~XxX~
Yami helped Teá up as I rose of my own accord, glancing around for the fourth member that had been on the roof with us. I just caught sight of the edge of a disappearing beige skirt and cloak. I looked around again, this time for something slightly more important than Ishizu before spotting it in the centre of the Duel Arena. My shoe. My weapon. For some reason, I was now using shoes as weapons. Well, you can't say it didn't work. My brain rationalised with me as I shrugged my indifferent agreement. I thought for a second after picking it up and decided to run after Ishizu. Just how did she know the 'Mc' part of my last name? I glanced behind me as I jogged down the stairwell, seeing that my two friends would certainly be perfectly fine without me there. I had just missed her elevator, but not to be deterred, caught the next one and punched the button for the ground floor. Several seconds later and I was running out into the metal ground floor of the Tower and called her name as she neared the exit. Ishizu stopped and turned to look at me expectantly as I caught up to her.
"You knew, my last, name…fully." I said, regaining my breath was punctuating my sentences like commas. She paused before walking again, obviously meaning for me to follow, which I did…hesitantly and on my toes, like a ballerina attempting to get everywhere via pointé. At the very least, I wouldn't get large rocks in my feet.
"In the same way I knew you'd follow me." She said, sounding fairly normal now that Yami had promised to release her brother. She seemed almost nice. I hopped over a twisted metal hunk left over from the previous KaibaCorp endeavour that was here.
"Magic?" I asked sarcastically, feeling put in my place when she replied without turning round.
"Of a sort, yes. My Tauk let me see most things, if not all. I knew your full name by looking at you." She stopped in front of me as I preformed an odd sort of skip-hop-twirl to navigate some particularly hazardous gravel, glass and rusty springs. It was only when I looked up that I realised she'd stopped in front of the anchored blimp and had her hands clasped neatly in front of her. I stood a little to her left and faced her.
"Tauk?"
"Necklace." She offered helpfully as I nodded. I sighed and leant gingerly against a massive boulder across from her, making sure that it was indeed secure and not going to roll away from me. I surveyed the land around us and came to the conclusion that Alcatraz looked like some kind of horrifying dystopian-future city. There was an easy silence for a few minutes before my brain caught up with what she'd said before.
"You knew I'd follow you?" I asked, shocked slightly. She nodded and answered in a vaguely amiable manner.
"Of course. I may not have the Tauk anymore, but I have always been perceptive of events and people." She looked away from me and towards the Duel Tower, "That is why it chose me, I imagine." I frowned at her words and looked the opposite way, at the ocean.
"Did your's come with a-a-"
"A spirit?" She concluded, looking back to me at the same time as I looked to her. I paused for a second before nodding. She shook her head and a smile twitched her mouth. "No. I am pleased to say that not all of the Millennium Items house a separate consciousness." I nodded slowly in understanding before my brow creased again.
"But…you speak of them like they're sentient." I said, she had said that it had chosen her. Ishizu seemed to think for a moment about how she should respond.
"They are…in a way. They're not fully sentient, but they have a purpose to fulfil. They use their own means to get closer to their goal."
"Which is?"
"…You have a more of a part in the proceedings than my brother believes." She neatly side-stepped my question with a baffling statement.
"WH-" I choked on my words before composing myself, "What on Earth was that supposed to mean?" Ishizu paused again.
"…My brother believes you to be inconsequential, just as he believes Teá to be useless, Serenity to be a nothing and Mokuba to be a futile waste of time. Mai was the only one he happened to strike down." She paused and looked back to the Duel Tower. "But the reality is that the four of you are possibly the most influential people here."
"Uhh…" I was silenced from nearly choking on my lung by her continuing.
"You're not Duelists, nor are you fighters in any physical capacity, you are not accepted nor favoured by any Millennium Items, but he doesn't see the four of you are powerful enough to sway or distract the minds of his enemies in a crucial moment." She sighed, "It is good, in a way, that Marik was never any good at understanding emotions. If he did, he would have taken the four of you for bargaining already."
My mind clicked onto what she was saying.
Teá, Yugi's first friend ever and only an emotionally blind person wouldn't be able to see that Yugi had a crush on her.
Serenity, very obviously Joey's sister, no explanation needed there along with the fact that she was watching over Mai, a person that Joey seemed to only be coming to terms with his affection for her because the rest of us were telling him that he was an idiot for not seeing it himself.
Mokuba, enough people had gone down that route already, including Marik himself, but only the sane one. I doubted the mental one really understood the dedication there.
Me.
I blushed deeply and decided not to deconstruct that one, rationalising once more that she knew because she had a magic necklace, it was still a half nice thought though…
"It's nice to know that we'd make lovely Damsels in Distress." I said sarcastically, feeling a little put-out by the fact that Ishizu seemed to see us as just the extras. She chuckled softly at my chunnering and continued to look towards the Duel Tower.
