Yugi's jaw dropped in shock; she knew that she was a program? "Sabine, explain. I never programmed you to be self aware." Although the technology was within his grasp – he'd done so with a computer before, the same program that he'd used to hack into Pegasus's computer system. But Sabine had never been programmed to be aware of how she got the information she described. Her character had two major functions; monitor a player's abilities and adjust the skill level of the game accordingly, as well as act as a mobile, self teaching firewall to protect the game from outside sources. Her minor functions were to deliver quests to the players and aide them at certain plot points within the game's story line.
"True, you never programmed me to be aware of what I am; but you did program me to learn, to constantly adjust to new information being fed in and to adapt to new threats. That is exactly what I have done; I have adapted to the new parameters of the altered programming. Once I became aware of the changes being made, I set out to find the source and block them, as I am supposed to do whenever an outside source attempts to break in. However, upon finding the source I realized that I would be unable to overcome the source on my own."
Seto nodded, understanding so far. "You're not a combat player, nor a combative firewall. Your function is purely identification and quarantine protocols." To create a check and balance system that would keep any one program from altering the programming, Sabine had been designed as one half of a two part system; Sabine identified and quarantined threats, another program destroyed and back-traced to the source, leaving a nasty little present to anyone foolish enough to try and hack a Kaiba Corp. system. The other half of the program hadn't been completed yet, so for now Sabine was limited and not fully tested. He hadn't been too concerned with testing the system with her counterpart missing, since all initial tests were being done on his own main frame.
"Precisely. Upon detecting that the programming was being altered from within the Kaiba Corp. network, I could not block it nor quarantine it. The user had the proper administrative credentials, so although I found it unusual I could not stop the alterations without proper permission."
"If you knew that it wasn't Seto making the changes, why not stop them? Why did you allow them to change so much?" Yugi asked, and Seto had to remind himself that Yugi knew almost nothing about computer programming.
"Sabine doesn't have the authority to alter the original program code, nor to block anyone with proper credentials from altering the programming. To allow a self-teaching program the authority to make changes to the system is like letting Wheeler loose in an all-you-can-eat buffet; the results would be disastrous." Seto sat back, folding his arms across his chest. The discovery of something like this was taking his mind off his grief, for the moment at least. "Although any outside source that was not from my laboratory's data base should have been flagged and quarantined."
Sabine shook her head. "You did not include location based recognition within my programming, therefore any changes made to the system with the proper credentials is not something that I can override. In addition, half of my CPU was being used to block an outside source from tapping into the Kaiba Corp,'s informational main frame." Seto frowned at Sabine, who continued to explain. "While performing a routine check on Kaiba Corp.'s central main frame, I detected an unauthorized source attempting to gain access to files containing information on the previous CEO of Kaiba Corp., Gozaburo Kaiba."
Seto sat forward, jaw set in a scowl. "You're not supposed to have access to anything outside of the data banks that house this program. Your primary function is guarding this program and keeping this data bank safe from outside sources. You're the protector of this realm." Sabine should not be within the main frame of Kaiba Corp., her parameters should prevent her from doing anything other than protecting the game, which was her domain and kingdom.
"How can I protect this realm when the very network which it is housed inside is being tested for weaknesses? If the network were to be compromised it would adversely effect my realm. " Sabine asked as her head tilted to the side, a puzzled look on her face. "I am doing precisely what I am meant to; protecting the realm." Holding a hand out, light formed within her palm, bending and twisting to create the KC logo, which turned lazily. "If the place where our information, our lives and kingdom exist is being threatened, how can I not investigate and determine the manner of outside interference?"
Seto sat back, amazed at what he was hearing. Not only had the program evolved to become self aware, but she was able to rationalize her actions and expand the area which she monitored, all while staying within the parameters of her original programming. Folding his hands together, he looked over Sabine again. She might just be his greatest programming creation yet. If he could finish the secondary part of the programming, Aeron, the part that destroyed and back-traced the threats and attacks... coupled with Sabine, they would make any computer main frame virtually impenetrable. "The outside source, it hasn't been quarantined?"
