Kias: Thank you for reviewing! :) I understand why, but it's better to put some twist in there! ;) The scene I enjoyed writing the most, lmao… Yup, I also agree a bit about that...
This chapter and the next one take place during episode 'Pop Goes The Duel'.
I only own my OC's!
"Hi." The girl's voice greeted cheerfully. However, she didn't receive an answer. "Did cat bite your tongue?" She then asked in confusion. "I… I…" The boy's voice stammered. "Hey, I won't bite you, or something like that!" The girl laughed. She was met with silence yet again.
"I'm Serena. What about you?" "What about me?" The boy questioned a bit nervously. "What's your name?" She asked curiously. "I'm… I'm…"
"ACHOO!" I put a tissue against my mouth before letting out a sneeze. After throwing it into a nearby garbage can, I turned back to my PDA and phone. It's been two days since I found that birthday card, and since I figured out that I had some sort of amnesia. However, I was still trying to muster up courage to call Aunt Maria about this. Right now, I was sitting on stairs since we had free period, and trying to just make that phone call.
Calling my parents would have been more reasonable… But I knew I wouldn't get anything out of them. They hadn't told me anything before, and they certainly wouldn't do it now. From what Ben told me yesterday, Uncle Luca was getting sick a lot these days… I was convinced my cousin didn't know anything about this. If he did, then he would tell me. I didn't say anything about this to him either. This was something I wanted to keep to myself… For now. I wasn't even sure what exactly I couldn't remember. I was aimlessly walking around, only counting on newly-discovered flashbacks to help me out.
Seeing I couldn't call my parents, or Uncle, Aunt Maria was the only option… She knew something was up, I could tell that. When I asked her about my seventh birthday a month and a half ago, she did her best to drop the subject.
I let out a sigh. Once I pulled the edge of the glove up a bit, I looked at the bracelet on my left wrist. Aunt Maria did know where I got this thing from… It was apparently given to me by a friend as a birthday gift. From what I also managed to gather; those things used to be a huge hit in Domino City (based on what the girl from the plane said anyway).
Thanks to a small memory from before, I could conclude Aunt Maria was referring to a boy. He also had the same bracelet (or used to have, since this was a long time ago after all). Letting out a groan, I grabbed my head. I had some clues, sure… Except that it didn't help me at all! It only made it clear people were hiding things from me for an unknown reason.
Even though I heard that voice many times by now, I still couldn't figure out the boy's identity. It sounded kind of familiar, and I was sure I had to know who it was… Yet still nothing. This was so confusing!
I took the birthday card out of my pocket. Seeing how only he appeared in my head, one thing was clear. He was the same person who sent me this card and gave me the bracelet. Based on the writing, he was also supposed to be my neighbor and… Best friend…
The last thing sounded just absurd. I mean, since when did I have…
I never got to finish my thoughts because I heard voices through the hallway. "Are you sure?" That sounded like… "I'm telling you, Chazz, yes, I am…" Jaden's voice responded worriedly. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What in the world was going on?
Right then, Chazz and Jaden appeared in my view. Actually, the former was dragging the latter by his hand down the hallway. "Let's just get you to Mrs. Fontaine." The black-haired guy declared with a frown.
Judging by what I had just heard, they were heading to infirmary… But why? I didn't understand a thing by now…
"Serena Accardi, stop bothering with two fanatics." I growled to myself once they were out of my sight. I knew the problem would be solved either way, so, again, why should I bother?
However, suddenly, more weird things happened. Ben, Bastion, the girl and the military guy ran towards the infirmary as well, with several Ra Yellow and Slifer Red students close behind. Raising an eyebrow, I stood up from my sitting place on stairs.
Why were they in such a hurry? Something was definitely up. Ben didn't even notice me sitting here! Now I wanted to know what the deal was, since other students were running towards the infirmary as well.
