This story is now updating each day until it is finished. It is all finished on another site, so I am just pacing myself and not overextending myself.:) I am trying to update one chapter, but it was previously published in smaller segments, so sometimes a chapter ends up being way too small or too big for the whole concept so sometimes it might be two or three. Thank you and please enjoy. Once I finish this, I will start posting Concrete Gods (my current work in this trilogy.) For more Update info, check my profile. Thanks.

Serenity's Apartment

When Serenity opened her door, she saw Mokuba and . . . "Umm?" Her brother had told her about this strange situation.

"Masika." Masika had no problem talking to her. "Hello."

Serenity glanced toward Mokuba. "Hello." Not this again. Mokuba and Seto Kaiba. They were really adamant on getting her to change her mind. She just told them unless the goddesses themselves made her pregnant, then there was no way it would happen. She had her brother's stubborness, so they really should have known to back off.

Mokuba tried the hardest, trying to appeal to her how he could. Telling her all about Egypt and what the goddesses could do. There was a difference between Myth and fact, and she'd seen god cards before. Amazing, but god cards wouldn't dictate things to her. She had to, according to Yugi, give up a card to sacrifice what she would bear.

There were always ways to make other things happen. This whole baby with Seto Kaiba wasn't set in any old stone to her. A different thing might come along. Maybe the other dimension won't need it after all because they will have enough power. Serenity never gave up on hope.

Mokuba pointed at her. "Look, you are going to be carrying my little nephew or niece soon. My only other family than Seto. Why won't you come to our home?"

Oh. Boy, they never learned. "Marriage is more than about children. It's love too, and I don't love Seto Kaiba. I love . . . I have a boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, schmoyfriend, this is family." Mokuba gestured to Masika. "Talk with her."

/Shizuka: Talk with her?/ "There's no need to talk," Serenity told him. "I'm not going to flip my whole life over for him."

"Hm?" Masika stared at her. "Serenity."

"What?"

"I just realize it rhymes with stupidity."

What? "That wasn't nice," Serenity said to her. It also sucked as a comeback, this woman would be a waste of time.

"The deities Bastet and Sekhmet will's must be followed, or you will find yourself in ten times as much pain for not listening to them. If they state a babe, so must it be. Seto Kaiba shines brightly as fire, and anyone associating with him must accept the risk of being burned. No one commands him except for deities," Masika said to her. "Forget your dawdling affair and go to your husband, foolish woman."

Oh, Serenity knew now she did not like Masika at all. "You can follow your own beliefs, but I will follow mine. The world has changed since you were alive. I have options."

"Not against the rich."

Serenity wasn't expecting that phrase from her.

"The all mighty and powerful, they will step on those below them without a second thought. Even in this world, I know this fact has not changed." Masika sounded different now. "The poor are pawns to the rich." She turned toward Mokuba. "If she decided to not let your brother see his child in the future, what would he do?"

Mokuba looked grumpy. "That isn't helping. She isn't even pregnant yet. I thought you would help me out."

"If Bastet and Sekhmet state it will be so, then it will be so. Assume it will be so and answer."

Mokuba had a strained expression.

"Look at his face," Masika instructed as she gestured toward Mokuba. "Then ask yourself, does anyone win against Seto Kaiba?"

Hmph. "Yugi did."

"Yes, and he did it with the help of a sacred Pharaoh. Even with that, did that affect Yugi well?"

Um. Hm. Mm?

"And who else has won? Who has challenged him and won?" Masika asked.

"Not many I suppose." Still, she wouldn't give in like that.

"Do you feel he is evil?" Masika asked.

"Masika, you really aren't helping," Mokuba scolded her. "You're supposed to help us bring her to our side, not further away!"

"Do you, Serenity Wheeler?" Masika asked again. "Is he nice and sweet? Calm? Reassuring?"

"No, he's none of those," Serenity answered. "I mean, that I've . . . well, when I was with him . . ." How hard to answer. "The things he's done to others isn't nice, and he was always downright cruel to my brother."

"Then with that kind of power, that kind of evil, and that kind of reputation? He could also take out someone with evil power and reputation." Masika folded her arms. "Joey has a dear friend he can't get over trapped with a crime boss so evil he went after their dearest friends just to prove a point. Mai Valentine will never get away from him. Joey will never win without a desperate choice. Good men don't make good choices with bad men. He'll either end up dead, or wish he had been because he will never give up on a friend."

" . . ."

"You know this to be true. He gets careless with his life if it means saving a friend."

Yeah, Serenity knew that. It hurt Joey so much that he couldn't save Mai Valentine from that evil . . . /Serenity: I know my brother. He'll never give up. She's right!/ "Mokuba?" She glanced toward Mokuba. "Do you think you could get someone innocent away from a crime boss?"

