Chapter 43: Brainstorming

Joan turned back to the bed and flung herself upon it. "Think we should tell him before someone screws with his brain even more?"

Mokuba shook his head. "It will only piss him off more. He's not going to believe until he's exhausted all other possibilities anyway."

Joan looked to the older man for help. "Marc?"

"Mokuba knows his brother better than either of us. I'm inclined to follow his lead on this one."

Joan rolled onto her back. "Fuck."

"Look at it this way," Mokuba said, "this buys us more time to think, and I can get the glowing holograms set up so nobody's the wiser."

"Meanwhile, that weird head stuff might make your brains explode. I better sleep with this thing off." Joan tried to pull off the ring but found it wouldn't budge. It didn't feel tight by any means but rather fused with her skin. "Fuck," Joan repeated.

Marc took her hand. After tugging and prodding the ring himself, he echoed her sentiment.

Mokuba didn't bother trying. "I'm going to go take a shower . . . and a bath. You in?"

"Yeah, it's not like we have any better ideas at the moment," Joan said.

Marc sighed. "Sure." Holding Joan's hand, he followed Mokuba through the empty suite and master bedroom into the master bathroom. As Marc watched Mokuba turn on the tap for the giant Jacuzzi, a thought struck him. "What if the ring reacts to water?"

"Then we're screwed," Mokuba replied. He turned on the shower to let it heat up.

"How about I test it on my own just to be sure I'm not going to put you guys in danger." Joan let go of Marc's hand. She stuck her right hand into the Jacuzzi and flicked some water onto the ring on her left. Nothing happened. She then submerged her left hand into the Jacuzzi and again observed no reaction. "OK, we're good."

"Best news I've heard all night." Mokuba stepped into the shower. Marc and Joan joined him. They washed one another methodically, trying to scrub away the knowledge they had kept from Seto. It didn't work, but at least they got physically clean.

Mokuba turned off the shower, and they all got out and climbed into the Jacuzzi. The hot water relaxed their muscles only enough to clarify their thoughts.

"Marc," Mokuba said, "I need to start working on a holographic façade for that ring first thing tomorrow. Can you attend the Summit closing ceremonies, accept any awards on Kaiba Corporation's behalf, and let me know if I miss anything important? Even if it's nothing important, email me some notes on the highlights in case Seto asks."

"Of course," Marc agreed, "but me not showing up at the office may affect some of our deadlines."

"I'll drop into the office tomorrow to let everyone know what's going on and see if we can stay on track," Mokuba said.

"You going to tell them everything?" Marc asked.

"Might as well. They're all under an NDA, and maybe one of them knows something about magic that we don't."

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"Sounds like a long shot," Joan said.

"You got any better ideas?" Mokuba asked.

"That Sartorius guy from the ball," Joan twitched as she remembered his creepy manner of flirting, "what's his deal? He called it out as magic first. What does he know?"

"Probably a lot, but I wouldn't trust him. The guy rented out Kaiba Land recently and made a mess of one of our virtual reality simulators, but he still didn't tell us what he wanted it for."

"OK. What else do you know about him?"

"Not much. Seto made the deal with him."

"Why did Seto give him the time of day?" Joan asked.

"Sartorius manages pro duelist Aster Phoenix. He's a pretty big name in dueling right now."

"What about the Society of Light?"

"Never heard of it," Mokuba said.

Joan looked to Marc, but he merely shook his head.

"Sartorius said I had an aura of light, which is something I've actually heard several times before, but only from old hippie ladies wearing lots of crystals. I mean, Sartorius was wearing some stones of his own, so maybe there's a connection."

"So you're saying we need to go talk to old hippie ladies?" Mokuba asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Marc raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

"I don't know," Mokuba said slowly, "where do we even find old hippie ladies?"

"The Blooming Planet Festival will be crawling with hippies, young and old alike. Someone there is bound to know something."

A small but serious smile crossed Mokuba's lips. "Since we're going there on Saturday anyway, I guess it's worth a shot."

"Going where again?" Marc asked.

"Just Mokuba and me," Joan clarified. "My friend Dimitri said he felt awkward being around two of my romantic partners at the same time."

"Ah, right." Marc addressed Mokuba. "You'll like the Neverlanders. Nice people. Good taste in machetes."

Mokuba's eyes widened. "Wait, how many machetes do they have?"

Marc chuckled at the expression on his boss' face. "Just one. They were using it for yard work when I met them."

Relieved to let the topic of the ring rest for a while, Joan told Mokuba about how she had introduced Marc to her Neverland friends through a beach trip, how they'd spent a couple of hours picking up trash while they walked along the sand and countless more hours in the car chatting about practically everything under the sun. Mokuba listened with a mixture of longing and excitement, knowing that he would meet the Neverlanders tomorrow evening.

By the time they finished their soak, they had forgotten about the ring, and the ring had forgotten about them. No more weird brain sensations molested them as they toweled off, brushed their teeth, and slipped into bed. Joan slept between Marc and Mokuba's strong arms, overheating and waking up desperate for water in the middle of the night. After gulping from the kitchenette sink, she crawled between the men again but this time slept atop the covers.