Hold on… I wasn't supposed to be interested in what was happening here… But, if so many students were there, then that meant…
While I was arguing with myself whether I should follow the crowd or not, Syrus ran past me. He seemed to be in hurry too, I had to note. "OUT OF THE WAY!" I could hear him shouting at the end of the hall. "I said, BEAT IT!" Chazz's voice could be heard this time.
That was it! Damn ignoring everything else! I had to see what the heck was going on over there, I just had to!
With curiosity finally getting the better of me, I put my phone and PDA in pockets of my uniform. I then started running… Only to slip on stairs and start falling down them. I let out a yelp of pain once I landed on the last part of stairs with my butt. "Cazzo…" I cursed under my breath. It hurt like hell…
But I stood up anyway. I'd worry about my butt pain later! I started running down the corridor. At that moment, a lot of panicked Ra Yellow and Slifer Red students ran in my direction from the infirmary. Two of them even hit into each of my shoulder respectively.
The result was me yelping and spinning around in the run from the force of their hit… Which ended up with me falling to the ground yet again. By now, all of the students have disappeared from the hallway. I let out a growl. They could have watched where they were going…
I jumped up from the ground and dusted off my uniform. I then started walking quickly while tightening my gloves. After doing it with the right one, I pulled the bracelet down my wrist and started tightening the left one, when….
I bumped into someone, letting out a quiet gasp of surprise. I looked up slowly, only to be met with chocolate brown eyes looking into my light blue ones. I immediately knew who that person was. It was Jaden…
However, something was… Off about him. Whenever I ran into the guy, or he wanted to talk to me, he would have a huge grin, or a smile on his face. His eyes would show joy and happiness, and he would always stand straight.
But now? Instead of a grin, a look of what seemed to be upset and sadness was on his face. His eyes were looking down, and his head was lowered.
Once he looked at me, it was quiet for a few moments. During that time, we were just staring at each other. "Sorry." He said quietly. I tilted my head to right in confusion. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting so… Unusual?
Before I could say anything, Jaden walked past me, heading down the hallway. I quickly turned around to look at his disappearing form. To say that I was confused was an understatement… I had absolutely no idea what had just happened.
Why was Jaden acting so… Unlike him? The guy was happy whenever I saw him. Even when I wanted him to go away, you couldn't get smile off his face at all… So what was it with this suddenly sad and depressed look?! It was odd… And that was coming from me! Even I could see something was wrong!
"What in the world…" I trailed off in astonishment. "Serena." Ben's voice quickly made me turn my head. He, Chazz, Bastion, Syrus, the girl and the military guy had just got out of the infirmary. My cousin walked up to where I was. However, all of them seemed to be rather upset about something….
"You want us to wait for you?" Bastion asked, apparently seeing Ben wanted to talk to me. "No, you go ahead. I'll catch up with you." My cousin shook his head. With a nod, the five of them started heading out.
Once they were gone, I turned around to look at Ben. "Would you mind explaining to me what the heck is wrong with Yuki?" I raised an eyebrow with a frown. He let out a sigh. "It's…. A bit complicated." "Then start from the beginning." I pointed out the obvious.
"Fine." He straightened up. "Do you remember when Aster Phoenix challenged Jaden to a duel?" I simply nodded. "Well, they had that duel yesterday." He rubbed the back of his head. "And?" I urged him to keep going. "Aster Phoenix unveiled a new deck," "How many decks does that guy have?!" I cut my cousin off in annoyance.
I meant it! First, he used cheap cards, then he copied Jaden's deck, and now he had a new one?! Seriously…
Seeing Ben was surprised at my reaction, I felt a bit embarrassed. "Sorry," I cleared my throat. "Please continue." "Anyway, Aster Phoenix then won the duel. Cards flew out of Jaden's Duel Disk, all over the floor as he fell to the ground unconscious." My cousin explained with a frown.
I was looking at him in surprise. If I got this correctly… Jaden got unconscious because he had lost a duel? Was that even possible?! It just sounded ridiculous!
