One could say that in D's household two other people lived there: Sartorius and Sarina. They were regular guests, staying for dinner almost every day. Aster could notice that both of them were very grateful: he had noticed Sarinas dirty robes and Sartorious bony face.

Aster couldn't help and be drawn towards Sartorius: his calming presence, quiet demeanor and his Arcana deck. He had never seen a deck made out of cards which had two possible side effects. Aster had thought that tossing the card up or down to define the outcome of a duel would be quite tricky, but Sartorius thought otherwise:

"I'm just following what it is written". Aster shook his head

"But if it is all written does that mean we do not have free will?" he asked.

Sartorius showed him one of his cards: The fool.

"Ignorance is bliss. Those unaware of destiny they may think they have free will".

Aster pressed on the matter:

"But if you are aware of it, does that mean you do not have free will?"

The other kid gave it a thought.

"Let me put it this way" he grabbed The Fool and shoved it back to his deck. He placed a new card in front of Aster: The Lovers.

"Do you think that there are people who you are meant to meet? Sometimes, you are destined to meet a person and they will stay in your life forever, other times, they may only be briefly in your life, but they will teach you a lesson".

He made a pause. He shoved the card back in his deck and placed the Wheel of Fortune:

"We are all destined for something. We don't notice, but we are always making choices"

Aster nodded.

"What you chose is determined by your past and your present, and this, defines your future-"

They were interrupted by Mr. D and the fortune teller placed his tarot cards. Before every duel, Mr. D asked Sartorius to read his fortune, and forsee the outcome of duels. Sartorius had always been right, and Mr. D trusted all his predictions. Once his fortune was read, he turned towards Aster who had watched the whole reading session.

"Winning is a piece of cake when Destiny gots your back"

It sounded quite catchy and the boy liked it.

As the final tournament of the season, the Kaiba Dome was packed with spectators. Mr. D had reached the final and if he won, perhaps he was ready to compete Professionally. Aster was sitting in the first row, he was at the edge of his sit shaking his legs vigorously. He noticed Sartorius staring and turned towards the violet haired boy. Sartorius handed him the popcorn and commented:

"Looks like you are about to sprint over to the field" He placed gently a hand over the boy's knee, who stopped shaking.

Jade leaned over, next to Sartorius and gave Aster a playful smile.

"It's going to be very fun!" she gave him the thumbs up.

The judge gave the announcement that the duel was about to begin. Both duelists emerged from behind a cloud of smoke and walked slowly facing each other. The crowd erupted in cheers as the match begun.

Mr. D's opponent was a young boy with a thick accent who introduced himself as Jason, and was very proud of the fact he had reached the finals without losing a single duel.

"I would usually let the old man beguin, but if I may" Jason declared as he opened the duel. In his first turn, he summoned Gladiator Beast Andal (ATK 1900/DEF 1500), and placed two cards face down.

"Thank you, Jason. I hope you can learn a few tricks from an old, like myself" Mr. D introduced himself. He drew a card and summoned Blackwing Sirocco the Dawn (ATK 2000/DEF 900), a five star monster, that using it's special ability, as Mr. D was not controlling any monster on his side, while his opponent was, he was able to summon it without sacrifices. He placed a card face down, and confidently launched an attack on Gladiator Beast.

"Stop right there!" Jason declared as he revealed his face down card, Inverse Universe. With this trap card, Mr. D's monster, which had an attack of 2000, was changed to his defense points. Of course, the attack of Blackwing Sirocco was useless, and ended up destroying the monster and causing a 1000 in damage to Mr.D's life points.

Mr. D was left with 3000 life points, while his opponent had the remaining 4000.

"That's no good…" Aster turned towards Sartorius, who did not seemed worried. "What's the matter Aster?" he turned his violet eyes towards the boy. "The duel is only over once one of the player's life points reach 0". There was really nothing they could do, just keep watching.

