Folgen Sie Ihrem Traum Chapter 9 (Seto/Téa, #05)
Title: Folgen Sie Ihrem Traum (Follow Your Dream); Chapter 9: The Temple
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Seto Kaiba/Téa Gardner (non-Kingdom Hearts claim)
Prompt: 05; Devotion
Warnings: PG13
Disclaimer: The character aren't mine (except for the OC dancers), and the story is
This chapter will be cross-posted to 30_nights, 20_cities, and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4336463/9/
Seto Kaiba was en route to his next destination when he received an email from Téa. Setting his personal jet to autopilot, he glanced at the message.
“So… the Rare Hunters are in Buenos Aires, too?” he asked himself. “This can’t be a coincidence; clearly, they’re after more than just my money if Keith is sending them all over the world.”
And he, too, remembered Battle City as he read Téa’s description of the green-haired man. During the event itself, Seto had rationalized his heroic efforts as simply paying Yugi back for the double duel against Lumis and Umbra. But now, there was a persistent voice in his mind asking, “Was there another reason why you were so willing to help her?”
Seto shook his head slightly, as though trying to shake off such a notion. And yet, the prospect of Téa being feet away from the Rare Hunters irked him. Was this concern he was feeling? Well, there was no harm in denying that; mild concern was to be expected after enduring years and years of friendship speeches. Also, Téa was Mokuba’s friend, and that was another reason for him to bother.
“Concern is one thing; practicality is another,” said his pride. “You need to find some way to get into that Rare Hunter meeting and find out what they’re planning. And then you need to put a stop to it, which you won’t be able to do if you’re going to be chasing Téa Gardner all over the world.”
And, with a sigh, he had to agree. Téa would have to look after herself.
****************************
Téa, in the meantime, was maintaining her post in the corridor of the hedge maze, not daring to move.
“I don’t know what Keith is planning with this,” said the unknown Rare Hunter. “What’s the point of sending us all over the world? How will that help us get revenge on Marik Ishtar, anyway?”
“Don’t ask questions,” the green-haired one replied. “You know that Keith wants to settle the score with Ishtar himself; he’s not going to forget that. And he says that Kaiba owes him, which is why he’s going along with this--”
He stopped short. Glancing down upon the paving stones, Téa realized why; the sun was behind her, and was casting her shadow just far enough for it to reach past the corner of the maze corridor she was in-in full view of the Rare Hunters.
Horrified, she didn’t stop to consider anything else; she ploughed right through the hedge to a neighboring corridor and ran, praying that she could remember where the maze entrance was. Clearing another hedge, she saw a familiar face walking down that maze corridor.
“Oh, there you are,” Caerii said, as Téa narrowly avoided a collision with her. “Why did you run off like that?”
“No time to explain,” said Téa, pausing to catch her breath before taking off again. “Come on; we have to get back to the hotel.”
She raced back up the path that Caerii had been traveling down on, and the other dancer follower, thoroughly baffled.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Did that gnome have friends or something?”
“You could say that!”
************************************
There was no point in explaining to the other dancers about what she had seen; most likely, they wouldn’t even have heard of the Rare Hunters, and would most likely not believe her. Téa wasn’t ready for that, especially when she had just won their favor in the previous dance.
She did, however, tell her friends, which led to a late-night round of messaging between them.
“What are we doing here, sitting quietly like this in Domino when Keith is up to something!?” Joey had fumed. Téa could just imagine him at his computer, grinding his teeth in frustration.
“But what can we do?” Mai had responded. “Until we know his plan, we can’t just head off somewhere; by the time we got to Buenos Aires, the Rare Hunters could have already left.”
“Whatever it is, I’d feel better about this whole thing if they stayed away from Téa,” said Yugi.
“Whatever they’re up to, I would rather stay out of it,” Téa agreed. “But they were the ones who sent a gnome up into my room. Maybe Caerii was right; maybe their after my handheld computer so that they can keep track of how much we know. Keith was at the performance in Tokyo; he might’ve recognized me…”
“But you didn’t see Keith in Buenos Aires?” asked Tristan.
“No, but I didn’t look,” she admitted. “Kaiba is trying to track him down, but he didn’t say where he was going. But I would’ve seen Kaiba if he had been around; we’re staying at the best hotel here in Buenos Aires, and if Kaiba had been here, he would have been staying here, too.”
And so they continued on discussing the case, coming up with several questions, but no answers. This line of conversation continued for the next several nights, after every late-night practice.
