Kias: Thank you for reviewing! :) Well, considering Serena is avoiding them and pretty much the rest of the Academy, I don't blame them lmao. They have no reason to try to befriend someone who doesn't want to talk to them. Some of them didn't even technically meet her, so… :) As for the question, I don't want to spoil it, so you'll just have to find out. ;)
dream lighting: Thanks for reviewing! :) True, Ben should swallow his pride a bit… But that's just a part of his character's flaws. Serena's already used to it, and she knows he forgives her sooner or later… But Ben's not a bad person in general. ;)
I only own my OC's!
First few minutes of walking were filled with silence. Bastion was looking straight ahead, so was Ben. Syrus was closely following both of them.
"Why do you think Crowler wants to see you?" Jaden suddenly asked me while we were at the back of the group. Yup, he apparently didn't give up on trying to talk to me in some sort of way… I still couldn't understand why. What was so interesting to him about me? I was being rude to him after all… "Hopefully not for being near you while you were laughing at Bastion's insult." I commented sarcastically.
That was when Syrus whispered something to him while looking at me. Jaden whispered something back, making his friend shake his head. However, the brown-haired guy seemed to ignore that head shaking. Instead, he looked up at me yet again. "Why should he? You weren't laughing…" He pointed out sheepishly.
Those words made me roll my eyes. It was obvious the Yuki guy just couldn't understand the meaning of sarcasm…. I simply huffed and folded my arms. At the same time, I couldn't help noticing Syrus' wary look while he was glancing between me and Jaden back and forth. That only made me even more annoyed.
Out of everything possible, I was stuck with four guys. One of them was my cousin who was still pissed with me, and the other three were stupid dueling fanatics. The first one was either tactless or just liked insulting women. The second one was looking at me as if he were paranoid, and the third one was just incredibly dense and naïve.
My eyes landed on Ben's moving form in front of me. He was holding hands in pockets of his Obelisk Blue blazer. His short light brown hair looked quite messy at this moment, which was unlike his usual appearance. I was the one with messy hair after all. His own one always looked rather neat!
I then looked at Bastion. His grey eyes were looking ahead, and his arms were folded. My eyes moved to Syrus, who also had hands in pockets of his blazer. However, unlike Ben, he was walking a bit faster to keep up with us.
Finally, my eyes landed on Jaden. He was walking casually and whistling while straightening his blaz… My eyes widened once he suddenly saw me looking his way and grinned. I quickly looked away with a huff and put hands on my hips as a good measure.
Out of those three fanatics, despite everything, he seemed to be the most normal if that was possible… Wait, what was I saying? Dueling fanatics could not be normal! All they cared about was playing stupid cards! They didn't give a damn about anything else in the world! Why else would they be fanatics after all? It was official. I was definitely losing my mind on this island. To even think about those people being… Normal….
The door opening brought me back to reality. The guys walked through them, with me being the last one. We were in a room with a desk, plant pot, and a huge window.
A tall man was sitting by the desk. He had blonde hair which was tied in a ponytail, and light blue eyes. The man was dressed in an Obelisk Blue uniform, which also had a ruffled pink collar. He was wearing crescent-shaped earrings. That was Chancellor whose name was... I didn't remember his name. I only prayed someone would say it so I could try to keep it in my head this time.
He looked… Kinda weird. If we ignored his appearance in general, one could conclude he hated people slacking off in his class. That was why he gave Jaden that detention in the first place. Thankfully, he didn't notice me looking through my herbarium yesterday. If he had, then I probably would have got a detention too. Then again, I was trying to be stealthy as possible, while Yuki made his sleeping (and, I daresay, loud snoring) in class obvious as hell.
Another man was standing by the desk, on Chancellor's right side. Unlike him, this man was short and stout. He had balding brown hair and was dressed in a different uniform from the Chancellor. I hadn't seen the man before, so I'd guess that was the Vice-Chancellor.
"Chancellor Crowler, Mrs. Fontaine told us to come here for our detention." Bastion spoke up. Chancellor's… Crowler's eyes looked away from an album in his hands, landing on the four guys in front of me. "Detention? What for?" He asked uninterested, his eyes looking between them and the album back and forth.
Ben cleared his throat. "For an… Incident in today's class, Mrs. Fontaine gave detention to Bastion, Syrus, Jaden and me." He explained. I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. 'Incident'? He actually sounded like a damn diplomat!
