･･･ HIGHLY REQUESTED CONTINUATION ･･･
Thank you for the amazing supportive messages over the YEARS.
Every now and then, someone will pop up in my dms or comments to say, "please don't end this!" or something like, "this universe is so big already, you can expand on it please", and "it's not over, please don't let it end! I don't want this to end!"
I'm grateful that this is the feedback because good things don't have to come to an end.
I won't take fanfiction too seriously and hardcore-say *ITS DONE* because if the fandom says it's not done, then it's not done. Good things don't always have to come to an end, so here, I give you the life of mermen king atem and king seto underwater with their daughter and their other numerous mer children lmao
I'm always eternally happy for your comments here, your general critical feedback, and your discord chats with me, because even if we used to talk a lot and don't anymore due to -gestures wildly at everything happening in life right now-, you still made a lasting impact on my creativity, and I still carry our conversations with me in my heart. So I'm wishing you the best, and know that I'm always here if you ever need to talk about anything happening with you, or LIFE in general.
We've never stopped being friends even if we rarely talk, or even if we've had a little creative disagreement over where a character should go...
that's part of the PASSIONNNN! (of loving our favorite characters)
Thank you for being my friend and for loving yugioh so long over the years with me. - Ugli
Seto was sunbathing on a white sponge chaise alone.
Enjoying alone time.
Much needed alone time.
The word 'alone' was alien to him now.
His coronation had gone by in a flash, he wondered if it was because it had happened so close to Adina's Procession, people didn't turn up in huge crowds like they did for her.
Either that, or people saw him swimming around the kingdom so often, they didn't feel the need to show up since they voiced their concerns directly to him in passing anyway.
While sitting on their newly carved thrones, Seth had gotten less visitors, which he had to wonder if it was Solomon's doing.
The Old King had made it clear Seth was 'the other twin'.
It made him a bit uncomfortable at the stark favoritism he experienced from the old man, and he swore to never treat his own twins like this.
Seth assured him it was fine, since he was happier in Helios, insisting that Muran was his kingdom that he shared with Atem anyway and he 'didn't care' to be so far away from the sun, regardless of title.
That had put Seto at ease a bit.
So right now, he was relaxing off the stress under the sun in his own library, enjoying the streams of sunlight gleaming off his blue-green fins, occasionally dozing off in the warmth.
This was nice…
When he wasn't being run around by Adina who was in her last year of middle school, he was helping Atem with someone's request in the throne room, and when he wasn't doing that, he was answering to Seth's annoying octopuses claiming there was a 'disruption among their ranks, making him swim all the way back to the surface to deal with it in person.
And when he wasn't tending to his own kingdom's management issues, he was pulled away by a merperson here and there, personally thanking him for something he'd done that had directly affected their wellbeing and improved their life.
It was flattering, until it got tiring.
But he had to hear every person. That was his job now.
And when he wasn't performing his royal duties, he was nursing a baby in his arms.
This alone time was only possible because of a brief break he was taking before swimming back to the Kingdom of Muran.
With Adina on the surface, the short reprieve from her constant, 'Daddy, tell me about surface school lockers…' was extremely welcome.
He had no doubt she would do fine, since her kindergarten and elementary went by in a few blinks of an eye, almost too fast for him to savor it properly, which was terrifying, because it gave him a tiny inkling of how Atem felt when he was asking if they should try for more children 'after the twins'.
It was so they could experience the sweetness over and over again, while also strengthening their kingdom…
The twins, who were hibernating this year, was causing Solomon great loneliness, but secretly, Seto could feel Atem's relief that matched his own.
He learned that hibernating was an extremely normal phenomenon since incubation was introduced into their species, so the Medic's new prediction timeline was: 2 more years. Giving Adina time to assimilate into highschool while they could keep their full attention on her. Thank god.
Because she was giving off 'teenage tyrant' vibes already at age 11.
I can't do it. Nope. No more kids, Seto thought as he laced his fingers behind his head and closed his eyes, enjoying the sun warming the tips of his fins while the water rippled his hair with a light wave.
Wait.
