Alarm clocks weren't Aziza's favorite things in the world. They were just so… loud and startling. Sleep was one of her favorite parts of life, so waking up wasn't something she looked forward to in the first place. While asleep, the dreams that typically came were an escape. In them, it was as if her power never existed. She was a normal person, with normal friends and a normal family. Dreams were the only time she could live life the way she wanted, and it was what she lived for.
Now though, sun was hitting her face and it refused to go back down—to her ire. Another Akiza was none too fond of was life in the Obelisk Blue girls dorm. Everyone in it seemed more intent on looking their best than brushing up on their dueling chops. This fact was evident to anyone who spent more than three minutes in the building. The people were shallow, their pool of knowledge even more so, and the whole place reeked of cheap perfume in massive excess. She supposed it could be worse though, after all, it wasn't like the whole building was a tool shed like the Slifer Red dorm.
Thoughts of the dorm that was more along the lines of an outhouse than a building had brought her mind to another sore subject. Jaden Yuki, along with his gaggle of sidekicks, had refused to simply leave her alone. The boy, for he was a boy in all but age, had persistence but not much else. No common sense, no ability to read subtext, and especially not much in the way of brain power. How he had even managed to make it through the first semester of his first year, let alone to reach the second, was mindboggling! He had been non-stop asking her for a duel and a chance to, as he put it, "Check out her sweet duel skills."
Could the idiot really not see she was avoiding him on purpose? Surely he must, but even if he did it didn't seem to matter one bit! In the whole two weeks that she had been enrolled there, he hadn't even left her presence once save to go to their opposite dorms for much needed rest. 'Though why he needs to sleep at night is beyond me, he does enough of it in class' she thought bitterly.
Ah, yes, there was yet another thing she despised about Jaden. His sleeping habits were horrendous, so much so that he slept through every class. With his constant snoring right into her ear, she couldn't focus on any of her class work whatsoever! No wonder the seat next to him had been empty, everyone else in class had known better than to take it. Whether he was distracting her by snoring, or hounding her for a duel she wasn't able to shake him.
Akiza stepped out of her dorm, her nostrils immediately thanking her for the swap in smells. Thick perfumed air was replaced by the freshness of the outdoors, and the sun lightly warmed her skin. She decided that her morning would be best spent on a walk through the woods, being that there was little chance she might encounter someone there. Just her luck though, it wasn't in the cards that day.
She was admiring the scent of pine that began to wash over her, when a new source of aggression pulled her from her musings. "Hey Akiza, what's up?" No, no it couldn't be, not today! She turned to face the voice that had single handedly interrupted her morning walk and grimaced. "Well, there goes enjoying my Saturday" she muttered to herself. There he was, the source of her greatest annoyance. Jaden Yuki stood before her in all his glory. "I thought it was you" he said with a small laugh. "What are you doing here?" the question was harsh in nature but Akiza asked it with enough softness in her voice that it didn't seem immediately hostile. "Oh, well the rest of the gang was sleeping so I thought I'd come find you" he shrugged. 'Of course you did…' she thought dryly. "And you knew where to find me how?" she asked, this time sounding a bit more aggressive. "Well, a few days ago I'd noticed you were looking at some flowers and took a guess that you liked plants! So, another guess or two made me think I'd find you here" he explained.
The train of thought was so like him, wasn't it? Simple, without any thought of being incorrect or needing a backup. He never once considered his assumption was wrong. What was even more startling to Akiza was that he managed to figure anything out about her just because she looked at some flowers. Was there more to him than met the eye? Did he have some secret ability to learn about people in a short amount of time? She shook the thoughts from her head as soon as they formed. That would be ridiculous, this guy couldn't even do math much less figure out complex emotions.
"Yes, I am rather fond of plants" she replied, as simple as his previous statement had been. 'They're some of the only things I don't accidently hurt' she thought with an internal scowl. "So, uh, do you wanna-" "Before you ask, no, I don't want to duel you" she sighed, predicting his train of thought before it arrived. "Aw man, beat me to the punch why don't ya'!" Jaden laughed, prompting Akiza to roll her eyes.
"It's not hard to when you only ever ask one thing" she said dryly. "I guess you're right!" Jaden laughed. Again, Akiza felt compelled to roll her eyes. Persistence can be considered a positive trait, but in this case it just felt annoying. "Oh well, we'll have our duel eventually, I can feel it!" Jaden cheered. 'Not if I can help it' she thought, one born from pure retaliation. "Alexis is pretty excited to be dueling you at the next exam, I'm so jealous! It's gonna be your first duel here and I'm not your opponent" he said, immediately feeling a bit down.
