Well, here you go. Another chapter. As I said, the romance was a very small
factor, and is really only evident in Chapter 7. Here is where it goes back
into Kaiba's problem. So, enjoy. And keep reviewing. It keeps me motivated.
***
Kaiba opened his eyes and looked around. Where was he? It was dark, that was for sure. He looked down at his feet and saw a huge holographic picture of an armored warrior looking back at him. He recognized it. It was the Lord of Dragons, a Magic & Wizards card.
He suddenly remembered.
He was in his virtual game. The one he'd finished two months ago. It was a revolution in virtual technology. It actually made the player feel as though he were inside the game, as though the mind were separate from the body.
He looked around him. He saw Yugi, dressed in archaic armor, Joey, dressed in a cave-man's garb – complete with bone club. He saw Mokuba, dressed in armor much the same as Yugi's, and he saw Mai Valentine, a young woman he had hired to test the game.
Kaiba looked directly in front of him and was face-to-face with a gigantic, five-headed dragon. Each head represented an element – fire, ice, earth, light and darkness. This was the final boss of his game. Somehow, his board of directors had tampered with the game's program to summon the dragon despite the fact that they had won.
"Only dragons may attack in this realm," declared Gansley, head of the Big Five – the official name for Kaiba-Corp's board of directors.
Kaiba began to laugh. Only dragons! Ha!
After some more meaningless drivel, Kaiba was able to summon his dragon. Since this was a game based around Magic & Wizards, each player had to place his or her deck into the playing pod before the game began. From his deck, Kaiba drew out his strongest creature, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Joey summoned the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the counterpart to Kaiba's own.
Mai's monster was the Harpy's Pet Dragon, which Kaiba suspected was the only dragon in the woman's deck.
Yugi's was Curse of Dragon.
Unfortunately, Mokuba had no monsters to defend himself with; he had no deck.
The Big Five saw this, and used it to their advantage, opting to attack the boy first.
Joey, however, sent his dragon to defend Mokuba. The five-headed dragon, however, was much too strong, and defeated the Red-Eyes in a single strike. With his dragon, Joey vanished. He had lost.
"Kaiba! We have to work together if we're going to get out of this!"
Kaiba scowled. "I'll handle this my own way!" he snarled.
He watched as the gigantic dragon reared back its heads to attack. Fists clenched, he stood still as a statue. His dragon was strong. He could defeat this monstrosity.
"Seto! It's not your dragon they're aiming for, it's..." Mokuba pushed him out of the way. He screamed in pain as a blast of blue lightning shot through him
Kaiba stared at his brother as he stumbled toward him.
"Mokuba!" he cried as he held out his arms to catch the boy.
"Seto..." Mokuba breathed softly as his eyes closed. He fell forward, and just as Kaiba was about to catch him, he vanished. Kaiba stared in abject horror at his hands. He collapsed to his knees.
"No..." he whispered. "No...Mokuba...Mokuba..."
A dark chuckle emanated from deep within the darkness.
"What happened!" Mai shouted in shock.
"Kaiba's Blue-Eyes killed Mokuba!" Yugi gasped.
Kaiba stared as blood ran down his arms. "No..." he whispered in horror. "No...no...no, no, NO, NO!!!"
The blackness enveloped him, tore him, cut him, bit him, stifled him, destroyed him.
"NOOO!!!!!"
***
Serenity sat straight up in bed, eyes wide as she listened to the heart- rending screams coming from elsewhere in the mansion. She threw off the covers, ran out of the room and down the hall. She threw open the door where the screams were coming from, and saw Kaiba shouting at the top of his lungs as he kicked and thrashed in a tangle of sheets. He was soaked with sweat, his face white as a ghost.
"No!!" he screamed, throwing his fist into the wall by the bed. "No! No! NO!!!"
She rushed to his side and knelt down, grabbing one of his hands. "Kaiba! Kaiba!! Wake up!" she whispered urgently.
Kaiba's eyes snapped open, their oceanic depths filled with fear. His breathing ragged, he turned and looked at Serenity as though he'd never seen her before. He glanced down at the hand she held, then back up into her eyes.
