Chapter 21

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She sat in the chair opposite the stone bed where she watched him lay there. She sighed at the fresh memories.

"Welcome, dear Serenity…" His eyes glowed in the dark room, shining in a bright crimson color.

Red..? She thought. "Huh..?" She stepped back from the unexpected image and she fell into Tristan's chest. She immediately stood back up and remained passive, waiting for something to happen.

"Surprised?" He said as he smirked. "I've changed my dear. I'm not weak like last time…" He stepped into the moonlight again and now you could see his face…

"Wh-who are you?" She asked him. Her brother and his friends were wrong...

Tristan's hands' slid from his position to her wrists and he moved closer to her, squashing his body onto her back. She wriggled her arms, trying to free herself from his grip, but he only tightened it. She stopped squirming and remained submissive as he moved closer and closer to her. Her wrists were flaccid, being held up by his hands, because if he tried to move them to any other part of her body, she would be free and capable of slapping him. He bent down his head and whispered in her ear

"You don't know how long I have been waiting to do this to you…" She winced as his breath made contact with her ear and she snarled at him for his betrayal.

"Throw her in the dungeon with him." The man with crimson eyes demanded.

"But sir, can't she stay with me? I can watch over her and make sure she is obedient." Tristan growled out, digging his nails into Serenity's wrists. The master was obviously not satisfied with his answer and he growled back in answer.

"Do as you are told." He didn't have to add the 'or else' for Tristan to understand what he meant. Tristan released her from his grip only to twist her around and pick her up. He slung her over his shoulder and rested his hand on her lower back. She hissed at him, but nonetheless was glad that she would be in the same room as Seto. He slung the metal door open and threw her down, not gently either, and she landed on her back with her elbows making harsh contact with the concrete. She winced and let out a small squeak, but sat up immediately, not allowing Tristan to see up her skirt, aggravating him. He seemed to roll his eyes and spit at her, and with a low growl, slammed the door shut. She moved her feet just in time for it not to be caught in the slam and she scurried up to get to the spot where Seto lay. He had been thrown onto the floor as well, but unlike her, was in an unconscious state and was bleeding severely.

There had been a small spot there, created out of stone, supposed to be used for seating, but was now being used as a bed. She kneeled beside him and with some cloth ripped out from her skirt, had been wrapping the major wounds to stop the bleeding. The skirt that had once reached down to her ankles now only reached up to her knees. He shifted around in his sleep and knitted his eyebrows together, obviously in some state of a bad dream. She smiled at this motion and memories of her childhood flashed in her head. When her parents had been quarrelling, she had always slept near Joey and had always woken up in the night to see him having uncomfortable dreams. Her eyelids drooped at the fond yet depressing memory and when she remembered something, her eyes lit up once again. She had always sat up when that was happening to Joey and she had rested his head on her lap to soothe him.

Maybe it would work with Seto too. Her smile turned into a grin as she stood up and gently lifted his head and placed it on her lap. The change from the hard concrete to soft fabric seemed to relax him a bit and he shifted positions, sighing. She leaned against the wall behind her and pondered on her current situation and her life that she had been leading. She started stroking his hair slowly, not realizing her actions, as it had seemed so familiar to her, just like she had done to Joey ten years ago. She was snapped out of her daydreaming when he started muttering something.

Darkness. Loneliness.

The space that Seto had been crawling around in echoed these words out at him. Using his knees and elbows, he sat up straight and stared at his surroundings… it seemed to be a swirl of bleakness and austereness, unwelcoming to any creature traveling among these paths. He sighed discontentedly, bringing up his knees and hugging his arms around them, resting his head in between.

This was his darkness, the one that Gozaboru created; the one he had decided to build up, only to find that it was a cage, especially for him, where he was to be ambushed by his own darkness. He had realized that a long time ago, yet, he still continued to build up the remote and reticent walls to a conclusion where he had virtually confined himself into utter darkness.

That's where Yami, or Atemu had come in. When he had dueled Kaiba with Exodia, he had mind crushed him, crushing down his walls with him, releasing him. But that wasn't enough, seeing as while he had tried to flee from the crushed walls, there was always something holding him back.

His pride.

Need for power.

His step-father.

Ignorance.

During Duelist Kingdom, while he had been caught in the battle between him and Yugi, his younger self had freed himself, allowing a part of him to be free, but also encaging another part. All these memories flashed in front of his eyes and he couldn't take this anymore. Ever since Duelist Kingdom, he had started to rebuild his cage, and now, it seemed to be complete, ready to engulf him into the shadows…

He shifted positions and he allowed himself to drop; now lying on his back, gazing at the emptiness around him. A blaze of light erupted around him in an instant and now, instead of emptiness around him, he could feel another's presence.

"Who?" He whispered. "Who are you..?"

"You should know…" The answer echoed all around him, and he shifted his gaze everywhere around, unable to find the location of the presence.

"The one you have loved and are to love…" Its voice whispered around him, like a breeze shifting everywhere. His eyes widened conspicuously and his breath became sharp but mellifluous.

"I…love...you..?" It was almost a question of hope.

"Yes…"

"I…Love…you…" He confirmed for himself, feeling a sudden relief and renewed hope.

"Who…?" It answered back, seeming to confuse him and creating him to go into another frustration.

"You…" He answered back, hoping that 'you' would reveal their-selves.

"Who…am…..I...?" It asked back, also hoping for a clear answer.