Crowler (I figured I should call him that when not talking, if I wanted to remember his name) let out a groan and tossed the album to the ground on his left. I yelped and jumped back in surprise, so did the other guys. The short man, on the other hand, gave Crowler an unimpressed look.
"Look, I don't care about your detentions right now! I asked for Serena Accardi to come here, so why isn't she inside this office?!" The man demanded, obviously trying not to lose it but at the same time failing.
Ben turned around to look at me with a frown. "But she's here…" Jaden pointed out while rubbing the back of his head. He, Ben, Syrus and Bastion moved a bit out of the way to show where I was.
As soon as he saw me, a huge grin appeared on Crowler's face. Honestly, that grin made me feel a bit frightened. The sudden mood change at seeing me was not helping… It made me think of actually running out of here. In fact, there was a huge possibility for that happening!
"Ah, Serena! How nice of you to join us!" The man chirped. Ben, Jaden, Bastion and Syrus glanced at him and me with dumbfounded looks on their faces. They had absolutely no idea what was going on, and I was in the same situation…
However, I somehow managed to straighten up. "You wanted to see me, Chancellor?" I spoke up, trying to sound calm. Unfortunately, I could hear my voice trembling a bit from nervousness. Who knew what that man wanted to see me for?! "Yes, come and sit!" The man offered, motioning to a chair in front of him.
"What about our detention?" Bastion suddenly asked. Crowler glared at all four of them. "Since you want it so badly, then you'll have it! You need to find forty replacement Duel Disks all across the campus!" Ben, Bastion and Syrus were staring at him, their eyes wide. "Only forty? Not bad, there's…" Jaden stopped for a moment, apparently counting on his fingers (earning a sweatdrop from his friends). "Nine or ten for four of us?" He questioned.
The man let out a groan. "Another ten for you, since you got yourself a double detention." He declared, not even bothering to hide his annoyance. "Wait…" Jaden gaped. However, he never got to finish because Crowler finally lost it. "OUT! ALL FOUR OF YOU!" He shouted.
As soon as those words left his mouth, all four of them made a run for it, right out of the office. I was looking at their disappearing forms. I didn't know whether to be thankful or afraid that they were gone… Sure, I wouldn't be bothered by fanatics anymore, but I wasn't even sure what this man wanted with me… Some company would have been nice.
"Now, Serena, dear, take a seat." Crowler's voice made me turn around. He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. I slowly sat on it. I kept looking between him and the other man back and forth. "Why did you want to see me?" I finally decided to ask.
"You're Italian?" The short man suddenly asked. My eyes landed on him. His accent sounded different… Like a French one. "I am." I said coldly. "She is Benjamin's cousin, Bonaparte." Crowler reminded the man. Bonaparte… That explained the French accent. It also explained why he was named like Napoleon, considering his… Lower than average height.
"I heard a lot of interesting things about Italians…" Bonaparte looked at me from head to toe while folding his arms. I didn't like the way he said those words… It was obvious his proud, French roots were kicking in. "Like?" Crowler suddenly looked at him curiously. "They're mobsters and terrible drivers." He replied matter-of-factly with this look of pride on his face.
I couldn't help feeling offended. Generalizing all Italians and saying stereotypes (false ones, in fact) right in someone's face was not nice! True, there were mobsters after all, and some of the people were bad drivers…. But not everyone was like that!
"I heard a lot of interesting things about French people too." I spoke up nonchalantly while folding my arms. I could tell all of them right now…. But I didn't want to start arguing over stereotypes. The man in front of me was sort of my neighbor after all… He did get on my nerves, but I would try to ignore it. If he went too far, then I'd react.
Bonaparte's eyes landed on me. He frowned and opened his mouth to say something… Only to be cut off by Crowler. "Forget about French and Italians! We've got more important things to discuss!" He shouted.
"I still don't know why you called me here." I pointed out with a frown. "Ah, yes," He turned back to me with a huge grin all over his face. "Serena Accardi, our new second-year student!" He said excitedly. My eyebrows furrowed. Why in the world was he so excited? I didn't understand a thing by now!