'Fool, you should be happy about that not disappointed' she thought with disdain. Then again, she realized that he, like all the others at Duel Academy, had no idea of her powers. She was just another duelist to him, he had no idea of the danger his friend was in. No matter where she goes, or what she does, she can't escape that fact. Where she dueled, people got hurt. That was the beginning and end of it. When people had discovered that fact, many had outright refused to duel her. As a result, overall GPA's at her last school had plummeted while hers had risen. Which was why she was a bit taken back by her reception at Duel Academy, that being a very positive one.
Being a female of considerable talent, she was without hesitation placed in the Obelisk Blue dorm. It seemed that's all that needed to happen to achieve popularity at this academy. Her reclusive nature, born from past scorning, had cut down a fair bit of that. Regardless, many a person would line up to try and become her friend in an attempt to get some of her talent to rub off on them. Pathetic, if you asked Akiza herself. Were they really so unconfident in their own abilities that they surround themselves with better Duelists in an attempt to hide the fact?
Then there were the… more amorous admirers. That was another thing she was a bit unused to. Many of the male population at Duel Academy had taken a bit of a liking to her. Now THAT was something she hadn't expected. She had never much taken notice of her appearance, not finding it to be of much importance with the way people treated her. Other people had though, if the sheer amount of love letters and proclamations were anything to go off of. She paid this little mind though, as that sort of thing wasn't really to her interest.
"Don't you think?" Jaden asked, causing her to realize she hadn't been paying attention to anything he had just said. Oh, what sweet bliss that was. "Sure" she said, having no idea what she just agreed to. "Sweet, then we'll have our duel after your duel with Alexis!" he cheered. 'Oh dear God no' she thought in despair. Oh well, he'll see anyway, after her duel with his friend he'll never even want to duel with her.
-Two Days Later-
Practical exams got people nervous at this school, and Akiza had no idea why. Oh no, you're being forced to play the game they teach you to play here! It's total madness, alright. She looked down at her cards, realizing they were probably the only things she could count on at the end of the day. Everyone in the school is about to watch her hurt someone, and then it would be a repeat of last year and every other.
The turnout for this duel was huge; as Akiza hadn't had one since arriving on the island and the hype behind the first duel anyone would ever see her fight was immense. Placing her deck in her duel disk, she made her way to the pseudo stadium that was the examination field. "Our next matchup will be first timer Akiza Izinski against Alexis Rhodes!" a voice announced, and Akiza clenched her fists in anticipation. Alexis was already in the middle of the stage, waiting for her. The two said nothing to each other, and they didn't need to. The implications of a loss for both people weren't too hard to gather. If Akiza lost, then her reputation would be shot. Whoopee, like she cared. Though if Alexis lost, the queen of Obelisk Blue defeated by a brand new student, then there could be some problems. The two girls shook hands, and made their way to the opposite ends of the arena.
"Ooh, I'm so ready for this" Jaden said with a grin, "this is gonna be a sweet duel to watch. I just wish it was me down there and not Alexis." Chazz, who was sitting nearby, snorted. "Oh please, Alexis will have this duel won in a matter of seconds" he said. "I don't know, we haven't seen Akiza duel once. I know Alexis is good, but that might be a problem" Syrus noted. "Oh who asked you, slacker?" Chazz bit back, not liking his statement being contested. "Quiet, it's starting" Bastion remarked, and the two stopped their argument. "Duel!" the girls yelled, drawing their first five cards. The duel had begun.
-Turn 1-
Akiza: 4000 Life Points, 5 cards in hand
Alexis: 4000 Life Points, 5 cards in hand
"Since you're the rookie, I'll let you go first" Alexis said, causing Akiza to roll her eyes. "How thoughtful" she remarked, drawing her first card. "I'll start with a Continuous Spell called The World Tree" as she activated the card, a large tree grew from behind her and stood prominently over the field. "As long as this spell stays active, every time a plant type monster is destroyed it gains a flower counter, but more on that a bit later" she said, "Next I'll play my Revival Rose in attack mode."
Revival Rose: Level 4, Dark Attribute, Plant, Atk: 1300 Def: 1300
The three blooms of the monster opened to reveal eyes, slightly unnerving those on the squeamish side. "Then I'll place one card face down and end my turn" Akiza said, as the face down image of a Duel Monsters card appeared to the bottom right of her rose monster. "If that's all, this will be easier than I thought" Chazz remarked. Jaden hummed, and stared at Akiza's monster. "Something's bugging me" he said, still looking at Revival Rose. "What is it Jay?" Syrus asked. "Her monster, it's casting a shadow."
