This story continues! We are finally on the last stretch of this story, entering into the last volume of the four volumes, when everything about the past is about to be revealed at long last, and our characters will make a decision about their future.

I have set myself a modest goal of trying to go for an update once a month. Let's see whether I can keep this up!

Si mortui viventibus loquentur – If the dead do speak to the living.

7 - Styx, the flood of deadly hate

The storm clouds had passed from Satellite. The rain and torrential winds had left the isthmus, moving on to cast its shadow over the City instead. Far away, flashes of lightening sparked within the clouds, with the occasional bolt making landfall within the City walls. Satellite was left with nothing but the chilly air that followed heavy rain.

Aki's face tingled. The cold made the Mark on her face hurt like an old wound.

The other Mark, the one that had been with her since birth and was not a sign of her exile, slowly throbbed deep underneath her skin. Lifting her arm, she absent-mindedly touched the scars on her face, barely managing to stop herself from scratching the lines.

"Rudger-san had always been a man of his words. He did leave at the earliest opportunity."

Aki whispered to herself as she gazed into the distance, towards where Rudger and Kiryu took off. Behind her, her dragon huffed intermittently, like a machine that had been left on for too long and longing for a break.

"We'll have you rest soon, Black Rose." Aki muttered again. She did not need to raise her voice for her dragon to hear her. In fact, she did not even need to speak. "But first, we need to do something about Yusei."

The dragon whined reluctantly but obeyed its mistress's will. Turning around, Aki made an audible sigh, and set herself to address the motley crew before her.

All of them had somehow managed to escape from the cave that housed the prototype Momentum machine. Despite the massive disruption caused by Carly's monster, the cave managed to remain intact. But Rudger and Kiryu were not willing to take the risk. They unhooked the pods that contained the rest of the Psychic Duelists and took them away using Rudger's spider monster. With one massive leap, Rudger's monster had covered the cracks that destroyed the roads leading up to the cave, leaving Aki and the rest behind.

If Aki was her own, then there would have been nothing to worry about. However, she narrowed her garnet eyes and counted the bodies in her charge.

Yusei, Crow, Jack, and an unconscious Carly whom Jack managed to pry out from her pod. Her dragon was powerful, but there was no way it could transport all these people together with the D-Wheels. She must have help from at least one more Psychic Duelist.

And amidst this bloody and exhausted group, Yusei was the only one who had manifested his powers. Unless Carly suddenly woke up or Jack had his moment of epiphany, she must rely on Yusei.

"Yusei. Wake up."

She knelt next to him. He was already drifting in and out of consciousness when they got out of the cave. Aki was not sure if he had any energy left, and she did not know he could be so uncaring of his own wellbeing.

Self-sacrifice was not a trait found in Tops. The elites in Neo Domino must only look out for their own welfare. That was why they had feared her, wanted to control her, or to make her into something that they could understand. It was the contrast between that attitude and the open reception she was given at Satellite that made her into the person she was today.

But she meant what she said to Rudger. Just like how Yusei never knew Aki for who she truly was, she was now faced with the uncomfortable possibility that she, too, had been mistaken.

"What are you doing? He needs to be patched up, not woken up to help you!"

Aki turned to Jack, who was heaving in exertion after carrying Carly out of the cave. He was staring at her with deep-seated distaste in his purple eyes, his hair ruffled from the scuffle. He gritted his teeth as he spat out the words at her.

"I need another Duel Monster to help me carry everyone and our vehicles." Aki stated. Upon seeing that Jack was not at all pleased with her answer, she shook her head. "What, have you suddenly developed your full powers as a Psychic Duelist?"

Jack growled, unable to provide a satisfactory answer. Aki turned to see how Crow was doing. The orange-haired young man had managed to recover his and Yusei's D-Wheels and was moving both with difficulty. Aki had no doubt that Crow's D-Wheel can tow Yusei's vehicle, but those bikes most certainly cannot fly.

"Yusei. Wake up."

The cold moisture in the air made his skin feel clammy, as if he was already no longer a member of the living.

