Seto had a hard time trying to wake up the next day. He was too comfortable, and Yami's warmth against him was too nice. But soon enough, two lazy blue eyes opened up, still drowsy from sleep. He gave his spirit a last tight squeeze before shaking himself awake and stretching out.
Yami grumbled at him on the bed, annoyed about having to let go of the warmth so soon but complying. Both of them got ready for the day, cleaning up and leaving their room. Yami decided to hang out in the Puzzle for the time being, if only to stay closer to his aibou for a short period of time.
They went to the main hall of the Battle Ship, where the matches would be determined. As the bingo machine rolled on, they had breakfast and a bit of time to completely wake up.
The first match turned out to be Yugi vs Bakura. Kaiba frowned at the result, realizing that one of the coolest duels would be the first one. That is, assuming that Yami would want to fight by Yugi's side. This wasn't very good for the marketing of the rest of the tournament but, oh well. At least he would get to see Yami dueling.
Yugi didn't seem too excited about fighting Bakura, and Kaiba could understand. The normal Bakura kid was too soft to want to crush and the evil Bakura was going to try and kill him. The CEO wasn't worried about murders happening in his tournament though... Yami being around guaranteed that nobody would die. He was more worried about the ghost's safety himself.
Things were all sorted out so the first duel could start right away. And just like Seto expected, a pleading, shiny-eyed Yami soon projected himself by his side... wanting to go and help Yugi in his duel. Kaiba had the very slight feeling that this counted as cheating, but he didn't care. Seeing his spirit duel was his life force, there was nothing better nor more satisfying. If helping Yugi win was what it took, for all means Yugi could keep that stupid King of Games title for himself.
Almost immediately, Isono directed them to the battle field on top of the blimp. After Seto handed the Puzzle to Yugi, the players directed themselves to each side of the cold field. With a smooth movement to open their duel disks, they started the fight.
Kaiba felt a frigid shiver going down his spine when Bakura's pose changed completely. His eyes turned sharp and murderous. The albino laughed at the wide-eyed Yugi and pulled out his deck, slamming it on his disk.
"I bet you thought you had seen the last of me." The evil spirit spat out venomously.
Swallowing dry, Yugi allowed Yami to take over. The ghost soon changed his own host, red eyes burning holes on his opponent at the other side of the field. He ignored Bakura's jabs and prepared himself for the duel, which enraged the other spirit.
Kaiba watched their fight with care and was surprised to see that Yami clearly had the upper hand. He was destroying all of Bakura's monsters without breaking a sweat. Now the albino was holding on to his last life points... was it seriously going to end up like this?
Seto wasn't sure if he felt relieved or horrified when everything turned out to be a trap to summon Dark Necrofear. The awful-looking doll proceeded to destroy every single monster in Yami's field. With it's effects and magic backups from Bakura, that thing was almost invincible. Yami tried to keep up by activating a card that allowed him to summon Dark Magician Girl... But the monster still wasn't strong enough to take out Necrofear on her own. The magician made desperate gestures at her master.
Kaiba held on to his breath. Yami still had a face down card, probably a trap to take out Necrofear. He only needed Bakura to attack him so he could activate it.
When the albino's turn came along, Seto eyed his monsters, trembling with expectation... but to his annoyance, the other ghost wasn't stupid and avoided to attack. He must've got a dead draw and had no monsters to summon so he could trigger the trap without Necrofear being in danger.
Seto's heart skipped a beat when in Yami's turn, the card was revealed to be a magic card. An equip to boost DMG's attack points. With that, he destroyed the horrible doll in a matter of seconds. But Bakura laughed, increasing Kaiba's anxiety.
Dark Necrofear's effect was activated. It turned the field into a horrendous amalgamation of eyes and mouths all around the blimp. The sight made Seto's stomach twirl.
"You remember this place, Pharaoh?" The spirit screamed in a mocking tone. "Didn't we have a fun time in it? Isn't it pretty?"
Kaiba clenched his fists. Yami seemed horrified with the field, more than a normal person should be. As terrifying as that field is, it's nothing but a hologram. What is making his ghost so stressed out and how can he stop it without ruining the entire tournament?
He soon found out what exactly Yami was afraid of. Horrifying ghosts started to attack him whenever he tried to control one of his monsters. Yami was still more scared than he should have been, though. Considering that he didn't twitch once in front of a Blue Eyes and his dragon was definitely scarier than these... things. Kaiba found himself wondering if Yami had some sort of trauma about being attacked like this. But he suppressed it, this was not the time and besides. Yami's past wasn't important, he did not need to know about it.
But Bakura wasn't done with just using special effect ghosts to attack Yami directly. He also had an Ouija Board card hidden in his sleeves, which would force Yami to win in mere five turns. Pegasus made a fucking broken game.
Seto shook his head. No. Yami would turn this situation around, no matter how few turns are left. Yami never loses, no matter how bad the situation is.
Red locked with blue.
A smile opened on Yami's face, and Seto immediately knew that this duel's winner was decided.
"I activate a magic card that will reassign all the equipment in my field- to Kuriboh!" The spirit stated proudly. Kaiba wasn't very sure of what he intended to do until he realized that... the horrifying damage spirits counted as an equipment. Even though who they were equipped to was decided by Bakura. Even though Yami couldn't see which monster had it until they attacked... now he knew.
Seto was sure that this wasn't all, though.
And he was proven right once Yami declared he was going to resurrect Dark Necrofear. With Resurrection of the Dead, the spirit easily destroyed the field of eyes and mouths. Seto could almost see Yami's shoulders relaxing as the starry, dark blue sky was visible once again.
Bakura still wasn't out of the game though, and this duel was being way more interesting than he first expected it to be. But, without any room to play the last card needed for his D-E-A-T-H combo, Bakura seemed to be in the ropes.
