Chapter 16 - Chapter Sixteen
Submitted January 23, 2009 Updated April 22, 2009 Status Complete | Takes place in the middle of Season Five- right after the Grand Prix tournament, and before they go on the memory journey to Egypt. I hope you guys like it! I'm not used to writing fanfictions! X]
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Anime/Manga » Yu-Gi-Oh! series |
Chapter 16 - Chapter Sixteen
Chapter 16 - Chapter Sixteen
I opened my eyes and saw the familiar puff of smoke that meant that the monster had disappeared. The monsters were all gone; I was okay, unhurt; aware of that fact only by that I could feel my chest heaving in surprise. What had made the monster disappear?
I looked down and felt my heart stop. There was …Mokuba, positively beaming up at me, holding a scepter in his hand. “Need some help?” he asked me, cheerily.
I couldn’t move or speak; only looked down at … at my baby brother, standing there, smiling up at me, holding a scepter. Could this be real? Was this really him?
He gasped and pointed at a spot that was behind me, and yelled, “There’s one more!” He passed me and ran off to stab the monster; I slowly turned around on the spot, and saw him pin it to the ground and zap it; it disappeared like the others did. “Yes!” he shouted, pleased with himself.
The next thing I knew, I was moving towards him. My trembling hand was reaching forward, and lied on his shoulder.
He turned around, wearing a bright smile. I withdrew my hand, and after a heartbeat of a pause, felt my face break into a kind of relieved agony; I collapsed to my knees, threw my arms around him, and broke down completely.
I sobbed into his shoulder, so relieved… I quieted after a moment, but kept holding him. Everything was fine as it was, right here, right now. Warmth rushed into me, as we stood there, together again at last. I wanted to never let go. I had him, again… I didn’t know how it could be possible, but I didn’t care… I had been so afraid that I would never feel his little arms around me again, like this, but here he was, standing and running as if in perfect health. Now I could feel, again; his little arms around me, and the joyful tears that dripped down my cheek.
He laughed. “I’ve never seen you cry like this, Seto,” he said happily. I sniffled and pulled my arms from around him, and put my hands on his shoulders, still kneeling, at level with him. I couldn’t look into his eyes enough. His eyes had light… he really was here. I really did have him again. I was at ease with the world, right now.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “Did you get the Obelisk card?”
I nodded and stood up, not crying anymore. “I used it in a duel against Donno,” I said stuffily; it was interesting to hear what my voice sounded like when I had been crying.
“You dueled Donno?” Mokuba asked, stunned and interested. “Really? What happened?”
“I beat him,” I said, smiling down at him. “He was one of the easiest opponents I’d ever fought.”
Mokuba’s eyes were wide. “Awesome! You’re amazing!” He gasped, completely taken by excitement.
“He didn’t stand a chance,” I said.
“He’s a no-good son of a dog,” Mokuba said grumpily. “I’m glad you put him in his place, Seto.”
“Kaiba?” The Pharaoh’s voice came from the door. “Are you in here?” I turned around; Joey and Yugi entered, out of breath, but obviously they had defeated all of their monsters. Joey stopped in his tracks when he saw Mokuba; he gasped.
“Mokuba!” The Pharaoh said. “What… you’re okay!”
“Yeah, I am,” he laughed. “I came in here just now.”
Joey leapt forward and grabbed Mokuba in a headlock and gave him a noogie, laughing, “It’s good to see you up, man!” Mokuba, irritated, grabbed at Joey’s arm, trying to squirm out of his grasp; Joey finally let go of him. He patted his hair back into place and raised his eyebrow at Joey, who only laughed.
“Let us return to the castle,” the Pharaoh said; we all followed him out of the room.
“Hey, you guys,” Mokuba said, at the dinner table, that night. Mostly, everyone had stopped eating; it was late. “I’ve got to tell you something.”
Everyone looked at him. I was surprised. What did he have to say?
“I want to tell you about what happened to me. It’s important.”
I swallowed the piece of shrimp that was in my mouth and looked softly at him. The Pharaoh said, “Yes, I’d like to hear about what Donno and Adella’s power does after an attack. Are you sure you’re okay talking about it?”
“Yeah!” Mokuba said, now, almost excited. Part of me wanted to hear, too… but, part of me was scared to learn what he had really gone through.
