Chapter VII

Past

Phoenix has the same dream again. He is chasing after his father, calling out to him, but he never reaches. His small hands are unable to grasp anything.

His eyes open in an instant, sweating aplenty. He covers his eyes with one of the hands, still dazed by those nightmares, then breathes deeply to calm himself down. As his chest expands, he feels an unnatural weight above it.

He looks down, the faint moonlight coming through the window is the only source of light. There is a hand on his chest, a shiver runs down his whole body. His eyes immediately follow where it comes from, to find none other than Zara sleeping beside him.

His eyes open more as blood flows furiously to his head, he jolts in reaction, sitting up straight and shoving her arm away from his body.

"Zara!"

"Hmn…" she lets out a muffled groan and sluggishly rubs her eyes while sitting in a sleepy manner. "Ed…? Did something happen?" her yawn is unworried.

A vein pops on his forehead and his teeth clench, how can she be such a mindless person? Is this for real? After all the times he warned to stay out of the room, she comes and sleeps on the same bed as him? How long has she been here? And how did she even come? The last time he put her on the bed, she was soundly asleep.

"What are you doing here?! I told you to not barge into other people's rooms!"

She is startled with his voice, awakening from her hazy state, she doesn't seem to understand why he is angry again. His eyes squint, he feels like the only idiot in the room for even considering the thought of them both in the same room improper.

"You shouldn't have come… You have a bed and a room just for you! Why do you keep coming like this? Are you afraid of sleeping alone or what?"

"I-I…" she sits properly on her legs, resting her hands on her lap, her fists closed tightly as she feels scolded by him.

He crosses both arms and legs, glaring at her with the intention of making sure she's not gonna do it ever again. It seems pointless to warn her, so he must understand why she always does it.

"I was scared… I had a bad dream…"

"Bad dreams? So this was what it was all about…" he sighs heavily, his brows angling harder "That does not excuse your actions! Just how old are you?!"

The last question is rhetorical, is she a kid to be this scared with nightmares? And what about world destruction? Which sort of hallucination is that? She answers it with such earnest eyes, it just confuses him more.

"I am fifteen."

"You're my age, you should know it's improper for a girl your age to be in a bed with a man…"

"Why? I just wanted to check if Ed was alright, but he seemed to be having a nightmare…"

"How can you not get it?!"

"My father would always let me sleep on the bed with him when I had nightmares…" she brings her hands together, intertwining her fingers with a saddened look.

"Look, your father is dead! Do I look like I am him to you?! Stop acting like this! How childish can you be? Whatever you saw was just a silly dream, stop hanging onto it!"

His voice comes out louder and harsher than he intended to, he is stunned for a moment upon hearing his own angered words. Did he really have to go this far?

She is shocked. Her eyes oscillate again, filled with tears, she lowers her gaze, turning around and sliding out of the bed.

"I don't understand… I am sorry."

The room is filled with silence when she leaves. He is still fazed for a second after the click on the door occurs. Coming back to reality, putting a hand on his head.

"I've just done it now…" he plops back onto the unkempt bed.

His gaze travels to the side, where she was sleeping just minutes ago, which sort of nightmares did he have anyways that made her so afraid?

"Great… Now I can't sleep…" he closes his eyes, bothered by the whole situation.

Next morning

The priestess opens the door of her room, her eyes seem vague and lost in thought, but she is startled with the sight of someone standing right in front of the door.

"Ed…?"

He looks from above with his usual inexpressive, haughty air. His arms are crossed as he calmly speaks:

"I want to talk to you."

"I will try to not bother you anymore…"

She has that face again. Her eyes never raise to meet his. It's as if she speaks to someone superior, that she wouldn't dare to provoke. Given his recent anger management issues, this is just fair.

"This is not…" he closes his eyes, sighing profoundly "I want to hear about your dreams, what were they about for you to be so scared?"

"My dreams…?"

