Marik ran beside Kaiba's gurney, breathlessly relaying his vitals to the nurses surrounding him.
"I'm the family doctor," he insisted, his tongue twisting quickly around the English language. "I need to be with him at all times. No one does anything to him without my permission!"
"Please have your ID checked by our receptionist and then we can talk," the head paramedic said sternly, huffing as he pushed the gurney down the hall leading to the main rooms. "I trust you, but we must follow procedure very carefully when it comes to high profile patients like these."
"Of course, of course," Marik repeated nervously, and he stood at the doors while a nurse held her hand up to politely tell him to stay behind.
He watched them wheel Kaiba's lifeless body into the emergency ward, and he sagged against the wall, hearing Mahad's footsteps pattering from behind as he caught up.
"Well?" Mahad growled, leaning against the wall for support as he caught his breath. "How is he?"
"I can't get in there unless I show ID, which I didn't bring!" Marik cried, turning to Mahad with a glare. "You told me to change identities, and well, I did, and I don't have any of my credentials with me! I'm a doctor from another country!"
"They can look you up, can't they?" Mahad asked, pointing at the computer behind the receptionist's desk, which was empty. "Where is the human who usually works that machine?"
Marik glanced around nervously and edged around the desk, moving the mouse frantically and hoping the system would be the same here, but to his dismay, he realized it was indeed different, and he couldn't read fast enough in English before a woman towered over him, looking stern.
"Get out from there before I call security!" She barked, shooing him away from the chair and sitting down into it herself. "Who are you looking for? Gosh, you people can't even wait two seconds…"
"My patient is in there, being treated by other doctors," Marik lied steadily, gazing into the woman's eyes and briefly taking in her tight, curly black hair. "I need to show you my ID, which I don't have, because someone…told me to leave my credentials at home. Can you find me in the system? Although I highly doubt it. I am from Japan."
"Oh, you a Japanese doctor, konichiwa!" The lady chortled, shaking her head in apology. "Well I dunno what somebody else told you, but I can't check anyone's ID unless you have a registered family member who is already inside. So, stay here and chill out. Your patient is in good hands."
"I need to be with him at all times. My patient…is a celebrity," Marik growled through clenched teeth, and the lady seemed unfazed, waving him away with a manicured hand.
"Oh, we get famous people in here all the time. Like I said, don't worry! He'll be okay!"
No he won't, because he isn't human! Mahad fumed at Marik, and Marik rolled his eyes angrily, dragging Mahad down the hall for privacy.
I'm going in there, Marik said stiffly, patting Mahad's pockets for his stethoscope and taking it back. You see? This is why I carry it everywhere. It's an all-access pass into any hospital.
Well, what about me? Mahad growled, eyeing a nurse who walked by them, wearing all one-color clothes. We don't blend in here at all.
You don't have to. I'll just say you're my assistant, Marik said loftily, looping the stethoscope around his neck. How the tables have turned, o' mighty warrior.
Shut up and get me to him! Mahad hissed. He followed Marik as they strode right in through the emergency doors and was greeted with an immense hustle and bustle.
Nurses and doctors were rushing to and fro without paying them any attention, and Marik grabbed a blank clipboard off the wall with familiarity. Mahad held his breath, watching Marik stand and stare at the large screen, squinting at it, trying to find Kaiba's name.
"There he is: John Doe, male, 6'-1," Marik said darkly, pointing at one of the highlighted bars on the TV screen. "They can't figure out his race, and they can't draw his blood otherwise they'll discover it's green, and then we'll really be too late."
"What room?" Mahad hissed, seeing a nonsensical number and letter beside the description.
"This way. We'll get him," Marik said anxiously, weaving his way through the crowd of doctors and nurses. "I can heal him if I have all the equipment ready. Just do as I say."
Mahad said nothing and grimaced when someone bumped into his shoulder too hard while passing and didn't apologize.
It was pure chaos in here.
How did humans manage to function, much less save lives like this?!
Pushing aside a curtain, Marik gave the nearest nurse a glare and began barking orders as if he belonged there.
