Dear Readers,

This is a retelling of the entirety of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, but with a few differences, and yes, per the norm for my stories, it is a lot darker and more serious at some points. My goal is to fix a few points where I felt the story could have been done a bit better.

In addition, Yuya is a bit different in this story as he is a blend of his anime and manga versions. That means he can do a few different things that were shown in the manga, and he also has a few personal touches here and there. Also, you do have a warning that this story is going to have some pretty scary moments, which is why I rated this story M just to be on the safe side. Another thing to point out: I used the Japanese names of the characters because some of the English translations I didn't like at all – Thanks 4Kids –

Also, just a warning, this story is not finished, and will be updated in arcs; however, I wanted to see what you guys think about it.

This story does have a few trigger warnings, and I also want to let the readers know that the story is rated M because of violence and references, not for sexual content.

On a final note, this story ended up as a total of about 200 chapters or so, just in case you were wondering. Now, enough of the boring author's note, let's get things started shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V, its original concept belongs to Kazuki Takahashi, the story belongs to Yoshida Shin, the art is by Miyoshi Naohito, and the Duel Cordinations belong to Hikokubo Masahiro.

Claimer: I did create some cards that the characters use, so, those do belong to me in that aspect at least, also, some of the story content belongs to me as well.

Chapter 1: Sleight of Hand

{Maiami City, Japan: May 1st 2014, 6:56am}

The sun had just begun to rise upon the beautiful, sprawling city by the sea that was Maiami. Its buildings pristine and gleaming in the early morning rays, the city was renowned for several things from its beautiful sprawling views of the ocean, to the lovely parks and the mountains that existed on the outer rims of the city, and at the peak of the highlights of this city, was the Leo Duel School, an organization that trained youths in all forms of Dueling from Rituals, Fusions, Synchros, and Xyzs Summoning methods. However, even though it may have been considered the best, it wasn't the only school in the city that taught students Dueling, several others were there, but the one that had gained the most recognition because of its founder, was the You Show Duel School.

This school, taught its students how to utilize their Dueling as a form of entertainment known world-wide as Dueltaining, a style of Dueling that had been created by the school's founder: Yusho Sakaki.

The morning rays continued to stretch across the ground, flowing over the buildings and telling the children and adults of the city that another day had begun. However, in a white house surrounded by a brick fence was a certain person within this house had been up almost two hours earlier than the sun had been. This boy, was a lithe youth with fair skin that held a slight tan to it, scarlet eyes, and crimson and green, messy hair.

He was dressed in dark green pants that had two pockets on either side of the legs, an orange t-shirt and had on a brown belt. Around his neck was a black choker with a buckle on the front, and hanging a bit lower to almost the area of his stomach was a pendulum crystal with silver angel wings wrapping around the bluish-white crystal. At current, he was sitting on the floor of his room, glancing periodically at the clock as he sighed and looked at the book that was in front of him, reading through the old, warn pages as he thought over what he was reading.

"Okay…let's try this again…" he closed his eyes and relaxed his body.

"Su ela mari ves rohas!" energy whipped around the room as he did his best to hold his focus before he felt himself almost become weightless, the area around him humming with an energetic force as the boy retained his focus as best he could. As his mind went to focusing deeply upon his current task the door to his room opened and a blonde-haired, green-eyed woman sighed as she put her hands on her hips.

"Yuya!" she called, breaking his concentration as he looked up.

"CRAP!" The words left him as he jumped in slight surprise and instantly felt himself being pulled back down by gravity as he hit the bed against the wall upside down and hissed in pain. The woman, his mother, Yoko Sakaki shook her head in dismay as she walked forward and looked at the now scattered deck of cards that had fallen off the bed-side table due to her son's sudden impact rattling the bedside table.

"Are you okay?" she asked him as he opened one scarlet colored eye.

"I…think so…." Yoko stepped back and watched as the boy threw his legs over and back flipped off the bed and into a crouch before looking at the cards scattered about.

"You really shouldn't be practicing this so early, what if the neighbors see you?" Yoko probed as she watched her son start to gather up the cards.

"I know, but I don't really have any other time to practice, and besides…my curtains were closed." The boy pointed this out and she shook her head in defeat.

"Yuya, listen, about the magic…" her son gave her a concerned look.

"What? Is something wrong?" he stood, holding the deck in his hands before she sighed.

"No, but I want you to be careful about using your spells. Because your dad was a Dueltainer, you can pass it off as stage magic for the most part. However, if you do something to drastic, you'll get yourself in trouble….remember when you made the goldfish float out of the bowl in Mrs. Kuromakami's history class three months ago?" Yoko probed as Yuya winced.