"Haa…"

She shook him repeatedly until he finally made a small moan, and his eyelids fluttered open weakly.

"Yusei. Wake up. You've got to help me."

"What… No…"

Aki had seen enough death and carnage during her time at Satellite to know that Yusei needed some patching up. And yet, she could not provide this to him. She reached out to pinch Yusei's finger.

"Yusei. Stay awake. I need your help. I need you to get us out of here."

"He's dying -!" Jack's interjection was loud.

"For the last time, Jack Atlus." She growled. "Stop interrupting me. We need Stardust Dragon, or you are going to be left to rot here."

"Stardust… Dragon?"

At least Yusei was responding to the name of his dragon. He cracked open an eye again, looking pitifully lost, utterly different from the confident young man Aki knew him to be. She squeezed Yusei's finger again to keep him awake.

"Yusei. Listen. You need to summon Stardust Dragon to get us out of here. Tell it to follow my dragon. That's all it needs to do."

With a painful whimper, Yusei closed his eyes again. Just as Aki considered whether she should put more pressure on Yusei's finger, the silver silhouette of Stardust Dragon begun to take shape in the sky behind them, gradually solidifying until it became a living beast. When Aki looked down, Yusei had his eyes closed, apparently having fainted again.

"Out of all the people…"

Muttering to herself, her eyes shifting to his arm. Even though it had stopped shining, Yusei's birthmark was still there on his skin, where she had never seen any signs of a Mark before. It felt surreal to know that he had been one of her kind all along.

He was not meant to be like her. He was never meant to be as vile and alien as a Psychic Duelist. He was not meant to be protected from himself. He was someone who can lead and protect her, someone she was meant to catch up to. It didn't make sense for the tables have been completely turned.

Yes, she had wanted to hurt him. Even now, she wanted to make him pay. She can't find it in her to forgive Neo Domino. And even if she could forgive her tormentors, she couldn't forgive what those people did to all the other Psychic Duelists.

How many Psychic Duelists have been sacrificed to stabilise Momentum? She didn't know, and she didn't know if anyone even counted. Those people were reduced to nothing, not even a number. She may not have known any of them, but she at least knew Divine. She still remembered the vibrant, brilliant red of his blood on the ground on that day, when he tried to reach the freedom that had eluded him during his life.

Why were Psychic Duelists born into such an abyss of misery, while Yusei was born at the top of the world?

Maybe she should be happy with what happened to Yusei. He would now pay, suffer all that she had been through, and learn just how cruel his father's creation had been for the other party.

But if she was fighting for the welfare of all Psychic Duelists, how could she deal with Yusei being one of her kind?

With a violent shake of her head, Aki stopped her musings. She believed she would be completely justified in killing Yusei if he never left Neo Domino. It would imply he had made his choice and deserved to be struck down. But he followed her here. What was the point? What did he want to achieve? Why didn't he lead the Security forces to her, if he really wanted to drag her back by force?

"This is not the time to be confused…"

Aki looked up at Stardust Dragon. Rudger never bothered to communicate with another Psychic Duelist's beast, and therefore never taught her about it. Lifting up her head, Aki took a deep breath and tried to give a command to the dragon.

"Stardust, pick up Jack, Carly, and their vehicles."

To her surprise, the dragon lowered its great silver head and appeared to listen to her. Following that, it immediately flew over to where Jack and Carly were standing. The magnificent beast then knelt and seemingly offered for Jack and Carly to get on its back.

"Holy shit…" Jack made an undignified curse, his purple eyes dilated in awe.

"Just get on, Jack Atlus." With a cough, Aki turned her head away. To be honest, she was not expecting Stardust Dragon to listen to her either. Was it supposed to be this easy? "Now that Stardust Dragon is up and running, we'll be moving out. Crow, " she then waved to Crow, "get over here with your and Yusei's D-Wheels. I'm going to get Black Rose to carry us out."

"Wh-where are we going?" Crow scampered up, dragging Yusei's D-Wheel with him, leaving his own D-Wheel a bit further behind on the road.

