Be surprised that this fic is coming out so soon. Originally, my planned fic, Talk of the Town, was supposed to be my next work coming out, but I couldn't resist writing a Seto/Serenity version of this story. This story is supposed to be much shorter than others…I'm assuming less than ten chapters, but that estimate may vary. Either way, if this fic is supposed to go beyond the prologue, the feedback is crucial. I only have the prologue written out, and I won't continue this fic if it's not wanted.
All characters in this story belong to the genius who created Yu-Gi-Oh!
The plot (of the prologue) belongs to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery".
This particular morning of late June, Serenity sat overlooking the bay from a cliff.
She could hear little children running amongst the rural dirt roads of the town, excited and collecting stones. She, however, found no excitement in such an event. That was why every last Monday of the month, Serenity sat on the same rock on the same cliff that was perched over the bay.
"Serenity?" Tristan Taylor called, his footsteps running down the small slope of the cliff. "It starts in about 10 minutes," He said quietly as his shadow loomed over Serenity's sitting figure. Her silence meant nothing to him, for this was where she sat every time the Lottery was conducted, refusing to gather rocks.
Serenity cocked her head to the side without looking at Tristan. She pointed her fingers in the shape of a gun towards the rising sun before her.
"When the sun just reaches over that mountain across the bay," she said quietly, "you know it's coming…just when it starts looking nice outside."
Tristan smiled, paying no attention to what she said. He had gotten used to her opinions a long time ago, and now talk like this was often expected out of her. He crouched down to her level and out a hand on her shoulder. "Come on."
"I hate it," She simply responded, her eyes never leaving the water.
"You say that every month."
"Doesn't mean it's not true." She sighed. She gave Tristan her hand, and he quickly stood up and pulled her up with him.
As they started walking up the cliff, Serenity squeezed Tristan's hand. "I have faith in you."
They walked along the unpaved roads that lines the forests of the town. Small children raced on either side of the two, and as Serenity watched the little kids, she remembered how she got there.
She was adopted, and that's all she knew. Her birth mother had named her Serenity, and then she put her up for adoption. Then Serenity's adoptive mother found her at an orphanage and instantly fell in love with the charming baby. And so Serenity was raised in this village, although she knew from once seeing her birth record that she was born in a different town. Her adoptive mother had engaged her to the young Taylor boy when Serenity was hardly five years old, and then shortly after, her mother died of some sort of unnamed disease. From then on, Serenity had been living with her fiancé's family, hoping to be married on her eighteenth birthday, which was little more than two months away.
What Serenity always thought about on this day was why her biological mother put her up for adoption. Nobody had ever explained that to her…and she knew she would never find out, but that was the reason she constantly thought about it.
"Hey," Tristan cooed to his fiancée as he grabbed her hand more tightly. "Don't look so upset. I've been in the lottery for almost two years now and never have I ever gotten the wrong slip."
Serenity kept her eyes on the village square that was appearing before her like a little row of painted houses above the forest's trees. "I am not worried about your competence," she assured. "I just wish this wouldn't happen. You do agree, don't you?"
Tristan nodded his head slowly but Serenity didn't look up to see his answer. She knew already what he thought of the Lottery from the stones that filled his pockets.
As the two approached the village square, now filling with the population of the town, Tristan's father quickly ushered the two into the crowd.
"You're late," he told the two. "They've already started calling the names."
"Azerforth…Bailey…Benson," Old Man Warner called, the eldest in the town, called. Serenity watched woefully as young men with those last names went up on the stage and took a piece of paper. She especially looked upset when she saw the Benson boy go up, for she had went to school with him.
They women watched tentatively as the men in the family and all boys sixteen or older started filing onto the large wooden stage in the middle of the square. Tristan's mother, Serenity's soon to be mother-in-law smiled weakly at Serenity. Whether or not they would live to tell about this day was a matter up to Tristan and his father.
'Taylor," Old Man Warner called from the stage. Tristan hugged Serenity before he and his father pushed through the crowd and reached the stage.
