18. Friends and Rivals

Yugi was the only one still working in the library late that evening when Joey and Mai came in, dropping shopping bags on the table and then flopping into chairs. Joey banged his head down on the table and Mai propped her boots up on it.

Yugi looked up from the journal he was reading and took off his glasses. "Rough day?"

"Frustrating," Mai said. "Shopping therapy didn't even help."

"Oh, you're back!" Serenity poked her head into the library, then came in and peered into the bags. "Whadja get?"

"A couple skirts and a jacket from Fred Segal's on Melrose, and I splurged on a pair of to-die-for Prada boots on Rodeo Drive," Mai said as Serenity pulled out the black leather stiletto boots to admire them. "So… how you doing, kiddo?" She gave Serenity a significant look.

Serenity kept her gaze focused on the boots. "I'm good."

Yugi arched an eyebrow at Mai and Joey. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles?"

"Oh yeah, right." Joey sat up to look at him. "Yo, Yuge, we're gonna use one of Pegasus's planes and go down to LA and talk to Rafael. That okay with you? Thanks, pal."

"Fine with me, but you can write up the report to Pegasus. And I wouldn't mention Prada boots." He linked his hands together and leaned forward. "I take it you asked him about how Dartz triggered your dreams? Did he know anything helpful?"

Joey blew his hair out of his eyes. "Not a thing."

"Hence the frustration and the need for shopping therapy." Mai indicated the packages with a nod of her head.

Yugi nodded. "I didn't think he'd know anything he hasn't already told us."

"Well, there was one bit of interesting news," Mai said. "Apparently Valon was at Battle City."

"Valon was at Battle City?" Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. "He wasn't a competitor, was he?"

Mai shrugged. "Dunno. Rafael said he was sent to report on what was happening, but obviously he wasn't at the finals, so he couldn't have known what happened when I dueled Marik."

Joey leaned forward and draped a protective arm around Mai's shoulders. "But he was following her around at the tournaments she did after Battle City."

"Which we knew," Yugi said.

"Yeah, but remember, he did have an Orichalcos stone in his ring, and Mai's nightmares started around the same time, so I'm betting there's a connection."

Yugi frowned. "I thought you said he didn't know anything about Mai's nightmares."

Joey looked to Mai as if gauging her reaction while she answered. "I don't think he does, but I've been conned before, so I could be wrong. But it's worth checking out either way because maybe just telling us what he reported back to Dartz while he was in Battle City would give us new information."

Serenity put the boots away and sat down next to Mai. "He didn't have any Shadow Realm vibes or anything in London. Not that that means much in terms of Orichalcos stones or anything, but for what it's worth…."

"What do you think?" Yugi asked Joey.

Joey pulled his arm from around Mai's shoulders and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table as he chewed his lip a while before answering. "You know how when you duel with someone you get a sense of what kind of person they are? If they're a good guy like Mako Tsunami, or a jerk like Kaiba, or a low-life like Rex or Weevil?"

Yugi nodded.

"By the end of our Orichalcos duel, my gut was telling me Valon was on the level. And believe me, no one wants to hate him more than I do." He threw a sideways glance at Mai. "But I don't think he's one of the bad guys, not really. I mean, it's the first thing I thought of when Mai told me she'd been having nightmares since London, and it was the first thing she thought of, too, but… I dunno. I'm guessing if he knows anything, he doesn't know he knows it."

Yugi considered this a moment. "Well, it's worth talking to him again. Do we know where he is?"

"New Zealand," Mai said.

"Okaaaay, can we get it any further narrowed down than a whole country?"

Mai flipped her hair over her shoulder, nonchalant. "Hey, at least it's a small country. And he duels on the Oceania circuit, so I think we can track him down."

"Then you can work on that tomorrow."

"So what about Marik? He have anything useful to say?" Joey asked.

Yugi hunched his shoulders a moment before exhaling a long slow breath.

Joey frowned. "That don't sound good."

"No, it's not bad," Yugi said hastily. "It might even help in the long run. Marik's going to come here in a couple of days. He wants to see for himself what's going on."

Joey cocked his head. "So what's the problem?"

"You don't think it's a bad idea to have Marik around Mai while she's having nightmares? His darker half is the one that caused them in the first place."

Joey looked to Mai. "You don't have a problem with Marik, do you?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since Battle City. But it didn't bother me to have him around after everything was all over."

"Still, that was before the nightmares started." Yugi shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. "I don't know, it just feels like a bad idea. I was thinking maybe he should stay at Duke's, just to be on the safe side."

Mai shrugged. "That's fine by me."

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Joey asked, eyeing Mai with concern.

Serenity leaned forward. "I think maybe I should stay with you guys tonight. I'd like to get a feel for what's going on when she's actually having a nightmare."

Joey hesitated a moment, clearly not thrilled with the idea of his sister getting any more involved with the Shadow Realm than she already was, but eventually he gave a nod of assent.

