Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Parallel
Chapter 071
Originally Written: Friday, May 6, 2022 536PM to 649PM
. . . . .
Ishizu and Seto came across another group in their travels. A group of emergency personnel within them alerted Seto that Duke Devlin recently traveled through the area. He claimed he was headed to Domino City. A small group of technology savvy young adults inspired by both Seto and Noah's coding and design prowess then gave them the means to contact Duke, as they had given him a device to contact them from.
Ishizu knew Seto was putting up a farce of bravery, but she let him take the device they built from old duel disks and contacted Duke. His image was a bit distorted and grainy on the other side, but they could hear him just fine. Seto stepped outside the residents hideout, so as to not cause a disturbance.
'I've got some things to let you guys in on, but in the meantime, I've got a quick question.' Duke paced in the background as he fell into short and simple conversation with them. 'You might like it more, Ishizu.'
'Don't you dare, Duke!' Joey shouted. His voice sounded much further away.
"Oooh," Ishizu cooed, leaning up against Seto, who was holding the device. "Whatcha got?"
'If you're sharing a body with a spirit, when you both jerk it at the same time, are you masturbating or frotting?'
Seto flushed, his face turning a deep red. He gave the device to Ishizu and walked away, covering his ears.
'What the hell, man!?' Joey shouted, 'Stay still! I'ma kick your ass!'
'When did you learn to throw fireballs!?' Duke cracked up laughing, as Joey chased him.
Ishizu laughed, "I see that spending time with Pegasus did you some good."
Duke circled around Joey. The image on her end shifted, becoming blurry. "Something like that." He leaned his back up against Joey's back. Joey fumed behind him. Then he shoved him and said he was going back inside.
"Make sure to clean up after yourself when you're done." Ishizu sang.
Joey returned just to make sure she could see him give her the middle finger clearly, before walking off again. Duke grinned. Ishizu looked around behind her. Seto was speaking to a group of civilians. Good. She turned around, and whispered. "Noah wasn't your fault, Duke."
Duke faltered, and looked at her confusion. 'What…what are you talking about?' He frowned.
She tapped the eye on her necklace. "Seer, remember? He wanted to go ahead, to make sure the path was safe for you."
Duke turned around. The buildings behind him shifted as he walked.
"Don't go too far." She chided. "Yami's protection barrier only shields so much."
'It's fine. There's only one asshole who can touch me right now.' Duke muttered. 'And Noah is dead.'
"Now he is, yes, but before, Pegasus tricked Amane into thinking he was back then. He then kept him safe in Duelist Kingdom, right?" Ishizu sighed. "Seto would have liked to have known that, if only to see him once more."
'You didn't tell him?' Duke paced.
"I wasn't sure. Most of the time, now, what I see is wrong. Seto shifts something ever so slightly, and everything goes off kilter." She looked back at Seto. The man adjusted his glasses as he spoke to the programmers about the code they were showing him. "He sensed you as we traveled, but didn't want to see you, due to his own predicament he's going through. He's brilliant, but thinks he's alone. His magic is backlashing against him as a result."
'Have you told him that?' Duke looked off in thought. 'Like, how you feel about him. Seriously. Not that flirty stuff you do.'
Ishizu pressed a finger to her cheek. "I see that subject change, and raise you a 'Do you think Mokuba would blame you for Noah?' Or himself?"
Duke huffed, and took a seat. 'He should have stayed with Pegasus.'
"He'd be dead now either way." Ishizu leaned up against the wall. "If anything my necklace has shown me has some truth to it."
Duke shook his head, 'He said they were gonna storm the place, but I was hoping…' His head dropped, 'Damn. My luck doesn't help anyone.'
Ishizu scoffed. "None of this is your fault. Your luck helps by allowing you to spread information and take much needed items for our resistance back and forth without any need of further lives lost. That's why they gave you the communications device. Zorc's forces won't be able to take it from you."
'I'm fuckin' selfish. I don't want to see or hear about anyone else dying. Can't even go with them. I'm too fucking lucky.' Duke pressed his hands to his eyes. His black arm warmers blocked out the screen on Ishizu's side for a long while. Ishizu let the silence pass for a bit before speaking again.
"I'd think there was something wrong with you if you did. Go back to the hideout. Seto and I will meet you there."
Duke huffed again, and lifted his head. He dropped his arms, unblocking the screen. 'I saw Joey's package once, and that was enough.' He smiled a small smile.
"I'm sure he's done now. Get going, you pout." Ishizu chided. "Stay on line until you reach there." She watched Duke walk back to the hideout. Duke let Joey chat for a little before hanging up for the night.
She stretched, and walked into the hideout. It didn't take her long to learn where they had dragged Seto to. They went to their makeshift dining area to help with dinner. They had a lot of mouths to feed. She apologized for doing so, but she needed to take Seto away to have a small chat with him.
"You wanted to tell me something?" Seto squinted his eyes behind his glasses.
"I lied. I'm not really good with words." She pressed her lips to the side of his, only to have him push her away.
"We…That isn't something any of us have time for." He ducked his head. "I'm sorry."
"You never know how much time you have left." Ishizu reached a hand up and pulled his glasses right off his nose. She held in a frown as she watched him squint his eyes so much she couldn't see the blue of his pupils. "Your glasses let you see the light, the good, with clarity." She looked down at the glasses in her hands, "But they also let you see the bad, the darkness. So you take them off, and are forced to squint your eyes up so horribly that you can't see the light anymore. Only darkness."
Seto blinked, a small frown on his face. "Pardon, but I don't understand."
"I know." Ishizu hummed. "You are so innocent, yet not. I like that about you." She placed the glasses back on his face. She watched him adjust them. "It's adorable."
"Please clarify your point. What are you getting at?" He flushed as she trailed a finger down his shirt.
She hummed again, pleased with Seto's roaming eyes. "In Battle City, I told you that when you summoned your Blue Eyes White Dragon instead of Obelisk, that you were making magic."
"I-I remember." Seto stuttered, "Y-you also told me that I was actively changing my fate."
"Fate isn't something you can escape, but it can be shifted and changed. Magic doesn't come from the outside, Seto. It comes from the inside. From within you. You can't make magic for the world, and it can't make magic for you. You and the world can only make magic for yourselves." She poked his nose playfully. "And I want to show you another way to make magic."
Seto flushed, heart racing in his chest. "W-we d-don't…"
"Boop!" She poked his nose again. "I can't read your mind, but I'd appreciate it if you told me the truth."
Seto lowered his head. He fell silent for a few moments. "I-I've never done that before. Y-you can do better than me."
"You've made that quite obvious." Ishizu grinned. She ducked below him, and looked up at him. "And I don't want to with anyone else. I don't want to see the world, this darkness, take everything from you. You don't deserve that. Take control of your fate. Take what you want. And don't let the darkness steal it from you."
Seto flushed, lips quivering. He squinted up his eyes again as they started to water. Ishizu hugged him. "I will be by your side as long as you want me to stay."