Chapter 4

'Well done,' Catilin clapped, making the brown haired girl half jump out of her skin, 'you're really good, I almost thought you were gonna make him cry.'

'That impresses you?' She eyed Catilin up suspiciously.

'I wouldn't like it if you did make him cry,' she shook her head, 'but you always seem so... excited when you duel, it's fun to watch.'

'Yeah, well I just need to blow off a little steam I guess,' she shrugged and turned away from her, 'and this seems to be the only thing which really does anything for me at the moment.'

'You're Piper, right?' Catilin grinned at her.

'Right,' she nodded, 'and you're Catilin.'

'How did you know?'

'You are dating the owner here, aren't you?' Piper shrugged again. 'People talk and, for whatever reason, they seem to like you.'

'Don't you like me?' Catilin blinked at her.

'I...' Piper hesitated, 'I don't even know you. You can't form an opinion about someone you don't know.' She picked up the black and white backpack lying at her feet and swung it onto her back. 'Well anyway, I'm off now.'

'Do you have to go?' Catilin couldn't help but pout. 'I was hoping we could play a little.'

'You don't duel.'

'No, but I can play other games and... well if you don't want to play we me we could always do something else.'

'Sorry, I don't have the time,' Piper adjusted the straps on her backpack. 'If I'm being really honest with myself, I didn't really have the time to come here in the first place. In fact, I probably shouldn't even come here at all, it's just...' her clear blue eyes lowered sadly, 'it doesn't matter; it's not like it's really my problem.'

'What does that mean?'

'That it doesn't matter,' Piper forced a smile onto her face. 'Anyway I really should be going now.'

'Wait,' Catilin caught hold of her arm, 'what about tomorrow?'

'What about tomorrow?' Piper frowned.

'Well if you don't have time for me today, how about you have time for me tomorrow. We could meet here in the morning and then go do something.'

'Why?'

'Because I like making friends,' Catilin grinned at her, 'and I want to make friends with you. Please, I can't promise it'll be more fun than duelling but I can promise it'll be fun.'

Piper hesitated for a few moments and her eyes moved back and forth as though she were seriously considering her options. After a few minutes a strangely determined look formed across her face, which melted within seconds into a relaxed and genuinely pleased looking smile.

'You're right, it could be fun,' Piper met Catilin's gaze, 'what you say we meet here about nine tomorrow?'

'Yay,' Catilin clapped, 'I can't wait.'

'Neither can I,' there was a strangely sly edge to Piper's voice, 'but I really have to go now, so I'll see you tomorrow, alright?'

'Uh-huh,' Catilin nodded eagerly, 'see you tomorrow.'

Mokuba's heart pounded fearfully in his chest when he saw Tristan leaving the house, with a bag flung over his shoulder and his parents' car waiting for him. He jumped out of the car he was in before it had a chance to stop moving and raced across the driveway towards him.

'Where are you doing?' He caught hold of Tristan's arm. 'Why are you leaving us?'

'I'm not… I'm…' Tristan swallowed hard, 'I'm not going away forever Mokuba; I just need a couple of days.'

'But why?'

'Because...' he hesitated, 'because Dr Charm thinks it'll be good for me. She... she gave me an... ultimate in my session yesterday and... well of the three options she gave me this felt like the best one.'

'I don't understand,' Mokuba shook his head, 'why would she tell you to leave us?'

'Not leave you Mokuba, just... give myself a little space. I don't want to do this... and I was up all night trying to work out if I... if I could even bring myself to do it, but... Well of the other two options one's just not an option and the other... I... I just don't think I could put myself through it. So that left me with staying with my parents for a couple of days. But it will just be for a few days Mokuba I promise.'

'Does Seto know?'

'No,' Tristan lowered his gaze, 'Dr Charm made me promise I wouldn't tell him, because she thinks he'd just talk me into staying and then...' he shook his head, 'then I'd have an excuse not to follow through with any of the options,' he began tugging at the sleeves of his shirt.

'I don't understand; why do you need to do any of them at all?'

'Because...' he hesitated again. 'Look its personal Mokuba; I really don't want to get into this with you.'

'It's because she knows you're in love with Seto, right?' Mokuba tightened his grip on Tristan's arm. 'And she thinks you should tell him but you're too afraid to, right? I'm right, aren't I? Telling him how you feel is one of your other two options, isn't it? Isn't it?'

'I told you Mokuba, I'm not talking about this with you,' his gaze lowered and his jaw line hardened. 'Please, it's hard enough for me to leave as it is without you carrying on like this.'

'Good, because it should be hard,' Mokuba could feel his eyes start to burn with fearfully angry tears. 'Dr Charm's right, you know, you should tell him how you really feel. Then we could be one big, happy, totally messed up family, like we should be.'

'No, we won't, because he doesn't...' Tristan gave a choked sounding laugh and shook his head.

He then placed a hand on top of Mokuba's and prised it off of his arm. For a few moments there was a long and awkward silence.

'Even... even if he doesn't, he wouldn't... he wouldn't hate you for it you know,' Mokuba's voice was as small as he felt in that moment. 'He wouldn't hate you for anything, he can't. I know he can't.'

