A/N: Sorry about the delay! I had to get the right ideas for this one to make it work. I've also been drawing a lot more than writing O.o Guess I was in a block. But anyway, I'd like to give special thanx to LadyChrystina for emailing me personally and asking for an update.

I've tried finishing this chapter before and had 1/3 done for the longest time, but, her words really gave me inspiration to give it another try, and hey, it's finished!

And thank you all for your support. It really helps.

Dark Seduction

Part 3

Curious, and unable to sleep, Serenity found herself wandering the halls of the Kaiba Corp blimp, trying to gather her aimlessly thoughts.

The hallway was dappled with a mild tinge of light, and almost seemed to stretch on forever. The only reward of value was a pale glimmer near the end of it, but it seemed to never come.

Yet, she continued her hesitant steps, her bare feet making soft, flat sounds on the cold, hard floor. It was a wonder as to why she wasn't shaking from it.

Numbness soon raided her body, and caused her to finally stop her aimless midnight walk.

Silently, her arms slipped around her and she rubbed them to take her mind off her distant thoughts and bring her back to where she was.

With clouded eyes, she lifted them to the pale light of the end of wherever she was trying to go.

"…What…should I do…" her flat and empty words tumbled from her lips and made light echoes on the thick walls around her; surrounding her.

Feeling alone and helpless, she hugged herself and hung her head. "I feel so lost… Joey…" she whispered "…help me…"

Almost by her command, strong arms slid around her and hugged her warmly. "Serenity…" Joey's endearing voice rippled into her ears as he hugged her close.

Serenity closed her eyes and laid her head against her brother's chest. "Joey…I knew I could count on you to find me…"

"Of course" he replied, his voice resembling a wavered echo, "No one can stand between us. Now let's get outta here…"

Without another word, Joey took her hand and lead her down the never-ending corridor. Realizing, he was going the same way she was and nothing had changed, she stopped her brother. "No, Joey. If we keep going this way, we'll be stuck here."

"I know…" Was his reply. Looking to her, he squeezed her hand, which Serenity didn't feel at all. "That's why we're taking a shortcut."

"A shortcut…" Serenity flatly repeated in a tone that sounded more like a question.

"Stay close" Were Joey's only words as he lead her down a ways more, then turned into their room.

Serenity took in the location with blank eyes, not realizing the room was available before.

Before she could say a word, Joey released her hand and faintly smiled. "What were you doing out there…"

Taking in his words, Serenity looked down and rubbed her arm. "…I was trying to find someone…"

"…Find who…"

At those words, Serenity looked upto him with vacant eyes. Eyeing him coldly, she took a step forward when a dark entity spawned behind him. With a devoid expression, she lifted a limp finger and pointed to him. "…You…Joey…"

Joey simply stared at her. "…Me…"

"Yes…." She muttered, her voice deepening and sounding more foreign from her own.

Before Joey could comment, the mass behind him spawned into Marik, who wasted no time in locking Joey in a choke-hold.

Amused by the mild struggle Joey could initiate to break free, Marik cackled and nodded to Serenity. "Good girl…You've turned against your own brother." With another sound of amusement, Marik tightened his grip around Joey's neck, who had almost seemed to have given up completely. "You've made my job much easier."

"…Don't…" Serenity began, her voice beginning to return to normal "Don't…hurt him…"

"Oh? I think you should be saying that to yourself, little girl." He chuckled. "All you had was a taste of my power…but your actions were done on your own. I can't control your desires, but I most certainly can manipulate you to bring them out. And it's obvious you chose me over this pitiful soul…"

"N..No…" Serenity retaliated, emotion returning to her voice. "That's…not true."

"Ohh but it is!" Marik sneered. "Do you see me struggling up here? I don't think so. Your brother is weak because you want him to be!"

"No!" Serenity shouted, running upto them, but before she could make it, Marik had warped to the opposite side of the room, with Joey still in his grip.

He laughed. "Admit it. You want little Joey to lose his duel with me today. And what's worse, you want me to be the victor of this whole tournament." He licked his lips and grinned. "And you know that what means! Dum dum de dum… dum dum de dum!!"

Serenity roughly shook her head, ignoring the sting of tears piercing the backs of her eyes. "No I'll never marry you!"