Her glance finally raises with a glint of hope, but as soon as she looks at his face, her expression becomes gloomy again. She closes her lips that were so willing to speak just a second ago.

"I am trying to understand why you were so afraid, even so, you won't tell me? What is so horrible about them you refuse to talk about it?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"In my dream, Ed became sand like the desert and faded with the wind." Her eyes flicker.

"I died…?" He is slightly surprised by it. Is this why she was crying copiously before, or is there more to it?

"Then, I had another dream in which I saw a big city surrounded by giant beasts, guarding it… Ed, you were there too, in this city and someone else, the boy you dueled with the other day…"

"Judai…? Even so… What makes you so sad about those dreams? They're just dreams."

"No! They are not…!" She contests in an incisive voice, her eyes oscillate wildly and gleam with the tears that form "Almost every day, over and over, no matter how many dreams I have, you always die in the end… And this world…" tears trickle down her cheeks "I thought it could change, but it hasn't happened yet, it's always the same… I don't know what to do… What if Ed suddenly disappears too, like my father, what do I do? If this world is trailing a path of destruction, then how can it be changed? I don't… I don't like those dreams…! I don't want them! But it keeps coming, it never stops…"

He is astounded with the feelings she pours. He'd been ignorant, or rather, he decided not to care about it. How much it must have been for her mind to keep seeing dreams of destruction. Perhaps, if it was him, he'd been driven into insanity at this point, not that his nightmares weren't enough to make him grumpy.

He can listen to her sobbing in the background, his eyes fixated on her, but his thoughts are elsewhere. He'd always thought she was clingy and unnecessarily childish in coming after him, but what if he was wrong?

Is the true reason why she went to his room this whole time because she wanted to make sure he is alive? Was it what she'd been afraid all along… That he would, one day, disappear just like she saw? Because of him?

She saw a destiny of destruction, different from the one he heard about from Saiou. He disregarded her words because he couldn't trust her, regardless of this, all this time she has been…

Not only that, the ife she had before was probably enough to give her endless nights of terror. A slave? Torture? He can't fathom how it must have been. Even if she considers it normal, there is no way a person can forget about it that easily.

A feeling of discomfort strikes his chest. He should've asked first rather than let his irritation take the best of his calm demeanor. She is slowly breaking apart, this reminds him a bit of his friend for some reason.

"Ed, do you hate me...? Is that why you don't believe in me?"

The question more than shocks him, why is she even considering the possibility...? He gapes for a moment, before answering in a strong tone:

"No, I don't! Why are you asking me that?"

"Ed never believes me..."

His fists clench unwittingly, why is she suddenly asking these types of questions and crying. It is painful to watch that.

"Zara, if you can't handle this, then don't call yourself a priestess."

She flinches at his remark, with a puzzled expression, her eyes tremble as she stares into his fierce and serious orbs.

"I thought it was a duty of a priestess to dream and warn about their dreams, but since you arrived, you haven't stopped talking about how you hate it, yet you did nothing to prevent or stop it."

"I can't stop it, they just come into my mind… I can't.."

"Then, ignore it! Forget it! If all you can do is cry and regret, then you've been better off just not using your gifts at all! If you're going to be depressed, mourning the whole day, then just stop it! Forget about being a priestess to save the world, if you can't save yourself first, you're not going anywhere!"

His harsh voice has a passionate tone to it, as if he is trying to teach her a lesson. His fists clench unwittingly, he is fully annoyed. At the fact that she can't stand up on her own, despite all her past, she could smile, but when it comes to this topic, all she does is cry. This bothers him so much.

"Just think about yourself first. If you can't stand the sight of those dreams, how will you ever do something if it comes true? If you want to be useful, then fix yourself first and think about what to do about the visions later!"

"I don't know… I don't… I don't want any of that to happen..." she quivers in anguish.

"Idiot, why didn't you just say it before? If you were that afraid of me dyi…" he grumbles before completing the sentence and frowns in an unfriendly mood "Whatever, if you're this scared, I won't be angry if you want to come to my room anymore. You can wake me up, I will wait until you sleep. You don't need to climb on my bed for that."

