Hey guys, I'm so sorry it took me this long to update but I've been on a Supernatural roll and this kinda got pushed under. I'm back with a new chapter though. This kinda thing may happen again but I'll try to keep my updates steady. Thanks for staying this long.
Disclaimer: I don't own. Period.
Warnings: OOCness and overprotective parents.
Special thanks to all who reviewed so far and who have favourited my story. Love you guys!
It wasn't ten minutes after Aurelia got back to the island that something else went wrong. After an eventful night at Ryou's house (because it was his house as much as Bakura said otherwise) Aurelia was looking forward to relaxing a bit. But of course things didn't go as planned. Athena and Ruin showed up and suddenly she wasn't at the helicopter pad anymore. She was somewhere…underground? It looked like an ice cave but it wasn't even cold. She knew where she was then.
Aurelia turned to her two spirits. "What is going on that you had to drag me to the duel spirit world without my permission?"
The two of them were solid now, because they were in their world. They looked at each other before Athena spoke. "Aurelia, Jaden has been having nightmares about the shadow duels."
"The little furball he calls a duel spirit decided to help him out so he enlisted the other spirits to help." Ruin continued.
"So why are we here?" Aurelia asked.
"Because Jaden's coming here."
Aurelia stared shocked. "But humans aren't supposed to know about the spirit world! You bring him here and everyone could be in great danger!"
"From Jaden?" Ruin asked sceptically.
Aurelia shrugged. "Not really him…that's not the point! Exposing yourselves is very bad. Very bad." she wagged a finger at the two of them. "Bad."
"We get it Aurelia, 'Very bad'. Do you want to see who he's facing?" Ruin asked.
"Facing? He's gonna be dueling a spirit?"
Ruin wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Yep. Supposed to help him get over his fear of losing or something."
"It's a spirit you don't know about." Athena added.
"A spirit I don't know about? Is this a good or a bad thing?" Aurelia asked as she was tugged away.
"You can decide that."
Aurelia was pulled toward a grouping of monsters surrounding one area. As she pushed her way through she found Jaden, Chazz, Syrus and Chumley on the ground.
"Hey, I thought it was only supposed to be Jaden." she whispered to Ruin. Ruin shrugged and said nothing.
"Aurelia?" she heard Chazz say.
Aurelia walked forward and the others saw her too. Jaden stood. "What are you doing here? Better yet what are we doing here?"
Aurelia glanced back at Athena and Ruin. "They didn't tell me a whole lot just that we're here because of Winged Kuriboh. I just got back to the island actually and then all of a sudden I'm here." Aurelia gestured around her with her arm. "We're in the spirit world now. The world inhabited by duel monsters. That's why they're all solid."
"And you knew about this?" Chazz asked.
"Of course. I can turn them solid in our world; they like me. I've been to this world a couple of times."
"Isn't it great boss?" Yellow floated over to Chazz.
"Try bizarre." Jaden replied.
"Who are you calling bizarre?" a voice said above them.
They all looked up and standing next to them was a duel monster she'd never seen.
"It's Kaibaman." Yellow cheered.
"Kaibaman?" Aurelia held in her laugh.
"Rumour is Kaiba created the card himself." Chumley said.
Aurelia wheeled to him. "Really? I didn't know that. Although, I wouldn't put it past Seto to make a card of himself. Egomaniac."
"Did you bring us here? Or is this another Shadow Rider scheme?" Jaden questioned.
"If you want answers you'll have to duel me." Kaibaman said.
Jaden grimaced and set his duel disk.
"By the looks of you I'd say you accept. But I sense something from you. Ah yes; fear. Fear should you lose you will lose your friends as well."
"What's he talking about Jay?" Aurelia asked.
"This is about your nightmare isn't it?" Syrus asked.
"If you're too scared I'll duel him." Chazz piped up.
"No? Not backing down?" Kaibaman held up his Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Then you can look forward to facing this card."
"That's one powerful beast. You know, on second thought, I'll sit this one out." Chazz said. Aurelia gave him a look and he shrugged.
"Can we go back to the pool now?" Chumley asked.
"Pool?" Aurelia shuddered. "How about I just go back to the helipad."
"What's the matter Jaden? You look like you've seen a ghost." Kaibaman taunted.
"More like a nightmare." Jaden replied and held up his duel disk. "But still, I won't run."
Kaibaman and Jaden faced off. Kaibaman looked to Aurelia before drawing his cards. Aurelia knew what he was asking for and reluctantly nodded. Because of her mother the monsters respected her greatly; if she didn't want something to happen, it didn't. Jaden started the match playing Bubbleman and had Bubble Blaster equipped to him. Jaden ended his turn at that.
Kaibaman summoned himself on the first turn.
"I'm seeing double." Syrus said.
"And trouble." Chazz added.
Aurelia rolled her eyes at both of them.
Kaibaman sacrificed himself to summon his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Then he had Blue Eyes attack. It destroyed Jaden's Bubble Blaster but Bubbleman still stood and Jaden lost no points.
