The Young Master of the Dragonmaids

by The Imperator 2 you

Joseph Takara is a young man who has come into the ownership of the Dragonmaid cards, a rare set of cards that seem to only appear to a single duelist and whom only 'they' call master. With dreams of becoming a professional duelist, he attends Duel Academy, and with the help of his family of girls, and the help of the rare and beautiful Dragonmaids, his dream might come true.

16. Chapter 15

"I asked her one day, how do I overcome a fear that I have? She was weary with her smile as she asked if I was afraid of something, but I didn't want to say it because I was afraid of admitting it. She was slow with her reply, but she hugged me as I sat next to her, listening to the rain outside."

"She told me, if you're afraid of the sound of lightning, don't be afraid, it only sounds like that because it's raining. When the rain stops... the lightning will not sound again... and all will be quiet once again. Just remember son, when you're afraid of something, never forget that as long as you have someone nearby, you won't have anything to fear. Because when you have someone there, there is nothing to be afraid of."

"I smiled a little at that, and accepted that answer... as long as I have someone with me... I have nothing to be afraid of. But... I never told her... that it wasn't the storm I was afraid of that night."

= Chapter 15 Prologue =

=Chapter 15, Sauravis vs Joseph=

He frowned as he stared out of his office at the dark sky, a scattered shower storm passing over the city causing the pitter patter of rain to smack on the glass. Even as he stared out of the window he could feel it, he could feel something 'painful' hurting him. It felt like he was having a minor heart attack, yet his heart beat just fine, nothing was wrong with him physically. His lungs did not contract or contort like they did 'before', when he first performed the ritual, in fact with exception to this sudden burst of pain, he felt like his old self, like everything was working right.

If he was feeling this burst of pain without any reason for it, then that could only mean one thing...

"He 'failed' didn't he?" He asked himself, or should he say, 'him'.

He glanced over to the left and looked at the sky through the glass, where just in front of him, a pair of red eyes and a shadowy form sat just out of sight.

'What was the first clue that gave it away?' It teased him.

"And I can feel it... I can feel WHY he failed." He growled as he sat down at his desk and held his head with one hand. "He didn't even 'care' about the card, he was willing to destroy them..."

'As I predicted, he was strong, but that duel spirit had his 'own' agenda... and as such he did not take his task to heart. You couldn't control him no matter your request, I warned you of the risk but did you listen to me, noooo...' He said as he appeared in the shadows on his right now. 'This is the risk you run when you attempt to summon a Duel Spirit to your world, and attempt to bend it to your will by force. If the spirit is stronger than the soul that attempts to bind it, then the spirit will resist.'

"But I need one strong enough to defeat 'her'. A lesser spirit will 'not' be able to defeat the two of them combined."

'Then you had better find one who can do what you want, because the longer you wait, the stronger he becomes... the last duel we had with your son was not exactly something 'I' would like to re-experience.' His unfavorable ally declared. 'His bond with those 'girls' is stronger, the more he wanted to protect them, the more powerful they grew and the fiercer they became in their defiance to you and their desire to protect 'him'. And when 'she' appeared..."

"I get it, you don't need to explain it!" He replied as he tapped his desk with his fingers.

He thought about what he could do, the first attempt to summon a duel spirit succeeded, but said duel spirit was not exactly... 'willing' to go along with his orders. He had tried to get him to obey by binding the spirit 'Erebus' to the wristband and then having it delivered to a student at the academy. Thanks to his 'inside information' that he had while he was still under the radar, he knew that a particular student was upset with modern Duel Monsters, so he figured the spirit and the girl would work together, but he made a miscalculation. Erebus couldn't stand to be dependent on a human he did not consider worthy of his power, and so abused her, used her, and stole her energy and those she dueled, as well as the energy of duel spirits she offered him as a 'tribute'. But when he assumed a semi-physical form thanks to a Shadow Duel, he lost, and was consumed by the shadow realm...

"I need a new Duel Spirit, one who can assume her own physical form, and who will obey me in exchange for her survival..." He muttered as he opened his book and looked over the ritual words.

'I don't suppose you could be persuaded to abandon this plan?' The voice asked curiously, his eyes looking at him with disdain. 'You nearly lost a piece of your soul, you can't keep taking these risks... after all, if something happens to 'you'...'

"If you aren't going to offer any ideas, then stay out of my way!" He snarled back as he closed the book and started to leave his office, he had work to do.

His 'friend' was silent before he growled in distaste as well, vanishing from his sight.

=The Best Medicine, The Laughing Valley of the Ancient One=

Chancellor Shepard sighed as he looked at the item before him, berating and beating himself up as he listened to the story and thought about how he was going to explain everything to his students. How could he have been so foolish, why didn't he tell them what they were getting into sooner, the signs were there but he thought it was maybe coincidence, or maybe he 'hoped' it was coincidence about what was happening.

No, now he knew the truth, and he couldn't believe that he'd let these students brave the storm without any foreknowledge of what they were getting into. Now several of his students were in the infirmary, another barely escaped suffering severe injuries, another was traumatized and had confessed to 'everything' they'd done, just so they could feel less guilty.

"First of all, I ask you to please forgive me for getting you all involved with something I should never have gotten you involved with. There's no excuse for what I did, getting you students into something without realizing the consequences or the risks when I should have seen what was painfully obvious. I can only ask you to forgive me, as Chancellor of Duel Academy, this is something I should never have allowed."

"Okay, now that the self-pity is out of the way, what 'exactly' are you sorry for getting us involved with this early in the morning?" Chazz asked.

They had been called to the Chancellors office that morning, and despite what Chazz was complaining about, it was actually just past ten. There were no classes that day since it was a Saturday, but Chazz, Alexis, Chumley, Syrus and Bastion were all called into the office of Chancellor Shepard, as they had all volunteered to assist in the capture and apprehension of the 'Mystery Duelist' who was attacking and stealing cards while hurting students in duels. Joseph wasn't there because he was in the infirmary still, having left before the nurse could give him his medication and thus resulting in him catching a nasty cold because he was out and about outside without his full uniform on, which included a jacket.

"Yes, well, first off let me say that Tanya has confessed to everything, and her friend confessed as well to assisting her. Tanya was indeed behind the attacks, and Elizabeth learned of her involvement but kept it a secret in an attempt to try and help her friend. However, in light of the fact that she appeared to have been 'coerced' and even forced to carry out these acts, she and her friend have been given a temporary suspension from academic classes, they'll be serving one-month mandatory community service as punishment by acting as janitors for the main building." Shepard explained. "As for 'how' Tanya did what she did... I'm afraid to say that what happened was something that you might not believe, if at least two of you didn't experience it for yourselves."

"Which is?" Bastion curiously asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's known, as a Shadow Game." Shepard said.

"Forgive me for acting all ignorant, but for those not in the know how, what's a Shadow Game?" Chazz asked.

Shepard pulled out the two broken pieces of the golden wristband, the same ones that he'd picked up and handed over to the Chancellor the night before. It looked like a plain ordinary golden wristband, except it had a unique 'eye shaped pattern' on it.

"As you know from your history lessons, at least I 'hope' you know, Duel Monsters is based on an ancient Egyptian game. The game was played according to records with monsters, but of course that is all just speculation, and it's assumed that the pharaohs of Egypt simply used animals and overexaggerated their appearances. However, I can tell you that this is all 'very' true... the Shadow Games as they were called, were played with real monsters and real magic. Magic so powerful, that the great Pharoah locked the magic away."

He pointed at the wristband now to draw their attention to it.

"What you see here... is in a few words, a Shadow Charm." He said. "This item was imbued with special powers cast by a ritual, allowing one to initiate a Shadow Game, and once it's initiated the only way it ends is if the one who initiates it 'ends' it, or the game ends."

"Okay, sounds pretty basic, but I don't get what makes it so dangerous?" Bastion stated. "So, the two duelists in this case have a duel and neither can leave until it ends, I'm assuming there's more to it?"

"Well, as you've noticed... it's not just a 'friendly duel' between two opponents, when a Shadow Duel is commenced, the stakes become much higher." Shepard said as he nodded to Syrus. "During a Shadow Duel, all damage becomes real, the monsters as well, if you get burned by a monster's attack then you get burned for 'real'."

Alexis went wide eyed alongside the others at that knowledge, before glancing at Syrus' left arm which was bandaged all the way to his wrist. He wasn't hurt that much, but the nurse said his arm was bruised from the shoulder to the forearm. He also had minor cuts across his uniform which he had traded in for a new one.

"Yes, as you see, it's very real. What Syrus happened to Syrus wasn't done by a student themselves, but through the effects of a Shadow Duel. And you've all seen what happens when a duelist suffers defeat. We were lucky however, that Tanya was considerate of her victims, and chose 'not' to send her victims to the Shadow Realm, at least... at first."

"The 'Shadow Realm?" Alexis asked worriedly.

Shepard nodded as he took the two golden wristband pieces and placed them in his desk drawer. "The Shadow Realm, a fate worse than what Joseph and Syrus felt. If she had chosen to, Tanya could have sent either of them to the Shadow Realm, and she was planning, under coercive orders by the duel spirit inhabiting this Shadow Charm, to send Joseph to the Shadow Realm. Had she succeeded in forcing Joseph into a Shadow Duel, and had she defeated him... well let's just be grateful that it didn't happen."

"Uhm..." Sytus muttered as he took a deep breath before saying, "What would have happened if she 'had' succeeded."

Shepard sighed as he looked at his cupped hands. "Then his soul would have been sent to the Shadow Realm, a place from which there is almost 'no' return. It's a place where once you enter, you can spend up to an eternity, existing, forever bound to what could be described as an eternal torment the likes of which you cannot fathom! It's a place you don't want to be sent to no matter the cost!"

Alexis looked worried as she imagined Joseph still in the infirmary, had he lost his duel and 'not' lost his Dragonmaid, then the fate he would have suffered for losing could have been horrible.

"So then why did Tanya choose to steal a bunch of cards instead of this, sending his soul to the Shadow Realm?" She asked.

"Because at first... that wasn't her goal, according to her, a Duel Spirit, 'Erebus', began speaking to her after she received this wristband anonymously. He twisted her wishes and dreams to his own, and used her to carry out his will..."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'Duel Spirit'?" Bastion asked. "This whole 'magic' and 'shadow realm' stuff is a lot to wrap my brain around, but now you're talking about duel spirits?"

Shepard nodded in understanding as he pulled out a card, [Erebus the Underworld Monarch], the same one that Tanya was using in her duels. "A Duel Spirit... as hard as it is to realize, they are 'spirits' of duel monsters, often invisible except to those that can see them or those they grant permission to see them. None of you will probably ever see or be graced to see a Duel Spirit in real life, but trust me when I say that they are very real. Even Maxamilian Pegasus himself says so."

Syrus thought about that, and realized that he 'saw' a duel spirit if that were the case.

He had a flashback to when the duel ended and he ran over to grab Tinkhec's card to return it to Joseph. He saw her appear in front of him, smile gratefully, and then say 'Thank you', before vanishing.

"Huh, so that's what they are?" Chazz asked as he crossed his arms while his 'buddy' appeared next to him.

'Aren't you happy boss, you get someone special like me hanging out with you all to yourself! And we're the bestest palls ever, a dynamic duo!' Ojama Yellow said with a cheerful grin.

"More like an annoyance over my shoulder!" He muttered as he punched his 'pal' to make him go away.

Shepard let that information sink into them for a while before he cleared his throat and once again pulled out the broken wristband. "Yes, according to Tanya, a duel spirit inhabited this object, and she informed us that he was really behind everything, but she still carried it out. As for 'how' and 'why' this happened, it appears to me that, someone out there is targeting 'Joseph', because he was insistent on her not harming the Dragonmaid card she took from him."