That is right, should he even be angry in the first place? Knowing her, it is very likely she will just stand there and sleep or be distracted with something else.

"Ed…"

Her crying aloud stops and she is dazed for a moment, a drop of sweat rolls down his face as he is stared at with admiration, almost like his fans would look at him. At least she's quietened now.

"Don't just stand around, let's go have breakfast. But I won't be here all day, so you'd better find something to do on your own."

Turning around with an authoritarian air he walks up the corridor, she gasps and quickly tags behind.

Later that same day, Ed spies on the island with his binoculars, there is no sign of anything suspicious, but he feels like this is the moment he should investigate. When he is walking in the forest, he feels a vibration from his phone, the number is the one from the private detective he hired.

"Hello. I assume you found something useful…"

"Yes. I entered the data bank of the school and scanned through all the students' names. You may find it strange, but there was no one named Zara among them. Not only that, there were some students said to be on a trip to America but the tracks of data I found seemed very suspicious."

"There wasn't any student named Zara, hm? This is not very useful. I thought that was the case..."

"And I thought you would say that, so I investigated further into the past. Before the academy there were other things that called my attention to this island: they have a science lab that was recently closed and they seem to have other facilities, and even archeological sites…"

"Is this all?" An annoyed frown appears on his face.

"Well, after digging a bit more, I found around 15 years ago a group of researchers went to the island to excavate mysterious ruins, unfortunately, almost all the members of the expedition disappeared or died from a 'mysterious illness'… The ones that survived changed names and went to live somewhere else, giving up on their career."

"They ran away? What could've happened there for them to act like this? What about the ones that disappeared?"

"I am still trying to contact the remaining members, but it will take some time until I fully get their tracks. Nonetheless, I've gotten my hands into pictures of the expedition, among them, there are the members who disappeared… I will send it to you when we end this call… The disappeared members were a couple of archeologists and their newly-born child."

"Their child too? What happened after?"

"The sponsors immediately closed the site for excavation and dismissed the crew, whoever was left went separate ways and they never talked about it again, plus the media pulled some strings to pretend this never happened so there is not a lot of info on what exactly led to the disappearance, but they weren't listed as dead, something else must have happened."

"It was this serious… This is intriguing, continue investigating and tell me immediately when you contact any of those people. Find out how they disappeared."

"Sure. If you excuse me now..."

After the call ends he receives a message on his phone with an annex picture, his eyes open wide in faze: there is a couple with archeologist clothes and the woman by his side, seemingly his wife holding a child, both the wife and the child had light blue colored hair and her face also had similarities.

"This color… It's just like Zara's..."

His face darkens in shock as he stares at the picture, he recalls the time when she told him a strange story about her father not being her real father. It couldn't be that those are… But then, what happened? How did they disappear and is this the reason why she says she came from another world?

What if her parents were there in that world with her, or worse, if they died there and she was left alone… In a world where card spirits live. He pockets the phone in deep thought.

His attention is disrupted when suddenly he catches a glimpse of Judai, Shou and Tome-san running. Judai almost bumps into him and quickly shoves a bag of draw breads onto his arms.

"Hey Ed, I am in a hurry, hold this for me!"

"W-wait!"

"Aniki!"

Shou follows behind and he sees no other choice but to tag along. What was that all about? He is surprised to see Saiou dueling Tyranno. So that was what he was after? One of Judai's most trusted friends.

His blue orbs squint in distrust, Saiou casts a side glance, his smirk has a wickedness that Ed cannot recognize. Is that really his old friend? Is that person really the same person who told him he'd show him his destiny? He needs to observe and see it with his own eyes.

Tyranno loses the duel, not unexpectedly, Saiou's powerful deck was favored by destiny, but there is something more. He approaches Kenzan with an ominous aura, Ed can feel the pressure from afar.

