Lass: I had the inspiration, and I'm going on a vacation tomorrow, so I wanted to update one more chapter before leaving. I hope you all like it.
Disclaimer: For the ones who hadn't realized it yet and the ones who are looking for people to sue; I know I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters. I just write stories about them. The plot of the story is mine, though.
>
She walked in the hallway when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned swiftly, but of course she couldn't see who it was. Serenity just waited, looking at the other in a way that she hoped would look expectantly.
"You're Serenity," was all that the person said.
The girl nodded slightly. The voice was one she hadn't heard before. She was talking to a male, probably a foreigner. He wasn't threatening her, and the way he'd spoken her name told her that he wasn't planning on doing so. But she was careful anyhow, not knowing the person and not being able to judge him yet.
His hand was off her shoulder now, and he was standing a little further away than before. He was waiting for her to ask him what he wanted, she guessed, but she wouldn't ask him that. If he wanted to tell her, he would. If it came to talking about patience, you were talking about Serenity. They stood like that for a while, until one of them gave in finally.
"You don't know me yet. I'm Shadi. I believe you've heard about me from your brother?" She nodded once more. Serenity remembered Joey's lame joke about the 'shady character'.
Once again there was a silence, and she waited until Shadi would say whatever he wanted to say. Eventually, he continued, although obviously not wanting to. "I'm the keeper of the Millennium Items, and in the possession of two of them. I got stuck in this tournament when I wanted to find the others. I realize now, though, that it was the wrong thing to do. I can't get away anymore, and I'm not the best duellists. When someone beats me in a duel, I lose both my soul and my body. And that would mean that the Items I carry aren't safe any longer. I want to have them somewhere safe."
She was surprised. "And what do I have to do with this?"
He chuckled. She was glad that apparently she'd been funny, she thought sarcastically, but that was not really the reaction she'd meant to cause. "You are the one I want to give them to."
Serenity was stunned into silence. He must've made a mistake. "Why?" She didn't really understand it either way. He could better give them to Yugi, he wouldn't lose a duel. And if he didn't want to give them to a duellist, why didn't he give them to Tea. She was Yugi's guest, and therefore safe from them. Anyone but her, anyhow, was a better idea.
When she told him this, however, he disagreed. "I observed everyone around here, and you were the best choice. I won't say much about this anymore, since I don't feel like I have to explain myself. But I do want to ask you not to show anyone else the Items, nor tell them about it. This should stay between us. Use them well." He took her hand and closed it around a bag. Then, he released both her hand and the bag and walked off. His soft footsteps were the only things that enabled her to tell.
"Thank you for bringing Mokuba to my room," she said.
The sound of a coat moving swiftly told Serenity that he had turned to face her. "How did you know that?" he asked her, sounding surprised.
She giggled. "Lucky guess," she told him. He walked off again, a faint smile on his face, leaving her alone in the corridor.
Without losing any time, she went to the kitchen. Those Items were very interesting, but that was not quite what she had to be concerned about at the moment. Serenity was the first one to arrive in the kitchen, and she seated herself carefully beside a table which was so filthy that she had to make sure she didn't sneeze, a cup of water next to her. The good side of it was that this showed that it was probably not often used. She cursed her bad eyesight, but there was nothing to do about it. This would have to do.
Only a few minutes after she'd arrived, at what Serenity assumed to be a quarter to five, someone entered. Soft mumbling noises told her it was a woman. This was probably the woman Mokuba had been talking about. When she saw the young girl sitting in the kitchen this early, she gasped. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked. Her tone was everything but friendly, and yet it was not hostile. The woman was good, Serenity admitted, but she was better.
"I'm one of the maids here. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd just sit here until it is time to get to work. And what about you?" The maid scoffed silently. While trying to contain a smile, Serenity realized that there were good things about bad eyesight. It gave her some advantages.
The voice of the other pulled her from her thoughts. "I'm here to get some food."
Serenity gave her her most innocent and inquiring look. "This early? I think you can better just drink something. It's not good to eat this early." The other woman bought it, and she sat down on the opposite of the table. "Should I get you something to drink?" Serenity asked kindly.