"We will have to go back to Martha's." Aki nodded to her dragon as Crow got both his and Yusei's D-Wheels secured next to Black Rose Dragon. She commanded the dragon to pick both bikes up, and then got Crow to climb onto the beast.

Crow did so gingerly while the dragon dipped its head lower, allowing its mistress to shift Yusei's body up onto the dragon's back. Then, Aki herself climbed on with practiced ease. She allowed her dragon to get used to its new haphazard burden, then got it picked up her own D-Wheel.

"This is so messy…" Crow looked around him as the two dragons, humans and D-Wheels combined, carefully took off. Aki noticed that his shoulders, which were previously hunched in tense anticipation, had now relaxed. He then tried to move towards where Yusei was lying, only to slip slightly and gave out a startled yelp.

"Careful, Crow." Aki gave a quick comment.

"Goddamnit. How do you guys move on top of these things?" Crow cursed again as he righted himself and shuffled carefully along until he reached Yusei. Turning her head, Aki saw that Crow was looking at Yusei's body in concern. She sighed.

"Look, there's no point in doing that right now. The best we can do for Yusei is getting to Martha's place as soon as possible so he can get patched up." Aki spoke up, only to see that Crow looked up with a start, his expression guarded and hostile for a brief moment.

Crow was not like this in her memory.

"You are that afraid of me, Crow?" Trying to look nonchalant, Aki asked as casually as possible.

"You weren't like this…" Crow said quietly. "This isn't the kind of person you were when you arrived at Rosewood."

"But this is exactly who I am." Aki rolled her eyes. "You can't accept it, can you?"

"I …" Crow just shook his head and didn't finish the sentence. He remained crouched next to Yusei, and the two young men made a sorry scene with their silhouettes against the bleak sky, a very image of despondency.

Behind them, Jack was tightly holding onto Carly atop Stardust Dragon. He kept gazing forward, craning his neck to try to see as far as possible while still ensuring Carly stayed comfortable in his arms.

"Jack Atlus definitely out-performed all of my expectations of him, with how he tried to break Carly out of the pod with his bare hands." With her face still turned to Crow, Aki made a whimsical comment. "I wish Yusei tried to save me like that."

Crow looked up.

"He will probably try to do that now." He shifted next to Yusei, wincing notably from the wounds on his leg. "I'm just happy you gave him a chance."

Aki narrowed her eyes. As luck would have it, the outlines of Martha's orphanage appeared on the horizon right at that moment, giving her a way to conclude the conversation on civil terms.

"We are about to land." She said curtly, more out of discomfort than displeasure. Crow, on the other hand, just gave her another guarded look.

When they first met, she was a naive City girl banished to Rosewood, and he was a confident Satellite negotiator. He was in his element like a fish in water, and she was the uncomfortable outsider.

But the table was more than turned now. Crow was now the one struggling to maintain his sense of self when facing her power, and she was at a position where she could dispense either death or mercy upon him at will.

-/-/-/-/-/-

The heavy thud that accompanied the landing of two dragons echoed hollowly in the empty yard of Martha's orphanage, companion only to a dust storm shrouding the bodies of the beasts in a thick, tangible veil.

Aki gazed out from on top of her creature. Martha's sanctuary for the lost children of Satellite looked the same as when she first laid eyes on it, but much less lively. The courtyard, once teeming with the screams of excited children, was now silent and barren. The low buildings that housed the inhabitants appeared identical, but the windows and doors were all shut tight, secured by evident fear.

"My God. This place looks even worse than before." Crow gingerly moved forward on Black Rose's back.

"You were here not so long ago, you know." Aki replied. "Poor Martha. Everyone pops in to see her, regardless of which side they were on."

"It's not 'poor' Martha." Crow's voice dropped a little. It seemed that no matter the situation, Crow was forever going to be protective of Martha. "That's exactly why Martha was such a good foster mother for all the kids. No matter what happens in Satellite, she was always able to make sure trouble never made its way to her orphanage."

"Hopefully we won't be bringing too much trouble." Aki rolled her head, stretching out the muscles on her neck, and paid little attention to Crow. It was only when she heard a sudden thud that she turned back to see what was going on.

