Chapter 21: Convergence
{Sakaki Household: July 2nd, 2014, 1:15pm}
Yoko was tending to her garden, picking herbs for potions and listening to Niknak and Florence bicker with the field mice over the current placement of some sort of topiary next door that none of them were fond of. It was a rather normal afternoon for her, gathering the things that the garden gave them, and listening to her lawn gnome, a bespectacled rabbit with a bowtie, and tail-coat wearing field mice discuss shrubbery. She sighed, wondering when Yuya would be returning from his Duel as she stood and went inside to start working on preparing for dinner. Yoko removed her gloves and hat and went to wash the tomatoes and cucumbers when she looked to Niknak who was tending to a few weeds in the corner of the garden whilst Florence discussed something further with the field mice before heading into the kitchen as the mice left for the day.
"Do you suppose it was wise allowing Master Yuya to attend that Duel at the Umino Fortune Duel School?" Florence inquired.
"I was hesitant to let him go, but I know that if something happens, then it was meant to." Yoko began rinsing the vegetables and Florence sighed.
"I suppose so, but you should proceed with caution, Master Yuya is at that age when things can go array even if he were attempt to keep them from doing so," he mentioned.
"Are you worried? Florence?" the rabbit fixed his glasses.
"No, I merely believe that Master Yuya is still far to young to fully handle this kind of responsibility," he explained.
"Don't worry about it, that's what we're here for. Yuya will find out how to handle it though, he's a strong boy." Florence sighed.
"Yes, I suspect you are correct on that matter, I just hope we're ready to handle the situation," he admitted.
"We will be, besides? That's probably far off and –" Yoko was cut off by a loud scream.
"LADY YOKO!"
Yoko and Florence looked to one another before they raced out of the kitchen and the side door to the garden where Niknak was standing, gaping at the situation that was presenting itself in the form of Yuya standing there, looking fairly embarrassed as Yuzu, Gongenzaka, Sora, Allie, Tate, and Frederic stood there, slack-jawed at the sight of Niknak shaking where he stood, his look of fear changing into anger and disbelief slowly as he threw his hands up in the air and Florence hopped forward, fixing his glasses as Yoko looked to her son who glanced to the side, knowing he was in trouble.
Of all the situations he could have gotten himself into, this was possibly the worst one yet. The day when he told his friends the truth, had been played in his mind thousands of times; however, never, had those ideas included such a thing as being called out by one of his own kind, and then having to own up to it. Scarlet eyes glanced to Yoko who sighed, looking a bit upset with him, but at the same time, she seemed as though she was trying to figure out what had happened to result in such a situation. Yuya himself was trying to figure out how all of this had amounted to what it had so quickly, but right then, his concern was lying with his friends.
Admittedly, Yuya knew that the others would be shocked, and judging by the hush from behind him, they were stunned into silence. Sighing, he stepped towards his mother, and glanced to his friends as if to tell her to head into the house which she only nodded about before ushering all of the children, Niknak, and Florence into the house, and into the living room where in a matter of seconds the gnome blew up at long last.
"Perfect! Just perfect! I knew accepting the Duel at that Fortune Duel School would be a death sentence! Now look at where we are! This whole mess has blown up in our faces! Excellent work there Master Yuya!" Niknak stated, grumbling as he walked back and forth and Yuya frowned.
"Hey! It's not my fault! I got called out by one of my own!" Florence hopped into the room.
"Another Witch exposed you? My, that's rather rude of them. I thought conduct demanded that each Witch respect the placement of their secret unto one another?" he inquired.
"Normally, it would, but I was on their territory… so… I guess that means they could do what they wanted…" Niknak laughed in a mocking manner.
"I'll say! Now look at us! We have six mortals sitting in our living room gawking at us like we're some kind of freak show at the local carnival!" he snapped.
"To be fair… only the two of you would fit in at the carnival…" Florence sighed.
"I am not a carnival reject, unlike this pompous windbag next to me," he pointed out as he cleaned his glasses.
"At least this pompous windbag knows where to draw a line on exposing secrets!" Florence looked to him.
"Oh? You can draw? I wasn't aware you had any talent in the arts," he stated.
"That's it fluff ball!" Yuya dove down on his knees and got between the rabbit and the gnome.