"This would be the seventy-seventh year I'm in the Lottery," Old Man Warner said as he held open a wooden black box in his hands. "Seventy-seven years."
"Quiet, Warner," Mr. Taylor muttered under his breath as he pulled out a folded piece of paper from the black box. Tristan did the same and the two men took their place in a line on the stage. Old Man Warner called his own name and pulled out a piece of paper from the box, then placed the box on a nearby stand for now all the names had been called.
A moment of silence passed before Old Man Warner said, "Now on the count of three, men, open those papers. Ready now? Ok…1..."
A murmur of worries spread throughout the crowd of women in the audience. The mothers and sister held their young siblings' hands tightly as they watched their husbands and fathers and brothers stand solemnly.
"…2..."
"Please, don't let it be Mr. Taylor or Tristan," Serenity breathed as she started to bite her fingernails. The children around her fidgeted with the stones in her hands impatiently, yearning for the chance to throw them.
"I've heard some towns have given up on the lottery," Mrs. Taylor whispered to Serenity from behind her.
"What I wouldn't give to live there," Serenity said in an even more inaudible pitch.
"…3.…"
All whispers in the crowd ceased as the men on the stage looked at their papers. Almost all of them instantly smiled as they held up pieces of paper that were completely blank and showed them to the crowd proudly.
A wave of relief swept over the wives, sisters and mothers in the crowd as they saw their men hold up the blank piece from the stage. Serenity felt a smile form across her lips as Tristan waved a blank paper to her like a flag from the stage.
"He's not showing me his paper," Mrs. Taylor said quietly.
"Who, Tristan?" Serenity asked, still smiling, and not looking at anyone but Tristan.
"No," Mrs. Taylor answered.
On the stage after he had shown Serenity his paper, Tristan looked to his father.
"Another Lottery that went well," He said to his father. Mr. Taylor did not respond. He still had his paper in his hands, crunched in his fists.
"It's Taylor," the crowd and the men whispered. "He's got it."
"Taylor," Old Man Warren said as he approached him, "Everyone else's shown me there's. Show me the paper."
Mr. Taylor hesitantly held out the crumpled piece of paper to Warren. It was crumpled, but the black dot on it was still visible enough to the men on the stage. Tristan sighed, trying to hide his fear.
"Oh God," Serenity and Mrs. Taylor gasped. Women in the crowd behind them shoved them towards the stage, and Mrs. Taylor and Serenity were too numb to even notice what was happening to them. As they were pushed forward, they heard women whisper to them, "Take your time in choosing."
"Who's your family?" Warren asked Mr. Taylor.
"Well," Mr. Taylor answered at length, "there's my wife and me, and Tristan…and his fiancé, but does Serenity have to choose with us?" Mr. Taylor asked, trying to save Serenity from the second part of the Lottery.
"She has no other family, I'm afraid," Warren said quietly. "She has to come with you."
In a matter of moments all the men (except Tristan and Mr. Taylor) had cleared the stage and Serenity and Mrs. Taylor had come onto it. Old Man Warren brought out a new, smaller box from the small table adjacent to the stage.
"Ok, now, I reckon you all know how this works by now. When you take a piece of paper, don't open it. When I give the signal, then look. And you know the rest…" Old Man Warren said as the four of them (Tristan's parents and Tristan and Serenity) took an even smaller and more folded piece of paper from the box.
"Ok, now…You all have one, right? Good. There's no point in stalling any further." Warren ran a nervous finger through his white hair. "Open you papers."
Mr. Taylor tediously opened his and felt relieved: his paper was blank.
Mrs. Taylor ripped open hers, but her paper was blank. She looked over at her husband, and his paper was blank. Now she truly felt like crying: This could only mean Tristan or Serenity got the cursed paper. She looked to her left where her son stood on the stage, and she saw that his paper was also blank.
"It's Serenity," Warren mumbled, picking up a small pebble that was resting in his pocket.
Sure enough, Serenity looked bitterly at the piece of small white paper in her hands, an ugly black dot square in the middle of the paper. All around her, Tristan and his family surrounded her, hugging her and telling her that they loved her so much.
