Points of Authority :: Chapter 11 -- Shaggy-Carpeted Rejection Letter
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Kaiba stopped sharply and looked to his side at the guards. "It doesn't matter," he made sure to say loud and clear. "All three god cards are here. There is nothing else I need to be on this ship."
.: Points of Authority
.: Chapter 11: Shaggy-Carpeted Rejection Letter
***********
You awoke in a bleary state -- your eyes wouldn't focus for you no matter how hard you tried. After registering that you were laying down, you attempted to sit up and expected the blurry vision to be better.
It didn't make anything better. In fact, sitting up only made you notice that you had an odd, detached feeling in your head accompanied by an irritating pressure. This feeling made it awfully hard to troubleshoot. So, logically the next thing you tried was standing up.
Bad idea.
As soon as you let go of the bed your knees wobbled and you bumped something solid with your hip. You heard the futile steadying of porcelain until there was a brief pause and then a deafening crash.
Your head protested in irritation, like it was daring you to let it hear such noises. After a short recovery you dared to glance over to the source of the crashing sound. There were varying pieces of porcelain strewn on the dark, hardwood floor, all pathetically flung from the impact. From the pieces that were turned right-side up you could tell the color of this thing was a deep burgundy. A cream-colored lamp shade guiltily circled the floor from inertia. Before you could begin to start worrying about who's lamp you did break you heard the familiar notching of a door opening.
A man wearing a black suit and black sunglasses stepped into the room. He had odd, plateau-like hair...
'This must be Kaiba's butler...I guess I never got a good look at his hair when he was in the limo.'You paused...knowing in your current state that your confusion almost looked comical. 'Then that means...!'
"You're Kaiba's butler...?" you asked more than stated. "Then this is Kaiba's place?"
The suited man bowed quickly, if not in slight irritation. "Yes. You are currently at Mr. Kaiba's estate. And I am not merely 'Mr. Kaiba's butler' -- my name is Roland."
After the awkward introduction you saw Roland's head shift to the victimized lamp -- or what was left of it on the floor beside you. Slowly you registered what he was looking at...
"Oh! I'm really sorry! I really am! I tried getting up and I guess I was still dizzy...," you pleaed, suddenly paniced. Hopefully he wouldn't tattle to Kaiba that you had broken a rather expensive-looking lamp...
"It's quite alright," Roland placated in a monotonous tone. "Accidents happen, I suppose."
'You "suppose"...?' your eyebrow twitched. You had the sudden urge to beat his face in. 'This is definitely Kaiba's butler...'
You brushed away your rising irritation and attempted to change the subject away from your clumsiness. "So...how'd I end up here?"
"I believe that's a question best suited for Mr. Kaiba," he told you simply...and just stood there.
You also stood there and stared at Roland. Was Kaiba already coming...? Did you have to wait? Why was Roland just looking at you, though?! Was he waiting for you to say something? But what could you say to that?! Finally, you offered, "Well, where is he?"
Not missing a beat, Roland responded, "Mr. Kaiba is not presently at his estate."
You fought the urge to throw some of the broken porcelain at the antagonizing butler. "That kind of defeats the purpose of answering my question, now doesn't it?!"
"I don't mean to patronize you, but Mr. Kaiba requested that he speak with you when you woke up," he informed, unfazed by your rising irritation.
You stopped yourself from making some choice thoughts become reality and spoke in a lidded frustration, "How's he supposed to do that if he's not here?"
"Miss Kenzie, Mr. Kaiba is a busy man," Roland informed. "He's currently out running a tournament, so he told me to set up the webcam on one of his laptops."
A pathetic "Oh" was the only thing you could muster from Roland's slightly reprimanding tone.
"Now, if you'll follow me I will show you where you can speak with Mr. Kaiba," he began softly.
You exited the room after Roland and came out to a giant, two-story room. Your eyes bulged slightly as you instinctively went to put your hands on the banister in front of you. Your chest heaved in amazement, deducting that the first, bottom floor was probably used for business parties. The bottom floor was etched in a white-grey marble, accented by the pristine white color of the pillars and walls. The spilling staircase that led to the second floor (that you were on) was carpeted in a deep sapphire plush...
