If you think you're delusional or that this is an early April fool's joke YOU'RE WRONG.
It's an end-of-spring-break surprise just for y'all because I love you guys and I always feel guilty for waiting a month+ to update :(
Disclaimer: *sigh* why do I keep putting this?
The dreaded Monday.
If it was a gum, you'd find it on the bottom of your shoe. If it was a shirt, it would be ripped to shreds and stained in every which way. And if by any chance there was an apocalypse scheduled to happen (preferably zombie) it would take place on this most glorious of days.
This is how Rua feels about this particular Monday, in the least.
His alarm clock didn't ring and he slept so late that Ruka had to threaten him with a bowl of water. They barely made it to the academy on time.
Halfway through first hour Rua realizes he left all his homework on his bedroom floor. He fell asleep studying for the gazillion tests he would have this morning.
And those gazillion (or three) tests? None of them had a single thing to do with dueling, like he anticipated. When will he ever use the quadratic formula in a duel, hmm?
As lunchtime rolls around, Rua swears this day will get better. If he has to bend today's fate with his own hands, then so be it. The only problem is figuring out how.
When he strolls to the front of the line, he can't believe his ears. The pudgy face of the lunch lady, Gladys, stares at him blankly.
The one good thing about Mondays is that they are "Miso Soup Mondays" at school. They are supposed to be, anyway.
Gladys had just delivered the finishing blow to KO Rua's optimism right out of him: "Sorry, kid, we're out. Want something else?"
The green haired boy skulks off, tray of sushi in hand, to find his twin and best friend at their regular table.
"You didn't get miso soup?" Ruka asks with a tilt of her head, pigtails swinging to one side.
Her brother lays his head on the table. "They ran out."
"That's unheard of," scoffs Tenpei.
"Here," says Ruka. A tray slides by Rua's ear. "You like it a lot more than I do."
"Ruka, you're the best sister in the world—no, the universe!"
Ruka rolls her eyes at her brother's overzealousness, but can't hide the smile pinching her cheeks.
Rua slurps down his food so loudly that he can barely hear the conversation between the other two. He only stops when he hears the word 'spirit'.
"What's going on?"
"The haunted forest—have you heard the stories?"
How did people in the medieval times travel anywhere? Track anything? Feel safe wandering around in a giant sea of plantation without a second thought?
Perhaps a change in circumstance would make this feel more like an adventure and less like an escape.
Exactly how long had I been out here? I look first at the sky, where the sun peeks through the canopy, then at my feet. I can't tell the time to a tee, but judging from the lack of shadow it may be noon-ish.
I run a hand through my hair and catch it on a few leaves in the process. I don't bother with it afterward.
Martha will know I'm gone. I didn't leave a note (which technically wasn't my fault) and I was a no-show to breakfast. She'll call the café and they'll say I'm not there. She'll ask the guys if they have seen me and they'll say they haven't.
"They won't worry. I'll get back before they can."
The pessimist in me screams not to be so hopeful. What if that already happened?
Martha could have called Ushio, told him I was missing. It wouldn't be too effective; forty-eight hours have to pass before the report can be finalized. But Ushio is a high-ranking officer and Martha's friend—who says he doesn't make his own agenda.
No, that would be stupid. He didn't even care about the vandalism on the house. I'm sure the impression I left on him was a lot shallower than the scratches on the wall.
Whatever the case, I would rather save myself than have a green-suited stiff drag me out of here. Everyone knows how easy Sector Security has it, how loose their leashes are. Stories of their scare tactics traveled far past Izushi and though we didn't see them in the countryside often, you would never hear someone mention Security with reverence on their tongue.
My foot stubs against a root and I land on my stomach, the wind knocked from my gut. I stay on the ground for a bit to recover.
When I look forward, ready to stand again, I catch a glimpse of white.
"This is a terrible idea." Tenpei shakes his head.
"Maybe. But you're still here," Rua says factually.