"How long have you been dueling?" Crowler asked. "Well… For about two years, I'd say." I shrugged my shoulders. "Then you really must be that good!" He shouted, sounding even more ecstatic. "Mon Dieu." Bonaparte face palmed and looked away from the other man. I, on the other hand, was looking between those two back and forth.
This was getting even more confusing… And frightening. Here I was, trying to stay away from dueling, and this crazy man was telling me how I 'must be that good'? Was this island actually some sort of mental institution filled with lunatics?!
Suddenly, Crowler picked up the album from the floor. "Aster Phoenix came here an hour ago." He was literally jumping up and down in excitement. "And he requested to meet you immediately!" The man opened the thing in his hands and shoved it in my face.
I let out a yelp in shock and jumped back a few meters. However, I managed to see who was on the picture in the album. It was a silver-haired guy with intense blue eyes. He was dressed in what seemed to be silver, formal wear. It looked like he was about my age.
My eyes widened in surprise once I saw the picture. The guy was definitely familiar to me from somewhere…
A guy came out of the room. As he passed next to Ben and me, he looked at both of us. His blue eyes scanned us from head to toe before he made his way towards the exit. "I… I can't believe it!" Ben suddenly cried in what seemed to be excitement.
"That was the Aster Phoenix!" I rolled my eyes at Ben's words. "I still don't know who that is, but his name does sound kind of wicked with the 'Phoenix' surname." I chuckled in amusement, much to my cousin's annoyance.
"Sartorius! Was that guy over there Aster Phoenix or my eyes are fooling me?!" Ben jumped up from the bench excitedly. "No, your eyes are fooling you." I commented sarcastically. He was about to jump on me. Luckily, Sartorius pulled him away before he could do that, saving me in process.
"Ben was here too, but then he freaked out once he saw the 'Austin Phoenix' guy." I rolled my eyes. Sarina let out a laugh. "It's Aster, dear." She corrected me.
I simply nodded at the question. "Sweet! We've talked a while ago, right after I had finished my duel with Aster Phoenix." Jaden Yuki smiled.
I remembered why he was so familiar the moment those events flashed through my mind. Yet, despite all of that happening, I never got to hear why exactly Ben was so obsessed with him… However… Was asking that question a clever idea? This man was freaking out so much already!
Letting out a sigh, I considered my options. I could just go, and not know anything about the guy. I could always ask Ben (not a good idea, but it was still something) when he stopped being pissed with me. Finally, I could ask Crowler himself. None of the options were exactly ideal… But the third idea was definitely the safest one for me (Crowler freaking out was certainly not my problem, and if I asked Ben, then it would be my problem since he'd strangle me).
"Sorry for asking… But who's exactly Aster Phoenix?" I spoke up. The moment I asked that question, Crowler's jaw dropped. He dropped the album and fell to the floor. Meanwhile, Bonaparte was looking between the man and me back and forth in what seemed to be amusement. "You don't know who Aster Phoenix is?!" Chancellor jumped up and asked me in disbelief.
I frowned. "I do know he's someone important, I just don't know exactly why." I repeated the 'exactly' part, even putting emphasis on it. "He's a top-ranking professional duelist." Bonaparte explained calmly. "And this year's freshman!" Crowler added excitedly.
Raising an eyebrow, I couldn't help finding the whole thing absurd. Firstly, the idea of professionally playing with cards was just plain stupid. Why did it get so much recognition?! All they did was playing cards as their job! Not productive at all…
Secondly, if Aster Phoenix was so famous, then what was he doing at the Duel Academy as a freshman?! He was a professional duelist (that sounded so stupid, but I decided to just roll with it); he should have known everything by now! Thirdly, why would a famous duelist like him want to meet me? I hated dueling, and I knew little about it!
"He requested to meet me immediately?" I repeated. I still found it a bit difficult to believe in this… "Yes!" Crowler chirped. "He said he'd be by the cliffs of the Slifer Red Dorm." Bonaparte added. "Don't make him wait!" Chancellor added.
I simply nodded. I still found this absurd, but I didn't want to listen to Chancellor and his French colleague anymore. This was enough for one day!
"Thank you." I said and hurried out of the office.
By the time I was in front of the Slifer Red Dorm, I could see Aster Phoenix pacing back and forth. Walking closer, my eyebrows furrowed. "You wanted to meet me here?" I spoke up, stopping near where he was pacing.
