Author's Note: … If I knew I'd be getting THIS MANY REVIEWS after just throwing in Yugi's brother, I would have done it a long time ago!
Actually, I wasn't planning on Yugi's brother arriving until chapter seventeen… You guys are lucky I didn't torture you even more! I was getting impatient with myself, so I was like, "What the heck? Let's just toss him in there and see how much damage one ridiculously overhyped character can cause…" XD
Before we start the next chapter, I feel the need to clarify some things:
Yes, that last line from last chapter was said by SETO. I know it was weird that one of his statements was on another line and the other was the last, but hear me out: When I think something is important or I want to give it a more dramatic feel, I make it a one-liner. It sub-consciously makes the reader remember it better and lets them zero in on it. Not that I thought you would miss it… I mean, his name was revealed! Finally! *fist pump*
No, I don't have some kind of irrational hatred for Yami. In fact, he's my second favorite character in the entire Yu-Gi-Oh universe. (Only slightly behind Bakura. That's right; I'm a Bakura fangirl. :D) Anywho, if you read the next paragraph, I'll explain why he fell into the category of being Yugi's evil brother.
No, I don't think Yami being sort of evil and super overprotective is OOC. Yes, I know, since he's the hero in the series and all, it's kind of hard to see him any other way than an awesome character voiced by Dan Green. *fangirl squeal at Dan Green's name* So, what I did was take some of Yami's personality traits and just blew them up to outrageous proportions. XD
Question: Did I write this extremely lengthy author's note to just draw out the suspense more?
Answer: Yes.
Now, read! :D
Chapter 15
"Hello, Yami."
The courtroom was at a tense standstill. The palace's courtroom usually had a low hum of chatting. The auras were usually calm and friendly. But, at that moment, both those things were replaced with a deathly silence.
Time was frozen.
In a way, the cold lingering in the air was somewhat refreshing and the quiet was more or so peaceful.
Not that anybody would be able to tell, being as everyone's attention was directed on the eldest of the Motou siblings and the High Priest.
Finally, Yugi's brother shattered the thin layer of ice that had rested in the room.
"Who told you that you could call me by the name of Yami?" he snarled.
"You did," Seto countered without hesitation, "Years ago. When we were still friends."
Yami didn't flinch. "Well, you made your choice. And I've made mine. We all make decisions that affect one another. They can either be negative or positive. There is no grey area. Wouldn't you agree, Priest Seto?"
Seto clenched his jaw. He knew Yami was referring to how he had left their town without a word or trace. But he wasn't about to let Yami get under his skin. He'd had enough of that when he had still been friends with the older Motou. "Yes, you're right. Pasts cannot change. Futures, on the other hand, can. What's your future, Yami? Does it lead to a better life for your sister? Or just more destruction?"
Yugi winced at the reference to her. I don't want to be dragged into this… She almost laughed. Be dragged into this! I am this! I am the problem! How could I think that when I'm clearly the one who started all this chaos?
"Br-" Yugi corrected herself. She refused to call him "brother" anymore. "-Yami. Welcome. I assume your travel here was safe?"
Atem was shocked. How is Yugi sounding so calm and collected? She must be terrified, and yet she's making polite conversation as if this were nobody!
Yami's expression visibly softened when Yugi spoke. He whispered, "Yes, it was. Yugi, what have I told you about calling me by that name?" Though it was meant to be demanding, it was quiet and fragile, as if Yami was afraid if he spoke any louder to her, she might shatter into a million pieces.
"But that's your name, Yami. And it's such a nice name. It's a shame to have it go to waste."
Yami's scowl returned. It was obvious he had been trying to make an effort to appear innocent when matters came to his sister. But Yugi saw right through this in an instant and was able to tear down the wall he had worked so hard to build around his true character.
Instead of commenting on this, Yami shifted his gaze. The lavender eyes that looked beautiful and almost childlike on Yugi were fierce and vicious on Yami. His eyes finally locked on the one he had been seeking for.
"Pharaoh, I tried to warn you earlier about my sister. You can obviously see my dilemma. It'll be no trouble at all to take her off your hands now." Yami turned back towards the large, stone doors of the courtroom, his scouts following suit. He called behind him, "Come now, Yugi. We shouldn't bother the palace court any longer."
"No."
Yami swiftly swerved around, eyes wide with astonishment. "'No'?"
"No." Yugi stood her ground. "I refuse. I'm staying here."
The deathly stillness returned to the room.
