Hello everyone!

I'm so sorry for the wait to get this chapter. School started and it was crazy, it took some time to get used to that. Also some other things were going on like, I moved so now I got more privacy than before and unpacking takes a lot a time. I still have things I haven't unpacked yet because there is no need. My depression is getting better; I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm nowhere near manageable yet but I'm getting there with baby steps. I'm considering getting a tattoo of a semi colon mostly because I need a reminder.

Thank you guys so much for your support and reading this fic. It's my fave to work on and it's so great to come back to this and keep going where I left off. I know where I want this to go and its fun to see the ending keep changing on me. The reviews I got for the last chapter were like my fuel to finish up this chapter. So I hope those of you who have been reading are still interested to keep on reading because the fun has only just begun.

I want to give a big thank you to DisShattered, XLightningX, Ariana and Wolf'sVine. You guys are the heart and soul of this fic and I wouldn't be able to write without your support. I also want to thank darkangelfallen19, Queen of the Garden, Fictonal Sadist and Hell Kaiser Fox for adding this on your favourites and/or alerts. You guys are also the part and soul of this story. Though I don't know any of you, while I write, I hope and pray that you like how I continue this. You guys are the best and I just love you guys so much.

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Living In The State of Dreaming

Kisara had always known that Akai was different than the countless other nobles that she had met over the years. When Seth came back that day not only troubled but also irate, she knew that something had happened during his time with Akai. Though she hadn't known the prince for long, she knew better than to ask him up front about what the problem was. Still, he did save her from thieves and she felt honour-bound to him and wanting to help him with whatever was bothering him. So she devised a little plan, she asked him if he wouldn't mind accompanying her on a little walk before dinner. She noticed that he was reluctant to agree but slowly, she saw him nod his head. She thanked him and left him be, they would have plenty of time to talk during their walk.

Since the palace was rather boring, she took a little time to explore the village, since no one here knew she was a famous artist, it was easier to maneuver around without others paying any sort of attention to her. She hadn't seen much out of the ordinary, the only thing that looked rather suspicious for her was how Lord Akefia and Lord Dartz were nowhere to be seen. Usually Lord Dartz was at court and Lord Akefia was in the village trying to make deals. Strangely, not even any of Akefia's men were out today, she would have paid attention more but she was in her own little world.

All in all, the village seemed a bit off, she passed by Lord Dartz's house and saw that the servants were looking rather nervous and whispering rapidly to one another while gazing outside. On her way back from the manor, she ran into a young blonde girl with a worried look on her face. The girl asked her if she had seen some young man by the name of Atem. She shook her head and watched the girl deflate before thanking her and returning to Lord Dartz house. Perhaps if she wasn't too concerned on how to talk to Prince Seth, she would have been more concerned for this Atem boy but he left her mind once she got closer to the palace. Once she was back in her room she refreshed and rested.

Sometime later, there was a knock on her door. Knowing it was most likely Prince Seth she got up, opened the door and sure enough she was right. The pair decided to go see one of the private gardens, it gave them both some privacy and the prince could talk about his problems without feeling like the servants would gossip about him. He never really liked the idea of gossip concerning him to reach his parents' ears without him telling them first. It was a matter of principal. Seth knew Kisara wanted him to talk to her about what happened with Aka- Atem. He was still wondering about the entire thing, he wasn't even sure if he was going to be able to explain it all.

"Akai lied to me," He said finally and then explained, "He wasn't a noble, he wasn't even called Akai. Practically everything he told me was a lie."

She nodded as she listened carefully before saying, "I knew he was different. But he came across to me as someone who was very sincere. I'm sure he had a reason for lying to you about his identity. Let's not forget he saved a servant from being sent off. That takes a lot of bravery and considering how eloquent he spoke about the entire thing, it was kind of easy to assume he was noble. Even I was convinced. Plus, he knows how to read and possibly write, which means he was educated. How many servants do you meet that are educated? I doubt you've met many.

"What are you trying to say? That I should just so easily forgive him and ride off into the sunset with a servant?" He asked, annoyed.

