Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or anything for that matter that is related to Yugioh, except a deck of cards and…a deck of cards. -_-;
"Wow, the dueling club is finally here!"
"Not to mention the end of the week!"
"Well, aren't you the happy one?"
"Yup! ^_^"
In a high school, in a classroom with a small TV set in which an after school activity, Dueling club, basically a place where people got together to play duel monsters on Friday after school, Master Sam and a young girl named Jiu were playing on two desks pushed together. "Sorry Sam," a young short, dark haired girl said to a teen boy. "But I'll use Dark Magician against your Celtic Guardian and that wipes you out. Good game though." Master Sam looked down in surprise. "What? Jiu, that move…how did you manage to do that?" Jiu, master Sam's friend smiled, her brown eyes laughing gently. "I used the Dark Sword of Destruction and Book of Secret Arts to boost my Dark Magician to a high level of 3200, and because Celtic Guardian there is only 1400, the difference of 2800 is a considerable amount of damage to take." Jiu smiled and winked. "Get it?" she asked. Master Sam looked stunned. "H-How?" he stammered. "H-How could I lose…again?" Jiu grinned and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's so-kay." She said smiling nicely. Then muttering to herself so Master couldn't hear, I heard her say, "For the fifth time in a row." But master didn't catch it and angrily turned his eyes upon me. "Tell me Jiu," he said angrily. "What am I doing wrong? I've got a lot of cards and I have an equal balance of magic and monsters. What's going on? You've beaten me so many times, and you're using the school's rental deck!"
Jiu glared playfully and said, "Well, pardon me for not getting any cards. I just don't have the money. My parent told me I need to save up for one and because they're alive, they cost more than ever." Then, Jiu smiled and stood up, her sky blue cotton blouse swishing with her fluid movements. "Well, let me see your deck. Maybe I can help after all." Slowly, I felt myself being picked up and slowly put on the top pile of my deck. I watched without feeling, as Jiu looked each of the cards in Master Sam's deck over carefully. "Hm…" she said carefully as she finally put us down and faced Sam. I really don't like anyone besides Master Sam touching us. It just feels…like…
Like it's wrong.
This world…this world, we are alive and we can do whatever we like. As long as the monsters are with their duelists at all times, the monsters can come out and become alive. Not magic or traps though, only monsters. And the monsters have to be registered as yours and then we have to come out only when the duelist commands it. Until then, we are expected to remain in our cards. If we do come out, then we are punished with something terrible. I haven't heard what it was, but it is something terrible to the monsters and the duelist. So I am very careful not to come out unless I'm told.
Master Sam looked at Jiu earnestly. "What?" he asked quickly. "Is it the magic? The traps? The monsters?" Jiu frowned and shook her head. "I don't know." I heard finally. "I can't believe it either, but I can't see anything wrong with your deck. It's a perfect deck. Really it is. But…" Jiu turned to Master Sam. "This is going to sound really dumb to you…but it's something I trust in the cards in entirely." I watched in amazement as Master Sam's blue eyes stared into Jiu's. "What?" he asked. "What is it Jiu?" Frankly, I opened my ears too. I wanted to hear why my master hasn't won a single game.
Ever.
Jiu sighed, pushed her red hat down over her eyes more, and folded her arms across her chest.
"Do you believe in the heart of the cards?"
"What?"
Jiu smiled. "The heart. Their soul…the fact that they do indeed know your very inner being."
Please master; please say you believe in me. Say you believe in the heart of the cards, the fact that I, Celtic Guardian am at your beck and call for every wish. I am your monster and I follow my master's orders. Please…
"Are you joking? The cards don't have a heart, even if they are alive! Jiu, where did you get this load of total bull?"
No.
No it wasn't true!
My master believed in me, he really did! He was my master, he had to! He just didn't want to admit it! He believed in the heart of the cards! Master, good master, take what you said back!
But he continued…
"Heart of the cards? Yeah, right Jiu, it looks like you finally flipped. Well, I don't believe in the heart of the cards. Why should I? All they are is things to fight with, ya know?" But Jiu frowned and shook her head. "That's not true…" I heard her whisper. "It's not…"
Master Sam poked Jiu in the arm. "Jiu?" he asked. "Jiiiiuuuuu? Hello? Hello? Yeah, so, can you tell me what's wrong or not? Besides, you don't believe in the heart of the cards and you don't win every time." Jiu snapped her head back and glowered at Master under the cover of her hat, her dark hair swishing angrily. "Oh really?" she said her voice soft, but with ferocity. "I actually do believe…and that's what pulls me through most of my duels. And I'm glad I don't win because then it keeps me free from being selfish and overconfident. And frankly, unlike you, I learn from loss and I accept it." I was so shocked I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. Master…he did not believe in me. He didn't…
Believe in the heart…my heart…
How can I fight for a master like that?
