Michelle Erika- I have been thinking about that a lot actually. And I think that I've come up with a pretty solid plan for the ending. Stick around to see what I'm talking about!
Shinryu-Twilight Dragon- I'm so glad you like that line! That was the entire quote that I based Kisara's character around. I've had that little conversation written on a Post-It on my desk for months. I was thrilled to finally be able to use it.
Chocomintkt- It isn't funny, but it is a very common occurrence for the poor kid. Raunchy? Haha- I wouldn't have picked that word, but I think I got what you were trying to say. And Seto getting recaptured? You might have to wait for a while for more Seto/Krin-Kara-Kisara scenes. Well, like two chapters or so.
Luxord's Xigbar- I played Kingdom Hearts. . . How did I not get that? Haha- I'm glad I could answer your questions!
ZQuill- I'm not really a fan of OCs. Although I have been known to use one or two. So I try to keep them out of stories unless absolutely necessary. And I loved the Mokuba/Kisara interaction. I had a blast writing it. You caught onto Kara liking Mokuba? Good. I wasn't sure if that would come through or not.
Aqua-Princess of Imagination- They are entirely hated by the Universe. I think they may have realized that by this point in time. Do they get a break. . . I think there is one scheduled in about ten chapters? Haha- the story would be boring if everything was peaceful.
AyaseFanGirl- Let me know if you still like the slaver after this chapter. I like his random appearances, but he is going to be a much larger character here in the next few chapters. And that means more dialogue and whatnot. I'm not sure how it turned out.
J bear- I chose DD Warrior Lady because she is my favourite card, and I wanted her to get in the story somehow. Haha. I mean, when I think of Ryou and dueling, I think Change of Heart, and that isn't a monster. I know Bakura has several more to chose from, but none seem right for Ryou. So I picked one at random, like I did with Mokuba. And I tried to explain where Bakura is in the beginning of this chapter; let me know if you have any more questions!
Havelock Vetinari- I just googled it. Hm. I do like that image of the Blue-Eyes. It does seem fitting, since I have them living on a roof. And about all the other monsters. Think of it this way: Domino is one city. The rest could have spread out to the rest of the world. The war I'm referring to is going to be mostly centrally located. If the story goes on for a long enough time, I may end up including them. But for now, it is just the Blue-Eyes, Dark Magician, and a few others. And don't think I'll make it easy for the dragons!
Random Author's Notes: Okay, so I've been going through the stats for this story, and I found out something interesting. You people are weird! Haha- aside from Chapter One, chapters Four and Six are the most popular. Chapter Two is one of the least popular. Hm. Do you all just randomly skip around or what?
Seto's POV
The bleeding had slowly come to a stop. Very slowly. I figured that I was helping the process by not speaking. By keeping my mouth still, I kept from reopening the cut. However, not being able to wash the blood off my face was torture. I could feel it hardening on my cheek, lips, and neck. It was disgusting.
"Do you know how Mokuba is doing?" Ryou asked.
I gently shook my head. If I had been able to speak freely, I still don't think I would have answered. Did he really expect me to say more on the subject? Would I have told him how Kisara had taken me to see him, only to find no one at the house? And not just that no one was there, but that I found blood on the wall?
I was terrified about what might have happened. Was it my brother's blood or that beast's? Which had been injured?
Kuriboh wouldn't hurt Mokuba, at least, not physically. I also didn't think that he was capable of holding a knife. Without thumbs, how could he grab anything? That was a new thought to consider. That would mean it had to be Kuriboh's blood.
So Mokuba had escaped. Where would he have gone? There was no where for him to go. As far as I knew, he had never been to Wheeler, Tea, or Ryou's home. With no other place in the city safe, what would my brother do?
That very well could have been his voice calling to me that day in the slave market. Could he have been sold as a slave? Then how would I be able to find him?
I let my head all forward until I was staring at the floor.
"I'm sure everything is going to turn out fine," Ryou said. "Someone, somewhere will find a way out of this mess."
"Do you really believe that?" I asked, keeping my lips as motionless as I could manage. "Or are you just trying to convince yourself?"
"You can't think of anything positive? I certainly can," Ryou said.
"Ryou, my life could no possibly get any worse. There are no positives in this situation," I said.
"I haven't heard from the spirit of the thief since D.D. brought me here. I don't know if he has locked himself away or if D.D. taking the Ring had something to do with his disappearance. Either way, I'm grateful for that."
I tilted my head over to stare at him. "You would really rather be here than putting up with him?"