Once he heard my voice, the guy turned around and stopped in place. "You're… You're Serena Accardi?" His eyes widened for a few seconds. However, the look of surprise then quickly became a frown. However, I wasn't worrying about that. I had other things on my mind. "I am." I nodded.
"Now why did you want me to come?" I demanded with hands on my hips. "I want to have a duel with you." The young, professional duelist explained calmly. He was standing straight, and he had his hands in pockets of the silver suit.
The moment he said those words, I just stood there in shock. I couldn't even think for a few moments. This thing was getting more absurd as the day passed… Why would a professional duelist like Aster Phoenix want to duel me?!
"Is this some kind of a joke?" I demanded with a glare. "It's not." The silver-haired guy shook his head. "No offense, but why would you want that?" I folded my arms. The only reason I said 'no offense' was because I didn't want someone to hang my head against their wall if they saw me being disrespectful. Ben and Crowler freaking out was bad enough, I didn't need the whole Academy!
Aster Phoenix's blue eyes looked right into mine. "I heard about your deck, so I want to see it in action." He replied nonchalantly. I raised an eyebrow. True, my deck was given to Aunt Maria by the Pegasus guy when she won it in a tournament… But no one knew she had given it to me! It didn't even have a complete deck yet. Aunt Maria still had the other half of it with her!
I really didn't want to duel… However, it looked like this idiot was determined to duel me. I fought back a groan. If dueling would make him leave me alone, then I was up for it!
"If I agree, you'll leave me alone?" I asked coldly, looking into his eyes. "Yes, I will." He confirmed it. I kept looking at him for a few moments. I had a feeling he was lying about wanting to see my deck in action… But I wasn't going to bother with the thing. The sooner we finished this, the sooner I'd be alone again.
"Fine. Just let me get my Duel Disk." I nodded and ran to my room.
Once I ran out of it, I strapped the Duel Disk to my left arm and put my deck in its slot. Once we were far enough from each other, I pressed the button at the back of the Duel Disk. Its slot places lengthened, and the red light started glowing. Aster Phoenix activated his own one as well. I briefly touched the bracelet on my left wrist, hoping it would bring me luck I needed.
Aster Phoenix: 4000 LP
Me: 4000 LP
"You can go first." I said while drawing five cards. "In that case, I'll summon Skelengel in Defense Mode." Some sort of a monster with ropes around its waist appeared on the field. It also had a crown on where I guessed would be its head, and a bow and arrow in its hands (ATK/DEF:900/400). I end my turn." The professional duelist did so.
Raising an eyebrow, I drew my sixth card. Finally, I looked at my hand filled with cards. I had an idea what to start with… Hopefully I'd get to kick his butt for him wanting to duel me. It wouldn't surprise me if I lost though, since he was apparently a pro…
"I'll summon Desert Fox in Attack Mode." I declared. A small fox with big ears appeared on the field (ATK/DEF:1800/1600). "Then I'll set three facedowns and end my turn." I finished.
Aster Phoenix drew another card. "I activate 'The Sanctuary in the Sky'!" He declared. Suddenly the scenery changed. Instead of being in front of the dorm, it looked like we were in the clouds, in front of some sort of a temple. Those must have been those Field Spells... From what I remembered, they brought advantage to the opponent. I had to get rid of it…
"I summon Warrior of Zera in Attack Mode." The monster appeared for a few moments before disappearing from the field. "Then I'll sacrifice him to summon Archlord Zerato!" A monster with green wings, and a blade in his right hand appeared on the field (ATK/DEF:2800/2300).
"Now, by sacrificing one LIGHT monster, I can activate its Special Effect. It destroys monsters on your side of the field!" The guy declared while sending a card to his graveyard. That was when the sun struck my Desert Fox, destroying it in process.
Smoke and wind appeared while I covered my head and looked away. I knew the guy wanted to attack my Life Points… But, honestly, he has just helped me rather than made things harder for me. Now I would get to bring out other monsters on the field!
"Archlord Zerato, attack her Life Points!" Aster Phoenix ordered his monster. It was about to attack me, but I was ready. "I activate 'Call Of The Haunted'!" I cried, revealing my facedown. The Desert Fox appeared again in Attack Mode. However, it was soon destroyed, causing more smoke and wind as its destruction cost me some Life Points.
