"Star!" Mom calls out angrily, "Go do your chores or no food for you!"

Not good, I thought in a panic, if I don't get to eat, this is not going to be a good day for me. I had to be quick because I can tell that when Mom says 'no food for you,' she's not going to feed me at all today. I have to get the dirty clothes to the washer fast. Then wash the dishes in that boiling, bleached water without any gloves. If I'm lucky , I'll make it in time for my lessons without taking too many hits. If not, I'm going to starve today at another failure racing against the clock.

I raced to the laundry room and stuck all the dirty clothes into it. All right, laundry done, next the dishes, I check off in my mental checklist.

I raced off to the kitchen to be welcomed by a steamy sink full of dirty dishes. The dishes are a lot harder than the laundry, especially that torturous hot water my mom makes me wash them in. I raced over to it, but felt a hit on the back of my head. I turned to see my mother standing next to me, murder in her blood-red eyes, and her fan in hand.

"Thought you could escape your chores, Star," she sneered. I quickly shook my head and got to work.

I manage to do all the dishes, but now my hands are both burnt and rubbed raw. Even worse, the clock says I'm too late. I already got hit in the head from Mom's folding fan, but with Dad, I have more trouble to deal with. I'll have to hurry if I don't want him to bring his pocketknife!

Now, I have to get to the abandoned apartment for my "discipline" lessons. All of which being that I dodge my father's crop and/or blade. Unfortunately this is one of those days when Dad does bring his knife. I have to make sure that he doesn't get too close, so I never look into his eyes, with irises just as red as my mother's. If I do that again, I'll get yet another scar on my face; I don't need that again. As I desperately dodge one weapon, he comes down with the other.

I kept up my survival instincts until all of the "lessons" were over. I managed to get out of there in one piece, but now I have nine - maybe ten? - new scars on my midsection. I drag myself to the bathroom to treat the new wounds I have. I gingerly brush disinfectant onto each wound with a cotton ball, cringing when it stung. If whip scars were treatable, I wouldn't have so many scars as I do. But everybody knows that marks from a whip never disappear, so there's nothing I can do.

Man, I wish I could live somewhere that I don't have to worry about my parents. I know this isn't exactly their own fault. If the incident never happened the night before December 13, my birthday, Dad's eyes would still be green, and my Mom's eyes purple. I haven't been able to feel their souls for a long eight years now. I've had to take all of this torment ever since I turned eight. Now I'm sixteen and still trying to hold on. I only have a little bit of free time when I go shopping for them once a week. Fortunately, it's Sunday, when I do go shopping.

There has been one good thing, I had no tormenting visions today. If I had one, I would have wasted time recovering and wouldn't have gotten as lucky. So, in my usual street clothes, consisting of a pitch black turtleneck and pair of leggings, I head off. Now that I'm outside on the street, the only bad thing is bad thoughts coming from people. Hopefully I will be out of that madhouse once and for all. And maybe or maybe not find what exactly happened to them, and hopefully cure it.

I had everything I needed for the shopping trip. All of the cloth bags from the house to carry the items were in my right hand. My left hand held my mother's ID and the money to pay for the food. I was already getting pretty close to the store, even though I was tired. Good thing I lived in a city where I didn't have to walk far. It was quiet as usual out on the normally busy street. But with my strength I couldn't be able to hold for long. If I could make it with this shopping trip, I would have survived another day.

I went into the store with the money my mother gave me and the bags. I walked up to the pre-order clerk, Ms. Allora, with the money and Mom's ID. Ms. Allora handed me the groceries, asking, "Did Marina give you another hard week, Star?" I only nodded in reply at the only friend I had in this city as I placed all of the groceries into the bags. I turned to leave, as I thought, You're the only one who knows my secret around here, Ms. Allora. And I trust you to keep it that way; don't let me down. As I left out the door, I saw the silver moon shining in the sky. I like to imagine the moon as my real mother, looking down at me. So mouthing a wish to the approaching night sky - "Please take me somewhere that I'll be safe," - I made my way to my parents' house.

As I was walking home, I began to feel really weak and stumbled a lot. There was also something that was going wrong with my vision: everything was starting to blur into a weird light hole. Could it be that I was too exhausted to go any further? Did that also explain that bright light I was seeing? I wasn't able stand up straight because I was so weak, and I went down on my knees on the ground. The light started to overpower me in a silent, yet blinding explosion. Then everything, at the speed of light, turned black.

