Atem fanned through the magazine for the umpteenth time, gazing down at the glossy pages and taking in Mokuba's striking features.

They did look…incredibly similar.

Turning the page, Atem reached his favorite photo, and he glanced at it with a longing sigh, trailing his finger down Kaiba's face. He was gazing sharply into the camera while sitting gracefully on a white bench in a garden. A small smirk was sitting on his beautiful lips and Mokuba had his arm thrown around his older brother's shoulders, smiling boyishly with his long black hair cascading down his back.

Rolling over onto his back, Atem draped the magazine over his face, inhaling deeply and wishing he could recreate Kaiba's scent in his mind.

The seaweed sack Joey brought down was filled with everything he could ever want; it was almost as if Kaiba had read his mind and sent him a gift for every single thing he had missed about him.

There was a dark suit, paired with a matching tie, another shiny belt, and a crystal watch. He had gazed at it endlessly, watching the minute hands tick by, wondering how Kaiba had managed to make it work underwater until he grew frustrated and gave up.

In the stack of books, he'd also found a personal journal filled with love poems Kaiba had written for him, but his Japanese was rusty, so he couldn't read it.

Determined, Atem had been slowly translating them into Merspeak with the help of Mai and Anzu, day by day, moon by moon.
It really helped pass the time.

The amount of jewelry Kaiba sent was also incredible.

There were various necklaces, earrings, rings, strange pairs of plain metal cuffs, and golden armbands that rivaled the beauty of the ones he'd received from his parents.

He had hidden the stash inside his Treasury, finding it helped to wake up with excitement at every moon to pick out something new and beautiful to wear that would go along well with his usual attire without raising eyebrows.

Pressing a hand tightly to his chest, Atem let out another heartbroken sigh.

This was fine. He could survive like this.

He missed Kaiba so much, his entire body ached, and he had to wonder what Kaiba was doing now….

Kaiba was tight-lipped, frowning with his legs crossed, sitting across from a well-dressed man at a restaurant table, hating every minute of their "date".

The man was talking about something banal, mentioning his children heavily throughout the conversation, and Kaiba's attention was straying.

Not only was he uncomfortable in the setting, the sour scent of singed flesh was triggering his gag reflex every time a waiter walked by with a steaming plate of fish.

He had explicitly mentioned in the matchmaking profile that he couldn't stand being near cooked fish, and yet he had been placed at this restaurant. They had been given a private dining booth, but he could still smell it through the walls.

Also, something annoying was tugging at his chest, and he couldn't figure out what it was to make it go away. It felt as if someone was…shouting his name from afar, but it was quiet inside the restaurant.

"...What about you?" His date asked keenly, noticing that Kaiba was no longer mentally present. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not feeling well," Kaiba said stiffly, tossing his napkin down on the table and standing up quickly. "The smell of the fish makes me sick. Let's never see each other again."

The man's mouth dropped open, and he reached his hand out for a nervous shake, "W-Wait, please. I'm sorry. I—"

"Don't touch me," Kaiba responded viciously, and he stalked out of the restaurant, intent on completing a long session of meditation underwater. This matchmaking shit was setting him off every time he met someone new, and it didn't help that the previous woman he'd had dinner with had left a bad comment with the matchmaker.

He was dating down, being set up with losers who were at the end of their rope, and he was being forced to listen to their woes over a meal. They were practically un-datable people, with needy children from previous marriages, or they were carrying a ton of emotional baggage from a previous spouse.

I guess I fall into the second category, Kaiba thought ruthlessly, slipping the steel cuffs off his arms while he walked. He had emotional baggage. The only thing keeping him sane was the fact that he'd finally managed to block off other people's thoughts with the steel armbands.

The silence in his own head was golden, but he had grown to miss the moments of intense clarity that gave him an upper hand, so he only wore the cuffs on dates to avoid hearing harsh criticisms about himself and his perpetual singleness.

