Chapter Three: Prinzessin

In a courtyard
Used to sing as loud as she could
Locked away here
She's been quiet, lovely and good
But no one listens now
She lost her voice
She had no choice

If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can't be afraid
If you ever want somebody near you
If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can't be afraid

Tore the curtain
Put her hand outside of the frame
Let her hair down
Sat all day and nobody came
But when the sun went down
The stars came out
She heard them shout

If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can't be afraid
If you ever want somebody near you
If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can't be afraid

But when the sun went down
The stars came out
She heard them shout

If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can't be afraid
If you ever want somebody near you
If you sing loud and clear
Someone passing by will surely hear you
No you can't be afraid

- "Rapunzel" Emilie Autumn

III.

She couldn't feel a goddamn thing, the poor soul. There, helpless like a broken rag doll, a pretty little rag doll, and in his rams. Serenity's mind kept spinning, her amber eyes starting blankly into oblivion, open yet completely unseeing. Her once white body was now stained with the blood of her brother and her dearest friends. The rest of her body was broken, as well as her mind. Leaving the shattered remains of her clothes, she was bare and open to the Darkness, Marik, the one who won the cursed Battle City tournament, and killed his opponents.

There she was, in a killer's arms, and completely unaware of the nothingness in which she was.

"Little Serenity, you do realize who I am, do you?" Marik spoke in her ear, in a soft and dark tone, feeling her freeze at the chosen skin contact.

Serenity nodded obediently, barely hearing his question. She was frozen, very frozen. In terror, anger, and endless sorrow.

Marik frowned, silent for a moment, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Then why don't you answer me? I need a proper response from you, my sweet."

No answer.

Anger rose inside him, nearing to a complete eruption. Why wouldn't she answer him? She now belongs to him, so she should do what he says.

"Answer me!!!" He tightened his grip on her from behind, nearly crushing her and cutting the air from her. Almost immediately, all feeling of immense pain flew right in her body, suffocating and strangling her there and now.

"Marik!" She cried out, both in agony and to answer his question. Yes, she did know who he was and she didn't want to be in this situation. Try as she might to release from the tan arms that held her, she couldn't. She just couldn't,

A grin slithered across his lips, and he ceased his attack on her body, loosening his arms, yet keeping her close to his chest. "Good girl. I love hearing my name from your lips, sweet Serenity. Soon I'll be hearing it from you a whole lot more."

With a lustful chuckle, Marik threaded his hand through her hair while his other arm kept her in place. His agile fingers twisted and laced in her bloodstained hair, caked with the most desirable essence he could ever want/desire. In fact, she was the most desired in his eyes.

"You really are beautiful, you know."

Serenity choked back a sob at the particular sentence. This monster, the one who is the definition of a nightmare, called her beautiful. It was as if she was the rarest jewel he had ever seen, and he snatched her away.

He was toying with her, trying to make her feel a false sense of security by compliment.

Still…she was flattered, nonetheless.

Wait…flattered?

Serenity hung her head, as though she had given up entirely, her body beginning to feel alien to her. Tears stung the backs of her eyes; her frail shell of a body shook at the repression of sadness. Shaking violently, she didn't feel Marik's fingers sink from her hair to her nearly bare chest so he would pull her upper body back against his chest. She didn't even fight back at his touch, let alone squirm.

"What's wrong? You're shaking. I would expect some appreciation on my part. I'm keeping you alive with me, right here, in my arms." He leaned in so he would nuzzle her neck, finally inhaling the scent of her vanilla skin.

She was so beautiful, so lovely, and now she was his and his alone. Without her foolish brother and the Pharaoh in the way, he would hear her sing all night long, with the world as their shell.

Marik growled softly, leaning close, lips to the front of her throat. He grabbed the tattered remains of her shirt, ignoring the sudden breath of shock she uttered. She nearly moved again, but she was too tired to fight back. She rested her pretty little head against his shoulder for a while now, almost allowing him to gaze at her breasts, dried blood painted upon the canvas called flesh.

"I thought you'd be pleased to stay alive. Aren't you at least happy that I saved you?"

Serenity bit her lip, her tiny mouth dry from lack of sustenance. She trembled a bit more, and then finally spoke.

