Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Psyche ❯ Awakenings ( Chapter 27 )

AN: I'm alive. Honest I am. I really am having trouble saying goodbye to my fic. I know I have to end it, but I don't want too. <authoress and her group of muses wail piteously> I will though. Just a couple more chapters and all will be settled. I cringe though at what you guys are going to think about the next chapter. I'll brace you now… someone, who is not the bad guy, isn't going to make it. I'll do my best to leave open a possible return… but no matter how I try to weasel out of it, it has to be done or the whole thing falls apart.

 

Psyche

Chapter Twenty Seven: Awakenings

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OCs

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Ahmose: (Egyptian for: The moon is born) Yami's son back in Egypt.

E'on: Jonouchi's Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Jame: Kaiba's obsessive-compulsively organized secretary who wants to be fired.

Kallon: The Dark Sage and one of the three rulers of the Shadow Realm, though he tries hard not to be.

Kisara: The only female Blue Eyes White Dragon. (Not really an OC)

Koori: (Japanese for: Ice) The largest male Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Ledowr: The Magician of Black Chaos, also one of the three rulers of the Shadow Realm, and is trying even harder not to be. He is also Yuai's husband.

Pepi: Yami's third wife back in Egypt.

Shimo: (Japanese for: Frost) The other male Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Yuai: Yugi's girlfriend, sort of..., one of three rulers of the Shadow Realm. Though she's been slacking lately. She is married to Ledowr.

 

~*~*~*

Jame

~*~*~*

 

Jame cooed lovingly at the computer and its list of names she'd compiled of likely secretaries. She had, in her boss's absence been hard at work. Hard at work replacing myself. Taking a page from her boss's repertoire of sneakiness, and adding to his now publicized return from the dead, or the kidnapped, she had actually convinced a group of highly qualified men and women that Kaiba had found god and was now a breeze to work for. Admittedly, once they actually had to deal with him they'd find out just how creative she had been with reality, but by then she'd be sunning herself in Aruba.

 

Not that he actually is hard to work for. Jame flipped lightly through her day runner for a date and time to set up interviews then idly cross checked it against the computer's scheduling system. She frowned when the computer system showed a five minute discrepancy between the two schedules. A computer bug? Or is my day runner off?

 

Kado dropped a print out on her table and went to the small kitchenette of the RV to get some coffee. “Did the boss say when he'd be back?”

 

Still sulking at the computer, Jame shrugged. “No. He just came in grabbed the paperwork and left.”

 

“Are you still meeting with the government regulators tomorrow?” Kado set a cup down on the corner of her table. “I need to assign a security detail.”

 

“At three.” Jame dug through the computer files looking for a reason for the horrid wrongness that was lurking around destroying her schedule, not noticing she was slightly hyperventilating. “Five minutes! I can't…Who the hell put that there?!

 

The computer, like the intelligent genius it was, had faithfully recorded that someone -who will have to be hunted down and tortured- had messed with her carefully crafted files, adding a thirty minute psychiatric appointment for her to focus on her problems of... I am not obsessive compulsive and I AM NOT IN DENIAL!

 

Kado turned around and squeezed his way out of what the other surviving members of the home office staff had nicknamed the Kiaba Mobile, and once he was safe outside, smirked. Tanaka sitting with the accounting department, working on the payroll system, saw the expression and arched an eyebrow. Kada made a small thumbs-up gesture then, prudently, went to make the rounds of the vicinity, as Jame's shriek of furry erupted behind his back.

 

“Who messed with my schedule?! You are so dead! What if I'd been LATE!?!”

 

Kado's voice whispered back. “Obsessive.”

 

The shriek, the product of weeks of stress, continued, “Damn it! I am so going to get fired. Just you all wait! As soon as the boss is back I am unemployed. Do you hear me?!! Aruba here I come!”

 

Tanaka smiled. “And that would be the denial part.”

