Lost Heaven
by BridgitKiido
Disclaimer: I don't own GX. If I did, episode 174 would have ended much differently, trust me.
Spoiler warning: This story will contain references to flashbacks first mentioned in the fourth season. However, the majority of it takes place during the first and second seasons. There will be heavier spoilers for those (though, obviously, things will be quite different in parts).
. 4 .
It's simple, confusing - the truth is I'm winning but I'm losing,
And pulling and pushing won't do me any good.
It could, it should.
I'm honest to myself that the truth is I lied.
-Lillix, "It's About Time"
"Kabayama."
The head of the Ra Yellow dormitory looked up from grading the review test he had given the previous day. A new school year had just begun, and he had to make sure that his second-year students didn't fall behind. He hadn't been expecting company, but seeing who was standing at the door, he smiled a bit.
"Ah, Satou. Come on in."
Duel Academy's history teacher walked into the room and sat himself down. "I wanted to tell you this before I handed in my letter to the headmaster, but I'm resigning from Duel Academy tomorrow morning."
Kabayama dropped his pen. "You're leaving? Why?"
Satou's head drooped. "Because no one cares about my class. I guess I was denying the inevitable for a while - I thought attendance would be better this year. But the first day, I looked up, and there were only a handful of students who weren't asleep. The second day, only about half of the students actually showed up – yesterday, no one did! I'm a failure as a teacher, just as I'm a failure at everything I try to do in life."
"Don't say that," Kabayama tried to comfort Satou. "I've heard several of your history lectures – they're actually quite interesting."
Satou scoffed slightly. "There's only one student who has ever thought so, and she's gone. There's not one among the rest of them that cares, and I can't get them to no matter how hard I try to make it interesting."
Realizing that Satou had made up his mind and was not going to change it, Kabayama changed to a slightly different topic. "Well, in that case, what will you do instead?"
"I don't know," Satou replied, his head still hanging. "I failed in the Pro Leagues and as a teacher, but I do want to do something pertaining to dueling if I can – it's all I have. I hear that Industrial Illusions is hiring – maybe I can get an office job or something."
Kabayama stood up from his desk, walked over to where Satou sat, and put a supporting hand on his shoulder. "Well, whatever it is that you decide, you'll always have my support, my friend."
Satou looked up and gave as much of a smile as he could. "Thanks, Kabayama."
"If it's your last night on the island tonight, why don't you come have dinner at Ra Yellow? It's curry night tonight."
"That sounds great – I'll be there."
"Ah, the start of a new school year is always an exciting time, na no ne," Chronos remarked as he stretched back in his chair. He was the principal now, and he had so far been exceptionally diligent in his duties as such. But for the moment, he had finished all of the paperwork that he needed to finish, and his next class wasn't for half an hour, so he was taking a short break. "New students to meet, new classes to teach, and even some of this year's first years in Osiris Red seem mildly promising, na no ne."
"Sure they do," the portly man standing in front of his desk remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "But most of them don't have any potential at all, and their being here is just a waste of resources that could be used to help the students in Ra Yellow or Obelisk Blue, de aru."
Chronos sent a look at the other person that one might have mistaken for a bit of a glare. "Vice Principal Napoleon, are you bringing up the proposal to tear down the Osiris dormitory again, na no ne? I specifically told you, I don't want to hear it – this school was designed with the dormitories it has, and I'm not about to consent to changing it unless Kaiba himself asks me to, na no ne."
"Fine," Napoleon responded, unable to hide the tiniest bit of resentment in his voice, but otherwise accepting.
"So anyway, what did you want to see me for?" Chronos asked a moment later.
Napoleon then produced several sheets of paper. "Just some news you might find important, de aru. First off, Chairman Kagemaru died last night – reportedly, his last words were something about not having finished some kind of search, de aru."
Chronos bowed his head and hummed slightly. "A fine man, though I suppose it was inevitable, what with his age, na no ne. I suppose they will be looking for someone to take over in his job soon, na no ne."
"Probably," Napoleon shrugged. "The next thing: you asked me to tape the duel between Marufuji Ryou and Edo Phoenix the other night, since you were so busy, and I did, but would you like to know the results first, de aru?"
Chronos thought for a moment before nodding. "My students will probably be talking about it next period, so it would not be very proper for me to not know at least the result, na no ne."
"It was a close match, but Edo won, de aru."
"Hmm," Chronos closed his eyes and nodded. "Well, I suppose everyone has their wins and losses, na no ne. But as long as Ryou tried his best, that's what's important, na no ne. Anything else?"
"There is one more thing," Napoleon replied. "There was a call earlier, from Saiou Takuma, Edo's manager, de aru. Apparently, they're both coming here soon – Monsieur Saiou is looking for a new protégé, and they intend to look here for up and coming duelists, de aru."
"Splendid!" Chronos exclaimed. "When are they coming, did they say, na no ne?"
"Saiou is apparently busy, so he won't be here for a couple more days, but Edo is apparently coming tonight, de aru."
"Well then," Chronos replied with a smile, "tell the Obelisk cooks to expect one more for dinner tonight. We have to give Mr. Phoenix a good welcome, na no ne."