Mahad watched this scene, numb with curiosity and dread.
The words Marik were saying didn't make any sense to him, but it appeared to make sense to the other humans, because they replied quickly to him, giving him answers he didn't seem happy with.
"Get him off the drip," Marik pointed at the bag of fluid hanging over Kaiba's head, and Mahad turned green when he saw a needle leading into Kaiba's pale forearm, and he had to look away.
Human…medical procedures…were…terrifying, to say the least.
A nurse reached for it, protesting while he worked, "But sir, he's unstable. He's—"
"He doesn't need that. Get him off of it or you'll make him worse! I'll take it from here!" Marik shouted, and Mahad winced, realizing that shouting did the trick.
The humans scattered, and Marik drew the curtain behind them. Hovering over Kaiba, he gently pried the oxygen mask off his face.
The heart monitor strapped to the side of the bed was showing a lot of irregular activity, and Mahad stared at it, his heart sinking along with every jagged line that didn't look right.
Kaiba needed a healing pod. Not this…nonsense!
"He's not breathing, so this is pointless," Marik flung the oxygen mask aside, and it narrowly missed Mahad's knee as it went sliding to the floor. "Kaiba! Can you hear me? Open your eyes. I need you to…"
Mahad blinked and swayed on the spot, realizing he was witnessing…death.
Death of a merman on land.
No. He couldn't let this happen.
Every fiber of his being was screaming in protest as Marik began hooking something up to another machine and placed the pads on his chest…attempting to…jumpstart Kaiba's heart…which had stopped beating moments ago….
This was Adina's father…
Atem's mate…
A lost King from a lost colony…
He couldn't be allowed to die here, in this filthy, undignified chaos….no matter how nasty of a person he was. His last words to him had been, 'you useless fuck', and Mahad swore Kaiba needed to be alive to apologize to him for that.
"Mahad, do as I say!" Marik cried. "I need four hands for this! Hold these here!"
"No," Mahad whispered, shaking violently with distress as he eyed the flatlining heart machine. "This is wrong. Human methods won't work. I must…take him back down. Now!"
"You can't…! He's…" Marik gazed hopelessly at the solid, flat beep coming from the machine, and his hand trembled furiously. "We'll jolt him with—"
"No!" Mahad cried again, feeling as if the air was being crushed out of his lungs, and he recognized this as his pact activating.
He needed to do everything in his power to protect the royal family…any royal family, and there was one royal in front of him now, desperately needing his help.
The curtain was pulled back, and two nurses from earlier stood at the foot of the bed, gaping at them, their faces pale with shock at the flatlining monitor.
Marik's demeanor changed instantly, and he lowered his head, putting on a show for the humans.
"Time of death…2:34 PM…"
"What, no!" Mahad snarled, rushing forward to unhook Kaiba from the machines, and making sure to extract the horrid needle from his arm. "Just because his heart stopped beating doesn't mean he's dead! It could mean deep sleep!"
Mahad… Marik growled, and the nurses hurried away to grab paperwork. Take him now while everyone's gone. I'll have them say we've transported him back to Japan. Stealing a body is a heinous crime. If anyone catches you on your way out—
I don't give a shit! Mahad snapped, and he lifted Kaiba's body from the gurney and dashed out into the chaos of the main floor.
Again, no one paid him any attention.
Several people did lift their heads to blankly acknowledge that a finely dressed man with long hair was carrying another man, also wearing a suit, but no one was bleeding or crying, so it didn't matter.
Racing through the hall, Mahad skidded to a stop by the hospital doors and saw one of Pegasus' black cars still parked in front. Thank the gods.
A man in a dark suit recognized him and held the door open for him as he rushed Kaiba into the limousine, and slammed the car door shut, shouting at the driver, "drive to the beach!"
"You mean, another hospital?" The man asked, and Mahad ground his teeth furiously, his lungs aching for air as he shouted back, "BEACH…FRONT! NOW!"
"Right away," the man muttered, and he backed out of the spot with squealing tires.
