Mana floated happily in front of the throne, smiling at everyone after giving Atem's hand a warm squeeze.
"Well? What is it?" Isis asked, adjusting her scarf in her hair. "Hurry and tell us. We have places to be."
"Prince Seth has accepted my offer!" Mana squealed happily, doing a pretty twirl in the water. "Isn't that great, Atem?!"
"The offer of…moving their Elders into our dwellings?" Mahad asked, seeing Solomon, Rishid, and Shadi shift uncomfortably in silence.
"Yes," Mana said firmly, giving Mahad a steely look. "We will give them comfortable homes and priority access to our Medic at all times. Atem?"
Atem sighed and waved his hand airily across his nose. "We have room, so I don't see why not. But Seth is not going to serve in my court. I don't want him as an advisor."
"Well, that's the problem," Solomon said gently. "If we are absorbing another colony, they need a voice. He is their—"
"I don't want to see him!" Atem snapped, his rage flaring suddenly. "He reminds me too much of Kaiba. I approve of the merge. Next topic."
Mana glanced frantically between Atem and Solomon, shaking her head nervously.
"He said it was more of a…temporary arrangement. He won't be moving. Only his people are coming here. Their Medic will share a ward with ours for the time being."
"How strange," Mahad said, and he had an inkling of why that would be. "He wants to live alone in his abandoned colony?"
"Yes," Mana said, looking disappointed. "We won't be seeing much of him. His messenger said he would check in with us occasionally using other messengers."
"How formal. I like it," Atem said callously, earning a sharp look from Solomon.
The old merman spoke up, raising his staff in agreement. "As long as his Elders have a safe place to stay, everything should be fine. Send him a message saying we welcome them with open arms."
"Done!" Mana clapped her hands gleefully and zoomed out of the throne room, leaving a tense silence behind her.
Atem sighed and leaned back into the throne, hating everything.
The kingdom could sink tomorrow, and he couldn't care less.
All he wanted to do was be left alone so he could think about Kaiba and bury himself into the diamond memories Kaiba made for him.
It was the only thing keeping him sane.
Kaiba was going insane.
The baby would crawl from one end of the room to the other, babbling nonsensically at him and occasionally throwing toys around for seemingly no reason.
Isono was napping lightly on the couch across the room, and Kaiba propped his head up on his hand, wishing he could also close his eyes, but he had to keep them nailed on the child, as per Mokuba's demands.
This morning, he had walked into the lobby at headquarters to put together a team for a dive, expecting to be treated normally, but instead, everyone had rushed to greet him.
"How have you been, Mr. Kaiba?"
"You look well, Mr. Kaiba!"
"Would you like to grab a coffee with my daughter, Mr. Kaiba?"
Having had enough, he rushed to the elevators, only to discover that the codes had been changed.
"Wait! Mr. Kaiba…! Mokuba has changed the sensor and the code to the door," a woman at the front desk rushed to his side, pink the face. "I'll call him down."
Stunned, Kaiba had been forced to stand like a stranger in his own lobby while he waited for his younger brother to descend from the top floor.
After what seemed like an eternity, Mokuba had rushed out of the elevator looking excited.
"Seto! What's up?"
"What's up?" Kaiba seethed, remembering he had been deeply shaken by new furniture around him. "Where did you get these couches?"
"Online?" Mokuba had answered him plainly with a shrug, gesturing for them to step inside the elevator. "Again, what's up? I thought you didn't want to come back around here anymore."
"I never said that," Kaiba said, and he began to feel a slight headache coming on the higher they rose. "I'm here to assemble a team for an underwater dive to retrieve remains of a warship from Gozaburo's old fleet."
Mokuba had agreed readily without a fuss, but he had a condition.
"I'll give you a team with no budget cap, but you'll have to babysit Noah for me today until the weekend. We're getting busy, because a convention is happening downtown, and we're the main event."
And Kaiba had agreed without question, thinking it would be an easy task because there were supposedly two nannies, and Isono, but now as he was sitting on the floor atop the brightly colored playmats, he'd realized it was the farthest thing from easy.
Even though the two nannies were helpful, the baby somehow always needed something.
If it wasn't crying, it was shitting.
If it wasn't shitting, it was eating, and even when it was sleeping, there was a mad rush to clean, to prepare more milk, more clean pacifiers, bedding, diapers, and towels.
Kaiba also learned that the female nanny drove to headquarters every day to pick up breast milk from Ayame in the afternoon while Isono prepared lunch for everyone, which left the male nanny to watch over the infant if he woke up screaming for milk mid-nap.
Kaiba was there to relieve the male nanny, but it seemed no one slept at all.
Everyone lived on baby Noah's demanding schedule.
The male nanny did the baby's laundry with lightning speed, and only sat down to eat. Ayame usually returned several hours before dinner to feed the baby by breast again until Mokuba came home, and it was only then that the adults all sat down for a meal…provided that the peace and quiet wasn't shattered by shrill crying.
Groaning, Kaiba laid down on the mats, feeling his head spin with exhaustion.
Running a fucking company was easier than this.
At least that was something he mostly could do by himself.
Mokuba was probably having a grand old time sitting at his desk, enjoying a break from all the crying and diaper changing.
Rolling over onto his side, he watched as the baby crawled rapidly towards him, laughing excitedly.
Ugh, Kaiba thought dully, closing his eyes and feeling a tiny fist hit his face repeatedly. Please…. Stop….
The hitting paused and changed to grabbing.