"I wasn't gonna let you come out here alone. It's haunted!"
"I'm not alone. There's you and sis. Stop being such a drama queen."
"We could've waited until school ended," Ruka chimes in. "Coach Taiga isn't going to be happy about us ditching."
"It's an adventure this way! Lighten up, you guys." Rua crosses his arms at them both. "And it's just PE. No one's going to notice."
"Yeah. The only green haired twins in the entire school don't show up for class," Tenpei deadpans. "Definitely won't get noticed."
A crow flies from a branch, leaving vines to swing down after it. The three Duel Academy students jump and Rua screams.
"Now who's the drama queen?" Tenpei's glasses glint over a teasing smirk.
Did someone scream?
It sure wasn't me; I'm more of jumper than a screamer.
Where did it come from?
It could be anything, could even be an animal.
"A howler monkey." I nod at myself. "It could be a howler monkey."
Or the creepy white spirits following me around. Like I said, could be anything.
The forest isn't so frightening after a while, despite the sudden yell. It's not like the shrubbery and vines are out to get me. I'm afraid of the forest like people are afraid of the dark. Not so much of the thing itself, but the mysteries inside it.
What are the white figures? What do they want? Can anyone else see them? Does Annie have something to do with them? What does the mark mean? Why should I be prepared?
Six questions. Zero answers. I bet you I can think of five more in less than ten seconds.
…they've dealt with stuff like this before…I know they'd understand…
Carly's voice echoes in my mind.
When Akiza told me about the Signers I said I believed her. She told me the basics—five marks, five dragons, six Dark Signers to battle against. I didn't want to push on it too much, something told me it'd be impolite to.
Now I'm kicking myself over it. I should've asked her questions. Granted she might not have had the answers to them but that's the thing about all of this.
If Akiza saw the mark and didn't know what it was, she is just as in the dark as I am.
The gang had experience in the supernatural know-how. They could know something and be clueless that they know it!
I stop at the trunk of a colossal oak tree and squat down. My hands push against my eyelids and I want to scream.
Why am I so stupid? I should have just said something!
Oh, you helped fight a five thousand year old war with duel monsters? Cool, I see ghosts and they just might be haunting me. Wanna grab some lunch?
We both know about the mark. I should have told her I knew and I didn't. Instead I let the lump in my throat build up and spill tears all over Nayla's fluffed pillows.
What Carly knows is only half of the truth. Thinking about it now, knowing half seems worse than being a blank slate.
No wonder she can't find anything about what's happening to me—she doesn't have the full story herself.
I committed self-sabotage and didn't even realize it until now.
Leaves tickle my skin as they plummet from the tree branches. I uncover my face and look up.
White wisps—seven this time—jump on a branch over me.
So maybe the invisible forces that told Rua, "Today is going to suck. Deal with it," had been right after all.
He tried to change their prophecy and lost his sister in the process. Now he's left to wander the haunted forest (extra emphasis on haunted) by himself. He would rather have Tenpei by his side, but what if something bad happened to Ruka? What would he do?
Rua would find his sister, Tenpei would get help. They shook on it and parted ways.
One of the guys have to be home, he thinks. One of them will come.
The twelve year old will find his sister in the meantime. Like always, they'll find each other. Whether it is a twin thing, a sibling thing or even a caring-about-someone thing, Rua's just glad to have that kind of luck.
"Happy thoughts, happy thoughts," Rua says under his breath. "You're not in a creepy forest. You're in a…a bouncy house! You're not surrounded by evil spirits, just bouncy goodness."
Rua takes a few more steps and stops his yammering. Since when did anyone live in the forest?
He eyes the moss infested mansion a bit closer and a light bulb flicks on in his head. Ruka could be in there!
A blast of wind throws the boy off his feet. Through the double doors stomps a boy Rua's age.
"You're not welcome here, wicked spirit!" The boy points with his duel-disk clad arm. "Prepare yourself."
