Ghost of Magic: Thank you for reviewing, glad you liked it! :)
Kias: Thank you for reviewing! :) Lmao, unfortunately that's the case with Serena seeing she prefers biology, and knowing Polymerization really is a biological process… Gives her a reason to poke fun at the card's name! ;)
This chapter takes place during 'I've Seen the Light'.
I only own my OC's!
"Let's have another duel!" The male voice shouted excitedly. "You said only one more, which ended with you winning. Now we're playing something else." The female voice reminded pointedly. "I know, but I love dueling so much…" The boy whined. "I know you do. However, I won't play anymore for today. I want to play another game." The girl replied.
"Fine…" The boy sighed. "We could always ask your aunt, Mum, Dad, and someone else to play Hana Ichi Monme with us?" He suggested. "I don't think that will work. Only aunt Maria is here." The girl pointed out.
That was followed with a sigh from the boy. "How about Onigokko or Janken?" He then asked. "As long as it's not Kancho, I'm up for anything!" The girl exclaimed. The boy burst in laughter. "I see you're well informed about our games." He was trying to stop laughing to no avail. "Of course, since they're the same thing, only with different name in Italian."
However, he still didn't stop laughing. "It's not funny! The boy from yesterday tried to do that to me!" The girl exclaimed. "I admit, I don't like Kancho either, at least when I'm the target." The boy agreed, finally calming down. "But we can always continue dueling?" He then asked mischievously. "Or we can always go collecting plants?" The girl suddenly demanded slyly.
That earned her a groan. "Fine, you win. Choose, Onigokko, or Janken?" The boy asked. "Onigokko, of course." The girl replied happily. "Then Onigokko it is!" He agreed cheerfully.
"What are you two up to?" A female voice spoke up. "We're about to play Onigokko!" The girl exclaimed excitedly. "Is that so?" A male voice questioned in amusement. "Yes!" Two kids chorused. "You'd better go play outside, or Serena's parents will go insane for running inside the house." The man noted. "Got it!" The kids exclaimed before running and laughing could be heard.
"JADEN! I'M NOTHING WITHOUT YOU!" Syrus' shouting could be heard outside the classroom. Looking at each other with raised eyebrows, Ben and I then raced inside (running past pissed Hassleberry).
Once we were in the classroom, I could see everyone looking at Syrus. The short guy was staring at the ground with what seemed to be a sad look on his face. He was seated in fourth row in the middle part of the classroom. Alexis, Bastion and Chazz were standing around the room, staring at the blue-haired guy.
"Jaden is skipping class today as well…" Ben sighed. "Apparently." I frowned.
It's been three days since my duel with Bonaparte. Everything's been rather calm since then, if we didn't count Yuki skipping classes. Ben was concerned about him, so were Syrus (hence today's mood), Hassleberry, Alexis, Chazz and Bastion.
I did understand why they were concerned about Jaden. He was their friend after all. However, I tried not to pay so much attention to that. As much as him being depressed was kind of upsetting, I had no reason to worry. He wasn't my friend… Even though that slight feeling of guilt didn't leave me at all. It was so frustrating!
The point was, as much as the guy's situation was slightly upsetting, I had my own problems. I was eagerly awaiting Friday so Ben and I could finally get to talk to Aunt Maria. He would tell her about what happened on Monday, and I'd finally confront her about my memory problem. Today was Thursday, which meant I had to wait only one more day!
"Sy," Ben walked up to the short guy. "I get you're upset about Jay, we all are… But I think he needs a bit more time to recover." He told him reassuringly. "It's been three days, Ben!" Syrus looked up at him sharply. "It may take a bit more time." My cousin pointed out.
"Is Jaden Yuki here or not?" The professor asked, obviously trying to hide his annoyance at lack of an answer. "No, he's not!" I shouted from my place next to the fourth row. "Thank you!" The man replied and started calling other students' names.
Ben sat down next to Syrus, obviously trying to comfort the guy. I sat in a free seat next to my cousin. Then I took out my herbarium, ready to just do more productive things than listening to stupid lectures about cards.
