Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I guess everyone should know this by now.

To ssp: Since Kaiba's first plan was to marry Serenity so she might fall for him, and he announced it already, he would rather marry her and torture her than to loose face from the news that she ran away.

To Yamiko Yakou: Thank you very much!!!

To Goddess-Hope: You'll have to find out then...

Okay, I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter!

The Spirit of the Sword

Chapter 8

The Wedding

The sun just rose from the horizon. The bright golden sunlight illuminated the big room. There was a blonde hair sleepy-beauty lying on the middle of the soft bed. She was still asleep, with a satisfactory smile on her beautiful face. After a while, the girl began to move.

Mai stretched her arms and opened her eyes lazily. She had a soft smile on her face, indicating that she had a good night sleep and a sweet dream. She sat up on her bed and looked around the room with her purple eyes still filled with some signs of sleepiness. Nope. No signs of Joey. I wonder where is he… Oh right, he wanted to discuss some plans with Yami.

She got out of the bed and put on her purple dress. She went into the bathroom and washed her face. When she came back out, she looked refreshed and energetic again. Mai decided to find Joey and see what they wanted to do in regards to Serenity.

She walked out of her room and down the hallway. The soft and red carpet on the floor allowed no sounds to be heard when one walks on it. She stopped at Joey's room and knocked on the door three times. No one answered. She knocked again. Still, no one answered.

"Joey? It's Mai. Are you awake yet?" Mai asked lightly, didn't want to wake him up if he was still asleep.

"Joey? Are you awake?" Mai asked again, a little bit louder this time. She was starting to loose her patience. "Joey, I'm coming in, okay?"

Mai turned on the doorknob and found that his room wasn't lock. She opened the door and walked inside. There was no one in the room. She saw that the bed sheets and covers were all neatly stacked at the end of the bed.

"It's not like Joey to make his own bed. Did he not sleep yesterday?" Mai mumbled suspiciously.

She walked out of Joey's room and went to the room next to Joey's room. That was Tristan's room. Again, she didn't find anyone there. She returned to the hallway and went to the room opposite of Tristan's room. This room was Duke's room. Duke wasn't in his room also.

"Where's everybody? Is this a ghost town?" Mai asked. "Maybe they're in Yami or Yugi's room."

Mai decided to go to the last room down the hallway. That was Yami's room, with the most expensive decorations. She knocked on the door, but only silence answered her knock.

"Ughh! That's it. I'm going in" Mai groaned. She pushed open the door and found that no one was in the room. "Where is everyone?!?"

"Mai?" Tea walked into Yami's room and saw Mai and heard her frustrated question. "Are you looking for Yami?"

"Oh Tea! Good morning. Where's everyone? I looked all over the place and I only see you here" Mai rushed towards Tea and questioned her.

"Good morning, Mai. Yami, Joey, Tristan, and Duke went out. Only Yugi, Rebecca, and I are in the castle now." answered Tea. She walked toward the bed and started to make the bed.

"Do you know where did they go?" Mai asked desperately. She had a bad feeling about today. She really wanted to find Joey fast.

"Nope. I think Yugi knows. Why don't you go ask him? He's in the lobby right now." Tea answered without looking up. She was now mopping the floor.

"K! Thanks, Tea!" Mai said. Then, she ran out of the room and went downstairs to the lobby.

As Mai was descending the stairs, she saw Yugi stared out of the window and he was frowning. Mai walked up toward her little cousin, who was a bit shorter than her.

"Yugi! Do you know where Joey and the others went?" Mai asked.

Yugi turned around and saw a worried Mai. "Oh, morning Mai. They… um they went to Domino castle about one hour ago. Here, Mai, Joey asked me to give this to you." Yugi handed a note to Mai.

Mai opened the letter and scanned through it:

Mai, I discussed with Yami and the others last night. We decided to pay Kaiba a visit.

He had sent us an invitation to his damn wedding! I definitely wanted to go. Tristan and Duke were really furious last night, and they insisted on coming with me. So, Yami also decided to come. Yugi had to stay at the castle to protect you, Tea, and Rebecca. Don't worry Mai; we should be back by noon. Stay back at the castle, okay? Whatever happens, do NOT come to Domino!

"Well, now you know why they went out." Yugi said after Mai folded the note.

"Yugi, do you think they'll be all right? Should I go too?" Mai couldn't decide on whether to go and find Joey, or listen to him and stay at the castle.

