Prologue: Alignment
Disclaimer: I, OWN, NOTHING! (Except for the original elements and characters)
...
Space.
Space is a surprisingly scary place, you never know what's out there, and what is out there might now even know you exist, and if it does, it could potentially view you as nothing more than a monster.
But all I know now is what I know of my home planet, Earth, the home of Duel Monsters.
My name is Kaila 'Star' Hoshikami, and this is the story of how I saved my home world with a deck from the stars.
Darkness was seen as far as the eye can see, nothing noticeable except for a young girl amidst it all. The girl looked to be 17 years with long blond curly hair (similar to Yang Xiao Long) and bright yellow eyes. She was wearing yellow full-body pajamas with a gold star on the chest and two gold stars on the sides of the legs; this was Kaila 'Star' Hoshikami, our protagonist.
She was currently standing in the void of black while looking around for any signs of life. "Hello!" She called out. "Is anyone out there?" Kaila called out again.
No response was heard. "Dang it." Kaila cursed under her breath, until a small light shone its way through the darkness, like a star at night.
"What the?" Kaila muttered.
"Little one..." a voice whispered in the dark.
"Huh?" Kaila quirked an eyebrow.
"You must grow... You must learn... You must fight..." The voice said louder.
"What do you me-" Kaila was interrupted.
"And you must live." The light went out immediately.
The sight of Kaila's eyes snapping open was seen as she slowly got sat up from her bad. "Dang it, why do dreams have to be so vague?" She asked herself.
She began looking around her room. It was pretty OK in terms of theming. The whole room had an aesthetic involving stars, with yellow paint on the walls, two yellow fluffy star shaped seats in the corner, and a fairly large wooden desk painted black with very tiny white spots parallel to her bed with a bunch of duel monsters cards on it next to a white and blue duel disk with a flat yellow star on the top (Think Yusaku's duel disk from YuGiOh Vrains). Her bed had a wooden frame holding the mattress up with the white blanket having a bunch of yellow stars plastered all over it, and a full-body mirror right by it. To the left of her bad was a dresser with two drawers in it with a lamp on the top, and the most noticeable part of it was a yellow star shaped locket with a white button on the right side and a golden gem in the center. And by it was an electrical alarm clock.
"7:10 Friday, huh? I guess I was dreaming that same dream again." Kaila looked up to the ceiling as she lied down on her bed again, thinking about the dream. "That's the third time this week, just what does it mean." Kaila thought before she was dragged out of her thoughts by a knock on the door.
"Kaila, it's time for breakfast." A child-like voice told her through the door.
"Coming, Lina." Kaila said in response.
She got out of bed and turned off her alarm clock before it could go off. She got out of her pajamas and dressed into her school uniform, which consisted of a white long sleeve shirt, a black skirt, a yellow tie, and (for personal touch) black tights adorning her legs, and last but not least, she wore her star shaped locket around her neck.
She readied her school case with everything she'd need for school, including her duel disk and deck, and opened the door to her room.
On the other side was a 12-year-old girl with red hair with three cherry blossom pink streaks in it and two chocolate brown eyes gazing at her in child-like blissfulness. She was wearing a similar uniform to Kaila only it was suited for her size. And her hair was tied up in twin pigtails. This was Lina Mizuma, Kaila's younger sister.
"Good morning sis." Lina said with a smile.
"Good morning, Lina." Kaila said back before thinking of something. "Were you waiting here for me to come out this whole time?" Kaila asked her.
"You know it, one of my many jobs in life is to back you up on any subject you need support in, or my isn't Lina 'Song' Mizuma." Lina said proudly with her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, and I thank you for that, but can take care of myself, I'll have you know." Kaila told her with a smile.
"Girls, come on down or breakfast will get cold." A woman's voice echoed through the house.
"Coming mom." They both said back as Lina skipped off with a smile, with Kaila shortly behind.
In the dining room, Kaila and Lina were at a table eating toast with eggs and bacon on the side with a glass of water (or milk in Lina's case) to complement it, with two older people at the table with them.
