Chapter 21: Rules and Confrontations
He sensed her presence before he heard her footsteps or breathing, knew she was approaching him probably before she knew it herself. No doubt she had heard of how he had defeated Bryce in a duel and had come to give him and piece of her mind. He found it amusing how, bit by bit, her frozen image was gradually thawing. Had this been last year, she'd have patted Bryce on the back and reminded him that there was always next year.
But this wasn't the previous year and this wasn't the same girl he'd first met, or at least, it wasn't the girl she had been pretending to be. Nobody could be that cold unless they were a sociopath or psychopath or worse. She was neither of those so there had to be something deeper that she kept hidden.
"Come to give me an ear full?" Atticus asked, keeping his voice light as he turned away from the volcano to look at her, surprised to find that she was also carrying a duel disk and a metal brief case.
"I wouldn't bother, I'm here to challenge you," she replied in her usual stoic fashion, watching him with that straight and icy expression on her face.
Atticus frowned, he hadn't been expecting to duel her, "Why now?"
Aimee tilted her dark head to the side as she pondered his words, her green eyes narrowing a little on his face. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb," Atticus accused her, although, with Aimee, most people would find it hard to determine when she was lying or bluffing, "You've spent the whole of this tournament hiding under that bush overlooking the docks."
If his knowledge of her general position most of the tournament shocked her, again she didn't show it in her face or her body language. "If you knew where I was why didn't you come to challenge me?"
"What makes you think I have any interest in even looking at you let alone duelling you?"
"You were interested enough to find out where I was hiding, not many knew where I was," Aimee replied coolly, obviously having been prepared for the same usual arguments they always had.
Atticus stared at her face, wondering exactly what she was up to with all of this. She didn't appear ill or shaking or anything out of the ordinary and yet her behaviour was peculiar. Aimee rarely ever duelled and avoided it whenever it came upon her. In fact, rumours had it that she was quite mediocre and yet here she was challenging him to a duel knowing that he defeated her younger cousin quite easily.
"So what do you hope to achieve by this?" he asked her, unable to hide his curiosity at this particular turn of events.
"To restore my cousin's honour and to get him back in the race."
"I decline," Atticus replied immediately, his overactive brain already thinking up a plan in order to get what he wanted out of this.
Aimee merely tilted her head to the side, "You know that's against the rules, you can't decline a challenge."
He wanted to shake her until she finally dropped that masquerade of hers; he knew she wasn't as cold as she pretended to be. He'd expired that lick of flame she hid everyday and he wanted to feel it explode. "There's nobody here Aimee, how about you make me duel you?"
"If I activate my duel disk and you don't activate yours, they'll know you declined and your medallions will be forfeit…to me." She was so analytical that it teased the air around them. She levelly held his gaze and it felt like, despite the lack of emotion there, she was staring into his soul.
In response, Atticus shrugged, pulling out the large cluster of medallions he had already won throughout his duels as they clinked together loudly. He turned away from her as he held them out. "Then they are forfeit."
There was a long silence then as he waited for her answer; for her to turn on her duel disk to ensure they either duelled or he lost due to refusing to activating his own disk. He had to tread softly if he wanted things to go his own way here.
"Well, aren't you going to make good on your threat?" he asked casually, turning back towards her with a question in his gaze, daring her to do it.
There, he saw it, if only for a brief flash, but his sharp gaze did not miss it. For an instant he saw that fiery anger flicker in those large eyes of hers that he could spend all day drowning in. He knew, if given the chance, they could breathe pure emotion and draw any man into their embrace.
This lust he felt for her needed to be quenched, badly. Life as a professional duellist was fast paced and exciting, even with the losses as well as the victories. Jet setting across the world was fun and luxurious ensuring that Atticus's life was never boring; it had been everything he'd ever wanted short of becoming a successful singer but one step at a time.
He was never short of women throwing themselves at his feet so in that regards things hadn't changed. Sure, he'd found them beautiful and yearned to enjoy them as any young man would but there was one thing that continually held him back. Every time he went for the kill with any of them, he was struck by the lack of challenge it was when it came to women. Always too eager to please him staring at him with fluttering eyelids and flirtatious tilts to their often beautiful faces.
Sometimes he'd strive onwards and accept their seductive advances only to find, at the last minute, the image of emerald pools would materialise in his line of vision, taunting him as the one who'd gotten away, or the one who'd never cared or tried to flirt despite his reactions to her.
He had to get her out of his system, ignoring the desire was making it harder for him to move on with his private life. It was getting ridiculous considering how much she pushed him away and how determinedly she refused to acknowledge her own feelings for him.
"What's wrong Aimee? Here are my trophies, you know what you have to do." His kept his voice deliberately smooth, lowering his lids a little as he let his eyes roam over her yellow-clad body. She had no idea how enticing he found those shorts she chose to wear instead of the skirts the Obelisk girls wore. They stood as a mark of strong willed defiance that begged to be overcome.
Still she did not reply and Atticus began to tingle with pleasure; teasing her like this was fun because he knew that mentally she was struggling with demanding what she wanted from him as it would mean she had to admit to having emotions of her own.
"Oh I see, you are telling yourself you are here to get your cousin's medallions back and yet, you desire something more, right?" Atticus started taking slow steps towards her, noticing that her gaze had filtered away from his and off to the side slightly; she was avoiding his gaze.
"Could it be that you want more that just the medallions?" he murmured softly, still holding the medallions towards her as if taunting her to take them. "Here, they are yours, do what you have to. Why hesitate? What else were you wanting?"
He would have enjoyed it more had she shifted uncomfortably then but he knew that Aimee was a stubborn as the night was dark. Instead she raised that cute little chin of hers as she admitted, "You dishonoured my family. I refuse to get those medallions in any other way other than to soundly defeat you in a duel."
"You want to humiliate me."
"If winning my cousin's honour back results in your humiliation, that isn't my intention, it is unfortunate."