The albino was still smiling, though. And as soon as he used a magic card to send his Necrofear back to the graveyard, Seto understood why. The awful-looking red field returned in all it's glory. Kaiba felt his heart tighten when Yami's eyes widened in terror.
There was only one turn left for Yami to win. The CEO could feel his heart falling to his stomach as Yami drew his last card.
When a smile spread open on his ghost's face, Seto let out a deep, relieved breath.
Lightning shot to the skies. Clouds cut through the field of eyeballs in an astounding display. The lightening focused itself in an enormous form. It straightened itself and grew wings that could embrace the entire length of the blimp. Strikes of light started to curl around one another and around the airship. Soon, a huge red dragon stood over them.
It opened it's two mouths and let out a echoing roar that spread through the night sky. Bakura's smile disappeared almost instantly and was replaced by a look of sheer horror. Seto laughed as Yami declared the final attack… but the ghost stopped middle way.
"Why did you stop?!" Kaiba scolded him immediately. He wouldn't have Yami acting like a wimp, they had to fight each other in the finals, for God's sake!
But when he turned around to the albino kid, he understood what was wrong almost immediately. He had fallen on his knees, holding his arm and looking around, horrified.
The evil ghost had chickened out and left the injured kid in it's place to take the blow of a God. What a bastard, the shock wave could definitely kill his host. But Yami will do what he has to do, he promised to duel him on the finals and that's what's going to happen.
But... Yami didn't attack. He refused to, much to Kaiba's frustration. Seto was sure that Yugi sharing a mind with him was what was making Yami act with such stupidity. Refusing to attack in a duel and risking losing his place on the semi-finals... ugh.
The nonsense continued for a while. That is, until the evil spirit possessed his host again, daring Yami to attack. Seeing that Ryou was out of the scene, Yami commanded Slifer to attack at full force. The blow knocked the evil albino down, and he dragged across the field before stopping. Kaiba couldn't understand why the ghost returned when he was going to win the duel to save his life. He was going to guess that Bakura realized how humiliating it would be to win like that.
Yami ran to the unconscious kid along with the nerd herd, and convinced them to take him to his room. Should he tell them that he had a doctor at bay in case of an emergency? Eh. This wasn't an emergency.
There was one thing that needed urgent care right now, though.
"Yami." He called out, running after the spirit and stopping him midway into the blimp.
"What. Was. That." He spat out. "Why didn't you attack at once?!"
The ghost had the decency to look ashamed, but... his eyes got glassy in an instant and he rose them up again, this time determined.
"I couldn't hurt him. He's my friend."
Kaiba took a hand to his face, grunting in disapproval.
"You're spending way too much time with the nerd herd. Get out of him." Seto continued in a commanding tone, signaling to Yami to come closer to him. The ghost visibly hesitated but complied, leaving Yugi's body to it's rightful owner. Yugi immediately glared at the CEO.
"You can't order him around and keep him from having bonds with people forever, Kaiba." The kid said accusingly. Yugi's anger was clear, telling from the way he refrained from adding the "kun" at the end of Seto's name. The business man scoffed at him.
"It's been almost an entire year since we last meet each other, and you still don't understand that he is mine." Kaiba said venomously, fuming from the sheer audacity in the midget in front of him.
"He is a person, Kaiba! He belongs to no one! It's been almost a year since I first told you this! And you still don't understand that your damn possessiveness is going to hurt him! What if Yami finds his home? What if he finds the place he's meant to go to? What if he doesn't belong here, what the hell will you do then, Kaiba?" Yugi raised his voice at him.
Yami's form wavered from distress. He instinctively placed himself between them in an attempt to soothe the two. Seto banged his fist on the wall behind him, infuriated. The loud sound echoed around them, startling Yugi to no end. The kid swallowed dry but still kept eye contact with the CEO, refusing to give away his discomfort.
"Yami has nowhere to go, host. He doesn't remember his past and there's no magical friendship spell that will ever fix that!" The CEO spat out. "He needs me! He needs Mokuba! And he'll stay with us, no matter what you or these crazy foreigners say!"
Yugi glared at him, not bothering to answer.
Enraged, Kaiba turned his back on him and disappeared into the corridors. Pulling Yami along, of course. The ghost waved Yugi goodbye before going away with his aibou.
The next duel turned out to be Kaiba vs Ishizu. Seto was satisfied with the match. He was sure that he would be able to crush the woman in a duel, make up for all the destiny nonsense she has been telling him.
But… things didn't actually go that well. He found himself trapped into her combos, unable to play his best cards. Because she "could see the future" and knew every possible move he could attempt to win against her. She had him trapped against a corner, and he didn't know how to get out of it. If he summoned the wrong monster... he would be declassified without even having a chance to duel against his ghost.
Seto could feel himself deflating... empty blue eyes staring at his hand without really looking at it. He couldn't think. He was….. scared.
"Seto!" Yami's voice rang into his ears. Looking to his side, Kaiba saw the spirit standing there, fiery red eyes burning on his skin. He looked so tangible, but so far away.
"I can see! Our duel in the finals and all the others that come after it!" The ghost screamed, the determined look on his face never wavering. Seto felt his heart get warmer, and he smiled despise the awful situation.
"Wait for me, Yami!" He called, the smile growing.
Turning back to his opponent, he looked at his hand once again, but this time with focused and confident eyes.
Blue Eyes was there.
As if the dragon was luring him closer, he could feel his consciousness being pulled into the card. Into a vision of rock, white and blood.
He could see a figure like his own holding a young woman in front of a rock tablet. The dragon engraved in it huge and towering over the two bodies on the ground.
He snapped awoken back in the battle field, taking in a deep breath. Blue eyes just talked to him! What the hell did that vision mean?
