Chapter III

When Aster woke up, his dad had already left for work. Two loaves of toast were resting on the toaster; Aster only had to pull down the level. Elias had left Aster a note on the counter which read: "Back at 12. Ruth offered to take you to the river side with Jade. Here is the number. Love, Dad :)".

Aster looked at the clock: 9:00 am, it was too early to call Jade's house, so he decided to turn on the T.V. A duel between two men was being shown: one of them had black hair and glasses. He looked like a rather normal man, had he not see him duel, Aster would have thought it was an average office worker. It wasn't exactly a very important duel Aster guessed as the stadium was rather empty. Perhaps it was one of those Sub-leagues, and the winners would be able to move to Pro. This man used a zombie type deck, which Aster really enjoyed; but felt the man was misusing.

While this man was rather unknown, the other Aster had seen his face around in some magazines. He was a 20 something duelist who had won almost all the tournaments of the season. His deck consisted of bug-type monsters. The season had just begun, and now was the eliminatory phase to enter into the second part of Dueling Season.

Dueling championships were ongoing, but on different levels: regional, country-wide and international. As well, as the Pro-league championships there were Sub-league championships for people who just started. The sub-league was a way to get oneself known and get access to the big leagues: going Pro. Most people did not bother watching the Sub-leagues, that's why they usually showed them quite early. The Pro-League would start once the Sub-League ended and was a massive event. Everybody was into it: children in schools would talk about the duels, adults would bet on the winners, family gathering would happen. It was a very exciting time, and Aster loved every second of it.

Aster was not exactly sure what to do with his future. Part of him imagined that he would appear like this men on television and duel for a living. Becoming the best, being a professional. Aster was aware that he was a very good duelist. However sometimes his dream cut short: Pro-leagues were very competitive. Only the best of the bests could reach the top. Aster was not sure if being a good duelist and having passion for the game was all it took to become a professional. Besides, he needed a mentor! And mentors did not waste their time with anybody. He was still too young to even take part of the school tournaments as children were allowed to compete since the age of 10.

In the end, the man with the zombie deck lost. The other young duelist mocked his opponent saying:

"Mr. D for Mr. D-efeat, huh? Perhaps duel monsters isn't really your calling!"

Mr. D said nothing and left the stadium.

Aster had not seen much of this Mr. D duelist. His name had appeared on the charts but mostly in low places. Based on what he had seen on TV Mr D seemed to be a very anxious man, and not very confident on his skill. He had done many mistakes on his turns, which Aster felt could have been avoided...He felt a little sorry for him.

Sitting on the sofa while the news played on the background Aster wondered if his dad had continued with the Destiny Heroes. Throughout the weekend Aster had felt a strange presence on his dad office. It was as if something did not wanted him there. Or perhaps it was giving him a warning. As much as he wanted to check out the Destiny Heroes again, Aster did not want to go to that room.

He told his father about it. About the strange pressure he felt on his chest, the white light he had seen. But his dad thought that perhaps Aster had eaten too much of the chocolate cake and his hallucinations were a consequence of sugar excess.

"I only ate five pieces. But I tell you Dad, there is something there." Aster tried to defend himself. His dad placed a hand on his son's forehead to check for a fever.

"Perhaps it's the creativity flow!" his dad joked.

But Aster was not convinced. It was definitely something much more sinister, but he was not sure what exactly it was.

. . .

While Elias and Aster had lunch, they mostly talked about the Destiny Heroes. His dad showed him some cards which had already been printed, and once the deck was complete it could be registered as ready to use. Some card where the ones his dad had worked during the weekend: Destiny Hero-Dreadmaster, Destiny Hero-Double Dude, D-Cube. Plus some magic and trap cards which Aster had not seen: Destiny Signal, D-Fortune, Destiny Draw and Dark City.

"So Dark City is a Field Spell" his dad explained. "And with D-Fortune you can save yourself when your opponent uses a direct attack and you have no monsters-"

Aster interrupted.