"No, thank you. That will not be necessary. The food is not for me, you know." Serenity held her head slightly bent to the right, inquiring the maid to continue. "There are two boys who need food, and I'm supposed to bring it to them."
This was easier than expected, at least until this point. But nothing useful had been told yet. "What a waste. Can't they get it themselves? Or are they just too snobbish to do so?" The maid snickered, and Serenity knew she had her now. The maid liked her and didn't suspect anything. She reminded herself to stay on her guard, though. She should never underestimate any opponent, not even if the game seemed to be over.
The maid had stopped laughing, and Serenity heard her grab a glass of water. Then, she sat back down. "No, they aren't allowed to come down, that's why I have to bring it to them. But I'm sure that if they were allowed to eat with everyone else, they would indeed still tell me to get them their food."
Serenity now laughed with her. "What a shame. Who are they, that they would feel too good to get their food themselves? Or are they just pretending that they can't get out having you get it for them, to make sure that they wouldn't get a bad reputation? Or maybe…" She stretched the silence a little, "they just want you to get it for them?" A small wink of her eye made the other giggle girlishly.
"No, I'm not that beautiful," she said shyly. The other girl, however, could hear the dishonesty of it. She just didn't show it.
Serenity looked at the maid sarcastically. "You've got to be kidding me. There are very little women I know that would even look remotely good in that worthless uniform, let alone making it look good on them. And please don't tell the others I told you that," she finished in a whisper.
They giggled together. "No, that isn't the case. They really aren't allowed to leave. One of them is quite attractive, he's about as old as we are. The other is just a kid. But they both don't like me a lot at all."
Serenity let out a fake disappointed sigh at the news that the attractive one, who she was sure would be Kaiba, didn't like the person she was speaking to. "Stupid prejudiced guys," she remarked. "Just because you are a maid, you are nothing to them. I hate that kind of people. So kind when you are of some use to them, but once you are below them, they think they are so good…" Her words were filled with contempt, and she drank some of her water.
"No, it's my own fault anyhow. But I wouldn't want him even if I could. He has no power anymore, and they will both be killed at the end of all of this. So what's the use of it? The only reason they are even still alive is because they somehow need them to succeed in what they are planning. And I wouldn't want a boyfriend, even if he's rich, who is only able to sleep, stare and get fed. He even barely talks anymore."
She saw Serenity's confused face. "If you hadn't realized it yet, I'm talking about the Kaiba brothers right now. Seto Kaiba is the oldest of them, and the most dangerous. If he would manage to kill himself, something he'd gladly do to save everyone else, everything would be ruined. He told me himself that he'd rather die than let the Big 5 do what they want to do to everyone. His little brother, Mokuba, isn't essential to the plan. But as long as he's alive, they can use him to convince Kaiba to cooperate. Losing him is therefore not a good thing, either. I have to bring the annoying little pest to his older brother every day, unharmed. Not that he will ever notice that his little brother wears the most concealing clothes we can find for him, of course. He's too drugged for that. And Mokuba doesn't know that we use him to control Kaiba, and the other way around. Mind games are so funny."
Instead of letting everything sink in as usual, Serenity continued to play the curious girl part with surprising ease. "But what if rich boy finds out and kills himself, or if he refuses to cooperate? That can always happen, can't it?"
She bent over, as if she was so intent to hear more of the story that she wanted to miss nothing of it. "Look, it's like this; they need Kaiba's voice and mind pattern to make it work. He can shut up, but then we bring his brother in and torture him, and then it's fine. He doesn't have a choice concerning the mind pattern, since we just hang him to a machine and it will recognise him. But if he lost his voice, or even worse, died, the whole stuff would crash down. We might be able to fake the voice, but not the mind pattern. But he won't be able to kill himself, since he's totally drugged and tied to the bed. And no one beside me and the Big 5 have the key to his room."
"But why do they trust you with something like that? It's a great responsibility, and they are all rich guys. Those usually don't trust a maid with the key to their plan." She sounded as clueless as she could, which wasn't very hard, considering that she really didn't understand that they'd even trust a woman like this with their whole plan.
The maid sighed dreamily, and Serenity almost knew what kind of story would follow. "I have to help them too, and when I was there, one of them showed extra interest in me. We are now in a relationship, and he tells me everything I want to know. I have him wrapped around my finger."