"A crime boss?" Mokuba looked uncomfortable. "I mean, those are gnarly things."

"Have you heard about my brother?" Serenity asked. "Has anyone asked you for help for Mai Valentine?"

Mokuba sighed. "No one's asked for help from me. Yeah, of course I know about the deal, but it'd be a bad idea from me. First, it doesn't matter how much money you use to hide. People like Skeezy have weasels beneath him too. You can't just hide and watch your back the rest of your life. It's no way to live."

Serenity paused, holding her breath lightly. "Could Seto Kaiba?"

Mokuba didn't answer back right away. " . . . yeah. It'd take a little time, but yeah. Seto could definitely get rid of the guy. As long as . . . I mean, you don't ask how anyway."

Oh. Serenity was starting to see what Masika meant.

Mokuba smiled. "Mai Valentine could walk free and live her own life without every worrying about Skeezy again if Seto got involved."

"I don't suppose, you could just ask nicely?" Serenity tried to smile. It was obvious though.

"Seto doesn't get involved in stuff that doesn't concern him. Especially something like this, it would take a lot of resources. Bodyguards. Security systems. Cover-ups. Bribery. But, if his Brother-in-Law was involved, I'm sure he would!" Mokuba winked and gave Masika a thumbs up.

"Goddess Bastet and Sekhmet will still make it happen against you in some way. That is up to no compromise and Seto Kaiba knows this. You are being given the luxury of an option as to how Seto Kaiba will treat you."

Masika held up two fingers. "This will go one of two ways with someone like Seto Kaiba," Masika warned her. "If you say no to him and do not work with him? He will never help your brother or Mai Valentine. He will come after your apartment. He may even just buy it in order to kick you out. I know how the greed of the rich works. He will make sure that you lose your job by donating money to the company in some way. He will fight you in court with the best lawyers he has, and with them? You will be lucky to hear your child's first cry before you lose rights to it and never see it again. Except? On maybe a magazine cover."

Ah?! "That couldn't be true!" Serenity looked toward Mokuba. "That's not true, right? He wouldn't use his money against me like that?" Would he be that cruel?

"Kaiba's do anything for family," Mokuba told her with a grin on his face. "Seto's been really nice so far about this. He's not thrilled about it either, but it's going to happen no matter what, and he will secure his family. Kaiba's are only nice for so long."

"If you say yes and work with him, you will have peace of mind," Masika finished. "Save your brother. Save your friend. Live well with your child and never worry about money again."

"Or worry about what Kaiba has up his sleeve, because Big Brother never loses." Even Mokuba was embracing the reality with Seto Kaiba.

Were those really the only options? "It's so . . . hard to decide." To say.

"He could crush you," Masika said to Serenity, "or he could crush your enemies. Decide."

It was cruel, but probably true. Even Mokuba didn't deny it. Seto Kaiba always got what he wanted. "I won't marry him," she decided. She couldn't just lay out like that for him, and she needed time to discuss this stuff with Tristan too! "I'll . . . I'll move in with him, if he can find a way to save Mai Valentine."

As soon as she said that, she could see her words having an instant effect. Mokuba didn't smile, didn't say 'thanks for the chance', nothing, he went straight to his phone. "Seto? Serenity Wheeler needs you to help Joey with a crime boss problem involving Mai Valentine, and then she'll move in. She won't marry yet though." He grinned and hung up. "Seto will be right down."

Wow. Seto Kaiba was at her door in less than a minute. Was he working with Mokuba and Masika the whole time?

He leaned in and looked straight at her. "Information."

No choice now. "Joey wants to save Mai Valentine from marrying a crime boss," Serenity said. "He's too attracted to her, and it's too dangerous to leave him. This guy finds others that leave him, no matter how far they go. They met playing cards."

"Card player. Skeezy?" Kaiba asked. "A constant suspect in money laundering, murder cases that are never solved, human trafficking, and torture."

He did all of that? "I guess? He went after Téa Gardener in New York just because he suspected something."

"Got it." Seto Kaiba glanced toward Mokuba.

"I know, Big Brother," Mokuba simply said. "I told her not to ask for details if you took it."

"Hm." Kaiba looked toward her again. "If I save Mai Valentine's pathetic life, and your even more pathetic brother, then you'll move in?"

"Not marriage," Serenity insisted again. "I would consider moving in with you." She would agree to that. It seemed okay. It really did. "I need to . . ." She felt dizzy. She needed to tell Tristan before anything, but she was really dizzy.

Then the world faded away.

Kaiba Home

Seto watched the time. He had been in the middle of an agreement when Serenity lost consciousness. Not wanting to take any chances, he took her home and had his personal physicians come over. Mokuba was concerned and tagged along with whatever the other spirits name was again. "What happened?"