Atticus wasn't fooled as he slowly smirked in her direction, "You want to humiliate me, to punish me."
Aimee shook her dark head, one ebony curl falling onto her forehead, "I want to regain Bryce's honour."
Slowly Atticus shook his head, refusing to hesitate as he lifted the curl away from her face, careful not to touch flesh with flesh in case she bolted. "There's more to it, isn't there? You want to punish me because I make you feel things you don't want to feel, emotions you have taught yourself to reject, told yourself that you don't need them."
"I want to regain my cousin's honour," her was still cold but she stepped away from him and towards the volcano unclipping the briefcase as she went. "Are we going to do this or not? Unless you're a coward that is."
Atticus blew out a long whistle before folding his arms across his chest with a playful smirk on his face, "Insults now is it? What if I don't want to duel a girl?"
"Then how about duelling a more talented opponent?" was her reply as she pulled out her duel disk and began pulling it onto her arm, clicking it into place.
Again, Atticus found himself smirking at the way she kept her voice the same tone while insulting him as if they were discussing something quite mundane like the weather. "Ok then, let's play your game but how about we make it more interesting?"
"No games, just duel."
Atticus shook his head, "No, I refuse, if you want to duel we duel by my rules or I guess I will forfeit these little trophies."
She stared at him levelly, undoubtedly suspicious about his motives but he knew that she had decided to challenge him and wanted to so no matter what. Her pride wouldn't let her win by default; she'd rather surrender herself.
"What rules?" she asked finally, hand hovering as if she was wondering whether to activate her duel disk or not. They both knew she would.
Atticus smiled lazily, enjoying the feeling of triumph as he put his trinkets into his jacket. "First of all, if I win, you have to come out on a date with me."
"In the middle of the educational year?" The girl had an answer for everything, she really did, always delivering put downs before giving an idea a chance in that sexy voice of hers.
"Obviously we would have to find the time but that is my first stipulation, take it or leave it," Atticus simplified for her in a sarcastic tone, his smile deliberately mocking as once again his eyes roamed her petite frame.
After a moment she finally nodded still very confident. "And any other foolish wishes on your part?"
"Actually yes," Atticus replied in a deliberately bright voice, "when each of us takes damage to our life points, we have to answer at least one question the opponent asks…honestly."
"Explain."
"Well," Atticus continued, enjoying being somewhat in control of the situation. "If one of my monsters or cards deals your life points damage, and I ask you what your favourite fruit was, you would have to reply…honestly."
If his stipulation surprised her in any way, she refused to show it and succeeded in it. "Are you questioning my ability to honestly answer your queries?"
"I would never challenge your integrity, just assuring you of the rules." Atticus shrugged casually waiting for her to reply to his suggestion. "Of course, if you refuse to answer a question I've asked then I will forfeit the match."
"Isn't anything ever simple for you?" She asked, staring at him with that blank look of hers, the eternal wall she kept up between her and others. Atticus would crush that barrier and take her for himself until he got her out of his system so he could move on. He'd always had every woman he'd ever wanted and he wasn't going to allow that record to be tarnished now, not this early in life.
"Things between us are never simple, as well you know despite pretending otherwise," he reminded her, his eyes raking over her again remembering the feel of her body crushed against every contour of his. Even though days had passed, he could still smell the sweet scent of her hair and taste the lingering softness of her mouth yielding under his.
"Fine, then I have two demands then."
She was always so cool and yet the sight of her was driving him beyond normal thoughts. But he wouldn't let her know that, "And what are they?"
"I'm allowed one question that I can refuse to answer," she began, surprising him a little but then, one question was hardly anything at all for what he had in mind when this duel commenced. "Also, when I win, you have to leave me alone, for good."
Now that, he had been expecting given his prize if he won. "For good? What if we accidentally bump into one another?"
"We pass ourselves and be on our usual way. Besides, even a fool like you would know what I'm referring to."
Atticus stared at her, of course knowing full well what she meant but this had to be taken slow with her, "Maybe I'm more a fool than you give me credit for. Explain it."
For the first time, Aimee looked down, a deep frown embedded upon her gorgeous face, "Stop trying to get under my skin. Desist in touching your lips where they aren't required. Don't…."
Atticus eyebrows shot up when she faltered and her voice broke a little, "Oh, so you're referring to when I kiss the breath out of, make you weak in the knees until all you can do is cling to me and kiss me back. You want me to leave you alone in that regard?"
Her eyes snapped back up to his then, "Stop it! You're doing it again! When I win, you must stop all that foolhardy behaviour of yours, at least, when it comes to me anyway."
Atticus stared at her for long moments, wanting to see it there was emotion in her eyes but unable to catch any. After a pregnant pause, he shrugged slowly before admitting, "Your stipulations are accepted, now let's do this."
They both activated their duel disks to that familiar sound that every duellist knew well as the lights turned on and their deck was slid into the holster on the disk, like ammunition, both of them drawing five cards to begin.
"Ladies first."
She resisted his taunt but decided to get the duel underway, drawing another card to begin her turn.
"I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode and place two cards face down and end my turn," Aimee started off lacking any of the banter that usually occurred during duels to psyche opponents out or to make the experience more fun.
"Interesting choice there," Atticus murmured, drawing his own card to initiate his turn. Gemini Elf was a standard monster with no effects so this monster did not give him a clue into what kind of deck Aimee possessed, but those face down cards could be dangerous so he had to tread carefully. "I put out my Red Eyes Black Chick and a face down to get things started and end my turn."
Aimee drew another card and stared at her hand for a moment. "I use Gemini Elf to attack Red Eyes Black Chick," she continued without summoning anything in her first main phase.
The red haired and blond elves both landed a kick onto his little dragon, destroying it completely. "My Red Eyes Black Dragon is automatically summoned in it's place."