Serenity sighed dreamily, too. "Is he handsome? And does he have a good position in the Big 5?" she asked curiously.
The maid smiled secretively at her, something Serenity didn't see. "He's very handsome. He's in his late 30's, and he used to be in charge of Technical Engineering. His name is Nezbitt, and he's the one who really does all the technology. He's one of the best of them, and possibly the most important save for one of them. But that person is too old for me anyhow. Leichter is about 40 years old, and he is really the brains behind the whole thing. Although I do have to say that he's the sexiest one of them," she added in a hushed voice.
Then, she let out a small scream. "Oh no, I have to get to work! I've been talking for too long! I'm so sorry, but I should be on my way up by now. Perhaps I'll see you later!" she called as she ran out of the room with the pushcart the food was placed on, which had been standing there all the time.
"It was nice talking to you," Serenity called after her. When she was sure that the other was gone, she went up the stairs once more, the bag that Shadi had given her still in her hands.
She entered her room cautiously and put the bag out of sight. Mokuba shouldn't see it either. Serenity could hear his slow breathing, indicating he was still asleep. She sat down behind her desk and opened her laptop, pushing the 'on'-button. When a small noise came, almost inaudible, she typed in her password. The traditional opening tune sounded. Word opened itself automatically. Her sight couldn't even make out the outlines of the program anymore, and she knew it wouldn't be long anymore before she'd be completely blind. Her fingers on the keys told her where the f and the j were, and from there she went to the ctrl and o button. She pushed the arrow downwards two times, and then she was at the document she wanted to open. She pushed enter and listened as the computer opened it. With the ctrl and end button, she was at the end of the document. Her fingers looked for the familiar f and j once more before she started typing.
Serenity had always dreamed that she would make enough money to pay for the operation. Then she would not be blind anymore, and she would be able to correct the pieces she wrote. They were all stories, some bigger than the other, and she wanted to see what a publisher would have to say about it. She was anxious of showing her stories to others, however. The stories were a part of her, and she was afraid that people would think they were ridiculous. Therefore, she preferred to show them only without her name on it. That way, people could say what they wanted about it without knowing it were her stories. But she had never done that either. How would she be able to know what people thought about them? And there were still too many errors in them for anyone to see.
She heard groaning, and realized that Mokuba had woken up. She swiftly saved it and closed the program. Serenity then turned towards him and smiled at him as he sat up. "Good morning, Mokuba."
He yawned and got out of bed. "Good morning, Serenity. What time is it?" She answered that there was a clock on the wall, something she only knew because she'd heard it ticking before. "Why are you up at half past six in the morning? I'd think it's still a little early."
She grinned at him. "It's probably still the jetlag. And why are you up this early, then?"
Serenity heard him sigh and sit down in one of the chairs. "This is about the time where they usually wake me to go to Seto. I guess I got accustomed to it." She got up to sit next to him and put her hand on his arm. He seemed to hesitate slightly before crawling into her arms, softly crying. She heard his unsteady breathing and embraced him tightly. "Can you get Yugi and the others?" he said, trying to stop crying. "I want them to know what's going on, and they are my friends."
She agreed to get them. While telling him to hide under the bed for the time being, she walked to her brother's room, which was next to hers. At first, Serenity didn't knock too hard. When he didn't wake up she knocked harder, before whispering it was her, and not one of his friends. Immediately there were sounds inside, and not too long after, her brother opened the door, fully dressed and awake.
He looked at her inquiringly. "Please wake your friends and bring them to my room. Do not wake anyone else, and try not to be seen. Pretend you were the one who found him," she whispered softly. A rustle told her he'd nodded, and he went to do so without further questions. He knew better than to question his sister. She went back to the room, locking her door behind her. "Mokuba, it's me. You can come out now. Don't worry, let Joey and me do the talking."
They waited for a while, until there was a knock on the door. Serenity went to the door, but she didn't open it yet. "Seren, it's me and my friends," she heard Joey say. She opened the door and ushered them in.