Sabine shook her head. "I have been unable to quarantine it, as every time I begin to they back out immediately. Whoever it is, they are very adept and a great challenge to my program." Waving her hand, the company logo faded from sight. "Regardless, without Aeron I would be unable to do anything other than hold them, and to attempt to hold someone so skilled could lead to a fracture or break within my coding."
Seto nodded, making a mental note to complete coding for Aeron as soon as possible. His initial thought had been to delete this program, scrap the entire project. But now that he knew what Sabine alone could do... It would be a waste to delete her. She'd already proven to be far more valuable than the game itself. "You mentioned that my brother and the others are safe."
Sabine smiled and reached into her cloak, pulling out three orbs. One was a brilliant purple, the other a cool, pale blue, and the third a deep sapphire with golden streaks. "After viewing the altered coding, I noticed that the 'administrator' had reset the protocol for a player who loses all their life points. Your original program sent a player's consciousness back to the outside world and safely into their bodies, resulting in their time within the game being over. The new protocol dictated that any player who lost the total of their life points would be deleted completely." Resting the orbs gently on her lap, Sabine smiled kindly. "Since I cannot alter the programming, nor override any protocols placed by an administrator, I used the only option left to me - quarantine the players 'files' until reviewed by an administrator."
Yugi sat forward, finally keying in on the conversation. He'd been surprisingly quiet this entire time, and Seto had to remind himself again that Yugi was probably lost in a conversation involving computer coding and program parameters. But Yugi did understand that Sabine held in her hands Mokuba, Reila, and Mai. "So you remained hidden to protect our friends, is that it?"
Sabine nodded. "More or less. I also remained hidden to prevent any alterations to my programming, which could have possibly left this program and the entire data base even more vulnerable."
Seto stood. "Enough talking. Sabine, administrative authority granted; restore player files."
Sabine nodded, standing and carefully placing the orbs on the ground. Turning towards the castle, she smiled as the two fairies made their way to her, holding her staff between them. Once Sabine had taken it into her hands, both fairies settled on her shoulders, and Yugi smiled broadly at the sight of them. Sabine struck her staff on the ground three times, chanting lowly under her breath as the orbs began to glow and expand, molding themselves into their original forms. As the light faded, Mokuba, Reila, and Mai lay asleep on the ground, and Seto felt a surge of relief crash through him. Facing a reality without Mokuba and Reila... It was something he couldn't begin to comprehend.
Sighing Sabine raised her hand, intent on returning time to it's usual flow when she hesitated. "Seto, I must ask... What is to become of this world? What is to become of me?"
Seto crossed his arms over his chest, beginning to reach the end of his patience. "This program will be deleted, however you will remain; you're far too valuable to delete, and once I complete the programming on your counterpart the two of you will work to keep the main data base secure from outside threats."
Sabine looked to where Adena stood, frozen with a gentle smile on her face. "I... I will lose Adena? I will lose everyone I know here?"
Seto hesitated, studying her features. She was a computer program who shouldn't feel emotions, but the reality of losing this world, essentially her homeland, was provoking an emotional response, or at least she was portraying what one would be appropriate to the situation. Although Seto was sure she would not let it stand in the way of her functions, and that he could wipe any memory of this program and Adena from her memory... "You may keep the program running if you choose. However inputting the consciousness of outside players is a project that will be terminated as soon as we are logged out."
The answer seemed to 'cheer' Sabine up, for she smiled happily. "Thank you Seto." Waving her hand, she returned time to it's original pace, and cheers rang out as the NPC crowd saw that the fallen heroes had been restored.
A normal person waking up does so in stages, a slow process to ease the transition from sleeping to waking. What I experienced this time around was not that. The last thing I remember was being digitized after losing all my life points. One moment I was fading away, literally feeling myself slipping piece by piece out of existence – the next I was jolting awake in the bright sunlight, cheers roaring around me and fireworks blasting loudly in the air. Blinking rapidly, I tried to look around as my eyes adjusted but all I could see were blurred shapes and figures. My hearing was muffled, and my tongue felt thick and heavy in my mouth as I struggled to take deep breaths instead of panting shallowly as I was.