On Jaden's next turn he fused Bubbleman with Clayman to create Mudballman. Mudballman was no match for the Burst Stream card Kaibaman played which destroyed all of Jaden's monsters. Kaibaman couldn't attack with Blue Eyes after playing that card so he used a Ritual Summon instead and brought out Paladin of White Dragon. Paladin knocked Jaden's life points down to 2100. Kaibaman then summoned another Blue Eyes by sacrificing his Paladin.
Jaden summoned Blade Edge on his turn and used Skyscraper to boost his points to 3600. Jaden took down one Blue Eyes. Kaibaman countered with Silent Doom and brought back that Blue Eyes.
"Now I'll use Polymerization." Kaibaman said holding the card up.
"It's the same." Chazz said.
"What's the same?" Syrus asked.
"Kaibaman's deck is the same as Seto Kaiba's."
Aurelia glanced at him. He turned to her. "But you knew this right?"
She looked away. "I had a hunch. Seto created the card, it would be just like him. Deck, outfit, ego. The hair's new though."
Kaibaman summoned the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Kaibaman tried to attack but Jaden used Edge Hammer. Kaibaman defused his dragon at the last minute though and used all three Blue Eyes to attack Jaden directly. Jaden lost.
After Jaden got hit he passed out. The other monsters felt it safe enough to come out then and swarmed around Syrus, Chumley, Chazz and Aurelia. Chazz sat on the ground in a huff, pointedly ignoring the monsters around him. Syrus and Chumley giggled at the monsters' antics while Aurelia patted and greeted them. Every once-in-a-while she glanced at Chazz out of the corner of her eye as he tried in vain to shrug off the monsters.
Aurelia heard Jaden shudder and try to sit up. Kaibaman approached him then.
"Defeat is nothing to be afraid of Jaden." he said. "What matters, is if you can get up after."
Jaden stood. "Wait, you mean this entire duel was to teach me that?"
"Well, are you afraid?"
"Actually? No I'm really not!" Jaden smiled.
Aurelia walked over to them.
"Do you know why you're not afraid? Because you faced it. You lost and you're okay." Kaibaman continued.
"It was Winged Kuriboh's idea." Aurelia said.
"Yeah, thanks Winged Kuriboh, Kaibaman." Jaden said.
"Jaden!" Syrus, Chumley and Chazz finally noticed Jaden was up and ran to him.
"And they're okay as well." Kaibaman said.
"Guys, I think I'm finally over my bad dream." Jaden said.
"Oh yeah? Well I'm over this place. Can we please get out of this weird spirit cave? It's low rent." Chazz said.
Aurelia rolled her eyes. "Oh poor Princeton." Chazz glared at her and she smiled innocently.
"Uh, Kaibaman? Do you think you could help us out here?" Jaden turned to where Kaibaman was to see him walking away.
"If you want help, ask you're friend Kuriboh. After all, he's the one who brought you down here." Kaibaman said as he walked away. "Goodbye Jaden."
"Goodbye Mistress." the other monsters said.
Aurelia blanched. "I thought I told you guys to stop calling me that!" she glanced back at the others who all had confused looks on their faces. "Uh…they really like me here."
Kuriboh chirped at Jaden. "Really Kuriboh? Just close our eyes and wish for it?" Jaden closed his eyes and the others followed.
"I really want to go home." Syrus said.
Aurelia winked at Kuriboh as he and the others disappeared. Aurelia stood next to the spot they once were and sighed. "We spoil Jaden to much." she said to the air.
"I don't know about that. We spoil you don't we?" Ruin asked from where she and Athena stood.
"You're my guardians, you're supposed to spoil me." she replied.
Athena shook her head. "Would you like to return to your world now?"
Aurelia sighed. "Yeah, Chazz is gonna want to ask a lot of questions. And I'm gonna try and call Aster tonight." she took Athena's hand.
The two women said nothing as they transported her to her world. She was standing next to the helicopter pad again but hours had passed since she was there last. Her duel spirits were nowhere to be seen so she brushed her palms together and then placed them on her hips. "Well, that was eventful."
Aurelia turned toward the Slifer dorm. Might as well head back now.
Chazz was waiting in her room when she got back. As she opened the door he was standing next to her dresser. Her eyes flitted from him to the door and back to him.
"Could've sworn I locked that when I left."
Chazz glanced away. "I might have paid the janitor to open it for me."
Aurelia nodded. She walked over to him, pecked him on the cheek and sat down on her bed. "Well, ask away Chazz."
He turned to her, no hesitation. "How have you been to that world before?"
"Athena and Ruin took me the first time I was given them. I was eight and everything seemed so wonderful there. Sometimes I don't want to leave. It's not all like the cave we were in today, that's just one portion. I've been to a forest, a prairie, a mountain range; there are all kinds of places there, just like on earth."
"Alright, why do they call you mistress?" Chazz asked.
"Wow, no nonsense huh? The spirits like me because I can turn them solid."
Chazz stared. "I don't think that's the full answer Aurelia."