-Turn 2-
Akiza: 4000 Life Points, 3 cards in hand, 1 monster, 2 spell/traps
Alexis: 4000 Life Points, 5 cards in hand
"My turn, draw!" Alexis shouted, drawing her card. She looked at her hand and gained a smirk 'I can make this work.' "I summon my Blade Skater in attack mode" she called, as the blue skinned woman clad in purple raised her arms to ready her blades.
Blade Skater: Level 4, Earth Attribute, Warrior, Atk: 1400 Def: 1500
"Your summon triggers my Trap Card, Ivy Shackles! From now on all your face up monsters will be considered plants" Akiza called, revealing her face down card. 'Ok, so now if she destroys my monsters that tree gets a counter. That could prove a bit challenging but I can't do anything about it now' Alexis strategized, 'my only real move is to destroy her monster.' "Blade Skater, pluck that rose!" as she commanded, Alexis' monster slashed through Akiza's with a twirl of her blades.
Akiza: 4000-100= 3900
As Blade Skater gave an elegant bow, flowers began to bloom on The World Tree. "As a plant monster was destroyed, my World Tree gains a counter" "That's fine, I'll place one card face down and end my turn" Alexis said, as a facedown appeared behind Blade Skater.
-Turn 3-
Akiza: 3900 Life Points, 3 cards in hand, 2 spell/traps
Alexis: 4000 Life Points, 4 cards in hand, 1 spell/trap
'No doubt that's a defensive trap to protect her Skater, no problem though, I can remove it' "It's my turn!" Akiza thought then said, drawing one card. "I'll start with a spell card named Fragrance Storm! This lets me destroy one plant monster on the field then draw one card, and if that card is a plant monster I can reveal it then draw again!" with that proclamation, Blade Skater shattered like glass and Akiza retrieved her card. More flowers bloomed on the World Tree "My World Tree now has two counters, and the card I drew is Hedge Guard which means I can draw again!" Akiza then drew her second card, 'Excellent, I can't play it yet but this will come in handy later.' "I'll summon my Lonefire Blossom in defense mode, then set a card facedown and end my turn."
Lonefire Blossom: Level 3, Fire Attribute, Plant, Atk: 500 Def: 1200
"Well that was fairly anti-climactic" Bastion noted, "She was able to destroy Alexis' monster but was unable to properly capitalize." "And now Lex is gonna clobber her!" Chazz cheered, rooting all the way for the blonde. "What's strange to me is that her monster has an effect that could have kept the momentum on her side, and yet didn't use it" Bastion continued, completely ignoring Chazz. "Well that don't make sense! Why wouldn't ya' want to finish a move?" Hassleberry asked dumbfounded. "Exactly, I can't figure it out either" Bastion finished. Something else entirely was bothering Jaden, however. 'There it is again' he thought, staring at the shadow that Lonefire Blossom was casting on the stadium floor.
-Turn 4-
Akiza: 3900 Life Points, 3 cards in hand, 3 spell/traps
Alexis: 4000 Life Points, 4 cards in hand, 1 spell/trap
"My turn!" Alexis shouted, drawing her card, "and I'll start by activating Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three cards so long as I discard two." Alexis did just that, sending Etoile Cyber and Cyber Prima to the graveyard. "Next I activate my facedown, Chain Material! This card allows me to fuse with monsters in my graveyard with my next use of Polymerization- which I activate now!"
Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber appeared behind Obelisk's Queen, before swirling into one. A blue skinned and violet haired woman wearing red armor and a blue visor was created when the vortex ceased, Alexis' signature monster was finally here. "I summon Cyber Blader in attack mode!"
Cyber Blader: Level 7, Earth Attribute, Warrior, Atk: 2100 Def: 800
"Next I'll activate my spell card Monster Reborn, and use it to revive Cyber Prima!" Alexis announced, the well-known spell appearing then piercing the ground beneath it. The sword-esque statue began to glow a deep blue, before shifting to the form of a woman. The light shattered off, revealing another of Alexis' stronger cards.