He turned away from her. "Go," he said in a strangled voice. "Just...go."
"Kaiba...what's wrong?"
"Just go, please!" he begged.
"Kaiba," Serenity said sternly, taking his hand in both of hers, "I'm not leaving until I know what's wrong. Come on, Kaiba, you can trust me..."
"That's why you have to go!" Kaiba cried.
"Kaiba, you aren't making any sense."
"It...I..." he sighed, took several deep breaths, and tried again. "Every...Everyone I've ever cared about has been taken from me...My mother, my father...my brother...You are the first person outside of family who's ever treated me like a friend...the only person I've been able to trust...
"So far...fate has dealt me a bad hand...and I doubt my cards will get better any time soon..."
Serenity smiled reassuringly. "Don't you worry about me, Kaiba. You just had a bad dream, that's all. You're confused, nervous. You just need to relax..."
He looked at her oddly for a moment, then sighed and rose to a sitting position. "I guess...I guess you're right..."
He got up, walked out of the room. Serenity followed him down the hall and down to the ground floor. Kaiba walked into the kitchen, turned on the stove, and set a tea kettle onto it. He brought out two mugs from one cupboard and a box of tea bags from another. He looked at her as she sat down on the round table in the center of the room.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked her in a quiet voice.
"Thank you, Kaiba. That would be nice."
She watched as he set a bag into each mug, and once the water in the kettle was boiling, he poured it into the mugs and used a spoon to stir them. He set one down in front of Serenity, and sat down himself, taking a drink.
"Kaiba," Serenity said, after she had taken a drink from her own mug. "You seemed happy today. Like you were at peace with yourself. Like you'd resolved your problem with Mokuba's death.
"It still gets to you, doesn't it? It still hurts."
Kaiba nodded slowly. "No matter how much time passes, the pain will always be there. As long as I live, I'll never get over the fact that he's gone..."
"You really loved him, huh?"
"I'd give anything for him," Kaiba said softly, his eyes growing wet with tears. "He was everything to me...And now that he's gone...I just wish I could tell him that...that I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what, Kaiba?" Serenity asked gently.
"Sorry for not paying more attention to him, for not spending more time with him...I was supposed to be his big brother, his best friend. I realize now that I wasn't...and I just wish I could change that..."
Serenity reached over the table and took his hands again. "Kaiba...he knows you loved him, and he knows you're sorry. He loves you too. I know it. You and Mokuba sound a lot like me and Joey.
"This is the first time I've been with my brother in almost nine years. But I know it wasn't his fault. I know he loves me, and that's all that matters."
Kaiba smiled slightly. "Seems Joey and I have quite a bit in common," he muttered. "Perhaps that's why we hate each other."
Serenity laughed. "Oh, he doesn't hate you. Joey doesn't really hate anyone. At least, I don't think so. And I think he considers you a friend, just like I do."
Kaiba's smile widened slightly. "Perhaps...though I doubt he'd admit it."
"No, no, he probably wouldn't. He's strange like that sometimes."
Kaiba downed the rest of his tea and sighed. "Well...it's late...I think I'll go back to bed. Hopefully I won't dream."
Serenity followed him again, stopping at the room he'd given her for the night. She smiled, wished him goodnight, and walked in. She lay back down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
***
The group left Kaiba's mansion at noon the next day to go to the game shop. Except Kaiba, who stayed in his front parlor, contemplating. The dream he'd had the night before frightened him. Badly.
He couldn't understand it. He remembered fighting the Mythic Dragon in his virtual game, but it hadn't happened that way. It hadn't been his dragon that struck Mokuba. Why...?
I didn't kill Mokuba, he told himself mentally. Some other prick did. I love Mokuba! Like Serenity said, I can't blame myself! It wasn't my fault!
He shook his head. He couldn't keep thinking about this! It would drive him insane eventually. He got up, walked through the hall to the recreation room, sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Using the remote, he flipped to a news channel (he never watched anything else) and lost himself in the droning voice of the reporters, as stories of hurricanes, bank robberies, house fires and other such things flashed in front of him.
