As they were looking through various shop windows, they stopped at an antique shop. Yami was always interested to see what new and interesting stuff they had. The shopkeeper had told him they restock about once a month, give or take. Yami was excited to see they seemed to have some interesting new things. He wanted to go in but then he remembered he wasn't alone. As he looked down at Mokuba, he could tell the kid wasn't interested. 'He's just like Seto, anything that's not interesting he's bored with.' Yami thought, stroking his hair. Mokuba looked up at him surprised. Yami then remembered there was a toy store next door. "Come on kid, I have an idea."
'What kind of idea?' Mokuba wondered.
As they went in, Mokuba clung to Yami. Mokuba was just in awe of it all. He'd never seen so many toys in all his life. He wished he could touch them but didn't want to get into trouble. He remembered what happened the time he'd been caught playing with one of Marine's antique dolls. He wasn't hurting it but he still got into trouble over it.
"Master Atemu, so good to see you again."
"Yes, it's nice to see you again too Sugoroku. But I told you you don't need to be so formal."
"As you wish, Master Yami. So, who's your little friend?"
Mokuba shied behind Yami.
"This is Mokuba, you might say he's a new addition to our family."
"The king must be so pleased to have such a cute little kid around to play with. I know the two of you come in here every year about this time, always looking but almost never buying anything."
"I'm sure he will be, he just came to live with us today. Our little brother, the one the king took from us, his birthday is next Friday and well we come here dreaming of what to get him. We want to buy but since…"
"Since you don't know where he is or what he likes you're afraid to get something."
"Yes, exactly."
"Well then what can I do for you today?"
"Well the antiques store next door just got a new shipment in that I'm dying to see and I figured he'd be bored in there so I was wondering if you'd look after him for me for a few minutes while I look around?"
"Certainly I'd be happy to."
Yami bent down to Mokuba's level. "Look, I want you to wait here, I'll be just next door and I'll be back before you know it, all right? You're perfectly safe, this is Sugoroku, he won't let anyone hurt you."
Mokuba sighed but nodded his head.
"Good boy." Yami said, ruffling his hair.
Mokuba looked around, saw a chair and sat down in it. He was still fascinated with all the toys and just looked them over the best he could from where he was sitting.
'That's odd, most children I've seen his age are running around jumping, tearing things off the shelves or at least looking around and touching them. This one almost seems afraid to do that. I wonder if it has something to do with Master Yami's comment on how I'd keep him safe.' "Mokuba, wasn't it?" Sugoroku asked.
Mokuba looked at him and nodded.
"Well, has anyone ever told you the story of the dark magician and the blue-eyes white dragon?"
Mokuba shook his head.
"Well it's said many centuries ago there lived a blue-eyes white dragon that was very lonely. Then there was the dark magician, the keeper of the land. His job was to keep the peace and protect the land from any and all evil that may appear. It's said that once an ancient evil, a warrior called the Chaos Sorcerer and his loyal servant the Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End started to slavishly ravage the town and many lives were lost and others destroyed. They say the people whose lives were destroyed by these monsters were helped to create new lives with the dark magician's help.
However, the fight was far from over and the Dark Magician was forced to call forth his girlfriend, the dark magician girl. Soon other's joined the fight. Their greatest allies were Magician's Valkyra and her Partner the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The battle raged on for years. Then the Chaos Sorcerer finally had all the power that he required to call forth his most powerful attack, the Dark Core. Magician's Valkyra finally had no choice but to call upon her most powerful weapon. She knew it would be dangerous but it was the only way. She called forth her Butterfly Dagger -Elma. Finally, the Chaos Sorcerer was destroyed. However, Magician's Valkyra did not survive, it was too much magic for her to handle even with the added strength lent to her by her partner. It wasn't enough to save her.
Everyone mourned the loss and believed that was the end but that was not the case as the Chaos Emperor Dragon had not been destroyed everyone tried but all failed to defeat the powerful beast. Soon no one had the energy left in which to fight; they believed all hope was lost. But the dark magician refused to give up! He continued to fight though it was a losing battle. With a loud cry out the Dark Magician cried out for help. Soon a mighty beast appeared; it was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He, though could not talk, was able to communicate with the Dark Magician and offered his help. Seeing as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the Chaos Emperor Dragon had equal attack strength the Dark Magician offered to fight by his side, though his power was drained considerably from the fight. He felt it would give them just enough power, however sensing this he called forth a beast of his own ally. The Legendary Mythic Dragon! Now the two combined had more than enough to take one the Blue-Eyes and the Dark Magician. The Dark Magician girl seeing this realized they stood no chance she used up the last of her power as well as her life force to summon two more Blue-Eyes White Dragons' with the last of her remaining power she transformed them into the hero of Legend a Warrior known as the Dragon Master Knight. With this new power, they were very powerful but still needed more in order to take him down! The Red-Eyes Black Dragon gave his power and life force energy to them as well giving them the boast that they needed to take this new Creature down!
