Ghost of Magic: Thank you for reviewing! :) Yup, shit can officially begin lmao…
Legionstone: Thank you for reviewing! :) Technically, yes, lol! Well, I'm glad you think so too, because Serena being a bit of a jerk is intentional at this point in the story. I don't want to spoil anything else though, but I'm really looking forward to writing future chapters… ;)
Kias: Thank you for reviewing, glad you liked it! :) The only thing I'll say is that Yubel will be portrayed as a female in my story once Season 3 kicks off, while Serena distinctly recognized the voice as a male one… ;)
This chapter takes place during 'No Pain, No Game'.
I only own my OC's!
"Come on, future King of Games. Let's see if you can catch up with me in running!" The girl shouted playfully. "Surely it can't be harder than dueling!" The boy responded mischievously.
Running around and shouting could be heard, until a pair of footsteps silenced them. "Are you two running inside the house again?" A male voice presumed with a bit of disapproval. "Well…" "Kinda…" The girl and the boy trailed off nervously. "I told you yesterday not to do that here, but outside." The man reminded them in a serious tone.
"Let them go, brother. They're just kids." A female voice spoke up. "Run along, you two. I need to talk to my sister." "So, we can run?" The boy questioned curiously. "No." "Then why did you say 'run along'?" The girl laughed. "Just go." The female voice quickly said.
Running footsteps could be heard. "Sarina, the last time you told me 'to let them go', they broke a lamp in the living room. Chiara was livid." The male voice then pointed out seriously. "But this time, there's no lamp they can break?" The female voice let out a laugh.
"This is funny to you?" The man asked in both realization and disbelief. "Brother, loosen up a bit. They may be seven, but I don't think they're that immature to break everything. In fact, I think they learned their lesson yesterday." The woman responded gently.
Suddenly, sound of something breaking could be heard. "You were saying?" The male voice asked sarcastically. "What was that?" The girl questioned in surprise. "What object is it this time?" The man sighed. "We didn't break anything!" The girl and the boy then chorused.
"Don't blame the kids. I dropped the plate." Another female voice came from somewhere. "Maria…" The man sighed in relief. "You just scared my brother to death." The woman started laughing. "I told you to loosen up a bit!" She then added gently. The other woman started laughing along with her. The boy and the girl started laughing as well. Finally, the man joined the laughter which could be heard even outside the house.
Once I couldn't hear an answer on the line, I hung up yet again. Looking at my phone yet again, I threw it at my bed in annoyance. I then turned back to the table while still sitting on the chair. I was used to not getting an answer by now, yet it annoyed me even more by now…
It's been a while since Jaden disappeared. It's been a while since Ben and I figured out Sartorius had been on the island. Since then (I guessed that while was actually a week or two), we haven't been able to contact Aunt Maria, nor ask about what happened at her company.
After Chazz had assaulted me, I made sure to avoid him as much as I could. I had no idea why in the world he was so aggressive… But I didn't want it to happen again. Ben usually tried to talk to him a bit, but kept his distance. The good thing was, Princeton wasn't willing to talk to me either. He still kept repeating that 'I've seen the Light' crap… But to everyone in general.
I really didn't understand what the thing with the Light was. How could you see the Light?! I mean, you saw it pretty much every day thanks to Sun! It made me convinced Chazz was probably on something.
Maybe that thing had after-effects, which involved aggression… Those were just wild guesses, of course. I had no idea what the reason really was, even though he really was acting as if he were on drugs… Or a part of a sect. Wait, he did talk about something called 'the Society of Light'… Si, that sounded like some sort of a sect, alright.
Anyway, after finding the tarot card, I tried to contact Sartorius once again. He never answered my call, of course. By now, that was nothing unexpectable. I've been used to it since last year. However, one part of me had hoped he would answer, after Ben and I found out he had been here… I even tried the same with Sarina, only to receive no answer (not surprising).
That's why I threw the phone at the bed in annoyance. I was fed up with not having my calls answered, yet that was nothing new… It was frustrating!
Letting out a sigh, I turned my attention back to things on the table. The tarot card and the album were lying there.
Once I looked at the card again, I put it away with a frown. Why Sartorius didn't answer the call, I had no idea. He never answered it for the past year, but now we really knew he had been here, which made me annoyed. He was so close, yet out of reach… It made me wonder whether Sarina was with him. The two had always been close…
I took the album in my hands and started looking through it. Most of the pictures were the ones I'd seen before. I hoped I could come across something else, like that birthday card from before… However, I had no luck.
