Ghost Of Magic: Thank you for reviewing! :) While I understand where that accusation is coming from, I'm afraid I'll have to keep quiet for the sake of the plot XD.
ToBlazePurple: Thanks for reviewing! Oh, is that what you meant when saying you're not used to paragraphing? While I'm used to this writing, I still take any kind of criticism, and I'll keep it in mind for any work I may do in the future, so thanks!
Brick88: Thank you for reviewing! Oh, if you think so, then I'm glad! :) God knows what Sartorius is planning now… XD I think you can already guess she won't be thrilled at all lol.
Kim Nanoha: Thanks for reviewing! Jaden definitely deserves all hugs, especially in Season 3…
AliceCullen13: Thank you for reviewing, glad you liked it! :)
Not going to lie, I'm really excited about those upcoming chapters… Had to go back to remind myself what sort of trip Season 3 is XD. Anyway, all in good time… Here's the next chapter!
I only own my OC's!
Serena's POV
"Her hair is as bright… But that's not the reason." Jaden waved it off, making me smirk. "Keep trying to deny it, Mister." I replied. He stared at me for a few more moments, making me tilt my head to left perplexed.
There was something about his stare that I couldn't put my finger on… But it definitely had my full attention.
"Just hug it out already." Ben suddenly spoke up. My head immediately turned to him. "Why?" "Because he," He pointed at Jaden. "Was really worried about you."
I quickly looked at the brunet. He was looking in the other side, away from my cousin. My eyebrows furrowed. At the same time, I felt slight warmness around my heart.
If he reacted badly during the time I was out, then how did he react now… He worried way too much about me. Way too much for his own good, in fact. There was no point risking his own health over worrying about me…
At that moment, he pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him slowly as well. "You worry too much about me. You need to look after yourself too." I told him quietly. "I can't help it." He responded more loudly than I had intended him too.
"You can't help what?" Hassleberry questioned. I didn't say anything to that. Instead, I hugged Jaden even more tightly (as much as my ribs allowed me to).
His warm hugs always made me feel more at ease, especially now. Just what a person needed to calm them down…
"MUM!" Ben's sudden cry made us pull away rather quickly. All of us turned our heads in the direction of his voice. To my utter surprise and joy, Aunt Maria was awake, with Ben hugging her.
Aunt herself seemed to be rather confused by what was happening… But she did take off the oxygen mask on her own. That made me assured she was going to be fine now. Thank goodness….
"Aunt Maria!" I cried and tried to get off the bed quickly… Only to see I couldn't be as fast right now. That's why Jaden helped me walk up to the two and join their hug.
"What… What happened?" The woman questioned slowly. That question only made me hug her even more tightly. Tears of joy were threatening to start streaming down my cheeks. Reality was finally hitting me, now that I could actually hug her.
Thank, thank goodness she was finally fine! Thank goodness she was finally here with us! After so long, it seemed like we were finally going to get out of this hell…
"A lot happened, Mum." I could hear Ben saying. "I guess so, but… I can't exactly breathe with both of you hugging me so tightly." The woman admitted. "Sorry." I let go of her immediately, so did Ben.
Blinking for a few moments, Aunt Maria finally took a good look at us. Her light brown eyes moved between Ben and me back and forth for a few moments. Then, they landed on what she was wearing. Finally, she looked up once again.
"Why am I in the hospital?" Those words came out of her mouth. "You don't remember?" Ben frowned. "Everything is quite… Blurry at the moment." She admitted. "Who are the guys with you?" She then asked, looking up.
"Oh, yes, you never saw my friends," Ben rubbed the back of his head. "This is Hassleberry," He pointed at the guy who nodded. "Syrus," He simply waved. "And…" "Jaden?" Aunt Maria breathed in shock.
My eyes landed on my aunt's face the moment I heard her astonished voice. Her light brown eyes were wide. She was staring at Jaden as if she had just seen a ghost.
Syrus and Hassleberry looked surprised, while Ben stared at his mother quietly. Jaden, however, let out a laugh. "Long time, no see, Mrs. Accardi." He rubbed the back of his head.
At that moment, so many questions started forming in my mind. I knew Aunt's been keeping secrets from me. But what exactly were they? Would that be an answer to the rest of my missing memories? Would she be willing to tell me now?
