Mokuba

A round of thunder cut off Seto mid-sentence. He took a sip from his mug and waited to continue as the thunder rolled on. My own tea had gotten cold, so I just ran my thumb around the rim and watched the rain slide down the window.

Kuriboh growled and I scooted closer to him. We were close enough in the armchair that he shouldn't have been irritated, but the growling stopped when he was pressed against my side.

"I need that from the house," Seto finished. "We'll probably go Wednesday."

Kara and Krin had taken over the middle of the room with a map on Domino spread out over the carpet. I gave them a highlighter yesterday, and now several sections of the city were yellow.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked. Last I saw our house, it was swarming with monsters. I knew Seto wouldn't say that out loud, but going home could get him killed. Leaving the house could get him killed.

"It has to be."

After Seto got back yesterday, he had been quiet. I knew he was thinking through all the possibilities of getting rid of the monsters, but he didn't seem excited. He said that he was feeling sick again, which I knew meant something else. It might have been true enough for the dragons to believe it, but Seto wouldn't have so easily admitted to being sick. Something was wrong and I couldn't really ask him.

"But next Wednesday is-"

"I know what it is, Mokuba."

The lights flickered just before thunder echoed again. Seto put down his mug and stood up – hand against the wall for support – then went into the kitchen. He pulled open a few drawers before finding a flashlight.

"Just the one flashlight?" I asked.

Seto nodded. He walked back into the living room and sat down, setting the flashlight beside his mug. His left hand messed with his collar, and then his fingers found the locket chain. He stared at the window, the view outside blurred with the running water.

"Seto, answer some questions for me," Krin said.

Blinking a few quick times, Seto let go of the locket chain and moved to sit on the floor beside Krin. He didn't fight for independence to ignore Krin, just sat there and answered questions about the city. Even Krin seemed surprised by it, glancing at Seto every few seconds, as if waiting for him to storm off.

I watched the rain for a while longer, petting Kuriboh. But he was fidgeting in the chair, anxious from being in the same room as Krin and Kara. He couldn't keep his eyes still.

I patted his head and whispered, "Come on."

The boot on my foot gave me a limp when I walked. It was nice not to have to lug the crutches everywhere I wanted to go, but I moved more slowly without them. Seto said that I just needed to find my balance and it would be fine. I had to retrain myself to walk with the boot, and then again once the doctor said I could take it off.

I hobbled to the kitchen to leave my mug in the sink, then to my bedroom.

In my bedroom, I climbed into bed and pulled the comforter around me. I had to lift the corner for Kuriboh to nestle down beside, but once he had gotten comfortable, I wrapped it back. I wanted to take a nap, but I had been sleeping so much. I was just so tired all the time. I looked at the book that I had started reading the night before, Butcher's Crossing, and let it stay where it was.

Someone knocked on my door. It was open, but Kisara waited for me to give her the okay to come in. She closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed.

Kuriboh growled.

"Is Seto all right?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. He's not really talking to me."

"Do you know where he went yesterday?"

"I do."

Kisara frowned and traced the stitching on the end of my blanket.

"But you can't tell me?"

"No, but I actually have something unrelated to ask you."

"What?"

I stared at the door to make sure that it wouldn't open while I said, "I need you to come with me somewhere sometime in the next few days."

"Where do you need to go?" she asked.

"I need to get Seto a birthday present."

Kisara's eyes brightened.

"His birthday?"

"It's the 25th, next Wednesday. I know that he has already read through all of his books here, so I thought that I could get him some more."

Kisara didn't seem to hear my reasoning. She pushed herself a little more upright.

"I should do something for him. Right?"

My gaze bounced from the door to Kisara and back. Her voice had gotten louder now that she was excited, and if Seto overheard me telling her about his birthday, he would be angry. But angry might be better than the quiet contemplation.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure. What would he like?"

"Well," I said slowly, trying to give it some thought while giving her an honest answer. "Seto doesn't really like his birthday. I don't do anything big for him, just a happy birthday and a small gift."

"He doesn't do anything?"

I shook my head. "He just likes to be by himself."

Kisara played with a strand of hair and didn't say anything for a minute. I debated picking up Butcher's Crossing, but didn't think that I could finish reading. It had been a bad pick on my part.

"I think that I have an idea. I'll need your help too though."

"What is your idea?"

"Well, I'll need you to help me get ready for it. I would like to look human."

"Don't you already look human?" I asked. Kisara could have passed easily if not for the white hair, but there were plenty of people with white hair. They were typically just much older than Kisara. Her clothing gave her away more than anything else.