He held the card in a tight, angry grip, close to folding it. Was it asking to be played? But Obelisk was the clear choice to be made here, playing Blue Eyes would be plain bull-
His eyes widened and his grip weakened around his card. The clear choice. Ishizu knew that he would play Obelisk. And like in every single one of the previous turns... she had prepared something to take the God out of the field and defeat him once and for all. Anger build in inside Seto's chest and, like a rebellious teenager, he smacked Blue Eyes into his disk.
A ferocious roar echoed through the skies. The white dragon accepted Seto's tributes and landed in front of him. It roared to the woman on the other side of the field. She looked terrified, looking around her hand and touching the Millennium Necklace several times as if asking it... what went wrong?!
"Y-You... changed the future..." She whispered. Soon an ominous burst stream disintegrated her monsters. She let out a soft gasp as her life points went down to zero.
Seto stepped out of the field, feeling his heart melt when Yami trotted in his direction. His eyes shone with pride and happiness. He caressed his lover's shoulders with tenderness. Silently thanking him for the encouragement with his eyes. He was so glad that he had Yami with him, he was sure that he wouldn't have been as successful in that duel otherwise.
He nodded to the still star struck Ishizu, recognizing her as a good opponent. Then he stormed away with Yami right behind him. The ghost happily gave Ishizu a congratulations before disappearing into the Puzzle.
The next duel was the blonde woman vs the blonde kid with purple eyes. Seto didn't bother to watch that one and consequently Yami had to stay with him, brooding on their room. After an while they started to play games and watch shows on the TV installed in their room, until-
A loud, bright lightning struck the blimp, making the entire sky seem white outside. That startled Seto out of his seat. He wondered if a storm was coming or if this had something to do with the duel taking place.
Just to make sure, he went to the battle field and to his annoyance, found out that yes. There were unconscious people up there once again. Ugh, maybe having the tournament take place somewhere they could be hit by lightning wasn't that of a good idea. The blonde kid even had his hair up like a freak now, most likely because of the electricity. There was also he possibility that he was copying Yugi's outrageous style.
After calling the medic, he decided to stay there and watch the next duel. Just in case someone fell unconscious….. again.
And it paid off, because the next duel had both the bald man and the mutt unconscious after being hit by Ra's lightning. Oh, how wonderful. Did he even have enough hospital beds for all these people?!
For his relief, only the declassified man stayed unconscious. The mutt recovered quickly enough. They would be able to proceed with the tournament this time.
They traveled to the local where the semi finals and the finals themselves would take place... the Alcatraz tower.
Seto couldn't help but feel shivers going down his spine with the sight. The place was abandoned for ages, but it still made him feel awful. It wasn't going to do that for long, though. As soon as he won the tournament, this feeling of dread and this tower of hatred would be gone, he would make sure of it.
They had a duel with four players to decide who would fight who in the semifinals. After a very annoying competition over who would get to fight Yugi- (it would most likely be Yami instead) first, Kaiba had the right to laugh on everyone else's faces... he got to be the first one to duel Yami, and he was extremely satisfied with that. It wasn't as glorious as fighting his childhood friend in the finals, but it was still very great.
The only annoying thing was that the mutt and the Egyptian guy with spiked blonde hair would get to duel first. Which was a duel that he just… couldn't care less about. But Yami was anxious and worried about the outcome of this particular match for some reason... so he hesitantly allowed himself to accompany the ghost and Mokuba in watching the mutt duel.
The match was actually surprisingly trilling. They seemed to be in some sort of dark game. He remembered the time when Yami used to play these, and the outcome wasn't pretty. Maybe that's why so many people were falling unconscious... come to think about it, every single one of the people who fainted dueled this guy before falling ill. Was he…?
The thought struck Seto hard. This person must be trapping souls away and will only return them if defeated. Kaiba didn't even know that such a thing was even possible. That is, considering that Yami only dared to play such games when he and Mokie were in danger. He didn't know that this magic was something you could use in every single game you play. What the hell, why didn't Yami use it more often then?
Seto thought that it was a consequence of him becoming more human, but... this blonde guy outright had a physical body and he was still putting people in comas in a blink of an eye! Why wasn't Yami using his powers to protect himself…?! Did Yugi poison his mind enough for him to be scared of doing what he needs to do?
Shaking his head, Kaiba forced himself to focus on the duel ahead of him. It didn't matter if Yami was refraining from using his powers or not, at least not now. They could talk about that later. Now he should decide if he even could stop this Malik person's "killing spree". A dark game gave him a HUGE, very unfair advantage. But Kaiba knew that it was invisible to anyone outside the players and himself. Yami's mind could grasp the complex magic whatever that was happening in front of them. And then, proceed to send the translated nonsense back to him. But to the outside world, this was just a regular duel with very dramatic, and very invested players. He couldn't stop the duel and declassify Malik without the entire world throwing a fit. Then saying that he's doing this for Jounouchi's advantage. Especially because he's most definitely not doing this for the mutt's advantage.
He couldn't do it. The media would fuck him and KC up with conspiracy theories and... oh god, disgusting relationship theories. He wouldn't be able to keep himself from invading the news and letting Yami lash out at everyone if that happened. Stopping this duel was impossible and the mutt would have to deal with it. At least his final moments were entertaining enough.
Malik summoned Ra into the field. The golden creature was majestic and mighty, powerful roars echoing through the skies. It was the strongest of the three God Cards by a long shot, and it's light almost blinded everyone in the field. Seto couldn't stop staring, heart beating fast and hard at the beautiful sight. It would be his in the end of this tournament. All his.
The thought filled his veins with fire.