"Serena!" Ben's voice could be heard outside my room. Looking up from the album, I raised an eyebrow. That was when he slammed the door open, running inside. "Mum said we can call her right now!" He exclaimed with a grin.
A smile appeared on my face, and I started feeling excitement. Finally, we would hopefully get some answers from my aunt! "Then what are you waiting for?!" I asked in disbelief. He quickly started calling Aunt Maria. After about few seconds, she finally answered the call. Ben quickly put it on the speakerphone, so I could hear her as well.
"Children, I can finally talk." Her voice could be heard from the phone. I let out a sigh of relief. About damn time… "Mum, we have plenty of questions for you." Ben then told her. "And a lot to tell you." I added. "Fine, fine," She chuckled. "Just one thing at a time, please."
My cousin and I exchanged questioning looks, wondering what to ask first. "Industrial Illusions." We muttered to each other determinedly. "We want to know what happened at the Industrial Illusions." Ben then told his mother.
Aunt Maria let out a sigh. "I guess you've already seen it in the news." "Yes, but we want to hear it from you." I responded. "Someone broke in and stole some cards. We're still not sure how he managed to do so, but Pegasus was extremely angry about it." She stated. Ben and I exchanged brief looks of confusion, before looking at the phone in his right hand.
"What do you mean when you say you don't know how he stole the cards?" He frowned. "We know he had broken one window to get inside. However, the security cameras failed to catch the culprit on the screen." She explained.
That really sounded weird… Cameras were supposed to catch everything, so how was this possible?! Industrial Illusions was one of the most well-guarded companies in the world!
"Maybe he did something to the cameras?" I suggested. "No. If he had tried to, an alarm would have been activated immediately." Aunt Maria replied. "Then what happened that night?" Ben asked in disbelief. "No one knows. Further investigation didn't help at all. Pegasus is doing all he can to catch the culprit, but nothing has happened since then." She stated.
The whole thing sounded fishy to me… How could someone get away with it like that?!
"Forget about Industrial Illusions now," Aunt then waved it off. "I'll keep you informed in case we know more, but now tell me what you had wanted to say earlier." "Mum, what do you know about trances?" Ben asked her curiously. "Well… Not much. Why?" She questioned.
He looked at me briefly. "Should I tell her?" He whispered. "Don't tell her about me, she has enough problems right now." I whispered back. He nodded with a frown before turning his attention back to the phone.
As much as I wanted to tell Aunt Maria about the 'trance' thing, I had a feeling she would be even more worried. I didn't want that. She had enough problems right now, with that break-in after all… Ben and I would try to solve that thing ourselves.
"No particular reason. Just tell us, please." He pleaded. "From what I know, hypnosis is usually used in psychology as an aid for Hypnotherapy." She finally said. "That's it?" I asked, unsuccessfully trying to hide my disappointment. "From what I know, yes." My aunt replied. "Don't worry, we can find more in the library." Ben suddenly whispered to me. "Thanks, Mum." He then told his mother over the phone.
"Aunt Maria," I then started. "Ben and I think Sartorius had been on this island a few days ago." I quickly said. It was quiet for a few moments. "What did you say?" Aunt finally asked in astonishment. "Serena found one of his tarot cards and some hair strands in the forest here. One of my friends even said there had been a small plane on the island." Ben explained.
"Are you sure?" She questioned. "One hundred percent." I nodded with a frown. "Any idea what he was doing there?" "No." Ben shook his head. "We'll tell you if we find out more." I promised. "Fine." She let out a sigh. "There was one more thing I wanted to ask you." I then added. "Go ahead." She told me.
My eyes landed on my cousin. "Ben, could you leave us alone for a few minutes?" I asked quietly. "Why?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "It's personal." I explained. "I'm your cousin, you can tell me anything." He frowned. "Ben, please…" I pleaded. "Fine." He groaned and gave me the phone. After that, he walked out of the room.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I looked at the phone. "Aunt Maria…" I started, wondering how to form the question in my head. I couldn't exactly tell her 'I know you and the rest of the family are hiding something from me so spit it out'…
"I was wondering if you could tell me more about Domino City?" I finally spoke up. "Why?" My aunt asked me warily. "Well… It's just that… I've been having these strange flashbacks for a while, and…" I started, only to suddenly be cut off. "What flashbacks?" She demanded. "I'm not exactly sure. I know they involve a boy and me, but I don't even know his name… I do remember some of things now though…" I trailed off perplexed.