"Don't die…don't fucking die," Mahad hissed, pressing two fingers to Kaiba's neck and checking for a pulse that was absent. "Shit!"
He kept his eyes nailed to the window, watching the cars zip by as he listened to his heartbeats steadily, making sure to count two of his beats for one second due to his anxiety.
His own basic medical knowledge reassured him that merpeople's hearts stopped when they slept deeply or were traumatically injured. Their bodies would shut down and 'hibernate' before true death set in.
Usually, since ocean water was so cold at their depth, being revived without tissue damage in a pod was quick and easy, but the longer they were on shore in the presence of the sun, Mahad wasn't so sure….
The limousine made a precarious turn and began driving up a hill.
Fuck. Altitude change was not needed right now.
Perhaps he could run the rest of the way.
The Chrysalis on this shore was close…
But…dropping Kaiba into it, unprecedented, it might break the pacts surrounding that particular one.…but who cared!
A royal was dying!
Kaiba cracked his eyes open and grew dizzy as he realized he couldn't breathe.
The black roof of a car arched overhead, and Mahad's face was blurry in his vision.
"Oh gods, Kaiba!" Mahad gasped, biting back an insult to shout at the merman for scaring him. "Don't you dare perish, you hear me? You have a child who needs you!"
Shut…up…I…know, Kaiba thought weakly, his chest searing with a horrible fire.
Everything hurt.
And the air was thin and thick at the same time.
What was happening?
How long had he been inside a car?
His eyes fluttered shut and a sharp slap stung him across the cheek.
Don't fall asleep right now, or you'll die! Mahad fumed, and the car lurched to a stop just in time.
"Here?" The driver called from the front seat, but Mahad was already gone, leaving the door swinging open behind him.
Sprinting down towards the beach, Mahad ignored the strange looks he received from humans, and kept his mind nailed to one location: The secluded cliffside which led to the Chrysalis.
Since Kaiba was barely hanging on to life, he needed to take a drastic measure.
There was no time to swim there.
Thankfully, this was one of the Chrysalises used during the wars, so there was more than one entrance to it.
Kaiba cracked his eyes open again, realizing he was being carried across…the sand. A beach. Was Mahad going to toss him…into the water? Why? So he could drown?
I can't breathe…underwater…anymore, Kaiba thought weakly, and he received a sharp, worried glance from Mahad.
"Another symptom of shore illness. Advanced stage," Mahad replied stiffly, climbing the rocks with difficulty as he kept Kaiba's large body horizontal in his arms. For a man this tall, Kaiba sure weighed…nothing.
I'm fucking dead, aren't I? Kaiba asked, closing his eyes again and struggling to draw a breath, but all he got was a horrible tightness in his chest, and his head felt like exploding.
He needed…air, dammit!
Why was Mahad climbing up a hill?
They needed to go down!
"Yes, you died," Mahad said, puffing with effort as he managed to climb up the last rock, and he set Kaiba gently down on his back. "Marik announced your time of death. I don't know human proceedings—"
I'm not dead! I can't die! Kaiba cried, prying his eyes open with effort and wheezing horribly. Take me back! You can't…fucking kill me! Is this a mercy-killing? Fuck off, and that's an order!
"Orders won't work on me when I act on a pact," Mahad said calmly, standing above Kaiba's body and feeling his entire body vibrating strangely. "I won't obey you. There's a higher order in effect."
I can't…die, I'm invincible, Kaiba thought weakly, gazing up at the clear blue sky and feeling himself grow weaker. Strong arms slipped underneath his body and picked him up again, so he panicked, shouting at Mahad in his mind with the last of his strength.
What about Atem? My kid? And Noah? And my brother?! Kaiba raged, feeling Mahad walk steadily closer towards the edge of the cliffside. You're going to kill me?! Hey! What are you doing, you imbecile! Put me down!
"I am indeed an imbecile," Mahad said shakily, his arms trembling with effort as he held Kaiba's body over the edge of the cliff, and Kaiba could hear the crashing waves down below.
