Kaiba sat angrily in the hospital bed, ignoring Mokuba's and Isono's furious glares while Kisara sat daintily in a chair on his other side, humming happily to herself, unfazed by the looks she was getting.

"Okay, drop the act," Mokuba snapped, rising to his feet and addressing Kisara. "You really are trying to kill him, aren't you?"

"Mokuba—" Kaiba began, but his brother cut across him rudely.

"What the hell were you thinking, wheeling him into the water?!"

"He's all healed," Kisara said plainly, tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder. "The doctor will tell you soon. Oh, look…"

She was saved by Marik hastily entering the room and bowing, his white-blond hair tied back into a slick ponytail.

"Well?" Mokuba demanded, advancing on Marik, his face flushed with frustration and anger. "Speak."

Marik's eyes darted frantically between all the anxious faces in the room, finally landing on Kaiba's stony gaze before he stammered, "You've made a miraculous recovery, Mr. Kaiba. Physically, everything is close to perfect. Even the scars on your back and neck faded…really quickly."

I had scars on my back and neck? Kaiba thought mildly, feeling very removed.

"Is he paying you to say this?" Mokuba asked, immediately catching onto the strange atmosphere in the room. "You guys seem like friends."

"No, he hates me," Kaiba said with a wry smile. "You know, they…put me in a pod and gave me therapy. I'm pretty pissed about that."

"You should keep the therapy with you," Marik replied aggressively, his fingertips white over the electronic pad he was holding. "Spend time with it, otherwise you'll feel more and more detached, which is unhealthy for everyone."

Kaiba gave Marik an appraising glare. Was this man suggesting he ask Seth for the fake egg and spend time with it like it was real?

"You're kidding, right?" The former CEO raised his brow, and Marik shook his head tightly before bowing out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the entire Kaiba family in stunned silence.

"What are you guys talking about?" Mokuba asked dryly, turning to Seto and resting a hand on his blanket-covered leg. "You're talking in code. I know it when I hear it."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kaiba said, unable to look Mokuba in the eye. "Let me babysit Noah tomorrow and I promise I'll behave for the rest of the year."

"Yes, let him," Kisara said in a rush, her cheeks steadily turning pink. "Especially when Noah is still young."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mokuba snapped. "Okay, you know what? You guys are all being really weird, and I'm not going to question it because honestly, Seto, you can take care of yourself now. Kisara can help, by pushing you off a cliff into the ocean!"

Mokuba stormed out of the hospital room and slammed the door behind himself, rattling the lights above their heads.

Kaiba stared blankly at the door before he turned to Isono and gazed imploringly at his manservant.

"Let me in through the gate tomorrow when he's at work," Kaiba said stiffly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "That's an order. I want to hold the kid."

Isono blinked rapidly and almost began to shake his head when Kisara held her hand up warningly, "Don't! Don't say 'no'. Just…agree."

Swallowing thinly, Isono reached out to rest his hand on Kaiba's arm, looking deeply into the master's handsome face, noting that he really hadn't aged a bit. Even Mokuba's face had shown some changes throughout the years, but Master Kaiba still looked resolutely fresh in his early twenties.

"They took my kid from me…" Kaiba whispered, unable to believe the words coming out of his mouth. "They…took her…and they won't let me see her!"

Sitting up straighter, Isono frowned deeply, wondering if this was a prank, but then he noticed Kisara's cheeks were damp with tears.

This was no joke.

It seemed Master Kaiba had had a...daughter?! When?!
How had this happened without his knowledge?!

"Who took her?" Isono asked instantly, rising to his feet, feeling as if a fire had been lit inside him.

This explained all of the master's strange behavior from the start. A child had been taken from him. It definitely warranted all of his crazy behavior, if it was all for his child.

"The…" Kaiba threw Kisara an uncertain glance and she nodded, giving him a warm smile, encouraging him to continue. "The merpeople. When I was bleeding out in the water, she came out of me in the form of an egg…and they took her. I don't know where she is, and no one will tell me."

Shocked to the core, Isono slowly sank back into the chair and held Kaiba's gaze, feeling his entire body grow weak. W-Was such a thing possible? It definitely would explain the giant hole inside of the Master's bowels, and the extensive hours of surgery it had taken to bring him back from the brink of death.

