Chapter 5

Kisara

"Okay, we met at this point in time…"

"Right, so in theory the oldest you can get this kid and still have him believable as our son is about fourteen and a half, and even that's pushing it."

Seto and I were talking over how we were going to get the second of the curse-breakers back into existence. Abidos III had died thousands of years ago, and the magic I was going to use was…I'm sure if it occurred to anyone back on Chaotia that someone would try this, it would be forbidden. I was going to arrange for him to be my second child, with time sped up so that he would be of an age to be useful to us.

"Oh, Seto," I sat back and smiled seductively at him, "it wouldn't be pushing it if one assumed we'd slept together when we first met."

"Sara, you and I both know I didn't like you back then." He was blushing. I counted that as a victory.

"True…you know that, and I know that, and every other student of mine knows that…but does the rest of the world need to know that?"

He was quiet for a minute. I stayed quiet, too; I knew how to play the waiting game. Finally, he sighed. "Okay, so what's your story for our mysterious son who's older than Safiya only now appearing?"

I was ready for that, and I answered immediately. "We met, things got hot quickly, I used illusions and tech-tricking magic during the wedding so that it wasn't obvious that I was pregnant, and…I didn't get out much after the wedding, you remember? Our son was born practically right after the honeymoon, born prematurely, and you were worried about whether or not he'd live, so you kept it away from the press. And afterwards, when the child survived, you were embarrassed over the fact that we'd had such a close call over your lack of self-control…"

"Hah."

"…Or lack of resolve in keeping me off, whichever, that you kept him hidden for a while, with private tutors to educate him. And besides, you and I both know you hadn't received a good role model for how to be a father, so you needed time to think about how you were going to go about it."

I let him think about my story for a minute. Then I gave an extra push. "It's also why we don't have any picture records of his growing up."

Finally, he caved. "Fine: I don't see any holes in your fiction. Obviously though, Yugi won't buy it."

"I was already planning on telling Yugi the truth."

Then he took hold of my hands. "Kisara…my Blue-Eyes…if you go through with this, what will happen to you?"

I considered rolling my eyes. Making eye contact told me not to, though; he truly was worried about me. "Seto…this plan would be suicide if it wasn't for three specific points. One, you and I are both reincarnations of ancient Egyptians; two, I'm already pregnant; and three, I'm only just far enough along in the pregnancy that I can tell that we do indeed have a son, so I have free rein to change the rest of it to what is needed. I'll be fine."

In the silence that followed, where I knew he wasn't buying it, I finally admitted, "This will knock out my powers."

"For how long?"

"Um…at least a year. It's one of those spells that has odds of one's powers never returning."

His grip tightened. "You're potentially giving up your powers, something you've said a Chaotian would rather die than do, for your brother whom you've rarely set eyes on before now?"

"I'm potentially giving up my powers for the safety of the universe, Seto. You know this. Besides, the fact that I know my powers are coming back should reassure you. It's another point that hinges on the reincarnation detail."

After a moment longer, he sighed. "You never do give up, do you?"

Then I did the one thing that always won me any argument: physically kept either of us from talking.

When we ended the kiss, Seto muttered, "Drat you."

"I love you too, Seto. And I'm sorry, but once I start, I have to be alone."

He stood up. "I think I can arrange myself an equipment test, or find some paperwork or something."

I set a hand against his cheek as I stood up myself. "I'll be fine." Then we each went out our respective doors – him to wherever he was actually going, and me to my workroom.

Once I was there, I locked the door, turned off all the communications, and wrote a note to Abidos for when he woke up, because I wasn't laying any bets on being conscious at the same time. I was just glad I'd already explained the basic information to Safiya. She knew she was going to end up with an older brother, and she was fine with it. In fact, I sensed that she was more fine with an older brother than a younger brother.

I won't describe the workings of the spell, partly because it involved kinetically shifting the unborn embryo out of my body and setting the changes on it, along with the single restriction: not to grow beyond fourteen and a half years of age. Then I basically told the spell, and the embryo, to take the power it required from me to reach what I asked of it.

This wouldn't have worked very well, either, if not for Houou. She was also in the room, supplying me with extra strength. I really didn't need to remain conscious once the spell was over. Come to think of it, I didn't need to be conscious at all since I'd already programmed the spell to teach him the correct language, tweak his cells so that he was leaning heavily towards the Egyptian side without officially being Egyptian, and to stop the accelerated growth once he hit how he'd been at mid-teens.

I felt the drain almost immediately. I held onto consciousness just long enough to see my baby grow from barely-formed…to infant-sized…

I faded out around the time it hit Safiya's size, with a final prayer that all would go well.