He tried to struggle, but his body was no longer listening to him.
He was out of air, out of energy…out of insults…
"I am breaking about ten eras worth of laws by doing this," he said, giving Kaiba a sad smile. "Prince Seto, my apologies."
Mahad let go, Kaiba blinked, and realized he was falling…from a great height.
That fucker had dropped him off the side of a cliff!
The rocks were a brown blur as they brushed past his shoulders, and he felt himself falling in slow motion. He cursed Mahad in his head one last time before losing consciousness and hitting the water below.
Hearing a splash, Mahad craned his neck to see nothing but a ripple of water. Satisfied and relieved, he took aim and dove down after Kaiba, his entire body shivering with the thought of what he'd just done.
Atem would pardon him. He was sure of it.
Atem leaned his head sleepily against Joey's shoulder, wondering why he felt so tired. It had only been one sunlit day, but his body was worn and exhausted.
The train rocking them back and forth was calming.
He had eaten the delicacy called 'ramen' at Joey's insistence and discovered that it was quite nice, but he still preferred the taste of fish. The grilled fish was better by far.
Closing his eyes softly, he felt Joey pat his head.
"We'll take turns sleeping so we can get off at the right stop," Joey said warmly, enjoying the journey very much. "We've been trained to stay awake for a couple days, but I do need sleep after three days awake, so, just remember that."
"Okay…" Atem murmured, incredibly thankful that he'd made such a dependable friend like Joey.
If the rest of the journey was this comfortable, he wasn't going to complain.
He could see a lot of Japan through this glass window while it zipped by, taking him to Kaiba's residence in no time.
Kaiba opened his eyes slowly, seeing his own clawed hands floating in front of his face, and he closed his eyes again.
Wait.
He cracked his eyes open with force but realized he still couldn't breathe.
He closed his eyes again, listening to the steady thumping of his heart in his ears.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again and saw streams of brown hair covering his peripheral vision.
That fucker…Mahad. Fuck him.
Closing his eyes, Kaiba drifted in and out of consciousness.
He opened his eyes again and once again, saw his own hands, but they were covered with disgusting, slimy, green scales.
Oh god. He was mutating.
Time to go back to sleep.
He closed his eyes and listened to his heart thudding in his ears.
Outside in the pod, the Medic hovered around Prince Seth, listening to his strange thoughts and trying to diagnose his Soundness of Mind.
She tapped the pod again, waking him up.
Kaiba opened his eyes and saw more hair floating around his face, and he closed his eyes stubbornly.
Nope.
The first face he wanted to see when he woke up was Atem's.
Not that fucker, Mahad.
Did Mahad anger him? The Medic wondered worriedly, wondering why Seth was so fond using the human f-word against their best warrior.
She tapped the pod again, and Kaiba opened his eyes tiredly, wondering why he still couldn't breathe.
Fuck…everything…fuck…everything….
He closed his eyes again and drifted off into a medicated slumber.
Princess Adina swam into the infirmary, followed by Mana who was holding her hand tightly.
"Auntie Medic, what happened to Uncle Seth?" She asked worriedly, staring at the green pod with fear. "What does it mean when a yellow octopus brings him? Yellow is bad, right?"
"Yellow just means highest priority," the medic said reassuringly, giving the princess's hair a soft stroke. "You can sit next to him if you want. He might heal faster if you do. He's refusing to wake up and talk to me, also he's sounding very…unstable. I wonder if Warrior Mahad did something to anger him."
"Did they fight?" Mana asked anxiously, pressing a hand to her chest. "Seth is mellow. He would never fight Mahad, at least, I don't think so."
"I don't know. Men," the medic shook her head, exasperated. "This is by far the worst case of shore illness I've ever encountered! Prince Seth must be spending too much time on shore with his brother, Seto."
"Not true!" The princess cried tearfully, rushing forward to press her palms against the green pod. "Uncle Seth! Wake up! Why are you sick now?! Who will take me to see Daddy during the next moon cycle?!"
The pod glowed bright green in response, and the Medic gasped in shock.
