EchoGirl: So, whoo I'm finally back from Germany. Let me tell you, getting back home at 3 in the morning is not a pleasant experience. Stupid nine hour bus drive - damn those BA strikes!

Goldfish: Well, I can positively say that I had an extremely good time while you were gone.

EchoGirl: And getting back home to discover that you're goldfish has been doing nothing but plotting to take over the world again can be incredibly irritating.

Goldfish: That's my job.

EchoGirl: It's okay though, I brought you something.

Goldfish: Really? What?

EchoGirl: (holds up cat)

Cat: Meow.

Goldfish: Holy mother of-

EchoGirl: Do not finish that sentence. (puts down Cat beside goldfish bowl)

A Rose in the Stars

Chapter 20

Destiny was lost in thought as she walked home from Duel Academy with the rest of the gang. Mark glanced at her.

"You okay?" he asked, voicing what the others where thinking. She'd been spacing out for the past twenty after all. Well, technically she had been spaced out for the past half-hour, but she had almost walked straight into a lamppost and Jake had to pull her out of the way which had brought her temporarily back to reality.

Destiny shook her head sharply, relieving her mind of whatever thoughts had been plaguing it.

"I'm fine," she told them.

Jake snorted loudly. "Yeah, right. You've been completely out of it all day. You weren't listening at all in class or even when Chania and her cronies were bitching at you."

Destiny sighed. It was true – she'd been distant for the past day, unresponsive and constantly lost in thought.

"I didn't sleep well last night," she admitted, thinking back on the dream that the mask had given her. It had been so vivid at first, but now it was blurred. All she could remember was that she had been in the realm of the mask of the Black Rose and that her mother had been there, holding her in her arms, but that was it. She could only remember feelings – no images, no sounds or touches.

"It had something to do with the mask, right?" Vanessa asked, raising a ginger eyebrow. Destiny nodded. She hadn't told them about her dream yet.

"I slept with it on and it took me to its realm, or something, and I think my mom was there, as the Black Rose, and our dragons were there too, but that's all that I can remember… it was so vivid when I first woke up," she explained.

Mark nodded, "and now you've spent the entire day trying to remember the dream," he completed.

"Sounds like a complete waste of time if you ask me," Jake muttered, "dreams are dreams. Nothing more."

"No," Destiny disagreed, "this dream was special. It meant something."

"Maybe you're right," Vanessa said, "but you never know: the mask was probably just messing with you. I think you're looking too much into this."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, running a hand through his long ice-blue hair, "if you keep thinking about this too much you're going start getting grey hairs and wrinkles," he grabbed a handful of her violet-streaked hair and brought it up to his face, examining it closely. He picked out a single strand. "I think I see one now."

"Hey!" Destiny laughed, pulling her hair from his grip, "I'm not going grey!"

"Nope," Vanessa giggled, "I'm pretty sure that was a grey hair. And are those," she poked Destiny cheek, "wrinkles?"

"Premature ageing," Jake told her informatively, joining in with the others teasing, "is known to happen to young adults and teenagers under severe stress. Let's just hope that you don't go bald too. No one wants all your lovely hair falling out."

"Very funny, guys," Destiny replied, rolling her eyes at them, but no one missed the faint blush on her cheeks at Jake having referred to her hair as 'lovely'. Chris, Mark and Vanessa couldn't stop themselves from sniggers, receiving a cold glare from Jake in the process.

Their jaws clamped shut and the sniggering immediately subsided.

"But seriously, Queenie," Chris said. 'Queenie' was a nickname that the twins had given her ever since she had been arrested for the third time for illegal turbo duelling when she was nine years old and the media had started calling her 'the Future Queen of Riding Duels'. "You take a rest from this Black Rose/Witch of Dark Destiny thing. It's really beginning to tire you out."

The others nodded in agreement and Destiny bit her lip.

"I was thinking about that," she admitted after a moment, "this is important to me, but I guess you're right. If I keep this up I'll be so exhausted that I won't be able to do anything anymore."

