Kim Nanoha: Thanks! Well, glad about that, since the last chapter was done fast-paced intentionally. It was supposed to be a tense scene… ;)

Well, here's the next chapter!

I only own my OC's!

Pain. That was the only thing I felt while someone was leading me away. My back hurt, and I could feel my left arm stinging like crazy… However, that wasn't even the worst. Piercing pain was coming from where my left ribs were supposed to be…

"Wait!" I finally cried, making the person stop. "I need to take a break; it hurts so much…" I groaned, clutching my left side with both of my hands. "At least wait until we're far enough from the White Dorm." The voice urged, making me finally look up to see who it was.

Atticus was frowning at me. "Please, just a few seconds." I pleaded, taking a deep breath. He nodded. Unfortunately, it didn't help. Breathing just made my left side hurt even more… "Cazzo!" I cursed with a shout.

I got myself into a lot of nasty things when I was younger. I had to get my wounds treated for that. I got bruises on my knees, arms, some were even bleeding… Hell, I got my ankle twisted, even sprained… But, none of that could match the piercing pain I was feeling right now.

"What happened to you?" Atticus asked alarmed, bringing his arms up as if he wanted to support me. "Please, don't," I looked up at him. "Then it will hurt even more." "Can I at least grab your right arm?" "Fine." I nodded, before he did so. "To the Slifer dorm?" "Yes." I nodded back.

Third Person's POV

What started off as a good day to Sartorius, now seemed to be getting worse and worse.

The first bad sign was the foolish girl eavesdropping on his conversation with Sheppard. Except that it didn't seem like one back then. Sure, her eavesdropping infuriated him. Then, once he confronted her about it, she had the audacity to just shove him and run out.

However, Sartorius decided to pay no heed to it and just focus on things at hand. At the end, it was successful, since he acquired a satellite from Prince Ojin by winning their duel.

The moment he was in his room, the man intended to activate the satellite. It was supposed to be done quickly, and efficiently. All he had to do was put four keys where it was needed to… Unfortunately, more bad things happened.

Just then, his 'problem' had to prevent him from doing so. He wasn't even able to put the first two keys inside. He just dropped them! That 'problem' made him leave his room for a few minutes. And, that turned out to be a huge mistake. He should have never left the room.

Because, just when he thought he solved his 'problem', another one appeared. To make it even worse, it appeared right in his room, in form of a freckled, red-haired girl.

And that red-haired girl dared to try to steal his satellite! He walked in and saw her trying to put keys in her backpack. The girl was either quite brave, or quite stupid to do such thing. Whatever it was, it infuriated him.

Sartorius tried to catch the girl, who kept avoiding him. But then, he finally pushed her to the floor. He was so close to finally killing her with that knife… And he would have done it, if that stupid 'problem' hadn't prevented him from doing so! Now, his own left hand was bleeding instead.

The girl stomped on his feet and locked herself in his bedroom. The man wasted no time in trying to break down the door. He had no intention of letting her get away.

As soon as he broke down the door, Sartorius was ready to catch the girl. Unfortunately, that turned out to be unsuccessful. The moment he lunged at her; she was already out of the room.

He didn't expect for her to actually jump through the window… From memories he had, the girl wascapable of a lot of things. If they served him correctly, she even ended up breaking one window. But he never thought she'd go that far to jump through it!

That ended rather badly for the girl. The branch she was holding for broke. She fell on her left side, and let out a high-pitched scream… The redhead was just lying on the ground for a few moments… The fall must have hurt.

Looking at her through the window, Sartorius saw that as a chance to bolt downstairs and catch her. Why should he let the stupid girl get away? She had the audacity to walk into his room and try to steal his satellite!

The man was about to bolt out of the room… Only to suddenly stop. Slamming his left hand against the wall, he grabbed his face with his right one.

"What am I doing?" He asked aloud. But then, he took the hand off his face with a glare. He looked up at a mirror across him. "What you have to! The foolish girl nearly stole the satellite!" He growled at his reflection, taking the knife out of his bleeding, left hand harshly. He then threw it to the floor.