Ryou nodded. "Absolutely. Eventually, D will trust me. She isn't going to keep me chained up like this forever. All she wants is love. The spirit wanted control. He would randomly take over my body, and I never knew what to expect with him," he explained.
"I think I am going to continue in my pessimistic ways," I stated, and Ryou laughed and muttered, "Your choice."
And once more, we fell silent. We didn't really know each other, and I didn't feel obligated to fill our time together with conversation.
But it wasn't much longer before I heard the sound of the door being unlocked. I didn't look over, since I was certain that I knew who it was entering.
D.D. walked into the room, but she wasn't alone. I could pick out a second set of footsteps, and I took that to mean that she had found the one she was looking for.
"Hello, dear. You'll never believe my luck! I found him almost as soon as I walked outside. He was already in the area," D.D. announced.
"I think I believe you," Ryou said.
"Seto?"
I didn't recognize the voice, which meant that it was the person that the warrior had brought to take me back. I looked over at the stranger. I may not have recognized his voice, but his face was very familiar. It was a face that I had spent an entire night studying.
He was the one from the meeting. The man who never blinked.
"Responds to Seto," he said, and lifted a hand with a finger pointed to make a checkmark in the air. He stepped forward until he was standing in front of me.
"Brown hair, eyes bluer than the sky," He stopped for a moment and glanced up at my hands. "Oh, and such beautiful hands," He added with a laugh.
"You got your description from Kisara, I see," I mumbled, but he was standing close enough that he heard it. And apparently, so had D.D.
"Kisara? As in the Blue-Eyes White Dragon? You managed to escape her?"
The monster in front of me laughed again. "Not just her, but all three of the dragons. Very impressive."
He stopped speaking to look me in the eyes. It then felt like we were having a staring contest, and I was losing desperately. I had been right the first time I saw him; he never blinked.
"Have we met before?" He asked, cocking his head while he spoke. He continued a careful scrutiny of my face, clearly trying to place where we had previously run across each other.
"Not officially."
He shook his head, keeping his eyes locked with mine. "It will come to me. Give me a few minutes and I will remember."
"So you will take him?" D.D. asked hopefully.
"Yes, I will return him to his owners. Where are the keys for the chains?"
"They are in the other room. I'll go grab them," she answered just before she walked out.
When she left, the man switched his focus to Ryou.
"So you are her companion?" He clenched his teeth together in annoyance. "I don't understand why so many would rather choose a companion instead of a slave. You appear strong enough. Is there something preventing you from working?"
He didn't give Ryou opportunity to speak, for he quickly spun around and pointed a finger at me.
"Seven days ago at the town meeting. You are the kid who kept staring at me."
He smiled. "I told you I would remember."
D.D. came back in, holding out a set of keys. When she was standing next to him, she examined each key before holding one up.
"I think this is it," she said.
The man took the key from her. He had to get closer to me in order to reach the chains above my head. I found myself unconsciously leaning my head back, trying to put some distance between our faces.
He smiled at my obvious distaste for the close proximity, but didn't pull back himself.
My arms fell to my side as he unlocked them. I could feel the cold rush of blood flowing back into them. They were momentarily numb, but the instant I was able to move them, I lifted up a hand to wipe the dried blood off my mouth.
"What did you do to his face?" The man asked.
"He wouldn't answer my questions honestly, so I reopened the scar that was there," D.D. explained, sounding as though the action hadn't been anything important.
"They are not going to like me bringing him back injured," he said. His tone reflected annoyance.
While their conversation continued, the man pulled a pair of handcuffs from a hook on his belt. He ordered me to turn around by twirling his finger in the air.
"Just explain to them that he brought it upon himself," D.D. said as the cuffs were locked around my wrists.
"I cannot guarantee that they will not be angry with you," he warned, then began to lead me out of the room. The last thing I heard D.D. say was directed to Ryou. "Now my love, we can really have some fun."
The man leading me away found that amusing.
"The companion thing is just absurd, do you not agree? Really, can they not find a mate from our own kind?"
I glanced sideways at him while he spoke. I was surprised. Never had I expected to hear one of the beasts speaking against another in such a way.
"Who are you?" I asked. The question popped up every so often during my time on the roof. Since I had spent such a great deal of time contemplating it, I wanted answers.
"I am a slaver," he answered.
We were at the door by that time and he opened it with the hand that wasn't gripping my arm. He marched out into the alleyway and I started checking the sky for any sign of the three dragons. The slaver noticed the action.
"They are not searching for you. They sent me to do that. Besides, they are probably busy playing with their new toy," he said, and I noted a slight tinge of anger in his words.
