Chapter 8

The party had been over for a while now, the Master had come and gone and she was just letting everything sink in as she stared out across their playing field. It was strange, in so many ways this whole situation felt like complete and utter madness to her, but at the same time...

'Do you feel that,' the redheaded girl's voice sounded from just behind her.

'Yeah,' she closed her eyes and listened to the strange, distant, pulsating sound, 'what is it?'

'It's the sound of someone trying to start the game early.'

'Do you think the Master knows about this?'

'The Master knows everything,' the redhead placed a hand on her shoulder, 'but right now he's waiting for you to decide what to do.'

'I still don't fully understand why he's asked me to do this,' she shook her head and lifted the axe she was holding into view. 'Wasn't this what you were designed for?'

'It was,' she sighed.

'So why aren't you the one doing it?'

'Because no matter how real the Master made me, I could never hold the axe,' as the redhead spoke she passed her hand through the blade of the axe as if either she or it wasn't really there.

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' she shook her head dismissively, 'I have a new purpose now and so do you,' she lifted her head towards the pulsating sound. 'So what are you going to do about them?'

'There are twelve players in total, correct?'

'Yeah.'

'And how many of them are trying to start early?'

'Only two.'

'There's nothing to stop them from starting early, is there?' She tilted her head in thought.

'They wouldn't have much to do though; the challenges can't start until all twelve players are present.'

'But they would be able to explore this place, right? And try to figure out what might be going on.'

'Yes they would.'

'Would either side benefit from it?'

'No, not really. Until the game starts in earnest they won't be able to figure out what's actually going on.'

'So there's really no harm in them starting early then,' she adjusted her grip on the axe.

'None at all,' the redhead smirked, 'if anything it'll prove to be a little bit of entertainment for us.'

'And the Master would like that, right?'

'The Master will be happy with any decision you make.'

'Then I've made my decision; I want to be entertained.'

The last thing Covo could remember was the chamber filling with a bright light. Even though they'd expected something to happen, the strength and intensity of the light had taken him completely and utterly by surprise. It had poured its way into every single one of his senses, stretched back through his brain and into his whole body, making him feel sick and dizzy beyond belief. Eventually the intensity of the experience had forced him into a state of unconsciousness or at least that's what he assumed had happened when he found himself lying on something hard, staring at the dark backs of his eyelids.

'Hey Ahna are you okay?' He groaned and rubbed the remaining tension from his still throbbing head.

There was no reply.

'Ahna?' Covo blinked a few times as he lowered his hands from his face and opened his eyes.

As the bleary blur shifted from his vision he realised he was no longer in the Chamber of the Three Mistresses. Instead he found himself in a forest, with the first ray of dawn slowly lighting up the area. Sitting up he scanned his surroundings for Ahna, but she was nowhere to be seen. He then spent a few long moments debating his options, before deciding the best thing to do was use Earthen Calling to not only find out where the hell he was, but whether or not Ahna was anywhere nearby.

Covo placed his hand firmly against the earth below him, closed his eyes and concentrated. He remained like this for what felt like an eternity before having to concede that, for whatever reason, the technique wasn't working.

'That's strange,' he reopened his eyes and studied his hand, 'it's never failed me before.'

As he studied his hand he noticed a circular tattoo on the underside of his wrist. Instantly everything in him went into an almost static kind of shock. He knew that tattoo. He knew exactly what it was, what it did and what it meant. He knew it because it was Ahna's power binding tattoo.

'What the hell,' he shook his head, even more mystified with the situation than he already was, 'what did I do to deserve this? Oh well,' he sighed as he got to his feet and brushed himself down, 'I guess I'll have to find out what's going on the old fashioned way. So the only question left is; which way do I go?'

He yawned and stretched his entire body out as he slowly came round. For a few long, blissful minutes he didn't know who he was, where he was or why he was there. For those same few long, blissful minutes the answers to those questions didn't matter. Nothing matter except the comfortable feeling of the bed beneath him and the snugly warmth of the duvet he was under.

Unfortunately for him those few long, blissful minutes came to an abrupt end with the all too soon return of his memory. A deep groan escaped him as memories of the night before played through his mind.

'Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,' he pulled the cover up over his head and prayed it would suffocate him or something. 'Oh god, please say that was some kind of really weird dream. Please say none of that actually happened. Please, please, please don't say I...'

He cut himself off with a noise somewhere halfway between a groan of embarrassment and a scream of frustration. That was it. Life as he knew it was over forever. He'd committed complete and utter relationship suicide on two fronts at pretty much the same time. He was an idiot, a complete and utter idiot.

'Seto are you... are you in here?' The sound of Mokuba's voice made him jump.

'No, he's not,' Tristan lowered the duvet from his face and forced himself to sit up, 'but I am.'

'What...?' The expression on Mokuba's face was somewhere halfway between a smirk of amusement and a frown of confusion. 'What are you doing here? I thought you'd gone to stay with your parents.'

'Yeah... that went well,' Tristan shifted his gaze away and gave a nervous laugh. 'I forgot who my parents were, accused my Mum of kidnapping me and... ran off into the middle of the night like I was being chased by an axe murderer or something. I'm so embarrassed,' he buried his face in his hands, 'just by that alone.'

'What do you mean, just by that alone?' Mokuba's voice toned with curiosity. 'What else happened last night? And does it have anything to do with why you're in my brother's bed?'

'Uh, I hadn't even noticed that,' Tristan lowered his hand and glanced around the room. 'Well if I was going to make a total idiot out of myself, I'm glad I did it in the most catastrophic way possible.'