"Serena, I think you had hit your head somewhere." Aunt Maria said incredulously. "But Aunt, I didn't! I even found a birthday card from someone who introduced themselves as my best friend and neighbor!" I argued. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Aunt Maria, wait…" She hung up. Just like that.
A feeling of slight anger washed over me. How could she do that?! "AUNT MARIA!" I screamed at the phone angrily, knowing it wouldn't do anything but help me get rid of fury. I knew I was losing it… But right now, I didn't care. All those days of waiting, and all Aunt did was pretend I was crazy?!
"What happened?!" Ben suddenly ran into the room. "Your mother wants to keep lying to me along with the rest of the family, that's what." I growled, wanting to throw the damn phone to the ground… Only for Ben to take it out of my hands. "If you want to throw a phone, then do it with yours, not mine." He frowned.
I opened my mouth to tell him he wasn't helping… Only to close them. I sat on my bed with a sigh and hands on my head. "What happened? Why were you screaming at Mum?" He sat next to me with a perplexed look. Looking at him, I frowned.
I couldn't keep this a secret from him anymore, he'd most probably heard something. Besides… I had to tell someone, I had to confide in them… I just hoped he'd believe me.
"For a while now, I've been having flashbacks," I started while playing with one of my strands. "Which I had previously thought were hallucinations." Ben was observing me with a frown. "However, they're not. I remember some of those things now, but not everything, and it's so confusing…" "Wait, wait," He cut me off. "You're trying to tell me you have some sort of amnesia?" He asked incredulously.
I nodded before taking off my left glove. I lifted up my arm, showing him the bracelet on the wrist. "You see this? It was apparently given to me by my best friend and neighbor for my seventh birthday. However, I don't remember any of it."
Ben's green eyes went over the bracelet curiously before looking up at me. "And this is apparently a birthday card I received from him. I don't remember any of that either." I gave him the card to look at it. He looked at it with a frown. "What's his name?" He questioned. "I don't remember that either." I admitted.
"And what does Mum have to do with any of this?" He asked expectantly. "She, Uncle and my parents know what I don't." I folded my arms. "When I first found this bracelet, Mum wanted me to give it to her at all costs. Aunt Maria tried to say as least as possible about that subject." "Wait, so you believe Mum is lying to you?" He suddenly demanded accusingly.
My eyes widened slightly at his accusing tone. Of course… I should have expected he wouldn't believe me that easily. Ben was really close to both his mother and father. Hearing anyone talking bad things about them would always make him angry. Me being his cousin was no exception.
"Yes, I do." I responded firmly. "No offense, Serena, but that's just insane. Mum would never lie!" He glared. "Do you prefer the term 'keeping secrets'?" I asked sarcastically.
He kept looking at me with a frown. "Ben, I'm telling the truth!" I gave him a pleading look. It was quiet for a few moments. "While I refuse to believe Mum would lie to you," He started with his arms folded. "I'll try to believe you about your memory problem." I sighed in relief. "We can discuss everything later though. We can go to the library tomorrow. I need to go tell others details about that break-in." He added.
I simply nodded while putting on the glove. Taking the album and the tarot card in my hands, I followed him outside the room.
Ben entered the dining room. Just as I was about to follow him inside, a hand caught my right wrist violently. I yelped in surprise and quickly turned my head to see who it was.
"What are you doing with that card?!" Chazz was glaring at me, still holding my wrist tightly. "None of your business, Princeton." I growled and tried to take it out of his hand. However, his grip was too tight… What have I done this time?! I kept my mouth shut around him!
"I think you haven't understood me, Accardi." The guy growled back at me, tightening his grip on the wrist. It really hurt now… I resisted the urge to groan though. I wasn't going to show him that it hurt me. "Princeton, let go of me!" I threatened icily. "Not until you give me that card." His black eyes looked at the tarot card in my right hand.
My eyes landed on the card as well. "I won't." I spat angrily while looking up into his eyes. "How dare you say 'no'?! That's Master's card, you have no right to claim it as your own!" He shouted at me. "I don't give a damn about your 'Master', I won't give it to you nonetheless!" I retorted. "It belongs to him!" "No, it belongs to someone I care about!" Both of us were glaring daggers at each other by now.