"Their new toy?" I asked. It couldn't have been more than a few hours since I left. They had already chosen someone new?
"You did not know about the new kid?" He asked, clearly taken aback.
I shook my head as we reached the end of the alley. He stopped there and let go of my arm. We then faced each other.
"This kid they now have is trouble. He is crafty, and a master of escaping. He is so good at escaping, it is almost admirable." The slaver said, then added, "they must have found him right after you ran away. Strange timing, that is."
We started to move again, only, I had expected us to turn left, towards KaibaCorp. Instead, we were walking the other direction. The slaver appeared set on his destination, so I initially didn't question it, but the thought weighed on my mind. And after four blocks, my curiosity won. "Where are we going?"
"Are you asking for the location alone, or the reason we are not headed towards the dragons?" He asked.
"A combination of the two."
"Tell me Seto with the beautiful hands, have you heard about this supposed war?" He asked.
I watched his features flash with annoyance, but the expression disappeared as quickly as it has come. His gaze remained focused on the street in front of us; it was unwavering.
"I have heard of it."
"There has been talk of war for months, yet, no war."
There was a movement across the street. The slaver pushed me into an old store's entryway and put a finger over my mouth in a silencing gesture. He peeked around the brick wall to observe a woman and three children making their way down the street. They traveled very obviously. Fast steps, lots of unnecessary motions, muffled whispers, and one of the kids even wore a red shirt. It nearly seemed as if they wanted to be found.
The slaver removed his hand from my face, but added a warning glare. He then reached into his coat to pull out a notebook and pen. He wrote speedily in some form of symbols I had never seen before. He only stopped writing when the group entered an unmarked building. Upon the entrance, he drew a large symbol next to his notes.
"Now then, where were we?" He asked as he replaced the writing equipment.
"The war, or lack thereof," I answered.
"Of course, of course," he muttered before reclaiming the grip on my arm. "So like I was saying, this war is never going to begin. I cannot have that."
"You want the war to start?" I asked, making sure that I had a proper understanding of his words.
"Precisely."
I waited for him to explain his reasoning, but he remained silent. Would that really be all the information he would give me? I figured that since he had been so willing to speak just moments ago that he wouldn't mind more questions. So I asked, "Why do you want the war to start?"
"To make things interesting again. I have a great distaste for routine, and my kind are falling into it."
We kept walking, but this time, it was me who didn't speak. He wanted to start a war because he was bored? That had to be the worst reason I had ever heard, and I spent four years with Gozaburo, CEO of a multinational military supplier.
People were being killed by the thousands as it was. How much steeper would the numbers grow if the war did occur? With the whole Earth as a battleground, would anywhere be safe?
It then dawned on me that I had failed to ask the most obvious question. "What does the war have to do with me?"
"When your owners hear about the Dark monsters taking you, they will begin the first attack."
"You are using me to start a war?" I asked, but it was really more of a statement to myself.
The irony had my head spinning. I turned KaibaCorp into a gaming company so I would have no place in the world of wars. And yet, I now found myself as a pawn being used to begin one.
"Are you even a Dark monster?" I added.
He glared and dug his fingers into my arm. "I am no monster. And no, I am not of the Dark species."
"So of what species are you?"
"Earth," he stated.
"And what side will Earth take in this war?"
"Earth is a neutral force," he answered.
It irritated me that he was only giving the exact answers to the questions I was asking. Only moments before, he was talking freely. He must have been able to tell that I was looking for explanations.
"If Earth is neutral, shouldn't you be as well?"
"I am not my people."
"And where are we going?" I asked, remembering my initial question.
"To the main Dark camp, of course," he said.
"How much further?" I asked.
"Just around this corner."
Just around this corner turned out to be another ten minutes. We did only make the one turn, but then we walked straight for another mile.
I curiously watched my surroundings as we moved. The last time I had truly gone out during the day was around the time Yugi opened the portal between worlds. So I didn't have a great understanding of daytime monsters, or people's traveling habits. From what I saw, they were much different.
There were far fewer shadows to hide in, and even the few there were weren't good for cover. So the people who moved about could do little to remain inconspicuous. Every time the slaver spotted a human, he would pause, pull out the notebook, and write it down.
Even the monsters moved in a different manner. They didn't move in groups, as they tended to at night. The day beasts were all alone, at least, the ones that I saw.
There were far fewer screams.
We approached a door and the slaver kicked his foot against the base in place of knocking.
"Open!" He shouted.
