I: Five Years Old [Flashback]

"Liqiu, come over here," she said.

My small body trembled a little as I approached the woman in the bed. She had a small, but a weak smile on her face as she saw me. I knew that she was sick, but I never thought that it would be this bad. My mother gently caressed my cheek and moved a small strand of my lilac colored hair away from my eyes. She tucked the small strand of hair behind my ear.

I asked, "When you will be able to get better mom?"

She looked at me, and she didn't say even a word to me. Instead, she looked at the night table. I watched as she gently lifts her upper body. She began opening the top drawer and took out three cards from there. Her expression changed from a weak smile to a solemn look. I don't know what was happening until she placed a deck of cards into my hands. I took a peek at the cards that she had given me. It was the deck of cards that she used in all of her duels. Some of her favorite cards were Sino Beast: Hǔ, Sino Dragon: Báilóng, Sino Elemental: Jīn, and Sino Deity: Chang'e.

While I was going through her deck, my eyes widen as I recognized those three cards. They were White Autumn Ritual spell card, Autumnal Beast Báihú, and the Metal Claws of Báihú spell card.

"I can't keep them, mom. They're your cards," I said to her.

She replied, "No, Liqiu they aren't... They're your cards sweetie, and I know you will take good care of them for me."

She gently placed her hands on top of mine. I whimpered and cried softly to myself while looking at my mother. There are so many things that I wanted to ask, but she didn't have much time. Her sickness was killing her little by little. I didn't know what else to say to her. The last thing I remember was her whispering about some plans that she had hidden in her old workshop. The doctor who was taking care of my mother walked into the room with my father. They told me that they had to talk to my mother without me. I left her bedroom and walked into my room. It was the last time I saw my mother.


A week after she died, I was still trying to cope with the death of my mother. My dad was trying his best to take care of me while working at the plant. That night, my father already tucked me into bed. Just like the last six nights, I couldn't sleep again. I still couldn't get over the fact that she's gone. I looked to my right, and I saw that my glass was empty. Dad forgot to fill it up with some lukewarm water. As I got up, I noticed that the lights from the hall were on.

"So what you think Yingjie? We are leaving for China tonight, and tomorrow you will be working for one of the best duel runner companies there." said an unfamiliar voice.

My father replied, "Sure thing. I have been waiting for all these years to leave from this dump. There is nothing I can benefit from here since my wife died."

"What about the kid?" asked another voice.

He replied, "She can stay here since I don't have the time to take care of a spoiled rotten brat back in China."

A spoiled rotten brat? I didn't know what that meant, but the way that he said it was hurtful. He wanted to leave the Satellite and enjoy life in a different country. My father didn't care about my mother and me by the way he was talking. Instead of getting water, I returned to bed and tried to go to sleep without my cup of water. The lights from the hall were off, and that was the last time I saw my father.


Since my mother died and my father left me, I had to learn how to take care of myself. The only things I had were the clothes on my back, the locket that mom gave me for my 5th birthday, the deck of cards that mom gave me before she passed away, and a stuffed white tiger toy I had since I was a baby. The Satellite wasn't a safe place for a little girl like me. I had seen some of the shady stuff that goes down on these streets. Even though I wanted to stay here, I couldn't because I didn't want to cause any more trouble to the neighbors.

I left my house early in the morning with a small backpack that had my stuffed tiger toy and my deck of cards. None of the neighbors didn't even notice me leaving the small apartment complex. I began walking around the different districts of the Satellite. There weren't many safe places on the island, unfortunately. I had to be careful at all times when it came to being on the move. It was easy to attract someone's attention especially during this time of day.

So far, no one had noticed me wandering around the streets by myself. There were kids around my age walking and playing on the streets. Not many grown-ups were on the streets. I'm guessing that some of them were working at the plant at this time. As I continued walking, I heard a loud rumbling noise. My stomach was growling loudly. I didn't eat anything since I left the apartment. I sighed, and I continued wandering off on my own.

While I looked for food, I noticed a group of kids circling each other. I had no clue what was going on until a few kids ran passed by me. It seemed that the group of kids that were looking at something. I ran up toward the group to see what was happening. There were two kids around my age playing with dueling with cards. It caught my attention, and I tried to watch to see who was dueling. I jumped up and down to see the match.

I questioned myself, "Why do I have to be so short?"

I moved around to see if I could get a better view of the duel. As I tried to get closer, some of the other kids pushed me, and I fell to the ground.

"Well, that didn't work," I said.

A voice then asked, "Are you okay?"

Just after I fell, I saw a hand, and I looked up to see who's hand it was. It was a young boy with orange hair and dark gray colored eyes. He looked a bit worried since some of those boys bumped into me. I accepted the orange haired boy's hand, and he tried to help me up. Luckily I was able to get up, and I dusted off the dirt off my light pink jeans.

"I'm okay," I replied.

The orange haired boy said, "My name is Crow."

"I'm Liqiu," I said back.

Crow was a nice boy, and some of the other kids were also nice. They tried to teach more about duel monsters and how should I play my cards. Some of them were impressed that I had a full deck of cards. I told them that my mom used to be a top duelist back in her home country of China. A few of them laughed at my story, but Crow believed me. I met Yusei and Jack sometime after that since they were Crow's closest friends. They told me about Martha, and I could stay at her place.

I didn't believe them even until they introduced me to their adoptive mother. She was a nice and caring woman. There were a few other kids that lived with her, but Martha didn't mind taking care of another child. It took me a while to settle in with everyone. But I agreed with what Crow, Yusei, and Jack told me about her. Martha was like a mother to all of us, including to me. To some extent, she reminded me of my mother. I can say that I was able to find a new place to live, a place I call home.


This ends the first chapter of Satellite Girl. Originally I wanted to write this story as an introduction one-shot for my fan character Liqiu, but I realized how long the word count (4,000+ words) and I decided to do several short chapters instead. The first chapter is 3 different flashbacks told in Liqiu's point of view just for a heads up. Well, for now, read and review.