"I didn't say that you didn't do other things." She reminded me, "If anything, the fact that Marik's mind is able to reside in Teá's without causing her terrible mental damage and your anger in the face of your friend's jeopardy is proof that that isn't all the four of you do." She looked at me and obviously saw my blush. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Odion is the same for the good side of Marik."
"Hmn." I grunted, holding up a foot and flicking some gravel off the sole of it. I resisted the urge to scratch at the cut on my chest, knowing that the fact that it was itching was because it was meshing over. I looked down at my poor blouse, noting that the material was stronger than I'd thought if it hadn't been completely shredded by the Millennium Rod. Instead there was a neatly-edged rip that followed the line of the cut easily. I pulled the edges away from my chest, wincing as some of the dried blood that had stiffened the fabric came away with it. Ishizu shifted her position and spoke, looking behind the boulder I was leaning against to something that interested her.
"My cue…" She said, tailing off as I heard footsteps getting closer.
"What do you want, Ishizu?" A sharp and familiar voice from just behind my leaning spot.
"I'd advise you to be present for the next duel, Seto." She answered, deftly squashing his rudeness in a manner that made me snort. Mokuba looked round from his place at his brother's side to face me. And the gasp a little.
"Sophie!" He seemed genuinely concerned and not for the first time I remembered that he was the antithesis of his older brother, "Are you-" I held up the unbandaged hand to stall him.
"-Perfectly fine apart from all the blood." I concluded and laughed a little knowingly, "If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here." I glanced at Seto, who had turned to face me at the word 'blood.' "Of course, I'd be even better if I had my shoes." Another dry look directed at him, "Maybe I wouldn't have so much dust and gravel in my feet."
"If you're perfectly fine, why is your hand covered in blood, Callaghan?" Seto asked dourly, looking highly unimpressed. I looked at the hand I'd held up to stall Mokuba. Yeah, I still hadn't gotten all the blood off onto my blouse. "And why do you look like you were attacked?" Yep. He really wasn't impressed. I shrugged.
"Well…because I was. But it's nothing. Honestly, I'm not just saying that, it's already healing." I sighed and looked towards the Duel tower. "He buggered off anyway." An exasperated sigh from the taller of the two in front of me as Mokuba folded his arms to look uncannily like someone else I knew.
"It was Marik, wasn't it?" The black-haired kid had an identical look of unimpressedness and the same dour tone. I winced.
"…Yes."
"You are utterly useless, Callaghan." Seto repeated what he'd said the first time I'd been confronted by Marik. I rolled my eyes and looked to Ishizu for at least a little support. The woman raised an eyebrow at me as if to say, 'Your problem, you fix it.'
"Hey! He was going to kill Teá!"
"So you valiantly stepped in to save her? Isn't that Moto's job?"
"Oh shut up, I wasn't thinking at the time."
"You never think of the consequences, Callaghan. Your complete and utter lack of rationality in the face of danger is astounding."
"I obviously did something right! I'm not dead!"
"Yet." The one word he answered with was utterly deadpan and stopped me right in my tracks, after all, what could you say to that? I sighed angrily.
"I want my shoe back." I snapped petulantly at him, folding my arms and then unfolding them just as quickly, not liking the fact that I was getting blood onto the other arm of my blouse. He looked back to Ishizu, ignoring me and walking away, back to the blimp.
"I don't think you deserve it back yet, Callaghan." He said calmly as I gasped indignantly.
"Screw deserving it! It's my bloody shoe! I bought it with my money!"
"And you threw it at me with your immaturity. Maybe when you stop putting yourself in needless danger I'll give you your shoe back."
"…Are you worried for me?" I asked, after thinking that sentence over in my head. Whatever answer I may or may not have received was scuppered by the fact that Ishizu now spoke to stop Seto and Mokuba from boarding the blimp.
"You don't believe Yugi can win, do you? That is why you run away now." She spoke like I'd always imagined a Seer in a fantasy game or book to speak. Barely any contractions and a convoluted manner, but it worked with her mainly serene tone. Seto stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.
"Indeed." He said, sounding almost respectful of her…at the very least he didn't sound on the verge of an insult, though he did carefully ignore me. Mokuba on the other hand took his brother's momentary distraction to take my bandaged hand and inspect it.
"Did you feel the stitches give at any point?" He asked me, sounding scarily like a doctor for a twelve-year-old. I paused, thinking back before shaking my head.