"I'm guessing I don't get a say in whether or not I need a bunch of babysitters." Mai looked from Serenity to Joey, irate.

"No, you don't," he said flatly.

"But things have been better today, don't you think? I haven't zoned out on you or anything."

Yugi thought again about what Ishizu had told him and hoped maybe things would be better. But just in case… "I had another idea. Joey said you were reaching for your Duel Disk. I don't think your nightmares are just a way to mess with you. I think they're pulling you into some kind of Dark Game. This might help." He reached for a small stack of Duel Monsters cards that was lying on the table next to him. "Keep these handy. Maybe they'll remind you you're not alone, no matter what your nightmares try to convince you."

She gave him a curious look as she reached for the cards. Her eyebrow arched as she flipped through them. "You really think these will help?"

"Couldn't hurt. We're all in this together, Mai."

Joey nodded, peering over Mai's shoulder at the cards. "Great idea, Yuge."

Mai chewed her lip thoughtfully as she looked through the seven cards once more, then simply nodded and slipped them into her pocket.

Sara lay curled up against Seto's side, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder and her hand absently tracing patterns on his chest. She was pleasantly tired, but not yet sleepy, her mind preoccupied with its own internal battle. Looking up at his face, she saw that he was awake, too.

"I thought we'd agreed this was a bad idea," she said.

He regarded her a moment, his fingers brushing lightly down her arm. "Apparently the terms of our agreement needed to be renegotiated."

She rolled her eyes. "Thank you so much for making a business analogy, because I wasn't feeling quite enough the slag."

He didn't say anything, and she sat up, frustrated with herself. "This is so not like me, Seto. I don't normally do things like this."

"Actually, neither do I."

She looked over her shoulder at him. "You don't normally sleep with women you've just met, or you don't normally see them a second time?"

"Hm." He raised his eyebrow at her and she let out another huff of air.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm hardly in a position to cast aspersions."

"It's not entirely undeserved," he said, maddeningly impassive, "but you should remember that you're staying with people who can't stand me. I wouldn't take everything you hear about me at face value."

She turned to face him, frowning. "I didn't hear that from anyone. I surmised it based on Mokuba's reaction to me staying the night last night and the fact that you're a rich, attractive bachelor. And for what it's worth, I doubt any of the people I'm staying with hate you. It's more like…." She fished around for the appropriate comparison. "More like exasperation, like you feel with that one uncle you can't quite understand but you love anyway."

Seto snorted. "Not likely. Or maybe you've never met Joey Wheeler."

"Of course I've met Joey Wheeler. And my observation stands, including him. And—" She cocked her head. "I might add that I don't believe for one second you dislike them as much as you pretend to."

"If I could get each and every one of them out of my life for good, I'd do it."

"Mm-hm," she said skeptically, and he turned away from her in annoyance.

She looked down at him a moment. "Seto, explain something to me. Why are you doing this? Helping look for a ritual that would rescue lost souls from Duat? If you're so busy with your corporation and you don't care about any of this, then why?"

He took a long time to answer, keeping his eyes turned away from her. "It's not something I can explain."

"Surely you don't believe all this rubbish about Atem possessing Yugi?"

Now he did look at her again. "Did Yugi tell you that?"

"No, actually, it was Mokuba."

Seto let out an irritated grunt. "Mokuba spends too much time with Yugi and his gang of dorks."

"Is that why you're helping, then? For Mokuba?"

"No." He put his hands behind his head. "I told you, it's not something I can explain."

"But you don't believe in all that, do you?"

Again, he took a long time to answer; she was about to prod him some more when he finally spoke. "It's about respect for the terms of an engagement. Yugi is entitled to the prizes from his victories, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let some tin-can despot who didn't even witness the game disregard them."

She looked down at him, confused. "Does everyone from Japan talk in riddles? I swear, I don't understand the lot of you. What do Yugi's victories have to do with Atem's and Seto's souls being in Duat?"

He gave her a strange look. "You're a student of Egyptology. Of this particular dynasty, aren't you?"

"Yes," she said slowly, not sure where he was going.

"I'm not a student of Egyptology, but even I know the importance of a pharaoh's name. This pharaoh, Atem, his name was removed from all records, right? They didn't find out what it was until three years ago."

"Actually, there were no records of any kind. Nothing but the stone tablet on display in Giza, and the names had been removed from that. Everything else from that era has been purged."

"And if an Egyptian is nameless, what does that mean for his spirit?"

"That he cannot go to the afterlife."

"So by the Egyptians' own beliefs, this 'nameless pharaoh' could not have been in the afterlife for thousands of years. It would take recovering his name to win him that right, correct?" Seto asked.

"Yes, I suppose that's right."

"Do you know how his name was discovered?"