And the night of the second performance went as well as the first. Although Téa was just one of many dancers, the others seemed to congratulate her with just as much enthusiasm as a solo artist. Was it simply because she was a newcomer?
“Miss Gardner,” said the elder Kayser. “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t accepted the position. We’d have been short one dancer, and short of one of the greatest talents of our time. You’ve earned this upcoming vacation more than the others.”
“And I used to be the favorite…” Aurus said, in a melodramatic tone. “Thanks a lot, Téa.”
She saw the grin behind the obvious façade, and she turned away, amused. That was when she saw the green-haired Rare Hunter and his companion leaving among the crowd.
“They were here, too?!” she asked. “That’s so strange; Keith was there at the first show, and now these two showed up here… What is Keith trying to do-have the Rare Hunters take over the arts?”
Téa pondered over the pieces of the mysterious puzzle. There was Bandit Keith and his scheme to ruin Seto Kaiba, there was a mechanical gnome, and now there were theatergoing Rare Hunters. There had to be some sort of connecting piece, but it was, at the moment, beyond comprehension.
***************************************
Téa tried to forget about the Rare Hunters as the troupe arrived in Mexico City. She was here on a short vacation, and she was going to enjoy it. Aurus extended an invitation to Téa for her to join him and the Tessurcas for a sightseeing venture, but Téa politely declined.
“Maybe tomorrow,” she offered. “I’ve already made plans to visit the ruins of one of the Aztec temples.”
“Alright, but if you come across any gold coins, don’t touch them!” warned Aurus. “They might be cursed!”
“I’ll… keep that in mind…” Téa said, with a smile. That was a lot of talk coming from someone who was wearing a supposedly cursed Egyptian pendant.
Saying her goodbyes, Téa took her leave of the others. She wouldn’t have minded their company if it hadn’t been for the fact that she was going to seize the opportunity to grab some pictures with her handheld computer and send them to her friends.
“Perhaps somewhere along the line, I’ll tell these three about my friends back home and tell them what my computer really is,” she sighed to herself. But for the moment, her friends were her special treasures, and she didn’t feel like blending her two worlds together just yet.
She had to admit that it was almost blissful-- being able to procure a moment of peace for herself. There were no dances that needed to be learned, no colleagues to look over her shoulder, and, most importantly, no Rare Hunters.
But as she entered the Aztec ruins, she realized that she would have enjoyed the company of her friends. Téa suppressed a laugh as she imagined Joey and Tristan trying to pull off their best Indiana Jones impressions. And Yugi would have undoubtedly been intrigued by all of this, even if it wasn’t related to Ancient Egypt. Atem and his people had their secrets; it would have been fun to explore the secrets of this ancient civilization, too, with her friends.
“I wonder if they had people who looked like us, too,” she thought, recalling the statues of Sethos and Túaa (the latter having a face that mirrored her own).
And, of course, recalling the face of Sethos brought about the thoughts of the modern-day CEO who resembled him. Oh, she would have loved to explore the ruins with him, but she knew very well that this would be the last place that Seto Kaiba would show up in.
As such, the look of astounded surprise on her face was to be expected after casually glancing into one of the rooms and seeing the young man unconscious upon the stone floor.
“KAIBA!?” she shrieked. “What on earth could have happened to him!? And what was he doing here?”
He was alive; that was evident. She knelt beside him and gently shook him. And when that failed to awaken him, she proceeded to dump the contents of her water bottle onto his face.
He awoke with an enraged growl. Anger turned to stunned shock as he registered the face of the young woman beside him.
“What are you doing here!?” he demanded. “You’re supposed to be in Buenos Aires!”
“I flew in this morning,” she explained. “But what are you doing here-unconscious!?”
She made an attempt to help him to his feet, but he responded by furiously pulling away from her.
“It was that insane Rare Hunter who never speaks a word…” he began, scornfully.
“The Rare Hunters are here, too!?” Téa asked, horrified at the news. “I thought I’d finally gotten away from them, but it seems like they’re everywhere! What’s going on!?”
“I followed Bandit Keith to Vancouver and overheard that he was having some sort of meeting with the Rare Hunters. A receipt that fell from his pocket revealed that he was coming to Mexico City, so I arrived here first,” Seto said, bitterly. “But that silent Rare Hunter saw me spying on Keith. Of course, he never says a word, and so he didn’t reveal my identity. But Keith had a feeling that I’d be coming back to spy on him again. I should’ve seen it coming, but I didn’t, and I followed them here, to the ruins of this temple. Somehow that silent Hunter realized that I was tailing them. He separated himself from Keith; I didn’t bother to find out where he had gone, since my primary concern was trying to figure out what Keith was up to. Soon afterwards, I felt something hit my head, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. And why on earth am I telling you all of this!?”
