Chapter 2: Longing for Something More

When the two mermen had stopped swimming around a large collection of sunken ships not far away from where Ryou lived, Seto saw Joey look around suspiciously, before gesturing to Atemu to "go on" somewhere and swimming off in the opposite direction. Assuming he must've been going home, Seto quietly swam after Atemu as he pushed some seaweed aside to swim toward the sunken ships…

But immediately stopped and yelled out in surprise when something grabbed him and slammed him face-first into one of the cave walls.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Seto shoved the stranger off him and turned around to look at him.

Now that he was seeing Atemu's friend properly, he pointed out his sharp "J" scarred green tail, messy blond hair and warm brown eyes…brown eyes that Seto could've sworn he'd seen somewhere before…

"Dogfish?" Seto inquired in surprise.

Joey growled angrily. "Don't call me that, you…!"

His voice faded away as his eyes widened in recognition.

"Rich boy?"

Seto smirked. "Long time, no see, dogfish."

"Don't call me that!" snapped Joey. "The last time you called me that-"

"We were little merboys trying to out-swim Atemu," Seto finished for him, smiling slightly at the memory, "only to lose abysmally."

'I used to always like teasing you,' the blue-tailed High Priest remembered fondly. 'You're still the same as I remember you…hot-tempered, aggressive and deathly loyal…just like a dog.'

Joey crossed his arms, looking both uncomfortable at seeing Seto smiling and suspicious as to his intentions. "So what are you doing around here? Isn't this too far away from the castle for precious rich kids to go?"

"I was ordered to keep an eye on my cousin," Seto replied with a scowl. "And I saw you two swim down here…unfortunately, thanks to you, I didn't see where he vanished off to."

Joey eyed Seto for a moment. "Why should I help you? You just want to keep Atemu locked up in the palace…and as his friend, I won't let you do that."

"I don't care about Atemu looking at human stuff," Seto muttered. "I just want to make sure he's not having any contact with humans. If all Atemu's doing is looking at forks and spoons, then I won't tell the priests."

Joey frowned. "Well, he's not really looking at forks and spoons…but…if you swear not to tell anyone about this…especially not Atemu's father…I'll show you where Atemu went. Agreed?"

He extended his hand. Seto looked down at it for a moment, before gripping it and shaking on it.

"Agreed."

Joey swam off around the ships, Seto close behind him. Finally, after weaving in, out and around enough to make Seto dizzy, they reached a grotto hidden from view by a large sunken ocean liner.

It was amazing.

All along the almost "shelves" of the grotto were hundreds upon thousands of human games…board games, card games, word games, and even rulebooks for games…all piled artistically around each other so that it looked like a beautiful, interactive museum. An opening along the ceiling shone light off the walls and down into the cavern, making the games stand out in reflected-sun spotlights on their shelves. Everything was so well cared for, yet so broken into, that it was obvious the one who owned this place had no other passion in all the world…and it was true, for Atemu truly had no other passion.

"Atemu!" called Joey. "It's me."

Atemu swam down from one of the top shelves of the grotto, smiling at Joey; then when he saw Seto, he froze.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Don't worry, Atemu, I made a deal with him," Joey assured him. "He said he wouldn't tell anyone."

"How charitable of him," Atemu said coolly, looking at Seto suspiciously. "I hope you're not lying, cousin."

"I don't lie unless it's to cheat someone out of something," Seto answered, smiling slightly.

Atemu smiled slightly in return. "Very well, then."

"Where the hell did you get all of this…stuff?" Seto inquired, gesturing around at the prince's collection.

Atemu's smile widened. "The shipwrecks around here, mostly…but Ryou and Bakura were able to grab some on land for me-"

"Ryou?" repeated Seto. "The exile?"

"Our friend," Joey corrected. "But yeah, the exile."

Seto looked reproachful, but shrugged. "And who's Bakura?"

"Ryou's aibou," answered Atemu.

"That quiet little albino has an aibou? There's something I never saw coming."

"Well, the last time you saw him, we were all little, Seto," Atemu pointed out.