As expected, it was about Yusei – rather literally. Crow was trying to lift up Yusei and get him to the ground. However, given the bad state that Crow was in, it was failing. He had accidentally dropped Yusei onto Black Rose Dragon's carapaced back, a move that made the beast groan in annoyance.

"Crow. I'll get Yusei on the ground with my dragon. I don't think you are going to be able to move him in your current condition."

Aki's charity only earned her another uneasy glace from Crow, but it did successfully persuade him. The orange-haired young man stood aside, and Aki directed her dragon to tilt one of its wings to make it easier for Yusei's body to slide down. Aki then jumped down and caught Yusei as the latter slowly slid to the ground, while Crow descended after her in a much clumsier fashion.

Behind them, Jack was handling everything with confidence. He leapt down from Stardust Dragon with Carly cradled in his arms, and all but sprinted towards the main building of the orphanage, his white coat disappearing in the dust cloud that was slowly settling back down onto the ground.

"Martha!" Aki heard Jack slamming the main doors of the building. "Martha! It's Jack! Carly's injured! We need help!"

Any reserve that Martha may have had were probably alleviated as the doors immediately opened, and Jack and Carly were ushered inside. Aki stood up and gestured at Crow.

"Crow, let's carry Yusei together and get him to Martha."

"...Thanks, Izayoi." Crow mumbled as Aki offered him a hand to help him up, then gingerly wrapped his arms around Yusei's waist and heaved the other young man up. Aki did the same on the other side of Yusei. In this weird, stumbling fashion, the three of them moved slowly towards the door. Aki didn't forget to look behind her to make sure that the dragons have dropped off the various D-Wheels in one piece. The beasts have mainly settled down, and with a silent command, she dismissed Black Rose Dragon at long last. There was a relaxed feeling in her mind as her connection with the creature was finally released.

However, she noted that Stardust Dragon did not disappear, the silver dragon merely laying there with its head on the ground.

"Well, at least he is still breathing." She said quietly. Crow looked at her but did not show any signs of approval.

"Let's please get him to Martha quickly." With that, Crow quickened his pace, and Aki did her best to catch up. Stumbling, they managed to deliver Yusei's body to the doors of the orphanage, which was unlocked when Crow pushed it.

"Martha? Martha…?" Crow called out as they entered the dark doorway. Gazing around her, Aki took in the familiar scene – a spacious hall well-worn with age, scattered children's toys in the corner, and hand-drawn posters recording the daily lives of the kids who had lived here. There were even some faded group photos on the far wall. She could vague remember this from the last time she was here, when she was seeking shelter after the incident at Rosewood.

Kiryu had brought her here, claiming at Martha would be able to help them no matter what. True to his claims, that was exactly what Martha did. The old lady didn't even ask how two young people, both supposedly dead, turned up very much alive. This was even more significant since they appeared right after Rosewood burnt down, a night that set the sky of the entire Satellite district ablaze.

Even when what they did was so obvious, Martha did not turn her or Kiryu away. Then, surely, this time she would still -

"Hand Yusei over."

The face that emerged in the semi-darkness startled her. Instinctively, Aki took a quick step back, the heel of her riding suit digging into the aged wooden floorboards. She brought up her free arm as a protective measure, only to realise that the expressionless face staring at her was no other than Martha's.

"M-Martha..."

"Hand Fudo Yusei over." The old woman's face was hard as stone as she stretched an arm towards Aki. "Crow and I will carry him inside. You stay here."

Aki wanted to argue but stopped herself. There was little to gain from this. They were here to get Yusei treated, after all. Wordlessly, she shifted to allow Martha to take over, and watched as Martha and Crow carried Yusei deeper into the building.

The world fell quiet when the three of them disappeared into a long, dark corridor, leaving Aki in the entrance hall. Outside, Stardust Dragon had disappeared. The D-Wheels laid silent and forlorn on the dust-covered courtyard, and there were no signs of Jack and Carly. Even the sounds of children were nowhere to be heard.

"Ha... Ha. Haha. This is freaking ridiculous!"