What was Judai to Manjoume, anyway?
From the day Judai beat Chronos in his entry examination, Manjoume had considered him a rival, someone he had to someday become strong enough to defeat. So far, that hadn't happened (obviously – two out of the three times they had dueled, Judai had won, and the other time was inconclusive), which only inspired the black-haired boy to work harder. Rivals always fought against each other, always working to overcome the other.
So then why had Manjoume begun to have opinions of Judai that bordered on those which friends would have of each other? Rivals couldn't be friends – it was just… an oxymoron! Impossible to do! You couldn't help each other and seek to stand in each other's way.
He scowled a bit as he twirled the key that he wore around his neck. Yes, he still had it – as far as any of them knew, the seventh Star was still out there, and until they were all defeated, the keys had to be protected. He, Sho, and Judai still wore theirs, and Daitoukuji's was still hidden away somewhere, most likely anyway.
But why, after Judai had suddenly just up and lost the ability to see the images on his cards (or so he claimed – it's not as though Manjoume actually believed that the brunette had really lost the ability to see images printed in ink on pieces of thin cardboard, especially when he himself could see them fine), had Manjoume found himself worrying for his well being, even for a second or two? And not in a "you're my rival so I'm the only one allowed to beat you" kind of way, either – it was kind of similar to what he'd been thinking the day Asuka's brother had died, and he had found himself somewhat worried about her. They weren't rivals, so it was probably a slight bit of friendship there… but what were those thoughts doing, surrounding Judai's current situation like this?
"What're you thinking about, Aniki?" Ojama Yellow asked as he and his brothers appeared in front of Manjoume, all of them smiling goofily as usual – had Manjoume been slightly more tolerant of the spirits, he might have determined that they had noticed his confused state and were trying to get him to think of something else for the time being, to get him to cheer up.
But he was, admittedly, not that tolerant, and he waved his hand through the spirits in an annoyed manner to get them to dissipate. "Can't you three just leave me alone for five minutes?" And rather than face his wrath, the Ojamas returned to their cards without informing him that it had, in fact, been six minutes since they had last come out. (Green had counted.)
It was not as though Manjoume could get a break though, as a sharp knock echoed through his room. "Manjoume!" a pre-pubescent male voice called in. "Aniki's missing!"
And with that, Manjoume gave a slight groan. Just what he needed. "Fine, Sho, I'll help look for him," he called in an annoyed tone as he carefully stood up and grabbed his duel disk.
Months later, he would regret having left his room that night. After all, finding Judai probably wouldn't have helped anyway, and it certainly would have avoided a lot of trouble.
The Hanged Man.
The twelfth of the Major Arcana, it depicts a young man hanging from his ankle, suspended between the physical and the spiritual in a moment of clarity. When it appears, it is often interpreted as a need to look at things from a new perspective, to let go of worldly matters and accept that not everything is in one's control.
And as Saiou watched Manjoume dangle there, the tree's branches pulling him up by his ankle, he could not help thinking of how appropriate that description was.
Admittedly, this wasn't exactly what Saiou had wanted. If everything had gone his way, Judai would have lost his free will after Edo defeated him, rather than just losing the ability to see his cards. Judai was the Fool, filled with infinite possibilities, and having his power to see spirits, as well as, seemingly, to transcend destiny, would have been a great advantage for his cause.
But there was no use pining over that which one couldn't have. Besides, he had discovered another young boy who could see spirits, and he was much easier to convince. Not only that, but he had an inner turmoil that was easily exploited for his own ends – and what was more, it was over his association with Judai. (If he had tried this on many other people, Saiou might have even determined that, perhaps, it had been too easy to influence this child.)
Besides, in the story of the Tarot, weren't the Fool and the Hanged Man the same person? Therefore, as long as he had one of the two, he had the power that he would need.
Yes, Saiou mused. Jun Manjoume would be an excellent disciple of the Light.
Author's Note: Kabayama's dub name is Professor Sartyr. Satou's is Professor Stein. I figure those two, both being rather ignored teachers, would be at least mildly friendly with each other. Napoleon (who is, in fact, French in canon, by the way) has the dub name of Jean-Louis Bonaparte, while Edo's is Aster. (Edo could probably be written as Ed, but I prefer to call him Edo.) And of course, Saiou's name in the English dub is Sartorius, which I find to be extremely dorky and way too long. (For clarification, Saiou is his family name, while Takuma is his given name.)
Aniki, according to most definitions I have found of the word, is a title that means "big brother", but can also take on a bit of a boss connotation. This is what the Ojamas call Manjoume, as well as what Sho and Kenzan call Judai. …And incidentally, that's Tyranno Kenzan, aka 'Hassleberry' in the dub, and I can never tell which one's his given name. He'll probably show up next chapter, but since I'm mentioning him in this author's note, might as well translate now.
I am no expert on the Tarot, nor do I claim to be. All I know is from what the GX canon explains, as well as a little bit of extra that I've looked up on websites. Therefore, if I get any interpretations wrong, please let me know and I will make an attempt to revise it. This applies throughout the entire story after this as well.
