Chapter 53

As soon as they'd finished issuing their ultimatum, Tristan and Kaiba had disappeared. A wave of annoyance rocked its way through Joey. It wasn't that he hadn't expected them to do something like this. He had. Hell he was surprised they'd bothered telling them what the third part of this crazy game was before disappearing, but that didn't make it any less irritating.

'So we're all mirrors,' Jay's lame joke broke the almost tense silence which had descended around them, 'anyone know how to change that?'

'When boundaries blur, the line becomes clear,' Catilin recited the final line of their final clue.

'Aren't we supposed to walk a mile in order to be able to do that?' Jay cocked an eyebrow at her.

'But we have,' Covo tilted his head to one side, 'since the moment we arrived here we've been thinking we were someone else. So doesn't that mean we've walked a mile already, even if we didn't make it past the first stage?'

'Okay, but how does that help us?'

'Maybe it's to do with what we've learnt from being each other,' Ahna pressed her lips together. 'I mean, we've all noticed little moments where our true selves have poked their heads through. So what if being each other was to teach us something about being ourselves... err... if that makes sense.'

'Not completely,' Joey folded his arms, 'but I think I know what you're getting at.'

'If only we knew what it was Kaiba did to switch things back again,' Mai tilted her head in though. 'It can't have been anything too extreme or out of character for him else he wouldn't have done it.'

'Wait, what did you say?' Joey shot her a look.

'I said whatever it was which made Kaiba realise he was Kaiba couldn't have been anything extreme or out of character else he wouldn't have done it.'

'But... what if it was? I mean, none of us were around to see him and he was in his own challenge at the time, right? What if the key to completing his challenge was the same key which unlocked his true self? Remember he went in with a vague kind of awareness about what was really going on.'

'Where as I definitely think the point you're making there would work for some of us, I really don't think it would work for all of us,' Jay's face filled with a sceptical look.

'He's right,' Covo pulled a face, 'if it was meant to work for all of us then Mokuba and I wouldn't have been told we didn't need to overcome our personal challenges now, just be aware of them.'

'He's right,' Mokuba pressed his lips together, 'we were pretty much told we didn't have to overcome it today, just know it's something we need to deal with in the future. It would make no sense for this final thing to contradict that.'

'So maybe it's not something both parties have to get over, maybe it's just something one of the two have to,' Joey shrugged.

'Maybe it's a reflective reason,' Catilin bounced on her heels for a moment. 'We've been switched with our switches for a reason.'

'Huh?'

'The people we've been switched with we've been switched with for a reason,' she repeated. 'It's not by chance. It can't be. All Wins have been switched with their Mistresses, the Helpers have been switched, Covo and Ahna...'

'Then there's me and Mokuba,' Duke pulled a face, 'have we been switched as leftovers or are you trying to say we have something else in common?'

'A fourth Win needs a fourth Mistress; you were a substitute before, why can't you be one now.'

'I'm not sure it works like that.'

'No, she's right, I think it works exactly like that,' Joey sighed.

'It takes a village to raise a child,' Covo pressed her lips together, 'but why this village.'

'Huh?'

'Why these people. I mean, I get some of it, but...'

'Because, no matter how you look at it, we pretty much have our entire village right here,' Joey sighed again.

'Okay, I can understand why you, Ahna, Mai, Covo and Duke are definitely villagers,' SK massaged his temples, 'Catilin, myself and SK I can just about justify at a push, but what about everyone else and why not Korin for that matter? Why isn't she counted as part of our village?'

'My guess is that she was originally intended as a pair for Téa,' he tilted his head to one side, 'and this whole identity swap situation doesn't work with odd numbers. Even you have to admit there's no one else except Téa and Korin who are on the peripherals of our village.'

'Stop calling it our village, it just sounds weird,' Jay shot him a look.

'But it doesn't sound weird at all,' Covo shook his head, 'it makes perfect sense to me too. I mean, Joey's right, everyone who was made to play this game, plus Téa and Korin, are a part of our village, whether we think of them that way or not.'

'It's like me thinking about the Pure and the Face of Friendship as being sisters,' Joey lowered his head slightly.

'Or the parts of Win considering themselves siblings,' Mai gave a nervous cough.

'Uh... okay, I think I understand a little more why you think it makes sense,' Jay's tongue skated across his lips, 'but to me, it's just...' he shrugged.

'Funny,' SK smirked, 'it makes perfect sense to me.'

'What does any of this matter if it's not getting us any closer to getting Crovell back,' Ahna interjected. 'Seriously, who cares how we define our village or... whatever, shouldn't we be figuring out how to end this damn game so I can get my son back.'

'You're right, we should,' Joey gave a strange half laugh, 'and I think I'm starting to understand what it is we each need to do in order to do just that.'

'Well that's good, would you like to share with the group?'

'No,' he shook his head, 'I think I'd rather put my theory to the test. So,' he took a deep breath in and focused his gaze on the woman he loved, 'Mai, will you marry me?'

She almost laughed in shock when he asked her.

'But I thought…'

'I don't care,' he cut her off, 'answer the question.'

For a few moments Mai wasn't sure what to say, then all the feelings she'd had earlier when she'd asked him welled up inside of her.

'Yes,' she threw her arms around his neck, 'yes I'll marry you.'

Almost as soon as she'd finished speaking her head started to spin and a bizarre, disorientating sensation overtook her. Blinking, she stared up at Joey, only she wasn't staring up at Joey anymore. Because she, or rather he, was Joey.

'Wow,' he swallowed hard.

'I know,' the real Mai grinned at him, 'it's kind of weird, isn't it?'

'What's kind of weird?' Mokuba frowned at him.

'Well for a start I'm Joey,' he smirked. 'I mean, I really am Joey.'

'But how?'

'You'll have to ask Mai about that one.'

'Well?' The group turned towards her.

'We've all said more than once that we've noticed elements of our real selves poking through,' Mai pressed her lips together. 'So before, when we thought we were each other and he asked me to marry him, the situation hadn't changed and my own fears took over. As Joey I might not have been able to understand why I was feeling the way I was, but if I thought about it as Mai...' she gave a nervous laugh as she trailed off. 'This third challenge is a combination of different things and I'm not totally sure I can explain it.'

'I think I understand what you're getting at,' Catilin folded her arms and tilted her head in thought. 'There's an element of blurring the lines and facing up to home truths brought about by being aware of who you really are.'

'Exactly...' Mai frowned at her, 'but I think it's more specific than that. I think Crovell wants us to face up to things which will make us stronger as a village. Me and Joey getting married will provide a greater sense of stability.'

'So then he wants me and Covo to get married?' Covo frowned at her.

'Wow this is what it must have been like for Kaiba,' Joey laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

'Yeah, I thought that when Catilin was speaking just now,' Mai shot him a weak smile. 'And no,' she turned her attention back to Covo, 'I don't think for the two of you this is about marriage. Partly because the relationship between the two of you is much newer and partly because there's been no talk of marriage between the two of you up until this point.'

'I guess that makes some sense,' Ahna pressed her lips together. 'So... all we have to do now is to figure out what it is each of us needs to face up to in order to make the village stronger?'

'I guess.'

'Then I guess that's what we'll do.'