When Joey entered the room, he was surprised to find Mokuba sitting on one of the chairs. The others saw nothing but a smile on his face, however, as he walked to the young boy. He now understood what his sister meant when she told him to pretend that he was 'the one who found him'. He noticed the others' surprised looks and smiled at them. They sat down slowly, holding their questions on Mokuba's behalf, who looked like he had just experienced something horrible.
He got to the acting immediately. "I found him this night," he told them. He noticed Mokuba's questioning look, but the boy didn't speak. "He ran and came here. I brought him to my sister, since he had fainted." The look had disappeared from Mokuba's face, as if he finally understood something.
Serenity knew that it was not the truth from her brother's voice, but she assumed that Mokuba didn't. Joey had said the exact right thing to fill up the story for Mokuba.
That was when she noticed that something wasn't the way it should be. She listened to everyone's breath. There were two people on her left, three near the seats, three further into the room and two on her right. She counted the people that should be here according to her, and counted eight. But who were the other two, then?
She thought a little longer, but she couldn't think of anyone she knew. So when everyone had gotten used to the idea that Mokuba was indeed in this room, she spoke up in her innocent voice. "Big brother, who are they?" she said while looking in the direction from where she'd just heard his voice.
He gasped a little before he answered. "I'm sorry, little sis. They are Ishizu and Marik Ishtar, the ones I told you about earlier. They are from Egypt." She nodded. She knew who he was talking about. "They came here because Ishizu had seen Mokuba and you waiting for something with her Millennium Item, and she knew you were my sister."
The necklace. Ishizu Ishtar was in the possession of the Millennium Necklace. Her brother had told her about the Items and their powers, and the power of the Necklace was that of being able to see the future.
A female voice from her right told her that Ishizu was standing not too far away from her, still near the door. "It's nice to meet you, Serenity," she said.
Serenity smiled in her direction. "The feeling is mutual, miss Ishtar." Ishizu' soft laugh sounded through the room.
"You can call me Ishizu, Serenity. There is no need for such formality." Then she heard rustling from her general direction and the voice of the woman again. "And the boy next to me is Marik, my younger brother."
If Serenity had been able to see, she would have seen the boy look at her annoyed while the sister was talking to the others. But all she noticed was the voices that were asking Mokuba for information on the current situation. The young boy told them everything he could, which wasn't any more than what he told her. Everyone but her was now sitting in a chair, listening to him.
She sat sown behind her desk once more, opening the laptop. She continued typing until she heard one of them get up and walk towards her. The footsteps were soft, and any normal person would've missed them. But her improved hearing enabled Serenity to hear him before he was with her, and she closed the computer before the person was close enough to read anything.
It sounded like a boy, and a little later, her suspicions were confirmed. "What were you doing?" asked a voice Serenity hadn't heard before. The voice was rich and deep, and she knew it was Marik.
She turned around and smiled at him innocently. "Just typing away," she said with the same innocent, childish voice she always used around people that were not her brother. "Why?"
He just snorted and turned away. This girl was too childish. The way she talked alone annoyed him. Then, her brother noticed him. "Marik," he called. "Don't mess with my sister." The looks on the faces of Tristan and Duke told Marik that he was not the only one who had received that warning. He rolled his eyes, sighing quietly.
Marik walked away, mumbling silently. "Great; overly dependant, horrible taste in clothing and an overprotective brother. Just the kind of girl I like," he muttered sarcastically.
Of course, Serenity had heard him. She bit her lip. Even though this was exactly what she wanted other people to see, it still hurt a bit. And so what about the clothing? How can you expect someone who is practically blind to find some good clothing? She was already happy when she could discern the black clothes when she was in a shop. Black was a good colour; it went with everything and it would never be a bad combination. Unless, of course, you were wearing a sweater that was two sizes too big and pants that were too. But they were comfortable, and that was what it really was about to her.
Serenity turned back to her computer and went on, meanwhile listening to Mokuba telling the others everything. "I didn't know what to do, but I do know that my big brother wouldn't want everyone to suffer. He'd rather sacrifice himself. So I ran when I had the chance, even after they told me that they would hurt my brother if I did. And now I feel all guilty about doing so," the young boy finished softly. Before anyone could say or do anything, a knock on the door disrupted them.