"From what?"

Her voice was hoarse from sobbing, bitterness and sorrow intertwined in her tone.

"Why, from the world, of course. I saw how you were suffering in the godforsaken world, shunned by others and always overshadowed by everyone else who have achieved greatness or notoriety. Now that I've won, everyone else has ceased to exist. Your so-called friends will never have you. They will never have you." He purred, his lips close to her ear when uttering the latter.

Amber eyes misted in misery as she remembered them. Her friends.

Yugi – his courage and kindness was never broken. He was as loving as angel from Heaven.

Téa – she was so nice to her, so caring and protecting. Her courage was never penetrated by the forces that weighed her down.

Ryou – he was so sweet; he didn't deserve the injury he suffered through and through in the tournament.

Mai – her soul was so beautiful and so fierce, now it was shattered thanks to the Darkness.

Joey – Her only brother. He died to protect her, to protect Mai, but now darkness consumed him as well.

Tristan and Duke – they never stopped garnering her attention, now they too fell at the hands of Marik and his Winged Dragon Of Ra.

Kaiba and Mokuba too have become victims of the God's wrath. In that fact, Kaiba was also one who was willing to hold the power of God in his hands. Ishizu saw the future, but it was the wrong one, since the victor sealed their fates, as afterwards the holder of the Winged Dragon of Ra had destroyed Odion, who masqueraded as Malik earlier.

One by one, the might have fallen. One by one, the companions have died by the power of God. And then there were none.

And it was all because of her.

She was too weak.

She admitted that she wasn't wrong. She admitted that she wasn't brave, that she wasn't headstrong and courageous. She was a weakling, and that's how she fell into the web known as his arms. His arms….

She saw them.

The blood sprayed onto her clothes, her face, and they fell into the dark corridor. One by one, they fell….

One by one, they fell…and where they fell; they would be falling forever…

Serenity didn't budge when Marik decided to turn her body around so he would take a look and bask in his masterpiece.

Blood was on her face, her hair and her shirt, tattered as it was, was discarded, giving him the opportunity to see her naked breasts and torso. The red stains on her blue jean shorts were beginning to dry, but the long drippings of the rubies ran down her legs, as if they were incarnadine veins. Her eyes misted with unshed tears, yet she was unmoving. Lifeless, if you will.

His long tongue slunk out of his mouth so it would lick the blood right off her pretty face, then it slowly moved to her neck, breasts and her stomach. The taste was so tempting, it intoxicated him. He held her chest close to his own so he would nuzzle her throat, his fangs ghosting over the porcelain skin.

His taut arm sought the girl's legs whilst holding her upper body to his torso. Amethyst eyes twinkled at her slender, half naked form, perverse wickedness filling and submerging their depths, his features contorted into a mask of darkness. The girl was paralyzed by his power, the poison leaving her incapacitated. Nevertheless, she was still alive. Twisting a corpse wasn't going to be fun; he wanted to hear her scream his name a thousand times, showing her complete devotion to him until she would gush with what he desired.

Hooking his left arm under her legs, his other slid into place under her arms gripping her shoulders, before effortlessly lifting her into his arms. Marik started to stride away from the wall, and begun to walk into the dark corridor, feeling a thousand eyes watching them.

Looking down at Serenity, Marik's eyes moved from her flushed face and empty eyes to the rest of her body. He liked the way her hair fell past her chest, set like a burning flame. So beautiful and inviting, like a demon's angel.

He let one finger wind her hair around his fingers, his arm secured around her waist, feeling the soft skin in the process.

"The lamb has sacrificed itself to the lion. You're mine, Serenity, my little princess."

III.

A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long on the update. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It's just that a month has past since school started and with my sister in the fall play "The Rimers Of Eldritch", I haven't been catching up on my multi-chapter fics. So I let my drabbles for Sailor Moon do the talking for me.

P.S.—When stuck on a story, Emilie Autumn, Eiffel 65, Gackt, HYDE, Utada Hikaru, Origa, Ilaria Graziano, Seelenzorn, Joachim Witt, and Ghost in the Shell: Original Soundtrack are die-hard godsends.