Celebwen Telcontar: I hope you like this new installment!

Balrog: Unless there's a fight, I'll be napping.

Celebwen Telcontar: Balrog!

Balrog: (Snore)

Celebwen Telcontar: Please review, people!

"Serenity, I'll call you once the sale has gone through," Pegasus said, kissing her forehead. He tucked the covers around her again, fluffing her pillow.

"Dad, I'll be fine. I'm feeling a lot better, honest," Serenity laughed. No matter what she said, though, it was good to have someone hover. Leah Wheeler wasn't at all touchy-feely, and Jacob shouldn't care for a goldfish, much less children. Pegasus smiled at her, handing her the latest in cell phone technology. "But Dad, I need to talk to you. Mokuba was terrified in the car with us. He was white and shaking, no matter how much he tried to mask it. I know what you did to him, his brother, and Yugi's grandfather. I forgive you for it, but it's not my forgiveness that you need. It's theirs."

"I know."

"What you did was… well, it was evil. A quote says: 'When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it.'" Pegasus nodded, a bit pale.

"Lewis Smeades. He was an author." He twisted his fingers together, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Mokuba Kaiba?" he called out.

"Er… yes?" the pale boy asked. Now that Serenity had mentioned it, he noticed that the lad was shaking slightly and seemed almost green.

"I need to tell you how sorry I am." He looked at the floor. "I… Serenity's mother had died in childbirth. I thought Serenity had died with her. I was desperate, and more than a little mad. I thought that your brother's technology could help me resurrect Serenity and Cecelia. I am very sorry. If there's any way I can make it up to you, please just say so. Money won't do anything, promises are worthless… I don't know what I can do to repay you for the… evil I did." Mokuba nodded jerkily.

"It was cold… there. Dark. I never needed a nightlight to go to sleep before, and now I do. Seto leaves the hall light on when he goes to bed. For almost a week, I was afraid to go to sleep. I eventually passed out. I… please leave?"

"Alright. I deeply, sincerely apologize for what I did." He handed Serenity a cell phone. "Here's a cell phone if you need to contact me. My private cell number is programed into it. You can keep the phone."

"Thanks, Dad." Serenity didn't miss the fact that he practically glowed each time she called him that. He stroked her hair once more before leaving the room and presumably the mansion. "Are you okay?" she asked. The young boy closed his eyes and shuddered, almost as if trying to keep from being affected by some great fear.

"He… did you get him to do that?"

"Yes. I saw how terrified you were. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"I… it's okay. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I feel a lot better. Still cold, but nowhere near as bad as I did before. How long was I in that bubble with Raptor?"

"In—in the—the Shadow Realm?" Mokuba asked, as if the name of the place was a curse itself.

"Yes."

"Yugi found you around noon yesterday. He had Tristan track me down, and Pegasus appeared a couple hours later. He was… he was angry. I—it was t-terrifying. I th-thought he was go-going to do th-that to m-me." The boy collapsed into a chair, looking worn out and a bit green. He was still trembling, and his eyes were clenched closed. "He's gone. Thank God. I know he's your father… but…"

"I understand. I know what he did to you and your brother. I won't excuse it. I forgave him, but I don't excuse him, and I'll never forget what he did to you, your brother, and Yugi's grandfather. I'm just a bystander here, I don't know everything. Dad told me what he did, Joey filled me in on what Dad didn't say, but I still don't know everything. Being there… in that… pocket… it felt evil, somehow. Like the chill was just waiting for me to let my guard down. I can't imagine being trapped there for days, let alone weeks or months." Mokuba shuddered again.

"I'll go… lay down for a bit. I'm not feeling too good…"

"Probably the stress. You were holding yourself together for a very long time, there."

"Yeah. See you later, get some rest." He took off through the hallway, and Serenity sank back into her pillows. She had a lot to think about, including her father…

It was good to be home. Seto Kaiba sat in his favorite chair, contemplating what the Board of Directors was trying to do. Like the small-minded idiots that they were, they were certain that if Seto was occupied with something else, they would get the run of the company. So they were trying to distract him, mostly with women. They would be very happy if he were to marry some pretty little fluff-brain who would gain them influence and keep him occupied. Well, it wasn't going to work. Seto had no intention of settling down and getting married.

Wait, though, perhaps he could find a suitable wife, one who could look nice and be polite while tying the Board in knots, one who would be loyal to him, and someone who was highly intelligent, and, most of all, that was good to Mokuba and that his little brother liked. That would be ideal. It would get the Board off of his back, give him an ally, and irritate the idiots on the Board to no end.

"Hi, Seto! You're home!" Mokuba came barreling at him, tackling him in a hug. He amended his list. She needed to be someone who was good, and ruthless, at Duel Monsters.

"Hi, Mokuba." He returned his little brother's hug, gently patting the charcoal colored hair. Wait, didn't Mokuba have a friend over, a female, who had gotten injured in the tournament somehow? "Who did you invite over?"

"Her name is Serenity. She's awesome! She's a fantastic Duelist, and you should have seen the way she beat Yoshi Nara!"

"The Shadow Duelist?" Said duel was coming to his mind, now. A girl, maybe 13 or so, fighting with a black-haired kid who used Shadow monsters, mainly the Shadow Ghoul. There had been something about one of her cards changing with some special ability after being sucked into Nara's Dark Hole. That was it! She had called the card's special effect Wrath of the Gods. Nara's Points had plummeted to match the girl's, which were rather low due to Nara's excessive use of three Man Eater Bugs. Then, Nara had brought out Witch of the Dark Forest and the girl had countered with some card called Perseus equipped with a card called Burning Spear. The Perseus card was only 1000 points, but the Burning Spear added 700 points to it, bringing it up to 1700 points. When the Perseus card destroyed the Witch of the Black Forest, her 1100 Life points directly affected Nara's points, bringing him from 700 to 0, and the girl to win the duel. Seto had never seen the Warsbane card with the Wrath of the Gods special ability, or the Perseus or Burning Spear. He would have to find out where she got them, since they were obviously legitimate cards; no counterfeits would work in his Duel Disks. Perhaps this girl was what he was looking for? Mokuba obviously liked her, and she was a strong duelist. Now if she was smart…

"She destroyed him!"

"I saw the Duel. Where did she get those cards?"

"Probably from her father." Mokuba's jovial mood vanished. He seemed nervous and depressed suddenly.

"Mokuba?" Seto asked, kneeling down to his brother's height and placing a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Serenity's father is Pegasus."

"No wonder she had good cards. How did you end up being friends with her?"

"She was kidnapped at birth, and raised as Joey Wheeler's sister. She's lived in America most of her life."

"Pegasus' daughter and the Mutt's sister. How do you get into these situations?" Seto pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming on.

"She didn't know she was Pegasus' daughter until less than three months ago!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not. And she's nice, when she and Joey aren't fighting." Seto raised an eyebrow.

"Might as well let her stay for supper. Tell Noboru to have another plate of dinner ready."

"Yes!" Mokuba cheered, hugging Seto. "Thanks, big brother!" Seto pinched the bridge of his nose again. He needed some Excedrin, badly. He stood, following Mokuba up the stairs. When he reached his room, he drank a glass of water with some painkillers and lay down, putting a pillow over his face to block out the light. Hopefully he would be able to function when he woke from his impromptu nap…

Celebwen Telcontar: Well?

Balrog: (Snore)

Celebwen Telcontar: Balrog?

Balrog: But I wanna eat the pony!

Celebwen Telcontar: Guess he's out cold… hehehe… out cold… Balrog… hehe… puns are fun!

Celebwen Telcontar: Please review, people!