Swiftly, Mokuba crawled under the bed while Serenity went to open the door. She heard the groaning of some of them when they saw her going, and she recognized Marik and Mai's voices. The girl ignored them, though, and opened the door.
"We are looking for someone," an unfamiliar voice said sternly.
She looked up at him with innocent, questioning eyes. "Who are you looking for, then?"
Serenity knew that no one could just push her out of the way now. She would never lie to anyone. At least, that was what it seemed like. But they could try to put some pressure on her, to make her talk. Which was exactly what the man did.
"I think you know who I mean," he said. His voice was stern, and no doubt could be heard. But Serenity wasn't that easy to frighten.
She once again raised her eyes to his. "I'm sorry. Are you looking for my brother or one of his friends?" she kindly tried.
He looked down at the girl. She was looking up at him with that innocent look once more. He knew that this was Serenity Wheeler, the young sister of Joey Wheeler, who was friends with the Champion, Yugi Moto. He and Kaiba were acquaintances, and the young Kaiba was actually a friend of theirs. But she wasn't dangerous. If you would put enough pressure on the innocent girl, she'd give in eventually. "Yes, I'm looking for one of his friends. But no one is in their room. Do you have any idea where they are?"
The girl nodded. "They're inside my room. Who are you looking for?"
Inside the room, everyone looked at one another exasperated. Then they turned towards Joey, hoping that he'd interrupt the girl before she'd say anything else. This was going the wrong way. But he did nothing, and at the door, the conversation continued.
"Can I see them?" he said. She nodded and stepped aside, allowing him in. He just looked past her inside her room and found them sitting there, looking at her. The young Kaiba wasn't with them, but he was sure the boy had to be somewhere. He decided that this girl was the easiest way to victory and turned towards her again. Luckily, he missed the desperate looks everyone gave one another. "What are they doing here?" he asked her.
She realized he'd only taken a look at them before he had talked to her, and that he was planning on trying to get her to spill. "We were talking," she said truthfully. Behind her, everyone was trying to contain themselves from going there, making the girl shut up and talking them out of this. But they knew that this would be too obvious, so they had no choice but to listen.
In the meanwhile, the man was delighted. This was just too easy. "About what were you talking?"
Serenity heard the confidence in his words. He knew that she was not one to lie, and not able to take any pressure. But the held breaths behind her told her that he was not the only one. "About this Tournament," she said. "And about the Kaiba brothers."
Knowing that the guy could not see them, the others put their heads in their hands. Only Joey remained staring at his sister's back, hoping that she knew what she was doing.
"Who are inside your room?" the man asked.
Serenity pretended to be surprised. "Why?'' she asked him naively.
He took it as a sign of nervousness and went on. "I think that you know perfectly well why I'm asking you this, girl. Don't try to mess with me. Now tell me, where is he?"
She pretended to be impressed by him. "You just saw the persons who are inside my room, sir. Who are you looking for if it's not them?" But her voice sounded nervous while she asked him this.
He smelled his victory. "I'm looking for the young boy that is hiding inside your room."
The others knew that they were defeated and leaned back, their eyes closed. There was no way that he wouldn't find Mokuba under the bed if he came looking. There weren't that many places where one could hide. And Serenity wouldn't be able to get herself out of this.
Mokuba, under the bed, was shaking with fear. He'd recognized the voice as that of Johnson, one of the members of the Big 5. He wondered what had happened to Serenity. She'd seemed to know what to do all the time while they were alone. And then she'd gotten her brother and she seemed even more childish and afraid than him. He didn't understand it. And now, because of that, he would be brought back again. Was it because he'd told them everything and now, they didn't need him anymore?
Serenity looked down for one second, before looking up to him once more. Then, she sighed dramatically. Almost as if she was faking it, he thought. She stepped aside, allowing him to enter. Johnson took it as a sign to go and look for him, as if she wanted to challenge him. He smirked at the girl, not knowing that she wouldn't see it anyhow, and walked past her. He saw the others staring at him and he smirked at them.
Before anyone could try to do anything, Johnson walked further into the room. He walked to the bathroom to see if the boy was there. While the others seemed to be glaring at the girl, he realized that the boy was not in the bathroom. As he walked out, however, he saw the others staring surprised at the spot where the young girl stood before. He saw her running through the hallway. He cursed himself. Of course the sigh had been faked. She had tried to get him into this room while she was going to warn the young boy.