Aster Phoenix: 4000 LP
Me: 2200 LP
"Because you had destroyed my Desert Fox twice, that's as much times I can use her Special Effect." I looked up with a smirk. "When it's destroyed, I can get to summon either its relative, or another Desert type of monster." I explained the fox's effect. "So I'll use it to summon Desert Rose in Defense Mode and Mountain Wolf in Attack Mode!"
The plant appeared on the field in Defense Mode (ATK/DEF:1000/500). A grey wolf appeared in Attack Mode (ATK/DEF:800/1500).
"Summoning more than one monster during your turn is against the rules." Aster Phoenix said simply. I couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed. Here he was, trying to educate me about a stupid card game… He was in way over his head.
"I know summoning more than one monster is against the rules," I started, not bothering to hide my annoyance. "But this is Special Effect summoning we're talking about!" "No need to get so worked up." The guy frowned, making me blink in confusion. I didn't understand a thing by now. "I know that's a Special Effect; I just wanted to make sure."
I rolled my eyes at that answer. "Are you done or not?" I demanded. "I'll activate 'The Inexperienced Spy' to see one of your cards." The guy activated another card, making my eyes widen in surprise. Since when were people allowed to do that?! That was basically cheating!
One card flew out of my hand and turned towards the young duelist. It was… "'Fair in War?' Interesting." Aster Phoenix commented. I glared at him while the card flew back to my hand. I would have activated it, but I didn't want to risk my Life Points at the moment. They were already down to 2200 after all… Thankfully, he didn't see my other card. "I end my turn."
"About damn time." I growled while drawing another card. "By activating Mountain Wolf's Special Effect, it can attack you directly." I then declared. "Mountain Wolf, attack his Life Points!" I ordered with my hand lifted up. The wolf charged towards the duelist, and slashed at him with its claws.
Aster Phoenix: 3200 LP
Me: 2200 LP
"I activate 'Mystical Space Typhoon' to destroy your Field Spell." I lifted up the card in my right hand. The temple and the clouds disappeared immediately, bring us back to the Slifer Red dorm. "Then I'll activate 'Card of Sanctity', which means both of us get to draw more cards until we have six of them."
I drew five cards while Aster Phoenix drew four of them with a frown on his face. I knew I was giving him more chances of winning by playing this. However, I was in desperate need of some cards if I wanted to use my monster properly.
"First, I'll summon Arctic Fox in Attack Mode." A big, white fox with small ears appeared on the field (ATK/DEF:1800/1600). I then looked at my remaining cards with a frown.
As much as I didn't want to risk my Life Points, using my card may have been the only way to actually help me win this thing… I would have to play risky this time. Not the best idea… But I had no choice.
"I activate 'Fair in War'." I declared, taking the card out of my left hand and lifting it up. The card glowed for a few moments before disappearing. "Both of us lose the amount of Life Points equal to the lowest amount of my monster's Attack Points." I explained calmly.
An explosion could be heard and smoke appeared. I quickly covered my face while my Life Points dropped to 1400.
Aster Phoenix: 2400 LP
Me: 1400 LP
"Then I'll sacrifice Mountain Wolf, Desert Rose, and Arctic Fox to summon my Desert Cobra!" I exclaimed while clenching my right fist. All of the monsters disappeared from my field. A giant-looking, black cobra appeared on the field. It hissed and bared its fangs (ATK/DEF:0/0).
"You might want to pay attention to this part," I then started, making the guy look right in my eyes. "My Desert Cobra may have zero points, but its Special Effect makes up for it. For each card I send to the graveyard from my hand, it gains 1000 points."
I smirked. There was another effect this monster had, but I hopefully wouldn't need it at the moment. "Since I'll send four of them, that means the cobra will gain 4000 points." At that moment, black light started glowing around its body, as its Attack Points grew (ATK/DEF:4000/0). "Go, Desert Cobra, attack Archlord Zerato!" I cried.
The cobra hissed and quickly started gliding towards the monster. It bit it with its fangs, destroying the monster in process. I quickly checked my gear to see how many points the guy had lost.
Aster Phoenix: 1200 LP
Me: 2200 LP
I couldn't help smirking. I was only 1200 points away from winning…. All he had to do was try to attack my monster… "I end my turn."