Just when he thought he was done with his… 'Problem'…

It's been more than a year since he took over. It should have been over by now. But it wasn't. Even now, Sartorius was having trouble keeping control of his body. Why? Because his weaker, foolish self, refused to cooperate. His other self didn't want to listen to the Light's orders. It's because of him that he failed to kill the foolish girl for the third time now!

The first time, she followed him herself. The perfect chance was ruined, since his other self managed to take control long enough to tell her to stay away from him. The same thing happened the second time, when she lost their duel.

To make it even worse, she resisted the power of the Light. She should have seen the Light the moment she lost that duel! Not even hypnosis worked… It only made him even more sure his suspicions were true. Not only were Jaden and Aster an obstacle, but she was too… For different reasons, but an obstacle, nonetheless.

Since his foolish self refused to agree with killing the girl, Sartorius ordered Sarina to do that. It was a perfect way to spite both her, and his other self. But then, Sarina disobeyed him as well…

Sartorius did threaten her. He made it perfectly clear what would happen if she didn't do so. But, firstly, he didn't know where she was. Secondly, he had more important things to do than dealing with her failure.

He was so close to finally getting rid of the foolish girl a few minutes ago. He even plunged the knife… Unfortunately, his other self had to interfere for the second time today. He thought stabbing his hand would somehow help the girl…

If he hadn't stopped him from activating the satellite, then Sartorius wouldn't be in this situation right now!

"But, if I go after Serena, then she'll… She'll…" The man slammed both of his trembling hands against the wall. "She'll get what she deserves!" He opened his eyes angrily, finally managing to get back control of the body.

With a scowl, Sartorius quickly walked over to the window. Unfortunately, it was too late to do anything. The girl was out of his sight by now. He wasn't sure how, since it looked like she was hurt badly…

The man walked back to the front room. The controls to the satellite were still lying on the floor, along with boxes containing the keys. He picked up the controls, observing them for a few moments. Its lower edges were slightly damaged… He could clearly see some scratches along the case. The girl dropped them the moment he pushed her. That explained the scratches, and one partly disfigured edge. Luckily, it was nothing serious… The fall could have caused more damage.

His purple eyes then landed on four boxes. Putting the controls back on the table, Sartorius took two boxes and put them there as well. But that was when he noticed. One box was lying wide open, and it was empty.

Taking it in his hands, Sartorius glared at his bedroom window (the broken-down door was still lying on the floor).

The girl's backpack was wide open the moment he pushed her to the floor. The box must have fallen out of it and opened from the fall's force... Still, that didn't explain where the fourth key was! Despite that, he had an idea what happened to it.

And the thought of that made him even angrier.

Serena's POV

As soon as we were there, Atticus helped me sit down in the renovated part of the dorm. He then helped me remove the backpack off my back.

I was just glad we were far away from the White Dorm… But, unfortunately, not even that could help me when it came to pain… My left side still hurt like crazy.

"What happened to you back there?" Atticus finally questioned in surprise. "I…" I opened my mouth, thinking about how to respond to his question. It was a bit hard to, since my left side was a problem… Except that I didn't get a chance to say anything else, because the door opened.

"Serena!" Jaden's voice quickly made me look up. He ran down to where Atticus and I were. His chocolate brown eyes widened as they looked from me to the guy. "I saw you helping her walk… What happened?"

Atticus opened his mouth to tell him something, only to be cut off by another voice. "Jay, wait up!" Syrus and Hassleberry ran inside. They were followed by Bastion and Aster, who walked in.

"Aster?" Jaden looked up at him in surprise. "I saw him helping her from the direction of the Obelisk dorm," Aster's piercing, dark blue eyes landed on Atticus, and then me. "What I don't understand is what business they had there." The professional duelist finished with a frown.

The moment he said those words, all eyes turned towards Atticus and me. "What were you two doing at the White Dorm?" Bastion demanded in astonishment. "I was looking around for duelists, and hoping I'd see my sister there by chance," Atticus spoke up with a sigh. "Then I heard a scream. I ran towards the source of it, and found her lying on grass. I then led her away as fast as I could." He finished with his arms folded.