"Not like the human girls that walk around the city. They have red lips and shoes."

I smiled. "You want to get dressed up?"

"If that's what you call it. I want Seto to think I'm beautiful."

"You are beautiful."

Kisara laughed, actually sounding happy for the first time - well, I couldn't remember the last time she sounded genuinely happy. She kept messing with that strand of hair, and didn't lose the sparkle she had been missing for so long.

"If only Seto acted like you."

"You wouldn't love him if he was me."

She stopped laughing, but didn't look as sad. "No. I don't know why I love him now, but I just love him so much."

It would have been difficult to explain to her that she wasn't feeling love, but a soul connection. Her soul thought it needed Seto because it had been with him for so long. My chest was weighed with guilt. She deserved to know the truth.

But a word caught in my head. "Now?"

"Ever since coming over. I never felt it before."

Because Seto carried your soul around with him until that time. He only stopped because you came over.

It really wasn't fair to Kisara, or Krin, or Kara. They had no control over what was happening to them, just as much as Seto hadn't had control enough to stay away from them.

But he did now. Seto knew how he could help them, and he wouldn't have to kill them. After the other night, seeing Kray's group, seeing what the monsters were capable of, I wanted Seto to fight back in any way that he could. The monsters like the dragons, like the Magician, like Red, they weren't looking to kill us. They shouldn't have to die for that.

"I will help you."

Kisara grinned and hugged my legs over the comforter. Kuriboh growled when he felt her, and I reached over to scratch him.

"I need Seto's computer," I said. I knew nothing about getting Kisara ready, for what sounded like a date, and would need help myself. I only knew one girl in Domino, and Seto had her email address.

"How will the computer help?"

"It will get me in touch with someone who-"

A loud crash shook the house. Kisara jumped to her feet and ran to my bedroom door without a word. She left the door standing open, and voices echoed down the hallway.

"Let go of him!" Krin demanded.

"You killed Red!"

The voice sent shivers under my skin. I leaned over, as if I could see down the hallway into the living room. The Magician was in the house.

I realized what Krin said.

I fell out of bed, tripping over the blanket and Kuriboh and stumbling toward the door. The boot caught the edge of the blanket, and shaking my foot wouldn't make it fall. I had already started to cry by the time I made it to the living room, Kuriboh following right behind. Kara caught me with a firm grip on my arm before I could get closer than a few feet to Seto.

The Magician had his hand wrapped around Seto's neck, holding Seto against him near to the front door. Seto's face was pale and he clawed his fingers at the Magician's hand. The Magician's other hand was on the staff, tilted toward Krin.

Krin's hands were up and shooting small sparks. He couldn't do anything against the Magician with Seto trapped in between. All of the dragons had to stand idle, waiting out the Magician.

"Red's dead?" Kisara asked.

"Let's not pretend here. I've been honoring my side of the agreement we made. You broke our deal."

The Magician's hold tightened, and Seto's mouth opened in a soundless gasp. He wouldn't be able to speak in his defense or the dragons'. He wouldn't want me saying anything.

"He can't breathe," I whispered. Then, a little louder, "Seto can't breathe."

The Magician loosened his grip for a second, giving Seto a short burst in which to breathe, then squeezed again.

"There. That should keep him for a while."

"What do you want?" Krin asked.

"Blood."

Seto's knees started to buckle and the Magician had to hold him up with the staff, propped under his arm. I couldn't stand just watching Seto lose the ability to breathe. But I couldn't do anything but cry and wait for the Magician to squeeze just a bit harder and kill Seto.

"Then take mine," Krin said. The sparks coming from his hands stopped. "We can go outside now."

"Which of you killed him?"

"Why do you think it was us?" Kara asked. She kept holding onto me, and she hadn't reacted to Kuriboh hovering behind her. I was pretty sure that she was the only thing keeping me up because I lost all feeling below my knees.

"Your toy here-" the Magician shook Seto. "-convinced Red to leave with him yesterday. Found him dead in the exact spot this brat said he was taking him. You can't just waive that away."

Kara looked at me before the Magician finished speaking. I couldn't take my gaze off Seto, though. I bit down on my tongue to keep from spilling everything Seto had told me.

"Now, you can either admit to it, or I'll assume your kid somehow did the dirty work himself. Then I'll settle with his blood."

Seto hadn't moved on his own in almost a minute.

"I did it," Kisara said. She walked almost all the way to the Magician. "I lied to Seto and made him do something that he wouldn't have agreed to do. Please, let him go."