Passing by a convenience store, he saw an old woman with long white hair sitting on the bench beside the bike racks, hanging her head in her hands, quietly sobbing.

Shaking his head, Kaiba looked away pointedly and continued on his way.

He was surrounded by misery. What else was new?

Quickening his pace, Kaiba kept his eyes nailed to the dark sky above him, feeling an intense longing to be submerged in still, ocean water.

Mai stopped singing and leaned against the rock, giving Seth a demure smile.

"I think I got him," she said confidently, and Seth said nothing, giving her an emotionless stare. He would believe it when Seto showed up.

"…And I can totally believe you're both related," Mai muttered under her breath. "I'm leaving. I gave you what you wanted, now where is it?"

"Here," Seth said stiffly, holding his fist out and dropping the lipstick tube into her outstretched hand. "It's half-used, but I found it dry."

"Good enough for me!" Mai said sweetly, snatching it up quickly and sinking beneath the water with a wave. "Don't call me again! This was a favor for Atem, not for you!"

"Whatever," Seth muttered, propping himself up on the rock again and folding his arms nervously across his chest as Mai disappeared with a soft splash.

He was growing increasingly more worried as the days passed with no Seto in sight. The medicines would only be fresh if they were dried within the week, and they had been hanging in the cave for five days now, untouched.

Sighing, he leaned against the rock and let a wave wash up to his waist, sending a warm shiver up his spine. The water here was so nice…Seto chose a really nice patch of clean water, did he know that? It was so secluded that even the fish underneath were miles away.

How nice it must be to have money, Seth thought forlornly, gazing up at the orange sky which was growing darker by the minute.

Footsteps pattered across the beach, and he whipped his head around. A blocky figure was carrying something in his arms, and he was moving steadily down the boardwalk, running down from the house on the hill.

Dipping his head down nervously, Seth slid off the rock and hid his lower half just in case it wasn't Seto because he had a feeling it wasn't.

Just as he'd thought, a man wearing a black suit strode steadily towards the beach, shouting at him in his mind.

Master Kaiba! Aren't you supposed to be at dinner?
Why are you in the water at this hour? Get out before you catch a cold!
I will tell Mokuba about this, don't think I won't!

Oh, damn! Seth thought nervously, hastily submerging himself completely and hiding behind the rock, his heart pounding at the thought of being discovered.

But…the old man had called him 'master Kaiba'…so he must know Seto. He was also using thoughts to speak. That wasn't normal human behavior, was it?

On the road above the beach, Kaiba slammed the car door shut and raced to the edge of the cliff, gazing down and seeing Isono standing by the large rock, holding a towel furiously at his side, kicking the sand.

Oh, fuck, someone is in the water pissing him off, Kaiba thought anxiously, and he hopped over the metal railing and nimbly climbed down the rocky sidewall using the sliding technique Joey and Tristan had taught him.

He landed softly on his feet and called out to Isono.

"Hey! Who is it?" he asked, racing to the water's edge and seeing his manservant turn to give him an incredulous look.

"Wh—it wasn't you?" Isono gasped, and Kaiba blinked, instantly realizing Seth was probably waiting for him behind the rock.

"No. I was at the fucking dinner," Kaiba said slowly, pointing back at the house. "Go back inside. I don't need you out here."

"I saw someone!" Isono insisted, pressing the towel against Kaiba's chest and shaking his head. "He looked very much like you."

"You're going senile, old man. Leave!" Kaiba hissed, giving Isono a rough shove towards the house. "Don't you have a diaper to change or something?"

Isono threw him an exasperated look and walked back towards the house, muttering angrily to himself.

Kaiba waited until Isono was safely back inside the house before he slowly inched the tie off from around his neck, calling out loudly, "Who's there?!"

Me, you idiot! Seth replied furiously, still pinned anxiously against the rock. Is he gone? You let your servants order you around like that?