Aurelia sighed and shook her head. "It's not…my…my parents, my birth parents, they were…important. Very important. My mother had powers, great powers, that she used to help people. She was very important to the God Amun-Ra. My father…he was important in a different way. He was a leader, a fighter, and he tried to do what was good but bad things happened anyway. He also had magic, shadow magic." Aurelia held up her hand when he was about to object. "I know, not many people believe in magic anymore but it's there. Just look at Camula, and Jaden's charm, and Atticus. They all used magic. My mother was light, my father was dark; I'm a blend of their magic. I know I said I used shadow magic to make monsters solid but I use light magic as well." Aurelia sighed. "I know this is hard for you to understand Chazz but it's the truth." she stared at the floor as she said this.
She felt the mattress compress as Chazz sat beside her. She didn't say anything because she knew he needed to say something.
"Aurelia. This…is a lot to take in. I used to think magic was from stupid fairytales that didn't exist in our world. But apparently it does? And my girlfriend can use it? That's a hard pill to swallow." he said finally.
"I know, but it's true." she said staring defiantly at the floor.
Chazz tilted her head toward him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I was afraid. I didn't know how you'd react…I'd rather have not told you if it meant you would stay then telling you and having you leave again."
Chazz winced. "Yeah…that was…I just needed some sense knocked into me. And I did have it knocked into me. By Duel Academy, by the Slacker," she chuckled at that. "and by you."
Aurelia leaned into his shoulder and smiled at him. "Glad I could help. You needed to get out from under your brothers anyway."
Chazz nodded. "But not completely." he looked down at her. "I still have to hide you, us."
Aurelia placed her hand on his cheek. "Only for a while. Then you can be free of them."
"Hmm." was all he said.
They sat in silence, just holding each other. Until Chazz fidgeted.
"Who were your birth parents anyway?"
Aurelia froze. "Uh…it doesn't really…they're gone anyway."
"Aurelia?"
She sat up and looked away. "Chazz, I…this is one thing I…can't…tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because, it's actually so far out field that I don't even understand it properly." she brushed her lips against his once. "Just…trust me with this okay? I can't tell you. Not right now."
Chazz stared into her eyes trying to read her. "You have so many secrets I don't think I will ever know all of them."
Aurelia nodded. "I know. I don't even know if I know all of them. But I have to keep these secrets…Chazz…they're not only my secrets. I'm sorry."
Chazz sighed. "I guess I will just have to get used to it."
Oh! We're never gonna quit!
Ain't nothing wrong with it!
Just acting like we're animals!
Aurelia dove for her cell which was on top of her pile of books. She flipped it open as Chazz gave her a weird look.
"Hey Aster! I was just about to call you."
"Really? This is a surprise. You actually going to be on time."
"Hey, I'm not late very often."
"Only on days that end in 'Y'."
"Shut up."
Aurelia covered the mouthpiece. "It's my best friend and I really want to talk to him."
"Who? I thought Jaden was your best friend."
"Not by a long shot. Aster and I met years ago."
"Should I be worried?" Chazz gave her a look that was clearly about her ringtone.
Aurelia blushed. "Uh, no. The song is a joke between the two of us."
"Hello?"
"I guess I'll leave then." Chazz nodded sarcastically and stood.
Aurelia smiled. "I'll catch up with you tomorrow okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Chazz smirked before leaving her room. He closed the door quietly behind him. Aurelia smiled after him until she remembered that Aster was still on the phone.
"Sorry Aster, Chazz was in the room with me." she said.
"Chazz Princeton? As in your mate?"
"Yeah, I took your advice, well, sort of."
"You seduced him?" Aster asked. "I didn't think you'd ever seduce anyone."
"Hey! I seduced someone every time we took down organizations. Except for the ones where the guards were more interested in you than me." Aurelia smirked.
"Yes well…did you seduce him?"
"Actually, no. He went after me. Apparently he likes me too and he tried forgetting about me and leaving but that didn't work. He thinks I'm pretty." she said in a faux haughty tone.
"Huh? Who knew your mate would actually like you back."
"What's not to like about me?"
"Well…you're messy, sarcastic, and you have a crazy obsession with music to name a few."
"1. I am not obsessed with music and even if I am, music is great. 2. Chazz is messy too and 3. Aster, we both speak sarcasm like a second language." Aurelia listed as she stood and started picking up clothes along the way.
"Actually I think sarcasm is our first language and the others are second languages."
Aurelia shook her head. "Whatever." she started putting the clothes she had picked up away. "Now because of you I'm actually cleaning."
"Good."
"Oh go to hell."
"Better idea. How about you go and I'll sit back with a bag of popcorn and watch you burn."
Aurelia froze and gave her phone a funny look. "Aster? Are you okay?"
"…Maybe…I think I just scared myself with how insane I'm becoming."
"Yeah, you're scaring me too." Aurelia paused. "Oh yeah, speaking of scary. Jaden, Syrus and Chumley almost got burned to a crisp battling a possessed Atticus, who's Alexis' brother, and then after that we fought a vampire."
"Okay…wait, a real vampire?"
"If the split lip I got from her is any indication then yeah, real vampire."
Aster whistled. "Sounds like fun, why didn't you invite me Buffy?"
