Students streamed out of the school building at Rintama High School as the final bell rang. Kelda Hale brushed her shoulder length navy blue hair away from her face as she hurriedly jogged past the swarms of students. Her pale gray eyes looked up at the school clock momentarily to check the time again. She had exactly half an hour to catch the train back home.
"Hey, Kelda! Over here!" Kelda's best friend Amber called out.
With a reluctant sigh, Kelda headed towards Amber. As much as she liked talking to her best friend, Amber had a bad habit of rambling on for far too long whenever Kelda needed to be somewhere in time.
"Okay, Amber. Five minutes only. You know I have to make it home in time for work." Kelda said. But she couldn't help smiling a little as she said it.
"I know, I know! At least you have a cool job, though! I'd rather do what you do than slave away at the restaurant, washing people's dirty dishes for hours. I swear, my hands are going to smell like that awful lemon dishwashing liquid forever!" Amber said dramatically.
"Are you kidding? I'd switch places with you any day! I basically get paid for lying to people! It's awful!" Kelda complained.
"Oh, come on! I think customers know that it's just for fun. They like it!" Amber insisted.
"Maybe so. But I will be glad when I can put it behind me someday." Kelda said.
"That's right. First we graduate, and then head off to college and meet lots of hot, mysterious guys! Because god knows we won't find any here at Rintama!" Amber said.
Kelda sighed wearily. Whenever Amber went into her boy crazy mode, any hope of reasonable discussion went out the window. But personally, she did agree with Amber. The boys at Rintama were mostly just rude thugs who enjoyed fighting with each other and harassing the female students whenever they could.
"True. But I don't have time for that, anyway." Kelda said.
"I get where you're coming from, really I do. But you need to live a little, too! If not guys, then you should at least make the time for something else exciting in your life. Your best years will be over before you know it!" Amber said.
"You sound like my grandmother! But I will take your advice into consideration. I really need to go now, though. I'll call you tomorrow. See you later, Amber!" Kelda said as she started to sprint towards the street.
xxx
The crowd in front of the gate to the train was just as large as it always was during this time of day. When Kelda finally reached the machine that the passengers inserted money or their passes into, she saw what was causing the minor hold up. A boy was frantically trying to get the machine to accept his card, but kept getting denied instead.
"Card past expiration date. Please select alternate payment method." The automated voice blared annoyingly for about the fifth time now.
"No, it has not expired! I have until June 24! Stop glitching and just let me on already, dammit!" The boy said in annoyance.
"Please select alternate payment method." The machine seemed to be taunting the boy.
"Please, not today…" The boy said hopelessly.
Kelda decided to intervene. "Here, you can use mine if you want." She offered.
"Really!? Thank you so much! You are a lifesaver!" The boy said gratefully with a relieved smile on his face.
"Well, I couldn't just let you stand there like that forever! You might've ended up breaking that thing with the way you were going!" Kelda joked as they stepped onto the train.
"I don't usually take the train, but with my motorcycle in the repair shop right now, I really didn't have much of a choice. And it figures that the one time I use an alternate mode of transportation, this happens! So anyway, thank you again, um, what is your name?" The boy asked in a flustered tone.
"It's Kelda. Kelda Hale. And how about you, Mr. Unlucky With Transportation?" Kelda asked teasingly.
"I'm Marik Ishtar. But I don't think that the unlucky part is exactly accurate. At least not right now, that is." Marik said with a smile playing on his lips.
Kelda couldn't help blushing. This guy couldn't be trying to flirt with her, could he!? She quickly brushed the idea aside.
Suddenly, Kelda realized that she recognized Marik. "You were a duelist in the Battle City tournament a year ago, weren't you?" She asked.
"Heh, I guess I should stop hoping people won't remember me from that!" Marik said ruefully.
"Well, it was hard to forget something that big. But I am a little surprised. You don't look the same as you did back then, especially the hair." Kelda said with forced casualness.
Kelda was trying to get some sort of reaction out of Marik, something that would reveal her suspicions about Battle City. Because the fact was, after seeing the videos of the tournament on the internet, Kelda had always had a nagging suspicion that something had been out of the ordinary back then. Like the fact that another finalist had been illegally using Marik's name during the semifinals. Then, there was the way the cameras had stopped working during some of the duels. Kelda didn't usually believe in anything out of the ordinary, but Battle City had intrigued her, and she found herself foolishly hoping that Marik could confirm her suspicions.
"Well, we were at a pretty high altitude with strong winds. So it helped to do something to get your hair from getting in the way." Marik replied casually; breaking Kelda out of her thoughts.
"Just let me know if you ever remember the name of whatever it was that you used on your hair back then! Because I have a friend who would certainly appreciate it!" Kelda joked; slightly disappointed about Marik's nonchalance on the subject.
