Lila's opponent in this episode is a little based on a little girl I babysit. Mainly the types of monsters she uses. I had a lot of fun writing this so I hope it's liked. I actually wrote this while I had writers block working on fifteen, so I hope it all flows properly. It's also a little shorter then the last chapter I wrote so let's consider chapter five a two part episode and this one a single. It's just a bit of lighthearted fun before the next three part chapter I've got to write then the finals.
Also there's going to be a bit of a gap between this and the next chapter, I'm working over time and haven't had a chance to pre-write any more. So they'll be like a two/three week break until the next one but by then I'll hopefully have a few ready to go.
Enjoy!
Sixteen - Fairy Friends
"We're out. Fresh air at last!" Joey runs ahead of the group, stretching his arms above his head as he breaths in the fresh air. It's a relief to be out of those musty cave and see the sky again. Though all that walking has left them exhausted. It may have been the right path, but it certainly wasn't a short one.
"All right," Yugi follow's Tea up the stairs and they realise they've come out at the edge of the woods, right at the base of the mountain. With everyone being tired and in pretty much no shape to make their way up those insane stairs again, they all decide to sit down for a moment to get their breaths back and rest their tired legs. Luckily there's a small clearing arena with some felled trees not to far that' s a good place for them to sit down.
While most of them gather close together, Lila hangs back a bit from the group, frowning a little to herself. Joey still stares at his duelling gloves like he can't believe what he's seeing.
"We did it," Joey cheers, showing off his duel glove to Tristan and the others. The all smile and congratulate him and the blonde turns to Yugi "Check it out Yugi, we're ready. We can go to the castle! We can show Pegasus what happens when he messes with us!" Yugi smile but glances over at Lila. She's sitting away from the group with a more serious expression on her face.
From her place sitting on a fallen tree, Lila sighs as she looks over at her two friends and then down at her duel glove. After that double duel with those rhyming creeps, Yugi and Joey both have their needed chips but she's still three short. However the island's been getting pretty scarce of duellists, the finals are pretty close and everyone who is left, is probably in the same boat as her. Just one duel away from having enough to qualify. She doesn't want to be holding the boys back but they won't leave her on her own just so they can get to the castle, so she needs to find herself an opponent and quick. She hops up from her spot and throws another look at her friends with a small smile. Joey is so proud of himself and it's not surprising.
As she moves to walk away from the group, Yugi turns to see her. He tries calling after her but she doesn't respond making him frown. Lila isn't the kind of person to just ignore her friends. Something's clearly bothering her and it's pretty easy to guess what it is. The rest of the group are all sitting around, glad to be taking in the fresh air so he gives them a quick wave as he hurries after the brunette. It doesn't take long for him to catch up, she isn't walking in a hurry.
"Lila, don't worry," he prompts as he falls in step with her, offering her a smile "You'll find your last opponent and we'll get to the castle before the days over."
"I just don't want you guys to hang around waiting," she explains, frowning to herself as she keeps walking, even as Yugi tries to placate her by saying "Lila, we don't mind. You've stuck by us as we've duelled and found opponents, we're not going to leave you." She offers him a smile and he bumps into her playfully, causing her to laugh a little "So where are you thinking of looking? We shouldn't go too far or the others will start to worry."
"We've been in this part of the woods before. There's a clearing with a duel arena over that way," Lila explains, pointing in the direction she's going "Last time we were here, there were a ton of people gathered and with any luck, I can find someone over there. If you want to go get the others, you can catch up." Yugi nods and falls back as he turns to head back to everyone else as Lila carries on. She tucks her hair behind her ear and ducks a thick, low hanging branch just before the clearing. The duel arena is active and it looks like a duel's just finished. The winner giggles and jumps up and down with a big smile on her face. She's pretty young, probably only a little older then Mokuba, the person she's beaten looks shocked. He's around the age of the majority of the competitors, so lateish teens, though he isn't wearing a uniform so other then that, it's hard to tell.