Aster Phoenix drew another card. "I'll summon Shining Angel in Attack Mode." An angel with double, golden wings appeared on the field. He was dressed in white (ATK/DEF:1400/800). "I'll set a facedown and end my turn."
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That must have been a good trap there… I kind of expected from him to try to beat my cobra, and then I'd be able to use my 'Flowing Back' trap… A bit odd. However, I wasn't complaining. In case he did use his facedown, I had two of them as well. That was why I was going to attack.
I drew another card without looking at it. I already knew what I wanted to do after all, I wouldn't need it. "Desert Cobra, attack Shining Angel!" I ordered.
The cobra glided towards the angel while hissing, before biting it with its fangs. Smoke appeared as the monster was destroyed, taking away the rest of Aster Phoenix's Life Points.
Aster Phoenix: 0 LP
Me: 2200 LP
I deactivated my Duel Disk. The monsters disappeared from the field. Aster Phoenix did so as well while I took my facedowns and the deck out of the device. However, I still found this a bit confusing. This guy was supposed to be a professional duelist… Surely, he could have done a lot more to try to win? He didn't even use his facedown!
Maybe I didn't know much about professional dueling… But if people freaked over him so much, he must have been really good. He could have beaten me for all I knew! That, or he was just overhyped? I doubted the latter was the case, yet… Something about this was really fishy.
"Not bad." Aster Phoenix's voice brought me back to reality. He had walked over to me, looking at the cards in my hand. The guy had a polite smile on his face. I could tell it wasn't a genuine one. I used that identical smile whenever I wanted to remain polite with people I didn't want to talk to. Maybe he was pissed I had won? Or was it something else?
I looked up at the guy, my light blue eyes meeting his sharp blue ones. "Thanks… I guess." I replied awkwardly and quickly put the deck back in my Deck Box. "Where did you get those cards?" He asked in what seemed to be curiosity. "My aunt gave them to me." I said with no further explanation.
He simply nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. "Since that's it, I'd better get going." He said, getting ready to turn around and walk away. However, I then realized something. Since I saw him back at Sarina's and Sartorius' place, and since the latter and the guy seemed to know each other… I could ask him whether he heard anything about him!
The reason why I hadn't thought of it earlier was because I was so annoyed with Crowler, and then the whole dueling thing… I should have thought about this sooner!
"Wait," I said, stopping Aster Phoenix from leaving. He looked at me expectantly. "Since my cousin and I had seen you at one place earlier…" I started while playing with one of my red strands. "I was wondering if maybe you had heard something from a man named Sartorius." I explained awkwardly.
The guy's eyebrows furrowed, a frown appearing on his face. "What do you mean?" He asked. I stayed quiet for a few moments. I didn't really want to explain my current situation with those two… Yet I still had to say something. He asked me what I had meant, after all.
"I haven't seen or heard from Sartorius and his sister for quite some time. But you and Sartorius know each other, which is why I had thought you had an idea where they are right now." I explained hesitantly.
Those words earned me a brief stare from Aster Phoenix. A brief one, but still noticeable. "No. I haven't heard anything from him either." He responded coldly before turning around. The silver-haired guy then started walking away.
I was looking at his disappearing form in both puzzlement and disbelief. My only chance of finding out more about those two's whereabouts was gone…
I returned to my room. One part of the Slifer Red dorm was being renovated at the moment, so I took a chance while there was no noise to spend some time there. Besides, it wasn't like I was slacking off, since classes for today have already finished.
Once I threw myself at bed, I took my album and started looking through it. I haven't looked through it completely yet… Therefore, it was no surprise once I found there a picture I had never seen before. My eyebrows furrowed once I took it in my hands.
There were three people in it. One of them was Aunt Maria when she was younger. Her long, dark brown hair was tied in a bun, and she was wearing a white dress. My aunt and other two people were sitting on a bench and smiling at the camera.
My eyes landed on two unknown people. One of them was a woman, the one on my aunt's left. She had long, blond hair, and brown eyes. The woman was dressed in a casual blue, short-sleeved shirt and a dark blue skirt.
The other person, the one on Aunt Maria's right, was a man. He had dark hair, and piercing blue eyes. Glasses were on his face. The man was wearing a short-sleeved, dark brown shirt with a collar and pants.
From what I could see, all three of them were around the same age… Yet I couldn't figure out who the other two people were. However, that didn't stop me from staring at those two. I didn't even know why. It was just weird…
No. I've worried enough for one day. I had to clear my mind, and just forget about everything for at least five minutes!
