A/N: Just to make a few things clear. This is what happened to Yuna and the gang while Seto was trying to escape Pegasus' ememployees with his head still on his shoulders. Bakura and Ryou are twin brothers and neither is evil, well not the I-wanna-take-over-the-world kind of evil, but he will make chaos. I have no idea what his name really means, so I just made it up, for the sake of the story. Yuna and Yugi aare NOT friends with the rest of the gang, at least for now, but by the end of Duelist Kingdom they will have quite a few new friends. The story can only get better from now on. I also wish to thank all of those who read this and left a review. It means a lot to me!
*-star chips
LP-life points
ATK-attack points
DEF-defence points
I 2-Industrial Illusion
KC-KaibaCorp.
B5-Big Five
The meaning of the Paradox brothers names is made up, and I'm not sure if they are Chinese, but they sure look like it.
Yuna's POV
After Seto left, everything went downhill. First, I had to listen to Joey complain about Seto's skills as a duelist, then they asked me from where I know him, and I completely ignored them. It's not that I want to be mean, I just don't want them to know. It's non of their business, anyway. Just as they were going to repeat the same question, we heard a scream that sounded awfully a lot like Mai, so we ran to see what it was. It turned out that one of the islands exterminators forced Mai into a duel and took all of her *, meaning that she should be disqualified, but I challenged him to a duel. I easily defeated him. He was just a bully, hiding behind darkness and shields. His name is Panic, because he supposedly makes duelist freak out and make stupid mistakes. Well, not me. He turned out to be a coward and a cheater. He even tried to cook me alive, using some flamethrowers that he tried to intimidate me with during the duel, only this time they were out of control. I used my Puzzle to protect myself, by swinging it as hard and fast as possible, creating a miniature hurricane of fire, then used physics to redirect the centre of the hurricane to the outside, making it disappear. Everyone watching seemed to be OK so I sighed in relief and went over to Panic who was, ironically enough, having a panic attack and took back Mai's *. At first she didn't want to take them, at least not until I said that they are a gift from one friend to another and she took them.
Nothing happened until dawn, when Joey want to take a piss and got captured by Bandit Keith and his lackeys, and so we went to search for him. We found him dueling some short guy that resembles a zombie in a cave. Once Joey won the duel, the punks left and the stowaways, except Ryou and Bakura, ran after them and triggered a trap, leaving me, my brother and our albino classmates in the cave. So we went deeper into the cave after trying to remove the rock blocking the way out and searched for a second exit. I am glad that we had Bakura with us. Just like the Millennium Eye, the Millennium Ring also has the ability to attract special people to it. The Ring is believed to be able to find anything and everything in existence, except for a few secret locations, so a person who has great sense of direction and a good instinctual awareness is the best choice this Item could choose for its wielder. The fact that Bakura was incredible at hidding in the shadows only made it more obvious that he was meant for the Ring, because it was belived that whoever wore it could walk like a living shadow among the darkness. Mahad used to have it at one point, but a white haired thief stole it from right under his nose. He calls him the 'King of Thieves'. I guess that's Bakura. If it weren't for him, who knows how long we'd be roaming around the cave that turned into a tunnel which turned out to be a massive maze, and without Bakura we would have been lost. All the hallways looked the same, and even I couldn't find a way out to a clearing as quickly as Bakura did.
After what felt like hours of walking, which was only about 40 minutes, we arrived in some sort of chamber in which rested a strange dueling platform that has little squares on the field and four duelist places. It looked like it was made especially for double duels or four way duels. On the other side of the room were two doors, one green, the other orange, and both had Chenies words 'Para' and 'Dox' which meant 'Lies' and 'Truths'. There was nothing else exciting in the room, only a few tapestries and pillars. Bakura was, however, knocked down by two blurry figures as he tried to get to the other side of the room. The figures were moving incredibly fast and to the untrained eye, their movements would seem like a bad action picture, but not to me. I have dreamed of the techniques that they are using many times that I could easily match them in their lethal dance without missing a beat or making a mistake. Seeing as they have just attacked one of us just to stop him from reaching the doors, I'd say that their role in this is the same as Panic's. They are eliminators, sent to defeat me so Pegasus can get full ownership of KC through Mokuba. I have promised him that I'll help him and his brother out in any way I can, and I plan to do so. Seto warned me to be careful and I will listen to him. I won't let them down!
When the guys stopped moving, I saw that they were dressed as monks with each of them wearing one of the symbols from the doors, indicating that one of them guards the door to the outside world, and the other leads to the maze once again. They challenged me to a double duel and Bakura, who is a rather good duelist ( better than Joey) and I teamed up against the Paradox brothers, as they called themselves. The duel was tough and they nearly had us a couple of times, but we managed to win when I summoned my own Red-Eyes Black Dragon, a gift from my mother who knew that I have its counterpart, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, since grandpa and his friend agreed that I deserve it, and combined it with my Summoned Skull that they destroyed last turn but Bakura has brought back with Grave Robber and together we summoned the Red-Eyes Skull Dragon. We then easily won, but we had to guess which door leads to our salvation and which leads to our doom. I have been able, fortunately, to figure out their game and we were allowed to leave.