All eyes turned back to me. "Why were you there?" Hassleberry demanded. "And why were you screaming? Did something happen?" Jaden quickly started asking, sitting down on my left… Only for me to scream in pain once he tried to put an arm around my shoulder. In the attempt to do so, he leaned on my injured part…

As soon as I screamed, all of them stared at me wide-eyed. Some of them even covered their ears (Syrus, Hassleberry and Bastion, for example, and Jaden too, since he happened to be right next to the source of screaming). "Please, don't, it still hurts!" I pleaded. "What are you…" Jaden started, only to suddenly be cut off.

"What happened to your arm?!" Atticus pointed at it. I could have sworn all of their eyes were wider by now. Finally, I looked down at my left arm (which was still stinging like hell). My eyes widened as well. I knew it hurt. But, seeing the damage on the outside was something else…

Red, swollen bruises were scattered over most of my forearm. It was in a form of a handprint… Two, in fact.

"Would you mind explaining to us what exactly happened to you?" Aster finally demanded with a frown. I let out a sigh with a hand on my forehead. I had to tell them. I knew that. How else would I explain my injuries? Besides, Atticus had seen me at the White Dorm… It was just harder to breathe, with my left side hurting so much…

I looked up at all of them while taking a deep breath (and unsuccessfully trying not to groan at pain in my chest). "I guess you all remember what Sartorius won a while ago…" I trailed off, clutching my left side with my left hand.

"What is she talking about?" Atticus immediately asked, him and Aster looking at others. "Sartorius had a bet with Prince Ojin from Misgarth. By winning their duel, he got a satellite which can destroy all life on Earth." Bastion briefly explained with a frown. That got him wide-eyed looks from both Aster and Atticus.

I nodded. "Well, I sneaked into the White Dorm to try to steal it…" "You did WHAT?!" Syrus' shouting cut me off. I flinched in surprise, looking up. All of them were staring at me as if I had just come out of mental asylum. I looked to my left to see Jaden staring at me as well. A brief pang washed over me. It hurt to see my best friend looking at me as if I were crazy…

"I managed to figure out where Sartorius' room was, so I entered it…" "Are you crazy…" "Let her finish." Bastion frowned at Hassleberry. "I managed to find that case the prince had given to him," I quickly continued. "Along with it were four boxes you had seen as well. While I was trying to put them in my backpack, Sartorius suddenly came into the room…" I trailed off with a sigh.

By now, all of their eyes were so wide they could pop out of their sockets. That must have been my reaction as well when Sartorius walked into that room and saw me…

"Wait," Atticus spoke up. "What you're trying to tell us is that those bruises…" "Let her finish!" Bastion reminded sharply. "What happened then?" Hassleberry questioned wide-eyed. "He went crazy…" I trailed off, shivers running down my spine.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Sartorius let out an inhuman screech, his face contorting to the identical one from my nightmare.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to forget about that moment. Yet I couldn't… It was worse than that nightmare I had. Actually, it was worse than any nightmare… Because this one actually came to life…

"What do you mean by that?" Someone grabbed my left hand. I opened my eyes to see Jaden giving me a concerned look. My eyes briefly landed his right hand which was holding mine. Then, he gave it a light, comforting squeeze.

Him doing that immediately made me feel a bit better. It was funny how it could still work, after so many years… We did it a lot of times as kids.

"He immediately lunged at me and tried to catch me," I started, looking up once again. "I took the case and boxes and tried to flee, but he pushed me to the floor. I dropped them, and then he tried to kill me…" I trailed off, those events replaying in my mind.

I was grabbed by my arm harshly. "You'll pay for this… No one can help you now!" Sartorius plunged the knife in my direction. I tried to push him away to no avail and then let out a scream, looking away… Only to hear a shout of pain.

My eyes widened as I looked up. Sartorius let go of my arm. Instead, he was holding his own hand, which had a knife in it… "GET OUT!" He shouted at me.

Why… Why did that even happen? Why did he let go of my arm like that? Why did he stab his own hand? He had a perfect chance to kill me right there! He even shouted at me to get out… Why would he do that?! It just didn't make any sense…

I was too scared and surprised to think about it back then. But now, it was just confusing…

"I managed to stomp on his feet and lock myself in his bedroom," I continued, opting not to mention what happened with the knife and Sartorius' hand. Not until I understood it myself, at least… "And he immediately started trying to break down the door. I jumped through the window, and grabbed for a nearby tree branch… The next thing I remember is falling to the ground. That's when Atticus found me." I finished explaining.

