Chapter 14: Turn About

{Leo Corporation: President's Office: June 23rd, 2014: 8:15am}

Reiji Akaba sat at his desk with several files scattered about it, all of which held information on one Yuya Sakaki. The boy had become a slight fixation of his due to a series of events and information that he desired to know. Yuya was different from other people, and admittedly Reiji knew the truth now and was intending on discovering how different the boy truly was. Sighing, he heard the door of his office open and looked up to see a certain young woman standing there in her normal attire of jeans, sneakers, and an aqua-tone long-sleeve shirt with her long blonde hair pinned back.

"Hello, Mrs. Sakaki, thank you for joining me today," Reiji stated as the woman gave him a scornful look.

"You've called me here on this fine rainy morning to discuss what exactly?" Yoko asked him this with a snipped tone and he took in a deep breath before beckoning her forward.

"To discuss your son, Yuya of course," he said calmly as Yoko moved closer and looked at all the images and documents scattered about, some of which seemed quite old.

"Why are you watching my son?" the woman sat down in a chair and glared once more before Reiji returned to his seat.

"Because, I find him interesting. Yuya is a truly unique boy, and I was wishing to learn more about him, so I could potentially discuss a means to perhaps have him lecture on the Pendulum method he's created. I thought it would be helpful," he spoke this to her and Yoko frowned.

"Seems you've discovered more than you asked for though." Reiji glanced down at the information.

"Indeed, I have. Forgive me for prying, but, as I said, I merely…" Yoko glared in a menacing fashion.

"Speak the truth Mr. Akaba, in reality, you want something more than just to discuss lectures with my son," she snapped.

"No need for hostility Mrs. Sakaki, I have no intention of crossing any wires here." Yoko eased a fraction.

"Listen, Yuya is only fourteen years old, he needs time to be a normal child. Judging from the information you were able to dig up, I can assume you know most of the story, do you not?" she asked.

"I understand the gist of it. It seems like quite the length to go for it to end up the way it will." Yoko shook her head.

"No, this was how we chose to protect him and many others. Yuya just needs to enjoy his life… and he doesn't need to be dragged into the mess between you and your father," she answered.

"I see Yusho discussed that with you before his departure?" she nodded.

"He did… and I accepted your invitation here to discuss these things with you," she explained.

"As did I. My father has invaded another Dimension, known as the Xyzs Dimension. He intends to use the Arc Reactor to form our world into a singular, whole one once again; however, he does not know the powers he is dabbling with." Yoko tensed.

"I see, so…what do you intend to do about this?" she questioned.

"My intention is to form a group of warriors who can use Dueling to combat his Academia and help round out help from other Duelists in these other Dimensions in order to put a stop to whatever it is he's truly planning other than his unification of the Zones." The last word that Reiji Akaba uttered caused Yoko to look up in surprise.

"You just said… so you know the state of our world…" Reiji nodded.

"It is no mystery to me that we are one of many worlds, and that ours is a frail and segmented one. I also am aware of the connection to a certain war some one-hundred-odd years ago. As I am aware of the Pillars and the significance of all these details," he stated.

"Warriors? Duelist warriors?" Reiji nodded once more at the woman.

"But not mere Duelists, those with exceptional skill and in addition, those who have… certain capabilities," he explained as he pushed forward a picture of Yuya reading through a rather old looking book at school.

"Capabilities, you want to weaponize magic?" Reiji looked down.

"Not by choice no, but I do wish to place people who are not merely Duelists, but true warriors, and those who have special gifts within the Lancers. In order to do so, I request that Yuya be one of my first warriors," he said.

"Yuya?! He's just a boy!" Reiji rose an eyebrow.

"Is he? I believe even you know the true extent of these details, do you not? One of which being your sister and her husband?" he probed as Yoko placed a hand against the locket she wore.

"You know about Yaya? I see… but why Yuya?" Reiji looked to her.

"He's the founder of the Pendulum method. It is quite powerful, and I wish to use it… in addition, I wish to have him as one of my warriors because he is also a witch, amongst other things," he stated while Yoko swallowed thickly.