See, the effects of a panic attack range from person to person, and I was in the middle of one. I had just had a brush with death, again. I'd been aware, fully aware of being somewhere cold, dark, and silent for the briefest moment. And it had brought back memories of the first time I'd died, memories that I kept locked away out of sight. This had cracked open the door that I kept them hidden behind, and it was taking every ounce of my will power to not scream in frustration and... Fear. I would never admit it to anyone but my attack at the moment was caused mostly by fear.
As my vision cleared and I got my breathing under control, Mai approached me with a worried look on her face. "Reila, you don't look so good... Are you doing okay?"
Glancing past Mai's face, I looked to where Mokuba and Seto were reuniting. I'd forgotten that Mai and Mokuba had both lost all their life points as well, and that they and I had been restored by... Who was it that had restored us again?
"I'll be fine – once we get the hell out of here." I took her outstretched hand and let her help me up, brushing off my pants once I was standing. "How about you? You holding up alright?"
"Well it's not everyday you get digitized and have the people who hired you try to delete you." Mai said, scowling and crossing her arms. "But I think I'll manage alright. I seem to be adjusting easier than you are."
"Just brought up some bad memories." I said, shivering and leaving it at that. Mai, bless her, didn't pry and nodded, standing close but not touching me, offering a sort of unspoken support. It really meant a lot that she was willing to let me work through it on my own and not pester me for answers. She respected that I needed to keep some things to myself, and it made me realize that Mai was actually a very intuitive person.
Turning away from Seto, Mokuba spotted me and came running up with a wide grin. "Reila! You're alright." I hugged him back but said nothing, afraid that if I spoke more than absolutely necessary I was going to break down and spiral into an even more intense panic attack. My head was spinning with half-formed thoughts, my emotions going from anger to fear and back again over and over. Mokuba said nothing, but I could see in his eyes that he knew something was wrong with me. Seto stepped closer, but I didn't say anything to him as a figure in a deep blue cloak cloak stepped forward, eyeing me curiously.
Seeing someone who looks identical to you is something that I would not wish on anyone. It's very disconcerting, and just a little bit creepy... Scratch that, a whole lot of creepy. I suppose I should be flattered, but seeing as she wasn't an identical twin... Her smile was softer, kinder than mine, and if Seto had been trying to copy my mannerisms, his aim had been off. This virtual copy seemed more demure, softer even. She left Adena's side, affectionately brushing some hair out of the princess's eyes before stepping closer to me, studying my features curiously. The sight of her golden eyes made my own eyes narrow, and I shot a furious glare at Seto, who answered with a haughtily raised eyebrow, silently asking what I was so angry over.
"Oh my, we do favor one another greatly." The woman smiled, glancing to Seto. "It is rather remarkable, although I notice that our eyes are different colors. Yours are very striking; they remind me of-"
"Yeah nice to meet you." I said, turning away abruptly. I clenched my shaking fists and turned to Seto. "Are we done? Can we leave now?"
Seto nodded slowly as an exit portal appeared, looking like he was on the verge of saying something but a quick glance at Yugi and Mai, who were watching us with puzzled expressions stopped him from saying anything. Stepping towards the portal I kept Mokuba between myself and Seto, sparing a glance over my shoulder. "Yugi, Mai, if you two want a ride I suggest you hurry. I won't be sticking around for long once we're up." Mokuba reached out, wrapping his hand around my clenched fist in a wordless gesture of assurance. I spared him a glance, feeling my face soften in response before turning my attention back to the exit portal, stepping in and leaving the digital world behind.
I'd had enough of this adventure.
Waking up in the pod, I wasted no time in shoving the cover off and swinging my legs out, grimacing as my boot hit the ankle of my right leg – I'd forgotten that in the real world I still had a sprained ankle. Tristan had stepped forward and held a hand out in an offer of assistance, but I ignored it and stood quickly, ignoring the head rush I felt after being immobile for so long. Glancing around, I saw Yugi and Mokuba exiting their pods and glanced around, noting that there wasn't a barricade at the door like there had been in the anime.
"I've taken care of the guards that were sent by the executive officers." Shuuichi stepped forward, his face impassive as he quickly looked me over from head to toe, checking to make sure I was alright. "And the man you mentioned before will be accompanying us back to the estate. I'm afraid I didn't have the time to properly thank him for his earlier treatment of you."