"Ha ha, it was a dueling battle not a rip-everyone-to-shreds battle." Aurelia examined her nails. "She tried to goad me into turning it into that but everyone was there and I…I don't want them to know."
"Yeah, that's the downside to kick-ass abilities, you have to hide them."
"Tell me about it." she sighed and plopped back on her bed. "How much time do you have until you go back to tournaments?"
"A week, two at most."
"I'll check my schedule and see if we can go out on the town. Maybe shopping, or hanging out at my place."
"Why not my place?"
"Aster…your place sucks."
Aster made a agreeing noise. "You may have a point."
"Yay me!"
"Okay, but not when your parents are in. I'm still scarred from the last time."
"Yeah, same here." Aurelia shuddered. "Anyway, I'll call you tomorrow after I've checked my schedule and we can plan a vacation for you. After all, you really need one."
"Do not!"
"Aster, you're constantly dueling or being interviewed…or signing autographs…or travelling. We never spend any time together anymore." Aurelia twirled one of her blonde strands. "I miss you."
"Believe it or not but…I miss you too."
"Aster Phoenix misses his best friend? Oh my Ra call the press!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Aurelia chuckled. "I know, I'm awesome."
"Hardly. Anyway, call me back tomorrow. I'll be landing back in Domino about noon."
"I will. We'll figure out how to get together."
"Meanwhile, you figure out how to make your boyfriend have sex with you."
Aurelia sighed. "Goodbye Aster. Love you."
"Later!"
Aurelia flipped her phone back and placed it on the desk once again. Aster was finally coming back to Domino for a week. Seriously, his manager ran him ragged. Although, you'd never see it. Aster always made himself appear perfect for the media.
Aurelia shook her head as she changed into her pyjamas. Her tail swung slowly back and forth as she stretched. Her long hair fell straight down her back. She was grateful for that. As much as she loved her father she didn't particularly want his hairstyle. Her mother gifted her with her straight hair, a fact she adored greatly.
Aurelia crawled into her bed and snuggled under her covers. Tomorrow she would make plans and nothing could stop her.
Aurelia woke to screaming two rooms down from her. Chazz's room. Aurelia shook the sleep out of her eyes and dressed quickly. She came upon Chazz screaming and Jaden and Syrus standing at the door.
"What's going on?" she asked them.
"Chazz is having another breakdown." Jaden replied.
"Oh."
"I'm not having a breakdown!" Chazz screamed.
"Well then, you won't mind if we come in!" Jaden and Syrus ran in and jumped on Chazz's bed. They started jumping which caused Chazz to bounce as well. Aurelia covered her mouth to smother her laugh at the sight.
"Get off…my bed…it's not a…trampoline!" Chazz said in between bounces.
"By the way-" Jaden started.
"The Chancellor-" Syrus continued.
"Wants to see you!" Jaden finished.
"Sheppard?" Chazz asked. "What…for?"
"Oh, just something about the fate of Duel Academy!" Jaden answered brightly.
Aurelia froze. The Fate of Duel Academy? Why would Sheppard want to see Chazz about that? She shook her head as the boys kept bouncing.
"Alright boys! That's enough, let's go see what Sheppard wants with Chazz."
As they stopped bouncing Chazz stepped off gratefully and the other two giggled the whole way to Sheppard's office. Every once-in-a-while Chazz would glance back with a glare and roll his eyes. Aurelia watched him do this at least eight times before they even reached the chancellor's office.
As they stepped in Banner stood next to Sheppard's desk where the Chancellor himself was seated. "I have some urgent news Chazz." Sheppard said.
"Finally, my new bed arrive?"
"Cool, let's go jump around on it!" Jaden said
Aurelia covered her mouth again as Chazz gave him the dirtiest look ever. Jaden needed to watch what he said.
"This isn't about your living arrangements." Banner said.
"Yeah, then what?" Chazz demanded.
"Well, someone is trying to…buy out the Duel Academy." Sheppard said.
Aurelia flinched back in surprise and gave Sheppard a look. "What are you talking about? Duel Academy isn't for sale. Who's trying to buy it?"
"This person wants to shut Duel Academy down." Sheppard continued without answering her questions.
Chazz glanced at her. "Shut it down?"
"Why?" Jaden asked.
"Without us, they can control the entire dueling world."
Aurelia looked down thoughtfully. Entire domination of the Dueling world? Where had she heard that before?"
"Fortunately our head has given us a sporting chance." Sheppard said.
"Head? But I'm the owner! Who's authority oversees mine?" but Aurelia didn't need anyone to answer that. She knew who. "Oh, he is so getting it."
"Who?"
"It comes down to one duel." Banner said.
"Let me I'll whip this guy." Jaden said.
"No!"
Aurelia cocked her head. "Why not?"
"The duelist has already been chosen." he turned to Chazz.
"Chazz?" Jaden asked.
"No offence but why is Princeton the one dueling?" Aurelia asked.
"For some reason they asked for him specifically." Banner crossed over to the big screen on one wall of the office. It had started beeping erratically. "I think this is them now."
"Asked for him? That means it's-" Aurelia started but froze when the two came on the screen.