Yami gritted his teeth, warning, "We're leaving now, Yugi. I will drag you out myself if I have to."
"That's not necessary," Akunumkanon intervened.
Yami misunderstood these words. "Oh, that's generous of you, Pharaoh, but there's no need for you to have your guards escort us out. We'll take our leave right away."
"What I meant is," the Pharaoh clarified, "Lady Yugi is staying here."
Yami's eye twitched. He would have asked why, but he was not one for questions; he was one for answers.
"I'm afraid Yugi staying here will only result in her burdening your court further. It'll be a disgrace to the Motou name. I cannot allow this."
"No."
This time, it was Atem, taking a step forward to meet Yami's death glare head on.
The room took a unified gasp.
Yugi's brother! And the Prince! They looked like twins! They were at identical height, both with long spikes of exotic colored hair, and blonde bangs that rested in the same places. The only thing remotely different about them was their skin tone. Yami's was porcelain, matching Yugi's. Atem's was tan, appearing more Egyptian.
Even Yugi had gasped, only now realizing how similar their voices sounded.
Seto knew this; he knew Yami and Atem looked alike. But he didn't know they looked this alike.
"I presume you are the Prince," Yami supposed with mock curiosity. He gave a small smirk and an even smaller bow, mumbling insincerely, "It's a pleasure to meet you." He rose again and questioned, "Now, what interest do you have in my little sister?"
"I wish to marry her," Atem stated in his strong, even tone, letting it absorb into the courtroom.
Surprisingly, Yami's smirk just grew. He began to muse aloud in a much less authoritative manner. But, though it wasn't commanding, it still sent chills down everyone's spines. "You know how many men have come to me with that same statement? Many. You know how many men have refused to take no for an answer? Most. You know how many men have suffered an unfortunate accident and were unable to marry my sister? All."
"Stop it!" Yugi cried, tears now cascading down her face, "Stop it now!"
Yami's smirk disappeared, but his expression remained emotionless.
"Yugi…" Atem trailed off. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but words failed him. Instead, he just let Yugi silently cry into his shoulder, unsure of what else he could do.
"That's enough!" Akunumkanon commanded. It was rare for the Pharaoh to raise his voice, so suddenly the entire room was at attention. He ordered, "We will discuss about this further later. For now-" He motioned to his guards. "-Give Lady Yugi's brother a room at the palace to stay in." He whispered to Mahad, "And lots of security."
Mahad nodded. He stepped forward and stated, "Yami, leave your scouts outside the palace."
"I'm sure I'm allowed at least one scout…" Yami nearly sung, obviously enjoying messing with the court.
"No," Mahad growled, "When you stay in the palace, all connections you have to the outside world will be separated."
"That simply won't do," Yami disagreed, "I have a right to the outside world. I'm not a prisoner. You can't imprison me for crimes you have no proof that I committed."
"No," Mahad agreed, "But you are on temporary confinement until we can have an authorized court, by order of the Pharaoh." (This had all been planned out.)
Yami gritted his teeth. Clearly, he had not taken this possibility into consideration. But after a moment of contemplating, his scowl melted and his smirk was restored. He admitted, "Then I don't have much of a choice." He turned to his scouts and muttered something inaudible. The scouts gave a slight nod and bow before slipping out of the room like two desert scorpions, scattering to hide in a cactus and live another day.
Mahad led Yami out, glaring daggers to Yugi's brother the entire walk out to which he didn't bother to return.
When the door closed after them, the entire court seemed to take a sigh of relief.
Akunumkanon excused rapidly to the witnesses in the room, "You've all been extremely helpful in this situation, but I need the courtroom to be private right now to only my son, Lady Yugi, Priest Seto, and myself."
The court wasted no time rushing out, each person giving Yugi an apologetic look.
Once they had left, Atem gently whispered to Yugi, "I promise that nothing will happen. You're safe. There's no need to cry anymore."
Yugi wished she could believe that. Her sobbing had lightened, but everything her brother said had been true. She had been the cause of all those losses! And she could never repay their families! She wanted to answer, but tears had restricted her throat. She only buried her head more into Atem, the kind words doing nothing to penetrate the wound that had been opened when Yami had evoked painful memories.
Seto stood a considerable distance away, a shadow cast over his face.
A memory was surging through him, one that had been purposely forgotten…
-transition-
"Seto, you're slowing me down! Pick up the pace!"
A younger Seto groaned, informing, "But we've been hiking for hours! Where are we going, anyway?"