"One more time, Princeton. Let go of my wrist, or you'll regret it." I warned with a quiet growl. "I won't let go until you give me that card!" He retorted. "Fine, you asked for it." I responded icily.
I then quickly hit him into his groin with my knee. The guy shouted in pain and started clutching the area where he had just been hit. I quickly looked at my wrist. Thankfully, there was no damage done to it.
"Serena, what did you do?!" Ben asked, running out of the dining room. Alexis, Hassleberry and Bastion were peeking from behind the door. Their eyes landed on Chazz (who was still on the ground) and then looked at the sight in astonishment. "The idiot wanted to assault me again, I had to defend myself." I told Ben with a huff.
My cousin tried to help Chazz up, only for the guy to push him away. "Get away from me!" He growled at him. His black eyes then looked right into my light blue ones. "You'll pay for this!" He declared furiously before marching away. "I have no intention of paying anything." I responded with a growl.
"Serena…" Ben gave me a disapproving look. "Ben, he's the one who started it first. I told him to stop, but he didn't listen!" I explained, frowning. "We'll talk about this later," He shook his head in disbelief. "Come on, you three, I'll explain the details to you somewhere else." The three of them nodded before walking out. Them and Ben started walking to what I presumed was the room my cousin was sharing with others right now.
Letting out a groan, I looked at the tarot card in my hand. Why Chazz wanted this so badly, I had no idea. However, I wasn't going to give it to him. That was clear enough. There was thing I couldn't understand though. Who was that 'Master' Chazz had mentioned? Was he the leader of his sect, or something?
Deciding not to bother with Chazz's insanity anymore, I was about to walk inside the dining room. However, just as I was about to open the door, I noticed something was… Off.
Usually, whenever I would want to walk in during dinner time, Jaden would come, and ask me a lot of questions such as 'how's it going', 'what do you think is for dinner', and some others… In fact, I would come across him a lot here on campus… He would be the one to run up to me of course. He would be the one to start up the conversation almost every day, and he would never lose a smile on his face, no matter how rude I was… I didn't even understand why I was so interesting to him!
But now? There was no Jaden. There was no 'how's it going, Serena'. Out of everyone, he was the only one who tried to befriend me, even though I kept trying to push him away… But now? He was gone. It felt… Weird… I've got so used to him trying to talk to me that I… Found it unusual he wasn't here to do so anymore. In fact, I wanted to see him trying to talk to me again, even though he may have been a bit annoying…
Wait. What was wrong with me? Did that mean I actually… Missed the fanatic? That was just stupid! It just felt empty and different without him. Yes, that was it.
Once I was in the dining room, only Syrus was inside. He had a magazine in his hands, and he was looking at it in worry. I frowned in confusion while putting the card and the album on a nearby table. Usually, Syrus would cry loudly about Jaden not being here. Honestly, that was something I didn't care about… However, now, he was so quiet… I could have sworn I've even seen tears brimming in his eyes.
Frowning, I realized this wasn't about Jaden. In fact, at that moment, the short guy reminded me a bit of myself… I had problems of my own, and sometimes, I wanted to just burst in tears because it didn't seem to be going anywhere! With only Ben here and sometimes Aunt Maria calling me (and now lying to me, actually) it felt rather lonely all of a sudden…
Only Ben was here, really. Aunt was busy, plus she wasn't being honest with me… Sarina and Sartorius were both gone, with the latter appearing and still not answering. I was in contact with less people than when I was first told I'd attend the Academy…
Raising an eyebrow, I took the things from the table in my hands. I then walked to the table where Syrus was sitting. A part of me, the one which agreed with me about avoiding people, told me to get away from the table and act as if nothing happened. However, the other part, the one that saw something was wrong, encouraged me to come closer. I knew avoiding fanatics was a better option… But, the curiosity got better of me. He reminded me so much of myself right now, that I had to at least ask him what was wrong.
"Syrus," I started while sitting by the table, right across him. "What's wrong?" I asked curiously. The moment I asked that question, the short guy's head looked up at me. "Why would you care?!" He demanded angrily. His mood was quick to switch from sad to angry as soon as he spoke to me, I had to note. But, hey, that was my fault… What was I expecting, really? That he would just tell me what the deal was?