Once Aster set his eyes on the field again, Jason had already summoned another Gladiator Beast Andal (ATK 1900/DEF1500). The boy clenched his teeth, Mr. D had his field wide open and two direct attacks on him would leave him in a clear disadvantage. As Jason declared an attack, Mr. D activated his trap card Dimensional Prison, banishing one of the Gladiator Beasts, still he suffered a direct attack of 1900 leaving him with 1100.

"Lucky shot…"Jason declared as he spit the ground. "You are making it seem so easy!"

"First, I activate my spell card: Goblin Thief!", Jason lost 500 life points while Mr. D recovered 500.

"Then, I'll…" Mr. D's hand froze as he was picking one of his cards. He look around the stadium gasping for air, he placed a hand slightly over his neck. Aster could notice he was having trouble breathing. He looked over to Sartorius who was reading his Tarot cards that were resting on his knees. Jade leaned forward from her seat and gave Aster a concerned look.

"Are you okay, Sir?" his opponent asked quite worried. Mr. D dropped to his knees and kept gasping for air. A nurse began slowly approaching him, and almost like a roar, he shouted: "Do not approach me". Aster was certain that the color on Jason's face had completely drained. In what seemed like forever, Mr. D was able to gain back his composure and resume the duel. He loosened his tie, and rolled up his sleeves.

"My deepest apologies, Jason, I suffer from a condition" he answered coldly.

"Aster…" Jade said almost in a whisper. "There it is again" she gestured her head towards Mr. D. Jade had a theory that Mr. D changed quite a bit when he dueled, looking more intimidating and more ruthless, however Aster would shrug it off as her being sensitive. Of course duelists had to be intimidating. Pro leagues were about winning, not about making friends.

"He is...scary" she commented. Aster briefly glanced at Sartorius, towards his lap. He noticed the card The Devil, which Sartorius quickly put away. He gave Aster a sympathetic look, as if saying "What's wrong?" and gave him a shy smile. Aster brushed it off, he did not know much about Tarot, he was not even sure if Sartorius was trying to read again the outcome of the duel. He was sure that card had not been drawn the first time. From the corner of his eye he saw Sartorius shuffling his deck, and he extended his hand awkwardly towards the popcorn.

"Let's end this, shall we?" Mr. D declared emotionless. He activated his spell card Monster Reborn, bring back Blackwing (ATK 2000/DEF 900). In his next move he activated Pot of Greed, allowing him to draw two cards from his hand. He activated his spell card: Black Luster Soldier Ritual", Aster saw he removed two Blackwings Bora the Spear (both had 4 stars), and thus, Black Luster Soldier (ATK 3000/DEF was summoned. Mr. D placed a card face down, and declared an attack on Gladiator Beast with Blackwing, causing Jason to lose 100 points. Then, he declared a second direct attack with Black Luster Soldier, leaving him with just 400 points. The crowd was silent. In a single turn not only Mr. D had been able to turn the result upside down, but make Jason loose a total of 3600 life points. Aster could notice that Jason's confident attitude was slowly cracking. He seemed rather lost, as if, not sure what had just happened. Aster could see Jason's grey eyes scanning his cards, being quite unsure of what to do next. Jason summoned a monster in defense position and a card face down. Aster realized that Jason had basically given up. He looked unsure, looking around and clenching his cards. Mr. D was ready to give the final blow. He declared an attack with Blackwing to his defense monster, Jason, did not bothered to activate his card face down. He wondered if he simply placed it for show, or if really, he considered the match lost. Mr. D won the duel by declaring a direct attack with Black Luster Soldier. Jason winced in pain and fell to his knees. As confetti began falling from the ceiling, and the crowd erupted in cheers, Mr. D walked past his opponent without even acknowledging him.

Aster imagined Mr. D would be jumping and kicking, however, he was rather calm. Standing in the middle of the stadium taking in all the cheers and claps. A satisfied smile run across his lips.

The kids rushed trying to catch Mr. D before he would be taken over by the cameras and fans. Aster made his way until he was standing in first line, next to a reporter who was asking Mr. D some questions.