There was still a huge gap in my memory between my time in Domino City and moving to Rome… It was something that's been at the back of my head for quite some time now, with all the Society Of Light trouble going on. But now that Aunt Maria was actually back to normal…
She was the only person I could actually try to get answers out of.
She must have known why we moved to Rome so suddenly. She must have known why I had lost touch with Jaden. Heck, she must have known why I couldn't remember any of those things in the first place! The way she reacted to seeing Jaden proved it.
"Aunt, we need to talk." I spoke up with a frown. Her gaze immediately turned to me. She observed me for a few moments. "She's right, you know." Ben agreed seriously.
He then walked up to me and led us a bit away. "I know you want some answers… But, please, wait until she's a bit better. We still haven't told her what exactly happened." He told me. "Fine…" I trailed off reluctantly.
"What's the last thing you remember?" He asked once we joined the others. "Right now, everything is quite blurry…." Aunt Maria admitted with a sigh. "Sarge, your duel with Alexis will begin soon." Hassleberry suddenly reminded. "Shoot." Ben cursed.
"And I still haven't found a deck substitute." Jaden's eyes went wide in panic. "Then let's think of something, and fast." I urged. He looked at me the moment I said that. "Maybe we can still combine our decks at the last minute." His uncertain gaze stayed on me, and he was unusually quiet…
I grabbed both of his hands. "What are you waiting for?! Alexis will get even more pissed if we…" "Serena, you can't really expect to go with him after what had just happened." Ben cut me off, making us turn our heads to him. "We had a deal, Benjamin." I reminded.
"And you just had a panic attack!" He retorted. "Just don't show that stuff to me again," I shook my head to get rid of those terrible thoughts. "And take half of your deck. I'll take mine, and just…" "Ben's right. Maybe you should really stay out of this one." Jaden interrupted me.
Why in the world were Jaden and my cousin agreeing on everything these days?! I couldn't understand it… That wasn't going to stop me though. I was going through with this nonetheless.
"Alexis told both of us to duel." I reminded, squeezing Jaden's hands a bit more tightly. "But…" I gave him the best pleading look I could muster. His chocolate brown eyes looked at me with something I couldn't put my finger on. I held my breath, until… "Fine. Grab your deck." He agreed with a sigh.
A grin appeared on my face. "You're the best." I wanted to hug him, but then opted not to. The last thing I needed was irritating my ribs by hugging the life out of him (which I really wanted to do at that moment). Instead, I put hands on his shoulders and quickly kissed him on a right cheek. I then turned my attention to Ben.
Except that my cousin was staring at me as if I had grown two more heads. Syrus and Hassleberry had quite similar reactions (the latter even pointing his index finger at me, with jaw dropping to the floor). I quickly looked between them back and forth in confusion.
Why were they acting so weird? Kissing friends on a cheek was allowed from what I knew…
Jaden's reaction surprised me the most though. He was holding his cheek wide-eyed. His face was unusually red, and his eyes were completely focused on me.
What was up with him too? Did something bite him? Or was me kissing a friend's cheek so embarrassing? Why were guys sometimes so difficult to understand?!
All of guys in the room still didn't take their eyes off me.
I hated being stared at in such way… And I wanted it to stop!
"WILL YOU ALL STOP STARING?!" I finally shouted angrily, making everyone flinch at my loud tone. Thankfully, it snapped them out of whatever their crazy minds were thinking and processing. "What's your problem?!" I then turned my attention to Jaden who quickly took hand off his cheek in surprise. "What's all of your problem?!" I looked at the rest of the guys.
That was it. Forget ever kissing someone on a cheek! Members of male gender attending same school as me would make such a big fuss out of it. In future, I would stick to hugs only. That was the only way to save myself from further stares and embarrassment.
"While I hate to interrupt whatever's going on," Aunt Maria's voice spoke up. I quickly turned my head in her direction, "I heard you have a duel soon. Since you have trouble with your deck… I think I can help you out." A frown appeared on her face as she looked around.
Her light brown eyes landed on us yet again. "Do you happen to know where my Duel Disk is?" She asked. "Here it is." Ben quickly took the object off a nearby table and gave it to her. "You remember it?" I asked in surprise. "My memories are…. Quite hazy at the moment." Aunt admitted with a sigh. She then looked at me.