"Mai… I think they'll be fine. You should stay." Yugi suggested. His violet eyes also seemed a bit worry about his friends.

"Um… okay…" Mai said uncertainly. She turned around and went back into her room. I had a really bad feeling about this. Kaiba is not someone to be messing around with…

Meanwhile, Serenity was still sleeping on the bed. She was really tired from yesterday's escape and capture. Contrary to Mai, she didn't get a good night sleep at all. She was constantly awaked because of horrible nightmares.

Knock, knock! Someone knocked on the door twice. Serenity's long eyelashes moved a little. She slowly opened her eyes. Her hazel eyes expressed sleepiness and tiresome. She was confused about where she really was.

"Miss Wheeler. I bring the wedding dress for you." Bakura said with a deep voice.

Serenity immediately sharpened her vision and remembered that she was captured by Kaiba yesterday. She jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom. She didn't want to see anyone right now.

Bakura opened the door and walked inside. He put down the wedding dress and waited for Serenity to come out. He needed to keep an eye on her. His keen eyes scanned the whole room and noticed that she was in the bathroom.

"Miss Wheeler. There's no need to hide. You'll eventually have to come out." Bakura said, emotionless.

Serenity bit her lower lips. She knew that Bakura was right, so she slowly opened the door and came out of the bathroom. She looked down on the floor, and her auburn hair was a bit messy because she didn't brush her hair yet after she woke up.

"Change into the wedding dress now. The wedding will be at nine o'clock, about one hour later." Bakura told her. "Kaiba will be waiting at the royal church in the castle. I will be escorting you to the church."

Serenity was standing about two feet away from Bakura. Her hand was entwining her long pink dress. She didn't really want to change into the wedding dress.

Bakura walked toward her. He extended his hand and tilted her head upward by her chin, so that she would look into his eyes. "Don't waste any time. I'm not a very patient person." Bakura warned with his creepy voice. His intention was to scare Serenity, but he was astonished by her beauty. What a pair of pretty eyes she had… She looks so gentle… Hmph, so what? Bakura let go of her chin and turned away.

"Get ready in thirty minutes. Don't make Kaiba come up here." Bakura warned Serenity. Then, he walked out of the room to let her have some privacy.

Serenity was trembling from the scary stares of Bakura. He had succeeded in scaring her. She shivered more at the mention of Kaiba. She definitely didn't want Kaiba to come up here. Therefore, she quickly walked to the bed and picked up the wedding dress.

The dress is so pretty! I've always dream of wearing a white wedding dress and walk down the church to the person I love! But… this is not really the kind of wedding I wanted: to be forced to walk down the aisle to some devil!

Serenity went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. Then, she began to change her clothes, and brushed her hair. When she finished, she walked in front of the mirror and looked at herself. She saw her reflection in the gigantic mirror. In the mirror, there was a beautiful young woman. The white wedding dress fitted her body perfectly, showing her slim and nicely-curved body. Her whole arms and upper chest were showing. Although her white-jade necklace was showing, there was another diamond necklace that came with the wedding dress. I guess I'll have to wear the diamond necklace. The puffy dress was long and touched the ground. The laces and the patterns on the dress were marvelous. Her long auburn hair was down and she put the white ribbon on her head.

Serenity was blushing like a red cherry. She had never worn any clothes that are too perfectly fitted because other people would be able to see her body curvature. Her mother didn't allow her to wear such clothing, and neither did Joey.

She walked toward the table and found a lot of make ups on the table. She picked up one of the pink lipstick and put some on. Then, she used the brush to put on the make up, only lightly, because she doesn't like have a too colorful face. When she was finished, she looked really pretty—natural beauty, because she didn't put on excessive make up that would look like a clown.

When she finished, there was only five minutes left. Bakura knocked on the door and came in. His eyes flashed with astonishment, but only in a few seconds. Then, he looked normal again. "You're really pretty. I'm glad everyone at the wedding couldn't take his eyes off of you, including Kaiba." Bakura commented on her.

Serenity blushed even more and quickly went into the hallway. She felt really uneasy around Bakura, especially with the wedding dress. "Shall we go?" Serenity said.

"Yes, of course. Kaiba would be stun when he sees you." Bakura answered, making a 'please' sign, indicating she should walk first.