"That doctor's one of them," Kisara added. "I think he knows more than he's letting on. He broke the news to us when Seto was discharged. That's why you and Mokuba couldn't be in the room with us. He didn't want to tell you because he knew you'd be angry."

Shaking and trembling all over, Isono clasped his hands together and began to sweat.

Master Kaiba had always been extraordinary.
Given his track record, this should be easy news to receive.
He'd had a daughter and she had been taken by mermaids.
Of course.
It was easy.
Master Kaiba had captured a mythical creature years ago, and had discovered a way to procreate with it. Now, his beautiful child was out there…somewhere, and the master was hurting, longing to hold a child close.

"How can we find her?" Isono asked, composing himself steadily and looking into Kisara's face, finally understanding why Kaiba trusted this woman. "What can I do to help you now, Master Kaiba?"

"I'll find her," Kaiba said darkly, lacing his hands together and glaring down at his cleanly manicured fingers. "Just let me hold Noah tomorrow…and the day after…and the day after that…"

"And I'll wait at the beach every day for Seth," Kisara said, sounding determined. "Our plans to travel can wait, Seto. This is more important."

Kaiba said nothing and nodded.
He knew he was being selfish.
Kisara was sacrificing her precious time to help him with an unwinnable task when he had promised her the world, and a new life filled with frequent travel. Their first few months of marriage had been him burdening her with his troubles while she settled into his home.
She had been nothing but gracious, loving, and understanding this entire time.
He had to let her go.

"You can wait on a shore in Italy," Kaiba said evenly, feeling his conviction return stronger than ever as his head remained clear. "You won't even miss me, since he looks just like me. You can travel anywhere you want, and he'll be there waiting for you on the beach."

Now Isono was confused.
It sounded as if Master Kaiba was sending his wife off to meet another man.

"I can't do that to you!" Kisara cried, her cheeks reddening steadily as she blushed prettily. "Besides, he said he lived 'close by'. I should be here!"

"Yeah, but don't stick around on my account," Kaiba said mildly, feeling an ache in his chest he associated with longing. "Come back every two or three months to see how I'm doing, and then take off again. Besides, he's not that close. It was a long swim down, and I was unconscious for half of it."

There was a long silence as Kisara slowly wrapped her arms around Kaiba's shoulders, holding him close to her heart while she stroked his hair softly.

"You really do love me, don't you, Seto?" She whispered, and Kaiba felt himself nod into her chest.

Yeah, he wasn't an asshole.
He wasn't going to tie her down and force her to help him look for his egg, which was somewhere in the entire fucking ocean, being guarded by magical pacts and mythical creatures.

She wanted to travel the world.
There was a beach on every continent.
He'd promised she could do that, so…he would insist that she go.
It wasn't going to be a problem.
Besides, he was completely healed, and Isono seemed willing enough to help him see more of Noah.
The pain he felt was purely psychological, and Kaiba was sure that if he threw himself into raising Noah, the pain would gradually subside.

"I won't abandon you just so I can go have fun all by myself," Kisara declared, pulling back to gaze deeply into his angular blue eyes. "Let's talk about this together with Seth, okay?"

"He'll agree," Kaiba said under his breath.
He had seen the way Seth had been eyeing Kisara on the beach, and he'd seen the way Kisara had stared rapturously back at Seth.
He'd felt like a third wheel between the two of them.
This was definitely the right decision.

"Ahem…master Kaiba," Isono began, his voice shaking with emotion. "Who is Seth?"

Kisara looked right at Isono and said without hesitation, "His twin brother."

Nodding repeatedly, Isono decided he would ask Master Kaiba about this another time, when Kisara wasn't present to answer him with a deadened gaze that mildly frightened him, so he contented himself with watching Kaiba rest his head on Kisara's chest while she pulled him into another tight hug.

It looked like an old grandma was consoling her grandson, and the sight was quite disturbing, so he had to look away briefly.

He told himself that he wasn't going to continue judging Kaiba for his choice of partner.
This woman only reflected well on the master's disposition.
Seto Kaiba had a heart of gold, and clearly loved the old lady for her soul and personality.

Atem swam nervously through the water with Mahad and Shada flanked on either side of him.