"Nope. He was more focussed on my neck to be honest." My attempt to lighten the mood went down about as well as a lead balloon, Mokuba raised an eyebrow at me before letting go of the one hand and examining the other for a second. He finished glaring at the dried blood under my nails and that was smudged on my fingertips with a sort of professional detachment that I hadn't expected from the smiley, energetic kid, but that made sense when I thought about it. He was, after all, a Kaiba.
"Why did you get blood all over you hands?" A stern glare from around about my hip height would have made me laugh had it been from anyone else, in this case however, I answered as promptly as I would have had he been that blond doctor from earlier.
"It's a shallow cut, I just smeared the blood away from it so that it could breathe and heal quicker."
A glare from both brothers, even though one had to look over his shoulder and away from talking to Ishizu to do so.
"Well it worked" I huffed. Mokuba rolled his eyes before smiling at me as Seto sighed once more like he was contemplating murder, once again signalling for Mokuba to follow him to the blimp.
"You're not even sticking around!" I asked, shocked that he wouldn't even stay for the finals of his own Tournament. He shook his head without stopping or looking round.
"I don't care what happens now, my Battle City is over."
"…Huh. That's self-centered."
"Yugi needs your help and power behind him to win, Seto." Ishizu cut across the beginning of another banter session, bringing it back to the immediate problem of the here and now. He stopped and snorted.
"That's a joke." His voice suggested anything but. "Let's go, Mokuba."
"…Pereto Kerutu." Ishizu didn't even shift her gaze from the rock behind me to look at Seto, but he stopped in his tracks again, and the way he did so made me think that those words meant something important.
"Uhm…" I started before being cut across by Ishizu again.
"You know what that means, don't you Seto? Those words that were written on the stone?" She now turned to look at him as both Mokuba and I were left in utter confusion as to what on Earth was being said. "The stone was found in an ancient Pharaoh's tomb." She glanced at me, Yami? I thought, knowing the only reason she'd look at me would be because I knew something. "Those words were written there, a prayer for the dead." She glared back at Seto. "It was written in the language of a friend." He snorted and turned away from her as she turned to fully face him, getting more passionate in her speaking. "Only a friend would have written those words and only in that script! The sorcerer that was on that stone was you 3000 years ago just as the Pharaoh was Yugi 3000 years ago! They fought, but were friends! Exactly like now!" She finished her highly impassioned explanation to a distinctly unrapturous reception. Seto laughed at her scornfully.
"I don't have any f-"
"Can we cut the bullcrap right now, hun?" I asked mockingly, "You have friends whether you like it or not. One of them has the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh in him, whether that is logically possible, rational or even has the common decency to not bugger around with my world view, or not. And, last but by no means least, everyone on this bloody island seems to have some kind of connection to ancient Egypt." I sighed, "Through a giant rock or not." He glared at me as if to say, 'And I thought you were sane.' He looked away from me and back to Ishizu, a second chance before he stormed off. Huh, maybe she was right when he said I could sway his mind slightly. Though it was more 'shoving' than 'swaying.'
"I don't care about words written on a stone 3000 years ago, Ishizu."
"You should, they're the reason you built Battle City."
A deadly pause as the one who thought he knew everything came up against the one who probably did know everything. All about the reason he built the one thing he wanted to kill the memory of Gozaburo with.
Ishizu broke the ice first.
"You built Battle City under the guidance of the Gods. The battle between the holder of Ra and the Pharaoh was always destined to happen. But he is only capable of winning if you are there also!"
"Did you say 'Pharaoh?' Again? Why do you people insist on this idiocy?" I glared at Seto with complete and utter disbelief. I was a little uneasy after Ishizu had said 'Guidance of the Gods' due to my inherent belief that the Egyptian religion was not real. But…if there was the 3000-year-old spirit of a Pharaoh in a puzzle held by a friend of mine…
I was going to have to re-evaluate my Agnostic views when I got back home.
"Are you honestly this narrow-minded, Seto? Or is it just…an act?" I asked wearily, not in the mood to hear the same arguments over and over again. "Open your mind a little, I've had to and I've known them for a shorter amount of time than you!" I gesticulated wildly to accentuate my point, "Seriously, I've seen some honest-to-" I faltered, what should I say in place of 'God?' "Honest-to-God crazy crap in my time here! I've had to accept it! Why the blazing Baator can't you?"
"Because I'm rational and sensible and far more intelligent than you, Callaghan." He accentuated his words like he was talking to a five-year old and I had half a mind to throw my other shoe at him too. He'd probably just steal it again. My mind said bitterly. Instead of saying anything, I just made a disgusted noise and contemplated my new stance on religion. Ishizu seemed to nod her head to me in recognition of my attempt to reason with him.