They soon succeeded, but paid a heavy price for their victory. The two blue eyes that were summoned to help soon returned to their world. The Dark Magician and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon were mourning the loss of those who sacrificed their lives so that others may live soon heard an odd noise. When they went to investigate some cruel men were torturing a baby dragon, seeing as how his mother had been killed while trying to protect it from the Chaos Emperor Dragon which was in reality the baby dragon's father. They did not, could not blame such and innocent for the actions of another and punished the cruel people who did. They took the baby dragon to a land far away from the people of this land to a mythical kingdom in the mountains where it's said they lived happily together as a family. The kingdom in which so much had been sacrificed soon recovered and eventually began to flourish. Once every year people pay homage or respect to the mountain as a way to honor those lost in the battle. You see this is the very town in which the battle took place. It's said that before they left one special person was chosen by the Dark Magician to lead the people of this land back to its former glory. They also say a special object the Millennium Rod was given to him and if danger should show up and they are needed it's said that they will come to help."
Mokuba was crying.
"Hey it's alright little one, here let me show you something." Sugoroku said, standing up and offering his hand. Mokuba was a little hesitant but got up and took it; he was then taken to the front display window. Sugoroku then pulled out 2 plushies. "This is the Dark Magician and this is the Blue-Eyes white Dragon."
Mokuba was entranced by both of them.
"Do you want to hold them?"
'Want to yeah, but I'd better not.' Mokuba shook his head just slightly.
Sugoroku took that to mean that he was afraid to. He thought about pushing them towards him and making him but thought better of it. He put them back and went back up front where he started to tell Mokuba another story.
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
When Yami returned he too was surprised to see Mokuba just sitting there. The store was big and even the upstairs had toys. The man had an addition in the very back for his home. So Yami assumed the kid would still be looking the place over, not just sitting listening to a story.
"Did you have a nice time?" Yami asked Mokuba.
Mokuba nodded his head yes and walked closer to him.
'Damn I wish now I hadn't spent so much at the antiques store. I don't think I'll have enough to get the kid a toy and pay the man for the horse. I wish they didn't charge so much to deliver and I know Seto's going to kill me for buying so much.'
Sugoroku went and found a baby dragon plushie and held it out to Mokuba. Mokuba shook his head and he couldn't take a chance of hurting it. Though it kind of looked like it was just a soft toy like his doll but he didn't want to chance it. Yami was surprised too.
"Mokuba, didn't you look around and see the toys?"
Mokuba had looked up when he called his name but looked down and away at the question.
"I wondered the same thing. But just as you left, he sat down and looked from there. I showed him the plushies of the Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon but he refused to hold them as well. I've never seen a child turn down a toy before. Most of the children I've seen his age want to hold them all. But he seems almost frightened to even hold one."
'Well mister you get caught holding one then have to stay tied to the whipping tree for a few hours in a hot sun after being beaten for playing with them and you tell me how willing you are to hold one.' Mokuba thought.
"Well I spent all but just what I needed for the blacksmith or I'd get him one."
'You would, why?'
Yami caught the strange look but couldn't understand it. He bent down and pulled Mokuba closer to him. "What's wrong? I promise I'll make it up to you and get you one later."
Mokuba bit his lip, afraid to ask.
"Come on, please tell me what's wrong. Are you mad that I can't get one? Why were you sitting here and not looking around? That's why I left you here so you could look around."
'Great I'm already in trouble.' Mokuba thought.
Yami was majorly confused now. He stood up and took Mokuba over to a chair. "Now I know you for some reason, you don't want to talk to me much, but I want you to talk to me. Let's start with the simple one." Yami took the baby dragon toy and placed it in Mokuba's lap.
His hands quickly went behind his back. 'I'm not falling for this trick again.'
Yami was now in total confusion. He lifted Mokuba's chin to look at him. "Please tell me what's wrong."
Mokuba sighed closing his eyes. 'Obviously he won't let up till I tell him and give him a reason, it's a matter of time till he ends up beating me or punishing me, like my stepmother did, I'm sure.' "I-I w-was playing with N-Noah's a-a-and A-Asana's t-toys o-o-one d-day. N-No o-one w-was s-supposed t-to b-be h-home f-for h-hours, I-I f-finished m-my c-chores f-f-for the d-day a-and I w-was m-making the b-beds a-and w-was playing w-with t-them a-as I p-put t-them on Asana's b-bed a-and w-when I f-finished I w-went a-and s-started t-to d-do N-Noah's. N-Noah c-caught m-me."
