Title: Relief 6/?
Author: Yami no Kaiba
Series: Yugioh
Rating: R (Very Highly, Most Likely, Heck, WILL Change)
Pairing: Noa/Seto + Seth/Seto + Yami/Seto (I wanna try and do them all... ^_^)
Disclaimer: If I could own one thing from the whole series, I’d own Seto. Unfortunately, unless the creator of Yugioh was willing to sell me Seto Kaiba’s character ownership for two bucks, I’d never get him. I do, however, believe I own what my twisted mind puts him through. I think.
Summary: Kicked out of his own body, Seto Kaiba has to deal with the largest betrayal of his fragile heart. Will anyone offer the poor brunette a reason to live? An alternate ending to the Noa Arc.
Warning: Spoiler / yaoi / psychological torture / introspection / angst (it's Seto for crying out loud, when is there not angst?!)
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Seth’s blue eyes looked over at the bed in concern, ignoring the papyrus scroll in front of him for the eighth time since Seto had suddenly fallen unconscious again, pulled back to the other side of his soul. Glancing over the attire, Seth winced slightly and bit his lip.
Whatever was happening between Noa and Seto at the moment, Seth didn’t know. However, the dissolvel of Seto’s trench coat and shirt, along with the appearance of metal rings on the boy’s wristbands and boots over the span of two hours seriously troubled the boy’s ancestor.
A glint of red caught Seth’s eye and he hastily shoved away from the smooth marble desk, abandoning the stool and hurried over to the bed, getting a better view. Blood was seeping into the gray sheets, though no open wounds were visible with Seto lying on his back, though there was a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his lips as well as a dark livid bruise marring one cheek.
Lightly, Seth reached out and took hold of Seto’s shoulders, pulling the boy’s upper body off the bed. The sticky sheets clung to Seto’s back, refusing to let go of their purchase, some of the blood having dried, sealing the sheets to the skin.
Cursing lightly, Seth laid Seto back, rushing off to get a basin of water, rags, and bandages. When he returned with the items, he almost dropped them in shock.
"Oh, Amun Ra..." Seto was awake, curled up on his side, facing away from Seth. The change in position had pulled the sheets off his back, revealing the source of the blood. The old scars from Seto’s childhood had been reopened, allowing the red liquid to trickle out and spread over the pale skin. The whole form had been shaking in suppressed sobs, but at the sound of Seth’s voice that had stopped, Seto tensing up in anticipation, of what Seth couldn’t tell. "Seto, this is gonna hurt, but I have to clean you up..."
"S-Seth?" Seto moved to sit up, whimpering as he stretched the skin of his back, but succeeding all the same. Red tinted blue eyes framed by tear soaked pale skin made Seth’s heart ache in sympathy. Distrust, pain, and doubt were swirling in those sapphire eyes and Seth wanted nothing more than to do what he did.
After depositing his burden on one of the side tables at the head of the bed, Seth sat down beside Seto on the bloody sheets. Reaching out, he gently took hold of Seto and pulled him into his lap were the boy immediately curled into his warmth, hissing a bit harder then before. "It’s not only your back that’s hurt, is it? What else is wrong, Seto?"
Seto’s hands clenched in Seth’s clothes. "A f-few of my ribs, they’re also broken."
Seth narrowed his eyes, anger sparking in his heart. [Noa, you bastard! If we ever meet, you’ll be a pile of ash when I’m done with you!] One of Seth’s hands snaked around Seto’s waist, holding the boy lightly so as not to upset him with the feeling of being trapped. After a few moments of comforting silence, Seth spoke up. "Feeling a little better now?" A small almost nonexistent nod came from Seto, and Seth moved the teenager from the bed and sat him down on the stool. "Stay here for a moment, while I change the sheets."
As Seth moved off to get a new set of sheets, Seto winced in guilt at the state of his shadow’s clothes. There were dark splotches in the rich purple material that looked like a washed out brown. Streaks of red covered the gold embellishments, as well as some of the pale skin. "Gomen nasai."
Seth paused in flapping out a new thin sheet, peering back over his shoulder at Seto. "Sorry for what? It’s not like you could help it. What ever happened took place obviously against your will." Seth laid the sheet down, tweaking it straight with practiced ease and kicked the soiled sheets into a pile. Muttering a spell under his breath he pitched a small ball of fire at the pile that became quickly consumed in the flames.
In but a few minutes Seto found himself laid out on the bed again, but this time facing towards the mattress. Seth was carefully washing the long gashes on his back, rubbing a slightly stinging salve into the clean ones. "Tell me what happened, Seto," Seth commanded as his long light fingers danced across the skin, applying a trade Seth barely remembered.
