(Disclaimer) Helpful Reference: In the manga, Crow and Yusei are actually the same height at 5'7". But the anime shows Yusei as taller than Crow, so I imagine he's like 5'10". Maria's between the two somewhere, probably 5'8". Jack and Bruno are human towers. Aki's apparently 5'4"? The twins are around 4'9" I think.

We pull up to the open field of stocky crabgrass and deciduous trees, the skyline nestled behind it in the distance. It was a field that wasn't supposed to be. The twins both hop off their Duel Boards and the rest of us exchange baffled looks.

"It was here! It was supposed to be here!" Rua yells, gripping one of the fenceposts bordering the greenery. Then he turns to us with waving hands, "Lucciano's had this huge mansion with a butler and everything!"

"A house just doesn't get up and decide to move," says Crow. "You sure we're in the right place?"

"Of course I'm sure! Right, Ruka? You remember, don't you?"

Ruka barely nods her answer, her attention is focused on the area more than anything. She goes from wrapping her arms around herself, a position of self-preservation, to reaching through the gap in the fence to feel a speck of crabgrass. Ruka's hand retracts like she's touched a hot stove, like the realness of the field burns itself onto her fingertips.

"What about your friends?" asks Aki. "Did they ever go to Lucciano's house? Could you ask them if this was where it was?"

Something dims in Rua's eyes. "They said... Yesterday, they said they didn't remember him. Like, at all. As if he didn't exist to begin with."

Cue meaningful glance exchange number two. It was a congregated sense of deja vu. No one says anything because we all know, we all remember what happened to Daisuke Kita. One second he was Yusei's kidnapper in holding, the next he wasn't anyone and nowhere on planet Earth.

And now it seems that Lucciano shares that in common with Daisuke, all thanks to Yliaster.

But the elephant stood in front of us, in this field. It's one thing to disappear a person, to clear documents, make their slate shiny and new all over again—that's believable. But to wipe the memories of dozens of people, that's magic.

As magic as the Signers and a Star Child.

At that moment, Jack voices the exact thought rumbling through my brain. "Just who the fuck are these people?"

She doesn't even greet me when she answers, just a glance of recognition followed by the front door left ajar as if to say, "Do with that what you want."

I shut the door behind me, jab my zip-up on the coat rack on an adjacent wall, and meander into the living room. Then comes what always does, standing and staring. Zora cuts the stint short by poking her head out a doorway in the hall.

"Well, by all means, take your time," she snips.

From the meager amount of visits to Nayla I've made, I can't say that I've ventured to more than a couple rooms in her house. Mostly, we lounged on the full couches in the living room or maybe migrated to the kitchen for the odd snack. And there was the one time with the garage, but did that even count?

This room of the numerous unentered rooms of the house turns out to be Nayla's bedroom. An abrupt self-consciousness confines me to the doorway, even with Zora's gaze gleaming with impatience. Nayla's in the bed, asleep...right?

Zora's voice dusts the memory of the woman in the canoe from my mind.

"...have to be brief. I shouldn't be gone too long, just have to run some errands," she says, it all coming out as one heap of a word. "Nayla's still sleeping off the Silenor, so there's a good chance she won't even wake up before I get back. But if she does, make sure she takes two of these and one of these immediately."

I nod at the raised pill bottles.

"The Leflumonide should be enough for the pain, but if she still feels it hours later give her a couple Ibuprofen or rub this heating gel on both her knees and ankles. Make sure that when you're done using anything you put it in this drawer so she doesn't accidentally take it again."

Another nod.

"My number is right here." Zora points to a ripped edge of ruled paper under a bedside lamp. "It's also on the fridge and next to the phone along with Poppo Time's phone number. If you can't reach me call Martha, and if not her than the police. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Repeat it back to me."

I stare at the mini table wide-eyed, memory wiped spotless of these last couple minutes. Zora huffs, like she expected no other response. Typical Maria, I bet she's thinking.

She pulls a notebook from out the drawer, tears a page out, and pushes it to my chest. "I wrote it down," Zora grumbles.

I take it, withholding averse comments of my own. We go back to the door, where Zora reminds yet again of all the things she instructed. You know, just in case I'm illiterate.

I stay with Nayla afterward. I don't want to look at her, but do anyway just to see the rise and fall of her chest. I pace the room, toying and glancing at its artifacts. The most fascinating are the pictures engulfing the dresser. I recognize some from the hall and living room, exact copies of Zora, Martha, and Nayla cheesing when they were younger. I wonder how long they've known each other. One, portrait-esque and faded, only shows Nayla no older than nine, ten. Even that young, she had the same crinkling-eye smile she has now.