As soon as we reached fresh air, we all gave a small cheer, Yugi's and Ryou's louder than mine and Bakura's. But my thoughts soon drifted to Seto. For some reason I have a bad feeling that his plans didn't work out and that we'll be seeing him again a lot sooner than we thought. My train of thought was, however, broken by a boisterous yell coming from one fast approaching Joey Wheeler and his friends, happy reviled smiles on their faces. I didn't spare them much time. After all, grandpa and Mokuba are being held captive in the castle that we are separated from by only a long flight of stairs. I just wanted to get this over and done with so we could all return to our, somewhat, normal lives. As I started climbing, Yugi quick to follow, I felt dread in my stomach. Something bad was about to happen!
How I hate it when I'm right!
As we got clpser to the big metal doors, we saw Seto standing on the top of the stairs, looking incredibly handsome in his attire that he wore the night before. But there was a deadly, burning glint in his eyes that informed me that this was not going to be pleasant. I stopped and Yugi did as well, confused about my actions until he also looked up and saw our proud classmate, glaring at me for all he's worth. I have to admit that it hurts to be looked at so hatefully, it always did but especially now that I am completely sure that I have a crush on him.
He wasn't letting us get past him without a duel, and despite Joey and Bakura's, who have caught up to us, protests and treats to kill him, Seto seemed determined to have his way, and there was a heartbreaking look of both fear, hope and sorrow in his captivating blue eyes that I decided that if this duel could take those unwanted emotions away I'll do it. And so we dueled. His new duel disks are so much better than the platforms! I truly felt like I was in the middle of a once in a lifetime battle. But I think that has something to do with Seto, not how or where we duel. But this duel is the only one I'll truly never forget. No, not because Seto " cheating" his way to victory, or because it could have meant that I'll never see my grandpa again.
No, it is going to be imprinted into my memory because Seto has asked me for help. He hasn't said it out loud, but his eyes told me all I need to know. Pegasus is somehow pushing his hand with Mokuba's safety on the line. And despite his situation, he truly wanted to duel against me again. He told me his plan trough his two sapphire gems, telling me he'll pretend to treaten me with suicide attempts and should he lose, he's truly going to jump. He asked me to trust him. And I agreed to go with his plans. But in the heat of the duel, we both almost forgot about his plan and focused on the game until a good opportunity came up, when I only needed to attack the one remaining head of his once powerful Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. He stepped to the edge of the "rooftop" and said he'd jump if I don't let him win. I almost forgot my promise to help him in his plans, but soon remembered and called an attack on his monster. It was now and my win, Seto's plan going into motion, or the next turn ending with his victory, but his plans would be ruined. He has revived one Blue-Eyes head of his three headed beast that was at its full power of impressive 3000 ATK, more than enough to wipe out my LP. But just as Celtic Guardian was about to give the final blow, Yugi and Tea started yelling for me to stop while running up to me. They somehow got me to stop my elf warrior from attacking and I saw disgust in Seto's lovely eyes. His dragon destroyed my monster and he won the duel. But before he left he said something that broke my heart.
"And you call yourself a true duelist!? If you would have attacked me, you would have had that right!" he has said, his words all venom. My heart almost crashed to the ground, but before my crush left, after arguing with that friendship girl, I heard him say so gently, genuinely and quietly that I had to strain my ears to hear him. "I never wanted this to happen!" I knew that he was probably just pissed off because he can't use his original plan, and he probably didn't mean what he said, but now is not the time to think about it. I need to win 5 new * before someone else gets my place in the finals.
Luckily, Mai turned up just then and it seems that she felt that she owes me and won 5 more * than necessary. She gave them to me after making me promise that I won't go easy on her should we duel and I hugged her. It was great having another female friend. After that we all entered the castle and were surprised to see Bandit Keith getting ready to watch Seto and Pegasus duel. As if sensing my presence, both of them looked up and directly to me. Both eyes widened, probably not expecting me to be able to get the * needed for entry so soon, but then different emotions coloured the windows to their souls. Seto's eyes have both relief and sadness and shame, but he also looked sheepishly happy and even proud that I'm already here. Pegasus, on the other hand, is looking questioningly between the two of us, a strange look of warmth in his good eye. I guess he must have figured out that I really like Seto, but that doesn't explain why he's looking at us like that, or why he's doing all this.
I didn't know that I will have all my answers by the end of this tournament, tomorrow. Nor did I know that I can help him until later today, when we meet the centre of his world.
Before their duel started, Seto requested to play with his new invention, but Pegasus seems to have been a step ahead of him. Despite his delight at seeing what Seto Kaiba and Kaiba Corp. could do, he still wasn't expecting such a product to be made or completed by this time. So I watched helplessly as Seto suffered at seeing his little brother lead out to be his opponent should they use his new invention. Pegasus knew that Seto would have the edge if they dueled with the duel disks, seeing as Kaiba is the creator and knows it inside and out, but he has no idea how to work them. So, he just decided to torture Seto and bully him into his turf. So as the otherwise impressive platform descended from the ceiling, I couldn't help but shout out to Seto.
"You can do this, Seto! Just remember that you can't lose while you are true to yourself and you have a purpose! Mokuba needs you, and from this point on to the end of the duel, your first allay are your cards, so treat them with respect! Your dragons won't let you down and the others will follow their example! I know you can win Seto! You ARE a true duelist and that gives you an edge against anyone! Don't make me wrong!" I told him with a confidence and reassurance that I hoped reached the depths of his soul. He NEEDS to know that he's not alone in this.