"I can't move..."

Judai and the others struggle to move a muscle and rush to their friend, but some sort of powerful energy prevents them from doing so, even Ed is frozen on his tracks. Saiou's steps draw closer.

Ed feels a surge of energy run from his pocket to his whole body, he can move again, the moment he is freed, Saiou's eyes gaze at him in astonishment.

"His body was released…? This energy that emanates from him… Interesting..." his smirk enlarges with the thought.

"Ed it seems you prepared well, to even contest my powers, you've got quite an item there."

"What is he talking about…?" a drop of sweat trickles down his face.

Saiou's attention is back to Tyranno, but unlike he wanted to, his powers are not able to brainwash the dinosaur boy. In the end, he has to retire himself.

"What is your objective, Saiou?!" Ed demands an answer.

"The wheel of destiny will move independent of the results… But will you be the one to move it for me, Ed? Or will it be..." he casts an evil glance at Judai.

With that, he leaves without saying another word, a deep irritation is stirred into Phoenix's heart, his friend hides the truth from him and tests him. If that is so, he will prove he is worthy of his trust, he will show that he is the only one to lead their destiny!

While still irritated, he stomps the way back to the boat, pondering about what he witnessed. He reflects how he was able to move. Since his duel with Judai he had been feeling different, almost as if he could feel auras and the pressure that comes with them. He also felt right when his body could move a strange, but tranquil energy coming from his pocket, could it be…?

He takes out the ring. She said it was a gift to protect him and right now he really felt energy leaking from it. Are her powers true? Just like Saiou's? No, her powers were different and the things she told about the future were all dire.

Clenching the ring inside his fists, his brows furrow. If Saiou cannot tell him the future in detail, but she sees a future in which he dies, then which of them is right and which is wrong? He wants to trust his friend and believe she got it wrong all along, but… This doubt divides him.

When he comes back to the yacht she is there, entertaining herself with his device that can work as a TV, she rushes to greet him with her best smile, but his expression only darkens.

That picture he saw, those were most likely her real parents, then why was she raised by a random man? And a card spirit on top of it! From the words of her foster father, it would seem as if he was fully aware she was born in the human world, but does she not know that? She had such a terrible childhood too. How would she react if she hears this?

No way she will understand it, right? Just by looking at her sheepish smile he can tell she would not grasp just how complex her situation is, someone from the human world supposedly raised in another world. A headache starts attacking him.

Her cheerful mood dims upon seeing his expression, she lowers her gaze in sadness. Why is it always like this? As if he can't stand to look at her face. She is unsure of what to do because of his behavior, even though she asked if he hated her and got an answer, she can't tell if he was honest.

"Ed, did something bad happen?" She approaches with her hands together and an afflicted gaze.

He can't tell her the truth yet. He needs to know more and find out what has really happened to her parents otherwise this will just amount to nothing and cause her even more suffering.

"No. Why do you always have to hurry and speak to me? Don't you have anything better to do? Stop clinging to me like this, it's annoying."

His edgy mood startles her again, she recoils in front of his overbearing semblance. He threads heavily to the insides of the boat, disappearing from her sight.

She stares into the island, an ominous feeling sipping into her heart. Something big is about to happen. Her eyes drift into a vision again. She keeps seeing four huge duel monsters, each one guarding a distinct direction, forming a barrier around it and that overlaps with the image of the duel academia. Her feet almost lose balance and she tumbles back in dizziness.

"Soon… It is coming soon..." she embraces herself in fear.

Not long after this day, Phoenix has his mind filled with worries about the many issues regarding both his friend and that girl. The announcement the field trip is about to happen occurs and the place they will go to: Domino city.

The most famous place for the duelists all over the world, where both Kaiba and the legendary duelist Yugi lived and where many important events took place. He had been there before, but for other reasons than the ones now. He intends to go there and watch over the moves of his friend.

Before the day he departs, he checks his deck, his gaze lingering on the D heroes as his thoughts are entertained with theories. A crackle on the entrance startles him, bringing him back.

