Chapter 8 : Learning What You Know
"Thank you so much for coming tonight, Mr. Kaiba," Ishizu greeted as I walked through the glass double doors and into the museum. I could already sense her aura, but it was much duller than it had been during our encounter at KaibaCorp, which I was very happy about. It was very unlikely to happen, but if it kept at this low of a level, tonight might actually go rather smoothly.
But when did that ever happen in my world?
"I'll show you all the information I currently have on what we're looking for," Ishizu began explaining as she turned and walked down one of the many aisles in her museum. I slowly followed behind her, ignoring the elaborate displays she had on the walls. Last time I was here, she had sent me into the past and shown me my supposed past self. I didn't know whether the man I saw was a figment of my imagination or not, but it had startled me to say the least. Being a vampire, I didn't know how I would react to that kind of magic. Luckily I acted the same way as a normal human would, but then again, if she had learned about my secret earlier, we wouldn't be in this mess, now would we?
"Are you okay?" she suddenly asked, and I stopped and blinked in surprise when I noticed that she was a lot closer than I remembered. "You seem kind of…dazed, and I know you aren't that type of person."
I chuckled and quickly shook my head. "I'm fine, Ishizu," I replied in my normal tone of voice.
"Well, here we are," she stated, and she opened the door to her right and walked inside. I read on the window Ishizu Ishtar: Curator and Owner before walking in to see a medium-sized office. It was very stereotypical; a desk and computer in the middle, two chairs in front of it, a couch on the right wall, and a bookshelf on the left wall. One window was behind her desk, and I watched as she sat down and began opening drawers, pulling out almost haphazardly different folders. I closed the door behind me and set my briefcase down next to the chair as I sat down and let out a sigh. There were still no random readings from her aura. Good. I hoped to find out as much as possible on what she understood of this situation before leaving. I needed to know what she knew first. Only then would I know what I was truly dealing with.
"We don't have a whole lot, I'm afraid, currently going for us," Ishizu began as she leaned forward and handed me a folder. I opened it up to see a family hierarchy, starting with a supposed tomb-keeper and priest named Ahmose. God, she really was hardcore when it came to family matters if she had records dating from this far back. "That's how this all began. We noticed that there was a familiar pattern with our family hierarchy. As you can see, we took some special oils in order to clean these old papers up. What was revealed is underneath the person's occupation."
I could see the white writing beneath the general black and blinked in surprise. Next to almost all the male names was the occupation "Jewel protector." Jewel… Blood Jewel? Was this a family tradition for her, to protect the local Blood Jewel? I didn't even realize that there was a Blood Jewel back then. I guess vampires have truly been around since the beginning of time, or at least as far back as civilizations are concerned.
"We don't really know what that means, 'Jewel Protector'," Ishizu stated, eyeing him curiously. "Marik has been trying to gather some information on this, but so far we've found very little. The problem is that we disagree on what this really means." My eyebrows knit together in confusion as I looked over the paper to see her frowning at me. "He thinks it's a person, and I believe it's an object."
My eyes widened in surprise at this. She didn't even know the Jewel related to an actual individual? Did she just think this was a diamond that her ancestors were forced to look after and clean every so often? This was bad…the more ignorant she was, the harder this transformation was going to be. Still, I wanted to know what all she had and wouldn't say anything until I got everything. "Why does your brother think it's a person?" I asked, glancing back at her family hierarchy.
"He's…done some of his own hacking even though I asked him not to," she hesitantly answered. "He found several websites that supposedly related to the Blood Jewel, but I have yet to see these. He printed some information out, however, that relate to our issue, and I have to admit that he's starting to persuade me. Do you want to see these documents?"
"Yes please." She slowly opened another manila folder and handed it to me, and I smirked at the list of names. They were all previous Blood Jewels, leading up to nearly 200 years ago. I recognized a few of the names but on the whole didn't know who these people were. I never studied my own lineage, concerning myself with survival, so this was just as good for me as it was for her. Maybe having Ishizu by my side would be a profitable ordeal after all.
"He claims this is a list of previous Blood Jewels," she stated as she leaned back in her chair. "Like I said, I have yet to see his sources, but I know Marik, and he's good at retrieving information."
I stared at the information, wondering how on Earth Marik knew any of this. Did he honestly know what was going on, or was it all just a lucky guess for him? I wanted to think the latter, but I couldn't help but realize that Ishizu's brother knew more about his sister's condition than she herself knew. And that was a problem…
"Why couldn't you have shared this information with me before?" I asked, pretending to be amused by the information. I still had to act my part in this ordeal, and that meant playing dumb. "You could have easily shown me these documents of people and your family hierarchy at KaibaCorp. Why did you drag me out here?"
"Well…the real reason that I was hesitant to ask you about this is…" Sighing, she pursed her lips together and asked, "How do you feel about magic and the supernatural nowadays? It's been three years since you claimed that you couldn't care less about it, but have your opinions changed?"
I smirked and leaned back in my chair, playing it cool and calm, but really my mind was racing with different possibilities. Should I just flat out tell her that I believed in the supernatural, or pretend that I still thought it was all just nonsense that some idiot created long ago? I chuckled and answered, "I guess I'm starting to believe in some things, however I don't waste my time dealing with the supernatural. I have a company to run and Mokuba to take care of; ghouls and magic aren't my top priorities."
If that didn't sound like typical me, I didn't know what would.
