Gathering (Rei no Kaado)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto raised an eyebrow. That was... very concerning. The expression on Atem's face had said a lot, but what Atem said was enough to worry Naoto. Whatever was more important than the current situation with Malik had to be bad. Kanji didn't question Atem, and followed after him. Naoto had made to follow when Haytham spoke.

* "Please do," * Naoto said, and followed after the others.

[mugenginga]

Atem showed now sign of stopping. Yuugi was keeping closest to him, but everyone else was pretty much part of the same crowd. It could be misinterpreted as running to anyone that didn't know the former Pharaoh. He finally stopped on the next floor down. He turned towards the group.

"Haytham just informed me Zorc could come back."

Yuugi's eyes widened, and given his already child-like eyes, it might have been comical under other circmstances. Anzu gasped and the bag slipped a bit as she went to cover her mouth. She managed to catch it before it fell, but the logo would show. Honda and Jounouchi looked at each other in shock before looking back at Yuugi.

"You're not joking, are you?" Jounouchi said.

"I wouldn't joke about something like this," Atem stated. He clenched his fists and looked away, "This is my fault, too."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

As surprised and shocked as the others were, Naoto and Kanji had no idea what Atem was talking about there, so they had no idea why Zorc would be so alarming. Obviously, he was someone dangerous from their homeworld, probably supernatural, but that didn't explain why the others were freaking out so much.

"Uh, who the hell's Zorc?" Kanji asked.

[mugenginga]

Atem looked up. Of course, they hadn't been told. Minato likely knew, and given Atsuro's knowledge of at least some aspects of their world, it was quite likely Abel knew.

"Zorc Necrophades is a demon that I couldn't destroy and felt forced to seal inside the Millenium Ring. To preserve the seal, I placed part of my own soul into the Pendant and forced it to shatter. I used my ren, or name, to preserve the seal," Atem glanced at Yuugi for a moment, and then at the others from his world, "It's why I didn't know my name or even my past until Partner-tachi fought through a world created from my sealed memories to retrieve it."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Kanji's eyes widened. A demon they couldn't even destroy? That sounded way too much like that situation with Izanami before, or the situation with Nyx. Hell, with Nyx, the only reason she'd not killed them all was because of Ryoji. And something like that was coming back!?

"If that's the case, then we need to hurry and inform Kaiba and Mokuba," Naoto said.

[mugenginga]

"That asshole won't believe a word of this," Jounouchi stated, "Hell, I don't think he even buys that Atem was a Pharaoh."

"No, he does!" Yuugi said, "I mean... Blue Eyes, White Dragon was in that... game Dark Bakura set up, and he woke up with the rest of us!"

Atem nodded, "He tried to fight Zorc by himself by causing Blue Eyes, Ultimate Dragon to appear in the game based on my sealed memories. He accepts that those things happened, at least to some degree. Right now the issue is less that and more that he has to keep an eye on at least one of the Items. Both the Rod and the Eye accept him for reasons connected to his past life, and we can't keep them in the same place."

"Atem, is this why you headed out of the Apartment?" Yuugi asked.

Atem nodded, "Haytham informed me that if the Items are kept in one place, the bit of Zorc that is sealed in them could gather and a part of him could return..."

"What else," Yuugi stated. His voice seemed a bit more demanding than usual.

Atem looked up, seemingly a bit startled, "....this is because I didn't create the seal like I was supposed to."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Bullcrap!" Kanji said. "How long are you gonna keep beating yourself up about that?"

He looked around at the others before continuing on to Atem. "Look, I dunno what happened in your world. But you decided to stay here with Yuugi, right? You can't keep beatin' yourself up about that just 'cause it means those stupid Millennium Item things are still around, alright? It ain't like you can change that now, so you just gotta do what you can!"

Naoto blinked before smiling. "Kanji-kun is right, Atem. In my opinion, it is better that you are alive now than the alternative. No one should have to die to make a seal like that."

[mugenginga]

Jounouchi punched his hand into his fist, "Those two guys are right, Atem-kun. None of us wanted to see you pass on. We took that jerk Zorc on before, and didn't that Horakhty chick say you were able to fight him 'cause of your friends? You've gotta lean on us every now and then. It isn't healthy to stuff things inside all the time."

"Look whose talking. How long did it take me to beat that into you?" Honda stated. Jounouchi glared at him.