"Yeah," Vanessa said enthusiastically, "and you don't want to miss the WRGP opening party tomorrow night, do you? We didn't undergo the torture of all that shopping for nothing, after all?"

The dark-haired duellist smiled at the younger girl, "I guess not. We hopefully won't have to do that again for a while."

"Hey, guys," Mark stopped suddenly, his face a shade paler than usual, "I just remembered something."

"Spit it out then," Jake snapped.

"Chania's parents are going to be at the opening thing. And you know what that means."

"You're kidding me," Destiny groaned, "Chania's going to be there?"

Jake tilted back his head and stared at the sky in frustration, emitting a growl of annoyance. Chris nudged him and smirked.

"Looks like unless you want to be stalked by cheap blondes, you're gonna be spending the whole night hiding in the little boy's room. Have fun!"

Jake elbowed him, hard. "I will never resort to hiding! And definitely not hiding somewhere as degenerate as the men's bathroom!"

Chris laughed, "well then, I'm pretty sure that Chania'll find you in the girls' bathroom."

This merited a laugh from the entire group, and a firm punch in the arm from Jake.

"Well," Destiny sighed once they were done snickering, "I guess we've had worse ruined than just a one-night party," she turned to the twins, "remember Santa when we were six?"

Both Mark and Chris rolled their identical pale blue eyes.

"Tell me about it," Mark replied.

Chris nodded in agreement. "Uncle Jack is such a killjoy."

Danson City

Lilith Izinski glanced at her violet-haired younger cousin from across the table.

"Aki?" she asked, successfully rousing the woman from her dream-like sleep.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" she asked tentatively, "Jenna told me that you had some sort of nightmare last night."

Akiza shook her head, her eyes once again darkening as she tried to remember the elusive dream she'd had only the night before.

"It was strange," she told the other woman, "but for some reason I can't remember it."

"That happens a lot," Lilith supplied, "loads of people don't remember their dreams."

Once again, Akiza only shook her head.

"No," she said, "this one was different. It was special, important somehow, but I don't know why. It was so vivid, real, when I first woke up and then it just got… y'know, blurry. Ugh," she groaned and put her head in her hands, "I feel like a should remember this."

"Quit stressing, Akiza," her cousin told her, "or you'll injure yourself or something. You could start ageing prematurely and get grey hair and wrinkles and stuff."

Akiza glared at her, her catlike brown eyes narrowed, "you have a phobia of that sort of thing," she muttered.

"I like my body staying young," Lilith defended before softening her voice. "But really, Aki, chill. Just lie down, relax. Go see a movie with Damien or something."

"Lilith," Akiza sighed, "Damien and I are just friends, I am in no way romantically interested in him and I doubt that I ever will be so just drop it. Seriously, between you, Nadia and Jenna playing matchmaker the whole time it's a wonder that I haven't gone suicidal."

Lilith raised her hands in surrender, "okay, okay, don't go see a movie with Damien. Besides, it could just have been a friendship date but whatever. Relax at home and watch some TV or something. I heard that they're showing the New Domino WRGP opening night live on TV tomorrow night. You like duelling, don't you?"

That caught Akiza's attention.

"The WRGP?" she asked, remembering the one that she had been in almost sixteen years ago. Hopefully this WRGP would not involve having to save the world from certain doom. Damn Yliaster for that.

"Aki?" Lilith asked, waving a hand in front of her face, "you're spacing out again."

Aki shook her head and gave Lilith her first genuine smile of the day.

"Maybe I will."

EchoGirl: It's pretty short, I know, but I'll have the next chapter up shortly. The WRGP opening night! That'll be fun, won't it, Goldfish?

(Cat paws goldfish bowl)

Goldfish: Get it away from me! Get it away! Down! Bad kitty! Bad kitty, down!

(Cat continues to paw and hiss at bowl)

EchoGirl: (sighs) What an effective torture device. I finally found a way to get the goldfish to shut up. Please review!