"Guys, this really isn't the time to argue! We have guests over!" he reminded them. Niknak grumbled again and started to walk off while Florence sighed and looked to the others.
"My apologies." Yuya sighed in relief.
"Was that… your garden gnome?" asked Yuzu. Scarlet eyes looked to them.
"Yea, but he's kinda our gardener…" Sora eyed the white rabbit.
"So, whose he? The magician's assistant?" he inquired.
"No, I am not! My name is Florence D. Wyde. I am an official escort rabbit of Wonderland. Currently, I am in the service of the Sakaki family. It is an honor to meet you all." The bunny bowed, and Allie squealed.
"You are so cute!" she said as she picked him up.
"My! I must say!" Yuya laughed a bit.
"Oh, come on Florence, she's nine years old, and thinks bunnies are cute, cut her some slack," he stated.
"Slack is not something you shall be given! Now I must attend to the garden with Niknak, I bid you all adieu!" with that Allie let Florence go and he raced for the door as Yoko walked into the room.
"Let me guess… you need a full breakdown?" she inquired.
"Bingo…" Yoko sighed.
"Fine, but first… Yuya?" she asked, her tone scolding, causing him to flinch as he ducked his head a bit.
"Y-Yea?" the woman crossed her arms over her chest, frowning.
"How did this happen?" Yoko questioned.
"Aura Sentia Houchun… from the Umino Fortune Duel School kinda… ratted me out…" the blonde-haired woman's expression turned from scolding to surprised.
"Another Witch called you out? That's unheard of! She didn't have the right to announce that you were one of her kind in the presence of mortals," Yoko stated.
"I know that! But um…" Yuya glanced to his friend, and his mother did as well.
"Alright, this wasn't your fault… in some ways, it's mine. I shouldn't have let you go to that Duel, I should have insisted on Nico giving you another one with someone else," she admitted.
"No, it's fine… Aura kind of helped me out a bit. I was getting really stressed with trying to hide this and manage everything else… so, being able to tell the others… it makes me nervous… but I feel a bit less heavy now." Yoko sighed.
"I figured you would… now, about your friends…" she trailed off, taking a seat next to Yuya on one sofa while the others were seated across from them.
"Yuya…." Yuzu spoke, and he looked up to her.
"Yea?" the pink-haired girl glanced around the home, for the first time noticing some things that weren't normally there when she'd been over every other time were out and on display.
"All the secretive behavior, the weirdness, the attitude when we've asked to much… it's because you're a witch?" she asked.
"Yes…" the children looked to him in concern.
"Big Bro… why didn't you tell us?" questioned Tate.
"Yea! We care about you and –" Gongenzaka cleared his throat.
"It's not that simple… is it Yuya?" he inquired.
"I-I… its not. You weren't supposed to know about this… not until I was sixteen at least." The others stared at him in disbelief.
"You weren't going to tell us about this for two years?! Yuya! Why?" Yuzu inquired this of him, and he glanced down. Yoko stepped in at this point.
"Listen, it's not because he doesn't trust you, it's because of our own rules." Everyone looked to her.
"Rules? You mean Witches have rules?" asked Sora.
"Not many, but we do possess some. One of those rules, is that a Witch cannot tell their mortal friends that they are one until they turn sixteen, or at least, they aren't supposed to. Their Overseer is in charge of choosing when they have the opportunity to tell mortal friends that they aren't like them." Yuzu glanced to Yuya.
"So, you didn't say anything because you couldn't?" she questioned.
"Yea… I wanted to… for a really long time… but my mom is my Overseer, and she wanted me to wait until I was sixteen…" Sora frowned.
"Wait a minute! You said at the school that both your parents were Witches… so… even your dad used magic?" he queried.
"Yusho used specific spells and incantations to make the Duels livelier or add flare to it when needed… but he never used his magic to cheat." Allie frowned as she looked to Yuya.
"Big Bro Yuya? Have you used your magic to cheat?" she asked.
"No! I've been practicing magic for eleven years! I never once used it to win in a Duel. Besides, passion spells don't really work well for me…" Yoko laughed a bit as the others rose an eyebrow.
"Passion spells?" they enquired.
