Serpent's Vow

11: Truth Hurts

His eyes glowed. Kaiba's eyes glowed! It was as if someone ignited a torch behind Kaiba Seto's eyes that shone brilliantly for two seconds before dimming back to smoldering cinders the shade of a clear, autumn sky. It wasn't natural and it most definitely wasn't human.

"What by Ra's holy fire are you?!"

The words flew from his mouth but they weren't his own. Yugi could feel the spirit of the Puzzle pressing close to his mind to the point he could barely tell where he ended and Yami began. It was comforting and terrifying at the same time. Yami's ability to manipulate Yugi's body had always been a point of curiosity and concern for both of them. But it did have its uses, like now.

Yugi couldn't speak but Yami certainly could. "Speak Kaiba!" Yami demanded. "What are you?"

Kaiba merely leaned back against the wall and regarded them with a mild expression. "You see?" he said in a calm voice. "If you could remember, you would know what I am and you would not be reacting as you are now."

Something ghosted across Kaiba's calm features so fast Yugi barely caught it. But he would recognize that emotion anywhere. He'd seen it often enough in his own face over the past year and a half. Ever since his blackouts began and people he knew began going insane or getting hurt or outright dying... Ever since he solved the Millennium Puzzle, he'd begun to look at himself in the mirror with that emotion. When he first confessed his fears of there being someone else inside of him, someone scary, to his friends Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu, he'd worn that emotion like a heavy cape he couldn't shed.

Only his friend's reassurances and steady presence kept him from succumbing to it wholly and completely. His friends, the one thing he'd wished for when he finished the Millennium Puzzle, saved him from his heartache. Did Kaiba have anyone to save him from his?

Yugi felt Yami flinch at Kaiba's jab and start to retaliate, but the next person to speak startled everyone.

"Both of you, relax!"

Eyes wide, Yami and Yugi both turned to where Jounouchi stood, hands in his pockets and slouched in a casual stance. Jounouchi nodded to Honda behind Yugi and said calmly, "You're scaring him."

Oh! He and Yami turned to Honda and Yugi felt the spirit's genuine worry for their friend roll over him like a soothing blanket. It warmed Yugi's heart to see how far the spirit had come.

But Honda was clearly not doing as well as Yami. Honda's dark brown eyes were wide in his too pale face and he'd pressed himself up against the wall, as far away from Kaiba as he could get in the little room. He wasn't saying anything but his eyes were screaming in silent fear and recognition?

"You've seen this before," Yami murmured, echoing Yugi's thoughts.

:Judging from his reaction, I'd say back in the cult,: Yugi whispered. :And if that's the case, then-:

"So have I," Jounouchi spoke up.

:Called it.:

"Restrain yourself, Yugi," Kaiba said sternly, his oddly warped voice drawing their gazes. "I made your lapdog promise not to tell you. I'm very good at making people obey me."

:That's not intimidating at all,: Yami thought, earning himself a brush of gentle patience from Yugi. "Why?" he asked aloud. :More importantly-: "Will Honda be alright?" he asked.

Kaiba tilted his head and regarded Honda thoughtfully. "It's likely he remembers some of his time under the influence Setesh's nish'ta," he said. His forehead creased in contemplation. "It is unusual for someone like him to remember something so specific, however. Usually, victims remember things in their dreams where glowing eyes and an unnatural voice are normal."