He was so mesmerized with the bird's beauty that he almost didn't notice Jounouchi getting burned by the God. Almost. It distracted him, for his annoyance, but at least the mutt was putting up somewhat of a fight. He knew how this would end, though. Mokuba was stepping from one foot to the other beside him, nervous. His eyes wandered from the duel to Yami, then back to the duel, and back to Yami. Kaiba could understand his little brother's anxiety. Especially because for some reason Yami was worrying his guts out over the mutt. Form wavering and big, red eyes watering... he knew that his spirit wouldn't be happy at all with the outcome and let out a sigh. That's why he doesn't have close bonds with anyone other than Yami and Mokuba. You never know when they'll be burned alive by a God.
Even though Jounouchi tried his best to stay awake and activate his last cards... he ended up passing out from the blow. Exactly like Kaiba expected.
The tournament had more injured people than he thought there would be, but he could deal with that. What was making him uncomfortable... was the way that Yami immediately dashed to Jounouchi's possibly dead body. The lightning struck him right in the head, that definitely fried the small amount of brains he still had.
"Jounouchi-kun!"
Yugi was crying, and that was understandable. He and the blonde were almost married, but why was Yami all teary eyed and worried as well? Ughhh, he'll reallocate KC's headquarters to America. IMMEDIATELY after the end of this tournament. Is Yugi trying to annoy him? He and his group of nerds are making Yami soft and weak, he has to take him away as soon as possible.
He called some servants to take the mutt to the doctor. Then he made sure to scold Yami for being so emotional and risking losing focus during their duel. Yami assured him that Jounouchi's death wouldn't affect his performance at all... but the CEO was still feeling his skin tingle. The thought of Yami feeling worried about anyone other than Yugi, Mokuba and himself... he hates it. Kaiba had accepted that Yugi is Yami's host. That breaking their instantaneous bond would be impossible, but. What the fuck, the mutt too? What was this, a sale off of Yami's love?
He forced himself to recompose, because he would duel Yami next. He couldn't scold Yami for not focusing if he wasn't going to do that himself.
After preparing and having a short rest, both of them headed to the field where Ra had appeared moments ago.
They faced each other in the battlefield, eyes filled with fire. Seto could feel satisfaction growing inside his chest. Yami was indeed determined to win this, he could feel it deep inside his heart, through their bond. No grief was clouding his mind, red eyes burning holes in the CEOS's skin.
He let out a loud, heartfelt laugh before activating the holographic arena. He had prepared it for Yami and their fated duel only. A roman coliseum almost immediately was towering over them. Thousands of faceless people chanting Kaiba's name. Seto gloated on the artificial attention. Yami, though jumped at the sudden (and, he admits, a bit obnoxious) dueling field. Kaiba let out a loud laugh, feeling accomplished.
"Pull out your sword and fight me, Yami!" Seto screamed, certain that Yami could hear him from the other side of the arena. Without even hesitating, Yami prepared his own duel disk. Seto could feel adrenaline and excitement pumping throughout his body already.
Their duel was fiery and mighty. Kaiba could barely contain himself... dueling Yami was one of the wonders he could never get tired of having. It was exciting and thrilling, his beloved ghost would meet every single one of his moves head on. And with so, so much power that Kaiba could feels his knees getting weaker and his heart thumping in his chest. This was delightful. He never wanted it to stop.
A faint glowing distracted him from his enjoyment and he stared at the source of the light with anger. Blue eyes widened when he saw Malik staring right back at him, a weird, small Rod shining over his belt. It also had that dreadful Millennium Eye stamped on it, and after the shock worn down he found himself even angrier at this... ghost. Whatever it was.
He looked back at Yami to go on with the duel regardless of the annoying light. He attempted to summon Obelisk to the field, only to have his plans foiled over and over again. Yami managed to turn his strategy around and summon his own God Card instead.
Slifer towered over the field, it's huge body wrapped around his master as it let out a overwhelming roar. Kaiba could feel his body going cold at the terrifying sight.
Forcing himself to keep playing, he finally managed to summon Obelisk to the field. That is, as soon as the effect from Yami's card worn out. The Gods faced each other, attack points identical to one another's.
Kaiba knew that he had to take Slifer out of the field if he wanted to continue dueling, even if it would cost him his God Card, so he ordered Obelisk to attack... and felt a powerful sting on his chest as soon as he saw his partner's horrified expression.
The Gods clashed against one another, roars and lights flooding the field.
"Yami?" Kaiba asked, for the first time not focusing in their duel. He could see his beloved's body shaking, and the world started to crumble before his eyes. Light peeked out of several cracks on the ground, so much that he was almost blinded by it's intensity. The Gods were still fighting and clashing, opening the cracks even wider.
When the blinding light finally started to wear down... he found himself floating above a broken palace. Havoc dominated the place. There were pieces of buildings spread all around the ground and some sort of commotion was happening... inside the carcass of what used to be a magnificent building.
"Give up, Pharaoh! You've got nothing left! You're a naked king!" A man with an unnerving similarity to Kaiba screamed at a soft figure kneeling on the ground. Seto could feel his breath getting caught up in a lump inside his throat.
The young king looked exactly like Yami.
The king didn't answer the Kaiba-look alike with anything other than a swipe of his arm. A Dark Magician was soon summoned to the field. The terrifying Seto-like man immediately summoned a Blue Eyes. He raised his hand, about to attack when the light came back with a force, blinding Seto and Yami back to the field.
What the heck was that?! Did they get transported to somewhere else or was this a vision… of the past?
Shaking his head, Kaiba assured himself that this couldn't be it. He wasn't present in Yami's past… was he? At least he shouldn't be.
Yami seemed to be completely shocked from what happened, trembling from head to toe. With a bit of trash-talking and encouraging, Seto managed to get Yami back into the duel... maybe even too much into it, considering that he was utterly destroyed after just a few plays. Enraged, Kaiba left the field to brood inside his room, not waiting for Yami to follow him this time.