"I think it would be cool that Dreadmaster was a prisoner. Perhaps he was locked up in a tower or something and it's a way to specially summon Dreadmaster"

His dad smiled, it was a good idea indeed.

"Of course, your deck is not complete. It still does not have its ace monster. I'm sketching some ideas, but its main ability will be to absorb attack points from other monsters...and monster's effects will not affect him!"

Aster gasped.

"Like plasma! It's changeable" Elias was not exactly sure where his son got that from, but he liked the sound of it:

"Destiny Hero-Plasma" his father repeated, and they both smiled in agreement.

. . .

Aster did not forget to pack his deck of Elemental Heroes when Ruth picked him up. Aster's town was an hour away from Domino City. Many people lived on this town and commuted everyday to the City. The thing Aster liked most about his town is that it was quite modern and had all facilities, like buildings, shopping malls, cinemas and card stores, but, it had more green spaces compared to Domino.

They headed to the main park, which was a 15 minute ride from Aster's apartment. Particularly in summer it was a very popular spot for families, children and adults alike. Old men would sit by the river fishing and drinking beer, while children would play by the swings. Across the river a bridge stood proudly which was the main route towards Domino City.

Jade's mom commbed her daughter's black hair on a ponytail.

"So it won't get dirty" she explained. Jade seemed rather annoyed by this and as soon as her mom set her free she rushed running with Aster trying to find a good spot for a duel. They decided to join two more kids who were dueling under the shade of a nearby tree.

The older kid looked about 11 years old. With long dark blue hair, he placed a card on the field:

"I place Cyber Dragon in attack position" he said proudly. Aster sensed that Cyber Dragon was this boy most treasured card.

The other boy, a much younger looking child, sighed in disappointment.

"You always beat me Zane…"

The younger child turned in surprise when he noticed they had spectators.

"Who are you?" He asked fearful.

Aster showed the kids his deck.

"We couldn't help noticing you were dueling so... what about a tag duel?" He asked finishing with a polite smile.

The older boy looked at them with intrigue.

"I never say no to a duel. The name is Zane, and this is my brother Syrus"

Zane's deck consisted of cyber dragons, while Syrus used Droid type monsters. Aster could see that both decks could complement each other very well, but that was not happening during the duel. Mostly Syrus would place monsters in defense position, while Zane was the one doing all the strategies and combos. To Aster it felt more like a duel against Zane, than against Zane and Syrus.

On the other hand, Jade and Aster did an effort to complement each other. Jade's deck consisted mostly on spellcasters and wizards. Aster had seen Jade with a few different decks but he saw that with this one Jade was the most confident with. Jade placed a Polymerization face down, which was useful for Aster for summoning Elemental Hero Mariner (ATK 1400/DEF 1000), a fusion monster with Elemental Hero Bubbleman and Elemental Hero Avian.

Even though they seemed to have the advantage, Zane was able to summon his Cyber Twin Dragon, which allowed him to attack twice, making him and Syrus team the winner of the duel.

Aster did not like losing, but he had to admit that Zane had provided him with an amazing duel. He doubt he would find a rival quite like him.

"I hope we can duel again!" Aster told Zane excitedly.

Zane smiled and turned to Syrus "We should return with grandma"

He turned to Jade and Aster.

"Maybe we'll meet again" and left.

Aster and Jade walked around the river talking about Zane and his Cyber Dragons deck. It particularly had left a lasting impression on Aster.

"And did you see how he managed to bring back Cyber Dragon to fusion Cyber Twin Dragon? That was amazing! Such a fast recovery!"

Jade agreed. They walked slowly, occasionally grabbing small stones and tossing them to the water.

"Yeah and did you see whe-" Jade's speech was interrupted. "Aster, what is that?"

Both children approached to the river bank were what looked like a white package was resting. But, then they got a closer look, they realized that it was not a white package, it was a woman.

She was dressed completely in white, which with her pale skin made it seem as if she was naked. Her short black hair was tied in a ponytail, and her face was covered in leaves.

"Is she…" Jade asked shyly.

