If you've read the old version of this story/chapter of it, this is just undergoing slight editing. You know, fixing up spelling errors and that sort of stuff.

And even though it's an AU, doesn't mean it doesn't follow canon at parts. 'kay?

Chapters remaining after this: 4

14 - Chapter 13: Enkindle Thy Flame

(Jaden's POV)

It was funny, how little I really knew about myself. My past, my future, even my present...how little I was truly aware of the existence of my own soul, and my power. I had always just gone with the flow, disregarded dangers that could have potentially cost me my life, and the lives of other people as well.

Watching my past, quite literally, flash before my eyes, I could truly see the amateur mistakes that had repeated themselves time and time again, fading away only when I became aware of them, only to be replaced by others.

That was the way all things worked. We made mistakes, we learnt from them.

And giving up was the biggest of them all.

I guess my perspective really began to change during my time at Duel Academy, when duelling, my lifelong passion, became less and less like a simple game each time. The shadow games, the light of destruction, the survival duels...then all that had happened in the Dark World...those experiences had helped me grow, as a person, mature from the child persona I had held onto for so long to the adult which would go out into the world and make a difference.

I remembered everything, from the time I was old enough to retain any memory of anything till now. All the memories I had lost in my childhood came rushing back.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. It did, a lot, but at that time, it really didn't matter.

Because something was forcing me to remember, to understand, to accept.

Someone, who was the light in my darkness.

(Alexis' POV)

'Memories are very odd things,' Darkness mused as a card appeared in front of him, signalling his draw phase. 'With gaps, holes, twists and turns...and humans wonder how easily they can be manipulated.'

'But the truth always lies beneath,' I reminded. 'No matter how hard you try to hide it. It only appears fragmented when we deny ourselves the luxury of remembrance, or else others deny it to us.

'So you think...' He looked at the card he had drawn, before playing it. 'I equip the spell Mask of Brutality to my Darkness Neosphere.'

If anything, that monster of his just got scarier with that equip spell.

'Mask of Brutality increases my monsters attack points by 1000, lowering its defence points by the same amount.'

'5000 attack points?' Such a hit would make a really big dent in my life points. Fortunately, there was still Hallowed Life Barrier.

Though not for very much longer, as I was forced to trigger it, discarding Cyber Angel Dakini from my hand as Darkness Neosphere launched an attack against Cyber Prima.

'End turn,' Darkness stated simply, not at all surprised.

'Fine,' I returned. 'My draw, and summon Cyber Gymnast in defence mode.'

I followed up my words with my actions, the acrobatic gymnast appearing and sitting herself on her card.

'Next, I'll activate her special ability,' I continued, 'discarding a card from my hand to destroy a monster on your field.'

I discarded Card of Sanctity, and Darkness Neosphere on my opponent's field faded away into the very darkness it represented. For a time at least, the field was free of it. And so, with nothing else I could do, I ended my turn.

'Well?' Darkness asked, drawing its next card. 'What do you have to say now?'

'About?' I asked. 'You are yet to prove me wrong. Is it because you know that I am right and you are wrong?'

Then another voice, soft as the aged time, continued.

'Is it because you are afraid, that even if I lose, he will defeat you? Because he is complete, and you are not? The forces of light and darkness are in balance in him. You, a being of pure darkness, cannot supplant that.'

Darkness didn't answer, simply playing Pot of Greed and drawing two new cards, one appearing face down with the fog covering it, the other appearing on the field as he summoned it.

'I summon Darkness Necro Slime,' he said, 'using its ability and sacrificing it to bring back Darkness Neosphere.'

I was not surprised. The funny thing about this duel was that it lacked surprise. After all, it had already occurred, so on a certain, subconscious level, I knew his moves, and he knew mine.

And though memories could not change, dreams could, and I was hoping desperately that Jaden was listening.

(Jaden's POV)

'The forces of light and darkness are in balance in him. You, a being of pure darkness, cannot supplant that.'

Light and darkness in me? I thought about that. Darkness, Haou's power. And light..?

Hope, mercy, and many more things besides, light symbolised. Their antonyms were darkness. Despair, justice...together, they symbolised many things. The beginning, and the end...of everything. Light and darkness.

They couldn't exist without each other, and neither were inherently evil. I guess it was the prejudices of the world in which I was brought up that defined light as good and darkness as evil. Though the years of Duel Academy have shown me the other side of the equation.

Both could be both, and they could be each other. They were interchangeable with one another; maybe there was really no true distinction between.

That would at least explain why everything was greyscale now.

'Even if I lose, he will defeat you...'

Faith, hope...someone was steadfast in their belief of my ability. And that voice, that lady from the mirrors, my fiancé, who had followed me across barriers due to the strength of our bond, the one who had sung her farewell...

And it was familiar, so familiar...but I just couldn't place it.

'Let it go! The pain, the despair, the guilt, the sorrow...just let it all go...'

I closed my eyes, letting myself simply go. Let go of the pain, the despair I carried inside, and with it, the childishness I had clung to. I let it all go, letting the soothing elements flood through me, so when I opened my eyes, they would not hold the wild innocence of a child, nor the haunted look of despair, but the calm, collectiveness of an adult.

It felt as though a large burden had been lifted from my heart, with the help and rather insistent prodding of someone I could hear and feel, but could not see. However, another force still held me in its grip, and all I could do was wait for it to let me go.

(Alexis' POV)

Darkness wasted little time in dispatching my last line of defence, leaving me with no cards in my hand, nor any on my field.

I drew a card, getting a spell. However, at that point, I could not worry about Curse of Darkness at this stage. I had no choice but to play it.

'I activate Fulfilment of the Contract,' I said, 'resurrecting Cyber Angel Dakini from my graveyard.'

My angel appeared in a flash of light, as my life points decreased by a thousand due to Darkness' trap, and a further eight hundred due to the cost of my own spell.

'Cyber Angel Dakini destroys a monster on your field when she is summoned,' I stated. 'So your monster is destroyed once again.'

I declared my attack, though knowing the moment I had declared it that it would fail. And it did, as the face down, Call of the Haunted, brought back the monster I had just destroyed, too late to call of the attack.

Dakini was destroyed, and my life points with it. It was like a cold daft had passed over me, and I let myself simply fall to my knees as my life points hit zero.

'Now you see?' he asked cockily.

I shook my head with an effort. 'You are yet to prove me wrong,' I reiterated.

I then raised my voice, yelling out in one final, desperate call. I couldn't fail, I still had to help Jaden.

I just hoped that I was right.

'Let it go!' I screamed. 'Let it go! The pain, the despair, the guilt, the sorrow...' I took a deep breath, before continuing in a weak voice. '...just let it all go...'

My head swam as the red light from my duel disk faded. Hand trembling, I flipped over the next card, seeing Mystical Space Typhoon. Then if I had played Card of Sanctity when I had it, rather than discarding it, I could have destroyed that curse and saved my life points. If I had stuck to my original strategy, rather than let myself be confused and swayed...

'Mask of Darkness,' Darkness stated, showing his next card to me. 'Ironic, isn't it. That is now your abode. The veil of light that clouded you is now gone.'

He was right. No hope, no light...but he was wrong. Because there was still Jaden. I just hoped that I was right.

'Jaden!' I screamed, vision fading.

(Jaden's POV)

'Jaden!'

The cry echoed through my mind, and it suddenly clicked.

'Lex?'

The desperation in her voice made me panic, and my eyes flew open of their own accord, blinking rapidly to take in the white hospital sheets and walls against the inky darkness.

It only took a few seconds more to recognise the fact that I was alone.

And another few seconds to realise I was not.

'Kuri!'

'Kuriboh?'