“The last thing I really remember was following you, Seto… but, then, there was a cold hand on my neck, and that was the last of it. Then, I found myself in a large, green room,” he began. “It wasn’t like in Pegasus’ card…it was light, and not really cold. Like another giant, green crystal castle, except it wasn’t like… seafoam green, like everything is, here. It was a lot darker… you know, the color of the Orichalcos stone…” he thought for a moment. “Yeah, like that. We weren’t inside of the Leviathan, I’m sure. I know that last time, people were sent to that temple that’s an isolated island, in the sea. Maybe Dartz built another one of those, and that’s where we were this time. I don’t know.
“Anyway, there were a lot of people, all just standing around quietly. I ran up to some people and asked them what they were doing… they all just kind of looked at me, said, ‘It’s okay, little boy,’ but didn’t really do anything… I asked them where we were, and they all said nothing, but, ‘Donno defeated us…’ sort of thing.” He shrugged. “That’s why I was surprised that you said you had beaten Donno easily, Seto. There were a lot of people in there who had been defeated by Donno…” He laughed. “But then again, you’re like, the best duelist in the world.”
I smiled at him; he continued his story. “Then I recognized someone! Remember that photo of Cleito and her husband, in her house? I saw Thalas in the green castle! I ran up to him, and I said that I knew his wife. He kind of smiled at me and said, ‘I’m glad she’s doing well.’
“He was holding something tightly. I could see his hands clenched; I didn’t know what he was holding, but I was surprised he was holding anything, because how could he still have anything in his possession? I wasn’t in the clothes I had been wearing before I got caught… everyone was wearing these white suit-things. So I asked him what he was holding.”
I stared open-mouthed, as he told his story. “He opened his hand, and I was shocked to see that he was holding the Ra card!”
“The Ra card?” Serenity gasped. “The Ra card… was captured with Thalas?”
“Yeah,” Mokuba said, with a shrug. “I guess since the card kind of has a soul of its own, the Orichalcos took it, too, because the man lost the duel against Donno. I asked him why he had the Ra card. He said he stole it from Donno, and Donno played the Seal against him in a duel, and the man tried to use the Ra card, but of course he couldn’t, because he couldn’t read the hieratic text and didn’t have a Millennium Item. So he ended up losing that duel.”
I swallowed hard. I was afraid to believe that only people who were connected to the Millennium Items could use the god cards, because… well, because I could use the god cards and read the hieratic text. The hieroglyphs on the card told of Ra’s powers; only if you knew what these powers were, could you control the card; only the people connected to the Millennium Items could read the hieratic text. I frowned.
“But I got an idea! There are only a few things that can beat the Orichalcos, right? The Atlantian Legendary Knights… and the god cards! So I asked Thalas if I could have the Ra card. He kind of reluctantly gave it to me… and …well, I played the card!”
My lips parted in confusion; Joey beat me to the question I was just about to ask: “How could you control the god cards? You don’t have a Millennium Item…”
“Nope,” Mokuba said, shaking his head, “But I have the blood of someone who does!”
He smiled up at me. I stared, shocked, at him. I didn’t know what to say.
“You told me all about Ra, big brother,” he continued. “So, I’m somewhat connected to a Millennium Item, I knew what to say to summon it, and I knew what its powers are- and those were the conditions that nobody else had! So I said it right, and Ra appeared! It was awesome! Like, a huge, sparkly, golden chicken!” He laughed again. Everyone else was sitting in stunned silence. He continued, “So I commanded Ra to break through the crystal walls that we were all trapped in. And it did! There was this incredible burst of light, and the next thing I knew, I was lying in the bed in Cleito’s house.
“I was kind of dizzy for a moment… but, I didn’t feel sick or anything. I sat up, and I heard sobbing from the other bedroom. I felt strong enough to stand up; I went into that room and saw that Thalas was also awake; Cleito was holding him and crying, and he was just saying over and over that he’s okay and that he loves her. It was great.”
Tea wiped her eyes; everyone was smiling, now. Even I felt a strange warmth in the depths of my heart.
“When Thalas saw me enter the room, he got out of the bed and clapped my shoulders and thanked me for releasing him with the Ra card. He told Cleito about how he’d had the card and let me use it. So, Cleito thanked me for saving Thalas with the wettest, nastiest old-lady kiss to the cheek, and I thanked her for keeping me alive!” he laughed. “I asked if she knew where everyone else was, and she told me you were all still looking for the Obelisk card in the second temple. I took the train back to the temple and saw you guys!”
