Bakura was nervous about giving the letter to Yami but he promised Ryo he would.
"Master Atemu."
"Yes, what is it, Bakura?"
"Well you see I don't know why but my brother gave me this letter and told me that a friend of his told me to give it to you and that you'd know who to give it too."
"Well who is his friend?"
"Well…I didn't think about it or I would have thought to ask him."
"Well from now on, think to ask. I don't like accepting anonymous letters."
"Yes Master Atemu, I'll do better in the future."
"Good you're dismissed." Yami said. As soon as Bakura left, he opened the letter and his eyes went wide as he read the letter. "What on earth possessed him to use our childhood nicknames? And why did he say that I would know who to give it to when the letter was addressed to me?"
"Master Atemu?" Leichter, one of the top royal advisers, approached Yami.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I have to come so that I may set up a meeting."
"What kind of meeting?"
"We plan to take the millennium rod out of the vault and make arrangements for it to choose a new king."
"What? The millennium rod is to never leave the vault except in extreme cases. That's why we have the substitute for anointing knights and things. Only in rare cases is the real thing to be brought out or when the kingdom is in a desperate situation and we need to call upon the ancient spirits of the dragons and pray they hear our plea and answer our call and save the kingdom."
"You believe that fairy tale? It's a myth that's all. No ancient dragon spirits are going to return from the dead just to protect this kingdom."
"This kingdom was their home and when they did live the people of this land cared for and protected them."
"I know the story. It's said that a rival country wishing to steal the throne poisoned the dragons' water wiping them from the face of the earth, but a powerful magician used magic to capture their souls and then released them. Now the millennium rod has the power to resurrect these fallen dragons when the need to protect the kingdom arises. You really believe that? I know most of the kingdom is foolish enough to believe it but their all fools! Sentimental fools who fear if they don't believe the dragon's won't answer their prayers if the need should arise. The ritual needed to call on these supposed 'dragons' hasn't been performed in centuries. No one has seen or heard tell of a dragon in centuries."
"That doesn't matter. The millennium rod has been passed on from one generation to the next and can only be held without its velvet covering by a true member of the royal family. If you know the legend of the dragons then you must also know that it is said that someone once tried to have the king at that time dethroned simply because they didn't like him or feel he wasn't doing a good enough job in their opinion. This was centuries ago this person tried to steal the kingdom away from the Kaiba family by trying to force the millennium rod to choose a new king, as I'm sure you were planning to do. But it won't work. If you knew anything at all about this country's history you'd know that the rod failed to choose a new king. It has been proven that the rod will never chose a new king as long as the current member of the royal family lives."
"Yes, well we'll see about that."
"You'll never succeed, the king is not dead!"
"King Kaiba has been missing for over a week now. How can we be certain he is still alive?"
"He is. In fact I just heard from him."
"What?! That's impossible! I never saw a messenger come through here and I know I would have heard if he called."
'Perhaps this is the reason why Seto chose to use our childhood nicknames.' Yami smirked and said, "It was a special delivery that you and the other advisors didn't need to know about and have no business knowing. And the fact that he hasn't been seen or heard from in over a week is nothing you should panic over. He's been known to disappear for days on end like this in the past. If he were gone any longer than a week without any news from him then you'd have the right to panic. But he is alive and well and promised to be home in a few days."
"How can we be certain of that? As I recall he does disappear around this time every year. How can we be certain that he will return?"
Yami was angry now! "He wouldn't lie about that! He said it'd be a few days! He was going out to the next town for a couple of day's downtime and planned to be back in a few days. He stayed longer than he expected. He plans on conducting some kind of business."
"Don't tell me he's investigating the death of his father again?"
"I don't know what kind of business but I doubt that's it." 'Seto you had better come home soon or I'm not sure how much longer I can make them believe you're simply out of town on business before they become suspicious and try to investigate. Besides, this guy's a fool to think Seto would actually care who killed his father. He did put out an investigation only because it would have looked suspicious to the people if he hadn't. They might have thought he had something to do with it, lose faith and trust in him.'
"Well if is not back here by the end of next week we will assume he's abandoned the throne and we will be free to elect a new king!"
"I won't allow that ceremony to take place. The rules of the kingdom clearly state that a king cannot be dethroned and declared that he abandoned the throne till he has been missing for over 6 months! The king's barely been gone a week and you slime bags have the nerve to try to take the kingdom away from him!"
"We are only looking after the best interest of the country."
"You mean yourselves. Get out of my sight! If I hear you've even touched or gone near the millennium rod you'll regret it!"
The man wasn't fazed by Yami's threat but left regardless of the fact.
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Later that day Nezbit was meeting with his assassin.
"I'm paying you to kill the king, not sit around here all day, eating and picking up women!"
"Chill, till he comes out of hiding there's not much I can do."
"I will not chill! I was just informed that Master Atemu has heard from him! That means he has to still be in the area! Find him and get rid of him!"
"There'd be no use going hunting for him, it'd be just a waste of time and energy!"