From the crevice of the door, he can see a pair of roundy coral eyes looking at him, she flinches when their eyes meet and steps back. He sighs, not now.

"What are you doing? If you have something to say, just enter."

His frown and usual scolding tone make her lower her gaze and she obediently steps inside the room. He starts the dialogue:

"There will be a field trip tomorrow."

"Field trip?"

"Yes, a trip to somewhere outside school."

"Ed… Will you be going too?"

"You mean the field trip? Yes. It's for the academy, although I don't really need to, I have my own business to take care of there."

"I-If you don't need to, then don't go!" she comes closer with a pleading clasp of hands.

"What's with you? It's just a trip." he sighs heavily.

"Will you leave me behind? Will I be alone here?"

His eyes open slightly with the question. Is that what she is afraid of? Of being left alone and waiting somewhere? What is she, a dog or a child wanting to be with the parents?

"Sit here."

He says in a calm voice pointing at the chair across him on the table, she hurriedly follows his instructions and he crosses his arms.

"Did you really think I'd leave you here alone? You're obviously coming with me."

"I am?" she gasps "B-but I am not like you. I am not a stu… Student."

"I already made the preparations, the director says it's fine to take relatives. I'd taken you regardless of permission anyways. It is just too dangerous to leave you on your own for more than a day…"

Her eyes lit with a gleam of happiness as she listens to that, they flicker and a smile sprouts on her lips she almost jumps on her seat.

"Can I really go? Can I really go with Ed?"

One of his brows raises in perplexity and bother as he pouts. Not that his plans included babysitting, but perhaps it is for the best that she sees something new and visits the city after staying long on that island and feeling so much dismay.

"I never had a 'field trip', how is it? What do you do? Will you also be dueling like for your work, Ed?"

She throws more and more questions in, not hiding her enthusiasm, he puts a hand to his head, forgetting the reason he is even taking her along. It feels like this will be more trouble than it's worth. Very cumbersome indeed.

In Domino city

Zara's head rests against the window of the ship, Ed sighs heavily watching her from the opposite side, how can she be like this? Just last night she was full of energy and almost couldn't let him sleep, then she suddenly faints and forgets about the whole world.

Scrubbing her eyes, she turns around and her head plops onto his shoulder using it as a pillow, he tenses up with the sudden proximity, but sighs heavily stretching his arm around her arms, adjusting a bit her posture. This until he feels something wet on his suit.

"I can't believe she is literally drooling on me!" A mental scream occurs, his fingers almost clutching her arm in annoyance. With a deep frown, he recoils his arm, crossing one leg over the other, tapping his feet on the ground impatiently and letting her clumsy posture give her back pain.

He watches over the group of students that has only members of the society of light, Saiou also came here, and he followed to observe the intentions and schemes his friend had, but things seemed completely normal.

The priestess rubs her eyes with one hand, the other resting on his chest. She is suddenly awakened with the notice they'd arrived, she looks around in a lazy, dazed state.

"You…" He takes her hand away from him "Don't keep touching me like this, get up already."

Ed leaves alone to the ground as usual, not caring about his surroundings and still annoyed at the drool stain on his expensive suit. She tags along slowly, half awake.

The whole society of light bunch goes their own way, while Judai's group is left alone and Ed goes his own way too. For a brief moment, she sees Judai running somewhere and floating atop him, the winged Kuriboh. Her eyes oscillate.

"What are you so astounded for?"

His voice interrupts her concentration and her smile comes with a hint of nervousness. He takes a peek at what she was looking at so intently, surprised to see Judai and his friends.

"What? Don't tell me you're interested in them."he raises a brow.

"No, that is not it… I just saw… Something."

"Right, I forgot you said you can see strange things. Try to ignore it for the time being, will you? We don't have time for you panicking with visions again..."