"I'll see what I can do. But I'm guessing that you didn't watch the tournament solely to speculate about my preferred brand of hair gel. Which brings me to ask you, are you interested in Duel Monsters at all?" Marik asked.
"I've always enjoyed the psychological aspect of it. You know, all of the taunting and poker faces. But the game itself sounds exhausting. It's always: "this card is activated only in a chain-link", or: "you must remove such and such monsters from your graveyard before you can summon this". For all of the different rules involved, it might as well be school! Sure, it looks fun to pick out a bunch of cards that you think are cool and then show off to everyone. I'd like to do it, but mostly, I just don't see how I can plan my life around a card game!" Kelda explained.
Marik laughed lightly. "It can be overwhelming when you first start. But as long as you build a deck that is easy for you to use, the rest won't be so hard. And your opponents have to explain their card effects to you, anyway." He said.
"I guess that you would know. Are you still a duelist at all? I never heard about you being in any other tournaments after Battle City." Kelda said curiously.
"I still duel with friends once in a while, but I haven't been in anything professional since Battle City." Marik explained somewhat uncomfortably.
"If you don't mind my asking, why is that? Granted, I didn't get to see a lot of your duels because of all the issues with the cameras, but what I did see seemed pretty good. And I figure that you must have been talented enough to have gotten second place back then." Kelda said.
"Thank you. But to answer your question, it was around a time in my life where I needed to focus on other things. Actually, I'm still doing that now, too…" Marik explained with a distant look in his eyes.
"I can understand that." Kelda said.
Just then, the announcement for the train's next stop came, alerting Kelda that she had to get off the train in a few minutes. She was surprised to find that she was reluctant to end her conversation with Marik. After having to put with guys from Rintama on a daily basis, she had forgotten what it was like to talk to one who was actually civil.
"I have to get off in a minute…" Kelda trailed off; unsure of how to end the conversation. While a part of her wanted to ask Marik if he wanted to talk again some other time, another part of her said that she shouldn't even be entertaining this idea at all. As much as she had enjoyed talking with Marik, Kelda was worried that her schedule was already full enough without making room for another friend. No matter how interesting he was.
"I didn't realize that we were all the way over here already! Thanks again for helping me get a ride. And it was nice to meet someone who is a fan of me as a duelist! But since you did say that you might still be interested in Duel Monsters yourself, why don't we do this? Give me your phone number so that I can call you if you ever want to learn anything about the game. Or even just to talk, if you'd like." Marik said.
Geez, he's straightforward! But how can I say no when he puts it like that? Kelda thought to herself helplessly as she looked at the bright, happy smile on Marik's face.
Simple, I can't. Kelda thought as she silently admitted defeat.
"Sure! I'd like that!" Kelda agreed happily, despite her earlier worries.
"Great! Thanks. And I guess I may as well give you my number, too." Marik said.
After Kelda and Marik had put each other's phone numbers into their contact lists on their phones, Kelda turned to say goodbye to Marik before she got off the train.
"I guess I'll talk to you later. I know I have about a thousand questions to sort through about Duel Monsters before I find the ones I want to start with for you. So be prepared! It was nice meeting you, Marik." Kelda said.
"The pleasure was all mine. I look forward to hearing from you, Kelda." Marik said with a smile that made Kelda's stomach feel like it had just done a small somersault.
Dang it! Why does he have to be so handsome!? What have I gotten myself into!? Kelda thought to herself in frustration as she got off the train.
xxx
"Grandma, I'm home!" Kelda called as she opened the door to the small shop where both she and her grandmother lived and worked. It sold various types of spiritual and occult paraphernalia. But the main attraction of The Oracle's Mirror was the fortune-telling services that were mainly done by Kelda. When she wasn't running the register, Kelda was basically conning eager customers who wanted a reading of their future. While a lot of the customers were just in it for fun and probably didn't take her readings seriously, Kelda still felt guilty for putting on this charade every day. But the store was their only source of income, and Kelda knew that they couldn't afford to just stop.
Kelda sighed when she received no answer from her grandmother. Looks like she's in the basement again. She thought to herself wearily as she headed downstairs to the basement that also served as a storage room for all of the store's merchandise.
As usual, the basement was a cluttered mess. Along with all of the extra merchandise, various odd objects were scattered all about the room. Old clothes, mirrors, dusty furniture, and a jumble of well…things, crowded the room. Kelda's grandmother's official occupation title was a medium. People would pay her to contact and communicate with the souls of the dead. She insisted to Kelda that her powers were real, but Kelda refused to believe her without any actual proof.
"Kelda, how many times do I have to tell you to speak more quietly down here!? You'll disturb the energy, and then I won't be able to reach the spirits for another two hours, if I'm lucky!" Kelda's grandmother scolded her lightly.