Both men were silently coaching him on how to speak to the council members, but Atem wasn't hearing any of it. He was consumed with thoughts of Kaiba and how he would react if he knew how unfavorably everyone was talking about him.

He was led into a large, glass structure, and Atem barely took the time to marvel at the beauty around him before they approached a long hallway.

"This is as far as we're allowed to go," Shada said nervously, backing away from the hallway and earning a glare from Mahad.

"We will wait here," Mahad nodded, giving Atem an encouraging push down the glass hall. "You'll do well."

Atem couldn't do anything other than nod in return as he swam slowly down towards the black door at the end. Everything looked so beautiful and terrible at the same time. The walls around him were made of glass and he could see the greenery that surrounded him.

"King!" A squeaky voice sounded muffled behind him, and Atem whirled around, shocked to see the tiny purple octopus swimming rapidly beside him on the other side of the glass.

What are you doing here? Atem asked privately, throwing a furtive glance behind him and seeing Mahad and Shada as two tiny dots floating in the distance.

"I-I have a message!" The octopus cried, doing an excited twirl in the water. "Is now a bad time?!"

Yes, now is a bad time! Atem fumed, but he floated closer to the wall, hastily giving the octopus a nod. Tell me quickly.

The octopus stilled and bobbed up and down in the water for a second before it spoke in a hurried rush, "ATEM! Where the hell is my kid?! Do you have her? Have you seen her? Send Mahad up here for fuck's sake. Someone…talk to me! I want to see her. I want to hold her. I'm going to raise hell if you don't let me see her, or I fucking swear I'll drown myself on my way down to fucking kill you all!"

Extremely put off by the violent threats, Atem swallowed thinly and nodded.
His chest was bursting with questions, but he wasn't sure where to start.
Was this message the proof he needed? The violent ranting showed that egg belonged to Kaiba, but Kaiba hadn't said who his partner was.

It has to be me, right? Atem thought viciously, wondering if Kaiba had mated with anyone else during their time apart. It has to be.

But he couldn't know for sure.
He hadn't seen or touched the egg! And apparently, neither had Kaiba!

"Message ended," the octopus said mildly, unperturbed by the cursing. "Would you like to reply now?"

Yes, Atem said nervously, still swimming down the hall towards the black door, his heart stuck terribly in his throat as he hastily sent the octopus a stream of thought.

"Kaiba, I haven't seen the egg for myself yet. Mana, Mahad, and our Medic rushed her into the Chrysalis because she needed air. I heard she's fine, but I haven't seen her with my own eyes. I'm in the hallway of the Council's Chambers right this very second, and I will try to keep her safe. Don't drown yourself or do anything stupid. I hope you're well. I heard egg-bearing is painful and hard work. I have no idea what it entails. I'm just glad you're alive. I miss you dearly."

"Atem! Are you speaking to a Messenger?" Mahad called from the start of the hallway, and Atem ignored his bodyguard, pressing a palm against the glass and addressing the octopus.

"Did you get all that?" Atem asked roughly, and to his relief, the octopus gave him a stiff salute and zoomed off into the water in the distance, leaving nothing but a stream of white bubbles behind it.

Sighing heavily, he turned and floated towards the giant black doors, resting his clawed hand on the ornate handle and saying a quick prayer before pulling it open.

A group of four white-haired merpeople were floating around the room in pairs, all whispering to each other when he floated awkwardly in the doorway.

"Well, come in," the old man closest to him said, nodding his head. He wore a thin golden band on his forehead and looked quite youthful for an Elder.

"Tell us your story," a woman piped up, pointing at the giant red sponge in the middle of the room, and Atem nervously approached it and perched himself on top of it, feeling cold all over.

The faces around him looked pleasant and the tones of voices were kind, but he wasn't sure if it was only an act.

"Please don't remove her from the Chrysalis," Atem said instantly, forgetting what Mahad and Shada had told him to say. "I'm not even sure if she's mine."

"Regardless…" The old man said, floating around over his head. "She is now resting in one of our Pools. If she is yours, will you be raising her in your Kingdom?"

Atem stayed silent, unsure of how to answer.
If he accepted responsibility for this egg, would this mean Kaiba wouldn't be allowed to see her?

"No," Atem said stiffly, gazing at the other pair of merpeople in the far end of the room. "I didn't birth her, so that's not my decision."