But soon enough, his ghost appeared to apologize to him for having won- which Seto immediately shut down.
"Do not apologize for being the King of Games, Yami. This just means that I have to work harder to get my title back." He spat out before caressing his ghost's hair. Yami was too pure for him, he couldn't understand why to save his life.
He could feel a heavy pool of dread in his stomach as he thought about the duelist his aibou would have to face next. Malik. The man wielding the Winged Dragon of Rá.
Pushing his fears to the back of his mind, he reminded himself of how Yami defeated him multiple times. Of how he's considered to be the second strongest duelist of all time. There's no way that Yami was going to lose to some nobody, no matter how rare his cards were. Yami is from another level.
He scheduled the duel to be this afternoon. Seto took as much time as he could with Yami before the match, preparing him for what was to come. He knew that Yami could only win with Devil's Sanctuary, a card that only he, Seto Kaiba, was known to possess, but. He couldn't simply give that card to Yami. That was DEFINITELY cheating and he wouldn't have it. So he did what he could before allowing Yami to go and fight against Malik in the finals... avoiding mentioning the card the entire time, of course.
He found himself enraged at the fact that his aibou going to fight someone else, and decided to leave the place. Regardless of who won, he WAS going to blow this island of memories up.
With that thought in mind, he left the field and directed himself to the exit, only to have Ishizu trap him in place.
"Kaiba." She called, blue eyes shining in the darkness of the corridor. "You have to go back and give him the key to victory. He won't be able to win without you."
"Tsk. He does not need me. He's more than skilled enough to win his duel on his own."
"He doesn't have your card with him. Your card is vital to his victory." Her blue eyes seemed to shine even brighter as she said those words.
"Kaiba… this tower you've build. His deck… these are the places where the souls meet."
Seto could feel his breath escaping from his lungs. He was having a hard time to breathe all of a sudden, and everything burned. He could see flashes of that damned Tablet on the back of his mind. Flashes of the words written on it in a long dead language.
The corpse sinks to the floor...
The vessel becomes sand, becomes dust.
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest sword...
Is wrapped in the sheath of time...
Woe to the Pharaoh, for his body lacks even his name..
Time is the battlefield of souls...
I cry the song of battle, the song of a friend...
To the place far away where souls meet...
Guide me.
Kaiba jerked his head up and down, trying to get rid of the flashes, of the words. The song was way too loud onto his ears, it was deafening to him, dragging him down to God knows where.
When he finally snapped out of it, he was out of breath, exhausted and gasping for air. His enraged blue eyes met Ishizu's mischievous ones. It was like she knew what he had just experienced and was enjoying every second of it.
"Your Pharaoh needs you, Priest. Go help him like you were born to do."
Kaiba let out a heavy, weak breath but soon got up to his feet and complied. Not before snapping at the woman and assuring her that he was doing this because he wanted to help, though. He wasn't doing it because of some bloody, disgusting priest. She laughed at him and disappeared in the corridors once again in an unnerving fashion.
Seto was shaking on his way back, the visions and the singing still fresh inside his mind. What the heck was happening? Why was he having so many visions? What was all of this?
He violently shook his head from side to side to clean his mind and took a deep breath. Focus. He was going back to give Devil's Sanctuary to Yami and give him a chance to win. This still felt like cheating, but-
I'm supposed to help him.
Kaiba stopped onto his tracks and shook his head with force once again, trying to get rid of the voices. This was awful. What did that Ishizu witch do to him?!
Breathing with some difficulty, he pushed himself forward. As soon as he arrived on the battle field, Yami was about to begin the duel. He threw the card to his ghost without much warning other than calling his name. As expected, the spirit caught the card like a professional.
"Devil's Sanctuary?" He saw his partner mutter.
"Put that card into your deck!" Kaiba growled, crossing his arms.
Without hesitating, Yami immediately pushed the card in and shuffled his deck. His eyes shone with thankfulness. His smile made Seto's heart melt, and all his doubts about helping Yami dissolved from his mind.
This duel was tense and serious, a very different tone from most of the others. It really felt like Yami was fighting for his life.
Soon Malik pulled a stunt about their "real souls" suffering whenever they took any damage... Which Kaiba knew was not true. Yami didn't have too much to do with Yugi other than the latter being his host. This only applied to the strange Egyptian blonde. His "real soul" ?
Kaiba brought a hand to his face, grunting. This entire thing about several souls and past lives and magic items was making his head burn.
Yami wasn't having it. Fighting with everything he had, he managed to keep up with the Egyptian. Malik ended up playing himself into a dead end... when he offered all of his life points to Rá, raising it's attack points. In the second that Yami managed to take the God out of the field, he was doomed.
With the effects of a magic card Kaiba didn't bother to pay attention to, the "real" Malik switched places with the "evil" Malik. He gave Yami the green light to attack, so the spirit did, finishing the duel with an impressive blow. Kaiba felt his entire body relax at the sight.
It was finally over.
He approached his ghost as Yami walked down the field, putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Now that the threat was gone, everyone met up with them on top of the tower, even the mutt. The Egyptian guy told them about some sort of tattoo he had on his back. From what he was saying, it was important for Yami to recover his past.
Kaiba felt a lump on his throat and he felt the sudden need to go away, take Yami with him. He didn't want Yami to find out anything about his past, but keeping the spirit blind forever would be just... cruel.
He held his breath in as the young blonde turned his back to them and took off his shirt. He had an enormous tattoo indeed, and it was nearly identical to the Tablet that Seto had grown to hate.
The three prideful Gods stood on the top of the boy's back, almost mockingly. Kaiba immediately knew what Yami had to do and he loathed it...