"I know that, she wasn't part of the bet they had, he'd wagered another card, he wasn't risking any of his Dragonmaids, but then at some point she got ahold of Tinkhec and ran off with her." Alexis said.

"Indeed, Tanya held Tinkhec hostage, apparently she was of great value to this Duel Spirit she was working for."

"Well, that's only logical, the Dragonmaid cards that Joseph owns are the only ones in the world, they're each worth a fortune to every collector out there." Bastion said.

"Except her card wasn't what she was interested in, as I explained, Duel Spirits are very real... it wasn't the card that mattered, it's the 'spirit' of the card, the duel spirit 'Tinkhec' that she was after." Shepard explained.

At that Alexis thought about everything Joseph had and always 'had' said whenever he talked to her, especially in private, about how he talks to his cards. He said, 'Sometimes my Dragonmaids appear as spirits to me, and we can talk to one another', and even said each of them had their own personalities and comment to him on things. If Chancellor Shepard, and even according to him Maxamillion Pegasus himself, said that Duel Spirits were real, then she guessed maybe Joseph's 'weird thing' he didn't want to share because it would make him look weird wasn't weird at all. Now that she thought about it, she wondered if she had her own Duel Spirit just sitting over her shoulder and she just wasn't aware of it?

"Okay, putting all of that aside, do we know who sent that bracelet or wristband or w.e?" Syrus asked.

"I'm afraid not, Tanya just said she received a package for her one day, there was no name or address attached to it." Shepard said.

"Well, I think we can all take a big old gander of 'who' sent it!" Alexis stated coldly. "Joseph's Father, who else would want to do something horrible like sending Joseph's soul to this 'Shadow Realm' or more importantly, try to take his Dragonmaid cards from him?"

"As logical as any explanation as I can come up with." Bastion said, nodding in agreement. "Joseph's father has motive 'and' ability. We were all there when Kaiba took him away, he said he'd be back and he'd make Joseph suffer. And he is the only one who really wants to 'take' Joseph's Dragonmaid cards. And, just based on the fact that we all saw what happened with that weird 'shadow bubble' not once but twice, he would not be against sending Joseph to this 'Shadow Realm'."

"So now what do we do, report him to the police?" Chazz asked.

Shepard sighed as he shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not that easy, while his 'father' may have motive and reason, opportunity is something we have to prove. The package was delivered anonymously... and it didn't arrive via our Mailing service. It just appeared, as if from thin air, we have zero records of it being delivered here or by who."

"Hmmm, so that leaves us with no options then?" Chumley asked nervously.

"I'm afraid so, for now at least... all we can do is be careful from here on out... this isn't the last time we're going to encounter these Shadow Duelists." Shepard said. "Our only hope is that the next time we'll be better prepared. But because of this, our foe has thrown the first punch, and from here on out things will only get worse. I can't ask any of you to take this risk... in fact, I'm going to suggest to Joseph that we attempt to 'transfer him' to a different school. For his own safety, no duelist should ever risk their soul in a horrible Shadow Game..."

"But... Joseph doesn't want to leave." Chumley muttered. "I mean, he dueled Seto Kaiba just for a chance to 'stay' here. He lost, but he dueled to the end to keep his chance to stay here alive. If you tried sending him away for his own sake it'd break his heart."

"Indeed, but I think it's for the best." Bastion said with a frown. "He's not exactly in the right mind to duel in a Shadow Game like he did before. Perhaps a change of location will be the best for him."

"Hmpf!" Chazz harumphed as he turned around and walked out. "Iuno about you, but all this talk about Shadow Realms and Duel Spirits is making me hungry, and I didn't get to eat breakfast this morning."

Everyone just watched him leave, even Syrus who was downtrodden as he silently gripped his bandaged arm. It wasn't as severe as it could have been, but Syrus was not exactly keen on going through that experience again. He'd tried to be brave but, that duel was not pleasant. He still felt the sting when he was blasted and slammed into the wall.

"So how bad was it Syrus, is it really as bad as we're being told?" Chumley asked.

"Yea, from the start of the duel to the very end, every bit of damage I felt, even self-inflicted, was treated as real damage to me. I traded in half my life points to activate a monster effect, and it felt like my heart skipped a beat or two, I just felt extremely weak. It's not something you want to go through let me say."

Shepard agreed, nodding his head. "That's right, if Joseph chooses to stay, he'll need help, he can't possibly duel constantly against these Shadow Duelists. But I can't force you to help him out and keep him safe. However, until we can figure out for certain who it is that is trying to get rid of him and is trying to steal his cards, I'm asking if you all will..."

"Cover his back, you bet we will." Alexis said with a smile. "He's not going in alone; I'll help out however I can."

"Well, far be it from me to just let someone I've yet to outmatch get scared out of school." Bastion agreed with a grin.

"He'd help us, so I'll help him!" Syrus said as well.

"Yea, what everyone else said!" Chumley nodded.

As everyone agreed to help out Joseph if he did indeed choose to stay at Duel Academy, Joseph was being tended to by Sheou who had helped him to the bathroom before bringing him back to the infirmary, as well as providing him an extra blanket because he was feeling cold.

"This would not have happened my master if you had just stayed in the infirmary." She chided him as she poured a cup of tea for him.

"I know, but I had to try and save my card, I had to try." He said quietly.

She nodded as she handed him the small cup and helped him drink it down before giving him an antibiotic to help with his cold and ease his symptoms. He took it and swallowed before handing her the empty cup back, which she placed on a tray and planted it on the nearby push cart.

"It is very heartwarming and very brave of you to be willing to push yourself to reclaim and save your precious card, but please remember master that your health and safety is what truly matters. I know it is easy for me to say, but I assure you, if your cards could talk, they would say the same. They would never want you to risk your own life just for them."

"But... if I didn't, if I didn't go then she would have been destroyed, I couldn't take that risk!"

Again, Sheou nodded as she sat down next to his bed, smiling lovingly at him as he laid there. "Yes, and I'm sure if she could talk, she would say how happy she is that you came to her rescue, even if it was your friend who truly did the rescuing, the fact that you pulled yourself out, and were willing to face your fear is not something everyone, let alone anyone can do in a spur of the moment decision."

"And fat lotta good that did me... my friend got hurt... and I was so scared to duel when she raised the stakes." Joseph muttered bitterly. "Sheou... I don't know if I can duel again... what if the next duel is 'also' a Shadow Duel... what if the stakes are higher, what if I lose again, what if my friend loses... what if-"

He stopped talking as Sheou pulled him into her embrace, hugging him close to her and gently rubbing his hair with a gentle smile. She shushed his words and silenced his fears, even if only temporarily, but still they were silenced.

"You must never think such thoughts Young Master, never think such thoughts because once you give in to your fear you submit to it entirely." She whispered softly. "Fear can only eat away at your courage if you let it, never forget. Do you remember Joseph, what you promised, that you would always treasure those cards and treat them like family?"

"Yea?"

Sheou nodded as she heard him. "You are not alone; they are with you... they will always be with you. If you fear something, then they will fight against it with you. When you are happy, they will share that joy with you. When you feel frightened or feel alone, all you need do is ask and they will answer your call. No matter where you are, they will 'always' be there for you."

With that she pulled away after giving him one last tight embrace, before letting him go and standing by his side with a warm smile and a humble bow.

"Is there anything you need or would like young master?"

"Nothing... not at the moment."

She nodded and turned to push the cart out, mentioning how she had to return it as well as clean up some dishes before she could make him lunch.

"Sheou?"

Sheou paused and turned around to look at him, hands clasped before her and smiling with a nod, waiting to hear what it was that he had to say.

"Sheou... why do you 'want' to be a maid, for me specifically?" He asked quietly. "I mean... you said you enjoy being a maid more than anything but... why me, I'm a nobody, I'm not special or... anything. I mean... just look at what happened, my dad... did everything to keep me out of his life and... I'm not special or... why me is all I want to know?"

Sheou was quiet as she simply smiled, not answering as she saw he was not yet done talking, sure enough he looked away in shame as he continued.

"You're talented, you can run a business, you are beautiful for your age, you've traveled and you are well educated, you can do... anything else but you still want to be a maid... just, why? I want to be a professional duelist, I know it's going to be hard but it's what I want to be, but..."

Sheou chuckled as she walked up to him and bowed to him.

"As I said, nothing fills me with a greater joy than to serve one that I truly enjoy serving. I assure you Young Master Joseph, as your maid while I served your father, he brought me no joy and I found myself disliking being in his service. But with you however, I find myself enjoying my time and wish if this lasts as long as it can. While I am your legal guardian, I hope that when you are no longer required to have an adult watch over you, you will continue to allow me to remain in your service as your maid. I need no payment... just serving you is reward enough. It is however... your choice."

With that she stood up straight, turned back to the cart to push it out, before she paused and bent down to pick up something that was near the door.

"What's this, a letter?"

"Another letter?" He asked worriedly as she opened it.

"A letter addressed to me?" She asked herself as she read it. "Your presence is requested outside... signed, Saur Avis, what a funny way to spell 'sir'. Well, if a 'sir' requests my presence who am I to refuse?" She turned to Joseph and bowed with a smile, "I shall return in a moment Young Master, once I see what this 'Sir Avis' wishes of me."

"Okay Sheou." He replied as she pushed the cart out and walked out of the infirmary.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to relax. As he did, he could feel that he was not alone again. Opening his eyes, he saw sure enough that several feminine dragons had appeared on his bed with small smiles and loving expressions, Nudyarl, Ernus, Tinkhec and Lorpar. All four of them were looking at him warmly, wings curled up and tails draped on either side of the bed.

'Are you okay master?' Nudyarl asked quietly.

"I'm in the infirmary recovering from a cold and the last 'Shadow Duel'... my friend had to step up because I was too afraid to duel and he got hurt because of it to rescue Tinkhec... so yea, I'm about as peachy as can be..." He muttered bitterly to himself as he rolled over.

'Don't say that master!' Tinkhec said as she floated in front of Joseph to look at him.

He looked as Tinkhec stared at him with a sad and hurt expression on her face.

'Master, what happened wasn't your fault... you didn't know it was real, and you were scared... anyone would have been scared!'

'What Tinkhec said, you were brave to want to rescue her, and you were 'willing' to risk yourself!' Ernus muttered in agreement, floating over to sit on his other side to look at him. 'What you did was very brave, whether you dueled or not... you 'still' risked yourself, you refused to run, you stood your ground. Even knowing the risks, you 'still' wanted to save her, and no matter what happened that alone would be worthy of praise!'

'Yea, and even when you let your friend duel in your stead, you still tried to help, tried to assist, did all you could... so don't degrade yourself because we will never think any less of you!' Lorpar said as she floated over and sat nearby to talk to him now.

"I know... but... I just don't know if I can duel again, especially in a Shadow Game." He whispered as he slowly climbed to a sitting position. "Like... what happens if I lose again, this time it was just Tinkhec, and it was by accident, she wasn't supposed to be taken. What if next time its all of you, what if it's worse, what if next time I die or... what if my friends are lost and it's all my fault because I didn't want to duel?"

He sighed as he shook his head, he's been told not to think like this, by Chazz, Syrus, Alexis, Sheou and now his Dragonmaids. This wasn't helping him at all, he knew... but again, what if?

"Just... what if... what happens if..."

He felt a set of claws gripping his shoulders, and turned to see his Dragonmaids all smiling lovingly at him, a pair holding onto each of his shoulders.

'Whatever happens, we'll be there with you!' Nudyarl proclaimed with utter faith in her voice. 'No matter what, good or bad, we'll be there with you!'

He smiled a little at that before he felt a breeze flow into the room from a nearby open window. He thought about getting up just to close it, but as he was thinking it, the strangest thing happened just then that topped even everything that's happened over the last few days.