His hair was being yanked out by the roots, and Kaiba's eyes watered.
The baby had toys, right? Why was he tugging at hair if there was a roomful of toys?!
Sitting up slowly, Kaiba untangled the baby's fist from his hair and glared at him, wrinkling his nose when the overpowering scent of powder mixed in with shit flooded his senses.
God…was it time for another diaper change? Already?!
"You…are horrible," Kaiba growled, giving the baby gentle bounce on his knee. "Why won't you let anyone sleep?"
The baby blinked his large eyes at him innocently and blew a tiny spit bubble out from the corner of his mouth.
Looking away with disgust, Kaia set the infant down on the floor and watched him crawl away with a shrieking laugh, going way too fast on all fours and running headfirst into the soft barrier lining the walls.
Kaiba watched incredulously as the baby rolled onto his side, his face contorting into displeasure as he opened his mouth to scream between hiccupping breaths, "Wa-Wa…. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Fuck! Kaiba roused himself to pick the baby up, feeling his eardrum split in two as the infant clung onto his shoulder, incessantly crying.
This was his fucking life now.
He had been absent for too long at the helm of Kaiba corporation, so Mokuba had fluidly taken over, kicking him out of his office and making him babysit!
Patting the screaming baby on the back, Kaiba watched as Isono slowly opened his eyes sleepily and rose to leave the room, dragging the blanket he'd been using behind him.
The door shut with a quiet clack!, and Kaiba's frustration rose to an all-time high.
No one was going to come in to relieve him of the screaming baby.
It was his shift.
Fuck. Everything.
Seth had better be thankful, because this was what it took to lift the sunken ship out of the water.
Seth heard a loud bang! in the distance and he jerked awake, deeply startled.
He heard yelling above water coupled with thoughts from humans shouting.
How deep are we going? Doesn't seem too deep.
Eek! My first dive with senpai! I'm so excited…!
Nervously darting around the room, Seth wondered if he had gotten the dates and times mixed up. Didn't Seto agree to meet him on land one last time before sending humans here?
Swimming out through a broken window, Seth stayed low in the water, seeing large groups of people wearing dark, bulky diving gear, taking instruction from one main diver in the middle, hovering above the debris with a camera.
Panicking, Seth backed away slowly and managed to swim around the large hull of the ship, thankful that no one was on the other side yet.
Zooming through the water at breakneck speed, Seth curled his fists at his sides and decided he would wait at Seto's shore to confront his brother about the timing.
He hadn't gotten the days wrong.
Seto's clean-up people had come early!
Thankfully, he had re-located everyone to Atem's colony just in the nick of time.
Risking a glance behind himself, Seth allowed himself to breathe a tight sigh of relief. The humans were a mere dot in the distance, and the ships that accompanied them were small blobs of shadows in the water.
Swiveling his head around to continue forward, Seth saw an unfamiliar mer-person swimming rapidly towards him, and he waved his arms to warn them away.
As the merperson got closer, Seth's stomach twisted in disdain when he realized it was…Warrior Mahad.
"Stop!" He cried, holding his hands up sternly. "Don't go any further! You're not welcome here!"
Mahad tried to quell the rapid pounding of his heart as he floated to a slow halt, panting breathlessly, trying not to gape at Seth. It was hard to get over the shock of the resemblance he bore towards Seto Kaiba, even though they had only met briefly once before.
Trying to keep his expression neutral, Mahad swept his gaze around water around them, protesting, "This isn't even your hemisphere! Why am I unwelcome? My fins are tired. I swam a long way to get here."
"Because…there are humans diving near my kingdom," Seth said angrily. "We'll be seen."
"Ah," Mahad folded his arms across his chest, giving Seth a knowing look. "Did you perhaps invite them to dive in your kingdom?"
This was a Kaiba-tactic for sure.
Kaiba had even cleaned up the hemisphere in Muran.
The humans could've come at Seto Kaiba's orders.
"Do you take me for a fool or an idiot?" Seth raged, his anger flaring. "They came without warning, otherwise I would've grabbed a weapon too, so I can hunt for food."
Mahad nodded slowly and sank to the bottom of the ocean floor, perching himself on a flat rock and gazing up at the sunlight streaking in from above, his tail aching from the journey.
"Now leave," Seth said stiffly. "I have somewhere to be."
"Yes, you're going to sit on Kaiba's Private Rock and wait to be seen there instead," Mahad said cleverly, and Seth's ears reddened with embarrassment.
I should help him instead of insulting him! Mahad realized, his blood running cold with guilt, and he made sure to keep his expression pleasant.
There was a tense silence as the two men appraised each other with cold glances.
"You're being run out of your home. I understand," Mahad said gently, giving Seth a sympathetic smile. "They're probably only interested in the shipwreck that landed on top of your colony. Come live in our palace until the humans leave. You're welcome in our kingdom."
"I don't need your pity," Seth growled, and his stomach also growled loudly in protest.
"Then…stay for one meal," Mahad said simply, rising from the ocean floor and dusting the sand off his fins. "Mana is quite fond of you."
"She's fond of you," Seth shot back shrewdly. "She thinks I'm good for Atem, and I beg to differ."
Mahad nodded, not really listening.
"One meal," The warrior said firmly, reaching his hand out for a friendly shake. "We're on the same side. Let's not fight."
Seth stared apprehensively at Mahad's outstretched hand before he reached out and shook it firmly.