This was the library. The water ought to be still…
And sure enough, he could feel someone coming.
D-Dammit.
He didn't have to wait long, or guess who it was, because he felt a warm rush of water pass his ear, followed by a shrill cry, "DADDY! I caught you…!"
Adina appeared behind his lounge, gripping the back of it with a delicately manicured hand while she bent over to catch her breath, her black hair in a neat ponytail tied high and decorated with a single strand of shells along the band of elastic.
"Hey, nice…human manicure," Seto dropped his gaze to inspect her fingertips, noting the glittering plastic gems stuck into the tips. V-Very…trendy? Very high school girl…
"I hear you dissing me in your head. Stop it," Adina replied stiffly, crossing her arms across her chest, her cheeks dark red. "Also, I have a surface question. Answer it fast so you can go back to work, you stinky sea slug."
"I'm not working right now," Seto replied irritably as he raised his eyebrows, wondering where this mini tantrum was coming from. "If you want me to help you, don't curse at me. Who pissed you off and why?"
Adina let out a huff and turned her head to the side so fast, her ponytail swished across her cheek, and she stared at the multicolored flecks of light sparkling across the white sandy ground while composing her answer. Crud….
Telling Father was her first choice, because he knew the whole story, but Daddy knew shore customs best, and Father would only direct her back to Daddy to ask about it, further increasing her embarrassment….
Oh boy, Seto grimaced and patted the spot on the lounge beside him with a tight smile.
Great to know she was still sharing her school drama with Atem first.
Given how Atem had raised her with fins first, she had imprinted on the mer-king harder.
To her, he was Shore Matters Daddy.
And Atem was Father—clearly, she respected Atem more. It became clearer as she got older, so he had to make himself valuable to her with his shore advice.
Adina glanced at the spot beside Seto's blue-green fins and turned her nose higher in the air, her embarrassment rising with her anxiety as she wondered where to even start telling the story, and…Father had warned her that Daddy might get a bit mad once he found out—
"What? You can tell me," Seto asked lightly, keeping the pleasant smile on his face but deep down, his stomach was twisting into knots.
He'd told himself to stop openly reading private-private thoughts with his illegally pact-boosted abilities, but it was hard to hide it in moments like this.
Adina swallowed visibly and clenched her fists while keeping her arms folded, her cheeks dark red as she muttered, "promise you won't get mad?"
"Did you crash one of my cars?" Seto supplemented, trying to figure out what she could do on shore that would make him the angriest. "Threw a huge party and stained a wall with wine somewhere when you're not of drinking age? Smoked a cigarette? How'd it taste?"
"No. Stop guessing bad stuff I'd never do!" Adina replied with a fiery glare, her blue eyes flashing. "Auntie Mai will tell you all about what I do on land anyway, hasn't she said I was being good?!"
Seto nodded kindly and patted the spot on the lounge beside him again and watched her huff and plop herself down beside him, her knuckles white as she wrung her hands, similar to the way Atem would behave when he was contemplating something difficult….
"I won't be mad about anything. I promise. I love you unconditionally," Seto said with a smirk, appreciating the way the seashells in her hair reflected the stained-glass colors prettily in the bright afternoon sun streaming in from the surface. "Tell me, and I'll help you with everything I know. And if not, Uncle Moki can—"
"Heck no! I'm not telling him this!" Adina said loudly as her flush darkened, and Seto was taken back by the sudden volume. Okay…
This was exclusively an 'only Daddy can give advice on it' type of shore matter?
"Alright kid, I'm losing my patience and my interest," Seto said with an eye roll, knowing that being short with her usually worked. "Spit it out."
Adina huffed arrogantly again and said in an embarrassed rush, "I like a boy and all my friends said I need to give him a handmade gift of chocolates."
Seto bit back a groan and tried to hide it, but too late. Adina saw his shoulders sag a millimeter, and she latched onto it viciously, "you're mad! Just say it! You said 'no boys' until I'm 15 and I heard that! See, that's why I told Father instead of you! You're so—"
"I didn't say anything yet!" Seto protested and he bit back a laugh when he saw her eyes welling up with glittering tears, and he reminded himself to be kind.