"I knew I would win" Aster caught Mr. D saying. "You see, with Destiny on my side, I'll always win...I'm the Destiny Duelist, after all.". He stood straight, never breaking eye contact with the reporter and he looked very confident. He answered most questions briefly, he noticed Aster standing next to the reporter and they exchanged glances for a second. Mr. D continued focus on the question and answering to all reporters. He felt Sartorius grab him by the arm.

"I think it's better if we wait for him in his dressing room". Aster had no choice but follow him. The dressing room was more like a small waiting area with a sofa and a vanity. It was rather empty, and it had Mr. D's suitcase, and Aster's coat. Inside the room he looked around, and then, looked back at Sartorius.

"Where is Jade?"

Sartorius glanced around surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry...I thought she was behind me"

As Aster was about to step outside, he saw the girl.

"Jade! I've been looking for you!" Aster answered surprised.

"Well, I thought it would be better to stay here while we wait...the crowd seemed to really like him"

"Yeah! That's what Sartorious told me so I followed him".

Jade fell silent. She closed the door behind her, the outside noise was becoming louder, the boy figured Mr. D was approaching the room.

"Oh, so you too were already here" she made a pause.

"Yeah!" Aster answered cheerfully, "and I was going to look for you".

"Sartorius did not tell me" she muttered.

"Well…" Aster answered "He said you were right behind him!"

"No, I wasn't-"

The door opened and Mr. D stepped inside. He looked at the kids and gave them a smile.

"Well...that was interesting!". Aster glanced towards Jade who went over to handle Mr. D his suitcase.

"Now...we need to find a way to return home!"

Mr. D seemed to be his usual self, Aster thought relieved.

With the victory, came recognition, and with that, came interviews and...money. Aster noticed they had dinner in some fancier restaurants. Soon enough, Mr. D quit his job at Industrial Illusions to dedicate to dueling full time. His eyes were set on the Pro Season that would start soon. Aster had explained that sadly, Mr. D could not help him settle in the States, as after two weeks, he would travel back to Domino to participate. But he encouraged him that Sartorius would be with him at all times.

"But don't you want Sartorius read your cards?"

"Nah" Mr. D shrugged it off. "I can have him read my Fortune over the phone, but you need someone you know and trust in the States...especially in the first few days!". Aster looked over to the recently bought luggage, he still had to find a way to tell Jade about it.

Aster waited for Jade to come over for lunch. His suitcase laid in the hallway, empty. As he imagined many scenarios in his head of how she would react, he heard the ring bell. Excitedly, he rushed to open the door, only to find Officer Kaneda standing awkwardly. It had been three months since he last saw him.

"Good morning, Aster" the man said as he removed his hat. "May I come in?"

The boy allowed him to sit on the chair. As always, he was wearing his police uniform, his bandage shining bright and proudly on the right side of his chest.

"Officer Kaneda" Mr. D approached the living room. "What brings you here?"

Silence.

"I came to apologize. I came to inform you that the case of Elias' Phoenix murder has gone cold". Aster clenched his teeth and jumped from the sofa.

"You can't do that!"

Aster felt Mr. D pat him on the shoulder and gestured him to sit again in the sofa.

"Aster, let Officer Kaneda finish". The boy stared at his shoes as the officer explained that there were simply no subjects, no apparent cause, besides from a normal robbery and they would stop with the investigation.

"But what about the card? Have you found it?"

Officer Kaneda shook his head.

"We could not find the card in Industrial Illusion's database" Officer Kaneda explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Aster cried.

"When a card is erased from the database, it is as if it never existed. It is completely banned from any competition, and there is no possible way to track it" Mr. D explained.

"We don't even know what the card looks like...now there is no registry of the card even existing."

Aster jumped from his seat.

"I told you the day you gave me my cards to look on the database, and you didn't. I told you that the murder was motivated to steal Plasma. Maximillian Pegasus has seen it, and he knows" Aster began shouting at Officer Kaneda "Maximillian Pegasus knows the card is real and that it's very powerful. You cannot tell me a card simply vanished from existence!" the boy began pointing his finger at Officer Kaneda accusingly.