He looks up at me, along with everyone else, with evident shock on his features. I guess that they thought I would hate him for what happened, but I can't. Joey is the first to react:" Why are ya tryin' ta help 'im! He does nothin' but insult ya! He won't appreciate what ya're doin'!" The others, Yugi not included, are quick to nod in agreement with him, but Mai and Bakura are strangely enough the ones to speak up in mine and Seto's defence:" You can blame him for being rude to you all you want, hun, but he's trying to get his three and a half years old brother back. I'm an only child, but even I know that I would protect my younger sibling at any cost to those around me. You should know that, right Joseph, seeing as you are here for the prize money so you can pay for your little sister's operation so she won't go blind. And you as well, Yugi, I mean you have a great big sister that, according to all that you said, actually takes care of both you and your grandfather. You said that your household income would be a good deal smaller if it weren't for her and her work with the museums and galleries. I have an idea of why Bakura here agrees with me." Bakura nodded and Ryou hugged him breafly and Yugi came to my side and leaned against me, nodding his approval to Seto and the duel started. It was pitiful, really. Pegasus first pretended to suck, then played a one of the kind card, Toon World, and started humiliating Seto. I felt my anger reach new boundaries, as was probably the same or worst with Seto, when he stole one of Seto's cards and turned it to a mocking version of its proud self. But it wasn't just any card. No it was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Seto's most precious monster, his very PRIDE! I could just hear Seto's teeth grinding against one another. But then he put down his current hand, I guess he knows that Pegasus can see his cards trough his eyes and body language, and he took a deep breath. He put his hand on his deck and in that moment I did the same, knowing he'll need all the support he can get. I know that we are somehow connected with each other, but how does not matter. As I touched my deck, I resist the urge to close my eyes. One of us has to keep an eye on Pegasus. He's looking with shock between his opponent and me, not believing that we are soo in tune with one another. Seto, before drawing his card, said :" I have seen a certain someone do this a couple of times, but I never believed in this. I guess I should have never doubted the only person who has tried to hold on to the old Seto, the one before the orphanage, and no I'm not talking about my brother. This person does not even know me all that long, yet was able to get me to speed up the process of taking over KC and starting with my dream. If it can work for this person every time, I have hope that it will work for me now!" And with that he drew his card and played it instantly. The proud Blue-Eyes White Dragon rises with a deadly roar and attacked its toon counterpart, who got trapped by chains last turn by Seto's trap card. The toon was destroyed and all those watching cheered their approval. Pegasus did NOT seem overjoyed at having his "pride and joy" destroyed and he soon found a way to attack Seto' s deck with his own Virus Crush Card and Seto ran out of cards to play, therefore losing the match.
"Now, Kaiba-boy, it's time for you to pay up!" Yelled Pegasus in a rather creepy voice and suddenly a dart needle hit him and Seto barely flinched and took it out. But less than a minute later, he fell to the floor like a bag of patetos.
"SETO!" I yelled,fearing that he may not be just unconscious. He could have hurt himself in that fall as well! But Pegasus just laughed and that did it. All I could see was Seto's limp form on the floor and Mokuba's single tear sliding unconsciously down his cheek and all I could hear was Mokuba's yelling from my duel with the Seto-wannabe, saying that that was not his big brother who is his best friend and the only one who ever wanted him, saying that he himself is the reason that they ended up with Gozaboro, that Seto would never leave him and that he'd do anything for him. They don't deserve this, not after all they've been through with that ... that ... demon!
As Pegasus ordered his guards to take Seto away and get Mokuba back to wherever they have kept him this long, I acted without thinking and leapt from the balvony like place from where we watched the duel. As I fell, I could hear everyone except Yugi calling my name in fear and I even saw Joey, Tristan and Bakura trying to catch me, but I don't care. I must get to Seto's body before they took him away. Luckily for me, my stunt has everyone's attention and they stopped walking and just gawked at me. The second I landed, I did a little roll to get rid of the extra kinetic energy and stopped in the middle of the dueling field. I turned to Pegasus.
"Pegasus! How dare you play with people's lives like this! It wasn't enough to kidnap my grandfather, you had to take Mokuba as well! And now you're trying to imprison Seto Kaiba, the closest you'll ever come to a dragon! Dragons are meant to be free to rule the sky, not in a cage where their magnificence dies every day! I'll defeat you and show you and anyone else that you don't mess with my family and friends! I'll be seeing you in the final duel, Pegasus, so you haven't won yet!" He stared right back at me, shock and some sort of admiration in his eyes. He, however, soon nodded and we, the contestants, were lead to a dinning room. After this brunch the finals will start, but I don't feel like eating. They have ended up taking Seto and Mokuba Ra knows where and I couldn't do a thing about it. I now know that I have to win this tournament!
Since I wasn't going to eat, I was about to exit the dinning room when I bumped into someone. I looked up and saw a beautiful, blonde woman with a ... ah ... I guess the best word is sexy figure, and light ocean blue eyes, somewhere between Seto's sapphire colour and Tea's opal shade. She wore a, what could be described as, nice, long, modern baroque still blue dress, and her long hair curled slightly around her loving face. She has a warmth in her eyes that reminders me of my mother. She looked around the room a little, then her caring eyes fixed on me.
I saw something horrible there. She had that defeated look, like she was giving up, that only people who know that they're going to die soon have. I couldn't believe it! She is so young, older than me for about 17 years maybe slightly more, and she seemed perfectly health-
"Cecillia!" Pegasus' voice interrupted my thoughts and I could easily see him running up to the woman, but while I was looking over her shoulder, I saw what caused the look to be in her eyes. Cancer on the neck, more specifically on the aorta. On our main wain in our organisam, the one that connects the heart to the brain. Some things started clicking into place, but I still need some important information regarding this, both the situation of KC hostile take over and how this woman, Cecillia, has an affect on Pegasus. So, first things first ...