Thank Suijin he didn't have to deal with this bullshit because he was male…but now it was his problem to shoulder too, because he had a daughter.
Dammit.
"Your aura said it," Adina sniffed, whipping her head to the side, the tips of her ponytail grazing Seto's pale shoulder. "Now you know."
"I don't know anything," Seto said with a light snicker, and he saw her ears turn dark red again, so he changed his tone. "I mean, I've always been on the receiving end of chocolates. I don't know anything about this boy, and I don't know what flavors he likes or doesn't like? Is he allergic to anything? You have find this stuff out, so…good luck."
Adina blinked furiously. That's it?! GOOD LUCK?!
Worst shore advice to date, Daddy.
"Hey." Seto said defensively, narrowing his eyes. "You're better off asking Auntie Mai about this."
"She said, 'That's above my pay grade,'" Adina recited coldly, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes in an identical manner. "Why can't I just order him to date me? Everyone would love to date me. I'm pretty and I'm cool. Everyone says I look foreign. And we're rich! Humans should love that about me!"
Uh huh, Seto bit back another laugh and struggled to talk through his chuckles.
"Is that what you're presenting?" Seto asked lightly, knowing this was a struggle he also personally had, not just in school, but in most social situations. "You know humans love riches, and if you present yourself as a rich girl, then they'll only love the first word about you. Rich. Don't expect it to get far."
"HEY!" Adina cried, gripping the edge of the chaise lounge, and resisting the urge to tear off a piece of sponge to throw it into her father's smug, handsome face. "I'm really trying! My friends all said I had to…be nice, and I did! I'm doing that now! I talk to him every day. I pay attention to him."
"Boys are stupid. Try again later," Seto replied automatically, and Adina swiped her claws playfully at him, and he shrank away on instinct, even though he knew her nails were currently capped with manicured gel, it was pure muscle memory…from all the other times when he gave her an answer she didn't like.
"I want him…to like me back!" Adina insisted, her cheeks turning pinker and pinker. "I can do it if I command him—"
"If you do that, he will break out of it eventually," Seto said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder and feeling her tense angrily. "You're so used to everyone fawning over your fins here, the second one human boy doesn't pay attention to you, you're upset. Is his attention worth that much to you? How hard do you want to try for his attention?"
"Yes, I want his attention, and I will try to make him like me," Adina said strongly, giving her father a sharp glare. "With you helping me. With everything you know, like you said. I will make the chocolates and write him the love letter."
"Do you even like him or are you just doing this because you're mad he doesn't like you as much as you want him to…as a friend?" Seto asked gently, and his question was ignored.
"I like him," Adina said aggressively, baring her fangs in a light snarl. "Stop questioning me, Daddy. I insist you surface with me to buy chocolate-making stuff."
"Oh f—really?" Seto said tiredly as he attempted another soft smile. "Just me? Or can we bring a certain spiky-haired king for his wise advice?" Because he wasn't about to be tortured alone…
"If Father can find some time in his busy schedule to surface, then yes, I want you both helping me decide what chocolates he will be eating that are made by me," Adina declared, and Seto felt a chill go down his spine.
It sounded like she was power tripping off of feeding a boy handmade chocolates.
Scary.
"Okay. Send a message to Atem and—" Seto didn't even get to finish his sentence. The air was choked out of him in a hug around his neck and the princess zoomed out of the library with her black hair streaming behind her in the graceful ponytail, and Seto had to bend forward to cough when his lungs expanded.
Y-Yikes.
He curled his fingertips around the edge of the lounge and tried to stomach the cold pang of dread that rose up his chest and stuck in his throat.
Holy fuck. His little girl had a crush…on a boy!
He needed to find out everything about this boy, immediately.
Maybe give the school a visit. Now.
And maybe he ought to thank Mai for being tactful enough to send her back down here to tell him about this. That mermaid would appreciate a shore-themed gift, like a fat, fresh wad of cash.
Adina came zooming back into the library, pulling a squealing purple octopus by it's tentacles, and Seto was about to open his mouth to scold her on gentle treatment of messengers when she shouted breathlessly into its face, "Message to King Atem in the Kingdom of Muran!"