"Seto." I noticed that tic in his cheek that came around whenever I used his first name appear. Huh. I'd been using his name for quite a while now and he hadn't been that pissed before. Probably desensitized to it by now. I thought smugly. "The Duel Tower is a sanctuary you built with your very soul. The perfect place for a Battle of the Gods to take place." I don't think Seto heard the last sentence, preferring to get royally angered at the whole 'sanctuary' business. I glanced down and to my left, seeing Mokuba watching like a spectator at a tennis match.
"Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" Seto sliced the air in front of him in a gesture of 'no more.' "This isn't a sanctuary, Ishizu. Duel Tower is a symbol of my hate for Gozaburo, one that I planned to destroy when I stood victorious." He glared at the Duel tower like it had wronged him personally. "But that's meaningless now. Maybe I should sink it now…" I choked on one of my lungs and was ignored by everyone present as they were busy staring at Seto like he'd lost his mind. A notion I was willing to entertain. "Mokuba, get ready to start the self-destruct." He said finally, much to my instant chagrin. I hopped over a lump of metal and stood directly in front of him, and inch and a half shorter without my shoes on but doing my best to loom.
"Are you demented?" I snarled at him, invading his space, "There are still other people on this island. You'd blow up this place without informing them?" My lip curled further than I thought possible as I clamped down on any form of emotion I may have had towards him. He glared back at me coolly.
"I'm sure they'd hear the sirens, Callaghan."
I dropped my shoe and shoved him backwards with both hands to his shoulders, making him stumble backwards several feet by a combination of sheer brute force and the element of surprise. My bandaged hand protested at the exertion
"What a lovely birthday I'm having!" I said, Seto forgotten as I glared at my hand. I laughed a little hysterically as I balled it into a fist despite it's griping, "Slashed in the hand, cut in the chest, had my shoe stolen, been offended left right and centre and now! Now a friend of mine shows that he hasn't actually changed in the slightest since a certain event and is perfectly willing to blow everyone else up." I spun in a tight circle, stooping swiftly to collect my other shoe, I spoke over my shoulder at him, making to leave. "And I thought you were getting ever so slightly more palatable, Seto."
I was stopped from a dramatic exit by a simple act from the last person I'd expected, considering the situation.
My uninjured hand was caught as I stormed past Mokuba and he shook his head slightly at me before turning to Seto.
"Brother…" He let go of my hand, now sure I would stay, "We…we shouldn't let Yugi and his friends be caught up in the hatred that consumed us for so long…" I looked down at the kid, heart constricting as I knew, I just knew how hard it must be for him to be going against his beloved big brother's words. I glanced over my shoulder to see said brother's reaction. Absolute shock. I inwardly 'hmm'ed' my approval. Good, that had gotten through to him more than a physical shove.
"Mokuba? Wh-"
"I hated them!" Mokuba seemed close to either crying in frustration or screaming at Seto. "I detested them in the beginning! But then Yugi and his friends were compassionate to me, even after all I'd done to them! They accepted me as a friend! They helped you save me and I never really thanked them for it and they still treated me as a friend!" He seemed honestly shocked that we'd do such a thing, Mokuba looked down to collect his next thoughts before looking back up to face his brother. "I think that what Joey and Yugi and even Sophie said was true! You don't do anything for fun anymore! You never smile anymore! I loved it when you smiled! But you never do anymore!" Fuck. I thought, feeling my heart clench again. "They don't deserve to be caught in our hate…Not after all they've done for us." He glanced up at me for a second and then back to his brother. "And Sophie's stuck around us too." I grunted and turned on my heel again, this time to face Seto. I folded my arms and lightly shoved Mokuba with my hip.
"Only because I've put too much time and effort into it for me to just leave." I sniffed and looked away disinterestedly, "It would have been a waste." Mokuba nodded furiously at what I'd said and looked back at Seto.
"Please, Brother! Let go of the hatred and sink the Duel tower later…" He clenched his fists apparently steeling himself for whatever he was going to say next. "Then maybe you can be like the Brother from before."
There was silence for a good two minutes as the two brothers stared at each other, both utterly shocked by the younger's words.
"…In front of the God of Ra, Yugi has a 3% chance of a win." Seto said, walking towards the two of us and looking down to Mokuba, "I have a card that would boost that to 20%. Something he should be able to capitalise on." My heart skipped a little at his words and his tone. He sounded almost…caring. I let out a breath I didn't even realise I was holding as the four of us turned to walk to the Duel tower.
"You people are going to cause me some serious cardiac problems."
~XxX~
A/N:
If you are wondering where that whole Mokuba rant comes from, I kinda cross-referenced what 4Kids Mokuba and Japanese Mokuba said and did. Actually, I do that for every character, but it's more distinctive with this scence due to just HOW badly 4Kids fucked that one up.
~Ava