"I do remember our duel though. That's why…" She took the cards out of the Duel Disk. "I think you deserve this." She suddenly offered them to me. My eyes widened. "You can't be serious." I responded in disbelief. "I am." Aunt Maria declared firmly and offered the cards to me yet again.
I couldn't believe it. She actually wanted to give me the other half of the deck… Those were powerful cards there. I sensed it with my own skin in that duel. Just what did I do to make her think I was worthy of having them?
"Aunt Maria, I can't take that." I lightly pushed the hand back towards her. "Why not?" She demanded with a frown. "Those are powerful cards…. I did nothing to deserve them." I stated. "Serena," She gave me a serious look. "When I first gave you your deck, I promised I'd give you the other half once you've proven to me you've become a better duelist and worthy of the deck."
A smile then appeared on her face. "You went against it, and forced us into a draw." Her light brown eyes looked into my light blue ones. "You proved those things to me. Thanks for getting me out of trouble." Her card-filled hand started going towards me. "This belongs to you now…" She put them into my right hand.
I looked at the cards, and then at my aunt. The smile she was giving me only became bigger.
If she thought I was finally worthy of it, then that meant something. She was not only a card designer, but a skilled duelist as well. I felt happy, and at the same time, proud. I finally proved it to her…
"Thank you, Aunt Maria. I promise to use it well." I smiled. "I know you will." She replied. I gave her a quick hug which she returned. Then, I looked at Jaden.
"I think this might change some things…" I lifted up the cards in my hands. "Definitely. Alexis won't expect that." He grinned. "Then grab your half of the deck. We've got a duel to win." I urged in a bit of excitement.
While he quickly took out his deck, I took my uniform and went to the toilet to get dressed.
Once I walked out, Jaden was done with choosing his half. "Here it is." I then took out my half and gave it to him. He started mixing the cards into a single deck. "Well, that should be it." I commented with a small smile, and was about to go to the bed to leave my sleeping clothes there… When Jaden stopped me by grabbing my left arm.
I gave him a confused look. "Is something wrong?" He stayed quiet for a few moments, seemingly avoiding my gaze. "If you want us to get to the arena in time, then we've got to…" "Why did you do that?" He cut me off.
By now, I didn't understand a thing… The tone he said that in wasn't angry at all though. It was pure confusion, and, I daresay, some curiosity.
"Why did I do what?" I raised an eyebrow. He lifted his gaze and looked me in the eyes. "Why did you…" He pointed at his right cheek. "You're wondering why I had kissed you on a cheek, is that it?" I demanded in disbelief that we were still having this conversation.
Jaden didn't say anything to my question. Sudden redness all over his cheeks confirmed everything to me though. He was embarrassed because of what I had done… What I wanted to know was why.
At the same time, I couldn't help feeling a bit hurt for some reason. Was I that horrible, that I shouldn't be allowed to even kiss others on a damn cheek?!
"Am I not allowed to kiss friends on a cheek? Or is that embarrassing to you?" I asked indignantly. "No!" He suddenly exclaimed, much to my surprise. "Then why are you making such a fuss out of this? Am I that terrible?" I folded my arms in annoyance. "No, I never said that!" He responded frantically.
I scoffed. "Look, if it's such a big deal to you, I'll never do it again." "It wasn't bad, it's just that…" "It's just that what? I'll never understand what's going on inside male minds…" I cut him off with a frown. "I'm not used to it." He suddenly admitted. "Well, no need to get used to. I won't do it again, so you can just…."
He grabbed me by my left shoulder. I looked up at him in astonishment.
For someone who either got easily embarrassed or wasn't used to some things, he was acting really weird… Heck, his face was even redder if that could be possible!
"I wouldn't mind if you did it again…" He trailed off awkwardly. I gave him a strange look, still trying to comprehend what the hell he was thinking at that moment.
First he stared at me as if I were crazy, then his face was as red as my hair, he wanted to know why I did that, and now he was saying he wouldn't mind if I kissed his cheek again?!
"Let's…" I cleared my throat. "Let's just go. We have a duel to win." I reminded. He stared at me for a few more moments but then nodded. I walked over to the bed and put my sleeping clothes on it. At the same time, I made a mental note to myself to never kiss any guy's cheek like that again.