Once the class finished, everyone started walking out of the room. Ben, Alexis, Syrus, and Bastion started talking about something between themselves. I guessed Jaden was most probably their topic, so I stood up and headed outside. I really didn't need to hear about depressive things right now. Me being in this damn place was already depressing itself…
However, I did manage to see Chazz frowning at the quartet once I walked past him. Didn't know what got him so worked up at the moment, but it wasn't my concern, really.
Third Person's POV
It was another warm, November day in the city of Nagoya. Sun was shining brightly on the streets. Seeing it was 8 AM, people were getting ready for their jobs. In fact, some of them wanted to avoid the usual traffic jam which usually occurred at this time.
That's why Naomi Suzuki was racing throughout the house while brushing her short, blond hair. She was a psychologist, and she couldn't be late. Out of all psychologists in the city, she had most of the clients, which made her extremely busy. The same thing happened back when she lived in the Domino City (neighbor city, it was only two hours away from Nagoya).
She walked past her husband who was sitting in the kitchen, reading newspapers. "Dear…" He trailed off in astonishment just as Naomi walked in, buttoning her red, long-sleeved shirt. "What is it, darling?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Have you heard the latest news?"
The man worked as an engineer, and he was also incredibly busy. However, Ken was used to his schedule. He always woke up earlier to get ready, and buy newspapers from a nearby shop. Naomi would sometimes see him getting up at 6 AM. However, she was used to it as well, seeing her husband's job was more demanding than hers.
"No," The woman shook her head. "Could you read them while I'm preparing coffee?" "Sure." The man nodded. "Someone broke into Industrial Illusions last night," He started reading just as Naomi took a kettle and put it on the stove. "And stole some cards from the company."
The moment she heard everything; the woman forgot to turn on the stove. She turned around to look at her husband. "What?" She demanded in surprise, her eyes meeting his brown ones. Ken simply nodded with a frown. "Pegasus hasn't commented on the situation yet, nor has the company's spokesperson." He added after reading more from the newspapers.
"I thought they had good security; it is a hugely-successful company after all…" Naomi trailed off thoughtfully. "They haven't given details about the crime yet." The man told her. "It's still weird. Even Maria said the company's security would always be ready for something like this." She sat on the chair across her husband with a sigh.
Folding the newspapers, Ken looked at her. "Why don't we ask her what happened? She works there after all; she has to know." He pointed out. After a few moments of quiet, the woman nodded. "Fine, but only five minutes. We can still reach her during this time in California, and we have work." She reminded.
"I remember that, Bell Tree." The man looked at her seriously. "That's good, courageous one." She responded with a huff. But then, both of them burst in laughter. Naomi ran to their room to get her laptop.
Once she came back, she turned it on and started looking for Maria's contact number. Once she found it, she turned on the laptop's camera and started calling the Italian woman. For three minutes, no one answered. "Nothing?" Ken looked at Naomi. "No." She shook her head with a sigh, and was getting ready to turn everything off, when…
"Naomi, is that you?" Maria Accardi's voice could be heard from the laptop. "Yes, Maria, it's me and Ken." The woman nodded with a smile, distancing the laptop so her friend could see both of them.
Maria was looking at them from the screen in her chair. She was dressed in her business suit, and her dark brown hair was tied in a ponytail. "Long time, no see, Ken." The Italian woman greeted. "Nice to see you again, Maria." The man greeted back with a smile. "We've just heard about what happened yesterday," Naomi started. "However, newspapers didn't share any details." "We were wondering if you could tell us instead." Ken added.
At hearing those words, a frown appeared on Maria's face. "Look, the situation in here is quite dire. I know what happened in general, since Pegasus and security are still looking through details." She explained. "Mrs. Accardi, Mister Pegasus won't be here for another hour at least." A male voice suddenly said.
A guy with black hair and koala-like face, dressed in his business suit, appeared in the background. "Chumley, I told you not to call me that while Pegasus and other people are not around." The woman gave him a disapproving look. "You're one of my son's friends after all." She then added with a small smile. "Sorry, but I can't risk mixing it up. If I called you that way while Mister Pegasus were here, I'd be fired." The guy said sheepishly.