"We brought him to Mrs. Fontaine immediately. She claimed he was just exhausted from the duel." Ben continued. "However, this morning it got even weirder." I tilted my head to right in confusion. What could be weirder than what I had just been told, I had no idea…
"Chazz and Jaden were supposed to have a practice duel. Just as he drew his sixth card, Jaden claimed he couldn't see any of them." I was staring at him, feeling utterly perplexed. Couldn't see them? "What?" I could only muster those words. "Chazz then informed the rest of us, and we came to see what the problem was. It turns out Jaden thinks his cards are blank, while the rest of us can see them perfectly normal."
"Blank cards?" I repeated slowly, the idea sounding crazier to me by every second. "He described it as looking at white paper." Ben nodded. "Not even Mrs. Fontaine knew what the problem was. The only thing she could confirm was that the problem was in Jaden, not the cards." He then sighed. "So that's why he's so depressed? Just because he can't see his cards?" I asked incredulously.
The moment I said that, Ben glared at me. "Just because you can't see the point of Duel Monsters, that doesn't mean the rest of us are like you. Jaden loves dueling more than anything, and he has a strong bond with his deck. Not seeing his cards means he can't do what he loves anymore." He hissed, making me flinch in surprise at his tone change. He took my words way too seriously…
"Also, it's not just his cards. He can't see any of them!" My cousin added. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The more we discussed this subject, the crazier it sounded… What the heck could make you unable to see cards?! Did Yuki hit his head while falling unconscious?!
He then folded his arms. "Tell me. If you weren't able to collect plants and observe nature, how would you feel?" He demanded, tilting his head as if he were daring me to answer his question. "Pretty upset…" I guessed with a shrug. "Exactly. Jaden has every right to be upset." Ben retorted.
"Fine, fine, sorry for daring to ask!" I shouted, lifting my hands up in defense. He was getting way too worked up over the whole thing… What he had just said was ridiculous. How could a person have a bond with cards?
However, seeing he was already upset with my choice of words, I decided not to question it further. I didn't want him getting pissed with me so soon after the last time.
"When he woke up, nothing seemed to be weird?" I raised an eyebrow. "Apart from his head hurting like crazy and him being disoriented for some reason, yes." Ben let out a sigh.
I turned around to look at the exit. As much as I found the whole thing ridiculous… There was something upsetting about seeing Jaden like that. For some reason, it made me feel bad… I mean, just seeing him depressed instead of his usual self was upsetting too… It definitely did not suit the guy. And even though him constantly wanting to talk to me was annoying sometimes, I hoped he would snap out of that 'depression' thing soon…
Wait, wait, WAIT… What was I saying?! This island was clearly driving me to insanity… Why would I feel sorry for him? He was a fanatic, the only thing he cared about was his damn cards!
"I'm going to meet with others now," Ben's voice broke my train of thoughts. "Want to tag along?" He asked me. I frowned. By now, I thought he knew I wanted nothing to do with those fanatics… "I think I'll skip that. Two of your friends are still pissed with me over what happened a while ago after all." I answered coldly.
My response got Ben bursting in laughter. I glared at him in annoyance. Two days passed, and it was still hilarious to him… "It's not funny! The guys literally assaulted me with that pillow and blazer!" I stomped my foot to make the point clear. "Hassleberry assaulted you." He corrected me. "The point still stands." I frowned.
"Another reason for you three to finally get over that incident!" Ben suddenly grabbed my hand. "BENJAMIN!" I shouted and tried to pull my hand out of his to no avail. He started pulling me to what I presumed was Slifer Red dorm.
By the time Ben dragged me to the renovated part of the building, I stopped protesting. Trying to break free was useless with him around… Besides, the sooner this was over, the sooner I'd be able to get out of there!
Opening the door, we walked into a huge room. I closed the door behind me while observing the place. There were stairs leading to some sofas, a table, and TV… There were even stairs leading to an upper part… Noises may have been annoying during renovation, but I had to admit it was worth it. Impressive…
The moment we walked in; five heads turned in our direction. They seemed to be alright with seeing Ben… But reactions were different once their eyes landed on me. Bastion, once again, nodded indifferently. Chazz folded his arms but remained quiet. The girl looked between my cousin and me back and forth. Syrus and the military guy frowned at me immediately.