'He said he wouldn't mind it…' That well-known, nonsensical part of me thought slyly. 'He's a guy! You can't understand their minds!' I thought back. 'You know you liked what you had done…' 'SHUT UP.' I retorted furiously and accidentally knocked over a glass of water off table in process.
The moment they heard glass breaking, Aunt Maria, Syrus, Hassleberry and Ben snapped their heads towards me. "Are you fine, cuzo?" Ben spoke up with a frown. My eyes darted from him, to the broken glass, and then to Jaden who was looking at a nearby wall curiously.
"I'm fine, Benjamin. No need to worry about me." I responded coldly and grabbed a nearby Duel Disk.
The walk towards the arena was the most awkward walk I've had in a while. And that said a lot, considering how having people around me had been awkward itself when I first came here.
Jaden quite noticeably avoided meeting my gaze, or even uttering a word to me. He was looking at everything else, talking to everybody except myself. I could have sworn I've seen Ben, Hassleberry and Syrus looking between us back and forth a few times.
I knew damn well why he was avoiding any contact with me right now… And I couldn't believe it.
"Serena," Ben finally walked up to me. "Che cazzo sta succedendo tra te e Jaden (what the fuck is going on between you and Jaden)?!" He swore in Italian to me in a quiet, yet harsh tone.
I rolled my eyes. "I didn't do anything. Well, apart from kiss him on a cheek. Turns out I'm that much of a repulsive human being… Any sign of affection will make them avoid contact with me." I replied in a sarcastic tone with a smirk.
"I never said that." Jaden spoke up with a frown, having heard the last part (in fairness, I did say it more loudly on purpose). Syrus and Hassleberry quickly looked between him and me back and forth. "But you thought it." I replied pointedly. "Why do you immediately assume the worst about me and yourself?" He asked in disbelief.
"Well, what else am I supposed to think about your behavior up until now?!" I asked frustratingly, tugging at my hair. Thankfully, Ben grabbed my hands to stop me from doing more damage to it. "She kind of has a point, Jay. You're acting really weird." He observed.
By now, Jaden stopped walking to look at my cousin and me. Except that, his gaze was focused on both of us, and then Ben only. He didn't even bother to look me in the eyes. To say that it was irking me was a major understatement.
The thing was, I still couldn't comprehend why the hell he was treating me like that for a simple act of affection. We were supposed to be friends, for crying out loud!
"How long are you going to treat me as some kind of air? Do you really think I'm an idiot?!" I finally spoke up, offended. To my even bigger frustration, Jaden simply looked away. It didn't help that his cheeks were unusually red yet again…
I swear, I'll never understand guys…
"I don't think you're an idiot." He responded simply. Suddenly, he grabbed his hair with a groan and looked at the ground. I was about to walk up to the crazy guy and try to knock some sense into him, when Ben grabbed my left arm to stop me. "Benjamin, please, let go of my arm so I can snap him out of it." I told my cousin in a dangerously cold tone.
"That's exactly why I'm not letting you go." He responded a bit worriedly, yet firmly at the same time. "At this point, Jaden is going to be my main problem, not freaking Society Of Light!" I growled at him. He shook his head firmly and kept a tight grip on my arm.
His green eyes then landed on Jaden. "You should really man up a bit. Your behavior is ridiculous." He frowned. I was about to try to break free from Ben's grip, only for a voice to stop me.
"Having troubles in paradise, I see?" It asked mockingly. I quickly looked up to see Alexis walking up to us, with Atticus close behind her. A smug smile was all over her face as she looked at Jaden, Ben and me.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." I scowled. "She's right. Don't you have your own business to mind?" Ben agreed a bit annoyed. That smile on her face got even wider. "As a matter of fact, I do. This idiot though," Her empty eyes landed on Atticus who finally caught up to us. "Won't leave me alone."
Atticus looked at her with a frown before looking at the rest of us. "One of you is about to duel her?" He presumed. "Yes." Ben pointed at Jaden and me. I tried to meet Jaden's gaze the moment he said that, only to see he wasn't looking in my direction.
By now, I wasn't surprised. However, I couldn't deny it hurt… Why won't you look at me for even a damn second, Jaden Yuki?!
Atticus then motioned for Jaden to follow him. The latter did so, while I stared after them.