"I didn't want it to be you," Mrs. Taylor said as she squeezed Serenity for the last time. Mr. Taylor patted Tristan on the back, but Tristan just looked blankly at Serenity, wondering if all this was a dream.
Serenity was furious.
Serenity stuffed the piece of paper into her pocket and walked backwards on the stage, away from Tristan and his family.
"Stay back," she said threateningly. Now others people, men, women and children, crawled onto the stage.
"Serenity," Mrs. Taylor pleaded, advancing towards the girl. "You have to face this like an adult--"
"--no, I don't. And stay back," Serenity interjected, but all the people kept coming more towards her. She was at the edge of the stage, and the townspeople kept filing and crowding onto it. She felt a pebble hit her feet.
They're starting, she thought, panicking. Truly, the more she moved back more pebbles and small stones started flying at her.
Within seconds, tears came out of her eyes. Stones were flying here and there at her, and she could do nothing but pathetically shield her face with her hands as the town threw more stones at the rest of her body. In one final attempt, Serenity, without looking, jumped off the stage. She felt as if she were moving faster than light itself. She darted into the forest that was connected to the village square as she heard the townspeople scream, "After her!"
She dashed through the trees she had explored when she was younger, careful not to trip for one loss of footing in this situation could cause her her life.
Through the trees in front of her, she saw the cliff she had been sitting not more than twenty minutes ago.
Dammit, she thought. Once she got onto the precipice, she would be trapped by the water and the mob that was still peppering her with stones.
Once she rushed out of the forest, she could feel more stones hit her back when the villagers ran out of the forest.
She turned to face them, her hands now somewhat covering her face. In a desperate attempt to beg for her life, she tried to speak, but someone in the crowd (her hands prevented her from seeing who it was) threw something much bigger than just an ordinary stone at her hand. She screamed in pain as she brought her hand down and saw that her left hand had been badly bruised by a large, heavy rock that now lie on the ground beside her feet. Her face was now open and defenseless, and as soon as Serenity realized this, she backed up farther on the cliff, coming dangerously to its end.
"This is madness!" Serenity cried as the crowd was upon her. But they wouldn't listen. All they could do was come closer to her, more pebbles and stones lunging at her.
"This isn't right! This isn't fair!"
That was the last thing Serenity remembered screaming, for as the words escaped her mouth, she felt something--something hard--slam against her head. She hadn't seen it coming, and even if she had, she would not have had the time to block it.
The stone that had hit her head this time sent her flying backward, and since she was on a cliff, the only backwards was down.
She didn't even have time to scream, just open her eyes widely as she lost her footing and did somewhat of a back flip off the precipice.
There was a wave of silence amongst the crowd after they had seen her fall. They listened quietly, and they heard a solid splashing sound. Serenity had fallen into the bay.
The townspeople, led by Tristan and his family, went to the edge of the cliff. They stood there for what seemed like hours, just staring at the water, completely absent-minded while Old Man Warner repeatedly said, "She was a good girl."
"Poke her."
"No, you poke her."
"I don't want to poke her. She might be dead."
"And you think I'm some sort of necrophiliac?"
"Then what should we do with her?"
"Well, I have not the faintest clue. Maybe we should wash her. She smells of cod."
"Maybe she smells because she's dead."
"Good point. Do you think we should check her pulse?"
"No! If I'm not going to poke her, what makes you think I'll check her pulse?"
"Well, we carried her in all the way from the bay…why can't we touch her now?"
"Hmm…good question. Ok, fine…let's poke her--I mean check her pulse."
Serenity's eyes fluttered as she watched two girls fight over her body. She was laid on some sort of platform and the girls were hovering on either sides of her, pointing fingers at each other. They seemed to be so obsessed with their arguments that they didn't even notice when Serenity asked, "Who are you?"
A few minutes passed when one of them jumped back and pointed her finger straight at Serenity. "Oh my gosh! She's moving!"
