Serpent's Vow

2: Planning Stages

When Yugi arrived, Seto had several browser windows open on his laptop and the incriminating email was closed. Getting to his feet, Seto made his way to his hotel room door and opened it. Yugi stood in the hallway, eyes wide in surprise and fist raised as if to knock on Seto's door.

"I thought I made it clear not to knock," Seto said in a low tone.

The young Pharaoh blushed and offered a sheepish smile in apology. Rolling his eyes, Seto stepped aside so Yugi could come in. However, before Yugi's companion could enter, he planted his arm firmly at chest level, bracing his hand on the door jam opposite him, effectively blocking the door.

"Wha-?"

"This hotel has a strict No Pet policy, Yugi," Seto said, refusing to visually acknowledge the blond mutt's presence. "Leave your dog outside."

Jounouchi was practically vibrating with fury. The brat's tongue must be bleeding from how hard he was biting it. The mutt always did have anger management issues. Seto would know.

"Kaiba, please," Yugi said, sounding vaguely exasperated. "This is serious. Stop patronizing him."

An order. Seto pressed his lips together, grimly resisting the desire to give in to his vow so quickly. He waited another few seconds to be sure the puppy didn't bark before finally allowing Jounouchi entrance. Closing the door and locking both the deadbolt and the chain, Seto led his two less-than-welcome guests through his hotel room to the balcony. He slid the glass door open and waited for both Yugi and Jounouchi to step outside.

When he was alone inside, he tugged the blackout drapes over the glass and grabbed his laptop. A sleepy groan made his pause and turn to his little brother. Thankfully, Mokuba was still asleep and showed no signs of waking up. Seto tucked several strands of jet black hair away from Mokuba's nose, brushing his thumb over the childish cheek as he did so. Then he stood and swept out the door onto the balcony, drawing the drapes the rest of the way and shutting the door behind him.

"Now," he said, taking a seat in one of the two patio chairs and placing his laptop on the glass top table. He opened the computer and continued his web search. "Seth Fargough. Context and spelling. Fargo as in the place or something else?"

"Fargough as in F-a-r-g-o-u-g-h. We don't know much about him," Yugi said, taking the seat opposite Seto. "Just that there were several people walking around the convention talking about him. I think he's part of a religion of some sort."

Seto frowned and paused in his typing. "A religion?" he muttered in disbelief.

He glanced at the young man in front of him. Short stature, Asian pale skin, gelled up hair with bleached bangs, and the violet eyes which hinted at the influence of Shadowmancy all conspired to give young Yugi an innocent aire. Seto knew better. The distinctive gleam of the golden Millennium Puzzle dangling from Yugi's neck like a pendant was plenty proof of how dangerous Yugi could be. On anyone else, something as large and eye-catching as the reverse pyramid would seem gaudy. But not on Yugi. It was as much a part of the Pharaoh reborn as the Millennium Rod was a part of Seto.

The Eye of Ra, the one true Ra, flickered in the moonlight and Seto felt the hackles on the back of his neck stand on end. It was the strangest thing. Ever since he'd met Yugi, he felt like someone was watching him. Someone he couldn't see. It made him paranoid; well, more paranoid than usual. It made his temper flair in discomfort and frustration. He hated being spied on.

Yugi nodded wearily, seeming oblivious to Seto's mounting uneasiness. "Yeah. We were near the Dealer's Room when some of them showed up." He began absently fingering the Millennium Puzzle as he spoke. "We didn't think much of it since, you know, they didn't do much except talk about this Seth person. Honda went to look at something-"