"Yes, they're very basic spells that require the Witch to want something deeply, and repeat what they want three times. Yuya's casted a few of them over the years, but he doesn't really like them that much…" the boy flushed as the others eyed him in confusion.
"Why don't you like using them? They sound so easy," stated Frederic.
"That's why I don't like using them! Because they can easily be twisted. Passion spells can become very dangerous, and you don't want to run the risk of something going array because the spell you cast seemed good at the time, and then… things went south…" Yuzu thought on the explanation.
"So, it's like making a wish that'll come true," she said.
"Precisely! And the thing you have to remember, is that magic comes with a price. If you do something without thinking it through, you could hurt someone or worse." Sora looked to him.
"Then… what happened when you created Pendulum Summoning? That was born from your magic… right?" he mentioned this and Yuya gave them a nervous expression.
"That's not so simple. My pendulum crystal stored up excess magic from the day my magic surfaced, and then went on to collect more and more until it finally had to find an outlet… which became the Pendulum cards because of my desire to find a new way to prove what I was trying to. Doing that… I ended up casting what's known as a Desire Spell, and I somehow connected to the heart of the cards… and well… here we are." Tate frowned.
"What's the difference between a Passion Spell and a Desire Spell?" he asked as Yuya glanced to his mother.
"How about I go and fix lunch for everyone? Yuya, you can tell them, it's okay." With that Yoko placed a gentle hand on his head and walked away.
"So, what's the difference between the two spells?" questioned Gongenzaka.
"Well… a Passion spell is wishing for something while repeating it three times in a row. Desire spells don't have words… they come from the heart and soul of the caster. The point of a Desire spell is to bring to life the deepest desires of the heart of the caster… they're far more powerful, and rely upon strong emotions and will rather than just a fleeting wish." Yuzu looked to him, glancing down to his pendulum crystal.
"So, Pendulum Summoning was created from a Desire Spell?" Yuya shrugged just a bit.
"In a way it was. I didn't intentionally cast the spell, but my magic responded on its own, and resonated with the strongest desire I had at the time: to prove my dad wasn't a coward… and that I could stand up for myself. My magic reached out to the heart of the cards with that desire in mind, and as a result… I ended up creating Pendulum Summoning. It's kind of hard to explain, but I only just figured it out…" the others frowned.
"What do you mean?" Yuya bit his lip a bit.
"After I Pendulum Summoned the first time… the reason why I couldn't answer those questions or do it right for a while… was because I didn't remember doing it," he admitted this, and the others gained looks of shock upon their faces.
"You had no memory? Of doing that the first time?" the boy shook his head.
"Nothing, it was a complete blank. My mom says its because of my magic… it's a different type of magic from others and far stronger… but I'm not sure what it is exactly," Yuya stated this and Yuzu looked him over.
"That's kind of… spooky…" the boy laughed.
"You think that's weird? Take a look at this!" Yuya reached up to his left eye, crouching over just a bit before he removed the contact lens, blinking a few times before he looked up to them.
"Yuya what are you… holy! Your eye!" Sora jumped like the others as he looked at Yuya's mismatched eyes.
"One of your eyes is green!" exclaimed Gongenzaka.
"Yea… this is a side effect of my magic becoming stronger. Most witches when their magic is maturing, have strange side effects… eye color change is one of the more common, and this is what mine did." Yuya kept the contact lens at the tip of his finger, being thankful that the blasted thing was out.
"That is freaky! You're just like Odd-Eyes now!" Sora stated.
"Oh! For the love of Ra! I knew that one was coming!" Yuya flopped back on the sofa.
"Knew what was coming?" asked Frederic.
"That Odd-Eyes comment! I knew someone would say it if they saw my eyes like this…" Yuya stood up for a moment.
"What are you doing?" he sighed.
"I'm going to put this stupid contact lens up. I don't want to put it back in…." with that he walked out of the room, and the others took a moment to consider what they had seen.
"This is insane…" Sora looked to Yuzu.
"What part of it?" he asked.
"All of it! Yuya's Duel with Aura, him and his entire family being Witches! Magic, his eyes being like that! And the fact that all of us forgot he had cat ears and a tail at one point!" Gongenzaka sighed.
"The question is, are we willing to trust him still knowing that he lied to us, and that he tampered with our memories?" he inquired.