"Did I miss something?" Ben asked curiously. "We were just discussing how weird Jaden's situation is." The girl said simply. "You have any idea where he is right now?" He raised an eyebrow. "In our room." Syrus sighed. "Sarge doesn't wanna come out." The military guy added.
Ben's eyebrows furrowed. "Any idea how we can help him?" "Honestly, if Mrs. Fontaine couldn't help him, then we have less chances." Bastion pointed out matter-of-factly. "He said he wanted to be alone. Let's just leave the Slacker be for a while." Chazz frowned. "There's no point in pushing him. It might make things even worse." The girl agreed.
"In that case…" My cousin sighed before walking downstairs. He threw himself at one part of sofa, next to the girl. I stayed where I was, observing all of them. "Come on, cuzo, there's one place left!" Ben motioned for me to sit down next to him.
"You don't mind I brought Serena here?" He then asked others. The girl and Bastion shook their heads while Chazz muttered 'whatever'. Syrus and the military guy, on the other hand, frowned yet again. "It's okay, Ben. I need to get…" I started, but never got to finish.
Ben jumped up and grabbed me by my hand before I could get out. "You three are going to sort it out now!" He declared, leading me to where Syrus and the other guy were. "Syrus, Hassleberry…" My cousin started sheepishly. "I get you're still mad at Serena for what happened," That got him even bigger frowns.
"But I told her she could come in whenever she wanted, so blame it on me instead. She couldn't have known what we were doing back then." He explained. I looked at him in a bit of surprise. I walked in on those two, and here he was, taking the blame for that? I mean, he was to blame partially, but I should have knocked nonetheless…
After a few moments, Syrus and the guy sighed. "Fine." They finally said. "Sorry, Serena." The short guy said simply. He didn't sound angry anymore. "Sorry for hitting you with the pillow and Sarge's blazer." The military guy apologized, making my face become red at the mention of that. I could tell Ben was doing his best not to burst out laughing.
"Forget it," I waved it off in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for not knocking." I finished bluntly. "Apology accepted." They responded. "If I remember correctly, your names are Syrus and Hassle… Hassle…" I tried to remember the second name. However, I didn't seem to have much luck.
"Hassleberry." The guy said. "Oh." I quickly nodded. I then turned around. "Bastion…" I remembered the Ra Yellow guy's name. "Chazz…" I looked at the black-haired guy. "And…" I stopped, looking at the girl. I didn't know her name either… "Serena can sometimes forget or mess up people's names. That's why she's repeating them to make sure that doesn't happen." Ben explained once he saw confused looks others were giving me. "Oh…" The rest of them trailed off in realization.
The girl simply nodded with a small smile. "Alexis." She introduced herself. "Alexis." I repeated, trying to memorize the girl's name. I repeated it in my head a few times before looking at others. Fine, Syrus, Bastion and Chazz were names I've already known. There were just the military… Hassleberry and Alexis. I had to memorize those names!
Fine. At least I knew names of all of Ben's friends. Now I could get out of here and… That couldn't happen since at that moment, Ben grabbed my hand and led me to a sofa. I gave him a disapproving look. "Just stay here for a while, and then I'll leave you alone. Alright?" He whispered, giving me a pleading look.
I let out a groan but nodded. "I'll hold you to your word." I hissed.
"While what happened to Jaden is serious," Bastion suddenly spoke up with a frown. "We have bigger problems." I looked up, my eyebrows furrowing. What could possibly be more serious than your friend not being himself?
Ben must have noticed my perplexed look, since he looked at me. "Crowler and Bonaparte are trying to tear down this dorm." He quickly explained. "Why?" I raised an eyebrow. Tearing down dorms? Has the whole world gone crazy? First a guy couldn't see damn cards, and now this?!