"Of course I do. Ishizu Ishtar—"

"Wrong. Ishizu Ishtar had nothing to do with it. She takes the credit because Yugi Mutou is a pathetic loser who's afraid of his own notoriety. He doesn't want to be known as the kid who discovered a pharaoh while he was still in high school."

"Seto, what the bloody hell are you on about? You think Yugi discovered Atem's name?"

"I know he did."

"Well, you're wrong. It's true Yugi was there when their names were discovered, but—"

"So was I."

She shut her mouth with a snap, then opened it again. "You? Were there? Why were you in Egypt?"

He rolled his eyes. "I went to see a man about an Eye. But the point is, I was there, so I know exactly what happened. Yugi discovered the name. Which means he won the right for Atem to go to the afterlife."

She gaped at him. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? Ishizu Ishtar is the Director of the Egyptian Bureau of Archaeology and is a highly respected scholar and government official. You're accusing her of stealing credit for the discovery of an entire new dynasty from a high school student?"

"I didn't say she stole credit. I said Yugi gave it to her."

"But why? It's his field of study!"

"I told you, because he's a pathetic loser. He doesn't want exactly the kind of reaction you're giving right now. He's already famous for dueling, and fame scares the little geek. But the point is, under the Egyptian beliefs, Yugi won Atem's right to the afterlife, and he is entitled to his prize. As his rival, I respect that, no matter what I might believe or not believe, and I'm not gonna sit back and let some third-rate hack try to cheat his way into reversing the outcome of someone else's victory."

She studied him a moment, and if it were anyone else, she'd be convinced he was having her on, but even after only two days, she knew him well enough to know he didn't have that kind of sense of humor. Putting aside for the moment the issue of who made the discovery, she focused on the last part of what he'd said. "So you see this in terms of some sort of game?"

"Everything's a game, Sara."

"You have a rather odd outlook."

"So I've been told. But what about you? Why did you come all the way to San Francisco to look for a ritual you don't believe in?"

"I keep getting asked that. I guess because it seems fitting. It was rather disturbing, finding Seto's tomb that way."

He frowned. "What do you mean, finding his tomb?"

"I'm the one who discovered the desecrations. I sleepwalk on occasion, and for some reason I ended up in Seto's tomb that night."

His frown deepened into an almost uneasy look, and then he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"What? It's no more ridiculous than your reasons!"

His gaze snapped back to her. "I didn't say it was ridiculous."

"You were rolling your eyes at me!"

"I was… not rolling my eyes at you."

"Yes, you were!"

"Sara…."

"Well, it's unanimous then. We're all doing this for completely absurd reasons." She lay back down beside him, propping herself up on her elbow so that she was still above him looking down. "Are you sure your real reason isn't some kind of hero complex?"

He almost choked. "Me? I've been accused of a lot of things, but having a hero complex is not one of them. That is strictly Yugi's department."

"But I hear you've saved Téa's life. More than once."

He groaned louder this time, closing his eyes and putting one hand to his forehead. "I told you not to pay much attention to what those dweebs say. She saved Mokuba's life, I paid her back."

Sara grinned. "She said you'd say that, but that it wasn't true. That you actually—how'd she put it?—you have a heart somewhere buried way, way down deep."

"Téa's thinks everything is one of her boring romantic Broadway musicals. Just look how she and Yugi are, like a pair of love-struck teens straight out of some American soap opera."

Sara frowned again. "You know, every characterization I've heard of Yugi Mutou has been completely off the mark from what I've seen of him since we met. If he and Téa are love-struck, they must've had one hell of a row, because I've never seen two people more uncomfortable with each other."

Seto was looking at her with another disturbed look. "You're saying Yugi and Téa had some sort of fight?"

"I imagine so. They seemed rather close the first day I met them, but after that he didn't seem to want anything to do with her."

"Yugi?" he said, his eyes wide now. "Didn't want anything to do with Téa?"

"I take it that's odd?"

"It's more than odd. The little twerp has had a thing for her since birth. I think his head would explode if the slightest negative thought about her ever entered into it."

She smirked at him. "Well, for someone who isn't friends with these people and would be happy if he could get them out of his life forever, you're taking a rather large interest in their love lives."

He snorted. "Believe me, I couldn't care less about their love lives. But it's never a good sign when they're not acting like themselves."

"Well, they're not the only ones, are they?" She sighed. "You and I have both admitted we're not behaving as we normally do."

"No, I guess we're not."

"Why do you suppose that is?"

He looked up at her, then reached out and touched her hair, toying with a strand of it while he appeared to be considering his answer to her question. He started to say something, then shook his head. "I don't know."

An image of him summoning his white dragon during their game the night before came to her. "I don't know, either," she lied. His hand moved from her hair to her neck, and she closed her eyes, letting him pull her down to him. This is so wrong. I'm attracted to him for all the wrong reasons—because of a dream, because of a stone carving, because of a game. "We really shouldn't—"

"No, we shouldn't," he agreed, his lips meeting hers.