Seto knocked again, getting impatient. Damn, where was the brat? How dare he not be home and waiting for him.
He realized the ridiculousness of his own thoughts and attributed them to stress. This was not going to be pleasant. As hard as he'd tried to convince himself that he wasn't going to the young dualist for help, he knew it was a lie. Yugi was the only one who could retrieve Kisara, something he had already tried and had failed at.
Damn it! This was breaking everyone of his set rules of self reliance but there was no other way. He couldn't just leave his dragon to drift alone in the dark. He did his best to steel his mind for what must be done. This was important. More so than anything he'd ever done before. It was for his dragon. For Kisara. And, though he'd never admit it to anyone, perhaps even a little for himself.
Yugi opened the door and stared. Of all the people he had theorized might be waiting on the other side, and had prepared polite excuses for, Seto Kaiba hadn't even made the list. He almost didn't notice Mokuba until the younger boy waved. Startled, he waved back and, remembering his manners, offered a warm greeting to the brothers asking what he could do for them.
Kaiba smirked as arrogant as ever, though Yugi caught a distinct stiffness to his countenance. He looked closely, using his experience at reading opponents to determine that his normally cool, confident classmate was uncomfortable about something.
"I have something I need to discuss with you, Yugi Motou. May we impose upon you for a moment of your time?"
Yugi considered sending Kaiba away as he had promised Atemu but curiosity got the better of him. His rival had rejected every offer of friendship and avoided him like the plague before memory world and he had naturally expected him to continue to do so afterwards. He sent silent apologies to his dark and, matching Kaiba's formalness, invited the two in.
//Damn it, Yugi, you said you'd get rid of whoever was at the door.//
/Admit it Yami, you want to know just as much as I do why he's here./ He heard Atemu sigh but no more protests followed. He checked the link quickly to make sure his yami wasn't mad at him and found only a deep curiosity that matched his own.
They settled themselves into the living area of the small dwelling. Seto drew himself up, crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Yugi, I rarely require assistance from anyone, though I do not come unprepared to offer compensation for your cooperation. I find myself in possession of certain knowledge and abilities that I believe you will find exceedingly useful."
Interest began to show on Yugi's face. Good. The first step was always to get the potential client to want what you had, need what you had.
He made to continue but nearly gagged when the ghostly image of Atemu appeared beside Yugi and eyed him suspiciously.
"Careful Aibou, sounds like a sales pitch. Don't let him talk you into anything you don't want to do."
Seto stared. He hadn't ever been able to see Atemu like this before and wasn't quite sure why he could see him now. Well, he had regained both his memories and his powers during the Memory world incident, perhaps he's gained the ability to see spirits as well? Shock at being able to see and hear the spirit warred with a bit of hurt at being mistrusted by one he had been so close to. Three thousand year old habits kicked in and he snapped at Atemu.
"Then perhaps I'll just leave and take my offer to make you a body with me, cousin."
Seto's eyes widened, breaking the mask briefly when he realized he'd spoken in perfect Egyptian.
Yugi, Mokuba and Atemu stared.
Atemu recovered first. He grinned with excitement and disappeared. Yugi's eyes unfocused slightly and then closed.
Mokuba tugged on his sleeve while Yugi was distracted. Seto looked down and realized how very confused his younger brother must be at the exchange.
"I didn't know you could speak Egyptian." He muttered just loud enough for Seto to hear.
Seto grunted, snapping his mask firmly back into place. The Egyptian had surprised him more than he let on. He knew it was seeing Atemu and speaking directly to him that had triggered the long forgotten language. It was worth it, however, to see the recognition in Atemu's face.
."Sorry Mokuba, I'll explain later." He replied softly as Yugi's eyes opened and locked onto his. He was surprised to see that they were no longer the soft violet, but the deep crimson of the ex-pharaoh. He also noticed some slight differences in the hair and face now that he knew what to look for. His cousin had taken over the body. And was grinning wickedly at him.
"Seth! You little bastard, how long have you remembered?"
Seto gaped slightly, Atemu's question triggering several reactions both ancient and modern and he didn't know which offence to answer first.
Atemu only grinned wider at the reaction, reminding Seto of how much delight his cousin had taken in teasing him just to break his careful composure.
He smirked. He was wise to Atemu's games now and wasn't going to fall for that one again.
"Since memory world." He answered shortly.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"You were leaving, we all thought for good. There wasn't really any time." A fleeting sadness flashed across Seto's face but he quickly suppressed it looking for a way to change the topic. "In fact, I seem to recall you were quite determined to leave. Why did you stay?"