***
When I did come to my senses, Master Sam and Jiu were in an empty park, where no houses and people could be seen for quite a ways. A perfect place to duel and not be bothered. Small humans are always coming up and poking at us and picking us up in the middle of a duel. So this was a good place where they wouldn't be bothered. Master and Jiu were playing again and I was back out on the field, in attack mode. Jiu and Sam had split Sam's deck in half, allowing Jiu to play with the other half. "All right Jiu," Master said. "Prepare your face down card for…Celtic Guardian in attack mode! He attacks your face down card!" In the card realm battlefield, I sighed and picked up my sword, preparing to attack. Behind me, Mystical Elf sighed too. "You know," she said. "One would think that he might have learned to NOT attack face down cards like that, especially when there's a magic card underneath it." Turing my gaze away, I sighed. He's still my master.
Even if he did say he didn't believe…
Running forward, I cried, "Here I go…!" Slashing down at the card, I watched it come into view…
Blue eyes White dragon!
Oops.
Quickly countering, Blue eyes roared and slashed down at me, nearly missing my head. "Hey!" I yelled. "Watch it!" But all Blue eyes did was give a shrug and disappear.
The duel was over
We had lost.
Again.
Outside the card realm, I heard Master Sam gasp with surprise. "AGAIN?" he roared. Sighing, I switched my view to see the outside world. "Sam, it's just a game." Jiu said as she brushed her hair back with her fingers. "Get a grip." But Master Sam was boiling over with rage. I could see that. "Stupid cards!" he suddenly shouted. "Stupid worthless pieces of crap!" Pulling me out, he stared angrily into my eyes piercing my very soul. "Sam," Jiu said warily as she got up not bothering to brush dirt off of her long gray pants. "Sam, what are you doing?" But Master Sam ignored her and stared at me unmercifully. "They're all crap." He said. "Especially this one. Celtic Guardian. Baffles enemies with lighting swift attacks? Yeah right! What a weakling!" Jiu instantly brought herself up and defended me.
Even though I wasn't her card, she defended me…
***
Inside the card realm, I listened with Gaia. "What is master talking about?" Gaia asked me. "And what's that idiot girl think she's doing? She's sticking up for monsters that aren't hers! Is she mental?"
But I wasn't paying attention to Gaia.
"I'm going out there." I decided. "I need to see if Master Sam really doesn't believe in us. I need to see for myself…I have always believed in him and when he brought us out alive and taught us everything he knew, I knew then that he was someone who would never forsake me."
Gaia blinked in surprise. "Wow…" he said. "You're mental too." Turning his back to me, Gaia sighed heavily. "Celtic," he began sadly. "You have to realize that Master Sam will never accept us as a equal. Remember that bruise he gave Skull Bird last time he brought us to life because we lost the previous duel? All humans are is trash and they all think that us monsters are nothing more than pawns in one big game. Master Sam has proven it…look! He just said he didn't believe. So why should we believe in him?"
He was right.
Master Sam did abuse us…and he did call us things I would rather not repeat…
But…
Shrugging it off, I looked back up at the two humans arguing. "I have to go." I thought to myself. "I need to know…and I want to meet her…there's something about that girl Jiu…what is it?" But I didn't get to finish my thoughts because then Jiu and master's arguing got louder.
***
"Shut up!" Jiu cried. "He isn't stupid and he isn't worthless! He's a good card to have and you're just too blind to see it! Don't you dare do what I think what you're about to do!" Turning around, Master Sam stared into Jiu's face angrily. "I don't need him! I don't care if he is alive and…"
But he never got to finish, because I decided to come out.
Master Sam just gasped and stared with his mouth open. "C-Celtic Guardian…?" Master hacked. "You…you…" Nodding, I smiled sadly and looked at master. "Yes…" I said. "Yes, I came out without your permission." Master Sam choked and beat a hand on his chest. "You…you heard what I said earlier?" he asked warily. Of course. If I'm his monster, I can hear anything and everything master says. I listen. But I only nodded my head and said nothing. Behind me, I could hear Jiu sigh and walk up next to me.
But I can't worry about her now.
I expected Master Sam to run to me and apologize,
For him to say "Hello,"
For him to say something besides what he said next.
He said, "You loser, get away from me."
Then…he did something I will never forget…
He threw my card at me and began to walk away.
"No!" a voice cried out and brushed past me. It was Jiu! "No!" she said as she blocked Sam's way with her body. "You can't!" She glared. "You can't abandon him! He's your monster! You can't leave him like this, you jerk!" I was so stunned; I just picked up my card and stared. I stared at the back of Master Sam's blonde head. He had abandoned me…forever. Sam glared at Jiu and growled. "I don't need him." He hissed. " I can find better monsters and better magic cards to take the place of him. I don't need him." And then he brushed past Jiu, knocking into her shoulder hard.
Him?
Why not my name…?
But "Him"?