Serenity bit her lower lips and walked slowly down the hallways. She concentrated on the decorations of the castle to distract her uneasy feelings. Wow, the castle was very pretty, the decorations must be expensive! She was impressed at the decorations. She tried to occupy her minds with other things, but it wasn't working at all. All she could think about was Seto Kaiba…

In front of a royal church of Domino Kingdom, the noblemen began to enter the church. They all received the invitations from their king about the wedding. A swarm of people, all dressed in suits or fancy dresses walked into the church. Among the people, there were four handsome young men. They were Yami, Joey, Tristan, and Duke. They were also invited to the wedding.

Joey narrowed his eyes and looked around for Kaiba or his sister. I'll kill that jerk! He thought angrily. Yami saw Joey's angry looks, so he walked closer to him to warn him. "Joey, calm down! We'll see how things are before we could do anything. Remember, it's not just about Serenity, think about our people as well."

"I know, I know! Can't ya see I'm trying to calm down?" Joey hissed. He was in a really bad mood. I know there are more people than Serenity that I might doom, but I can't just leave Serenity in hell! Arghh—I'm so confused! He couldn't decide on what to do after Yami reminded him of the consequences of acting sporadically.

Tristan and Duke were equally furious as Joey. They both had a crush on Serenity, so they also craved to beat Kaiba up for robbing Serenity from them. The plans they came up with last night was to see how Kaiba treated Serenity, then if truly necessary, they'll rescue her. Of course, then they'll probably have to fight Kaiba in personal battle or even a large scale war. But Serenity is Joey's sister after all, they really couldn't just let her suffer in the hands of the devil, Seto Kaiba.

Suddenly, the church became very quiet. Everyone was seated on the chairs. Yami and the others also quickly sat down near the front, but not in the first row so that Kaiba wouldn't notice them. The music was played by the musician sitting in front of the piano.

Seto stood at the end of the aisle. He was wearing a white shirt, a black suit with a black ribbon. His shoes were polished very shinny. His brown hairs were combed neatly, with a bang hanging down above his cold cerulean blue eyes. His left hand was behind his back and his right hand hanging down on his side. He was facing the entrance of the church, waiting to see the frail figure walking toward him.

Several sighs were heard from the audience. The young girls of noble descents all had crushes on Kaiba. Now, he was standing in the church, waiting for some girl from another kingdom. Their hopes of being the queen died off just now.

Serenity stepped up the stairs. Her heart was pounding really fast right now as she was getting closer and closer to the entrance of the church. She could hear the songs played by piano and the silence of the church. She knew that millions of eyes would be staring at her the moment she steps into the church.

She took a deep breathe and continued to step up the stairs. Finally, she reached the top and walked into the church. She couldn't help but searched in the front of the church for the person that occupied her mind the whole morning—Seto Kaiba.

She gasped as she saw the handsome figure standing at the end of the aisle. He was standing still, waiting for her to go to him… Serenity blushed like a red cherry and lowered her head. Her heart was pounding loudly and fast. But, she suddenly felt a sense of guilt toward herself.

What am I thinking? I'm not supposed to be happy like a lovesick puppy! She frowned and scolded herself. This is not my wedding! I'm forced into it! Whatever Kaiba's intention for the wedding is, it certainly wasn't love!!! Wake up, Serenity! What about Joey? He must be worry sick or perhaps furious right now, if he's here… But… the wedding is so dream-like, with this pretty wedding dress, and the handsome man… Oh stop it! What should I do? I don't know what to think now… She continued to struggle within herself. She felt guilty to be so blissful and even blushing!

There were some whisperings from the men in the church. They all looked lustful at Serenity. She's so beautiful, especially with that wedding dress on. Joey, of course, was fuming at the whistling.

"What the hell is Serenity doing? Why is she wearing that… ugh! That wedding dress?!?" Joey had a disgusted look on his face. "Damn you, Kaiba!" he mumbled.

Of course, Seto heard the whistling around and the lustful stares of other men. Although he felt a little uncomfortable and a little anger inside of him. Those men! They better not look at her like that ever again! Or they'll suffer! He thought disdainfully. But he quickly ignored his feelings. He smirked when he noticed a very angry Joey staring at those men in the church. But then again… the mutt is furious right now. He always amuses me… muhahahaha… Of course, I gave her that particular wedding dress to embarrass her and to torture Joey! Seto was enjoying his own evil plan.

Of course, Seto also saw all the expressions on Serenity's face and her hazel eyes. He smirked at her inner struggle. Hahaha… I think she's falling for me. She'll tell me about the techniques to make the perfect sword really soon! Struggle on, my little Serenity. That's for trying to run away from me to humiliate me in front of my people!

