Chapter Thirty: The Truth of the Matter

Hey readers, no cardfights in this chapter, but is a chapter that you do NOT want to miss, this is majorly a plot explanation chapter. Enjoy!

"The...truth," Leroy said, the four teens thought back, recalling every cardfight they fought using these new clans, wondering where they came from and how they got them. Nathan and Leroy, however, then thought about what Denton meant when he called them chosen ones.

"Yes, but let's head in there first," Denton said as they all went inside his office.

"So, what is this truth exactly?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, and what does it have to do with our clans?" Joel added.

"And how we got them?" Andrea asked this time.

"Then there's this thing about chosen ones, what does it all mean?" Leroy finished.

"Okay okay, calm down there, I told you I'll explain everything, but before that, there is something important you must know," Denton began. "I take you all know of Cray?"

"Of course, what cardfighter doesn't, Cray is the fictional planet where all the units in the game live and fight," Andrea replied. "Every unit has a story connected to it, which is part of the lore,"

"That's correct, but it's not a fictional planet," Denton said. "The planet Cray...is real,"

"What?!" The four of them exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes the planet Cray is as real as Earth, as well as the units that live there," he continued.

"Well, I guess that does make some sense, it does explain what happened when we first obtained our new decks," Joel stated, recalling the vision he had before getting the IgNoble, the others nodded, remembering what happened to them as well.

"Well, now that we have that part out of the way, it's time I explain everything," Denton said as he snapped his fingers and the area went dark, the members of Trinovol were expecting to arrive at the arena where he and Leroy had fought the day before, but instead of the blue flames appearing, small stars acted as the light source to cut through the darkness, and instead of arriving at the stadium, the five of them found themselves in outer space.

"What the...we're in space!" the four of them exclaimed.

"Relax, this is only a vision that I created so that my explanation can be visualized," Denton reassured them as they calmed down. "Now, look below you,"

The four did what they were told and immediately as they did, their eyes widened, they saw Earth, their home planet, but not too far from Earth, they saw another planet, it looked similar to Earth, but there were some streaks of red and white energy-like aura around it, as well as that, they noticed thin blue energy-like strands between Earth and this other planet, like the strands were linking the planet.

"Cool, but what is that other planet?" Nathan asked curiously. "It looks familiar,"

"Next to Earth," Denton replied. "That...is the planet Cray,"

"Wow, I never imagined that's what it would look like," Andrea said. "But what about those?" she then asked as she pointed to the blue strands.

"Those things act as the link between the two planets, Earth and Cray are linked, and because of that, they're like one," Denton replied. "Another thing to know is that I am the guardian of Earth and Cray, it's my responsibility to assure the well being of both planets, as well as taking care of any Cray-related matters on Earth,"

"I see, so how exactly did you become the guardian of Earth and Cray, does it happen by random or something?" Joel asked.

"It was not random, it was a responsibility entrusted to me," Denton replied. "My last name is Lesters, and the Lesters family have acted as the long line of guardians of Earth and Cray, my father was the guardian before me, and before him was my grandmother, this kept going on all the way to my ancestors,"

"That sounds like a lot to take on, but you seem like you're handling it just fine," Leroy said to the purple-haired teen. "I take it that's how you were able to do all of this?"

Denton nodded. "Yeah, I may be 19, but being the guardian isn't too complicated, my dad taught me a lot of what I have to do and how to do it, including making this space,"

"That's cool and all, but when are you going to explain everything?" Nathan asked.

"Oh, sorry about that, I got kind of distracted. Before we get to the main part of the explanation, there's a story I must tell you, but I will warn you to brace yourselves," he said.

"Brace ourselves, wh-!" Leroy was about to ask before screaming as they all began speeding towards Cray, the next thing they knew, they were in the air, their eyes widened as they looked at the beautiful view of trees and mountains, creatures flying through the sky.

"It's beautiful, so this is Cray?" Andrea asked.

"Yes, this is Cray...500 years ago," Denton replied.