She shook her head, "No of course not, I'm merely telling you that there is more to it than it seems. Open your eyes and think about it Seth. It had to take a lot of guts for him to even think about telling you the truth, fully knowing that if you told your parents, he could be put to death. Do you really think he would have told you the truth if he didn't have decent morals and values? Either he trusted you, which now I'm sure he's regretting doing so or something bigger is happening."

"Do you insult me for fun or am I just one of the lucky ones?" He asked sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes, "My prince, if I may be frank, get over yourself. Yes you are the prince but you are no prize. First you were complaining about never finding someone to fall in love with and here comes the perfect person fate picked out for you and what do you do? Once you find out the truth about him, you run. Does that sound very prince like to you?"

"I will not stand for some servant to make a fool out of me," He said simply.

She sighed, "Then obviously you do not deserve him."

The walk was over after that. They both went their separate ways and Seth had much more to think about. Should he have left Atem when he learned of the truth? It might have seemed like the best idea at the time but now it seemed to be more childish than manly. He felt a tinge of regret fill him as he went back to his quarters and sat in his desk. He had ordered several books that Atem had read in monastery over so he could read them for himself. One by one he looked at all of the titles and was kind of surprised. No servant would ever get a chance to read these kinds of philosophical books in their entire lifetime. So how was he able to do it?

He recalled his father talking about the property that Lord Dartz lived on, there had to be something with that, but what? He didn't want to overstep by looking at the archives of who used to own that land. He debated about going to check, it wouldn't hurt to check. Especially since he didn't want to face Kisara and her 'I told you stare' without getting all of the facts together. So he made the excuse that he had a headache and asked for his dinner to be taken up to him at a later time. Knowing he had at least two good hours before the servants showed up, Seth made his way to the archives. The room, as expected, did have a decent amount of dust in it. It was obvious that this room was seldom used, which was perfectly fine for him. It gave him some privacy to look about.

Glad that he had brought several candles with him, he began to dig though the archives. He knew that as long as he followed Dartz' life he would be bound to find something pertaining to his new residence. Dartz' life was much like Seth had expected it to be. He had grown up a Baron family, married young to other noble, some countess who died rather early on for some unknown reason. Since his father in law had no other children, when he passed Dartz became Count Dartz. Continuing along he met and married another noble and another and somehow ended up with two sons along the way, slowly gathering titles and such from his many wives before settling on being Lord Dartz. Then he married for like the umpteenth time but this time the woman was no noblewoman. She was a widow; her deceased husband had been a merchant who was very successful while he was alive. She and her first husband were from Egypt and together they had a small son named Atem.

Seth froze when he noticed the name. It was of no coincidence for Atem to have that name, so what he had said about his parents being from Egypt was true. That changed a lot of things for the prince as he read on. Like the others it had been a good five years or so that Dartz and his new wife had been married before she, like the others, had also passed. He paused, there was no record of the son dying as well. Seth suspected what happened to the boy named Atem, he didn't die, he simply disappeared, considering it wasn't mentioned he died nor did Dartz mention he had a stepson or else there would be people asking for him. It was when Seth discovered the will Atem's parents made that made it apparent why Dartz did what he did. It stated that if anything were to happen to the pair, everything would belong to Atem and only to Atem the funds would be able to sustain him until he was old enough to do what he wanted and then some. There was no mention of Dartz anywhere.

Perhaps Lord Dartz got greedy, knowing that Atem possibly had no idea of the will that was made, it must have been easy to manipulate him into a life of servitude and Dartz to keep all of the money for him and his two sons. It was ingenious, the man knew no one would bother to look into the matter of the will being taken care of, especially if Dartz said he would handle the matter personally. He left the archives dustier and distraught. He let his pride get in the way today. Technically Atem was never a servant, he was a son of merchant, still not a noble but decent enough for his parents' approval. He regretted leaving when he did. He should have stayed. When he returned to his room, he saw Kisara waiting for him, not caring enough to mention how inappropriate it was, plopped down on his chair and sighed.

"You were right," He said.

She lifted an eyebrow, "About something bigger happening or you not deserving Atem?"

"Both. I went to the archives to see what I could look up about Dartz and possibly Atem," He explained.

She nodded, "What did you find?"