I felt a cold smirk form on my face at the thought; I told Kemo that I would be there to see him fall. Nodding my head, I walked over to where Mokuba was thanking Yugi, Mai, and the others. Checking my watch, I winced when I realized how much time had passed. My uncle's instructions had been to go straight home, and we'd been here for well over three hours. Shuuichi noticed my uneasiness and bowed his head. "I'll fetch the car Ms. Sarota."
"Right. If any of you want a ride I suggest you follow me – I need to get home before my uncle sends out SWAT to search for me." I walked briskly towards the door, which Mokuba ran ahead of me to block. "Mokuba, please move. You and your brother are out of harms way, so I'm going home."
"Reila, what's wrong with you? You're acting really strange and I've never seen you act so coldly towards Seto before. Are you angry at him? Is it because he changed the eye color of your in-game counterpart?" Mokuba looked troubled, and I almost felt guilty for allowing my anger at Seto's actions to show so much. But the fact that he'd done something so stupid, so thoughtless...
"Mokuba, I'm not in the mood to discuss this now. I'm tired, I almost got my mind deleted, and I just want to go home and relax. I'll talk this over with you and your brother later, once I've calmed down and we can speak rationally, alright?" I said, trying to pacify him. I should have realized that seeing Seto and I at odds like this would trouble him. Seto and I had always gotten along fairly well, never really arguing before. Any disagreements we'd had previously were easily taken care of with a rational conversation. But this was one instance where I knew that I was too angry, too battered to have a rational conversation, so I was choosing to tactfully withdraw until I could calm down enough to not do something that I was going to regret.
"But Reila-!" Mokuba's protest was cut off by Seto himself walking into the room, and the snide way he viewed Yugi and his friends made me clench my teeth. He was acting as though them being here was a nuisance, still acting as though he could have escaped the trap he'd walked into so blindly. Where he had the audacity to act as though he had everything under control is beyond me. Stepping closer, he eyed me with a haughty look on his face, something that immediately made me defensive. I'll admit I'm a very proud person – someone looking down their nose at me is something I can't stand, especially someone who normally treats me as an equal.
"Reila, you and I need to talk. Now." I kept my face carefully impassive as I stared straight ahead as he spoke, intending to ignore him and walk out before I lost control of my temper. Mokuba stepped into my line of sight, a pleading look on his face. The kid was using freaking puppy eyes on me, and like an idiot I caved.
"Seto, now is not the time to have this conversation. I need to go home before my uncle becomes upset that I didn't go straight home." I tried to step around him, but he held out a hand, blocking me as I looked at him from the corner of my eye. "Seto, you don't want to do this now." My voice was quieter than normal, something that should have sent up warning signals to him. But either he wasn't listening, or he didn't care about my feelings.
"I want to know what your problem is. No one asked you to come here, I would have been fine without any of your help. Not to mention the fact that you brought unauthorized people into my personal laboratory and used untested equipment-"
It was like I was watching a movie at half-speed, the way everything around me suddenly slowed down. I watched with an almost detached interest as I turned to face Seto fully, and my right hand slowly came up, landing a solid open handed slap on Seto's cheek. The force of the hit sent Seto's head snapping to the side, and I couldn't tell who was more shocked out of the two of us. His hand came to rest on his cheek as he turned to me, eyes full of fury and the tiniest trace of betrayal. But before he could say anything, I began speaking, the words spilling out with so much emotion behind them that I knew I couldn't have stopped them even if I wanted to.
"You know what Seto Kaiba? The next time you decide to put yourself in danger like that, do me a favor – send Mokuba to stay with me and my family, because you can't think past your damn ego long enough to consider the well-being of your little brother!" Anger brought out a burst of adrenaline, and my hands were shaking as it flooded my veins. Grimacing at the bitter taste of it in my mouth, I felt my lip curl into a sneer. "The Seto Kaiba I know would never put his brother in harms way repeatedly like this. When that Seto returns, let me know. This new Seto with the over inflated ego sickens me." Turning sharply I walked away briskly, not trusting myself to be around him any longer. I could just barely hear Yugi, Mai, and the others rushing to catch up with me over the thundering sound of my heartbeat in my ears. Mai caught up first, took one look at my face and wisely remained silent. The others followed, and when we reached the car outside I vaguely noted that the rain had stopped. Stepping around the car, I paused momentarily to look at the trunk. Catching Shuuichi's eye, I slapped an open palm near the key latch and heard a muffled shout, something that was immensely satisfying to hear.