“Did you see Dartz or Donno?” Duke asked.
Mokuba shrugged. “No, but I’m sure they were there somewhere. I didn’t really talk to a lot of people.”
I frowned. He had set all of those people free… including Donno. Was Donno still alive? Maybe it had been more than ten minutes between when I had defeated him and when Mokuba had set everyone free. I then had an interesting thought.
“What about Roland?” I asked. “Did you see him?”
Mokuba’s eyes widened. “You know what… I didn’t! I didn’t think to look for him! But I’m sure he was there, too. We should check on him tomorrow, Seto! I bet he’s okay!”
“What happened to the Ra card?” Yugi asked.
Mokuba smiled, reached his hand into his pocket, and held up… the card. It shined gold in the light; the picture of a mighty yellow dragon was featured on the front. Below the picture was a paragraph of hieroglyphs. “It stayed with me,” he said cheerily, handing it to Yugi. “It’s a nice card if you aren’t using it for evil.”
Yugi, stunned, took the card from him. Now we had all three of the cards. Defeating the Leviathan would be easy, now. My mouth was still open with surprise. Mokuba looked up at me, and laughed.
“I’m very impressed, Mokuba,” the Pharaoh said with a chuckle. “You’ve done a wonderful thing, here.”
“Thanks,” Mokuba said. He stood up from the table; it was now just after nine-o’clock. We all left the dining hall and went to our rooms; I had my hand on my doorknob, when Mokuba said, “Seto,” quietly. I looked at him; immediately I recognized a look on his face that suggested, “Please come sit with me for a little while.” I smiled at him and approached him; he smiled, back, and entered his room. I followed him; once in the room, I sat down on one of the big armchairs; he sat down in another one.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Yeah, I’m cool,” he said. “I don’t feel sick or anything.”
“I’m glad,” I said adoringly. “I’m impressed; I’d be pretty battered if I was you, after everything you went through.”
“I just… I want to make you proud, Seto,” he said, going back to giving me that precious smile.
I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, watching him sitting there, beaming at me. My heart could have been positively glowing. “Proud?” I whispered, finally; “I’ve never been so proud.”
He stood up off of his seat and walked the few feet to where I was sitting; he then climbed into my lap and put his arms around my neck. My entire body tingled with warmth and happiness, feelings that I was mostly very unused to experiencing.
“I love you, big brother,” he said, voice muffled by my shoulder. I turned my head and gently kissed his forehead, before holding him tighter and whispering, “I love you so much.”
He didn’t let go of me; I wondered briefly if he was scarred or frightened by what had happened to him… as for me, I needed nothing more than the reassurance that I hadn’t lost the one person whom I loved. I let my hand rest on the side of his head, holding it to my chest. A lapse of time went by; he knew nothing but comfort, I knew nothing but relief.
“I wasn’t really scared, ever,” he said, thoughtfully, after a while. “I didn’t really think about the fact that this time, you die if they get their hands on you. You took me back to Cleito’s?”
“Yes,” I said. “I left you with Cleito and went back to the temple; I found Obelisk quickly. My mind was such a blur; I was so upset and rushed…”
He chuckled lightly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m glad you got the card… what about Donno?”
“I went looking for Donno. I knew I could beat him… especially since I had Obelisk and Yugi had Slifer. Yugi wasn’t there with me, but I beat him with just Obelisk.”
He yawned. “I never really asked, Seto… what did you see, when the Orichalcos got you, last time?”
I frowned. I had spent the last few months trying to erase that from my memory. “Well…” I began. “It was very different from what you described. I could see Yugi, and Pegasus, and Wheeler… it was somewhat like we were all trapped in some kind of bubble, floating together in space.”
He lifted his head off of my chest and looked up at me, confused. “Really?”
“Yes,” I said. “Above all of our heads, there was a giant eyeball… sometimes, it would flash, and then people around me would disappear. It was a part of the temple that the Leviathan raided from time to time… like a pantry of souls, I suppose.”
He frowned. I put my hand on the side of his head and pressed it to my chest again; he sighed unhappily. “You know what I just thought,” he muttered. “I saw all of those people… but, I bet none of them are alive right now.”
I hadn’t thought of that. I frowned. He continued, “Thalas and I… we just got lucky, right? Cleito didn’t have anyone else in her house. The rest of those people are … well, probably dead, right?”
I didn’t know what to say. He was probably right. Maybe some people had been more like in Roland’s position- on life support in the hospital- but surely not all of them had.