Aimee nodded her understanding, moving her shoulders slightly as the large holographic dragon appeared above them. "I sacrifice my Gemini Elf to summon Cybernetic Magician."
"A Cyber card?" Atticus asked before she could end her turn. "I didn't expect that."
"I didn't expect you not to play that obvious trap card you've placed there," was Aimee's easy reply as Atticus's life points moved down to 2900.
Atticus shrugged his shoulders in reply, "Maybe it wasn't a trap card that could help me in this situation."
"Very well, I end my turn."
Atticus tilted his head to the side as he watched her, refusing to draw a card from his deck. She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to continue when he finally asked, "Aren't you going to ask your question? You know, the stipulations at the start of the match about takin life points off your opponent and getting a free for all question." He added when she refused to react to his query.
Still, she stare at him but this time Atticus decided to wait patiently before she grit her teeth and asked reluctantly, "What's your favourite colour?"
"Why purple, thank you for asking! It's such a delightful colour, it's the colour of royalty, power and it's quite striking as well, don't you think?" Atticus drew out his answer as long a possible, willing her to respond in kind.
"I think you haven't taken life points off me for to be asking me questions. I end my turn!"
Atticus whistled lowly, that was him told off for breaking his own rules. He drew his next card and smirked a little, before using it without thinking, "I play the spell card Inferno Fire Blast."
Aimee barely reacted as Atticus's dragon reared its ugly head and sent a flaming ball directly towards her, bypassing her monster. "Go on, ask me why I don't like you," she muttered while closing her eyes as her life points went down to 1600.
Atticus watched her for a moment, wondering if she was now closing her eyes because she was carefully guarding some sort of secret and she didn't want to let him in. "What happened to you that made you so cold?"
Aimee's eyes shot open then, undiluted shock in their depths as she looked over towards him; if anything, it was obvious that she hadn't been expecting him to ask that. She had probably assumed he would ask her why she found him repulsive or other information regarding their little scraps; she had obviously not been expecting a question about her past.
"I was born cold, it is how I am!"
She didn't appear to be lying but for some reason, Atticus refused to believe that, not after the fear he'd seen in her eyes a number of mornings ago; fear like that was not just a phobia but something that had been embedded into a person through certain experiences like abuse or tragedy, it was not something the mind could conjure on its own.
Something had happened to her once, in her younger years in her early teens or her childhood. It had been an event that had led to this icy persona being projected upon everyone and the rejection of anything that might ignite emotions within her, like their attraction to one another.
"The agreement was honesty Aimee!" he yelled across to her, his hand ready to close over his disk in defeat.
If anything, he saw confusion reflect in her eyes as she shrugged, "I am telling the truth, I really haven't had any consideration for most people's emotions since I was born."
She was telling the truth. At least, she believed that she was telling the truth. But it couldn't be true, not after the way she reacted to him when he got too close…or…was it Atticus that she feared?
No! He refused to accept it. She was not afraid of him, she was afraid of what she felt for him that it was too powerful he could hurt her if she let him.
He just had to work out a way to get her to talk about whatever it was that always held her back. And being up front about it definitely was not working.
"Eww, are you alright down there dudette?" Alyssa asked awkwardly, her face screwed up as she backed away from the edge of the yacht, her face screwed up with displeasure as her eyes remained of the golden scalp visible over the edge of starboard.
"I'm….eugh…" The head had begun to raise itself before another disturbing wave of nausea engulfed its owner, forcing it to descend once more.
Everyone out on deck all mutually cringed and turned away at the same time. "Wow, I'd never known about your seasickness before. Why didn't you say something, we could have arranged some other form of transport." Atlanta asked, wanting to rub her sister's back but keeping a safe distance due to her fear of vomit.
"I…didn't know…eugh…" Arianna replied brokenly, slumped over the side with very little energy due to the ruptures that were engulfing her frequently.
Abigail came out of the bridge then, leaving Arena to navigate them as they closed in on Dual Academy Island, which was thankfully, not far to go now. One look towards Arianna had her by the blondes side in no time. "She's still being sick? Atlanta you should have warned me to bring my seasick tablets with me if you knew she'd have been this bad."
"Hey!" Atlanta retorted, checking the portable baby monitor screen in her hand to make sure her daughter was still asleep. "I knew nothing of this condition and apparently, neither did she."
Alyssa felt two strong arms engulf her waist and an electric tingle as the familiar lips of Alister kissed her cheek. "Why didn't Abi bring the tablets if she suffers from seasickness?"
Shivering from the delightful touch of his lips, Alyssa motioned towards her elder sister with a smile on her face, "Does it look like Abi suffers from seasickness?"
"But she just…"
"You travelled with Abigail, you should know about this mother hen aspect of her personality," a familiar voice drew their attention from their left as Arena relaxed against the bridge wall. "Her first aid supplies could usually pass for a small town doctor's clinic."
Alyssa giggled, nodding in agreement, "Usually, they do. Which is odd, how come you forgot to pack so much this time Abi?"
The elder sister stiffened a little ad if she had been caught out in some lie before shaking the feeling off, concentrating on Arianna in front of her as the poor girl continued to slump and throw up her dinner into the sea. "I was a little distracted, plus this whole thing was another of Atlanta's little thought out and rushed escapades."
Her cousin's head shot up from checking her monitor screen again, a look of outrage on her face, "Hey! I wasn't the only one who got an invite! And I didn't hear you complaining at the time!"
"I was too busy packing to complain! Shouldn't you be navigating the yacht anyway?" Abigail shot over he shoulder towards Arena who casually shrugged in response.
"I've left it on auto-pilot now," Arena replied simply, not moving from her spot against the wall. "I can see the island, I doubt there's much room for computer error if it's in sight. Is Arianna ok?"
Abigail nodded as she brushed a few of the sick girl's strand away from her face, "She'll be fine. We're almost there. There's bound to be some supplies of pills on the island for the return journey in a couple of days."