I was really beginning to think he wanted nothing to do with me, and that his 'it's not that', and 'why do you assume the worst' was just denying the truth…
"Oh, now he wants to talk…" I scowled once I heard them talking about something. "Having trouble with your dorky boyfriend?" Alexis shot me a smug look. I felt my cheeks burning red from both anger and embarrassment. All of a sudden, my heart was beating like crazy.
Who… Who did that girl think she was?! Boyfriend?! That was… LOAD OF CRAP!
"He's not my boyfriend!" I growled at her with my hands trembling. Not out of fear, but out of fury. Alexis looked at me with what seemed to be mocking amusement. "Why are you getting so upset?" I opened my mouth, preparing to say a good comeback… When Ben stopped me.
"Don't listen to her. She's obviously trying to make you mad." He frowned. I gladly stayed quiet and turned away from her.
Yet at the same time, there was something about her words that really, really bothered me for some reason. I couldn't put a finger on it… And it was driving me crazy!
At that moment, Jaden walked back to us. "Fine, let's have that duel." He told Alexis. Her empty, hazel eyes looked at him, before landing on me. "Of course. That's why I came here for. However…" Her eyes were now looking into mine. "We'll duel for your key only. Your girlfriend can keep hers."
"Enough with that!" I growled, not being able to control myself at that moment. Ben grabbed me by my forearm, as if warning me not to get mad at every word that came out of her mouth. "Enough with what?" Alexis' smug smile was more than apparent by now.
"Ladies, let's just get to the point. You want only Jaden's key?" Ben quickly stopped me from saying something else. "Then let's just get to it." Jaden walked up to her. "Aren't you forgetting something, or rather… Someone?" Alexis smirked, making him look at her in confusion.
Her eyes landed on me yet again. "Don't tell me you forgot the rules we had set up." She sounded unimpressed. "But I thought you didn't want Serena's key!" Ben frowned. She looked at him for a few moments.
"That doesn't mean she doesn't have to duel with him." She said as if he was stupid while pointing at Jaden.
The moment those words came out of her mouth, Jaden's eyes widened and looked at me for literally a second before breaking eye contact. "Do we have to?" He spoke up bluntly. Hearing those words made me feel even more hurt than before.
"I get it you don't want to have anything to do with me, but this is just miserable." I told him in a low, icy tone. "It's not that!" He gave me a panicked look. I opened my mouth, wanting to tell him a lot of things…
Only to be stopped by my cousin and Syrus jumping in between us. "Do they have to?" The former quickly asked. "Yes, they have to. You can't possibly think of cheating now, after all the trouble you had gone through to get that deck…" Alexis was obviously quite pleased with this situation. "But you cheated by saying you want only my key." Jaden pointed out.
"That's not cheating," She gave him an icy look. "Since I set the rules. I simply changed them a bit."
I let out a groan, realizing she was right in every way. She set the rules, and she might as well refuse this deal if Jaden kept complaining. "Let's just get this shit over with before she changes her mind and gives us something even worse." I told him over Ben's shoulder rather impatiently. "You'd better listen to her." Alexis added nonchalantly.
Jaden gave her a briefly exasperated look before sighing. "Fine." He agreed. Ben took my hand and started leading us inside.
As soon as she entered the arena, Alexis headed to another side of the field with her Duel Disk. I was standing on the side closer to me, with Ben right there. Jaden was putting the Duel Disk on his left arm a bit away from us.
My eyes observed him for a few moments, and widened once he walked up to us. "You have the deck." He pointed out, his gaze focused on everything that wasn't my face. "Here it is." I quickly took it out and gave it to him. "Thanks." He replied, still avoiding looking at me.
Usually, he would have no problem looking me in the eyes… It was obvious he wasn't thrilled about having to duel with me.
Feelings of hurt welled up inside me as I realized that I messed up our friendship big time. At the same time, I still couldn't believe it. I never should have kissed his cheek; I should have just hugged the life out of him!
Who cared if that irritated my ribs?! At least then, Jaden would actually be willing to look at me…
"Good luck." Syrus and Hassleberry told us before heading towards seats. Atticus looked at me, and then at Jaden. "Please, bring her back." He said. "No need to worry, Atticus." Jaden said with a small smile.