"I'll tell you why," Chazz spoke up, his black eyes looking straight into my light blue ones. "Crowler's obsessed with getting publicity for the Academy, and he thinks this dorm is giving it a bad image." He folded his arms. "And with Jaden out, the chances for tearing down this place are even bigger." Bastion added.
Honestly… I had no idea why they were being so serious and upset about this, but I'd just leave it at that. I didn't give a damn about this place being demolished. Sure, maybe my room would be gone… But if the dorm was demolished, then we'd just move into a better one! That was supposed to be a better option, right?
I stayed quiet, not really caring about that problem. "They'll tear it down for sure, we don't stand a chance." Syrus sighed. "Why are all of you so disheartened just because Jaden had lost a single duel?" I asked Ben quietly with a frown. "Jaden is one of best duelists here. It proves there are good duelists coming from Slifer Red dorm, despite its bad reputation. With him not being around, there's no reason for Slifer Red to exist anymore. Technically speaking." He whispered back to me.
I simply nodded. It kind of made sense… If the best one wasn't there to defend it, then why would you bother? The reason for its existence was practically out of the picture now… Just because Jaden decided to go and be depressed.
Frowning, I mentally scolded myself for even thinking about the last part. Jaden was always a cheerful person; I could see that… I just couldn't picture him being depressed up until today. When you did a 180 degree turn in such way, it was serious. Besides… It's not like he chose to be unable to see those cards!
Wait… Why was I still bothering with Yuki's problem?! I couldn't care less about what happened to one of million fanatics out there!
I quickly shook my head to get rid of those stupid thoughts. Ben gave me a questioning look, as if he were asking whether I was alright. I nodded, while the others seemed to be disheartened by what had happened. Chazz, on the other hand, waved with his hand for some reason, as if he was shooing something away. Weird.
"Ah, ah, ah," He then suddenly spoke up, raising an index finger. I looked at him curiously. "We may be one man down," He put the finger down. "But we're seven men strong!" He opened his eyes with a smirk, looking at all of us.
I raised an eyebrow at the 'seven men' part, seeing there weren't only men in here. "Well, five men and two ladies," Chazz quickly corrected himself before suddenly standing up. "Alright, four men, two ladies, and Syrus!" He put his right foot on the table and lifted up his arm. "The point is, we've got to fight!" He declared.
Why Chazz included me in his speech, I had no idea. I wasn't friends with them after all. He most probably did it because I was a part of this dorm, and Ben was my cousin (who was friends with Chazz). However, I paid no attention to that. Again, I couldn't care less whether this dorm was torn down, they'd just place us into a better one!
"Chazz's right!" "Count me in!" "I'll stand by and cheer!" "Non mollare, continua a lottare!" "How about a group 'YEEHA'?" Bastion, Alexis, Syrus, Ben and Hassleberry stood up enthusiastically, apparently encouraged by Chazz's speech.
"YEEHA!" All six of them cheered. I, on the other hand, was looking at them unimpressed. They were ready to fight for a stupid building as if their life depended on it… They really had to find something more productive with their lives…
I decided to pretty much ignore what they were saying, only hearing something about brotherhoods and sisterhoods. However, suddenly, I could hear some sort of singing.
The others apparently heard it too, since all of us raced outside of the dorm.
"It's coming from the bridge!" Ben pointed. We ran to it, as the singing became louder.
Once we came to the edge of the bridge, I leaned closer. Singing was coming from under the bridge. Looking there, I could see a guy playing a guitar in a boat and singing. He had long, dark brown hair and dark eyes. The guy was dressed in a red, short-sleeved shirt with yellow flowers, and brown, Bermuda shorts.
"Hey, sissy!" The guy suddenly shouted with a smile. "Atticus?" Alexis responded. Wait… Those two were siblings? Now that I observed him better, I could definitely see some resemblance between them. My eyes widened slightly as I remembered where I had seen the guy before. He was on the photo Mrs. Fontaine had dropped!