"If these documents that Marik found are true, then that would mean that this 'Jewel' character was someone…with supernatural abilities," Ishizu stated cautiously, eyeing me carefully. She was really worried about scaring me off, and I didn't even need my powers to sense that. Her facial expression showed how concerned she was trying to touch this subject with me.
"Meaning?"
"Marik believes this was a vampire."
I let a moment of silence pass before letting out a small chuckle and shaking my head, the total opposite of how I truly felt. Marik knew this Jewel, the Blood Jewel, was a vampire, and yet his sister didn't even understand that the Jewel was an actual person. How did Marik know so much more than his sister when, as far as I could tell, he had no association with being a Knight? Something was definitely wrong here. "You're telling me that you believe your family protected vampires?" I asked mockingly.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me, which was why Marik was so confused when I brought up the idea of you helping us retrieve information," she replied, crossing her arms on her desk and leaning forward. "But I have to say that this is serious. I never believed in that kind of supernatural being, yet Marik seems to be one-hundred percent sure of his ideas. And if he's somehow right, that would mean that vampires exist and that my family did more than just tomb-keeping. This is why this is so serious to the two of us. If our family did indeed protect vampires, it would mean that what we were taught in Egypt was only partially true…and that just isn't right in our minds."
"What would you do if you found out this Jewel was an actual vampire, considering such myths actually exist for five seconds?" I questioned, placing the paper down on my lap and folding my arms over my chest.
"I… I know Marik would most likely give up his continued studies on our family lineage," Ishizu answered. "He's already had enough problems with this family, and if he realizes that there was a secret kept hidden from us for so long… I know his reaction will not be pleasant. I, however, will most likely just continue life as normal."
"Even if there are such things as vampires?" I knew my show of interest was probably giving her an opening, especially since it was difficult just trying to play this off, but I honestly didn't care at this point. There were still no responses from her aura, meaning that she was still normal with me. Not like this morning when her aura had totally drained mine, trying to grasp onto me like a tick. I was honestly shocked at how little it was draining me of energy. Not that it was a total picnic sitting here either, for there was still a dull tug every so often, but nothing to the extent of which I had planned for. Still, I couldn't complain, and it meant that she didn't suspect me of anything. Now that I was sitting here, discussing the actual problem, she didn't have the need to reach out and persuade me of anything. Her aura knew before her own mind that I would accept this. It was just the way auras worked, I guess. I never fully understood auras, but I'm sure even the oldest vampire didn't either.
"Even if there are vampires," she repeated, snapping me out of my little trance.
"Is that why you came to apologize to me? You are now finding out more about your family and felt guilty for shoving that Egyptian crap down my throat, so you thought you would say sorry and ask me to help you out?"
"Your bluntness knows no bounds, but yes, that's basically the truth," she answered.
"And what you're telling me now is that you're looking for something or someone that your ancestors protected long ago just because…?" I asked, tossing her papers back on the desk. "What do I get out of this?"
And that's when I felt it. A sudden sense of dread entered my system, hitting me full force. My breath hitched in my throat, and my eyes widened in shock. But Ishizu didn't seem to notice, for she frowned before biting her lower lip. "I have nothing to offer you but maybe my friendship," she answered honestly.
But her aura was calling out to me insanely. I guess I shouldn't have bitched about it not bothering me ten seconds ago, for now it was draining my body of all needed energy. Her sense of dread was hitting my system full throttle, and as I felt my fangs beginning to reveal themselves, I gasped before quickly standing up and walking toward the door. "A-Are you alright?" she asked in surprise, quickly walking up to me and placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Y-Yeah…I'm fine," I answered with as calm a voice as I could muster, but she knew as well as I did that that was a lie. My body was beginning to shake, yet her aura continued to reach out and pull at mine. "I'll help you out with this, okay?"
And just as quickly as it had occurred, her aura stopped its restraints on my body, her dread no longer necessary. She smiled widely up at me before embracing me once more, and I briefly wondered when she thought it was okay to hug me all the time. "Thank you, Kaiba, thank you so much," she whispered. I shook my head and regained my composure.
"It's nothing, Ishizu," I stated coldly, happy that my voice was back to normal, even if I felt anything but. "I will come over tomorrow, and we can discuss this some more. Right now I need to head home."
"Okay then," she replied, her smile never coming off her face. "I will be waiting for you here, and I'll be sure to tell the guards about your visit." I walked back to the chair I had been sitting in before picking my briefcase up and following Ishizu out of the office and down the hallway. "I honestly didn't think you would help me when I mentioned vampires since I know you aren't one to believe in such things," she confided, turning around and smirking at me. "Maybe you really are changing."
No, change wasn't the word. It was desperation. I was desperate to end this whole thing. Shrugging my shoulders, I mumbled "Whatever" before walking toward the double doors. "Don't forget about tomorrow," I concluded while opening the door up, and as I turned to close it behind me, I saw her clasp her hands together in front of her chest, a beaming smile on her face.
Walking down the stairs leading up to the entrance, I quickly ran to the side of the museum once I was out of sight and leaned against the cement wall. Her aura had literally drained everything in me; it had been so scared at the thought of me rejecting it that it had wrapped its claws around my very being. Dropping my briefcase, I placed my hands flat against the wall and let out a long sigh. Now that I knew what she knew, I could finish this once and for all. I didn't care if it meant she would become my Knight. I didn't care if it meant she would become my personal responsibility. I didn't care about any of that.
All I cared about was ending this nightmare once and for all. And I now knew what I was really dealing with.
A truly lost Knight.