It was also quite hard to miss the giant mosaic of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon made into the marble of the bottom floor. The pose of the dragon was similar to the one seen on the infamous card. Actually, why were you trying to cover it up? Kaiba had purposely made a life-sized mosaic of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card into the floor...of his home. That he walked on. Everyday. Ridiculous.
Besides the twinge of resentment you held for the current room, you still felt insignificant because of the sheer enormity of it -- it was like a man-made canyon! Finally, a light caught your eye -- the chandelier created a soft light that engulfed the whole room. The chandelier looked like the figure of a crystal dragon...
Sweatdrop.
'Of course,' you thought sardonically. 'Why would I think that Kaiba would only have one image of the Blue-Eyes in his house...?'
There was a decent-sized Blue Eyes, in crystal form hanging from it's tail, wings paused dramatically for it's White-Lightening Blast -- which, oddly enough was where a majority of the light in the room was filtering through.
"If you're done looking...?"
Jolted out of your thoughts was the almost jeering voice of Roland...whom you completely forgot was there. You blushed at the thought of looking so childish in front of someone you barely knew.
Roland merely turned to go down the open hallway and gracefully walked down the plush carpet... Which was nothing that could be said for you. The carpet was so plush that it did that weird shifting motion when you walked, which made it horrible for you to walk on with your already rattled balance. Having to fully concentrate on not falling over, you almost didn't see when Roland stopped at a pair of ridiculously grandiose-looking doors. Still not having all of your bearings back you toppled over to the side and narrowly missed connecting your face with the heels of Roland's shoes.
You pathetically looked up, wondering if Roland had seen you fall.
You saw the unwavering, non-emotive sunglasses staring back at you.
"Mokuba is standing by on the laptop in this room," he stated. "When you go in it will be the first chair on your left."
Getting up rather sheepishly, you concluded that everything embarrasing was more embarrasing if no one even made mention of the incident. Gingerly, you got up and went into the room Roland was standing towards, shutting the door behind you in relief. The resigned sigh you let escape hitched when you took in the furnishings of the room.
Everything in this room was tall and overbearing...and dark, because the lights were off. Kind of like Kaiba. The only light that shown through for you to notice the huge conference table that took up the whole room, and the fifty forboding business chairs, was from the six extravagant windows contained in the room. The curtains in the windows apparently had blue coloring to them, which made the dark room a bluish color and somehow more relaxing to be in.
After taking in everything you could you finally noticed another light that was slightly brighter than the windows. A laptop sat patiently at the first chair on the left of the conference table. You sighed, knowing that this was probably going to be another "headache" to deal with and headed over to the laptop, poised for whatever Kaiba was going to throw at you.
When you got over to the laptop you saw the lighted face of Mokuba smile when you got settled in.
"Kenzie! Are you okay now? And how do you like my house? It's cool, isn't it?" Mokuba bombarded, his voice only having the slightest bit of electronic distortion.
You smiled. "Yea, I'm alright now. And your house is huge! I can't believe the size of it!"
"It's actually the same dimensions as an American football stadium," Mokuba informed, his chest puffing out while a very satisfied smile appeared on his face. NOW you could see how he and Kaiba were related. "Seto did that to impress all of the American businessmen when he has his business parties."
You answered with an awkward chuckle but stopped short when you saw the screen shift jaggedly until you saw the unsettling face of Kaiba appear on screen.
"Do you remember anything that happened?" Kaiba practicially shot at you; it had sobered the comforting atmosphere Mokuba had created.
You shifted nervously, feeling put on-spot as you tried to remember. "I remember...the weird electrical waves...a headache and stuff...and, the hologram of your Blue Eyes."
Kaiba's eyes closed for a moment as he thought. You had a peculiar feeling about this...
"Kaiba... What happened?" you probed softly. "Did something--"
"Why didn't you get the prescription filled?" he demanded in a short tone.
He had caught you off guard, but you recovered quickly, thinking Kaiba might have the power and means to take a look at your medical history...
"Why the topic change?" you questioned primly.
You heard an agitated sigh from Kaiba's end. "The topic hasn't changed. The real reason I wanted to talk to you just surfaced."
A personal anger welled up, feeling slightly exposed. Just how much did he know?
"This is ridiculous! I mean, what the hell, Kaiba? How are you finding these things out? Do you enjoy invading people's privacy and ruining their lives?!"
