Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
CHAPTER 17: In Search of a Maiden
The next morning, Serenity woke up as the sunlight filtered into her room. She propped herself up on both elbows, thinking to herself for a few moments. After figuring out exactly where she was, she suddenly gasped. Rushing to her drawer, she opened it. She saw the box wrapped in chains. She unhooked the clasp, opened the lid, unwrapped the cloth, removed another lid, and unscrewed a bottle. From that, she poured two stones into her hand. Rays of brown and green danced on her hand.
Serenity, satisfied, put the stones back in the bottle, put it in the smaller box, wrapped the cloth around it, put it in another box, and wrapped a chain around it. Then, she slipped it in her drawer and jammed it with a small piece of metal on the side. Only she knew how to get it out, and only if she could think straight while that.
Serenity wasn't trying to hide the jewels from her sisters as much as she was from herself. Her conscience and all the other little voices in her head were bothering her. She must have counted ten times she woke up during the night and looked for it. By the fifth time, she was so addicted she had to put it in a box. When that didn't work, she put it in more boxes and other additional stuff. Finally, she even resorted to tying it in chains and jamming the drawer. The last finally worked since she was so tired by the time she got up for the tenth time that she couldn't see well enough to get it out.
I just can't believe I won! I beat people with five years experience in just five hours! Serenity eyed the drawer but quickly squeezed her eyes shut. It's only been a night, why does it seem like such a long time? STOP LOOKING AT IT!! YOU ARE SO OBSESSED SHIZ-SERENITY!!! NO! I AM SERENITY! Serenity shivered and literally kicked the drawers. Then, so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore, she stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door.
"Serenity! Breakfast!" hollered two voices from downstairs. Serenity emerged from the bathroom all freshened up in her hand-me-down robe. Taking one annoyed look at the dresser, she flew down the stairs. Her two sisters were already up and freshened.
"Breakfast?" Mai queried expectantly. Serenity sighed and headed to the pantry. She brought out a box of cereal that was near empty. That was the only thing left in the house that was edible, besides the freezer of deserts. Serenity poured the cereal into all three bowls, emptying the box. When she went to the fridge for milk, there was none.
"Um… Mai… Téa… there's no… no milk…"
"NO!" Téa cried. "Milk is important! It helps build strong bones for dancing! We must…have…milk!"
"Does milk help your hair, lips, or nails?" Mai asked. "Cause if it does… I cannot go without it!" Serenity sighed.
"Guys… no dairy shops will be open at… eight o'clock in the morning. And we don't have a cow!" Mai and Téa looked at each other.
"True, I guess we won't-,"
"NO!!!! I will die! Next time I dance, my bones will crack and I'll never be able to dance again! NO!"
"Téa… skipping one glass of milk is not going to hurt you. Have something else strong in calcium instead… like cheese… or another dairy product!" Mai's reasoning was not working. Téa looked horrified at the fact that there was no milk.
"Téa! Listen! Do you know what… um… Yami doesn't drink milk for breakfast!" Téa looked at Serenity.
"He doesn't?" she asked incredulously.
"Of course not, he only has it for lunch. He says too much milk makes you… makes you… too… milky… I mean… your skin turns all pale and your hair…" Serenity didn't know what she was saying, but Mai looked more horrified than Téa.
"WHAT!?" she cried. "That's it! I am only having milk once a day from now on!"
"If Yami's not doing it, I'm not doing it!"
"Okay then… we'll just have water." Serenity hurried to the sink to get some shiny mugs and fill them with water.
"Serenity, after we are done with breakfast, you need to go to the market and get some milk. We need some for lunch. Oh… and get some lunch too, while you're at it." Serenity growled. She hated the market. The market was a bad place for her.
"Fine…" Serenity brought back each of the cups and set them at the table. Breakfast began. Téa and Mai thought this would be a great opportunity to tell all about each of the Duels. Serenity mentally screamed.