 

~*~*~*

Seth

~*~*~*

 

Seth kept his eyes closed. Seto was getting dressed and, he could sense, casting suspicious glances in his direction. He concentrated on keeping his breathing deep and even, feigning sleep. His light was up to something, and he was curious as to what it was. He had a few guesses. The main one focused around the twined subjects of revenge and Akenaden. Seth wasn't foolish enough to believe that his oh-so-peaceable hikari had been so distracted that he hadn't neatly filed away the information that Akenaden was responsible for the attacks against his family. Neither did he believe that Seto had wanted nothing more from him than sex and to give a bit of comfort.

 

No. Seto had wanted him out of the way, and what better way to do that then to have sex and then sneak out during the post sex nap? His light was up to something. What had he said? But this time I'm not going to be the one who's distracted. Well, Seth had to admit, Seto had been distracting. And now he was being sneaky.

 

As soon as the door closed behind his light, Seth sat up. It was his turn to be sneaky. He shrugged into his clothes while looking around the room for that scroll. The one he now kept well hidden from his light. Two could play at being sneaky, and his sneakiness was sure to blow a hole right in the middle of his light's plotting.

 

Ah, there it is. He scooped it up and flicked his hair back out of his face. He opened it and glanced over the spell. He'd been working on it. Not that it had been a bad spell initially, only a bit wasteful, and as Seto had so brilliantly shown, a bit dangerous in the wrong conditions.

 

He quickly checked outside the door for any lingering hikaris. Not that he expected any. Seto had probably rushed off to his own soulroom the second the door had closed behind him. He hadn't taken over the body. That was still as he'd left it, sleeping on the bed. Seto had gone to scheme in the privacy of his own room.

 

Seth walked down the hall, through the twisting labyrinth of his soul, and slipped into the Shadow Realm. He didn't bother trying to find a special place, like his pharaoh and the others had. He supposed he'd find one later. All he really needed right now was a clear moment and a bit of space.

 

He looked down at the scroll, reviewed it once more then nodded. Happily, he wouldn't have to sing the thing.

 

“Between the darkness and the light

Banished, I call.

 

Hear me.

Answer me.

Release me.

 

Faith leads me forward

Grant me the light

Fear holds me back

Free me from the dark

Let me leave the night

Grant me the dawn

 

I was born to the light

Hear me, mother

I long for the light

Answer me, father

I am trapped in the dark

Release me

 

Soft swirls of power flared around him, twisting into mobius strips through the air in glowing bands of blue and gold.

 

Time hold me

Flesh enfold me

Let me emerge

Free of the night

 

The bands wove together and wrapped themselves around him in a blanket of light. Seth hissed slightly, half in pain and half in ecstasy as the bands pressed themselves into his skin. Seth looked down at his arm, seeing a ghost pattern of runes etching themselves into him. Sparks of light flared out, sparkling in the gloom of the Shadow. Seth arched in pain and pleasure then vanished.

 

Mokuba, sitting at the desk, slogging his way through a stack of paperwork startled as a huge flash of blue light flared behind him. Oh no, not again.

 

He turned and found himself staring at a slightly surprised version of his brother. This Seto though was a bit taller, tanner, and broader across the shoulders and chest. Sun streaked chestnut hair was longer than Seto usually wore his, and this Seto was wearing a tunic and pants.

 

“That wasn't too hard.” Seth grinned.

 

Mokuba glanced over to the bed where Seto was still sleeping. “Seth?”

 

~*~*~*

Seto

~*~*~*

 

Seto lounged in his soulroom, the one place he guessed that Seth could not overhear his plans and interfere. He could be wrong about that, but since his darkling hadn't come pounding on the door demanding explanations, he felt safe enough to let his mind linger on what he was going to do with Akenaden. No one, no one got away with hurting Mokuba and Jonouchi.

 

The problem was however, how. How was he going to take out a five thousand year old spirit, and keep his interfering yami out of the way. He absolutely sure that his self appointed nanny was going to object to his being anywhere around Akenaden, much less strangling him with Pegasus's gaudy tie.