Right as she follows his cold, lone back she gets a sight of the city, fear creeping slowly into her as she realizes that place is the very same of one of her visions. Her legs feel heavier and heavier, a suffocating sensation on her chest, Ed just distances himself.

Her steps halt and she loses the strength on her body to continue, the world around swirls, her feet stumble, she is about to fall, but hands grab her shoulders and hold her standing still.

"Zara! Are you not listening to me?"

Suddenly that black world is back to normal, she looks around apprehensively, and finds Ed's gaze worriedly staring at her as her unfocused vision sees a blurry background behind him.

"Sorry, I..."

He sighs profoundly and takes off his hands from her shoulders, crossing his arms in a berating tone.

"Tsk. This is what you get for being so hyped on the trip that you couldn't sleep. If you are this tired, let's just go to the trailer and rest for now. The trailer will be set up at the river."

"No! I want to look at the city!" she immediately regains her usual cheerfulness, closing her fists in an irrational demand "The last time I was in a city, it was..."

Her eyes dim out at the memory of the museum, her clenched fists are let down and a depressive mood seems to be installing again. His eyebrows furrow subtly in concern.

"Fine! We can go and see the city, but don't get distracted like this, stop thinking about other things, I don't want to be looking for you if you get lost."

He turns around, she gasps at how fast he is walking and quickly tags behind, trying to stay close to not get lost. The high skyscrapers and all the people, streets and sights seem to lift her mood.

Ed is aimlessly walking while not paying too much attention to the sights, but rather to the people he sees. Often he'd catch a glimpse of the students wearing those white uniforms.

At the door of the Kaiba corp building, there is a commotion of the students in white, they wait for Saiou to come out. He does come out with a smirk on his face, affording a side glance to Ed.

His eyes twitch seeing the clueless girl nearby Ed, he can also see the white aura coming out of her body, his smirk enlarges as he dwells in thoughts.

"I see, so she is the one who made that protective charm… I can feel her energy… I don't know where Ed found this girl, but her powers are indeed promising..."

Likewise, Zara feels an immense and evil energy emanating from him, her heart accelerates and her eyes are driven into fear. What is the shadow she sees hovering above him? And immense light. That man, she knows him, he is the one she saw behind Ed in her vision.

The pro duelist feels stared at and calls out for his friend, but gets no response as the man leaves in a car, not giving any sort of explanation of what he intends to do. Misawa is as frustrated as him.

"What is he planning to do? You must know something, Ed. He is your manager, isn't he?"

"No. Not currently, at least. I have no idea what he is planning, but we will see it."

His memories take him to the last conversation he had, after hearing about the society of light, he visited Saiou in his quarters and questioned him. The face he had was filled with wickedness to a point he is unsure if he could recognize his friend in that man in front of him, yet he cried from one of his eyes and instead of explaining everything, he just asked Ed to continue dueling and following his destiny saying it is what he wishes, so his wheel of fate can move once again.

Closing his fists, his mouth curves down as he is angered by the thought his best friend couldn't tell him anything. Does he not trust him or rather, does he not consider him worthy enough to share his troubles?

Someone tugs on his sleeve, bringing him out of the daydreaming, it's Zara, she glances over him with a drop of sweat rolling down her face.

"Ed, who was that man?"

"My ex-manager. He is not someone you should worry about."

He retorts in a grumpy tone, she gulps dryly, with the image of Saiou still in her mind, his wicked smirk. The claws of destiny prepare to assault them. Panicked with the thought of her visions coming true, she reflexively grabs his hand tightly, startling him.

"Zara…?"

His call is useless, she is deep in thought, her hands slightly trembling. He wonders if she has another of those visions or what she is thinking about and scaring herself with this time. His eyebrows twirl up and his strict expression softens in a compassionate tone, his hand closes around hers in an attempt of offering comfort.

She should've been enjoying this trip and forgetting about all the worries, then why is she still so afraid? He doesn't know what to expect of Saiou neither of her predictions, but this trip will reveal much more than could ever imagine.