"You had a migraine and fainted! It doesn't take researching personal records to figure out that you haven't gotten your medication!" Kaiba's anger subdued at the accusation after that. "Whatever. I don't have time for your paranoid delusions. I have a tournament to run."
And the screen promptly went blank after Kaiba's last words.
**********
Although Kaiba seemed rather upset with you, Roland was insistent upon taking you back to the tournament "safely". Actually, the whole situation seemed odd since the Double Duel. Kaiba seemed more angry and frustrated than usual...almost like he might be, nervous? No... Kaiba didn't seem like the type to get nervous about anything!
But you did have a peculiar feeling when you were talking to Kaiba over the webcam that he was "leading" the conversation...like he was hiding something. Dammit. You needed someone to talk this through with. Why wasn't Mai ever around when you actually needed her...?
Suddenly you heard the indifferent ringing of a church bell. Bringing you out of your inquisitive musings you noticed you were right next to a graveyard.
"Activate Ectoplasmer!"
'Ectoplasmer...? Than that means...!'
Yes! You actually found some duelists! Maybe you really would make it to the finals!
And just as fast as you started towards that graveyard you slowed to a stop, realizing that the duelists were in the the graveyard...
'Why are all duelists such weird freaks...?'
Begrudgingly, you made your way past the gate, trying to ignore the cliche creaking the gate made when it tried to shut from its rusted hinges.
As you made your way through the first part of the graveyard you heard some yells of protest. They sounded like "No!" and "I can't believe it!" and "No way!". Although the yells progressed into screams, the one thing that had your attention was this odd fog; it only seemed to be in the cemetery.
Suddenly, you heard a scream get cut-off into nothing and your head bolted into the direction you had heard it. There was a lurking silence that seemed to wrap around your body. You feared to speak because you could feel that the lurking silence would somehow catch you...
'Don't be such a wuss, Kenzie!' you mentally slapped yourself. 'It's just a cemetery with some sleeping dead people. And those duelists are probably just trying to scare duelists away.'
Finally able to swallow most of the cold feeling in your gut, you called out, "Hello!? Is anyone there?!"
Your voice was way more confident than you felt -- there was still a cold hand wringing your stomach.
"It seems the gods have blessed me with another offering..."
The voice pierced gruffly through the fog and sent a violent chill up your spine to end in a near-painful tingling on the ends of your hair. Your bodily reaction to the voice slowed your nerves, so you stood there, somehow slightly shaking still.
The fog prevented you from leaving -- you felt like the voice was everywhere even though you had only heard it once. Not only that, but you surely couldn't see anywhere to hide. Was the fog getting thicker?
Suddenly, just as the possibilty had passed through your thoughts, the fog began to lift. Panicking, you ducked behind the closest headstone and hoped beyond all hope that the Creepy Voice [Guy] wasn't going to find you!
You slammed your eyes shut, just hoping that the action would keep you even more hidden behind a decaying headstone, but then you heard a sickly cough. Instantly, you sobered from your fear and listened closely. What if the Creepy Voice [Guy] was faking to get you to give away your location...?
There was more coughing, except this time, it seemed to be getting...closer? You reacted by trying to shift your body further down against the headstone. Then you heard a faint rustling and suddenly the coughing you heard seemed to be right on top of you!
Alarmed by the sudden jolt of noise, your body performed a slight "jump" and the cold feeling in your stomach was beginning to nag at you, telling you to run! But you just couldn't! It was like the jolt of noise had paralyzed you to the headstone.
Just then, a pressure enveloped your left side. In reaction, you screamed and scrambled away from the headstone, backwards, so you were able to see what caused your alarm. You slowed when you saw a boy clutching at his side and crumpling on the ground. At least it looked like a boy -- he had long white hair.
Something tugged at your insides.
"Are...are you okay?" you dared to ask, still keeping a ways from the boy.
The boy awkwardly propped himself up so he could at least look at you with his very innocent brown eyes.
"I think...I may need a doctor."
You stopped and paled. Not out of fear, but out of the fact that you had no idea where the hospital was...
"Uhhh...," was the utterly genious sound you answered the poor boy with.