One was a woman with cherry blossom pink hair tied in a ponytail and dyed hot pink bangs on the sides of her face, and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a black suit with a red tie and white undershirt that hugged her ample chest, and wore a long black skirt. This was Amelia Mizuma, Lina's mother.
The other was a man with crimson hair and chocolate brown eyes. What he wore was simple in comparison to Amelia, a simple blue short sleeve t-shirt with a white star on it, and black pants held up with a brown leather belt, and wore black-framed glasses. This was Sora Mizuma, Lina's Father and Amelia's Husband.
Both parents were eating at a leisurely pace before Amelia spoke up. "So, how are my favorite little stars going to go about today." She asked with a smile.
"I'm gonna have an awesome day today, mommy." Lina declared. "I studied extra hard for that math test coming up, and after school I've got plans to meet with the leader of the middle school dueling club for me to join in, that way, I can duel with the high schoolers." Lina said excited.
"That's great, kiddo, keep that energy." Sora encouraged. "What about you, Kaila?" He asked the teenage girl.
"Nothing much today, just plans to meet up with Lina and get her into the dueling club after school is over." Kaila answered.
"Huh? Well that's new." Sora asked. "But still though, you know there's more to life then dueling, right?" He asked with a smile.
"Maybe, but I feel really exhilarated like never before when I duel, you should know the feeling, right, dad?" Kaila said.
"Haha, I'm just teasing." He laughed before noticing the time. "Oh, hey Amelia."
"Yes, dear?" Amelia said finishing up her breakfast.
"Don't usually leave in 2 minutes from now?" He asked.
This got Amelia to lose her color as she slowly looked to a clock hanging on the wall.
7:28 AM.
"OH NOOOOO!" She screamed in panic as she rocketed out of her chair, grabbed her briefcase and phone, and went to the door to slip her black high heels on. "Goodbye now, have a good day of learning and business." She said quickly as she raced out the door.
Everyone looked at the door blankly before Kaila sighed. "Seriously, that's the fourth time she ran out the front door like that this week." She exclaimed.
"Keep your cool, Kaila, a good level head makes a good duelist, that's what my mentor always taught went it comes to dueling." Sora told her.
"Right, sorry." Kaila apologized as she finished her breakfast.
"Welp, time for us to get going, if we head off now we'll be able to get to school long before the gates close." Lina said cheerfully.
"Right, see you at the shop today?" Kaila asked her father.
"You'd better believe it." Sora said.
Kaila and Lina each put on brown shoes as part of their uniforms and took off through the door as Sora was left alone in the house. A buzzing broke what silence there was in it as he pulled out his phone and looked at who was calling him, the moment he saw the identity of who it was that was calling him, his smile faltered a moment as he denied the call.
Five minutes later, on the way to school, Kaila and Lina were walking down the road with smiles on their faces, then all of the sudden. "Hey, you two." A male rowdy voice exclaimed from behind them.
The two of turned around to see a 17 year old teenage boy with spiky black hair and obsidian black eyes, he was wearing a uniform similar to Kaila's, only he had black pants in place of a skirt held up by a black belt with a metal buckle, and had a red bracelet with a decorative dragon head on the top of the wrist. This was Davis Katsura, Kaila's childhood friend.
"Hey there, Davis." Lina greeted.
"How's everything going so far?" Kaila asked.
"Pretty good, I was able to catch up to you two after all." Davis said smiling.
"Wait, hold on a moment, where's-" another young person's voice cut Lina off.
"HEY!" a shout echoed through the area as they turned around to see another 12-year-old girl racing towards them, she had long black hair that went past her shoulders, lilac purple eyes, wore a similar uniform to Lina, and she wore blue rimmed glasses. This was Davis' younger sister, Kari Katsura, the childhood friend to Lina.
"Did you... have to... run... that fast?" Kari asked panting like a tired out dog.
"What can I say, except that I'm full of energy this morning." Davis said with a wide smile.
"YOUR FULL OF ENERGY EVERY MORNING, YOU TWIT!" Kari screamed in Davis' face.
"Okay, okay, sorry for leaving you in the dust." The boy apologized while rubbing his ears.
