Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, something that great will only occur in my dreams, sigh…

Note: I know I said there will be a BIG surprise this chapter, but I pushed it to the next chapter, sorry about that. But there will be an omen, well sort of, about what might happen in the future! But like I said, there will be more interactions between Kaiba and Serenity, Yay! So, enjoy this chapter!

And thanks for all the reviews! Lots of cyber cookies for the reviewers!

The Spirit of the Sword

Chapter 20

Harmony Cracked

The surrounding was all on fire! Layers and layers of fire surrounded her. The flames were taller than her! The burning heat of the orangish-reddish flames threatened to burn her skin. Serenity realized she was trapped in the sea of fire! There was no way of escape. Her eyes widened in fear. The one thing that she feared the most was fire! She was almost killed by fire in her childhood if Joey hadn't saved her that time.

Serenity kneeled down on the ground and hugged her head, trying to protect herself from the flames. She started to shiver violently, tears of fear rolled down her pale cheeks. Those flames were teasing her, teasing that she couldn't escape!

"Joey!" Serenity yelled in fear, even her voice was trembling. But all she could see was fire. There was no sign of anyone, including her brother.

"Seto!" Serenity tried again. There must be someone here! She's scared, really, really scared. She hated fire, hated the heat, hated the bright orange and red colors of fire! She wanted to get out of here! But no one answered her.

Serenity continued to shiver. She felt like her heart couldn't bear her fear anymore, that it would burst really soon. The flames were inching in with a really fast pace. There was not much space she could stay safe from the fire anymore.

"Help…" She whispered lightly. She felt so helpless, so lonely…

"Ah" Serenity cried as she sat up from the soft bed. She grasped for the air, as if she was suffocating. Her hazel eyes were widened and filled with fear. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out where she was. She brought her hands to press on her chest, and felt her heart continued to beat wildly. Then, she brought her hands to her face, and found that her cheeks were covered by tears. Serenity panted heavily for a while, and realized that was just a nightmare.

"What is it?" Seto frowned as he sat up too. He was having a good dream when Serenity's shriek woke him up from his sleep. His blue orbs scanned her face and saw how pale and colorless she was. There were tears on her cheeks too. Her hazel eyes were clearly filled with fear.

Seto pulled Serenity into his arms. His hand wiped away the tears on her face. He felt that Serenity was shivering violently. Then he stroked her auburn hair to soothe her fear. "Mind telling what's wrong?" He asked again.

"I… I was surrounded by a sea of fire…" Serenity sobbed. The fear she had in her nightmare was still seizing her in the real world. "I called for help… but no one came…"

"It's all right now. That was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare." Seto tried to calm her.

"But it felt so real… I felt so helpless…" Serenity uttered lightly with shivering voice.

"I'm here, I won't let that happen to you in real life." Seto whispered. She looked so weak, so frightened, so fragile that he had the urge to protect her from any harm.

Serenity held onto Seto's waist tightly for support. In Seto's strong arms, she no longer felt as frightened as she was in the dream. She knows, no matter what, he would protect her, that was his promise.

Serenity started to calm down. Her breathing returned to normal, her body stopped shivering, and no more tears were in her eyes. But Seto still let go of her.

Serenity rested her head on Seto's chest, she could hear his heart beat. This made her feel so close to Seto. "The thing I'm afraid the most in the world is fire." Serenity said in a quiet tone.

"Hmm? Why?" Seto asked out of curiosity. His hand continued to comb her soft hair.

"When I was little, I was almost killed by fire. If Joey didn't safe me, I wouldn't be here anymore." Serenity explained. "Ever since then, fire is like a monster to be. The burning heat is unbearable too."

