Chapter 13

Piper took herself to a secluded area of the beach and waited.

'You do realise she thinks your Téa's onchasen, right?' Her keeper appeared beside her.

'I know,' she folded her arms, 'better that than the truth, right? I mean, it's not like Téa's conscious right now, so she can't disprove her little theory, so no harm done, right?'

'Wrong. Nobody knows if and when Téa's going to wake up and if she sees you walking around without a care in the world whilst Téa is unconscious at some point it's going to become an issue.'

'So I find somewhere else to duel,' she shrugged causally, 'somewhere outside of Domino maybe; problem solved, right?'

'No, that's not going to cut it. I think the best thing to do now is put an end to it.'

'But that's not fair,' her eyes went wide with fear, 'I didn't give your secret away and there are plenty of things we can do to keep this going, so...?'

'No, this can't go on; I have to put an end to it now before anyone works out what's going on. We got really lucky today, but Catilin's not as stupid as she looks; she will figure out the truth eventually.'

'So that's it? You're just going to cast me off like yesterday's news?' She gritted her teeth as angry tears began to burn in her eyes. 'You really think I'm going to just let you do that?'

'It's not as though you can really stop me.'

'Oh, you'd better believe I can,' a mixture of fear and anger start to grow inside of her, 'you were warned about the consequences of creating me and now you will have to face them. I will not let you end my existence like this and if you even try I swear I will make you pay.'

'Your threats don't worry me Piper; you don't have as much control over this situation as you think you do.'

'No, no you're wrong,' tears rolled down her cheeks as she held her ground, 'I have more than you realise and if you try to take everything from me then... then I will take everything from you.'

'Is that supposed to be a threat?'

'No,' her lower lip trembled as she held her keeper's gaze, 'it's a promise.'

'I got your note Duke,' Catilin grinned as she entered the chamber, 'but you could have called me you know.'

'As much as he disapproved of what you were doing, he didn't want to interrupt your kidnapping,' Jay smirked. 'I guess deep down he's just as wicked as you are.'

'Duke's not wicked,' she giggled and shook her head, 'don't be so silly Jay.'

'So, did you find out what you wanted?' Duke shot her a wary smile.

'Uh-huh, it's definitely her.'

'Definitely who?' Joey cocked a curious eyebrow.

'It's a surprise,' Catilin clapped her hands together, 'but a good one; where everything gets back to normal real soon and everyone is happy.'

'Uh... okay,' he blinked at her.

'Any sign of Crovell yet hiet braysta?'

'No,' Joey lowered his gaze, 'and I have reason to suspect Covo and Ahna are missing now too.'

'Huh... but... how?' Catilin's eyes brimmed with tears. 'Why didn't anyone call me?'

'It's my fault,' Duke shot her an apologetic look, 'I figured you wouldn't be able to repeat your little adventure twice, so...'

'Uh... okay, but...' Catilin lowered her gaze, 'Covo, Ahna and Crovell are missing, nothing compares to that. You should have called me.'

'I'm sorry; I'll remember that for next time.'

'Next time?' She blinked at him. 'You really think there's gonna be a next time?'

'Oh who are you kidding,' SK's tongue skated across his lips, 'there's always a next time.'

'Uh... yeah, you're right, there is,' Catilin giggled. 'You know the air in this room is really playful, I think it's waiting for us to do something.'

'Something like what?' Joey shot her a curious look.

'Something like bring the paintings out, I think,' she placed a hand against one of the walls. 'It's all buzzy and jumpy and swirly and hummy in here. It's waiting for something to happen.'

'Well that may be true, but I'm not ready to bring them out yet,' Joey gritted his teeth.

'The Chaosen really bother you, huh hiet braysta?'

'That's not it.'

'Then what is it? Why don't you want to bring them out?'

'I never said I didn't want to, I just want to finish my search first.'

'You know the air gets all bizzy when you lie to me hiet braysta,' Catilin pulled a face, 'you don't want to bring the paintings out.'

'I told you, that's not it.'

'Don't you know the rhyme for it? Cuz I know it. I know it by heart. A light born from shadows, a...' without warning her words became muffled by his hand over her mouth.

'I told you Cat, I'm not afraid of the Chaosen or in denial about Crovell or whatever else it is you think I am right now. I'm just not ready to bring the paintings out yet.'

'Why not?' Catilin met his gaze as she pulled his hand away from his mouth. 'The real reason hiet braysta; I'll know if it's not.'