When I woke up, I saw I wasn't in the middle of the city where I lived anymore. But when I looked toward the tallest tower, seeing the giant heart on top, I realized where I was. I recognized the city from one of my favorite TV shows back from when I was little. I was actually in Heartland City; I was in the world of Yugioh Zexal!

I couldn't believe I was in Yugioh Zexal; I was finally free! I also was able to, at the very least, stand up again, leaning on a building for support. I was on the roadside of Heartland City, and it was nighttime. I looked around for a little, until I felt someone's mind in a nearby alley. I froze in place, finding that the mind was that of a boy named Vetrix. A Shadow Roamer in Heartland City, eh, I heard from his mind. Her face seems rather familiar from my exploration with Kazuma and Doctor Faker. Her power will prove useful to me in my quest for revenge against Faker.

I suddenly saw a ghostly image of a little girl in a lavender dress with short sleeves. The girl looked like she was only eleven years old, and her face was hidden. Then, a pale, scarred face with deep green eyes was uncovered, previously concealed by a black curtain of hair. With a jolt of surprise I realized who it was: the girl was me from when I was eleven! But how could he know me?

I stood in shock as I looked in Vetrix's direction, but I became focused on something else as I heard some vehicle coming up the street. The vehicle looked like a motorcycle, with a driver about my age. Taking off his helmet and getting off the ride, I saw his dark purple hair and navy blue eyes. He looked at me thinking, this girl doesn't seem to be from around here. She even seems a little tired with the way she's standing. Even her ribs are sticking out of her chest, which I know aren't supposed to do that. And is that a scar I see on her face?

I was about to walk up to him to explain myself, even though I knew I was mute, and have been since I was eight. But the moment I took a step, my foot shot in the opposite direction, strength abandoning me. I collapsed exhausted from my injuries and hunger, but the boy caught me before falling. All I heard was him saying "Don't worry. You'll be all right with me," as everything faded to black again.


(?) I managed to catch the girl before she hit the ground, but now where could I bring her? Should I bring her over to the hospital? That would be the right thing to do in this kind of scenario.

Shark, I heard a voice call in my head. In my mind's eye, I could see my Black Ray Lancer standing in front of me.
What do you want, Lancer? I asked the Dark-attribute Beast-warrior.

Don't bring her to the hospital, Shark. the duel monster replied, bring her to your old home.

And why should I?

Because there are people who want the girl for her capabilities; you must protect her.

Well, that beats trying to find Vetrix in the middle of the night.

I reluctantly complied and took my runner's sidecar and spare helmet from the storage compartment. I put the helmet on the girl, placed her in the sidecar and buckled her in. Her head weakly slumped forward, leaning against the seat belt. Then I put my helmet back on and got back on my runner.

I slowly drove off to the mansion my sister and I used to live in. It doesn't seem to have changed much, other than the ivy going up and down the walls. I gently removed the girl and carried her inside the old, abandoned house. I went into one of the guest rooms and tucked her into the bed. I also got some clothes my sister couldn't stand. After putting them on the dresser, I left a note at her bedside, and some food in the kitchen for when she woke up. Finally, I left the house to prepare for the WDC finals.


(Star Dreaming) I was lying down motionlessly weak in a large mansion. There was Vetrix and three other boys in the room, and the three were all brothers. Vetrix was lying next to me with his metal mask, who surprisingly was the father, thinking, soon this girl and her entire people will be gone, and her powers will be all mine. I'm surprised that one of the Shadow Roamers would be able to survive to her age. It's even harder to believe how strong her powers are. But soon they will disappear into thin air. Then none of these people will bother me again. The other three boys, however, didn't look so eager for this. In fact, they all looked like they knew something their father either didn't know, or actually knew and didn't accept.

As Vetrix and I were suddenly hovering above the crimson symbol on the ground, I felt power pulsing in me, like a time bomb. I knew it was going to explode, like what happened in my old suburb. I began to struggle as large chain-like bindings tied me and Vetrix together. The pulses sped up, and the brothers seemed to know what was going to happen. "We must get out of here!" the tallest of the trio shouted, and he and the other two dashed out the door. The moment they left, my eyes flew open with a painful shriek as my powers called on Shadow Surge, and exploded in a pale purplish-blue inferno.

When the dust cleared up, I was lying on the floor, and Vetrix was lying motionless off to the side. The Shadow Surge drained all of my energy, and I couldn't move. The others came back in, awestruck at the scene before them.

"I warned you of what would happen, Vetrix," I chided softly. "You should've known you would not be able to restrain my...*groan*... devastating power. And for that, and your ignorance... you paid the price."