"Okay, I'll go first…" Téa started. Mai sniffed and took her cup, using her reflection to arrange her blonde mess of hair. Serenity tried to look like she was listening and not listen at the same time, concentrating on Mai out of the corner of her eye. She didn't understand why Mai was so obsessed with beauty. Hey, don't be talking. You're the one obsessed with last night.
"Isn't that so amazing?" Téa cried.
"Oh, yes definitely," Serenity replied, though she had not idea what Téa had said before. While she kept on talking, Serenity looked at her own mug. Her own pink reflection glared back. OH NO! NOT THIS COLOR! Serenity looked away, trying not to be reminded of the gown she had worn the previous night. But somehow, her eyes seemed to be drawn back. She stared at it for a few minutes, glaring back at herself. Suddenly, the image seemed to change. Instead, she was met with the one image she didn't want to see.
Serenity pulled herself away from Seto's smiling face as quickly as she could, pushing the mug as far as it would go without falling off. She turned back to Téa.
"Téa… listen. I think I should go to the market early so it's not crowded." Serenity stood up and put her bowl and mug away, trying to use as few fingers as possible while touching it. As Mai and Téa watched her with perplexed faces, she hurried up the stairs.
"Do you think something happened to her while we went to the Tournament?" Téa asked.
"Maybe some fairy came and put a spell on her," Mai joked. The two of them giggled.
………
A little after nine, Serenity slipped into a burgundy gown and headed out. It had only been ten minutes since most of the market stores were opened, but there were people everywhere. Serenity heard most of them talking about the ball. Or rather, one specific part of the ball…
"I know… I wonder if she was pretty…"
"Why was she wearing a veil?"
"Did you see how she drew those life-saving cards?"
"I can't believe she ran away! Who wouldn't want to Duel Seto?"
"You know? That's the first girl Seto seems to actually show his affection too…"
"I know… you see how close he got to her?" Serenity sighed. Too many people were obsessed with "Shizuka", and the funny part was that she didn't even exist.
"Maybe that was just to see through the veil…"
"Puh-leaze! He's head ova' heals in love with 'er and now he's devastated just because she took off!" Serenity clamped her hands shut over her ears and walked faster. If Mai and Téa were terrorizing her, this was even worse.
"You know, that girl is so mean! I mean, Seto is so hot and so sweet and she broke his heart!" Serenity heard that one and it was the last straw.
"What she did was right!" she exclaimed angrily, rounding on the two teenage girls who had spoken.
"Excuse me? Did you see how devastated Seto was?"
"Seto's a prince and he will always be!!! But that girl… what do you think? Do you think she's some pampered princess herself! Face it! However attractive Seto is, he's still a jerk! I know! If he needs a broken heart to show him that, let it be! Shut up about the girl because what she did was right! She was lucky her… captors didn't realize she had broken out!" Whoa! Calm down Serenity! It's just one comment…
"She's in jail!?"
"No! She's being held as a prisoner in her own family. She's a slave! And what's more… her heart has been terrorized by Seto and it still is! Every time she even sees anything she sees him! She didn't want to marry him! She just wanted to defeat him in a Duel to prove she was better than he had claimed! And what does she get? Now, everyone goes around telling how mean she was!" I have to do this. I don't want to be blamed for the rest of my life…
"Have you ever loved anyone and have had him or her ripped away from you? Well I have! Both my parents died when I was just eight! My own stepfather cares only for my older brother who is too far away to take care of me. My older stepsisters are mean to me! That girl… Shizuka, she has no one and never did! While Seto… he has caring parents and a wonderful brother. You think being separated from a girl he saw for five hours is going to make as lasting effect on his life as losing your parents would?" Serenity stopped speaking with a glare to let her words take effect. All the people surrounding her had heard and everyone was silent. Finally, the girl who had talked earlier spoke up.
"What would you do if the first person you ever loved hated you? Have you ever been hated? I know you Serenity, I know you because my two older brothers have a crush on you! They've seen you outside in your yard. Of course, one of them is in Domino Academy and had just come back for vacation the first time they saw you… Ian, my oldest brother. He is head over heels for you… do you ever care? I know that your brother has talked to you about him… and what did you say?"