Seto didn't say anything. The thought of Serenity being surrounded by fire and almost killed by fire suddenly made his heart ache. The pain was so sudden and unexpected, yet it was so strong too. He tightened his grip on her unconsciously, as if that way he could protect her from her fear.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore. It's safe with me. Now go back to sleep. It's still in the middle of the night." Seto said as he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

Serenity nodded lightly. The awareness that the fire was just a nightmare made her felt so much more relieve. When she lay down back onto the bed, Seto pulled her closer and rested one of his hand on her waist. Looking at Seto, she felt so safe and happy. She closed her eyes and sighed. With a smile, she slowly fell into the world of dreams…

Serenity flipped to her side and felt that the bed was empty. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was the only one still in the room. Where did Seto go? She wondered. Slowly, she wrapped herself with the bed sheet. As she got off the bed, her body still ached from last night. Serenity blushed at the thought of last night and quickly picked up her clothes on the floor. She wanted to take a bath, but she just realized this was just a room in the library, so there won't be any bathroom here.

Serenity dressed herself. Her hazel eyes scanned the room again and spotted the exit. The closet that hid the entrance to this room was miraculously opened, otherwise she wouldn't know how to get out of here. Serenity walked out of the room into the library. She assumed that Seto might be sitting at the desk looking at his documents, but she was wrong. There was no one in the library also. Serenity was a little disappointed. Where could Seto have gone to?

She never really looked around in the giant library, so now was her chance. Serenity observed the room. It was very neat. Hmm… that was weird, she remembered that the floor was supposed to be covered with broken pieces of glasses from last night. Guess someone cleaned it up.

Serenity continued to walk around in the room. There were so many books in the closets. History, Math, Science… It was like every information on earth was in this library. Did Seto read all of these books? Serenity pondered. If he did, then he must be a genius.

There was a painting on the wall. She never really saw it before, since it was actually her first time examining this library. In the picture, she recognized Seto, but he looked much younger back then. Next to Seto was a really cute little boy with raven hair and violet eyes. Who could this kid be?

Serenity walked towards the desk. The mere sight of all those sky-high piles of documents gave her a headache. She picked one up and saw lots of writings in it, it was about some problems caused by the rain in the kingdom. Serenity put the document down and felt sorry for Seto. How did he do it? There were so many cases he needs to look at, so many hard decisions to make everyday.

She spotted a ball of crumpled up paper in the garbage can. That was the only paper in the garbage, how weird? Serenity walked over it and picked it up. She wondered, how come only one piece of paper was being dumped into the garbage can? Serenity opened up the letter and flattened it a little. Then her hazel orbs quickly examined this paper.

Dear Kaiba-boy,

How have you been lately? Haven't heard from you for weeks. Have you given up?
Miss your little brother Mokuba, don't you?
Couldn't find a better sword than mine, now could you? Perhaps you should consider joining with your brother, in the shadow realm!
Now, now, don't get angry with me, Kaiba-boy. It's your father's fault! You should be angry with him!
Oh well… come visit me soon. Remember to bring a better sword next time!

From,
Pegasus

Serenity's eyes widened. This letter was so… so cruel. This person, Pegasus, was clearly writing this letter to tease Seto! She was confused by this letter. Many questions popped up in her head. Seto has a little brother named Mokuba? How come she didn't see Mokuba around? Ah, it must be the cute little boy in the painting she just saw. Did… did Pegasus held Mokuba in prison or something? In the so called shadow realm? But what is Shadow Realm? It sounded so scary… And, why did Seto has to bring a sword, a better sword? And all this had to do with Seto's father? What exactly was this all about?

Footsteps were heard approaching the door of the library in the hallway. Serenity quickly crumpled up the letter and dumped it back into the garbage can, as if she was a thief secretly reading something she's not supposed to read.

Serenity eyed the closed door with curiosity. She wondered who approached the door. The footsteps stopped in front of the door.

"Did the Queen come out?" A deep and imposing voice asked. Serenity recognized that voice, it was Seto!

"No, my King." An unfamiliar voice answered. It was probably a guard or a follower of Seto.

There were no more questions and answers as the door knob was being turned. The door opened, and in walked Seto Kaiba. He was as handsome as ever, Serenity smiled. His hair was combed neatly, and he seemed to have changed his clothing from what he wore yesterday. He was now wearing a pair of black pants, a white shirt, and long blue trench coat.

