Spoilers: not sure…
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A Worrisome Prologue
My name is Tea Gardner and this may come as a shock but I don't want to be a ballerina anymore.
Perhaps it was the broken down studio, that shady talent agent or perhaps the fact that I am miles away from home in a very dark, and sadistic land without any idea how to return. However I am most convinced that a certain Count is to blame and I do believe that whatever cheerful rendition I spoke of in the past cannot help me now.
You are probably wondering what could possibly happen to me that could bring about such a dramatic, gloomy and perhaps lamentable change of view…
Before I go on I think it's best to warn you of the dreadfulness of this tale: If you do not like stories that has not an ounce of happiness in the end or a variety of nasty horrible things happening then perhaps you should leave now.
In fact I am quite positive that somewhere close to where you have discovered this tale is quite possibly many stories based on different realities in which I will end up in a cheerful situation by either ending up with Yami, Yugi or even Seto Kiaba. Believe me I would give anything to end up working for Kiaba in another story than be in the middle of what has transpired here in reality in a short and terrible time span.
If in fact you can handle it then by all means please stay for I need someone to speak to about the many woeful events I have witnessed.
Now let me get my memory in order since it feels like I have been away for longer than I really have been. I should probably start in the beginning with me.
Believe it or not I am 20 years old as of today and before I came here I was a bright eyed, naive girl who had a lot to learn about the complexities of the adult world. I was head over heels for a friend I knew I could never have and too stupid to realize that perhaps I was putting a strain on my group of friends.
Now I did have good things about me. For starters back then I could see into any gloomy or dreadful situation and find any ray, glimmer or even glint of hope. I was a good ballerina in my class and though I kept the talent away from most of my classmates I was still quite proud. I was able to participate in varsity cheerleading and I managed somehow to keep straight A's through the many adventures that Yugi managed to get my friends and I into over the years.
Now my best friends were all guys, starting with Yugi, then Joey and Honda.
Yugi was the guy I always felt comfortable around even though he was (and still is) the cleverest, wisest and perhaps the most famous duelist the game of Duel Monsters may ever know. His wizardry of the cards seemed unparalleled due to the many escapades that he had endured.
However his mastery did not end with the greatest card game known on earth. I have never in all of the journeys I have stood by him seen him not master a game. Perhaps it was the fact that he lived with his Grandpa that lived in and owned a game shop that held every game known to man or the simple fact that his was an inclined gamer since he was young but I had yet to see anyone more talented.
Whatever the reason for his talents Yugi never acted like a child prodigy; in fact I did not know how truly gifted he was till around the 11th grade. Being very short for his age probably did not help much either. He was picked on and teased a lot and somehow miraculously he became friends with two guys no one would have expected back then. Two of his worst tormentors: Joey and Honda.
Joey was the dullest witted of the group but that did not stop him from turning his life around so completely during the time we knew him. He had the toughest background then most guys his age in our school.
Joey is a son of an alcoholic father who gained custody of him when he divorced his mother. There had been suspicions of abuse but no one said or hinted about it. Joey used to be in a gang when he was younger but proved that even he was too tough and smart for such things.
Through reasons I am unaware of Joey, Honda and Yugi became close friends through some type of altercation. However I believe it was Joey who initially started the friendship.
So it is no surprise that it was Joey who became the second ranking duelist in the world. Perhaps it was their friendship or perhaps just the simple lessons taught to Joey through the journeys that he faced with Yugi.
While Joey became Yugi's right hand man Honda became a knight in shinning armor in his own right. Whenever something was not right and the rest of us didn't know it was Honda that warned us first and tried his best to rescue those trapped in whatever danger that befell us.
I don't know much about Honda, as I would like to say I do. All I know is that he had basically the same background as Joey, rough and dangerous till he befriended Yugi. He still tried to look as tough as he could just as Joey was beginning to raise and gain experience in Duel Monsters.
The differences between Joey and him were that Honda was an average duelist and that he had a weakness of being around girls. It took a while for him to settle down around girls and that didn't happen till he had somehow hooked up with Joey's sister Serenity.