 

So first problem, Seth. What to do with one overprotective figure of his imagination? That might require a bit of research, which required him talking to one of the other hikaris. Yugi? Well the short duelist was probably the best choice. He was intelligent and his alterego probably shared quite a few secrets with him. However, the problem there was that Yugi was far too close to his yami, and Yami was far too close to Seth. One word in Yami's ear and Seto was sure it would go straight to Seth.

 

Okay, so that left Ryou and Malik. Malik and his dark were freaks, and not too bright. The whole take-over-Domino plan just reeked of idiocy. Sure taking over a few kid's minds and scaring the crap out of a few more was ego boosting…for the dimwitted. It would have been a short boost though, any number of options easily popped into mind on how to stop the whole thing: yawning in Malik's face and blandly telling him that using unauthorized cards was against the tournament rules, and congratulations he was disqualified -after all he hadn't used the Obelisk card in a tournament duel, only in a side duel with already disqualified contestants; hunting down Yami Yugi and having their duel in the privacy of a back alley, where half brained duelists wouldn't have yowled bad advice in his ears -and that had been tempting, very tempting. There had been a good reason why he set the last duels where he had; burning the Obelisk card -Besides, the card had always given him an odd feeling, as if he would be better off not only just incinerating it, but tossing the ashes into the ocean; or just plain calling the cops and saying that one of the tournament contestants was wandering around kidnapping other contestants and possibly giving them some form of hallucinogen to disqualify the competition, and just sit back to watch as Malik got harassed by increasingly irritated and heavily armed officials. When Malik was finally hauled off to a government lab for “examination,” he could have made a few statements about the sanctity of gaming, offered a few conciliatory prizes to the “victims of this horrible example of gamesmanship,” magnanimously allowed the tournament to continue to “prove that one ignorant individual could not destroy the honor of dueling,” and spent months raking in the good PR. -He was rather sad he hadn't done that. Maybe next time…

 

That left Ryou. His yami, though crazier that Malik's was far more intelligent, and if his sudden reappearance even after Yami Yugi considered him gone for good was any indication, quite skilled at magic. He might have a way to keep Seth from meddling in his overdue payback.

 

Check. Problem needed to be further investigated for more information.

 

Second problem, how to destroy a Millennium Item. Hmmm. He'd have to eliminate all the yamis. None of them were so stupid as to let that information out. Shadi? No, too loyal. That also eliminated Isis. Solomon? No, not likely. Pegasus? Taken over. Hmmm. That left one option; research the subject, which of course meant spending time doing it, which of course left him open for Seth to stick his nose into his plotting. Unless, of course, he got someone else to do it for him… Now, who? Kaiba Corp was a bit low on personnel, and what employees he did have were busy puzzling together the remnants of his business -Damn Seth for not letting me go to the office!- Still, he could hire an outside researcher. There were any number of highly qualified, under employed archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scholars who would love a well paying job.

 

Check. Problem needed outsourcing for research.

 

Last problem, the one of his own making, what was he going to tell Jo about him and Seth. He didn't exactly regret his actions. He had wanted… well a lot of things. He had wanted Seth to stop shutting him out, pushing him aside as if he was nothing, no one. He had wanted to prove that he wasn't fragile, that he wouldn't break. He had wanted Seth. That was the core of the problem. He wanted Seth. It wasn't logical. It wasn't explainable. He had just wanted Seth, and he had no idea how to tell Jonouchi what he'd done.

 

He cringed at the thought of Jo's reaction. Yes, he'd wanted Seth, but he couldn't live without Jo and he'd just betrayed Jo's trust. Even if it hadn't been truly physical, he'd still… He'll leave for good this time. He won't accept apologies. He'll pack up and be out of the house -if I still had one- well, out of my life anyway. It's not like I have anything to offer anymore. My business is in ruins, my house is gone, and if Mr. Motou hadn't been generous, Mokie and I would be living in an RV that doubles as an office. No, I just handed Jo a paddle to flee the sinking ship.