"How long?" I asked her quietly so only she could hear me, but Pegasus was now standing next to her. She looked at me quizzically and titled her head to the side in a questioning manner, but I just repeated the question. Their eyes widened when they caught up with what I was asking, but Cecillia soon gave me a found look. "It seemsthat you are quite clever. How ...?" She didn't finish her question but I answered anyway:" I have seen it before more times than I'd like, so I know. Is this ..." now it's me that trailed off, remembering all the times that I drramt of scenes like this. She then answered my first question :" 15 months, 16 the most. I am Cecillia J. Croward, by the way. And who might you be and WHY aren't you having brunch with everyone else? If you wish to stay focused, you must eat something." And there it is. The only real reason for Pegasus doing all of this. All for this one woman that he obviously loves with his whole heart, soul and body. I, for some reason, could no longer blame him for wanting to save his wife. I now understand why Kaiba Corp. of all other companies. Their technology has the most sensitive software and the machines are precise to the micro meters and, in a surgery that could decide if the person survives. KC has to have this kind of software because it used to be a weapons company and if something wasn't where it should be, a lot of profits would have been lost. The B5 are involved in this probably just to get KC to once again make weapons and that ain't gonna happen as long as Seto is the CEO. Pegasus probably has a doctor on stand by, waiting to preform the operation, but it's such a delicate procedure that it must be done by a machine that will not shake under the pressure. But there's no way a doctor could know how to operate one of those! But ... I can, seeing as their commands are the same as the ones on a video game. Not to mention that I am a quick study and could probably master it before all of those who work with them every day!
I forgot that she asked me a question, so now I answered:" I am Yuna Yami Mouto. It's a pleasure to meet you. And I'm not hungry, so I would like to have a walk if it's possible."
"Oh no, no, no!It's not possible because you need nutrition and you will be having duels all day today! You'll only get dinner later on! You will eat now, even if I have to force feed you myself!" And with that, she grabbed my hand and dragged me to the table, where everyone was snickering. For some reason I couldn't say no to her and I stayed and even had seconds at her urging. She really resembles our mother, even Yugi noticed. It's not that she looks like her, it's far from it. Our mum had long, black hair that she usually tied up in many little braids. She loved ancient Egypt and so she did her hair the same way Egyptian women did. She had beautiful amethyst eyes which she inherited from grandpa and Yugi inherited them from her. I know that it's strange that we have our mothers last name, even our dad had it, but it's because dads family is pure Egyptian, the one of the rarest kind whose origins come from a line of pharaohs. My fathers comes from the Nameless Pharaoh, and thus I come from it too, and so they don't have a last name. Instead they have more names so we took mums. Our dad was rather tall and he had a traditional, Egyptian tan. He had gray-purple eyes and light black hair that was almost gray as well. It wasn't like that because of age, it was simply his natural exotic colour. Yugi and I got our hair from grandpa, and Yugi resembles him a lot. But no one knows from who I got my features, especially my eyes. Dad's family has a lot of family friends that have an origin of the same time as ours, and one of them keeps track records of our family, and so we know that NO ONE has had red eyes for 5000 years. The Nameless Pharaoh was the first one and now I'm the second. Many people who know of him have first thought that Yugi was his reincarnation because they look so alike, but one look at the eyes, and because we aretwins so we look alike, people change their minds and say that I'm the one now carrying the legendary Pharaohs soul. It's one of the reasons that they call me "Child of Pharaohs". But I'm getting off topic. Cecillia reminds me of our mothers with the way she acts. Mum always used to say that if I want to do something, I should never do it on an empty stomach. She also liked to threatened me that she'll force feed me!
After we finished ( Joey and Tristan have managed to eat everything ), and after the fiasco with the fake Millennium eye in our soups at which Cecillia gave Pegasus sucha nasty glare that he spent ten minutes apologising to everyone (I luckily have pushed my soup aside to Yugi before the Eye floated to the surface so I didn't lose my appetite), we used a hour break to modify our decks if we so wished since we now know who is dueling who and when, so I went for a walk. I was dueling Mai in the first round. No matter how good and close we have become, I must win. Three, no FOUR lives might be depending on it. I now know that Pegasus won't do anything to the Kaiba brothers, but the B5 might. I must save them.
As I walked around, a memory suddenly hit me.
It was a seaside, the place looking very familiar to me despite the changes that time has made. It's definitely the Red Sea on the eastern side of Egypt. An unnatural storm was making the sand raise to the heavens. It was so thick that one would have thought that it is nighttime. Only the few small rays of sunlight that poured trough the sandy clouds indicated that it was in fact day. The duns were no longer in their beautiful half-moon shapes, but instead looked very much like a trail a desert snake would leave in the sand. The sea was also disturbed, but most definitely NOT because of this storm!
The Red Sea has parted and completely dried up in the place, rather PATH that it made! I have only read about this! It could never be proved false because no one knows where to look for the answers. The legend of Moses is true then!