"Fine, but once we're out of the building, call me Maria." The woman sighed. Chumley simply nodded. "I'm going for some coffee. We'll see the others once Mister Pegasus comes back from the investigation." He waved before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.
Naomi and Ken exchanged looks of confusion. "Who was that?" The latter asked curiously. "That's one of my newest colleagues, Chumley Huffington. He used to go to Duel Academy until Pegasus offered him the job, and here he is." Maria explained with a small smile.
"Wait, so he used to go to Duel Academy too?" Naomi repeated in surprise. "Yes. He's one of Benjamin's friends." The Italian woman nodded. Ken and Naomi looked at each other yet again.
"Anyway," Maria cut them off before the duo could say anything. "As you already know, someone broke in here last night. The person stole some cards, but I'm not exactly sure which ones. What I do know is that it made Pegasus extremely angry. I had never seen him like that before…" She frowned.
"How did he break in?" Ken raised an eyebrow. "From what I've seen, he broke one window in the building. However, they have no idea who it was." "But don't you have security cameras? They had to record what was happening!" Naomi pointed out perplexed.
Maria looked at them seriously. "That's exactly the problem. It appears there's no footage from last night at all," She folded her arms. "It only made Pegasus even angrier. Reasonably though, since those cameras usually record everything, even what's happening at night." "Maybe the thief modified them or something?" Ken suggested. "If he did that, an alarm would be activated immediately, which wasn't the case last night." The Italian woman shook her head. "Absolutely no one knows how it's possible… But it is."
"That's strange." Naomi mused. "Yeah," Maria nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid I can't chat any longer though," She then added while looking at her phone. "They told me to come to the meeting room right away." "We have work too." Ken pointed out. "Look, I'll keep you informed about what's happening, alright?" "Deal." The two said in unison. "See you." Ken then waved. "And good luck!" Naomi added before Maria hung up.
Once she closed the laptop, the woman looked at her husband with a sigh. "Breaking in at Industrial Illusions… Who would have thought?" "As much as it's surprising, I'm more worried about something else right now." Ken put a finger on his chin.
"What?" Naomi gave him a questioning look. "I hope nothing will happen at Duel Academy. Not while our son is there, at least." He folded his arms. "Ken, the Academy is perfectly safe for him!" The woman frowned. "They also claimed no one could break into the Industrial Illusions, and look what happened." Her husband pointed out. "You do have a point…" She finally agreed after realizing what he was talking about.
She then sighed. "I honestly think nothing bad is going to happen there though. Maria isn't concerned about Serena and her son after all. However, I'll write to him once I get back from work." She promised. "I don't want to think that way either. I just have this bad feeling, that's all." Ken explained. "I get it." Naomi nodded. "But we'd better get going or we'll be late!" She noted, running off to get her jacket.
Serena's POV
"Have you heard the news?!" Ben came running into the dorm's dining room frantically. Chazz, Alexis, Hassleberry and Bastion turned around to see what he was referring to. I turned around as well from my table where I was sitting alone and looking through my herbarium. "What news?" Bastion raised an eyebrow.
Ben slammed the newspapers on the nearest table. The others gathered around, with Ben joining them. I stood up and walked a bit closer. I then sat on a nearby chair, wanting to hear what made my cousin so panicked but also keep certain distance from others.
"Wait, someone broke into Industrial Illusions?!" Alexis demanded in astonishment. "Not just that," Chazz read, his black eyes going over the piece of paper. "Some cards were stolen." "Pegasus hasn't commented on the situation yet, neither has the company itself." Bastion noted with a frown. "They must be looking for the culprit, soldier!" Hassleberry pointed out.
My eyes widened in surprise once I heard their words. Someone broke into Industrial Illusions?! Aunt Maria always told me how it was well-guarded… So how was this even possible?!
"Hold on," Chazz looked up at my cousin. "Your mother works there, right?" He questioned. Ben simply nodded. "Then she must know what happened." The black-haired guy stated. "Most probably, but I won't hear anything from her until tomorrow. She's extremely busy." Ben explained. "Chumley works there too." Bastion spoke up. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion while all of them looked at him in realization.