Ben let out a sigh, meeting my eyes. "Good luck to both of you." I frowned and opened my mouth… Only to be cut off. "No need to worry." Jaden repeated the same words as before. Ben simply nodded. He then gave me one last look and headed towards where Atticus, Syrus and Hassleberry were seated.
Out of a corner of my eye, I could see some Society members seating themselves behind Alexis' side of field. They came as her support or cheerleaders, I guessed…
I walked up to Jaden. "Let's show her what we can do." I spoke up, trying to sound cheerful. "Yeah." He simply responded. His eyes were still insistently avoiding my gaze.
We walked up to the side of the field and climbed up the stairs. "Are you two ready?" Alexis asked smugly. "We are." I nodded with a glare.
She activated her Duel Disk, so did Jaden. "DUEL!" Three of us shouted at the same time. Both Alexis and Jaden drew five cards.
Alexis: 4000 LP
Jaden/Me: 4000 LP
"I'll start!" Alexis immediately drew her sixth card. "I summon Snow Fairy in Attack Mode!" A frown appeared on my face as a weird-looking ice creature (so-called fairy, even though it didn't resemble one in my opinion) came to the field (ATK/DEF:1100/700).
"If you're thinking of using a Spell Card, forget it. As long as it's on the field, all Spell Cards are frozen for one turn." She explained, sounding rather pleased with the monster's effect. I cursed under my breath.
That light thing just seemed to adore blocking someone from using either traps, spells, or even effects… Where did Sartorius even get all those cards from?!
"That's just fantastic." I muttered sarcastically to Jaden. However, he seemed to completely ignore my words, looking at cards he had drawn. "Can I see them?" I then asked, only to be met with complete silence.
It was as if I wasn't standing right there next to him… He didn't even give me a chance to see the cards in his hand.
She then set a facedown and ended her turn. "Jaden, what are we going to…" I turned to the guy, wanting to ask him about what to play. Except that he was already on it, completely ignoring me.
"I'll play Neo-Spacian Glow Moss in Attack Mode." The glowing monster appeared (ATK/DEF:300/900). "Then I'll throw down three facedowns and end my turn." Jaden set three cards before I could even say something to him.
Alexis drew another card. "Having troubles with your partner, huh?" She looked up with a smug smile. I grit my teeth. "Where in the world did you get that conclusion from?" Those words came out with a growl.
"You're not even looking at each other." She let out a condescending laugh. "Need I remind you that you're dueling together…" A frown then appeared on her face. "And you sure weren't one for breaking the rules." She pointed a finger towards me.
I let out a groan, realizing she was right. "Jaden, even though you obviously don't want to have anything to do with me," "That's not true." He cut me off without looking in my direction. I stopped for a moment, refraining myself from telling him that it didn't look like that.
"We're in this together. The least you could do is let me see those damn cards so we can see what to..." He shoved them into my face without giving me glance. I frowned but quickly looked at the remaining cards. Right now, Aether Shield and Wroughtweiler were in his hand.
"I play spell 'White Night Fort'!" Alexis then lifted up a card in her right hand. I dreaded hearing what that thing was… "What does that do?" Jaden wasted no time asking.
At that moment, huge terrain resembling fort made of ice appeared behind Alexis. Ice on the floor even spread to where Jaden and I were standing. To make it even worse, I could feel the effects of it. It was freezing cold…
I could hear gasps coming from multiple Society members. "Settle down, dorks," Alexis turned her head briefly to look at them. "Just wait until you see what happens next!" I didn't like that look on her face at all…
"It's freezing… I can't even feel my toes…" Jaden trailed off while I grabbed my arms and started rubbing them in hopes of getting some warmness. No luck, however…
"That's the least of your problems… With this on the field, your traps are frozen!" Alexis declared. My eyes widened in astonishment. "That means I can't play any of cards I had set…" I could hear Jaden muttering. "Why do you look so surprised? The Light sees everything…" She smiled smugly.
I ignored her words and got closer to Jaden. "We'd better think of something, because she has us in a corner." I whispered in his right ear. "I can see that…" He sighed, still adamantly refusing to even glance at me.
I looked up to see Alexis smirking at us from the other side of the field. It looked like she was having way too much fun with this…
Third Person's POV
Maria Accardi let out another groan while holding her throbbing head. She was still feeling as if a truck had passed over her… Her memories were still quite hazy. Then, another shock came once out of all people, Jaden Yuki turned out to be there!