"What do you plan to do if he makes it back to the castle? You can't kill him here! There's no way it won't be considered an inside job!"
"Yeah, yeah you and your partners would be the first to be suspected. Cry me a river! I'll get the job done, don't worry about it!"
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The few days went about the same as normal for Mokuba, except for some reason his family seemed in an extra grouchy mood. He knew they were usually a bit jumpy when it was time for Noah's birthday for some reason. His birthday was the day after tomorrow. He never understood why. He did know that every year Noah had to stay in the hospital overnight for some sort of testing. He never heard them talk about what kind of test of what was wrong with him; all he did know was that every year Noah seemed to change. There were a few times that he'd catch Noah staring at him. He even once saw him lick his lips while watching him. It gave him the creeps. He always managed to find a way to stay clear of him while he was like that but it wasn't easy. A time or two when Noah had him cornered with no way out that he thought for sure Noah was going to hurt him or do whatever it was he was planning to do to him which Mokuba was sure he wouldn't like. He'd been lucky every time though someone or something always distracted Noah long enough for Mokuba to get away. He wondered if maybe Ryo knew what was wrong with Noah when he was like that. He wouldn't have thought so except he always insisted on showing him different self-defense moves. Mokuba never understood why. He was basically a worker, a slave. Why would he ever need to know how to do such things? But he never could shake the eerie feeling he got when Noah looked at him like that! He couldn't shake the very bad feeling he was getting out of Noah lately that whatever it was that's he's been planning in his mind to do to him all these years that he was planning to go through with it this year, one way or the other! He could only hope that wasn't true!
Due to the way they were acting, he started fixing his and Seto's breakfast first before the family got up, came into the room and placed it in the picnic basket Ryo had given to him. Then he set it a few steps just inside the basement steps. He'd been right about doing it too, since they refused him breakfast and set up with chores. He had a feeling a beating was coming and did his best to stay clear of them as much as possible to try to avoid it. He'd been able to manage it and stay on their good side for the most part since Seto came along. He'd been trying all his life but made extra efforts after he met Ryo and increased when he met Seto. But even then, the family, especially in their mood now, felt he was only doing it to get something in return. Mokuba couldn't think of why they'd think that, after all they never gave him much of anything.
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He finished serving them and doing the dishes but since they denied him breakfast he couldn't go down to Seto. He went around the long way through the back door because he knew Seto would be mad if he didn't. The family never checked up on him before but just to be safe he brought two buckets one with water the other feed near the backdoor just in case.
Seto looked up surprised to see the backdoor open. The room he was in he could see and hear the backdoor and hear a lot of what was happening in the living room almost directly above him. He could hear a little bit in the kitchen but not a whole lot. Mokuba walked past Seto's room to get the basket and returned with it. He set it on the ground next to Seto and started to leave to get to work before he got caught but Seto grabbed his hand.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm supposed to b-be at w-work right now."
"Why?"
"They're in a bad mood t-this week cause of N-Noah. For some r-reason he has to stay at a h-hos p-pital overnight for some test and it makes everyone especially mean."
"Well let's risk it." Seto said, pulling the boy forward, grabbing his hip and setting him down.
Mokuba leaned into him. 'I wish I could ask Seto to take me home with him.' He thinks snuggling up to him. 'I'm going to miss him even more than Ryo. But I can't. He has a life of his own out there, maybe even a family, I'd only be in the way.'
Seto could sense that something was bothering him since the other day. But he couldn't get the kid to tell him, to talk to him. He knew that the kid was regretting the next day or two cause Ryo told them the other day that he'd be finished training soon and ready to move on and as he put it try to live with his brother. He figured that that's what was upsetting him. He also caught the kid trying to avoid him more and more. He wasn't letting it happen but that told him that maybe the kid was attached to him too and was afraid if he didn't start trying to get distant he'd end up getting hurt worse than he already would thinking they were both leaving without him.
"Mokuba after breakfast I want to talk to you about something all right?"
"Sure Seto."
As Mokuba laid cuddled about against his chest, Seto just blindly stroked his hair thinking. 'I love it when I can get him to talk without stuttering. Maybe with a tutor or something I can rid him of it almost all together. But even if I can't I wouldn't throw him out or ever allow him to be treated the way he is here! If I have my say, which if he lets me adopt him I will, he'll be so spoiled rotten his ego will be bigger than that Noah kids. Hopefully between my love and I can only hope Yami's we'll help him make new memories and maybe be able to forget these years of torture. I can only hope Yami will accept him as willingly as I have. I'm sure he will but I am a little nervous about it all. I mean after all these years of searching to just give up and accept this little one; I'm not sure how he'll react. It's not that I don't want to find my brother, it's just that I want this kid. We may never know for sure if he is my brother but truthful it hasn't made a big difference for me after meeting him, I've grown to love him in the short time we've been together. It's weird I've been around kids before and none of them have ever had the same impact on me as he has. All I do know is I want him and want to protect him.