Her words were met with silence before Atlanta piped up, "You've never been to one of these things have you?"
"No but I assume they are the same as any other tournament with a set formulas before the final."
"Tch tch, didn't you read the invite? This is a lengthy tournament which will only end when the last person obtains all the medallions. Battles can happen anywhere and at anytime, no holds barred!" Alyssa explained, enjoying lecturing her eldest sister for once. "But that means that those who are weaker will avoid confrontation. These things could last weeks as all medallions have to be account for."
It became clear that Abigail was not as informed as the rest of them but it mattered little, they could stay as long as they liked considering that Atlanta's husband owned the school and had private suites just for his family and personal guests.
"I hope Valon's here, haven't seen the old boy in…how long?" Alister muttered in a playful tone.
"A week," Arena muttered from her position knowing that it was now a week ago since that morning she had stormed into the cafeteria and confronted him regarding her sister. "Such a long time!" she continued sarcastically.
Alister laughed, "Is that all? Seems like I've been in the company of women for such an age! Be good to have some men back in my life."
"But you don't know for sure if Valon's going to be there," Arena replied, deliberately keeping her voice neutral so as not to raise suspicions. She'd come on this trip because she'd been too afraid to say no in case her family figured out her secret. It wasn't like Valon had been a definite show in the competition before they'd left.
"No, I don't." Alister agreed with a slight tilt to his head, "Why? Does it bother you if he is?"
Her heart giving a little stop, Arena shock her head as she pushed herself upright and away from the door. "Of course it doesn't. The guy is nothing to me."
"Well it's no secret that the two of you don't get along, in fact, last week was the first time in his presence that more of your irritation was directed at me and not at him. He actually appeared surprised considering he's usually in for a battle when you come along."
"Blegh….Please tell me that's land I see…like…is it docking time yet?"
Grateful for the interruption in the current flow of conversation, Arena made a deal about getting back to the helm of the boat. "We'll be landing in ten minutes, try to hold out until then, ok?"
As it turned out, Arena had managed to dock the boat in eight minutes, much to Arianna's shaken relief and the others' excitement. A small group of stewards welcomed them to the island and bordedthe yacht in order to bring some of their belongings up to the private quarters Kaiba had built years ago.
"So, we need to go get our medallions first." Alyssa declared excitedly, jumping a little into the air as she looked the island over almost as if they were on some new adventure of discovery.
"Alright then, what was the darkest thing that has ever happened to you?" Atticus tried again after dealing damage after destroying Aimee's Magician's Valkyria, her life points reducing again. No doubt she'd use another spell card to increase them once more and then place another spell counter on that Magical Citadel of Endymion that she had on the field.
For all his worth as a duellist, that was one card that he was unfamiliar with; he didn't know what it did but he needed to bring out a card that destroyed it before he found out. She also had a monster in defence mode set on the field but he daren't attack it unless he was sure had a monster strong enough.
Currently, Aimee was staring at him, clearly pondering how she was going to answer his question; for all her attacks the only information she had gleaned from him was that his favourite colour was purple, his favourite duellist had been Joey Wheeler while growing up and that he had always been in Obelisk Blue the whole way through his time at Duel Academy.
"Both Alyssa and I were being minded by a shy, servant girl one night when Alyssa, in her usual inquisitive manner, accidentally tripped the electric in the house. My grandfather isn't a fan of overpopulating the house with servants so it took us a while to fix it."
Atticus bit the side of his mouth in frustration; once again she had dodged his question by using the literal meaning of his words instead of what he had actually meant and it wasn't against his rules either. "You know, your deck is very unoriginal, I've seen all those cards before."
"So have I, that's why they interested me so I collected them," she replied to his taunt. His attempts at lightening her attitude were failing left, right and centre; she was just too determined to keep up that façade of not caring about anything at all. He had to think fast if he wanted to break her; sure when he won, they'd be going on that date but by then, he wouldn't have the bargaining chip that he now had against her; that steadfast Gregory pride of hers.
"Fine, I end my turn."
Wordlessly, as she had every single turn since this duel began, she drew her card and studied her hand for the same beats of a moment before playing them. "I play Monster Reborn, to bring back my Magician's Valkyria from the Graveyard in defence mode and I also place this card face down. That's a sixth counter on my Magician's Citadel of Endymion. My turn is now ended."
She didn't attack him which meant that she was planning something although, with her, nobody could ever be sure. It was only in those brief moments when they had been alone that he had ever been able to truly read her and sense her emotions.
Those moments were brief but they were intoxicating to the pin the had become obsessed with her, with the elation that came with having her capitulate once more and to give into that passionate spark that had always existed between them, no matter how much she had tried to ignore it's existence. From her current tactics, she was not as interested in finding out about him as he was in finding out about her; or perhaps she was trying to deter him from his goal by trailing out this duel.
Tough.
"I draw!" Atticus looked at his cards before glancing at that mysterious spell card she had. "I play the card, De-Spell and I choose to destroy the Magician's Citadel of End-whatever!"
Instead, one of the counters that had been placed on the card materialised before imploding upon itself from the spell card's destructive power. Atticus almost physically slumped, "It allows it's counters to be destroyed instead of it right?"
Aimee almost frowned a little though she did appear confused, "I don't understand why that would surprise you, I always think ahead."
Atticus glared at her, the desire to shake her overcoming him once more as he watched her; those analytical skills of hers were more potent than first meets the eye. Actually, when he first saw her, he was struck by her rare, very natural beauty and how she held herself away from it all; consideration for her analytical skills didn't really feature.
"Fine, Red Eyes Darkness Dragon attacks your Magician's Valkyria…"
Atticus trailed off his usual prep talk of attacking when Aimee waved her hand quietly for her trap card to raise itself. Sakuretsu Armour, it immediately nullified his attack and actually destroyed his dragon. The professional duellist frowned as he watched his dragon expire into digital pieces before moving onto his graveyard.