"Atem, it's never okay for someone to just... throw away their life like that! We're your friends! I'm really grateful you didn't have to die!" Anzu stated. She hiked up the bag so the logo was once again concealed.

Atem looked at them, but he didn't respond. He was grateful for the words, but they couldn't really understand. He'd lost over half his Priests due to the mess of Zorc. One of which had been his closest friend at the time, even with the red tape of politics interfering. So he simply nodded to the words, causing Yuugi to frown more. He shook his head.

"In any case, we need to go see Kaiba and Mokuba. We have to talk them into watching at least one of the Items."
-----

Kaiba stepped out of his apartment, looking it behind himself and looking at the key in disdain. He hadn't been able to find any new information about the connection between worlds. About the only thing that had gone right in the past two weeks was directly responsible for the reason he was leaving this dump behind him.

The teenager's outfit was nothing out of the ordinary, at least for him. It was the exact thing he had been wearing when he came to the Island, meaning it would turn more than a few heads but was rather standard. Under his left arm was a moderately sized cardboard box. He hadn't bothered to obtain much in the way of possessions, as his plan the entire time had been to get the hell out of here. He shoved the key into his pocket and headed down the hall.

It was about this time that Mokuba made his way to the top of the stairs. He'd checked every floor, but not an apartment one had shown the Kaiba surname on the outside. Many of them had been unmarked, but he knew his older brother wouldn't have done that. As it was, this was the last floor. If he didn't find Seto here, he was going to go back and rip that bleach blond a new one. He realized that wouln't be a problem as soon as he stepped onto the top floor.

"Niisama!"

Kaiba's head shot up, "Mokuba?"
-----

Haytham had sat down on the chair Atem had been using to keep an eye on Malik. He was looking at the Egyptian boy. Even with the line protected as well as it had, three thousand years had removed any family resemblance to his ancestor. Given the actions of the Ishtars he'd been privy too, it was quite likely they didn't even remember their origin. A machination of their ancestor, perhaps. He had always been the clever sort.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto nodded. She glanced toward Souji's door for a moment. Teddie was likely still at Souji's apartment, if he hadn't decided to take a visit to the TV World. Naoto doubted he actually had, though, considering what had happened the last time Teddie took a visit to the TV World. It was possible Lucifer was still lurking around there.

Kanji frowned at Atem's non-reaction, but followed Naoto down the stairs. He could tell Atem wasn't really taking in what they were saying. Stupid idiot was gonna pull something stupid if he didn't get what they were saying into his head.

[mugenginga]

"Niisama, it is you!"

Mokuba ran forward. Kaiba barely had time to brace himself before he was pretty much being tackled by Mokuba. The only thing that prevented the short pre-teen from knocking Kaiba over was their height difference. The box in his arm slipped down, and he was forced to throw his weight a bit to catch it before it hit the ground. It was too bad no one was there to see it, as Kaiba actually had a soft smile on his face as he put his hands on Mokuba's shoulders despite the awkward angle the box forced and made him still.

"When did you get here?"

"Just earlier today! I thought something had happened to you! They cleared out the area where Yuugi-tachi went, but they couldn't find any bodies!"

Kaiba frowned, "You've seen them?"

"Not just them," He looked up and gave a smirk, speaking with a fair bit of mock criticism, "Hey, Niisama, have you been seeing girls behind my back?"

The tall teenager's eyes widened. He pushed Mokuba forward a bit and gave him a harsh look, "You've met that white haired girl?"
-----

Atem turned around and headed down the stairs. Yuugi looked at the others and seemed to be considering saying something. Was it possible Atem still didn't trust them? Even he had to pretty much drag things out of the former Pharaoh. ANd it had gotten harder since they split. It was evident by just his body language that when he spoke, it wasn't what he originally had planned on saying.

"He'll leave us if we don't follow."

He didn't wait for a response before heading down the stairs. Jounouchi frowned at Atem's back. The guy was running from a confrontation. It didn't seem like the Atem he knew. Then again... maybe he'd misread who was dominant more than he'd thought? What bothered him the most was how much it seemed to be effecting Yuugi.

"I'm gonna have to give that guy a lecture soon if he keeps this up," Jounouchi grumbled.

"Does Atem-kun even know where Kaiba's apartment is...?"