A paper plane flew in through the window and began flying through the air, floating up, then down, around and around for several seconds. Everyone in the room, Joseph and his Dragonmaids, were so captivated and confused by the utter bizarre appearance of this piece of flying paper, that they followed its progress the entire time with their eyes and heads. Then it turned and dove toward Joseph, lightly bouncing off of his nose via the tip and landing in his lap.

'Ooooookay... well that happened!' Lorpar said.

'Can paper planes even do that?' Ernus asked.

'Someone outside has good aim.' Tinkhec whispered.

Joseph, wary of surprise pieces of paper being given to him, slowly unfolded the paper plane and looked it, seeing a letter addressed to him.

It was a strange letter, an elaborately drawn 'door-like' border in pencil, complete with engravings and images of dragons along the borders. There was even a large elaborate doorknob drawn on it.

Still though, it was a letter, and it only contained three lines...

If you would open a door that you are welcomed to, would you?

If a friendly hand is offered to you for you to take, would you?

If an opportunity to regain that which is lost is presented for you to accept, would you?

If your answer is yes... the door is unlocked. - Sauravis

He looked confused at that. "What kind of letter is this?" He asked them.

'Uh, a prank letter?' Nudyarl asked with a confused look.

'Doesn't look dangerous...' Lorpar said.

'Doesn't read like it's dangerous...' Tinkhec agreed.

'Whoever did this has really good drawing skills!' Ernus exclaimed.

He read and reread the letter before looking it over and checking the back side. Nothing was inherently 'malicious' about it, it was just a paper with an elaborately drawn draw with pictures of dragons on it. The words were just as elaborately written, with so much curving and winding, each letter flowing into the next and written in a weird penmanship that reminded him of old 'quill penwork'.

"Hmm..." He said as he read each word.

'You aren't thinking of opening that door, are you master?' Nudyarl asked him.

"Oh please, it's just a drawing on a piece of paper, relax Nudyarl." He said as he placed the paper on the bed and idly tapped it with his finger. "A student probably just threw it from downstairs to prank me without realizing it. It's a very nice drawing there, for all we know it's probably just a promo to a school play or some-"

*Grip*

Without warning he felt a clawed hand grip his own and looked down to see a weird light shining from the paper, a blue hand with scaly claw-like fingers was holding his hand, not with a lot of force, but with enough such that it kept its grip while pulling him 'into' the paper.

"Wha-what the haaaaaaaaay!" He screamed as he was pulled from his bed and into this long corridor of light, with his Dragonmaids flying after him in a blind panic to try and help him.

As he vanished from the room, the light from the paper faded to nothingness, and the paper itself fell to the floor, softly landing on the ground next to his bed with a soft 'plop'. Seconds later, the door opened and Sheou walked in looking slightly disgruntled.

"Forgive me for my tardiness master, but I could not for the life of me find this Mr. Avis." Sheou said as she shook her head. "I looked all around and asked students if they knew a Sir. Avis but no student knew of them, how peculiar... hmm?" After she closed the door, she noticed that her master was no longer in the room. "Now where could he have gone?"

Joseph however, while Sheou was wondering where he could have possibly gone, was still falling through this corridor of white light, a hand holding him the entire time while his Dragonmaids raced after him to catch up.

"What is going oooooon!" He screamed as he was pulled ever onwards.

"Mhmhmhmmm Come in... come in young human... we mustn't lurk in doorways after all, even if we're invited. It is most rude to our hosts!" A booming voice laughed with sheer mirth in its tone.

Suddenly the light began to dim and instead of nothing but light he found himself floating among white fluffy clouds. He even noticed that he had stopped falling, or being pulled as it were, allowing him to look around and see a beautiful sky around him. Clouds floated around him floating in their slow paced, wind directed path. Far below him he could see what looked like vast mountains and valleys dotting the landscape. Among those valleys were tiny little homes the likes of which one would see in an anime-style movie, sparsely populating the land.

Even as he just seemingly floated there, he could see beautiful lines of trees, valleys of grass and the tops of mountains dotted with snow and mist flowing in between the various crevices. It was a beautiful scene that he never imagined he would ever see.

The only question he had however, was how he was still floating?

'MASTER!'

He looked up to see four feminine dragons, his Dragonmaids, flying quickly toward him, looks of worry and relief on their faces as they finally caught up to him.

'Thank goodness we caught up to you!' Nudyarl said as she floated next to him, though for some reason instead of looking like a spirit like she and the others usually did, where he could partially see through her, instead she looked completely opaque, as if she were physically in front of him.

'What the heck was that all about?' Tinkhec shouted as she floated next to Nudyarl, wings flapping to keep herself aloft.

'Uhm, are you okay master?' Ernus asked as she and Lorpar took up positions as well.

"I mean, other than being dragged from the infirmary bed, into a piece of paper and now hanging over an array of mountains I'm just fine!" He yelled as he realized he was still being gripped by something. "Hey wait..."

He finally looked up to see a pair of 'blue clawed fingers' gripping his hand, giant blue fingers attached to an equally large hand that was connected to the blue scaly arm-

"The finger bones connected to the hand bone, the hand bones connected to the arm bone, the arm bones connected to the shoulder bone, now shake dem skeleton boooonoes~!' Were the words being sung by a smirking 'titanic sized' dragon with flowing white hair, an equally white and flowing beard, with golden necklace and jewelry adorning his blue scaly body while holding Joseph and grinning at him with light blue eyes watching him. "Mhmhmaa I love that song, such a silly tune!"

Joseph was wide eyed as the hand holding him pulled him closer to the head of this dragon, which smiled warmly as it stared at him with those cool, collected, almost 'wise' eyes. It was just weird but, despite everything that happened he was so captivated seeing this enormous dragon just appear before him as if magically, that he forgot everything that had happened before.

"Well don't just stand there, introduce yourself... oh wait you can't, you're not exactly standing are you... let me remedy that!" He said with a chuckle, before letting him go and letting him free fall.

"Whawahaaaaaaaaa!" Joseph screamed before he came to a sudden halt, as he landed and was pulled back up to the head of the dragon, but this time while lying on the palm of his other hand. "What the..."

"There now, no more dangling from your hand by my hand!" The dragon said with another chuckle. "Let's try this again shall we, introductions!"

Joseph just stuttered as he stared at this creature, not sure what to say or how to speak, but... he at least introduced himself. "J-Joseph Tak-ara..."

The dragon nodded as he smiled at the response. "Well J-Joseph Tak-ara, can I just say 'ara ara', mahahahaaaaaa ohohhohoooo." He began laughing, his voice booming and causing his hand to shake ever so slightly from his mirth. "Oh, forgive me, I couldn't resist, please forgive me Joseph Takara, my name... is Sauravis. Now please tell me, who exactly are these lovelies that followed you into my realm?"

Sauravis nodded behind Joseph and he turned to see his Dragonmaids were floating close by, but staring in awe at the dragon holding their master. Each of them was speechless, just unable to talk as they looked at the dragon before them.

"Uhm, they're my Dragonmaids, Tinkhec, she's the red one, Nudyarl is the blue one, Ernus is the pink and Lorpar is the green one." He explained.

As one all of them waved a claw at the dragon and Nudyarl whispered, 'Hi...'

"Hello~." He also cheered, wiggling two of his fingers in hello. "You're a lucky one, four beauties all to yourself, and they followed you all the way down here..." Sauravis whispered to Joseph before pulling his head away to talk 'properly' to him. "Now you're probably wondering 'how' you got into my domain, and exactly where you are. The answers to these are simple... I invited you here, and you kindly accepted my offer!"

"Wait, accepted your offer, but you, I didn't, what?" Joseph asked in confusion, wondering WHEN he received an offer from this dragon.

"The letter, the paper with the fancy door with the invitation on it that I sent to you, hope you liked it by the way, the calligraphy was all me, and trust me when I say it wasn't easy getting it in that window to make it bonk you on the nose. But as for 'where' you are, this... well there's no other way to describe it, this is the Duel Spirit World, particularly my world, the Laughing Valleys!" Sauravis said as he beckoned him to look below him. "This particular world, this dimension, is my realm, my domain, I promise you that no harm will ever come to those within it, including my guests! But enough of that, come, we have much to talk about!"

With that Sauravis turned and began flying away, his long body curling and twisting as he flew off with Joseph clinging to his hand to avoid falling off, with his Dragonmaids flying after to keep pace.

Down below he saw little to no change, there were still mountains, valleys, little scattered villages plotting the land, misty ridges and little lakes and rivers. But other than that, nothing changed as they flew ever onward.

"Talk, talk about what?" Joseph asked.

"Hmmm, oh yes, we need to talk, but that can wait... I'm sensing something is not right about you, something is missing, something that you have lost!" He declared as he glanced down at him. "Tell me, have you ever heard been a part of a 'Shadow Duel'?"

He looked up and then looked down and nodded. "Yes, yes I was..."

"Indeed, then you know that what I have to say is 'most' important..." Sauravis said as he resumed looking forward. "I will explain all soon, but first we must talk of other things, things that you and those close to you have now become a part of, motions have been set that have upset a most delicate balance in the universe, both of 'our' worlds are now in great jeopardy, though the symptoms are small and only are just beginning to become apparent if actions are not taken, a great harm will come to our world, and through us yours as well!"

He flew slightly faster with his Dragonmaids struggling to keep up. On and on they flew but Joseph couldn't see if they were going anywhere specific. Sauravis kept on flying but as he watched he seemed to notice the same set of mountains passing him by below. After ten minutes of flying at these crazy speeds and seeing nowhere special they were heading, he finally looked up to ask.

"Where are we going?" He yelled.

"Hmm, oh, we were going somewhere?" He said with a grin. "I figured I'd just fly faster than what your little girlfriends back there could do and then... drop you right here!"

With that he flipped his hand over and did exactly that, 'dropped' Joseph to once again free fall. "whaAAAAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAGHHHHHH!" He screamed as he nosedived toward the ground at high speeds, little clouds obscuring his vision of the landscape below him.

'MASTEEEEEEER!' His Dragonmaids screamed in panic as they flew after him.

"HUAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed as he tried waving his arms frantically, anything to slow his decent or save himself from falling as he sped toward that cloud. In a blind panic he shielded his face in a desperate bid to protect himself from whatever harm he could as he flew into the cloud.

*boing*

Only instead of flying through it he 'bounced' off of it like a trampoline to go flipping over and land again on the cloud, which floated over and allowed him to bounce on it again. Again, he bounced off only it was less bouncy and eventually, after several more bounces he came to a full stop and felt the cloud beneath him. It was like, well not what he was expecting a cloud to feel like. It was 'fluffy', and it was slightly damp, but it was also 'solid' and extremely rubbery, as he touched his hand to it, he felt it bend slightly before pushing his hand back.

"Okay..." He muttered as his Dragonmaids flew toward him, tackling into him in a blind panic to rescue him. "BLhaaaaaar can't... breathe!"

'MASTER ARE YOU OKAY!'

'SAY SOMETHING MASTER!'

After a bit he managed to push the girls off of him and he could breathe again, now that he knew they were physical they were 'heavy', being tackled by four of them nearly crushed his lungs, even if they were only now 'a little' bigger than he was. Still at least he was glad that they tried to help him, but he wished they wouldn't worry so much...

Then again, he 'was' screaming for his life not ten seconds ago.

"Ugh, what kind of 'cloud' is this?" He asked as he tapped it.

"A Spirit Cloud of course, I figured that would be apparent!" Sauravis said with a chuckle as the cloud floated with all five of them on it, turning so he could talk to him. "It's very sproingy, I love to just fall back and let myself 'bounce' up and down on them when I'm feeling like it. They also just 'love' to find people who are falling and let them bounce on them over and over..."

He was situated near a massive mountain that, now that he could see something else, seemed to spiral upward into the heavens, obscured by white fluffy clouds.