As the songs played on, Serenity was slowly approaching Seto. She felt nervous as she approached Seto. What's he going to do to me?

At last, she reached the end of the aisle. Seto walked closer to Serenity and grabbed her wrist. He put his right arm on her waist. Serenity tried to move away to keep some distance, but Seto applied some force so that she couldn't move.

"Don't even try to resist. Don't play any tricks. Your brother is watching. Hahaha…" Seto whispered into her ears. The audience all thought that he was saying something mushy to her. They smiled happily for their king. Serenity shivered a bit. Joey's here? Oh no, what will he think of me?

"Damn that jerk! Get your dirty hands off of ma sista!" Joey mumbled with a repressed voice.

"Joey, just wait a bit longer and see what happens. Don't act too fast or the situation might be aggravated." Yami warned him.

"Damn you, Kaiba! Get your hands off of her!" both Tristan and Duke mumbled too.

"Shhh— keep it down, will you?" the middle age man next to Duke hissed at them. So, they turned back and looked at the ceremony…

The clergyman asked, "Do you promise to take Serenity Wheeler to be your wife/queen and care for her?"

"Yes, I do." Seto answered monotonously. No one could hear any emotions or love from his voice.

The clergyman turned to Serenity. "Do you promise to take King Seto Kaiba to be your husband/king and care for him?"

Serenity bit her lower lip. She wasn't sure if she should answer the question. The church grew silence as everyone was waiting for her reply. Seto frowned and grabbed her wrist more tightly, sending a bit of pain to her wrist.

"I told you not to play tricks. You better answer the question that I want to hear before I turn and chop your useless brother into pieces" Seto threatened.

"I… I… I…" Serenity stuttered. "Um… yes… I d-do…"

The clergyman let out a sigh of relief. He could see his king was about to kill someone if the girl didn't reply soon enough. "Then, exchange rings and you may kiss the bribe, my king." The clergyman announced.

Seto put the ring onto Serenity's finger and she did the same, slowly and nervously. Joey must be very angry at me. I know he didn't like Kaiba…

Seto suddenly grabbed Serenity's waist and pulled her closer to him. He looked at Joey, Tristan, Duke, and Yami from the corner of his eyes. An evil smirk appeared on his face as he leaned closer and closer to Serenity. Serenity was frightened and her heart was pounding very very very extremely fast! Her face was all red from blushing. Oh my god! Is he going to kiss me? Should I push him away? And run?

Joey closed his hands into fists. His knuckles turned white and crackling sound was heard. He was ready to jump out there to stop Kaiba from kissing his sister. Duke and Tristan also stood up and ready to jump out and beat Kaiba up.

Seto saw the four people's figures. Three of them looked extremely pissed off. The smirk on his face grew even larger and he pressed his lips on Serenity's lips, only lightly brushing pass her lips. Although it would be fun to deepen the kiss, but someone already ran toward him and pulled him apart.

"Kaiba!!!" Joey, Tristan, and Duke yelled together. They all looked so pissed off. Joey jumped toward Serenity and wanted to pull her and run away. But Seto was faster than Joey. Seto grabbed Serenity's wrist and pulled her behind him. The evil smirk grew even broader when he saw Serenity had a dreamy look on her face. She didn't even realize that her brother and friends were in front of her at this moment. He was delighted to see the mutt so angry.

Suddenly, Seto saw a bright light shinning and coming towards him. He immediately backed off and became more alert. But he still felt a sharp pain on his right cheek. A drop of crimson blood dripped onto his finger. Joey had pulled out his sword and tried to cut Kaiba on his face.

Seto narrowed his eyes. No one had been able to hurt him. He was too careless just now. Fire could be seen in Seto's cerulean eyes. He was really pissed off by Joey! Seto stared at Bakura, who was sitting in the first row, signaling him to watch Serenity. Bakura stood up and pulled Serenity away, also giving Seto's sword to him.

Serenity was finally awake and horror appeared on her face. She saw her brother holding a sword pointing at Kaiba. Kaiba had a light scar on his face. Apparently, Joey just sliced Kaiba's face. Kaiba had a 'you'll be dead' look on his face. He was staring furiously at Joey. Serenity began to tremble at the fear of a furious Kaiba.

"Joey… no, what have you done… Run Joey! You'll get hurt!" Serenity yelled at Joey.

"Shut up! You better stay out of my way! No one can survive after hurting me…" Seto had a deadly look in his eyes. He didn't look at Serenity when he ordered her to stay away.