"True," Seto assented. "Of course, you were so little you could be compared to plankton."

"Ha, ha, ha," Atemu laughed sarcastically.

Suddenly the entire grotto had gone dark; the mermen looked up to see a huge, black and brown blob had blocked the opening in the ceiling, therefore blocking the sunlight from reflecting down through the grotto.

"What do you suppose…?" Joey whispered.

Atemu, however, didn't stay to ponder this, instead swimming up through the grotto to investigate.

"Atemu!" Seto yelled. "Stop! Atemu!"

Joey shook his head tiredly, and the two swam after the prince.

When Atemu got to the surface, he was amazed by what he saw. Multicolored lights shone like exploding stars in the sky around a large human ship that had docked near his grotto.

He grinned, entertained by the colored stars dancing around the sky.

'What are they called, I wonder?' he thought to himself. 'Ryou would know…I'll have to ask him later…right now, I have to get closer!'

Atemu vaguely heard the voices of Joey and Seto urging him back, but he paid them no mind as he swam up to the ship.

Atemu climbed up the side until he could see over the edge of the ship. Sure, his scales would dry out a little, but he wouldn't stay out of the water long enough for it to be dangerous; all he wanted was a closer look.

A muscular sailor with blond hair and sideburns was playing a card game with a younger man with spiky tricolor hair oddly like the merman's own and innocent violet eyes. When the sailor declared an attack against the innocent-looking man's "lifepoints," Atemu realized excitedly that this was the Duel Monsters game Ryou had mentioned.

'Oh wow, I can actually see how it's played!' the prince thought eagerly.

The young man didn't look troubled by the attack, however; he flipped a card on the table face-up, calling it a "trap" known as "Mirror Force." The muscular sailor looked alarmed as the young man stated his victory with a cheerful smile and a hope for another game. Two servants, one female and one male both with brown hair, patted the young man on the shoulders to congratulate him, and a brown-haired man dressed like a captain cheered for the young man, calling him "King of Games."

'He loves games too…' Atemu thought as the spiky-haired young man laughed. 'He's really good…and very, very handsome…'

He felt his cheeks grow warm as he stared at the young man with vague eyes.

'He's so…perfect.'

"Atemu!"

Atemu looked down to see Joey and Seto in the water below him.

"C'mon man, get away from there!" Joey hissed. "Someone will see you!"

"Be quiet, or they'll hear you!" Atemu retorted, turning back to watch the action on the ship.

"And now," proclaimed the male servant, "for Prince Yugi's birthday presents…first, one from the kingdom."

He gestured to a very large present wrapped in brown paper and a red bow.

"I tell you, it took me ages to push this thing on here for you, Yugi," he joshed, smiling at the tricolor-haired young man…"Yugi."

'"Game,"' Atemu thought dreamily. 'His name means "game"…how fitting.'

Yugi laughed. "Aw, Tristan, you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble…"

"What are friends for?" Tristan asked. "I only hope it's worth it…"

Yugi went over to the package and pulled the wrapping paper off.

It was a marble statue of himself; his face was scrunched up in a determined smirk very unlike the happy smile Atemu had seen on Yugi's face while he was dueling the blond sailor, strapped on his arm was a small, weird board with slots for Duel Monster cards, and on the base where the statue stood, there was a message engraved;

Prince Yugi Mutou;

Game King Forever

Yugi, Tristan, the female servant and the crew all sweatdropped.

"Um…wow," Yugi said at last awkwardly. "Uh…well, if it helps them see me as a strong ruler…I guess it works…"

"Oh c'mon, prince," laughed the captain. "You couldn't look that serious if you tried."

The female servant and Tristan laughed. Yugi grinned.

"Fortunately there's another present here for you, Yugi," the female servant informed him, bringing over a smaller package. "And it's from the king, so hopefully it'll be a bit more like you."

Yugi giggled as he took the package from her. "Thanks, Tea…I wonder what it is…I'm sure Grandpa got me something interesting…"

His fingers ripped away the paper to reveal a solid gold box with hieroglyphics on it; when Yugi opened it, he picked out a handful of odd-looking gold pieces.