'You 'knew' that and you STILL let our master think he was going to die?' Lorpar asked incredulously.

'Yea, he has no idea what's going on here, you scared us senseless!' Ernus agreed.

"Ohahahaha... you should really pay attention, I 'promised' that no harm comes to any within my domain, that includes guests." Sauravis chuckled happily as he looked down upon them from high above. "Now, let us talk... a great disturbance has been cast... and you are involved with it."

"Me?" Joseph asked.

Sauravis nodded as he looked seriously at him, losing his jovial attitude from before.

"Yes, you encountered a duel spirit, a spirit known as Erebus, by now you know, that he was 'not' supposed to be within your world, and if not, now you do. You also know full well, that we duel spirits are not just... well we don't 'just' appear in your world on a whim." He said with a halfhearted chuckle before looking serious again. "Your companions there are proof, they don't just choose 'any' human, duelist or otherwise, to give the grace of being able to see and speak to them at any time. Only those who have a deep connection to them, or those naturally born to be able to see them, can even 'begin' to observe them. Even then, they often stick to those they are bound to, never leaving their side. Except for a few... 'exceptions' to that rule, a duel spirit will 'always' be found withing extreme close proximity to those they are bound to."

He then stroked his beard, as if in thought before nodding and smiling at him.

"However, this has all begun to change... most recently, a spirit, again Erebus, was pulled from his domain and was bound to an object, this is a most undesirable binding of a spirit. An object is not living, we cannot exist in your world without the energies of a human given to us. That is the unspoken, unwritten, universally accepted price we accept when we choose to exist in your world. We bind ourselves to a human, and in exchange we exist and live alongside them, perhaps as equals, as friends, as companions... or perhaps even more. But regardless, only those who can see us, or those we 'permit' to see us, can ever speak to and look upon us."

"Wait, then... I DID see a duel spirit, with Chazz, an Ojama was following him around!" He said as he realized what Sauravis was talking about.

Sauravis nodded, glad that he was catching on.

"Indeed, and he knows you have your little Dragonmaid girls there hanging over your shoulder as well. Though I think he believes the relationship is not exactly 'ideal' but, in any case that is not what I wanted to discuss. Erebus was summoned by 'force' to your world, a ritual performed and his spirit was bound. Erebus is 'not' a spirit one should ever desire... he is a force of nature, his will cannot be bent, only twisted or manipulated, but even then, he will not obey any will besides his own. I sensed it, even in my domain, his loss as he was consumed by the shadows... of the Shadow Realm!"

"Even if he was destructive and he would have inflicted the same fate on you, it has caused a great shift here in the Duel Spirit World. Realms and domains beyond mine have now become endangered, it is unnatural for a spirit to be pulled by force into your world, and if it continues a great many risks may befall both of our worlds."

He breathed in deep before blasting out a wisp of magical smoke that twisted and contorted into a magical window which depicted a human city in flames, creatures attacking it and blasting it with fire and lightning, raising havoc and wreaking destruction upon it with no regard for the life being lost.

"The divide that keeps our two worlds separate is not one that must ever be broken, it is a delicate barrier that protects your world from harm and ours from devastation. Our two worlds are as the ying and yang, the halves of two wholes. One cannot be had without the other, and when one is affected, the other is subjected. Right now, the barrier remains stable, and the balance remains... but only because Erebus was stopped before he could carry out his will."

Joseph watched as Sauravis ended the imagery and looked at him with a serious expression.

"So, who is doing this, who summoned Erebus?"

Sauravis shook his head as he looked at him. "I think you know the answer already, why else would I call 'you'?"

"My dad? But... how?"

"I do not know, but regardless, I now ask you to take upon your shoulders a charge, your father is carrying out rituals most dark. While he cannot break the barrier, if the spirits he brings to your world are strong enough or have the will and power, they 'will' bring disaster to your world, and through your world they will destroy 'us'. We cannot exist without you... I ask you to stand against him, and face those spirits he would use to destroy you, to bring you harm."

At that he recalled his events in the Shadow Duels, when Syrus was injured, when he lost, when he nearly could have been sent to the Shadow Realm himself. "I don't... know if I can..." He whispered fearfully.

'Master...' Nudyarl whispered worriedly.

Sauravis let him think it over before thinking again, bringing his finger to his lip to ponder, and then an idea emerged that caused him to grin. "How about a game, to take your mind off things, and perhaps help you out. How about a game of checkers, noooo I don't think so, too long... how about chess? Hmmm maybe not, connect five?" He said out loud while chuckling idly to himself. "Ah, I know, how about a game YOU are familiar with... Drool Monsters!"

"Wait, you mean Duel Monsters?"

"Oh, so that's what it's called... ahem, yes that... oh wait I don't know how to play it... hmmm, with your permission I'd like to look through your memories of the game to learn the rules and learn the cards I can play!" Sauravis said with a smile as he lowered his finger toward his head, before tapping it on his forehead. "It will only last a moment..."

'Hey no touching without our permission!' Tinkhec hollered angrily.

However, in that brief moment where Sauravis' finger made contact with him, his mind began racing through memories, images flashed before him, from when he picked up his first duel monster's card, to when he entered Duel Academy, his hours studying cards, learning different mechanics, the rules, everything flashed by in the blink of an eye. And just as quickly as it started, it ended as Sauravis pulled away with a nod of gratitude.

"Excellent now then, let us create our decks." He declared, and in his outstretched hand a collection of massive playing cards appeared in a flash of light. "Your turn!"

"Uhm... how do I?" He asked as he searched his pockets and found, well first that he wasn't in his uniform but was still in basic pajamas for bed, and second that he had no pockets.

"Just think, concentrate on your deck as it is in the human world... and let it appear in your hand!" Sauravis said with a smile.

Joseph nodded as he closed his eyes and pictured every card in his deck, and moments later, after he remembered the last one, he felt a weight in his palm. Opening his eyes, he saw that his Dragonmaids were now gone, and his deck was in his hand.

"Hey where did..."

Sauravis chuckled as he pointed at Joseph's deck. "They are in the deck, remember they are 'also' spirits of your cards, they can't be in two places at once you know, either they are walking around, or flying around as it were, or they are in their cards. Now let's get ready..." He said as both the cloud he was on and Sauravis began flying higher into the sky.

Upward they flew with Joseph holding his cloud to try and stay stable as it flew higher and higher. At one point he wondered how high could they go because there just seemed to be no 'end' to how far they were flying, Sauravis didn't seem concerned as he swirled and spiraled higher and higher. There were still more clouds and still more mountains as he stopped climbing and then began to settle, just as the clouds parted to reveal a huge plateau where the cloud plopped him down upon, allowing him to climb down and put his feet on solid ground, or rock in this case. Sauravis floated far off into the distance to sit, or 'stand' or float opposite him as if they were playing on a duel field.

When he was in position the dragon nodded and took a deep breath, before blowing a powerful gust of wind onto the plateau to reveal a large duel field embedded into the mountain itself, each square the size of a large truck or car.

In front of him a small podium rose where he could put his dueling deck and where he could plant his cards.

"Okay this is way outa there..." He muttered as he put his deck into position while Sauravis did the same for his deck, which he noticed was 'massive', not just in size but in card size.

"Hmhmhmh, you'll get used to it... are you ready?" He asked, to which Joseph nodded. "Good, now let's put some stakes to this game."

"Wait, stakes, but I thought."

"If 'you' win, I vow as Sauravis the guardian and keeper of this domain, to grant you 'ANY' request that your heart desires... no matter your wish, if it is within my power, I shall grant it!" He declared with a proud smile. "If I win however, you must grant me 'my' request, no matter what it is I ask of you!"

"But... I can't... I mean, that isn't..."

'Master... take the deal!' A cheerful voice called out from his deck, and it sounded like Nudyarl.

He looked to the deck to see his cards, ever so slightly, lift up and he saw Nudyarl's face poke out from the deck with a smile.

'Do it master, Sauravis is a wise and honest spirit, we know of him, now that we recognize his name and face. He's extremely old, and extremely powerful... if he promises you anything, he'll keep it!'

"No cheating over there!" Sauravis chided, and Nudyarl 'eeped' as the deck was magically shuffled and she vanished. "Well Joseph, do you accept the offer?"

He sighed as he thought about it, he hated duels with stakes... but, if his Dragonmaids were willing to trust this dragon, then he would to. "Alright, let's begin!"

"Let's Duel!"

"Let's Duel!"

[Sauravis – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 4000]

Joseph drew his first hand while Sauravis drew his and he grimaced at the cards he'd drawn.

[Dragonmaid Downtime, Monster Reborn, Wall of Revealing Light, Chamber Dragonmaid, Masked Dragon]

"Hmmm, I think I shall yield the opening turn to you." Sauravis declared with a warm smile.

"Great... I draw!" He said as he drew his first card.

[Dragonmaid Ernus]

"Hmmm... I play a monster face down into defense mode!" He declared, putting Masked Dragon down. "Next I play whoaaaa..."

On the field in front of him a HUGE but also very thin stone tablet just mysteriously rose on the field in the shape of a Duel Monster's card, it was face down with paint and all.

"That is so coooool!" He declared.

"Hoahahahaa I am happy that you are enjoying the aesthetic of this duel arena, I just made it up in a spur of the moment for our duel. But please, continue with your turn, though take all the time you need! I will be patient." Sauravis laughed happily as he observed the action.

"Alright, well I activate Dragonmaid Ernus' effect, by sending her to the grave from my hand, I can special summon a level 4 or below Dragonmaid from my hand to the field, so I summon, Chamber Dragonmaid!"

On the field another stone tablet rose up but in a standing position with the carving of Chamber Dragonmaid on it, but it glowed upon fully appearing and Chamber walked out of it as her usual self, smirking and twirling her feather duster upon appearing. She curtsied before Sauravis who bowed in acknowledgement of her presence, before she turned and winked at Joseph with a wave of her hand. In the discard pile another stone tablet appeared and plopped onto the ground.

[Chamber Dragonmaid, Dark Attribute, lvl 4, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

'Oh my, what a beautiful setting for a lovely encounter with my Master. I must be truly blessed to not only be the first summoned, but to be here in this place.' Chamber said with a smile. 'Well, pleasure before business as they say, what would you ask of me master?'

'Don't forget 'I'm' the one who brought you out Chamber!' A muffled voice sounded from on the field.

He smiled awkwardly as he nodded, "Well as Chamber said, now that she's hit the field, she can give me a Dragonmaid magic or trap card from my deck to my hand, and I'm going to ask for Dragonmaid Welcome!"

Chamber nodded as she blasted his podium and allowed him to draw the desired card. "Now that it's in my hand, I play Dragonmaid Welcome, when this card is on the field, all Monsters on my field gain one hundred extra attack and defense points for each Dragonmaid, I count one, so all of my monsters gain one hundred points ss far!"

Chamber smiled as her body glowed with draconic power and her points began rising.

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 600 Atk / 1800 Def]

He nodded as he looked at his remaining plays. "I play two cards face down to end my turn!" He declared, placing Wall of Revealing Light and Dragonmaid Downtime on the field.

On the field, two stone tablets rose and appeared to match his play.

Sauravis nodded as he took a clawed hand to draw his card and smiled at what he drew. "I think I'm going to play... or maybe I should... no I want to... oh dear what do I do here... hmmm, hmmm..." He muttered with a smile as he looked at each one. "This card looks good, oh but that one is nice too... how 'do' you humans make your decisions?"

Joseph and Chamber looked exacerbated as Sauravis continued to talk to himself.

"AH, I know what I'll do... I'll play this magic card, this looks like a good one, That Grass Looks Greener!" He declared happily as a stone tablet appeared. "If I read this correctly, because my deck has more cards then yours, I now send cards from the top of my deck so that the two are equal in number. Since my deck started with 'sixty' cards, and your deck started with 'forty' when this duel began, and after we both drew our various cards, there are now 'fifty-four' left in mine, while there are thirty-three left in yours. So, if I do the math... that means I send twenty-one' to the grave!"

