Romeo & Juliet: Duel Monster Style
Act II: Romeo, Romeo, Remember Your Lines!
"The tides are changing in our favor," the shadow said seductively. "Soon the pieces will fall into place."
A deck of cards was the only object visible, surrounded by the shadow that had spoken. "It is time my servants of the darkness, for the Gods to be awakened! Come to me: Curse of Dragon!" the shadow cried defiant. Black shadowy tendrils stirred backward, a blast of dark energy releasing from the dueling deck.
Forming, the dark energy took shape in a grotesque monster, a fang and bone dragon with fearsome jaws and thin wings. It gave a roar, saliva dripping from its mouth.
"Are you hungry my pet?" the shadow said, also forming into the shape of a seductress, but only as a silhouette. It started petting the dragon's bone yellow skull. "Then I have a task for you…"
x
"Jaden as Romeo?" Alexis looked up, surprised from her distant world of studying. Mindy and Jasmin squealed again (Alexis counted for the fifth time), excited that they were able to get their friend's nose out of the books. It was a snow day and only Bastion seemed to share Alexis's enthusiasm for books while the rest of the school lounged inside or flung snowballs at each other.
"Yes! And Syrus is going to be Paris, you're fiancé, it's so cute!" cooed Jasmin. Sipping hot chocolate that her friends had brought with them, Alexis thought for a moment, ignoring the incessant prattle of her friends.
"I guess there could be worse picks," she said cryptically, her friends exchanging knowing looks. The queen of the Obelisk dorm was not good at hiding things, but they wouldn't push, not yet any way.
An unusual silence stretched over the room, broken only by the distant shouts outside the bay window.
"Why didn't Zane try out?" Mindy asked thoughtfully.
"He's away with the headmaster to represent our school at a convention. And do really think that Zane looks like a drama king?" Alexis responded with no hesitation.
"No." The two friends agreed that the series Zane could not put on a costume and masquerade as another for other people's amusement, although the thought was funny.
Alexis's phone rang, making the friends jump at the catchy ring tone, and she answered with one-word answers and hung up.
"Emergency rehearsal, main characters only," she said quickly as Mindy started to open her mouth. (She had been cast as a minor character in the play.)
Running out of the room, Alexis left her friends to chat about things that were not for her ears.
x
When Alexis walked into the auditorium, Genevieve was sobbing (again) only this time for joy over Chumely's scenery with Chumely standing proudly next to her.
"It's beautiful! Magnifico! (That's Italian you know.) Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!"
Taking off her winter jacket and putting it in a chair, she waited for the (to quote Genevieve) "perfect" moment to intervene. It came sooner than she thought it would when a sand bag dropped dangerously close to the director, who jumped dramatically in Chumley's arms, causing the pair to topple over.
Rushing to help her director and fellow student, Alexis was able to pull the flailing Genevieve from Chumely with extreme difficulty. By that time the entire stage crew had to pitch in.
After recovering, Genevieve was quick to give every boy on the rescue team a big sloppy kiss and all the girls a bone crushing hug. Alexis knew she would be ruing the bruises that would show the next morning.
"Genevieve!" an angry yell broke through the bustling of the stage crew as they continued to get the stage to agree to Genevieve's "perfect" standards. Everyone turned to the entrance to see a disheveled and snow covered Crowler holding a sheepish-looking Jaden and Syrus, a glower fixed onto his painted face.
"I believe these belong to you?" he asked rhetorically, throwing them to his so-called sister. Syrus tried to recover by apologizing, "It was an accident professor, honest!"
"It really was Ms. Genevieve," said Jaden. "I was aiming for Syrus's head, but he ducked and Crowler was behind him and well…"
Alexis got the gist of the rest as she looked onto a Crowler covered in half-melted snow. But Genevieve waved off her brother's protest with a flick of her wrist. "Now, now Crowler-baby, no upsetting the stars of my soon to be award-winning (not to mention perfect) play. Now onto the rehearsal!" she proclaimed dramatically and ushered Jaden, Syrus, and Alexis to the stage, leaving an astonished Crowler outside of the closed auditorium doors.