I sighed, too. “I suppose that’s true,” I said gently. “But, I promise you- tomorrow, we’re going to take the god cards straight to Adella. She doesn’t stand a chance.” I felt him sit up; arms no longer around my neck, he looked up at me, searching my face for reassurance. “Do you realize how many people you’ve saved, by being smart enough to know what to do about the Ra card?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I guess a lot,” he said, but not looking much happier about it. Now, he looked tired and sad.
I looked softly at him, and said, “I wish that there was something that could have been done for the people who were in there with you. But because of what you did, we’re going to prevent so many more people from getting hurt. Right?”
He said nothing; only put his head back down onto my chest and kind of curled up as much as he could, on this chair. Hand back on the side of his head, I said, “You know, Dumb Brown Dog, once she got over her Ebola, became the emperor of China,” after a moment.
He chuckled, finally. “Emperor of China?”
“She sure did,” I said. “So, Droning Duck and Coward Cat went to China, because they knew that Dumb Brown Dog was really just an ugly prostitute. She and Obese Lazy Kitty were the best prostitutes in the world.”
“Why would…” he stopped to yawn, “…Obese Lazy Kitty be a good prostitute?”
“Some people like fat girls, Mokuba. Anyway, Coward Cat and Droning Duck knew that Dumb Brown Dog would pass a law in China stating that everyone had to have their toenails violently ripped off. Dumb Brown Dog hates toenails.”
He chuckled sleepily. “I wouldn’t want to live there.”
“Well, unfortunately, billions of people do, so Droning Duck and Coward Cat went to the Forbidden City and shot Dumb Brown Dog. Her brains went all over the palace- bits of her dismembered skull were found lodged in the ceiling and floor…”
“Seto, you’re a really bad storyteller,” he said in a rather pleasant manner, interrupting me.
I chuckled. “Sorry. I haven’t had a lot of practice.”
Soon, he became quiet and limp; he had fallen asleep. Smiling, I carried him to his bed and gently set him down; I pulled the heavy covers over him and kneeled by his bedside for a moment. I was the luckiest man on Earth; I could barely fathom how close I had come to never being able to hear, “I love you, big brother,” again. I stood up; he was sleeping silently and peacefully… I hoped he wasn’t traumatized by what had happened. I left his room and entered mine. It took me only a moment of staring at my bed to realize that I was exhausted; the emotional drain I had suffered today had taken a serious toll on me that revealed itself, now, for the first time. I slid into bed without bothering to take off my day clothes and closed my eyes.
I looked down and felt my heart stop. There was …Mokuba, positively beaming up at me, holding a scepter in his hand. “Need some help?” he asked me, cheerily.
I couldn’t move or speak; only looked down at … at my baby brother, standing there, smiling up at me, holding a scepter. Could this be real? Was this really him?
He gasped and pointed at a spot that was behind me, and yelled, “There’s one more!” He passed me and ran off to stab the monster; I slowly turned around on the spot, and saw him pin it to the ground and zap it; it disappeared like the others did. “Yes!” he shouted, pleased with himself.
The next thing I knew, I was moving towards him. My trembling hand was reaching forward, and lied on his shoulder.
He turned around, wearing a bright smile. I withdrew my hand, and after a heartbeat of a pause, felt my face break into a kind of relieved agony; I collapsed to my knees, threw my arms around him, and broke down completely.
I sobbed into his shoulder, so relieved… I quieted after a moment, but kept holding him. Everything was fine as it was, right here, right now. Warmth rushed into me, as we stood there, together again at last. I wanted to never let go. I had him, again… I didn’t know how it could be possible, but I didn’t care… I had been so afraid that I would never feel his little arms around me again, like this, but here he was, standing and running as if in perfect health. Now I could feel, again; his little arms around me, and the joyful tears that dripped down my cheek.
He laughed. “I’ve never seen you cry like this, Seto,” he said happily. I sniffled and pulled my arms from around him, and put my hands on his shoulders, still kneeling, at level with him. I couldn’t look into his eyes enough. His eyes had light… he really was here. I really did have him again. I was at ease with the world, right now.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “Did you get the Obelisk card?”
I nodded and stood up, not crying anymore. “I used it in a duel against Donno,” I said stuffily; it was interesting to hear what my voice sounded like when I had been crying.
“You dueled Donno?” Mokuba asked, stunned and interested. “Really? What happened?”