"What?" Joseph asked in confusion as he watched a huge pile of stone tablet cards pile up in Sauravis' graveyard. "Why are you sending so many of your cards to the graveyard."

"Well, I need to because of my magic card's effect... why was that not a good move?" Sauravis asked while sounding slightly upset, but he noticed the dragon had a smile the entire time. "Oh well, I guess I made a mistake, silly me... let's see what else I can do! Ah, here's a good one... I banish a fire type monster from my graveyard, to special summon 'this' monster, Spirit of Flame, into attack mode!"

One of the cards wedged itself out of the pile and revealed itself, [Flame Manipulator]

It flipped over and landed face down off to the side while another card appeared, with a flaming spirit materializing onto the field, glaring at him with muscular arms and gripping a ball of fire in his hands.

[Spirit of Flames, Fire Attribute, lvl 3, Pyro Type, Effect Monster, 1700 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Spirit of Flames is a Pyro Type monster that can only be special summoned by banishing a fire type monster from your graveyard and gains 300 atk points during the user's battle phase only.]

"Never saw that monster before." Joseph muttered as Chamber twirled her staff. "I thought banishing monsters in order to summon other monsters was only possible with Chaos Emperor Dragon, Envoy of the end and Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning?"

"Now that Spirit of the Flames is on the field, I will special summon 'another' monster... I banish '2' light monsters from my graveyard this time, to bring forth... Soul of Purity and Light!"

Two more cards shifted and wedged out of the pile, revealing themselves as [Fairy's Gift, Lunar Queen Elzaim], afterwards another monster appeared, a human appeared with a spiritual 'soul' that gently wrapped itself around him while looking at Joseph with a humble smile.

[Soul of Purity and Light, lvl 6, Light Attribute, Fairy Type, Effect Monster, 2000 Atk / 1800 Def]

[Yes, I'm still here, anyway, Soul of Purity and Light is a monster that can only be special summoned by removing '2' light attribute monsters in your graveyard from play, and while it's on the field, all monsters your opponent controls lose 300 attack points during their battle phase.]

He began getting nervous as he saw the monsters Sauravis was pulling out were getting stronger and stronger.

"Now I have one more monster to play, I 'normal' summon, Barrier Statue of the Stormwind!"

On the field a new monster rose into appearance, this emerald green statue that sat crouched in the appearance of a bird. It began radiating an emerald aura as a green magic circle appeared above it.

[Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds, lvl 4, Wind Attribute, Winged Beast, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

"As a final card, I play Sorcerous Spell Wall! As long as it's on the field, all monsters on my field gain 300 Attack points during my turn, and during your turn they gain 300 defense points!" Sauravis said with a smile.

A magical barrier of light appeared around their entire field, empowering Sauravis' monsters and increasing their power.

[Spirit of Flames – 1700 Atk / 1000 Def – 2000 Atk / 1000 Def – 2300 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Soul of Purity and Light – 2000 Atk / 1800 Def – 2300 Atk / 1800 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds – 1000 Atk / 1000 Def – 1300 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Okay I think I'm ready... hmmm, if I remember you enter the battle phase and attack... so let's do that!" Sauravis declared as his two monsters each raised their palms and gathered energy, fire and light.

"Chamber Dragonmaid, do your stuff, transform into Dragonmaid Ernus!"

Chamber nodded and enveloped herself in draconic flame energy, but as swiftly as it appeared, a massive wave of 'air' blew down upon her from the barrier statue, which glowed in an emerald green aura and stopped her from activating it. Confused Chamber tried again, but once more her powers seemed to fail her.

'Master, I cannot transform, something is wrong!' Chamber said in confusion.

"What's going on, why can't she transform?" Joseph asked as Sauravis smirked.

"Oh dear, I guess that is on me... I completely forgot to explain that... 'Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds has an effect, while it is on the field you cannot special summon monsters 'besides' Wind Attribute monsters. So sorry... Spirit of Flames, attack Chamber Dragonmaid!"

The Spirit of Flames grinned as it readied a giant ball of fire to attack Chamber, who raised her arms in defense, but with no power, she stood no chance. "I activate my face down, Dragonmaid Downtime, by sending a Dragonmaid from my field to the hand, I can add a Dragonmaid card from my deck to my hand, so Chamber returns and I'll add Kitchen Dragonmaid to my hand."

Chamber nodded and quickly curtsied before running into the now flipped up trap card, allowing him to add Kitchen to his hand, vanishing as the ball of fire missed its target, but instead of dissipating it redirected toward Masked Dragon.

"In that case, I'll continue my attack but on your face down monster~!" Sauravis said with a smile as the attack circled and connected. Masked Dragon emerged and exploded into a sizzle of flame and ashes. "Goody, I destroyed your monster, hooray for me!"

"Yea well, now that you destroyed Masked Dragon, I can now special summon a Dragon type monster from my deck with less than 1500 attack points." Joseph countered as he pulled a dragon from his deck that met the criteria.

"Don't forget, due to Barrier Statue of the Stormwind's effect, you can only special summon 'wind' attribute monsters." Sauravis said with a grin as his Barrier Statue glowed with 'wind' power.

"Then it's a good thing the Dragon I'm bringing out 'is' a wind type, Parlor Dragonmaid, come to my field!" He declared as he showed her card and summoned her out into defense mode.

On the field Parlor's card emerged and she walked out, bowed and waved hi to Joseph with a warm smile. 'Hi Master, sorry I'm laaaaaate~!' Parlor called happily. 'Happy to be back in the duels again!'

[Parlor Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

He smiled as he returned to the field. "Now that she's here, her effect activates, allowing her to send Dragonmaid Lorpar to the graveyard from my deck." He declared.

Parlor nodded warmly as she turned and blasted his podium with her draconic power, giving him Lorpar to send to the graveyard. As her card plopped onto the graveyard, he heard a muffled squeal of annoyance. 'Still under here master, and Lorpar's not exactly a lightweight!'

'Are you calling me fat, I'll have you know I've been on a diet 'specifically' so master doesn't think I'm fat! You uh, don't think I'm fat... do you master?' Parlor said quickly as she turned to him.

"No uh... of course not, I mean, you're looking ten pounds lighter!" He muttered with a nervous grin.

'Yeeeeeee!' Parlor squealed in delight as she did a little dance.

"Lemme know when you're ready to continue the duel, I can wait~." Sauravis called out as Joseph saw him drinking the juice from an oversized watermelon that was cut in half.

"Alright you can continue!"

Sauravis nodded as Soul of Purity and Light readied its attack now. "Excellent, now I attack with my Soul of Purity and Light."

As Soul of Purity and Light launched its attack Joseph knew he couldn't risk losing Parlor, not while that Barrier Statue was on the field, even if Chamber 'could' go into Lorpar, he needed Parlor on the field for as long as he could. "I activate my second face down trap card, Wall of Revealing Light!" He declared.

His face down appeared and a mystical wall of light shown from it, casting a wall of light covering his entire field and blocking the attack.

"Now by paying life points in the form of thousands, I can block attacks that are 'less' than that, so by paying three thousand life points, I stop all your monsters with three thousand or less attack points!"

[Sauravis – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 1000]

At that Sauravis grinned, if only a little, then he chuckled. "That was quite the move, well played... now I can't hurt you with 'any' of my monsters... oh dear me what will I do?" He said with a giggle. "Oh well, I guess I have no choice but to end the battle phase... hmmm I still have this one card in my hand, I guess this means I can play it face down to end my turn!"

As the last card was played Joseph was starting to think his opponent was not exactly playing 'poorly', mostly because he kept on smiling whenever he made an apparent misplay, or even when Joseph countered him. Then he glanced at the field, that Barrier Statue was very annoying to deal with, but not something he couldn't get rid of. Before he could target the other monsters, he would have to remove 'it' first, or his Dragonmaids would be unable to play with that restriction.

[Spirit of Flames – 2000 Atk / 1000 Def – 1700 Atk / 1300 Def]

[Soul of Purity and Light – 2300 Atk / 1800 Def – 2000 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds – 1300 Atk / 1000 Def – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def]

As he contemplated his next move, he saw that his next card that he'd drawn was, [Seiyaryu], only it looked different.

"Huh?" He said out loud as he looked at the card.

The stats were still the same, Seiyaryu was still there but... its image had changed. It was as if his dragon was now 'in flight', its wings were spread behind it, reaching forward with its right arm while it's left was bent backward, its tail curled forward and its body more defined and articulated compared to before. He could see more details on it, see the feathers and scales of his dragon compared to what Seiyaryu looked like before.

"Were you always like that, or am imagining things?" He asked his card.

Shaking it off he took his next card and played it, "I summon Kitchen Dragonmaid into attack mode!"

On the field Kitchen's card appeared and she rose in a pillar of red draconic fire, she smirked and bowed to him as she smiled and waved to him. 'I'm ready to serve you a spicy victory meal master, what would you like me to make?'

[Kitchen Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

"Your effect would be nice; do you think you can bring out Dragonmaid Tinkhec for me?"

Kitchen nodded and blasted his podium with her draconic power, allowing him to extrad Tinkhec to his hand from his deck.

"Now her second effect kicks in, I send my Tinkhec to the grave, now that I added her to the hand through Kitchen's effect."

Another card was placed on the graveyard pile. 'Master, any chance you could get me from under the pile, it's getting heavy over here!' Ernus's muffled cry sounded. 'Now I know why we switched over to cardboard, so much lighter...'

"As soon as I can I will Ernus, be a little patient please girl!" He called out. "I have to do something about that Barrier Statue first."

He thought about his possible moves and came up with an idea, "I activate Dragonmaid Welcome's effect! Now that I have two Dragonmaids on the field, I can ask them to pull a Dragonmaid from my grave to my hand, so girls can you be dears and bring back Tinkhec to my hand?"

'With pleasure!' They said cheerfully with nods, turning and blasting the graveyard pile on the field with their combined power.

Tinkhec's card was pulled out and it vanished from the field as he extracted her card to his hand.

"Now I activate Tinkhec's effect, by sending her to the grave, I empower one Dragonmaid on my field with 2000 attack points, so Kitchen, have a taste of your true power!"

Kitchen smirked as her body was wrapped in draconic flame, she smiled as she readied herself for battle.

[Kitchen Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 2500 Atk / 1700 Def – 2700 Atk / 1900 Def]

"Since I can't special summon Tinkhec with Kitchen's effect due to your Barrier Statue, this is still a nice way to have Tinkhec's power aiding in our assault, and Dragonmaid Welcome's attack boost is still in play, now I-"

"I activate my trap card... Waboku!" Sauravis called out as his face down flipped over, smiling as three women in robes of blue all holding special talismans appeared. "Due to this trap card's effect, I take no battle damage this turn, and you can't destroy my monsters through battle... so sorry, but I forgot to activate that when you played Kitchen on the field."

"What, how could you forget?" Joseph yelled in disbelief.

"Well, it 'is' my first duel, you have to forgive this old dragon for being on the slow side!" Sauravis chuckled.

"Uuuugh... that means I can't do anything this turn..." He moaned as his Dragonmaids facepalmed.

'I was just getting fired up too!' Kitchen complained as her effect began to fade.

'I had my true form ready to go as well...' Parlor whispered bitterly.

[Kitchen Dragonmaid 2700 Atk / 1900 Def – 700 Atk / 1900 Def]

He sighed as he declared that he ended his turn, and Sauravis drew his card with a smile as he looked at what he'd drawn.

