Soo. It's been almost 7 months. Again. I'M SORRY OKAY. THINGS HAPPEN. Last time I updated it was what? Early August? Well, I'm the assistant manager of a community commercial pool so when half our lifeguards quit, I kind of worked a lot. Then school and guard and I turned 21 on Valentine's day and new boyfriend and LIFE REALLY.

Anyways, I had this chapter already done (probably for the last 7 months, sorry!) and probably just forgot to upload it. So I'm currently writing the NEXT chapter in the car between classes. So. Expect another update if not today then sometime this weekend…

Chapter 14: Clash of the Dragons Part 2

"Akiza." Yusei stepped up next to where Akiza was sitting on the floor in the arms of her father and deactivated his duel disc. "You and your parents have a lot of catching up to do, but us signers could really use you around, too." She looked up at him with pure emotion all over her face. "Will you fight with us?" he asked. "Will you take a stand alongside your friends?"

"You got it, Yusei," she sighed happily, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Yes!" the kids cheered.

"You see, Akiza? It's just like Yusei said—we're all bound by our marks," the boy exclaimed.

"It's true," Yusei agreed, rolling up his sleeve. "All of us. We share a destiny. So like it or not—we're friends."

Akiza smiled at that. "That's nice, but, I've had friends before and that turn out so well for them." She looked away, ashamed. "I mean, losing people you care about really hurts."

"Yeah, I know exactly how you feel," Yusei sighed. "I ran into an old friend the other day and let's just say he changed."

Keisa scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Depends on who you ask," she muttered, earning a look from Jack. "We all lose people in different ways, but, I don't know—we just have to keep going." Yusei threw a small smile at her.

"I know it's scary to trust new people," Yusei told her, "but I'm asking you to trust me—to call me a friend."

"I'll try," she admitted after a long pause.

"As much as I love all this, I need to talk to you," Keisa interrupted, gesturing to her brother just as Jack's phone began to ring.

"How long have you been here?" the boy looked up at her curiously as Jack turned on his heel and left the room, phone to his ear.

"She's been here the whole time, Leo," the girl sighed.

"My name is Keisa."

"Keisa," Leo tried carefully. "My name is Leo, and this is my sister Luna." He gestured to the pigtailed girl next to him, who smiled softly.

"She's the other signer I told you about," Yusei said.

"No way," Keisa's jaw dropped. He had said she was about Rally's age, but it really hadn't sunk in.

"You're a friend of Yusei's?" Luna asked. "Are you the fifth signer?" Keisa let out a puff of air at having to disappoint this little kid. The look of hope on her face was heartbreaking.

"No, sorry," she explained, "I'm his sister."

"Sister?" Aki stood up with the help of her father. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Well, the first time Yusei came to Neo Domino was a bit of a special case," Keisa muttered. "Invite only."

"If I remember correctly, he was never invited," Jack called out as he joined them back in the room.

"Depends on how you look at it, former champ," Keisa said smugly, looking away from him.

"Who invited Keisa," Jack asked Yusei. "I remember only inviting you."

"She invited herself," Yusei admitted.

"You know each other?" Leo asked.

Keisa looked up at Jack suspiciously. "I dunno," she started slowly. "How much of your early life do they really know?"

"Keisa." The dense, warning tone in his voice froze her thoughts in their tracks. Forgive and forget. Yeah, yeah.

"We grew up together," she muttered truthfully.

"Really?" Leo and Luna's jaws dropped.

"We can talk about that later," Yusei told them. He turned towards Akiza and her parents. "Why don't you go home with your parents and rest? We can all meet up tomorrow to talk."

"And do we have something to talk about," Jack informed them gravely. "I just got off the phone with my assistant and she has something Akiza should see."

"Me?" The redhead in question stood up a little straighter.

Jack simply nodded. "Like Yusei said, we can talk about it later. I have other business to attend to right now."

"Jack, hold on," Yusei called, but Jack just waved without a second glance and left the large room.

—

Keisa crossed her arms and tried hard not cringe as, on a large screen in front of them, a video of a boy being seemingly electrocuted played. Akiza, on the other hand, could not contain her shock.

"Don't worry," Mina comforted. "He's not in any pain. He's actually creating that electrostatic force field with his telekinetic abilities. We found his files in the Arcadia building. Apparently Sayer was a master manipulator who would take in duelists with powers like yours, and depending on their strengths, they would either stay or disappear."

Akiza turned away and grimaced. Yusei glanced at her with a look Keisa rarely ever saw. A desperately worried, helpless look.

"I'm sorry Akiza, I know this must come as a shock after everything you've been through," Mina apologized, gripping the clipboard closer to her chest, "but it looks like Sayer was one of the bad guys. The true purpose of his Arcadia Movement was to create an army of psychic duelists he could use to try and take over the world. You were just another soldier training for the battlefield to fight. It's all in your file."

She flipped around a holographic board where, clearly displayed in the middle, was a picture of the young red-haired woman that Keisa could only assume was Akiza. The scowl was perfectly identical, at least.

Akiza gasped, horrified, and nearly tore the file out of Mina's hands to get a better look. But seconds later, she trust it back in the woman's hands and raced out of the room.

"You can't run from the truth, Akiza," Mina yelled after her desperately. "We need your help!"

Wordlessly, Yusei turned and slowly followed the other signer out of the room. Keisa wasn't sure what to do; follow her brother, or stay put.

"We can't do this without her, Yusei," Mina tried quietly. But the door shut behind her brother before he could respond. Not that Keisa thought he would. She hadn't the slightest clue what he was thinking.

It scared her. She could usually easily predict what her brother would do. But she had never seen this part of him, and maybe he didn't even know what he was going to do. All she knew if that he was following Akiza.

Hopefully he was following her to convince her to help them. Because it looked like they would sure as hell need all the extra help they could get…