Daileywishaw24: Thank you for reviewing! Glad you liked it, and my portrayal of Crowler… :)
This chapter and the next one take place during 'Blinded By The Light'.
I only own my OC's!
"You're not much of a help, you know." I growled at the book and slammed it shut. Only the fifth one I had done that to, so far…
I finally got out of the infirmary a few days ago. Finally stepping out of there was liberating. Mrs. Fontaine gave me some painkillers, and told me not to over exhaust myself. I was to take them every day to keep the pain away as much as possible. While it did not completely go away, walking was easier thanks to painkillers…
As soon as I was out of there, I made my way towards the library. There, I asked Mrs. Fontaine to give me every book in the library that had something about magic. I had no idea what that evil, stupid force was supposed to be… But it was far from normal to take control of people in such way. That was why I opted to go with the 'magic' theory.
At first, I was convinced I would find something in one of ten books the woman had given me. They weren't exactly light for carrying, either. Mrs. Fontaine had to ask Bastion to help me carry all the books to the room (under the condition that I return them after a week).
Even Bastion was curious why I wanted so much books all of a sudden. However, I decided not to tell him anything about my plan. He was an acquaintance… But I only trusted Jaden when it came to telling more, and maybe Aster a bit.
I had just finished going through the fifth book. Some made-up things were written in there. Granted, I wouldn't have taken this 'Light' thing seriously either, if all of this hadn't happened… Not just happened. It had become personal. Seeing Aunt Maria under that thing's control was a done deal for me.
Those five books, as mentioned earlier, had made-up things. Unfortunately, none of them matched the characteristic 'obsessed over Light' or 'I've seen the Light' behavior… In fact, the Light was portrayed as good! I used to think about it like that as well, until that crazy society came into my life… Now, hearing 'I've seen the Light', or something like that made me want to scowl.
I put the book away, and then reached out for the sixth one. As soon as I took it in my hands, I was ready to open it… Only to stop. I was trying to remember everything about that thing so far…
Sarina claimed everything started once a stranger came, and offered Sartorius a card. She also said she could sense its ominous aura… It's after the customer had gone out that Sartorius started acting different. The card disappeared soon after. She described the thing as 'evil force'…
According to Sartorius, no one could resist the power of Light. That's why he was so surprised when I didn't get brainwashed after losing our duel. I didn't understand it either… But that was beside the point.
When I tried to steal the satellite, the screech I heard from him sounded so inhuman… It proved the point that was… A thing. No human could have let out such noise.
At that moment, I remembered my nightmare from when we were at Domino City. I didn't know how much I could count on it, even though some things from it did happen during my failed theft attempt… There was this glowing, white light in my nightmare.
Except that didn't help much either, since I was back to square one. It was a thing, it was obsessed with Light, and it possessed people… I'd already known all that!
With a groan, I opened the sixth book. It was shorter than the previous five, and it still had no mention of anything similar to what I had encountered earlier. Frankly, I was beginning to become annoyed… I wouldn't be surprised if there was nothing in remaining three books!
As soon as I read another, stupid paragraph about Light representing good in legends, I slammed the book shut.
I couldn't believe it. I owned a lot of nature encyclopedias back home. All of them had some reasonable explanations. Whether it was how snakes moved, how photosynthesis worked, or how crystals were created… There was always an explanation! How was it that there was nothing in those books about crazy Light?!
I knew that thing wasn't exactly normal. But I refused to believe there was absolutely nothing about it…
"Another book that should be thrown in garbage when it comes to usefulness." I grumbled, standing up from my bed. I then put the book next to the others I had looked through.
Only two books this morning, and I was already having a headache… Not from reading, but getting pissed over same information, only told in different words. It made me regret my painkillers didn't help with headaches. However, I decided not to ask Mrs. Fontaine whether she had that. I had to take the things she had given me because of my ribs.
That didn't mean I should get used to taking drugs all the time… It wasn't good at all, and I wanted to avoid it. Either water, or some fresh air would help me with stupid headache.
From what I could see, sun was shining outside. Suddenly, I had this urge to just go out and forget about useless books for a few hours. There were only four left, and looking through them could wait until I cleared my head…
After strapping the Duel Disk to my left arm, I walked outside. Looking up, I could see Jaden standing next to what seemed to be a bin.
"Morning." I greeted, walking downstairs. Jaden quickly turned around, putting a hand on the bin. "Morning." He greeted back with a smile. "What are you doing with that bin?" My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Oh, nothing! I was just… Emptying the trash, that's it!" He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
"How are your ribs?" He then quickly asked. "They hurt less, thanks to the painkillers." I replied. "And now you can duel again." A smile appeared on his face.