"Oh, look at that!" She cried, giving the princess a hug. "A family's touch really does the job. Stay here. Let me get Atem—"
"NO! Don't get Papa!" Adina shouted, her cheeks turning pink as she began to lie fluidly. "Papa is busy with other colony stuff because of Shada. He said to leave him alone."
"No shouting," Mana admonished.
Adina turned her nose up at Mana and gazed anxiously into the pod, feeling her palms burn with a strange familiarity as she stared at the long-haired silhouette inside. It was murky, and she could barely make out a face, but it was definitely Uncle Seth inside with his flowing hair.
Kaiba cracked his eyes open again, hearing Adina shouting, and he raised his hand weakly to graze his knuckles across the milky green surface where her two little palms were imprinted against the side.
How…nice… She came to visit him again…
"DADDY?!" Adina gasped, curling her fingers into fists and thumping them against the pod. "Daddy, is that you?! DADDY, ITS ME!"
Hey…kid, Kaiba thought weakly, and he passed out briefly when the ringing in his ears became too heavy.
"She's confused, poor thing," Mana whispered, clutching the Medic's arm tightly, and the Medic couldn't do anything other than nod.
She had to disagree.
The man inside the pod didn't sound anything like Prince Seth, and that realization terrified her into silence.
"Daddy, wake up…" Adina whispered tearfully, pressing her cheek down onto the pod, and it glowed bright green again.
"Let's give them a moment together," the medic said quietly, leading Mana out of the infirmary.
Mana threw one last look at Adina hugging the pod before the doors closed behind her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the princess.
Adina listened breathlessly, waiting for Mana and the Medic to swim all the way down the hallway before she floated anxiously around Daddy's pod, sending him rapid thoughts.
Daddy?! It's me, Daddy, can you hear me?! Adina cried, darting back and forth over his lifeless body.
Kaiba woke up again and struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Daddy…! Papa-Atem went to shore to find you!" Adina said in a rush, and Kaiba felt his head spin at this new information. "A secret octopus told me to lie and say he's doing other colony stuff, but actually, he's on shore! Did you see him? Is that why you're hurt? When is Papa coming back?!"
It was getting harder to breathe, and Kaiba passed out again.
"Daddy?!" Adina cried tearfully, and the doors to the infirmary burst open, and Solomon floated in, accompanied by Isis and Rishid.
"Adina, my darling," Solomon reached out to the princess and she dashed into his chest, giving him a crushing hug.
"He won't wake up…he won't wake up!" She sobbed repeatedly, and Solomon patted her back gently.
"He's brave and strong for always weathering shore sickness so you can go see your daddy," Solomon said reassuringly. "He will wake up. Medic says it'll be about a moon and a half, maybe even less if you keep giving him hugs and kisses, hm?"
"I'm going to give him the most hugs and the most kisses!" Adina blubbered, darting back to hover protectively over the green pod. "I love him so much!"
"Who is running his resort if he's here?" Rishid murmured, and Isis shook her head in agreement.
"I don't know. Better send a messenger over there to make sure everything is fine—"
"Everything is fine. Uncle Seth is running the colony just like normal," Adina interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest. "You don't need to send a messenger."
"Ah…I see, Princess…but how can Uncle Seth do that, when he's resting…in there?" Isis asked kindly, and the Medic rushed back into the infirmary, red in the face.
"She's a bit confused, you'll have to excuse her, Counselors," the Medic tried to hug Adina, but she twisted away stubbornly and glued her cheek against the top of the pod, giving it a tender kiss.
"You see?" the Medic explained hopefully. "She thinks…that's her 'Daddy'."
Rishid rolled his eyes and floated towards the door, followed by Isis, and Solomon gave Adina a sorrowful look over his shoulder before he exited as well.
Kaiba listened to all of this while half-conscious, and a part of him realized he was underwater…with Atem's people, but another part of him couldn't bring himself to accept such nonsense.
It was too deep where the mer-king lived.
This must be death and his own version of hell he'd cooked up for himself in his head.