The better part of the photos didn't have Nayla in them at all, and there are some I've never seen before, of people I've never seen before. Nayla, a man, and a boy on a sunlit day. Just the man and the boy, dueling. Nayla and the man, at the altar.

The truck comes to mind in an instant. "It's not mine to throw away." I was too consumed by my mark and the blackouts to ask what it meant. Any curiosity of that moment was swept under a rug, filed into the It's Not Your Business cabinet.

"What happened to you, both of you?"

My curiosity sure has shit timing.

—

"Yusei, how are we supposed to trust him?" Jack sputters. "I get that you want someone to nerd out with but—"

"Jack, I've been working on the engine for months and haven't been so much as close to getting it right. In less than twenty-four hours, Bruno's insight has helped me fix some major kinks with the program." Yusei argues, "You can't dismiss this progress just because you don't trust him."

In case you're wondering, I had just opened the door.

"Don't even think of blaming me for looking out for our asses! And since when did you hand out trust like party favors?"

The twins and Aki notice me creeping down the stairs. The four of us have a silent conversation:

"What's going on?"

"It's about Bruno."

"Oh."

I don't know who Bruno is, yet nod like I do.

Yusei shuts his eyes, sucks up a breath. "I didn't say that I trusted him—"

"Really? Because I remember very clearly when you decided to show him the blueprints to our engine without even asking me or Crow if we were okay with it! That alone seems to me like you trust him more than either of us!"

"Jack, don't be an idiot."

"And an asshole," Crow perks up.

Jack looks aghast at the betrayal. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"First of all, there aren't any sides. Second, I...kind of agree with Jack."

"Ha!"

"Look, Yus, I know you're desperate to figure the engine out. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it too—I want our engine to be the best it can be. And I won't lie, Bruno seems like a cool guy, too. But do you really think involving him in this is a good idea?"

"The WRGP's in a month. We need all the help we can get before then," Yusei replies.

"So when the engine's finished, you're just gonna kick Bruno to the curb and say 'Thanks for the hand,' right?"

Yusei eyes him, waits for the point to be made like the rest of us.

"No, of course you're not because the engine'll be the start but not the end. Bruno's gonna be around nonstop and then he'll be on the team and then a friend." Crow lowers his tone, crosses his arms. It's the tallest I've ever seen him. "He's gonna get involved, Yus. Do you honestly think pulling him into our shitstorm is a good choice?"

It was obvious, Yusei hadn't thought of that. He had turned blind to it, eyes solely on the engine, and now there is nowhere else to look. Our reality eventually demands to be seen, always.

"Uhh..." We turn to the stairs, caught with our hands in the cookie jar. "I don't want to come off as a narcissist, but this is about me, isn't it?"

Bruno scans the room, his bister eyes dimming all the more with the addition of a frown, but the expression escapes as he spots me.

"It's you!" He stumbles down a couple steps in his spout of excitement and stands in front of me—over me, because Bruno's that tall. It's not like I should be surprised, I had figured as much when we met. But one Jack was enough for a lifetime.

"You remember me, huh?"

"Woah, woah, woah. You two know each other?" Crow asks, then spits out a redo before either of us answers. "Wait, don't you have amnesia?"

"I knew it! He's lying!" Jack swoops in and takes his prey by the collar. "You've been lying this whole time about having amnesia, haven't you?"

Bruno swivels toward me, the look of a terrified puppy on his face. I put my hands out, appeasing. "Jack, he's not lying. He has amnesia. Right? Don't you?"

"Y...yes?"

"He doesn't sound too sure."

"Yes! Yes, I have amnesia! I swear on my life!"

"Let him go, Jack," Yusei orders, a hand landing on his brother's shoulder. Jack eyes him, initially searing until something exchanges between the two, an implied signal that causes Jack to relent.

I help Bruno to his feet. He smiles his gratitude. Bruno may be another Godzilla of a person, but in reality he was more akin to a hamster.

"How do you remember Maria, then?" If not his hands, Jack would still punch with his words.

"We met about a week ago," I say.

"At Sector Headquarters. You can ask Ushio!"

I take note that Bruno had moved behind, just enough for him to be protected from another round with Jack, and try to withhold an eyeroll.

"You were arrested?" Rua hollers.

"What! No!"

Bruno pipes up, "I thought you said you weren't a criminal?"

"N-no—oh my god, one person at a time." I gesture toward Rua. "Why would you think that?"

"I dunno," he shrugs, "you don't have the best of luck when it comes to stuff like that. I just thought of the worst case scenario."

I don't bother to stop the eye movement this time around. "While you're not wrong about that, no, I was not arrested. And no, I am not a criminal. I was there to answer some questions, remember?"