"One giant conspiracy, I don't know what Dartz is planning when it comes to Atem but I know he wants Siegfried to be with me. Considering the way Dartz seems to gain titles left and right, I don't think Siegfried is the ideal partner for me," He stated.

She thought for a moment of what to say before remembering what happened earlier that day at Dartz' house. The girl asking her if she knew where Atem was, surely it wasn't coincidence that the name of Seth's beloved was also named Atem. They had to be the same person! The realisation hit her so quickly.

Bang!

The Atem that Seth speaks of and the Atem that the blonde asked her about are the same person.

Bang!

The girl was looking for Atem.

Bang!

Atem must have gone missing after Seth left.

She gazed at Seth who was looking at her as if she was touched in the head. She took several deep breaths before explaining to him her walk and what she had recalled seeing and the girl she had ran into when she was around Dartz's house. Seth paled when she spoke, he really wished he would have stayed or taken him off. What in the world happened to Atem?

Meanwhile, Atem was just coming to. He didn't remember much, just that he did tell Seth the truth and the prince left. He remembered sitting there before a towel was placed over his nose and that was it. Now he was staring up at a strange ceiling he had never seen before. His mind was clouded, his breathing wasn't as deep as he wanted it to be and he couldn't move. He tried so hard to move his body, he knew he wasn't chained to where he was or else he could have felt the cool metal on his skin. He felt the bed sheets and such but he still couldn't move. He wasn't sure if he could even form words and wasn't sure if he wanted to test it. His eyes darted around to see what was going on around but he could only see the ceiling above him. He couldn't see he was not alone and being stared at until he felt someone join him on the bed and get on top of him. To his horror, it was none other than Akefia. He grinned at Atem as if he had just won a prize.

"It's nice to see you finally woke up," The man purred in his ear.

Atem forced himself to speak but he sounded so soft, "What have you done to me?"

"Well, I figured the moment you woke up, you would try to leave me, especially if I wasn't here, and so earlier I made you drink something while you were asleep. I like to call it an elixir of relaxation, you're body is nice and relaxed like it's asleep yet you are awake but you can't move, since your body thinks it's asleep. You can talk but it doesn't come out as loudly as you would wish for it to be. Virtually, you're powerless against me or anyone else that were to come in here. Not that anyone would even dare to come in here," He said smiling away.

Atem was astonished and yet disgusted at the same time, "Why are you doing this?"

"Well that's simple. Basically, I've asked Dartz for years if I could have you and he's always told me no. Until yesterday when he came to visit me and told me that I could have you just as long as I made it seemed like you were kidnapped. So that's what I did," He answered before nibbling on his ear.

Atem felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. He shouldn't have been surprised to hear that Dartz had given him away; he always figured it was bound to happen, he didn't think it would be soon and to Lord Akefia of all people. He tried to focus on what he was feeling; doing his best to ignore the ministrations the man on top of him was doing to him. He felt his neck being bitten and he cried out in shock only that it sounded softer and quieter than what he would have liked it to sound. All of the alarms were going off in his mind yet he couldn't seem to fight back or even run. He heard Akefia laughing at him for his soft reactions and seeing the frustration on his face from it not being louder.

"How about I make you a deal Atem, I am a very reasonable man and as your Lord I can virtually do what I wish to you. But I would really hate to seem cruel to you, you deserve much more than that. So how about a compromise? You promise not to run away, I won't give you any more elixir. You'll be able to move freely around my manor and have full access to my library just as long as you give yourself to me whenever I ask of it," He said, still smirking away.

Either way he would be stuck here wouldn't he? He didn't like the idea of being in this state, at Akefia's mercy so easily. Though he would have a chance to move, he was still going to have to give himself to the other male and that was something he didn't want to do. The upside was that at least that way, Akefia would still have to ask him rather than in this state where he could take what he wanted and Atem would be entirely powerless. He didn't like the idea of being like this forever. He didn't want to give up so easily but even if he managed to escape, Dartz would only send him back if he went home. Not to mention that Akefia would probably know to find him there. He was trapped either way but at least one of them gave him time to explore the manor and learn about its infrastructure. That way when he did escape, it could give him more than enough time to put some distance. He could promise all he wanted but he wasn't going to keep that promise. He was going to escape someway, somehow. He was being reckless with his life yet again, making yet another deal with the man who literally had his life in his grasp. He knew what happened to others who crossed Akefia, they were never heard from again. As much as he didn't want that to happen to him, he wouldn't have been surprised if that ended up being the outcome. Akefia had stopped his ministrations, waiting to see what his answer would be.