"But it is your decision, and she is yours," the woman at the back of the room said, and Atem noticed she also wore a thin golden crown on her head. The symbol in the middle of her forehead was inked very faintly with the Greek letter, 'lambda'*.

"But—" Atem began, but he was interrupted by the old man closest to him, the one sporting a golden circlet with the letter 'phi' on his forehead.

"Even if she is not yours, you are the ruler of the land she is now incubating in," Elder Phi said gravely. "It sounds to me like you are shirking responsibility, King Atem. She could be a future queen, and are my ears deceiving me? You want nothing to do with her?"

Atem ground his teeth tightly and decided to rephrase his statement carefully.

"The merperson who birthed her should raise her," Atem said stiffly, hoping desperately that this was what Kaiba wanted. "Please allow him to see her. Please give him access to a Chrysalis so that he can see her."

"I heard he is a Lost Warrior," the old woman closest to him said, bobbed up and down in the water, the golden 'A' on her head gleamed in the low lights. "From the Kingdom of Helios."

Atem blinked rapidly, wondering where all of this new information was coming from.

How did everyone else know so much about Kaiba when he personally knew so little?
He'd also faintly recalled Mahad saying there were at least twenty council members. Only four were present here now: Elder Alpha, Phi, Lambda, and another elder whose marking he couldn't see.

"Helios? That colony has been demolished," Elder Phi said stiffly, looking somber. "…I heard the entire royal family is dead, save for one prince, Prince Seth, and he's been conducting illegal trades. I don't believe she should be raised in such a destitute place."

Atem's stomach twisted violently and he opened his mouth to protest, but Elder Lamda floated forward and spoke.

"If we allow one Lost Warrior to enter the Chrysalis, we must allow this for others, and this would compromise the pacts protecting the Pools. Is it worth breaking for one child who might be a royal?"

"Yes," Atem said instantly, and he gazed imploringly at the old woman with the golden 'A' on her forehead. "And I plan to lift the ban on trades regarding Human Artifacts. Seth is not doing anything illegal. He's…rebuilding."

There was a long silence and the Elders shared significant looks.

"What?" Atem asked heatedly, wondering if he should've said anything at all. "That was a secret. I regret saying it."

"No, on the contrary, I'm glad you brought it up," Elder Alpha said firmly, her eyes gleaming warmly. "If you are lifting the ban to help him, I admire your loyalty, Atem. I've really enjoyed vacationing in Helios. I'd be thrilled if he managed to rebuild by the end of this century."

There was a unison of nods and Atem held his breath, daring to hope. Was he mistaken or was this meeting going…well?

"Then we shall wait and see if he can finish rebuilding by the time she hatches," Elder Phi said deeply, floating away to lean against a pillar at the far end of the room. "We will be there for the celebration. See you soon, King Atem."

Atem nodded and bowed hastily, trying to contain his shock as he darted to the exit, his heart pounding thickly in his ears as he shut the giant black door behind him.

Swimming at breakneck speed back to Mahad and Shada at the end of the long, glass hallway, Atem felt slightly better as he tried to picture Seth's pleasantly surprised face when he received the good news.

Sitting comfortably on the couch in the nursery, Kaiba gazed down into Noah's peaceful, sleeping face in his arms. The baby's weight was comforting against his chest, and he'd begun to appreciate little details he'd previously missed, like Noah's wonderful, soft breaths, and the way he would open his eyes slowly and yawn widely after a nap.

Leaning back into the cushions, Kaiba let his breath out in a tight sigh, forcing himself to relax.

There was a horrible gut-wrenching churn of dread sitting low in his stomach every time he thought about Ayame returning from work to pry the baby out of his arms for a feeding, and this was only his second week living at the mansion with Mokuba and Isono.

His phone buzzed softly in his pocket and Kaiba rose slowly to his feet, moving to set the baby down into the crib before he answered it.

The caller ID flashed briefly on the screen and Kaiba barely paid it any mind, keeping his gaze nailed to baby Noah's angelic face as he pressed the phone to his ear and spoke quietly, "Kaiba."

"Seto!" Kisara sounded happy and breathless on the other end. "You won't believe the good news… here!"

Wind rustled loudly through the receiver on the other side, and Kaiba could barely hear Seth's voice echoing from the phone over the sound of crashing waves.