Does Seto ever dress more like a King? He always seemed so casual in the castle… Serenity wondered. She stood next to the garbage can quietly, didn't know what to do. She couldn't tell what Seto's mood was, since he had no facial expression at the moment.

Seto walked over and gave her a morning kiss on her lips. Then, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the doorway without saying anything. Serenity saw two guards outside the door and five maids waiting in the hallway. She didn't know what Seto was doing. "What are you doing? Where are we going?" She asked.

Seto stopped. He closed the door for a while to talk to Serenity. "Go with the maids, they'll help you with a bath. Then eat breakfast. After you're full, come back to the library. I have something very serious to tell you." Seto ordered. He planned to ask for her help to rescue Mokuba, but she need to eat something first, because he had to tell her what happened to Mokuba, so that might take a while.

"But… what about you?" Serenity asked. But from the looks of Seto, he probably took a bath and ate breakfast already… without her… Serenity lowered her eyes a bit. She felt a bit disappointed that Seto ate without her.

"I ate already." Seto said.

See? I knew it. Serenity thought disappointedly.

"Now, be a good girl and go with the maids." Seto said again, fondling her silky hair like she was a little kid.

"But I have something to ask you too…" Serenity said. All she could think about now was that awful letter from Pegasus, whoever he might be. However, Seto opened the door and pushed her to the maids.

"We'll discuss them when you come back then." Seto said. He gave the maids a look, and they quickly brought Serenity towards the King's bathroom for a bath. Serenity was half-forced to go with the maids. She swallowed her questions and went with the maids. Her questions could wait, but she started to feel hungry now. Therefore, Serenity followed the maids down the hallway…

Bakura walked down the hallway in a ghastly mood. The maids or the guards who happened to walked pass him all tried to keep a safe distance from him, since his expression was so furious. Obviously, he was still terribly angry at Serenity for dumping him at the front gate and made him wait for one hour last night.

He wanted to go interrogate 'the Queen' for what she had done. No one ever made him wait for nothing like an idiot, not even Kaiba. How dare she did that to him. Hmph.

While Bakura was still puffing out of anger, he spotted Serenity coming out of the King's bedroom. She wore a long pink dress with white blossoms at the bottom of the dress. Her auburn hair was down, and a bit wet at the end of her hair. Bakura assumed she must have just taken a bath. There was also a pink ribbon on her hair. She looked so happy, like an angel.

Bakura looked around and saw no one was in the hallway. He quickly ran towards Serenity and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her into a random room and shut the door. Of course Serenity tried to struggled, but to no avail.

"What are you doing?" Serenity yelled angrily. Bakura scared her to death. She thought that some bad person tried to kidnap or kill her!

"Shhh!" Bakura hissed while covering her mouth with his hand. "Are you crazy? Yelling will attract a lot of unwanted attention from the guards and the maids! Do you want to get caught being with me?" Bakura hissed with a whisper.

"What do you want?" Serenity whispered back, but she looked annoyed.

"Did you forget already?" Bakura said angrily. "You made me wait one hour in the front gate for nothing!"

"What? Huh? … Oh… right, I'm supposed to meet you in the front gate. I'm supposed to leave this castle to find Joey…" Serenity finally remembered. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you wait that long…" She said as she lowered her head, as if a naughty girl who did something wrong.

"Where were you?" Bakura asked as he glared at Serenity. "And what were you doing?"

"I… I overslept… and then I rushed towards the stairs when… when…" Serenity said. She started blushing at the thought of what happened for the rest of the night. She didn't want to tell Bakura about those, plus she didn't want to leave the castle for now. Seto still had something to tell her, so she really had to go.

"What? Do tell me you got caught." Bakura rolled his eyes. He didn't notice the blush on Serenity's face.