I couldn't help frowning. It looked like this guy was slightly older than us, yet Mrs. Fontaine was apparently one of his fans… What the heck?! I mean, he looked like he was 17 or 18, and she was obviously older… Letting out a sigh, I tugged at my hair.
"Who's he calling a sissy?" Hassleberry's voice brought me back to reality. "Me, because he's my brother." Alexis responded.
"He's going towards the cliff next to the dorm!" Syrus pointed. We made a run to the cliff, just as the guy got up to where we were. "Remind me again, what's his name?" I asked Ben quietly. "Atticus." He responded. "Atticus…" I repeated under my breath, trying to memorize the name.
"What brings you to this side of campus?" Alexis asked her sibling. "Don't act innocent. You remember Crowler's plan!" The guy… Atticus reminded her. "Oh no…" Ben suddenly gasped from next to me.
I looked at him questioningly. "Please tell me you're joking." The Obelisk Blue girl responded. "He sounds pretty serious to me!" Crowler's voice suddenly said from below the cliff, making all of us look in that direction in surprise. What in the world…
Crowler climbed up the cliff. My eyes widened in astonishment while observing the Chancellor. He was wearing a swimming suit and snorkeling equipment on his head. A boat was strapped to his back, the same one Atticus had used a little earlier…
I knew Crowler was prone to losing it… But… WHAT THE HECK was this all about?! Why would he go snorkeling around with a boat strapped to his back?!
"Chancellor Crowler, is that you?" Alexis demanded in surprise. "A nice day for snorkeling, isn't it?" Crowler got up completely by now. I frowned. This man was insane… "Alexis, dear, have you come to your senses yet?" He then asked, trying to keep balance with the silly boat still on his back.
I could hear Ben huffing from next to me, making me roll my eyes. "Have I come to my senses? I'm not the one in a wetsuit with a boat strapped to my back!" The dark-blonde-haired girl pointed out the obvious.
"What about you, Benjamin?" The Chancellor then looked at my cousin. "No." Ben frowned. "Seriously, you three. Can't you give his idea a chance?" Atticus asked in disbelief while Crowler finally lost balance and fell off the cliff with his boat. "Wait, three?" Bastion demanded in surprise.
"Yes!" Atticus nodded. "Alexis," He pointed at his sister. "Ben," Then at my cousin. "And Serena!" He finally pointed at me. I was completely taken by surprise. How the heck did he know my name?! "How do you know my name?" I asked. "Crowler's mentioned you a few times." He smiled.
I sighed. Why was the man mentioning me in the first place?! This was becoming crazier and crazier by a freaking second…
"What is he talking about?" Syrus spoke up. "Ben and I've already told you." Alexis responded with a sigh while blushing. "Crowler wants Atticus and Alexis to form a pop singing duo, and he wants Serena and me to do the same. He even thought about us forming a singing quartet…" Ben covered his face in utter embarrassment.
Not that I could blame him, since I started feeling a bit embarrassed as well. The idea was just awful… I just couldn't imagine myself and Ben standing on stage and singing our hearts out in Italian. We were also terrible singers. Just NO…
"I don't see what the problem is," Crowler commented while walking up to Atticus. "I will get free publicity, and all of you will get free clothes…. It's a win-win situation!" He pointed out.
I resisted the urge to groan in annoyance. I just had to attend stupid school where the Chancellor cared more about his image than his students… Even Viper sounded more acceptable than this! Why did I even transfer here?!
"YES…" Chazz's voice could be heard saying way too enthusiastically. Raising an eyebrow, I quickly turned my head to look at him. I had no idea what was so exciting to him about this damn awful thing…
Ben looked at his friend in utter disbelief before face palming. "Just kill me…" He whispered to me. I nodded in agreement at our current predicament.
"Could you help me over here?!" Alexis suddenly asked Chazz in annoyance. "Yeah, Chazz. You know Alexis' singing is like a door creaking!" Bastion commented nonchalantly with this smile on his face.