"Noa-sam-" Seto stopped abruptly, shuddering at the honorific he had almost applied to the green haired boy. "Noa, what he’s doing, at first I didn’t get it, and in a way I still don’t. He replays some of my memories, always making comments here or there. Part of me tells me that the memories are authentic, real. Another part says they’re wrong, that something, some element, has been changed." Seto’s eyes were fogged as he rambled, obviously his mind caught at one of those times.
His father came home, slamming the door shut. Eyes wide in fear, Seto took in the much taller form before him. Severely cut black hair crowned a usually handsome face that was twisted in anger, slate blue eyes that were cold and harsh glared down at the small seven year old boy.
"You just had to do it in school, didn’t you?!"
"Gomen nasai! I didn’t mean-"
"Of course you didn’t mean to! You never mean to! Yet you still do it! Stop playing an ancient priest, you worthless piece of filth!"
"I-"
"Shut up!" A backhand sent the boy into the wall, sharp pain flaring from one side at impact, causing the small boy to scream out before he slid slowly to the floor.
"That wasn’t the only time your father broke your bones, was it, Seto-kun," Noa more stated then asked, draping himself over Seto’s back, looking over his shoulder curiously at the memory scene in front of them. Seto was chained down in a kneeling position on the floor, arms wrapped around his midriff as a bruise started to spread on one high boned cheek.
A small cough was hastily followed by a thin splattering of blood onto the floor, mirroring the actions of the boy in front of them. "N-no, Noa, it wasn’t..."
A slight frown spread on Noa’s countenance, and his hands trailed down Seto’s arms to rest over the brunette’s. Noa leaned in, breathing lightly onto one of Seto’s ears, making his playmate shudder. "I thought we went over this, watashi no asobinakama," Noa breathed slowly, pressing inwards with his hands. The sound of bone shifting on bone was drowned out by Seto’s scream. "You will address me as Noa-sama."
Panting, Seto hung his head, trying to recover from the pain. A small resistive growl built in his throat. "I wouldn’t call you my master even if it would save my life!"
Noa smiled sadistically, amused. "Perhaps a change of memory would help," he purred enticingly, running a hand over the long scars laid bare on Seto’s back.
A sharp tug on the last bandage brought Seto back to the present. His form was shaking lightly from the vividness of the flashback. Seth, seeing his descendant’s situation, ran his hand comfortingly though Seto’s silky fine hair. "You said a part of you feel’s these memories aren’t all true?" The feeling of a slight nod in ascent made Seth hum slightly in thought. "Then I’d have to say there’s a high probability some of them are fabrications based off of a real memory."
Seto tilted his head, peering over his shoulder at Seth. "But how can I tell which is true and which is false? I know the last memory before I passed out happened because I still had the scars from it, but most of what he shows me is emotionally and psychologically damaging, not physically."
Seth sighed, moving away from the bed and heading for a bureau. "I suggest you look at the environment in the memory. Think about what should and shouldn’t be there." Seth quickly got out another set of clothes for himself.
Seto blushed slightly as he watched Seth change. As Seth pulled his shirt off, Seto couldn’t help his outburst. "Your back!"
Seth turned to him, dropping the cloth on the floor. "As Isis said, history seems to be repeating itself in the most peculiar ways."
Seto sighed, resting his hands on his crossed arms. "I didn’t want to believe her, you know. Even when she showed me the past, and Yugi’s Yami told me about himself, I ignored the truth, even when I started having those visions again."
Seth nodded, pulling the sash around his waist tight as he finished dressing. "That may actually be my fault. Up until Marik took the Sennen Rod, I was trying to contact you, in order to make you come to me on your own. I might have leaked my memories instead. With you in such close proximity to the Rod during the finals, it would be no surprise that you’d pick up some more of my memories."
Seto smiled slightly as he watched Seth burn the ruined set of clothes and walk back to sit on the edge of the bed with him. "It was fun sometimes. The kids and school staff thought I was schizophrenic when I’d act out what was going on in the memories when they were a bit to overwhelming."
Seth chuckled at the mental images he saw from the weak link he had with his descendant. "So it would seem. Now why don’t we get some rest? You’ll need it for when Noa calls you back. I’ll anchor your consciousness here as long as I can, but if he calls, I won’t be able to do much with Marik’s shadow in control of the Sennen Rod."
Seto inched over, leaving room for Seth to lay down and pull him close. Whispering a spell under the his breath, the priest pulled the covers over them. "Oyasumi nasai, Seto."
Seto cuddled up to Seth, gripping lightly at the shadow’s clean shirt. "Oyasumi nasai, Seth." With that, both fell into a blissful sleep.
--To be Continued.