"With everything you know, I shouldn't be surprised that you're aware of him being a witch. I thought that the memory charm didn't work on you…" Reiji dipped his head slightly.

"For his age, Yuya is an incredibly powerful witch. His abilities go above and beyond the norm for someone of his youth. Naturally, I am aware that the belief is to harm none, but what if they are seeking to annihilate your entire world? Destroy everything you hold dear, and kill your friends and family? Then what is the belief?" he pondered.

"To not let any surpass you… that when those you desire to protect are threatened, you must find a means to an end regardless of the costs. That is the mind of both the witch and the druid warriors that existed in our beliefs for centuries. We are taught early on to harm none, less they harm us… at which point… we do not allow those who have wronged us to walk away freely." Reiji smirked a fraction.

"That is precisely what I desired to hear Mrs. Sakaki. Now please, I don't wish for Yuya to know, but I will require him to be a member of the Lancers, my warriors who can properly combat my father's actions. With the heritage of both the wizard and the warrior in his blood, I believe Yuya will be perfect for this job," he said.

"Do you even understand his magic? Or what he's endured? You're asking these children to go on a battlefield… I'm sorry, but that is a choice I cannot make for him. Yuya must decide alone." Reiji tipped his head once again.

"I understand, he is to choose, and naturally I will allow him to refuse. I only want my intentions made clear to you," he explained.

"Thank you, but as I said. Ultimately, it will be Yuya's decision."

{Unknown…..}

"Yuto? Hey! There you are!" called the voice of a pretty girl with extremely long dark purple-black hair and magenta eyes. Gray eyes looked up to the girl as she came to where he was and settled down on the park bench with him.

"Ruri? I thought you were in class?" the girl giggled a bit.

"I skipped because they were going over Rank-Up magic. I thought it was boring and excused myself to the bathroom. Don't tell Shay, alright?" Yuto stared at the girl.

"Ruri! Don't skip your classes, I know it's boring to you, but you need to know how to use those cards. Remember what Yuma always says about knowing your cards, and how hard it was for him when…" Ruri sighed.

"When Astral and the whole thing started he was such a newbie that he got his tail handed to him almost constantly because he didn't know what he was doing and had to learn on the fly and blah, blah, blah! I know my deck and I know the rules. Plus, Astral went home and the Barrion Onslaught is over, that was before we even became students here," she stated in a matter of fact tone, causing the black-and-lilac-haired fourteen-year-old to sigh in defeat.

"I know… but, he had a good point there. What if something like that were to happen again?" Ruri sighed in defeat.

"You know, sometimes you and Yuma sound like a bunch of adults telling us what we can and can't do. Kaito does it to and he doesn't even go to the same branch as us!" Yuto smiled.

"Well, you're the one dating the adult… at least I'm responsible!" he said as Ruri began to laugh and leaned up against him as she did so.

"Yuto, I swear… sometimes your too much. Anyways, Sayaka said that…" the scene changed drastically and Yuto stared.

The sound of giant machines roared to life around him as the tranquil park where he sat with Ruri was turned into a charred wasteland alongside the rest of the place they called home. Ruri called his name again, but this time the joy had been ripped from it, fear and remorse were the most prominent emotions displayed then as she grasped his hand and they ran, rushing away from the sudden onslaught that took place as a giant monster roared to life near them while people scattered and those who invaded, dressed in military uniforms attacked without consideration, turning people into cards amidst the roaring flames and burning buildings as smoke filled the once blue sky.

"Ruri, stay with me!" Yuto called as she nodded, and they kept moving further towards their school branch where students and teachers were holding fast against the invaders.

"Yuto! Get Ruri and the others inside! We'll hold them off, help the others escape!" gray met garnet eyes as a fifteen-year-old Yuma Tsukumo turned his Duel Disk on and played his ace Monster to deflect the attack that was sent their way.

"Got it!"

It felt as though the world around them had been plunged into the depths of hell itself as they rushed with others to escape the disaster that was once their peaceful home. It was as Yuto and Ruri entered the building that the scene changed once again and Yuto found himself in the center of a half-destroyed building with others staring at him in shock and horror as he felt his wings flinch a bit as the eyes stared at him, one celeste-blue eye glowed in the darkness with his normally warm gray eye, both having turned slated and cold against the fate of so many they had loved.

