"Big brother, what's Duel Monsters?"

Keane looked up quizzically from his cereal as his little sister, Esta, closed the kitchen door behind her. "Duel Monsters?" he said. "Why do you ask?"

Esta sat down across the table from him, setting her bowl down carefully. "Loads of people talk about it at school all the time," she explained. "They mention it pretty much every day. At first I thought it was just a... um... what was it called?"

"An inside joke?" Keane suggested, returning to hid cereal.

"Right, that's it!" she said. "But lately, it seems like everyone's talking about it. Can you tell me what it is?"

Keane glanced at the clock to see how much time they had before they had to leave for school. Seventeen minutes. He had plenty of time. He turned back to her and nodded. "Of course I can sis." He laid down his spoon and took a deep breath before starting. "Now, I've already taught you how to play things like blackjack and snap, right?"

Esta nodded excitedly, her own breakfast forgotten.

"Well," Keane went on, "Duel Monsters is a card game, kinda like them- well, it's actually a lot deeper than them."

"What do you mean?"

"How to I explain this...?" Keane mused. "Inherently, it's a method of combat. In a duel, two or more people go against each other in an intense battle, with victory being the only objective. You win by Summoning monsters to inflict more damage to your opponent than they can inflict to you. People use it as a way to settle disputes, prove their strength, and sometimes even as a way to bully people."

"That's horrible," Esta gasped. "Why do so many people play a game like that? It sounds awful."

"You didn't let me finish," Keane replied, a hint of a smile on his face. "Now, unfortunately, there are so many people out there who'll never view Duel Monsters as anything more than that – a convenient way to solve problems, or just to show off. That kind of shallow thinking is what puts real duelists to shame. Dueling is so much more..."

"How so?" she asked.

Keane smiled at her. "Dueling is a way of life, Esta. It's a way of connecting people. If you're in a true and heated duel with someone, you can exchange thoughts and feelings with each other, simply through your cards. It lets you learn about people in a way you could never do with words alone."

"How?" Esta asked, in obvious awe.

"You just feel it," Keane said. "You... um... it's hard to explain really. It's something that you really have to feel for yourself." He picked up his spoon and returned to his bowl of cornflakes. "Well, I suppose you won't, since you don't know how to play-"

The excited response came almost immediately. "Can you teach me how to play?!"

Keane grinned and set his spoon down again. "Now how did I know that you were going to ask that question?" he said, reaching into the schoolbag at the foot of the chair and pulling out his Deck.

The cereal in front of Esta was quickly getting soggy and mushy, but she completely ignored it as her brother spread his cards out on the table in front of her.

"Alright," he said, pointing at two of the cards. "These yellow and orange cards are called Monster Cards. These are the main part of any Deck, and they'll be what you use for all your attacking."

"Ok," Esta said, before pointing to another card. "What about these green ones?

"I'm getting to those," Keane said patiently. "Those aren't Monster Cards, they're Spell Cards. You use them to support your monsters while they do the attacking. See, look there... you can tell that they're not monsters because they don't have any ATK or DEF stats."

"Oh, I get it!" Esta said. Keane knew perfectly well that she hadn't got it at all, and a few seconds later, she confirmed it. "Wait, what about these black cards. They aren't yellow or orange, but they have that ATK and DEF thingy. Does that mean they're monsters too?"

"Sort of, yes. These are Xyz Monsters," Keane explained. "They're kept separate from the Main Deck, and you Summon them by combining some of the monsters you already have out."

"Combining?" Esta queried. "How do you do that?"

"Well, you take two or more of your monsters that have the same number of stars on them, then you place them on top of-" Keane trailed off as a better alternative came to mind. "Tell you what..." he said, slinging his schoolbag over his shoulder, and scooping his cards off the table. "Why don't I show you?"