"Her eyes for one," the doctor said, "they are losing vision every once in a while. I cannot determine why. It's happening in short spurts. Her previous eye surgery still looks good. It was successful."

"Is my new sister going to be okay?" Mokuba asked himself.

"I don't see why not. This really shouldn't have happened, Mister Kaiba," the eye doctor insisted.

Another physician approached Kaiba. "Her body seems to be undergoing some physical changes. I've been able to reach her current doctor and have looked at her previous information. She had some health issues growing up but they're mainly cleared away."

"What is changing?" Kaiba demanded. "Is she okay?"

The doctor gestured for him to come into the room she was being examined in. Seto went over into it with Mokuba.

The perfect figure she used to have, seemed to be changing. Her nose. Her eyes. She looked a lot closer to the simple woman from Battleship City. Well. The gods wanted perfect attraction for me. They made her some Venus de Milo perfect for my eyes? "It's fine."

It angered him though. Not the fact that she didn't have the perfect body or face, but that they would really go that far.

A proper greeting and a card was all he needed. From there, he could set up marriage and prenup information. Once his business was secure, he could pay for invitro since it would be done by the gods First try guaranteed.

No messy God's Brew or one night stands. That was all inefficient.

He watched as she started to wake up. The doctor talked to her first for a minute and prepared her for the changes.

She looked in a mirror he gave her and touched her face. "I look . . . different."

"You are as you should be, before the gods messed with you," Sero Kaiba informed her. "It was for attraction."

"Blind. I was blind, for just a little while." She trembled. "I remember now. So, I might . . ."

"Maybe." Seto Kaiba shrugged. "I don't care. I don't care about your vision or your physical changes unless it harms you. I doubt they will. I think the gods are just undoing the work they put in because we just reached an agreement to make this happen."

Serenity covered her face. "I could go blind. I'm nothing like I was before."

"It's a shock, I get it, but I want to get this worked out," Kaiba insisted. "If I get Mai Valentine out of her jam, for good, you'll agree to move in."

"No marriage," she muttered softly. "I need to talk to my boyfriend Tristan first."

"Strange. I thought marriage is what women wanted. I'd have to spend time figuring out a strong plan to make sure you couldn't divorce me, and now I don't have to rush that." It wasn't what Kaiba wanted, he was lying to make her feel better in the arrangement. He didn't want a son or daughter that would be labeled a bastard because 'mommy wouldn't marry daddy'. It would have been the best idea for all involved to just get married.

The boyfriend was a nuisance, but no doubt he wouldn't be a problem for long. It was after all, Tristan Taylor. He already had time to look into him. There were ways to make him back off. Depending on how much he was filled with the 'righteousness' of his youth, would determine how far he'd go against him.

Either way, he would keep Azure. At least the woman was smart enough to start giving in. It wouldn't be a nice bedtime story to tell his future child about dragging their mommy to court. Kaiba had the power and money to make sure he won his child, no mistake, no matter how the gods made it happen.

Moving in was a start, a compromise to a future he himself wasn't really prepared for. "Agree. I'll save Mai Valentine if you'll move in."

Serenity was still touching her face. "This is who I really should look like. I was more like this as a kid."

"It's not bad," he said to her.

She put the mirror down. " . . . thanks. I think."

He was still waiting for a reply. She didn't answer with a confirmation so far. "Here, let me help you make up your mind." Kaiba merely held up his phone to her. The name Joey Wheeler was being shown on it. Too bad he'd been restored of all the annoying memories of Wheeler again. It'd be easier to deal with this kind of thing, without having to know Joey Wheeler would be fucking relation to him.

Still, this would move it along. He pushed a button on his phone and started to talk on it. "Hey, Joey Wheeler," he said on the phone. "This is Seto Kaiba of the Kaiba Corporation. I've decided to help you out with Mai Valentine after all."

Serenity could hear the hope of Joey leap out straight over the phone. Just like he wanted from her.

"Really?! I mean. Thanks, Seto Kaiba. I promise, I'll make it up to you! I already found out about your God's Brew too, it came from a guy I used to know named Duke Devlin. It ain't his, it's a mystery connections to gods. That means the kid is probably mine because of Yugi or something. With your help, I'm sure Mai would finally say yes! Whatever it is you want in return, you got it!"

"Hang on a second. I'll call you right back." Kaiba hung up and looked toward Serenity. "Your brother's really helpful. It turns out he was a cop wanting to train to be a detective. I could use that kind of asset. So? What does he owe me, Serenity? Should he owe me anything or do we have a deal?"

Serenity wasn't answering, but it was all written on her face. "I didn't even know about a baby."

Excellent. Extra bonus to make her do what he wanted.

"I will move in with you if you do it," she said softly.