I watched in awe as thousands of people rushed into the path between the water boundaries, looking back at the Egyptian soldiers of Ramsey II as they charged at them, fear on their faces, but then they would look forward to the only person standing in the same place, holding a staff towards the sky, looking with endless faith to the sky, and their own hopes raised at the very sight. Soon, nobody turned back and their progress increased. The Egyptian were still having problems, seeing as some fishes would jump out of one side just to get to the other, and even sharks, quite common in the Red Sea, would literally swipe out just to kill a few soldiers. But I can't help but admire the Egyptians loyalty to their pharaoh and even the way Ramsey charged forward, only to be stopped by his generals. I am somewhere in between the two giant groups of people. I can see that the hurricane storm has taken out a good portion of the Egyptian army, but a few Israelites were killed by arrows or spears. It is horrifying to witness! I looked up at the man that is known as Moses, and I saw pain in his eyes. It was hurting him to see soo many people die, ones he called his brothers until recently and those who he belongs with. Both equally important to him. He could lose either his brother by birth OR his brother that he grew up with, who he played with and studied with, Ramsey II.
I realised too late that all of the ex-Egyptian slaves were out of the way that the water would go and I saw that Ramsey has finally got the chance to get his once brother back, but Moses must have not seen him and lowered his staff. The Red Sea crashed its waters to where it's place is rightfully, killing hundreds of Egyptian army men. Since I am only an observer in this memory of our world, I stayed in the same place and watched as Egyptian after Egyptian died in the depths of this sea. After a long time, I was on the surface only to see Ramsey and and a few of his men as the only survivors. The famous pharaoh was on his knees, tears falling down his still youthful face. He has lost many men, his first born son and ... most importantly ... his best friend and his only cousin that he always treated like a brother. On the other side of the Red Sea, Moses' brown-gray eyes held a deep sadness in their dephts, only a few noticing the secretly vispered goodbye meant for the ears of only the young pharaoh of Egypt.
I snapped back to reality, only to find myself in a tower with Yugi and Pegasus who are starting unbelievingily at my newest painting. The crossing of the Red Sea and the silent goodbye of the once brothers.
Shit!Pegasus saw!
Pegasus' POV
I have always wanted what's best for my darling Cecillia and so after finding out that she will die soon without the operation I did my best to get the best dodoctors to get ready for the surgery, but it was not enough. They needed a machine that is so precise that nothing should go wrong. Otherwise I would be risking my wife's life. So I searched and searched and then I found him. Adopted by the richest man in Asia and Australia, a born gamer and genius, precise and effective in everything he does, Seto Kaiba with his new technology was my last hope.
So I arranged a meeting with him and what I saw left me speechless. I was expecting a little boy, playful and innocent. But I met with a boy whose heart had frozen over and was now only a shallow shell of its former self, but his intelligence is everything that it's rumoured to be. I was very impressed!
I met up with him a few more times, and every time something ... someONE ... changed him a little and I soon was able to get a glimpse of the kind heart beneath all the ice. I knew for sure that it was not his brother that influenced him this way , but it was someone else who has gotten close to him. Today I have finally met that person with nothing between us and I realised that it's not hard to open up to this girl. She has this aura that reassures you that all your secrets will be safe with her. This girl ... Yuna Yami Mouto ... is special. I can feel it.
But I mustn't think about it, or else I'll lose my resolve and Cecillia won't get her treatment and will di-
I never got to finish that thought because I saw something unexpected. Yuna was in my special private room that only Cecillia, Croquet ( he is my most loyal employee and friend for many years) and myself have ever entered ... and she is painting the most incredible and realistic painting that I have ever seen! I am aware that there are many paintings of this event, but this is truly unique, magnificent. The emotions of all the people on the painting are very easy to be notified, not to mention the great amount of details. It looked like she was doing it for hours, but that's not possible! The brunch just finished 15 minutes ago! How could she have done this much in such a short notice?
I walked into the room and was just about to ask her when all of the sudden something crashed into me, sending me to the floor. I yelped, but it couldn't be heard from the hands that covered my mouth. The hands were to small for the person to be dangerous and if they wanted me hurt or dead, I would have been by now. No, this person just doesn't want me to speak, maybe not make any loud noises. I turned to look at my captor and was surprised to see little Yugi who looked on in panic to his older sister. Yuna didn't notice anything that just happened and was instead still focused on her masterpiece. Yugi sighed in relief.
He soon released my mouth and put a finger on his while going shhh. I noded and quietly asked :" Yugi-boy, what's wrong? I was just going to ask her about her painting, nothing more." I am truly confused about all of this. I almost missed his answer while I was deep in thought.
"It's not that. I know that Yuna can take care of herself. It's just ... you wouldn't have gotten a response from her." He said just as quietly.
"What? Why?"