"Yea….that wasn't my fault though! I mean….I didn't mean to do it, I just…." Yoko frowned.

"Yuya, your magic is getting stronger – you're too much like your mother in that aspect – so you need to be extremely careful when you use it even for the most basic things! If you don't, one of these days you're going to do something that we can't explain away, and then what will you do?" she inquired as he set his deck into the holster he kept it in before looking at her.

"It's not that bad….besides! You're a fully matured witch…I'm still learning…" Yoko went to him and flicked him on the ear, causing him to jolt as he looked to her.

"Fully matured magic or not, you come from a family full of witches! Think about it, I can use magic, but I elect not to do so continuously… in addition, your father could use it as well! So you have got to remember, your magic is twice as strong, remember that!" she stated as the boy groaned.

"Just because I'm the only child born in the seventh generation doesn't mean that my magic is going to be any stronger or weaker than my parents. Grandmother said that all the time before she passed away." Yoko sighed and looked at the boy before feeling an unnatural weight in her pocket that reminded her of the reason she had cone into the room.

"Which brings me to my point for coming in and causing that spectacular crash landing," she stated as Yuya gave her a look.

"What?! It was not spectacular! That hurt like hell! And…ouch! Why did you smack me?" the blonde-haired woman had taken something out of her pocket and slapped him over the head with it.

"You may have come of age today in the magical world, but that doesn't mean that you can use bad language!" Yuya felt his eyes grow wide at his mother's words.

"Huh?" Yoko laughed at the confused expression on her son's face.

Today, was May first, and officially, it was Yuya's fourteenth birthday, which meant that in the practices of witches, he was considered mature enough to be entrusted with a grimoire to continue his magic practice – with supervision of course – and that also meant that his magic would be reaching its maturity when Halloween ended and the start of the harvest season began in November.

"It's your birthday silly! You're fourteen now, so that grimoire you've been reading is yours now. It can be reduced to a smaller book so that you can take it with you, but don't you dare loose it!" Yoko warned as Yuya blinked at her and then grinned.

"I won't! But to be honest….I kinda…forgot…" Yoko sighed.

"Something told me you would be forgetting seeing as your father was just as forgetful sometimes….especially when it came to important details. Which is another reason I came in here! I am wanting to warn you that I am still going to manage your training in magic as best I can, but you're old enough to handle the grimoire alone and learn for the most part…." Yuya nodded, thinking about the fact that his mother had a serious look on her face.

When it came to magical practice, his mother had always been his overseer since he was three and had accidentally brought one of his toys to life. Creation magic was a very early sign that someone had magical abilities, and Yuya's had reared its head three years into his life, now eleven years later, he could manage most basic spells, and that included revival and creation magic – not that he was allowed to use it though – but some of the harder spells were a problem for him.

Levitation, Transformation, and Legation magic never quite worked the way it needed to for him, but he did have a remarkable skill when it came to his Duel Monsters. Yoko couldn't count on her hands and toes how many times she'd seen some of Yuya's Performapals come to life and him talk with them while they were at home. Scarlet eyes looked at the grimoire on the floor and then the deck of cards settled into the case next to his Duel Disk.

While his mother had always been the one to oversee his magical training, it had been his father, Yusho who had taught him how to Duel. Yuya was a talented Duelist, but he was also a bit insecure when it came to certain things that caused drastic change to his life. Yoko looked at the boy and smiled before she moved forward and pulled him into a tight embrace, startling him momentarily as she ran her fingers through his soft, messy, and bright-colored hair. Yuya closed his eyes tightly, wrapping his arms around his mother's waist as he held onto her.

"You know, your father would be proud of you. Even with all the things that have happened over these last three years," she told him as he bit his lip.

"I'm not sure he would be happy about two weeks ago…." Yoko frowned as the memory of that day came to him while she stepped back as Yuya took in a steady breath and she grasped his hands, looking at the bandages that were still wrapped about his wrists.

"Everyone has hardships, and some people just can't overcome them….you aren't weak because of what happened….and I say that because you changed your mind…you decided that you didn't want that fate. This is where I would tell you that you'll get over it easily, but that isn't true….you've got a long road ahead of you still, but don't be afraid….you're not alone, okay Yuya?" the boy kept his gaze to the floor.

"If you say so…." Yoko shook her head.

"No, it's true…Yuzu didn't abandon you when that happened did she?" she probed as the boy flinched.

"Y-Yea…." Yoko smiled as she leaned forward and placed a kiss to his forehead, causing him to jolt a bit.