"My brothers." Chazz said darkly. "Lowsy scrubs, what are you up to?"
"Come on Chazz, don't you know? Jagger." Slade said.
"Same thing." Jagger said.
"Complete world domination." they said as one.
Aurelia rolled her eyes. "Can we do it again?" she asked as she waved her arms like a conductor.
The ignored her. "Do you remember? It was our little family project." Slade continued.
"Your little project, maybe." Chazz said.
"Yeah well, it pretty much has to be huh Chazz?" Slade growled.
"That's right, because you couldn't pull your weight. Because you couldn't conquer the world of duel monsters like we planned. So now Slade is just gonna have to do it for you." Jagger said.
"Slade? That's who I'm dueling?"
"Okay, you can totally do this, Slade's just an amateur. You guys better rethink your business strategy, this one stinks." Jaden said.
"Exactly, so just go back to your corporation and leave dueling up to the people who can actually duel." Aurelia said.
"Oh, but there are conditions. First, I get to use all these rare cards. The same rare cards you turned down at the school duel." Slade held up a briefcase full of cards. "Second, you're only allowed to duel with monsters that have less than 500 attack points." Slade said.
Aurelia stiffened. "What the?" Chazz breathed.
"500?" Syrus exclaimed.
"This is a joke right?" Jaden asked. "Say no Chazz."
"It's too late. Kaiba has already accepted those terms. So it's already been decided." Slade said.
"This isn't fair." Jaden turned to Sheppard who looked down and Aurelia who was still frozen. "Aurelia stop this."
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter if, and I stress the if, you win Slade. I will never give you my school."
"Kaiba told us to tell you not to interfere. You can't do anything to stop this. Chazz, put a muzzle on your girlfriend, she's too loud for a woman." Slade said.
Aurelia waved her hands. "Okay first, I'm not his girlfriend, second you're both sexist bastards and third, I don't care what Seto said, you won't have my school!"
"You have no choice! Kaiba assured us he'd be sending someone to guard you until the match is over."
"What?"
"Oh yes, little Aurelia, there is nothing you can do to save your precious school." Slade and Jagger started laughing and laughed until the connection closed.
Aurelia seethed. Seto was going to pay for this…dearly.
"Who's going to watch Aurelia?" she heard Chazz ask.
"We are." Aurelia wheeled to the door where Bakura and Marik stood. They looked so calm it was almost like it wasn't them at all…until Marik smiled one of his insane smiles and waved.
"You two? You're not even supposed to be on the island! How could you? You betray me, Seto betrayed me, and he's going to pay for it." Aurelia said darkly. "What did he do? Pay you? Promise to let you steal stuff on a regular basis? What?"
Jaden tapped her on the shoulder lightly. "Uh, Aurelia? Who are they?"
"They're my uncles." she whispered before yelling again. "Where's Ryou and Malik? There's no way Seto let you guys here without a way to stop your craziness."
"Oh, they're here! Ryou and Malik-Pretty went to the cafeteria to get food!" Marik exclaimed happily.
Bakura ignored him and walked forward. "Enough Aurelia. Your father wants to show you something." he put both his hands on her shoulders.
"What? That I really don't have any control over my own life?" she shrugged him off. "Besides, he's not my father." she spat as she walked out of the room. Bakura and Marik followed her, Marik skipping the whole way.
She heard Chazz leave the room a little after they did. Aurelia turned to face him past her uncles. "Princeton, are you going to face them?"
Chazz shrugged past her. "No."
Bakura glared and Marik stared confused after Chazz pushed past them. When he reached a main hallway the whispers started. Unluckily for Aurelia, she could hear every one of their remarks about how Chazz was a loser. And by how loud they were talking she bet he could hear them too.
Suddenly Jaden sped past Aurelia and right up to Chazz.
"Well you know what I think? I think you're all dead wrong!" Chazz wheeled around to face Jaden. "I know Chazz can win this duel, because I've dueled him myself; and duelists don't come much tougher."
"Yeah I know, that's the problem." Chazz replied.
"What's that mean?"
"Honestly Chazz you're not making any sense." Bastian's voice sounded as he and Alexis joined their group. Aurelia tilted her head in confusion as she stared at Chazz. "Bastian's right, being tough is usually a good thing." Alexis said.
"In my book." Bastian added.
Aurelia was nudged gently aside by Banner as he sat on the steps below her. He stroked Pharaoh as the others argued. Aurelia noticed Malik and Ryou joining the crowd as well.
"Look it's-" Chazz started.
"It's about Chazz being too tough, specifically his deck." Zane joined them. Aurelia nodded as she watched. She understood now. "It's about Chazz not being able to duel."
"What do you mean?" Oh there's Syrus! Didn't see him there.
"What I mean Syrus, is that Chazz's deck isn't built with monsters that have less than 500 attack points."
"Wait, so then?" Jaden asked.
"My cards are all too powerful. Cause of that condition my bros set up my deck is useless." Chazz pulled out a card from his pocket. "All I've got left, is him." he was holding Ojama Yellow.