The other girl looked at Serenity and widened her eyes so that matched the scale of a dinner plate. "Oh my…"
Serenity plopped herself up on the table as her eyes regained their focus. She looked at the two girls, dressed in maids' dresses. Then Serenity looked at her surroundings, a small yellow room with tables with piles of clothes on them, mostly linens and tablecloths. Then Serenity looked down at what she was sitting on: A rectangular ironing board with all the clothes pushed into one massive corner so that Serenity had enough room to lie down.
One of the maids came up to Serenity tentatively, as if unsure about Serenity's mental condition. "Umm…Ma'am? Why were you in the bay?"
"The bay?" Serenity asked as she squinted her eyes. It was then that she realized she had been wet this whole time. Her clothes were dark and saggy, and her hair smelled like salt and was heavy with water and tangles.
"Yes, ma'am," the order maid answered as she stepped up. "You were drifting in the water this morning. A fisherman found your body near his boat and brought you to the coast and the nearest house, which is here, I suppose."
Oh god, Serenity thought as she placed her moist fingers to her lips, I survived the Lottery. She felt warmth fill her eyes, but she had no idea why she was crying. This was not a joyous occasion, nor was this an occasion meant for mourning: she survived the Lottery!.
, Serenity thought as she placed her moist fingers to her lips, She felt warmth fill her eyes, but she had no idea why she was crying. This was not a joyous occasion, nor was this an occasion meant for mourning: she survived the Lottery!."Please," she little more than whispered, "please tell me that no one else knows I'm here?" She sounded desperate, for she knew if the village found out she was alright, they would track her down.
The maids both shook their heads in unison. "We're sorry, ma'am," they responded simultaneously. One of the maids reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a piece of crumpled, wet, white paper. When she unfolded the paper, Serenity saw the large black dot on it and felt like throwing up with disgust. The maids must have searched her pockets for identification or something. "You're not from around here, are you ma'am?" which was just a polite way of asking "you're from that town, aren't you?".
Serenity felt her lips trembling. "No," she answered at length. "Who else knows I'm here?"
"The masters of the house," one of the maids answered quietly.
"Who are they?" Serenity asked undecidedly.
As if on cue, an answer immediately came to Serenity from a raven-haired boy standing in the doorway.
"Us," the adolescent answered. Serenity whipped her head at him, wondering how long he had been standing there. This young boy, he seemed innocent…young…he was the head of a house? But then again, the boy had answered 'us'…plural…So then who was the other head?
But again, her answer came too quickly. As soon as Serenity had taken in the young boy, another male stepped into the doorway from behind the young boy. He was much taller, and from his body language, he just seemed like an edgy person. He had much lighter hair than the young boy, much more brown. And his eyes….they were so big and blue, like the bay…a sight Serenity never wanted to see again.
"Well, I guess you were right, Mokuba. So there was a washed up girl on the bay this morning…why is she here again?" he was leaning against the doorway as if he had many more important things to be doing than coming here to see Serenity.
"Seto!" the young boy, whom Serenity considered to be called Mokuba responded to the elder.
"What?" Seto asked lazily as he looked up at the maids.
Then it hit him…that piece of paper the maid was holding…no…it couldn't be…
Seto's eyes lowered into frustrated slits. For the first time in a very long time, he was confused. "When you said you weren't from here," he started to say, speaking directly to Serenity, "you mean you're from across the bay, aren't you?"
Serenity looked him straight in his eyes and it took all of her courage not to cry at the mention of that town. She nodded softly.
"I thought it was a myth," Seto said.
"Obviously, it's not," Mokuba breathed as Serenity started to whimper. "I can't believe you survived. I thought nobody survived." Mokuba was now just as confused as his brother. This girl surely must have had an interesting story to tell.
"Obviously," Seto said quietly, "we have an exception to the case."
Sorry there wasn't enough Seto/Serenity in this chapter, but trust me, the next chapter is choc full of them.
Well…that's it for now. This was a tester fic. If it's to be continued, I really would appreciate the feedback!
-Celestial Night