"You'd better be, because if I come out of school with a sour attitude, I'm ratting you out on the subject." Kari told him.
Davis gasped dramatically. "You wouldn't." Davis said glaring at her, only for the younger girl to look at him with a raised eyebrow, making his glare falter and the sides of his mouth droop down. "Okay, maybe you would." He simply said.
"Exactly, now let's get to school before we're late." The black-haired girl said before Kaila smiled.
"Don't worry, we've got plenty of time." Kaila reassured her.
"Maybe, but still..." Lina interrupted Kari.
"Don't worry school doesn't start until 8:30, remember." Lina reminded her.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"That's my little sister for you, always sticking to the rulebook." Davis joked.
"UHG! Let's just get moving." Kari said before walking off.
"Fine." Davis said, before remembering something. "Oh, by the way, Kaila."
"Yeah?" She responded.
"You still using that Ignister deck of yours?" He asked.
Kaila sighed. "Yes, I am, and honestly, I don't plan on giving them up anytime soon." She adamantly answered.
Kaila was a duelist that loved all of the summoning methods equally, but had a hard time thinking about how to build a deck that could properly utilize each of them.
At least until the Ignister archetype came along.
It was a dream come true to her, being able to use an archetype that could fully utilize the power of each and every summoning method. With the exception of pendulum, but beggar's can't be choosers.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the school, Astral Star Academy. There were two parts to the school in question, there was the northern high school part, and the southern middle school part, each divided up so that both versions of the student body could focus on studying without disrupting or confusing the other age group, but two things were common among both schools, and that was the clubs and the student council, which have the ability to be comprised of both middle school and high school students, it's the only school to ever implement this system in the entirety of Japan, and more than likely the whole world.
This system gave rise to a special form or equality between both age groups, allowing one to learn a thing or two from the other, and it works a lot better and smoother than one would think.
"Welp, see ya, Lina." Kaila said
"Stay safe, Kari." Davis added patting the girl's head, which Kari quickly backed away from.
"Don't worry bro, I'll be fine." Kari reassured him. "Come on, Lina."
"You got it, Kari." Lina said giving a mock salute as they walked to the middle school campus, and while Kaila and Davis nodded gave each other a knowing nod, and walked into the high school building.
Little did they know however, that a small mechanical spider was monitoring Kaila closely. It was no bigger than the size of a pinkie finger, but had the logo of a star with eight points on it's abdomen, two points pointing up, down, left, and right, with a name engraved below it, "A.T. Futuristic's".
The spider monitored their whole walk as, on the other side, was a large high tech room with dozens of rows of computers lined up, and workers in suits that wore headphones stationed at each of them. As Kaila faded from view from the monitors, one of the male workers by the computers spoke up.
"Director Aether, Ms. Hoshikami has disappeared from view, permission to move in." He asked as he looked to someone, whose only visible features were her mouth and nose.
"No, bring the bug back for now and leave her to the school's devices, and the letter ready." She ordered in a strong voice.
"Yes Director." He said typing something on his computer.
"And you there, unit 23." She ordered.
"Yes Director." She said.
"I want the arena ready for anything." The director stated.
"As you wish, Director." She responded.
The director in question pulled out a gray deck case with a yellow star on it, with a golden gem in the center. "May the stars of salvation shine down this world, with you leading the charge, Kaila Hoshikami." She whispered as she looked at the deck case with duel colored eyes of blue and green before pocketing it and began walking out of the room. "Make sure the school is watching both her and her friends, she's going to need allies if we're gonna want fend of them." She ordered.
"I'll get word to the school immediately, director." A male voice said as the director left the room.
She was currently walking down the hallway of a large building with windows on the left side, overseeing the tall buildings of the city she, as well as millions of other people, resided in. Zodiac City.
"I always thought the name of this city was a sign of destiny." The director said to herself, before hearing another set of footsteps walking down from the other side of the hallway.
She looked ahead and saw a familiar-looking woman with cherry-blossom pink hair. "Ah, hello there, Ms. Mizuma." She said politely lowering her head a little.
