**WARNING**

This story will contain upsetting elements that are too broad and varied to cover fully with only one disclaimer. I will describe each one, if any, before every chapter as a precursor to what they will entail.

**COPYRIGHT**

Most of the characters in this fan-fiction story do not belong to me. They will belong to either Hasbro, Andrew R. Robinson, and/or Wizards of The Coast. They characters that I do own will be stated at the end of each chapter.


Raiden looked himself over in the mirror one more time, preparing himself for the journey ahead of him and his friends. He was eighteen now, and had just finished his senior year of school with flying colors. His hair, now shoulder length and maroon tipped – a sort of halfway comprise between him and his father, even with Ray's insistence that Ken had had his hair even longer in his younger years – had been combed down and it's frizz had been dusted away with a can or two of hairspray. His outfit was on the more "emo" side, a dark black hoodie over a bright red t-shirt with torn navy jeans and platform sneakers, which his now wiry and lanky frame fit perfectly. A bit of black eyeliner had been liberally applied, as it never hurt to use, no matter what the gender.

He could hear voices speaking downstairs, his mother and Gabriel, no doubt. His father was already outside, shoving the multitude of bags into the car, with the added help of Allison and Lucia. He brushed his hair down once more, and quickly plodded down the stairs where his suspicions were confirmed. Gabriel was explaining to her about the benefits of additional training, as well as passive-aggressively reminding her that they were older then they had been when they'd first started dueling, and she was nodding and querying as he paused and testified.

Gabriel had changed quite a bit over the years, but he still retained his chunky, nerdy physique. He was wearing a dark grey button down vest over a pressed blue shirt with black dress pants and simple brown loafers. His old yellow pastry cap had been since outgrown, and he sported a brown flat cap instead. His face was usually scruffy, having little time to focus on shaving with his many studies, and he needed a pair of thick rimmed glasses since the 9th grade, which had been in part to a misfire involving a Star Sentinel.

He looked up and away from Janet as he heard Ray's shoes hit the bottom step. Grinning broadly, he walked over to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "And there's the man of the hour!" Gabe confidently said. "I hope you're all ready?"

Ray nodded. "Yeah, More than ready! I've been looking forward to this since my birthday!" He then walked over to his mother and hugged her tightly. "I'll write to the both of you guys every week, okay?" She ruffled his hair and released from the hug, giving a sort of sad smile. Before she could say anything in response, Allison opened the front door to the house, and poked her head through. "Hey, the car's all set!" she said to both the adolescent boys. "C'mon, let's get this over with." She added, with a visibly annoyed tone on both her face and in her voice.

Allison, as in comparison to her other friends, was smack dab in the middle regarding how much she'd differed in four years. While her hair was still long and ginger, she'd grown out her bangs longer to frame her face, and it had currently been tied into a long ponytail. Her fashion style had massively changed, taking on a sporty feel as opposed to her casual Goth style, with her long sleeved lavender shirt and denim vest, as well as black running shorts and sneakers. Lucy had stayed stocky and long haired, sticking true to her simple style with a long red sundress and lace less white slip-on sneakers. As they boys stepped out, she and Ray's father were working together to slam the trunk of the car door shut firmly with a loud thud.

"Okay, now, you're all set to go!" Lucy said, turning on her heel to face the three of them. She smiled warmly, then frowned a bit and sighed, pulling a bit on her hair as she suddenly looked at the ground. Her eyes darted back up to Allie again. "It… it is only for one month, right?"

Allison pulled Lucy closer to her, taking her hands in her own and rubbing them supportively. "And then we'll come right back home, straight to you!" She pulled Lucy's hands up to her mouth and kissed the fingers gently. "I can promise you that." Allison seemed to be just as saddened to leave as Lucy did, as she let go of her hands and got into the middle seat in the front. Gabe took the driver's side as Ken and Ray shared one last small talk between the two of them.

"I've read about this place, Dad. I'll be fine." Raiden said, trying to sound politer with his words, even if they did sound a bit stand-offish.

"You've read about it. I lived through it." Ken said, his voice taking on a solemn tone. His voice dropped lower, apparently not wanting Allie and Gabe to hear anything more. "Your great-uncle brought me straight there after my mother's death to get my mind off of her. Needless to say, it worked a bit too well."

"If you're trying to scare me, I don't think it's going to work. I've faced off with the Choten, like, twelve times," Ray joked, trying to take the edge off. "Not only that, but I doubt that any of the San Campion Masters would have agreed to send me off to a death trap." Ken sighed, but he nodded and smiled "Alright, just watch yourself, and be safe."

"I will be!" The teenagers said, and he ran off to the car, waving at his father. "Bye! I love you both!" Lucy and Ken both waved back as he got in the car's passenger seat, Gabe started it up and they drove off. Ray spent the next few minutes of the trip, pondering over what he'd been told by both his father and the masters. They had barely gotten an hour into the road trip before Gabriel began to massively info-dump about their destination whilst driving, much to Allie's visceral chagrin.