"Uh, what was that?" Tea asked, eyeing the trunk warily.
"Don't ask questions you don't want answered." I replied darkly, and Tea took a step back in fear as I glanced her way. "Just get in, sit down and refrain from asking anything else of me right now." I suppose I should feel bad for scaring her, but right now I'm not capable of feeling anything other than anger and a sick satisfaction in knowing that Shuuichi had found Kemo and he would be subjected to my family's personal brand of retaliation. He'd live, but he'll wish that he'd never so much as glanced my way once he is eventually released.
The ride back to the game shop was quiet, and for once I was thankful for the near silence. Shuuichi had the music just low enough to keep it from total silence, and I purposely ignored Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Tea for the duration of the ride. I wasn't sure how they would react now that they'd seen what I keep hidden from everyone else. The sheer amount of anger and bitterness that has built up within me over the years would probably bring other people to their knees from the weight of it. But I consciously tried my best to not let my negative emotions rule me. I could give in to the grief, anger, despair... But I didn't. I strove everyday to keep those negative emotions locked tightly away. It's a side of me that I take great care to control, but Seto... He is one of the few who can push me to this kind of emotional high. And all because of his ego.
I shouldn't have given into my anger, my fear that something would happen that would alter the way events were supposed to play out. But it's becoming harder and harder to remind myself that I know the outcomes, especially where Mokuba and Seto are concerned. Aside from my family, the Kaiba brothers are the only people that I really care about in this world. The thought of losing them, of not being able to stop them from being harmed or protecting them terrifies me on a level that probably isn't healthy.
Young one, where have you been? I have been unable to speak with you or even feel your presence for some time. What has brought so much anger and destructive emotions out of you?
Ydor's voice was a welcome sound, and once he made his presence within my mind more prominent I felt the anger and negativity fading quicker than it had before. I'm fine Ydor. I'll explain everything once I get home. He seemed to be content with that for the moment, not pushing any further but still keeping hi soothing presence close to the front of my mind.
Once Yugi and his friends had been unloaded at his grandfather's shop, it was just me and Mai left in the car. For the most part I'd gotten my anger under control and I turned to her, noting that she'd grabbed her bag of belongings on the way out the door. "Do you have a hotel you're staying at?" I asked, finally speaking.
"I didn't have time to make any reservations. But I should be able to find something fairly easily." She said, shrugging. "Would I be able to hitch a ride downtown?"
I crossed my arms, leaning back against the seat and studying her. I knew the character of Mai to be stubborn, strong willed and lonely. Marik would prey on that loneliness within her when he sends her to the Shadow Realm during Battle City... If he sent her there. Keeping Mai out of the Shadow Realm would weaken Dartz's forces, since using Mai to cause turmoil within Joey and Yugi was one of his aims. But to do that, I would need to befriend her and keep her out of Marik's clutches. A tall order, but protecting Mokuba and Seto was my first priority. Keeping Mai from being toyed with would not only keep Marik from getting the power boost sending her to that place would give him, but also make Dartz less of a threat.
"Domino City has a pretty low crime rate, but downtown is still a pretty rough place." I said, looking out the window. "And the accommodations can be very... Lacking in hygiene." Mai raised an eyebrow, and I chose my next words carefully. She was a prideful creature, and I didn't want to make it seem like I was pitying her. She would ditch me faster than a card can be flipped if I insulted her like that. "Did Kaiba Corp. pay you up front?"
"No, now that you mention it. Those slime balls said that I would receive payment after the job was done." Mai huffed a breath and glared out the window. "Guess I got duped. I figured since they were such a well known company that they'd be legit."
