Hey, I hope that this small hiatus doesn't affect you guys at all, but now we reach the next segment of One Touch, One Kiss! I present to you the tenth chapter!
Chapter 10-The Trial of Strength: Part 1
~Two weeks after the Battle City tournament~
It was clear as day as she was standing at the site of her first ever trial, separated from her family and friends to protect their lives of whomever has their sights on obtaining the Soul Crystal for their selfish needs. It was very hard on her part to abandon the people she relied on for guidance, but now she was all alone in the wilderness with barely anything to help her in her first ever trial to prove that she was worthy to hold the jewel inside of her.
She couldn't believe that the person that wanted to help her was also after the jewel that she once tried to get rid of, but now she wanted to find out if this was truly the person that she was born to become. Question after question of reasonable doubt arose so much during these past few weeks, and now she was going to go through the toughest trails she ever faced alone; that is, assuming that she was ready enough to claim independence for herself.
Deep in the forest mountains, armed with nothing but survival items needed for the days to come, Serenity stood at an isolated part of a trail that was cut off from the maps due to it being too dense to see anyone for miles. Yet, here on the very ground, lies ancient markings of what the spirit told her would transport them into the first trial: the Trial of Strength. This was not in Serenity's blood, as she was constantly voted the weakest person in gym class due to her fragile personality. But now, she have to use her very own reserve to survive the first challenge.
She looked around the whole forest, hoping that Joey and the others didn't follow her to this location, knowing that they wouldn't just abandoned her like that. Joey would go ballistic and started a huge search for her. Tèa and the rest of the girls would try to convince her to come back, and the rest of the guys would do anything to break her out of this mess. But in her mind, Serenity knew that this was her situation, and hers alone.
Of course, this also meant pulling a Houdini on her mother and also Kaiba Corp.'s own satellite system, since she also brought her duel disk around for practice. She knew her mother would be devastated on her disappearance, but she wanted to avoid Seto Kaiba as much as possible. The girl knew in her heart that there was still good inside of him, but ever since the Soul Crystal took place inside of her, he was relentlessly pursuing her in hopes of obtaining the crystal's powers for his own selfish purposes. She hoped that one day, she could extract the kindness that he once possessed in his body.
'I guess this is it.' Serenity thought. 'Should I really take fate into my own hands?'
'Remember, once we cross the threshold and through the portal, we'll be in the area for the Trial of Strength. We can't go back into this world until we pass all three trials. Also, we'll become isolated from civilization, meaning no contact at all with anyone but ourselves.'
"Even though this is truly against everything that I believe in...I have to do this in order to survive and protect those around me." Serenity said. "I need to gain my own identity."
With a couple of steps into the encrypted circle, Serenity felt herself whisked away into a bright pillar of light, taking everything she had with her into a wandering land covered in white clouds on the bottom of the ground. Her surroundings were trees broken down from fires, with not a single leaf growing upon them; cities were not seen for miles and miles, only with caverns too dark to even sleep deep. The spirit reappeared in front of her, only now more solidified and able to talk.
"You have your own body now?" Serenity asked, confused about the sudden appearance.
"Dumbass. This place is completely covered in a special type of fog made perfect for us non-physical beings to appear as human-like as possible. Downside of it is that we can't speak via mouth."
"Oh, I see." Serenity said. "Um, don't you have some kind of name I can use?"
"Does it look like that a fucking name to use? Us spirits don't have human names; it's considered to be stupid and unlawful!"
"But you have to at least one name!" Serenity insisted. "I can't keep calling you Spirit forever! It's just feels like bullshit to me, not to mention rude."
"Back-talking me is somewhat impressive. Fine; the name's Arios. It's not really my name, but a special codename my idiotic guardian used to suppress my true strength or rather my inhibitor's true potential."
"But why?" Serenity asked. "Couldn't they use some other type of sealing technique for you?"
"Either you didn't listen real well or you're completely dense. Do you realize that if anyone knows the techniques used for any sealing for that matter, they can use that to unlock my power as much as they like? To prevent such a thing, only those who have establish a soul-link with me can unlock my power."
"I see." Serenity said. "So, where's this trial that I'm suppose to take?"
"Ah, the Trial of Strength. We're gonna have to walk a long way to the site. No way are we're going to start the trial were we just came from."