"One meal," He said, dropping his hand quickly and glancing over his shoulder nervously. "Let's leave now."
Mahad agreed and swam ahead without waiting to see if Seth would follow. His chest was tight with conflicting emotions.
Seto Kaiba was insufferable, but Seth was humble and quite tolerable.
Perhaps helping Kaiba return to the ocean would be easier because of his twin brother.
Kaiba sat stiffly at a restaurant table across from a neatly dressed woman, wrinkling his nose as the waiter set a plate of steaming pasta in front of her.
It looks delicious! I wonder what he ordered…I couldn't hear him….
She nodded at Kaiba politely, placing her hands together, her mouth moving as her thoughts flowed out of her loudly.
He looks so youthful, my gosh I've hit the jackpot! I wonder if he dyes his hair!
Kaiba frowned and didn't move a muscle on his face.
He had decided to forgo wearing the steel cuffs, because these blind dates were getting repetitive and boring, to a point where the only kick he got out of it was listening to what people really thought about him.
A bowl of squash soup appeared in front of him and he kept his arms folded across his chest, trying to suppress a gag. This wasn't fish or meat, but the smell was making him sick.
"Anything else, sir? Ma'am?" The waiter bowed and stood beside their table, holding two bottles of wine out for them to inspect. "This is a subtle red…"
Kaiba calmly gazed into the waiter's face, listening to him panic on the inside.
I wish I memorized it a bit better…I hope this mother-and-son duo will give me a good rating after they leave. I really need that raise!
Disgusted, Kaiba leaned back into his seat, wondering why the hell the man thought this woman could possibly be his mother? She was younger than him by 5 years on her profile. Did she look old to the waiter?
"We'll take that one," she said sweetly, nodding at the wine in the waiter's hands. "What do you think, Mr. Kaiba?"
"Anything is fine," Kaiba said, barely able to hear himself speak over the surprised shout of the waiter in his mind.
WHAT! This is Mr. Kaiba?! Wait, this is not Mokuba Kaiba, which means this is…SETO KAIBA?! IS HE FOR REAL?! He looks younger my niece in college!
Who is his plastic surgeon? Man…I want to look that good when I'm 40….
Mildly annoyed, Kaiba turned to the gaping water who was unstopping the wine with a shaking hand and spoke to him.
"Are you finished?"
The waiter sloshed the wine messily into the glass, looking confused. "I-I'm sorry Mr. Kaiba, I'm nearly finished pouring."
"No, I meant, what makes you think I've had cosmetic surgery?" Kaiba asked coldly, watching the blood drain rapidly from the man's face and his date stifled a gasp.
"He didn't say anything, Mr. Kaiba, don't mind him," the woman said, waving her hand airily at him, trying to diffuse the tension in the air. "Thank you, leave the bottle!"
The waiter thunked the wine down clumsily onto the ice bucket on the table and rushed away, nearly tripping over himself as he went.
Kaiba glowered at him after he left, hearing the woman's thoughts floating through his mind.
Wow…that was ugly. I kind of want to leave now…
Tossing the napkin down onto the table, Kaiba slowly rose to his feet and bowed stiffly, barely ducking his head down to her level as he forced himself to be polite.
"I'm leaving. Thank you for your time." He said, and then he turned hurriedly towards the exit, hearing her stunned thoughts growing farther away the faster he walked.
Wh—What?! Is he psychic? Well, good riddance! At least he saved me some trouble, how embarrassing! The rumors about him are true.
Gritting his teeth, Kaiba strode out into the street and opted to go for a walk to cool off. That had been another disaster.
How many disasters had he sat through so far?
Kaiba counted 48. One meal a week, for 48 weeks.
Almost an entire year had passed in this meaningless way.
He had yet to make it through one dinner unscathed.
If the food wasn't putting him off, it was the smell of another person's food, and when it wasn't that, it was the person sitting across from him, annoyingly asking questions he didn't care to answer.
How long did Mokuba want him to keep this act up? Between these dinners and babysitting, Kaiba wasn't sure which was worse.
He was beginning to prefer babysitting.
Circling the block, Kaiba passed the familiar convenience store again, and he saw the woman with long white hair, once again sitting on the bench, hanging her head.
She's always being so fucking depressing, Kaiba thought darkly to himself, noticing that she was wearing the green employee apron belonging to the convenience store. Oh, she works in there. No wonder.
Sighing, Kaiba continued on his way, intent on ignoring her. He was almost at the end of the street when he heard a faint thought behind him.
He must've had a bad day at work, and now he's going out drinking.
Kaiba bit the tip of his tongue and stood on the street corner, watching the light turn red, listening to her narrate his every move.
He missed the light. Usually, he walks faster, so I guess he had a really really bad day. Can't be as bad as the days I've been having.
Cars slowly inched by as the light turned yellow and Kaiba decided to turn around and walk back to the convenience store, marching straight in through the sliding doors without looking at her once.
Oh fuck! I can control him with my mind! He needs to buy something.
Startled by her sudden vulgarity, he turned to glance at the bench, noticing that it was empty. A door slammed in the distance and she appeared behind the counter, looking haggard and exhausted.
"Welcome in," she said dully, not bothering to bow.
Kaiba took one look at her face and felt himself slip, his heart slowing to an incredulous pound in his chest as he gazed into her eyes.