Cyber Prima: Level 6, Light Attribute, Warrior, Atk: 2300 Def: 1600
"Now Cyber Blader, attack her Lonefire Blossom!" Alexis shouted, her monster readying a blow. It swiftly approached Akiza's Lonefire, and readied a kick at the plant. Akiza simply smirked "You've activated my trap!" Alexis was stunned "A trap?" "That's right, the trap Wall of Thorns. It can only activate when you attack one of my plants, then it destroys all of your attack position monsters!"
A series of thorn clad vines erupted from the now revealed trap card, swiping at Cyber Blader and Cyber Prima, and even getting a small swipe at Alexis. Normally this wouldn't matter at all, but when Akiza was involved it was a big deal. Alexis put her hand beneath her right eye as if in pain, and when she lowered it a scratch could be seen on her usually flawless features. "It gave her a scratch!" Bastion exclaimed in surprise. "How dare she do that to Alexis?!" Chazz shouted in frustration. "I think the real question is how she CAN do that to Alexis, Chazz" Syrus pointed out, eyes slightly widening in fear. "I thought something was up, but now I'm sure. Something's up with her cards" Jaden concluded. More flowers appeared on the World Tree.
-Turn 5-
Akiza: 3900 Life Points, 3 cards in hand, 2 spell/traps
Alexis: 4000 Life Points, 4 cards in hand, 0 spell/traps
"My turn, and the last" Akiza said with venom in her voice as she drew her next card. People began excited whisperings wondering what her next move would be. "I tribute Lonefire Blossom in order to activate its special ability, so now I can summon any plant monster in my deck!" Alexis' eyes widened in shock, "Any plant monster?" "That's right, and I choose Tytannial, Priestess of Camellias!" Akiza shouted, slamming a card she retrieved from her deck onto the Duel Disk.
A large lotus flower erupted from the floor, and then bloomed to reveal a monster standing in the middle. It was humanoid and female, but it had several different types of leaves and petals extending off of its body that proved it was anything but human.
Tytannial: Level 8, Wind Attribute, Plant, Atk: 2800 Def: 2600
"That monster is strong, but it can't win the duel in one turn for you!" Alexis protested. She still had all of her 4000 life points left, after all. "Wrong, because you've completely disregarded something instrumental to my strategy" Akiza said, contesting Alexis' outburst. "What am I missing then?" her blonde opponent asked. "Maybe the giant tree that's been staring you in the face since turn 1, but that would just be my guess" Akiza mocked, causing Alexis' eyes to widen.
"Remember how I said the flower counters would come in handy later? Well it's later" Akiza remarked, as all the flowers began to fall from the tree. "I can remove a single counter from the World Tree to increase a Plant type monster's Atk and Def by 400, and I do that three times!" she shouted, then pointed to her monster. "My target is Tytannial" she said condescendingly, as said creature's Atk rose to 4000. "Tytannial, attack her Life Points directly with Whirlwind Bloom Whiplash!" A green tornado framed by red petals formed in the feminine flower's hands, before blasting directly at Alexis. The wind blew the blond back as the petals swirled around her and cut her skin repeatedly. Jaden and the crew could only watch in abject horror as their friend and new housemate was given ACTUAL DAMAGE from a hologram's attack. Akiza's face became stoic as she walked away, Duel Disk deactivating, and people in the stadium screaming in horror. "I told you all, you just wouldn't listen" she said weakly, as a pain began to form in her chest. It was starting again, and nothing could be done to make it stop. Jaden looked to her as she walked away, even as his friends ran to Alexis. 'Akiza' he thought, 'what the heck was that?'
Wow, okay, was starting to feel like this one was never gonna come out. To be completely honest I'm not quite satisfied with how the duel actually turned out but oh well. I felt like I should have done more with these two characters as Akiza is the focus and Alexis will play a big role in it as we progress, it's just that every other scenario with the duel progressing involved me writing myself into a corner that only Black Rose Dragon could get me out of, and I don't intend on having her in the story- spoilers btw. Though part of that difficulty comes from the ABSURD amount of time in between when I started the chapter and when I ended it. Sorry about that by the way, but it couldn't be helped. I have the worst luck with writing I swear. I got a huge roadblock in the form of finals that I absolutely had to pass which diverted my attention from this, then a whole new form of distraction came in the form of a messy graduation and a dispute with some higher ups, then some complications with an actual grad party and then father's day and you have a recipe for no chaps in some time m8. Despite all this, I kept writing on and am proud to say that I'm not abandoning this. Though it doesn't sit right with me that I broke my two weeks promise before the second chapter was even out. So, in recap: sorry, I'm back now, more to come, thanks for being patient and above all else sticking with me.