[Spirit of Flames – 1700 Atk / 1000 Def – 2000 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Soul of Purity and Light – 2000 Atk / 2100 Def – 2300 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def – 1300 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Hmmm, this is not exactly favorable to me... I can't attack because of that trap card and even if I could, your monsters have too much attack power for me to overcome." He muttered as he looked at his field. "Well, I must do something, so I think I'll play 'this' card, Pot of Greed, hmm... uh... what does this card do..." He asked while scratching his head with a halfhearted frown while looking at the card. "I'm confused, this is so baffling... you're a smart duelist, can you tell me?"

"You draw two cards..." He said while shaking his head, 'how does someone not know what pot of greed does?'

"Huh, so that's what it says to do... well if that's what I have to do, then who am I to judge!" Sauravis said while Joseph just took a deep sigh.

When he looked up, he watched Sauravis 'painting' on a paper canvas with a pencil, carefully scrawling and drawing on it with a focused expression on his face.

'Is he...' Parlor asked while 'still' kneeling in defense mode.

'Drawing two cards...' Kitchen continued looking dumbfounded.

"What are you doing?" He asked Sauravis.

"Hmmm, I'm drawing two cards like it said to!" Sauravis said with a cheerful smile. "Why, should I be using paint?"

"You don't literally draw two cards, you just 'draw' two cards from your deck, not literally draw cards." He said with a laugh of disbelief, unable to 'believe' that Sauravis was actually drawing two cards.

"Oooooooh, I was curious about that, I mean... three words for a card effect and not much else to describe what it does, I was wondering why you had such a card in the game, I mean, why would 'someone' be told to just 'draw' two cards in the middle of a duel... now it makes sense... well I'm not throwing that away now that I started... I'll just finish later!" Sauravis said as he took the paper canvas and chucked it away nonchalantly before drawing two cards from his deck. "Ah, now I can do something else, I summon to the field, Barrier Statue of The Torrent!"

On the field another Barrier Statue slowly appeared, this time a sapphire statue of an amphibious frog holding a trident. It glowed in a sapphire aura as a sapphire-blue magic circle floated and appeared above it.

[Barrier Statue of the Torrent, lvl 4, Water Attribute, Aqua Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Due to Barrier Statue of the Torrent's effect, neither of us can now special summon monsters besides 'water types'. So glad I remembered to tell you this time, otherwise you might have tried to summon something you couldn't by accident! Next, I play another card face down... and then I switch 'all' of my other monsters into defense mode to end my turn!"

All three of his monsters crossed their arms protectively, with exception to the Barrier Statues which remained still.

[Spirit of Flames – 2000 Atk / 1000 Def – 1700 Atk / 1300 Def]

[Soul of Purity and Light – 2300 Atk / 1800 Def – 2000 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds – 1300 Atk / 1000 Def – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Torrent – 1300 Atk / 1000 Def – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def]

Joseph took his next draw and frowned. [Mystical Space Typhoon]

"Well, this won't help me very much, but I think I can do something with it here... yea, that field spell is really annoying with how it boosts his points constantly, so let's get rid of it with Mystical Space Typhoon!" He declared as he played the card. "This spell card can destroy one magic or trap card on the field, so I'm getting rid of that field spell of yours! Blasting it away with the power of a raging typhoon!"

A tornado of wind and water roared onto the field from high above, circling and wrapping around the field with all monsters bracing themselves to hold against it, while his maids kept a tight embrace on their dresses to keep them from flying around. When it ended the field spell's effect was gone.

[Spirit of Flames – 1700 Atk / 1300 Def – 1700 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Soul of Purity and Light – 2000 Atk / 2100 Def – 2000 Atk / 1800 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Stormwinds – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def – 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Barrier Statue of the Torrent – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def – 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Oh, dear me... I needed that!" Sauravis moaned halfheartedly.

"Yea, so did I, gone anyway, now I bring to the field, Chamber Dragonmaid!" He declared as he summoned Chamber back to the field.

Chamber emerged once again with a twirl of her feather duster, a cheeky smirk, and a courteous bow as she waved and winked at Joseph. 'Ara Ara master, what is your desire?'

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Your effect would be lovely right about now Chamber, do you think you can give me Dragonmaid Hospitality?"

'Such a simple task... but who am I to say no to 'you'?' She giggled as she pointed at his podium and used her draconic power to add the desired card to his hand.

Card in hand he turned to the field. "Now I activate Dragonmaid Downtime, sorry Kitchen but for now I need you to return to my hand, in your place I'm going to add Laundry Dragonmaid!"

Kitchen nodded and walked into the trap card, vanishing as she and Laundry were added to his hand.

"Now I activate Dragonmaid Hospitality, I can special summon into defense mode a Dragonmaid monster into defense mode, and then send a Dragonmaid with the same attribute but a different level to the grave! So, Laundry comes out and Nudyarl goes to the grave!"

On the field Laundry's card appeared and she tumbled onto the field into defense mode, crossing her arms and growling fiercely, smirking as her tail raised to make her appear imposing.

'Time to clean the field of this dirty launder!' Laundry declared proudly.

[Laundry Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

'Does this mean I'm next?' Ernus called out as another two cards was placed on the pile, Hospitality and Nudyarl.

He smiled apologetically for Ernus 'still' being in the grave.

"Alright now I activate Dragonmaid Welcome's effect, with 'three' Dragonmaids on the field, I can ask my girls to add a Dragonmaid card from my grave to my hand, so bring back Dragonmaid Tinkhec please!"

All three of his maids nodded, turned and blasted the graveyard to add Tinkhec to his hand.

"Now I discard her again, to activate her effect, and I'll give Chamber 'two thousand' attack points to boost her assault!"

Chamber smirked as she was wrapped in red draconic power, her attack points skyrocketing.

[Chamber Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1800 Def – 2500 Atk / 1800 Def]

'Shall we get started master?'

He nodded as he looked at the opposing field. "Now I initiate the battle phase, your Barrier Statues restrict me from special summoning Monsters that aren't Wind or Water, well Nudyarl and Lorpar are that, Dragonmaids Transform!"

Both of his maids, Parlor and Laundry nodded as the glowed, grew and transformed into their true dragon forms. Nudyarl and Lorpar roared proudly and cheerfully with grins as they gained power to match and surpass.

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, lvl 7, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

"And don't forget, Welcome's still in play so my girls get a power boost to boot!"

[Chamber Dragonmaid 2500 Atk / 1800 Def – 2800 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl 2600 Atk / 1600 Def – 2900 Atk / 1900 Def]

Dragonmaid Lorpar 2700 Atk / 1700 Def – 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Dragonmaids, attack Lorpar take out that Barrier Statue of the Torrent with Emerald Draconic Flame!"

Lorpar roared as she unleashed a torrent of emerald flame upon the barrier statue, but as she did her attack suddenly smacked into a small barrier of light, cast by none other than Soul of Purity and Light. The angelic spirit was creating a powerful barrier that slowly bent and yielded to the attack.

"What's going on here, why is my attack not connecting?"

"Oh, it will, just not yet... you see Joseph, Soul of Purity and Light has a special effect, during your battle phase your monsters 'lose' three hundred attack points, yes this will still hurt, but it will hurt a little less thanks to my monster's effect!" Sauravis called out with a grin as his monster yielded, the barrier breaking and the attack connecting, but it was 'slightly' smaller.

[Dragonmaid Lorpar 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 2700 Atk / 2000 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid 2800 Atk / 2100 Def – 2500 Atk / 2100 Def]

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl 2900 Atk / 1900 Def – 2600 Atk / 1900 Def]

Regardless Barrier Statue of the Torrent cracked and broke, being destroyed and the excess damage hitting Sauravis who groaned in fake pain as the damage was dealt.

[Sauravis – 2300 / Joseph Takara – 1000]

"Well, I still have two attacks, so Dragonmaid Nudyarl, take out that Soul of Purity and Light, with Azure Draconic Flame!"

Nudyarl roared as she unleashed her azure flame upon the Soul of Purity and Light, who created a barrier of light to try and reduce the damage, but even 'with' the attack drop, Nudyarl's power was too much to withstand. Soul of Purity and Light was destroyed in a torrent of flame, and all of his maid's attack rose again.

"Now I'll destroy Barrier Statue of the Stormwind with Chamber Dragonmaid, go girl!"

Chamber nodded as she created a ball of her signature draconic energy and blasted the statue with dark energy, like the other statue it cracked and crumbled into nothing. But since all of his monsters, with exception to the Torrent statue were all in defense mode, Sauravis suffered no more damage.

"Now I end the battle phase, maids transform into your maid form, defense mode, then activate your effects!" He declared.

Lorpar and Nudyarl nodded, glowing and shrinking as they resumed their defense mode, turning into maids and activating their effects, blasting his podium with their power.

"Now thanks to their effects, Parlor will send one card to my grave from my deck, as long as it's a Dragonmaid card, and Laundry will send the top three cards of my deck to the grave! So, Parlor will send Dragonmaid Changeover, now do your things girls!"

As per the effects, first Laundry sent the top three cards of his deck to the grave, [Dragonmaid Tidying, Masked Dragon, Nurse Dragonmaid] and then came Parlor's effect, [Dragonmaid Changeover].

He smiled as he saw the cards in the grave.

"Now I activate Dragonmaid Changeover, by sending a Dragonmaid from my field to my hand, I can add Changeover to my hand. Chamber, I appreciate your work girl, but I need you to take some time off for now, so come on back to my hand please?"

'Oh, what am I to do, my master tells me to take time off? And here I was enjoying my time with you... but if you insist..." She sighed with a pretend moan of despair, wrapping herself up in draconic fire and vanishing from the field.

Chuckling inwardly, he took Chamber into his hand and picked up Changeover.

"Alright, time to bring out my ace monster, I fusion summon using Dragonmaid Changeover!"

On the field a whirlwind of draconic energy and flame began twisting and turning, whirling and raging as crimson, black and white flame emerged onto the field.

"This card lets me fusion summon using Dragonmaids in my hand or field, and the one I fusion summon requires a Dragonmaid monster and a dragon type monster, and Dragonmaids are 'both', so I send Nudyarl and Kitchen to my hand to fusion summon... House Dragonmaid!"

A mighty draconic roar emerged from the field as a pair of menacing eyes glinted from within the whirlwind, yet Sauravis only smiled in response to the mighty sound of the monster in front of him. After only a brief moment to display her power, House Dragonmaid flung her arms out to the side, dispelling the display of fire and revealing her true form. Her wings flapped slightly and she clasped her hands before her before she smiled warmly and looked at the opponent in front of them. Parlor and Laundry bowed in humble welcome of the House Maid, before returning to their previous states.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Now I activate my Dragonmaid Tidying trap card, by banishing it, I can special summon a Dragonmaid from my hand or grave to the field in defense mode, but she leaves the field, so Nurse, sorry I kept you waiting, but come on out and do your thing!"

House turned and glanced at the spot to her right where Nurse's card rose, and she was summoned out, walking forward and stretching before warmly smiling at Joseph. 'Hi master, thank you so much for bringing me out, I was getting worried that you didn't like me anymore...'

[Nurse Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"I do like you Nurse, but I had to wait this long to bring you out, speaking of which, can you use your effect and bring back Kitchen?"

'Since you asked master, I would be happy to accommodate!' She said with a little giggle, before pointing to House's other side and blasting her draconic power upon it.

House turned and watched as Kitchen appeared now in defense mode.

'A spicy feast of victory is already in the oven master, let's wrap this duel up!' She called out gleefully.

[Kitchen Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

He smirked as he had all of his Dragonmaids on the field, all of their true forms were either in the grave or in his hand, his opponent had a face down but since he never activated it, he figured it wasn't all that threatening, and he only had 1 more monster to get through. He had this duel in the bag!

"Now that the turn's end has come, Tidying's effect activates! Nurse, come on back girl!"

Nurse nodded and smiled as she vanished, immediately afterwards House raised her hand and pastel draconic flame began to gather in her hand.