“I beat him,” I said, smiling down at him. “He was one of the easiest opponents I’d ever fought.”
Mokuba’s eyes were wide. “Awesome! You’re amazing!” He gasped, completely taken by excitement.
“He didn’t stand a chance,” I said.
“He’s a no-good son of a dog,” Mokuba said grumpily. “I’m glad you put him in his place, Seto.”
“Kaiba?” The Pharaoh’s voice came from the door. “Are you in here?” I turned around; Joey and Yugi entered, out of breath, but obviously they had defeated all of their monsters. Joey stopped in his tracks when he saw Mokuba; he gasped.
“Mokuba!” The Pharaoh said. “What… you’re okay!”
“Yeah, I am,” he laughed. “I came in here just now.”
Joey leapt forward and grabbed Mokuba in a headlock and gave him a noogie, laughing, “It’s good to see you up, man!” Mokuba, irritated, grabbed at Joey’s arm, trying to squirm out of his grasp; Joey finally let go of him. He patted his hair back into place and raised his eyebrow at Joey, who only laughed.
“Let us return to the castle,” the Pharaoh said; we all followed him out of the room.
“Hey, you guys,” Mokuba said, at the dinner table, that night. Mostly, everyone had stopped eating; it was late. “I’ve got to tell you something.”
Everyone looked at him. I was surprised. What did he have to say?
“I want to tell you about what happened to me. It’s important.”
I swallowed the piece of shrimp that was in my mouth and looked softly at him. The Pharaoh said, “Yes, I’d like to hear about what Donno and Adella’s power does after an attack. Are you sure you’re okay talking about it?”
“Yeah!” Mokuba said, now, almost excited. Part of me wanted to hear, too… but, part of me was scared to learn what he had really gone through.
“The last thing I really remember was following you, Seto… but, then, there was a cold hand on my neck, and that was the last of it. Then, I found myself in a large, green room,” he began. “It wasn’t like in Pegasus’ card…it was light, and not really cold. Like another giant, green crystal castle, except it wasn’t like… seafoam green, like everything is, here. It was a lot darker… you know, the color of the Orichalcos stone…” he thought for a moment. “Yeah, like that. We weren’t inside of the Leviathan, I’m sure. I know that last time, people were sent to that temple that’s an isolated island, in the sea. Maybe Dartz built another one of those, and that’s where we were this time. I don’t know.
“Anyway, there were a lot of people, all just standing around quietly. I ran up to some people and asked them what they were doing… they all just kind of looked at me, said, ‘It’s okay, little boy,’ but didn’t really do anything… I asked them where we were, and they all said nothing, but, ‘Donno defeated us…’ sort of thing.” He shrugged. “That’s why I was surprised that you said you had beaten Donno easily, Seto. There were a lot of people in there who had been defeated by Donno…” He laughed. “But then again, you’re like, the best duelist in the world.”
I smiled at him; he continued his story. “Then I recognized someone! Remember that photo of Cleito and her husband, in her house? I saw Thalas in the green castle! I ran up to him, and I said that I knew his wife. He kind of smiled at me and said, ‘I’m glad she’s doing well.’
“He was holding something tightly. I could see his hands clenched; I didn’t know what he was holding, but I was surprised he was holding anything, because how could he still have anything in his possession? I wasn’t in the clothes I had been wearing before I got caught… everyone was wearing these white suit-things. So I asked him what he was holding.”
I stared open-mouthed, as he told his story. “He opened his hand, and I was shocked to see that he was holding the Ra card!”
“The Ra card?” Serenity gasped. “The Ra card… was captured with Thalas?”
“Yeah,” Mokuba said, with a shrug. “I guess since the card kind of has a soul of its own, the Orichalcos took it, too, because the man lost the duel against Donno. I asked him why he had the Ra card. He said he stole it from Donno, and Donno played the Seal against him in a duel, and the man tried to use the Ra card, but of course he couldn’t, because he couldn’t read the hieratic text and didn’t have a Millennium Item. So he ended up losing that duel.”
I swallowed hard. I was afraid to believe that only people who were connected to the Millennium Items could use the god cards, because… well, because I could use the god cards and read the hieratic text. The hieroglyphs on the card told of Ra’s powers; only if you knew what these powers were, could you control the card; only the people connected to the Millennium Items could read the hieratic text. I frowned.