She stomped the ground – but whether out of fury towards Martha or out of pity towards herself, she couldn't be sure. So much for a welcoming embrace. So much for accepting her even knowing what she had done. She would be damned if she ever hoped to be received with kindness again.

Those were the moments when she felt like everything Rudger and Kiryu said were true. She can't expect anyone to understand her, or even to bear the sight of her face. Her riding suit looked nothing like the modest clothes she wore when she saw Martha for the first time, and her expression was perhaps more monstrous still.

That was probably enough for Martha to wear that stormy visage and demand Yusei out of her hands.

It would be better for her to leave these people alone. Leave Yusei in the hands of those damn good folks, who will probably coo over him and provide him with love and care and happily forgive him for everything he had ever done.

... That had never happened to her, and most likely never will.

She took a deep breath, feeling the musty air all the way deep in her lungs. She then closed her eyes and dug the palms of her hands deep into her eye sockets.

She could see beautiful sparkles of hellfire.

Leave. Leave now. There is still enough time to figure out where Rudger and Kiryu went and catch up with them. Ask for their pardon. Tell them you had a brief error in judgement. Then come back and burn everything down, burn it with hatred and fire. The flames will drown out the cries of the children, and the smoke will block out the sight of their forms. Leave. Leave and go back to the darkness where you belong -

"What are you still standing in the middle of the room, Izayoi?"

A hand wrapped around her right wrist and pulled her hand off her face. Pulling her head back, she saw Crow standing next to her, holding her wrist and not letting it go.

"Let go, Crow." She growled.

"I don't think I want to." Ignoring her protests, he dragged her off to the side of the entrance hall, where adult-sized tables and chairs were located. "I think you probably need to talk."

"You don't know anything about me." She squeezed out these words as Crow planted her into a chair.

"I know enough to figure out you are having emotional problems right now." Crow finally let her go and sat down opposite her.

"This is ridiculous. I want to leave." She tried to stand up but Crow, ever the athletic one, grabbed her arm again.

"Stay, Izayoi." Once again, he clamped her arm to the table. "Stay. Yusei would definitely want to see you."

"Yusei. Yusei. Everyone is fussing over Yusei, no matter which side you are on!" Aki muttered angrily. She remained standing, her lower arm held in Crow's hand, with the young man stretched awkwardly across the table.

"Izayoi, you wanna sit down?"

Crow gritted out. The primary reason was probably his shoulder more than anything else – but Aki decided to agree with him for once and sat back down.

"You want me to stay for Yusei's sake?" Aki raised her head. "To live for Yusei, yet again?"

Crow gave her an exasperated look. "No. I'm telling you to live for yourself. You were the one who didn't want to kill Yusei, right?"

"I - " Aki wanted to defend herself, but to her surprise, Crow – usually never one for these kind of talk – wasn't done yet.

"Look, Izayoi." She watched Crow sighed and leaned back. "You probably thought it's a bad idea to leave Kiryu and Rudger, since you were with them since Rosewood. And I'm not going to question who's right or wrong, but..." He paused. "But it's okay to be indecisive and to feel guilty, you know?"

"You think you can relate to me? You really aren't good with these feeling talks." He was trying to cheer her up and get her to stay on his side of the conflict. Figures. She knew she was a powerful combatant, and that was one of the reasons she didn't want to stick with Rudger. After the scene in the Prototype Momentum cave, she had a feeling he would start to use her as a tool once Yusei was dead, and even more so as he forms an army against Neo Domino. She valued her newfound freedom too much to allow that to happen.

"I can relate. I still can't figure out whether I did the right thing all this time." Crow looked sideways. "I have honestly been wondering about it, ever since I... enabled you to burn down Rosewood. "

Aki blinked.

She was not expecting him to bringthis up. The horrible life back at Rosewood had started to fade from her memory, particularly the details regarding that last day. To hear Crow suddenly refer to the event so specifically was not comfortable.

"It's not your fault." Aki waved her hand dismissively. "I would have done something sooner or later, with or without you."