Marik raised an eyebrow, and pretended to be hurt. " Oh, but I will be pharaoh! And I must have a queen. Heh. But lucky for you, you still have a choice in all this."

"A…a choice? What do you mean?"

Wordless, Marik glanced down at Joey and Serenity immediately knew.

Before Serenity could say a word, Marik roughly turned Joey's head and all Serenity saw as black as she shut her eyes and sank to her knees, screaming.

__

Gasping for air, Serenity found herself sprawled out on the floor of her room, tangled up in her wrinkled bed-sheets.

"M…Marik!!" she gasped, sitting up and looking around feverishly. "Joey….!!"

Neither one was in sight.

Her heart pounded in her ears as her breaths became more rapid and ragged with each pulsing second.

Clutching her head, she shut her eyes and tried to calm herself and slow her breathing before she hyperventilated.

After minutes that seemed like dizzying hours, Serenity took in a slow and deep breath and let it go before opening her eyes.

Her vision was blurred momentarily as she trailed her eyes aimlessly to the sun-lit window on Joey's side of the room.

Wordlessly, her eyes traced over its form, and took in the light that spilled into the room.

Just looking at it reminded her of her brother, while her nightmare came back to her and suddenly the warmth from the sun left her.

"Joe…y…" she murmured, shuddering at his name.

Biting her lip, she hugged herself and hung her head, quivering lightly as Marik's words plagued her mind.

Confused, she tried to shake them away. "No…" she stated, her voice shaking, "I would never…ever want to hurt my brother! It's Marik's fault! Marik's the one that wanted it, not me! I don't want to see my brother lose!"

Somewhere near the back of her mind, Serenity heard a chuckle that was all too familiar. Quickly lifting her teary eyes to the wall behind her, she looked around for Marik, but found no one.

Confused and hurt, Serenity bit her lip to hold back her sob and wiped her tears.

After allowing moments to pass, she sniffled and turned to the dresser next to her bed and checked the clock.

11:15.

Joey's duel had started over an hour ago!

With a gasp, Serenity quickly, but unsteadily, scrambled to her feet and raided her drawers for clean clothes.

"Hold on Joey…!" she pleaded in a hushed whisper " Just hang in there…I won't let you lose! I…" She trailed off, and shivered at her next thought.

What if the duel was already over by the time she got there? What if Joey lost because she wasn't there to support him? And Marik…

What if he won…?

Without her knowing, her mind drifted off, and carried her off to the depths of her subconscious. There, an eventful vision unraveled before her.

There he was, standing triumphantly over her brother's defeated body with his head lowered and his face cast in shadow. "…So...you decided to come see for yourself after all…" he stated evenly.

Serenity blinked, confused with who he was speaking to, until she realized where she was.

"…Am I dreaming…?" she asked rhetorically with confusion littered throughout her words as she looked around.

Large shrouding clouds engorged with deep colors of dark purple and black swirled around them, deceptively brushing soft embraces across their skin. Almost finding herself lost in the tactility of its cool mist, a flat chuckle from Marik brought her attention back to where it should have stayed in the first place.

"Well now, it doesn't take much to please you, does it? You seem to enjoy being touched in places you never were even aware of." He grinned. "That's good news for me. It looks like I'll be the one to enjoy savoring your first time. …Being in the darkness, I mean. Unless you'd like to take it to another level, I have no objection to that, either!!"

Disturbed, but also allured by his words, stared innocently at him. His voice as well as his words seemed inviting and almost sensual in a way that seemed amplified by the darkness, but she didn't give in.

"Joey…" she uttered shakily, without knowing. "Where is he…? What did you do with my brother?"

"Your brother? Hmph" Marik scoffed, while poking his pinky finger into his ear. "And here I thought we were speaking sweet nothings to each other. Well I was anyway… and you talk about another man? I'm hurt." He mocked, then a grin slithered across his lips. "Unless of course you'd prefer to include him too. I can't say I'd like it but if you wanted to, I wouldn't mind. Of course you know that's incest, but, I shouldn't have to tell YOU that." He laughed "Such odd fetishes you have. You really ARE a naughty girl... You should be punished!"