"Now, listen to me Yuya, no getting so upset over this…..the others wanted to go do something fun for you birthday, so I expect you to have a good time and don't let it weigh you down. But before you finish getting ready for school, I have a present for you downstairs, and I also have this," she told him as she held out a red envelope.

"What is this?" Yoko let him take it.

"Go and read it, and once you get downstairs I'll be waiting. Finish getting ready and then come downstairs for breakfast," she stated as she left while a faint stinging came to her eyes.

"My little baby's growing up…"

Yuya sighed as he grabbed his school jacket, placed his goggles on his head, and then looked at the two wrist bands before steadily putting them on. The action still caused a bit of stinging when they were first put on, but according to the doctor, the wounds were healing very well and should be completely gone in a short amount of time, but for the time being he needed to continue his treatment of them.

Putting the wrist bands on, were Yuya's choice so not to raise questions about the gauze and bandages wrapped about his wrists, it was another reason that he had started wearing his jacket instead of leaving it to rest on his shoulders. Yuya frowned as he winced before looking at the envelope on the bedside table as he contemplated on whether or not he wanted to read it right then while his gaze shifted to the grimoire on the ground stood. Picking it up, Yuya looked at it and focused a bit on his magic to use the spell he'd learned early on that was meant to make things a bit smaller. Once the book was roughly the size of a dictionary, he slid it into his school bag and picked up the envelope, and took in a deep breath before he opened it and saw a letter present.

"What's this? Whose thi…" his words stopped as he recognized the handwriting as his father's. Yuya swallowed thickly as he pulled the letter loose and began to read it.

Dear Yuya,

If you are reading this letter, then you've officially turned fourteen today: Happy Birthday my boy. I'm sure your mother is going to read you the riot act on the rules and restrictions of being of magical age and how important of a day this is for you in more than one way. Just be thankful that there aren't witches councils anymore, otherwise you'd have to meet them today as well – they aren't fun, and its worse than staring down an opponent with Exodia in their deck and four cards of him in their hands – but I want you to remember something important about today, and it's not just because you've reached the age where you're able to use the grimoire and learn the rest of your spellcraft and all of that hocus pocus…." Yuya paused a laugh just a bit.

"You always called it that…" he muttered before continuing.

"Today, you were born, and it is still one of the greatest days of our lives. Even though I am not here Yuya, I will always watch over you and help you whenever I can. I love you with all my heart, and I don't want you to ever believe otherwise. Yuya, did your mother ever tell you what your name meant? Or where it came from? I know it's probably silly to you, but we named you after an Egyptian ruler, and your name in our language, means Great King. The moral of this little spill from your old man is that you can become greater than you are now, so don't forget that, alright my boy?

One more thing, I left a friend for you in that envelope, so do me a favor and put him to good use. I think you'll like him, and he should give you a hand whenever you need him to, and he'll help you become stronger. Just remember something for me, okay kiddo? Wherever you go in life, believe in yourself, and keep your head held high…no matter what you endure, stay strong and true to your heart, allow it to be your guiding key in the hours of darkness that may come when you feel alone. One more thing, don't forget to smile, alright?

I love you, with all my heart and I hope you will succeed in everything you put your heart and soul into, my brave little boy, once more, Happy Birthday, Yuya.

Sincerely,

Dad.

Yuya felt tears slip down his face as he tried to shake them off. The letter was dated from three years ago; however, Yuya knew that every word his father had penned into the letter was genuine and had been meant to give in encouragement when he needed it. Taking in a deep breath, Yuya looked at it with a smile and gently folded the letter back up and then reached into the envelope and pulled out a card that caused him to raise an eyebrow for just a moment. It was a spellcaster-effect monster, light attribute with the level of seven with an attack of twenty-five-hundred and a defense of two-thousand.

The image consisted of a purplish background with stars while the monster wore a red, black, and purple jester's hat with a golden ring at the center that held a blue stone, its arms were cloaked in red, black, and gold in the attire of a ring-leader while its hands were clawed and white-gloved. It wore a full-face mask with a black slant area for eyes. In one hand it held a staff with a blue stone at the top while the other hand held three white balls. The lower half of the monster wasn't legs, but what seemed to be his pendulum crystal with white angel wings just below the flaps of its tailcoat.

"Performapal….Sleight Hand Magician?" he asked aloud before he read the effect of the monster as a smile came to his features. After he read it he grabbed his deck out of his pocket and slid the card into the deck before putting it away as he grabbed his duel disk and put it into his other pocket before grabbing his backpack as he existed the room, clicking off the lights as he went.