“But I got an idea! There are only a few things that can beat the Orichalcos, right? The Atlantian Legendary Knights… and the god cards! So I asked Thalas if I could have the Ra card. He kind of reluctantly gave it to me… and …well, I played the card!”
My lips parted in confusion; Joey beat me to the question I was just about to ask: “How could you control the god cards? You don’t have a Millennium Item…”
“Nope,” Mokuba said, shaking his head, “But I have the blood of someone who does!”
He smiled up at me. I stared, shocked, at him. I didn’t know what to say.
“You told me all about Ra, big brother,” he continued. “So, I’m somewhat connected to a Millennium Item, I knew what to say to summon it, and I knew what its powers are- and those were the conditions that nobody else had! So I said it right, and Ra appeared! It was awesome! Like, a huge, sparkly, golden chicken!” He laughed again. Everyone else was sitting in stunned silence. He continued, “So I commanded Ra to break through the crystal walls that we were all trapped in. And it did! There was this incredible burst of light, and the next thing I knew, I was lying in the bed in Cleito’s house.
“I was kind of dizzy for a moment… but, I didn’t feel sick or anything. I sat up, and I heard sobbing from the other bedroom. I felt strong enough to stand up; I went into that room and saw that Thalas was also awake; Cleito was holding him and crying, and he was just saying over and over that he’s okay and that he loves her. It was great.”
Tea wiped her eyes; everyone was smiling, now. Even I felt a strange warmth in the depths of my heart.
“When Thalas saw me enter the room, he got out of the bed and clapped my shoulders and thanked me for releasing him with the Ra card. He told Cleito about how he’d had the card and let me use it. So, Cleito thanked me for saving Thalas with the wettest, nastiest old-lady kiss to the cheek, and I thanked her for keeping me alive!” he laughed. “I asked if she knew where everyone else was, and she told me you were all still looking for the Obelisk card in the second temple. I took the train back to the temple and saw you guys!”
“Did you see Dartz or Donno?” Duke asked.
Mokuba shrugged. “No, but I’m sure they were there somewhere. I didn’t really talk to a lot of people.”
I frowned. He had set all of those people free… including Donno. Was Donno still alive? Maybe it had been more than ten minutes between when I had defeated him and when Mokuba had set everyone free. I then had an interesting thought.
“What about Roland?” I asked. “Did you see him?”
Mokuba’s eyes widened. “You know what… I didn’t! I didn’t think to look for him! But I’m sure he was there, too. We should check on him tomorrow, Seto! I bet he’s okay!”
“What happened to the Ra card?” Yugi asked.
Mokuba smiled, reached his hand into his pocket, and held up… the card. It shined gold in the light; the picture of a mighty yellow dragon was featured on the front. Below the picture was a paragraph of hieroglyphs. “It stayed with me,” he said cheerily, handing it to Yugi. “It’s a nice card if you aren’t using it for evil.”
Yugi, stunned, took the card from him. Now we had all three of the cards. Defeating the Leviathan would be easy, now. My mouth was still open with surprise. Mokuba looked up at me, and laughed.
“I’m very impressed, Mokuba,” the Pharaoh said with a chuckle. “You’ve done a wonderful thing, here.”
“Thanks,” Mokuba said. He stood up from the table; it was now just after nine-o’clock. We all left the dining hall and went to our rooms; I had my hand on my doorknob, when Mokuba said, “Seto,” quietly. I looked at him; immediately I recognized a look on his face that suggested, “Please come sit with me for a little while.” I smiled at him and approached him; he smiled, back, and entered his room. I followed him; once in the room, I sat down on one of the big armchairs; he sat down in another one.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Yeah, I’m cool,” he said. “I don’t feel sick or anything.”
“I’m glad,” I said adoringly. “I’m impressed; I’d be pretty battered if I was you, after everything you went through.”
“I just… I want to make you proud, Seto,” he said, going back to giving me that precious smile.
I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, watching him sitting there, beaming at me. My heart could have been positively glowing. “Proud?” I whispered, finally; “I’ve never been so proud.”
He stood up off of his seat and walked the few feet to where I was sitting; he then climbed into my lap and put his arms around my neck. My entire body tingled with warmth and happiness, feelings that I was mostly very unused to experiencing.
“I love you, big brother,” he said, voice muffled by my shoulder. I turned my head and gently kissed his forehead, before holding him tighter and whispering, “I love you so much.”