"Um… I said I don't like him and that… I could find ten guys cuter than him… okay, well; I was having a bad day! Mai had tried to put me through a total makeover! Having your hair pulled out from its roots is not a good way to spend your Sunday morning…"
"An excuse… like Shizuka…"
"You know what? I am here for milk! I am sick and tired of hearing about Shizuka… Seto is probably over it already! Good-bye!" Serenity blindly stomped off. A few girls sucked in a deep breath and continued walking. Others shook their heads. The one who had spoken glared after her.
I can't believe it! Why do they always have to talk about her? Why? I have gone through enough torture already. I still believe I made the right choice! Did I? Oh goodness, have I really hurt Seto that bad-Serenity yelped as she ran face first into somebody. She pulled away and gasped. It was none other Prince Seto… again! He seemed to be very distracted for some odd reason.
"Oh, it's you," he said coldly. Serenity glared at him. Remember Serenity, you weren't at the ball. Shizuka was at the ball. Not you, Shizuka. But you are Shizuka… no! You are not Shizuka…
"Cat got your tongue?" Serenity snapped out of her thoughts.
"Are you mad at Shizuka…" Seto looked at her with a forced smirk… a very forced smirk…
"Why would I be mad at her? She only ruined my life. Listen, my mom is determined to marry me off and she's the kind that will see it done. And right now, Shizuka was the only girl I was remotely interested in marrying."
"Do you like her?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't know. I'm not you…"
"Yes! Of course I do!"
"How can you like her? You barely know her!"
"Have you ever heard of love at first sight?"
"Love at first sight? You didn't even see her! She was wearing a veil!"
"Things happen, okay? Unless you didn't know, I didn't even believe something like love existed."
"Seto, I know you don't love her. You love her Dueling… basically, you love her strategy. Don't be a fool. You love pieces of paper!" I've got to convince him! I will never be at rest if the whole world is angry at me because I ran away…I wasn't afraid… maybe, of my sisters finding out. Not afraid to marry him…idiot! I was just…
"I am a Duelist! And I love a Duelist!"
"You are a human being! Dueling does not make you love someone! If a person just beats you in a Duel, does it automatically mean they win your heart? What if that person, behind that veil, had been someone you hated with all your heart. Would you just assume they are good inside? You have to actually know somebody! The person under there could have been your arch rival… the person you despised above everybody… it could have been… me?"
"I don't hate you…"
"Yeah… but you wouldn't want to marry me either…"
"I don't know about that…"
"WHAT? I mean… anyway… you can't be upset cause she ran away… you can't fall in love over a Duel…"
"What would you know? You weren't even there! I searched for you for a while and didn't see you at all." I was there, but I wasn't there… I was Shizuka and I ran away…I ran away… Shizuka didn't… Shizuka wouldn't…
"Oh… you searched for me? Anyway, this is from my sister's stories. I just wanted to know… if you really liked her… and if what my sisters said was true… that she broke your heart by running away…" Serenity's moment of anger had quickly disappeared when she remembered she wasn't talking about some stranger, but herself. You might not have been Shizuka, but you were in her place and it was you that decided to run away…Seto bit his lip. He looked as if he could have cried, if that was even possible.
"Well…I've never had my heart broken so I wouldn't know," Seto said matter-of-factly. "Well…maybe I did once…"
"When?"
"When I was a child and that girl I told you about. I had told her to visit me sometime. She came once… only once… and then she disappeared. My mother told me not to disturb her because she had a new life and could be too busy to come. My heart broke that day… I lost the only friend I had." Serenity sighed. "And now… it does feel like that… I lost the only girl I loved…" Serenity couldn't take it anymore.