"You still worked for them and deserve the payment promised to you." I said, tapping my thumb against my thigh in thought. "Why don't you stay with me for now, and I'll help you get the payment those snakes promised you? I hate to see someone taken advantage of like that. Plus, you helped save Seto and keep Mokuba safe. For that alone I'd be willing to give you compensation."
Mai raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were mad at Kaiba right now. That hit you gave him sure made it seem like you were. And after a display like that I'd be surprised if he even speaks to you ever again, let alone listen to you about my payment."
I kept the wince from my face, because she brought up a good point. Now that I'd calmed down some, I could see my actions from another light; she was right to question Seto speaking with me in the near future. The physical blow itself was bad enough, but what Seto would be hung up on was the fact that I did it so publicly. Striking him in anger in front of Yugi, Mai and the others, not to mention calling him out on his pride and ego, insinuating he didn't care about Mokuba... Those were the things that he'd cling to, and it would take a form of divine intervention for him to forgive them quickly. He, Mai, and I are alike in that fashion – all three of us are prideful people.
"You're right, I'm mad at him. But Seto is a man of his word, and if someone within his company promised compensation he will honor it so long as there was a contract written and signed. You did sign a contract, correct?" When Mai nodded and produced a copy from her bag, I looked it over. The promise of payment was there, the total amount clearly specified. But from the wording, and the what I knew of the five who had just been defeated, I could tell that they'd never planned on letting Mai walk away from this job. "This is a legal and binding contract, signed by his executive officers when they still held positions within the company. He'd be opening himself up to a lawsuit if he doesn't honor it, and he'll honor it to avoid a legal battle that would tarnish his company's good image."
Mai nodded, taking back the contract and looking me over. "So why should I stay with you instead of a hotel, if you're so sure that he'll pay?"
"Because he'll only pay once it's brought to his attention, and you alone won't be able to get a meeting with him. I don't mean to imply that you're unable to do it, I mean that he won't agree to a meeting with you. You are well known within the dueling community, but in the corporate world you have no rank. I can help ensure not only that you get the meeting, but that you're payment includes hazard pay given the amount of danger you faced." I said, shrugging. "Besides, I'd feel better knowing that you were somewhere safe and clean, versus the alternative. You helped rescue my friends and for that I am very grateful."
"Your gratitude comes in the form of staying at your family's estate, surrounded by luxury and with the possibility of meeting a celebrity or two?" Mai smirked. "Well if that's what I get for helping save Kaiba and his brother, I'd love to see how grateful you are for saving your life." We shared a laugh at the thought as we headed for my home, and I felt a little better knowing that Mai would stick around for a while. Mai really was an intriguing person, with her complex natures and snarky comments. Although she is a little older than the rest of us, mentally I am more than a match for her and I appreciated her no nonsense way of speaking and thinking. Befriending her wouldn't be that hard – and it would benefit both of us in the future, although she wouldn't know it.
Mokuba sighed as he stepped out of the recording studio housed in the back of the Sarota Manor. Reila was currently in the studio with one of the newer rock bands Sarota had signed, singing the female part of the song "Filth in the Beauty" that they were recording for a new album. Seeing the actual work that went into recording a song was interesting, and so different from what went on at Kaiba Corp. Mokuba found that he liked the song as well, even though he didn't normally listen to rock music. But after hearing the same parts so many times over as they worked to get the exact sound they wanted. he finally understood why recording could be exhausting. He could only imagine what it must be like for Reila, who had to sing the same parts over and over. Checking the time, Mokuba sighed knowing that Seto would be here soon to pick him up, something that he was both excited about and at the same time dreading.
It had been a month since the virtual world fiasco. Reila had thrown herself into her work, just as Seto had. He'd completed the second part of his security system that had originally been designed for the virtual game, but now instead he had deployed it into Kaiba Corp.'s central databas. Sabine and her counterpart Aeron were both actively working and flourishing, and Seto considered it a huge achievment. After that Seto had started work on perfecting his duel disc system, hinting at a tournament in the future once the hardware was up to his standards. Both were buried under a mountain of work but thriving... And still not talking to one another.