Now these three I have just described were my closest and dearest friends. They would have helped me in whatever endeavor I needed their help with…that is expect when it came to one thing.
Yami.
He is a very special person that to this day gives me warm sensations down my spine coupled with a pang in my heart.
I cannot say the true relationship between Yami to Yugi because of a promise I made since I met him, nevertheless let me just say they are closer than anyone may suspect.
Now I never regarded Yami as a close friend rather I saw him as an interest, someone I wanted more than anything. It was the way he talked, the he walked, the way that he could hold a room hostage just by his mere presence that I wanted him.
Unfortunately he never sought to return any affection I wanted him to have for me. Instead I treated him like a friend even though in the very center of my heart I wanted every inch of him.
Oh my! I am dreadfully sorry I am going off track. Now where was I …ah yes…
If memory serves correctly it was in the middle of senior year that everything started, just two days shy of my 19th birthday.
Now before I proceed you can still hit whatever button you need to escape this story and read a happier, more cheerful tale of a cheerleading, love mushy, awe inspiring Tea or of a heroic, and clever nail biter of a story about some strange new journey.
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Don't say I didn't warn you…
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Miserable Author's Note:
The preceding account is for your benefit for it contains a more slimed down version of my previous explanation (before the story was regrettably terminated for a season):
You all know me as shadowwind on this web site.
I had for a second time decided to work on my story The Iron Dark when something extraordinary happened… I confess that "extraordinary" is not the right word. What happened was more unfortunate than anything else. You see while I was on location on a setting I wanted in the story when I happened upon an unusual sight.
Behind a broken down printing press factory I found a metal footlocker that had taken a severe beating. There was not one side of the box the looked like it did not have a dent.
I peered into the footlocker only to find it was bare except for one small diskette in a case cover with the following words written on it: Of No Extreme Importance--- Really. I found the item of attention quite curious and was about to leave with it when I noticed under my feet was a horribly soiled, muddied and slightly burnt piece of expensive paper. I wouldn't have given it much notice if the gold trim not caught my eye. Deciding it was if importance I took it home as well.
For upon cleaning it up I became alarmed and delighted that the author of the letter was none other than the mysterious and very famous (or is it infamous?) Lemony Snicket!
My cautious joy was short lived however as I accessed the contents of the disk and became quite alarmed when I read the warning that was with the material. I feel it is quite unnecessary and harmfully alarming to repeat it in this account. It would suffice to say that is a terrible warning.
It would also appear that this manuscript was clear in the beginning of it's manifestation that the book publishers may not at all wish for this account to be brought to any light what so ever. Thus the reason for the attitude of which this manuscript reads.
Now before I continue I must specify that at this time each group of pages are highly encoded and would take a considerable amount of time to decode. Please do not be alarmed if you do not hear from me for long periods of time for I have to take every precaution necessary. Note as well that I may also take a little bit longer looking for a safe computer to upload each valuable piece of data.
Thankfully I have enough at this moment to give to you one more "chapter." Now before you proceed I must give you amble warning that what you have read and may read on is an eyewitness account of several horrible events. In no way, shape, or form is this one of Snicket's manuscripts per say for even though there is a little bit of a touch of how he writes, this is merely a manuscript of an eyewitness account that he (Mr. Snicket) helped to bring into manifestation.
Please if you do not wish to read anymore of the following horrible and terrifyingly nasty account with all sorts of evil and treacherous events please leave at once and read a better story that ends on a fairy tale note.
Thank you for your patience and understanding,
Shadowwind
Psychotic side note: please note that my computer crashed because the manuscript was time sensitive and if what had been decoded was not stored somewhere were it could be accessed then the manuscript files turn into a rather nasty virus. If something is horribly wrong with the posted chapters please email me so I can fix it. I rather not have my computer crash again.
Post psychotic side note: because of the misfortune of this story being deleted I cannot properly thank those that have voiced their concerns about this manuscript. All I can say is thank you for the friendship but why are you reading this terrible story?
Preverbal post psychotic side note: the next chapter seems to have a very terrible account a waits involving some sort of accident with a car.