I had no idea who that guy was… Although I could presume, he was Aunt Maria's colleague or something like that (based on what they said right now).
"Maybe we could ask him." Alexis nodded. "Benjamin, what's the time difference between California and Japan?" Chazz asked my cousin. "16 hours." He replied. "Sun's setting, and it's half past five right now." Hassleberry pointed out while looking at a nearest window. "Then that means it's half past one AM in California." Bastion groaned.
"Nothing until tomorrow then." Alexis sighed. "Ben, where did you get those newspapers anyway?" I asked my cousin. All of them turned around to look at me. "There's a newspaper stand in the card shop for those who want to stay informed about the news." Ben explained. I simply nodded.
Before anyone could say anything else, something else happened. I could hear the door slamming open quite loudly. In fact, it made me flinch in shock.
"CALL THE COAST GUARD! CALL THE MARINES!" Syrus suddenly ran into the dining room, shouting. All of us looked at him in surprise. He seemed to be rather panicked for some reason… "If it's about Industrial Illusions, we've already heard about it." Chazz frowned.
The short guy gave him a look of disbelief. "FORGET ABOUT INDUSTRIAL ILLUSIONS! JADEN'S GONE MISSING!" He then shouted at him. "What?" Ben, Bastion, Alexis and Hassleberry looked at Syrus as if he were crazy.
I couldn't help feeling the same way. How in the world was a random student supposed to leave this island?! I mean, getting out of this crazy place was a smart idea… But how?! He couldn't just steal a helicopter or something like that!
"Jaden grabbed all of his stuff and just took off!" The blue-haired guy explained frantically. "Then we'd better split up and find him before it's too late." Ben quickly jumped up. "Sy, you look around the main building," He looked at the guy who nodded. "Lex, you search the beach," His eyes briefly landed on the girl. "Bastion, look around the eastern part of the forest," The British guy gave a nod. "Hassleberry, search the part around the Slifer dorm," "Got it, soldier." The guy nodded. "Chazz, go to the northern forest area," "Whatever…" Chazz muttered, sounding unimpressed. "Serena and I will look around the western part of the forest, and Obelisk and Ra dorms." I simply nodded, not knowing what to say.
As much as I thought Jaden wanting to leave was his problem, I still felt a bit bad for what I told him a few days ago. I had no idea why, but I just couldn't get rid of guilt. I was going to help them look for him so I could have my conscience clear, that was it.
"Did you find anything?" Ben asked me once two of us ran into each other. By now, it was completely dark. My cousin had searched the area around Obelisk Blue dorm, while I did the same with the Ra Yellow dorm. However, there was no sign of the fanatic at all.
I shook my head with a frown. "No sign of him." Ben let out a groan. "I didn't find him either." He then looked at me. "We still haven't looked through this part of the forest." He pointed out. "I guess you want us to go in there too?" I presumed.
"Yes." He nodded. "You go right, I'll go left." He pointed at two sides. "We'll meet here in an hour?" I guessed. "Si. Now go!" He ran to the left. I turned to the right, walking inside the forest.
Once I entered the forest, I noticed something quite weird. Mist was all around the trees. It puzzled me, since this day was quite warm. Even tonight's temperature didn't fall under 20 degrees! Sometimes, it tended to be colder in forests than out in the open, but it wasn't cold here, and there was no reason for mist to appear… What in the world was going on in here?!
For a half an hour, there seemed to be no sign of the fanatic at all. It was as if he had literally disappeared in thin air…
"FAN…" I quickly stopped myself from shouting out the 'fanatic' word. "JADEN!" I shouted for the hundredth time today, with hands over my mouth. "LOOK, THIS ISN'T FUNNY, SO COME OUT!" I then added, walking around the forest. "Not that I think it is, but I just want the fanatic to come out in case he's hiding…" I then muttered to myself sarcastically.
Unfortunately, me calling fanatic by his name was utterly useless. He wasn't here…
That was when everything around me stopped. For a moment, I thought I was in a place filled with white light… But I wasn't. Instead, for some reason, my eyes were focused only on what was in front of me. It was as if someone had narrowed my view to the front part… I couldn't look away, no matter how much I wanted to!