"Do you know that the Shroud Academy was officially instated as an alternative form of duel training only six hundred years ago, a total five hundred thousand years after it was created? Apparently this was because it kept moving so rapidly from place to place that nobody could keep track of it long enough to make note of it! Not only that, but this place is vast, said to have nine different courtyards and a library the size of six football fields! Adding onto this, there's…"

"Adding onto this, there's a ninety percent chance of you not shutting up!" Allie loudly interrupted, smacking her feet directly onto the dashboard. Gabe glared at her, and clearly his throat. "That is not what I was going to say, Allie. What's gotten into you, anyways? You've been kind of mean and short tempered to pretty much everyone this whole morning."

"I'm just annoyed, that's all!" she said, peeling off one of her shoes and straightening her sock, which had slipped down her ankle and fallen nearly off. "I mean hell-o! We're spending an entire month of our summer vacation at some old, dusty school?! I'm all learned out, can't we get a break for just one second before we get some other nightmare thrust at us?" She groaned and put her shoe back on, as Gabe desperately looked over at Ray for a helping hand. But, Ray was still deep in thought regarding the school, and was of no use in an argument.

Gabriel sighed and looked back at the road, his eyes darting up at his GPS. They'd been going down this highway for a while now, but nothing had told them to turn off at any stops or routes. He had triple checked to make sure that the coordinates were correct, but was beginning to doubt himself. His fingers tapped the sides of the wheel impatiently, as he decided that maybe he should turn off and ask for directions instead.

But, as luck would seem to have it, a sudden foggy green flash of light covered everything. The three of them screamed as Gabriel weaved around the road (or what he assumed was the road), trying to regain some sort of direction. Ray was nearly lurched out of the window he'd previously been staring out of, and Allie grabbed onto Gabe's shoulder tightly, digging in deep her fingernails. After what had to have felt to have been the longest 15 seconds of their life, the green 'fog' cleared, and Gabriel slammed on the breaks to avoid crashing into a sudden rock wall that had become visible.

Once the three of them had caught their breath and regained their bearings, they stepped out of the car to observe their new surroundings. They were on a cliff's side, overlooking a vast forest of black and red trees gently swaying in the brisk wind. A crystal clear lake, bubbling slightly and rippling as the black leaves touched the surface, snaked into a massive waterfall cascading down into a bright emerald green valley. A large orange dragon, snakelike and swift flew overhead, spiraling and dancing in the air as it came closer. It set down gently in front of the three and their car, bobbing its head and baring its teeth as if it were greeting them. Ray instinctively held out a hand to touch its head, but was stopped when the sound of something else landing caught both his and his friends' attention.

"Raiden. Allison. Gabriel." said the newcomer. It was a woman, very tall and very curvy, with long raven black hair in natural curls, winged eyeliner and maroon lipstick. Her skin was a very dark brown, and her dazzling golden eyes glanced over them inquisitively. She was wearing a pitch black robe, with bright red accents extending from the arms and throat. She bowed in reverence, and said "It was so nice to you to arrive so succinctly. I am Master Rougelle, charmed to meet your acquaintance." All at once, all of them had something to ask her.

"What the heck did you do that for, don't you know could've gotten us all killed?"

"How'd we get here? Is this how could made the… school-thing disappear for so long?"

"Is this your partner creature? She's really something!"

She put a hand up to her mouth, giving a small chuckle, as she spoke again. "Gabriel. Allison. Raiden. You're all just how I always imagined you to be like." The dragon walked over to her, and she motioned towards it openly. "This is Spitfire Serpent. She's very friendly, naive even, but she can take more of a hit than you'd think. As for your other questions, I believe it would be easier to show you than to explain." With a snap of her fingers, the serpent proceeded to grab the four of them with her tail, and fly them up to the top of the mountain. "I'll see to it that your luggage is brought up shortly."

Upon seeing what was atop the mountain, the three teenagers were taken aback. It was a massive castle, looking like something out of a fairytale or a movie, covered in moss and made up of light grey bricks. It consisted of six towers in a star shape, all interconnected by thick walls and a massive front entryway, with a large set of metal doors and an iron gate. As the group walked through the doors, they saw a group of other teenagers (one boy and two girls), looking to be around the same ages as them, at which point Ray gave a friendly smile and waved to them.

The boy, who seemed to be a bit jittery and shifty as if he couldn't keep still, waved back rapidly, and then quickly averted eye contact and stared at the sky as if he was embarrassed. The girls had been nuzzling, and the red-haired one seemed to scowl and pull the black and purple haired girl closer. The other girl didn't seem to notice that he'd waved, she was too busy engrossed in her 'friend' to really care. Raiden turned back to the Master who was guiding them, and cleared his throat.

But, before he could say anything, she said "I know what you're going to ask, don't fret. Welcome to Shroud Academy!"


ORIGINAL CHARACTERS:

Master Rougelle, Spitfire Serpent