"That's what you get for trying to bully me just 'cause I'm small," the girl sticks her tongue out childishly then she looks over to Lila "Hi! I'm Rani!" She comes down from her podium and hurries over to the girl, holding her hand out. Lila shakes it "I'm Lila." She looks the girl over. She's got big burgundy curls that make her look taller and a pair of pink and gold dragonfly hair clips holding back her fringe. She's also got huge lavender coloured eyes. Over all, she's just adorable. Rani then look to her opponent and skips over to him, holding out her hand. He glares but hands over his star chips "Yay, just two chips left!" She looks back over to Lila "How many you got left?"
"Three," Lila shows Rani her glove, impressed by how well the little girl is doing. Rani tilts her head to the side, like she's taking a moment to think before she beams "Great! Wanna duel? Winner'll get to the finals." Lila smiles and nods.
"Sure," she chuckles a little as she talks "It'll be nice to end on something fun as oppose to a complete jerk like everyone else I've seen."
"Tell me about it," Rani exclaims "So many of the people here are so mean! Like that guy who just left. All through the duel he kept trying to trash talk and was always making fun of my monsters! It's just rude!" She pouts a little and Lila resists the urge to coo. This girl really is adorable, but she shouldn't let that distract her. This girl can't be all cuteness if she's lasted this long.
Lila and the girl have already taken their position when Yugi and the rest of the group arrive, Tristan rubbing his nose which is red and there is a little dried blood, probably didn't see that branch in time to duck, "Tell you what Lila, let's do this, if I win you give me two chips and if you win, I give you three."
"You sure? That means you've got more to lose then I do."
"Yep! I mean that way we'll have the same outcome either way," she throws the older girl a wink "Just as long as you let me go first."
"Sure, I don't mind."
"Great!" the two draw their first cards and look down at their hands as Tristan makes a remark about Rani's age "Isn't there a minimum age limit for this? I mean she's just a kid! Doesn't this make Lila a bully?" Rani rolls her eyes, obviously use to those kinds of comments and makes her first move "I play my Fairy Archer in attack mode." The monster appears in a sparkle of bright light. She's small, on the extremely slender side with bow looking golden orange wings, a matching weapon and light weight purple clothes "I'm also going to equip her with the Elf's Light magic card to give her another four hundred attack. Then I'm using her ability. I can you four hundred points of damage for every light monster I control. Right now that's one." The fairy takes aim and fires and arrow above Lila's head which dissolves into sparkles that rain down on the brunette as her life point counter drops to sixteen hundred.
"That's brilliant," Tea remarks, making the two tall boys look at her, confused "Remember, you can't attack if you go first, but this girl's still managed to deal a pretty decent chuck anyway." Yugi nods in agreement. Rani definitely knows how to use her cards. Plus with that equip, Lila's monsters won't have an easy time since none of them are going to get a power bonus from this arena. Luckily, it doesn't seem like Rani's have either "And it doesn't hurt that it's utterly adorable!"
"I summon Maruading Captain, and his ability let's me summon Fire Princess in defense mode. I'll then lay three cards face down," Lila smiles as Rani's eyes widen and she says "Three?" The brunette nods and passes the duel back to the girl who smiles as she draws. She squeals in excitement and claps her hands together as she bounces on the spot.
"Yay, I get to play my favourite monster. Lunar Queen Elizaim," the pale skinned teenager looking monster has long brown hair the falls in her face and is wearing a gossamer orange dress with glowing wings curled around her, in her hands she hold a glowing crescent moon "I'm laying a face down and powering up my queen with the magic cards Cestus Of Dagla and the Black Pendant which boosts her attack up to seventeen fifty. Now I'm using Fairy Archer's ability to deal you eight hundred damage," Lila's life points drop to eight hundred. Lila swallows, that was fast! "Now my Elizaim attack Fire Princess!"
"Activate Kunai With Chain!" the chain fires out from the ground, wrapping around the fairy to force it to the ground "Not only is your monster forced to defense, but my captain gains five hundred attack, boosting him to seventeen hundred," the chain wraps around the blonde warriors arm and his sword hilt, but the bladed part can't be seen as he is still armed with his sword "And before you end your turn, I'm activating another trap, Solemn Wishes."