It was Amelia. "Hmph, pleasure to see you again, Director Aether." She said immediately as she began walking away while not making eye contact with her.
Later on at the school at 12: 30 P.M. (lunch time)
"AH, my favorite time of the day is here at last." Davis said in relief as he began chowing down on a ham and cheese sandwich.
"Yeah, I can coincide with that." Kaila said agreeing with him as she ate some rice.
"So Kaila, anything new at the card shop lately? For the past week I mean." Davis asked as he ate.
"Well, nothing major in the shop itself, but I did hear from dad that there was going to be a new solid vision stadium being built in the Sterbreak Shopping Mall." She explained.
"Another one? Don't we already have two in the Sagittarius and Taurus Districts." Davis said with his voice muffled by all the food in his mouth.
For context, Zodiac city is a city that completely finished construction in Japan 26 years ago, and spans a very large area at the near top of Japan, so much so that it rivals half the size of Tokyo in terms of size. With 12 main area's each with their own quirks. Sagittarius and Taurus Districts have multiple card shops and dueling arenas. Aquarius and Pisces Districts manage basically everything involving water, including beaches, harbors, and ports. Capricorn, Scorpio, and Gemini focus on housing and eduacation. Cancer and Aries focus around parks and nature. And Leo, Libra and Virgo districts focus primarily focus on the shopping and business of normal things, and these three districts in particular surround the heart of entire city.
The main buildings of Aether Tech Futuristic's.
A company that was founded 30 years ago had this city built around its primary buildings for reasons still unknown to the public, but it became a really popular city in Japan either way, and began attracting a lot of attention from around the world.
(Author's Note: but enough world building, back to the story)
"You shouldn't talk with your mouth full, you're going to choke." Kaila warned as she began munching on her own sandwich.
"Maybe, but still, it's like the whole city is preparing for some sort of big event or something." Davis theorized as he nearly finished his lunch.
"Well I, for one, see this as a blessing, so that, we don't have to walk so far just to get to the stadiums we've got already." Kaila said smiling.
"Yeah, no complaining there." Davis said.
3: 00 P.M. (After School)
"I nailed that test!" Lina exclaimed proudly.
"I willing to bet you did." Kari said with a smile as all for of them walked through the school hallways.
"Now then, to meet with a school's dueling club and sign up, am I right?" Davis asked.
"You know it." Lina responded with a jump in her step as Kaila smiled.
"Man, am I glad to have a sister like her by my side." Kaila thought retaining her outward smile. "Almost makes up for..." Kaila's smile would've have faltered if it weren't for a voice from behind.
"Hate to say it, you lot, but that won't be happening today." Kaila, Davis, Lina, and Kari each turned around to see an adult male with short blue hair, and sapphire blue eyes. He wore a white button-up shirt, and had black pants held up by a silver painted belt. This was Axel Isuki, the gym coach of Astral Star Academy.
"What do you mean, Mr. Isuki?" Lina asked.
"The rest of the Dueling club got dragged into a meeting by the school student council president, hate to say it, especially to you guys, but the dueling club is going to be put off for today." Mr. Isuki told them.
"AWWW MAN!" Lina shouted as she crossed her arms with a pout. "Now what do we do?" She asked tapping her foot on the floor.
"Oh, actually, I'm pretty sure I saw your father's van pull up by the school." The gym coach told Davis.
"Oh, man, dad sure has instincts. Come on, let's hit the road." Davis said running off.
"HEY! No running in the hallways, young man!" Mr. Isuki shouted at the boy.
"SORRY!" He apologized before halting and walking at a slower place.
"Hah, that's Davis for you, leaping before thinking." Kaila said before following after him.
"By the way, Kaila." The teenage girls stopped and turned to the gym coach. "Nobody's giving you a hard time, right?" He asked with concern clear in his voice.
Kaila frowned hearing this, but put on a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself, you know." Kaila told him.
"Sorry, I just keep remembering how hard it was for you to get through middle school, especially with-" Mr. Isuki was cut off.
"Please, don't worry, I'm fine now." Kaila said before walking in a quickened pace.