"What's wrong? I know it's strange to meet someone with white hair but..." the boy managed.
"No! It's not that," you shook your head vigorously. "I'm sorry. I just don't know where the hospital is, myself. I'm...from out of town."
The boy went to sit up and he started a coughing fit. Alarmed by his action, you instinctively dashed over to help him sit against the headstone you had previously been hiding behind.
He took a deep breath before he began. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I've actually got six locator cards and," he took a breath and gave a little cough, "I know where the finals are at. They said they'd have a medical team on stand-by."
"Oh...," you supplied dumbly, almost staring at the boy for more answers.
The boy's head dipped and then caught his eyes with yours. "If you could just help me there...?" For some reason you suddenly seemed to be stuck on the boy's very British accent.
You shook the haze from your head, an investigative resolve clearing your worry for the boy's condition.
"Are you sure you're well enough to get to wherever the finals are at?"
"Well, sure," the boy smiled strangely at you. At least, you thought it was a strange-looking smile, but who were you to judge? He could probably always smile that way. "I think I feel good enough to make it that far."
"I don't know...," you said softly after some deliberation. "I mean, you can barely stand and I had to help you sit up. I don't think that's a very good sign. I can go look for some--"
"That won't be necessary," he said cheerfully, still smiling, but there was a thick authority that briefly tinged his voice. "It's just...hard for me to move because I think my ribs are bruised really badly." The boy tried to stand after that, triggering another coughing fit and sliding back down the headstone.
Worry gushed in a giant wave and pushed you over to the headstone again, this time helping the boy to stand. "Be careful or you'll make it worse!!" you nearly shrieked at him. You took a deep breath to clear your own nerves. "What happened, anyway?"
You noticed the boy was definitely a head taller than you, maybe a little more. You moved to put the arm on his good side around your neck and supported the boy's back with your other hand to keep him steady as you began your slow pace out of the cemetery.
"Well," he began, concentrating on trying to habitualize the walking pace. "I needed to find some more duelists to get more locator cards. I happened to find some in the cemetery here and they offered an "all or nothing" ante, of sorts."
You gave him a critical look. "And just how many locator cards did you have up for the offer?"
"I had one," he stated simply. "Make a left here."
You moved to the left careful not to jolt your passenger, increduousness far from being hidden, but your tone was still level. "And what duelist in their right mind would make a wager with someone with only one locator card?"
He gave you another smile before answering. "I think I failed to mention that they weren't the brightest of duelists, either. They had been putting on monster masks and scaring other duelists that happened to come by and stole their locator cards."
"So you went to vanquish the evil that those duelists were committing in the name of 'Duelist Honor'? Come on, duelists are way more selfish than that."
Bakura chuckled softly before beginning. "You're a very shrewd girl, but no, that's not why I went to find them. I found out they had five locator cards and convinced them to duel me for 'all-or-nothing'."
"That must have been some convincing," you said in a certain tone.
"You'll have to make a left here and then a quick right," he said right away. "I'd love to share the story with you, but I can't give away all of my dueling secrets."
"Right. Anyway, just how far away is this place?"
"Not far. We were actually pretty lucky because the cemetery isn't that far from where the finals are being held."
You let it get quiet afer that, finally noticing just how irritated you had been getting during the conversation. You knew it wasn't this boy. He was a little antagonistic, but you could deal with that and it was no where near getting you irritated enough to need to deduct just why you were getting so irritated.
It was just so weird -- you had so readily helped this person, but that just meant you were human, right? You felt a wave of reluctance overcome your body. A growing fatigue taking hold of your body...
Their was no way that you were going to go to the finals now.
By volunteering to help this boy, who's name you found out to be Ryou Bakura, you had thrown any chance you had left (however small that was given the time that had passed) of finding one or two more duels to find out where the finals were being held. Ironically, by being a nice person you were getting screwed over. And if that wasn't enough you were heading to the finals right now, where you knew Kaiba would be waiting, giving him yet another reason to beat what self-esteem you had left into the ground in front of the best duelists of Battle City.
Joy. You were so suddenly looking forward to this.
"I'm sorry for prodding, miss," Bakura began gingerly, "but is there something wrong?"
"What? Oh no," you managed, distracted. "Just thinking about some stuff, that's all."
There was a short, awkward silence.