"It's not a recent development," Kaiba muttered, tossing his shirt aside and stepping out of his shoes, making sure to leave them atop the rock where they would safely be dry. "What are you doing here? You have a message for me?"

Seth bobbed his head above water and swam tentatively closer, watching his twin casually disrobe and toss a shiny belt aside.

"You got the call? Mai's call?" Seth asked nervously, thinking he would never doubt another mermaid's song again. "I have medicine for you. You haven't been by here for a week. They're going stale."

"What?" Kaiba snapped, walking towards the water's edge and letting a hot wave lap at his ankles. He sat down slowly with a sigh and closed his eyes, feeling his body heat up.
Stepping into a warm wave was better than a hot bath any day.

"Medicine, for your sickness, brother," Seth insisted, hoisting himself up on the small rocks again and pointing at the crevice beneath the water. "I hope you don't mind. I've made some adjustments to your delivery system down below."

Adjustments? Kaiba blinked, and rushed into the water with a practiced dive, elbowing Seth aside as he peered into the rock, surprised to see Seth had carved two new channels into it, one for the scales and the other for a strange pouch hanging from a rusting pole, and a third that was empty.

How the fuck? Kaiba reeled, running his hand along the smooth wall of the rock, his respect and envy for Seth rising. How did you fucking do this?

Same way you did, Seth answered, raising his eyebrows playfully. Now, will you take the medicine?

Yeah, only if you stop calling me 'brother' unironically, Kaiba shot back, reaching out to untie the mesh pouch from the rusty pole, his skin crawling at the amount of dirt and algae clinging to it.

Where the hell did this rusty-ass pole come from?! It was so fucking gross.

Raising his head above water, Kaiba waded to shore and sat down waist-deep in the sand, seeing that a note had been attached to the pouch, and it was woven from a different kind of kelp. The seaweed sacks from Atem's people were flimsier, and had gaps, but this pouch was so tightly woven, it was almost cloth-like.

"Do you like it?" Seth asked nervously, rolling onto the sand beside his twin and staring at Seto's pale hands inspecting his handiwork with a keen eye. "I'm sure you could make one that's better."

Kaiba wasn't listening.
He was focused on the note, his skin crawling when he realized he could read it at a glance, but they were nonsensical shapes and odd squiggles.
What the hell was this language?!
He stared at the strange shapes and lines, his own voice echoing in his head while he read, his chest to growing so tight with disbelief, every breath was painful.

"My dearest brother,

Please take this for your shore sickness.
Stop being so stubborn and accept my help.

Dry these under the sun and crumble them. Wet them again with water and make a paste. Separate into even sections and take 2 at every sunrise, 3 every evening, 5 at a third-quarter and 2 again at waxing crescent. I'll bring more if you promise to show your face more often.

And drink more water for Helios's sake, Seto, you're turning gray."

"What's wrong?" Seth asked, hating the silence that filled the air. "Speak!"

"'My dearest brother'?!" Kaiba detached the note and waved it at Seth with a sneer. "Stop it with this nonsense. We're not related."

"Glad you can still read," Seth answered amicably, scooping water from an oncoming wave and splashing it aimlessly on his own chest. "I like the strip of water you own here. It's very clean and warm. Hard to find secluded water like this since humans won the wars."

Again, Kaiba wasn't listening.
He was fascinated with the note, running his fingers over the soft sheet of kelp. It looked like it had been processed, dyed, and each word was inked painstakingly with a needle.

"Hey." Seth frowned, snapping his fingers irritably. "Don't ignore me while I'm sitting right here."

"Will this work?" Kaiba asked, gripping the mesh pouch with a spark of hope. "I'll stop feeling like shit? And you think I'm turning grey?!"

"It'll help stave off some of the effects, yes," Seth answered, relieved that Kaiba had finally decided to accept his help. "If you ever have trouble breathing, take one. Keep it with you at all times after you've dried them."