His eyes grew heavy, and he was soon asleep.
***
Kaiba opened his eyes and looked around. Where was he? It was dark, that was for sure. He looked down at his feet and saw a huge holographic picture of an armored warrior looking back at him. He recognized it. It was the Lord of Dragons, a Magic & Wizards card.
He suddenly remembered.
He was in his virtual game. The one he'd finished two months ago. It was a revolution in virtual technology. It actually made the player feel as though he were inside the game, as though the mind were separate from the body.
He looked around him. He saw Yugi, dressed in archaic armor, Joey, dressed in a cave-man's garb – complete with bone club. He saw Mokuba, dressed in armor much the same as Yugi's, and he saw Mai Valentine, a young woman he had hired to test the game.
Kaiba looked directly in front of him and was face-to-face with a gigantic, five-headed dragon. Each head represented an element – fire, ice, earth, light and darkness. This was the final boss of his game. Somehow, his board of directors had tampered with the game's program to summon the dragon despite the fact that they had won.
"Only dragons may attack in this realm," declared Gansley, head of the Big Five – the official name for Kaiba-Corp's board of directors.
Kaiba began to laugh. Only dragons! Ha!
After some more meaningless drivel, Kaiba was able to summon his dragon. Since this was a game based around Magic & Wizards, each player had to place his or her deck into the playing pod before the game began. From his deck, Kaiba drew out his strongest creature, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Joey summoned the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the counterpart to Kaiba's own.
Mai's monster was the Harpy's Pet Dragon, which Kaiba suspected was the only dragon in the woman's deck.
Yugi's was Curse of Dragon.
Unfortunately, Mokuba had no monsters to defend himself with; he had no deck.
The Big Five saw this, and used it to their advantage, opting to attack the boy first.
Joey, however, sent his dragon to defend Mokuba. The five-headed dragon, however, was much too strong, and defeated the Red-Eyes in a single strike. With his dragon, Joey vanished. He had lost.
"Kaiba! We have to work together if we're going to get out of this!"
Kaiba scowled. "I'll handle this my own way!" he snarled.
He watched as the gigantic dragon reared back its heads to attack. Fists clenched, he stood still as a statue. His dragon was strong. He could defeat this monstrosity.
"Seto! It's not your dragon they're aiming for, it's..." Mokuba pushed him out of the way. He screamed in pain as a blast of blue lightning shot through him
Kaiba stared at his brother as he stumbled toward him.
"Mokuba!" he cried as he held out his arms to catch the boy.
"Seto..." Mokuba breathed softly as his eyes closed. He fell forward, and just as Kaiba was about to catch him, he vanished. Kaiba stared in abject horror at his hands. He collapsed to his knees.
"No..." he whispered. "No...Mokuba...Mokuba..."
A dark chuckle emanated from deep within the darkness.
"What happened!" Mai shouted in shock.
"Kaiba's Blue-Eyes killed Mokuba!" Yugi gasped.
Kaiba stared as blood ran down his arms. "No..." he whispered in horror. "No...no...no, no, NO, NO!!!"
The blackness enveloped him, tore him, cut him, bit him, stifled him, destroyed him.
"NOOO!!!!!"
***
Serenity sat straight up in bed, eyes wide as she listened to the heart- rending screams coming from elsewhere in the mansion. She threw off the covers, ran out of the room and down the hall. She threw open the door where the screams were coming from, and saw Kaiba shouting at the top of his lungs as he kicked and thrashed in a tangle of sheets. He was soaked with sweat, his face white as a ghost.
"No!!" he screamed, throwing his fist into the wall by the bed. "No! No! NO!!!"
She rushed to his side and knelt down, grabbing one of his hands. "Kaiba! Kaiba!! Wake up!" she whispered urgently.
Kaiba's eyes snapped open, their oceanic depths filled with fear. His breathing ragged, he turned and looked at Serenity as though he'd never seen her before. He glanced down at the hand she held, then back up into her eyes.
He turned away from her. "Go," he said in a strangled voice. "Just...go."