 

Last problem. Unresolvable.

 

~*~*~*

Ryou and Bakura

~*~*~*

 

The first things he was aware of were small things: the softness of polar fleece against the side of his face, the murmur of a song playing so softly he couldn't quite hear the words, the soothing stroke of someone's hand through his hair. He drifted pleasantly feeling warm and lazy. He sleepily tried to put a name to the song. The tune was familiar, but the lyrics kept escaping him.

 

Bakura? What is the name of that song?

 

He felt the hand that had been sliding through his hair pause.

 

Ryou?

 

He felt something shift behind his head and realized he was laying on someone's lap. He stretched out a little bit, and let his mind drift down the connection he had with his yami, only getting a muzzy, half awake, puzzled nudge back.

 

Ryou?

 

He hummed a soft response to his drowsing other, and opened his eyes. He wasn't surprised to find that it had been Bakura who had been his pillow. He was a bit startled to find that he was sleeping on Yugi's couch, and that it was bright and afternoon.

 

“Ahhhgggg! I'm going to be late to school!” He sat up and looked around in a panic for his books.

 

Bakura, wrenched from his dreams as Ryou thrashed around in his search, tried to catch his hikari before Ryou fell off the couch. “Ryou! It's not…”

 

“I have a paper due. This is awful.” Ryou tumbled to the floor. “What am I ever going to tell the teacher? I'll fail. I'll end up going to one of those schools.”

 

Yugi, Malik, Anzu, Honda, and Mai peeked their heads out of the kitchen to see Ryou hurriedly searching around the couch while Bakura tried to catch his frantic light.

 

“I'll end up working as a janitor at the dog pound.” Ryou realized his backpack wasn't near the couch, dodged his not entirely awake dark, and stumbled to his feet. “This is awful!”

 

“It's also Sunday,” Mai called out watching Bakura finally catch hold of his light.

 

Ryou stopped, blinking at his friends. “Oh.”

 

Bakura fell back onto the couch with a groan, pulling Ryou down with him. “Stupid light, can't even remember what day it is.”

 

“As if you knew yourself.” A voice commented from the stairs.

 

Bakura glanced over and scowled at Seth. “Shut it priest.” He narrowed his eyes a moment, then smirked. “Get tired of sharing a body with your light?”

 

Seth only shrugged and walked down the rest of the stairs, Mokuba tagging at his heels, looking at a scroll.

 

“Is the tomb robber awake?” Yami's voice floated down after his priest.

 

“Yes, my pharaoh.” Seth called back.

 

Ryou watched them all, frowning. “What…?”

 

He looked around trying to figure out what was going on. Last he remembered, he, Yugi, and Malik had been watching movies. Then… he'd been angry at Bakura… then…

 

Yami and Malik came down the stairs. He felt Bakura shift, then wince. Wince? His yami?

 

“Bakura?” Ryou twisted around to look at his yami. He started worrying when he felt Bakura's muscles jerk again and his dark's breath hissed slightly.

 

What?

 

What's wrong? Ryou knew instantly he was going to be lied to as Bakura's eyes turned shifty.

 

Nothing. Now get off. I've got better things to do then sit here playing pillow.

 

Ryou moved, settling on the couch next to his dark. When Bakura gave him a warning glower, he arched his eyebrows innocently, and Bakura went stalking out of the living room, up the stairs, growling at nothing. He then looked over to Yugi, who mouthed, later. Nodding, Ryou stood up, frowning slightly at the burning sensation down his leg. It felt like he'd gotten a sunburn. He bent down and pulled his pant leg up, inspecting the angry red skin on the back of his calf.

 

“Are you hungry Ryou?” Anzu smiled, “We've got snacks.”

 

Ryou nodded, straightening his pant leg. “That would be nice.”

 

Yami, Malik and Seth took over the couch as he walked into the kitchen.

 

“What happened?”

 

“You want the long version or the short version?” Honda sat back down at the table where school books, papers, pencils, a half a plate of cookies, and cups of soda were scattered.