I know Yami will yell at me that we can't take in every stray kid I run across and the advisors of course will criticize me that much more for wanting to adopt him. Yeah they're non-stop about my relationship with Yami, this will really send them over the edge! Not to mention the fact that when they find out, I, well, I guess, technically it's kidnapping, even though I'm certain now that Mokuba will gladly come with me. They will all throw a hissy fit! I can hear Yami now, 'What were you thinking, kidnapping the kid!' I'm sure he'll understand when I show him the kid's back. After that, I know there's no way Yami will force me to send him back here!
I'm glad Ryo gave me this cane so that I can start walking around a little, instead of being stuck sitting or laying down all the time. I'd be nice to go outside but I don't want to risk getting caught by anybody happening to be passing by or by Mokuba's family and getting him into trouble. I haven't told Mokuba or Ryo about the necklace or bracelet, I suppose I should but if Mokuba were to find out that they are the keys to finding my real brother and he didn't have either of them what would that do to him? Would he still agree to come home with me? I'm sure he'd never agree to it. The risk of losing him this close to time to leave is too great a risk. Maybe, just maybe when we leave I'll just ask him if there are any items he wants to take with him. I've done some searching and I've found no signs of the necklace, bracelet or the baby bag he once had. That doesn't mean the family didn't steal them and sell it for whatever they could get, but Yami says he knows people who would have told him if either item showed up in town.'
Mokuba whimpered a little, Seto looked down and the kid was asleep. He kissed his forehead, gently woke him from his nightmare and they ate breakfast.
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After breakfast, Seto decided now was the time to ask him if he'd leave with him, but before he got the chance, they heard.
"JJ! Where are you, you little runt!"
Mokuba whimpered and took off. Seto didn't see Mokuba again till supper. He was afraid to know why the kid didn't come back for lunch. In fact, he didn't hear them yell at him at all during lunch which worried him considerably. He was somewhat relieved when he heard them yelling at him during dinner. But he also heard the sound of dishes crashing and other sounds that didn't sound good. Soon he heard the door to the room above open and something hit the back wall.
A few minutes later Mokuba appeared battered. There were no marks physically on his face; the family couldn't afford to have their friends think that they actually struck the child. Though many suspected, none did anything, with no outward signs like that. But just the fact that his hair was a majorly matted mess, not that it was all that straight normally but it was sometimes manageable with the brush Ryo had given him. Seto could also see from where he was sitting that the back of his shirt was torn, telling Seto all that he needed to know. His heart broke now knowing why or at least partly, why he hadn't returned.
"Come here." Seto decided to do what Ryo did the first time he saw him in a similar state and offer him a comforting hug. Mokuba gave a faint smile and he even limped slightly and came over closer to Seto, who grabbed him and cradled him in his arms. He wanted to ask him now but he knew the kid was in no condition to make any kind of decision now or enjoy it if the answer was yes. He got the bottle of sleeping pills and took one out and then took the canteen and handed them both to Mokuba.
But Mokuba shook his head no.
"Look kiddo I want you to take this then take your shirt off for me and then lay across my legs and let me treat you." Seto caught the terrified look and knew he hated getting treated. "Look I know you don't like it but trust me, you do it my way there won't be any pain like the time I held you and Ryo treated you remember?"
Mokuba sighed and nodded his head, but still refused the pill.
"I'm sorry kiddo but you have to take it, it's the best way."
Mokuba still shook his head violently; he wasn't going to take the pill.
Seto got the picture at that point. "Okay I get it you don't like pills. But you don't have a choice. There are no glasses down here to mix it with water or give it to you that way, but I need you to take it."
Mokuba understood but he still wasn't going to do it.
"Here, I'm going to place the pill at the back of your throat then I want you to swallow and drink the water real quick. All right?"
He remembered whenever Yami got sick that's what Seto's mother did to him, he himself hated taking pills but managed on his own. Mokuba sighed seeing the pleading look in Seto's eyes he reluctantly agreed. After he'd swallowed the pill, he took his shirt off showing Seto the bloody whip marks and he couldn't figure out what caused the straight lines or the flat spot. It didn't really matter now; all that mattered was getting him to sleep and then treating him. Mokuba did as Seto asked and laid across Seto's legs, his head and arms against Seto's legs. Seto soon started to gently massage the boy's shoulders and hum a lullaby he remembered from his mother. As soon as he was certain he was asleep, he started to treat him.
After rubbing the normal peroxide and alcohol over it to make sure, they were sterilized. He decided to put a bandage on it. Ryo had changed his after about the fourth day from one wrapped around his head to just a small one over his wound. As for Mokuba, he knew he'd have to take off the bandage in the morning but for now, he put some ointment on the sores and patched him up. After he finished, he pulled the boy up and laid him across his shoulders causing the boy to cuddle closer and nuzzle his head in making Seto happy. He then covered them both up. He hoped that maybe if the kid felt any better and maybe his day was better he'd ask him tomorrow.