'But that's not the point, is it?' Tristan began playing with the key around his neck. 'I don't want him not to hate me for it, I want him...' he cut himself off. 'And we both know that's never going to happen. So I'm going to take Dr Charm's advice and go clear my head for a few days. If I can have just a little bit of my own space then maybe... maybe things will be different. I just can't... I can't keep living like this.'

'But I don't want you to leave,' Mokuba shook his head, 'I need you here.'

'It'll be alright lus braysta, you'll see.'

Before Mokuba could say anything else, Tristan climbed into the back of his parents' car and shut the door. He shot a single, sad smile in Mokuba's direction as the car drove away. The pain Mokuba felt watching him leave was unbearable; Tristan was like a brother to him. He was a big part of his weird little family and nothing... nothing would feel right without him there.

Too numb to care whether or not he was on his own, Mokuba stumbled his way into the house. He then drifted from room to room for what felt like an eternity, before he finally found his brother entering through one of the sets of French doors which led out into the back garden. There was a strange, caught outlook on Kaiba's face, but in that moment in time Mokuba didn't really care why it was there.

'M-Mokuba I...' Kaiba hesitated, 'are you okay?'

'Tristan's gone.'

'What?'

'Tristan's gone,' Mokuba could hear the childish whine of tears in his voice, but he didn't really care. 'Tristan's gone. He's left us.'

'What?' Kaiba's eyes were wide with disbelief. 'When? Why? I don't... I don't understand.'

'He's gone. He's gone. He's gone. He's gone.'

'Mokuba calm down,' Kaiba gripped hold of Mokuba's shoulders. 'Tell me what happened? Why did Tristan leave? Tell me.'

'Dr Charm,' Mokuba choked out the words, 'she told him to. She told him to leave us. Make him come back. Make him come back. Please Seto, make him come back. I can't be all alone. I can't. I can't. Please.'

'I...' Kaiba shook his head, 'I can't... I can't believe this. It has to be some kind of mistake. Where did he go? Do you know where he went?'

'To his parents. He went to his parents. Please make him come back. Please. I can't be all alone Seto. Please.'

'You... you're not alone,' Kaiba swallowed hard, 'you've got me too, remember? Calm down, I'm sure this is just some kind of mistake.'

'I can't be all alone, I can't,' Mokuba knew he was being irrational now, but he couldn't help it; this situation was too much for him. 'Please make him come back Seto. Please make him come back.'

'Da, da, da, da, da,' Crovell chirped happily as they entered the chamber, 'bree.'

'That's right,' Covo grinned, 'this is where the Odraians go to worship the Three Mistresses; pretty cool, huh? And you haven't even seen the best part of it yet.' Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. 'A light born from shadows, a shadow born from light. What once was day will now be night. What once was night will now be day. And all the shadows shall run away. The time has come, the time has passed. What once was first shall now be last. What once was last shall now be first. And all the heavens shall take the Earth. And I that once before you stood shall know you through your cloak and hood. You may hide, but never far. And I who know you, know who you are. For you are the shadow and I am the light. Though we may quarrel, we'll never fight. For I who know you shall know you then. Chaosa, Chaosa, Chaosen.'

The second he finished chanting the poem the whole chamber lit up around them. This caused Crovell to clap and make several happy chattering noises.

'You like that, huh?' Covo beamed. 'Knew you would. So what do you think of your heritage little one? Pretty cool, huh?'

'Breeeee.'

'Yeah,' he laughed in agreement, 'and one day, probably when you're much, much bigger, I'm sure your real Daddy will bring you here. Or you'll bring him here, which is probably more likely.'

In the three months since he'd discovered the paintings, Covo had come here multiple times to study them. He wanted to have every single detail memorised, because he felt it was important for at least one of Crovell's parental figures to do so. He had told the others about the secrets of the chamber, but the only ones who'd been willing to see it for themselves so far had been Catilin and Duke. The others, especially Joey and Ahna, had refused point blank to have anything to do with it. It disappointed Covo on a level he hadn't even realised he could experience; every child, even one who probably knows more about it then you, has a right to learn about their heritage first hand. This was a part of Crovell's heritage and, no matter what his parents thought, he should be allowed to see it for himself.

'You see that?' Covo pointed towards the Yatnuh on the wall opposite. 'That's how you were able to show me what happened in Giya, do you remember?'

Crovell laughed and clapped happily, before reaching his chubby little hands towards it.

'You know Huntay, is Yatnuh spelt backwards; that was another secret nod back to the Chaosen. But I guess you probably knew that already, huh.' He smiled down at him. 'You want to touch it?'

'Eee!'

'I'll take that as a yes then.'

He moved so that the depiction of the Yatnuh was within Crovell's reach. Almost as soon as the child touched it, however, he began to emit a dark blue aura. Alarmed, Covo pulled him back, but it was too late. The aura engulfed the child and, in a streak of light, Crovell's form disappeared into the Yatnuh, leaving a horrified Covo staring at a blank wall.

'Oh no, no, no, no,' he shook his head and back away. 'This can't be happening; tell me this isn't happening.'

Filled with panic, his eyes darted around the chamber, but there was nothing. No pictures, no light and, worst of all, no Crovell.