'It's because...' he pulled a face. 'It's because I think that's what happened to Covo and Ahna,' he shifted his gaze away. 'I didn't want to tell you guys before, but they did leave a note. I think they must have written it last night.'

'I'm sorry, what?' Duke stared at him. 'You lied to us? Why would you lie to us?'

'Because I... because I was hoping I was wrong. I was hoping they would just turn up before I had to say anything,' Joey's whole body tensed. 'I've been worried about it ever since I got here and the more I think about it, the more I'm certain I become that they disappeared the same way Crovell did.'

'It would have been nice if you could have told us that sooner,' SK licked his lips. '

'I'm sorry; this is a stressful situation, I'm not thinking clearly. And like I said just now, I was hoping I was wrong about this.'

'But you don't think you are, do you?' Catilin took a step towards him.

'No, I don't think I am and neither does the First. That's why... that's why we have to wait... wait until I'm absolutely certain nothing will happen to any of us if we bring the paintings out. I just... too much of my family is missing as it is; right now I couldn't deal with losing anyone else.'

'Wake up,' Yugi rested his head on Téa's stomach and listened to the gentle sound of her breathing. 'Please wake up. I miss you,' tears began to roll down his cheeks. 'I'm sorry Téa, I'm so sorry. If I could take it back I would. I'd give anything for you to wake up. Even if you hate me. Even if you wish I was dead, I just want you back Téa; I just want you to wake up,' he squeezed his eyes shut. 'Téa I became so evil and I'm frightened. I'm frightened that the evil will come back. That I'll hurt people again. I don't want to be like that Téa. I never want to be like that again. Please. You have to come back. You have to stop me. Stop the evil inside of me. Please.'

He buried his face into her bed clothes and quietly began to cry. This wasn't the first time in the last three months he'd pored his heart out to her like this. But without the presence of the Pharaoh looking over his shoulder, this was the first time he felt as though he truly meant it.

'Please wake up Téa,' he sobbed. 'Please.'

'How many films is that now?' Mai was starting to feel incredibly lazy.

'Three,' Mokuba took the DVD out of the machine, 'you want to watch another?'

'Eugh,' she groaned, 'I think I'll pass.'

'But we haven't watched the one with that detective guy on the train yet,' Tristan shot her a pleading look.

'That's the one we were just watching,' Mai couldn't help but laugh.

'We were?'

'Weren't you paying attention?'

'Of course I was, I... just don't remember watching it.'

'What is it with you and that film?' Mokuba shook his head. 'Every time we watch it, you forget about it almost straight away.'

'Well I guess it must not leave an impression on me,' Tristan shrugged. 'Well if we're not going to watch another film, how about some food? I'm starved.'

'Now you're talking my language,' Mai grinned. 'My appetites been worse than Joey's since I became pregnant.'

'Impossible,' Tristan smirked, 'no one can have a worse appetite than Joey.'

'Yeah, but I am carrying his kid.'

'Good point,' he laughed as he jumped to his feet. 'You guys stay here, I'll be right back with enough food to feed an army.' And with that he left the room.

'So... just between you and me... how bad is his memory exactly?' Mai turned her attention to Mokuba almost as soon as he'd left.

'It varies,' Mokuba pressed his lips together, 'and he is getting better at hiding it too. Sometimes I can't tell if he's acting a certain way because he's forgotten something or because he's just being him. I mean, with everything he's been through, he can be pretty weird at the best of times.'

'So do you side with him or your brother?'

'About what?'

'Finding a cure for it. I mean, it's not like he actually hit his head or had a stroke or... whatever; having your soul card destroyed isn't a normal injury, so maybe there is a cure for it out there somewhere, we just have to think outside the box.'

'Honestly, I don't know,' Mokuba lowered his gaze. 'I want there to be a cure, obviously, but I also want Tristan to be happy again. Win Part connection or not, he's like a brother to me.'

'Yeah, I can see you two are pretty close,' a strange smile tugged at Mai's lips.

'I think it drives Seto a little crazy sometimes,' Mokuba smirked, 'me and Tristan get to spend all this time together and have this whole brotherhood thing going on which doesn't involve him.'

'Are you saying you think Kaiba is jealous of yours and Tristan's friendship?' Mai laughed.

'I'm not sure if jealous is the right word, exactly, but I'm pretty sure he feels left out.'

'Do you think that's why he's so obsessed over finding a cure for Tristan?'

'I think there are a lot of reasons Seto is obsessed with finding a cure and I'm not about to guess at which one is right.'