"I do not doubt you, Aster. Indeed, we checked the database for the Destiny Hero deck, and as you said...there are 39 cards".

"The card is still missing!" Aster stated the obvious.

"Yes, but sadly, there isn't much we can-"

"Don't you have a suspect? Anything?" the boy interrupted.

Aster began feeling his cheeks getting warmer and warmer.

"I can't believe this!" he shouted as he rushed to his room and locked the door behind him.

He heard Mr.D calmly trying to talk to the policemen. Angry tears were coming from Aster's eyes. Police had been completely useless. He doubt they even bothered searching enough. To Aster it was enough proof that a killer and a thief was still on the loose. Even going as far as to delete the card from the database. It would be much difficult to track, and by being erased it would automatically be banned from use.

He heard a gentle knock on his door.

"If it's Officer Kaneda I have no business with you!"

Mr. D opened the door and sat in his bed, he gestured the boy to sit as well.

"Officer Kaneda has left, if that's what you are wondering" Mr. D told him. Aster turned around avoiding eye contact with Mr. D, who kept talking.

"I won't scold you. I understand your anger." Mr. D gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"You know, people have their different views on justice and law. Just because Officer Kaneda couldn't find the killer of your father it doesn't mean he stands by it."

"Wouldn't a police officer try everything in it's power to reach the truth? I thought that's what policemen are for."

Mr. D sighed.

"It is the ideal of course, but it isn't what happens. Investigation takes times and money and many people have their own cases in need of investigation everyday...and they all think, with good reason, that their case is the most important."

"You said you lost your father at a young age. What happened?" Aster wondered.

"Well...my father was involved with some big fish of the Underground Dueling Scene, I don't know the full story, but what I can tell you is that they had enough resources to never get caught."

Aster gave it a thought.

"And don't you wish justice was served?"

"Well yes. Revenge is pretty much a natural feeling. Why do you think I tried so hard to reach the Pro Leagues?"

Aster was not following.

"You are a little young to understand but...by reaching Pro, you meet people, you travel the world…"

"You would like to find them" Aster finished.

"Well, yes...sometimes there is nothing left to do than to take justice into your own hands."

"Why do you duel, D?" Aster asked. He remembered asking the same question to Jade. He remebered that dream he head of himself explaining that he dueled for revenge...maybe his older self was not as scary as he had thought. Mr. D chuckled.

"You know, ever since winning, I began asking myself that question...I'm not sure yet."

He smiled at Aster. "I think it is important to have a reason, and you'll figure it out as you duel. What moves you to duel, who do you duel for." Aster nodded his head.

"I think...I duel for myself. For fun, as a test to my own abilities...I hope in America you find your own reasons". He lightly patted Aster in the head and stood up.

They both heard the ring bell again. This time Aster was sure it was Jade.

"I think you have another challenge at the moment…She needs to know that we leave in five days".

Jade sat with her eyes wide open. Her green eyes were to much for Aster to bear. She remained silent, which made it much worse.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked in a whisper, a single tear falling from her cheek.

"I just...I'm sorry. I just didn't know how to tell you"

Silence.

"I...I didn't want you to get mad or something"

"Well, I am mad. Because you told me just five weeks before you are leaving." She looked at him, her eyes a mixture of tears and anger. "How would you have want me to find out? Just come up here and find out you are gone?"

"I know...I...I should have tell you sooner" Aster apologized.

"Since when have you known?"

He knew very well her answer would make her more angry, but he prefered being honest:

"Like...two months…"

"Don't best friends tell eachother everything?" she wondered looking in his eyes. He wanted to avoid eye contact as much as possible. He grabbed her hand.

"I was afraid...I...the hardest part of leaving Domino is leaving you behind…and-"

They both turned around to find Sartorius who had return with his sister with groceries. He noticed that Jade was not very amused.

"They live here…" Aster whispered, making Jade frown even more. The boy had a feeling that his friend did not like the tarot reader very much.

Merry Christmas everyone! My gift is a slightly longer chapter :D