Erin's POV

"There you are!"

I jumped as I looked around for the voice that spoke. My eyes then widened as none other than Caraxes landed on the grass a few feet away from me.

"Holy shit Noah actually has you and the rest of my deck programmed here"

"Even in a virtual reality we will always be by your side Nine-Tailed One" Caraxes explained. "We also protect our wielder"

"I'm just glad to see you, buddy"

Caraxes emitted a happy chirp when I stroked his snout, and then he lowered himself and I carefully climbed up his wing.

"Let's go find your companions and your mate," Caraxes said once I was on his back.

I smacked the Blood Wyrm on the scales in reprimand at his teasing and the male dragon chuckled before he opened his wings and took flight.

Kaiba's POV

"Did you just talk?!" Mokuba and I demanded not believing our ears.

Silverwing winced.

"There is no need to shout I can hear you both" she growled. "And yes Stubborn One I am capable of human dialogue"

Mokuba was laughing behind a hand at Silverwing's comment.

"You are a stubborn one Seto Kaiba" Silverwing continued. "Those five fools are intimidated by me and my kin, so for the time being we are safe"

"I'm not afraid of them" I pointed out.

"But they are perfectly capable of claiming your body human, because of my wielder's affection for you and Mokuba is why I am here, and besides last, I recall you seem to prefer me than the other dragons in Erin's deck"

"She's right Seto you do you like Silverwing"

"Not helping kid"

Silverwing proceeded to laugh before her attention went to the sky. Another winged shadow appeared and a second later Caraxes the Blood Wyrm landed beside Silverwing.

"Nice work Caraxes" Erin praised the red dragon and she slid off of his back.
Silverwing greeted her owner with a happy hum and Kitsune gave the silver dragoness a brief stroke on the snout.

"Summon us should you need our aide," Silverwing told her master before she and Caraxes glowed and the two dragons disappeared into Erin's duel disk.

Erin's POV

"You two alright?" I inquired the Kaiba siblings.

"Well our minds are still blown that Silverwing can talk to us, otherwise we're fine" Mokuba explained.

"Wait she spoke to you?"

"She did though I'm pretty sure it's a trick set up by Noah"

I sweat dropped at my mate's skepticism. Kaiba then walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"I am but I'm also angry"

"We all are" Mokuba agreed joining us. "And I'd rather find a way out of here"

"I second that little brother, let's go" Kaiba

The forest gave us no indication of when it would end. But then Mokuba noticed a door ahead. The preteen took off and Kaiba told his little brother to slow down as we ran after him.

"We can't be too careful kid," Kaiba told Mokuba firmly before placing his hand on the door handle.

Another bright light made us turn away for a minute and then it was gone. The forest changed into a city setting and Mokuba recognized the building ahead behind the iron gate.

"Wait a sec, I recognize this place, this is the orphanage we grew up in, who knew it was still around"

"It's an illusion but I wonder how Noah knew we once lived here"

"What happened to your parents? I mean only if you want to talk about it"

Both Kaiba siblings looked at me.

"Our mom died giving birth to me" Mokuba answered looking guilty.

"That wasn't your fault Mokuba it happens" Kaiba reassured his sibling it was okay. "Our father died in an accident and no other relatives wanted to take us in so we were brought here"

That's terrible I thought.

"I'm sorry you two had to endure that"

Kaiba gave me a genuine smile and Mokuba appreciated my sympathy.

"What the heck?!" I then exclaimed seeing a younger version of Kaiba and Mokuba at the orphanage gates.

"That's us!" Kaiba shouted not believing his eyes. "Noah must have somehow tapped into our memories and reprogrammed our pasts to see them"

Damn you Noah how dare you bring back painful memories to these two I thought.

My heart broke when the first memory showed Mokuba sitting on the swing. Kaiba's younger self approached Mokuba and he ruffled his little brother's hair before the two of them went for a walk. I felt myself getting emotional and I looked away so the two brothers wouldn't see the few tears going down my face.

The scenery changed and we all saw Kaiba and Mokuba playing.

"GAH NOT CHESS!"

"What's up, Erin? You okay?" Mokuba inquired. Both Kaiba siblings had confused looks.

"I'm fine but that!"

I made a thumb-pointing gesture at the chess set.

"Game is the bane of my existence, I suck at it"

"Oh really?"

Great now my mate wore his amused smirk.

"Yeah really, and it's not funny Kaiba"

"It's your reaction that's amusing Kitsune"

Again my face went red and my attention resumed on the younger Kaiba siblings. Mokuba bowed his head and younger Kaiba had his arms folded across his chest meaning he won. Their attention then went to the television in the classroom. I recognized Gozaburo and felt a sudden anger coming along.

The classroom disappeared and we were back at the orphanage gates. At seeing Gozaburo a snarl escaped my lips. I never hated anyone in my life but based on the stories Mom told me about the tyrant Gozaburo Kaiba was, that seed took root in this cruel man.

After interacting with the orphaned kids Gozaburo and the orphanage director were heading towards the exit when younger Kaiba made his move. My eyes went wide as the younger version of my mate challenged Gozaburo to one simple game of chess. If he won Gozaburo had to adopt him and Mokuba. Of course, Gozaburo laughed and said no one beats him at chess.

As expected Kaiba's younger self said he never lost either. After some more dialogue, Gozaburo eventually accepted the challenge.

"Pretty impressive for a twelve-year-old"

"Seto broke Gozaburo's winning streak that day"

The scene changed again to the classroom where Gozaburo and younger Kaiba were about to start their game. My mate's younger self started and I watched in interest.

"Holy crap" I muttered as Kaiba's preteen self beat Gozaburo. Seeing that jackass Gozaburo's reaction to losing was hilarious.

"That was the day I took control of our future" Kaiba announced bringing me back to the present.

"It was also the day you stopped calling me Mokie"

Mokie? Now that's cute

"If it weren't for me kid we would have never escaped that rathole"

Mokuba suddenly stormed away and alarmed Kaiba shouted for his younger sibling to come back.

"I liked the way it was before back then you would smile once in a while"

"Mokuba, kid just hang on a second please, this is what Noah is trying to do, he's using these illusions to turn us against one another"

The door suddenly opened and I ran like hell to Mokuba. I pulled him out of harm's way just as I lost my footing and Kaiba was quick to grab my hand. Below me was an endless chasm.

"Erin! Just hang on!" my mate said. "Mokuba I need you!"

"Erin!"

Mokuba offered out his hand and I somehow managed to get my other hand into it. Both siblings pulled until I was back on solid ground. Mokuba then suddenly hugged me.

"Don't do scare us like that again Erin!"

Instinctively I wrapped my arms around him.

"I'm alright Mokuba"

I felt my mate looking at me and I shot him a glance. I saw a look of eternal gratitude on his face and all I could do was give my mate a smile in return.