Seto pulled out his sword from the sheath and pointed at Joey. The people on the wedding began to scream loudly and ran for their lives as they saw that a sword battle was going to explode. After a few seconds, there were only seven people left in the church: Seto, Serenity, Bakura, Joey, Yami, Tristan, and Duke. Everyone else had disappeared.

In a swift second, Seto had swung his sword mercilessly at Joey. Joey docked the assault, but he was shocked at Seto's swift movement and anger. The battle began! Serenity was terrified. Her heart almost stop jumping. Joey, be careful! But… I don't want Kaiba to get hurt too… Oh traitor Serenity! You should be worrying about Joey, not Kaiba! She scolded herself.

Ding! The swords collided. Serenity gasped. Although Tristan and Duke were furious at the wedding, but they would never beat Kaiba, so they just ruled and cheered for Joey at the side. Yami was frowning. He was worried sick for Joey. It was clear that Kaiba was better than Joey at sword battle. Ding! Ding! The battle continued.

Then, unexpectedly, Joey seemed to kicked something and fall backward. With a thud, he was now sitting on the floor. His sword flew out several feet when he fall. Uh-oh… I'm doomed… Joey closed his eyes and expected a painful sting on his skin somewhere. Seto's sword continued being pushed forward to Joey. Seto had no intention of stopping right now…

Serenity's eyes widened and tears filled up her eyes at the fear of seeing her brother getting hurt. She bolted toward Joey and leaped in front of him. She was determined to protect her beloved brother. She extended her arms and hugged Joey.

"What are ya doing sis?!? Get off!!!" Joey opened his eyes and saw Serenity in front of him. He screamed and tried to push her off. His scream could be heard from outside of the church.

"No!" Serenity yelled and shook her head 'no.' She hugged Joey even harder.

Seto's angry sapphire eyes grew wide. He didn't expect Serenity to jump between him and Joey. He tried to pull back the sword, but it was too late. The sword pierced Serenity's back on the right side. Crimson blood dyed her white wedding dress into a red color. It looked like a crimson flower was blossoming around the sword, which was stabbed into Serenity's back.

"Ah" Serenity's piercing scream was heard. She fall into the arms of Joey.

Joey's heart ached tremendously. Tristan and Duke had their mouths opened widely. Yami was also shocked at the turn of the event.

Seto could only hold his sword. He was frozen and couldn't move. He also felt a sharp pain spreading through his heart. For a few seconds, everyone just stood there.

Tears flowed down Joey's cheeks, the tears of fear. "Seren! Seren! You'll gonna be fine! Why did ya do that, huh?!?" Joey asked, not knowing what to do.

"I… I-I don't want to… to see you… get hurt, Joey…" Serenity was frowning. It was really hard for her to say a complete sentence because of the pain.

Tristan and Duke rushed to the side of Serenity. They held onto one of her hands.

"Please be all right, Serenity!" Tristan said fearfully.

"Don't die!" Duke said, trembling.

Seto finally regained consciousness. He quickly pulled out the sword and dumped it on the floor. He didn't mean to hurt Serenity. His eyes full of anger again when he saw Tristan and Duke holding onto Serenity's pale hand.

"Get out of the way!" Seto hissed. He quickly pushed Tristan and Duke out of the way. He grabbed Serenity from Joey and held her. He stood up and quickly turned around, leaving a heart broken Joey behind. He bolted out of the church and ran back to the castle, holding Serenity tightly.

"Come back here, Kaiba!" Joey shouted. "Give me ma sista back!"

Seto ignored his shouts. Serenity needed the best doctors right now, and he could get them fast.

Serenity was already unconscious right now. Her face was very pale and white. Her lips were no longer red or pink, it was a ghastly white. There were traces of her tears.

"I'm sorry, Serenity… I didn't mean to hurt you…" Seto whispered.

Although Joey, Tristan, Duke, and Yami tried to follow Seto, but Bakura blocked their ways.

"This is not Yami castle! You guys are not welcome. Queen Serenity will be taken care of, you should go back and wait. I'm sure Kaiba would sent you news on her recovery soon." With the last statement, Bakura also bolted after Seto, leaving the four shocked men behind…

Muhahaha… Serenity was hurt… Evil Kaiba!

Sorry, it's actually really sad that Serenity was hurt. I'm evil, right? For hurting such a sweet pretty girl. You'll have to find out what happen to her next chapter…

Review please, otherwise I'll update really really late, because I won't have the energy to write something that no one wants to read… lolz…