Cerulean: Blue: Sadness.
Lament: To grieve over.
Seto discovers something in Alister that he refuses to give up without a fight.
How far would you go to save your enemy's soul?

Warnings: Shounen-ai, Out-Of-Character characters, dub names

This is my first fic that's not humor, so please let me know what you think.

Cerulean Lament

Chapter One: Troubled Thoughts

He had lost.

No, he had lost the moment he had challenged Seto Kaiba to a rematch. He should have just walked away after their last duel, a draw. A draw! He'd never seen such a thing, let alone been part of one. Because it was a draw, neither of them had lost their souls. Perhaps the Orichalcos was displeased with him. It had never been denied a soul after a duel. Perhaps because of that, it would take his soul slowly and painfully, making him suffer before finally sealing him away forever. Not that he couldn't handle pain. Hell, practically his whole life had consisted of it thanks to that tyrant Gozaburo Kaiba.

Gozaburo Kaiba, not Seto Kaiba.

They share the same name.

That doesn't mean anything. They're not even related, by blood, by love, or even by friendship. There's nothing that ties them together.

Except for Kaiba Corp, the company that made the weapons that killed my brother.

The fault lies with the people who used them against the innocent, not with the weapons themselves. Besides, when Seto took over, he turned it into a gaming company. He destroyed the weapons, the places they were made; he even fired the people who made them.

Seto. Was that really how he thought of the CEO now?

It's a fitting name, he thought bitterly. Seto. Lion.

Yes, but it also translates to strait or channel. That's not very threatening. Besides, you can't base thing on names. Look at the name Kaiba: it translates to seahorse. I'd say Gozaburo was worse than a seahorse.

Why am I defending him?

Because you know you're both the same on the inside. Two boys at the time, their lives shaped and destroyed by a malevolent CEO. Quite romantic, actually.

There's no way he could have suffered as much as I have. As much as my brother did.

There is and you know it. Seto and his brother, they had to live with that monster. He's the one who raised them, took away their innocence, their childhood. In some ways, it seems like you had the better life now, doesn't it?

He still has his brother…

All good things come at a sacrifice. Seto practically sold himself, body and soul to Gozaburo. He had to work hard, for the both of them, for if he slipped even a little, both he and his brother would be sent back to the orphanage. And what kind of a life is that, growing up with no parents? No family?

He sighed, despite his still burning, though now dimming, hate for the brunette. Not a good one, he admitted. But how do you know all this?

You've researched your opponent well.

Are you my conscience?

I'm what's left of your sanity.

Why do you sound right?

Because deep in your heart, you know I am.

Had he been on the wrong side all along then? Perhaps Master Dartz had been manipulating him from the start, using him, his thirst for revenge, to take down Kaiba. Was he little more than an assassin now, a tool to be used and thrown away at one's whim? When tools grew old, they could be thrown away. And he hadn't even served his purpose. Now he would die, a broken tool.

Was it really vengeance if the person you were taking it out on was innocent?

"Alister."

The voice didn't belong to Mokuba Kaiba, who had been pleading with them both to stop the duel earlier.

Alister raised his head. There he was. Seto Kaiba standing across the Seal from him, looking as proud and regal as ever, his chestnut hair blowing wildly in the wind. He looked every bit the cold-hearted bastard he'd always been, the type of man who would attack an unsuspecting town without the slightest warning, walking away without a qualm across a path of corpses.

But looks could be deceiving, couldn't they?

His eyes said as much, his beautiful eyes, stunning against his dark hair. They had always been cold, except for maybe when he was a child, for all children were born innocent. The life they lived often changed that. If eyes were windows to the soul, then Seto had the shades pulled down tight. They were as frigid as the rest of him, a frozen beauty, deep pools of blue iced over to form a shield, not so much as to keep others out than to keep himself in. Locked deep within himself, never letting anyone get close enough to form even a slight friendship, he couldn't get hurt when they decided to betray him.

Those same eyes now seemed troubled. Worried. Afraid.

Of course, he had reason to be all of those things at the moment. Alister, who had been posing as the pilot, was now on his knees before him, about to lose his soul. Sure the plane was on auto-pilot, but to land safely, someone needed to land it manually. Life was never as easy as auto-pilot. Important things needed to be done with one's own hands if they were to mean anything at all.

Things weren't looking good for the attractive CEO.

But Alister knew Seto wasn't worried about his own life. It was his brother, always his brother, the only person in the world he truly cared about, that he was worrying about now. Because Seto actually loved the kid.

Because Seto and Alister weren't so different after all.

"Alister."

Then why had he turned that troubled gaze on him, when he should be thinking of a way to get himself and his brother off the plane?

With a grunt, Alister raised himself to shaky legs. The Orichalcos was being merciful, it seemed. It would let him say a few last words to Kaiba – no, never again would he be Kaiba in Alister's mind. Seto. Though turmoil swirls around you, even inside of you, to some you are the shelter in the storm.