"500 years ago?!" They exclaimed together.

"Why are we seeing Cray 500 years ago?" Joel asked.

"I've brought you here because this is where my story begins," he seriously replied as he turned to face them, just as he did, something crashed onto the ground below them.

The four teens looked down to where the crash was, a large puff of dust surrounded the area, but in the dust, they noticed a figure walking about, the figure then roared, clearing the dust and revealing its features, it was a beast-like, standing on four feet, its body was majorly black and parts of its body was clad in gold armor, the creature had two wings that were lightly armored, a yellow mane was around its face, giving it the likeness of a lion, both its claws and fangs shined like steel. It released one more roar, but this one was more ferocious and it shook the four teens to their core.

"What...is that thing?" Nathan asked with some fear in his voice.

"That thing is called..." Denton began, the teens looked up at him. "..Roarian,"

"Roarian?"

"Yes, 500 years ago, a mysterious creature by the name of Roarian arrived on Cray, he arrived on the outskirts, so a majority of the planet wasn't aware of his arrival, that left only the minority that lived around there," Denton explained as they looked down to see smaller creatures approaching Roarian. "Roarian told these units that he had come from another planet, the reason he came here was to conquer it for himself as he had done with other planets, but he needed allies for an army first, he promised the units there power and riches in exchange for their allegiance, and they accepted, becoming his first followers,"

"How could they do that, they would really turn their backs on their own planet for the sake of someone who wants to conquer it," Joel said angrily.

"The units that resided on the outskirts of the planet were quite poor, and had little power of their own, therefore, it would be easier to understand why they would join him if he promised them money and power," Denton replied.

"What happened then, you said Roarian needed an army, those followers don't look like too many," Leroy noted.

"That's right, he needed more, Roarian commanded his first followers to go and find more, convincing them to follow him, they obeyed, looking throughout the outskirts, recruiting all they saw, telling them what Roarian would promise them if they accepted, since many units in the outskirts were in the same situation as them, they accepted," Denton continued. "The number of units in the outskirts was massive, and In a few months, he had a large army, he then began his attack,"

"But would that be a problem?" Andrea asked. "You mentioned that the units weren't very strong, even if there were many of them, would they have stood a chance against the stronger units?"

"Under normal circumstances, that would be true, but Roarian was able to give some of his power to his army, increasing their strength, if I had to give a comparison that you would understand, each unit of his army had power almost equivalent to Dragonic Overlord or King of Knights, Alfred," Denton replied as the four gasped, Overlord and Alfred were iconic units, they were as strong as they were well known, and if each unit had a bit under that power, it would be like they were facing an army of Overlords and Alfreds.

"That battle must have been a nightmare," Joel said, his eyes twitching a bit.

"Indeed, the war had waged on for only three months, but Roarian's army was easily overpowering Cray's united forces, even Genesis Deity, Messiah, the mightiest being on Cray as well as the representation of light and order, was having trouble," Denton continued.

"If the fight was that one-sided, how did Messiah manage to win?" Nathan asked.

"It was risky, but in a desperate attempt to defeat Roarian, Messiah drew in the power of the six nations of Cray, he then mixed the power of each nation with some of his own to give them physical form, six beings were manifested, each one having the power of its own nation as well as Messiah's power, and those beings were…"

"The Azrith Titans," Leroy finished.

Denton nodded. "That's correct, Messiah's gamble was well worth it as the Azrith Titans completely turned the tides of the war in the united forces' favor, Roarian's forces were slowly being forced back, and a week later, they were completely defeated,"

"What did Messiah then do with Roarian and his army?" Leroy asked.

"Many of the units that comprised Roarian's army were slain in battle, the ones that lived were imprisoned, but not his first followers," Denton replied. "Through the other units, Messiah was able to identify them. Since they were the first to join Roarian as well as recruit allies, Messiah ordered them all to be executed,"

"Damn, that's harsh," Andrea said with some sympathy.