"Your cards are so boring," Atticus declared in another attempt to unsettle her and taunt her. He knew it wouldn't work but hey, the Gods loved a tryer. "I place this card face down and end my turn."
As usual, Aimee did not take his bait as she silently drew another card before lifting her head in a quiet pose. "I play Gift of the Mystical Elf to raise my life points to 2400 and place another spell counter on my citadel to replace the one you destroyed."
Attius made a play of yawning in a dramatic fashion, "Boring…aren't you going to show me what that card actually does yet?"
Aimee kept her face stoic but he could have sworn he seen a twitch somewhere the but instead, before he could smile, she raised her hand a declared, "I removed my six spell counters in order to summon Endymion, the Master Magician from my hand."
Atticus took a step back as a spell caster monster materialised upon the field; it wore dark, black robes that resembles a usual magician's, but his face was covered and his eyes were glowing yellow, as he wielded his large sceptre above his head. It's attack points were equal to 2700, more than enough to wipe out his life points.
"Go on, attack me then."
Instead, Aimee waved her hand again before the card she had had previously set in defence mode flipped around and another Magician's Valkyria appeared on the big monster's other side. Atticus almost sighed; he'd played it safe with that card assuming its defence was high when it clearly wasn't; she had fooled him
"Now, I attack with Endymion, I attack you directly!" The tall image flew forward and swung his staff to launch a magical attack upon a defenceless Atticus only to have it blocked by the face down card becoming unveiled.
"Mirror Force," Atticus replied in an unnecessary fashion, she knew what card it was. "It destroys all your monsters, bye bye!"
The tall magician exploded into tiny pieces as Atticus smirked but the Valkyria stayed the same. Mentally he cursed himself as he remembered the card only destroyed the monsters in attack mode and both of those monsters were in defence mode.
"I end my turn."
"Finally, I use Monster Reborn to bring back my Red Eye Black Dragon to the field and I use it to attack one of your magicians…" The monster stayed still once it materialised and for a moment Atticus was confused before sighing almost in defeat. "I should have remembered, Magician's Valkyria protect all other spell casters of the field, I can't attack you."
Instead, he noticed that Aimee was concentrating on the card in her hand as if something was confusing her but she eventually looked up as asked, "Is it my turn?"
"Yes," Atticus replied, wondering if she had even paid attention to him that turn; something was wrong and this new development intrigued him to no end.
"I summon Crusader of Endymion and I play Pot of Avarice thus extending the counters of my citadel to three."
"Wait you…"
"You played a spell card last round, of course I can." she selected 5 monsters from her graveyard to go back in her deck and then drew two more cards. The attack of her monster increased from 1900 to 2500. "I can do that because I placed a count on my spell card. I attack with my crusader." Atticus waited expectantly when his life points reduced once more and finally Aimee asked, "What is your favourite monster?"
Again with the dull boring questions but he answered with enthusiasm, "Panther Warrior obviously. He's awesome!" Again Atticus was left with no monster and this time he played another spell card. "I play Ookazi and take out 800 of your life points."
Aimee didn't seem to care, as usual as she placed another counter on her card and he life points decreased again. He would soon change that, he could see she was getting slightly edgy. "Ok lady, tell me this, when was the last time you cried that had nothing to do with physical pain?"
It was then that something happened, something that he hadn't expected with that simple question; her eyes flew wide as if somebody had struck at her before her head tilted downwards as if in a dazed fashion. He was right, gradually he had been chipping away and he'd known because of the way she'd stared at her cards during his turn; her might usually worked fast but her expression had told him that she had made a grave miscalculation somewhere or hesitated in her usual work.
"When I thought we had lost Atlanta in the Volcano…"
"Don't lie Aimee, I was there remember, you were hard as nails and comforting to you little cousin, do not try to pull the wool over these eyes."
Still her head remained pointed downwards and still he waited for whatever line she would spin him next. "At Abigail's wed…"
"You were upset…you didn't cry!"
Aimee's head flew up then and she called out, "Yes I did, I cried!"
Atticus shook his head, "I don't believe you and if you don't tell me now, I am forfeiting this match!"
"I can see Bryce," Arena declared, her hand against her forehead as she shielded her eyes from the blazing sun as she pointed towards a nearby, grassy cliff.
"Oh let me see," Atlanta turned around, little Bryony in her arms as she too shielded her own eyes as she looked up towards the cliff herself.
There she spied her younger brother standing upon the cliff, his hands in his trouser pockets as his jacket bellowed out behind him. He stood beside somebody whom Atlanta recognised as the famous professional duellist, Zane Truesdale, both of them staring out as if into space.
"Hey would you look at that, he seems to be talking to that Truesdale dude, you know, pro duellist," Alyssa chimed in glancing up that way as well. "I wonder if they're going to duel."
"Doesn't look like it, do you guys want to go say hello and I'll got get your medallions?" Alister asked, by now familiar with how close the Gregory family really were.
Alyssa looked up at him from under the sun hat she was placing on her head; she had very fair skin to match her red hair so it was wise to keep herself protected in this heat. "You don't mind?" she asked with a bright smile, according to Abigail, a new smile neither of the other sisters had ever seen before, possibly reserved only for Alister.
Not that any of them were complaining that Alyssa was finally getting over her recent ordeals with the help of Alister; it was nice to see the smile back on her face and to notice that the bags under her eyes had faded along with the worry lines on her forehead.
Alister smiled back before bending down to kiss her lips tenderly, "Of course not, just give me the invites and I'll meet you up there ok?"
"Ok!" Alyssa agreed with the others and they all handed their passes to him so that he could sort out the registration. He waved them off as he deftly followed the directions towards the reception hall where the organisers waited to greet any new comers that had happened to have been late.