"Fine." I said simply, about to stand up… "Wait! Sorry for reacting like that!" Syrus suddenly jumped up, making me stop to look at him. "No, I get it." I shook my head with a frown. Just as I was about to stand up though, he suddenly grabbed me by my right am. "Please don't go." He pleaded.
By now, I was gaping at him. He didn't want me to leave? A while ago, we were threatening to jump at each other's throats, and now this?! What caused the sudden change in behavior?
Seeing the sincerity in his grey eyes, I simply nodded. He let go of my arm and sat down. "Why?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?" He gave me a questioning look. "Why are you being so nice to me? Why are you even apologizing?" I elaborated with my arms folded.
"I had no right to lash out on you like that because of my problems." The short guy responded meekly. "But you had every right! I've been rude to you ever since we met…" I pointed out. "You did apologize for walking in on Hassleberry and me." He looked up at me. "I've been rude to you nonetheless." I frowned.
Syrus let out a sigh. "Look, it's true you don't really act… Considerate." I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words but stayed quiet. "And it's true you seem rude most of the time," His grey eyes were now looking right into my light blue ones. "That's why I found it hard to believe Ben when he said you were nice. I thought he was only defending you, since he's your cousin after all." He explained.
"It was even more unbelievable to me that Jaden always wanted to talk to you. Whenever I asked him why, he would say you seemed like a nice person." "And I definitely don't seem like that." I commented with a knowing look. "You don't." Syrus agreed. "That's why I couldn't fathom what Jaden was referring to. At first, I thought it was because he liked being friends with everyone, it's Jaden after all…" He trailed off while looking to the side.
His eyes then landed on me yet again. "But days went by, and he was still insistent on wanting to talk to you. Hassleberry and I even tried to talk him out of it, but he would simply ignore us. When we asked him why, he would again say you were nice. I even asked him how you were supposed to be nice if you were so rude all the time…" I raised an eyebrow at the last part in curiosity. Now I was really interested in hearing what Jaden had to say at that one…
"He said how you may have seemed rude sometimes, but that he could tell you weren't a bad person." Syrus folded his arms. I blinked at him in surprise.
How he was able to tell what kind of person I was, I had no idea… Especially after the way I had treated him!
"But now I can see what he was talking about." Syrus looked at me. "What?" I gave him a perplexed look in response. "You're not a bad person, just like Jaden and Ben had said." "Where did you get that conclusion from?" I raised an eyebrow. "You've just asked me what's wrong. You had apologized to Hassleberry and me earlier. And while your habits and avoiding people are questionable… A bad person wouldn't do what you had done." A small smile appeared on his face.
By now, a part of me was telling me to stop listening to the fanatic and just get out of here. It told me even talking to them was bad enough, since all of them were the same more or less… While the other one, kept telling me to stay, especially with how sincere Syrus was. I could see his sincerity as well, especially after he had said how I wasn't a bad person… I couldn't walk out like that, even if I wanted to.
"I don't know… I guess, once I saw you sitting there, you reminded me of myself whenever I had problems." I shrugged my shoulders. It was quiet for a few moments. "Enough about me," I then spoke up. "What's the matter?" I asked him.
At hearing those words, Syrus let out a sigh. He took the magazine and turned it around so I could see it. "You see that guy over there?" He pointed at the guy in a black and white picture. I frowned, remembering him as Syrus' brother from the duel we had watched that night. However, I couldn't remember his name…
I simply nodded to the short guy. "That's my brother Zane." "The one from the duel with Aster Phoenix?" I remembered. "Yes." He nodded. "He graduated from Duel Academy last year, and has started his career at the Pro League recently."
A sad look appeared on Syrus' face after those words. "Unfortunately, ever since he lost, it hasn't been going well. He lost eleven duels in a row, and has been bumped out to the amateurs…" He pointed at the words in the magazine. I read them with a frown.
11 duels in a row? That was a lot…
"He's practically hit rock bottom, he's the butt of everyone's jokes now…" The guy trailed off sadly, making me look away from the magazine. I looked up to meet his eyes.
It looked like he was really worried about his older sibling… It was a bit surprising to me, since I always believed fanatics cared only about themselves and their cards, not about other people's feelings…
"What am I going to do without you?!" The boy was crying while hugging me. "I don't want to leave you either!" I sobbed, hugging him back.