Mr. Isuki sighed the moment she was out of sight. "Poor girl..." He muttered while looking down at the floor, at least until a ring tone was heard from his pocket, he pulled out a Smartphone and looked at who it was, he answered with a stern expression. "Axel Isuki here, what's up now, Ailea?" He asked as the one on the other side spoke up, and his eyes widened. "What, today?!"
Later on, in the busy streets near the Aries district.
A man, and woman in the passenger seat, were currently driving down a street with Kaila, Davis, Lina, and Kari in tow. The man had short cut up black hair, lilac eyes, was wearing a red t-shirt, and khaki pants. This was Davis's and Kari's father, Adam Katsura. The Woman also had long black hair, but had black eyes in place of lilac, wore a blue tank top covered by a white coat with a furry collar and blue short shorts, this was Elena Katsura, Davis' and Kari's mother.
"So, how was school today, kiddo's?" Adam asked.
"Same as usual, dad. Nothing to complain about here, except that the dueling club got canceled today." Davis said.
"And that's just mean, I was looking forward to joining the club today too, you know." Lina said pouting.
"Hey, take from a pro duelist from America, "It isn't over till the last card is played." Ya know what I mean?" He asked smiling.
"Right, you and Davis came from America." Kaila said. "How many times must you hammer that fact into our skull?" She added sarcastically.
"So, when are we getting to the card shop?" Kari asked excited.
"Actually, there was some trouble at the shop today, some teenage rookie cheated in a duel against your old man and still got beat, he then pulled a knife on him, but was subdued by a police officer passing by the shop." Adam told them before sighing. "No one was hurt, luckily, but another duelist with potential fell to darkness and got himself arrested."
Kaila frowned hearing this. "Dang it, why would a rookie cheat like that?" She sadly asked.
Lina could the sadness in Kaila's voice, and decided to cheer her up. "Hey, why don't we head to Hamal Park?" She suggested.
Davis picked up on the vibes he was getting in the van. "Y- yeah, how about it." He asked.
Kaila pulled a Smartphone out of her school case and looked at the time.
3: 45 P.M.
"Sure, it's almost time, anyways." Kaila said pessimistically.
Adam looked at her and focused on the road again. "Alright then, Hamal Park, here we come." He said as he accelerated a little.
One hour and five minutes later...
The van pulled up into a parking space, as Davis, Lina, Kaila, and Kari came pouring out. Adam got out and locked the car and they all went to the park.
There were kids of all shapes and sizes playing in the park at the moment whether it'd be tag, hide and seek, or tabletop dueling.
"Tag, your it."
"Come out, come out, wherever you are."
"I synchro summon Colossal Fighter in attack mode."
"I attack with Tyrant Dragon."
Kaila smiled as she watched all the lids having fun, but one sight caught her eye.
It was a young boy with blond hair, having a picnic with a his mother and father who each had blond and brown hair respectively. "Mommy, could I have some water?" The boy asked.
"Of course, sweetie." The mother said handing him some water.
"Hey, dad, do you think your going to get back into the pro league again?" The boy asked his dad before gulping down some water.
"Nah, I don't really think so, but if you want, I can train you to take my place, how does that sound?" He asked.
"That sounds awesome! You're the best dad ever!" The boy laughed as he hugged him.
"What about me, sweetie?" The mother asked.
"Oh, of course, you're the best mother ever." He said hugging her next.
Kaila saw the whole scene, any other person would find it cheesy, but Kaila simply sighed and walked off.
Davis saw this got up to go after her until someone grabbed his hand, he turned to see Lina with a look on her face that said one thing above all else.
"She wants to be alone."
Davis sighed. "Right." He simply said before looking in the directly Kaila went off in. "What did she do to go through something like that." He thought.
Four minutes later...
"It's about that time again." Kaila said to herself as she looked over the city from the spot she was at right now, with her school case by her feet.
It was a sight to behold, clear blue skies, a calming breeze, and a sight of Zodiac City in view; it was her favorite place to go to every Friday.
She took her star shaped locket off from around her neck and looked at it for a moment, before pushing the button on its side, and it popped open, revealing a perfectly cut picture inside.
