We followed Goodwin back to the main level, where he bowed again, "I will give you all some time to ponder. When you are ready, Mina will be in the front room."
He walked off, leaving us standing in the hallway. Jack instantly shot off, causing a train reaction where everyone split off from each other.
I ended up on a massive balcony, my mind a swirl of emotions rushing through my head. Sliding down against the wall, my thoughts took off, It wasn't Kiryu's fault that he went nuts. I know from personal experience that it takes a huge outside stress in order to lose yourself to your powers like what happened to him. So what was that outside force? It wasn't stress from dueling, because he went nuts after we defeated all of the gangs. And we weren't having any major problems around that time, so what could it be?
So much time passed, and I couldn't find an answer by myself. With a heavy heart, I pulled a card that was concealed in the bandages around my torso and looked at it, "Dispenser of Knowledge".
My knowledge about it's past was scarce, just that it had once belonged to my dad. It was the only card that I could interact with like Luna could, but it always came at a cost.
Breathing deeply, I reached into it with my powers, Sensei?
What is the problem, Yusei?
I really need to know about the souls captured by the Earthbound Immortals. And more specifically, I need to know what will happen when we destroy the Immortals.
Any deaths caused by the Immortals will be undone. Including the Dark Signers themselves.
I sighed in relief, Thank you once again. What will my curse be this time?
You lose your voice for 24 hours.
The effect was almost immediate. I could feel my throat tighten up, and I walked away from the edge. As I walked I saw Luna coming towards me, and held up my hand before I kept walking.
The gardens were the only place at Goodwin's mansion where I could feel any semblance of peace. I was sitting on a bench when very familiar footsteps approached me. Glancing up, I saw Jack towering over the top of me, "You are too quiet. What's wrong?"
I held up the card, and had to jump out of the way as one of his fists swung toward me.
Continuing to back up, I shook my head, keeping an eye on the fists that I had seen knock dozens of gang members out cold. His arms swung around as he yelled, "What did you ask that thing, and what did it do this time?"
I pointed to my throat, and pretended to talk, which only led to his face getting even darker than it already was, "Did it steal your freaking voice?"
Nodding once, I kept my eyes locked onto his fists. I knew he hated this card, but I just needed to know.
Jack grunted, "You do realize that if you can't talk, you can't tell us anything. Not unless your handwriting improved by leaps and bounds in just two years."
My eyes lit up, and I mimed typing, Jack quickly getting my point, "Your freaky talent with computers! That's right!"
He took off running, coming back within minutes carrying a strange device that looked like a metallic tube of some king, "This is a portable data screen thing. Mina didn't get much of a chance to explain before I took it."
I gently took it from him, hoping that it would be easy to figure out.
"Let's see...woah! This thing is so cool!" the computer chirped in unison with my thoughts.
Jack and I drifted to a grassy mound in the garden, where we sat down on the damp grass. I fiddled around more with the device, "I've never seen anything so amazing in my life! I wonder how they make the projection feel solid?"
My distracted rambling was received by a glare, "Yusei! What did you ask that card?"
"Oh, right. I asked him what would happen to the people absorbed by the Earthbound Immortals. They'll-"
The screen screeched like a worn out metal beam, making me drop it. Jack picked it up, checking it over, "What was that about?"
I took it from him, "I apparently can't tell you what I know for a day."
He lied down on the grass, ignoring the water, "Then we'll have to play 20 questions. Were you relieved when you got the answer?"
"Yes."
"Is it just limited to the Dark Signers?"
"No."
"Are you in love with Kiryu?"
"Excuse me?"
"You seemed devastated when you found out the Dark Signers were going to stay dead."
"Because he was my friend. My first friend. I love you and Crow like brothers, but it's just different with Kiryu since I didn't grow up with him. What about the pair of glasses you have in your pocket? Which girl is it?"
He sighed, "I answer and then you answer. Got it?"
I nodded, and he continued, "Carly Carmine. She rescued me from the Shadow Drone that came to kill me, and then continued to house me after that. She even lost her job because she was too busy helping me. I found these glasses in Arcadia when I helped get Luna and Leo out of there. Not long after I left her to protect her."
Gently, I placed a shoulder on his shoulder, "Okay, I'll admit it. Kiryu was, and is, the only person I've ever had a crush on. I fell helplessly in love with him because of how confident he was. He treated me like an individual, and didn't try to hide my powers. There were a few times where I would help him to hack into things, or mess with people who were causing trouble. Now that I'm looking back at it, it wasn't the best relationship for me. It was only slightly better than the one Aki had with Sayer. But I needed that. I needed to know that my powers weren't evil or a curse."
Jack pulled me into one of his rare hugs, and I let him. As he held me, I heard footsteps approach, and looked up to see Aki, "So that's why you ran when you felt his darkness. It reminded you of something you wanted to forget."
"More or less. That's also why I liked beating him up. It made me feel like I was ending the cycle. Every psychic latches onto someone for support. Right, Jack?"
He nodded, "Martha was the one who did it for me."
Aki seemed shocked, "You're a psychic?"
"Kiryu and I both could see the future. After he died, I kept wondering when I was going to go insane."
I reached out with my powers and felt the twins coming, "You might want to let go of me Jack. Twins are coming."
We let go of each other just a few seconds before they rounded the corner of the bushes. Aki looked at the thing in my hand, "Yusei, why is the datapad speaking for you?"
Jack spoke up before I could do anything, "Yusei has a card that will answer any question, for a price. She asked it what will happen after we defeat the Dark Signers, and in exchange it took her voice for a day."
The twins looked at me expectantly, "Well?"
"Part of the curse is I can't tell you. Jack has a good idea of what will happen."
"From what she could tell me, the Dark Signers are going to be freed if we defeat them along with anyone else taken captive. I don't know if they'll come back right away, but they'll come back."
Everyone looked at me and I shook my head, "That's the extent of my knowledge too."
All of us looked up as we heard footsteps rushing towards us, and Mina arrived, panting as she pulled to a stop, "You need to come right now!"
We all followed her, though she could not run very fast in her pokey high heels, as she led us to the limousine. Jack paused to look at her, "What's going on?"
"There is something happening in Satellite."
By this point, the others had all climbed in, so I joined them. Jack and Mina were the last ones to get in, and the second the door shut behind them, we were off.
I stared at the screens as they showed completely empty streets, "Where are all of the people?"
Mina shook her head, "I don't know but with the storm around the island..."
All of the screens went blank one by one as Mina weakly finished, "We're lucky to have a signal at all."
Placing the datapad in my pocket, I tried to not let my face show my emotions, If you guys can't keep a 12 year old with no formal technology training out of your system, then I'm not shocked that the Dark Signers could cut you guys off so fast.
Jack stood next to me, "No doubt it's due to the Dark Signers. They're trying to collect souls faster than before."
Carefully, I pulled the datapad back out, "Then we need to get over there and defeat them quickly as possible."
A/N: Thanks to Lets-Go-To-Vermont and an anonymous guest for reviewing on the original version of this chapter.