Ruka believed Haley and followed him to the mansion because she thought he could help. She was even delighted to meet his younger sister and keep her company while she waited to be saved.
Haley has no younger sister; it turns out that the girl laying in bed is a doll identical to the ones on the shelves across the room.
Ruka tries the door handle again. Still locked.
Haley had only helped her right in to trouble and now she's stuck watching her brother duel for her release from a window.
Putting two fingers to each temple of her head, Ruka focuses in on her brother. It isn't the same as being by his side, cheering him on, but a girl can only hope to transfer some positive energy out the window and to Rua's deck.
If she wishes hard enough maybe the telepathic twin link everyone joked the siblings had will come to be true.
Ruka's hands fall back down and she looks over her shoulder at the corner. Someone's in the room who wasn't there before—a blonde girl in a yellow dress.
She doesn't notice Ruka off the bat. Something in the corner is drawing her attention away.
"Who are you talking to?" Ruka asks her.
"My friends, silly," the girl giggles. "They're your friends too, right?"
Ruka's eyes scan the room. Spirit-less. Duel spirit-less, anyway.
"What's the matter?" The faded and slightly transparent face of the girl frowns. "What's wrong?"
It's beyond odd, Ruka ponders. There are spirits in here and I can't see them. That's never happened before.
Ruka glances out the window. Not only did Rua have his Power Tool Dragon on the field and an equip spell ready to play but he also has Yusei sitting by his side.
The sight of the ruby D-Wheel reassures her. Ruka raises her hands to her head another time and instead of at her twin, she zeroes in on the corner. The spirits never hid from her before. The spirits never hide unless they're given reason to.
"They're afraid of something."
This time when Ruka looks out the window she looks past the duel and into the shadowy maze of forest behind it.
I'm going to tell them.
Of course, a piece of me is still reluctant to, but I need to tell them.
What was I salvaging all this time? Dignity? Pride? If either were true I would've kept my mouth shut completely. I have years of practice to prove it.
The wait and see mantra has too many holes for me to slip through and I'm clumsy enough as is.
I will tell them and it will be like pulling off a band-aid. I need answers and the first step to getting them is by showing the wound.
I stop and stomp my foot for extra measure. To assert myself to my doubts, to stand my ground.
That's when I notice.
The ground is dry dirt with the exception of tufts of grass here and there. Not like the muddy puddles I was stepping over minutes ago.
The trees are weathered thin, and when I graze my hand over one I immediately retract it. Two of my fingers start to bleed; the trees are dotted with thorns.
How far did I go?
"This must be the wrong way," I whisper.
Someone somewhere is laughing. It scares me a hell of a lot more than a scream, for whatever reason.
I pick up the pace, jogging back the way I came. I can't escape the sound but having it to my back is a bit of consolation.
Of all the predictable things to happen, I trip and get the wind knocked out of me for the second time today. But I don't sit like the first time. I get off the ground and run. Pump my legs hard even if they hurt. Don't pace myself even when my lungs protest.
If I can just get out before an asthma attack!
Leaves rustle as I pass by and I try to focus on where I'm going, not on the tops of little white heads.
Straight ahead the forest bundles over in to an opening and when I get to it is when I'm convinced I'm safe.
No maniacal laughter, no spirits. Sounds good to me.
In a flash I'm back on the ground.
Now if you're thinking I tripped for a third time, you're in for quite the plot twist. When I try sitting up I'm thrown back down.
Thick bunches of fog start rolling in overhead.
The blue haired spirit looks at the twins. "Can you ever forgive me for what I've done?"
"Of course we can!"
"You were only doing it to protect your sister." Ruka looks at her own brother then and gives him a playful nudge. Rua gives a teeth-bearing grin in return. "We know exactly how you feel."
At this moment the house behind them begins to crack, first from the corners and down to the middle. When the mirage of the house shatters to pieces, out comes the duelists Haley had faced. Each one looks lost, like they don't remember being held captive at all.