"You should trust him…" everyone turned to look at Yoko as she stood in the doorway of the living room.
"We should? Like nothing's changed?" asked Yuzu.
"No, you need to accept that things are vastly different now. Yuya is a very powerful Witch, but he's still learning and only came of age on his birthday this year. You have to realize that Yuya wants nothing more than to carry on his life with all of you by his side… he loves all of you so much." Yuzu looked down.
"So… how can we learn to accept all of this?" she asked.
"By learning more about him… and listening to him when he tells you something." The others nodded.
"Then we shall remain by his side, no matter what," Gongenzaka stated.
"Good, and I want to admit something myself." They looked to Yoko who gave them a bashful expression.
"What is it Mrs. Sakaki?" questioned Sora.
"I'm the one who cast the memory charm on you guys. Yuya doesn't know how to do that yet." The others gaped.
"W-Why would you do that?!" the woman laughed.
"Yuya wasn't ready for you guys to know, and we all knew that his bluff about the ears and tail being fake wasn't going to hold up. Therefore, I placed a memory charm on all of you who witnessed that… because of that, Yuya was able to prepare for the time when you would know better." Yoko explained this, and Yuzu nodded slowly.
"Okay, I understand…" she said.
"And do the rest of you?" they all nodded just as Yuya came back downstairs.
"Yea, we do." Yoko looked to her son who was eyeing everyone.
"Alright, I live in a house full of talking animals and a plethora of other things, and I find how relaxed all of you are kind of weird," he admitted.
"They just are coming to terms that you have magical powers is all!" Yoko pulled the boy into a hug, and he groaned internally as his mother nearly smothered him.
"T-That's great, mom! Let go!" he pleaded as Yoko laughed, and let go of him.
"Now, lunch is ready. Yuya, can you let your familiars out, so they can join us?" the others eyed the boy who smiled brightly.
"Come on out guys!" he called to them and the others watched as a purple blur came shooting out of the upstairs area before latching onto Yuya's head, revealing itself to be Performapal Momoncarpet while a small ticking noise caught their attention and they saw a tiny, cat sized Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon trot out to come and stand beside Yuya, it's tail wagging a bit like a dog.
"Wait a second… that's Momoncarpet and Odd-Eyes… how…" Yuya grinned at them as Momon climbed down from his head and onto his shoulder.
"They're my familiars. Every Witch has at least one or two familiars… these guys are mine." Momon looked to the children and flew over to Allie, latching onto her with a trill.
"I have everything ready in the kitchen, so come on and eat, you guys can learn more as we eat," Yoko said as she headed for the kitchen, Odd-Eyes making a faint cawing noise as it followed after her.
"So, you can summon Duel Monsters into reality?" Yuya nodded as Allie, Frederic, and Tate continued to play with Momoncarpet a bit.
"Yea, pretty much. These two are the easiest though," he said as he answered Yuzu who looked into his mismatched eyes.
"The green eye color isn't permanent is it?" he shook his head.
"No, just a couple of weeks is all at most. Why?" the girl flushed a bit.
"I like your real eye color best," Yuzu admitted, causing Yuya to blush a bit.
"O-Oh… thanks…" Sora grinned.
"Come on lovebirds! Let's eat!" he pushed them into the kitchen and Yuya laughed while Yoko watched them all. It was relieving to see all of them taking to the truth so well, and she only hoped that it remained that way in the times to come.
"Yuya is blessed to have such incredible friends."
{Streets: July 3rd, 2014, 6:40pm}
Yuto growled as he looked at the cluster of people at the end of the alley way that Shay and he were on. They were members of the Leo Corp Duel Academy, and judging from the uniforms, some of their best; however, that was not the problem. Standing before them, was a silver-haired, amethyst-eyed young man, roughly two or so years older than Shay was, and currently, he was blocking their path away from the place. They had been running from the LDS for a few days now, trying to avoid them as they were trailed left and right, now it seemed though, that running was out of the question, and that had stemmed from them being ganged up on by three LDS students who were swiftly beaten by them.
"So, you're the two that's been attacking members of my corporation and school?" the silver-haired teen stated.
"Who the hell are you?!" sharp eyes looked Yuto over.
"My apologies, I am Reiji Akaba, the current president of the Leo Corporation," he explained.