"Oh, well you got me good there," Rani giggles, scratching the back of her head "That's a cool combo. Though, you need to protect your princess to keep it going."
"Yeah, but it counteracts your archer," Lila reminds, making Rani nod and let her go. Lila draws "I switch Fire Princess to attack and power her up with Salamandra," fire erupts around the female monster as her staff turns into literal flames "Oh and since I drew my spell, that's five hundred life points for me and five hundred from you," Lila's princess' eyes light up and flames surround Rani as her counter drops to fifteen while Lila's raises to thirteen "Next my princess destroys your archer, so no more effect damage." Fire Princess raises her staff above her head and lets out a cry, causing flames to surround the little fairy and destroy it, dropping Rani by another three hundred.
"I activate Ultimate Offering!" Rani smirks and Lila's eyes widen. That's bad.
"Hey Yuge, what's that do?" Joey asks, ducking down to talk quietly. It's another of those cards he's never heard of before.
"During her main phase or Lila's battle phase, she can pay five hundred life points to summon another monster and the bad thing is, like Lila's Solemn Wishes, it stays around. I wonder what she's going to play."
"I summon Dancing Fairy in defense mode!" a large flower appears on the field and blooms, revealing three tiny fairies that dance like they're playing ring around a rosie and Tea exclaims at how adorable the monsters are. so far every one of Rani's monsters have been the kind that Tea likes, adorable and seemingly non-threatening. Lila chuckles and nods "Nice. You get a life point boost as long as they are in defense mode. Well there isn't anything else I can do right now, so it's your turn." Rani draws and her life points fly up to seventeen hundred as she smiles at her hand.
"I summon my Fairy Dragon," a small, green scaled dragon with no limbs but large wings appears with a squeak "Isn't he cute? And I'm using my Ultimate Offering to also summon Wingweaver!" This fairy is human sized with long purple hair and she's dressed in a golden dress. Her skin is a pink colour and her six angel wings are pale blue. She stands at the front of Rani's monsters, the rest all curling around her "My Wingweaver has an attack of twenty seven fifty, neither of your monsters can deal with that, but since I'd rather not deal with anymore effect damage, I'm attacking your princess." When Wingweaver attacks, a pink orb of light appears in her hands she blows it at Lila's monster, destroying her. Now Lila's down to five fifty. Still Rani ends her turn and Lila's draws, that boosts her another five hundred, which she really needed. But the only card she's drawn is United We Stand, even if she uses that, she's can't beat Rani's monster, but she can do something "My Captain attacks your Dancing Fairy. It might not do any damage, but you aren't going to by able to use Ultimate offering anymore." Marauding Captain draws his sword and slashes through Rani's monster "Your turn."
"Wingweaver, destroy her captain," another orb is fired but this time it doesn't meet it's target as Lila flips her face down up "Go Negate Attack!" A barrier appears before Lila's monster, protecting the warrior from destruction. Rani huffs but then laughs nodding back to Lila.
"Phew, that was a close one," Joey remarks then he frowns "Hang on, Lila's had that set since he first turn, why'd she only use it now?" Yugi shrugs "Lila doesn't always use her traps when you'd expect her too. It keeps her opponent guessing, take it from someone whose been duelling her a long time." Lila closes her eyes, she gets another five hundred life points. That trap is a hell of a lifeline, but the fact remains, if she doesn't get right of Wingweaver, she's in pretty big trouble. She draws. Huh, her Dark Witch. That'll work.
"You like fairies right?" Rani nods "Well my favourite happens to be a fairy herself, and I think it's time you meet her. Go Dark Witch," The monster appears in a flurry of dark blue feathers and flies high. Lila can't help but smile up at her monster, always happy to see her "And while my monsters along might not be able to deal with your Wingweaver, I can power them up with United We Stand. This makes Dark Witch thirty four hundred attack points strong, Dark Witch, attack Wingweaver. Shining spear." Dark Witch charges forward, her spear lighting up and she flies right through the multi-winged fairy. Rani's on eight fifty life points now and Lila's the one with the powerful monster, but that fact doesn't last long.