He angrily got to his feet. It wasn’t like him at all to explain things to anyone other than Mokuba.
“You think that Rare Hunter knocked you out?” she asked. “Are you feeling alright?”
“I’m fine!” he snapped.
Téa recoiled slightly. She wasn’t surprised that he was acting like this; this would be considered a normal reaction from him. But it still upset her all the same that her genuine concern was being so casually dismissed.
“I don’t think that Keith is aware of what happened,” Seto went on. “That Hunter won’t talk, and if Keith had heard me fall, he would’ve come back and either taken me prisoner or finished me off.”
“Kaiba, do you really think that this is a good idea?” asked Téa, trying not to think of what would have happened had she walked in to see that latter scenario. “I mean… is it worth risking your life just to get some money back?”
“This isn’t about the money,” he retorted. “It’s about maintaining a respectable name, not to mention that if he gets away with this much, there’s every chance that he’s going to come back for more money. I have to put a stop to this any way I can.”
“Look, I agree that Keith should never be allowed to get away with what he’s doing,” said Téa. “But I’m worried about you! That Rare Hunter might not talk, but I’m willing to bet that he would’ve led Keith back here eventually. And if you had been still unconscious…”
“I suppose I should thank you for your concern…?” Seto replied.
“I certainly wouldn’t expect you to,” she answered. “You’re always so--”
Seto clapped a hand over her mouth; she let out a muffled protest until she realized the reason why: footsteps could be heard coming down the outside passageway. Seto silently indicated a pair of ancient Aztec idols, and the two hid behind them in time to see several Rare Hunters walk past the doorway.
“They must be heading to the meeting,” Seto predicted, after they had gone. “You’d better get out of here while you still can, Gardner.”
Before she could even protest, he had left the room, once again in pursuit of his quarry. Téa stood behind for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He seemed concerned enough that he wanted her to escape, and better judgment seemed to concur. But a heart has a mind of its own, and Téa knew that her heart wouldn’t allow her to leave.
Whether he liked it or not, Seto Kaiba wasn’t going to be in this alone.
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Seto Kaiba/Téa Gardner (non-Kingdom Hearts claim)
Prompt: 05; Devotion
Warnings: PG13
Disclaimer: The character aren't mine (except for the OC dancers), and the story is
This chapter will be cross-posted to 30_nights, 20_cities, and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4336463/9/
Seto Kaiba was en route to his next destination when he received an email from Téa. Setting his personal jet to autopilot, he glanced at the message.
“So… the Rare Hunters are in Buenos Aires, too?” he asked himself. “This can’t be a coincidence; clearly, they’re after more than just my money if Keith is sending them all over the world.”
And he, too, remembered Battle City as he read Téa’s description of the green-haired man. During the event itself, Seto had rationalized his heroic efforts as simply paying Yugi back for the double duel against Lumis and Umbra. But now, there was a persistent voice in his mind asking, “Was there another reason why you were so willing to help her?”
Seto shook his head slightly, as though trying to shake off such a notion. And yet, the prospect of Téa being feet away from the Rare Hunters irked him. Was this concern he was feeling? Well, there was no harm in denying that; mild concern was to be expected after enduring years and years of friendship speeches. Also, Téa was Mokuba’s friend, and that was another reason for him to bother.
“Concern is one thing; practicality is another,” said his pride. “You need to find some way to get into that Rare Hunter meeting and find out what they’re planning. And then you need to put a stop to it, which you won’t be able to do if you’re going to be chasing Téa Gardner all over the world.”
And, with a sigh, he had to agree. Téa would have to look after herself.
****************************
Téa, in the meantime, was maintaining her post in the corridor of the hedge maze, not daring to move.
“I don’t know what Keith is planning with this,” said the unknown Rare Hunter. “What’s the point of sending us all over the world? How will that help us get revenge on Marik Ishtar, anyway?”
“Don’t ask questions,” the green-haired one replied. “You know that Keith wants to settle the score with Ishtar himself; he’s not going to forget that. And he says that Kaiba owes him, which is why he’s going along with this--”
He stopped short. Glancing down upon the paving stones, Téa realized why; the sun was behind her, and was casting her shadow just far enough for it to reach past the corner of the maze corridor she was in-in full view of the Rare Hunters.