She was amazingly beautiful, even under the cheap fluorescent lights. Her cheeks were lacking color, looking unhealthily sallow, and green circles hugged her puffy under eyes. Her pupils were a wonderful, baby blue, but they were deadened and dark, almost as if her soul was missing. Her hair was so incredibly long, it hung like a white sheet down to her hips, grazing the top of the counter while she stood there with her arms crossed, staring him in the silence.
"My mistake," Kaiba said evenly, his heart pounding so thickly inside his throat, he could barely breathe.
She blinked slowly at him once, her eyes widening steadily as she said nothing.
He tried to decipher her name scrawled in marker across her nametag, and he dared to stare for a second longer before he walked right back out the sliding doors, feeling unusually light-headed.
What was this feeling? Love?
It was very similar to what he felt for Atem, and that thought frightened him.
Fighting with himself, Kaiba raced across the street without caring if the light was red.
Something about her set him on fire.
I've always liked women, he thought furiously to himself, trying to calm the rapid pounding inside his chest. Atem was the exception, wasn't he?
Finding out her name was going to be hard because he couldn't read the careless handwriting on the tag. Now he had to wait a whole week until his next matchmaking date to walk by her again so it wouldn't be weird.
Seth kept the smile plastered on his face as Mana pulled him around and introduced him to everyone in the kingdom, from the chatty ladies at the salon to the elders in their walled-up dwellings.
"I would like to see Atem," he'd said multiple times, but had been politely ignored.
"You'll get to see him plenty later on," she said, pouting, and Seth felt his eyelid twitch in annoyance.
"I need to leave after the banquet. Please, let me speak to him now—"
"You'll be seated across from him at the banquet," Mana had protested, gripping his hand tightly and lacing her fingers through his. "What's new with you?"
It was then that he'd been saved by Mahad, and she pulled away from him blushing, turning to give Mahad a warm hug.
Swimming away rapidly, Seth tried to keep a pleasant expression on his face, but he found that was growing harder to do as random people waved and bowed at him.
Suddenly, a strong arm looped around his neck and tackled him down heavily in the water.
"HEYYY! KAIBA!" A voice yelled in his ear, and he was yanked violently to the side while another pair of arms crushed him around his waist. "Yo! Rich boy! Nice to see you're alive!"
Thrashing his tail frantically, Seth struggled against the arms pulling at him, realizing he was already being mistaken for Seto.
How was his human brother so famous in these waters?
"Let…go…you imbeciles!" Seth gasped, elbowing the blond merman in the ribs and hearing him let out a yelp of pain.
"I-Is that how you thank me?" Joey doubled over, coughing weakly and hanging onto Tristan for support. "I totally made a case for you in the throne room, man! You should be thankin' me!"
"Yeah dude!" Tristan cried, glaring. "What're you doing swimming around out here? Why aren't you busy smashing tails with Atem?"
"I am not Seto," Seth raged, giving the two unfamiliar warriors a glare. "I am his twin brother, Seth! And yes, I am looking for Atem, but not to smash anything. Lead me to his throne room. I want a meeting—"
"TWIN BROTHER?!" Tristan howled, throwing himself forward and crushing Seth into another hug. "Damn, you two do look alike!"
"Wow…wow!" Joey cried, running his hand intrusively down Seth's fins, spreading the bottom of his tail out in a wide fan, waving it forcefully back and forth. "That must mean he's this color too. Dude, my mind is blown. Are you seeing this?"
"Let…me…go!" Seth hissed, but to his rising horror, the two men ignored him, poking and prodding at him like he was a rag doll, spreading his hands and even lifting his hair to look behind his neck.
"No mark here," Joey announced, dropping Seth's hair and circling the merman with a look of deep intrigue. "That's how we'll tell them apart."
"What?" Seth fumed, and he decided he didn't care. "Stop wasting my time and take me to Atem's throne room. I have a matter to discuss with him."
The two men stared at him before they burst out laughing, eyeing him with a slight hint of fear in their eyes.
"H-He even sounds like him!" Tristan gasped, stifling a laugh as Joey snickered in agreement. "Yeah man, this is wild. Do you think Kaiba knows? He's got to know, right?"
Thoroughly fed up, Seth turned hastily with an arrogant swish of his tail and swam towards the palace gates, intent on ignoring the two warriors, but they caught up with him easily, circling him playfully as he swam steadily forward, raining non-stop questions down upon him.
"Does your shit smell the same?"
"Do you want to cut your hair? Maybe grow out your claws a little more!"
"Hey, can you smile? Lemme see your fangs dude!"
"Do you eat what he eats?"
"Who gets more ladies, you or him? You, right?"
"Can you guys read each other's minds?"
"Does he know you exist?"
"MEN!" Seth cried, whirling around and holding his hands up defensively, now desperately wishing he had a weapon to fight with. "Leave me alone or get me a Hearing with Atem. This is serious."
Joey and Tristan sobered up and nodded.
They grabbed Seth by the arm, flanking him steadily and pulling him in through the palace gates, flashing the guards a thumbs up as they swam past.
The guards acknowledged them with a stiff nod and looked straight ahead past their shoulders as if they didn't exist.
Seth glanced nervously back at the guards over his shoulder.
Was security lax or were these two morons considered high-ranking warriors?
They drifted past another royal official wearing large earrings, and the man gaped at him, the color draining from his face as they floated by.
His thoughts echoed sharply in Seth's mind, and he winced at the sudden loudness.
S-Seto Kaiba?!
"Middle fingas up," Tristan said obnoxiously, giving Shadi the finger. "Smell ya' later, donut ears."