Kaiba held the sack up to the darkening sky, wrinkling his nose in disgust. The contents were squishy. What was this, more slugs?

"It's a type of anemone," Seth answered readily, waving his tail against an oncoming wave. "Don't squeeze or pop them. They need to dry fully."

"Gross." Kaiba strung the sack to one of the belt loops on his slacks so they'd stay submerged.

"Don't insult them!" Seth snapped, his blue eyes narrowed at his twin threateningly. "They gave up their life so you could be better. Harvesting them was difficult and…expensive. Be grateful I still care, unlike that Warrior Mahad from the Kingdom of Muran."

"I see you've met my favorite asshole." Kaiba smiled, pleased to discover that Seth also despised Mahad. "He's a stuck-up piece of shit, isn't he?"

"Something like that," Seth replied viciously, feeling a rush of kinship towards Kaiba. "Glad to know you have him delivering garbage to shore every week."

Kaiba laughed gleefully and crossed his legs in the water, seeing Seth mirror his laugh and gaze out across the horizon.

This felt nice.
They were…bonding.

They sat together in comfortable silence before Kaiba broke it with more of his burning questions.

"Why are the anemones expensive?" the CEO asked slowly, feeling the mesh sack bob in the water as another wave came rushing around his waist. "And you wouldn't say they're expensive…unless you're broke."

Seth blinked rapidly and said nothing, his ears burning as he wondered how he could break the horrible news to Seto.

Kaiba felt the air grow cold and he gave his twin a glare.

"Hey, speak. And tell the goddamn truth."

Seth lowered his head nervously, his tears welling behind his lids as he hugged his fins to his chest, trying to find the right words.
How did one gently say, 'war bankrupted us and killed our entire family'?

Kaiba sighed and leaned back into the water, gazing up at the darkening indigo sky.

"You're broke. I got it," he said softly, regretting poking fun at the merman. "Thanks for the meds."

"No, it's not just that," Seth said in a furious rush. "If money was our only problem, don't you think we would've solved it by now?"

"Then what is it?" Kaiba asked testily, his eyelid twitching with impatience. "Get to the damn point or give me an itemized list."

"The colony is completely destroyed," Seth replied shakily, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "A large sunken warship crushed our resort dwellings, and those were our biggest attractions. Everyone has either relocated or died. The only people left are Elders who are too stubborn to move, and many girls come by asking me to marry into their families, but that would mean…abandoning our home, forever!"

"Then rebuild," Kaiba said dryly, wondering what the hell 'resort dwellings' were. "Give me a map. I'll move the ship for you. Get people to move back in."

Seth let out a bark of mirthless laughter, his shoulders shaking as he tried to contain himself, but he couldn't stop laughing. Typical Seto, always giving simple solutions to difficult problems.

"Stop laughing, I'm fucking serious!" Kaiba protested, slightly offended. "And what the hell are resort dwellings?"

"Exactly what they sound like, brother," Seth said earnestly, and he received a sharp glare in return.

"I said don't call me that," Kaiba snapped, but Seth talked over him, looking out over the water with misty eyes while he reminisced.

"People from all over the ocean would flock to our kingdom to stay in one of our resorts," Seth said sadly, biting back tears. "We were known for the light we receive from the sun god, Helios. On summer afternoons, strips of sunlight would dance across the surface of our kingdom…and it was…beautiful. That's who we are. It defined us. It made us one of the most successful kingdoms on this side of the hemisphere."

There was another tense silence, and Kaiba felt a strange tug in his chest. Great. More fairy tales.

"It's our history, Seto! Your history!" Seth shouted, losing his composure. "It's not fairy tales. We are rulers of this dead kingdom, and this is why I've refused to abandon it. Our parents would've wanted us to keep it. I've had hope thinking I'd find you alive, and I did! Now you're sitting here, dismissing me, while I'm trying to find a solution!"