*THAT AFTERNOON*

Keane LP: 3900

Constellar Omega: Beast-Warrior-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2500/DEF 500 – 1 OLU

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Tiger King: Beast-Warrior-Type/Xyz/FIRE/Rank 4/ATK 2300/DEF 1800 – 1 OLU

Starliege Paladynamo: Warrior-Type/Xyz/LIGHT/Rank 4/ATK 2000/DEF 1000 – 2 OLU

Spell & Trap Card Zone: Fire Formation – Tenki

James LP: 1150

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon: Thunder-Type/Fusion/LIGHT/Level 7/ATK 2800/DEF 2100

Spell & Trap Card Zone: Call of the Haunted, 1 set card

"Right then, I activate Paladynamo's effect!" Keane declared. "Once per turn, by detaching both of its Overlay Units, I can reduce the ATK of any monster you control to zero, and cancel all of its effects, if it has any." With a pair of swift and accurate slashes, Paladynamo carved up its two shining yellow orbs, and absorbed the residual energy into its blade.

Starliege Paladynamo: 2 → 0 OLU

With that done, it turned its blade on James' Fusion Monster, pointing it straight at the dragon's torso. A bolt of crackling electrical energy shot from the tip of the sword and engulfed the monster, draining it of its power.

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon: ATK 2800 → 0

"Hoo boy," James whistled. "This isn't gonna end well for me, is it?"

"Not really," Keane agreed. "Go, Paladynamo! Rip his dragon to shreds!" The shining warrior began to charge a dark red sphere of power at the tip of its blade.

In a panic, James triggered his face-down card. "I activate the Trap Card, Mirror Force!" The set card activated. "When an opponent's monster declares an attack, this card destroys every Attack Position monster they control!" Paladynamo launched its attack at the dragon, but before it could land, a domed barrier appeared around the monster, which effortlessly dissipated the attack. Then, with a blinding flash of light, the barrier sent out a shockwave of energy, which incinerated first Paladynamo, then Tiger King.

"In chain to that card, I activate the effect of Constellar Omega!" Keane called. "Once per turn, by detaching one of its Overlay Units, I can make all Constellar monsters I control immune to Spell and Trap effects this turn!" Omega's final yellow orb was absorbed into the symbol on its chest.

Constellar Omega: 1 → 0 OLU

With a whooshing sound, the shockwave split in front of the centaur, passing harmlessly either side of it. When the light faded away, each player now only controlled a single monster.

"Of course, since it's now immune to Spell and Trap effects," Keane said, "Omega no longer receives a boost from my Fire Formation Spell Card."

Constellar Omega: ATK 2500 → 2400

"Oh, and while I'm at it, Paladynamo's effect activates," Keane went on. "When Paladynamo is destroyed by my opponent and sent to the Graveyard, I can draw one card." He drew his card and placed it in his hand without looking at it. "Not that I really need it anyway. Go, Omega! Finish that thing off!" The radiant centaur charged forwards, brandishing a blade of pure light that it had materialised from nowhere. With a cry, it slashed down at James, who staggered back from the force of the attack.

Keane LP: 3900 [WINNER]

James LP: 1150 → 0

A claxon sounded to signal the end of the duel, and the augmented reality faded away around them. Keane and James removed their D-Gazers, walked over to the centre of the field, and shook hands.

"You did well James," Keane said.

"Likewise man," James replied, grinning. "I almost had you there. If I hadn't forgotten about Omega's effect..."

"Then you'd still be in exactly the same predicament," Keane interrupted. "No amount of hindsight would've saved you this time."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." James muttered, before they heard a shout from across the field. Turning, they saw two girls running towards them. One was Esta, Keane's sister. The other was Katie, one of James' friends.

"Look out, here comes your significant other," Keane joked.

James' face instantly went red. "Shut up," he whispered. "We're not even a couple."

"Not yet," Keane countered. "But if you got the chance, I bet you would. Am I right?" He struggled not to laugh at the look on James' face as the girls drew closer.

Keane's power of observation never failed to irritate James. Desperate to salvage some of his dignity, he tried to muster a comeback. "Well you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" he said. "Been doing much with Esta recently?"

"Eh?" Keane gasped. "What're you on about? She's my sister! She's only fourteen!"

"Stepsister," James pointed out, with all the tact and intelligence of a hippopotamus. "Technically you aren't related by blood, so you could."

