Hope Flies – Chapter Ten

Tournament

Twyla stands and leaves for a moment, a look of concern on her face. You stand and exit the tent, looking around again, only for her to come running back out of one of the hidden doors.

"Get down and stay quiet!" she calls, hitting a switch that causes a shadow to fall over the area. Looking up, you see that the skylight is quickly growing dark.

It's completely dark in only a few moments, the only light being two glowing silver orbs, about eye height… Oh.

You realize suddenly that you haven't been hallucinating, and that Twyla's eyes really do glow. The silver mark you'd seen earlier on her shoulder begins to glow as well, and you can hear her gasp. The mark becomes darkened, and you assume that she's placed her hand over it.

"No, no, no… Brunnhilde, help!" she starts chanting. The silver glow from her shoulder fades, but now one of her eyes is glowing gold.

You then hear what sounds like gravel crunching under feet. It's utterly silent in Twyla's sanctuary, and you can hear everything inside. Muffled voices reach your ears. You consider standing, but then you feel a hand on your shoulder.

Glancing up, you see Twyla's eyes, and suddenly the only thing you want to do is stay down and stay quiet.

Twyla, on the other hand, moves away from you silently.

Some time later, you wake without even realizing you had fallen asleep. The light from the skylight above is filtering down through the trees again, and Twyla is off to one side, looking concerned. You stand and walk over to her, and she looks up at you apologetically.

"What happened?" you ask. She sighs and looks away.

"Dylan," she says simply. You frown, and she smiles sadly. "He's been after me since before where my story started," she explains. Then she looks up, towards the sky.

The two of you sit in silence before she sighs.

"Well, I've begun my tale, and we've gotten this far already, so… Do you want to hear more?" she asks. You nod.

"Somehow, your story will lead to this, won't it?" you ask. "I'd like to know how you got here, and why you seemed to think it necessary I learn about this."

Twyla smiles. "Alright. Let's continue then."

"Ladies and gentlemen! The time has come for the United States Midwest Regional Tournament, right here in Chicago!"

I smiled. Zylar looked over at me from where he sat two seats down. Somehow, Kyle had managed to sneak over here to sit with us, and he and Zylar had been happily chatting away the whole time.

At least, until the MC decided it was time to get the crowds fired up.

"Over one hundred duelists have signed up to compete in this tournament, but by this time one week from now, only one will reign supreme! Let's get ready to roll!" he continued.

I shot Zylar a look over the seats, and he hinted to Kyle that we were leaving, resulting in the three of us departing as the MC announced the first two duels.

"And because we are starting with the preliminary rounds, we'll be doubling up these duels. So, first out on these fields will be… Silvia Coulman versus Adam Dowson on field one, and Casey Elam versus Colton Brummett on field two!"

I stopped for a moment as Silvia walked out to meet her opponent, who screamed 'farmer' in my eyes. He looked kinda familiar though…

"Hey, isn't Adam from Auburn?" Kyle asked. I turned and shrugged.

"Heck if I know. Come on. We'll know soon enough if Silvia survives the preliminaries," I told him.

Crow and Jack managed to intercept the three of us as we headed for a coffee shop nearby.

"So, which division are you guys in?" Crow asked. I smiled.

"I'm in fourth, Zylar's in third. You two?" I replied.

Crow grinned. "Fourth here too. Jack's in second," he told me. I looked thoughtful.

"So I'd have to beat you and Zylar before I could duel him… If I even get that far," I muttered. Kyle smiled.

"Relax. If you trust your new deck the way you do the old, I doubt anyone could stop you," he told me. I crossed my arms.

"My record with Zylar is one win, one loss. And I only won because he took Exodia out of his deck," I informed the kid. Kyle frowned.

"Yeah, that'd do you in," he agreed. Zylar laughed.

"Hey, even with Exodia, I barely won," he said. I shrugged.

"I never cared for cards like Exodia anyway," I replied.

"You say that like you know someone else who has a card with a similar effect," Jack commented. I smiled.

"Yeah. Old friend of mine back before Kairi and Marik moved," I said. "Star's Galactic deck was always a pain anyways, but… Yeah, if you ever duel her, don't let her dragon's defense hit zero, or you'll lose. Oh, and don't let her get all four gas giants on the field either."

"Is that even possible? I thought the legal limit for a card in your deck was three?" Crow asked. I smiled.

"Her Galactic Heroes are named after the planets, so when I say 'gas giants'…" I trailed off. Crow nodded.