Yami turned around and told him, "The Valley of Kings."
"Why go there?" Seto questioned. He scrunched his nose objectionably. "Nothing's out there except a bunch of tombs."
"That's not all," Yami insisted almost cryptically, continuing to walk ahead.
The young boys finally reached the Valley of the Kings, no thanks to Seto and his incessant whining. They found the tomb Yami was looking for, and Yami whispered a chant to a secret opening. Instantly, the wall gave way, and the duo entered the cavern.
"Yami…" Seto swallowed nervously. "I doubt we're supposed to be here…" It was a thief hideout, obviously not the place where two boys should be playing hide and seek.
"Quit being so unconstructive!" Yami barked, insisting with his action of continual walking that they were, in fact, supposed to be there.
Seto did a little pout but continued to shadow Yami.
At last, Yami found the place he was looking for. It was a room deep in the tomb where a notorious thief stayed when he was not inflicting madness on the world.
"Ah, Motou. How's my favorite little kid?" Bakura asked sweetly, his tongue dripping with sarcasm the children did not yet catch.
"Good," Yami answered like he was talking to an uncle at a family reunion. He motioned to Seto, introducing, "This is Seto, my friend."
"That's nice," Bakura commented, only half interested as he examined a golden relic he had swiped off a merchant that morning.
Seto whispered to Yami, panic-stricken, "Yami! Yami! That's- That's-"
"The infamous Thief King?" Bakura supplied idly. Unfortunately, Seto wasn't very good at whispering when he was panicky…
Seto could only nod.
Bakura chuckled darkly, amused at the boy's reaction to him. When Motou stumbled upon our little hideout, he wasn't nearly as skittish as this kid… Bakura observed, now somewhat interested in this boy. He thought up a generic question to ask kids and inquired, "So, Seto, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"The- the High Priest in- in the Pharaoh's c- court," Seto stumbled.
Bakura roared with laughter.
Yami didn't laugh. But he didn't stand up for him either.
Bakura gave a content sigh once he was calm again and muttered, "That's hilarious, kid. Oh, I'm sorry, Priest."
Seto felt the desire to harm Bakura. Ra knows that that was pretty close to impossible and would be horribly stupid, but his dream was being mocked! Why didn't he do something?
"I think we should go now," Yami randomly stated, pulling Seto towards the exit.
"Thanks for the entertainment!" Bakura called after them, "I really needed that!"
The pair left, leaving Bakura to chuckle to himself.
As they departed from the hideout, Seto questioned, "Why did we come here in the first place?"
"So that you could meet Bakura!" Yami explained, "The more connections you have, the higher you'll go in life. Knowing Bakura is like knowing the password to everything! Don't you want that?"
Seto knew he wanted to be a priest. But he didn't want to get there if it meant he had to befriend a thief. Especially the Thief King. He wanted to become the High Priest because he was the best one for the job. Not because of the people he knew.
"I don't want to come back here…"
"But we have to!" Yami insisted, "If you want to keep Bakura happy, you have to visit often and get on his good side."
Seto knew any further arguing would be pointless. Yami had good intentions, ones that would make him travel to the edge of the world and back. But, as the ancient saying goes: The road to hell was paved with good intentions.
"Well… We can maybe see Bakura… a few more times…"
"Good! Then we'll come back tomorrow!"
Seto sighed. The Valley of the Kings wasn't that far… But his dreams were. And that's why he had to agree with Yami and try and work with this Bakura character. If anything, maybe he'd learn a thing or two he could use when he was older…
Author's Note: Two in the morning update! And longest chapter ever! XD
Now, here's a neat question to debate…
Who do you think is to blame for Yugi's messed up childhood?
Now, I know it'd be easy to point fingers at her brother and yell: It's HIM! HE'S EVIIIILLL!
But hear me out.
Yugi's parents could be to blame. They were the ones who were gone so often, resulting in Yugi's brother going insane.
Or it could be the Pharaoh's fault. I mean, why didn't he ever hear about these bad things happening?
Seto's fault? Maybe if he had convinced Yugi's brother not to do bad and hadn't left, things would be different.
It could be Yugi herself's fault. Why didn't she ever tell anybody about her brother's violent nature?
The universe. It gave Yugi's brother his character.
In essence, it's all my fault for writing the story (obviously), but let's use our imagination.
Who do you think is to blame? Tell me in the reviews. Or don't. Your call really.
'Kay, thanks, review. :)