The others were looking surprised as the man ran after Serenity. Joey was the only one who understood what she had just done. And when her desperate cry rang through the hall, he ran to Mokuba. "RUN, MOKUBA!"
Marik was staring surprised at Joey, who told Mokuba to stay there, and don't listen to what the girl said. Even her older brother didn't trust her judgement, he thought.
When she had heard him enter the bathroom, she ran into the corridor. She opened the door to Yugi's room while running on to the stairs. Serenity just hoped her brother knew what to do now, because if he didn't…
Johnson ran after the girl. He saw the opened door that led to the room of the Champion. He should've known that they'd hide the boy in his room and not in the girl's. He spotted her near the stairs. When she heard him coming, she looked in his direction once before turning to the stairs for one last time. "RUN, MOKUBA!" she screamed. Then, she turned to him and spread her arms in front of the stairs. "You'll have to get through me to get him, you mean guy," she said. She seemed to be determined to give him as much time to get away as she could.
"Gladly," he said. He walked to her and pushed her aside. But he felt her nails in his arm, and she was struggling to keep him there. He tried to get his arm out of her grasp, but her nails were in his arms now. He had to admit that it actually hurt him.
He then swayed with his arm, causing her to hit the railing that surrounded the stairs. But she wouldn't let him go, and his arm was bleeding because of her nails. Johnson then used his other arm to grab one of hers and press hard enough to make her let go. When he wanted to do the same to the other arm, however, she put the nails of her other hand back into his arm. He then smashed her roughly against the railing once more, before hitting her over the head, hard. She finally let go as he ran after the boy.
He'd lost too much time, he realized. The stupid girl had managed to keep him busy long enough for the young Kaiba to hide somewhere again, and he couldn't be tracked down when he was inside of the building. And the tranquillizers he'd been given to keep him calm and unable to think clear would've stopped working by now. But he couldn't tell the others that he'd lost the important boy just because of the bad acting of that stupid girl. And so, he ran as fast as he could.
While Serenity was busy with keeping Johnson from going down the stairs, Joey was trying to stop Mokuba from running like his sister had said. When the boy finally calmed down, he looked up to see the others looking at them.
He got up and looked at them. "Why are you still sitting there?" he asked them while running to the corridor. They looked at him surprised, not knowing what to do.
The force of the blow had been enough to knock Serenity unconscious. She vaguely discerned footsteps coming her way, but she was unable to do anything. Unbeknownst to her, her head was bleeding from a wound she'd suffered when she had fallen to the ground. She could hear her brother say her name, and then she fainted once more.
Marik shook his head. What had the girl been trying? Trying to distract the man while Mokuba should run? That was a useless action, since he wouldn't miss the boy. When he saw his sister get up to see what was taking Joey so long, he raised his eyebrow at her. Ishizu just walked out, however, without answering him.
"Why did Serenity do that?" Tea asked, clueless. "I mean, he could never have gotten away…"
The others agreed with her. "One of us should have opened that door. He'll surely return now," Mai said. "It was just too obvious to miss it."
"Do you think we can hide Mokuba somewhere else?" Tristan asked.
Yugi shrugged. "I think they'd just look in all of our rooms. And there is no other place I know where we can hide him."
Bakura seemed to be thinking very hard, though. "I don't know, you guys. There is something about what Serenity did, that makes me think that she didn't mess up as much as we think." The others looked at him weirdly. "Joey seemed to trust her."
Marik snorted. "Then why did he tell Mokuba to stay there while his sister screamed that he should run?"
But Yugi seemed to agree with Bakura. "But what," he said, frowning, "if she wasn't screaming at Mokuba?" The others didn't understand what he meant.
"She said his name, smartass," Duke said. "Of course she was talking about him. Who else was she talking about?"
At that moment, there was a sound at the door. They turned to see Ishizu come in, followed by Joey. Serenity was in his arms, unconscious. They gasped.
Joey put her on the bed and told Mokuba it was safe to come out. Ishizu had already closed the door and was now getting the first aid kit. Mokuba sat down next to Serenity, staring down at her. No one spoke a word.