The large room that he entered was filled with television screens that were broadcasting random duels that were happening the whole way across the island from remote cameras. There were many duellists floating around the area watching the screens while some lined up at the information desk.
Alister made his way there, passing some young students and other duellists on his way before he handed over the passes to get the medallions for the tournament.
"Ah we were wondering whether to disqualify the rest of the applications, you arrived just in time. Here we are, good luck today, make sure you haven't forgotten your duel disks."
Alister nodded in agreement, knowing that the girls were carrying them in their backpack as they headed towards Zane and Bryce.
"Well look who it is, fresh and sober for a change!"
The red haired duellist spun around in time to hug an excited Valon in a tight and warm brotherly embrace. That last time they'd seen one another was when Arena had confronted Alister in that café and they'd both been busy since.
"I knew you'd be here," Alister commented with a smirk as his brunette friend pulled away.
Valon shrugged in response, his smile lazy and welcoming, "Meh, I was bored to be honest, I got the invite and decided to give it a go. It appears more exciting compared to the conventional tournaments I've been taking part in."
"Always the same, everything has to be over exciting for you doesn't it," Alister punched Valon's usual shoulder pads in a playful way. Even back when they'd been serving Dartz, Valon had always been the show off.
"Of course, what else is the point in life but maintaining the smile?" Valon returned the cuff before asking, "So are you competing or what?"
Alister gave him a lazy expression, "I don't know, I only came here because Alyssa wanted to and well it's interesting being around Duel Monsters again."
"Alyssa?" Alister didn't miss the mind-boggling note in his tone as he almost squeaked her name. "As in Alyssa Gregory?"
Unable to prevent the sheepish smile from engulfing his face, Alister nodded, "Yeah dude. Unreal isn't it? She's amazing, I've never met anyone like her."
One of Valon's eyebrows had crept up his forehead as he watched his friend mush over a woman; it was something he had never been used to. Out of them all, Alister had probably been the most disinclined towards settling down; hell Valon had never seen the guy out with a woman ever. "When did this happen?"
"When?" Alister jumped out of his reverie about the woman he was in love with before thinking back, "It started back during that time we first came to stay at their family villa and it's progressed since then."
Valon's mouth fell open, "And you didn't think to tell anyone?"
"It was complicated," Alister offered no other explanation to the situation tat had caused both he and Alyssa such turmoil in the last several months. Time had been hard but they had found one another again in the end.
"Wait…her miscarriage…that was you?" Valon was still trying to piece together everything that had apparently gone on behind his back. "Hell dude, no wonder you constantly drank! I was worried you'd begun a spiralling downfall."
Alister tilted his head to the side, a small smile appearing on his face, "I love her dude and it might have taken me a while to realise it but I don't want anybody else. She's made me happy and now I'm going to spend my time trying to make her even a fraction of how happy I am."
Valon's shock lasted a while longer in the stunned silence that followed until he finally shock his head as it clearing of cobwebs and turning towards one of the screens. "Well let's see who's duelling now!"
Alister could help but smile; ever since he'd known Valon he'd been the ladies man of the three of them, the one always chasing after girls wanting to settle down and yet now, he was the only single one and it probably did not sit well. "Dude, are you annoyed that I'm not single anymore?"
Valon spun back his way, his cerulean eyes widened in shock, "Nah mate, of course I'm not annoyed. I'm happy for you I'm just speechless is all!" Alister felt a little relieved at his words as they both looked up towards the screens that each showed a different battle. "Didn't think both my friends would end up with a Gregory-girl though."
"A Gregory-girl?"
Valon laughed a little, prompting Alister to do the same, "Yeah I know, I made it up myself, there's just so many of them it's hard to keep up."
"Yeah I know what you mean, and they're each so different from the next…wait…isn't that th young of them duelling there?"
Both turned towards the screen Alister was pointing to. The backdrop was undoubtedly the smoking volcano that made up most of the island and likely created it in the first place. There, dressed in her yellow uniform, dark hair cascading down her back in thick waves, stood Alyssa's younger cousin Aimee.
Her life points were dwindling compared to her opponent's and yet, her stance was as cold as it usually was. "Hey that Atticus Rhodes she's duelling against, started on the professional scene not long before I did. He's a tough cookie although he doesn't look it, a bit goofy the whole way through matches. Apparently he's friends with that Arianna as well."
Alister nodded in understanding; there were many people in the duelling world that the Gregory's did not know and this just proved it. "Why is he duelling against a school girl?"
"Mate, she's an adult now, graduates this year and by the way their stats are positioned, it suggests that she was the one who approached him. She must know what she's doing. Although her life points…"
Just then the screen went to a close up of the duellists and Alister stood back in alarm. Aimee's face held its usual impassive mask upon it but the high definition of the rolling cameras were able to pick up something else.
Alister turned and hurried from the room, with Valon standing shocked behind him before doing the same.
Arianna slumped tiredly and unceremoniously onto a long patch of grass as she got her bearings back following her ordeal on the boat. It might have been useful information had she known she was prone to sea sickness before starting out on this trip. She couldn't help but think that the Gods of Hindsight were laughing down at her now in some shape or form.
The others towered over her with Alyssa dropping the cases that contained their duel disks with a sigh, "Seriously, why don't we just strap these babies onto our arms?"
"We don't know if we are too late to claim our places in the tournament yet, little point in taking them out," Atlanta reminded her as she strapped Bryony into her carrier and placed the bouncing child over her back, where she proceeded to latch onto several of her mother's curls a try to put them in her mouth.
"So I get left to carry them all?" the red haired Gregory demanded, sounding exasperated and put out by the ordeal.
Atlanta took several steps back, holding her hands up in defence, "Hey don't look at me, I got a baby to handle!" Just then, Atlanta's heart shaped face cringed as the baby in question began tugging on the strands in her hand.
"Give me a second to get my breath back, I'll help you then," Arianna advised her as Arena breathed in deeply and took in the view from behind them.