{Downstairs: 7:20am}

"I'm going to be late!" Yuya rushed into the kitchen, putting his shoes on as he hopped a bit.

"Yuya, take it easy! You'll…" the boy winced, leaning against the wall as he hissed while clutching his arm to his chest.

"Ahhh….dang it…." He muttered as he took in a few deep breaths, trying to will the pain away.

"Okay, sit down, eat and take the medicine the doctor gave you for pain! If you're late to school the principle knows you were in the hospital two weeks ago and that the doctors told you to be careful, so I wouldn't worry about it too much." Yoko sat down the plate that had pancakes, bacon and eggs.

"I'm really not that hungry…." She glared and poked him in the side just as he sat down.

"Listen here young man, you weigh a grand total of eighty-three pounds! I know your skinny as a rail, but you need to eat right or you'll be even tinier than you are now!" she lectured as he gave her a dismal look.

"Mom…." Yoko frowned before she took in a deep breath.

"Eat some of it at least, and then you can go meet Yuzu and the others, okay?" she told him as she patted his head a bit.

"Fine…" Yuya began to bite into his breakfast, dreading the ache the medicine would cause if he had a full stomach. The doctor had said it was a side-effect, but there wasn't much that could be done about it besides giving him medicine for his stomach aches and nausea that would come; however, Yuya had refused and instead resorted to having to drink one of his mother's homemade remedies.

"By the way, happy birthday Yuya, I think you'll like this," she said with a smile as she sat a small envelope on the table as she began mixing a potion.

"Thanks mom…" Yuya swallowed the bite he had before picking up the envelope and opened it a bit.

Inside were several Duel Monsters cards, some of which, Yuya had never seen before. Tensing just a fraction Yuya pulled them out in curiosity as he began to read them over. The first was a magician with a purple back-ground that had gears and clock faces in the background. The magician had brown hair, green eyes, a black cloak, dark attire, and brandished a sword while he wore a crown atop his head that seemed to be made out of the same style as Timegazer's arm piece, this monster was an effect type with no defense, and fourteen-hundred attack, and it was a dark attribute with a level of three.

The second one was a Performapal that had blue-purple as a background with yellow stars. It was a purple and white looking creature with red eyes, a bow-tie, stars on its cheeks, a turban with a white feather and a jewel holding it together, it had an ornate Persian rug-design on its back, a series of golden rings at the base of its fluffy tail, and golden tassels on its wrists. It was a Flip effect monster with one-thousand attack, and one-hundred defense, the monster was an earth-attribute and was also a level three. The final monster nearly made him freeze as he gulped nervously and glanced over his mother.

"Where did you get this one?" he asked as Yoko smiled.

"I found it, and it wasn't easy…" she went back to her work as he stared.

It was a level eight, dark-attribute, effect-Dragon type monster with twenty-five hundred attack, two-thousand defense. The monster was granted a background of black and violet with red-tones, it was white and seemed to be made of bone with dark purple-undertones while two-opposite colored jewels covered it on the tail, arms, and horns. Its eyes were mismatched, letting Yuya know that this monster couldn't be mistaken even if he couldn't read the name.

"Timebreaker Magician….and Performapal Momoncarpet I get, but…I thought that these didn't…" Yoko gave him a long look with a smile.

"I thought he suited you, seeing as you do have that little trick of yours, right…Phantom?" Yuya felt a sense of dread come over him.

"So….you uh…know about that huh?" he probed.

"Yes, I won't say a word though….still I thought you would like him." Yuya looked at the card.

"Odd-Eyes….Phantom Dragon…." He muttered.

"Yuya?" scarlet eyes looked up.

"Yea mom?" she sat down the potion she'd just finished into a to-go mug.

"You're going to be late to meet Yuzu and the others," she stated as he looked at the clock.

"CRAP!"

Yuya tugged on his shoes, swallowed the horrible tasting medicine, and grabbed the cards, putting them into the deck as swiftly as he could before giving his mom a hug and grabbing the mug she'd put the potion in before racing out the door with a swift goodbye. As the door slammed, Yoko sighed and looked out the window, watching her son race as fast as he could in the direction of where his friends would be waiting before she pulled the chain that was tucked into her shirt and opened it to look at a picture within it.

"Hey, sis….can you watch over Yuya for me? I get the feeling he's going to be in some really dangerous things soon…I want you to keep him safe, let him know that he's not alone, okay?" she muttered as she looked at the picture of the woman with her in the photo as the image's scarlet-toned eyes stared back at her.