Present the three God Cards to the Tablet. The very same tablet with the poem that was haunting his thoughts. The Tablet made by the same person who doomed Ishizu's family to a life of eternal darkness and suffering. Just so they could guide a deceased Pharaoh back to the Afterlife.
"You'll recognize him by the three God Cards he wields…" Malik muttered, putting his shirt back on. "Bring him to the Tablet and make him present the Cards to it so he can recover his memories of past. Those instructions have been passed by our family for generations. Awaiting the Pharaoh's return... Now that he's back, we can finally be free."
"Does he have to present the cards to the Tablet?" Kaiba immediately inquired. Malik looked at him with a dumbstruck expression.
"The whole reason for our family to have been trapped underground for thousands of years... was so we could tell the Pharaoh what to do. The least he could do is follow the instructions."
Kaiba pressed his mouth into a thin line. Who was this guy again?! Who did he think he was, to be more exact?
"I'll do it." Yami answered before Kaiba could snap anything back. The CEO stared at him in shock. Yami looked back to him and let out a soft smile.
"Don't worry, Seto. I won't ever leave you. But I want to know where I came from, why I'm still here long after my time has ran out. And besides, wasting everything that Malik and Ishizu's family has done to bring me here would be awful."
Kaiba only answered with a grunt, hands tightly pressed into fists on his sides. He did not want it regardless, he had zero good feelings about this.
But this time it was up to Yami. Up to what he wanted to do. And knowing the spirit and his mellow heart... there was no way that he was going to let the Ishtar family's sacrifice be in vain. Whichever he wanted to know of his past or not.
Yami meekly approached him, eyes shining with pleading as he held the three God cards in his hands. It still astounded Seto how submissive Yami was to him. No matter how powerful or intimidating he could be in the battle field.
He let out a deep, tired sigh and pulled Yami closer by the hips, gluing the ghost to him. He had noticed that the more often he let Yami possess Yugi, the more… solid, and corporeal his spirit became. It was truly amazing, even if it resulted from something Seto couldn't help but loathe. Yami being so close to another person… it was just a blasphemy.
The CEO could feel his ghost shivering slightly against him before looking up to him with his big, red eyes.
"Can I, Seto? Can I go and recover my past?" Yami almost muttered.
Kaiba couldn't find it in his heart to say no.
Yami was ecstatic, a huge smile spread open on his face. After an awkward wave of "goodbyes" and "see you later"s, they entered KC's Blue Eyes Jet and asserted themselves. Mokuba was having a good time with Yami on the back seat, who was in his semi-solid, human like form. Kaiba was brooding in the front seat, unsure if he should head to the museum right away... or force Yami to wait a bit more and enjoy his beloved's ignorance for the small amount of time he still had...
Kaiba took in a deep breath… and made his decision.
His hands gripped the flywheel in a tight lock, so much it almost hurt. He did not want to do this. But the faster it ended, the faster he could get used to it and things could be back to normal. Yami was not leaving this alone, he just had to accept it.
A weirdly warm, translucent hand appeared on top of his own, squeezing him. Seto let out a soft gasp before looking behind him, where Yami was staring with worry-filled eyes. He couldn't help but smile and squeeze the spirit's hand back for comfort. A small smile opened up in his ghost's face. Everything was going to be ok.
When they arrived at the museum, it was already evening. Yami had his God cards in a tight grip, swallowing dry at the intimidating sight of the museum. Seto caressed his shoulders before they left the jet and got in. Mokuba jumped out, excited. His eyes shone with the possibility of finding out more about Yami's past. That was something he had been craving for years, and now it would become a reality!
Unknown to the family of three, the nerd herd was following them close. Yugi and Jounouchi were leading the team, worried eyes focused inside the building.
"Do you think that anything is going to happen with Yami, Yug? The guy may be a ghost and have the weirdest relationship ever with Kaiba from all people but he's a nice guy. And I didn't get my Red Eyes back just yet."
"Ah, Jou-kun I have no idea… that's why we're here, isn't it? To make sure that he's going to be ok?"
"Didn't you say that it was to make sure that Kaiba was actually going to take him to the Tablet?"
"That too."
They all sneaked in behind them. Anzu, Honda and Ryou were worried about what the heck was going to happen with Yami. Especially since they also liked the guy. After the Death-T and Monster World fiasco, they saw how heroic and helpful the ghost was... even if a bit too intense with his punishments. He was nothing but a perturbed soul trying to help in any way he could, and they admired that. If returning his favors was possible, they would be happy to oblige.
They saw Kaiba, Mokuba and Yami approaching the artifact from afar. The spirit's nervousness was clear as he raised the three cards high up, presenting them to the Tablet.
Nothing happened.
As Jou and Yugi approached them, though, a strong light came from the rock. Yami shielded his eyes, but ended up being pulled into the stone, no matter how much he was fighting to stay in place. Kaiba gasped and dashed to his ghost, trying to hold him, but it was in vain.
As his semi-solid body dissolved, Yami was sucked into the stone and disappeared into thin air. Seto let out a bloodcurdling scream. And then he ran to tackle against the stone artifact, only to be pushed out by a ray of light. He smacked against the wall and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Mokuba shrieked and went to help his big brother as the nerd herd watched in horror. They tried to approach the CEO, only to be enveloped in light and pulled into the tablet along with Yami. The last thing they saw was Mokuba trying to wake his brother up.
Kaiba found himself trapped into a pinch black void. He looked around, but nothingness went as far as his eyes could see. Where was he...?
A ray of light cut through the darkness and he couldn't help but put his arm in front of his eyes to protect them from it. He hesitated before raising his head, and muffled a gasp.
It was the Priest from the vision. The Priest who build that dammed Tablet.
"Who are you?!" He spat, not interested in what the hell this guy had to say. The similarities between them were unnerving. But. He couldn't help but feel that this was nothing but a cheap copy of himself.