"Because she couldn't give you an answer. She isn't exactly ... aware of what is happening around her right now. No, don't ask questions. I'll say everything you need to know about, but the rest is up to ... oh, hrck! It's time someone else knows!" He said and sat down on one of the chairs and told me to sit on the other. When I did as he asked,he started his ststory:" 8 years ago, my parents and grandfather were in Egypt on a dig. My mother was pregnant with us so they were going to leave one month before we were born, but it didn't go according to the plan. You see, I am born in Japan on the 14th of July, but Yuna wasn't. She was born in Egypt on the 4th of June, just by the ancient palace in Memphis. She was born a month before me, and she didn't have to be in an incubator. She was perfectly healthy and strong enough to live on her own. The doctor calls her a miracle, even today! The whole of Egypt does! You know the Nile? Well, it used to flood every June in the ancient times. It's even recorded that it happened on the 4th day of the month, meaning Yuna's birthday. It has not been flooding the same way as it used to ever since the new age began. So it was a pleasant surprise when after Yuna was born in 10.00 am at exactly 10.01 am the Nile started flooding, washing away all the chemicals that were previously used to make plants grow in the sandy place. No one else was born in the same time as my sister, not just in Egypt but in the whole world! The Egyptian all wanted to see her, because there was a legend about the Nameless Pharaoh and it left a prophecy that 5000 years after his death, the Nile will flood for a week, announcing that his soul is back. That he is reincarnated into the new world. It really happened! The flooding lasted 7 days after Yuna's birth and she became famous. She got her name, "The Light of Hope", because that's what the people who knew of the prophecy called her. Yuna. It suits her, don't you think?" I thought about it, and nodded. It's true. Just her presence has been able to get the glint of life into my wife's eyes. I have seen her hope being reborn. Yugi continued:" A month later, they were in Japan and I was born. We didn't stay in Japan long, and soon it was Egypt's desert that was surrounding us. Yuna is a protégé. By the time she was 5 months old, she was able to talk almost like an adult. A month later she could read and the month after that, she could write. Two months later she could walk and no longer used dippers. She perfected her writing and knew how to draw. It wasn't like what little kids draw. It was a lot more like this that you are seeing right now. My parents didn't give her colours until they sav her first drawing. It was a drawing of an ancient Egyptian temple, done in so much detail that you'd think that she saw it with her own two eyes. But she DID see it. Yuna has a special "gift", lets say, but it could at times be like a curse. She was born with the ability to see the past through both dreams and random visions. She dreams of events that happened way before she was even born! I'm not making this up. It's true! But it hadn't always been good for her. You see, if she is disturbed before the vision/dream is over, she is knocked unconscious, but her brain activity increases beyond even in sleep. She gets more visions but instead of her just watching, she somehow feels them. Meaning that whatever happens in her dream, she experiences it as well. She has trouble breathing, gets burns or her heart stops for a few seconds. That state can last up to a month as far as we know. But it could end even with her ..." he didn't finish the sentence as a tear slid down his left cheek and he quickly whipped it away and then continued:" Yuna, as she grew, got more and more of these dreams and she always ended up drawing them, painting them, writing them down or even creating compositions after or during them. They gave her many abilities, like painting, drawing, playing instruments, martial arts and, most importantly, the knowledge of the past. Thanks to the dreams, she learned many ancient languages and traditions, even found out the truth of some things. She never wanted to be famous for it, she just wants to see history written down how it happened, not how people wanted for it to happen. She made many enemies that way. Oh! I almost forgot! The reason that she is that successful in history and both modern and ancient languages is based on the dreams as well. And she always knows where to look for evidence that her theory is correct because of the dreams, but don't think that she gets everything on a silver plate, because she only gets clues and she needs to put them together. Her intelligence and skills don't come from the dreams. She learns them through them but she still needs to practice like every other human being. Anyway, back to the story. When our parents died in a tomb they were excavating, the Egyptian government wanted to take custody of Yuna, but because our grandpa was capable of taking us both in, we moved to Japan with him. By then, my sister was already the most famous person alive that hasn't made it that far by selling herself to the public. Everyone simply likesher that way. But in our new sschool ... at the beginning they called her Demon Child and always tried to pick on her, but since she ignored them, they tried to get her attention by picking on me. That is how she ended up fighting three guys on our first day there. She won, of course, but everyone disliked her even more. A few teachers recognised her and made a big deal of it and it got everyone's attention to Yuna. That same day, she showed them her impressive memory span and her skills in sports. Later she even showed them her IQ by only taking a quick look at a few really difficult math problems and solving them correctly. By the end of the week they saw her painting skills and her gaming abilities. I'll worn you now, she never lost! By now she has a good number of admirers in our school and I think that Kaiba might become her first friend from Japan that is her age. Her gifts and intelligence make her quite mature, so she only has a few friends who are the same age as us."
Yugi-boy finished and sighed, then looked at me as if expecting me to laugh in his face. I was too speechless to say anything. I can't believe that the girl who is now painting the magnificent masterpiece right in front of me has been through soo much. She's been through hell and back, as they say, and has stayed true to her beliefs. I must admit that I'm impressed. Then something occurred to me:" Yugi-boy, Mouto is your grandpa's last name, right? Just asking, you don't have to answer." He thoughtabout it and tthen said :" Yeah. Our dad's family has origin all the way back to ancient Egypt 5000 years ago, so they try to keep the same tradition, therefore they have no surname. But because modern day society demands it, dad took mums last name. I don't get it. Why aren't you laughing or something?"
"Because strange things happened to me, as well. You see, I didn't always have just one eye. Once, when I was in Egypt, looking for a cure for my wife, I stumbled upon someone trying to steal the Ring your friend now wears and I followed the guardians of the items to an underground chamber where he went crazy because the Item didn't choose him as it's wilder. They spotted me and I was tested by the Eye and it chose me. I was allowed to go, but I never again looked at the world the same way. I once found, accidently, a tablet with strange imiges on it. But what I saw were monsters fighting against one another! That is how I made Duel Monsters. I also made three god cards, but no one has ever been able to tap into their true abilities, not even me! I mean, I made them. But those three cards gave me nightmares and so I gave them to a grave keeper of the Nameless Pharaoh's tomb, because in the ancient texts they always are mentioned with him, serving him. Do you think that it may be somehow connected to your sister's gift. Every Millennium Item has a chosen person who will have it at one point, but the Puzzle is the one that units them together. Yuna solved the Puzzle, a feat only the Pharaoh to who it belonged to has accomplished before. They must be connected some way."