Horrified, she didn’t stop to consider anything else; she ploughed right through the hedge to a neighboring corridor and ran, praying that she could remember where the maze entrance was. Clearing another hedge, she saw a familiar face walking down that maze corridor.
“Oh, there you are,” Caerii said, as Téa narrowly avoided a collision with her. “Why did you run off like that?”
“No time to explain,” said Téa, pausing to catch her breath before taking off again. “Come on; we have to get back to the hotel.”
She raced back up the path that Caerii had been traveling down on, and the other dancer follower, thoroughly baffled.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Did that gnome have friends or something?”
“You could say that!”
************************************
There was no point in explaining to the other dancers about what she had seen; most likely, they wouldn’t even have heard of the Rare Hunters, and would most likely not believe her. Téa wasn’t ready for that, especially when she had just won their favor in the previous dance.
She did, however, tell her friends, which led to a late-night round of messaging between them.
“What are we doing here, sitting quietly like this in Domino when Keith is up to something!?” Joey had fumed. Téa could just imagine him at his computer, grinding his teeth in frustration.
“But what can we do?” Mai had responded. “Until we know his plan, we can’t just head off somewhere; by the time we got to Buenos Aires, the Rare Hunters could have already left.”
“Whatever it is, I’d feel better about this whole thing if they stayed away from Téa,” said Yugi.
“Whatever they’re up to, I would rather stay out of it,” Téa agreed. “But they were the ones who sent a gnome up into my room. Maybe Caerii was right; maybe their after my handheld computer so that they can keep track of how much we know. Keith was at the performance in Tokyo; he might’ve recognized me…”
“But you didn’t see Keith in Buenos Aires?” asked Tristan.
“No, but I didn’t look,” she admitted. “Kaiba is trying to track him down, but he didn’t say where he was going. But I would’ve seen Kaiba if he had been around; we’re staying at the best hotel here in Buenos Aires, and if Kaiba had been here, he would have been staying here, too.”
And so they continued on discussing the case, coming up with several questions, but no answers. This line of conversation continued for the next several nights, after every late-night practice.
And the night of the second performance went as well as the first. Although Téa was just one of many dancers, the others seemed to congratulate her with just as much enthusiasm as a solo artist. Was it simply because she was a newcomer?
“Miss Gardner,” said the elder Kayser. “I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t accepted the position. We’d have been short one dancer, and short of one of the greatest talents of our time. You’ve earned this upcoming vacation more than the others.”
“And I used to be the favorite…” Aurus said, in a melodramatic tone. “Thanks a lot, Téa.”
She saw the grin behind the obvious façade, and she turned away, amused. That was when she saw the green-haired Rare Hunter and his companion leaving among the crowd.
“They were here, too?!” she asked. “That’s so strange; Keith was there at the first show, and now these two showed up here… What is Keith trying to do-have the Rare Hunters take over the arts?”
Téa pondered over the pieces of the mysterious puzzle. There was Bandit Keith and his scheme to ruin Seto Kaiba, there was a mechanical gnome, and now there were theatergoing Rare Hunters. There had to be some sort of connecting piece, but it was, at the moment, beyond comprehension.
***************************************
Téa tried to forget about the Rare Hunters as the troupe arrived in Mexico City. She was here on a short vacation, and she was going to enjoy it. Aurus extended an invitation to Téa for her to join him and the Tessurcas for a sightseeing venture, but Téa politely declined.
“Maybe tomorrow,” she offered. “I’ve already made plans to visit the ruins of one of the Aztec temples.”
“Alright, but if you come across any gold coins, don’t touch them!” warned Aurus. “They might be cursed!”
“I’ll… keep that in mind…” Téa said, with a smile. That was a lot of talk coming from someone who was wearing a supposedly cursed Egyptian pendant.
Saying her goodbyes, Téa took her leave of the others. She wouldn’t have minded their company if it hadn’t been for the fact that she was going to seize the opportunity to grab some pictures with her handheld computer and send them to her friends.
“Perhaps somewhere along the line, I’ll tell these three about my friends back home and tell them what my computer really is,” she sighed to herself. But for the moment, her friends were her special treasures, and she didn’t feel like blending her two worlds together just yet.
She had to admit that it was almost blissful-- being able to procure a moment of peace for herself. There were no dances that needed to be learned, no colleagues to look over her shoulder, and, most importantly, no Rare Hunters.