The octopus wiggled in the water and bobbed up and down for a moment before it grew still and listened obediently.
"Dearest Father, it's me, your Princess," Adina squared her shoulders back proudly and Seto had to shake his own head in exasperation while he watched her preen her ponytail anxiously down one side of her shoulder. "Daddy has agreed to help me with my crushing problem, and he totally wasn't mad at all. Let's journey to shore together to buy the chocolate-creating ingredients! Please come up to help me make them so this boy will like me! End message!"
Seto palmed his face. He couldn't even get a word in.
"Done!" Adina cried, dismissing the octopus with a snobby wave and diving forward to throw her arms around Seto's pale shoulders to give him a choking hug. "Now what do you wanna do while we wait for Father's return message? Should we fix my hair?"
"What's wrong with your hair?" Seto asked in dismay, scanning her neat ponytail and the seashell elastic. "It's tied perfectly."
"Yeah, I wanna change the style," Adina rolled her eyes with a huff. "And braid rubies into it so the shore boy will see me and compliment me on it!"
Seto felt another laugh climbing up his chest.
First, she referred to her crush as 'the shore boy'.
Second, that was the fastest way to scare off a 12-year-old Japanese middle school boy dealing with an unwanted crush with a scary personality like Adina's.
Done deal. He would encourage her to be herself to the max.
"Then you should have it done at the salon and take whatever you want from my shore treasury," Seto said with an encouraging smirk. "My handiwork won't be nearly as good, even if I can follow magazine pictures just by guess work. Hire someone who has mastery of every style of hair for centuries. How's that sound?"
"Good idea, Daddy," Adina sniffed, tossing her single ponytail over her shoulder and blowing him an ostentatious kiss over her shoulder while swam regally out the library doors, calling out to him in her mind, "love you Daddy! You're already the best and you don't need me to tell you otherwise!"
I'm already defeated, Seto thought with a grimace, rising off the lounge to find an octopus to leave a damn message about heading to shore first.
Even though he'd made his phones, tablets, and other electronic devices work at every depth, mer-society had deemed his tech to be 'military-grade weapons', so only Warriors, Hunters, and cadets touched his tech.
Merpeople were stuck in their ways, preferring to interact with the octopi. It was fine.
He swam through the kingdom, admiring the clean white sand underneath his fins before he spotted a small orange octopus idling by a colorful reef, and he approached it quickly, seeing it bow and let out an excited squeak.
"Majesty!"
"Hey." Seto held up a clawed hand and gave the small octopus a quick pat on the head, feeling it radiate with joy at the attention. "I'm leaving a message with you. Please wait by the Hemisphere Gardens to greet King Atem or Princess Adina when you see them."
The octopus grew still and stared respectfully back at him with it's beady eyes, so Seto took a quick breath to say, "Hey guys. I'm headed up to shore first. Don't worry about me, see you at the house. I also owe Auntie Mai an extra favor as thanks for her watchful eyes. Love you both. End message."
Satisfied with that, Seto swam off quickly, aiming for the Chrysalis. He passed several guards who saluted him, and he saluted them right back for camaraderie, seeing them glow with happiness while they beamed at him, their thoughts loud in the water echoing after him.
"Prince Seto, the famed undercover warrior! How nice!"
"Blessed to be serving such a Hemisphere with these two royals!"
Pleased with the compliments, Seto accidentally dove straight into Seth's chest when he swam too fast around the edge of the rocky wall and recoiled in annoyance while Seth let out a pained yell.
"Ow! Watch where you're going, cadet—oh, Seto." Seth hefted his spear over his shoulder and took his helmet off with a smooth motion, his long sheets of hair cascading down the sides of his body while he beamed at his twin brother. "Nice seeing you. It's been a few moons."
"Look in a mirror if you ever want to see me," Seto replied playfully, pushing past his twin to get to the Chrysalis. "I'm dealing with Adina's crushing problem on land. See you when I return."
