The first thing Akiza felt as she regained consciousness was the cold stone underneath her. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw quite a bit of rubble around her, and a broken railing. It was then she remembered she was still in the Arcadia building, still wrecked after her duel with...
She suddenly remembered everything. Misty's words, the enormous lizard monster, the feeling of being skewered by some kind of darkness. By all rights, she should be dead. But that voice...
"You've awoken. Wonderful." A voice called out. The same one she heard before. "If you want to know who I am, I advise looking down in front of you."
Doing so, Akiza saw a card. It was the lizard monster Misty had summoned. The card's name was "Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua". Thinking back to the voice, she put two and two together.
"You... you're the one who brought me back?" Akzia asked.
"I am." The voice, Ccarayhua, replied. "I'm also the one who freed you of that accursed mark."
Looking at her arm, Akiza indeed saw that the claw mark that had been her curse her entire life was gone. In its place was a mark resembling a lizard.
"Isn't this..." Akiza started asking.
"The lizard geoglyph in Nazca? Correct." Ccarayhua said. "I spent so long sealed beneath the ground. Then I formed a bond with Miss Tredwell, and now, you."
"You killed me!" Akiza yelled.
"True. Misty's orders." Ccarayhua answered. "I'm afraid though that any further explanation will have to wait. Mine and Aslla piscu's attacks have severely damaged the building. It is still standing for now, but it could collapse. I hope you can still stand and walk."
Slowly, Akiza got to her feet. Her legs felt a little wobbly, but she was able to stand. Looking around, she saw one set of stairs that hadn't been ruined.
"Where am I going?" Akiza asked.
"The old Ener-D reactor. There are others who might be of assistance to you." Ccarayhua said.
"That's in the Satellite! How do you expect me to get there?" Akiza asked. "The Daedalus Bridge was never finished."
"I'm afraid I cannot help in that regard. You will have to find a way there on your own. For now, just get out of the building." Ccarayhua answered.
Akiza didn't reply, but just made her way to the stairs and started going down. This was going to be a long night.
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"So Aslla piscu has finally found his Dark Signer." Roman said as Carly was brought in. "Excellent. We're one step closer to our goal."
Misty didn't say anything as Devack introduced Carly to Kalin, who had just gotten back from his duel with Yusei. The girl was quite clearly still shaken from the events that had unfolded, and Misty couldn't blame her. It isn't everyday you're brought back from the dead, and she had just sent her killer, Sayer, to his doom.
"Devack, I believe you said you found a potential candidate for Chacu Challhua?" Roman asked.
"Greiger. The man whose village was destroyed by your brother." Devack replied. "Right now, I've given him a room. I'll bring him to you when you're ready."
Roman smiled. "Wonderful. The fated duel between the Signers and the Dark Signers is at hand." He said. Misty couldn't help but chuckle at that, something Roman did noticed. "Did what I say amuse you, Tredwell?"
"A bit." Misty replied. "While Carly was dueling Sayer, I had the chance to duel one of the Signers early. The Black Rose Witch, Akiza."
"So? Me and Yusei dueled. If he hadn't crashed, Ccapac Apu would've flattened him." Kalin replied. "What makes your duel so special?"
"I won." Misty answered. The whole room went dead silent.
"Really?" Roman asked.
"Yes. Ccarayhua's power tore right through her heart." Misty replied, feeling a bit proud. Kalin immediately started laughing like a maniac.
"Seriously?! Unbelievable!" Kalin yelled. "I've heard horror stories about the Black Rose! Someone with all that power, and you sent her right to Hell!"
"Is what your saying true, Misty?" Roman asked. When Misty nodded, Roman smiled. "Impressive. Perhaps the King of the Underworld will be freed sooner then we think. But we can discuss this more later. For now, Misty, could you show Carly to her new room?"
Misty nodded as she motioned for Carly to follow her. As she did, though, she couldn't help be feel something was... off. The whole time she was here, Ccarayhua had been completely silent. Not even a congratulations for killing a Signer.