Marissa Hale was an elderly woman in her mid-60s. On the outside, she looked like the typical image of a grandmother, but she was anything but that. She was deeply into the world of the supernatural and believed that the spirits had a dimension of their own that most people couldn't comprehend simply because they chose not to. It was not uncommon for Kelda to find her grandmother engaging in an in-depth conversation with what she would claim to be a wandering spirit that she would claim needed help "moving on". Only it never looked like she was talking to anyone at all. Marissa also liked to save a large amount of old, used items; claiming that they helped her to read the auras of the dead better.
"I'm sorry, grandma. But you know it's hard to get your attention at all once you start meditating." Kelda apologized ruefully.
"I don't think it matters too much anymore. I think that most of the regulars can recognize your presence by now. I'm growing a bit worried about Charles, in particular. I think he is starting to fancy you. But enough of that. How was school today?" Marissa asked.
"Same as usual. But I did meet a guy on the train who seemed pretty nice. Judging from the uniform, I'd say he is probably from Domino High." Kelda said as casually as she could.
Marissa's eyes lit up with interest. "Oh? And what brought this on?" She asked.
"It's nothing like that, grandma. His pass had expired or something and he was having a hard time getting on the train, so I let him use mine. Then we talked for a while about card games. That's all." Kelda said. She decided to leave out the part about them exchanging phone numbers for now. The last thing she needed was for her grandmother to start demanding that she invite Marik over so that she could read this aura in order to make sure that he was "safe".
"Well, that sounds nice. Sometimes I worry that I've forced you to give up too much with all of the work here. I wish you could have more time for your friends..." Marissa said regretfully.
"Grandma, please! How many times do I have to tell you that I don't mind? We have to make a living somehow. And despite the fact that I complain about the job a lot, it could be a lot worse. We're a team, remember?" Kelda said.
Marissa smiled. "The best in the city! The Oracle's Mirror is unstoppable!" She joked.
"Exactly! I'm going upstairs to start behind the counter now. Hopefully, that's all I'll have to do today. Inventory has been a nightmare these past few days!" Kelda said.
"I'll be up in about 10 minutes to take over if you need me to. And then I'll make you that strawberry tart that you like so much, if you want." Marissa offered.
"Thanks, but I think I'll just settle for some coffee this time!" Kelda said. Even though she had a pretty healthy build, Kelda didn't really get that much time to really exercise. Not counting her after school run to the train station, that is. She figured that it would be better to play it safe and limit the sweet stuff a bit.
"Okay, but don't fool yourself into believing that all of this coffee is safe!" Marissa said.
Kelda smiled as she went upstairs. She had been living with her grandmother since she was three years old, and despite Kelda's reservations about what they did for a living, they got along very well. Kelda couldn't remember what living with her parents had been like. Even though they were both still alive and well, Kelda had never spoken to them once after she started living with Marissa. She didn't know exactly what had happened back then. Only that it must have been pretty bad due to the fact that both of her parents had actually lost a custody battle in court for her to her grandmother. From what Kelda knew of the situation, her parents still had the option of visitation rights, but they simply chose not to make any contact with their daughter. And even stranger than that was the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Ruby Hale had no address, phone number, or any other contact information whatsoever, no matter how hard Kelda had searched for it. It was as if they had just dropped off the face of the Earth entirely. Eventually, Kelda had stopped trying to find them altogether. There were no answers, and Kelda loved her grandmother and was happy with the way her life was now.
Kelda snapped out of her thoughts as the bell on the front door jangled; signaling the arrival of a customer. She hurriedly pulled on the ridiculous looking blue hooded cloak with the moon and star designs on it.
"Welcome to The Oracle's Mirror! I, Lady Morgana, can read the movements of the heavenly bodies of space in order to predict your future! Would you like a reading today?" Kelda said in a dramatic fashion. The old speech always sounded equally ridiculous to her, no matter how many times she said it.
xxx
Later that night after work was finally over for the day, Kelda sat in front of her laptop in her room in the apartment directly upstairs from the store; searching YouTube until she found what she was looking for: videos of the matches from the Battle City finals. Or rather, everything that Kaiba Corporation had managed to record. Not only was a lot of the footage from Marik's duels cut out, but there were also a few minutes during both of Seto Kaiba's duels where the same thing had happened. But what Kelda had thought was crazy was how the duelists themselves had talked to each other during their matches. They spouted a lot of nonsense about how the fate of the world was at stake, and past lives in ancient Egypt. They acted like this children's card game was their life or something. Kelda figured that it was all just some big, fake show to entertain the viewers and promote business for Kaiba Corporation since the tournament itself was organized by it. The duelists even seemed to play specific roles. There was Yugi, the righteous hero who was supposedly some ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. Then there was Marik himself, who played the part of the psychotic, evil villain with the stereotypical bad guy goals of killing everyone and taking over the world. But in Kelda's opinion, the most ridiculous character part in Battle City had been played by Marik's sister, Ishizu, who claimed that she could predict the future.