"Kaiba...what's wrong?"
"Just go, please!" he begged.
"Kaiba," Serenity said sternly, taking his hand in both of hers, "I'm not leaving until I know what's wrong. Come on, Kaiba, you can trust me..."
"That's why you have to go!" Kaiba cried.
"Kaiba, you aren't making any sense."
"It...I..." he sighed, took several deep breaths, and tried again. "Every...Everyone I've ever cared about has been taken from me...My mother, my father...my brother...You are the first person outside of family who's ever treated me like a friend...the only person I've been able to trust...
"So far...fate has dealt me a bad hand...and I doubt my cards will get better any time soon..."
Serenity smiled reassuringly. "Don't you worry about me, Kaiba. You just had a bad dream, that's all. You're confused, nervous. You just need to relax..."
He looked at her oddly for a moment, then sighed and rose to a sitting position. "I guess...I guess you're right..."
He got up, walked out of the room. Serenity followed him down the hall and down to the ground floor. Kaiba walked into the kitchen, turned on the stove, and set a tea kettle onto it. He brought out two mugs from one cupboard and a box of tea bags from another. He looked at her as she sat down on the round table in the center of the room.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked her in a quiet voice.
"Thank you, Kaiba. That would be nice."
She watched as he set a bag into each mug, and once the water in the kettle was boiling, he poured it into the mugs and used a spoon to stir them. He set one down in front of Serenity, and sat down himself, taking a drink.
"Kaiba," Serenity said, after she had taken a drink from her own mug. "You seemed happy today. Like you were at peace with yourself. Like you'd resolved your problem with Mokuba's death.
"It still gets to you, doesn't it? It still hurts."
Kaiba nodded slowly. "No matter how much time passes, the pain will always be there. As long as I live, I'll never get over the fact that he's gone..."
"You really loved him, huh?"
"I'd give anything for him," Kaiba said softly, his eyes growing wet with tears. "He was everything to me...And now that he's gone...I just wish I could tell him that...that I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what, Kaiba?" Serenity asked gently.
"Sorry for not paying more attention to him, for not spending more time with him...I was supposed to be his big brother, his best friend. I realize now that I wasn't...and I just wish I could change that..."
Serenity reached over the table and took his hands again. "Kaiba...he knows you loved him, and he knows you're sorry. He loves you too. I know it. You and Mokuba sound a lot like me and Joey.
"This is the first time I've been with my brother in almost nine years. But I know it wasn't his fault. I know he loves me, and that's all that matters."
Kaiba smiled slightly. "Seems Joey and I have quite a bit in common," he muttered. "Perhaps that's why we hate each other."
Serenity laughed. "Oh, he doesn't hate you. Joey doesn't really hate anyone. At least, I don't think so. And I think he considers you a friend, just like I do."
Kaiba's smile widened slightly. "Perhaps...though I doubt he'd admit it."
"No, no, he probably wouldn't. He's strange like that sometimes."
Kaiba downed the rest of his tea and sighed. "Well...it's late...I think I'll go back to bed. Hopefully I won't dream."
Serenity followed him again, stopping at the room he'd given her for the night. She smiled, wished him goodnight, and walked in. She lay back down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
***
The group left Kaiba's mansion at noon the next day to go to the game shop. Except Kaiba, who stayed in his front parlor, contemplating. The dream he'd had the night before frightened him. Badly.
He couldn't understand it. He remembered fighting the Mythic Dragon in his virtual game, but it hadn't happened that way. It hadn't been his dragon that struck Mokuba. Why...?
I didn't kill Mokuba, he told himself mentally. Some other prick did. I love Mokuba! Like Serenity said, I can't blame myself! It wasn't my fault!
He shook his head. He couldn't keep thinking about this! It would drive him insane eventually. He got up, walked through the hall to the recreation room, sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Using the remote, he flipped to a news channel (he never watched anything else) and lost himself in the droning voice of the reporters, as stories of hurricanes, bank robberies, house fires and other such things flashed in front of him.
His eyes grew heavy, and he was soon asleep.