"Land?" Seth echoed, trailing after Seto's fins as his cheeks flushed pink with excitement. "Any way you could contact Dartz and send him my regards? He only sometimes answers the phone you connected us with, and says unhelpful things to me like, 'can't say much, top-secret cadet training in progress'."
Seto grit his teeth and rolled his eyes, his hair grazing the backs of his ears while he swam towards the rocky opening of the Chrysalis and palmed the wall, turning to give his twin a stiff nod over his shoulder. "I'll call the number on land and see if he picks up. That's all I'll do."
"Good, thank you," Seth breathed, looking relieved. "And maybe tell me what the secret training is about?"
"How would I know?" Seto scoffed as he swam up to the surface of the Chrysalis, hearing Seth's voice echoing from beneath him.
"You could find out! You're the most prolific undercover warrior we've ever had in our species! That says something! ...Be well, brother!"
Kiss-ass, Seto growled as he popped his head to take a breath, eyeing the circle of rocks with faded writing and hefting himself up on the pebbly edge to begin growing his legs back.
It was odd, watching his fins split into legs and feel nothing.
Before, he used to feel euphoria, excitement, maybe even a pang of longing. But now, it was like he was putting on a tie, ready to go into work. Growing legs had gone past boring and was easing into the territory of annoying.
He almost wished he could direct shore matters from below, and usually with a well-timed message to Mokuba, it worked. But this was a personal matter regarding Adina. He had to wear a believable human personality again and maybe even talk to some parents. Shudder.
Also, the last few times he'd visited land, he made sure to dye his hair a different color to avoid being a 'Seto Kaiba look-alike'. Somehow, people still remembered him even though a couple decades had passed since his 'death'.
Seriously, fame sucked.
To exert the least amount of pact-magic, he'd usually darken his hair a shade into black, to match Mokuba and Adina, but his blue eyes remained, raising questions about 'are those contacts?' so much that he wanted to punch the next human who asked him.
He had to reconsider the dark hair and go lighter.
Wiggling his toes in the warm water, Seto stood up tiredly and faced the mirror mounted into the rocky walls of the cavern, reciting the same words he'd used to alter his appearance, but this time, giving himself a crop of light blond hair. Done. No pact-magic needed to fix his eyes. That always made him nervous anyway. It felt like he was erasing an important part of himself, and he couldn't bear to part with his eye color.
The stone shelves were carved into the walls in long rows.
One section was labeled with a golden plaque 'SETO', another section was stocked full of towels, clothes, and a basket of electronics.
Seto patted himself dry with a small towel before slipping on the casual wear, grabbed a phone, and climbed up the metal rungs to bask in the setting sun sinking low across the horizon, washing the entire beachfront in a beautiful dark orange.
So he sat down on the rock to enjoy the view while he powered on the phone to send the topmost number a message, and then waited for the car to show up.
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the scent of ocean water while he explored the quiet bubble of determination sitting low in his chest.
He wanted to take care of Adina's boy problem and then head right back down.
His mood swings had greatly calmed the more he stopped traveling to and from shore.
Shore held silent traumas; some he didn't know he had until it resurfaced when he encountered it. Humans pissed him off on sight—period.
The life he had underwater was serene and full of healing. The sun warming his chest and shoulders while he swam just beneath the surface brought a special rush of joy.
He opened his eyes when he could feel the vibrations of the car coming up the road, so he stood up and dusted his pants off, letting his breath out in a huff and trying not to wear an unpleasant expression.
Atem bolted through the water at top speed, ignoring the ache in his fins when he felt the water pressure lightening around his shoulders.
The soreness would vanish the moment he grew legs! How exciting that Adina invited him to help her win the affection of a boy on land.
Romance was growth.
Any form of love experience for his little girl was growth and he was ecstatic.
Especially since he had never done this chocolate-making ceremony before, he wanted to be there every step of the way. Of course Seto wouldn't be angry about it! Even though he had set an age restriction on her… Adina had always found her way around those.
He zoomed past two hemisphere guards who saluted him, and he waved in return. The moment he turned back around, an octopus swam right into his face.