I blinked in confusion, trying to process this sudden flashback. I had no idea what caused it this time. However, I could clearly remember how I was feeling back then. I was feeling a lot of pain and sadness for some reason…
The boy and Syrus were the proof that… Fanatics didn't care only about stupid cards. The former was crying along with me in that memory, and the latter was worried about his older brother. Syrus was in the exact same situation like me right now, with worrying about someone they cared about… Fanatics would only care about one thing and dismiss others, which clearly wasn't the case with people I'd met so far… They had feelings, just like me.
It was only now I realized that… My hatred for those cards and anyone who had them made me want to believe they were terrible people! It made me want to hate them! It made me treat them as if they were different from me, whereas they had feelings, and felt pain, just like me… And I let that hatred twist my way of seeing things…
While I still hated those damn cards, and while I still didn't understand why those guys liked them so much… I couldn't call them fanatics anymore. I just couldn't. It suddenly felt quite wrong of me to do… They cared as much as I did! They were worried about their friend missing, who had been so kind to me while I was acting so… Stupid…
I still didn't want to have friends either, since they liked something I hated… But I would try to acknowledge their feelings from now on.
"He… Has another duel in ten minutes, but I'm afraid he'll lose." Syrus' voice brought me back to reality. "You never know, he might win this one." I spoke up quietly. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then someone opened the door.
"Sy, Zane's match is beginning in ten minutes!" Ben's head was peeking from behind the door. "I know." The short guy nodded and stood up. I stood up as well, suddenly feeling this urge to go and at least see the end of the duel. After what Syrus had just told me, I had to… I would worry about my problems after seeing whether his brother had won or not.
I took my album and the tarot card, following the two outside. "Serena?" Ben gave me a perplexed look. "Mind if I come and watch along with you?" I asked quietly. Both him and Syrus looked at me in surprise. "Sure… Go ahead." My cousin nodded.
Once we entered the room with the TV, some people were already inside. Bastion, Hassleberry, Alexis, Atticus, and two unknown girls were talking between each other when Ben, Syrus and I walked through the door. As soon as we did, all heads turned in our direction.
"We're not late?" Ben guessed. "No, it's about to begin." Atticus shook his head. The two boys nodded and started walking down the stairs. I followed them, but couldn't help noticing wary looks two girls were giving me. One of them had auburn hair, while the other one had dark hair styled in pigtails behind her back. Both of them were dressed in Obelisk Blue uniforms.
I decided to ignore them though, and followed my cousin. He sat on the floor behind Syrus on his left. I sat next to Ben, seeing the girls were already sitting on stairs along with Atticus. Bastion was standing by stairs, while Hassleberry was on the floor, a bit behind Syrus on his right.
The reporter then introduced Zane and the other duelist. However, Zane's new look was what surprised me once the camera zoomed in on him. Instead of the Obelisk Blue uniform, he was now dressed in all this black clothing… I could see everyone in the room was rather astonished. Syrus' eyes were the widest, with his mouth hanging open.
The duel didn't even last three turns. Zane beat the opponent on his second one. Actually, he didn't beat him. He beat the hell out of him! His monster had 4500 Attack Points before it attacked the opponent directly… The poor man was literally lying on the ground with smoke coming off the field.
Shivers ran down my spine at that moment. The way the guy dueled was so aggressive… It frightened me a bit. Was it possible people could be this merciless when it came to dueling? Even though I hated it, even I could tell this was too much!
"WHAT A WIN FOR ZANE TRUESDALE!" The reporter shouted on the TV. "Could it be that he's back on track, folks?" The camera zoomed in on Zane's face, showing this smug look…
Suddenly, someone turned off the TV. Looking around, I noticed it was Syrus who had done it. The remote was in his hands after all. "What in the world was that?!" Ben was the first one who spoke up. "Soldier won in a brutal way." Hassleberry pointed out the obvious with a frown. "His monster's Attack Points astounded me…" Bastion trailed off in astonishment.
"He literally sent the man to the ground!" Atticus exclaimed in surprise, while Alexis and the two girls were staring at all of us quietly. Out of a corner of my eye, I could see a look of worry etched on Syrus' face. However, it quickly changed to a frown. "That guy in black clothing is not Zane." He declared, trying to sound firm.
None of us said anything else. Ben and I exchanged looks of astonishment. I couldn't help feeling scared. If this was the way Syrus' brother dueled now, then how many other duelists did the same thing, if not worse?
Finally done with this chapter! I hope you liked it and until next time! :)