Kaiba nodded stiffly, taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"You should be proud. We are Sons of Light, from the Kingdom of Helios. Remember that," Seth said coldly, squaring his shoulders and turning away from Kaiba to hide the tears that were streaming unwittingly down his face.

It was hard having this conversation with Seto, who seemed to have forgotten everything about their home.

"Sure…" Kaiba said uncertainly, staring at Seth's long brown hair which was beginning to dry.

He stared out across the ocean, and a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"Wait…" Kaiba breathed, stiffening with excitement. "The colony is close enough to get…sun? That means you're close by, aren't you?!"

"Yes, genius." Seth palmed the tears off his face with a determined grimace. "The whole appeal was that we are near the surface. We had an import-export business for Human Artifacts too, and that was before it was banned by the Kingdom of Muran. Now Human Artifacts are extremely expensive due to the ban. An unbroken glass jar with a lid goes for five emeralds now. Ridiculous."

"I get it. Atem's family really like being buzzkills," Kaiba said, sitting up energetically in the water, filled with renewed excitement. "Get Atem to un-ban human shit. I'll send you anything you could possibly want. Start the business up again. It'll bring people back."

Seth stared numbly at Kaiba and shook his head. It wasn't that easy….
Perhaps they could lift the ban on certain items, but they had to be careful. Distrust regarding humans and their technology was still high.

"And you're near the surface, which means I can get rid of trash," Kaiba said firmly, nodding. "I did it for Atem's 'hemisphere', so I can do it for yours."

"…You did?" Seth breathed, unable to believe his ears. "Those metal ships were yours? The ones picking up trash from Atem's Hemisphere? Word of a human doing the merking's bidding traveled far and wide!"

"Good to know I'm great for his PR," Kaiba muttered under his breath, enjoying the wonderful spark of inspiration he hadn't felt in a long time. "Move people out of the colony. You said they're old, right? Tell them they can come back after you've remodeled."

Seth sat up quickly, reaching forward to grasp Kaiba's hands in his, breathless with gratitude and excitement.

"Yes, let me give you the map!" He cried, and Kaiba barely had time to blink before he saw a flash of an oncoming vision.

Sun was streaming in through murky waters, casting bits of light onto crumbling stone caves. All of the openings were covered with black seaweed planted intentionally on either side, and hunks of rusted metal lay strewn everywhere. A propeller was sticking halfway out of the sand, and against it lay a giant pile of human clothes, tin cans, and empty sea rations.

An exposed hull of a ship loomed before him, covered in algae and kelp. The name of the vessel was violently scratched out from the side, and Kaiba caught a glimpse of broken furniture in the sunken ship before he was pulled out of the vision, and Seth was gazing nervously into his face.

"H-Holy shit," Kaiba whispered, a horrible wave of nausea rising in his chest, threatening to consume him. Atem's colony was stunningly beautiful, but this…this was some third-world country shit.
People still lived there? It looked like a garbage heap.

"Seto?" Seth's concerned voice sounded far away.

No doubt it was Gozaburo's doing. He could easily find out what ship had sunken there if he had coordinates instead of a fucking vision as a map.

"Coordinates?" Seth repeated, giving Seto's shoulders a rough shake. "Easily done. I'll tell you the numbers. Snap out of it. Ready?"

"Yeah…" Kaiba breathed, listening to Seth rattle off a series of numbers and letters.

If this was real, this meant…he had something waiting for him underwater, something that wasn't just Atem.
There was a place for him.
This also explained why he felt so fucking out of place everywhere in his life.
Maybe this also explained why he always dressed himself up until he was almost uncomfortable in his own skin.

Or…this was all wishful thinking and lies told by a mythical creature sharing his face?

Either way, some ocean clean-up was in order.

"Seto!" Seth gave Kaiba's hand a painful squeeze. "Come back. The vision wasn't that long. Don't live inside your head."