"Brother!" Seth cried, and Kaiba winced at the loudness. "The Kingdom of Muran has lifted the ban on Human Artifacts. We can thrive again! How about you send me several thousand preserved books to start with?"

Kaiba blinked rapidly, recalling the long and arduous efforts it took to preserve books in plastic, and he frowned, whispering his reply, "Several thousand?! It takes the craftsman a month to do a hundred! That's impractical,and will take way too damn long."

"What then…?" Seth called back, his voice nearly drowned out by a loud rush of wind. "Children's toys perhaps? I remember that being popular back in the days before the wars."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes and turned away from baby Noah, striding out of the nursery and closing the door softly behind him, his mind racing with ideas.
Children's toys were worthless.
Children grew up and would grow out of their toy preferences.
Toys were fads and would change in shape and color based on preference, which he would eventually have to discard if merpeople grew tired of them.
Not to mention, dragging down tons of plastic-made toys to sell underwater wouldn't bode well with their anti-pollution efforts.

No, it had to be something consumable, niche, and coveted.

Definitely not books.
Books were consumed and then tossed aside, save for a few beloved, classic tales.

No…it had to be something monumental…something that would generate riches, enough riches to rebuild an entire city….

"Seto? Are you still there?" Kisara's voice drifted through the receiver, sounding worried. "…I think he's disconnected. Shall I hang up?"

"I have a shit ton of lipstick," Kaiba said numbly, his mouth moving before he could properly piece together the thoughts himself. "Mermaids love that, don't they?"

"He says he has lots of lipstick!" Kisara yelled over the crashing waves, and he heard Seth let out a triumphant shout of laughter.

"Good idea, Seto!" Seth cried. "Do you know how hard intact lipstick is to find? Oh, and a tube of 'fresh, unused lipstick' goes for one ruby now. If we are selling new lipstick, we can charge three emeralds easy!"

Kaiba nodded to himself, thinking he needed to sit down and do some math. He had a lot to learn about mer-currency, and he couldn't do this by shouting over the phone with Seth.

"Stay there, I'm coming," Kaiba said quietly, and he heard Kisara relay the message before the line went dead.

Isono stood a few paces away at the top of the stairs, giving him an appraising look.

"Master Kaiba?"

"He's asleep," Kaiba announced proudly, tucking his phone away into his pocket. "He'll stay asleep until Ayame comes back to feed him."

"You're getting quite good at getting him to sleep," Isono praised, but Kaiba barely heard him. He was taking the stairs down four at a time and was halfway out the door, striding to his white sports car parked on the concrete beside the large fountain.

Shaking his head to himself, Isono watched as Kaiba threw himself into the convertible and started the engine with a deafening roar.

He still acts like a young man, Isono thought mildly, before he entered the nursery with soft footsteps.

Atem was sitting alone in the courtyard when Mana came zooming towards him, her cheeks flushed pink with excitement.

"I have good news," she gushed, reaching down to grab his hands, pulling him off the bench and towards the palace gates. "Mahad will be bringing your egg out of the Chrysalis for a viewing! We'll all get to meet her. Hurry!"

Atem grit his teeth nervously and let Mana lead him back into the palace, towards the Medic's hallway. As they passed the maiden's chambers, Isis swam out of her room to join them, her long black hair flowing behind her gracefully as she floated beside Atem.

"My king," she said seriously, her violet eyes dark with concern. "I have some news from Marik regarding Seto Kaiba."

"What is it?" Atem asked instantly, his heart tightening in his chest. "Is he ill?"

Isis frowned, and they floated to a stop outside the medic's chambers. She nodded gravely at Mana, and Mana let go of Atem's arm, swimming through the doors and leaving them outside, alone.

"You told Mana before you told me?" Atem whispered fervently, his eyes widening with mild jealousy. "What's the news? Is it serious? Is he hurt?"

"No. He's married," Isis said dryly, folding her arms across her chest with a look of disdain flitting across her pretty face. "…To a white-haired beauty who looks like a shore-maiden from the Kingdom of Ilkos."

Atem blinked, his world tilting violently.
There was a strange ringing in his ears and his entire body felt heavy.

He burned with questions, but the main one being…

"How long?" Atem breathed, placing a palm on the chamber wall to steady himself. "…H-Had they always been married?"