"What is that, what are you doing?" Sauravis asked with a frown.

"It's my Dragonmaid's effect, whenever a dragon type monster returns to my hand, and Nurse Dragonmaid is a dragon, she can now destroy one monster on your field for each dragon that returns. Since Nurse came back to my hand, she can destroy one monster, so say goodbye to your Spirit of Flames!"

House only adjusted her arms so she could fire off a blast of draconic flame and destroyed the monster opposite her, sending it to the grave and then quickly straightening her outfit.

"Oh dear, oh dear oh dear me!" Sauravis said worriedly as he looked at Joseph's field. "I'm outnumbered, no cards in my hand, no monsters on my field, and only one draw to do 'anything', I am in so much trouble!"

Sauravis frowned as he drew his next card and looked nervously at Joseph's array of monsters.

"Sorry to make a bad situation worse, but House Dragonmaid has another effect, once per turn during the standby phase, she can special summon a Dragonmaid from my hand or grave, by targeting a Dragonmaid on my field. When that happens, I can special summon a Dragonmaid with one level higher or lower than the target, so I'm targeting Kitchen Dragonmaid, and since she has a level of 3, she can summon a level two or four, so come on back Nurse Dragonmaid."

House nodded as she pulled out a small bell from her dress and rang it, before putting it away and pointing at the spot next to her and causing a ring of draconic energy to appear. From that ring Nurse Dragonmaid emerged with a smile and a wave.

[Nurse Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Oh, this is so bad, this is sooooo bad, what will I do? You have so many monsters that can transform if I even 'dare' to attack. And even if I could attack, that House maid's effect would destroy me, and even IF I could get past her, your trap 'still' is in effect, meaning I can't attack with anything equal to or less than three thousand attack points!" Sauravis cried worriedly, then he looked down at his face down and smiled suddenly. "Oh, I know, I still have 'this', I activate my face down card! Balance of Judgement!"

On the field the trap card flipped up, showing the image of an old man holding a balancing scale.

"Due to this card's effect, if you own more cards on the field then I have in both my hand and on the field, I can draw equal to your surplus." Sauravis declared with a smile. "Since you have 'Five' Dragonmaids, and 'two' Dragonmaid spell and Traps, and one continuous Trap card, I count 'eight', to my 'two' cards, one in my hand and on the field. Now let's balance the scale!"

Joseph watched as the scale appeared and it weighed 'HEAVILY' toward his side due to his eight compared to Sauravis' two. After a few more six cards were placed onto Sauravis' half of the scale, and it became balanced.

"Hooray, I get to draw 'six' cards!" Sauravis cheerfully said.

The card vanished and Sauravis smirked as he drew his 'six' cards, bringing his hand to seven. Suaravis smiled as he looked at his hand and began picking from his cards to use.

"Hmm, I think I'll activate 'this' magic card... Raigeki! With this magic card, all of your monsters are now 'destroyed'."

On the field a storm cloud appeared above them, lightning began striking down upon the field and in an instant, all of his maids went from trying to shield themselves, to vanishing in a blaze of dust and fire, as his card wiped his field.

"Arg... how could, did you 'plan' all of this?" He asked Sauravis.

Sauravis smiled as he winked. "Maybe I did, or maybe you just forgot to restrain yourself and fell for the simplest trick in the book, overextending and 'not' keeping a few reserves in the tank just in case!" He replied. "But I digress... next I activate Monster Reborn... to special summon to my field from the graveyard, Barrier Statue of the Heavens, into defense mode!"

His magic card activated and the Monster Reborn Symbol shown on the center zone in front of him, from its light a heavenly pillar of light appeared, and within that pillar of light a statue of white and gold stone rose and materialized upon the field. It radiated a golden aura and a golden magic circle floated above it.

[Barrier Statue of the Heavens, lvl 4, Light Attribute, Fairy Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Great, another statue, is it that hard to summon something that 'isn't' a motionless rock?" Joseph asked.

"Ohahaha, I would if I could, but that's what the cards dealt to me allow! I now summon forth, Barrier Statue of the Abyss!" Sauravis chuckled as he played his next cards.

On the field another statue slowly rose from its card, a dark prupe statue in the appearance of a demon. The statue emitted a purple aura to match the color scheme, and a magical circle to circle above it.

[Barrier Statue of the Abyss, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Fiend Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Let me guess, I can't special summon monsters besides those of the 'Dark' and 'Light' Attribute, right?"

"Ohohohoho, you're catching on quicker than me! Next, I play one card face down; with that I end my turn... have fun~!"

Joseph took a deep sigh as he drew his card, [Graceful Charity].

"I activate Graceful Charity, so I draw three cards, to discard '2'!" He said as he drew his cards and smiled.

[Dragon Rage, Dragonmaid Tidying, Return of the Dragon Lords]

He discarded Dragonmaid Tidy and Seiyaryu and kept his remaining cards. "Next, I play, Return of the Dragon Lords, this magic card lets me Revive a Dragon type monster from my grave whose level is 7 or 8, so come to my field, Seiyaryu!"

Sauravis proudly smiled as he watched Joseph summoning out his light dragon, which roared from the graveyard as its card pulled itself out, and shined upon the field, allowing the pink dragon to roar proudly upon its appearance. It soared into the air for a few moments, shrieked its war cry as the clouds seemed to part, if ever so slightly, before it flew down and landed on the field in front of Joseph.

[Seiyaryu, lvl 7, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Normal Monster, 2500 Atk / 2300 Def]

"Now I summon to the field, Chamber Dragonmaid, come on out girl!"

Chamber appeared with a twirl of her feather duster, a courtesy bow, and a wave as she looked around. 'Well, it's not the company I wished for, but I am happy to stand beside him, just as I am happy to be with you master~!' She said warmly.

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Now that she's on the field, I activate her effect, I ask her to bring out another copy of Dragonmaid Hospitality!"

'Hmhmhm, master, surely you can push me 'harder', that is such a simple task... well if you ask, then I am pleased to grant your wish!'

Chamber blasted his podium without even trying to look back, smirking as the card he wanted was added.

"Thanks girl, now that it's in my hand I ca- what?" He screamed as he saw that Sauravis had activated a trap card while Chamber was doing her thing.

[Waboku]

"Not that again!" He yelled incredulously.

Sauravis chuckled as he watched Joseph struggling. "Yep, sorry, but for the rest of this turn I can't be damaged and my monsters can't be destroyed by battle, so sorry!"

'I'm really starting to not like him, as wise as he is, this is really starting to test even 'my' infinite patience...' Chamber muttered sourly.

'You never are patient, you're the one who rushes the most to do her chores!' Nudyarl squealed in distaste from the graveyard.

'Well, I 'am' the one who does more work compared to you four...' Chamber said with a snicker.

He sighed as he looked at his options again, sure he could use hospitality to bring out Tinkhec, but what was the point now, he can't destroy his monsters now or deal any damage. He had to basically pass again.

But Joseph was confused, highly confused as he looked at the statues. Suaravis' strategy was extremely bizarre. He stared at the dragon who was smiling as he waited patiently for Joseph's move.

He knew this ancient dragon was 'not' being a fool, he must have known how to duel just based on his memories, so he knows how the cards work. He's just been playing a fool and acting silly, yet his strategy was completely weird. What was the point of stalling with these Barrier Statues and his spells and traps that stall him from attacking or summoning monsters? What was his gameplan. At no point in the duel had he landed even a point of damage. The entire time his trap's been active protecting him, Sauravis had yet to summon a monster strong enough to overcome it.

"Now that I think about it, the only monsters he's played were those spirit monsters, and these Barrier statues!" He muttered. "What's he up to, what is he waiting for, why does he want me to summon 'specific' monster attributes. He could have completely shut me down with just '1' statue, but he's been bringing more of them out every turn."

"What is his game..."

Sauravis just blinked as he smiled, eagerly waiting for Joseph to make his move.

"Think Joseph think, what... wait a moment!" He whispered as he realized he had another way. "I activate my Dragonmaid Tidying Trap Card, I banish it to bring back a Dragonmaid, come on back House Dragonmaid!"

House emerged in a whirlwind of Draconic flame and energy, slowly emerging from it with her arms crossed to indicate she was in defense mode.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

Now I activate Dragonmaid Downtime, I can send a Maid from my field to the hand, to activate it's effect again, I add Dragonmaid Sendoff to my hand!"

House looked over and nodded at Chamber, who nodded and wrapped herself up in a torrent of her draconic flame, before vanishing. As it happened, a card was added to Joseph's hand, [Dragonmaid Sendoff].

"You know what happens, House destroys a monster on your field, so goodbye to your Barrier Statue of the Heavens!"

House nodded as she released a burst of her draconic energy, cracking and smashing the barrier statue and destroying it. "What's happened, I thought I was safe!" Sauravis said with a surprised tone.

"Since your trap card only protects your monsters from 'battle', House's effect is fair game, now I activate Dragonmaid Hospitality, to special summon 'back' Chamber, but she won't be there for long, because then I use Changeover's effect to send her 'back' to the hand to add Changeover to my hand.

"So, it's a revolving door with your maids huh?" Sauravis asked with a snicker as Chamber appeared on the field, waved hello, before waving goodbye again as she returned to his hand.

"You bet, cause now House's effect activates again, goodbye Barrier Statue of the Abyss."

House activated her effect once more, and now Barrier Statue of the abyss crumbled and was turned to dust, leaving Sauravis' field empty.

"Now I activate Sendoff, by sneding House back to my hand, I can special summon a Dragonmaid to the field into defense mode, and since Lorpar is still in my hand, she comes out!"

House nodded and walked into a card that appeared, while Lorpar flew down and landed in defense mode, smirking as she stood on the defense. 'That was a clever plan to get around his Waboku master, did you just come up with it?'

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

"Yea, you like it?" He asked Lorpar. "Now I activate, Dragonmaid Changeover, fusing my two remaining Dragonmaids, Chamber and Lorpar to bring back House Dragonmaid!"

A whirlwind of draconic flame and power erupted once more as House Dragonmaid made her appearance again. She dissipated her flames and stood once more, humbly smiling and awaiting her master's orders.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"With that I end my turn!"

Sauravis nodded as he drew his next card and looked back at Joseph. "I activate... pot of Extravagence."

On the field a 'pot' appeared, but it was very freaky looking. It looked like a Pot of Greed but the pot had two faces, one green and 'greedy' and the other golden and... very greedy. It giggled as it spun around, as if waiting.

"What the... what is 'that'?" He asked in amazement, having never seen that card before.

"You should know it more than me, in the latest forums you were reading before you found yourself in the infirmary, Industrial Illusions created a new Pot card to add a little 'spice'. This particular one requires me to randomly banish three or six of my fusion monsters, 'face down'... in exchange I get to draw one or two cards... I pick six!" He declared with a smile, taking his cards and tossing them to the side of his podium, while six cards flew into the pot on the field.

The pot grinned and cackled as it released two bursts of light which struck his podium.

"The downside to using this however, is that I can no longer draw cards for the rest of the turn... but I don't need anymore,,," He said as he drew his two cards, adding to the three he still had. "I activate the magic card, Soul Release... this removes five cards from either graveyard from play! And I'm going to pick... five of my own!"

He revealed his five monsters he was removing.

[Barrier Statue of the Torrent, Inferno, Abyss, Heavens, Stormwinds]

"Next, I play the magic card, Dimension Fusion, now for the price of 'two thousand' life points, we can each summon up to five monsters that have been removed from the game!"

[Sauravis – 300 / Joseph Takara – 1000]

Joseph watched as 'five' Barrier Statues appeared on the field, four that he had destroyed and this new one that was red and in the image of a crimson dragon.