"Yeah, but I made you much more powerful." Crow was still not meeting her in the eye. "If I didn't give you that deck, or that Duel Disk, or just didn't look out for you in particular, then –"

Aki gave an exasperated sigh. "You really still think that after today? After seeing Rudger's display?"

"But back then – you didn't – " Crow paused, then looked carefully at her.

"Psychic Duelists don't need Duel Disks or cards when they reach their full potential." Aki tapped the worn, dark wood of the tabletop. "You have seen that by now. "

"That's true." Crow muttered uncomfortably.

"In that case, are you after an apology, or an absolution?" Aki raised an eyebrow. "It's really not like you to still be bogged down about this, especially after how I… ended up."

"If you put it that way..." Crow leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What does that say about your own situation?"

Aki sat up. That was more like the Crow she remembered. She suddenly had a feeling that she had indeed underestimated Crow, and that the latter had somehow set a trap for her.

"Look, Izayoi." Crow shook his head. "We are all feeling way too damn guilty, okay? I don't think you knew how wrong you were with the way you judged yourself. Now that we had a chat about feeling guilty, maybe you should have this conversation with Yusei too."

Aki didn't respond. She knew what Crow was getting at, and she disliked herself for falling so easily into it. But she knew why he thought she might need this weird prep talk.

Did she need it?

"Look, I really wish you and Yusei have some form of happiness, whether you stay together or not." Crow gave a weathered, tired sigh and got up from his chair, stooping a little due of the wounds that were still hurting. However, it was Aki who called out and stopped him from leaving this time.

"Crow." There was something she was curious about for a long time. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?" He turned back to face her.

"Where you…attracted to me back in Rosewood?"

Crow stumbled and had to steady himself against the table. Aki raised her eyes, two orbs of startled amber. It was Crow who turned his eyes away.

"How could I not? You... you were radiant. You gave colour to that dull hospital. You were the rose that finally justified the naming of that dead place in that dead pile of weeds." Crow was mumbling. "And honestly, I wasn't the only one guy falling for you. It couldn't have been that hard to figure out."

"And after that? Did you give up on me after you knew what kind of a person I was?" Aki let out a bitter laugh.

"No. I still respect you a hell lot, and I am happy to be acquainted with you." Crow lifted his head, narrowing his eyes when Aki looked at him questioningly. "But I don't think we are fit to stand side by side as a couple anymore."

"Because I am a Psychic Duelist?"

"No… No." Crow paused. Then, he stood to his full height and puffed out his chest, as if he had something significant to declare.

"It's because you are a different kind of a person from me, Izayoi."

She was about to ask him to explain, but he beat her to it.

"I don't mean it like you're a Psychic Duelist or a City person or anything like that. We have different priorities. I wanna prioritise the orphans in Satellite. I want to make sure they are clothed and fed and educated and have lives as happy as kids who grew up in the City. And I'm not aiming high. I want to stay here and personally make sure they all grow up well. I'm not gonna leave Satellite behind."

Crow took a long breath, as if those words were something he had been holding on to for a long time, and finally had the chance to hear them spoken with his own voice.

"But you are made to go to different places, Izayoi. You are devoted to your own causes. I understand and respect that a whole lot, but they can't take over the importance of these Satellite orphans when it comes to how I wanna direct my life."

Aki sighed. What did she really expect from asking these questions? Sympathy? From Crow? No. She was just suddenly wondering if she could have taken a different path, if she didn't end up going with Kiryu and instead fled Rosewood with someone else...

"What was I thinking... What's the use of asking this now?" Aki made a resigned sigh and looked away, gazing absentmindedly at the dust dancing through the. "Who knows if I will ever find anyone who has my priorities aligned with theirs… "

Crow gave her a small smile that almost looked sad.

"I don't know, but you will have to ask. Honestly, Yusei is a good start. He threw away everything in Tops, risked his life multiple times, just for the possibility of finding out something about you from Rosewood."

Aki slowly scraped at the dirt on the table with her fingernails.

"Look, I really believe Yusei will wake up soon." Walking back to her, Crow said in a serious voice. "He is a fighter."

He lightly tapped her on her shoulder.

"Actually, we all are... You included."