Great, Ishizu! Maybe you could lend me that Millennium Necklace thing so that I wouldn't have to cheat people out of their money every day! Kelda thought to herself sarcastically.
Kaiba was the only one who seemed sane enough to write the whole thing off as pure nonsense, but Kelda figured that he had to act like that during the show in order to protect his own personal reputation.
As Kelda scrolled down the list of Battle City videos, she finally found one that she was looking for. It was a very short video of the very beginning of the final duel of the tournament between Yugi and Marik before the cameras had once again stopped working.
Kelda looked at the screen intently as Marik started shuffling Yugi's deck with a little too much enthusiasm. "Ah, ha, ha-ha! Shuffle well, Pharaoh! And pray that my Egyptian God card ends up on the bottom of my deck!" Marik yelled excitedly.
The Marik in the video barely resembled the kind, cheerful boy that Kelda had met on the train just hours earlier. His hair was wild and spiky, and veins bulged from his face as he laughed maniacally in an unnaturally deep voice. Kelda had to admit that Marik really was a good actor to pull this off.
Kelda looked at some of the user comments posted below the video: NightRose 191: LOL! Look at him shuffle his deck! Was he on drugs!?, Marik Ishtar 4 Life: Marik is hot! I wish he would enter more tournaments!, Kaiba Corp Sucks: Where is the duel!?, Marik Ishtar 4 Life: They couldn't air it because Marik made the cameras explode with his hotness! After rolling her eyes at the comments, Kelda decided to log off for the night.
Kelda's phone made a chime-like noise, signaling the arrival of a text message. For a moment, Kelda became paranoid. It was almost as if she was afraid that Marik had somehow knew that she just been watching him on YouTube and had decided to text her about it. Kelda breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that it was just Amber.
Oh, shoot. I'm going to have to tell her about Marik soon, and she's going to have a heart attack. And that will be the end of my life, responsible for the murder of my best friend. Kelda thought to herself wryly.
Kelda was already thinking of a good dueling question to ask Marik. Because despite how nervous she was about him, Kelda was still excited about talking to Marik again. Lately, Kelda had found herself becoming somewhat bored by the set routine that her life had been for years now. It was always just school, work, and fitting in time to spend a couple of hours with Amber and her other friends when she could. Learning how to duel would be something fun and different, and Kelda felt like her life could use that right now. And then there was Marik himself. He seemed nice enough, but at the same time Kelda couldn't help thinking that there was something he was hiding. She immediately scolded herself for thinking like that.
Battle City was fake, and there are no magic powers or any other hocus-pocus that they pretended to believe in. You're just trying to believe that something about Marik is out of the ordinary because you are bored. Kelda told herself firmly. Little did she know just how wrong she really was...
xxx
"I didn't realize just how much we bought until now! This bag is heavy!" Tea said as she and Yugi's grandfather, Solomon, walked down the street towards the Kame Game Shop where both he and Yugi lived.
Solomon chuckled. "Yugi does seem to have developed quite a sweet tooth these days! If he's not careful, the dentist's office could end up becoming a very frightening place for him! Take it from this old man!" He joked.
"I'm just glad I was able to finally rent a copy of that new videogame he was looking for. Even with all of us being on the waitlist for it, it still took this long just to get it! Yugi always wants the things that are the most difficult to find!" Tea said.
"But he can always count on you to get him what he wants, Tea!" Solomon said with a grin.
Tea blushed furiously. "Well, maybe it's time I stopped being so lenient with him!" She said in mock anger she pulled open the door to the shop.
"Yugi! We're back!" Solomon called as they entered the house. There was no response.
Tea rolled her eyes. "Probably wearing his headphones while he's glued to the TV screen just so that he can hear all of the sound effects in his games more clearly! I'll go upstairs and get him." She said.
Tea walked into Yugi's upstairs bedroom to find him lying on his side on the floor.
"Yugi, just how long are you going to sleep!? You're the one who planned game night for today, so the least you could do is to be a little more polite to your guests!" Tea said in exasperation.
When Yugi still didn't reply, Tea started to get worried. She walked over to the other side of the room so that she was facing Yugi and put her hand lightly on his shoulder.
"Okay, the joke is over Yugi! So if you could just-" Tea froze in midsentence as she got a good look at Yugi's face. His eyes were wide open and staring lifelessly ahead, and he wasn't moving at all.
"Yugi!? Yugi! YUGI!" Tea screamed in horror.