It let out a squeal, so Atem floated to a stop, catching his breath as he lifted the cephalopod's tentacles off from around his neck and listened to the message it had for him.
"Hey guys…" It was Seto's voice, oddly enough? "I'm headed up to shore first. Don't worry about me, see you at the house. I also owe Auntie Mai an extra favor as thanks for her watchful eyes. Love you both. End message."
Atem blinked and felt a tight lump climbing up his throat. So maybe he'd been wrong to think Seto wasn't angry about Adina's boy crush?
He'd gone up there first, probably to scout the situation out…to make sure it played out to his advantage. A classic undercover tactic—the nerve of him, leaving a message instead of saying it to their faces?!
I forget he's a high-class warrior sometimes, and then he does something like this, Atem growled as he swam over the beautiful white sandy paths of the resort, deciding to wear a brave smile for Adina.
He saw a familiar crop of brown hair floating by the glass doors of the dining hall, so he made a beeline for it, seeing Seth turn around and give him a bright smile.
"Greetings, King At—"
"Seto left for shore alone, are you aware?" Atem asked icily, not putting up a front for Seth. He'd learned over the past few decades that Seth and Seto were incredibly close despite how much they fought, and often knew exactly where the other one was, even if it was on the other side of the planet.
They were connected by the same chord, so naturally, they were effectively the same person sometimes.
Once, he'd even witnessed them breathing at the same rate. Another time, he'd tested them by asking them the same question in different locations at different times but phrased differently.
He'd gotten the same answer, word for word.
He'd given up testing them after that.
Seth was taken aback by the king's hostile tone but recovered quickly. He was always on the receiving end of Seto's bad behavior, it wasn't new.
"Yes, I am aware," Seth replied calmly with a respectful head nod. "I even asked him to check on my mate for me, though I doubt he will—"
Atem didn't even wait for Seth to finish speaking before he interrupted him again.
"And Adina? Where is she?"
Irritated but determined to stay pleasant, Seth replied, "salon. Ah, no, here she comes, behind you, as the saying goes, speak of the Queen and she shall appear…."
Adina came dashing up to her spiky-haired father to show off her beautifully done-up hair, and Atem's angry expression melted instantly when she gave him a sweet smile and hugged his arm.
"Father, how do you like my double ponytail hair?" She asked with a flutter of her eyelashes, pointing her manicured finger at the rubies braided tastefully up from her ear and into the thick bunches of hair that draped gracefully down her shoulders.
"Very pretty," Atem praised, his angular eyes roaming protectively over the tops of her styled hair. "Good choice because red suits you. Now, have you seen Seto and what did he say?"
"Yeah I saw him, sleeping in the library like a lazy retired bum," Adina wrinkled her nose snobbily and shrugged. "But he said he'd help me, so let's wake him up and go back up now! I saw the sun set and I gotta be asleep by 11 tonight to look pretty tomorrow!"
Atem cracked a smile and spoke carefully, "a messenger notified me that he left ahead of us. We'll have to catch up to him."
Adina blinked and rounded on Seth with her cheeks flushed dark red, "why didn't you stop him?! Why's he sneaking up like a sneaky warrior without telling anyone?! Daddy is retired for heavy trauma! I bet you said something to make him go up there without us!"
Seth's mouth dropped open in protest just as Atem piled on.
"Right! You wanted him to check on your mate." Atem said darkly, giving Seto's twin a disapproving frown. "We all agreed to encourage kingly duties of him, not undercover duties. You sent him up there to spy on your mate!"
"Gross!" Adina declared, crossing her arms with a huff. "I'm displeased with you, Uncle Seth. There are other ways to check if your Mate is being loyal to you on land without sending Undercover after him."
Seth's blood boiled as he rushed to defend himself. "Now wait just a moment you two," he growled, but Adina had already turned with a swish of her fins to tug Atem away from his side.
"Now I need to make sure Daddy isn't up there hurting himself!" Adina shrieked, her manicured nails digging into Atem's tanned forearm, nearly drawing blood and making the king wince. "Let's go…!"
"His reckless behavior is never my fault, nor would I ever suggest such things!" Seth called after them and sighed when their silhouettes disappeared in the distance.