Bruno makes the "oh, my bad" face and averts his eyes.

"Why the hell were you at Headquarters?" questions Jack.

"Why do you think." It isn't a question, but a huff of stress and annoyance.

Everyone casts their own reactions toward the statement, most of which hold twists of regret for asking. Aki talks before anyone else. "So Sector Security knows you're a Star Child?"

"Ushio and Mikage know I'm something, no one else."

"They don't know what?"

"They figured I was something—a Signer or a psychic—because of you guys, but no, I didn't tell them. It wouldn't have helped solve anything." It wouldn't bring people back from the dead.

"We'll do what we can to help Mikage and Ushio out when we can." Yusei advises, "Until then, it's probably best to keep what you are under wraps. We can't be too sure of anything right now."

"Uh, did you guys forget that I was still here?" Bruno asks, a hand raised. The rest of us freeze over. For being so freaking big, the guy sure is easy to overlook. "I mean, it's not like I have a clue what you're talking about, but I promise I won't tell anyone. I don't even have anyone to tell so..."

"If we're gonna keep secrets, we should probably work on when and where we discuss them," Crow deadpans. His hand extends to Bruno for a shake. "Well. Here's your official welcome to Club Shitstorm. Oh, and if you have a fear of criminals, we might have a couple problems."

—

Annie furls into my lap as best she can. It was just yesterday she sat in it last, at this very same computer. She was almost too big then, but she still fit. Now her hind legs dangle off and hang aside. I have to question the level of comfort, but with Annie who knows? She'd do practically anything if the attention was worth it.

cats in history

I have to know about her. If I can't place anything else about myself, I have to know about Annie. I'd get to the bottom of whatever rarity she is. It's about time I do.

I skim here and there on a Wikipedia page, of Freyja's association with cats in Norse mythology and how they were favored pets in Chinese Dynasties. The only fractions that stick with me pertain to Egyptian culture. Aki mentioned that Egyptians were the first to duel, so wouldn't the firsts duelists opinions be worth checking out?

"The goddess Mafdet, the deification of justice and execution, was a lion-headed goddess. The cat goddess, Bast, eventually replaced Mafdet, and Bast's image softened over time. The deity came to represent protection, fertility, and motherhood..."

"I should have named you Bast, it sounds pretty kickass." I sweep a hand back and forth across her head. "But Annie's better."

"...As cats were sacred to Bast, the practice of mummification was extended to them... Such was the strength of feeling towards cats that killing one, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty..."

"Yikes. Ancient Egypt couldn't get enough of you. Think about all the attention you would have got there."

"In relation to dueling, cats were often brought as companions for duel spirit sealing. They were praised for their ability to detect unbound, roaming duel spirits and alert their master of nearby hostile spirits, so as not to bind these dark entities to tablets."

Somehow, this didn't seem like a place where the search should end. It fit Annie's abilities to a tee and yet this information just didn't seem to grab me. I imagined there would be a certain feeling, a this is what I've been waiting for moment. And the place that I've been seeing in my visions could not be Egypt, it's too mountainous and lush.

Maybe this was close, though. Egypt is settled on the right track of clues, but there were more down the road. Which leaves the all to obvious question: where do I go from here?

I find a pen on the desk and look around for anything to write on. It might not be what I want, but this is the closest thing I've got. I'd be dumb not to write it down.

"If I could find paper," I mumble.

I feel through my pockets and pull out a folded sheet. Zora's list. It wasn't just a receipt to scrap, a nagging in the back of my mind reminds. Don't throw it away if you care about her, don't treat Nayla's health like garbage. I tear the untouched bottom clean off and bullet point the Egyptian facts onto it.

I glance again at the list, the points of Zora's neat handwriting almost as sharp as her tongue. Tap the keys to spell out the medication, double check to make sure the word is correct.

"Donepezil is a cognition enhancement medication; a common treatment for Alzheimer's disease."

For starters, thank you thank you thank you to everyone who as stayed with me and this story thus far. It's officially three years old! Jeez, time flies. Whether you've been with JaG from the start or hopped on along the way, thank you for your devotion and patience. This fic and my Ouran fic have been put on the backburner due to school and college prep and work and all other sucky things that happen as you get older.

I know this one is pretty short compared to the last few chapters and no lie, I did rush a tad to get this out before my winter break is over (T.T), but I think it's satisfactory as far as rushing goes. I think I'm going to start making chapters shorter in order to get them out more frequently and manage them better on top of my other responsibilities. I'm really sorry you guys had to wait so long for such a shortie :(

Thanks again for understanding and Happy New Year! TTFN beautifuls