Turning over with a sigh, Kaiba fell back into a medicated sleep, his chest rising and falling gently with labored breathing.
Atem and Joey stepped off the train together, arm in arm, and they got many strange looks.
"Oh, no touching," Joey pushed Atem away gently with a smile. "We'll keep getting looked-at if we hold hands and stuff."
"Why?" Atem wondered. He got another long stare from another human walking by, and he grit his teeth tightly in anxiety.
These humans stared so much, it was as if he'd grown fins on his nose or something.
"Cuz they have rules against…stuff like that, but it's not written down," Joey explained poorly, not too sure himself. "Are you hungry?"
"No…" Atem breathed, marveling at the sheer massive crowds of humans rushing along the platform, all carrying something in their hands.
He knew shore was populated, but this was…unimaginable!
There was always space in the sea, but here, if he took one misstep, he would tread on someone's toe, or accidentally trip over someone's…long, sword, which Joey explained was called an 'ump-brella'.
"Ready? We gotta get to the platform on the other side and head towards Tokyo," Joey explained, following the crowd up a set of stairs, and Atem couldn't stop gawking.
Humans.
Humans everywhere.
They were walking shoulder to shoulder, sometimes wearing the same sets of clothes. Many packs of children stuck tightly together, laughing and talking excitedly.
Other adult humans wore suits and looked down at their devices while they piled onto the moving stairs and travelled upwards.
Joey grabbed Atem's arm and pulled him along, fully aware that the king was preoccupied with all the new sights, but they had a train to catch.
The delicious scent of something wonderful filled the air, and Atem stared as they passed a tiny shop filled with food. Groups of girls wearing the same clothes were crowded around the table, holding trays and piling the food onto it.
He was pulled along by Joey, and he saw another shop, but it was filled with…flowers!
His mouth dropped open and he ached to see one up close. He'd only seen illustrations and pictures of flowers. Some tiny flowers grew close enough to rocks along the beach, but never within reach. Those flowers in the shop were huge!
"Joey, I want—" Atem winced when someone brushed past him too closely and they turned around to bob their head in apology before hurrying off.
A tiny slip of paper was shoved in his hand and Joey stood in line, behind a man wearing a dark suit, pointing at a series of shallow barriers.
"Watch me, and do it fast," Joey explained anxiously, and he stepped forward to stick the ticket into the gate. A sound chimed, and two plastic flaps opened to let him through, so Joey stepped past them and onto the other side.
Atem copied him, placing the ticket into the slot and stepping through, hearing the chime and…nothing happened.
What was the point of that?!
The person behind him did the same thing and stepped around him, hissing in annoyance, and Atem heard his thoughts as he brushed past.
…in the way! Always in the way, these foreigners….!
"Okay, now we can go," Joey grabbed his arm and pulled him through the crowd again, and Atem's head swam with questions.
They walked onto another set of moving stairs, and Joey wiped his brow, grinning and pointing up at the sign above their heads.
"We did it," he said happily. "A few more minutes on this train and you'll get to see Kaiba."
"I want to buy some flowers," Atem said quickly, so Joey stuck his hand into his pocket and handed Atem a bill.
"If we don't have to spend that, you can buy whatever you want!" Joey shrugged, and walked out into the train platform quickly, seeing their train already waiting in the station. "Ack! Atem, c'mon!"
Atem let Joey tug him through a thin crowd, and they raced into the train car, panting heavily.
E-Exhausting…! Running on his new legs was more tiring than swimming to shore.
Why so much rushing?
His question was quickly answered when the train doors slid shut in a flash, and the ground jolted as they began to move forward. Atem lost his balance, stumbling clumsily forward and accidentally bumping his nose into a girl's arm.
"Sorry!" Joey cried, apologizing for Atem and ducking his head down anxiously in a quick bow.
Atem gaped at the girl who threw him a long glare before she turned away to look back at her phone.
"Hold onto this," Joey muttered, pointing at the pole he was hanging onto beside him…but it was attached to a seat, where another person was sitting.