I then looked at all of them. Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry were gaping at me. Atticus and Bastion were staring at me. Aster, however, had a cold look on his face.

"Your left side hurts?" Jaden spoke up, still surprised. I nodded. "That's where I fell, actually…" I trailed off. "So, both your arm, and left side…" "Back too." I pointed out.

"You're either crazy, or just stupid." Aster finally spoke up icily, making me look up in surprise. "What?" "Just what were you trying to accomplish with that theft attempt?!" He demanded with a glare. His dark blue eyes were looking angrily into my light blue ones…

I wasn't going to lie, his reaction surprised me… You would think he'd try to do something as well, considering this was a life-destroying satellite we were talking about!

"I wanted to live." I spoke up with a frown. "Because you wanted to live, you decided to go right into his room and try to get yourself killed. How fitting..." The professional duelist trailed off sarcastically, folding his arms. "I was going to be a target, one way or another!" I retorted, trying to stand up…

Only for Jaden to grab me by my arm, preventing me from doing so. "Stop moving. You're hurt." He reminded with a frown. My eyes briefly landed on him before darting back to Aster. "That still doesn't excuse your stupidity." He narrowed his eyes. "It's a life-destroying satellite Sartorius had acquired; in case you didn't understand it." I frowned at him.

"I understood it perfectly well," The professional duelist then gave me a cold look. "But I also understood Sartorius and that prince had a bet." "What does that have to do with anything?" Jaden spoke up perplexed.

Aster briefly looked at him before turning his attention back to me. "Both of them agreed to the bet, and Sartorius won the satellite through it. It's officially his property now. And you decided to try to steal it…" He trailed off, looking at me expectantly. It was as if he expected me to know what that meant.

"Oh, no…" Bastion looked at him in astonishment. "That means…" "Yes," Aster nodded with a frown. "After what your friend had just done, Sartorius can accuse her of attempted theft if he wants to." "But he has a destructive satellite, and he tried to kill me. With your logic, I can accuse him of attempted murder if he tries to accuse me." I replied with a frown.

"Honestly, Serena," Aster looked at me in what seemed to be annoyance. "Do you really think anyone's going to believe you?" "He's right," Bastion spoke up. "It's your word against his. You walked in his room and tried to steal his property. If you hadn't done that, he wouldn't have tried to kill you in the first place." "Plus, if you managed to somehow damage the satellite, he'll have proof." The professional duelist added.

Bastion's grey eyes then landed on me. "You really shouldn't have tried to steal it…" He frowned. "He's right, that's just crazy!" Hassleberry agreed, while Syrus merely nodded with a frown. Atticus nodded as well, but stayed quiet.

At that moment, the realization hit me. They were completely right… What was I thinking?! Not only did I nearly get killed, but Sartorius could now accuse me of being a thief…

"I just wanted to…" "At what cost?!" Aster turned his head to glare at me. "At cost of your injuries?! At cost of making things harder for all of us?!" He demanded angrily. "Sartorius can accuse me, not you. How's that making things harder for all of us?" I frowned. "Who knows what he can think of doing…" He briefly looked away.

His blue eyes then looked at me sharply. "And if you keep acting foolishly, next time you might mess things up even more." "I don't want to…" "Then stay out of this." He cut me off firmly.

I was staring at him for a few moments, trying to process what he had just told me. "What?" I managed to say only that. "Sarina told Jaden and me to help save Sartorius, not you. The only thing she told you was to get out of here." He looked at me coldly.

Those words made my blood boil. I knew Sarina told them that. I knew what she had told me. I knew I wasn't a 'chosen duelist' like them, or whatever that was supposed to mean. I knew I messed it up by trying to steal that satellite. But I still wanted to help! I owed it to Sartorius, after doubting him like that…

"I still want to help." I looked up at him with a glare. "Then stay out of this. You've done enough damage already." He frowned back at me.

On one side, I was still angry. Aster was close with Sartorius too. I knew he had told me it was because Sartorius used to be his manager, but I had a feeling there was more to that. The point was, they were close. How would Aster feel if I told him to stay out of this?