The man was covered with gold from head to toe, white linen waving in the nonexistent wind. He was wrapped in cloths and ties of white and blue, golden jewelry covering his arms, legs and head. A crown sat there, showing to everyone that this man was a member of royalty. He opened his ocean blue eyes, glaring at the CEO in front of him.
"What, in the name of the Gods, are you doing here?" The priest whispered, venom dripping from his words.
"Who are you?!" Kaiba repeated, not in the mood for any of this.
The man stood his ground, looking down at Seto in a way that made him want to punch the dark-skinned copy in the face.
"I am Pharaoh Seth. The reason for you to exist, Kaiba." Seth spat out.
Kaiba blinked at the statement before bursting out in laughter. The priest tightened his hands into fists.
"You have nothing to do with me. And Pharaoh? Who do you think you're tricking? I know that you're nothing but a priest, weakling."
Seth gasped at him.
"What?! Don't be stupid. After my king passed away I got to sit on the throne- but it's not like any of this matters. You shouldn't be here, and I'm going to keep you immobilized for as long as I need." The priest was steaming with rage by the time he finished his sentence.
Kaiba immediately got up, eyes shooting daggers at his cheap copy.
"You're going to take me out of here! Who do you think you are?! I don't know nor CARE about you or what the hell you need. I have to go help someone and you will not keep me trapped here!"
The priest simply let out a slow, lazy smile.
"We'll see." He said, eyes turning dark as a glowing yellow eye appeared on his head.
The last thing Kaiba felt was intense shock at the sight he only saw a few times before... until his vision went dark and everything was numb once again.
He wasn't sure of what happened nor for how long. He had spend way too much time in semi consciousness... only slightly aware of what was happening around him. There were doctors, Mokuba was also around. No signs of Yami anywhere. Where was he?
Kaiba forced himself out of his slumber, eyes snapping open. What happened? What was this place?
Memories came flooding back as he sat up straight onto his bed, sweating buckets. Yami? Yami! Where was he? How much time had passed?! Days? Months? Years? Ugh, not this shit again.
He pressed his hands on his forehead and let out a shaky sigh. What was he going to do? How could he save Yami if the ghost had been swallowed by the artifact for so long...? No. There must be a way. There has to be a way.
He got out of bed, trembling and noticing how damn pale his body was. This wasn't a good sign. Not a good sign at all. He had to find Ishizu and find out what the heck happened now.
As he was leaving the room, he bumped into a small, black-haired kid. The gasped and helped him up.
"Nii-sama!" Mokuba exclaimed. "What are you doing?! You've just been smacked against a wall, you should be resting!"
These words took an enormous weight out of Kaiba's shoulders. It hasn't been days, let alone a month. Some hours at most, but... why was he so pale then? What happened with him while he was out?
It didn't take long for him to recall how the so called "Pharaoh" had threatened to immobilize him for "as long as he needed". Was that what the coma was about?!
Shaking his head, he decided that it didn't matter. What mattered was finding Ishizu as quickly as possible.
Yami was in Egypt.
Fucking Egypt.
It seems that being sucked into an ancient artifact was the key for him to recover his past. He assumes that, since Ishizu claimed that his ghost knew EVERYTHING now. Oh, how great! That's really great.
Kaiba was fuming with rage.
Ishizu was incredibly patient with him. She explained all the happenings in details she had heard years ago... from her mother, it seems. Kaiba wasn't interested. Yami had just fought against a literal demon to save the world. Besides having all his past memories and traumas shoved down his throat. Everything so he could now visit his goddamn tomb and be send to the world of dead.
Hahahaha... this was not happening. Not on his watch. He had no idea of what the herd of idiots had on their minds to even CONSIDER sending Yami away. He had to stop them right there, right now. He knew that presenting anything to that Tablet was not a good idea... ugh.
He flew across the ocean as fast as humanly possible. He wanted to feel relieved when he finally saw the Egyptian sands, the beautiful landscapes and the pyramids on the horizon... but he didn't. It felt awful. He felt like every second spend looking at the beautiful monuments could be the difference between having Yami... and never seeing him again. Kaiba couldn't bear it. Mokuba was nervous in the backseat. Kaiba had never seen the child rock back and forth so much, nor so nervously.
"Nii-sama… Is everything Ishizu said true? Is Yami going away forever?"
Kaiba felt a large lump on his throat, nausea building up in his stomach.
"No. Not if we stop these monkeys from screwing up." Kaiba tried to state firmly, but it sounded empty even from himself.
Mokuba kept swaying back and forth.
The sand felt way too hot against his leather shoes. It kept him from walking, collapsing under him as he tried to run to the large, old tomb ahead. It looked more like a palace than anything else. A cold shiver ran down his spine when he realized that it was almost identical to the place he saw... back when Slifer and Obelisk fought with each other. The place where the Priest who, according to Ishizu, was his ancient form... which was bullshit, betrayed his pharaoh and- Kaiba assumed, killed him in cold blood. He might've regretted it later and covered it up with a demon story but Kaiba knew the truth. He saw the Priest's predatory eyes. That man was out for blood, Yami's blood. Regretting it or not, Kaiba could feel the truth squirming deep inside his bones.
He could remember the mummies resting eternally behind glass walls. An enigma for anyone who visited that museum, but not for him. He knew who caused all the bruises and broken bones in the small mummy's body. And he knew that it was an enormous amount of disrespect to let the bigger mummy be right beside him. The thought that Yami and that... Priest had spend 3000 years inside a tomb together made his stomach twirl.
He finally made it to the large palace-like tomb and kicked the doors open before dashing inside. He barely had time to settle in before the nerd herd came out running and pushed him aside.