"Jaden, this is the infamous balcony scene! Now read your lines!"
"Jaden!" hissed Syrus from the audience, "Your script is up-side down!"
"Oh!" said Jaden, enlightened. Turning his script around he began: "Er…but soft! Um, what light through winder breaks it?"
"Cut! Cut! Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut!" yelled Genevieve, now standing and waving her arms like a traffic controller. "It is: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks! It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"
"Yeah, but what are the lines?" asked an ignorant Romeo, causing the director to fall promptly over. Alexis and Syrus sighed at their naïve friend. Genevieve for the first time must've realized her mistake at casting without auditions. (We told her so!)
After taking several times to explain to Jaden that Shakespeare didn't talk in real English and this it was very important that he say it exactly like it was on the script (and showed him how to read it) they were ready… sort of…
"Romeo! Romeo! Where art thou?" shouted Jaden at the top of his lungs. And then they moved on how he had specific lines as well. And finally…
Jaden stood poised under the temporary balcony (a stack of cardboard boxes) and said almost in an English accent:
"He jests at scars that never felt a wound!" (Alexis entered.)
"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!"
Jaden jumped heroically up to where Alexis was standing, who (along with everyone else in the audience) was in awe. She looked down dumbstruck at a smiling Jaden and felt her cheeks color. Genevieve, for once, was also stricken dumb, and Syrus and Chumley seemed to have unhinged their jaws when they dropped them.
Alexis, however, did not notice any of these as Jaden's brown eyes locked her cobalt ones. Not sure if Jaden realized what he had just said, the Obelisk Queen couldn't help wonder why his face was looking closer and closer. And why was she filled with a desire to… kiss him?
Unable to pull away from what seemed a gravitational pull, Alexis and Jaden moved closer… closer… until…
"Help!" A cry followed by a scream echoed through the auditorium, breaking the invisible pull between the two friends and causing them to loose balance. In the remains of the cardboard balcony, Jaden tried to help unearth Alexis.
"Young man," Genevieve said, approaching upon the unfortunate boy who did not know what to do: cower in fear of the woman who was fast approaching or from what he was screaming about in the first place.
He chose the latter.
"Two students have been attacked by-by a monster! The whole school is going into a lock down!"
Almost on instinct Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Alexis looked at each other. A monster? Rushing out before Genevieve or the boy could say anything, they immediately ran into Bastian. "Ah, you've heard. You better come and see this, especially you Jaden."
Bundling in their coats, the friends were lead deep into the forest, to an astonishing site. Crowler and the principal were already there.
"Slifer-Slackers! Bastion," Crowler huffed, "I told you to get other teachers."
"Trust me Professor, this is the best you could ever ask for," Bastion waved him off and slipped passed his superiors without so much as a glance, surprising everyone. "Look," was the only thing he said, pointing to the scene.
Alexis gasped, "What in the--?"
Two trees were cut off from their trunks, their bark looked as if had been bitten repeatedly and clawed at. Papers and a torn book bag were sprawled in the snow accompanied by splotches of red blood.
"Professor, what could've done this? We don't have any wild animals bigger than rabbits on the island!"
"I-I don't know sir," stuttered Crowler. The scene was disturbing to see, and the students, for once seemed on Crowler's side to get far away from it as possible.
"Who was attacked?" Alexis asked the boy who had alerted them (Genevieve was standing menacingly over his shoulder with a vice grip on his arm).
"Um, two Obelisk students: Mindy and um… Jasmin."
Alexis paled. "Are they okay."
"Yeah, at least Jasmin is, the blood is Mindy's. She was sent to intensive care."
That was all it took.
X
Author's Notes: Ta da! The long awaited chapter is finally up! Jaden and Alexis almost kissed, will they ever kiss? And what about the shadows? Will they get what they desire?