"Perhaps, but it is what it is I guess," Denton shrugged. "Then there was Roarian, during the battle, even Messiah had seen that he was nearly impossible to kill, and imprisoning him wouldn't do too much either, so Messiah used the power of the Azrith Titans to seal Roarian within a temple called Morningstar which resided near the outskirts,"

"Wait, they sealed him?" Joel asked.

"Yes, he was sealed in an area that resided in the deepest part of the temple, as I mentioned earlier, Messiah used the power of the Azrith Titans to seal him, their power manifested into six objects called the Azrith Crystals which acted as the key to Roarian's seal, but by doing that, the titans fell into a deep slumber, becoming statures that lined the area," Denton continued. "Once the seal was complete, Messiah left the temple and the war was over, it would eventually become a part of Cray's history,"

"So, is that the end of your story?" Nathan asked.

"Yes it is, and now that it's over, I will explain your clans and the chosen ones," he replied as the area around began rapidly changing, signifying that they were going forward in time, once they reached the present, the changing stopped and the area looked more advanced. "Now we're back in the present, but not too long ago, only a few months ago, life was normal for the units of Cray, until it happened,"

"What happened?" the four asked in unison.

"Rumors began spreading that a group of units was trying to undo Roarian's seal and help him conquer Cray," Denton replied.

The teens look dumbfounded. "That's an odd rumor to be spreading around, considering what happened when Roarian first came here," Andrea stated.

"Messiah believed the same thing, he wasn't sure of the validity of these rumors, but over time, they began to grow, so Messiah decided to not take any chances," Denton said. "He went over to Morningstar and took the Azrith Crystals, he then went to a clan in each nation, there he selected a unit to become the guardian of the crystal, shortly after, he instructed each of the units to find a human on Earth they wished to become partners with, and those humans are…" he turned to the teens, whose minds clicked to one answer.

"The chosen ones," they all said together as Denton cracked a small grin before snapping his fingers, as he did, the area went black, and they appeared back at his office.

"It all makes sense now," Nathan said. "That also explains how we got new clans, those were the chosen units,"

"Yes, you four were chosen by four guardians of the crystals," Denton said as he turned to each of them. "Andrea Rose, you were chosen by Dragon Maiden, Sasha who is the guardian of Dragon Empire's Azrith Crystal. Joel Leandrew, you were chosen by Darkwing Bladesman, Palandel who is the guardian of Dark Zone's Azrith Crystal. Nathan Packard, you were chosen by Villainous Tyrant, Astorias who is the guardian of Star Gate's Azrith Crystal. And finally you, Leroy Thompson, you were chosen by Rising Sun Wizard, Ken who is the guardian of United Sanctuary's Azrith Crystal,"

The teens appeared stunned by everything that Denton told them. Leroy then spoke up. "Wait, there are still two things we don't know about yet,"

The three teens looked at him. "We don't?," they asked in unison.

"Yeah, first, how exactly did the Azrith Titans come to us in those visions?" he asked.

"Even though the physical bodies of the titans were in slumber, their consciousness was still intact, they most likely came to you through the link you and your guardian partners share from the Azrith Crystals," Denton simply replied.

"Alright, but that still leaves one more thing," Leroy began. "There were six Azirth Titans and six Azrith Crystals along with six guardian units, but there are only four of us, shouldn't there be two more chosen ones, those chosen by the guardians of Zoo and Magallanica's crystals?"

Denton slightly frowned upon hearing this. "Yes, you're right, right now, I'm not aware of their identities, the whole reason I had the Titan Cup organized was to find the six chosen ones, but it seems that there are only four in America, that does leave the internationals though,"

"So there's a chance we might meet them there," Joel stated before something came to his head. "Wait, is there a possibility the remaining two chosen ones use new clans like us?"

