Yuna have never felt happier to come back to this city. It feels like it has been years since she had last been here, even though it was only a month or so. As she punched in the password for her room in Pegasus' mansion that was now officially the new Mouto home, the Duel Queen thought about the dream she'd had before the final duel against Leon. She had never had a dream like that before.
Yuna remembered all the strange feeling raging in the young Pharaoh-to-be as Seth had him pinned against a pillar, yelling his head off at his cousin's reckless actions regarding the little battle that had happened near the gates of the city. The young Prince had seen that Mahad's old teacher was about to be killed by the attackers and had acted as soon as he could, almost ending up killed. Seth had had a scare of his life and had beheaded the man with the hidden blade of his Millennium Rod. He took the Prince's hand and had dragged the struggling royal to a nearby horse and rode with him to the palace, where the stubborn throne heir was checked over for any signs of injury. Even though the boy was fine, Seth had not been happy with him, even more so than the youth's father, Pharaoh Aknamkanon.
Yuna didn't understand why the Prince felt the way she usually feels around Seto, but she knew that she should record the dream as soon as she can, so she just dumped her bags in the room and quickly scurried off to her workroom. Going straight to the section dedicated to only the Nameless Pharaoh and his High Priest, Yuna started working on first the written records, then she painted the strange scenes she had seen.
About two hours later, just as she was putting away everything, she heard Mia calling her through the intercom that Seto was here to see her and discuss their new neighbors with her. Wondering what could possibly annoy her rival to that point, Yuna quickly came down to find an annoyed Seto and a scowling Noah. Mokuba was snickering to himself, greatly amused by his older brothers' jealous tendencies.
''Okay, what's going on here?'' The Duel Queen asked, getting straight to the point. Yugi, who was sitting with the Yugi-tachi in the downstairs living room, snickered as Yuna almost jumped back when Chris and Leon rushed to hug the girl. Noah immediately snapped at them and demanded that they release his Nee-chii as Bakura laughed his head off. Scowling at the Thief, Mahad got up to help his Pharaoh deal with everything.
It was only when she could breathe again that Yuna noticed that not only were the von Schroders here, but also the who Paradias company and the Ishtars as well. Even Rebecca and Arthur were standing behind her brunet rival, waving to her hesitantly.
''Okay, what is going on here!?''
Zigfried stepped forward and kissed Yuna's hand, causing Seto to snap and grab him by the back of his suit and drag him away from the now slightly blushing girl. Noah scowled and finally shooed the other two kids away and Mokuba had to agree with his brothers that the situation was not so funny anymore.
''Well, since I realized that I cannot be on par with Kaiba Corp all the way back in Europe, I bought the property beside this one so you could watch over me. A mansion is going to be built in a few months and my new branch will open up in a few weeks.''
The Yugi-tachi and the mansion staff chocked on their spit and drinks/food as they heard that.
''And since everything interesting always happens around here, we bought the property beside Kaiba's'' Dartz added as he nuzzled Iona.
''And since Paradias was opening a new branch here as well, we decided to buy a new property and it happened to be on the other side of Kaiba's.'' Rafael said as his parents were greeted by Cecillia and Pegasus, who was very amused by all of this.
''And since Arthur and I have decided that they can move in whenever they want into this mansion, Pegasus arranged for them to fly in today and they'll be moved in by the end of this week!'' Solomon excitedly said as Rebecca almost attacked poor Yugi with a hug.
''We'd be more than happy to take in the Ishtars so they don't have to pay for their apartment every moth, and we have lots of things we could work on together!'' Iona said and Ishizu and Odion nodded. The twins didn't have a problem with that.
''And little Ryou and I will be staying with the Doma boys from now on for the same reason, since our dad finally moved back to England for good.'' Bakura said as he sipped his tea. Ryou nodded and added that they were allowed to stay here as long as they like.
Yuna, still gawking, nodded. She now understood why Seto was in such a bad mood, but the possessive hold on her was a bit much. Not that she minded, it's just that it associated her to her latest vision. ''I see.'' Was all she could say. Releasing herself from her rival's possessive hug, Yuna walked into the living room and plopped down on one of the couches, Noah quick to challenge Leon to a duel for the right to sit by Yuna's side.
The whole group settled into the big room, Seto taking the seat on the other side of Yuna and Mokuba beside him and the others just sitting wherever they had space, as Leon and Noah fire up their Duel Disks. Leon was first and he summoned his Cinderella (300 ATK) and the Pumpkin Carriage and attacked Noah directly. Setting a card face down, the little German ended his turn. Zigfried taunted Seto about how his brother will definitely defeat Noah, if not the Duel Queen.
''I wouldn't be so sure about that. Noah is one hell of a duelist!'' Joey said, watching as the green-haired boy started his turn. He still remembered Noah's dueling style, and that kid was damn good.
Noah draws and summons Chiron the Mage (1800 ATK). He activates Chiron's special effect, the Mirror of Truth, which reveals and destroys Leon's face-down card, startling the redhead. Smirking, Noah attacks Cinderella, bringing Leon down to 3500 life points. Setting a card face down, Noah ends his turn with the lead of 1200 points.