This was the moment that everyone in their little resistance had learned the truth about him, that he wasn't entirely human, and that he was remarkably dangerous. Out of all the people that were terrified of the monster Yuma, Kotori, Kaito, Shay, Ruri, Alan, Sayaka, and Rio weren't. Shark wasn't, and they surrounded him with support and reassurance that he wasn't evil, he wasn't a monster, and that he could use his gifts to their advantage. The moment that could have turned into a nightmare, ended up as a saving grace upon the night as Yuto soon learned how to adapt his powers for better use against the scum of the Fusion Dimension.

His Phantasmal Imp heritage made him immune to several types of attacks, his magic made him dangerous to the enemy that would fight not with Duel Disks and their cards, but with weapons, and it made those who did Duel, Fear the Master of the Phantom Knights. The one they called the Phantom King or the Grim Reaper because of the lethal results of going up against him. Yuto became strong, he became revered, and one of the greatest assets of the Resistance; however, despite all his power, his strength, and ability: it wasn't enough when it counted the most.

"Ruri! Where are you? Ruri?!" Yuto called out for her as he searched high and low for the girl who never once was away from his side. She had left to get water and search for survivors when an explosion went off and storm-gray eyes looked to the location and rushed, darting in near blinding speeds towards the area.

It was as he turned a corner that he saw Ruri struggling against a cloaked figure who began to drag her away as a portal appeared near them. Yuto darted forward, rushing for her, reaching out as she screamed his name and pleaded for his help, but when he came to her, he was thrown aside by an invisible force that crashed him into a building, breaking several ribs and his wrist, leaving him with scrapes and bruises as he struggled from the rubble and moved forward, trying desperately to grasp her hand as he was once more thrown aside by what he knew in that instant was magic. The person laughed, smirking as they dragged Ruri through the portal and not a second later, it blinked out of existence.

"Yuto?! Hey!" Shay's voice had sounded concerned for him but distant as he fell upon the ground, beaten up horribly and loosing blood that caused his vision to become clouded and his mind foggy as he hit the ground, unconscious as he laid there with Shay having to use healing spells he'd learned from Ruri to save him.

When he'd finally awoken, Shay had told him that Ruri had been kidnapped, and that he had found him injured and broken in the middle of the city. At that point, Yuto had begun to question how strong he truly was, and if all that power had been nothing more than a figment of his imagination or artifice as he realized that while he had indeed been strong and powerful as a Duelist, his power didn't matter where it counted, and because of that, he'd lost one of the most precious people in his life.

"I'm so sorry Ruri, I should have known not to let you go alone… I should have done better at protecting you…"

{Harbor Docks: June 23rd, 2014 5:30pm}

A lone tear trailed down pale skin as Yuto's senses began to surface and his mind began to return to the waking world. Dim sunlight began to flitter in through a few sparse cracks and holes in the roof of the building while the faint scent of what seemed to be the ocean came to him. Slowly, bleary gray eyes opened, and the Xyzs Duelist started to blink a few times to get his eyes to clear up before he sat up in a steady motion, not sure whether or not he would have trouble due to his earlier spell. As he did this, a faint scuffle caught his attention, and on instinct Yuto's traits showed themselves in a menacing fashion, his mismatched eyes locking on the source of the noise and found only Shay standing there with his hands up, looking a tad nervous.

"Hey, good to see you awake Yuto," he said as the younger teenager's strange appearance faded away and he eased himself fully up to lean against the sofa.

"I don't know if it's good to be awake or not…" he hissed as a throbbing pain spread through his head.

"Well, whether it is or not, you've been out for three days so, I think some nourishment would do you good," Shay said as he held up a bag.

"You didn't steal something did you?" the older teen sighed.

"Actually, I didn't have to. I went in and decided to take a page out of Yuma's acting book. I went to pay and then had to act like I'd forgotten my wallet and that I was getting the food for my older sister who was expecting and wanted these items in particular. A man who said he had a wife who was expecting paid for them…" Yuto eyed him.