Seto's eyes closed and his hands fell to his side. He became dead weight in the Magician's arms as he drifted out of consciousness. Instinctively, I reached forward to catch Seto, but Kara still hadn't moved her hand. The Magician didn't let him fall.

"And I should believe that?"

"You wanted an answer!" Kisara shouted. "Please! You're killing him!"

"Someone in this room killed Red! I highly doubt it's the little princess. Who was it?"

"Just let him breathe, please," Kisara said.

Kuriboh growled.

The Magician flexed his hand, giving Seto another moment of air. Seto's eyes didn't open, but his gasp was audible.

Kuriboh nudged my side.

"Kisara," Krin said. The sparks dancing around his fingertips returned. "Go out the back door. Find the Magician's kid."

"Who was with Seto yesterday," Kara said. "How do you know it wasn't him?"

When Kisara started to edge backward, a dark orb appeared at the top of the staff. It obscured part of Seto's face.

"Leave this house and he dies."

"Kill him and you die," Krin answered.

"What a conundrum! Your only card is killing me. You think you'll be in any shape to fight once he dies?"

Kara was the next to speak, her words escaping with as much energy as Krin was displaying. She spoke each word like a jolt of electricity. "So what do you want?"

"The truth. Who killed Red?"

The Magician had started to give Seto a moment to breathe every half-minute or so. Seto's survival instincts had kicked in, but with the lack of oxygen, his body could only give a small convulsion or clench of his muscles. He couldn't die like this, not after everything we had already made it through. We were at home. It was supposed to be safe here.

"It wasn't us," Krin said. The way he held his hands had seemed more threatening before. Now he looked like he was holding them in surrender. Krin must have realized the same thing that I did. Seto wouldn't be able to keep living with the limited breaths the Magician was allowing him.

"If I was going to break the compromise to kill anyone-" Krin continued. "-it would be to kill you."

"Then you want me to believe it was your kid."

"How would Seto have killed Red? Really think about it," Krin said. His jaw clenched at Seto's next short breath.

"Does that matter?"

"Of course it does," Kara said, jumping in. "Seto isn't nearly strong enough to fight Red. Red almost killed Seto a week ago. Why didn't Seto just kill him then if he knew how?"

The Magician slid a step back, and when he did, his grip on Seto's neck must have changed. Seto's chest rose with a breath, and then another time. Seconds later, his eyes opened, but his gaze didn't seem to focus on anything.

Krin kept on. "Out of everyone in this city, at this moment in time, we are not your biggest threats."

"Explain the timing then," the Magician said. The energy at the top of the staff dissipated into the air, and he caught Seto's chin in the hollowed end of the staff. "This kid was involved."

"Then so was your kid," Kara said. "You know they were together."

"Yami couldn't have killed Red," the Magician said. Seto had started blinking, but hadn't resumed his struggles to step away. I couldn't tell if he was fully conscious, or if the blinking was just reflex.

"Then how would Seto?" Kisara said. Her voice sounded terrified, unlike the unwavering calm of Krin or Kara.

"He was burned alive! I've seen the same thing from your White Lightning before!" the Magician insisted.

Krin snorted. "We aren't the only people in this city who call upon White Lightning."

"You want me to believe it was your brother?"

"I want you to let go of Seto," Krin answered.

"Then answer this," the Magician said. He rubbed his lips together and glanced at Seto. "What did he tell you he was doing yesterday?"

"Wednesdays he goes to the hospital with Yami," Kisara said.

I noticed that she was also crying. Seto hadn't really moved in several minutes, and Kisara's head never turned away from him. Her fingers nervously twitched at her side. I think we were all waiting for Seto to do something to prove that he was fine. All he did was blink.

"If I find out that it was you-"

"You won't," Kara said. Her hand felt cold. I didn't think it was possible for me to feel any colder.

"Okay," Krin said. He took careful steps forward. "We're done here. I'm taking Seto."

The Magician didn't let go of Seto at first, who had closed his eyes again, but allowed Krin to close the gap between them. I wasn't able to hear if Seto was breathing, but when Krin pulled him away from the Magician, Seto took a huge, panting breath and collapsed against Krin.

While Seto choked each breath, Krin and the Magician moved away from each other. The dark orb reappeared at the same time as Kara and Kisara both brought up their White Lightning. The Magician's face was dark, lips turned downward and his eyebrows furrowed. I could tell that he didn't want to leave without an answer, but if threatening Seto didn't get an honest response, then nothing he could do would.

"Now get out of our house," Kara said.

The Magician hesitated, like he was contemplating fighting back. He looked at Kisara, Kara, and Krin, narrowing his eyes as he glared.