(OOC: Yes, he does. XD Remember, Kaiba gave him his address in case Yuugi decided to Duel him. He knows it better than the others. XD Sorry if this forces a short response.)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto followed Atem once he took the lead again. Atem at least remembered which way Kaiba's apartment was. Kaiba likely wouldn't be happy to see them again, though.

[mugenginga]

"Wait, you really do have a thing for her?"

After all, what were the odds his brother would know exactly who he was talking about like that? Seto wasn't one for remembering faces unless they left a deep impression or he needed to for business. Kaiba frowned at the accusation and adjusted the box under his arm again.

"She reminds me of someone, nothing more. How much do you know about her?"

"I know she knows about the Millenium Items," Mokuba stated. He frowned, "Hey, have you been ignoring Yuugi?"

"I don't have time to waste on cowards," Kaiba stated.

"Yuugi isn't a coward! You have to know it was him during most of Death-T!"

"He's a lucky coward, but he's still a coward," Kaiba stated, walking forward again. Mokuba fell into step beside him. His expression softened a bit as he walked, "I've been worried about you. It's been weeks since I saw you last in this... world. How did you get here? I left you in Japan."

"Hey, about that! You didn't even tell anyone where you were going! I had to find out on my own and take the jet to get there in a reasonable amount of time! I was worried about you..."

"...I'm sorry," Kaiba looked away from Mokuba, "I had something I had to do."

"I thought you'd been crushed!" Mokuba stated, a bit of his worry having faded to anger.

"It takes more than a cave-in to kill me," Kaiba stated with a slightly arrogant voice, "About that girl..."

Kaiba was a few steps away from the stairs when he heard someone coming up them. He paused with intentions of letting whoever it was past when he noticed it was Atem. He seemed rather sure of himself and about to say something when everyone else showed up on the stairwell. He didn't so much as glance at Yuugi.

"What do you want?" he stated in an annoyed tone.

"Kaiba, we have to talk," Atem stated.

"If you're here to plead that coward's case-"

"Kaiba shut up for a minute and listen!" Atem wasn't yelling, but it was close, "This is more important than you're able to realize!"

Kaiba glared daggers at Atem. Mokuba looked worried for a few seconds, glancing back and forth between Atem's group and his older brother. Yuugi had winced at Atem's tone and then looked up at Kaiba. The tall teenager scowled for a minute, but his next reaction probably surprised at least some of the group.

"...You have one minute," he stated.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto came up the stairs behind Atem. She glared at Kaiba as he spoke again. The man was already treating Yuugi badly without having even had to directly insult him. She was surprised as Kaiba gave them one minute to explain. Naoto stepped forward.

"To put things simply, Kaiba-san, we need you to hold on to one of the Millennium Items for us," Naoto stated. "It's dangerous to keep them all together, and your brother brought us the last one."

[mugenginga]

There was fire in Kaiba's eyes as Naoto stated that Mokuba had brought the last item. He looked towards Mokuba, the dark look fading in an instant and showing the faintest traces of concern. The pre-teen looked up and nodded. Kaiba looked back towards the group. Atem hadn't dropped his glare yet, either. He seemed to be speaking only to Atem.

"Get to your point," Kaiba ordered, "So far I've yet to see any way this concerns me."

"Kaiba, you're not going to tell me you've disregarded everything you saw in my memories!" Atem growled.

"I won't be ruled by my past," Kaiba snapped back, "If all you're here to do is ask me to help you with your mistakes, then this discussion is over. The man you knew in your past was not me and I am not bound by anything he may have promised you!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto pieced together the situation fairly quickly from what Kaiba said. Whatever had happened in Atem's memories regarding Zorc, Kaiba had seen. Kaiba, being Kaiba, of course, didn't want to help. Naoto crossed her arms.

"Kaiba, if this is an issue of pride, you need to drop it," Naoto stated. "If those Items remain together, it is entirely possible Zorc may return. I doubt you want to deal with that here."

What did she know about Zorc? Not much. She knew Atem had died to seal it away before. Yuugi, Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu had been panicked about it. And from what she knew now, Kaiba had seen some of Atem's memories of his life as a Pharaoh. He had tried to fight Zorc with that "Blue Eyes" dragon that kept coming up. So it was possible the name Zorc would cause Kaiba to panic as well.