"And you feel no guilt?" he pondered aloud as Shay hung his head.

"No, this is the most guilt I've felt since the war started…" Yuto nodded.

"I figured… next time… leave the tricks to the trickster, shall we?" he said as he held a hand over his left eye, the pain in his head seeming to have moved to that side of his skull.

"Yea, I'll do that when you're not comatose for seventy-two-hours." Shay sat down on the dusty floor and picked up two packages that seemed to have a meal premade in it before tossing one to Yuto who caught it with ease.

"Thanks… I'll remember to set an alarm next time," he muttered as he caught the bottle of water that Shay had tossed him next.

"So, I did some investigating while you were off in La La Land…." Yuto glanced his way.

"Did you find something out?" he asked as he opened the bottle of water and took a small sip of it, being thankful for the coolness against his dry throat.

"Actually, I found out something about those places you sent me messages about. Leo Duel School I can understand, but when it comes to You Show Duel School, I'm not sure I follow your thought process." Shay looked at his friend who sighed.

"There's two people there that I'm interested in. I kind of wanted to know more about them… but I also want to continue investigating the LDS. Odds are, they have no connection to Academia, but there could be a few snakes in the grass that need to be weeded out," Yuto stated as he started to eat away at the food he was given, the sudden surge of hunger outweighing his normal manners as Shay watched him before raising an eyebrow.

"I don't need to get you blood again… do I? That wasn't a pleasant experience…" storm-cloud gray glanced up to tawny-yellow.

"Right now, I'm fine… remember, I'm not a vampire Shay! Just a…" the other nodded, rolling his eyes.

"I know I know, a Phantasmal Imp. Complete with claws, pointed ears, wings, a weird eye, incredible reflexes, healing capabilities, magic, and least we forget razor sharp fangs," Shay pointed out as Yuto groaned before gulping down the water.

"Yes, I know… fangs and all… big surprise that I'm not human…. I mean, you and Ruri are witches so… why didn't you figure it out earlier?" the sixteen-year-old sighed in defeat.

"To some degree… we knew what you were… but we decided not to say anything about it…. Our parents understood you weren't human, and that your mom had been married to a creature instead of a mortal being. So…." Yuto shrugged.

"Turns out your best friend since childhood is a half-creature… what do you wanna say about that?" the other looked him over before smiling.

"That I'm grateful you are," he stated as Yuto gawked at him.

"Not what I was expecting. Part of me was almost hoping for a bit of terror and concern seeing as I'm not exactly mortal." Yuto opened another bottle of water, beginning to down it as Shay eyed him once more.

"I think it's kinda cool honestly, some of the younger kids think you're like some kind of Marvel Super Hero or something… "the other tilted his head.

"How do they get that?" he questioned as he continued to drink his water.

"Well, your accelerated healing rate, your stamina, heightened senses, speed, strength, dexterity, all of those things and you using magic makes the kids think your like Deadpool or something…." Yuto nearly choked at the statement.

"O-Okay I know I heal quick! But I don't regenerate like that!" he coughed a few times and Shay laughed.

"I know, that's why I said you weren't like that at all," Shay said.

"Good, the last thing I need is to be compared to some comic book –" the other grinned.

"I told them you were more like Ghost Rider," he explained as Yuto nearly fell off the sofa.

"Really?! Ghost Rider?! I know I'm a Phantasmal Imp and I control Phantom Knights! But I'm not damned or anything!" Yuto sent his friend a furious look, his face flushing as Shay laughed.

"Man, I forgot how flustered you got over stuff like that!" Shay continued laughing as Yuto held his hand up and clenched it, electric blue flames appearing around his fingers and hand as he felt the icy bite of them greet his senses while the other froze.

"Say another word about it and I swear I'll reenact the Salem Witch Trials," he threatened as Shay backed away a bit.

"No fair! I can't conjure the same way you can, no using your half-creature powers to suppress other witches Yuto!" Shay scolded him as the other dispersed the flames with a snap of his fingers before sighing as he flopped back on the sofa.