"What is it?" asked Tristan.

"It looks like some kind of abstract art," Tea commented, "except in pieces…"

'That's no art,' thought Atemu. 'That's a puzzle.'

"It's a puzzle!" Yugi said what Atemu had been thinking, sounding excited as he looked at the hieroglyphs on the box. "On the box, it says…'Whomever solves me may ask me for one wish.' Wow! A wish! I wonder what I'll wish for…"

"Maybe you should ask for a woman, prince," the captain teased, and the red-haired sailor chuckled. "After all, hasn't the king been pressuring you to marry?"

Yugi sighed. "But I don't just want to marry any person, Valon…especially a woman, you know I don't like them like that. I mean…is it such a crime for people to fall in love anymore?"

"Love takes time, Yugi," Tristan pointed out. "And the king doesn't have much time…he's just trying to make sure you'll be alright when he's gone."

"I have you guys, don't I?" Yugi answered with a slight scoff, and Atemu had to let go of the edge of the ship and fall back into the water as the human prince had stood up on the edge of the ship, holding onto the rigging, as if he were a real sailor instead of a prince. "I know he's out there somewhere, Tristan, I just…haven't found him yet."

'Oh, just look down, Yugi,' thought Atemu, his heart aching. 'I…I might be the person you're looking for…you're the one for me…I want to be the one for you too…'

"Maybe you haven't been looking hard enough," Tea suggested.

"Believe me, Tea," Yugi replied, looking out to sea and closing his eyes, "when I find him, I'll know! It'll just…hit me…like lightning!"

Then, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning crashed through the silent calm on the darkening night sky, accompanied by a loud blast of thunder that made Yugi's violet eyes shoot open in surprise.

"Oh no!" Seto realized. "King Aknamkanon must be mad about something…he must have found out about your disappearance earlier today, Atemu!"

"C'mon!" urged Joey. "We have to get back, it's not safe up here!"

The blue and green-tailed mermen dove into the water back toward the kingdom, but Atemu stayed put.

'I have to make sure Yugi and his crew get to safety…'

The wind howled and the ocean waves crashed, making it hard for Atemu watch the action on the ship. He could hear the humans' voice garble together so that he couldn't tell who was talking or what they were saying.

A bolt of lightning glided down jaggedly from the skies and hit the boat with a loud CRASH, before the sails were alit in an orange, red and yellow glow Atemu realized must be fire.

It shocked the mer-prince when he had to jump out of the way as to avoid the path of the ship's lifeboat dropping down into the water. Atemu quickly counted the people in the boat: Tristan, Valon, the other two sailors-

'Yugi!' thought Atemu in alarm. 'Where are Yugi and his friend Tea?'

"GO! GO, NOW!"

Atemu looked up at the sound of Yugi's voice, to see Yugi push Tea off the boat into the water near the lifeboat. She squirmed around, trying to float, as she obviously couldn't swim before Tristan and Valon grabbed her arm and pulled her into the lifeboat.

"YUGI!" shouted Tristan. "YUGI! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Atemu squinted, trying to find his human love amongst the smoke and fiery glow enveloping the ship.

"I CAN'T LEAVE MY PUZZLE BEHIND!" Yugi's voice rang out.

The sailors and servants tried to call Yugi back, but the prince wouldn't be swayed, instead searching the ship for the gold box.

Then, out of nowhere, there was an enormous BOOM that blasted Atemu away from the ship as it exploded in a blast of fire and gunpowder. When Atemu had surfaced, he stared in horror as broken remains of the ship floated warily above the water…and Yugi was nowhere in sight.

"YUGI!" Tea's cries echoed through the still as the lifeboat was shoved out of sight by the saves. "YUGI! YUGI!"

Atemu dove underneath the water fearfully, and his eyes widened at the sight of an unconscious Yugi, the gold box tight under his arm, falling down through the dark water.

The merprince swam down as fast as he could, snatched the human prince into his arms, puzzle box and all, and pulled him up to the surface.

'I've got you, my Yugi…I will not let you die…'