It was terrifying how comfortably vocal Atem and Adina had become in his presence.
It was flattering in a way, that they'd grown to love him enough to be that bold around him.
Gone were the days when Atem would blush and avoid eye contact with him.
Gone were the days where Adina would shyly approach him with kelp and hair ornaments.
They now scolded him the same way they scolded Seto, and sometimes Solomon would add on.
Terrifying.
Well, the ocean is all mine while those three are gone! Seth thought blithely, thanking Seto in his mind for once. He secretly loved the sudden boost in status, and if it meant he was bullied a bit by Adina, he didn't mind at all.
That little queen was manageable.
Seto leaned back into the leather seats and pulled out the phone again, remembering his promise to Seth. So he called the number labeled 'M-DRTZ' and listened to the rings while he watched the blur of street lamps as they sped down the highway.
To his surprise, someone answered, but it wasn't Dartz.
"Hello, you've reached the president's desk, this is Valon, how may I help you?"
Seto almost hung up on instinct, the blood rushing in his ears as a lie quickly fell from his lips, and his mind raced, all too familiar with this style of phone call.
Dartz was somewhere high up on the corporate ladder, as a president, so he had to make himself sound just as important, if not more so.
"Yes, I am personally calling to reschedule, and to extend my apologies for the inconvenience," Seto replied evenly, grinding his teeth at his own language. "Could I send a gift to his desk as well, to make up for this blunder? My new secretary made a scheduling error and it's ultimately my fault for verifying the meeting without seeing the conflict."
There was an awkward pause on the other end, where Seto assumed they were either trying to figure out who he was without asking his name, or it was a merperson, trying to figure out how to answer. Either way, anything that came out of this Valon's mouth was information he could use for Dartz's whereabouts and what company he was fucking president at.
Because that was news to him. Dartz. A company president. Ha.
Man, Seth was right.
He was good at this shit.
"M-May I have your name again…sir?" The man on the other end sounded less confident, so Seto latched onto this with vicious triumph.
"So I take it the meeting wasn't scheduled on your end either? My name isn't in your system at all?" Seto ranted gleefully, gripping the phone harder to his ear. "What number am I calling? This was supposed to be a private, direct number, and yet I'm talking to a desk grunt. Hand me over to him right the fuck now!"
"S-Sir please don't shout at me, I only answer the phone," the man cried, his voice rising shrilly with panic. "Please give me your name again and a meeting time, I will input it for sure!"
"So you forgot?! Who the hell did my secretary call then? You people are useless," Seto said ruthlessly, finding that his old corporate self came back to him easily. "Write this down, ready?"
"Yes, yes…!" There was a rapid shuffling noise and the loud tapping of keys on a keyboard. "Re-Ready!"
"I am Mr. Critias, and I was supposed to meet with him today at 4 pm," Seto said coldly, letting out a long sigh to sound tired. "But my day ended with a conflict on my calendar. I'm free to meet him tonight, in an hour if he is available to finish that up with me once and for all. I'm not wasting any more time with this."
Vague words about 'this' and 'that'.
Sound angry. Make the other person panic and write down a bunch of nonsense to confuse Dartz about the message. Bonus points if the person on the other end was already flustered.
Double bonus points if he spelled 'Critias' in some weird way.
"And I'm getting annoyed, having to drag this thing out for so long. I'm about to withdraw my contribution," Seto said with another bored sigh, making sure to emphasize the money. "Either tell me he can meet at 8pm tonight or not at all. I'm done with this nonsense."
"Yes I… I see an opening tonight, he is free after 7:30, he will meet you for sure!" The man on the other end said breathlessly, tapping on his keyboard with loud clicks. "Mister…Cree-Criti—"
"Perfect. Location?" Seto interrupted over the stammering, so he didn't have to verify the weird name.
"Um… B-Building C…. EMPORIS campus… of Paradius Inc… dining room-ah, s-sorry, dining balcony 4B, Downtown Domi—"
Seto hung up viciously and then quickly searched the 'President of Paradius Inc', telling himself not to be shocked by the search results…but he nearly dropped his phone when he saw Dartz's sparkling profile picture beside an enormous net worth, head of an armored car company.