But as she entered the Aztec ruins, she realized that she would have enjoyed the company of her friends. Téa suppressed a laugh as she imagined Joey and Tristan trying to pull off their best Indiana Jones impressions. And Yugi would have undoubtedly been intrigued by all of this, even if it wasn’t related to Ancient Egypt. Atem and his people had their secrets; it would have been fun to explore the secrets of this ancient civilization, too, with her friends.
“I wonder if they had people who looked like us, too,” she thought, recalling the statues of Sethos and Túaa (the latter having a face that mirrored her own).
And, of course, recalling the face of Sethos brought about the thoughts of the modern-day CEO who resembled him. Oh, she would have loved to explore the ruins with him, but she knew very well that this would be the last place that Seto Kaiba would show up in.
As such, the look of astounded surprise on her face was to be expected after casually glancing into one of the rooms and seeing the young man unconscious upon the stone floor.
“KAIBA!?” she shrieked. “What on earth could have happened to him!? And what was he doing here?”
He was alive; that was evident. She knelt beside him and gently shook him. And when that failed to awaken him, she proceeded to dump the contents of her water bottle onto his face.
He awoke with an enraged growl. Anger turned to stunned shock as he registered the face of the young woman beside him.
“What are you doing here!?” he demanded. “You’re supposed to be in Buenos Aires!”
“I flew in this morning,” she explained. “But what are you doing here-unconscious!?”
She made an attempt to help him to his feet, but he responded by furiously pulling away from her.
“It was that insane Rare Hunter who never speaks a word…” he began, scornfully.
“The Rare Hunters are here, too!?” Téa asked, horrified at the news. “I thought I’d finally gotten away from them, but it seems like they’re everywhere! What’s going on!?”
“I followed Bandit Keith to Vancouver and overheard that he was having some sort of meeting with the Rare Hunters. A receipt that fell from his pocket revealed that he was coming to Mexico City, so I arrived here first,” Seto said, bitterly. “But that silent Rare Hunter saw me spying on Keith. Of course, he never says a word, and so he didn’t reveal my identity. But Keith had a feeling that I’d be coming back to spy on him again. I should’ve seen it coming, but I didn’t, and I followed them here, to the ruins of this temple. Somehow that silent Hunter realized that I was tailing them. He separated himself from Keith; I didn’t bother to find out where he had gone, since my primary concern was trying to figure out what Keith was up to. Soon afterwards, I felt something hit my head, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. And why on earth am I telling you all of this!?”
He angrily got to his feet. It wasn’t like him at all to explain things to anyone other than Mokuba.
“You think that Rare Hunter knocked you out?” she asked. “Are you feeling alright?”
“I’m fine!” he snapped.
Téa recoiled slightly. She wasn’t surprised that he was acting like this; this would be considered a normal reaction from him. But it still upset her all the same that her genuine concern was being so casually dismissed.
“I don’t think that Keith is aware of what happened,” Seto went on. “That Hunter won’t talk, and if Keith had heard me fall, he would’ve come back and either taken me prisoner or finished me off.”
“Kaiba, do you really think that this is a good idea?” asked Téa, trying not to think of what would have happened had she walked in to see that latter scenario. “I mean… is it worth risking your life just to get some money back?”
“This isn’t about the money,” he retorted. “It’s about maintaining a respectable name, not to mention that if he gets away with this much, there’s every chance that he’s going to come back for more money. I have to put a stop to this any way I can.”
“Look, I agree that Keith should never be allowed to get away with what he’s doing,” said Téa. “But I’m worried about you! That Rare Hunter might not talk, but I’m willing to bet that he would’ve led Keith back here eventually. And if you had been still unconscious…”
“I suppose I should thank you for your concern…?” Seto replied.
“I certainly wouldn’t expect you to,” she answered. “You’re always so--”
Seto clapped a hand over her mouth; she let out a muffled protest until she realized the reason why: footsteps could be heard coming down the outside passageway. Seto silently indicated a pair of ancient Aztec idols, and the two hid behind them in time to see several Rare Hunters walk past the doorway.
“They must be heading to the meeting,” Seto predicted, after they had gone. “You’d better get out of here while you still can, Gardner.”
Before she could even protest, he had left the room, once again in pursuit of his quarry. Téa stood behind for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He seemed concerned enough that he wanted her to escape, and better judgment seemed to concur. But a heart has a mind of its own, and Téa knew that her heart wouldn’t allow her to leave.
Whether he liked it or not, Seto Kaiba wasn’t going to be in this alone.