Chapter Fifteen – The Dream

Darkness. That's all there was. There was no glimmer of light far off into the distance; no hope. There was nothing in this world; nothing but pure darkness.

Serena felt herself falling, further and further into the pit of darkness as the black void engulfed her, swallowing her whole.

"Where am I?" she cried out, not expecting an answer; feeling alone and empty.

"Welcome to your future, Serena Pegasus," a calm voice spoke out, a small light coming towards her.

"My…future? What do you mean?" she asked, trying to calm her breathing.

"It's simple. This is what your future beholds for you," the light replied quietly.

"Darkness?"

"No, my friend. This darkness is merely your present. You are confused and lost; in two days, you will face ultimate darkness."

"Who are you?"

The light laughed and waved his hand, illuminating herself and Serena.

"You're…me!?! What's going on?" she questioned, confusion etching on her face.

The light sighed and smiled at her. "I'm your inner child Serena; a younger version of yourself that is naïve to the future and the present. The younger you who believed everything was possible and no one was evil.

"I've been assigned to show you your future; the three possible scenarios of what the future may bring. One of them, I must tell you, is this darkness, yet far worse than the darkness alone. I shall show it to you first."

Serena stared at her younger self, amazed at how much wisdom she held. At first, she was unbelieving, but then, she saw it; right before her eyes, her future was being played.

"This, is what your future may be," her inner child whispered, her voice sounding eerie in the darkness.

Slowly, Serena was lifted in the black air with the light. They both looked down as Serena's possible future played out before their eyes.

~*~*~*~

The darkness of the so called "Shadow Realm" they were dueling in slowly dissipated as the duel ended. The winner's lifeless eyes narrowed slightly as he watched his opponent.

"Serena!" Kaiba yelled out, running to her. The duel was over; Kaiba lost.

"Seto," she whispered softly, falling slowly to the ground.

"I've failed," he said over and over again, pulling her close to him when he reached her. 'If I had only tried harder; if only I didn't make that mistake!'

Jared glanced at the two, his sadistic grin placed on his face. "You've lost; both of you."

"You can not have what is not meant to be yours!" Serena yelled out, her necklace glowing slightly.

"I will take what is mine and has been mine from the beginning. You may be my own flesh and blood, but I will not tarry in killing you, and your 'friend' here. Friendship is for the weak, you've been taught that. But you chose to believe in friendship and that is why you lost Seto Kaiba!"

'I've failed you Serena. I am eternally sorry.'

'You didn't fail me Seto, you never have.'

"On second thought, I think I just may let you live, Kaiba. Wouldn't want your brother to grow up all alone now would you. Besides, it'd be more agony for you since you'll have to live each day knowing it was your own foolish mistake that cost Serena's life."

'Mokuba!' Kaiba looked up at Jared and gave him an icy glare. 'I can't let him hurt Mokuba…or Serena.'

"I do believe I'll have more fun sending you to the real Shadow Realm dear daughter. Say goodbye to your friends, you don't have much time left." With that said, he pulled the necklace from her neck and narrowed his eyes. "Alright, time is up."

"NO!" Kaiba yelled as Serena disappeared from his arms. She was gone. "Serena," he cried, tears slowly forming on his once hard exterior; his heart shattering in a million tiny pieces, like a fragile crystal glass..

Serena looked around her. It was dark and scary where she was; the Shadow Realm. "This is my fate," she whispered softly, allowing the darkness to engulf her. "There is no escape…but I will never blame you Seto…"

~*~*~*~

Serena turned her head away. "I don't want to see anymore,," she whispered, her heart pounding. "Will that really happen?"

"That, I do not know friend. Fate has an interesting way of changing things. But, should Kaiba lose, he will lose not only for you, but for himself as well."

"What else might happen? Please tell me it is…good," she pleaded, looking at her emotionless face.

The young girl waved her hand and the images before them left as new ones formed.

~*~*~*~

"This is my life, my destiny. I must duel him myself Kaiba," Serena said firmly. Nightfall was coming and Jared would be there soon.

"I can't allow that Serena," he said coolly, looking over his deck.

"This is my life Kaiba! He is my f-f-father!" Tears slowly began to spill out of her eyes as she tried desperately to blink them back. She didn't want all her friends to see her like this.

Kaiba sat there, his eyes staring off into the distance. "Serena," he said softly and pulled her down next to him. "Do you understand why I want to duel for you?"

"No…" she sniveled, wiping the fallen tears from her eyes. "If I don't duel him, then I'll never know if I could have defeated him myself."

Kaiba sighed and pulled her close, kissing her cheek, ignoring the fact that all her friends were watching them. "If you have to duel him, then you will. I won't stand in your way. But I hope you understand that if you lose, I will forever blame myself," he whispered hoarsely in her ear.

"I won't lose," she whispered back, hugging him tighter.

"We're all standing behind you Serena! Just believe in yourself," Yugi said, smiling brightly.

Serena nodded and prepared herself to face the darkness that would soon come.

~*~*~*~

"What happens? Do I win?" Serena questioned as the images slowly dissipated.