The picture showed two adults, a man and woman, both with short blond hair and black that went blond at the tips respectively, and yellow eyes, holding a baby that was practically no more than a month old. These were Kaila's parents, Apollo and Diana Hoshikami.
"Mom, dad..." Kaila whispered while tearing up.
(Flashback to 13 years ago...)
A four-year-old Kaila was crying her eyes out by a Davis of equal age as the police were talking with a younger looking seven-month's pregnant Amelia and younger looking Sora.
"I'm terribly sorry that I can't say much, but the search as been going on for no less then six months, I'm sorry to say something so harsh but... as far as we know, their long gone now." The police officer told the two adults.
"Damn it all, how can those two disappear without leaving so much as a trace behind?" Sora exclaimed in aggravation.
"I can't accept that, Diana and Apollo were the best thing to ever happen to us, I WON'T ACCEPT THIS!"
"MOMMY! DADDY! WAAAAAHHH!" Kaila cried out.
(Back to the present...)
"It's been thirteen years since it was declared they died, but I can't help but feel like their still out there somewhere." Kaila dried her tears and grabbed her school case.
She turned to leave until she saw an envelope just... sitting on the ground, which was weird, she didn't hear anything step behind her so why or how could there be a envelope on the ground, and that's not all.
It had an eight-pointed star sticker holding the envelope closed, and the outside of the letter read.
"To Ms. Hoshikami."
Kaila saw those words and froze up, it was somewhat common knowledge that she was adopted by the Mizura family, but why did whoever left this envelope here not bother writing her first name and go only with her last. She looked around for any people and found nothing in that regard.
Kaila's breathing quickened a little before she slowly stepped close to it, and picked it up, peeled off the sticker, and pulled out it's contents, it was a letter that said the following
Dear Hoshikami,
We know of your situation and your plight, your urge to find out what happened to your parents, we do as well, but there are trials and battles that we all must go through in order to find that out, a car will stop nearby your house at the stroke of midnight to A.T. Futuristic's Headquarters, and that will be only the start of your quest for answers. But know that if you go through with this, you won't be able to turn back.
With hopes, A.
P.S. Bring your deck, you'll literally need it.
Kaila was frozen, a chance to find her parents and get answers, it sounded too good to be true. But she'd have to leave at midnight, right under her adoptive family's noses.
The Mizuma family did everything to help her recover form the loss of her parents, but this is a chance to help her find them after over a decade of nothing.
She had to go through with this, even if there was a chance that it was a trap.
She put the letter and envelope in her school case, and pulled out her deck and duel disk. "But what could I need these for?" She wondered.
"Kaila!" Davis's voice echoed throughout the area and snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, um, Davis, what's up?" Kaila awkwardly asked.
"Your parents are here to pick you and Lina up." The teenage boy told her.
"Oh, right, sorry, I'll head there right now." She said putting her deck and duel disk in her bag, but Davis caught sight of the letter for a split second.
"What's that in your bag?" He asked.
"Nothing major, don't worry about it." Kaila hated to lie to a friend, but this was necessary.
Davis raised an eyebrow and shrugged a little. "Okay then." He said simply before walking off.
Kaila began walking to meet her gripped her school case with determination. "Even if this were to be nothing but a trap, I have to take this chance."
...
And there it is, the prologue to a story that I got the idea to write not too long ago actually.
Now, I'm not too sure as to whether or not this is a good idea or not, but it's my career so deal with it.
I'm going to do my best in terms of writing this, as it's a YuGiOh story with a lot of elements mixed into it, but ever since I began this fanfic writing business, I've broken out of the proverbial shell more and more, I'll get around to the new chapters for this story, as well as my RWBY reacts fanfic, it's a lot to juggle, but I can do this.
P.S. This story is possible with permission from 'TheSib' mainly because there may or may not be elements from his story "Cardfight Vanguard: Bonds Beyond the Cosmos" that are present in this story, especially in the most prevalent archetype in the whole story.
Another P.S. I know this introduction doesn't exactly scream "EPIC CARD GAME ADVENTURE!" but I'm doing my best in regards to making this as original as possible.