"No, I didn't get caught." Serenity said. She moved towards the door. "But I really have to go, can we talk later?" Serenity asked while she opened the door and ran out. She didn't give Bakura a chance to say anything. She was in a hurry to see Seto. She wanted to ask him about Mokuba, and she wanted to know what he was going to tell her.

"Hey! Wait!" Bakura yelled eagerly, but Serenity just kept on running down the hallway. "Damn her! How dare she ignored me!" Bakura fumed even more. He came out of the room back into the hallway. If he really wanted to, he could easily catch up to her. But that might attract unwanted attention like he mentioned earlier.

"Shit! I'll have to find her tonight or sometime today to talk about her escape. I probably can't bring her away anytime soon." Bakura thought angrily. Because he drugged most of the guards and maids yesterday, now the security of the castle was much more effective. He even saw more guards guarding the front gate and other important places.

Bakura continued to observe the security of the castle as he walked around every corner of it, memorizing where and how much the guards were…

Serenity approached the library. The guards saw her and bowed at her, then one of them opened the door for her. Serenity entered the library quietly. She saw that Seto was standing in front of the painting of him and that kid, probably Mokuba.

"Seto?" Serenity called his name. He seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at that picture. However, Serenity saw a sign of gentleness in Seto's face and his cerulean eyes; that gentleness was something she only saw a couple of times, usually Seto was so cold, arrogant, cruel, even to her.

Seto turned around, the gentleness lessened, but it was still there when he looked at her. At least there were still gentleness in his eyes when he looked at her, otherwise she would feel depress again. Serenity sighed in relief.

Seto walked over and pulled towards the desk. He sat in his comfortable chair, and let her sit on his laps. He let her head rest on his chest. Serenity blushed more, she still felt a bit embarrassing to be too close to Seto.

"What is it that you have to tell me?" Serenity asked curiously. She looked into Seto's blue eyes, they seemed so beautiful, so deep, and so… familiar? She felt like she had seen him way earlier then recently, as if she had seen him in her childhood. Serenity shook her head to get rid of that idea. That couldn't be, otherwise she would have remembered him.

"I need your help. Remember what I asked you last night?" Seto said without looking at her. "You promised to help me out."

Serenity thought for a while, and nodded her head lightly. "What do you want me to help you with?" She asked curiously.

"Let me tell you a story first." Seto said. His eyes changed, they were filled with pain, anger, and hate as he began the story. This time, he didn't struggle about whether or not to tell Serenity about his past and Mokuba's past. He opened his heart to her, at least enough to tell her about his past.

"I have a little brother, Mokuba. We were orphans." Seto began. Serenity gasped. She didn't know that Seto used to be orphan. Seto didn't say anything to her reactions.

"Gozaburo Kaiba adopted us when I was twelve, because he needed to train a child to be the future king of Domino Kingdom. That old man was cruel, and we hated him. He forced me to read all the textbooks you see here in the library, forced me to learn shooting, riding, fighting, war strategies, every kinds of things a strong king needs to know. The training was hard and tedious, I was almost defeated in the training, I almost gave up." Seto said without much emotion, as if he was just talking about someone else's past, not his.

"Gozaburo was so cruel… You were just a kid…" Serenity commented with teary eyes. She felt so sorry for Seto. How did he endure all those tiresome trainings? She wondered painfully.

"Like I said, that old man was a monster. It was Mokuba who supported me all the times. It was Mokuba who gave me strength to endure those tough trainings. He was always so cheerful and happy. I wanted to protect him from Gozaburo, so I did my best in everything. Finally, I defeated Gozaburo and become the King of Domino. I did it, Mokuba was safe. He wouldn't have to suffer like I did under Gozaburo." Seto stopped for a while, as if thinking about how to begin the next part of his story.

"Is Mokuba the one in the painting?" Serenity pointed to the painting. Seto nodded, then she continued to ask, "Where… is he now?"