''I never knew Noah could duel.'' Rebecca whispered and Yuna smiled proudly.
Yugi was the one to answer, however. ''When we were stuck in the Virtual World he had lived in for years, he dueled both Seto and Yuna. He had brought Seto down to 300 life points, but then something happened and Yuna took over and defeated him, even thought he had risen his life points to around 10 000.''
''Really?'' Valon asked, having heard Yugi's story. This kid was seriously that good?
''Really.'' The whole group that had been stuck in Noah's world said as they nodded.
Leon ignored the feeling of dread that was pilling up in his stomach. He now knew that he should never give in, so he was ready to duel to the end. Leon draws, summoning Iron Hans (1200 ATK). Once this monster is on the field, Leon can automatically summon his Iron Knight as well. But Noah was ready for those little effects and he activated his face down card, Giant Flood, which causes a huge tidal wave to sweep over the landscape, turning it into an ocean. Leon's monsters were swept off the field, leaving him defenseless.
''Also, this card allows me to summon my strongest monster. Come forth, Shinato's Ark!'' A huge ark rises from the waters and hovers in the air beside Noah. The group winces as they remember how powerful the thing is and wondered if Seto was out of his mind to let Noah reassemble such a Deck in the real world.
''What is that thing!?'' Amelda cried out. She had never seen a monster like that and yet she somehow knew it was bad news.
''That's Noah's second strongest card. If he fills it up with enough monsters, he will be able to summon an even stronger monster.'' Duke explained.
''Not if Leon doesn't destroy it first!'' Zigfried insisted. His little brother was an excellent duelist and he was sure that he could win, even though the thing they were competing for was silly.
''I play Spinning Wheel Spindle. This should take care of that over sized boat!'' Leon said confidently, but the card had no effect on the Ark. ''Huh?''
''My Shinato's Ark is immune to trap and magic card effects, as well as monster effects. It just hovers there until all of its passengers are on board.'' Noah explains.
''Wait! It doesn't attack or defend?'' Leon asked.
''A worthless card in that case.'' Zigfried commented.
Noah grinned. ''I wouldn't say that. Look!'' Just then, Iron Hans and therefore Iron Knight appeared on Noah's side of the field. ''Every monster that's destroyed will be sent to my Ark, where it will stay until I call for it to defend me. I don't lose life points if they're destroyed, but you do if they destroy one of your monsters or attack you directly. I would be careful if I were you.''
Pegasus chuckled with glee. ''Oh, this is just like watching a young Yuna and Kaiba-boy duel! With a lot less tension and a not so much pride at stake, but still very similar!''
Said rivals looked at him like he had grown a second head. ''They are nothing like we used to be!'' Both said but Pegasus just waved them off.
''Fine, then I'll place this face down and end my turn.'' Leon said and Noah shrugged as he drew his new card. ''Using Shinato's Ark, I summon Chiron the Mage and activate his effect to get rid of your face down card.''
''Oh no!'' Leon whines. That was literally his last hope.
''Now, all my monsters will attack, ending this duel! Go!'' Noah pointed his two fingers of his free hand at Leon, like it was a pretense gun, just how he had done in his duel with Seto. Smirking as Leon's life points hit 0, Noah comments that he never liked fairytales and sits beside his Nee-chii. He snuggled into her side and shot everyone arrogant grins as she complimented him on a good duel.
Glaring at the smug preteen, Leon swore that he would get better and beat the boy next time. Huffing, he sat beside his older brother, who also huffed when the eldest Kaiba smirked at him in a knowing way.
''Let m guess,'' Zigfried started. ''All three of you had once dueled the Queen of Games, haven't you, Herr Kaiba?''
The two smirking males got even more smug as Mokuba joined in with his own sheepish smile that was also pretty smug.
''I give up!''
The group laughed at the comical show, everyone at ease. Even Yuna finally let her dreams go to the back of her mind for the moment, enjoying the peace since she knew it probably wouldn't last. The group spent the entire day getting to know Rafael's family, Amelda's little brother and the von Schroders. They all exchanged numbers and addresses as Mai promised that she was staying in Domino from now on and Duke tried asking Serenity out on a date. Joey and Tristan had soundly beaten him to a plop and Rafael and Zigfried nearly had the same fate as they boldly asked Yuna to be their girlfriend. Said males learned the hard way that just because Mahad looked like the peace-loving type didn't mean the Egyptian guardian didn't know how to fight.
Sometime before lunch, however, Joey, Duke, Valon and Zigfried started bothering Seto as he tried to finish a quick phone call from the KC HQ, and the CEO finally snapped. Yuna had never seen her rival this angry before, especially for something this trivial. She had been hurt when he had shunned her away when she reached for his arm, trying to sooth him, and hearing him accuse her of finding his stress funny before the CEO stomped off. He even snapped at Mokuba as the raven-haired boy called after his older brother, further shocking the group. None of the employees dared to stop the raging man as he stormed off the property and walked off in an unfamiliar direction.