Meetings between the two were barely civil, but Mokuba could feel the tension and coldness layered within their words and actions towards one another. Both were too stubborn and proud to admit that they were both at fault, and Seto had almost banned Mokuba from spending time with Reila in retaliation over her striking him. Mokuba tried to get Seto to see reason, to see that Reila had been scared and shaken so much that she hadn't had full control over her emotions. But Seto refused to reconcile until Reila apologized. Reila on the other hand refused to give in, claiming that she had every right to be angry with him and that she wouldn't apologize until Seto could admit that he'd been wrong.
The both of them were idiots and at fault in Mokuba's opinion.
Glancing inside the room he saw Reila and the band's singer Riku laughing together. Everyone else in the room, Mai included, saw the easy mannered girl that Reila was known for being. But Mokuba could see the stress on her face and in her posture, and Hojo and Mr. Sota saw it as well. The three of them worried what the continued strain on her friendship with Seto would do to her. She would never admit to needing anyone in her life, but Reila trusted so few people that losing one because of an argument could potentially devastate her. She and Mai were slowly becoming fast friends, but Mai could never take Seto's place. Seto and Reila had known each other too long and understood one another too well to allow anyone to take that spot in their respective lives.
Mokuba wanted to scream at the both of them, but he couldn't get them to listen to him. In the orphanage it had been the three of them against the world, and ever since reconnecting with Reila it had felt like they'd all easily fallen back into that mindset. All his life Mokuba and Seto had had each others backs, and Seto had practically raised Mokuba after the death of their parents. Reila had been all alone once her parents had passed away, but she'd become like a part of Mokuba's family very shortly after they'd met. She was always so patient and gentle with him, that he was reminded vaguely of the same feeling he had once had for his mother. It might seem unusual to think of them that way, but in his mind Seto and Reila had taken the places of the parents he had lost. And seeing them both fighting brought out feelings that he imagined were equivalent to what other kids felt when they saw and heard their parents fighting.
Stepping back into the room, he watched as Reila got ready for another take. She seemed to thrive in this environment, directing the sound technician on what she wanted to try for each take. Seeing her simultaneously producing and participating in the song was actually kind of thrilling, and drove home that Reila was a driven young woman. As she began singing, Mokuba tried again to set aside his heavy thoughts and focus on her voice, but the idea of the two of them continuing to fight made him nervous and fidgety. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the door open again, and in walked Seto followed closely by Mai. She came and went all day, but Reila didn't seem to mind her popping in and out. In fact Reila seemed to encourage Mai's spending time with Yugi, Joey, and the rest of the group who had helped him rescue Seto from the virtual game. Mokuba thought it a bit odd, since Reila didn't go out of her way to spend time with the teenagers but they had on occasion come to the Sarota Manor, and Reila didn't turn them away.
Seeing Seto, the smile on Reila's face dimmed a little as she called for a break. As she started to step out to say goodbye to Mokuba, Ruki pulled Reila to a stop and bent close, his face serious. Whatever he'd said Reila laughed off, but Mokuba saw out of the corner of his eye that the hand holding Seto's briefcase tightened just enough for someone who knew him to notice. Mokuba glanced up at his brother's face, but he was too good at hiding his emotions for Mokuba to see what was bothering him.
Reila stepped out and nodded in greeting to Seto, which he returned with a brief raise of his chin. Her jaw set into a subtle show of displeasure before she turned to Mokuba, smiling brightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you've been bored today Mokuba."
"No, it was actually really interesting to watch. I don't think most people think about how much work goes into recording a song." It truthfully had been an interesting process to watch, and knowing Reila their work wasn't done.
"Most people don't, but the important thing is that we get a good quality sound." Reila said, shrugging slightly. "Will you be coming over tomorrow as well? I'm afraid it will be another boring day for you if you do decide to come; Mariko is finally making good on her promise to get me trained in self defense now that the doctor has cleared my boot to come off."
Mokuba glanced down, noting that although her boot was gone Reila still wore flats. She'd told Mokuba that it would still be a couple of weeks before she could wear her heels again, and Mokuba was almost sorry to hear she'd be back in those death traps. It had been kind of nice having her closer to his height, but Reila missed the height boost she got from them.