"Well, Claire," Haley turns to his sister, "I think I'm ready to join you and the spirits."
The blonde girl doesn't quite hear her brother as she eyes the crowd of duelists.
"Claire? What's the matter?"
"One's missing," she says to her brother. "The girl from earlier."
The twins and Yusei share a look. This didn't sound good.
"Rua's the only person I dueled today. What girl?"
"She was older than us, about his age." Claire points to Yusei, then continues. "She said she was leaving, but I figured you had dueled her like everyone else."
Ruka can't help but let her eyes wander to the line of trees that encircles the open field, the same foreboding sense she felt while inside the house pulling at her stomach.
"Whoever you're talking about," Ruka says, "I think something bad is happening to her."
Yusei and Ruka both flinch as a certain burning sensation scorches their arms.
"You two stay here," says Yusei, sparing a glance at the Crimson Dragon's head on his arm.
"But—"
The turbo duelist was already running off in to the wild.
Every time I struggle a force tugs me down. I try screaming as a last resort; I open my mouth and only strangled rasps come out.
A vibration in my head flares up. That—I'm used to. Kind of. But there is also a pressure on my chest just under my collarbone. Right into my heart.
My head tilts backward to where I came. The opening is gone. It's just another row of thorny trees encasing me.
My throat tries to scream again, and I get nothing except a wince to scrunch my face.
No one's going to save me. Not an officer. Not Mom.
My thoughts flash to Annie. Would she protect everyone like I asked?
Who am I kidding? She's just a cat. She can't protect me, she can't protect anyone.
I know I'm starting to black out. My vision is getting too blurry; only colors stand out.
And just as I'm about to slip away completely, a feeling inside me pushes me back up.
Somehow I manage to raise a hand over my heart. It latches on to something as white as the fog.
It takes mere seconds for the white to fade. A gold light sucks it in, fills in the gaps the white light leaves behind.
Then they both dull in to the damp shade of the trees.
I'm not too sure what happens after. My eyes stay open—if I can't run or fight, the best option is to stay awake. Whatever I did to shake the fog off, maybe I can do it again if I just stay awake.
My ears perk up at an abrupt movement among the trees. What if it's coming back? Can I really save myself again?
When a figure looms over me I push my hands out against their chest.
"It's me. It's Yusei."
I mouth his name back to him. I say it until it registers in my mind. He's good. He can help.
"Don't worry. I've got you." His arms dig under me and hoist me in the air. "I'm taking you to Martha's. Don't worry."
I can't see his face. I'm too far gone. Just the crooked line on his cheek and the streaks defining his hair.
All I can see is gold.
Author's Note: Sorry if the last bit is confusing. I tried to make it as clear as possible, and if you're still fuzzy on what happened to Maria, it's okay. The only thing you really need to know is that she got attacked. The who/what and the why are things that I can't explain now, though.
And Yusei came to her rescue (kinda sorta)! What a cutie~
Author's (Side) Note: So I went back over old chapters and some scenes I'd written out to use in future chapters. I realized that I can be extremely wordy or too descriptive and that can weigh the mood down a bit. The story isn't the brightest rainbow in the sky but sometimes it's serious when it shouldn't be and the mood I want y'all to feel gets messed up :/
I don't know if you guys notice this and I could be nitpicking but SHORT HAIR DON'T CARE.
And since I had some reflection, I thought it was high time Maria had some too! I'm the one writing this and even I was like "Okay this has been going on long enough. I'm tired of this."
That made it so much easier to be straightforward and pull all the questions you guys might have in to view. We're all winners ^.^
There's a lot of stuff that hasn't been explained and now that this chapter has happened and Maria's FINALLY going to tell the gang about the weird stuff, the plot will pick up, I SWEAR.
So yeah. Stuff's gonna go down next chapter. Stay tuned and all.
TTFN