"I don't know, but Yuna might have more insight on this" we fell silent after that, and a few minutes later, Yuna seemed to snap out of her trance like state.
I was about to say something to her, but then I saw her finished painting. It left me feeling like the water of the Red Sea will crash at me any second. I have always been told that I have the ability to capture life in my art works, but those people obviously haven't met this girl. "This is wonderful. You have soo much talent, Yuna-dear!"
"Thank you" , and just then Croquet came in and told us that the time runs out in 5 minutes. We left my sanctuary and went to the dueling arena.
Yuna's POV
My duel with Mai lasted llonger than I'd liked, but she is a formidable opponent and I was slightly distracted by all that has happened. Yugi told everything to Pegasus and yet I don't feel like he's made a mistake in doing so. Seto and Mokuba will be realised by the end of tomorrow's final duel if I have any say in this. And I'll find a way to get Seto to sell one of his machines to Pegasus so Cecillia could get her operation and live a normal, nice life. Grandpa will come home with Yugi and I'll be going to the best medical school there is. I know that a doctor would never learn fast enough to control KC's machine, but I'll be able to learn everything necessary in a year in medical school. Mai shook me out of my musings and told me to focus on the duel first and foremost, and after that I easily won because she didn't want to see her Harpy Ladies destroyed by my legendary Black Luster Soldier. She didn't leave immediately, because she gave Joey her card that is required for further competing, after his was stolen by Bandit Keith. Joey won the duel and then our duel began. It didn't last long since he made the mistake of thinking that Time Wizard that I gave him on the boat weakens my fateful Dark Magician instead of turning into the Dark Sage. I won and tomorrow I'll be dueling Pegasus for the lives of many.
But tonight I'll be getting some rest, hopefully without any dreams.
The next morning, Ryou, Tea and Tristan could barely keep standing and Bakura looked like he was a bit tired as well. I asked him what happened and he told me that Taylor and Gardner took Ryou on a little "adventure" last night but they were caught by him around 4am this morning. It seems that they got lost and were walking for hours in a circle while they tried to find grandpa. Bakura is now glaring at them and Ryou starts fidgeting in unease. Bakura's harsh gaze softened and he ruffled Ryous hair, silently forgiving him for worrying him like that. Just as the other two sigh in relief, he turns to them, his eyes spelling murder. They squick and hide behind Joey, who in turn hides behind my little brother. I shake my head and just then, Pegasus enters the room. After everyone gave me their 'Good luck!' and Bakura and Tristan told me that they will find the others, and I got a text message from Mai saying "I know you can win, you little brat! :)" I stepped into the arena and took my place on one of the platforms while Croquet did the last introduction of the tournament :" It's the final duel, Pegasus J. Crowerd vs Yuna Yami Mouto. You will both start with 2000 LP and decks of 40 cards. There's no time limit. The rules are the same as during the Duelist Kingdom tournament. The first turn will be decided by a flip of the coin. But before that, Yuna will have to state what she desires if she is victorious." He looks at me and I took a deep breath
"I first wish that you give me your word that my grandpa and the Kaiba brothers will be released after I win, and that KC will stay Seto Kaiba's. Second, I want you to give Joey Wheeler the five thousand dollars prize money for his sister's eyesight operation. And finally, I wish to go to the best medical school in the world. Those are my requests! Now, let's duel!"
Although everyone just gawked at my requests, I didn't really care. Pegasus soon asked :"Why?" and I willed my eyes to send the message 'We'll talk about it later' and so the duel started. It didn't look like I was going to win, but that's the plan. I pretended that Pegasus' mind reading ability made me lose for a good part of the duel, but then I showed them the truth. I destroyed his all powerful Toon World and took a big chunk of his LP. I knew not to underestimate him, but he made the mistake of doing so with me. He may be the creator of the game, but I have never lost in anything and I don't plan to start now. The duel lasted for almost an hour, but now it's the last turn. Pegasus has tried to take my Magician of Black Chaos with his Thousand Eyed Relinquished, but I used Multiply on Kuriboh and he took thousands of them instead of my mage. Their special ability of exploding upon enemy contact destroyed the eyes on my opponent's monster, stopping their paralysing effect on my Magician of Black Chaos and I attacked his Relinquished, who now had only 300 ATK/300 DEF because he absorbed my Kuriboh, and I won the duel. Everyone cheered and congratulated my duel and victory. I couldn't help but smile to Pegasu gently, for he thinks that he failed and that he was probably going to lose his beloved. And so I jumped over my platform, walked over the field, jumped over his platform until I stood in front of him. I extended my hand for him to take so I could both help him up and shake hands with him. He just stares at my hand in shock, then looks up to me. I give him a genuine smile filled with warmth and I said as I took his hand :"The reason I want to go to the best medical school is because I can finish it and learn everything I need to know as a world class doctor, before any other doctor could learn to use one of KC's sensitive machines. I wish to help Mrs. Cecillia and give her the chance to live a normal, good life. She is so kind. And everyone deserves to be happy!"