She saw Bakura and Marik stiffen then Bakura shuddered and Marik burst out laughing. "What kind of card is that?" Bakura spat. Marik just kept laughing.
"What? That's all you've got? You can't make a deck with only one card!" Jaden exclaimed.
Zane looked behind them at Aurelia standing on the steps. "Can't you stop this Aurelia?"
She shook her head sadly. "I've already tried. Seto actually sent me bodyguards so that I couldn't interfere." she jerked her thumbs at Bakura and Marik.
"He can still duel." Banner said from the steps below. "This is but a rumour, but given the circumstance it may be worth mentioning. Now supposedly my students, deep in the woods sits a very old well. And within this well lay a great many cards. You see, they were discarded there by duelists who deemed them too weak to use in their decks. Of course, the spirits of those cards are very angry for being left behind."
Bakura blew a raspberry at Banner. "You can't really believe this old kook. And he's a teacher here? Pathetic."
Aurelia elbowed Bakura but the rest ignored him. Aurelia however, did see Ryou face palm because of his boyfriend.
"Well The Chazz has a feeling they'll be perking up real soon because I'm going to find that well and enlist some new monsters for my deck." everyone cheered at that.
As the crowd dispersed only Chazz, Jaden, Aurelia and her uncles were left. Of course when Marik noticed Malik was back he leapt across the hallway and onto Malik screaming "Malik-Pretty!" at the top of his lungs.
Malik blushed when everyone turned to him.
Chazz leaned closer to her. "Which ones are your uncles?"
Aurelia sighed. "Unfortunately, all of them." she said as Bakura and Marik started a fight over something completely trivial. For example, this time it was who could control Aurelia better, Bakura or Marik. She face palmed as Ryou tried to break it up and Malik watched while sipping his pop.
Chazz stared at them then back to her. "You're related to them? And why do some of them look the same?"
"Well, I'm not related to them by blood, they're just my uncles because they became family. Bakura, Malik and Marik" she pointed to each, "are all Egyptian while Ryou is from England. Malik and Marik are together, if you didn't notice, and Ryou and Bakura are together as well. They all live together in one house so Malik and Ryou can keep an eye on them. I go to their house on Tuesdays for poker."
Chazz nodded.
Aurelia waved her hand in a circle. "And about the similar part, you'll have to ask them. All I'm allowed to say is it has to do with the Millennium Items."
"Millennium Items?" Jaden piped up.
The other four froze and wheeled to them. "What? Where?" they said in unison.
Aurelia brought her hands up in surrender. "Nothing! They're just trying to figure out how two of you look the same and the other two look the same."
Ryou stepped forward. "That just gets confusing. By the way, I'm Ryou." he held out his hand for Chazz and Jaden. "I'm sorry about all the trouble Bakura and Marik caused, and most likely will cause in the future."
"Hey, you sound like Bastian." Jaden said.
Aurelia shook her head. "That's because they're both British. They have the same accent Jay."
"So you must be Jaden Yuki then."
Jaden's eyes widened in surprise. "You've heard about me? That is so cool!"
Ryou looked taken aback. "Yes, Aurelia told us about her friends at Duel Academy."
Aurelia leaned toward Chazz with her hand blocking everyone else from seeing her mouth. "Worst mistake ever." Chazz smirked.
"And you must be Chazz Princeton." Ryou said. That caught Marik, Malik and Bakura's attention.
Aurelia frowned. "I didn't tell you about him."
"We know, Seto did. He's the reason we're here, to keep you from interfering with his match."
Aurelia crossed her arms. "Don't remind me."
"Speaking of which I should get to that well." Chazz said.
"Me too!" Jaden shouted.
"Me three." Aurelia said and tried to leave.
"Not so fast Aurelia Kaiba." Malik said as Bakura stopped her with his magic. "You aren't going anywhere except with us." Bakura grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder.
"Now, we are going to the cafeteria because I'm hungry." Bakura said.
"Me too." Marik added.
Aurelia sighed and balanced her chin on her hand and her elbow on his back. "Fine, I'm a little hungry too."
Malik and Ryou followed behind, smiling. "This can be defined as kidnapping you know." Aurelia threatened.
"Malik shrugged. "Like they haven't done anything worse."
Aurelia shook her head. "I really hate you guys."
"Love you too." Malik said and Ryou started giggling. Joy.
Aurelia was seated in the stands with her uncles around her as Chazz faced down his older brother Slade. Chazz started off by playing his Soul Tiger in defence mode.
"Is this mate of yours any good?" Malik asked her.
Aurelia leaned toward him. "He's an actual duelist while Slade is an amateur, of course he's-hey! No mate comments here alright?"
"Sorry, just trying to figure out why you chose him."
"I don't get to choose remember? I'm stuck with what I've got." Aurelia turned back to the duel where Slade had fusion summoned King Dragoon.
"Well, if it's any consolation, he doesn't look that bad." Malik grinned…at least until Marik pounced on him going on about how his Malik-Pretty didn't love him anymore. Aurelia snorted, Serves you right.
Slade also summoned Lustre Dragon 2 and wiped Chazz's life points down to 1600. Chazz played a monster in defence mode and that was all.