Jiu flinched, but then she spun around and grabbed Sam by the shoulders spinning him around so she could look at him. "You arrogant brat!" she yelled. "You're abandoning your Celtic Guardian! After all he's done for you!"
Why?
Why is that girl sticking up for me? Shouldn't she be walking away too? Isn't that what all humans were like? All they thought that we were was simple tools for dueling.
But she…was different…
Why?
But Jiu kept on speaking her angry words as I watched. Shouldn't Sam take me back? Take me back home…to his deck…? But Sam just let Jiu speak her words of anger, tears beginning to appear out of her eyes, and slowly, Sam turned away and called back, "Get away from me trash. I don't have time to listen to you spew garbage. So I'm getting rid of Celtic right now and that's that." I watched in amazement as Jiu fell to her knees in shock, crying. Crying for me. Hot angry tears falling to the ground all for me. "You brat…!" she hissed. "You jerk…how could you?" Then, looking up angrily at him brushing a few drops from her eyes, she yelled, "Well, what do you want him to do now? Where do you think he'll go?" Slowly, Sam turned around. But I knew now that he wouldn't take me back in.
"You keep him." He said without care. "I don't want him. And since you seem to like him so much, you have him." And turned his back on me and abandoned me forever…that broke me in half.
Broke me like glass.
Sam disowned me and I was alone.
Alone forever.
My heart hurt so much! I mean, I was alone! The biggest dishonor rested upon my shoulders. The dishonor of being abandoned. The dishonor of my duelist thinking I was weak. I was shot. No, I was dead! I had died and when my former master disowned me. Died! I never want to be hurt like this again! It was ripping at me and eating me away slowly…slowly…and soon, I knew, if I wasn't strong enough to heal,
It would kill me.
Jiu frowned after Sam. "Good bye Sam." I heard her whisper. "You gave your card the worst fate and for that, I can never look you in the eyes again." Then slowly turning to me, she tried to give me a smile, but ended up with a lopsided grin on her face. "So…" she said coughing a bit. "I'm sorry…" she said. "About all of this…" But I was so stunned, I could barely speak. I had been abandoned. I was alone. I was so miserable; I sat down on the ground and held my head between my hands.
Then…
I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.
It was Jiu.
Trying to make me grin, she brushed her tears quickly and smiled. "It's all right." She reassured me in a cracked voice. "I…I'll try to do my best to get him to take you back. I can try to do whatever you want. Do you want something?" She talked to me gently and carefully, as if I was glass and the very vibrations of her voice would shatter me. There's no point in me returning to Sam. He made it clear he didn't want me around. "I…" I said sadly. "I don't want to go back…" Feeling a surge of emotion, I closed my eyes, wishing this was all a dream. "No, I will never trust him again. I don't know…" I gave a small sob of pain that to me otherwise, would show a weakness. "I don't know what I'll do." I said. "I don't want anything from you humans…I have honor to keep."
Then, Jiu's hand slowly pushed my head up by the cheek to face her.
Staring into her sad eyes, I saw how much she shared my pain. "Sometimes," she said, "Honor isn't what's important."
"What?" I asked. "What do you mean? I was abandoned and I will never regain my honor." Laughing, Jiu gave me a hug around my arm and knelt beside me. "Stop talking about honor!" Jiu said. "It's not important now. What's important is that you have a place to call home." Then, smiling and getting up, (she's only five feet compared to my six and a half) Jiu reached out and smiled. "Come on," she said calmly. "Will you trust me? I don't want to see you be hurt anymore. You need a home, and right now, I guess I can try to get you wherever you want to go." Looking at her hand, I stared. "I…I want to stay…" I whispered. "I want to stay with someone who will never abandon me again. I don't want to be hurt like this again." Looking up at her with earnest eyes, I whispered, "Can you promise me a home like that?" Smiling happily, Jiu nodded. "I'll do my best. But for now, I think I better take care of you. We don't want the police to see an unregistered monster running around here. But I promise you I'll help you find that perfect duelist for you. And I don't break promises." Nodding, I blinked and looked away.
Why?
Why is she doing all of this for me?
If what Gaia said about humans was true…that all they thought of us were pawns…
I don't understand.
Jiu must have noticed me going off into a deep thought, because then she extended her hand a bit farther and smiled, "So let's go home." Smiling for what felt like the first time in ages, I took Jiu's hand. "Thank you Miss Jiu." I said. But Jiu just shook her head and smiled softly, the sun beginning to set on her face and the world around me. "I'm just Jiu Hi." She said. "But all you need to call me by is Jiu."
"Yes, Miss Jiu."
"I thought I asked you not to call me that! O_o"
"Yes, Miss Jiu."
"Stop it! ^_^"
"Sorry Miss Jiu."
"Geeze! Celtic, you are impossible! _"
"Yes Miss Jiu."
"…Whatever…-_-"
A/N: So tell me what you think! If you have any questions, please tell me cause I need to make sure you guys can understand my horrible writing! ^_^ V
-Dark Secret