Softly or not, she caved. Good. "Great, and don't worry. I won't tell him yet. We both need some time to digest this . . . news. I'm just securing my investment." He dialed up Joey and spoke on the phone again. "You owe me nothing yet, Wheeler. I have my own reasons for helping. Give me Mai's number and location." Kaiba chuckled on the phone. "What, just hide her while you take on a crime boss? No way. You know reality, Wheeler. You get what you want doing hard things. If you do those same things, you'll end up in prison for life. I'll protect her for so long, until I get Skeezy out of the picture for good. No questions asked. Understand?"

"Wow. I just, I can't believe it. You're really going to do all that for me? For what, I mean why?"

"Don't worry about that right now," Kaiba said to him. "Worry later."

"Yeah. The price, I know I have to pay it later. It's worth it, I'll do it."

The information poured across Kaiba's phone. Kaiba called Mai, told her everything in detail, had arranged for a private jet to pick her up to bring her to Domino City, and had her assigned some of his most trusted bodyguards.

Mai would be staying with Joey so he could protect them both. At first, the moron almost wanted to argue with him, but when he heard he'd be near Mai until Skeezy was taken care of, he eased up.

Now, Joey Wheeler was protected from Skeezy too. Definitely a requirement for a smooth transaction.

"What about Yugi and the others?" Serenity asked him.

Kaiba stared at her for a second. Fine. "Okay, I'll add some guards to watch over them from afar, but you owe me one more favor. We don't have to get married, but you can't deny it either."

What? "What do you mean by that?"

"No one will care about the baby's status, as long as it looks like I will marry you." Which he would, but he'd keep her relaxed for now. "As long as you keep an engagement ring on, and tell everyone we are getting married? We won't set a date." Yet. "The longer it takes, the more extravagant it becomes. Say you wanted a beautiful marriage in Africa itself, that'll be about two years at least."

"Those sound like lies."

"Nah, you can make the actual arrangements. Music. Whatever. Keep sending me the information, so I can make sure everything looks legit." Plus, actually book the things. He'd eventually find a way to make her cave, and when he did, they'd already be ready. Kaiba continued. "I had a business associate that ended up in a similar position. Their daughter is now twenty. No one bothers asking them anymore about the marriage, they are more interested in the daughter's life."

"Really?" Yep, her face said she believed the lie.

"Just make sure you do something each week or month so it looks genuine."

"That could get really expensive. They might charge me up front."

"I don't care about money or price. To a point." He grabbed his chin, thinking. "I'll get you a special credit card to keep you from going money crazy. Spend what is on that limit each day for the wedding or yourself, and you don't have to bother telling me about it. If you want something pricier, then you have to ask."

"That sounds restrictive," Serenity said. "I have my own job and my own money."

"Your limit is 10,000 dollars each day. You don't need your job anymore."

"A day?"

"Yes. If you need more, then tell me why. That simple. It keeps you from bothering me all the time over money. I've got better things to deal with."

"I can't even do the math of that for a year. That's too much."

Annoying. "You're not supposed to spend 10,000 dollars a day, that's just the limit at where I start caring about what you're spending." Ugh. Compromises are so annoying. This all better be over soon. "Work if you want. It doesn't make a difference to me," he added, "but don't be surprised if you start getting hassled at your job, considering who you are supposed to be marrying." No, that wouldn't last long. Others might start to use her for ransom at such an insecure position. Bribing to have her fired would probably work better.

"I can't have my boyfriend anymore."

Perceptivity was a little low. Kaiba should have had more problems keeping Tristan Taylor away than her getting over a stupid boyfriend.

"Could he still be my friend?" she asked. "You're not going to hurt him?"

"Waste of man power." Oh. He caught it after he said it. He should have stuck with the lies, the truth probably hurt there.

"If we are just pretending, and I just have to live with you, than I should be able to go on friendly outings with Tristan," she reasoned.

Serenity Wheeler was someone who didn't want to give in. Forbidding that stupidity would lead to more rebellion. Damn those goddesses. He wouldn't leave his future heir to chance. He just needed to try not to remember Joey Wheeler. His future brother.

Son or daughter, bastardized.

Brother Joey Wheeler.

Abandonment versus Relation to the idiot.

There just wasn't competition. Morons were a part of life.

Serenity just stared at him. "It's just moving in. I'm just getting information for a fake wedding so it looks good. I don't want to move faster than I have to, because things change all the time. Maybe the goddesses will change their mind or something. Plus, I need time with Tristan."

"Fine. For now, you can see him," he stated. "It's not like I own you. Don't let the press catch on to who he is." Hopefully he was smart and just started to stay away.

"If, if it isn't undone. I am not going to-"

"It's modern day, we can use in vitro." He already knew what she wanted to say. "My home is huge. I will make optional appointments to meet, but you won't be required to engage with me."

That seemed to appease her. She was now locked in for the long-term.