"Chazz what are you doing?" Aurelia whispered.
Slade summoned Lustre Dragon in attack mode. Then he used Dragoon's ability which brought out Yozan Ru. Dragoon took out Chazz's defence monster but when Unhappy Maiden is sent to the graveyard the battle phase ends automatically. Chazz summoned Spirit of the Breeze and also played Dark Door which allowed only one monster to attack on both sides.
Slade destroyed Spirit of the Breeze and then Chazz played Catnip Kitty which was destroyed as well. Then Slade played a face down.
Bakura yawned. "This is boring."
Aurelia ignored him. When it was Chazz's turn Slade's Dust Tornado activated which destroyed Chazz's Dark Door. Chazz then played Painful Choice which caused Slade to choose one card from five Chazz had drawn from his deck. Slade chose Thundercrash which sent the others to the graveyard. Then Chazz played Enchanted Fitting Room which, by paying eight hundred points, he got to look at four cards in his deck. If any of them were level three or below monsters he could summon them. Turns out three of them were the Ojama Brothers which he got to summon.
"You're pinning the hopes of your little academy on these three twerps?" Slade taunted. Aurelia fumed.
"Sure, they look funny, smell bad, no one really likes them and they never shut up. But these guys taught me something important." Chazz said. Aurelia shook her head.
"You should eat dessert first?" Green asked.
"Flies taste great?" Black asked.
"That bathing is optional?" Yellow asked.
"That good bros support each other!" Chazz said
"So what, I'm not a good bro?" Slade mocked.
"That's right, which is why I don't feel bad about playing this." Chazz played the spell Ojama Delta Hurricane which got rid of every one of Slade's monsters. Then Chazz played the Thundercrash he had received earlier and dealt Slade 900 points of damage.
Slade was getting angrier. "That doesn't mean a thing! I still have rare monsters in my deck just rearing to tear your monsters apart."
"I don't think so." Chazz chuckled. "Because I play Chaos Necromancer."
"Chaos Necromancer gains 300 attack points for every monster in his grave. Chazz won. Can I please go kick them off my island now?" Aurelia asked Malik and Ryou.
Once Chazz had depleted Slade's life points Bakura nodded and Aurelia leapt out of her seat. She was standing before Slade and Jagger before anyone could say anything.
"Well, now that that's over, your contract with my father is null and void." Aurelia turned serious. "Get off my island before I kick your asses off."
Slade and Jagger remembered the last time she threatened them and quickly left. Aurelia patted her hands together. "Well, that takes care of the trash." she said as the arena continued to be filled with chants of Chazz It Up!
As her friends converged around Chazz she walked over to them. Jaden was so excited he picked her up and swung her around. "Chazz won!"
"Yeah, I got that." she replied to him. He put her down.
She winked when she faced Chazz. "Nice duel Princeton."
"Thanks. What happened to your body guards?"
Aurelia gestured over her shoulder. "Somewhere over there. I'm going back to the mainland with them. There's something I need to sort out with my father."
Chazz nodded and Aurelia turned to leave. She rejoined her uncles as they were on their way to the helipad. "Where are you going?" Malik asked.
"I need to have a chat with Seto about my school."
It was dark by the time Aurelia got back home to the Kaiba mansion. She knew everyone would be up though, no one, except Mokuba, got a lot of sleep in the Kaiba mansion.
She sped past the guards and the butler that served Seto personally before she was in his office. She was so fast it looked as if she appeared out of thin air on the armchair in his office.
Seto was so intent on his work he didn't notice until she cleared her throat.
Seto calmly glanced up from his computer before returning his gaze to it. "And what is the reason for this particular visit?"
Aurelia glared. "You know damn well what the reason is. Why did you make that deal? You gave me Duel Academy, you promised it was mine! Why step in and take away my control now when you could have just kept the school? Chazz could have lost! We could have lost everything!"
"So now he's Chazz is he?" Seto didn't even glance up this time.
Aurelia froze then continued. "It doesn't matter. Why did you do this Seto? I promised you, you could trust me."
Seto finally turned to her. "Because of this." he pushed the computer around so it was facing her. "Besides, those two have a lot to learn about World Domination."
Aurelia stared. There was Chazz's duel all over again. Every play, every card, every insult, everything. Aurelia finally looked back up at Seto. "I don't understand."
"I needed to see how the youngest Princeton duels. I needed to see if he could stand up to his brothers without your help. But most of all, I needed to see this." Seto fast forwarded to after Chazz had won and Aurelia was congratulating him. She hadn't realized she had smiled at him. Or how she looked when she talked to him. She hoped none of her friends had noticed she looked so…love struck.
Aurelia turned back to Seto who had stood. "I still don't understand why you needed to see this. Or how you even got this video."
"Malik and Ryou were both wearing shirts with button cameras." he said facing the window. "The point is…I needed to see if he was worthy."
"Worthy?" Aurelia asked as she stood. "Worthy of what?"
"Of you." Aurelia wheeled around to the door. Joey leaned against it watching the two of them. "We needed to see if Chazz Princeton deserved you."