"No, this was a recent development," Isis said, kindly resting a warm hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. It seems he really wanted to abandon the egg so he could live out a life on shore with this maiden. I thought you should know before we go inside…"

Atem shook his head slowly, unable to hear anything other than the horrible ringing of disbelief in his ears. No. It couldn't be.
Impossible.
It had to be a lie, or there had to be a reason why Kaiba had married. And just because Kaiba's status had changed, didn't mean Kaiba's feelings for him had disappeared.

Was it because I told him to get married? Atem reeled, his anger flaring briefly before he was consumed with an overwhelming cloud of sadness.

"Take all the time you need," Isis said, floating inside and leaving him alone in the hallway.

Curling his hand into a fist, Atem grit his teeth so hard, he saw green.
This had to be…the worst news of the century.
Didn't Kaiba send him a cursing message a couple weeks ago?
Why did he still care about the egg when he was happily married?

"Atem?"

Atem jerked his head up, quickly palming the tears off his face, his ears burning with frustration when he realized it was Shada, giving him a concerned frown.

"Ambassador," Atem said stiffly, surprised that his voice still worked. "I'll see you inside."

"Don't shed a tear for him," Shada said gruffly, his frown wrinkling the sharp tattoo on his forehead. "Shore maidens from Ilkos are few and far between. She may very well be one of the last ones living on land this century."

Atem swallowed thinly, trying to stomach his own distress.
That comment…didn't make him feel better.
Knowing that she was a rare maiden from a far-away kingdom infamous for abandoning the ocean for legs on land didn't make him feel better.
In fact, his blood was boiling, knowing that Kaiba had probably sought her out intentionally.

"Come…let's meet your child," Shada said awkwardly, giving Atem a pat on the arm. "I've heard many great things about her."

Atem said nothing, glumly following Shada into the Medic's chambers where everyone had gathered around an incubator.

Solomon floated aside to let Atem in for a closer look, noting that his grandson's eyes were unusually puffy, looking as if he'd been crying. Shifting uncomfortably, he caught a worried glance from Mahad, and he gave the warrior a stiff nod.
Atem was emotional. Understandable.
This was hard for everyone because the egg-bearer wasn't present.

Atem bit the inside of his cheek as he gazed at the enormous black egg encapsulated in the transparent, yellow membrane of the incubator, his stomach turned with nausea. If he was being completely honest, it looked…absolutely disgusting.

A thin crop of veins was protruding from the tip of the incubator where it had been detached from the sand, and Atem had to look away. The sight of jellyfish eggs had always made his skin crawl, and this was somehow a thousand times worse.

Knowing that there was a mer-baby growing in the pulsing membrane incubator made it a million times worse.

"Do you want to...hold her?" The Medic asked gently, and Atem couldn't shake his head fast enough.

"No," Atem replied vehemently, his skin growing cold when he saw a tiny arm push against the thin edge of the half-transparent egg. "I—It's not mine."

"You don't feel any connection to this child?" The Medic asked, raising her eyebrows in shock. "Perhaps you really should touch her just to make sure."

Atem set his jaw and shook his head furiously, but to his rising horror, the medic reached forward to gently pry the thin skin of the incubator open and scooped out the egg with one, fluid motion, cradling it in one arm against her breast.

Recoiling, Atem shook his head again, but caught a sharp glare from Mana and Solomon that made his heart skip a painful beat.

Touch the egg, Atem. Mana said with an uncharacteristically steely look in her eye. She's yours. You'll see.

Wincing, Atem rested a trembling palm against the surface of the black egg, terrified for a moment that it would move, or worse, pop, but to his relief, he felt nothing aside from a warm, happy heartbeat.

"There, I've—" Atem began to withdraw his hand but froze when Kaiba's handsome face flashed across the front of his mind, rooting him to the spot with shock and horror. The image faded just as quickly as it came, and Atem jerked his hand back, feeling his palm burn with a strange sensation.

"I'm sure you can see the egg-bearer's face more clearly than I can," the medic said gently, easing the egg back into the yellow membrane and sealing it slowly by sticking the edges together with a firm knead of her fingers. "Isn't he pretty? I'm sure she will be pretty as well."