"Serena…" A male, hypnotizing voice was calling me from somewhere deeper in the forest. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't throw the voice out of my head. It sounded quite familiar; I just couldn't figure out why…
However, that only made want to follow the voice even more. I wanted to know why he was calling me, and who it was… By now, my common sense has completely left me. In fact, it was as if I had lost complete control of my body. I would say 'don't follow mysterious voice', but it was as if I had been stripped of my free will!
"Who are you?!" I shouted, racing deeper into the forest. "Come to me…" The voice encouraged. "I will, but where are you?!" I shouted yet again, and was just about to run even faster…
When it stopped. I could feel everything around me becoming normal once again. My view wasn't narrowed to the front anymore, and I regained control of my will and body. Since I did, I immediately stopped running.
Once I completely realized what just happened, I gaped at my hands in astonishment. This was what Ben was talking about back then, I had been in a trance indeed… And now it happened again!
I frowned while remembering the conversation I had with Ben a while ago. He saw everything back then, yet I didn't remember it for some reason… But now I did! I remembered what the feeling was like, and what I was about to do! I was going to follow a random voice during dark… Sheer stupidity.
However, I still couldn't remember who was calling me. That was the only thing missing in the whole thing. I couldn't remember it, no matter how much I tried to! Despite that, what just happened made me even more impatient about tomorrow's talk with Aunt Maria. Maybe she would know something!
Now that this was over, I had to go forward and search the part for the fanatic… But was that a good idea? The voice came from that direction!
Seeing it was already getting late, I decided to go a bit forward. In case I noticed something odd, I'd just scream and turn on my heel. That sounded reasonable enough… "Mamma mia." I muttered to myself in disbelief. However, that didn't stop me from continuing the search.
During next five minutes, things were absolutely the same. I would call out the fanatic's name, receive no answer, and keep going. It all changed immediately after.
Since I turned my head to look back while walking, I didn't notice a huge tree branch. My eyes widened once I turned around and saw it near my face. Luckily, I ducked and avoided it with a yelp.
"Since they have such a huge forest, why don't they at least take care of it?" I questioned aloud once I stood up. By now, I was looking at the huge branch which nearly collided with my face. "Maybe they don't want to go into forest. They know they'll get lost…" I then mused to myself, touching a nearby tree. I immediately recognized it as Evergreen oak. Southern Japan was characteristic for this type of trees….
Walking to another tree next to the oak, I started observing it. This was Chinquapin… Another tree characteristic for southern Japan.
That was when I remembered why I came here. I wasn't here to look at the trees (even though that sounded a lot better); I had to find that fanatic!
Just as I was about to go under the huge branch, something on the ground caught my attention. There was a card lying in front of my feet (if I had moved any further, I probably would have stepped on it). Some hair strands were all over the card.
I frowned. Someone must have dropped this thing while passing over here… It cost that person a bit of hair too, considering he apparently didn't watch where he was going.
I bent over, wanting to throw away strands and just take the card. Once I took the thing in my hands, I was about to blow the hair off… When I finally saw its length and color completely. Even though it was dark, it could be perfectly seen on the card. The strands were a darker shade of blue. My eyebrows furrowed in thought while I picked one of hair strands and lifted it up. I wanted to see how long it was.
The strand was incredibly long; it went from my eyes to nearly my knees. I looked at it completely, wide-eyed. I would recognize that hair anywhere, my younger self would squeal with joy whenever I saw that person entering the house… Yet I still couldn't help feeling shocked. This was the last person I expected to hear about after all this time, and this was the last place where I expected that to happen… This must have been a mistake!
I quickly looked at the card. My eyes looked over it in confusion. A lady was on the card… Her dress was white, red and black. She was carrying a bouquet of flowers in her hands, and a lamb was peeking from behind her dress… Once I looked at the back of the card, I couldn't deny it anymore.
I've seen those tarot cards so many times I now knew what they looked like… This one may have been new, but its design was similar to the ones I had seen earlier! He would always carry those cards with him; he would never leave them…
"Sartorius was on this island…" I trailed off in both realization and astonishment.