"Well? What do you say Atem? Do you agree to my request or do you prefer staying virtually catatonic?" He asked.

Atem took a steady breath, "You have a deal Lord Akefia. I will do it."

Akefia was practically beaming though he was surprised that the young man was so willing. The man wasn't going to say it but he was going to keep his eyes on Atem, any moment of thinking the young man would run away and then it would be back to taking elixir and waiting, slowly going mad with wonder if and when this Lord Akefia would come back and take him again. As much as he would personally like that way of doing things, he was sure that the young one beneath him wouldn't be too fond of it. Just as the one beneath him most likely didn't like the idea that the man was still on top of him but he wasn't done with his little prisoner just yet. He wanted to have some fun with him first.

"Such a good boy Atem," Akefia purred in his ear, "Now that you've agreed, it's time for me to get my payment from you. I did keep your secret from the prince didn't I?"

Atem looked at him with wide eye but didn't get a chance to say anything more before Akefia bit him in the neck yet again, marking his skin with a bruise that was sure to stay on his flesh for a few days. He let out a groan of displeasure as he felt the other lick the now sensitive skin and bite him again and again until the majority of his neck was marked. Then he was pulled closer by the necklace he was wearing, now acting like some collar he had on. Akefia pulled him into a kiss, his tongue dominating over his only to pull away with a 'pop', and leaving his lips bruised. He wanted to gasp but with the concoction in his body, it was nearly impossible for him catch his breath. He fell back on to the bed, feeling like the wind was knocked out of him.

He hated not being able to move, and speaking was nearly out of the question with how breathless how he was. He closed his eyes, trying to get his mind on other things like the moments he had with Seth before he told the truth. If he closed his eyes, he could return to those little moments, like back at the lake with Seth and Kisara. He imagined trying on the water shoes and walking on water. Perhaps Kisara made another pair and they both are walking together on the shoes laughing and smiling away. He smiled at Seth who waved at him from the shore, calling out to see if he and Kisara were going to come back to shore. The pain and discomfort he might be feeling was far away, he wasn't seeing what Akefia was doing to him, he was lost in his mind, imagining that he was with Seth and was happy. He liked that dream the best of all. It made him feel free.

Leon had known something was wrong the moment he had heard that Atem had been missing. He was no fool, the servants might have believed that Atem might have been kidnapped but he wasn't buying it. It was too easy, Atem wouldn't go without some sort of fight, and not to mention his father was too calm about it. Sure he acted concerned, but when he was with his sons, he didn't worry or wonder like he normally would. It was too perfect for him to automatically assume that Atem had to have been missing. He could tell that Mana and Mahado were just as suspicious. He wanted to go and talk to them but he couldn't seem to get away from his family easily enough. Fortunately he didn't have to worry so much about meeting them, they knocked on his door. Letting them in his room and locking the door, he turned to face them.

"My father has done something, I can feel it," He said.

Mahado nodded, "I agree. He's much too easy to let us out and search for Atem, almost as if he knew we weren't going to find him."

"Of course he didn't do it alone. My father isn't one let his hands get to dirty on anything. Especially when it comes to Atem," Leon stated.

Mahado sighed, "I never understood why your father never liked Atem in the first place. It made no sense to me."

"My father is a very interesting person. He likes all of the attention on him. When it came to my stepmother, though she adored my father, she didn't love him. Atem always came first to her before she even considered my father," Leon said, looking out the window.

Mahado nodded, understanding where Leon was getting at. Mana on the other hand, was very confused. The look on her face was evident but neither of the two was willing to explain it to her. She looked out of the same window where the bed sheets were hanging after the wash. She half expected to see Atem there, smiling with the wind and playing around with the sheets but there was nothing. Even the hint of his laughter was gone. The house felt so empty without him brightening everything he touched. No matter what life seemed to throw, Atem made due and was very optimistic. Was he optimistic now, wherever he was? She didn't know and it killed her.

