"Ah… I can't believe how nice it is out here…" Jeffrey said as he stared into the dark sky covered with stars. "Especially at night, where no one can bother me…"

It had been sometime now since he last dueled Jhesse. Apparently, he was slightly traumatized with the awesome display of power that Jeffrey's Dragon had just shown.

"I guess you couldn't sleep either, huh?" it was Alexis.

"Hey." Jeffrey greeted as she approached him. "I suppose you couldn't sleep either. What's on your mind?"

"Well it's my brother…"Alexis said.

"Why? He's being a jerk?" Jeffrey quickly assumed.

"Well, I wouldn't know because he vanished…" Alexis explained as a wave of guilt surged through Jeffrey.

"Oh… Sorry…" Jeffrey said apologetically.

"Well, it's not your fault anyway." Alexis said. "It's just that it's weird… The way he vanished… It's like he vanished into thin air."

"Well, consider yourself lucky to even know any of your family." Jeffrey said.

Alexis looked up at him. Throughout the entire conversation, Jeffrey had been looking towards the open sky but speaking to her as well. It was like half of him was under some unbreakable trance while the other half was trying its hardest to break loose and enter the world of man. She thought of Jeffrey as a dual sided individual. Most of the times, Jeffrey is calm and peaceful but in duels its like he is a different person. He duels with this incredible courage and determination that could make any of his opponents quake in their boots.

Sensing the uncomfortable silence, Jeffrey decided to speak up.

"You okay Alexis?"

"Oh um yeah I'm fine," she said almost inaudibly but loud enough for only Jeffrey to hear. "So, do you mean you don't have a family then?"

Jeffrey nodded without feeling as if he was asked this very question more times than he could count with a thousand hands with seven fingers in each hand. Indeed he was an orphan, born with parents and raised without.

"Well let's just say I did have a family…"

"I don't mean to pry but what happened to them," she asked.

"Well, you see, when I was very young, my Dad and I were on an expedition in Egypt with Maximillian Pegasus." Jeffrey explained. "My Dad was assigned to translate some hieroglyphs in some tomb when it collapsed. I was fortunate enough to be out of harm's way, but… My Dad wasn't so lucky…"

"…Oh… I'm sorry…" Alexis said.

"The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital and my wrists were covered with bandages as well as my torso." Jeffrey explained as he rolled up his sleeves, to reveal that both arms had scars that were carved into his wrists were the symbols for light and dark, much like in duel monsters. "Days after I woke up, Pegasus came to visit me, and gave me two cards…"

"What were they?" Alexis asked.

"… At first I didn't know what they were until the game actually became popular, but Pegasus just gave me two of the mightiest cards in the game…" Jeffrey explained as he took out two cards in his deck. Alexis' eyes widened as she understood what he'd meant. "Yeah, these two cards are the first ones I ever laid hands on. These Envoys pulled me out of so many tight spots and claimed the duel for me every time..."

"So, these cards… They've been a part of your deck since the beginning?" Alexis said.

"They're more than that, they are my Duel Spirits." Jeffrey explained.

"Oh c'mon, don't tell me you believe in that." Alexis said.

"Well, trust me, they're as real as my parents were." Jeffrey said.

"You really missed them… Don't you?" Alexis said.

"Even though I hardly knew them. I still miss them. All I know is that I grew up as an orphan with almost nothing provided for me. You may think that I'm such a great duelist without any losses but I'm just the same as you and anyone else alive. I am human and I do lose at times but I've always had to work for what I got and it's made me stronger. It's made me who I am," he said as looked deep into her eyes as if accessing her very soul.

Alexis grinned.

"I like who you've become," she said like an elementary school girl. "You're a cool guy Jeffrey and not for the reasons everyone else thinks."

With that Alexis stood from where she sat. Jeffrey unconsciously looked up at her.

"Alexis?"

The blond haired girl bent down to his face level.

"Thank you for opening up to me Jeffrey. Who knows, maybe I will find my brother after all. Thank you for re-igniting my hope. Now I can believe again that I will find who lost. And most of all…" she trailed off as Jeffrey stood up as well. Alexis stood up straight and glanced at his eyes.

"Thank you for accompanying me throughout this night. Now I can sleep. I hope we have more conversations like this," she said as she kissed him in the cheek and walked back to the Obelisk's female dormitory.

Jeffrey rubbed the spot where he would never wash again. Her lips were so soft and gentle. Alexis was more than just a girl that much he knew for a certain fact.

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Hope you liked the story poeple!

Next up - Duel against Darkness