Seto stood and turned to face the large window that showed a view of the backyard.
"I'm guessing you already saw this?" Aurelia gestured to the computer. Seto still faced the window.
Joey nodded solemnly, more solemn then she'd ever seen him. Joey acted completely different when he was out in public, but at home, he sometimes lost his dumb blond demeanour and became serious. This however, was different. "Chazz Princeton may be your mate but you are still our daughter." Joey moved into the room. "Foster daughter maybe, but who cares about the details anyway? The point is kiddo, that he just proved that he has what it takes in that duel. He just showed us what kind of person he is." Joey put his hands on Aurelia's shoulders while she tried to catch her breath.
Aurelia shook her head and damn it all if she didn't have tears in her eyes too. "I just never really expected…"
"Never expected what? That we would look after your well being? That we would care for you?" Joey asked.
Aurelia nodded and looked away, feeling ashamed. "Aurelia, we love you. We needed to know if Chazz would be a good mate for you."
Aurelia turned back to Joey. "Ever since we learned about what you were and what would happen to you, we have been worrying about who your mate would be. I needed to know if you would be safe with whoever you" he winced, "belonged to."
"This was our test for him." she heard Seto say.
Joey looked up and Aurelia turned to him. Seto was still facing the window like he feared if he turned around he wouldn't be able to say this. "Princeton Corp. is a rival company and I have been watching them for years. I knew about Chazz's situation with his brothers. He needed to face them. This was not just to show us he was worthy it was also to help him get away from them. I doubt they will bother him now."
Aurelia shook her head. "Not true. He still fears them, but he fears them not because of what they would do to him but what they would do to me."
"What?" Joey asked.
"We started dating a little while ago Joey. We've had to keep it secret though. He's afraid his brothers will hurt me if they find out he's dating 'the enemy'."
Joey looked confused. "But shouldn't he be more worried about what you could do to them than what they could do to you?"
Aurelia sunk into an armchair. "He doesn't know…everything yet. He knows about my control over monsters and he knows I'm your daughter but other than that…he knows nothing."
"Then you're a fool if you haven't told him everything." Seto said. It sounded harsh but she knew that was what Seto usually sounded like. He sat back down at his desk.
"I don't want him to know yet. I don't want him to know…" That I'm a monster. She wanted to say.
"You're not a monster." Joey said firmly. They had already had many arguments over the course of her life here about that very topic. One of which she broke down completely and ended up sobbing on Joey.
She offered him a small smile. "You may not think so, but others will. I'm just afraid Chazz might be one of them." she paused. "All the same, he may have won against his brothers now, but Chazz isn't free."
"At least he's away from them during the school year."
"What about the summer though?…They'll have him right where they want him. He told me he's already been beaten by them once. Now that he's humiliated them, it's just going to get worse."
Joey winced, he knew all about that. A father who never accepted him as a kid, he'd joined a gang and then opened up about being gay. His father had beaten him before Seto got to him. He looked back to Seto while Aurelia stared at the floor blankly. Seto firmly shook his head no as soon as he did and Joey offered his most pitiful look ever. He nodded toward Aurelia who actually looked her size for once. Seto and Joey both towered over her but her presence made her seem larger than she was. Her mischievousness, her bearing; if you actually paid attention to her she reminded one of a lion. Now she just looked like she was in a trance.
Set glanced at her once and knew he was stuck. He didn't want another brat in the house, especially since Aurelia already brought that Phoenix kid over way to often. He knew Joey wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted though, and he'd soon recruit Mokuba as well. Seto inwardly rolled his eyes, the things he put up with for his puppy.
"Why don't you invite him to stay here for the summer." Seto regretted every word that left his mouth.
Aurelia's head snapped up to stare at him in utter confusion. "Who are you and what have you done with Seto Kaiba?"
Joey smiled slightly while Seto scowled. "Take it or leave it brat."
Aurelia smiled. "I'll take it." then froze. "But how are you going to convince his brothers to allow him to stay with us?"
Seto leaned back slightly. "Leave that to me."
Aurelia beamed and Joey returned her smile. "Thank you!" she jumped up and enveloped Seto in a hug and before he could say anything she turned and pounced on Joey. "Thank you so much! You guys are the best!"
"Remember that the next time I ground you." Seto said.
Joey merely hugged her back. "And no sex under our roof you hear?" he said.
"Yes mom." she said all seriousness.
"Hey! No mom jokes!"
Aurelia ducked out of his arms and headed for the door. "I'll tell Chazz he can call you mom too, Mom. Bye Dad!" she waved at Seto who smirked.
"I told you to stop callin' me dat! Hey! Get back here you brat!" Joey's accent flared as he chased after her. Seto heard wild stomping and laughter through his mansion and shook his head.
"I'm definitely going to regret this later."
Well that was fun. I know Seto and Joey are a little OOC but that makes this story work so I'm sticking with it. And, btw, what's up with Aster? Well if you watched the second season you kinda already know. He's working his way into that. Stupid Sartorius. No offense to those who like him.
Reviews are better than yo momma jokes.