My eyes widened in surprise once I heard those words. Suddenly, Alexis turned around to look at Bastion, her glare promising nothing but death. My eyes were near to popping out of their sockets once she delivered this giant slap across his whole right cheek. It echoed so loudly and the force sent Bastion flying to the ground.
I glanced at furious-looking Alexis and Bastion back and forth in astonishment. DAMN…
Ben, Chazz, Syrus and Hassleberry seemed to be as astonished as me. Even Atticus and Crowler were surprised by what had just happened.
Syrus, Hassleberry, Ben and I exchanged looks of pure shock and fear. We then quickly looked at where Bastion was currently lying. "You gotta know when to hold it, soldier!" Hassleberry frowned. Ben let out a sigh and shook his head in disbelief. "I thought you had learned it back then with Mrs. Fontaine…" He trailed off.
Looking at both of them, I finally got over my shock and agreed they had a point. Bastion sure had a knack for insulting women in some sort of way, aware of it or not… If he had just kept quiet, this could have been avoided!
"I was trying to help…" I could hear Bastion groaning. "Girls… So complex…" I face palmed. Whoever he ended up with in the future, I wished that woman good luck.
"What happened to Dad?!" The boy asked from next to me. Both of us were looking at Aunt Maria and Sartorius in surprise. "He… He…" Aunt stammered, rubbing the back of her head. "A business woman didn't like… She didn't like his choice of words." Sartorius finally explained.
"So that's why he has a handprint all over his cheek?!" I asked with my eyes wide. The man simply nodded. "That's going to make Naomi happy…" Aunt Maria trailed off sarcastically, making Sartorius sigh. "Perhaps you shouldn't have told him that word prior to the meeting. You know he generally messes up words in different languages." He pointed out.
Aunt frowned. "Not my fault he decided to be curious about Italian insults." "You knew the business woman was Italian." He reminded. She nodded. "That's why he asked me about it in the first place!" She retorted. "Maria…" Sartorius sighed yet again.
His eyes then landed on us. "Run along, you two. This is something you're too young to hear about." He smiled. "But what about Dad?!" The boy demanded. "He'll be fine." Aunt Maria said reassuringly. "And Mum?" "Naomi should come soon. Now go!" She put a hand on each of our shoulders.
"Fine…" I sighed. "Race you to that tree!" The boy shouted and started running. "No fair!" I shouted back with a laugh and ran after him.
"Serena," Someone was shaking me by my shoulders. "What?" I gasped, quickly looking up to see who was shaking me. It was Ben, and, right now, his green eyes were looking all over me in worry. "Are you alright?" He asked slowly.
I quickly nodded. "I'm fine." I quickly said. It looked like he wasn't convinced at all.
I took that moment to process what just happened. This was yet another memory… I could remember that part clearly now. Something must have provoked it…
"THAT'S IT, ENOUGH! DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU! ALL THIS PRESSURE'S JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME! JUST WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!" Chazz's shouting brought me back to reality. My eyes looked up to see him falling to the ground, right between Alexis and Atticus.
Ben face palmed yet again. "Oh, brother…" He sighed. "Then it looks like we have to settle this the old-school way." Atticus declared. "Fine, if it's a duel you want." Alexis frowned.
I raised an eyebrow. Why would they solve their problem by dueling? Couldn't they just throw a coin, or something like that?!
"I have a suggestion." Crowler spoke up. All of us looked at him. I wasn't going to like what he had to say, I was sure of it… "You two can have a duel between yourselves." "What about Ben and Serena?" Alexis demanded.
"Since Ben had already turned down the offer, Serena will duel for both of them against…" "Moi!" A familiar voice which I didn't want to hear declared. My eyes widened once I saw Bonaparte walking up to us. However, he didn't seem to be happy about seeing us.
That got me thinking. Was Crowler planning this in advance, since he knew we would refuse? He must have…
"Wait, wait," I started a bit angrily. "Give me one good reason why I should accept this." I growled, realizing my life was on the line because of a single duel. No duel would decide whether I sang or not!