Atem opened his mouth to protest, but Joey grabbed his hand and placed it on the pole just as the train swayed again. Swallowing nervously, Atem watched as Joey reached up high to grab a handle hanging from above their heads, and Atem stared.
He hadn't…realized, there were so many handles hanging from the ceiling, and many human hands were grabbing at every one of them.
This train was more crowded than the last one.
The other one was practically empty compared to this one.
"It's because we're going into a big city," Joey explained quietly, and Atem nodded, realizing the air had become stuffy due to how many people were breathing around him.
Oh...gods…he couldn't imagine this scene underwater if he tried.
The closest thing he could compare this to was a school of fish.
Did all humans travel like this? Because all the tiny pods with wheels also had packs of people inside them. Cars. Busses.
I know the names of these things, Atem thought indignantly, slowly recalling his knowledge he'd stored over the years of reading.
The train slowed to a stop and Atem breathed a sigh of relief as people got off, but to his horror, even more people got on, and he was pushed tighter against the metal pole.
H-How…did Kaiba…and Mahad travel like this?!
It was absolutely terrifying! People were around him on all sides, but no one was paying him any attention.
Everyone was consumed by their devices, and Atem felt a twinge of jealousy. He'd seen Kaiba use these. They seemed to be able to do everything, from unlocking doors to calling people across continents.
The rise of human technology really led to merpeople's downfall. They couldn't compete with this level of communication.
Also, since they were in such proximity with so many humans, Atem's ears began to ring with various thoughts coming from the people around him.
…I wish he'd stop texting me, ugh…
…Poor Mokuba Kaiba….
…I need to stop procrastinating on that report…
…Need to buy rice at the store after this stop…can't forget this time…
...Hibiya-san is going to freak when she hears that I got promoted…
…Man, I'm hungry….
…Fuck, it's really hot in here, and it stinks like sweat…hate summers on the train…
…He's such a creep. Stop talking to him…one date was enough….
…The Kaiba family must be…
The train slowed to a halt, and Atem's head spun with more questions.
It seemed the closer they got to the big city, the more people's thoughts changed.
"Joey, are you hearing this?" Atem gave his friend a nudge, and to his dismay, Joey was gawking at a woman who had sat down in the seat across from them, crossing her long legs underneath her flowing pink skirt.
"Uh…hearing what?" Joey asked, giving Atem a nervous laugh. "Two more stops! Ya ready? We gotta take a cab after this…man, I hope we have enough."
"Those…thoughts about Kaiba," Atem said quietly, and to his horror, he was overheard by an aging human who had taken the seat attached to the pole beside him.
"Ah yes, condolences to the Kaiba family," the old man said loudly, drawing many stares from the train car. "Young people these days don't value anything…"
Atem sweat nervously and turned away, seeing Joey grimace and gesture to a connecting door leading to an emptier train car.
He followed his friend gratefully, and stepped into another train car, marveling at how the train stayed connected at the bottom even though they opened a barrier above.
Princess Adina would be fascinated by something like this.
Stopping himself from thinking too much about her, Atem saw Joey manage to find a seat, so he copied his friend and sat down in an open seat, not realizing how tired his legs had been.
Almost too soon, the train slowed again, and people got off.
The doors remained open for several heartbeats.
Atem stared anxiously at Joey, seeing his friend squinting at the screen above their heads for a few more heartbeats before springing to his feet and pointing frantically, "This is us! Let's go!"
Knowing the doors were on a timer to close, Atem jumped up and raced out onto the platform, right behind Joey. He threw a nervous glance over his shoulder, and sure enough, the doors closed with a steady whoosh!
Atem stuck close by Joey's side, and another slip of paper was handed to him, which he obediently stuck into the mechanical slot, listened to the chime, and stepped through.
Again, nothing happened.
Did the paper mean something? Did touching it track their movements?
Atem saved his questions and raced after Joey who had stopped beside a shop to drool at their food.