While Ishizu was bandaging the girl's head, everyone was looking at one another. But no one knew what had happened, although Yugi and Bakura had a faint idea. Joey and Mokuba were just watching as Ishizu took care of Serenity. She was still unconscious, but a small smile was on her face. As Marik looked at her, he wondered what she had done exactly. But the only one beside her who was likely to know was now watching his little sister concerned.
A small groan escaped from Serenity's lips, and her eyelids fluttered. She didn't wake up, however. Finally, it was Yugi who asked the question.
"Joey, what happened?" He wasn't only asking about Serenity now, but also about Johnson and Mokuba.
The boy looked at them, smirking. "Ma lil' sis just surprised me," he said in his typical accent. The others wanted further explanation, though. "I thought she'd never be able to get us out of this, but she managed. Apparently, she'd been planning this from the beginning. She made him think we had Mokuba, which was the truth. Then, she sighed before letting him in, making him unsure of whether this was right. Then, when he was checking the bathroom, she ran into the hallway and opened your door, Yugi, to make him think that someone had just come out of that room. She went to the stairs and shouted for Mokuba to run when he approached, and then she tried to keep him here for as long as she could, as if she was really trying to give Mokuba time to escape while he was not even there. That way, they will think that he is somewhere else in the building, hiding, and not here."
They were all staring at her. That was when Serenity slowly opened her eyes. "Ow, my head," she groaned. She then seemed to remember what had happened. For a moment, she lay completely still as her eyes were staring at the ceiling. Then, she smiled. "Can you look at my arm, too?" she asked.
When Ishizu smiled at her and pulled up the sleeve, she closed her eyes again, as if she was very tired. Ishizu couldn't blame her. With a head wound like that, she wouldn't feel good either. The bruise on her arm made Joey and Mokuba gasp. Someone had gripped her wrist very tight to cause this kind of bruise.
Serenity heard two gasps as she felt soft hands handle the bruise. There were three people around her, one of who would be her brother. The other, she assumed, would be Mokuba. And there was a woman. It could either be Tea, Mai or Ishizu.
"Don't worry about it," she said with a painful grin. "I got him back for it."
Her brother snickered. "I wouldn't have expected anything else from you, sis. I'm proud of you." She smiled at him.
In the meanwhile, the others were just staring at the ones on the bed. "Okay…" Mai said. "I hadn't expected that. Well done, Serenity. I see you have more brains than your brother." Everyone knew she didn't mean it, though. Joey had been the only one who had even known what she wanted to do. It was just a habit to Mai, as they all knew.
The others nodded. "Yeah, I really didn't see that one coming," Tristan said.
Serenity smiled at them. "Luckily, he didn't either." They snickered a little. "I just hope he won't come back."
When Ishizu spoke from next to her, Serenity knew that she was the one who was now carefully bandaging her arm. "If I understood it, I don't think he'll be back. He'll think that Mokuba will be too smart to return just after he'd been found here. And he would never think you were lying. The acting was too good for him to think so. It wouldn't make sense."
Marik was surprised. Perhaps his first impression of the girl hadn't been completely truthful. She was smarter than he'd first thought she'd be, and she had some courage too. This wasn't something everyone would do, especially after the one who the enemy wanted to have had lost his use anyhow by telling the information.
He saw her slowly falling asleep once more. He would be surprised if she didn't have a concussion. From the way his sister had looked while bandaging it up, he knew that it probably was quite a large wound.
They started a whispered conversation while Mokuba watched over the sleeping girl. Joey and Ishizu had come to sit with them again.
"What will we do now?" Tea whispered softly. "We have Mokuba, and the little information he has, but we have to find more. While I'm sure that all of you will be able to get through the first round tomorrow, there are others who won't. They'll be the victims of this mad scheme. And we have no idea if we can get them out of it or not."
Tristan spoke up. "From what Mokuba told us, it's impossible to get them back."
Yugi was staring in front of him. Then his eyes came back into focus. "Yami told me that it is possible to get people back from the Shadow Realm. But I don't know about the other part. Mokuba said that they wanted to use them for Duel Monsters or something like that. I don't know if that's reversible or not."
