Chapter 50

Throughout the conversation they'd been having, Mai couldn't help but get the feeling something was very different about Joey. Although he was still him, there was something more… she wasn't quite sure she could put her finger on it, he just seemed so different. But what she couldn't decide was whether this difference came from the time he'd spent as the Teen or his evolution into the First; after all she hadn't exactly spent a lot of time with him in the weeks between the evolution and the Teen's first appearance.

'You look worried Mai,' concerned crept into Joey's expression, 'is something bothering you?'

'Not bothering exactly,' she shot him a weak smile, 'it's just…'

'What?'

'You seem so different now.'

'That's because I am different now Mai.'

The statement made Mai take an uncertain breath in. She wasn't sure if she'd wanted to hear it or not, but…

'Different how,' she somehow managed.

'I am ready for what's to come now.'

'Ready for what exactly?' She frowned.

'A war is coming Mai.'

'I knew it,' Kashmana's voice was somewhere between excited and triumphant.

'I had no doubt you did,' Joey flicked his gaze towards him, 'the MacTay may be Fay by nature, but that just means they're better at sourcing information like this. They have to be.'

Slowly Kashmana nodded, but as he did, a pained look flickered across Joey's face.

'Are you okay,' Mai shot him a concerned look.

'It's Yugi,' he slowly shook his head, 'it's his turn now.'

'His turn for what?'

'To become ready for this war'

'I don't understand, how do you know that?'

'I can feel it,' his gaze met with hers, 'the Ohpayo Cousins aren't the only ones connected in a triangle you know; what affects one of us the others feel.'

'So that's why Kaiba and Yugi were brought to you when you collapsed, we thought maybe it had to do with Duke.'

'That's a nice thought,' he smiled at her, 'but what they were feeling was this.'

'Do you want to go to him?'

'No,' Joey shook his head, as some of his own light returned to his eyes, 'I'm adjusting to what I am right now. Trying to find myself again. If I go to him it will just confuse things. When he wakes he'll know what this is. What he's been prepared for.'

'First,' Kisara's voice sounded uncertainly from the doorway, causing all three of them to turn towards her, 'you're back?'

'Who are you,' Joey frowned at her.

'I'm your new Helper,' she swallowed hard, as False appeared beside her, 'I forgot we didn't have a chance to meet before you became the Teen.'

'What happened to SK?'

'He went off to evolve,' False shrugged.

'Did he now,' Joey's gaze narrowed in on him. 'I can sense from here who you are; you're one of Ni's bastards.'

At that False flinched and it was pretty clear, even to Mai, hearing the First say it made the truth worse.

'Yeah…' he shifted his gaze away, 'Ni is my father, but I can assure you…'

'I said I could sense what you were and that includes your intentions here,' Joey held up his hand to silence him. 'You're good, that's all I need to know.'

'Well actually…' Mai hesitated, 'well… you see he… uh… he's also going to be the father of one of your grandchildren.'

The words made Joey pause for a moment, but he made no attempt at a verbal response. Instead he refocus his gaze on Kisara. He appeared to be studying her with a deep kind of intensity, as if he knew all her darkest secrets without her having to say a word.

'You know I met Tracker Ashmar more than a few times, he had those eyes about him too.'

'What,' Kisara gave a nervous laugh, 'I don't…'

'We came here to tell you something important,' False jumped in to rescue her, 'Crovell's blaming Ni for the death of Duke and is wreaking havoc in hell.'

'And,' Kashmana rolled his eyes, 'you should be glad someone is.'

'Well maybe I would be if Ni didn't have a way of fighting back.'

'Hell is rising, isn't it,' Mai began chewing her lip as she finally realised what the Mistresses were being prepared for, 'that's the war which is coming, isn't it?'

'I can't see why else the beast would give him his army.'

'The beast,' for a moment Kashmana looked horrified, then he half composed himself and shook his head. 'No, you must be mistaken; the beast wouldn't favour Ni.'

'That's what we thought too,' Kisara lowered her gaze, 'until we saw him leading the Army of Sen Pay with our own eyes.'

'The beast wouldn't do this,' Kashmana insisted, 'the host wouldn't allow it.'

'Maybe the host didn't have a choice.'

'You don't know the host. The host would never allow the beast to… to do this.'

'Do you know the host,' Mai frowned at him.

For a moment Kashmana laughed strangely, then his gaze rose to meet with hers.

'I've helped the host out more than a few times in the past; that's why I know with everything in me they wouldn't do this.'

'Maybe you were wrong about them,' False shrugged, 'maybe they're not the person you thought they were.'

'You take that back,' Kashmana glared, 'you take that back or I swear I'll ascend you.'

'Is there no one you don't have sexual feelings for MacTay,' Kisara rolled her eyes.

'You think this is to do with sex,' he half shouted at her. 'You think I'm so hormonally driven nothing else could matter to me.'

'Well you are the infamous Kashmana MacTay.'

'Yeah, well for once this isn't about hormones, okay. This is about knowing the host well enough to know they would never pull something like this. At least not without telling me first.'

'Well maybe they forgot to drop you a note,' Kisara shrugged, 'because, trust me, they've done it anyway.'