Horrified, Seth whipped his head around to stare at the official who looked equally as stunned.
His earlier assumption had been wrong.
His brother Seto wasn't famous, he was…infamous.
They turned the corner and Seth found himself being led down a magnificent hallway lined with artful pillars that looked like they had been made in his colony, and his neck ached from all the craning.
"Did my colony sign a trade agreement with yours several millennia ago?" Seth wondered aloud, and he was met with careless shrugs.
"I failed all my written exams," the blond one answered proudly, and the spiky brown-haired one said, "I hate history, so I only barely passed."
Shaking his head in silent disbelief, he was deposited at a closed door that was lined beautifully with gemstone accents, and a solid gold triangle sat inlaid in the center, with bursts of white diamonds streaming out from it like rays of sun.
Yes, this door was definitely the handiwork of someone from his colony….
"Knock knock, delivery!" Joey sang, and the two men darted away hastily, grinning and snickering to themselves.
Unsure of what to do with himself, Seth squared his shoulders back and tossed his hair over his shoulders, trying to look presentable.
The door creaked open and then shut again with a loud click.
Go…away, came a dull thought, and Seth frowned, wondering what he'd done to offend the king.
"King Atem," Seth said politely, mustering a smile. "I come seeking your help lifting the ban on Human Artifacts. My colony is in ruins as you've seen, and I think reinstating this trade agreement will help bring business back to my home."
Atem leaned against the door and sighed.
It seemed Seth had stopped by in person to ask for a favor, and it was purely business.
Slightly relieved, Atem opened the door to let Seth in, turning away quickly so he wouldn't have to make eye contact.
Seth decided to stay in the doorway, amused by all the shiny KC logo belts hanging from Atem's walls. They were exactly like the ones he'd seen Seto wearing last week. The king had also somehow managed to get his hands on a formal suit and tie.
If he didn't know any better, it almost looked like Atem was trying to emulate Seto's soul in the décor.
"You really like Human Artifacts," Seth said finally, feeling a wave of sweet relief wash over him. "I thought I'd have to do a lot more convincing."
"Come in and shut the door," Atem's eyes darted nervously to the left when he thought he saw Shadi float by in the hallway.
Seth obliged and inched inside, closing the heavy door behind him and spying a glossy magazine with Seto's face on it, lying face down atop Atem's pillow, and his heart clenched strangely.
It seemed Atem loved Seto earnestly, enough to have his face displayed clearly in his room.
"I will try to lift the ban," Atem said keenly, following Seth's gaze to the magazine on his pillow, and he didn't move to hide it. "But my court is very anti-human at the moment. I've had my friends smuggle these items to me. I must seem like a hypocrite to you."
"I know you personally don't uphold all the laws," Seth replied kindly, unable to tear his eyes away from the glossy magazine with Seto's face on it. "Can you lift the ban for books and toys? Cosmetics too, perhaps? Harmless items. Perhaps add a clause stating that we can safely trade the artifacts if they have educational value?"
Atem tilted his head curiously and nodded. "Yes. I'll remember that and bring it up."
There was a long, awkward silence, and Seth decided he could divulge the entire truth to Atem, after all, the merking's room was filled with Seto's gifts.
If Seto and Atem really loved each other, they were practically family, and secrets would only harm their relationship.
"We are rebuilding our colony," Seth said in a rush, "and we are keeping it a secret. Please, if you could change this law within the next moon, the better off we will be."
"We?" Atem echoed incredulously, still unable to look Seth in the eye. "Who is we?"
"Seto and I," Seth said, thinking that it was obvious. "He's employed a team of humans to lift the rusted ship out of my waters. We will be done soon, I think. Then we can go back to making beautiful items for your kingdom…such as your door, and those pillars that flank this very hall."
Atem's heart skipped a beat and he finally met Seth's soft, blue-eyed gaze for the first time, and his mind raced with questions.
It seemed Seth had connected with Kaiba on land, and they were now an unstoppable team, but more importantly….
"Your people built…my kingdom?" Atem whispered hoarsely, growing weak all over.
This would explain Kaiba's mad ingenuity.
That meant Kaiba's kingdom's success would rival his own!
How terrifying.
"Yes, we did," Seth answered readily, wondering why this came as such a surprise. "We come from a long line of Architects and Engineers. I was learning the trade from my father before—well, before the wars…."
Atem nodded silently, at a loss for words. He managed to give Seth a smile and he gestured towards the door.
"I will do my best to repeal this law, and I will be successful," Atem said seriously, wondering who he had to start convincing to make this possible. "If I do this for you…Seto will appreciate it, right?"
"Yes!" Seth cried, bowing deeply out of habit. "You will bring us back onto the map as one of the most respected kingdoms on this side of the ocean. Thank you."
Atem moved to open the door for Seth, his chest churning with longing and despair.
Don't thank me yet, he replied in his thoughts, seeing the shadow of Rishid hovering at the end of the hall. Everyone is watching us. Stay vigilant and we will achieve this goal together.
Seth nodded gratefully and hovered in the hallway, giving Atem one last smile over his shoulder.
I'm glad we're family, he said, catching the startled look from Atem. A blush started creeping across the king's cheeks, and the door was shut quietly in his face.
Swimming off down the hall in a hurry, Seth avoided the cold looks from several mermen hovering at the end of the hall, and made his way out the front gates of the palace, his mind filled with thoughts of Seto and how they could put their heads together to improve their home.