'Serenity?' He thought, his impatience echoing in his head, not clearing any space for proper thought.

'No..' He shook his head; it wasn't her…

'It's...'

"It's...

Serenity stroked his hair tenderly, admiring his serene features as her eyes drooped again at the sudden tranquility of the room. She sighed in content again, forgetting about her… their situation right now for a while. Seto shifted again and started muttering something more audible this time…

"I…love…you…?" He said, his eyebrows scrunching again. She cocked her head to the side, her hair tumbling down from her back, lightly brushing against his skin. She brushed her hair back, caressing his cheek softly. Why was he asking a question like that?

Only if those words had been for me… She thought. She turned her head in embarrassment, as if she had just declared it to him in front of the entire world. A soft blush grazed her cheeks, but she continued to stroke his cheek softly, and he sighed, almost in relief.

"I…love….you…" Her curiosity picked up there, and she wanted to know who.

"Who…?" She asked hesitantly, hoping it would reach him, and somehow, it did…

"You…" He mumbled back. His arm reached out to his cheek and she was about to retreat her hand, when he held it in his. "You…" He whispered softly, again. Her blush had increased now and her curiosity was at a high level.

"Who…am...I?" She questioned tenderly, desiring to reach him again.

"It's…"

Joey jolted up from his bed and immediately was tackled into a warm hug by Mai. Normally, he would have blushed profusely, but his eyes held no emotion as she sobbed into his back.

"J-Joey…" She said "I'm so glad you're awake…" She trailed off when she felt no emotion in return from him. He did nothing to push her off, but didn't do anything to comfort her either. The door to his hospital room slid open to reveal Yugi there, his hands behind him, smiling nervously.

"Hey there, Joey!" He said, trying to be cheerful, but failing to hide his tenseness. Joey slowly lifted his emotionless gaze up to Yugi. Mai had let go of him, and was now seated on the chair beside him, twiddling her fingers. That was an odd enough gesture to show that something was wrong, but Joey wasn't paying attention to what was happening in the room.

"Ey Yuge! Even if you're my friend, I won't 'esitate on the battle arena!" A teenage Joey grinned at his best friend.

"I know Joey. I won't either." Yugi's eyes glistened back at him.

The image flickered to now show a sea port where Joey and Yugi stood on opposite end, bound to chains on their feet, and dueling.

Both were tense, one from worry the other from being manipulated. Joey feel to his knees and held a tight grip onto his hair, trying to free himself. It flashed to then show Joey leaping across and freeing Yugi from the chains.

'I was too stupid to free the both of us. I was stupid to be caught and cause trouble to Yugi. It's all my fault that they always worry…And then Serenity had to rescue me…I'm pathetic. I'm supposed to protect her, I'm supposed to be with my friends and help them, not to worry them. I'm hopeless.

Yugi glanced at the expressions that were dancing on Joey's face and his face scrunched into worry.

"Uh…Joey? You alright?" He asked concern obvious in his quivering voice.

Joey again lifted his head slowly and blinked at Yugi.

'All this while, Yugi has always dueled and improved. Me and him, (A/N: Yea I know, but this is Joey remember?) have gone through this entire thing together, both dueling, but all this time, he has been moving on and improving while I stay here just being a useless kid. I have to prove myself, for me, for Yugi, for Serenity.' His eyes closed and they reopened to show determination.

"Yugi, duel me." He stated firmly.

"What? Now? NO!" Yugi, said, remembering that he had received news on Serenity and Kaiba; and Joey needed to know it immediately. He also had an injured arm and he wasn't in any condition to move yet.

"Remember Yuge? We had promised back then to duel each other one day, and. This. Is. The. Day." He said, throwing the blanket off of him and rising from his bed.

Yugi sensed the tenseness, the misery, and the determination in his voice and nodded, getting serious himself. He would just have to give him the news after their duel.

"It's…Kisara…" She heard him mutter out in his sleep. Sudden curiosity and hope that she had built fell down in an instant and she gave out a distressed sigh.

'Oh' she thought. It wasn't like he was going to say her name, she knew it, yet she had hoped so much for that moment. He bolted up suddenly and examined his surroundings, lastly landing his gaze upon her. He held a gaze with her for a moment but broke it off when he went to examining his body.

She forced a smile on and placed her hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her, but his gaze went back to a particular wound and he moaned at the condition his body was in.

"You don't have to keep a smile on for me you know. I can see right through it." He said, gazing up at her again. Her smile faded and her eyes darted around, avoiding his face.

"So, do you know who kidnapped us?" He asked, only remembering his fight with Bakura.

"Yea, but I don't know who he his." She said slowly, remembering those crimson eyes.

"A description would help."

"Sea green hair, crimson eyes, pale complexion." She started, trying to remember anything else.

"I see. Well, I have a suspicion on who it could be…" The door banged open and light crept into the dimly lit room.

"Remember me, Seto?" Seto visibly tensed and the hand that had held hers tightened its grip.

Aww...this is going nowhere right now...I'm giong to spend some more time trying to connect things from the anime onto here...so It'll be better...(hopefully) OH! HOW CAN I FORGET? ON THE TOP OF MY PROFILE, I POSTED A LINK FOR A PICTURE I DREW OF SETO AND SERENITY AND IT'S HALF COLORED...READ THE COMMENT I PUT THERE AND BEFORE REVIEWING, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURE AND GIVE YOUR OPINION IN YOUR REVIEW? PLEASE? THANK-YOU

Oh yea...

REVIEW!