 

Ryou gratefully snatched up a couple of cookies, “Short please.”

 

“You went nutty when Bakura got stabbed. Pegasus went nutty and he's got the Eye. All hell broke loose in Yugi's living room. We all got some rest. Bakura sat on the couch petting you. Seth showed up. The yamis are trying to be sneaky.” Malik plopped into a chair, making a waving airily. “And that's about it.”

 

“Bakura got stabbed?” Ryou remembered the wince.

 

“Seems okay.” Malik took a gulp of orange soda, then burped.

 

Bakura? Are you hurt?

 

He could feel his yami getting shifty. What makes you think that?

 

Ryou sighed. That answered that question.

 

~*~*~*

Seto

~*~*~*

 

He half expected to have his yami stop him, demanding that he go rest, but there was not protest when he opened his eyes and looked around the small bedroom he was sharing with Mokuba and Jonouchi. He looked around, wondering were Jo was. Hadn't Seth mentioned that Jo was sleeping?

 

He stood up and walked out the door, stretching and working kinks out of his muscles. He gave his arm an annoyed look as it tingled in a burny warning that it didn't like being stretched. He stopped by Yugi's bedroom door and tapped lightly. When there was no answer, he nudged the door open and looked in.

 

Jo was laying on a pile of futons on the floor next to Yugi's bed. He was sprawled, one arm flung over his head, the other trailing off the edge of the mats. A bandage was wrapped loosely around his head was sliding loose, almost covering one eye. A goofy grin was spread across his face, and he was snoring softly, occasionally giggling slightly in his sleep.

 

Seto came over and smiled down at him. You're nearly indestructible, aren't you love? He sat down next to the futons and stroked the shaggy blond hair out of Jo's face. Thank you. I know I haven't repaid you well for what you did, but I heard you. He leaned forward and brushed a kiss against Jo's cheek. Thank you.

 

Jo mumbled something and twitched.

 

“Jo?” Seto sat back, watching as gold tipped eyelashes fluttered.

 

“G'way `Renny. Iss the weeken'.” Jo shifted away, curling into a sleepy ball under the blankets.

 

Seto blinked. “Jo. Jo wake up.”

 

“Se'o, juss five more `kay? Won' be laa' prom'sss.” Jo pulled the blankets up over his head, in full hibernation mode.

 

“Jo…” Seto reached out to wake him up then stopped, not sure if he should or shouldn't. He wasn't sure why, -it seemed almost natural to do, but at the same time…-but he reached out to Seth. Jo's waking up.

 

Oddly, the voice didn't seem to come from within, but…from downstairs? I'm coming. How is he acting?

 

He's talking in his sleep. Seto frowned at himself. Why was he telling Seth? Why did he feel the need to check in? What the hell is going on?

 

“Everyone talks to themselves at some point.” Seth stepped through the door, a half concealed smile on his face.

 

Seto shot to his feet, staring at his yami, all his carefully constructed lies and delusions shattering around his feet. Seth was standing in front of him. He wasn't just a ghost, a figment of his imagination, someone, or something that could still be partially denied, but flesh, blood, and breath. “Seth?”

 

“Yes?” Seth looked politly…innocently…inquiring. The smirk that Seto was sure was lurking around somewhere carefully hidden. He was dressed now in what Seto could identify as a pair of pants that he was sure he'd seen on Marik, and an old green and grey flannel shirt, probably from Mr. Motou's closet.

 

“When did you get a body?” Seto tried yanking his mind back together

 

“Oh, just about…” he looked off as if he was thinking about something. “An hour ago.”

 

Seto nodded and wondered if he'd be convicted of murder or suicide if he killed his darkness. Well, I wanted to know how to destroy a five thousand year old spirit…Practice might help….

 

Jo sighed and rolled over again, shifting around, trying to find a comfortable spot. He pulled the blankets with him, wadding himself up in them and burying his face against the pillow. “Shu' up al'eady. `m tryin' to sleep.” He mumbled.