Mahado placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's going to be okay Mana. Atem is a very strong person, he will find a way."

"I agree, it'll work out in the end and we will all walk out of this very happy Mana," Leon said.

She nodded and wiped her eyes and looked at the time, "I think we should go Mahado. Before Dartz notices that we are not doing our duties."

Mahado nodded before they departed from Leon's room. The house, everything felt entirely empty without Atem to fill it all. Leon left his room and looked around the house, all around he saw the servants were more hushed and some were sniffling. He knew what he told Mana but could he believe it?

Yami didn't know what to think about the entire thing, he couldn't believe BlueEyes1025 actually invited him to the Kaiba Gala. To say he was surprised was one huge understatement. He didn't know how to respond to the other about this. Why? Why did BlueEyes1025 actually want to meet him and at that gala no less? He was bound to see Kaiba there while he was meeting his friend. Not that he was hiding this new friendship or anything but he honestly didn't want to know what Kaiba would actually say about the whole situation. Just imagining what the CEO would say was more than enough to give him some kind of headache. When he got back to the shop, it was empty, the note was still there where he left it.

Throwing it away, he sat back at the front and went back at the computer trying to forget the whole ordeal. He felt like he wanted to talk to someone, he needed someone to vent to. As much as he would love to talk to Anzu and Jou, he didn't want them to share the same burden and still be under Pegasus' rule. It wouldn't be fair to them at all, though they wouldn't mind, it wasn't the point. Who could he talk to that knew how to keep the best secrets? The door opened again, Yami sighed, really praying that it wasn't Bakura coming back for more. When he looked up, he was very relieved.

"Ryuji," He smiled, "What are you doing here?"

The teen shrugged, "Anzu thought she saw the lights out and heard that Bakura was around the area so she asked me to make sure everything was okay. So did Bakura try to come in here?"

"Yeah he was here but it was fine, he didn't try anything crazy. It was very nice of you to help Anzu out. I know she appreciates it," Yami said.

Ryuji smiled, "Well, what can I say? It's what a boyfriend does? Though we're not official it's always good to get in the mode."

"Anyway, do you have some time to hang? I really need some advice and unless you have Ryou in the car, you the only one I could trust with this," Yami spoke.

He snapped his fingers, "Damn it! I had just dropped off Ryou at Yugi's. If I had only known you needed his wisdom, but he also wanted to see Yugi so either way, you're stuck with me cupcake. What can I help you with? Did he finally send you nudies?"

"No he did not send me 'nudies'. But I think you need to sit down for this actually and just read what he sent," Yami explained as he handed Ryuji his phone.

He waited with anticipation as the other was reading his text and when Ryuji looked up and whistled loudly at him, he knew, he just knew he probably should have asked Ryou. Still, he wanted to know what the teen was actually going to tell him. If it was about nudes then he was going to ask this fool to watch the store while he went to go interrupt Ryou and Yugi's private moments. He saw Ryuji pull out his phone and call someone, he was half expecting to be Anzu but then Ryou answered the phone.

"H-hello?" Ryou greeted with.

Ryuji smirked, "Well, well, you sound flustered. Do you have a pretty hickey to match?"

"Otogi!" Ryou exclaimed.

They could hear muffling and finally it sounded like someone on that end put the call on speaker. All while this was happening, Ryuji was laughing away. Even Yami though it was funny,leave it to Ryuji to interrupt someone while they were making out. He felt bad but it was too funny to even think about telling him to hang up.

Yugi's voice floated on speaker, "Otogi, you really need to have good reason to call right now."

"Oh I do. See I called because Yami needed some help with something and handed me his phone and I read what he wanted me to read and I think we need some help. So I called my love experts," Ryuji explained calmly.

Ryou's voice came on quickly, "What happened? Is it from his boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Yami chimed in.

Yugi responded with, "Oh Yami, he might as well be your boyfriend with how much you talk to him."