Duke frowned. "Did he mean that we would turn into Duel Monsters? I don't know about the truth in that, Yugi. It just doesn't seem likely to me," he whispered. "How would they turn us into Duel Monsters? Putting a stupid costume on us or something?" He snickered, and so did Tristan.
The others didn't see the fun of it, however. "I think this should be taken seriously," Ishizu said. "This is everything but a joke, and lives are at danger now. Perhaps my brother and I can help, but you have to take this seriously. The young girl already got hurt because of this, and it's only the beginning. The duels haven't started yet, and it will be hard to make others lose and therefore leave them to the mercy of the Big 5."
"Yeah," Joey said. "I bet that the winner of this tournament will be tortured by guilt all the time."
Bakura frowned. "The winner of this tournament…" The others looked at him, wondering what he was thinking about. Bakura looked up again. "Will they get that bracelet off? Because if the Big 5 refuses to get it off, the winner will be locked up here, with no way out."
They all frowned. No one put it past the Big 5 to just refuse to get the bracelet off and lock them in the hotel for all eternity.
Marik shook his head. "Let's not focus on after the tournament. We have to find a way to stop them as soon as possible, before too many people are lost to us. We need to have a plan, preferably before the tournament starts tomorrow. There is no time for useless conversation now."
No one could disagree. But they couldn't think of something, either. After about an hour of useless suggestions, Bakura spoke. "We need to eat. Not to be disrespectful or something, but we can't think if we don't eat."
"He's right," Joey agreed. "We can just take some food up here and pretend that it's just for Serenity. The bastard that was here before knows that he hurt her, so it's logical that she would stay here. It wouldn't be hard to fool them. And if we don't eat, we'll only grow irritated over time. And if there's anything we can't use at the moment, it's an argument between us." They nodded and went down for breakfast.
When they left the room, Serenity's eyes opened. She'd listened the whole time, unbeknownst to anyone but Mokuba. The boy was looking down upon her with a lost expression.
She sat up and took him in her arms. "Why did you do that? And why were you acting so differently?" he asked her innocently.
She looked him in the eye. "There is no need to try and fool me, Mokuba," she said. "You're smarter than you make people believe. I know already."
Serenity heard him sigh. "I'm sorry. It's just an old habit. I need it to survive most of the time. My brother knows me better than that, but no one else. They don't really try to see past the younger and less smart brother of the infamous Seto Kaiba."
He looked up at the face of the girl. He thought she had beautiful eyes. They were just like pools where one would never be able to see the depth, no matter how far they looked.
She smiled as she felt his eyes upon her. Her vision was near black now. When she'd hit her head, something had gone completely wrong with her eyes. Only the lightest shades seemed to stand out anymore, and they, too, would disappear soon.
"It's almost the same with me. It's just a façade I put on to fool people. My brother knows better, and now you do, too, but I hide it from everyone else. As you probably know, it's easier to seem innocent and dumb, since people don't expect too much of you then." They both sighed at the same time, which made them laugh a bit.
Mokuba looked at the girl once more. "When I'm being myself, I'm always very confident. What are you like, when you're being yourself?" he asked curiously.
Serenity looked in his general direction once more. "In one word? I'd call myself calculating."
Mokuba crawled further into her arms. "I'm afraid," he whispered. "Everything is just so wrong now. And perhaps Seto won't even survive. He's all I have left on this world." He shivered, even though he wasn't cold. Serenity hugged him tightly, humming to him.
The humming turned into singing. It was a piece of a song she'd heard before, and it somehow comforted her when she was despairing. Mokuba listened to her beautiful voice as the words formed themselves and conjured a wonderful melody. "We're part of a story, part of a tale… We're all on this journey, no one is to stay… where is it going, what is the way? We're part of a story, part of a tale… Sometimes beautiful and sometimes insane… No one remembers how it began…"
The young boy stared in front of him. "What'll happen now?" he asked. "How will this all end?"
The girl shook her head, and stared into nothingness.
"I don't know, Mokuba. I just don't know…"
>
Lass: I hope you liked it. Please review if you have any ideas/suggestions or just want to tell me what you think of it. I'll see you later!