Her younger self held no emotion in her face and did not even turn to look at her. "That, friend, I cannot tell you. It would depend upon chance and your heart. So much would be riding on the draw of one card Serena; more than even Fate herself can predict."

"What is the third scenario?"

"The third? Ah, yes, the third. That my friend, you may only learn a small portion of."

"But—"

"My work here is finished," her younger self said softly. The light was slowly swallowed up by the darkness.

"Wait!" Serena yelled out, but it was too late. Her light was gone. She closed her eyes and mumbled softly, "Why couldn't she just show me. She said a small portion but she didn't show me anything. Now I'm all alone in this strange place of…dreams…"

Shadi appeared behind her and smirked. She was probably creating millions of solutions to her problem in her head, but he would stop that; this was his assignment as of now. He placed his hand on her shoulder and chuckled in his mind when she jumped and spun around.

"Shadi! Please tell me you're here to take me home," Serena pleaded, calming her startled heart.

"No…I'm here to show you something important. Your inner child could not tell you for she knows not of the ancient past."

"Ancient past?" Serena furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Come," Shadi said, taking hold of her hand and leading her in the darkness.

"Where are we going?" she questioned, wondering how Shadi could make his way out in this dark void.

"You shall see."

After seeming to go nowhere in particular, Shadi snapped his fingers and a dim light appeared. There before them was a pyramid.

"You remember the prophecy you once learned a long time ago, am I correct?"

"Of course I do. 'Light would be deceived by the darkness; tricked and misled. Darkness would leave the light, only to return once again. Darkness would later be destroyed by his own spawn; it is his destiny,'" Serena quoted the prophecy she had learned word for word.

"Yes, that is correct. You are strong Serena; it takes much for your spirit to be broken, if that is possible. You trust in your friends and most importantly, yourself. You have learned to let the past not affect your future and are slowly learning to move beyond it. I know it is a lot for a young teen to bear, but the fate of the world is in your hands. You have the help of your friends and your uncle, but you also have the help of Pharaoh Yami and your millennium item. It is a lot to access the full powers of your item at one moment and I should have known to train you, but other obligations led me away," Shadi explained, his eyes never moving from hers.

"I understand all that Shadi. The world was in danger and Yami needed you. But…why are we…here?"

"This is the same pyramid you used to explore as a child in your dreams. There is something I must show you; it will explain the third possible scenario. Although it is a prophecy, written from ancient times on ancient Egyptian papyrus, Fate may change it." Shadi ascended into the pyramid, Serena close behind him.

'I remember this place so well. The room is right there,' she thought to herself and noticed they had stopped before the very room she was thinking of.

Shadi walked into the room and led her to a small iron cast ruby chest that was sitting upon a table in the middle of the room.

"When you were younger and would explore this room, I told you to never touch the chest until the time has come. You were too young to understand why, but you listened to me. Outside of this dream world where we are right now, the real pyramid lies. I have been able to seal this door, allowing only those I approve of to enter to assure the chest would not be found. If the scroll inside were to be discovered by any not meant to find it, the world would once again, be in danger; more danger than it is in now." Shadi placed his hand on the table and murmured something in Arabic.

As if understanding what he was saying, Serena slid off her necklace and placed the ruby in the slot that looked like a key hole. Words seemed to come to her as she placed her hands on the chest and closed her eyes. Slowly, the top lifted up, revealing an ancient scroll. Serena watched as it ascended in the air, unraveling and floating before her.

"It's a story," she whispered, looking at Shadi who only nodded.

"Yes, do you understand?"

Serena looked at the scroll long and hard, trying to make sense of the pictures. Then, as if she had known her whole life the story on the scroll, she began to speak.

"It's about a girl, born of the light and the dark. She is a chosen one, meant to save the world when the time comes; meant to diminish the Blood of Darkness. She may be a mixture of light and of dark, but her heart lies in the light. One day, she will face the real dark, the dark that played a part in creating her and she will defeat him. She is strong but can only access her true powers and nature by…" Serena trialed off, trying to make sense of the last part of the hieroglyphs on the scroll. "Shadi?"

"You know it Serena; it's in your heart," he said quietly, as the scroll rolled up and went back in the chest. He handed her her necklace and walked her out of the pyramid.

"But…"

"You're awakening Serena. You know it in your heart; it's the one thing that can create many."

Slowly, Shadi and the pyramid disappeared and Serena was once again, alone. She thought over all the things she had seen and turned to face the slowly retreating darkness as the light of day began to shine.

~*~*~*~

Serena stretched and sat up, looking at all of her friends, the dream still very fresh in her mind. "I have to face Jared on my own Seto, it's the only way," she whispered quietly, looking down at his sleeping form. "Or…am I supposed to allow you to battle him for me and learn to put my life in your hands by…trusting you?"

Serena blinked as the story on the scroll played back in her mind. "By trusting in the one she has learned to care for; by trusting her life in his hands. That's what the scroll was saying." Understanding dawned on her as she slowly and cautiously stood up, making her way into the kitchen. Can I truly trust my life in his hands? He trusts only in himself…and I know he is changing bit by bit but, has he changed enough to trust in others so I can put my trust in him?