Deirdra would never quite understand how she had managed to climb the rope ladder and pull herself into the helicoptor that day. She was sick to her stomach and racked with guilt and conflicting feelings as she collapsed into the seat next to Alister. There was a lot of truth to the things Raphael had said. There was a lot of evil in the world and a lot of unscrupulous people. But who was Dartz to play God? Was he so saintly himself to sit in judgement of others? Was Raphael? Was Alister? Was she? Surely not. And what about the Orichalcos stones? Did they reveal the evil inside a person or were they the evil? How could she be sure and how could she fully support Dartz's cause when she didn't believe in it? Or did she? Everything was so messed up. Why had she ever allowed herself to be put in this position?
All these questions and more weighed heavily on her mind and persisted well past the time the trio returned to Paradius. In fact, she was so deep in thought that she missed hearing Alister ask if she was okay and seeing the brief hint of concern in his eyes. She did, however, take his advice later when he suggested that she skip the meeting with Dartz and go lay down. She hardly felt up to answering any questions Dartz might have or suffering through another of Raphael's speeches. Reaching her 'apartment', she went straight into the bathroom and flicked the light switch on. Her reflection in the mirror showed glazed eyes and sallow skin. She apparently looked as bad as she felt, despite yesterday's makeover. Sighing, she splashed some water on her face, changed into pajamas, and climbed into bed.
Alister slipped out the conference room, shutting the door softly behind him. He was quiet as a mouse as he walked down the hall, save for the light tap of his boots on the floor tiles and the swish of his long coat. Dartz was pissed and Alister was glad he wasn't the reason why this time, though he felt vaguely sorry for Raph. Raphael had somehow managed to bungle his seemingly foolproof plan by capturing Yugi's soul instead of the Pharaoh's. Needless to say, Dartz was not very pleased by that. He had been angry enough when a draw had been the result of Alister's duel with Kaiba. He was 10x as angry now. Yes, Raphael was going to get it, and Alister wasn't going to hang around for that. "What?", he asked himself, suddenly becoming aware that he had stopped outside Deirdra's door and that his hand was poised to knock. How had he ended up here? His room was on the other side of the building. He must have been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he went the wrong way. Kind of like Deirdra. What was up with her anyway?, he wondered. She had almost looked ill back on the helicoptor, like she might pass out or something. Was a duel that hard to stomach? Again, he cursed Dartz for having him bring her here -for putting her in danger. Then again, she was tougher than she looked. She was a Kaiba. Gozaburo Kaiba's niece. The name echoed in Alister's mind and his hatred grew. He knew he was stupid for letting himself feel something for Deirdra again. He had to stop. He turned away from the door and quickly made off in the opposite direction.