"Everyone can see the bearer's face when they touch an egg," Atem said gruffly, having done some light reading on eggs in an attempt to bore himself to sleep in the past few restless nights. "That doesn't mean she's mine."

"Yes, yes, true," Isis said, nodding in approval. "We'll have to wait until she hatches and do a blood match."

"I second this," Mahad said gruffly, resting his palms on the sides of the yellow incubator, giving the Medic a polite nod. "I will bring her back now."

"But we must keep her, even if she doesn't match anyone in our kingdom!" The Medic protested as Mahad swam away quickly out through the front doors. "She's healthy and would make a great addition to our colony…!"

There was a thin silence before Shada broke it, gruffly saying, "Meeting adjourned. I have somewhere to be," and he swam away quickly.

Mana bobbed forward in the water and threw her arms around Atem's shoulders, bringing him into a tight hug, whispering, "Everything will be fine. You have all of us to help raise her. Even if she's not yours…we have a new family member! Isn't that great?!"

Atem's voice was stuck terribly in his throat, slowly choking the soul out of his body as he nodded automatically, unable to feel his entire body due to the numbing shock. Even if she wasn't his…she was Kaiba's…and Atem wasn't sure he could live with himself until he found out if he was really related to this egg.

Kaiba sat on the wet beach with Kisara on his left and Seth on his right while he wrote in the sand, listening to Seth rapidly list precious gems and their worth to merpeople.

"You really don't remember any of this?" Seth asked stiffly, giving his twin an appraising look. "This is basic knowledge of our economy!"

"I said I don't fucking remember anything," Kaiba chanted, tapping his finger beside the word 'ruby' impatiently. "Keep talking. How much are rubies worth?"

Kisara rested a warm hand on his arm and Kaiba spared her a smile, feeling his body heat up gratefully at her touch. Something about his body had changed since the egg, and Kaiba found that gentle touches he once spurned from others were now calming and welcome.

"This is the wrong way to do it," Seth declared, sweeping his hand over Kaiba's writing in the sand. "Stop comparing it to the human economy. They're not remotely the same."

"But that's how I understand money," Kaiba raged, hating that Seth had so carelessly destroyed his list. "Great. Now start over," he snapped, slipping out his phone to text himself a memo, thinking he could never do things the old-fashioned way.

Seth let out an exasperated sigh and gazed out over the horizon, waving his dark blue fin over an oncoming wave, trying to fight the curling bubble of despair inside him. Seto…really didn't remember anything about their life underwater, and it was disheartening.

"I'll dictate what I remember," Kisara said, raising her hand voluntarily, giving Kaiba another soft smile. "Pearls are the cheapest, based on size—"

"I've got it," Kaiba muttered under his breath, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed out the list from memory.

"Pearls (size, SM to L) – 1 – 10

Turquoise - 10 – 20

Agate (brown, red, yellow, green, blue, basically the fucking rainbow) – 20 – 40

Diamond – 40 – 50

Sapphire – 50 – 60"

Seth let out another sad sigh and Kaiba lowered his phone to glare.

"How much are rubies?" Kaiba snapped, quickly losing his patience. "My time is money, and money is power. Talk, for fuck's sake."

Be nice to each other, Kisara reprimanded him gently, but Kaiba ignored her, focusing on the information Seth was steadily giving him.

"Rubies and Amethysts – 60 – 80

Opals (black, fire, red, blue, white) –100 – 300

Emeralds – 300 solid, non-negotiable.

Anything handmade (bracelet, anklet, earrings etc.) with the combo of above, costs up to 500

Silver (unforged) upwards to 850 / (forged) negotiable depending on craftsmanship

Gold (unforged) upwards to 1,000 / (forged) negotiable depending on craftsmanship

Demon eggs – priceless / worthless / rare but unsellable"

"What the hell are you writing?" Seth asked, wrinkling his nose as he craned his neck over Kaiba's shoulder, reading the strange notes after each gem. "Demon eggs are not worthless!"

"They are if no one wants to buy them," Kaiba replied monotonously. "You said they're fucking rare, but who the hell can afford to own them aside from royal families? No one. So they're worthless to the masses."

There was a tense silence where Seth made awkward eye contact with Kisara and he looked away quickly, his ears burning.