Abigail glanced about the place in wonder, her eyes particularly wide when she took in the smoke coming from the Volcano. "They allow children to grow up on this island?"
She received several eyes for the outburst before Alyssa answered, "Yeah, so?"
"Number 1: there's no fencing around the sea, anybody could be swept away at any given moment and I don't see many guards." Abigail stated as though this were a serious crime.
Atlanta, while still fending off her playful daughter, tried to shrug casually, "This island isn't prone to high winds or storms and they don't have children under the age of fifteen years old so it's hardly like they would be stupid enough to get lost at sea."
Arianna laughed then, nodding in agreement with her sister, "She's right, most of the kids here are too obsessed with duelling to go take a dip although you do have the occasional surfer like Atticus Rhodes and friends."
"See?" Alyssa asked in a bright voice, stretching her back out with a pained expression, "There's really nothing to worry about."
"Well, except when the whole school gets transported to another dimension but that's what happens when it comes to the Shadow Games."
Abigail, Arena and Alyssa now stared at Arianna in a dumbstruck fashion while Atlanta still struggled with her baby. "Shadow Games?" Arena asked finally, her eyebrows raised in enquiry over the subject.
"Yeah…you mean…you guys don't know about the mystifying magic that surrounds the game of Duel Monsters? How it was created in Ancient Egypt using unknown power sources that are still being investigated today?"
"Nope, they aren't aware of that aspect of the game," Atlanta replied, sighing in defeat and taking the child from her carrier and strapping the child harness to the toddlers back so that she wouldn't get far.
Arena looked unimpressed, "Hocus pocus, the Millenium Items again eh?"
Arianna looked to her sister, who shrugged her shoulders, "Some people refuse to believe, including my own husband, he's the biggest non-believer I know and he was around during most of it, affected by a lot of it too. Meh!"
Abigail stared dumbfounded at the younger Gregory before shaking her head with a frown, "Back to the island and children being here. Reason number 2: they are allowing children to live on an island created by an active volcano that's still billowing smoke."
"Now that, I looked up before even Aimee came to this Academy," Arena piped up, enjoying the chance to explain something as was her favourite thing to do although she would deny otherwise, "The volcano hasn't erupted in years and Kaiba has already installed safety measures, like state of the art escape boats and helicopters while hiring a team to continually monitor the volcano using readings from equipment inside the volcano. Not a casualty yet."
Abigail stared at her sister dumbfounded and wide eyed, clearly still not believing that this island was a safe haven for children and a haven for duellists. "This is insane. My child is never coming here even if it begs me."
"Child?" Alyssa popped up then, her amber eyes glowing with anticipation, "Are you pregnant big sis?"
Abigail looked affronted for a moment before shaking her head, "Of course not, I would have told you all by now wouldn't I have? I'm too young to start having children at my age." Not to mention you need to have had intercourse at least once in your life to start having children, she admitted mentally, refusing to show her sadness to her family. Out of them all, Abigail had been the one who had wanted it all; happy marriage with a husband and a couple of children to look after. She'd loved Raphael so much that she had given up on that dream.
"Hey guys!" A youthful boyish voice called out as Bryce came near the group, Arianna pointed turning away when Zane silently followed him. "I didn't know you were all coming!" Bryce bent down an began to play with his niece, who proceeded to pat him in the face, laughing at his squirming features.
"Hey little bro!" Atlanta ruffled his fair head in an affectionate gesture, laughing as Bryce batted her hand away in annoyance. "It was a last minute decision. We're staying in the private quarters. So where's your medallion?" Bryce's face immediately fell and he diverted his gaze to the child once more, refusing to answer the question his sister had asked him.
Arena met Atlanta's eyes then and shrugged as thought she didn't know what was going on. "Brycie? What's wrong?"
"What he should say is that he lost his medallions in a duel." Zane Truesdale answered for Bryce, putting it plain and simple for them to understand.
Arianna refused to look in his direction, but sat up abruptly with her back straightened at the news, looking towards her brother with concern in her gaze. "You lost Brycie? Are you ok?"
"Who'd ya lose to?" Alyssa chimed in eagerly before getting severe looks from both Abigail and Arianna for her troubles. "What?" she asked innocently, raising her shoulders as if she didn't know what they were angry about.
"That's not important…" Arena began but she was cut off by Zane.
"He lost to Atticus Rhodes, in a reckless duel he should have avoided until he knew more of Atticus's techniques."
Inwardly, Arianna wished she could glare at him but knew meeting his eyes would stir up emotions within her that she didn't want to deal with right now. "But you watch Atticus, you know his techniques."
Bryce smiled sadly then, still staring at the child who was not playing with his hair, "He used a different deck, a Red Eyes Dragon deck that I've never seen him use before, even in this competition."
"Pah!" Arianna laughed out loud then, glee dancing in her eyes, "Atticus doesn't have a Red Eyed Dragon deck…" she trailed off when Bryce met her gaze as he nodded slowly in a very serious fashion. "He kept that one secret."
"Hah, who knew?" Alyssa tried to perk up the situation again and got daggers shot at her again, "What? The kid lost, it's not that big of a deal! He'll win at other things!"
Atlanta decided to cut in then, having taken a back seat as the others dug up the dirt, "Hey, perk up bro! Alyssa's right, you'll win another time. Besides," she lifted Bryony's hand from her uncle's head, "If he kept that deck secret, it means that he must keep it reserved for truly challenging opponents so if I were you, I'd at least take that as a compliment." She ruffled his head again and once more he shoved her hand off as he stood up.
"I doubt that.."
"He used it against me during the last GX Tournament," Zane stated simply, causing Bryce's eyes to snap wide and turn towards him.
"You mean you got beat by Atticus?"
Zane smirked then, folding his arms across his chest, "Hardly, but he did use that deck on me."