{Street Corner: 7:40am}

Yuzu Hiiragi sighed as she puffed out her cheeks and checked the time on her phone. Yuya was later than usual, and she, and Gongenzaka were beginning to wonder where he was. The giant-of-a-youth known as Noburou Gongenzaka hummed as he looked at the scene of the streets and the early morning while the pink-haired, periwinkle-eyed girl next to him growled. School had been a bit strange lately, and neither of them contested as to why it had been only because they all knew why: Yuya. The spirited, cheery, scarlet-eyed boy had been absent until about four days ago, but his return hadn't been greeted with his normal cheer, instead, Yuya was quiet, not wearing his goggles or trying to stand out and be his usual self.

"Thinking about it over and over won't do it any good Yuzu," stated Gongenzaka.

"I know….but…I still can't get it out of my head…" the pink-haired girl looked down.

"The only thing that will help him heal from it is to be there for him. Yuya is strong, you told me that when you found him he was fighting to stop it…that tells me that he doesn't want that fate for himself, and he decided to live," he said calmly, ensuring the girl that his words were sincere.

"Gongenzaka….you should have seen the look on his face…he looked so….broken…Yuya's never looked like that before…" the Samurai took in a deep breath as he looked to the girl.

"Everyone breaks at least once….Yuya is no acception. We can't expect him to be strong when he's in pain….but you should help him to recover, to get his spirit back," he told her.

"I guess so…hey um…Gongenzaka? Can I ask a question?" the teenager nodded.

"What is it?" he questioned.

"Do you ever get the feeling that Yuya isn't telling us something? Like there's a secret he's trying to keep?" the taller teen hummed.

Gongenzaka had known Yuya since the boy was six years of age – three years less than Yuzu had – and he had always had the feeling that the boy was special, and very different from others that were around them, but could never place why or how. There had been a few times where Gongenzaka got the distinct feeling that it had something to do with the few times he'd glimpsed Yuya doing something strange out of the corner of his eyes and found Yuya quickly trying to cover it up when he saw him staring. The boy would stutter – something he only ever did if he was extremely anxious – and try to fish for an explanation if a question was asked, or he would hide it and say he wasn't sure what they were talking about. Dark eyes looked at the pink-haired girl before Gongenzaka nodded.

"I have….Yuya is keeping something secret, and I feel as though it is vital, but he's concerned about what we'll think if we learn of it." Yuzu looked down.

"Here I was thinking I was the only one who thought I saw him doing something strange when no one was looking. At first, I thought it was just him goofing around, but then I saw him do some pretty creepy things, and you remember that one time he got mad at my dad and yelled at him?" Gongenzaka once again nodded.

"I do…the door slammed shut and the lights flickered," he stated.

"Sometimes, I wonder if Yuya might be a…." a sudden series of footsteps caught their attention and they turned to see the crimson-and-emerald-haired boy taking in a few deep breaths.

"Hi guys, sorry I'm….late…" he looked up at them and Yuzu smiled.

"That's fine, but where were you?" Yuya gave them a sheepish grin.

"My mom held me up, I guess I can see why…um…why are you guys looking at me like that?" he asked.

Yuzu and Gongenzaka had gotten a distinctly unnerving sensation when they met Yuya's scarlet eyes, but couldn't figure out why. This was the same Yuya Sakaki that they had known for years, but today, he felt different, and almost as if something had changed about him.

"It's….nothing….but…are you…doing okay?" Yuzu asked hesitantly as Yuya smiled.

"I'm fine, but we better get to school, otherwise we'll be late." With that the boy started to run in the direction of the school, and the other two followed him, choosing to ignore the strange sensation they had just gotten and enjoy the day with their friend.

{…..}

It's a truth that in love and war…

{….}

Author's Note: Well, the first chapter is a bit strange, yes I know, but allow me to explain a few details:

Yes, Yoko is a witch. I thought it'd be interesting to throw in some real-deal magic in the story.

Yes, in this world, males and females are called witches.

Yes, Youshou is able to use magic, but his is a little different and that will be explained later.

Yes, Yuya is able to use magic, and has quite a skill with it, but he does mess up sometimes.

Yuya has a few other tricks up his sleeves.

At age 14, witches – at least in this world – can use magic freely and are entrusted with their family grimoire.

Yuya is the only child in the seventh generation, which means his magic is going to be a lot more potent than others, but that's a witch thing.

I decided to explain how Yuya got some of the cards we see him use throughout the anime and a few from the manga as well.

I cannot answer many questions because it'll take the fun out of it, but that's the gist of it. If you guys have any questions Please PM me.

This story has no previews because it's far too long, so just keep reading! And have a great day!

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.