"I hope I'm not being too forward, but if you need to talk I'm willing to listen; it's the least I could do for you helping me."
"Well, not to be rude," you said mechanically. "but I'd rather not; it's kind of personal."
"Oh. Alright..."
More awkward and tense silence filled the air. Feeling slightly guilty that you had been the one who created it, you begrudgingly began conversation.
"So where's this 'finals place' at?" you probed.
"The Dueling Stadium," Bakura answered.
You inwardly sighed, knowing this outcome was going to be bad. "I think I'm going to be sorry for asking this, but... Who built that Dueling Stadium?"
"Seto Kai--"
Your face hit the ground in disbelief by the time Bakura started saying Kaiba's last name.
"Oh my...! Are you alright?!"
**********
You gingerly rubbed your red, pulsating nose as you walked beside Bakura. "You sure you're okay, Bakura?"
"Oh yeah!" he answered quickly. "My side suddenly feels a little better."
"You are so lieing."
The simplicity of your statement carried a sobering, hammer-like effect. So much so that Bakura stiffened his walk.
"My...you're very blunt, aren't you?"
"Well, you're lieing, aren't you?" You sighed, not being able to stay frustrated with this guy. "For your 'Duelist Pride' I assume?"
"Ha. Um...well, yes," he said as his walking became easier again. "I didn't want them to see me needing help from a girl when we enter the Dueling Stadium. Might ruin whatever reputation I get out of this."
"Whatever," you responded nonchalantly.
"I think the entrance might be over here..."
**********
The entrance of the stadium hallway was pitch black and it forced you to be aware of the uneasy feeling you had in your stomach. Right when you were going to think about all the things that could possibly happen when Kaiba found out that you weren't really a finalist you, saw Bakura enveloped in a spotlight. You soon followed suit and had to shield your eyes, the blaring light forcing everything else out of your mind. Again, Kaiba had an unnecessary and gaudy sense of style...
If the ridiculous spotlight wasn't enough to jar your senses, both you and Bakura were bombarded by several fussing voices. You barely made out "Ryou being in the hospital" and some "Hey look! Kenzie made it!"...
Wait a minute.
"Bakura! You never told me you were in the hospital!"
Bakura gave you a cheesy smile as a mass of friends were fussing over him. "Must have...slipped my mind?"
"Yeah right, you jerk...," you mumbled to yourself, pouting.
Suddenly, you were buddy-hugged around the neck and you instinctively grabbed at the said arm. It belonged to none other than Mai, herself.
"Why so sour, Kenzie?" she teased, messing up your hair. "You made it to the finals and that's all that matters!"
"Mai, stop it!" you said angerly and practically shoved her away from you. You sighed with guilt, frustrated with your sudden actions, and looked down. "Mai, I--"
Kaiba practically shoved his way to the front of the group and smirked. "I can't believe you're the eighth finalist. Especially after you--"
But, alas! Kaiba was cut off. Mai stepped in front of you, acting as a shield between you and Kaiba.
"That's it, Kaiba. I'm sick of you bashing Kenzie!" She pointed a finger at him, then gracefully put her hands on her hips in that no-nonsense way. "What is it that you constantly have to put her down?!"
Kaiba edged his eyes to make brief contact with yours; it was obvious he wanted to say more and wanted you to know it.
"It doesn't matter," Kaiba shifted his eyes back to Mai. "We have all eight finalists and all three god cards. I don't have any more time to waste."
Kaiba had just turned to head towards his airship when you finally found the gall to speak up. Your stomach was knotting in apprehension -- it almost hurt!
"I'm-... I'm not the eighth finalist," you said in greatest reluctance. "In fact, I'm not even qualified to be a finalist at all..."
A tense silence rose immediately after you had confessed, which made the group reaction seem both delayed and feel like forever. Ironically, Kaiba was the first one to address you before the rest of the group even had a chance to open their mouths.
"If you don't want me to deport you out of this country, right now, then you had better explain what you mean." You winced at the demand in his voice.
"Well...I was looking for people to duel when I came across Bakura, here, at the cemetery," you began shyly, trying to avoid eye contact with Kaiba as much as possible. He honestly looked pissed. "He was hurt and didn't know where the hospital was at, but Bakura told me they'd have a medical team on standby when we got here. OBVIOUSLY, he lied to me."