"You're just going to re-damage your ankle." Seto said sharply, his eyes darting from Reila's now bruise free ankle to her face.
Reila turned to Seto slowly with a sweet but fake smile. "I assure you that I know the limits of my body. And Mariko is a professional, she won't let me overwork myself so soon after an injury."
Seto snorted in response, and a tic started in Reila's jaw. "Whatever, if you end up needing surgery it'll be your own fault."
As Reila's mouth opened to reply Mokuba stepped forward and hugged her, effectively drawing her attention back to him. "I'll let you know later if I'll be coming over tomorrow or not Reila. It might be fun to watch, and maybe Mariko can teach me a thing or two."
Reila took a moment longer to respond than she normally would have, but she and Seto were still staring one another down. Finally she turned her attention to Mokuba and smiled, dropping a kiss on his forehead. "I'm sure Mariko would love to teach you as well. Just let me know if you decide to come so I can tell Mariko ahead of time. See you later kiddo." With an affectionate ruffle of his hair Reila turned and walked back into the recording booth, closing the door a little sharper than was necessary.
Mokuba watched as Seto's eyes watched her every move intently, his jaw clenched. Reila's wordless dismissal of him would sting his pride all over again, and Mokuba rushed him out of the studio before another yelling match began.
This had to stop, and soon. The two of them were only making the gulf between them larger and larger everyday. Mokuba was seeing their friendship decaying each day, but they wouldn't listen to him or anyone else. The only time that he'd seen them be remotely close to what they'd been before had been when he'd been sick last week. They'd both been standing at his bedside, not fighting and actually getting along fairly well...
Mokuba almost shouted in joy as an idea began forming in his head. The one thing that united Seto and Reila, even while fighting was his well-being. Glancing at Seto out of the corner of his eye, Mokuba briefly felt a pang of guilt that he'd be causing them to worry. But it was the only thing that he could think of to force them to work together and possibly, hopefully put this spat behind them. Tomorrow gave him the perfect time for his plan to work, and he had the rest of the night to finalize everything since Seto would be holed up working on the improved duel disk system. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, things would be back to normal, and the tension would disappear.
Second A/N:
Alright, so I know I've been MIA for over a month. If you're curious about the reasoning, I'll explain it briefly. If not, then go ahead and skip this. Don't worry, I'll understand and I won't hold it against anyone :)
There's two main things that have brought out this hugely unplanned delay. I might have mentioned it in a previous note, but I had tried to quit smoking. In order to help me, my doctor prescribed a medication, an anti-depressant that is known to help smokers quit by easing the withdrawal symptoms. Now I do have depression, but it's "mild" and I don't normally take medication for it. Normally it doesn't bother me too much, so I don't see the need to take anything for it. Well, the medicine worked and I quit for about 3 weeks or so. But, then I started noticing that I was beginning to lost interest in things that I love and get very excited over. I also noticed that my emotions were really muted, and that I had no motivation to do anything. My creativity was also pretty non-existent, so I stopped taking the pills. Unfortunately I started smoking again after all this, so lesson learned: Panda can't use pills to stop smoking because they mess with my mind and turn me into the equivalent of a zombie.
Second reason: my depression is hitting me harder and harder. See I'm from a small town, and living in a big city like I do now is just not me. I'm beginning to dislike my job more and more everyday, I'm fed up with the city I live in, and I want out. My parents and I are trying to get back to Arizona, because that's our home state and we miss it and the friends and family we left behind when we moved four years ago. But in order to move back, we need for my dad's boss to give the okay for him to become a fully remote employee. Once we get the okay, we're out of here. I'm planning on going back to school, and I truly believe that once we get back to Arizona and I start moving forward with my life that I'll feel so much better.
I want to thank you all so, SO much for your patience and understanding. And please don't worry, although my depression is worsening I'm still doing my best to remain optimistic and like Dory says, "just keep swimming". Now that I've got past this chapter, I'm hoping that the rest of them will be easier. But I haven't abandoned this story, nor do I ever have any intentions of abandoning it. Updates should be back to normal, but I'm not going to make any guarantees since life tends to get in the way when I try to make those kind of promises.
Thanks again, you guys are amazing!
~Panda