I was pacing in front of the forest back and forth in nervousness. Actually, I was waiting for Ben to come back impatiently. I had to tell him about what I found back in there, and what that meant…
I was also trying to process everything. Sartorius, the person who went missing with his sister Sarina nearly over a year ago, had apparently been on this island. Why he had been here, I had no idea. I didn't know why he never answered any of calls. Hell, I didn't even know where he was right now! Don't get me wrong, I was happy I finally had some clues about his whereabouts, but I was more worried right now about lack of answers.
"Serena!" Ben's voice brought me back to reality. I turned around to see him running up to me. "Did you find Jay?" He asked me curiously. Except that he never received a vocal answer. Instead, I lifted up the tarot card and hair strand I held in each of my hands respectively. I lifted them up right in front of his face so he could see them.
My cousin gave me a perplexed look. "What?" "Sartorius." I said in one breath. "What about him?" He raised an eyebrow. "Take a look." I said impatiently, motioning with my head to the things in my hands.
He frowned but looked at both of them back and forth. After a few moments, his eyes widened. "Are those one of his tarot cards and hair strand?" He asked in astonishment. "Yes." I replied with a nod, putting my arms down. "Sartorius was on this island." I then added with a frown.
By now, Ben was staring at me as if I were a lunatic. "What makes you think he was actually here? He disappeared a year ago!" He pointed out in disbelief. "Ben, Sartorius never leaves his tarot cards lying around. He must have dropped this one due to a huge branch being in his way." I explained firmly. "Besides, doesn't this hair strand prove it to you?" I then added, pointing at the thing in my left hand.
"It does look like his hair, it's just that…" He trailed off uncertainly, making me look at him expectantly. "It's just that this whole thing is bizarre." He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, first we don't hear from him for over a year, and now it turns out he was here? Why didn't he answer to our calls? What was he doing here in the first place?" "That's what I'd like to know as well…" I trailed off with a frown.
Ben's green eyes looked at me. "We'll tell Mum about this tomorrow. Until then… Did you find Jaden or not?" He asked. "No." I shook my head. "Me neither." He replied with a sigh. "Come on, let's catch up with the others. Maybe they had more luck." He then grabbed me by my hand. We started walking away from the forest.
"Please tell me at least one of you found Jaden." Ben pleaded once he and I entered Slifer Red's dining room. Right now, Bastion, Hassleberry, Alexis and Syrus were inside, talking to each other by a table.
Once they heard Ben's voice, they turned around to see us walking in. "No." They chorused. "Chazz isn't back yet. We're waiting for his report." Bastion added, folding his arms. "What could have kept him so long?" My cousin raised an eyebrow in confusion. "No idea." Hassleberry shrugged his shoulders.
"I just hope he didn't disappear either…" Syrus trailed off. "He has a point. It's getting pretty late." Alexis added. "Has any of you noticed something unusual?" I suddenly spoke up. I was hoping they may have accidentally come across Sartorius or something like that. A crazy thought, yes, but it didn't hurt to ask…
All of them looked at me. Syrus shook his head while still looking at me warily. Bastion and Alexis shook their heads with frowns. "I saw a small plane flying away from the island a while ago," Hassleberry spoke up.
Ben and I looked at him, and then exchanged looks of surprise. If my assumptions were correct, that was Sartorius…
"When was that?" Ben asked his friend curiously. "About half an hour ago, I guess." The guy shrugged. "Thanks." My cousin smiled. He then sat to talk to his friends. I, on the other hand, sat by a furthest table away from them. I then looked at the card in my hands.
While I was happy I finally managed to get some trace about one of two people missing, this only brought up even more questions… And no answers. I couldn't wait to tell Aunt Maria about what we had learned. She would hopefully tell us about what happened at her company, and what was up with my problem…
The next morning, Ben and I were outside the Slifer Red dorm. After expressing his concern over Chazz's disappearance (it was a bit concerning, I had to admit), he and I finally decided to call Aunt Maria.