"But two years ago, while Mokuba was in the garden outside of the castle, he disappeared. I received a letter from Pegasus, inviting me to visit his Duelist Kingdom in the North. I went. I saw Mokuba sitting on a chair, but… Pegasus had taken his soul with his Millenium Eye, an ancient Egyptian magical item. How he got it is beyond me. I don't believe in magic, but, Mokuba was like a lifeless doll in front of me! His soul was sent to the Shadow Realm according to Pegasus." The hate in Seto's eyes strengthened.

Serenity gasped. Her tears fell out of her eyes. "How could Pegasus do that? That's so cruel! Mokuba was just a kid…Why did he do that?" Serenity asked eagerly. Mokuba was just a kid, and he looked so happy and cute in that painting… But his soul was captured? That was so bizarre and sad…

"Pegasus said he wanted me to work with him to destroy Yami Kingdom." Seto continued, but was cut off by Serenity.

"What? Pegasus can't do that!" Serenity yelled. Joey and all her friends were in Yami Kingdom! She didn't want anything to happen to them.

"Of course I didn't agree. Even though Yami might be my rival, but he's not my enemy in battle. Because I refused, Pegasus took Mokuba's soul to make me comply. Pegasus gave me two options. One, I comply and work with him. Or two, I defeat him in a battle, then he will release Mokuba. But, Pegasus, somehow, found a supreme sword. He broke all the swords I ever brought to challenge him. Every time I lost, my heart was being tormented at the thought of not able to save Mokuba. Pegasus continued to tease me over and over again." Seto said, his fist tightened.

"Aww… Seto…" Serenity said. She tightened her grip on Seto's waist. Her eyes were still watery.

"However, in the last letter I got from Pegasus yesterday, he mentioned something about Mokuba's disappearance was all Gozaburo's fault. I have no idea what that snake was talking about! What does that damn old man had to do with all this?" Seto growled angrily.

All became clear to Serenity. She finally understood what that letter was talking about, except the things about Millenium items and Shadow Realm. She never heard of those before… And she still didn't know what Seto's father had to do with all this, even Seto didn't know. Otherwise, all of the questions she had in mind were being answered by Seto's story.

"So… what do you want me to help you with?" Serenity asked. She still didn't know why Seto told her this story first. What could she do to help?

"Your brother knows how to make swords. Your father used to be a good sword-maker, that was what I found out." Seto said, finally lowered his head to look at her.

"… My father… He… I don't know much about him… All I remember was that he was always drunk! And he beats Joey, me, and mother up everytime he was drunk! I hate him!" Serenity yelled as more tears formed in her eyes. "It was also him, being drunk, who almost killed me in fire… That was why my mother left, bringing me, but leaving Joey behind… She brought me to Domino Kingdom, but she was always busy working, so I thought she didn't care about me…"

Seto was surprised. He didn't know anything about Serenity's past, well not much. A vague figure suddenly appeared in Seto's mind. It was a little girl, in the garden, she was crying, and saying something about her mother didn't care about her… But he couldn't remember her face and what exactly happened…

Seto wiped off the tears on Serenity's face. Her damn father, just like that no good Gozaburo, how dare he hurt her! He waited a couple of minutes for her to calm down before he continued to tell her how she could help him out.

"At least your brother knows how to make swords. Then he must have told you too, the secret of making the best sword?" Seto asked.

"Sword?" Serenity looked at Seto confusedly. She knew that part of Joey's job was making really good swords for Yami, but there were other people whose jobs were to make swords for the rest of the armies…

"Yes, sword. You know the secret don't you? Of making the best, unbreakable sword?" Seto asked again.

"I… I… Joey never told me anything…" Serenity said as she lowered her head.

"That couldn't be. A sword-maker will pass down his formula and secret of making the best sword, so Joey must have known, and he must have told you too." Seto said fervently. She must know, otherwise why did he waste his time on her?

"But… Seto, I don't… know…" Serenity shook her head. "Joey probably knows… but why didn't you just ask him?" She asked confusedly.