Bryce shifted a little, his hand behind his back as he considered his sister's words before sighing, "I hate the way you know everything sis! Aimee never said anything like that when I told her."
"Aimee!" Arianna perked up as if remembering something she had forgotten, hopping to her feet in an excited manner that resembled her cousin Alyssa's usual behaviour. "Where is she? I haven't seen her in months!"
Bryce frowned then, as if trying to remember where his cousin had went, "She was hiding under that bush, she's been hiding there all tournament the silly thing, do you know she doesn't want to duel, she'd just interested in her books and stuff. Thinks that nobody knows where she is but it was pretty…"
"Brycie!" Arena cut in, giving her young cousin a sardonic look. "We don't need the complete history of her attendance here, just where she is right now would be good enough."
"Oh right," Bryce continued on, but caught himself before her elaborated too much again, "I tried to get her to give me her medallion but she was having none of it, you know how she is. Anyway, Zane showed up, some words were exchanged and she walked away, don't know where she want, that was a little while ago."
For some reason, a bad feeling entered Arianna's tummy and somehow she knew it was nothing to do with the seasickness she had previously been experiencing while on the boat journey here; Aimee was a sticker for rules but sometimes she would help a family member out. Has Zane said something that dissuaded her from helping Bryce out?
"Alyssa!"
The red head turned around to hear the masculine voice behind her, a brilliant smile breaking across her face as she waved towards her boyfriend as he ascended the hill followed by a familiar companion.
Arena took one look from over her shoulder and turned away immediately, biting the inside of her lip as she did so; Valon was here and she hadn't been prepared to see him; she was sure he wouldn't have come to a tournament like this but perhaps he was taking this professional duelling as seriously as he was letting on.
"Alister! Hi Valon!" Alyssa waved before giving her boyfriend a tight hug and a brief kiss on the cheek. "You already know everyone so no need for introductions! We were just talking about how Brycie lost in a duel! We were about to set off to find Aimee!"
"No need sister, we already found her, she's currently duelling!" Valon started off, hardly pausing to greet anyone but his words caught their attention, except Zane who resumed a look a boredom.
"Already? Duelling?" Arianna looked towards her younger brother, who looked as equally as perplexed as she felt. "That doesn't sound like Aimee!"
"Yeah, she usually avoids duelling at all costs." Bryce agreed with a brisk nod and confusion in his features due to the uncharacteristic nature of their cousin.
"Are you sure in was our Aimee?" Atlanta asked, clearly as equally as puzzled by the new development.
Valon rolled his eyes and was about to reply in a sarcastic fashion before Alister cut in, "We're sure! You Gregory ladies aren't exactly hard to spot and nor are any of you forgettable in your own unique ways."
"Is she duelling Atticus Rhodes?"
Arianna froze at Zane's question, a frown immediately imbedding itself on her forehead as her gaze began to lose some of its forward focus. Something had made that man ask that particular question, and somehow, Arianna knew his summary of the situation to be accurate.
"How did you know? Did you see the screens before you left as well?" Valon asked in an impressed voice.
Arena shook her head, also confused by the events but not showing it as much as the others were. "Zane was one of the people who saw her last and she wasn't duelling then."
"But you said something about screens?" Abigail asked in an interested fashion. "What kind of screens?"
"Wide screens, standard issue, like the rest of this island…"
"Her duel is being broadcast all over the island and possibly on the internet as well," Alister cut in, scowling in Valon's general direction; clearly they had something more important to talk about than the size of the screens Kaiba had purchased for the island. "She's duelling Atticus…at the opposite end of the volcano."
"The volcano?" Abigail choked, clearly still unsure about it's place on an island full of teenagers. "Isn't she wise enough not to go near that thing?"
"That's not all," Alister told them in a dire note, and Arianna continued to stare into space as she intently listened to his words.
"What's up?" Alyssa asked when nobody else broke the small pause that followed.
"She appeared to be crying."
The only sound was the wave lapping against the cliffs after Alister spoke those words. Nobody dared speak until finally Alyssa burst out laughing, "Haha, seriously, there must have been something on the screen because our Aimee does not cry."
Alister took her hands in his and spoke with a deadly serious tone, "I saw it on all the screens in a close up, the girl is crying, albeit, not hysterically, but there are tears running down her cheeks."
"Weird camera angle?"
"'Lyssa!" Abigail snapped in an aggravated fashion, "It doesn't matter what the possibilities could be, only one of them matters right now; if there is even a slight possibility that she is crying, as her family we must go to her regardless."
Atlanta looked up at Abigail, a sad note in her estranged gaze before finally nodding in agreement. Aimee was there cousin and regardless of how implausible it was, if she was ever upset that had to go to her. "Come on!"
Without hardly a word spoken, most of the group began hurrying towards the volcano to make sure that Aimee was ok. Only two of them did not follow leaving a very tense situation as they parted.
Arianna's back was still to Zane but she could feel his gaze boring into her back as the gulls flew about overhead, their cries doing nothing to penetrate the pair's deathly silence.
"Have you got something to say to me?" Zane finally asked, his voice bored and uncaring, showing very little emotion for Arianna to work with.
"You said something to her to make her act this uncharacteristically." There was another long pause after she spoke. She didn't care about whatever had passed between them in the past, right now, she hated him more than she had even hated Professor Viper and his blasted survival duels.
"I do not know what you are talking about."
Arianna looked over her shoulder and met his gaze unflinchingly then, "I think you do! And I promise, if she is hurting in anyway, you will be sorry Truesdale." The tone of her voice made that into a promise before she hurried off in the opposite direction, following the others.
Zane watched her go, his azure eyes as unreadable as many ancient texts used to be centuries ago. Finally, when her running figure was no longer in his line of sight, he allowed his clenched fists to relax, feeling the palms of his hands throb after the amount of pressure he'd put them under.
This tournament was turning into more trouble than it was worth…