Kaiba quietly excused himself from the table and grabbed his blazer off the back of the chair, ignoring the angry thoughts from his date seeping in through his mind as he hurried to the exit.
This was now his 49th week in the matchmaking program, and he was unintentionally gunning for the world record of failed dates.
He had been obsessively thinking about the white-haired girl from the convenience store all week. Also, it seemed Seth was too busy to pay him a visit this week, because the merman had neglected to show his face, so Kaiba tried to brush it off like it was nothing.
He knew it was hard to keep track of time underwater based on what he had seen in Atem's visions but receiving radio silence as thanks for the ocean clean-up was starting to get on his nerves.
Quickening his pace, Kaiba half-jogged down the street, consumed with a desperate eagerness. Why he was so excited to catch a glimpse of the sad stranger, he had no idea, but since consuming the scales, Kaiba had learned to listen to his instincts.
He had also begun to believe that everything happened for reason, and for a man who always believed in science and solid proof, this was the hardest concept for him to grasp.
Slowing down considerably when he saw the glowing convenience store sign, he made sure to look straight ahead, listening intently for her thoughts, and sure enough, one drifted by as he passed a pair of sliding glass doors.
Ah! He totally spaced out last time I saw him. Maybe he was drunk then. Is he drunk now?
Pausing mid-step, Kaiba decided to throw caution to the wind, and he turned slowly to give the white-haired woman sitting on the bench a casual wave.
She stiffened and stared at him blankly, not waving back, but her thoughts were crystal clear.
What? What he does he want? Do we know each other?
Kaiba tossed his blazer over his shoulder and slowly approached the bench, easing down onto the empty spot beside her and aiming his gaze up at the dark night sky.
"A waning half moon," Kaiba said noncommittally, thinking it was almost time for him to take another dose of the dried anemone.
Seth's "cure" was bullshit.
The medicine wasn't working because he was still feeling nauseous, even now.
"Yes, it is." She replied quietly, but her mind's voice sounded angry.
Get off my bench!
"I like your bench," Kaiba said playfully, wondering if this would ease some of the tension, and he was wrong.
A cold silence followed, and Kaiba instinctively touched his wrists, making sure he wasn't wearing the steel cuffs.
"Stop hitting on me," she said quietly, and Kaiba turned to gaze into her pretty face for the first time since he'd sat down, his stomach doing odd flips as he lingered on her pink lips.
"I'm not," he replied bluntly, and she shook her head sadly. Her long white hair fell gracefully over her cheeks, hiding her face.
Another tense silence brewed between them, and Kaiba itched all over, unable to stomach it anymore.
"I'm really not hitting on you," he continued gently, kicking himself for not preparing for a hostile reception. "I see you sitting here all the time, so I thought I'd say hello."
"Yes, because young, handsome, suit-wearing businessmen like you have a lot of time for little old ladies like me," she said quietly, and Kaiba felt himself smile.
Why did she sound just as cynical as he felt? It was a good feeling.
"No, really, who put you up to it?" She pressed, now sounding oddly determined, and she swept her gaze up and down the empty street. "Are your friends hiding behind that building? Who is recording this? Are you trying to pick up an old lady as a conquest?"
Frowning in confusion, Kaiba shook his head. "What? No, I mean it. Every week I walk by, I see you sitting here…crying, and it pisses me off. So stop doing that."
"I see. The invisibility spell didn't work," she muttered under her breath, and Kaiba blinked rapidly, feeling his heart swell enormously. This woman was…endearing.
"Tell me about it," Kaiba said simply, crossing his arms tightly and giving her a nod. "You've got nothing to lose. Unload on a stranger."
Slowly trailing his gaze down her slender form, he saw a dainty ring sitting on her forefinger, sporting a familiar, fiery blue stone.
A shard of ice shot through his core as he stared so hard at it, his eyes watered.
"Oh, this?" She noticed him staring and wiggled her fingers slowly before covering it with her other hand. "Don't worry. This was my grandmother's ring from five generations ago, and it symbolizes a broken marriage of 20 years with a man who left me for a younger woman."
"A family heirloom…" Kaiba said quietly through numb lips. "May I take a closer look?"
"Why?" She asked plainly. "I already said I'm not married. You heard what you wanted to know."
"Let me see it," Kaiba demanded, dropping all pretenses and flashing her a glare. "Please."
"He says 'please,'" she smiled teasingly for the first time and held her hand out shakily.
Kaiba ignored the comment and grabbed her hand, turning the ring this way and that in the low light.
It was a simple triangular stone set with delicate gold prongs.
Kaiba's breath slowly left his body when he thought he recognized the triangle symbol carved on all of the spears he'd received from Atem.
Was it possible that this ring…came from Atem's kingdom?
Did that mean this white-haired girl was distantly related to a mermaid?
Maybe that would explain her breathtaking allure and beauty.
"What's your name?" Kaiba asked, barely able to contain himself. "Please tell me."
"Oh, he says 'please' again." She smiled brightly and Kaiba gazed hungrily into her face, taking in her radiance in under the dim streetlamp above their heads.
He now understood where Joey was coming from when he said Mai looked like a goddess. He felt that way about this woman here.
She looked like a wholesome, blue-eyed goddess with pale skin and flowing white hair.
"I'm Kisara," and she bowed her head forward politely. "Nice to meet you. What is your name?"
"Seto," Kaiba said instantly, wondering where all his manners had gone—out the window apparently, because he couldn't move or bow back. He was rooted to the spot with awe. Every single one of her movements were impossibly angelic. Even her blinking was pretty.