 

Seth let the smirk out from hiding and stepped up to Seto. “You heard him. Now be quiet or you'll wake him up.”

 

Seto hissed, “Thanks for the warning.”

 

Seth grinned, leaned forward, and kissed his angry light. “We'll play later then you can yell as much as you want.”

 

Seto didn't miss the hint, and tried to bite his yami's tongue as it playfully tapped against his lips. “You're louder.”

 

“Not likely.”

 

“I heard you.”

 

“I heard you.”

 

“Uh, hey Seto? When did you get a twin?”

 

Seto and Seth both looked over to where Jonouchi was sitting cross-legged on the futons looking at them confused.

 

“Jo, you're talking.” Seto stepped away from Seth. “Are you alright?”

 

Jo smiled at him, “Sure. Feel great. And I talk a lot, Seto.”

 

Seth stepped closer to Jonouchi, frowning, and half wishing E'on was there. The little dragon could probably explain why he had a feeling that something was off. “Jonouchi.”

 

Jo looked unsure, turning to Seto. “Uh? Seto?”

 

“Not surprising really.” Yami commented from the doorway. “It could be much worse.”

 

Seth nodded thoughtfully, as he stepped aside, letting Yugi, Malik, Ryou, Honda, Mai, and Anzu crowd past him. Yami caught his eye and nodded silently down the stairs. Seth looked at where his light was now kneeling in front of his blond lover, smiling a relieved smile, then stepped out the hall and followed his pharaoh down the stairs, through the living room, through the kitchen, down another set of stairs, through the small shop, and out onto the street. Malik and Bakura were already there, lounging against the side of the building.

 

“Good distraction.” Bakura pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his back pocket and slid them over his eyes.

 

Yami shrugged. “Providence provides.”

 

“Better then us all sneaking out saying we need to pick up pizza.” Malik straightened and started walking down the street.

 

“We will hear about it though.” Seth glanced ruefully back at the building they'd just left.

 

Yami followed after Marik, heading towards the heart of Domino City. “They'll get over it.”

 

Seth nodded and followed with Bakura falling in step next to him. “True, but it will be a loud “getting over it”.

 

~*~*~*

Wheee! Done. I'll try to get this finished quick, so don't be surprised if the next chapter shows up shortly.

 

dragonlady222: I think Ryou and Jo have had enough tragedy and suffering. But Jo still has a few surprises in store for Seto.

 

xminkx: Have I told you how much I treasure your reviews? I really do. You seem to always write the very thing I need to hear when I get down on my story. You see, I envy you and your writing style, and then poke at my story like it's a slug that oozed onto my computer. We could probably set up a mutual admiration society. I thought you would like that scene with Seth and Seto. It was hard to write since there was so much going on, and not all of it was said. You get hints of it in this chapter, and not everything that needed to be said between those two was said. I hope to be able to look at least a little bit at the outcome before all is tied up and put away.

 

Sorceress Sarrkh: Reviewing the whole trilogy -yes, I had to do that just to make sure I wasn't leaving any loose ends dangling around. And all I can say is wow, I'm long winded aren't I- I have to admit that Seto was a bit OOC. The in-character thing he should have done was to jump Seth and strangled the information about Akenaden out of him. I wasn't 100% pleased with that scene, but it was really hard for me to write. I just couldn't get those two to behave, so I basically kicked them into place and told them to shut up and follow the plot. If I revise this I'll use some of that infamous `polish' my English teachers always said my writing needed.

 

Me: How did you know I was working on this today? Thanks. I'm glad you liked the Seth/Seto scene. As I've said in the other review responses, it was a difficult lemon. Man are they stubborn! Oh, yes, I will now be nice to Jo. He's had enough, so has Seto for that matter, but he's got a runaway yami to deal with and a bit of unnecessary guilt. No problem with the ranting. That's what makes a review a good one. Nice ideas on the character dynamics by the way :)