"…Flowers?" Atem asked breathlessly, wondering when their journey would end, because he sorely missed Kaiba now. It had been two sunlit days, and two nights, all spent on moving trains, eating in a rush, and getting back on.
This was his third sunlit day now, and he was hoping to sleep in a human bed, as glorious as the ones Mai had described.
"Yeah, we can relax here, cuz this is Kaiba's city," Joey flashed a thumbs up, and pointed at a wrapped snack. Sure enough, a familiar face beamed up at him from it.
Shocked, Atem picked up the wrapped snack and stared.
It was…Mokuba, with his black hair tied back into a ponytail while he pointed at a series of words printed in a speech bubble above his head, 'healthy and hearty!'
Incredible.
This was Kaiba's city. He really did own a kingdom on land.
Mahad had not lied about that detail.
There was food, with Mokuba's face on it!
"Can I find one with Seto on it?" Atem asked in a rush, placing the snack carefully back into its shelf. Joey shrugged blithely and paid for a bundle of snacks.
"What are you doing?" Atem asked in dismay, seeing Joey hand over a stack of coins to the merchant over the counter. "That's a lot of money!"
"Nah, humans value paper," Joey said, sniggering. "The coins are like…uh, rainbow agate. The papers are emeralds and aquamarine!"
"I see," Atem nodded, not understanding at all, but again, he saved his questions for when he would inevitably meet Kaiba.
"Alright, let's find a cab," Joey said, leading Atem out of the station and enjoying the look of pure wonder flitting across the king's face as he gazed at all the silvery buildings around them.
"Do people…live in these?!" Atem breathed, his chest constricting uncomfortably at the sheer altitude these dwellings reached. "They're…touching the sky! Is this safe?!"
"Some of them are shops," Joey explained happily, pointing at each one, and Atem realized he could read some of the signs displayed on the glass, in giant, flashing letters. "See, that one? That whole thing is just food. This one is…I dunno, I can't read it."
"Men's clothes," Atem read fluidly, now entirely thankful that Adina wanted to learn Japanese so badly.
This was why.
Shore was…breathtaking. Amazing!
"Ah look, there's Rich Boy!" Joey cried, pulling Atem back against the wall as people marched past them in droves. "Up there! Ayyy, lookin' good rich boy!"
Atem angled his gaze higher, wondering what Joey was talking about…until he saw it, and it took his breath away.
Kaiba's handsome face was smirking on a giant screen covering the entire side of a building. He was staring into the camera briefly before it panned down his slender body, focusing on a shiny watch around his wrist.
"Anniversary….?" Atem read the text popping up across the bottom, frowning in frustration. There were some characters he couldn't understand, but maybe the ad was a special run? Either way, it didn't matter. Kaiba looked no different than when they'd last met, and Atem stared hungrily at the screen, waiting for it to play again.
Joey stood silently beside him, wolfing down the snacks while he let Atem take his time.
"I don't…want to see moving pictures of him," Atem said, his voice choking slightly with emotion as the ad played for a third time. "Let's go."
"M'kay," Joey balled the snack wrappers in his fist and shoved them into his pocket. "Flower shop, cab, and then Kaiba's house, right?"
"Right…" Atem echoed, and he was immediately distracted by a pair of girls walking by, holding the largest, fluffiest toy seal he'd ever seen.
"Dangit, I promised to get my little sis one of those," Joey said forlornly as the girls disappeared up the street. "Those are the most expensive things on land. Period."
"Toys?" Atem asked nervously, his heart pounding with a strange longing. "I want to touch it, not have it."
"Then we can go into a shop to do that!" Joey grinned, pointing at the towering structure before them. "Flowers will be in there too, so…detour?"
"Detour," Atem agreed readily, his spirits lifting.
He'd seen Kaiba's face on a tall building, and Mokuba's face on a snack wrapper. All of this was proof that he was walking around in Kaiba's city.
All was well.
Author's note:
atem is finally enjoying himself on land after 2.5 days of travelling! Poor kaiba is healing in a pod back in his kingdom and he doesn't even know it! They've flipflopped! ARGH!