"I got it…I got it," Kaiba said numbly, unconsciously giving Seth's hand a squeeze in return. "I'll throw together a team tomorrow morning. I'll give you a week to move people, okay? Then I'm coming down there with metal arms and choppers to pick up the ship, and when that happens, no one can stop me."

"Noted," Seth said, nodding vigorously. "Thankfully, Mana gave me an offer that was hard to refuse. I'll tell her I've changed my mind. I think she likes me enough to Mate with me."

Kaiba let out a bark of laughter and gave his twin a withering look.

"Don't bother," Kaiba scoffed, tapping the beaded bracelets from Atem which he always wore on his wrist. "I've seen her give Mahad lovey-dovey eyes through Atem's memories. She likes him and will probably sleep with you for fun to pass the time."

"Oh," Seth's expression darkened rapidly. "Now I want to kill Mahad."

"Ha!" Kaiba grinned, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Let me know if you're successful."

Seth sighed and shook his head, looking very determined. "I'll leave you now then, brother," he said seriously. "I better start convincing the Elders to move if we only have seven sunlit days."

"We're not related," Kaiba shot back aimlessly. "Unless you want to give me a blood sample right now. And maybe a piece of hair."

"Is that what will make you believe me?" Seth cried, edging closer towards deeper waters. "Fine! Take my blood and hair! I'm tired of you arguing with me about it."

"Yeah?" Kaiba's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Be right back."

He rose out of the water and raced across the beach back to the house, his heart thundering with joy.
Now this was an exciting new project.
Even if the long-haired merman wasn't his brother, it didn't matter.
He now had a reason to return to the lab.
This was also his chance to rebuild a colony underwater.
Repairing the damage done from Gozaburo was something he always did with vicious glee. Knowing that he was reversing every little evil thing that old man had done always helped him sleep at night.

Seth leaned back against an oncoming wave and sighed, staring after Kaiba's tall form with an air of amusement.

Seto's enthusiasm was cute.

Mahad floated in through the doors of the Medic's chambers, waiting to be noticed while she hustled and bustled around sick merpeople resting in pods and beds.

"Ah! Warrior Mahad!" the nurse called, waving at him happily. "Welcome. How may we service you today?"

"Warrior Mahad!" The medic cried, zoomed through the water to grab his hands, and Mahad felt his body heat up strangely as she rapidly examined his vitals.

"…No-No, it's not for me," he said hastily, retracting his hands with a grateful nod. "One of my…men…on shore is suffering a bit of sickness. Do we have anything that might help?"

"Oh, of course. What stage of illness is he in?" she asked, frowning deeply. "Is he vomiting?"

"I'm not sure," Mahad lied, feeling his tongue swell badly with guilt. "Anything helps."

"Well," the medic swam to the back of the room and pried open the shell cabinet filled with various jars and live specimens. "I'll make you something for the last stage of illness. That's usually the best. You should really tell him to come back down if it gets worse!"

"Yes, but," Mahad hesitated and went through with a full lie. "…You know how it is. Young, energetic men. They think they're invincible these days."

"Like King Atem?" The nurse added unhelpfully, suppressing a snicker that was echoed by the women in neighboring beds.

"Don't speak ill of our king," Mahad said firmly, turning to leave. "He really is invincible."

"Of course, Warrior Mahad," The medic gave him a sweet smile and bobbed her head in a polite bow. "Thank you for your service."

Mahad let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and nodded stiffly, swimming out the door with his fists clenched.

He could help Seth by giving Kaiba more medicine.
Those anemones were difficult to harvest, he knew that much.

Hopefully, his conscience could rest easy knowing he tried to help a lost warrior on land in some way, even if that man was as despicable as Kaiba.

Author's note:

Seto and Seth bonding time!
Mahad is sneaky-sneaky!
Atem is sads but is happy with all the presents from Kaiba!

Edited by taedae

Stay safe out there and keep your Corona-away spray nearby!

love,
Ugli