Carefully putting the picture back in the album, I let out a sigh. I then closed the album and left it on my bed. Right after that, I walked out of the room.
While I was passing other rooms, I could hear some commotion inside one of them. The room had door open, so that pretty much explained it. Once I was in front of the room, I took a moment to observe its interior.
Jaden, Syrus, and Chazz were inside with another guy I hadn't seen before. He was muscular, and seemed to be of African American or mixed race. A bandanna with dinosaur's face on it was covering his black dreadlocks. Earrings were hanging from his ears, and a necklace was around his neck. His Ra Yellow uniform was slightly different from the usual one. The blazer was a duller shade of yellow with no sleeves, and a green shirt underneath. He was wearing beige combat pants and white wristbands.
I raised an eyebrow. What an outfit… The guy looked as if he had just come out of the military. Maybe it was supposed to look like that… Anyway, that wasn't my problem.
Suddenly, all of them stopped talking and turned around to look at me. I looked at Chazz, Syrus and the guy for a few moments, not bothering to see their reactions. My eyes then landed on Jaden, who was looking right at me. However, I paid no attention and walked away from the room without another word.
By the time I got downstairs, I was about to head towards the cliff, when… "Serena!" I turned around to see Jaden running towards me. When he was right in front of me, he stopped to take a breath with hands on his knees.
"What do you want?" I raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to think. At hearing those words, the brown-haired guy straightened up and looked at me. "We never found out why Crowler wanted to see you." He pointed out. "And that's why you came running to me?" I raised both of my eyebrows at him.
Jaden shook his head. "I came because I wanted to talk to you. Isn't that what friends do after all?" He asked me cheerfully. By now, I was completely caught by surprise. "Friends?" I repeated slowly. "Yes, you're my friend after all." He smiled genuinely.
By now, I was staring at him. To think he even considered me as a 'friend' after everything I had done to him so far… The guy was… "If you say so." I finally said with a frown. He wasn't my friend; I had none of them. I just couldn't bring myself to be rude and tell him that in face, especially after how genuine his words were…
Why? I couldn't stop wondering. Why would a dueling fanatic like him even try to befriend someone like me? I hated dueling, and all fanatics ever did was talking about cards over and over! They never worried about anything else other than that! Everyone was like that in general…
I started walking without another word. "Why did Crowler want to see you?" Jaden asked while walking next to me. "About something stupid." I waved it off with a frown, remembering my duel with Aster Phoenix.
That was when it hit me. Jaden did say he had dueled him before… "Say," I spoke up with my arms folded, making him look at me curiously. "You said you had dueled Aster Phoenix?" I asked carefully. "Yup." He replied with hands behind his head. "Who won in the end?"
"I did." The brown-haired guy shrugged. "However, he wasn't using his real deck. Dorothy told me that he had bought those cards in her shop that morning." He frowned. My eyes widened in surprise. I knew something was wrong… That meant he was using cheap cards against me as well for some reason… He let me win. That's why he didn't even activate that facedown!
I looked at the sky, feeling utterly perplexed. Everything made sense now… Yet, at the same time, it didn't. Why would a professional duelist like him lose on purpose? He was hiding something…
"Why are you asking anyway?" Jaden looked at me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Oh," I looked away from the sky. "Nothing. It's just that Crowler was freaking out about him the whole day, that's why." I partially lied. Crowler freaking out was true. However, no one had to know about my part in him losing his mind.
He let out a laugh. "Good ol' Crowler…" He mused, suddenly stopping to look at the ocean. Wind started blowing, ruffling my already messy hair. I paid no attention to it though. Instead, my gaze moved to the ocean.
"Slacker, we need help over here!" Chazz's voice could suddenly be heard, making us turn around towards the source of the voice. It was coming from the dorm. "I'd better get going then. See you, Serena!" Jaden winked at me with a grin and a salute, making me blink in surprise. He then started running towards the Slifer Red dorm.
My eyes wandered over to the ocean yet again. I wanted to enjoy this peace and quiet. Even though some things were still unclear to me, I knew there was a reason why Aster Phoenix was being so secretive. And I was going to find out why.
Well, that's it for this chapter! I hope you liked it and until next time! :)