I nodded, my hand landing on the Deck Box tied to my waist. In case someone challenged me to a duel, I had my deck…
"What are you two doing standing around here when there's a tournament going on?" A voice made me look up. Hassleberry ran to where we were. "Talking, and… Emptying the trash." Jaden smiled sheepishly. "We've got more important things to do than discard refuse… Like watch Chazz take on a pro duelist!" Hassleberry commented.
Even though it's been a few days since the tournament started, a lot of professional duelists have already arrived on the island. Students would talk between themselves about them. However, I wished to avoid duels with professionals.
I had refused to duel before this whole fiasco started. I had avoided it as much as I could. What chance could I have against professionals, who made a living by dueling? None. That's why I decided to stick to dueling the Academy's students only.
Thankfully, I managed to gather a few wins during those few days. About fifteen medals were inside my pocket right now. Those wins were against Slifer Red and Ra Yellow students, and for now, I wished for it to remain like that. I definitely didn't want to try my chance with the Society yet…
"You're… You're right! The trash can wait!" Jaden exclaimed, slamming the lid of the bin shut. Hassleberry nodded, and started running. "You're coming?" Jaden looked at me curiously. I nodded.
Since I still had that headache, I might as well check out what was going around the island. It would be a fine break from those useless books…
"But I can't run, since I haven't got used to my broken ribs yet." I then reminded. "Then we'll walk." Jaden grinned and grabbed my right hand. "Hassleberry, wait up!" He then shouted. We started walking at faster pace in the direction of the main building.
By the time we were in front of the building, I could see Chazz dueling an unknown duelist. Aster and Bastion were also there, observing the duel.
"Chazz really is taking on a pro…" Jaden observed as we walked closer to two guys. "And this guy's one of the best. In fact, he almost beat me once!" The silver-haired guy nodded. "How is he doing?" I asked curiously, since I didn't know the current results. "Chazz is beating this guy." Aster briefly looked in my direction before turning his attention back to the duel.
At that moment, the unknown duelist summoned a monster named Marshmallon in Defense Mode.
"Kid, your good luck streak just ended!" He declared. "Good luck, huh? Watch this!" Chazz retorted, drawing another card from his deck. "I summon White Knight Lancer!" A monster with white armor appeared on the field.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The first time I had seen that card, really… It even had 'white' in its name…. Did it have something to do with the Society, or it was simply a coincidence?
"White Knight what?" Jaden questioned in confusion. I glanced at him for a few moments. Even he didn't know about that card… My thoughts raced back to the day I sneaked into the White Dorm, and heard two students talking between themselves.
"Have you heard about the rumors?" One of guys asked. "What rumors?" "They say Master Sartorius won something from Prince Ojin. No one knows what, though…" The guy frowned. "Maybe that's why he was less interested in hearing what we had to say about the tournament." The blue-haired guy put a finger on his chin.
"Seems possible… No one knows, except his most loyal followers." The spiky-haired one sighed. "What I'd do to get that powerful card…" "What?" The first guy gave him a confused look. "Most loyal followers received a card from Master. I think it's some sort of a veil, based on what I heard Chazz and Benjamin talking about." The other one explained. "They have it?" The blue-haired guy asked in surprise, receiving a nod.
While I couldn't be sure, I had a hunch Sartorius had given that thing to Chazz… But it wasn't the 'veil' card! Where was that thing?!
No sooner than that, Chazz beat the professional duelist with two attacks at once. Monsters he had were quite powerful… The man fell to the ground. The five of us stared in surprise.
"He took out a pro…" Hassleberry trailed off. "And with Sartorius' cards, no one can beat him now." Aster mused. "Wait," I looked at him slightly surprised. "Are we completely sure he gave Chazz those cards?" "No one else had ever heard of those cards before." He told me with a shrug. "They even have 'white' in its name." Hassleberry reminded me of what I had thought earlier.
That meant they were also convinced in it…
"Has he used his 'veil' card already?" I then spoke up perplexed. "How do you know about 'White Veil'?" Bastion raised an eyebrow in surprise. "White Veil?" Jaden wondered aloud. "It's a card Chazz had used to defeat Alexis in their duel. I think you two were still locked up back then." Hassleberry glanced at Jaden and me back and forth for a few moments.