"Hmph. Ask that mutt?" Seto snorted. There was no way he go and ask that mutt like an idiot. Besides, Joey probably wouldn't tell him anyway.

"Seto! Please don't call Joey mutt!" Serenity said angrily. Why couldn't Seto and Joey talk peacefully without fighting? Why did they hate each other so much?

"Whatever. Think, Serenity, think! You must know something!" Seto said as he shook her shoulders lightly. "Don't you understand? I need to make a strong sword, one that is even more supreme than the one Pegasus had! Only then could I win the duel and get Mokuba back! It has been two years! TWO years! Poor Mokuba was trapped in the Shadow Realm for two years! You're always kind, aren't you? Don't you want to help me save Mokuba?" Seto yelled a bit out of control. He couldn't accept the fact that Serenity didn't know the information he needed.

"… I'm thinking, Seto…" Serenity whimpered. She wanted to help Seto too. She wanted to save that cute little brother of Seto. But her mind was blank! Joey never told her anything about making swords! He wouldn't let her do anything, he was always too overprotective!

"Well?" Seto asked impatiently. He was now frowning and feeling irritated.

"… I… Sorry Seto… But I don't…. I don't know how to make a strong sword… I don't have the secret of it…" Serenity sobbed. "I really want to help you, I truly do! But… Joey is always so overprotective, you know that too! He didn't tell me anything, and he didn't let me do anything while I was in Yami Kingdom!"

Seto pushed Serenity away from him. His eyes were now cold and merciless. He was angry. Angry at her that she didn't know anything, that she couldn't help him. He was even angrier at himself, that he still couldn't save Mokuba, that he wasted his time with her!

Serenity stood in front of Seto helplessly. She saw the coldness in his blue eyes. She saw his anger, his irritation, and she saw he didn't trust her! Serenity's heart started to ache again. She quickly grabbed onto Seto's hands desperately, she had a feeling she had to grab onto him, otherwise he would disappear or leave her behind.

"Seto! Listen to me! I really don't know! But I want to help, if there's anything else I can do-" Serenity pleaded, but Seto shook off her hands and cut her off.

"How can you be so heartless, Serenity? I know you know the secret of making the supreme sword. You must know! Why are you hiding it from me? How can you be so cruel not to save Mokuba? Don't you know how painful it is for me to be defeated everytime, and not able to do anything to help Mokuba? My little brother means everything to me!" Seto yelled at her. He refused to believe her. If he admitted that she didn't know the sword-making formulas, then he would also be admitting that it was hopeless to save Mokuba, that he wasted all these time doing nothing!

"I'm… sorry…" Serenity whispered. Tears were dropping down her pale cheeks nonstop. She understood how much pain Seto was going through, being humiliated again and again, still couldn't help Mokuba. But there was really nothing she could do.

"Come with me!" Seto stood up abruptly and grabbed her wrist. He was originally planning to bring her down to that secret room underground, where his workers were making swords. That was why he let all the workers go home for two days. Then, he would follow all the things she said about how to make the sword, and do it himself. Then he could safe Mokuba from the misery. But all his hope and plans were ruined now that she didn't know anything! But he would still bring her down there!

"Where are we-" Serenity asked, tears were still on her face.

"Shut up!" Seto yelled angrily. He was in no mood of talking to her! All his plans were ruined! How could she? Why couldn't she just know something and help him out? He had no one else to turn to anymore!

Serenity stopped talking, just let Seto pulled her to wherever he wanted to bring her to. Not able to help him made her heart ache too. If she can, she would do anything for Seto. She really would! Because she loved him, very, very much…

Note: This is the longest chapter I've ever typed! Wow! Hope you people enjoy this chapter! It's sweet in the beginning, but… well, depressing at the end, isn't it? It will get worst… And the BIG surprise will be in the next chapter… Don't kill me for that surprise though, please… I planned it from the start, so I won't change it. I know I'm cruel, but, all I can say is sorry…

Please review! Let me know what you think. Cyber candies for all who review, lol.