"Okay, that makes more sense," he said. Jack frowned.

"What happens if she gets all four gas giants on the field?" he asked. I sighed.

"Same thing as what happens if Nebula's defense hits zero. She can special summon Galactic Hero – Solaris from her hand," I told them.

"Yup. And then you lose."

I turned around in shock, while everyone else just jumped at the sudden addition to our group. Gold-streaked silver hair was pulled up in a curly ponytail that hung down her back, while blue eyes sparkled.

I turned back around and took a few deep breaths before rounding on the girl again. "Do not sneak up on me like that!" I half-yelled at her. She bit her lip.

"Sorry…" she apologized. I rolled my eyes and focused on getting my heartbeat back under control.

"Star…" I started warningly. She cringed.

"I honestly didn't mean to startle everyone," she said quickly. I just groaned, while Kyle laughed.

"Hey, I remember you now," he said. "You were by our house a lot for a couple of weeks."

Star looked down at him confusedly, then smiled. "Ah, you must be Dylan's little brother," she realized with a smile. It faded quickly enough though, as she looked off to the side, not really seeing anything in particular.

"Yeah. Hey, why were you coming over so often?" Kyle persisted. I shot him a look as Star's expression faded into a blank, almost dreamy one.

"He wanted to talk with me about something. I didn't want to talk about it. I quit coming," she stated simply. Then she looked down at Kyle and smiled. "I'll see you later, okay? I think I'm gonna head to the beach…"

I frowned and caught the edge of her sleeve as she walked by. She just gave me a smile, but I'd long since learned to translate them.

She'd be at the beach for a while.

"Hey, let's go get something to eat. I haven't had breakfast yet, and Jack's dueling at 1:30. Might as well get something into his system, since I doubt he'll have time to eat lunch at his normal time," Crow suggested. Zylar nodded and agreed, and the two walked off, talking all the way.

"Our brothers seem to get along rather well," Jack commented. I gave him a look.

"Crow is your brother?" I asked. Jack shrugged.

"He, Yusei and I were raised by Martha after we lost our parents. The two of them are the closest I'll ever have to siblings," he replied. I nodded.

"I had a brother… a twin. He didn't make it. He's been dead for… oh geez. It was… seventeen years ago… a little longer," I said. Kyle bit his lip.

"Didn't you say he lived for about a month before he died?" he asked. I nodded.

Jack sighed. "I'd probably feel worse if I knew what it was actually like to have a family," he said. "So I'm not going to say 'I understand,' because I don't. Not really."

I smiled. "Thank you. You see, this is why I like people like you. You're honest, even if you don't mean to be," I said. Zylar looked over his shoulder.

"Are you three coming or not?" he asked. Kyle, Jack and I had lagged behind a ways, so I just rolled my eyes.

"Well sorry if our brains aren't directly wired to our stomachs," I grumbled back. Kyle laughed, and Jack cracked a smile, while Zylar just rolled his eyes.

"Kyle!"

The boy to my left froze and turned. I turned slightly as well, only enough so I could see who it was. I slipped my hand through the hair still tucked behind my right ear, and it fell down into my face, effectively hiding a good deal of it.

"Hey, Vera," Kyle grumbled. Veronica looked at me suspiciously.

"Wait a second, aren't you that girl that ran into me a couple days ago?" she asked. I crossed my arms.

"Excuse me for walking on a sidewalk," I snapped. She stuck her nose in the air and walked around to Zylar.

"Come on, sweetie, you don't need trouble like her," she said, way too sweetly. He just shot me a look.

I clenched my fists and stormed over to her. She was pissing me off as it was.

"My brother and I would appreciate it if you would take your filthy hands off of him," I hissed. Veronica looked between me and Zylar in shock.

"Brother!?" she finally managed to sputter out. Zylar freed his arm from the woman and took me gently by mine.

"Let's go, Twyla. I don't think she wants her arms torn off," he prompted. I growled under my breath as we walked across the street, and I barely heard Kyle's chirped comment to his sister.

"See ya sis! I got celebrities to hang out with."

I cracked a smile at that one as he ran up to us. "You know, I don't think Crow and I classify as celebrities," I told him. He shrugged.

"Whatever. Jack calls Crow his brother, and you call Zylar yours. Doesn't matter to me, though," he said.

I laughed. "I know, kiddo. I know."

Kairi: So yeah... Veronica, you fail. Anyways, again, I apologize for the late update. The next one will be on time, I promise. (Please review. That helps lots.)