"Very well, write your notes," Seth said airily, enjoying the warm rush of water swirling around his waist. "When do you want to start giving me shipments?"

"Hold on…" Kaiba breathed, scanning the pricing list rapidly, his eyes blurring slightly the longer he stared at it. "You said you wanted to sell each tube for three emeralds? Are you insane? Women on land don't even pay that much for lipstick. Are you a monster?"

"Yeah, are you a monster?" Kisara echoed, giving Seth a mischievous grin. "That's nearly 1,000 for one tube!"

"Yes, untouched lipstick is extremely hard to find!" Seth protested, and Kaiba held his hand up for silence, his eyes shining with triumph.

"Seth listen," Kaiba began, feeling his heart pound with a rare spark of excitement. "You're going to lower the price to corner the market. These new lipsticks will be all the fucking rage. We'll sell them for rainbow agates."

Seth's jaw dropped open, his claws curling tightly into the sand with disbelief as he shook his head in vehement disagreement.

"Are you insane?" Seth demanded, briefly wondering where his sharp and intelligent brother had gone. "You want to trade a precious commodity for rainbow agate?! Seto, to put it in human terms, you're selling these lipsticks for…pennies."

"No, pearls are pennies," Kaiba corrected him gleefully, pointing at his glowing phone screen with a slender finger. "Agate has the most range in this entire list. This is where the money is. Trust me."

"Opals have a nice range too," Seth protested, wincing as a ray of the setting sun caught him in the eye. "Why not sell them for opals?"

"You can do that after everyone knows your quality can be trusted," Kaiba said, smiling. "You want everyone to be able to afford this. Rainbow agate is our price. Nothing more, nothing less. You can even charge by the color."

"That was the plan," Seth grumbled, uncurling his fingers from the wet sand, his heart thundering nervously in his chest as he observed Kaiba's rising confidence. "Are you sure we won't be harming our water by doing this?"

"The lipsticks are made with a seaweed blend," Kaiba gave Seth a smirk, relishing in his twin's pleasantly shocked expression. "They're waterproof, and they'll dry out nicely if left in the sun, so if you offer collection services for used tubes, we'll have a nice recycle system going."

"Will you charge for the collection service?" Kisara piped up, and Seth shot her handsome grin.

"Yes! That way, we can charge two pearls for disposing each tube!" Seth crowed, clapping Kaiba on the back joyfully. "I'll collect them and hand them to you for cleaning and re-filling. This is brilliant, Seto!"

"And everyone gets lipstick," Kisara said happily, hugging her knees to her chest as a particularly large wave billowed around her skirt, and Seth's cheeks reddened visibly.

"Yeah, and you two should get a room," Kaiba muttered bitterly under his breath, tucking his phone safely back into his blazer pocket. "We'll start small. 100 units. Can you do it?"

He raised his head and met Seth's fiery blue gaze, and his chest tightened strangely. It was like looking into a mirror…except his mirror had longer hair and a fish's tail attached to the lower body.

"Two hundred," Seth said confidently, inching down towards the water tail-first. "I'm drying out, but don't worry, I can do it. I can even recruit some help."

"Don't pay the help yet," Kaiba said nervously, and he heard Kisara protest angrily.

"Salespeople should be paid!"

"I'll pay them in product," Seth said reassuringly, giving her a warm smile. "And when we have a more solid system, we can properly pay our…Salespeople, as you put it."

Kaiba ground his teeth furiously as he watched Seth reach out to kiss Kisara's hand before rolling into a large wave and disappearing underneath the foam.

"Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" Kisara cried, waving energetically from her spot in the sand, and she caught a dark look from Seto beside her. "W-What?"

"You like him," Kaiba said accusingly, feeling his stomach twist with a strange feeling. "Don't bother hiding it."

"I…I like you both!" Kisara protested, pouting prettily. She stood quickly and brushed the sand off her skirt, storming off back towards the house in a huff.

Kaiba watched her go, ignoring the strange tugging he felt in his chest, and he turned his gaze back over the horizon to watch the brilliant orange sun sink into the ocean.

Author's note:

Atem meets the egg, and Noah gets more attention from Uncle Seto! Meanwhile Seth is strategizing on how to rebuild their underwater kingdom!

Λ – lambda (uppercase)

Φ – phi (uppercase)

A – alpha (uppercase)