The CEO growled, scanning around for Yami and following the crew after he found nothing. The palace was crumbling behind him. As soon as he realized what was happening, he had to jump out of the way of a huge piece of the ceiling. Gasping and trembling, he stumbled to the equally terrified group of friends. Sand littered his boots once again the second he stepped out of the temple.
"HEY." He yelled, grabbing Yugi by both of his shoulders. The startled kid looked up at him with a gasp. Seto's trained blue eyes immediately realized that the Puzzle was nowhere to be seen. Anger and terror build up inside his chest like fire. Yugi would usually keep the Puzzle around his neck whenever he had it...
"YUGI." He screamed once again, making sure that he had the smaller one's attention.
"Where's Yami?! WHERE IS HE?!"
Yugi's face turned into a frown and he pushed Kaiba's hands away. The smaller male tidied himself up before he answered, eyes turning dark.
"Kaiba... Yami- I mean, Atem-" He corrected himself in a flash, hand curling around the clothes over his chest. Kaiba's eyes widened but he didn't interrupt, eager to know what the he'll was going on.
The smaller male sighed, seemingly at a loss of words. But he soon looked up once again and started-
"The spell that pushed Yami into the Tablet was Bakura's doing."
"The albino kid again?! What the hell?!"
"Yes, but the spirit inside his Ring. That's not important anyways, it's just... we got to see Ya- Atem's past, that's his real name. Turns out that-"
"Wait. What? His... real name? Atem?" Kaiba forced out. This was too much to get at once like this, his head was spinning. The name sounded extraterrestrial and familiar to his heart at the same time. What could that mean...?
"Yes. His name was the key for recovering all of his memories. But, back to what I was saying, turns out that... he needed to leave."
Yugi tensed up, arms and shoulders tightly pressed against his torso. He expected an explosion, a scream, a punch or anything of the liking to come his way. When nothing happened, he looked up with a single eye to see Kaiba's completely neutral face. The CEO seemed dumbstruck.
"H-He just wasn't meant to stay." Yugi repeated, softer this time. "He belonged in the past, with his friends and family. Now that he remembers everything and... did what he needed to do, we couldn't let him stay here. He's finally resting after all these years, Kaiba."
Seto's eyes were completely blank, but they soon filled with an array of emotions. His face distorted into a horrifying frown, and Yugi swallowed dry.
"What." He whispered, venom dripping from his voice. Yugi closed his eyes tightly.
"WHAT." As expected, Kaiba was exploding. "WHAT?!"
"He's resting, Kaiba. Like he deserves to be." Yugi was persistent, pushing Kaiba's hands out of his shoulders. "You knew that you couldn't trap him here forever. He's where he deserves to be now."
Laughs echoed around the place. The nerd herd shivered with the coldness in Seto's voice.
He was shaking with laughter, moving his head from side to side.
"What an ambitious joke. Congratulations." The CEO forced out, a hand gripping his stomach in a tight grip. Yugi looked at him with a look that was way too similar with pity for his liking.
"I'm going to go in to find him." Kaiba said with a certainty that made everyone widen their eyes at him.
"Kaiba, the building has collapsed." Yugi stated the obvious, pointing at the wrecked tomb. The CEO seemed oblivious to the fact that it was dangerous and pointless to go inside.
"Yami is there somewhere. You must've done something stupid like bury his Puzzle to 'put him to rest' and I'm going to get him back. Even if I have to dig up the entire tomb with an excavation team, do you get me?" He spat out, voice rising with each word. Yugi was still standing his ground, to Kaiba's surprise. That only enraged the CEO, however, and he stormed to the ruins without another glance.
Yugi sighed as Seto disappeared inside the building.
The members of the nerd herd awkwardly started to look at each other, unsure of what to say. Maybe sending Atem away without a warning or even a phone call to Kaiba wasn't the best idea.
"...that went well." Jou's voice broke the uncomfortable silence between them.
Seto was looking around inside the tomb, taking in deep, shaky breaths. Yugi was lying. He HAD to be lying. Yami... Atem, no matter what his name is, wouldn't leave like that, would he? There was no way, they were together for years. They were lovers...
Breathing was getting harder and harder. Lungs burning and water escaping through the corners of his eyes. This was so awful. He thought that Yami loved him. He was so sure he did...
Blue eyes snapped open and he let out a strangled gasp. Was... that putting to rest thing even something that Yami agreed with?
"I'll try my best to stay with you forever..."
The whisper fueled Seto's soul, and he breathed softly at the feeling. The burning was now easier to bear, and the tiny drops of liquid stopped falling across his face. Putting his arms around himself, the CEO glared down at the pile of wreckage inside the temple.
He could feel something pulling his heart. Yami... Atem was somewhere down there.
He weakly crouched down before pushing stones aside. Lifting and moving the stones as much as he could, he created a small hole between the debris.
He wasn't sure of how much time he spend there, nor of how much his hands hurt at the task. He just kept digging until it was too cold and his hands refused to work any longer.
He had a considerable hole in front of him now. The pile went deeper than he thought, he probably wasn't even scratching the surface. But as he was closing his eyes to clean up his sweat, a glimpse of gold caught his attention.
He shoved himself where the source of light came from. Gripping the small gold piece between his cold, hurt fingers...
It was the Eye. From the Puzzle. A single Puzzle piece.
The burning sensation came back with a force and he had to sat down, bringing the Puzzle piece closer to his chest. It didn't irradiate warmth anymore, but it somehow still comforted him to the core. Yami was still there... he was still here with him, Seto was sure.
Pulling himself out of the small hole he created, Kaiba went back to his jet with the Puzzle piece in hand. He was going home and preparing an excavation team to come tomorrow. They were going to find the Puzzle, build it back to health and bring Yami back to him. This was going to work out. Everything was going to work out.
Next update will be on 22\12.