[Barrier Statues of the Torrent/Inferno/Abyss/Heavens/Stormwinds, Water/Fire/Drak/Light/Wind attributes, Aqua/Pyro/Fiend/Fairy/Winged Beast, Effect Monsters, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def x5]

"Now I activate my third magic card, Creature Swap... now we each select 'one' monster to give to our opponent! I select, Barrier Statue of the Abyss!"

Joseph stared as his opponent's Barrier Statue floated over to his side and turned around.

"Uhm... uh... I guess I'll give you..."

He was going to say 'Seiyaryu', but House glanced at him and shook her head.

"But... I can't risk losing you I need you..." He whispered.

House nodded in understanding, but again shook her head. She was insisting that he select 'her'.

"Okay... if you insist, I choose House Dragonmaid."

House nodded with a sad smile, as she turned and walked over to Seiyaryu's side, who nodded in understanding.

"That was very difficult, I can tell... you deeply care for her." He said proudly. "But you made the right choice, for reasons that you don't yet understand, but in time you soon will... for now let us end this duel." He placed another card on the field. "I activate United We Stand, this gives the monster I equip 800 attack and defense points for each monster on my side of the field... so with five monsters, House Dragonmaid now gains 4000 Attack and Defense points."

House smiled sadly as her body flowed with power, granted to her by the four Barrier Statues and herself.

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 7000 Atk / 6000 Def]

Sauravis smiled sadly as he took his last card and played it.

"I now tribute all 'five' of my monsters, in order to summon this monster... Ten Thousand Drgaon!"

As one all 'five' of his monsters began to glow into bright balls of light, matching their color schemes.

"I can only special summon this monster, by tributing monsters on my field, who's attack and defense values 'equal' or exceed ten thousand. So, by tributing the monsters I have, I now have that number, I tribute all to special summon Ten Thousand Dragon."

[Barrier Statues 1000 Atk / 1000 Def x 4 + House Dragonmaid 7000 Atk / 6000 Def = 11000 Atk / 10000 Def]

They all vanished into the sky and merged together, and in a blinding flash of light a beautiful golden dragon emerged from the sky, it's massive form floating down as its tail twirled and curled, its enormous golden wings spread wide, its arms crossed and its head gazing down as he descended. He was 'massive' even more massive than Sauravis.

Its eyes glowed brightly before his arms spread and he 'roared' to announce his presence.

[Ten Thousand Dragon, lvl 10, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, ? Atk / ? Def]

[Well, it's been fun everyone, but if you see this summoned to your opponent's field, it's probably over. Anyway, Ten Thousand Dragon is a monster that when it is special summoned by tributing monsters on your field, whose attack and defense values equal or exceed ten thousand, this monster's attack and defense becomes ten thousand!]

Sauravis smiled as he watched Joseph let the knowledge of what he'd summon sink in. "Now that he's appeared, because I have tributed the attack and defense values I needed, his attack and defense, becomes 'ten thousand'."

[Ten Thousand Dragon, ? Atk / ? Def – 10,000 Atk / 10,000 Def]

All Joseph could do, was whisper... one solitary word.

"How?" He asked as he saw the incredible beast set against him.

Sauravis nodded in understanding. "There are more ways to duel then just brute forcing your way through everything. You are strong Joseph, but you throw everything into your attacks, and you leave yourself little room to recover if things go south. It is not your fault, what works for you, works very well for you, but you must learn... like a river does, to 'bend' and 'flow' with the land it travels through." He proclaimed wisely as Ten Thousand Dragon readied its attack. "You are but a seedling, you still have room to grow... but when the time comes, you will find yourself a mighty oak that stands above 'all' others."

With that, Ten Thousand Dragon unleashed its golden fury upon the Barrier Statue, blasting it and vaporizing it to ashes, blasting through Joseph's Wall of Revealing Light with no effort.

Since the barrier statue was in attack mode, Joseph could not survive.

[Sauravis – 300 / Joseph Takara – 0]

Joseph collapsed to his knees; he'd lost... again.

"I don't understand..." He whispered as he stared at the ground. "I studied so hard, I won the school duel, I thought... I thought I was doing good. Am I really just, winning because of my Dragonmaids? Am I not as good as I thought I was?"

At that he felt several sets of claws on him, and saw his Dragonmaids all standing around him with sad looks on their face, but they still smiled warmly and lovingly at him.

'No, you did well!' Nudyarl tried to say cheerfully.

'You did your best; you couldn't have done any less.' Tinkhec whispered lovingly.

'We watched your every move, you played well, right to the very end!' Lorpar agreed.

'We've never been prouder of you master; we've never been so proud to be your Dragonmaids as we are now!' Ernus stated happily.

He smiled a little at their encouragement, but he still frowned as he still believed he did bad, if he was 'doing so well' then why did he lose so badly? His opponent didn't even touch him till the end, but he still played 'him' like a fiddle.

"Well, I seem to recall, a wager we had!" Sauravis declared as he flew over Joseph and looked down upon him. "Time to pay the piper as it were!"

'Leave him alone, he's already down enough as is!' Nudyarl called out.

'Yea he's JUST getting over his loss with the Shadow Duel, can't you just butt out and let him be!' Tinkhec screamed.

"No... no I'm a man of my word!" Joseph said as he stood up and stepped forward. "Our wager was, if I lose then I have to give you whatever you want right?"

"Yes, whatever I ask of you, you have to grant it!" Sauravis said with a nod.

"Alright... fine, what do you want?"

Sauravis chuckled menacingly as he lowered himself so he could look at him more on 'his' eye level, though he was still dwarfed by the giant dragon by a hundred. "What I want... is 'this'..." He whispered with an evil grin as he moved his hand closer, gripping his claws and extending one solitary finger toward him.

Joseph fearing for himself, scrunched his eyes and braced himself for some unspeakable 'thing' to happen to him. He readied himself, preparing for the worst to happen...

"Boop"

Joseph opened his eyes to see a giant finger... poking the tip of his nose. He looked up to see Sauravis smirking, pulling his finger away with a gleeful grin, even as he began to silently chuckle.

"Wha?"

"MHmhmhmh, I just wanted to Boop your Snoot!" He said with a laugh that started out small, but steadily 'grew' in volume and ferocity. "Ohhohohoooh you should have seen the look on your face, did you think I was going to do something horrible to you? I said when we first met, that I promised 'no harm would come to anyone in my domain, especially a guest!' Buahahahahaha hahaaahahaaaah!"

After a few moments Joseph began chuckling and even laughing as well as the sheer audacity of what the Dragon did. Did he 'really' just duel him just so he could poke his nose?

"Hahaha I... I really thought..." Joseph tried to say, but he was laughing so hard that he started coughing, but it didn't matter because he never laughed so hard before!"

"Oahahaha L-listen... listen to the sound!" Sauravis said as he forced himself to stop chuckling, and both he, Joseph and his Dragonmaids turned their ears as they listened.

It was the funniest sound, the weirdest sound... the sound of echoing 'laughter'... but not just his, and not just Sauravis'... it was other sounds, other laughs, other sounds of laughing voices filling the air and valleys as what seemed like the whole world was laughing in unison.

"Beautiful is it not... the most wonderful sound in the world... joyous laughter!" Sauravis said with a smile. "Joseph... always remember to take time to remember that you are dueling to hav 'fun'. No matter how serious the duel becomes, always remember, to have some 'fun' in the day, or else your heart will be filled with dark thoughts that will cloud your attitude and judgement."

"But Sauravis, what about my father, the Shadow Duels, what if I lose what if..." Once again Joseph was silenced as Sauravis 'booped' his nose with a finger, hushing his words.

"There is a time to be serious, and a time to have fun, even Adults are but children inside, pretending to act like adults! Buried deep within the heart of the most serious, busiest, busy-body man or woman in the world, is a child... just 'waiting' to jump into the nearest ball pit presented to them! Your father stands as an obstacle, and what he does must be stopped, but you must remember that his goal is to tarnish 'you' and your duelist spirit, do not let him... for if you can deny him that you will deny him ultimate victory." Sauravis whispered as he leaned closer to him to whisper to him. "Could you do me a short favor, and summon out your House Dragonmaid... I would like to have a quick word with her."

Joseph looked in confusion as he walked over to the podium and picked up her card before pointing at it.

Sauravis nodded and Joseph held the card out and a burst of light flashed in front of them. After it faded, House Dragonmaid stood before him, she looked around for a moment before turning to Joseph, bowing to him and smiling, tilting her head in confusion to ask 'why he summoned her out'?

"Uhm, he wanted to talk to you... I'm sorry if this is weird but..."

She nodded and looked to Sauravis, who lowered a hand for her to step on, and together he lifted her and himself higher into the sky to talk in private.

He and the other maids sat there waiting while the two dragons talked.

"What do you think he's talking to her about?"

'I don't know, but whatever it is, it must be important... the boss would 'never' just talk to any dragon.' Tinkhec whispered.

'Must be serious yea, Sauravis knows 'never' to ask a dragon duel spirit to step away from someone they're bound to.' Nudyarl agreed.

Ten minutes passed, and then suddenly, Sauravis' voice boomed loudly for the whole world it seemed to hear, as he cackled in laughter so boisterous that Joseph almost felt he woulda gone 'deaf' with how loud it was.

"Whatever it was, it sure got a laugh out of him." He commented.

Moments later Sauravis lowered House, while he was still laughing, down to his level again. She climbed down and bowed humbly to Joseph, still smiling as she vanished and returned to her card.

"What was that about?" He asked Sauravis.

"NHmhmhm Never you mind... but let's just say that 'ONE' of our topics was... ohoohohohooo I tried asking her out on a date!" The old dragon cackled. "But she turned me down saying, 'I'm flattered that one as wise and powerful as you, would even 'deign' me with the sight of your eyes... but I'm afraid, you are seven hundred and fifty times my age, so I'm afraid I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request for a date!"

He and the maids all sweat dropped at that comment.

"Uhm... how do I get home, I'm sorry to ask this suddenly, but..."

"Ohahaha, I understand, you must go home... well I'll not keep you waiting, remember all that I said Joseph... Farewell!"

With that he breathed upon them with an enormous gust of wind that sent them all spiraling upward, toward a door that opened for them. As soon as they passed through, the door closed, and it flew away.

Sauravis smiled warmly as he watched the duelist go, proud that he chose 'not' to sacrifice his dragon, and sad that he could not reveal the whole story to him yet, the destiny that he, Sauravis, shared with that little dragon, that he knew would come to pass. He still had many trials left to overcome... but someday, someday...

"It's not the time yet for me to join you little dragon..." He whispered as he stared up, and watched as the clouds high above parted, and revealed a beautiful starry sky.

As he did, a beautiful collection of stars shown in the constellation of a dragon in flight, a starry dragon as it were.

"Not yet... not yet..."

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"Master, against all adversity you must be willing to face difficult trials, and above all, accept difficult roads to walk in order to reach that destination you so desire. No matter what though, we will walk those roads beside you, for as we are your maids, we take this solemn vow of eternal loyalty by remaining by your side."

"Forever we will walk in your shadow, while lighting the path you choose to walk, our dearest Master... of the Dragonmaids."

=Next Time, Joseph x Chazz vs Jagger and Slade=

=The Maids and Brothers, Duel for Duel Academy=

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Note from the author

I am tired... I know I keep saying this but these chapters do wear me out, nearly 20k words long, but I needed to write something cheerful and fun, and honestly, I hope you all liked this duel, this was an interesting and fun one to write

I hope I got everything right, but knowing me, someone out there will say it sucks or that I messed something up...

Please review away, I do love reading reviews, those especially motivate me to write more!

Also, for those of you wondering, Seiyaru's image now appears on the card to be like 'Starry Night, Starry Dragon, only he's still pink and has no effect, he's still labeled as 'Seiyaryu' but he just looks like Starry dragon... again, only he's still pink.