Aster took a closer look. The woman had a golden ring on her left hand. He felt that the ring was important, but as he was about to approach her hand a male voice shouted:

"THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR KIDS"

They turned and saw an old man followed by police officers. Quite a crowd was gathering around the nameless woman; this was not something that happened everyday.

. . .

When they returned to Aster's home, Dana apologized profusely to Elias.

"I did not know that a dead body would be lying in the river bank!" She cried.

Elias and Miles tried to calm her down.

"Try not to say it to outloud, the kids can hear"

"The kids SAW IT…her"

While their parents were discussing on the other room Jade and Aster tried not to think about what they had seen on the afternoon. Even if Jade kept changing the subject, Aster could not help but wonder, who was this woman?

"Aster! Are you listening?" Jade looked at him curious.

"I think there is something hiding in my dad's bedroom" he said suddenly. Jade looked at him confused. There was no turning back, Aster thought, he had to tell someone about it. He went on to explain: the white light, the pressure on his chest, the visions…

"And I saw a woman who looked like this woman we found walking towards a river" he finished. Aster sighed and looked at the floor. Jade placed her small hand on top of his:

"I believe you."

With a new found confidence, Aster asked Jade to see the room with him. Perhaps if she could see it, and they both told his dad about it, he would not think that his son was imagining stuff. They tipped toed towards his dad's office, meanwhile they could hear their parents having a rather loud argument.

"Let's just try to keep this away from the kids, it was quite traumatizing enough" Elias scofled.

"But Elias, what does it take you? Just call the police and ask. I swear I think it was-" Ruth pleaded. Elias interrupted her.

Aster stopped for a brief second. He had never seen or heard his dad being angry. He knew he should not be peeking and had been taught not to listen to adult conversations, but he had to know.

"Ruth, it is final. We will not talk about this!" Aster heard his dad slam his hand on the table.

Aster felt Jade pushing him towards his dad's office. Once they were inside, Aster felt a strange sense of calmness. Everything was quiet, too quiet for Aster's likening. He was nervous, but somehow Jade's presence reassured him. She wouldn't protect him, Aster would not put her in danger, but if at least, she could see something…

"Well...it's a lovely room!" Jade broke the silence. She walked towards Elias' desk and started looking at the papers. If perhaps it was another person Aster would have felt a sense of anger of someone just casually revising his dad's work, but Jade already had a peek of the Destiny Heroes. His dad had not told him to keep it a secret, but he did not want to tell a lot of people about it, just in case.
"These cards look awesome!" she gasped. Aster was still standing by the door frame. Jade was just casually walking around looking at the desk, the books and some photographs; it made Aster rather nervous. His dad did not like people looking at his stuff, but Jade didn't seem to get the memo.

"Come on Aster! We need to investigate!" she encouraged him. He liked Jade's sense of adventure, but he felt he she didn't understand it was a real thing, something could happen to her. Jade opened the drawers of her dad's desk and removed the pencils and paperwork that was inside. But, there was one drawer locked. She told Aster about it who approached it with caution.

"It's locked" Aster concluded.

"I think something important is here…"Jade removed one of her bobby pins and started moving it inside the keyhole while explaining to Aster that she had seen this stuff on the TV and was 100% sure what she was doing.

"I don't think its-"

Before Aster could finish Jade was able to open it. Inside, a single gold ring rested. Jade anxiously took it before Aster could tell her anything.

"It says Dana Phoenix" she read.

"What? Give me that!" Aster took the ring from Jade's hand.

The second his fingers touched it he got the well known feeling: the pressure on his chest, the blinding white light…

He dropped the ring on the floor and placed it at the bottom, filling it up with paper. Never again he would touch that thing.


I'm alive! Just been super busy. Basically we have elections this year, on June are the primaries and I'm volunteering for one of the political parties here; so my head is mostly in politics!

To be completley honest when i first started this story I imagined it would go in one direction, mostly focused on the Destiny Heroes, but now adding more mystery/supernatural elements haha.

Hope you enjoy it! :)