Bastion's grey eyes then landed on me. "I heard two students talking about it while sneaking in. Apparently, most loyal followers received it from Sartorius. I think Ben has one as well." I explained. "
"Well, who's next?" Chazz's voice made me look up. "How about you, Jaden? I've been waiting for a rematch since last year, and now you're all mine!" He declared while taking the unknown duelist's medals. "Who? Me?" Jaden glanced at him in surprise. "Yes, you! How did you not realize that? Were you on another planet?" Chazz seemed to be annoyed.
"Actually, I was…" Jaden trailed off. I looked at him in surprise. What in the world was that about?! "Why do I bother?" Chazz grumbled. "Oh, you meant that as an insult…" Jaden fell to the ground with a laugh. "Very perceptive." The black-haired guy glared before suggesting they duel tomorrow.
"Wait, I'm confused…" "What's new?" Chazz cut him off in annoyance. "Your deck is different… What happened to all your Ojamas cards?" Jaden questioned. I looked in his direction and slightly tilted my head to right in confusion. "Those freaks are gone now." Chazz looked away. "But they were your favorites!" Jaden exclaimed. "Come on… You remember! How could you forget those cute 'bug' eyes and those bikini briefs?"
By now, I absolutely had no idea what kind of cards Jaden was referring to. I certainly didn't know any Ojan cards that also had bikini briefs…
"Who needs those freaks yapping in their ear? Let them go ruin someone else's life!" Chazz started walking away with a scowl. "Just let the guy go," Aster started. "Come on, let's go see who else is dueling around here." "Shouldn't you be dueling someone?" "What can I say? Everyone's avoiding me, well, except for these guys…" Aster held out a hand full of medals. He then offered them to Hassleberry, claiming they were weighing his pockets.
"Wait," I spoke up. "You still have that thing with you?" I asked. Aster looked at me, knowing what I was talking about. He nodded. "You're talking about that thing Serena had accidentally got from the White Dorm?" Bastion presumed. I nodded.
"I'm still not sure what it is…" I trailed off. "It must be important, since we've seen the Prince give that to Sartorius." Hassleberry presumed. "I know, but knowing what exactly its purpose is would make things easier." I folded my arms with a frown. "Whatever it is, I have no intention of giving it to him." Aster commented. "Did he even notice it missing?" Jaden wondered aloud.
I frowned. "He must have." "But then why didn't Chazz mention it to you? He should be aware of what happened." Bastion pointed out. "I don't know. Aunt Maria already knew about it, which was why she walked into the infirmary…" I trailed off. "Now I'm just praying he won't accuse me of attempted theft." I then crossed fingers on both of my hands.
"Maybe he doesn't want to stand out." The British guy suggested. "He's already standing out…" Hassleberry pointed out with a sigh. "Yeah, but accusing Serena would draw even more attention to both of them. Then people will want to know what happened. Sartorius had mentioned earlier he would rather not stand out as the new student here…" Bastion reminded. "If that is the case, then good for him, and good for me." I muttered.
I let out a yawn, and grabbed my throbbing head. "Just a headache." I then told Jaden once I saw him staring at me.
"Oh, there you are." A familiar voice made me spin around in surprise. Ben walked up to us with a scowl on his face. "Losers, and a wretch…" He trailed off smugly. "What do you want?" Aster raised an eyebrow. "Nothing concerning you, Phoenix." My cousin spat.
That was when I noticed. His green eyes looked different. They looked so… Empty…. Before, they had shown anger whenever he saw me. But now, there was no emotion in them. As far as I knew, it wasn't normal for a person to have such eyes…
"What happened to his eyes?" Hassleberry questioned a bit alarmed. "I guess Sartorius did something to him." Aster guessed with his arms folded.
While I knew he was right, that answer still filled me with dread. Ben's past behavior was bad enough, but this was even worse… He literally looked like a mindless puppet now…
I still wasn't sure what that force's problem was. But I knew one thing. It always found a new way to torture me…
Those empty, green eyes landed on me. "I've come here to settle some things," He started coldly. "Master Sartorius wants back what you had stolen from him." The moment he said it, the feeling of dread started growing stronger. "I don't have it." I replied with a frown, trying to ignore it.
I should have known my theft attempt would come back with bigger consequences than three broken ribs. Maybe Sartorius really refused to draw attention to himself by accusing me of theft attempt. That was most probably why he sent Ben to get that thing instead. Those thoughts didn't help me feel better though…
Ben lunged forward, as if he wanted to grab me violently. I couldn't react properly, since jumping would mean probably messing up my ribs even more. Thankfully, Jaden jumped in front of me. "Stop it, Ben! That's your own cousin!" He exclaimed. "Stop defending the lying wretch. She's a thief!" Ben spat.