"G-Good point." Serenity said. There was absolutely no way in hell that she'll be stuck here for eternity.
And with those words exchanged, they started walking in the direction to the area for Serenity's first trial for her life.
-Back in Domino, at Kaiba Corporations HQ...-
"I can't fucking find her!" Joey yelled. "We searched everywhere within the city, and Seren's nowhere to be found!"
"Maybe since we kept pestering her to let us help her, you don't think that spirit lead her to somewhere that we don't know about?" Duke suggested.
"I knew that spirit was nothing but bad news!" Tristan said. "Ever since Battle City, that spirit's been flipping us off whenever she gets the chance!"
"You idiots are too protective over Serenity!" Maria said. "Especially Monkey Brother over there!"
"I am this close to beating the shit out of you, bitch!" Joey bellowed.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Seto screeched.
The whole office fell into silence as the group was still agitated about Serenity's mysterious disappearing act. Joey, however, was enraged that his sister kept on the down low about the Soul Crystal still inside of her. When his mother called and telling him that she never returned home since they departed, he immediately flipped and calling his friends from left to right, even calling the girl he despised his sister hanging around with. Hours later, with their results reaching a dead end, all of them flocked to Kaiba Corp. in hopes of getting an exact location on her whereabouts.
"Good; you annoyances were giving me a fucking headache." Seto said.
"Look, Moneybags!" Joey barked. "All we want is to find my sis, so fire up that satellite in space and pinpoint her location so that we can get her!"
"Do you really think that it's that simple to locate her in the system?" Mokuba asked. "She's been out of our radar for the past couple of weeks! Seto's been reprogramming the sensors for a few days now, and when she did reappear...the signal disappeared again, this time for good!"
"Are you for real?" Tèa asked.
"If we say yes, will you go away forever and never bother me again?" Seto remarked.
'Could it be that spirit has something to do with Serenity's disappearance?' Yugi thought.
'Yugi...I fear wherever that spirit took Serenity, it must be somewhere that no kind of radar or even people can reach at normal standards.' Yami spoke via mind link.
'Maybe, but we better consult our options. It's best to start at where Serenity's location was last reported.' Yugi suggested. 'It's our only lead for now.'
'Agreed.'
"Kaiba, does your system still has Serenity's last reported location?" Yugi asked.
"The signal might have disappeared due to magnetic interference out of the land, but our duelist system still has the coordinates to where that duelist was last reported before the duel disk either went out of commission or into a magnetic field." Seto said. "If I cross reference the exact moment that the satellite caught Serenity's last coordinates with the geographic location of the area, I might have an accurate position on her last whereabouts."
"Then do it already!" Joey shouted. "Chop, chop!"
"I don't take orders from you, mutt." Seto said.
-At an unknown location with Serenity...four hours later...-
"Man, all I can see from here is nothing but fog and dead tree limbs." Serenity said.
"Get used to it. This place's hasn't been tended to for many years. Damn caretakers didn't come back from their fucking vacation; good-for-nothing idiots!"
"How much further?" Serenity asked.
"...Over that pass and we'll be there."
Once they climbed over the hill, Serenity couldn't believe all the pillars placed upon the arena as they stood in the same ancient writing that was on the transporter that took them here. She ran over to the engraved stone in the center and the encrypted letters reacted to the Soul Crystal inside of her, returning the burning sensation to her entire body. The spirit didn't phase a bit as her body completely solidified and her mouth can move once more. After a few minutes of regaining control of her body, Serenity opened her eyes to see more spirits approaching her, detached from their physical forms.
"That was overkill, you know." Arios snorted.
"The girl possesses great potential, but lacks the will to use that very power lurking within her."
"Whatever." Arios sighed. "Don't blame me for the Soul Crystal's choosing. And when are you going to track that fucking, idiotic guardian of mine?"
"I see that you were exposed to many things during your transition."
"Cut the crap, and tell her what she needs to do before I blow a cap in your spiritual asses." Arios demanded.
"As expected, the girl will endure the Trial of Strength first thing tomorrow morning. Arrive at this location no later than noon."
'What have I gotten myself into?' Serenity thought.
Well, no turning back Serenity. And the training that she will endure will be one experience that she'll never forget.
Finally done! And why am I losing my writing groove again? Must...find...inspiration!
R&R, people!