"Wha-" Serenity trailed off, finding herself warming up from the tint of a blush. She then shook her head. " Stop it, just stay away from me! And where is my brother?!"

With a smug smirk, Marik scoffed, then whisked some of the dark clouds away with a swish of his cape.

As the thick collaboration of darkness gradually disappeared, an oddly shaped form on the floor of the dueling platform slowly came into view. Serenity squinted at it to get a better look, while trying to mentally swat away the surrounding darkness that tried to distract her with deceptive sweetness.

As the dark entities continued to clear, what Marik was showing her didn't look like much, until a tuft of dirty blonde hair came into view and a pale, yet composed, face that was all too familiar.

Gasping, Serenity quickly covered her mouth and rushed to her brother and kneeling at his side. "Joey?…Joey?!" she called, her voice wavering and heightening with worry each passing second he didn't respond. " Joey please! This is Serenity! …I need you to wake up, now! Please!" Beginning to shiver, she bit her lip to hold back her sobs, and gingerly laced her arms around him as best as she could. "…Joey…"

Devoid and wordless, Marik peered down at them, glowering at Joey. 'How can she be so concerned for this pathetic fool…' he sneered in his mind. '…a waste of a carbon-based life-form…! I have to admit, he was a thorn in my side before, but now, things have gotten a bit more serious. ' With a cryptic smirk, he casually stepped closer to Serenity. 'This should be fun!'

Controlling her emotions rather well and not crying too harshly, Serenity shivered while holding Joey close to her and barely even noticed Marik's presence behind her.

Sniffling, she glanced at him from out the corner of her eye. "… Why did you do this…" she muttered rhetorically.

With a scoff, Marik smirked and squatted beside her. "…Why…?" He grinned, nearing closer to her and slipping a finger under her chin. Serenity instantly froze, almost dropping Joey out of her arms as she stared speechlessly at Marik.

Amused at the effect he had on her, Marik chuckled softly and inched his face very close to hers. In a soft, yet dark tone, he uttered: "…Maybe on our wedding night, I'll tell you."

Before Serenity could make a comment, she became perfectly still in shock as Marik's lips brushed across hers and tauntingly traced his tongue around them before, just as quickly, pulling away.

Serenity said nothing, and stared at him through half-lidded glazed eyes.

Taking in her features with a devoid expression, Marik was silent for a moment, then a coy smirk curved his lips. "… What's the matter? You almost appear to be lost in a daze! Heh. And that was from just a kiss! But don't worry…" he said smugly, standing to his feet. "…if this is how you'll act from a measly kiss, imagine how you'll be when these lips taste you in places you've never even dreamed of." With a lustful chuckle, he licked his lips, but quickly caught himself. "Oops, it seems I'm getting to ahead of myself. But that's allright…" he said with a smirk, then casually picked at his nails. "Hmm…our time is running out. I'm curious to see what choice you'll make…"

Confused, and barely hearing his words, Serenity emotionlessly trailed her eyes over to Marik's proud form and narrowed them, unconsciously licking her lips.

Regarding her silence as a rhetorical question, he frowned and gave her one last glance before tossing his cape behind him and walking away from her.

"…You'll see."

His words were the last sounds Serenity heard before returning her eyes to Joey and cupping his cheek with her hand. His face was peaceful and composed. There wasn't a hint of pain visible, and Serenity wished she could believe he felt none, but she knew just how wrong she was.

Silently, she brought Joey once again into her arms and wept softly.

"…Forgive me…"

With a sharp gasp, Serenity stumbled back and had to grab the edge of the drawer to catch herself from falling to the floor.

Panting heavily, she pressed a shaky hand to her chest and tried to steady her breathing as well as her scattered thoughts.

"…Oh Joey…" she breathed in a forced whisper, feeling the hot sting of tears piercing the back of her eyes, and she forcefully shut them. Shivering from all the blood rushing away from her arms and hands from her vision, Serenity had to struggle to pull herself back upto her feet. "…I didn't mean for any of this to happen…!" she cried in a thin voice, and shook her head. "…I never wanted to put you in danger, Joey, I---I---!!"

In a fit of sobs, Serenity covered her mouth and sank to the floor on her knees.