"Akaba… then that means you're Leonidas Akaba's son…" the silver-haired youth nodded.
"Regrettably, I am. Judging from your demeanors, I'd be willing to bet that you're both from the Xyz Zone," Reiji stated.
"Try Dimension…" the other shook his head.
"Please, come with me, I want to speak with the two of you about something. I think you may find this of interest," he said.
"Why in the hell would we go anywhere with you?" Reiji watched as the black-and-lilac-haired teenager's left eye went black and celeste-blue.
"Because, I'm aware of the situation in your hometown of Heartland, and I know about who you two are, Resculian Witch Shay Obsidian, the older brother to an Avian Witch, and then there's you… Yuto Kisaragi, half-Witch, and half-Phantasmal Imp. A rather rare breed of creature if I am not mistaken," he stated.
"How did you…" Reiji smiled just a fraction.
"Come with me and I will explain what I can. The two of you will want to hear this, believe me," he told them.
"Hold on! Just because you know who we are doesn't mean we're going to come with you!" the silver-haired teen sighed.
"Listen, I could stand here and discuss this all afternoon, or I could have you captured and held as prisoners of war for the time being. But, believe me when I state that I have no desire to do such a thing… not when we could be discussing this matter in a more at ease setting… and where I can speak more freely on things I know that you want to know," Reiji explained in a simple tone as Yuto looked around, noticing some surprised expressions on the faces of those that were surrounding them.
Yuto allowed his appearance to change as a few of them became a bit to closer for comfort. Shay remained on guard as Yuto bared his teeth, displaying his fangs, his nails lengthening into sharp black points as his ears gained a point and he set his mismatched eyes upon those who dared to challenge him. Never, did he think he would bare his traits for others from another Dimension to see, but he wasn't being given much of a choice as he stood there, back to back with Shay at this point, prepared to use his magic to Summon Dark Rebellion to his side only for Reiji to raise a hand up to pause the others from advancing.
"No need to become feral, Yuto Kisaragi… I believe you have some questions on a girl named Ruri? Not to mention a girl by the name of Yuzu Hiiragi, and a boy named Yuya Sakaki?" Shay glanced to his friend as the President of the Leo Corporation spoke and pondered why Yuto had reacted to the mentioning of the other two people.
"You know them?" Reiji smiled.
"Yes, I know them… I've personally met both of them," he stated.
"And you can tell me about them? And more importantly, you can tell us about Ruri?" the President of the Leo Corp nodded.
"Of course, I can. The only thing I need for you to do is come with me," Reiji said simply. Yuto glanced towards Shay, and the other nodded slowly, taking in a steady breath.
"Alright, we'll come with you." Reiji smiled and then turned, having them follow as a limo pulled up, and the two hesitated only for a moment as Reiji entered and sat down, and the two of them followed slowly, sliding into the car, and having the door shut behind them a moment later.
"Once we arrive at the LDS building, and come to my office, we will have a discussion on the matters at hand," Reiji told them as Yuto looked out the window while Shay frowned.
"If you try to pull anything…" the silver-haired teen shook his head.
"Believe me, I have no desire to attempt any farces with the two of you. On the contrary, I believe we may have a common goal… and I have the intention of seeing if we could potentially work together," he stated.
"Once we arrive to the place, we'll hear out what you have to say." The other settled back into the seat, resting his folded hands upon his lap.
"Very well."
{…..}
Wait, it's just about to break, its more than I can take…
{…}
Author's Note: Yes, you guessed it! Yuto and Shay are going to be having a long conversation with Reiji Akaba. Am I going to show it to you? Yes, I am. This chapter and Chapter 22 are mostly exposition, but it's going to give the story a better fleshing out, and we'll also be getting a bit of information on what is going on in the Xyz Dimension or is it Zone? Tell me what you guys think, and I look forward to your reviews!
Sincerely,
ShadowDragon94.
Trivia:
Passion Spells are a reference to Sabrina, the Teenaged Witch.
Pendulum Summoning was the result of a Desire Spell, something most Witches can cast if the desire and will is strong enough to make it a reality.
Both Yuto and Yuya's left eyes are the eyes that change color.
Reiji is a know it all, but there's a reason for that.
I don't have any more trivia… go figure.