"A plain but popular name," she commented bluntly. "Your parents were creative."
"…Kaiba," he added spitefully, and he watched in silent glee as her mouth dropped open in shock.
She stared intently into his face, her cheeks steadily reddening before she looked away pointedly with a sniff.
"You look like a student. Nice prank. I didn't fall for it."
Slightly disgruntled, Kaiba reached into his wallet for his ID, wondering why everyone had been doubting him lately. It used to be every day where he'd be recognized anywhere he went, and now, it seemed like he had been turned into a mere memory.
Perhaps this was the poison of fame.
Mokuba was more notable than him right now.
He handed her the shiny plastic card, and she glanced down at it, her shoulders shaking visibly as she tried to hold back laughter.
"I thought you looked familiar!" She cried, her demeanor changing instantly. "You know, I used to have such a crush on you when I was 19! I had posters of you up on my wall, can you believe that? You haven't changed a bit!"
Kaiba shoved his ID back into his pocket, slightly confused.
What did she mean by that? She looked youthful enough.
There wasn't a wrinkle on her face, and her skin was glowing aside from the grey shadows of stress hugging her under eyes.
"So, is this what you do for fun, Seto Kaiba?" she asked playfully, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "You hit on old ladies working the night shift at convenience stores?"
Kaiba blinked rapidly and spoke without thinking.
"Marry me."
She scoffed, pressing a hand to her mouth to laugh demurely.
"You are hilarious!" She cried, patting a hand to her cheek and gazing up at him with sparkling eyes. "The twenty-year-old in me says 'yes'! But we're not suited for each other you know—"
Kaiba reached out and grabbed her hand, wondering if he should get down on one knee.
She didn't pull away and stared intently back in his eyes, blinking rapidly, her cheeks slowly reddening.
"Please," he repeated, thinking something had possessed him, making him act like a madman who had never seen a beautiful woman before in his life. "I'm tired of being alone. The person I'm chasing hasn't come around, and he told me to live my life, so…I'm doing that. Marry me."
Kisara retracted her hand quickly and rubbed her wrist nervously.
"Him?" She whispered; her blue eyes wide with curiosity. "Where is he now?"
"A million miles away, living his own damn life," Kaiba said stiffly, deciding he would get down on one knee after all.
She wasn't taking him seriously.
He moved to get up, and she cried out nervously, "wait, where are you going?"
Kaiba paused, listening for a stray thought to leak from her consciousness, but there was nothing but golden silence.
He took this chance to slowly kneel before her, and he held his hand out invitingly, his heart thundering in his chest so loudly, it became a low hum.
"I really like you and I can't figure out why," Kaiba breathed, his ears ringing with disbelief when she willingly placed her hand in his. "I live on a beachside property, and there will be a driver to take you anywhere you want. Just stay with me…as a life companion, and I'll take care of you."
Kisara blinked slowly once, her eyes glistening at the corners with emotion as she gazed down into Kaiba's handsome face, wondering if she was hallucinating.
Was this a cruel joke?
What kind of man who belonged on the cover of a magazine wanted to seriously marry a 50-year-old lady way past her prime?
And when he said 'I', he really meant 'his money', right?
"Right," Kaiba said readily, giving her hand a warm squeeze. "Was there something you've always wanted to do? Marry me, and you can have it. My family is giving me hell for being single, and you are the answer to all my problems."
"I-I've always wanted…" Kisara's voice caught in her throat, and she composed herself before trying again. "I've always wanted to work a better job. I want to travel…or study interior design! I want to undo the past 30 years of my life…! I've wasted my good looks and my energy working a horrible job for a husband who didn't care for me! I want to do it over again!"
Then…you will get to do it over again, Kaiba thought viciously, giving her hand another tentative squeeze.
She withdrew her hand and took a deep, shuddering breath, hugging herself protectively, trying to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Touched, Kaiba moved to sit closer beside her, unsure of what to do.
He let her silently cry at his side, feeling an odd protective strength well up inside him.
If he wasn't going to take the matchmaking seriously, he might as well jump into the deep end and marry a stranger who needed his help more than anything.
Then it would bring the horrible dinner-dating roulette to an end, and along with it, relief.
She slowly began to calm down, and Kaiba saw a man walk through the store and pop his head out of the sliding doors, calling out to them.
"Miss? Please come in for your shift!"
"She's quitting!" Kaiba called back loudly. "Go away."
The man frowned and hesitated for a moment before deciding it was best not to argue, and he disappeared back inside.
There was a long silence, and she broke it with a quiet whisper.
"You're ten years younger than me. What will people say?"
Slightly taken aback by this news, Kaiba gazed down at the top of her head where silvery white hair glowed under soft moonlight and he flashed her a half-smile.
"Who cares what people say? You don't look a day over 30."
"Well, some people say 25, but thank you," she said sassily, quickly going back to her old self. "If you're really serious about this, let me give you my information…"
She patted around her apron pocket and produced her wallet, handing him her ID, and Kaiba accepted it with both hands this time, remembering his manners.
He received another shock when he stared at her ID photo.
It didn't look anything like her.
An aging woman with sagging jowls and bright eyes gazed back at him, her long white hair hanging like two long sheets down the sides of her wrinkled face.
Nervous, Kaiba raised his head to stare at her, seeing a completely youthful face.