"I'm just teasing you..." the older teenager leaned against the pillar behind him and looked the boy over.

"Yuto, have we really changed that much?" gray eyes looked up at the sky through the holes in the roof.

"We have… we're not who we once were… back then we believed everything would be fine, that we'd live normal lives and die of old age… but now… I wonder how much longer Heartland can survive this desolation…" Yuto closed his eyes as Shay looked down.

"Ruri wondered that to… all the time. She talked about it when you weren't around…" the other nodded.

"As a witch of her caliber working with a Phantasmal Imp, it's a personal rule not to speak of certain events when seeking the dead… our job is to bring the corpses to a place for proper burial, not to chatter and lose our heads…" Yuto let out a heavy sigh, sounding almost as if he was muttering the name of a randomized deity or entity under his breath as Shay eyed him.

Something that always confounded him was how strange Yuto was when it came to his job as the death marcher in Heartland. His and Ruri's jobs had been to seek out the bodies and souls of the departed and give them a proper burial or memorial to act as their grave, and by doing so, Yuto was fulfilling his task as a Phantasmal Imp, as they often were meant to guide the souls of the dead on to the next life, and it was Ruri's job as an Avian Witch, someone who used healing magic, had powerful incantations for aiding others, and sang elegies for the dead to help Yuto. Shay smiled to himself a fraction, knowing that was why the two had ended up connecting as they did, and why they started dating when they turned fourteen. As he thought on the past, Yuto considered the peaceful sound of Ruri's voice as his mind hazed just a fraction at the peaceful tone as she stood before a grave in ragged white clothes, barefoot while she sung her elegy for the deceased.

"This is the song sung by those of my praction for hundreds of years… the song for the deceased so they may find peace… it is a song that was written in a language long forgotten and meant to ease the soul…"

"Do you remember the song that Ruri sang when Yuma and the others died?" Asked Yuto.

"How could I forget? It had even our prisoners in tears… after that… we never saw Kotori again…." Yuto closed his eyes, his mind replaying those moments in clarity.

"I never thought I'd hear such a thing… Ruri's sorrow, her heart, everything she had was poured out into that song… it spoke volumes for the tragedies of war… I only wish I could understand why it hurt to hear it and why even now… it's still ringing in my ears…" Yuto felt his eyes burn, his heart aching at the memories.

"Because it touched the heart and soul, Ruri's elegy did what it was meant to do," Shay told him as Yuto took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, tears sliding down his cheeks as he clutched the pendulum crystal in his hands.

"We have to get her back, no matter what, okay Shay? Even if one of us dies… we're bringing her home alive, promise me that, okay?" Yuto's teary gray eyes looked into his own tawny ones and Shay took in a steady breath.

"I swear, we will bring Ruri home… and then, we'll all go home together." The other smiled.

"Right… together."

{…}

Without a sign, without a warning…

{…..}

Author's Note: Reiji knows! Well, he knows a lot actually, but I can't let him spoil everything for you readers. So, it seems the Lancers are being developed, Yoko is still keeping secrets about… her sister?! Yuto was remembering the past, and Shay and him are able to have a few moments to smile despite the bitterness of some of those memories. In the next chapter, we'll be back with Yuya, Yuzu, and the gang, so hang tight! We're about to have a blast as we kick off the qualifier arc for Yuya on the road to the championships! Anyhow, see you guys next time!

Trivia:

La La Land is the movie, yes, but it was actually a reference to an old saying that when someone was spacing out or dozing they were in La La Land.

The Deadpool reference was an idea from my friend who uses a Phantom Knights deck.

Ghost Rider reminds me of the Phantom Knights for some reason.

The song that was used as Ruri's elegy mentioned in this chapter is Tenkuu ni Mau Tori Yo by Nagi Yanagi from The Heroic Legend of Arslan.

Yuma, Shark, Rio, and a handful of other Zexal characters died prior to this story in the war between Xyz and Fusion. I wanted to bring them up again, because I feel as though it is important to keep that detail fresh in the memories of the readers, just not to fresh.

Yuto used a spell known as Stardust Flare, which yes, is a reference to Stardust Dragon.