The door opened and I was hit with the most foul odor I had ever experienced. I might have commented, except for the fact that I saw the source.
The zombies were on the Dark side.
"What do you want?" One of the growled. Similar mumbles spread around. It seemed to me that the slaver wasn't a well-liked visitor.
"I brought the Magician a present," he said.
He stepped inside, pulling me with him. The zombie who had opened the door pulled it closed behind us.
Looking around, I realized that the Dark hideout was very cliché. The windows were painted black, there was little lighting, the place was filthy, and the smell was nearly enough to knock a person out.
The slaver lead me forward to a doorway on the other side of the room. But there was no door. In fact, as I continued examining the room, there were no doors to be seen, aside from the one we had just come through. There were just holes in the walls where a door should have gone.
The slaver seemed to know where he was going. He moved easily through the halls, a sign that he had been here before. After a few turns, he stopped at a doorway and knocked on the wall beside the opening.
"What have I told you people about knocking?" A voice called from inside. "Just come in!"
"I brought you a present," the slaver said as we moved through the doorway.
A boy, who couldn't have been any older than me, sat at a desk in the middle of the room. He had long, messy, purple hair that he had tied back. He wore a long sleeved purple t-shirt with a black paint splatter design, and the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. Laying across the front of the desk was a green staff that I recognized instantly.
The boy studied me. "Uh, thanks for that, but I already have a kid," he said, then pointed a thumb behind him.
I followed the direction of the gesture and saw what I now believed to be one of the only doors in the facility.
The slaver lifted his shoulders in a sigh. "So I should take him all the way back to the Blue-Eyes? That is quite a bit of walk-"
"He is the Blue-Eyes' kid?" The boy asked, sounding very interested. He stood up and placed his hands on the desk to lean forward. "You belong to Krin?"
"I don't belong to anyone," I answered.
The room's other occupants laughed.
"I bet Kara hates you," the boy said, still laughing.
"So Magician, do you want him?" The slaver asked.
"Of course I do! This is a great present!" He exclaimed, throwing up his hands in excitement. "You're always thinking of me, aren't you slaver?"
I was shocked. This ridiculous boy was the Dark Magician? The rival of the powerful Blue-Eyes White Dragons was him?
"How'd you find him?" The Magician asked. He reached out to grab the staff off the table and threw it across his shoulders. He then hung his arms over the top.
"He had run away. The dragons asked me to find him," the slaver answered.
The Magician frowned. "I don't like runaways. Not at all," but then he snorted. "Who am I kidding? This is perfectly acceptable! As long as it is the Light demons who are losing out, I'll make the exception."
He walked around to the side of the desk.
"So dragon boy, what's your name?" The Magician questioned.
"Seto."
"Seto what?" He pressed.
I actually found myself annoyed that he knew humans had last names when the Blue-Eyes hadn't. Why was I suddenly so defensive of them?
"Seto Kaiba," I answered.
He pressed his lips together in thought. While he was thinking, he pulled the staff down from his shoulders and placed it on the ground so he could rest his forehead on it.
"Kaiba . . . Kaiba . . ." he mumbled, and he kept mumbling my name until he glanced down at the computer on his desk.
"Kaiba as in KaibaCEO?"
My silence was his affirmation.
"You're the kid Yami keeps sneaking in here to message! Well then, this will be a fun surprise for him."
He slung the staff up and over to rest on the top of one arm, then moved over to the door. There was a key on a chain around his neck, and he leaned down to unlock the door without removing the chain from its place.
Once the door was open, he laid the staff against the frame, stepped into the room, threw his hands into the air and exclaimed, "Yami!" as if he were greeting an old friend.
I couldn't really hear any form of response, but the Magician went on anyway. "Our slaver friend brought us a gift! Want to see?"
He gestured with his chin for the slaver to lead me into the other room. With a large grin, he shoved me in.
Yami sat on a bed in the corner of the room. The room was small. It had no windows, and the only furniture was two beds and a bookshelf. One of the books was in Yami's hands, the pages closed around a finger.
His face remained expressionless.
"Now Yami," The Magician said as he grabbed my arm and threw me to the bed. "Stop sneaking to my computer."
He gazed in my direction just before walking back to the door. "I'll be back for you in a while. I just need to handle a few details first. Later."
And he left, locking the door behind him.
I tried to find a more comfortable position with my hands still cuffed behind me. When I settled on the fact that there would be no better position, I turned to Yami.
"That is the Dark Magician?" I asked.
Yami opened his book to the page he had been marking. "I know. I didn't expect it either."
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