Quite frankly, I've had enough of it. I was sick of Ben's hateful behavior towards me. I knew it wasn't his fault, but it still hurt. I had the biggest urge to tell him to just go and not come back! At this point, I didn't know what was worse, my escape from the White Dorm or Ben treating me like that. They were equally bad…
"I've told you; I don't have that stick with me. You can go back to Sartorius and tell him that." I growled. "I'm not going back until you give me what you had stolen from him." Ben glared. "If that's his problem, then why did he send you to retrieve it? Why didn't he come himself?" I demanded icily. "What Master Sartorius does is none of your business. Just give me that thing!" I could hear he was near to losing his patience.
"Ben, she told you the truth. She doesn't have it." Bastion spoke up, making my cousin glare at the British guy. "No one asked for your opinion." He spat.
His eyes then turned back to me. "Since you don't want to obey… Let's settle this with a duel. When I win, you'll give it to me." He suggested smugly.
The moment those words came out of his mouth, I felt panic wash over me. I didn't expect him to challenge me to a duel… And he was already sure he was going to win! There was no way I was going to accept that challenge… My skills weren't match against people from the Society yet!
"I won't duel." I frowned. "Then give me the thing!" Ben shouted angrily, making me flinch in shock. "I don't have it…" "Either you give it now, or after I win the duel. Your choice." He hissed, cutting me off in process.
That was when a hand landed on my shoulder. "Serena, you should accept it." I looked to the side to see Jaden giving me an encouraging look. "Are you crazy?! If we duel now, I'll lose! I'm no match for the Society Of Light!" I hissed to him.
"It's not like you haven't dueled since you came out of the infirmary. Besides, you'll never know until you try." He pointed out. A frown appeared on my face. "This duel can go wrong on so many levels… If I lose, then I'll have to give him something that's not with me!" I replied seriously. "And how can you know how the duel is going to play out? Only Sartorius can see the future." Aster spoke up with a frown.
"It's not hard to guess my predicament." I replied coldly, although I was sure Sartorius had already predicted my doom. "And, how, if I may ask, do you think it's going to play out?" Aster tilted his head to right, daring me to answer his question. "Either I'll mess it up, or Sartorius will pull out some completely unknown cards and give them to Ben and I'll mess up either way." I replied immediately.
I heard a groan from my right. "That's not guessing. That's panicking." Bastion spoke up matter-of-factly once I looked in his direction. "Call it whatever you want, because he," I looked in Ben's direction for a few moments. "Can forget about dueling." I folded my arms. "Soldier…" Hassleberry trailed off while shaking his head in what seemed to be disapproval.
"This is a good chance to try to free him from Sartorius' hold. Don't you want that?" Jaden looked at me. "I do… But I also don't want to lose." I replied firmly. "You won't know until you try." He repeated. "Easy for you to say, you…" "You'll never be ready like that if you don't try it." I was cut off yet again.
I kept looking at Jaden for a few moments. I didn't understand why he had so much confidence in me, since I didn't have it at all…
"You have to be brave, and you have to be ready for new things." Those words were echoing in my head. It sounded like I heard them a long time ago, even though it's barely been a year and a half…
When I was first told I'd attend some sort of academy, I promised I'd try to be brave. A year passed. Then what happened?
I was avoiding my cousin who needed me the most at the moment. I couldn't recognize him anymore. I really felt like I wasn't ready to try to fight the Society… My loss against Sartorius proved that already. But was it worth ignoring Ben? He looked more like an empty shell than an actual person…
Would more won duels and medals even change my opinion? I could win against students here, but still not dare to show my face in front of the Society… Telling yourself something was one thing, while looking at danger in face was completely different… If I won, would I still have guts to go after both him and my aunt?
Words were words. They were nothing compared to actions. I kept saying I'd help them. But now I was turning down Ben's offer because of my fear…
I wasn't sure whether dueling Ben would really free him from that thing's hold. However, I couldn't stand seeing him like that anymore. I felt ashamed of myself for ignoring him when he needed help the most. Maybe he really would pull out some of Sartorius' crazy cards and beat me. Maybe he would beat me even without them. But losing would mean I had at least tried…
"Fine," I looked up into Ben's empty, green eyes. "If it's a duel you want, then it's a duel you shall get." I spat angrily, lifting up my Duel Disk. "That's it, Serena." Jaden grinned.
"Since you chose the harder way," He looked at me. "Right here, in an hour." With those words, he marched away from us.
Yeah, Serena and Ben are so having a rematch in the next chapter… Hopefully, this time it won't end in a draw, but we'll see… ;)
I hope you liked it and until next time! :)