On the other hand, he was right in a way. I had just done the most stupid thing in the world. No one in their right mind would try to sneak into Sartorius' room and steal his satellite! All I did was get myself into a rather nasty situation…

Suddenly, guilt washed over me. I was feeling bad. The longer it lasted, the more guilt I felt… And with that, came something else. I felt completely useless. Why did I even think I could help Aster and Jaden in some way? They were 'chosen duelists', while I was just a target for that force… I couldn't even escape from that room without injuring myself! I was a useless idiot…

Looking at the floor, I could feel tears brimming in my eyes. "Aster, chill out a bit." Jaden suddenly spoke up, making me look up at him in surprise. "Would you have done what she just had?" Aster looked at him, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, no, but…" Jaden, started, rubbing the back of his head. "Then why are you defending her?" Syrus cut him off. "Because Serena didn't mean anything bad!" He frowned. "Jaden, you can't say what she did was good." Bastion sighed. "He has a point, Sarge." "I'm not saying that. But you've seen how panicked she was…" "Still doesn't excuse her actions." Aster frowned. "Doesn't excuse you telling her to stay out of this either." Jaden replied.

Aster kept eyeing him for a few moments… Then his eyes landed on me. Finally, he left the room without another word.

"Let's get you to Mrs. Fontaine." Jaden stood up, grabbing my backpack. I shook my head. "I'll just put some ointment…" "You need to get those wounds checked, Serena. Your scream back there is enough of a proof." Atticus frowned. "Fine…" I let out a sigh (and grabbing my left side in process, since breathing hurt).


"Jaden… What brings you two here?" Mrs. Fontaine asked in surprise.

As soon as we were in the infirmary, Jaden helped me sit on the bed. It wasn't long before the woman joined us… A few minutes, at least.

"Serena got hurt, so we were wondering if you could check her wounds." He told her. "Oh, I understand." She nodded to him. Her grey eyes then darted to me. "Where did does it hurt, dear?" She asked.

"My left side hurts, and my back…" I spoke up. The woman simply nodded. But then, her eyes widened. "Where did you get those bruises on your arm?" She asked astonished. "I…" I opened my mouth, thinking about what to say.

I couldn't exactly tell her how I got them in the first place… I didn't want the others to know what happened. If the thing somehow came out, then maybe Sartorius really could try to accuse me of attempted theft, or something like that… Some random thinking, of course, since I couldn't know for sure. The point was, I didn't want the others to know about my stupidity.

"I accidentally grabbed her arm way too tightly." Jaden spoke up sheepishly. "Quite a strong grip you have there…" She looked up at him with a frown. Her eyes then landed on my arm. "I can give you some ointment for that. Now, please, take off your shirt."

My eyes widened the moment those words came out of her mouth. "Wh… What?" I spoke up in surprise. "How else do you expect me to see your wounds if you don't take off your uniform?" Mrs. Fontaine raised an eyebrow at me. "But... We're… I mean…" I stammered. I could feel my face turning red.

I knew why she wanted me to do that. But we weren't exactly alone, Jaden was with us as well… And, well, he was a guy! Ever since I walked in on Syrus and Hassleberry (and saw Jaden taking off his shirt in that boiler room), I've been embarrassed to see anyone like that… Much less let any guy see me! Jaden may have been my best friend, but he was a guy nonetheless!

"Do I really have to do that here?" I cleared my throat. Mrs. Fontaine eyed me for a few moments. Then she chuckled. "Jaden, could you please turn your back to us while I'm observing her wounds?" She asked him. He simply nodded and turned his back to us, looking through a window.

Mrs. Fontaine helped me take off my blazer, and then shirt. Her eyes widened once she looked at my left side.

"That's some serious swelling…" She trailed off. I looked down at my left side. She was right. It was red, and pretty nasty-looking… "Does it hurt?" The woman looked up at me. "When I touch it, and when I cough, or breathe." I nodded. "Do you have pain in chest when you take a deep breath?" I nodded.

A frown appeared on her face. "I think you broke a rib. I'll have to scan it with X-ray to make sure you hadn't injured any of inner organs." I face palmed and looked down. Broken rib… Just fantastic…

She then looked at my back. "Another nasty bruise… But I think you're fine, since you can still move." She stated.