He rolled his eyes and waited for Ryuji to explain the text message. Naturally, he made it out to be one gigantic story of how after he dropped Ryou off, he got a phone call from Anzu. How he knew what she was wearing, Yami would never want to know nor how there was some sort of desperation in her sultry voice. That made the valiant Ryuji come over to check up on Yami and of course Yami himself was there looking like he was about to have a heart attack over what was happening. Then he handed his phone and there it was! BlueEyes1025 had asked Yami, their sweet and innocent Yami, to go the Kaiba Corp. Gala and meet him in person. And Yami, being the precious cinnamon roll there was, needed their help on figuring out what his answer was going to be.

Yugi spoke up first, "Well it's obvious, isn't it? Yami you have to go! He puts all of his effort into asking you to meet him and go so why not give it a chance?"

"There are a ton of reasons," Yami replied, "One of the important ones is Pegasus, there is no way he would ever let me go and god forbid he finds me there. As much as we do look similar, there is no way he would think it's you and not me."

Ryou spoke next, "Okay but what is life without risk? You've told me you wanted to meet him and now you have an opportunity to meet him and suddenly you're getting cold feet? You know you want to go so why are you letting Pegasus stop you?"

"You have never even been to that Gala before. It's HUGE, trust me, I've been there," Ryuji said, "It's not just one ball room, it's several ball rooms and each room is full of different kind of themes. Pegasus always goes into the Diamond room and he gets there fashionably late just so he can make an entrance. All you have to do is get there on time and tell this guy to meet you in a different room, maybe the Citrine room or even the Aquamarine room,"

Yami sighed, "You make this sound so easy but he's going to notice I'm gone."

"Not if he knows you're already gone. You could spend the night with Ryou under the pretence that you both have a project to work on," Yugi said.

Yami was running out of excuses, "I wasn't invited and I don't have clothes."

"I have an extra ticket for a plus one so you can be my date and I'll get you the clothes," Ryuji said, "Anything else?"

Yami sighed in defeat, they pretty much crossed every single 't' and dotted every 'i' he had. The only thing left now was to reply, getting his phone and looking down at it he decided to reply. 'Yeah I'll gladly meet you there. I'm going with a friend of mine. So what room do we want to meet in? I don't think we should meet in the Diamond room, it's too stuffy in there, don't you think? Let me know what room you like to be in.' He sent it off and looked up at Ryuji who was smirking away and telling the other two that the message was sent. He kind of regretted asking him but at the same time, he didn't because he if the other hadn't called in reinforcements and gotten him to text, this wouldn't be happening. He felt a rush of anticipation go through him, he was glad he did it, he couldn't wait to meet his friend.

Seto had been doing his research when the thought hit him that he should ask Dark_Magician318 to meet him at the Gala. He hated the Gala with a passion but it had been a tradition since before Gozaburo so it was important to the corporation leaders to have one and continue the tradition. The good news was he at least got to pick the theme every single year. He wasn't sure what kind of theme he wanted this year, he had played with the idea of everyone dressing up as their favorite duel monster card but he wasn't sure if that would actually be the best idea. It was a tradition, as well, for the Gala to be a masquerade party. Supposedly, it was because if two people from enemy corporations met one another without knowing, they would discover they had more in common than differences. As sweet as that actually sounded, he knew it was complete and utter bullshit. He knew his enemies regardless of what outfit they wore.

The phone buzzing next to his computer got his attention; he didn't want to grab his phone quickly as he had done previously. The look he got from Yami was a look he never wanted to get again from anyone. He calmly flipped his phone around and unlocked it to read, [Yeah I'll gladly meet you there. I'm going with a friend of mine. So what room do we want to meet in? I don't think we should meet in the Diamond room, it's too stuffy in there, don't you think? Let me know what room you like to be in.] He was glad that someone else shared his sentiments on that particular room. Still, it gave him way more questions than he had answers. How did he know about the Diamond room? Had he been a guest before? He was curious now and it was plain to see that his friend was way more than what he had expected. He liked that. It gave him such a challenge to figure out this mystery. He desperately wanted to know more but he would have to wait for either the Gala or tomorrow to get that much information. He sighed, realising he was over thinking this. Also he needed to reply and soon, he didn't want his friend to be kept waiting any longer than he probably already was.