I am such a fool… I'm acting just like DMG! She made me pretend like I am different people so I wouldn't get into trouble…and soon so many people were deceived, even my own brother. I've cheated Seto too… and he really is nice if you get to know him… Ha! I'm lecturing him that he didn't know the girl he loved. I don't know Seto half as well as I should… Serenity backed up and ran away. Seto didn't really notice. He was looking around to see if his Shizuka was anywhere to be found, unaware that she was running away from him again… Too afraid to face my future…
………
"I'm home!" Serenity announced as she arrived back at the mansion, arms full of groceries. As she expected, Téa and Mai did nothing to help her unload the bags or put things away. They didn't even help her prepare lunch. Oh well, she was an expert usually anyways. Usually…
I know now. I have hurt him…over a hundred people think an imaginary person exists, and Seto believed it so much that he even liked her… Téa and Mai came into the kitchen to watch her cook.
"What is on her mind?" Mai queried, watching Serenity absentmindedly throw five eggs into a pot without even breaking the shell. Téa raised her eyebrows.
"Look! Now she's emptying the sugar bag into the pot… there goes all the salt…" Serenity clearly wasn't watching what she was doing.
"Maybe we ought to shake her out of her daydream…"
I've broken someone's heart…
………
Seto returned to the castle. As usual, his parents were bickering about lunch and the chef was waiting anxiously, looking at the clock. He needed the decision now if he hoped to get lunch ready by the proper time.
"We'll just have salad…" Seto told the chef. He bowed and exited the room. Just then, the other royals had come to a decision.
"OKAY!!! We choose to have ham and cheese sandwiches with fries, corn on the cob, and some mixed green curry. As desert, we shall have some strawberry ice cream with vanilla stripes…" Pegasus trailed off when he noticed the chef wasn't there. Instead, Seto stood there in his place.
"Oh… hello… did you find her?" Cecilia asked.
"No… I was half-sidetracked. This girl suddenly started talking to me and arguing about something."
"I see…" the king said. He pushed his dream lunch out of his mind. "Well, our few men that have volunteered to search have found nothing either. Seto… she isn't coming back." Seto took a deep breath and sat cross-legged on the floor, head in his hands. Cecilia and Pegasus looked at each other sadly. Just then, Mokuba came in.
"Look what I found! Look what I found!" he cried excitedly, bringing in something in his hand. He held it out and the chandelier light striking it made a pattern that danced on his hand.
"It's one of the Jewels," Cecilia explained in a dramatic voice. "Long ago, there was an ancient sorcerer who lived in these lands. One day, he touched a black object he wasn't supposed to and became evil. The Dark energy took over his mind and he turned his six daughters into different stones. You found one! Now we have to find five others to take back the curse!"
"Really?" Mokuba inquired with interest.
"No, dear, I was just kidding. That's just one of the stones that was used in the Tournament. It must have fallen off one of the girl's Gloves in the ballroom."
"That couldn't be…" Mokuba pointed out. "I found it on Seto's bed…" Cecilia and Pegasus looked over at him. Seto looked up.
"Um…" Pegasus said. "We weren't there the whole time… but we would know if one of the girls went up with Seto to his room… his bedroom…"
"It must have fallen from the black Glove…" Seto said, walking over to take the stone from his brother. "That girl, Shizuka… she dropped her Glove on the stairs and I took it, along with four of the stones. Must've forgotten to take it out of my pocket when I went to bed." Seto reached into his pocket and took out the black Glove.
"That's not like the ones we gave out," Pegasus observed.
"Right… Shizuka had her own Glove…"
"We could somehow use it to find her," Cecilia suggested.
"How?" Seto asked.
"Maybe we can try it on everyone's hand…" Mokuba proposed. Cecilia, Pegasus, and Seto looked at him and shook their heads.
"We could never do that…" they said. Pegasus looked over at Cecilia and they both looked at Seto. "Could we?"
………
Minutes later, Seto was walking out of the throne room along with his little brother, Glove in hand.
"That was a good idea…" Mokuba exclaimed.
"My parents are insane…" Seto muttered. "If they think they can go gallivanting across Domino and fit a glove onto the hand of every single girl, even if they aren't old enough to come to the Tournament…"