I can see tears forming in his eye, and he squized my hand as I pulled him up. He stands there for a moment, just looking at me, and then he suddenly bursts into tears and latches onto me, hugging me while he cried in relief and hope. I smile at Yugi who is now looking at us, a revealed look on his face. Sometime during the last few turns, Bakura and Tristan have returned from their search but only with Mokuba. It seems that grandpa and Seto were kept someplace else. And now, Mokuba is slowly waking up. I looked at Pegasus and he finally let go and said :" I guess it is time for me to stop pretending that I'm a bad guy and release everyone. Your grandfather will be here in a couple of minutes. As for Kaiba-boy ... I wish to personally apologise to him and you. If you will follow me ... " and he lead the way.
Seto's POV
I don't know how long I've been here, trapped in this cell, sitting against this wall. It felt like days, but soon I heard Pegasus' footsteps. Except he's not alone. I closed my eyes and focused on the way that this person walks. From the sound of it, it's a female, probably short but there's a confidence in the gait that I have only seen in the proud stride of a girl who has beautiful, blood coloured eyes and strange three coloured spiky hair. It couldn't be ... They came into my view ...
"Yuna" I said the name like it's a soft prayer for forgiveness, and I am willing to beg her for it.
"Se-Kaiba" I flinched at the correction, but I understood. Even if a new wave of sadness washed over me. Ever since I said all those things to Yuna, I couldn't get the thought of her now hating me out of my head and my heart clenched every time I remembered how she looked on her knees with hurt in her lovely eyes. Then I would remember how she cheered me on, saying that she believes in my ability. But I failed her.
I was brought out of my missing and into the present when I felt arms wrap around my neck and a familiar face nuzzling it. I gasped, not believing that what's happening is real. Yuna was hugging me! And, so, finally, after everything that happened in the last few days, I completely broke down when I felt a tear on my throat, knowing that I am the cause of it. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly against my body, for both her and my own comfort. I buried my face into her hair and allowed a single tear to escape my eyes. She was quietly sobbing at first, so I rubbed her back and soon she calmed down, but refused to let go of me. That's fine with me. I could hold her in my arms forever and not get tired of it.
After a few minutes, we finally let go of each other and stood to face Pegasus. I was shocked speechless when I saw him blowing his nose and crying. Yuna seemed surprised as well, but he saw us looking at him strangely so he finished as soon as possible. He then straightened up and said :"Yuna-dear here has been pronounced the winner of Duelist Kingdom and is now the Queen of Games. One of her requests was that you and your brother can leave with KC still in your possession. But ... I wish to buy something that your company has, if possible." Well, that's new. I nod for him to continue and he does :" I would like to buy one of your machines that puts the diamond in your hologram system." I raised an eyebrow, not believing that we went through all this just because he wanted one of my machines! Hobson DIED! I was about to tell him just that, when I felt Yuna take my hand in hers. I looked at her and she said :"Please, Seto! It's not a business problem that has him doing all this and going as far as to organise a tournament and kidnap your brother for! He's wife has cancer on the aorta and needs operation in less than two years, if she doesn't get it ..." she shook her head and looked over to Pegasus, then turned her eyes to me and I gasped. She was on the verge of tears again and I immediately raised my hand and whipped them away with the pad of my thumb when they rolled down her cheek. She leaned into my hand and I smiled at her reassuringly. She continued :" Your machine is the only one sensitive enough and precise enough to ensure that the operation is successful. I ... Please, do this Seto!" I couldn't believe that she is actually giving me the puppy dog eyes treatment! But she looks just so damn CUTE! I couldn't help but ask, although I already made up my mind.
"How come do you want to help them soo much? Just curious. I'll give it to him for free and then donate a couple to hospitals if it's so good for operations." The hug and smile I got this time were definitely worth it. "THANKS! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH SETO! YOU'RE THE BEST! " I laughed and she joined me when I wrapped my arms around her again and spinned her around a little. Pegasus was crying and blessing us both to every God, modern and ancient, he could think of. When I put her down, I looked at her expectantly and so she answered with an adorable blush:" Beside the fact that it was time to finally fix the mistakes, and that she reminded me of my late mother, I believe that everyone deserves a chance at a happy life. Including you, Seto. You can't go through life alone. Sooo,... I'll be your friend! And don't worry, I'm not like that friendship girl. However, I do think that it's important. So, Seto ... Will you be MY friend?" She is looking at me shyly now, and I can hear Pegasus snickering behind us, probably at our identical blushes. I soon mumbled :" It's not like we weren't some kind of friends before now ..." and then I bit my lip, looking to the side until I was hugged by my crush for the third time in the last hour. This is turning out to be the BEST day of my life so far!
00000
I am now flying my helicopter back to Domino with the Moutos and the Bakuras, and of course Mokuba. After meeting Cecillia, Pegasus escorted us to the castles yard where we were mobbed by our families, and after Yuna promising to keep in touch with the Crowards, we climbed into my copter and took off. I am not exactly happy with things. I have found out that Yuna is planning to leave for the medical school in Cairo, then go to the one in London and then to Washington. After that, she's going to the university of medical education in Copenhagen and then the one in Manchester, after that it's Moscow and then Tokyo. As soon as she finishes, which according to her should be 13 months, she'll have her medical education and be able to perform surgery, so Cecillia will survive.
I know it's selfish of me, but I wish that she could just stay. A whole year without her ... How am I supposed to do it? To last a year of not being in her presence? But I suppose I could use it for taking care of some things.
Yuna has said that it is time for fixing the mistakes, and I couldn't agree more!