Holy…fucking shit?!
Still not as impressive as his own net worth when he was Seto Kaiba—wait, he had to count inflation for the past 50 years…
Seto typed the numbers into a calculator and his ears hummed at the giant number that came up, understanding that dealing with money and humans might be another hidden trauma he had.
Dartz was worth 700 million less than himself as Seto Kaiba. Doable.
His gut feeling about making a statement regarding withdrawing a contribution had been correct. Now all that was left was to visit this motherfucker in his silver tower and confront him about not answering Seth's phone calls.
Well when I was running a company on land, I didn't have time for Seth underwater either, Seto thought guiltily as he tucked his phone away into his pocket.
The car came to a rolling stop at the fountain in the mansion driveway, so Seto climbed out quickly and ran up the steps, shouldering the heavy doors open and kicking off his shoes as he bounded up the stairs to change. He had a spare hour before Adina and Atem surfaced. He'd take care of this, and then take care of Adina's thing.
Shore matters were such fucking chores.
As a young warrior, he could see why this lifestyle appealed to him and was exciting.
But now, he wanted to put that armor down and change gears, focus on being a better father and take care of his kingdoms. Plural. Running around like a headless turtle on land was not a dignified way to spend his time as a newly crowned king.
The crown didn't make him a fucking king.
His actions with people did.
And actions like this on land did not count.
Striding into his closet, Seto threw on a dress shirt and winced when the collar was stiff and tight against his neck. Y-Yikes. He forgot he liked this feeling—
"Hey Seto! Saw a blond blur…running up here without even saying 'hi' and though you were that dolt, Joey," Mokuba leaned against the edge of the door with his eyebrows raised. "Nice hair change. Let me guess. Mermaid emergency only you can solve?"
"Yeah, and Adina wants to make chocolate for a boy," Seto snarled as he snatched up a watch from the center display and slipped it on carelessly. "I took a nap today thinking my life was great."
"Your life is great?" Mokuba offered with a dry smile. "Anything you need, big bro?"
"Yeah, I need a cooler little bro. Move," Seto said roughly as he shouldered Mokuba aside, buckling the silver belt around his waist as he went. "Be back in an hour! My phone will be on—"
"Darrrling!" Mai waved from the couch in the middle of the large open space room when she saw Joey's blond hair come dashing down the stairs. "Missed you!"
Ugh, Seto thought as he remembered to thank her, and so he approached her with a quick head-nod.
"Hey, thanks for sending her down to tell me about the chocolates. I owe you," he said gruffly, seeing her violet eyes widen with shock while she pressed the magazine to her face and let out an embarrassed squeal while shooing him away with her other hand.
"Get away! I don't know you! S-Sorry, I thought you were someone else!" She cried, blindly grabbing a pillow from beside her and getting ready to throw it. "Fuck off! Not interested!"
Stunned, Seto snatched the magazine from her and pointed at his own face, snarling, "I'm Seto! Open your eyes!"
Mai stared at him for a long second before her eyes widened and she nodded curiously.
"Oh, I see it now," she said shakily, trying to act indifferent. "Same blue eyes, prince—ah, I mean king—you know what I mean. G-Great undercover disguise…as usual."
"Whatever. You get a pay raise," Seto said loftily, trying not to be embarrassed by her obvious embarrassment that was leaking. "For dealing with Adina's crush-talk."
"Good. I want to buy a new car," she said easily as she leaned back into the cushions to flip a magazine page. "A newer one. I'm tired of the one I have."
Whatever, Seto rolled his eyes and jogged down the stairs, taking long strides out the door, down the white marble steps and throwing himself into the backseat of the limo, closing the door for himself with a slam!
"Downtown Domino, drive." Seto instructed, and the driver tried to be friendly with him, mistakening him for Joey.
"Ah, Mr. Wheeler—"
"I'm not him! Drive!" Seto said loudly, grinding his teeth in irritation.
The blond hair was a curse.
Author's note:
let me know your thoughts :D