"And I'll take it that was bad. Why didn't you just put them back and play with your own?" Yami asked.
Mokuba looked away but didn't answer. But he did decide to continue. "T-they t-told m-my s-step-m-mother about it. I a-also p-put Asana's t-toys I-in the w-wrong o-order on the b-bed."
"So, they're not in the same order as she had them, so what." Yami said as if it were nothing.
Mokuba looked at him horrified that he could even say such a thing! Yami couldn't understand why he looked so upset over that. So, they weren't in a certain order. He didn't see a big deal with it.
Mokuba could clearly see he didn't understand. "I w-was…"
"What? Tell me? What horrible punishment could you possibly deserve for something so simple?"
Mokuba was doing his best but not succeeding in avoiding crying and said, "I w-w-was b-b-beaten w-w-with a-a b-b-belt a-and n-n-no f-f-food t-till b-b-breakfast."
"Wait, breakfast? So no lunch or dinner, at all?"
Mokuba shook his head no. "I h-had t-to s-serve t-t-them l-lunch a-and l-later d-dinner. B-but t-they w-w-were s-still a-angry, t-the n-next d-day s-so I d-didn't g-get m-much b-breakfast t-toast t-that's all. I-I w-was I-in M-M-Marine's r-r-room c-cleaning u-up w-when I- s-saw h-her f-fancy d-doll l-laying o-on the f-floor. I-I p-picked I-it u-up a-and s-straightened I-it u-up a-and w-was f-fixing I-it u-up o-on the chair w-when she came h-home a-and s-said I-w-was h-hurting I-it."
"Did you protest and tell them what you were doing? It doesn't sound like you were doing anything wrong to me."
Mokuba looked at him in surprise. "Y-you d-don't?"
Yami scooted closer and hugged him. "No I don't."
Mokuba sighed and leaned against him.
"Will you tell me what happened next?"
"T-they w-were m-majorly u-upset a-and…"
"And what, I want you to tell me." Yami said, hugging him. Mokuba now felt the same comfort and security he felt around Seto. But that didn't mean he didn't still think Yami might turn on him and go back to being mean like before.
"I-I w-was t-taken o-out s-side a-and I-it w-was m-my f-first t-t-time o-on t-t-the w-whipping t-tree."
"What's a whipping tree?" Yami asked.
"I-It's t-two t-trees a-a f-few f-feet a-apart. I-I'm t-tied b-between t-them." Mokuba said he left it at that hoping he wouldn't have to explain.
Sugoroku was the one who asked. He knew of the family and had seen the whip. He'd never seen Mokuba though. "It's a huge long thick whip, right? Is that the one they used?"
Mokuba just nodded, crying.
Yami squeezed him tight. "What kind of monsters are these people who beat a child that severely for something so immaterial?" Then suddenly something Mokuba had said hit him. "Wait you said the first time, you mean this happened more than once?"
Mokuba nodded. "T-the l-last t-time I-it h-happen S-Seto a-asked m-me t-to s-stay a-and I-I g-got I-into t-trouble. N-no f-food a-and a l-little w-whip w-with t-three s-strips. S-Seto t-treated m-me b-but t-the n-next d-day N-Noah k-k-kept f-finding w-ways t-to g-get m-me I-in t-to t-trouble. T-tipping m-me a-at b-break f-fast a-and m-making m-me b-break p-plates, t-then l-lunch h-he s-scared m-me a-and I b-broke m-more p-plates t-this t-time w-with food. I w-was t-tied a-and l-left o-on t-the w-whipping t-tree. I-I d-don't k-know h-how l-long b-but w-when I w-woke u-up I w-was w-with S-Seto a-and R-Ryo."
Sugoroku decided to ask the question he refused to answer once before but in a different way since he had a feeling he knew the answer. "Mokuba do you have any toys of your own?"
Mokuba finally shook his head no.
"Why were you so terrified when Master Yami placed the toy in your lap?" Sugoroku asked.
"N-Noah d-did t-that w-when I w-was y-younger. I-I t-took I-it…"
"Let me guess he said you stole it from him and you got into trouble for it." Yami asked.
Mokuba looked up at him. "H-how d-did y-you k-know."
"From what I've heard so far, just a guess. Is that the reason your back is wrapped up? Seto or Ryo put it on."
Mokuba nodded his head.
Yami hugged him. "Don't you worry kiddo, you will never be mistreated like that again! Seto and I will both make sure of it!"
Mokuba sighed and cuddled closer.