"Jaden, could you wait outside? I'll have to scan her ribs with X-Ray." The woman asked. "Sure." He nodded and quickly walked out.

As soon as she was done with scanning my ribs with X-Ray, Mrs. Fontaine helped me sit on the bed again. She then helped me put on my shirt and blazer. "Three of your ribs are broken, but everything else is intact… It could have been way worse."

I let out a sigh of relief (feeling pain yet again). Thank goodness it wasn't that serious…

"How did you get your back hurt and ribs broken?" The woman pursed her lips. "I tripped and fell." I lied. She let out a sigh. "Jaden, you can come in now!" She then shouted over to the door.

Jaden ran in a few moments after. "What does it say?" He asked, looking between us back and forth. "She's fine, she broke only three ribs." Mrs. Fontaine smiled. Her eyes then landed on me. "That means you need to rest while they heal. No overusing your energy, and no dueling."

"Wait, what?" I gaped at her. Did she just say I couldn't duel?!

Aster was right. It would be better for me to stay out of the way. I had just caused trouble… But I still had to get better in dueling in order to defend myself… How could I do that if she forbade me from dueling?!

"You can't expect to continue participating in the tournament with that injury." The woman gave me a disapproving look. "Please, I want to keep dueling!" I looked at her pleadingly. "You said it wasn't serious." Jaden added.

She looked at us for a few moments. Then she frowned. "I'll talk to the Chancellor about this, then I'll tell you what he said." She then lifted up some ointment. "Put it on your injuries. It will help you. Jaden can help you put it on your back while I talk to the Chancellor." She gave it to me.

With those words, she was out.

Jaden sat on a chair next to me. "It's good you're not badly injured." He pointed out. I simply nodded, opening the ointment. I then put it on my arm, where those bruises were. I started rubbing it against the red, swollen bruises.

"Why are you suddenly so quiet? You should be happy it's not that bad." Jaden pointed out. "I am," I closed my eyes for a moment. "It's just that… Aster was right. I'm an utter idiot." I looked at the hand holding the ointment. "No, you're not." He responded.

I looked in his direction. "How can you say that? You've heard about what I had done… Why did you defend me in front of the others?" I gave him a look of disbelief.

"You panicked, Serena." He replied, taking the ointment out of my hand. "And even though it ended up badly, you weren't thinking clearly. You didn't mean anything bad. Aster should realize that…" He then motioned for me to turn around. "Is that really necessary?" I blurted out, feeling my cheeks turning a bit red.

He gave me an amused look. "Mrs. Fontaine told me to help you." "Fine." I turned my back in embarrassment. I then lifted up my shirt and blazer, so he could put ointment on my bruise.

After a few moments, I could feel Jaden's fingers rubbing the ointment against the place where my back hurt. "It's a huge bruise…" I could hear him trailing off. "Well, Sartorius did push me quite harshly." I tried to laugh, only to then clutch my left side in pain. "Don't laugh if it hurts." He told me. "I won't." I nodded in agreement.

"That should be it." Jaden said after about a minute. I let my blazer and shirt drop down my back. "Could you give it to me so I could put it on my ribs?" I then asked. He did so while my back was still turned to him.

I then lifted up the front part of my blazer and shirt, so I could put the ointment on my left side. After doing so, I put the thing away. I then turned around so I could see Jaden.

"At least that's done…" I trailed off. "You really jumped through the window?" He suddenly asked. "Yes," I nodded with a frown, wondering why he was mentioning that all of a sudden. "Why?" "You seem to have a thing with windows…" He let out a chuckle.

I kept looking for a few moments. Then I realized what he was talking about. First, I broke a window when I was a kid, and now, I jumped through it to escape… "It seems so." I smiled (I couldn't laugh, since it hurt). "If only it were more successful…" I looked at my hands. "It could have been worse." Jaden reminded. "I know." I nodded.

That was when Mrs. Fontaine ran inside. "I apologize, I haven't asked the Chancellor yet." She said while opening one cupboard. "Why?" Jaden wondered. "The new student came to me, asking for some bandages. I think his name is… Sartorius, yes." She quickly nodded.