'Oh come on, I'm sure whatever it was couldn't have been that bad.'

'I...' Tristan hesitated, not sure whether or not he should have this conversation, 'I... uh... I told your brother I loved him.'

'You want?' Mokuba did his best to suppress the excited grin pulling at his lips as he practically bounced his way over to the bed and sat down. 'When? How? What did he say? Are you guys together now?'

'It happened last night, after he found me and I was already acting like an adolescent,' Tristan edgily rubbed the back of his neck, 'and he said... nothing. At least nothing I can remember at any rate. I then talked him into letting me stay with him because I could feel all my memories slipping away, turning what must have been an awkward situation for him into some kind of hell.'

'I'm sure he didn't take it that badly,' Mokuba pulled a face.

'Oh yeah, that's why he's here now discussing it with me like a mature adult, instead of off at the office pretending it never happened.'

'He's not at the office,' he shook his head, 'and if he doesn't feel the same way, maybe him trying to forget it happened isn't such a bad thing.'

'No, him trying to forget it ever happened is just about the worst thing he could do. Because it will make things really awkward between us and... ugh I've just ruined everything, I know it,' Tristan shook his head and stared up at the ceiling.

'You... you haven't ruined everything,' Mokuba pressed his lips together.

'Yes I have and... Wait,' he lowered his head, 'how do you know Seto's not at the office?'

'What?'

'You came in here looking for him like you had no idea whether he was in or not, but when I suggested he was at the office you were pretty quick to say he wasn't there. But if you don't know where he is how do you know where he isn't?'

'Because I was just at the office looking for him and they told me he'd taken the day off,' Mokuba met his gaze. 'I didn't really want to be home alone, so I swung by there on my way back from Dr Charm's.'

'I thought you had your second appointment with her for the week,' Tristan frowned.

'Yeah, well... after you left yesterday I was a little... upset so Seto thought it was best I have an extra session with her. This morning was the only time she could fit me in. So last night he did the only thing he ever does with me anymore when he doesn't know how to handle the situation, he gave me enough sedatives to knock me out and put me to bed. Which meant I woke up late this morning and was pretty much out of the door before I'd finished getting dressed just so I made it to my appointment on time and even then it was only barely.'

'I see,' he gave a nervous cough, 'I'm sorry lus braysta, I shouldn't have done that to you. It's just...' he sighed, 'it's just these nightmares I've been having. Dr Charm said I needed to find some way of dealing with them and... clearing my head for a few days was one of those ways.'

'What are the nightmares about?'

'No, I'm not going to tell you that,' Tristan shook his head. 'I'm also not going to tell you what she thinks they mean.'

'Because it has something to do with my brother, right?' Mokuba frowned.

'Not exactly.'

'Not exactly?' He shook his head. 'Either they have something to do with him or they don't, how can they not exactly have something to do with him?'

'It's complicated and that's as much as you need to know lus braysta,' Tristan rolled his eyes as he pulled himself out of bed. 'Well, I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and try to smooth things over with my Mum. Do you think I can get away with doing it over the phone?'

'I'd rather you didn't leave me on my own to go do it in person, if that helps,' Mokuba's face filled with a weak smile.

'I really am sorry I upset you so much lus braysta, what do you say I make it up to you with a movie day? You can pick all the films and snacks and everything, promise.'

'It sounds like fun,' he nodded.

'It will be,' Tristan sighed, 'but first I really need to phone my Mum.'

'SK?' Duke's face filled with an uncertain smile. 'What brings you here?'

'Crovell,' he licked his lips nervously, 'or rather the fact that he's gone missing.'

'He's what?' Everything in Duke twitched with a combination of disbelief and anger. 'When?'

'Yesterday.'

'Then why am I only hearing about this now?' His hands balled into fists.

'Joey didn't tell me till late last night and I didn't think it would be right to disturb you then.'

'As far as Crovell's concerned, it's never too late to disturb me,' Duke folded his arms. 'So what happened exactly?'

'Well according to Joey, Covo took him to the Mistresses Chamber in the Temple of Set and he sort of... vanished.'

'Oh man,' Duke shook his head. 'What did Covo have to say about it?'

'I haven't spoken to him yet.'

'Why not?'

'Joey doesn't want him getting involved.'

'But he doesn't mind you talking to me? That's a first. I thought he thought the less time I spent around Crovell the better,' even Duke could hear the bitter tones in his own voice.

'Err... well... I... I think it has more to do with not letting Covo get involved. He's pretty mad at him.'

'I'm not surprised,' Duke's face filled with a serious expression. 'Look, I'll do what I can, but I'm not sure exactly what it is you're expecting of me.'

'Well you're more... bonded to that kid than any of us, so I was wondering if you could... sense him or something.'

'It doesn't work like that,' he sighed, 'although at times like this I wish it did.'

'Well now that you know, I guess you can at least join the search party.' SK licked his lips again. 'I've already got Jay examining the chamber.'

'Sure,' he nodded, 'whatever it takes to get the little guy back, right?'

'Good,' he let out a short sharp breath. 'You wouldn't happen to know where Catilin is, would you? Only we could probably do with her help on this one too.'

'Oh you better believe I know where she is,' he rolled his eyes. 'But she's too busy kidnapping innocent people to help right now.'

'Huh?'

'It's nothing,' he waved his hand dismissively, 'she's just got this crazy idea into her head about Téa.'

'Wait, she's kidnapped Téa?'

'No, she's kidnapped someone who she thinks is Téa.'

'But…?'

'Look, it's not important,' Duke sighed again, 'at least not when Crovell's missing. And it's him we should be focused on right now.'