Keane just gaped at him. He was genuinely disgusted by the idea. "You know what, James? You can be a real idiot sometimes," he muttered, as Esta finally reached them.

"That was amazing!" she squealed, throwing her arms around him.

Keane hugged her back, then extricated himself from her grip and looked her in the eyes. "So, what do you think sis? Do you still think dueling is horrible?"

She shook her head vigorously. "No way, it's fantastic! You looked so cool out there!" Fuelled by excitement, she turned to James and hugged him as well. "So did you!"

"Did I?" said James, before quickly regaining his composure. "Well, er... I suppose I did..."

Katie was the last to join them, and a quick glance at her face was enough for Keane to see the jealousy seeping from her every pore, as James struggled to escape Esta's grip. He felt like laughing at the pair of them. 'Katie and James… they're so made for each other,' he thought. 'I wish they'd hurry up and get it over with already.'

Still, Katie was starting to look awkward standing there by herself, so Keane turned to Esta. "Come on sis, time for us to go." She nodded and finally released James. The four of them said their goodbyes, and Keane and Esta began the long walk home. "So," he said to her once they'd gone a little way. "Think you wanna give this game a try?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Totally," she grinned. "You know that big horsey thing... um... what was it called?"

"Constellar Omega?" Keane suggested. "And it's a centaur, not a horse."

"Yeah, that's it!" Esta smiled. "That was the best card in the whole duel. I just love how it can protect itself like that, while still being powerful on its own."

Keane chuckled under his breath. "Well then," he said cryptically, unzipping his schoolbag and rummaging around inside it. "Looks like I made the right choice then."

Esta glanced at him questioningly as he pulled out a small package wrapped in paper, and handed it to her. "What is it?"

"A present," Keane replied. "I sneaked out of school and picked it up at lunchtime."

She gaped at him. "You sneaked out of school? I thought you told me it was bad to do that."

"You don't have to take it if you don't want to," Keane said pointedly, reaching out a hand as if to take the package back. Immediately she snatched it out of reach and began ripping at the paper. Keane smiled and lowered his hand. "So I'll take that as a 'no', shall I?"

She wasn't listening. Curiosity had finally gotten the better of her – as it always did – and she made light work of the wrapping paper, tearing it away until a small, rectangular box was sitting in her palm. Without pausing, she prised off the lid to reveal the contents.

Her eyes widened with surprise.

She looked at Keane, and he nodded and gestured for her to continue. She placed a hand over the top of the box and flipped it over, allowing the contents to fall into her hand.

It was a Deck. A full fifty-five card Deck as well. It was practically straight out of the box, but Keane had tweaked both the Main and Extra Decks slightly, adding more cards from his own collection so that his sister would have more flexibility in her Summons.

Esta shrieked with delight and pulled Keane into a bone-crushing hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she cried, her voice muffled from being buried in Keane's jacket.

"Now be sure to look after them," Keane told her once they finally separated. "Don't leave them anywhere unattended, don't let anyone steal them, and definitely don't leave them in your pockets when I put the washing machine on, ok?"

She nodded, but Keane sensed that the world around her had ceased to exist as she sifted through her new Deck, reading each of her new cards extensively. She was particularly happy to see a Constellar Omega card, of which Keane had located a spare in his collection and managed to slip in.

Finally, she turned to her brother and asked the obvious question. "Can I try them out now?"

Keane pretended to consider for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Welcome to the world of Keane and Esta. Please wipe your feet.

Fun Fact #1: Keane and Esta aren't original characters in every sense of the word. For first-time readers, I strongly suggest that you head over to Rebster6's profile first and read up on those stories (I'm one of the authors for that account as well), since those stories tie directly into this one. And before you ask, yes I do have permission to use these characters because... well... I helped make them.

Fun Fact #2: The main purpose of this story is to let everyone know what happened to Esta prior to the events of YuGiOh! Delta: Summer Solstice, but it also serves to elaborate on James and Katie's backstory a little better.

Fun Fact #3: The underlining of the ATK stats represents a monster's Battle Position - it's a part of the duel structure I'm using in this story. If a monster has its ATK stat underlined, then it is currently in Attack Position. Likewise for Defence Position.