"I activate, Heavy Storm, this destroys all spell and trap cards on the field," the winds whip up and the visual cues to show the effects active, the weapons on both Lunar Queen Eliziam and Marauding Captain, as well as the glow around Dark Witch are all swept away with the gusts "Next I remove my Dancing Fairy from play to special summon Silpheed. And I'm summoning Fairy Guardian. But he won't be around long, since his ability lets me tribute him to bring back a spell from my graveyard, I chose my Cestus Of Dagla, which are going right back on my Queen. Now Silpheed, destroy her captain!" The green, wind fairy raises up, his body turning into a green whirlwind which engulfs Lila's monster, destroying it and dropping her back to one thousand and fifty. Lila draws and smiles.
"I summon my Dark Magician!" her blue skinned, blonde variant of Yugi's monster appears beside her Dark Witch, making the group smile. Two of their groups iconic monster standing side by side. After the way Yugi and Joey worked together to beat the Paradox brothers, Lila's monsters are almost showing what it would be like for her and Yugi to stand side by side in a duel. Rani's jaw drops and she swallows as Lila's sad gaze falls on her queen. Her Dark Magician is strong enough to destroy Rani's favourite monster and wipe out the rest of the girl's life points. But Lila hesitates. She hates to see her Dark Witch destroyed and Rani has the same love for her monster. Rani smiles and pipes up "It's okay, I'm sure my queen understands your not attacking to be mean. And I've had fun this duel. Do it." Lila smiles, she may look like a little girl, but Rani's taking this like a true duellist. She nods "Dark Magician attack Lunar Queen Elizaim, dark magic attack!" Lila's monster nods and throw his hand out, destroying Rani's fairy and dropping her life points to zero. The monsters fade away and the podiums lower to the duelists.
Rani walks over to Lila, still smiling as she holds out her hand and drops her three chips into the older girl's hands saying "That was fun. I hope we get to duel again someday." Lila nods.
"Your very skilled and you play with your heart," Rani giggles cutely "I mean it. Don't lose that. Don't lose the love you feel for your monsters. It's the thing that shines the most when you duel." Rani nods, still smiling but her eyes serious as she says "I won't. And promise me something Lila."
"Sure."
"Kick some butt in the finals!"
"I definitely will," the rest of the group watch on smiling, glad to see that Lila's back to her old self. All it took was a duel with a special girl and now everything's right on track. Rani looks at the others in the group and looks over at Yugi. She tilts her head to the side and says "You know, I thought the guy who beat Kaiba would be taller." Yugi blushes and the rest giggle at her blase way of speaking, but that's just what kids are like "I mean Kaiba's freakishly tall but you're barely any bigger then me." She steps closer and places a hand on each of their heads, then steps back to show the difference. Lila kneels down and looks at Rani with a raised eye brow "Weren't you telling me that people were teasing you about your height before you beat them. How is that any different to you teasing Yugi."
"Right sorry," Rani blushes, looking down at her feet "Sometimes I talk without thinking." All she's doing is making herself look cuter and from a look at Tea, it looks like the teenager is going in cuteness overload. Lila and Yugi take a moment to wander away from the group, Rani seeming to quickly get along with the others as she lets Tea and Joey look at her cards while she does the same.
"Finally there huh?" Lila asks, glancing at her friends with a nervous smile "You ready?" Yugi looks up at the castle, his expression serious and he nods. Yes, he's more then ready for this. Lila swallows and gives a small nervous laugh "I don't know if I am. I hope I can be helpful." Yugi smiles "Of course you will. All of you will. I wouldn't have been able to get this far is you weren't all here." The others bid goodbye to Rani and rejoin the other two. All of them look at their destination.
It's time. They're going to face Pegasus.