Seto kept coughing, but had started trying to push away from Krin. Seto's hands pressed against his throat, causing him to wince. I was half a room away, but I could see the purple splotches already beginning to form.

Kara shot a spark toward the Magician, hitting the door frame and missing him by inches. The Magician didn't retaliate, but moved to the door.

"I'm going to find out what happened," he said, pointing the staff toward Seto. "If he was involved, I'm coming back for him."

"Leave now," Krin said. He didn't look at the Magician, but at Seto. Seto's coughs had slowed into loud breaths, and Krin kept him close while the Magician lingered. I wanted to run over to make certain that Seto was all right, but the angle to get to him required me to step out from the hallway, past Kara and Kisara, slip by the Magician, and actually get Krin to allow me to get close to him.

"I will kill you where you stand if you are not out of my house in the next five seconds," Krin pressed. The calm tone he had used while the Magician threatened Seto vanished entirely. Krin sounded like Krin again.

The moment the door closed, we all ran to Seto. I was much slower than the others, so by the time I got across the ten foot gap, Seto was on the couch with the dragons hovering around him.

"He's breathing now, right?" Kara asked. "We don't have to worry about him not breathing?"

"Is his neck okay?" Kisara said. "It is really purple. It's not supposed to be purple."

"Seto," Krin said. "Are you able to breathe?"

I squeezed through Krin and Kisara to grab Seto's hand. My vision was really blurred, and the bruise on his neck blended into the black collar of his shirt. Seto's fingers tightened around mine. He looked at me, then each of the dragons, then at me again. He tried to say something, but ended up coughing.

"It's a bad idea," I said, barely able to recognize my voice with how badly it broke.

"Is he all right?" Kisara asked. She was distanced from the rest of us by maybe a foot.

I shook my head, not as an answer, but as a reaction to crying. I dropped my forehead on Seto's shoulder and cried.

I was so sick of crying. I couldn't remember having ever cried so much before, not before the portal, not before Kray. We should move. Maybe it would be better just to let Krin take us somewhere away from Domino. We could warn everyone about the bomb first, give them a chance to get out. We could just live somewhere else with the dragons and not have to be threatened constantly.

"We're at home," I said. I didn't hear myself speak, so I didn't know how loud my voice carried through. Seto seemed to have heard, because he leaned his head against mine and swallowed back a cough.

"How did he get in?" Kisara asked.

"I guess the door wasn't locked," Kara said. "Or he broke it."

"We should find Griggle. That looks painful," Kisara said.

No one moved. Finding Griggle might take a while, and that was time away from Seto. The Magician could decide to come back.

"The bedroom is safer," I said. Safer, I thought. Not safe.

Krin nodded. He leaned forward like he was going to assist Seto getting there, but Seto waived off his hand. With a hand on his throat, he took his hand from mine and pushed himself off the couch. He stopped for a second to lean forward, eyes firmly closed, before standing.

Hands reached out to catch him, just in case he fell off-balance. Seto's look read of disdain, but he managed to remain upright. Still holding his neck, Seto made his way toward the bedroom, using the hand-on-the-wall trick that I had practiced a lot recently. I hated not being able to get a read on Seto. He had been confusing this morning, and he should have been more, I didn't know exactly, more emotional? Angry? Anything?

Seto laid down on his make-shift bed, facing the ceiling. He gritted his teeth when he moved. The dragons stood on and watched, so I got on the floor beside him. It wasn't safe to be in different rooms anymore. I thought that being in the same house would be safe.

"Griggle," Kara said. "I guess I'll go track him down."

She stalled still before leaving. I rolled to face away from them, but my arms prickled with the static coming from their direction. I didn't look at them, but the room was so quiet that they couldn't have moved.

"Did you kill him?" Kara asked.

Seto probably couldn't answer with his throat so bruised, but he didn't even shake or nod his head. He didn't try to respond to the question.

"Seto?" Kisara said.

I stared at Seto's expression, reading only of pain, although that was still subtle. After Kisara spoke, no one pressed Seto any further. They stayed for several minutes, and I heard them leave one at a time.

I waited until they had left before checking to insure they couldn't hear me whisper,"Are you okay?"

Seto lifted his index finger and tapped the side of his face.

Yes.

I didn't have to be a dragon to know that he was lying.

Thank goodness for snow days, right?

Check out my blog for thoughts on this chapter and review responses. I've posted all the ones from Chapter Thirty-Three, and I'll do what I can to keep up with Thirty-Four.

Preview: New POV. There will be some eavesdropping, and maybe we'll see some of Kray.