Atemu coughed lightly turning his head away. Seto raised an eyebrow and looked at Atemu closely, wondering if that was indeed a light blush working it's way up his cousin's face. It was gone before he could comment, however and Atemu met his eye again.
"Can you really make me my own body?" He asked, bringing the subject rather sharply back to the matter at hand. Seto let him, storing the odd reaction away in his mind for later consideration and resumed his 'sales pitch.'
"I can. Along with memories of dealing with Zorc the first time around came memories of everything before and after, including some very interesting and useful rituals."
"And you have the power to pull them off?"
"Of course."
Atemu smiled widely. "So, what can we do for you cousin?"
/Ha! And you were telling me not to get talked into anything./ Came Yugi's wry response to Atemu's eagerness.
"Actually it's something only Yugi can do I believe." Seto replied.
//See Aibou, I'm not getting talked into anything, we're still discussing you here.//
What Atemu heard next over the link could only be described as a mental raspberry.
His attention was brought back to Seto when the other gave a light cough and launched into a short briefing that sounded overly rehearsed.
"There was a girl in Ancient Egypt named Kisara. Her Kaa was that of the Blue Eyes White Dragon and when she died, her soul became bound to mine, something akin to the way Mahado bound his soul to yours." He hesitated. "Though that's not exactly right. Our connection is . . . closer."
Seto paused, no longer meeting Atemu's eye and he guessed from Seto's clear discomfort that he was getting the extremely edited version of the story. A face flashed in his mind. A pretty girl with powder blue hair and pale skin, though whether that was her normal coloring or the pallor of death settling over her body, he couldn't decide. He had arrived just after her death and though the memory was faint, the thing that made it stick in his mind was the unusual amount of emotion his normally stoic high priest displayed as he grieved for her. Atemu's mind quickly assembled the bits of information Seto had given him with the pieces of memory getting a clearer picture of the situation. One other faint bit of information tugged at the back of his mind and he picked up on the oddity of Seto's last sentence.
"Is?" He asked softly.
"She's as stubborn as you are! Still hanging around after everything else is done and finished. Well I can't just leave her where she is. Yugi retrieved you from the shadows last night, didn't he?"
Seto made it sound less like a question and more like he was looking to confirm something he already knew. Atemu was too surprised at the aggressive tone and how much Seto knew to do anything but nod. Though he supposed it did make sense and explained why Seto hadn't reacted more to his presence.
"I believe she's trapped in the same place that you were and if so, that means Yugi's the only one who can reach her."
The additional memory tugging at the back of Atemu's mind finally broke free, a sound. He realized he had heard her, when he had been trapped in the shadows, that low lonely call of a dragon. Seto was right, even without the alluring offer of having his own body, they couldn't just leave her there.
He mind linked with Yugi, though as his light had been rather intently following the story and Atemu's thoughts, there was little that he needed filling in on. He reached the same conclusion as Atemu and hurried to take the body back.
Seto found himself looking once again at Yugi and was surprised at the determination, and distress, on his face.
"Of course I'll help!" He proclaimed fervently. "If I take us to the shadow realm, can you find her?"
Seto nodded, stunned at the impassioned reaction.
"Alright then, let's do it!"
A/N: w00t! i finally finished the monster of a chapter! well, it wasn't that bad, just . . . hard. well, harder than i expected it to be.
BTW, this chapter is dedicated to my husband for helping me to keep the characters, well, in character! Thanks sweetie XD
And i also wanna give special snuggles to my wonderful reviewers.
t-me: thanks XD I can't wait to see how my story turns out either . . . um, wait, that was wrong! I know how it's gonna turn out of course . . . i do . . . really. meep!
Mystik Genie: More puzzle shipping soon! it was actually supposed to be in this chapter, but this one kinda expanded on me and the next one threatens to do the same so i split them up. besides it means i get to update more!
Journey: finally the full chapter and the answer to at least one of your questions! that was, indeed, Seto at the door XD hehe, the other ?'s about poor little Ryou will be answered soon too! or at least start to be answered . . . (shifty eyes)
Luin: eeee! Bad fish! I burn it and send it to the shadow realm for hurting my sweet reviewer! (gives you snuggles and a cookie to make it better)
hehe, no, it's not late and i'm not hyper . . . well maybe i lie. but insomnia is so good for my writing! ah well, i should at least consider sleep, i DO have work in the morning. (glares) evil evil work. BYE! (disappears in a nifty poof of ninja smoke.)