Kaiba gave you a frustrated look, like you had given him the stupidest answer in the world. "Then why did you come here?"
Your brows dipped with retort. "Well, exCUSE me for making sure this cheapskate got here okay!"
A weak "Hey...!" was heard in the background. Kaiba made an almost inaudible, frustrated growl and turned on his heel. He was quickly closing the ground between him and the airship.
"Prepare for take off," Kaiba commanded.
"But, Mr. Kaiba...!" one of the guards called in disbelief.
"We don't have all the finalists," the other guard commented smartly. "You heard the girl!"
Kaiba stopped sharply and looked to his side at the guards. "It doesn't matter," he made sure to say loud and clear. "All three god cards are here. There is nothing else I need to be on this ship."
There it was! The smack in the face you usually felt when Kaiba had insulted you in front of everyone without them knowing. It was honestly amazing just how good Kaiba was at doing that. You held a dichotomous feeling in your chest -- on the one side, you felt like you had let Kaiba down, and on the outside it was certain that Kaiba was upset that you were messing up his reputation since you were being sponsored. On the other side, you felt that Kaiba wasn't completely trying to grind your pride down into your face. The only part left unsolved in this equation was why Kaiba hadn't completely blasted your ineptitude in front of the best duelists in Battle City.
The missing part enveloped your thoughts so much that you were vaguely aware of the voices around you, almost like you were a forgotten camcorder on the ground.
"I'm sorry," you heard one of the guards say in a steady tone. "You can't enter the airship -- you don't have a duelist pass."
"What?" That was Tea.
"This is ridiculous!" Tristan practicially squealed. "We've gotta be there!"
"What bad P.R.," Duke criticized. "What kind of business is Kaiba running here?"
"You mean we can't come in?" poked the innocent voice of Serenity.
"Wait just a second! What are you guys doing?" That was Mokuba addressing the guards.
"It states in Mr. Kaiba's rules that any passenger who does not possess a duelist pass is not permitted aboard the airship," the first guard recited.
"What?! Dat's not fair! I promised my sister she could watch me duel!"
"That's not Mr. Kaiba's problem--"
"Well it's gonna be your problem if you don't bend th' rules, right now!" Joey shook a menacing fist at the second guard.
Mokuba cut right in front of Joey and the guards. "Ease up, Joey." Mokuba then looked towards the guards. "Can't you guys let them in? I mean, I'm not a duelist and I get to be on the ship."
"But...you're Mr. Kaiba's brother," the first guard grasped for some semblance of an argument. "The rules--"
"--Should also apply to me," Mokuba finished for him. "If they don't then they can't be applied to other people."
"Alright, Mokuba!" Tristan cheered.
"Way to show 'em, kid!" Duke also supported the notion.
"The Groupies" as you liked to refer to them ushered their way past Mokuba and the guards, congratulating the smaller of the three. You felt an ironic smile move into place as you mechanically started towards the entrance of the stadium.
'There's no reason to be upset,' you told yourself. 'You chose this option for yourself and you have to deal with the consequences. Just because you knew most of the finalists doesn't mean you're going to get invited on either...'
Just as you were noting the soundness of your decision, the thumping of footsteps pulled you out of your thoughts. Turning to your back you saw that it was Mokuba.
"You're coming too, right Kenzie?" Mokuba asked as he slowed his jog.
You so wanted to just say yes, but your strict standards were getting in the way. You quickly made up some viable argument.
"Gah, ya know? Mokuba, I'd love to, but you seem to have forgotten that your brother wants nothing to do with me. So, how would he be okay with me being on his airship?"
Without missing a beat Mokuba grabbed your wrist and led you back to the airship. "I think you know that my brother is okay with you more than you're letting on."
"Chyeah," you rolled your eyes. "Because acting really weird in front of people when they talk about you means he cares."
"Okay, think what you want," Mokuba wasn't going to stand for fighting about the topic. "But you deserve to at least watch, being sponsored by Kaiba Corp. and all."
"And I'm sure as soon as your brother finds out I'm on the ship he'll have me thrown overboard..."
Mokuba gave an exasperated sigh as he finally reached the entrance of the airship with you.