Hugging herself with one arm, Serenity began to cough, mixing her cries with sounds of anguish and pain. 'I don't know what to do anymore…!' she shouted in her mind 'It's becoming too much…! What should I do?! Joey…help me…!'

At that moment, a light click was sent into the air and a familiar voice pierced the room.

" Hey sis. I know you miss me, but stop cryin'."

Suddenly hearing Joey's voice drift into her ears from out of nowhere, Serenity instantly froze and her sobs quieted to an immediate halt. Shaking, she swallowed her anguish and buried it deep inside her as her eyes fleeted around the room. "...J…Joey…?" she croaked, looking for him.

Nowhere in sight, his voice continued. "… I know it's been a while since I saw ya, and for that, I'm sorry but not one day went by when I didn't think about you sis."

Clinging to every word as if her life depended on hearing each one perfectly, Serenity gasped and lightly touched her mouth with her fingers.

' This is…the recorded message Joey sent me the night before I had my eye operation!' she exclaimed in her mind, and began discreetly searching the floor for the small toy-like button, continuing to listen.

"…Even though, I may not be with you in that room, givin' you flowers and candy, I'm always in your heart, and you're always in mine. So even if we ever get separated again, it won't be long until big brudda Joey comes and finds ya! Count on it sis! And remembah, no mattah how tough it gets, just stay strong, allright? …I luv ya. Take care. Joey."

With a sincere and warm smile dressed across her features, Serenity leaned her back against the bed and hugged the, now found, kitten-shaped button to her chest. Even though the situation was different, his words were exactly the ones she needed to hear. " Thank you Joey…" she whispered, nuzzling he small toy to her cheek. "Thank you…"

Lingering on the floor for a moment longer staring off into space, Serenity slowly pushed herself back up and placed the toy on the bed as she closed the drawers.

There was a pop of fuzzy static, then Joey's upbeat voice once again filled the room.

"...Oh yeah! And if the nurses serve ya a lot of food, smuggle it and hide it somewhere for me! Heheheh. If you do, I'll…let you drive next time we go out somewhere! Just don't get me a ticket! Uh, actually I take that back. Instead, I'll buy you that outfit you always wanted to wear when you were youngah! You know, the one you said you had to be 20 to wear? Well, you'll be 20 for a day when I get it for ya! Heck, I'll even throw in dinnah and take ya ta get your hair done! Why not? I've got all the time in the world, but, this oughtta be special. Allright, latuh!"

A light giggle escaped from Serenity and she fondly shook her head. "Joey…you big goofball…" she said with a faint smile and giggled again, but this time, it wasn't as chipper as the previous one.

A hint of sadness wavered in her eyes as she silently finished getting dressed and lightly scooped up the toy in her hands. Her eyes became glossed with a thin film of tears as she looked at it. Sighing deeply, she softly closed her eyes and brought the toy to her chest in a hug.

"…I know you're always with me Joey…" she whispered, slowly lifting her eyes and allowing a trail of soft tears to spill down her cheeks.

"…But it hurts…because I know we'll have to separate again… and like always, it's because of me… It's always my fault that I burden you… Now you're stuck in the middle of my problems…and I can't get you out…"

Sniffling lightly, her knees buckled, but she tried to stay strong. For Joey. And someplace in the hidden places of her heart, she hoped that she would be able to see him and speak with him one last time before he was taken away from her.

Recalling the dreams she had and her mysterious encounters with Marik, Serenity took a deep breath, and headed out the door.

"…I know he'll win…" She muttered softly, directing her words towards one of them.

…But which one?

---

Allright, to clear some things up in this chapter. In the beginning, Serenity is dreaming, and in that dream, she is devoid of emotion and those close to her, Joey, and even Marik, were a little out of it at first, but Marik was the more lively one. This goes to show how her being with or giving into Marik is not only weakening herself, but those around her…like Joey! Like Marik said, she willed Joey to be weakened, so he was.

Now, whether that goes for what happens outside of her dreams as well as what does inside those dreams, is a mystery. ^_^

But in her dreams, Marik is the strongest. In her reality, Joey is, to her.

Confusing??

-Also, what happens in her dreams is like a premonition to her. She can choose to go along with it or alter it after she wakes up.

~~--Mel