Kisara tilted her head and smiled radiantly back at him, her angular eyes gleaming and her cheeks plump with joy.
What the…hell? Was this some kind of…mermaid magic? Was he hallucinating?
"Do you remember it all or do you need to take a photo?" She asked playfully.
Kaiba slipped out his phone silently to snap a picture of her ID, noting that she lived in one of the tiny low-income apartment units downtown.
"Let's take a photo together, to…commemorate," Kaiba said hastily, thinking he would never ever suggest such a thing, but he had to make sure he wasn't going crazy. The camera didn't lie.
His own eyes couldn't be trusted.
"Of course… Seto," she leaned her head closer to his shoulder, smiling shyly for the camera as Kaiba held it in front of their faces, feeling his stomach twist wonderfully at the way she'd said his name.
Gazing into the screen, Kaiba saw his own face, pale and shadowy from the horrible yellow streetlamp above, and her face beside him, glowing with happiness as she smiled prettily.
His thumb moved, pressing the shutter button, and he held the phone up to inspect the picture.
His own face looked normal enough, but her face looked drastically different from what he saw. Again, an unrecognizable blue-eyed woman with a grey, sallow face stared up at him, smiling happily this time, and her teeth were very white against her pale skin.
Interesting…
Was it the ring?
Was the ring superimposing this youthful face over an old one?
"Is it a good photo?" She asked, sounding slightly worried, and Kaiba composed himself, deciding he would eventually figure it out.
"You're photogenic," he said evenly, relieved that he hadn't lost all his charm. "You're prettier than all the girls I've ever seen in my life."
The corners of Kisara's mouth twitched upwards into a hesitant smile before she threw her head back and laughed wonderfully.
"Yes, this is the kind of husband I deserve!" She giggled, playfully nudging him with her elbow. "It's too bad you're gay, right? I understand. We can get married for appearances and the arrangement works well both ways. First, let's go to Italy."
Kaiba swallowed thinly and tucked his phone away, automatically reaching for her hands again, and he held them tightly, wondering why it felt like something was slipping away from him.
"I'm glad you understand," he said stiffly, gazing deeply into her eyes, feeling as if he was falling headfirst into the ocean. "Your eyes are…beautiful."
She smiled, leaning forward to bump her nose against his, and Kaiba jerked back quickly, startled, feeling his chest tighten painfully with an unfamiliar feeling.
Fear? Anxiety? Confusion? ….Love?
Or was it…happiness?
It had been so long since he'd felt genuine human connection or anything remotely positive, he wasn't sure how to personally define 'love' anymore.
"I'll call you a cab," Kaiba said instantly, slowly reaching out with shaking hands to untie the knot of the apron from around her neck. "Go home and pack a bag. A car will be at your front door tomorrow morning."
"I want to have breakfast in Paris," she whispered longingly, giving his wrists a tight squeeze. "Can we do that?"
"Yes, I'll book a flight," Kaiba answered seriously, feeling a delirious laugh climbing up his chest. He was really doing this. "Let's get you home first."
She nodded, gazing down at the apron bundled in her lap with shining eyes.
"Thank you…" she whispered. "…You've given me…freedom."
Kaiba watched as she tossed the apron down on the bench with a huff, "Ha! Take that, Yellow Mart! Sell your own energy drinks!" And then she turned to give him a delightful grin.
He bit back a laugh and rose to his feet, feeling her hang warmly onto his arm, giving him another radiant smile. Her smiles made him feel like he was flying…
She let go suddenly and walked a few paces ahead, pointing at the trees in the distance across the road.
"No need for a cab," Kisara said happily, already halfway down the street, calling over her shoulder. "I live right across the way. See you tomorrow morning, my dear husband!"
Stunned, Kaiba stayed rooted to the spot, watching her beautiful white hair sway behind her back as she dashed across the road and disappeared around the corner.
Sinking back down onto the bench, Kaiba gathered her green apron onto his lap and held in his shaking hands.
What the fuck was he doing?!
He was proposing brashly to an old woman who was a pure stranger.
She looked stunningly angelic whenever he laid his eyes on her, but photos told another story.
It had something to do with the ring, and if he had to marry her to get his hands on it, Kaiba decided he would do it.
One thing he knew for certain was that merpeople were really protective of the stones with the fiery blue cores, so the ring had to have some significance.
It did help that it was attached to the slender finger of a radiant beauty.
Take that, Mokuba, Kaiba growled to himself, rising to his feet and walking slowly into the convenience store to return the apron.
Finally, Mokuba and Isono would get off his back about being married.
Author's note:
Mana is happy Seth takes up her offer but it's purely business, much to Atem's relief.
Seth resents Mahad because he likes Mana, and gets run out of his home by Kaiba's divers who came several days early to clear out debris.
Kaiba hates babysitting Noah.
He also hates dating so much, he proposed to a random stranger he feels deeply attracted to (the lady with eyes of blue/ the spirit of the blue eyes white dragon/kazuki takahashi's cannon pair!) who was wearing mysterious mer-made jewelry, thinking it will get him closer to Atem.
(will it though?)
(Also he clearly struggles with being bi lol)
(did it happen a bit too fast?)
(that was the intention though)
NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON!
this chapter was edited by: chocolateyeti
I hope everyone is staying saFe from the CORONAvIrUS. let's all stay home and binge-read fanfiction together. i've been in self-quarantine since march 2, so my q-time anniversary is coming up on april 2! :DDDD -mini celebration-!
hugs,
Ugli