Too much was happening all at once….
Suddenly, her phone was ringing from a table next to her bed. She took it and answered the call as quickly as she could. "Hello?" She asked groggily.
"Maria, it's so good to hear you're finally awake. I hope you're feeling well." Maximilion Pegasus' voice could be heard. The woman rubbed the back of her head and then shook it, trying to get back to her senses at least a bit.
"I've been better… But thank you, Mister Pegasus." She responded. "If you're not able to talk, I'll call you once you get better." "No!" She exclaimed. "I can talk. What happened?" The woman then asked immediately.
Truth to be told, all Maria wanted to do at that moment was lie on the bed and wait for her headache to pass. However, when her boss wanted to talk to her, she couldn't do that. She knew something was up, since he called hoping she was awake. There was no possible chance someone told him in such short time she finally woke up. Something happened, and her job was to take care of problems whenever Pegasus asked her to.
"Do you remember what happened to you?" Pegasus asked. "Most of things are still hazy. I do remember my niece beating me in a duel… She saved me from something, but I'm not sure what." The woman frowned. "Once I met her and your son, the latter told me something white came out of you before you lost consciousness." The woman's eyes widened and she grabbed her head with a gasp, some memories slowly returning to her.
There was a brief pause over the line. "I'm quite sure I know what that thing was. I think you know that was well…" He spoke up. "The Light Of Destruction, Mister Pegasus. That thing had me in its grasp." She responded gravely.
Now she understood exactly what it was that her niece saved her from…. The thought of that terrible thing brought shivers down her spine. She knew it from researches Pegasus had had, but… Being controlled by the same, notorious thing she heard so much about was something else.
"That's not all." Pegasus spoke up yet again. "What else happened?" She asked immediately, her heart rate rising in panic. "Your niece had an envelope with stolen cards with her. She claimed she had found them at the island, and she and your son told me they didn't know where they came from." He paused for a moment. "However, personally, I think they were lying when they said that."
"I think so too." Maria agreed with a nod. Those cards were too dangerous to be left lying around like that… "But you have them now?" She then asked hopefully.
"That's another thing," Pegasus sighed over the line. "The cards were stolen yet again. A masked person knocked the guard out and took them."
"No…" Maria trailed off in shock. "I think they're still somewhere on the island. Someone obviously wants to use them."
It was quiet for a few moments, as the woman let those news sink in. Pegasus was definitely right; those cards must have been there again… She could feel it in her guts.
Suddenly, sharp pang washed over her head, making the woman grab it with a gasp. Several, brief feelings flashed through her mind. The exact feelings the Light had while it held her under its influence. However, for some strange reason, she still couldn't get the whole picture… What she got was more than enough though.
"I know why the Light wants them." She quickly told Pegasus over the phone while breathing heavily. The man stayed quiet, which she took as a sign to continue. "The Light Of Destruction is convinced Akubaran is somewhere around here… It's afraid."
Her mind desperately tried to fit all of pieces she managed to collect. The Light was perfectly clear it feared Akubaran… She couldn't figure out why though. She also wasn't sure in which way Akubaran manifested itself, since the Light was so convinced it was nearby…
"It… It wants to use those cards to get rid of it." She then told Pegasus the last bit of information she could remember.
Well, the end of the chapter! I know the duel barely started, but, plot-wise, I couldn't put the whole duel in this chapter. In the next chapter, we'll see how the rest plays out, plus other things I planned. While Alexis definitely listened to Sartorius to leave Serena alone, she knew things would get awkward between Serena and Jaden after their little scene, so she used it to her advantage by still having them duel together. It's a bit hard to beat someone if you can't even look your partner in the eyes…
To clarify before someone says something, Jaden is not angry at Serena at all. He's simply confused, impulsive, and, before all that, a teenager in puberty! Things will get awkward, especially when he acts before thinking. Serena, on the other hand… Some girls can get quite sensitive at that age too. A lot of fun for everyone involved… XD
I think you can all kind of guess what Light Of Destruction's goal concerning missing cards is right now… But I can't wait to delve deeper into lore of Akubaran, this is only the beginning!
I hope you liked it and until next time! :)