The males who had caused it to happen looked guiltily at the Duel Queen as a strange lost look appeared in her lovely eyes and nothing anyone said seemed to reach her ears. Not even Yugi or Mana's urgings to talk got a response and the amethyst-eyes boy was really starting to worry as his sister ignored even Noah and Mokuba's explanation that Seto was just pissed. This wasn't normal for the girl and Yugi wondered if her last dream had somehow gained this effect on her.
All was answered when Yuna suddenly started shacking, a single tear escaping her before she collapsed from the couch.
''YUNA!'' Everyone yelled, immediately by the girl's side. Mahad, realizing that a vision was happening, scooped his charge up and started carrying her to her room, ordering Mia to open it. Shocked by everything that was going on, the part of the group that didn't know about the dreams/visions stayed behind at the bottom of the long stairway as the others rushed to make the Duel Queen as comfortable as they could.
Mahad swore again as little whimpers escaped the lips of the reincarnated Pharaoh as she rested in her bed now. The girl was tucked in and a wet cloth had been placed on her forehead when Solomon had felt her to be far too warm. They had already gave her water and forced some sugar into her mouth so she would have some semblance of fuel to fight off the fever, but she was still in danger.
''This is insane!'' Mana said as she replaced the cloth on Yuna's forehead. It had been there only a few minutes and it was already almost completely dry. ''For all the years that I have witnessed this, it has never been this extreme!''
''I can't say you're wrong, since the last time it was this bad, she had been woken up from one of the visions, but why is it happening now? Why like this?'' Solomon asked as he watched Yuna shiver all the while her temperature got higher. This was not humanly possible, yet Yuna was burning up from cold.
''Shouldn't we call a doctor?'' Noah asked. He was the only one that didn't know anything about the dreams that had been allowed to come up with the group since he had threatened to scream bloody murder if they didn't let him come. The preteen had stayed as quiet as a mouse, only now speaking up as he saw just how bad his Nee-chii's condition was. Mokuba had told him the basics of it, but there was still many things Noah didn't know or understand.
''It won't help.'' Mahad said through ground teeth. This didn't make any sense! It couldn't be that the girl's condition was due to Seto's little temper tantrum, right? It was absurd! But then again, the High Priest was connected to the Nameless Pharaoh on a level none of them understood. ''FUCK!''
Everyone who knew the man jumped and Ishizu swore she was dreaming. Mahad never cursed or said any insults or mean things. It was like stress had made him a completely different, but she guessed she understood. Mahad Sennen had sworn to Aknamkanon that he would look after Yuna Yami, his childhood friend and, if the reincarnated Priestess understood correctly, Mahad's inspiration to finish his training with a semblance of sanity left.
Mahad took Yuna's hand and held it to his forehead as he dropped to his knees, quiet, panicked sobs rocking his body. ''Where the fuck are you when she needs you, Seto?''
The occupants of the room lowered their heads, knowing that the CEO's presence would mean the most to Yuna right now.
00000
Seto sighed in frustration as he watched the waves crash against the Domino City pier. The seagulls were flying calmly overhead as silence hung over the entire place. The CEO was thankful for it because it let his mind wander and he didn't feel like letting it wander back to the event that happened before he left Pegasus' mansion. He felt regret at how he had treated his brother, but he strangely didn't feel remorse for what he had said to Yuna. He knew that he should, but something in him was telling him that he was probably right and that the Duel Queen found it funny how he overreacted.
''Maybe I have been too harsh with her, still ...'' Yuna didn't deserve for Seto to treat her like so, especially since she was always ready to go through hell and back to help him with whatever he needed. 'Then again, I wouldn't need her help if I weren't dragged into her messes ...'
It wasn't often that Seto debated if it had been worth it to give Yuna back that Puzzle piece all those years ago, especially since he didn't like dwelling on the past and he did love the girl, but when he did it made him wonder just how different his life would have been. Would he still be a bastard? Would he have beaten Gozaboro? Would he even have met Yuna later on if she had lost that day, even though it wouldn't have been a matter of skill but of technicality since the last piece had been stolen?
''I probably would have lived a life without Yuna in it ...'' The realization of that thought sent dread through his entire body. He wasn't sure why he often even thought about his life without the girl, but he was aware that he could've lost her sometime after they had first met. That day, when she had fainted, he had realized he wasn't okay with the thought of a life without Yuna, even if she was only a rival back then. But every time he met up with her after that ... something always got fucked up and endangered him or his brother, and more often than not, both of them.
Seto growled in frustration. ''Why am I even thinking about this?'' He had already defeated all of his demons, yet only the fear that he would lose Yuna stayed. It was a fear not even her presence could destroy and it greatly unsettled the brunet. It was like that fear was buried deep in his soul from a time it didn't remember, when another had hidden it there. The dirt was just removed when Seto had, for the very first time, witnessed Yuna at her weakest.
Suddenly, a flash of white drew Seto's attention and he turned to the right, only to freeze in place. White locks shined in the sun as the wind blew them around, allowing a pair of deep sapphire eyes that were barely half a shade lighter than his own to be seen.
''It can't be ...'' Was all the CEO could whisper as he stared at the magnificent sight in front of him.
A/N: Yey! Another chapter in the bag! Anyone can guess what Seto had just seen? ;)
R&R