Ben took out his phone and dialed his mother. She answered the phone after a few seconds. "Ben?" Her voice could be heard over the line. "Mum, Serena and I wanted to ask you about something and tell you as well…" My cousin started, only to be cut off.
"I'm sorry, Ben, but I can't talk right now. The situation here is quite dire. I'm sure you heard about the break in." Aunt Maria quickly replied. "That's what we wanted to ask you about…" I started, but was cut off as well. "Look, I'll call you in a few days once the situation calms down, alright?" "Fine." Ben and I chorused with sighs. She then hung up.
My cousin and I looked at each other. "There goes our plan…" He sighed. "More waiting…" I let out a groan, just as we were walking into the dining room. Ben was about to close the door behind him, when a hand stopped him from doing that.
Chazz walked in with us. However, his appearance was completely different. Instead of his usual black clothing, he was dressed in what resembled Ben's Obelisk Blue uniform. However, this uniform was completely white with lavender trimming on different places of the blazer.
I couldn't help feeling confused. Why in the world was he dressed like that?!
"Chazz?" Ben looked at him in disbelief, making Hassleberry, Alexis, Bastion and Syrus (who were behind Ben and me) turn around. "We were beginning to think you disappeared too!" The short guy shouted in relief. "Are you alright?" He then asked him. "Yup, never better." Chazz replied with a smirk, avoiding eye contact with all of us.
That was when the four of them finally noticed what he was wearing. They looked at him from head to toe perplexed. "Um… You look different…" Syrus pointed out. "What's with the wardrobe change, soldier?" Hassleberry questioned. "My thoughts exactly." Ben muttered from next to me.
"It's more than just a wardrobe change," Chazz finally looked at us. "I finally woke up, and I've seen the light!" He smiled smugly.
By now, I was convinced Chazz had gone off the deep end. "Congratulations, so you've finally stepped outside and seen the morning's sunshine." I spoke up sarcastically with my arms folded. Ben, Alexis, Hassleberry, Syrus and Bastion looked at me.
Suddenly, someone grabbed me by my jacket violently. I let out a yelp of shock and looked to see Chazz holding me by my jacket's collar. His black eyes were looking into mine, showing pure anger. The same could be same for the look on his face.
"What the hell, Princeton?!" I glared, but couldn't help feeling a bit scared. From what I've seen so far, he has never been aggressive… "Don't you dare mock me or them!" Chazz roared at me, making me look away in fear. By now, my heart was beating so fast, and I wanted this to stop…
"Chazz, let go of Serena!" Ben managed to free me from Chazz's hold with a growl. "What's got into you?!" He then gave his friend an incredulous look. "Them, Benjamin. They made me see everything better." The guy gave my cousin a smug smile.
"Who are 'they' you keep talking about?!" Syrus finally asked impatiently. He, and the others were still a bit shocked by what had just happened.
Ben put an arm over my shoulders protectively. I muttered him a quick 'thanks', still feeling a bit shaken by what just happened.
"The Society of Light, Syrus! They hold all the answers!" Chazz replied and started laughing.
I could see everyone looked rather uneasy. Without another word, Bastion, Syrus, Hassleberry and Alexis walked out of the dining room. Ben and I followed them immediately.
"Are you alright?" He asked me once we were outside. "Yes, just a bit shaken…" I replied with a nod. "Chazz never loses like that. I don't know what's got into him…" He frowned. "Next time, please don't say anything like that in front of him." He then added. "After that, I sure wasn't intending to." I replied with a frown of my own.
I then looked at the sky. First someone broke into Industrial Illusions, then Jaden had gone missing, I had been in another trance, Sartorius had been on this island, and now Chazz was acting the way he was… What in the world was going on here?!
Well, that's the end of this chapter! For those curious about games mentioned at the start, I'll give a brief explanation. 'Hana Ichi Monme' is a game similar to Red Rover. 'Onigokko' is actually tag, while 'Janken' is Japanese equivalent of Rock, Paper, Scissors. 'Kancho' is a prank which can also be considered as an assault, which is why Serena and the boy from the flashback don't like it.
I hope you liked it and until next time!