"Because you'll have to sing?" Atticus pointed out. "I'm a terrible singer, just like Ben." I glared. In fact, the 'door creaking' applied to both of us… "But Aster Phoenix wanted to meet you earlier, which means you're an excellent duelist! With Benjamin as well, it will bring more publicity!" Crowler reminded ecstatically.
My eyes widened once I realized what he said. He had just spilt the beans about my meeting with Phoenix… Everyone except Crowler looked at me in surprise. "Wait, what?" Syrus spoke up for all of them.
"I won't duel." I retorted. "Serena," Ben grabbed me by my hand. "Just accept it, or else we're doomed!" He urged frantically. "But…" "You have a bigger chance of beating him, since Crowler's already seen my origamis in action!" He added quietly.
Letting out a sigh, I looked up. I really didn't want to duel… But if I didn't, then they wouldn't stop pestering us about this crazy idea! I let out a groan. As much as I was against this, I knew I had no choice. If it's a duel they wanted, then they'd get it!
"Fine." I accepted icily. "The duels shall be in four hours." Crowler declared before running off to presumably get ready. Bonaparte frowned at me, but followed the Chancellor while grumbling something. Atticus walked away as well.
Ben frowned. "Something tells me Crowler barely convinced Bonaparte to do this." He sighed. "What was that about Aster Phoenix?!" Chazz suddenly demanded.
Everyone's eyes were on me. Oh damn. They still remembered what Crowler had said! "It was unimportant." I tried to wave it off. However, they didn't seem to be convinced at all. "Forget about that now, we have duels to win if we don't want to sing!" Alexis reminded hastily and ran to the dorm.
That was panic washed all over me. I didn't, I didn't want to sing! Why did I have to duel?! The Chancellor was a lunatic! "Ben, how did I get myself into this?!" I asked him frantically. "Don't look at me." He frowned. "Crowler does like Italians a lot…" He then mused with a finger on his chin.
"Care to explain why he's obsessed with us Italians?!" I demanded while trying to calm down to no avail. "Your guesses are as good as mine." He shrugged. "But hey," My cousin then grinned. "We have the element of surprise here. They don't know what kind of deck you use!"
I looked at him as if he were crazy. "THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT I HAVE TO DUEL TO DETERMINE WHETHER I'LL EMBARRASS MYSELF IN THE FUTURE OR NOT!" I screamed in utter panic. Everyone covered their ears from my screaming. By now, I was questioning whether my sanity was gone. I still wondered whether this island was really some kind of mental institution!
"Cuzo, calm down," Ben tried to put hands on my shoulders. "Even Viper had some respect for students!" I shouted, completely losing it. "So you're telling me you'd rather have him than Crowler?!" He demanded in disbelief. "He wouldn't force me to go and… SING!" I put hands on my head, trying to throw that crazy idea out of my head.
"Um, who's Viper?" Syrus asked curiously while I was still freaking out. "A jerk from West Duel Academy. Serena went there during her first year, and he always gave her detentions." Ben briefly explained. "CUZO!" He finally shouted, making me flinch in surprise.
However, it did stop my panicking. "Take a deep breath…" He looked at me seriously. I took a deep breath. "Again." I did so. "Again…" I took a deep breath for the third time. By now, my heart rate slowed down. I felt much calmer…
"There's no need to panic." Ben smiled at me. "We'll go over your deck now, and you'll get to kick Bonaparte's butt in that duel." "How do you know?" I asked him with a frown. Luckily, I wasn't panicking so much anymore. Ben's advice really did do the trick… "Because I believe in you." He declared.
He then took my hand and started leading me towards the dorm. I only hoped I would somehow win this duel, or else Ben and I were doomed…
And this pretty much shows who Serena will duel in the next chapter… I can't wait to write it! This chapter also gave a bit of insight on what Ben's deck is (which will be shown soon)…
Cazzo-shit;
Non mollare, continua a lottare- don't give up, keep fighting.
I hope you liked it and until next time! :)