'You can't have abandoned me, I still bear your mark.' Misty thought. 'So, why are you not speaking.'
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"Buildings that reach into the heavens, moving pictures, and electric lights. Humanity certainly has advanced in 5000 years." Ccarayhua said.
"I would have assumed you'd seen most of that stuff with Misty." Akiza replied.
"We were... pre-occupied." Ccarayhua said.
Akiza had eventually made it out of the Arcadia Movement building, and back onto the street. It was time for her to figure out her next hurdle: how to get to the old Ener-D reactor. But first, she still needed at least some answers from Ccarayhua.
"OK, I have some questions for you. And I hope you have answers for them." Akiza said. "Why would you bring me back? Misty seemed dead set on me dying. Why not just leave me to rot?"
"Your rage and despair." Ccarayhua answered. "You were treated as a monster by everyone. You spent your whole life feared and hated. Did I not promise a life free of that?"
"I... suppose you did." Akiza muttered. "So, does this mean I no longer have my powers."
"As a Psychic Duelist? I don't believe so." Ccarayhua replied. "But you saw what Misty is capable of. In time, you'll be capable of that too."
"I see." Akiza said. So if she didn't have her original powers, then it was likely using Black Rose Dragon to just fly to the Satellite wasn't an option. Suddenly, a thought crossed Akiza's mind, and she pulled out her deck. She flipped through every one of her cards... but was unable to find Black Rose Dragon.
"Seems Black Rose Dragon is gone." Ccarayhua said.
Akiza didn't want to believe it. Black Rose had been the one constant in her life. From the incident in her school, to when she first joined the Arcadia Movement, Black Rose would always comfort her. She refused to believe her dragon would just abandon her.
"But... Black Rose... no..." Akiza stuttered as she stared at her deck. "...how?"
"I am afraid I cannot answer that. Once we get to the Satellite, we can look into that." Ccarayhua said. "Though I am curious as to where the dragon ended up."
Akiza simply nodded, and put her deck back. She still couldn't believe she was speaking and possibly working with the very creature that killed her. She couldn't imagine what the others would think... what Yusei would think.
Yusei... Akiza couldn't understand him. She nearly killed him in the Fortune Cup, and yet he still tried to get through to her, to get her to let go of her anger. Why? All she knew of him was that he was a Satellite native, and all he likely knew of her were the horror stories told of the Black Rose Witch. And yet...
"Thinking of that other Signer?" Ccarayhua asked. "You seem confused with him."
"Could you not look into my thoughts for right now?" Akiza replied.
Ccarayhua didn't answer. Akiza decided to forget about Yusei for now, and focus again on getting to the Satellite. From there... she didn't know.
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He didn't know how, but Yusei Fudo just knew something was wrong.
He was still recovering from his duel with Kalin when his Mark began to burn again. Looking up, he saw two more of the Nazca Lines appear in the sky over Neo Domino City. And he just knew Akiza was the one in a duel with a Dark Signer.
After a while, the lines vanished, and his Mark stopped burning. But it wasn't a fading feeling like before. This time, the burning in his arm just... cut off. He had no clue what that meant, only that something horrible must have happened to Akiza.
He got on his Duel Runner and placed his Duel Disk on it. He needed to get to Neo Domino City NOW. He was about to take off when the screen on the Duel Runner lit up. On it were the faces of Leo and Luna. There was a lingering look of shock on their faces.
"Are you two alright?" Yusei asked before they could say anything. "I saw the lines in the sky. I'm coming over to the city to-"
"Yusei..." Luna cut him off. "Akiza. She's... she's gone. She got into a duel, and... and..."
Luna didn't continue, but Yusei got the message. This was even worse then he thought. He was about to say something when a helicopter landed near him. Turning to look, he saw Mina and Trudge stepping out... and Mina's sleeve was rolled up, revealing Akiza's Mark.
"Yusei, I think we need to talk." Mina said.