'Yes I agree. I was thinking we could meet in the Emerald room, it's one of the less populated rooms as everyone wants to be in the Pearl or the Diamond room. As the day gets closer we can decide a time. Is that okay with you?' He typed out and then pressed send.

He didn't look down at his phone and watched it go, he didn't want to look down at his phone like some love sick child. Yet he seemed to relax when it said the message finally sent. He waited for the reply and it seemed to not come fast enough by his standards. He needed to get his mind back on his work. He had deadlines to get to and surely didn't want to disappoint Mokuba in getting home late again. He wasn't in the mood for hearing his little brother complaining that he wasn't coming home anymore so he mustn't love him like he used to. He refrained from rolling his eyes from what the version of Mokuba in his mind would say to him. He really wasn't in the mood to argue with himself. He had gotten so distracted and lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the phone buzz again. He would never admit how fast he looked at his phone this time.

[Sounds like a plan to me. I have to focus on work so I'll SEND YOU THE NUDES YOU KNOW YOU WANT.] He stared at the phone not sure what he had read before another message came in. [I'm so sorry about that! My friend took my phone and sent that to you. Yes, hopefully the invite still stands after that mishap, and I'll text you when I'm done with my shift.] Normally, Seto would have been annoyed at teenage antics, but he thought it was so funny that his 'friend' had friends who were texting things to him. If they had known who he was, would they still have done the same thing? He let that thought entertain him while he was at work and imagined how surprised those friends would be if they knew if it was him. As much as he would want to milk it, he knew he wouldn't gloat too much. He was a little too distracted that he almost forgotten that he needed to send a message back. Trying so hard to not feel foolish about it, he sent back, 'Of course, I'm not the kind of person to withdraw an invitation because of friends of yours. I'll text you back when I get home.' With that he went back to work and pretended like some of things that transpired didn't happen.

The next day, at Yugi's for breakfast, everyone had known what BlueEyes1025 had asked him out to the Gala. All through breakfast, Yami was still distracted by the vision he had seen in the library. It practically haunted him in his sleep. He couldn't forget every detail and the more he thought about it, the more details he got from it. What did it all mean? He wanted to bring it up but he was partially afraid that none of his friends were going to believe anything he said. Even Honda, the more easily convinced friend would be skeptical about his vision. Plus, he would have to answer to Kaiba about what he learned. What was he going to say about that? He saw a vision and freaked? That would go perfectly well while he's on a ride to the loony bin.

"Okay so how are we going to get Cinderella over here to the ball?" Jou asked before getting hit by Anzu.

Yami snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the group, "Wait what now?"

"He was going to stay at my house because we'll have a project to work on," Ryou explained before saying.

Yugi shrugged, "Oh for sure we're going to need more than that. Someone or a group of people need to help Yami get dressed and fix his hair."

"Oh that's a good point! Plus what is he going to wear? Is there a theme?" Anzu asked.

Ryuji spoke, "There usually is a theme but we'll see what it is this time. Kaiba usually is the one who comes up with them."

"Plus we need the getaway car just in case Pegasus actually does see him," Honda said, "Jou and I can do that. Maybe we can rent one of those nice cars or if we use Jou's then we can wait for him in an alley."

Jou agreed, "You know, that sounds like the best idea, but we would also be an excuse unless Anzu is going to watch the shop with Yugi's gramps?"

"I think Grandpa would be fine with watching the shop by himself that night. He can just say it was slow and he sent you all home," Yugi added.

Yami finally found his voice, "Are you guys seriously going to put this much effort into one night?"

He looked like a deer in headlights with them looking almost cross with him for interrupting their train of thought. It was almost all too much for Yami. He honestly shouldn't have been so surprised, but here he was as surprised as ever. He didn't know just how they were going to explain themselves while chewing his head off, it was bound to be interesting for sure.

"Of course we are putting effort in this!" Anzu exclaimed, "Jounochi might not have a chance with Miss Mai but if we can help you with this, then we will."