"You should really be thinking of a way to escape," the red-head said, determined not to let his shaking knees take him back to the ground. "This plane isn't going to land itself."

Seto laughed bitterly. "We have no pilot. And though I may be good at many things, flying an airplane is not one of them."

Good-looking and modest, Alister thought sarcastically. He smirked painfully. "Come on, it can't be that different from flying a helicopter."

Seto grunted.

Alister glared. "Then you're just going to let your brother die?"

"Hardly. Roland should be here with a fleet of helicopters soon."

Snorting, Alister asked bitingly, "And if your stepfather's helicopter's don't make it in time?"

Ignoring the obvious insult in 'stepfather's', Seto answered simply: "Then I'll land the plane."

The focus, the determination sketched on his face, reflected in his eyes…Seto would let nothing endanger his brother's life. "But how?" Alister asked. "You just said you don't know how-"

"I'll land the plane."

And Alister believed it. He smiled and took a step forward. His legs felt heavy, like they were made of lead, and he had trouble taking the first step. But he kept going, lifting one leg, setting it down, picking up the other, repeat as needed. The Orichalcos was getting impatient. It would have a soul today. But not yet. Alister still needed to do something.

Until he stood in front of Seto, the CEO's eyes watching him impassively.

"I've realized I was wrong," Alister said, watching the brunette for any reaction, any sign that he was really listening.

None.

"Just now," he continued. "I've realized I've been on the wrong side all along. Because you're not your stepfather. You don't even run the same company anymore. Games don't hurt people."

"Well, there was this one time with a virtual reality game, but you wouldn't know about that." His eyes still regarded the ashen-eyed duelist blankly.

Alister moved closer. "We're not so different."

"Except for the obvious fact that I wear more clothing than you do."

Pain. Seto felt pain. Guilt. He had sentenced Alister to this, and he would make sure he paid for it later. It was all there, written in his eyes, scrawled in big bold letters. They reflected Alister's own pain, his guilt for putting Seto through this. It was like looking into a mirror.

Alister smiled. "Of course." With that, he leaned forward and kissed the brunette. Blue eyes widened as Seto recoiled, but Alister held him fast, determined to do this one last thing.

Seto relaxed, realizing he wasn't going anywhere until Alister was done with him. But he didn't mind. He would pay for what he had done and if this was the first step to redemption, he would do it, and do it with dignity.

Redemption wasn't what Alister was looking for as he ran his hands under that white coat with the Kaiba Corp KC insignia. He found what he was looking for rather quickly. Sighing through the kiss, he slipped something into an inside pocket of Seto's trench coat, hoping that it would be of use to the brunette later, hoping that Seto would feel the weight in his pocket and pull it out. Regretfully, he stepped away, leaving a rather breathless Seto.

"I don't blame you, Seto." Alister noted with a small stab of satisfaction how the brunette's eyes widened at his name, Mokuba being mainly the only one who used it. Alister smiled softly, then pushed Seto back with the rest of his strength.

Seto cried out, not because he had hit the floor too hard or because he'd probably sprained his ankle in the fall; Alister was still in the Seal, the fast closing Seal. And he was still smiling. Seto watched, unable to turn away, as Alister cried out in a final scream of pain, as the Seal took his soul in a blinding flash of green light.

Alister's body fell limp to the ground, a lifeless shell.

All was still for a moment, as if reality was letting the CEO take all this in. Then reality came back, hitting him like a truck on the highway.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried, pointing frantically to the cockpit. "How are we going to land this thing?"

Seto cursed and ran to the cockpit. Where was Roland? He looked out a window as he heard a chopping sound. Ah, there he was. But since the Seal had closed, they were back inside the plane and Seto had to land it anyway. Lovely.

He sat down in the pilot's chair, glancing at the controls and flipping the auto-pilot off. That'd be no help with the landing. Maybe Alister was right. How different could it be from a helicopter?

The plane took a dip downward, sending Seto into the control panel. Mokuba had fallen to the floor and was clinging to the co-pilot's chair. Grabbing the control, Seto pulled up. The nose moved up a bit, but not enough. They were still going to crash.

No. I won't let Mokuba die. I refuse to let this plane crash.

With a savage cry, he took to the controls once more, pulling up with all his strength. He didn't notice his duel disk, as the top card of his deck began glowing. Outside, a dragon appeared under the right wing. Two more suddenly appeared, one under the left wing and one on top of the plane itself. Together, the three dragons guided the plane to a flat area, slowing it down and setting it down gently before disappearing completely.

Outside, five people, one of which was unconscious, watched in awe as the door to the plane was kicked open and Seto Kaiba jumped out, carrying the body of Alister.

To be continued...

AN: Shall I continue?