Jaden and I exchanged looks of surprise. "Where is he?" I asked in a bit of panic. "At the building entrance. He said he'd wait there for the bandages." She replied. "Why does he need them?" He asked in confusion. "I think his hand was bleeding… Some injury he accidentally got, I guess." The woman shrugged, finally grabbing the bandages. She then ran out.

I felt relieved, knowing Sartorius wouldn't come here. Yet, at the same time, that only reminded me of what happened back there…

"What is she talking about?" Jaden glanced at me surprised. "When he tried to kill me with the knife, he stabbed his own hand for some reason." I explained with a frown. "Why do that?" He rubbed the back of his head in confusion. "Your guess is as good as mine." I shrugged.

"But, please, let's change the subject." I wanted to get my mind off what had happened today. Stupid of me since I did cause trouble… But I just couldn't think about it right now. I had to get my mind off Sartorius and his stupid satellite.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Jaden smiled. "Anything else." I replied. "In that case… Ben let something slip a while ago while we were talking… Said something about how you can't take some cards seriously. Why?" He gave me a curious look.

I face palmed, knowing what Ben must have referring to back then. It's a good thing Jaden didn't understand it yet…

"He's right, I can't take some cards seriously." I smiled, taking the hand off my forehead. "Why?" "Well, let's take Polymerization for example. No idea why they named it like that, since…" "Wait," Jaden stopped me. "What do you have against Polymerization?" His eyes were wide.

I tried not to laugh (the pain). "Because that's literally…" I didn't get to finish because someone walked inside.

I looked up to see Sheppard walking over to us. His grey eyes looked between Jaden and me back and forth for a few moments. "You're Serena Accardi?" He asked. "I am." I nodded.

"Jaden," The man looked at my friend. "I think Mrs. Fontaine needs help with carrying something. Could you go and help her?" "Uh, sure." Jaden blinked at him in confusion but stood up. He then ran out. The man then turned back to look at me.

His grey eyes were looking straight into my light blue ones…

"You and Jaden are close?" Sheppard suddenly asked. I was caught by surprise. Honestly, I didn't understand why he was asking me that… "We are." I replied simply, folding my arms. "Why are you asking?" I then demanded. "Nothing, you just seem close, that's why…" He tried to wave it off.

It was still a bit weird to me… But maybe he was just curious. I didn't have any other explanation for his sudden curiosity…

"Anyway," Sheppard cleared his throat. "Mrs. Fontaine told me about your current predicament. Since you still want to participate in the tournament, we came to an agreement." He stayed quiet for a moment. "You'll be excused from dueling for three days. Then, you can continue with it."

"Thank you." I replied, feeling excitement wash over me. "But," The man frowned. "You can duel during the day until you feel worn out. After that, you must rest. You must also compensate for those three days, with three duels." He explained. "The moment I get back on my feet?" I asked. "No, you can have them at any time during the tournament. But they must be done." I nodded in understanding.

The man then looked at me for a few moments. "I'll leave you to rest." "Thank you." I said yet again, feeling relieved. He simply nodded before walking out.

I kept looking at the door for a few moments. Then I looked away. I grabbed the backpack off the chair on my right. While I was waiting for Jaden to return, I might as well see if there was anything in this thing of mine… Hopefully, there was something that could keep me occupied.

Opening my backpack, I started looking through it. Unfortunately, there weren't many things inside. Water, a random flower… My eyes widened once I sensed something metal in my right hand. I quickly took it out to see what it was.

A gasp escaped from my mouth (causing more pain for me because of broken ribs).

A grey, metal thing was in my hand. It was in shape of some sort of a stick, and had a metal rope tied to it.

The more I looked at it, the more surprised I was feeling. This was one of the things Sartorius had received along with the satellite…

I put one of the boxes inside. I was about to do the same with another one…

When the door opened.

Before Sartorius had seen me, I managed to put one box in my backpack. Except that this was inside without the box… It must have opened from the force of my fall and fallen out. The metal thing stayed here…

I still didn't know what this was. But it was connected to the satellite in some way, I was sure of that…

Well, the end of the chapter! I'm looking forward to writing next chapters...

I hope you liked it and until next time! :)