Jou nodded, "Yeah what she said- wait, what you mean I'm not going to have a chance with Mai? Sure she's an older woman and all…"

"Not the point right now, still, Anzu is right. You're our friend and we want you to meet this guy," Ryuji said calmly.

Ryou and Yugi didn't need to say a word, mostly because the others had already done so for them. Still, they decided to wait for everyone else to finish their declarations of wanting to help and arguing amongst each other before they said anything. It was Ryou who decided to speak up first.

"You want to go to the gala, you want to meet your friend, and you want to see if he's as cool as he's cracked up to be," He began, "you deserve the chance to do that and if that means plans have to be made, then they will be made."

Yugi added, "He's right. You're always working, always doing things for Pegasus. You should do something for yourself for once. We're mostly excited to help you and we want to help you. You'll let us help you, right?"

Yami was fine with arguing with his friends to not help him with this. But with how Yugi and Ryou explained their feelings and looking at everyone's faces, he couldn't dare to think to tell them no. He nodded his head ever so slowly. The cheers and whoops that erupted from the room got Yugi's grandfather to come and check up on them to see if they were okay. Everyone laughed and simmered down after that. It was a bit overwhelming and just because he could, he texted BlueEyes1025.

'Well my friends are very excited about me going to the gala. You should hear them talking about it. What do you think the theme is going to be?'He wrote up and sent. The reply didn't take that long possibly because he was distracted by the conversation. He barely felt the phone buzz in his hands before he looked down.

{It's always good to have people on your side like that. As far as a theme, as great as it would be for me to go dressed like a Blue Eyes White Dragon, it's probably going to be the usual masquerade as it always is.} Well that was good to know. Yami did think it would've been epic to go dressed as the Dark Magician; it would be easy for his friend to find him. On the reverse end, it would also be easy for Pegasus to find him. He didn't particularly want to think about that but it was true. Everyone knew what his favourite Duel Monsters card was. He would be a dead giveaway.

Though he was listening to his friends talking about the gala and how they were going to make this work, his mind was also distracted. 'By the way, you might want to be careful lest you want history to repeat itself.' Did Bakura really know more than what he was letting on? It was easy to dismiss him considering he was who he was, but he seemed to know more about the happenings in this city than anyone else. Perhaps he could ask him about it? There shouldn't be much harm coming from a simple question.

Then there was what he experienced in the library. 'Please promise me that you'll be honest with him the moment you have the chance to.' Atem made him sad for some reason. Thinking about how that young man who resembled him so much died, was probably more than he could fathom. He didn't want to end up like Atem and die. He still didn't understand the warning to be honest with BlueEyes1025. It wasn't like he was lying to him or anything like that. Atem was from a time way back when, he didn't know anything about the internet, chatrooms or usernames. It wasn't like he was purposefully hiding his identity from his friend. It was a lot to take in and he needed time to let it all sink in that his life was somehow not as normal as he wanted it to be.

Seto had to admit that looking up the history of Domino was more tedious than he thought it was going to be. When he got to class the first thing he noticed was how Yami looked very tired, almost as tired as he was. He sat down in his usual seat next to Yami and looked down at his phone. He was half expecting to see a message from Dark_Magician318 but there was none. Needless to say he was a little disappointed, if he didn't hear anything by lunch, then he was going to send him a message to make sure everything was alright.

"Can we both come to the agreement that this project is a pain in the ass?" Seto asked, breaking the silence between them.

Yami nodded, "Yeah. Good news, this school was founded by a prince. It was the first school to be open to the general public."

"He sounds like a kiss ass," Seto grumbled.

So what did you think? LET ME KNOW! I see the views and visitors and I know there are more of you out there. PLEASE REVIEW! It feeds my adrenaline; it encourages me to keep going knowing that there are people that like what I'm writing. Still, if you're shy it's okay. I hope to hear from you soon.

I am working on the next chapter, I promise it won't be months before I post it. I just don't know when I will be posting it. It depends if it's a long chapter or not. If it's relatively short, it'll be posted sooner rather than a longer chapter. The pattern I see is my chapters keep getting longer and longer as we go. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. Anyhow, have a great weekend guys!

With Love,

SangiusRubeus