He didn’t let go of me; I wondered briefly if he was scarred or frightened by what had happened to him… as for me, I needed nothing more than the reassurance that I hadn’t lost the one person whom I loved. I let my hand rest on the side of his head, holding it to my chest. A lapse of time went by; he knew nothing but comfort, I knew nothing but relief.
“I wasn’t really scared, ever,” he said, thoughtfully, after a while. “I didn’t really think about the fact that this time, you die if they get their hands on you. You took me back to Cleito’s?”
“Yes,” I said. “I left you with Cleito and went back to the temple; I found Obelisk quickly. My mind was such a blur; I was so upset and rushed…”
He chuckled lightly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m glad you got the card… what about Donno?”
“I went looking for Donno. I knew I could beat him… especially since I had Obelisk and Yugi had Slifer. Yugi wasn’t there with me, but I beat him with just Obelisk.”
He yawned. “I never really asked, Seto… what did you see, when the Orichalcos got you, last time?”
I frowned. I had spent the last few months trying to erase that from my memory. “Well…” I began. “It was very different from what you described. I could see Yugi, and Pegasus, and Wheeler… it was somewhat like we were all trapped in some kind of bubble, floating together in space.”
He lifted his head off of my chest and looked up at me, confused. “Really?”
“Yes,” I said. “Above all of our heads, there was a giant eyeball… sometimes, it would flash, and then people around me would disappear. It was a part of the temple that the Leviathan raided from time to time… like a pantry of souls, I suppose.”
He frowned. I put my hand on the side of his head and pressed it to my chest again; he sighed unhappily. “You know what I just thought,” he muttered. “I saw all of those people… but, I bet none of them are alive right now.”
I hadn’t thought of that. I frowned. He continued, “Thalas and I… we just got lucky, right? Cleito didn’t have anyone else in her house. The rest of those people are … well, probably dead, right?”
I didn’t know what to say. He was probably right. Maybe some people had been more like in Roland’s position- on life support in the hospital- but surely not all of them had.
I sighed, too. “I suppose that’s true,” I said gently. “But, I promise you- tomorrow, we’re going to take the god cards straight to Adella. She doesn’t stand a chance.” I felt him sit up; arms no longer around my neck, he looked up at me, searching my face for reassurance. “Do you realize how many people you’ve saved, by being smart enough to know what to do about the Ra card?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I guess a lot,” he said, but not looking much happier about it. Now, he looked tired and sad.
I looked softly at him, and said, “I wish that there was something that could have been done for the people who were in there with you. But because of what you did, we’re going to prevent so many more people from getting hurt. Right?”
He said nothing; only put his head back down onto my chest and kind of curled up as much as he could, on this chair. Hand back on the side of his head, I said, “You know, Dumb Brown Dog, once she got over her Ebola, became the emperor of China,” after a moment.
He chuckled, finally. “Emperor of China?”
“She sure did,” I said. “So, Droning Duck and Coward Cat went to China, because they knew that Dumb Brown Dog was really just an ugly prostitute. She and Obese Lazy Kitty were the best prostitutes in the world.”
“Why would…” he stopped to yawn, “…Obese Lazy Kitty be a good prostitute?”
“Some people like fat girls, Mokuba. Anyway, Coward Cat and Droning Duck knew that Dumb Brown Dog would pass a law in China stating that everyone had to have their toenails violently ripped off. Dumb Brown Dog hates toenails.”
He chuckled sleepily. “I wouldn’t want to live there.”
“Well, unfortunately, billions of people do, so Droning Duck and Coward Cat went to the Forbidden City and shot Dumb Brown Dog. Her brains went all over the palace- bits of her dismembered skull were found lodged in the ceiling and floor…”
“Seto, you’re a really bad storyteller,” he said in a rather pleasant manner, interrupting me.
I chuckled. “Sorry. I haven’t had a lot of practice.”
Soon, he became quiet and limp; he had fallen asleep. Smiling, I carried him to his bed and gently set him down; I pulled the heavy covers over him and kneeled by his bedside for a moment. I was the luckiest man on Earth; I could barely fathom how close I had come to never being able to hear, “I love you, big brother,” again. I stood up; he was sleeping silently and peacefully… I hoped he wasn’t traumatized by what had happened. I left his room and entered mine. It took me only a moment of staring at my bed to realize that I was exhausted; the emotional drain I had suffered today had taken a serious toll on me that revealed itself, now, for the first time. I slid into bed without bothering to take off my day clothes and closed my eyes.
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