"It's a possibility, but don't count on it, being a chosen one doesn't automatically give you a new clan, in the case of you four, Messiah just chose units that belong to clans not printed in the game, so finding you wasn't very hard, but the last two could just use normal clans,"

"Man, this is getting me pumped, I can't wait to play in the internationals," Andrea squealed, her teammates nodded.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Denton then said as he went to a drawer in his office and pulled out an envelope, he then walked over to Team Trinovol. "Hears your other prize for winning the representative tournament, a check containing your prize money, one hundred and twenty thousand dollars,"

Leroy took the envelope and stared intently at it, but at the corner of his eye, he noticed Nathan looking at it too, his eyes full of regret that he wasn't able to win it in the finals. Leroy took a deep breath before turning to face the blue-haired teen.

"Here Nathan, you take it," he said.

The others nodded understandably, but Nathan looked shocked. "What?!"

"You can have the check, I didn't come to this tournament for money, and we all know the condition you and your siblings are in, you honestly need it more than anybody here," Leroy said.

"I can't take it, I didn't win the match, it wouldn't be fair," Nathan persisted.

"Okay then, just consider it something from a friend then," Leroy insisted.

"I already told you, we're not friends, we never have been and we probably never will be," Nathan crossed his arms, Leroy, however, just began walking toward him, silence filled the room as they were only a foot apart from each other, Leroy then raised his fist and slammed it into Nathan's head. "Hey, what was that for?!"

"I've had enough with these 'we're not friends' thing, as far as I'm concerned, we are, we're fellow chosen ones, as well as that, we're similar, you and I both have a big heart and want to care for those close to us, you may be a bit stubborn at times, but you're a good person!" Leroy exclaimed before calming down. "All I'm saying is to take this, you might've failed, but I can't think of anyone else who deserves this more than you,"

"Leroy," Nathan said as he slowly began extending his hand to the envelope, once it was firmly in his grasp, tears began to roll down his face. "Thank you...thank you so much," he used his hands to wipe away his tears, but more kept flowing.

"You're welcome, and after the internationals, we can fight again, by then, I'll be much stronger," Leroy said as bright light began shinning, the four checked their deck boxes and saw that the light was coming from their 12 blank cards, as they looked at them, they had manifested into vanguard cards.

"What the?" Leroy said in surprise as he and the others scrolled through their new cards.

"Your new cards have manifested, and since we're on the topic of becoming stronger, there's something else I have to give you," Denton said as he went to his desk and pulled out four envelopes, he then handed them to the teens.

"No way!" the teens exclaimed as they opened the envelopes and saw that they had more new cards. "How did you get these?"

"I'm the guardian of Earth and Cray, I have my ways," he replied with a shrug, the others reluctantly nodded.

"With the cards in the envelope, along with your 12 new cards, you'll be able to completely change your deck if you so please, which I do recommend, the fighters in the internationals will be on a whole different level," Denton continued. "Just to let you know, the internationals begin in two weeks, it's taking place in Paris, France,"

"In Paris, so we're going to fly there?" Leroy asked. "That sounds like it's going to cost a lot,"

"You won't have to worry about that, I'll be going as well, so you can fly with me, I'll have Johnson head to your homes, be sure to pack well though, it won't be as long as this one, but don't pack light," he advised.

"So is that everything?" Nathan asked, beginning to calm down.

"Yes, that's everything, Johnson should be outside the room," Denton said as they all left the office, and as he said, Johnson was there, he led them outside to his limo, he then began driving back to the hotel.

Soon, they arrived at the hotel, they entered and saw other teams exiting, they then saw the others.

"Hey there everyone," Anthony said to them. "Dwight told me that Denton wanted to talk to you, I take it that it went well?"

"Yeah, he even gave us some new cards," Leroy said.

"That sounds awesome. Kristi and I have already finished packing, you all go to your room and pack, we'll wait for you here," he then told them, they went upstairs and packed up, ten minutes passed before they came downstairs and turned in their room keys, they then all got into their separate vehicles and drove off to New Jersey.

The four teens all looked at their decks before turning to their adjacent windows. "Cray, it's a real place, and now it's in danger. Roarian...I will stop you, the chosen ones will stop your dream of conquering Cray from becoming a reality!" they all thought as each of the cars continued on the way home.