Hey guys!

In this chapter, I'll be explaining a little bit about why Carlton went full rage mode last chapter. There'll be more information as the story progresses, but hopefully I'll have answered any immediate questions. If I haven't, feel free to ask, and if it's not a spoiler, I'll do my best to respond.

Anyway, onto the chapter!

Revision: I've done an almost 100% rewrite of the interaction between Carlton and Louise in the second part of the chapter. I tried to make it relevant to the story, so let me know if there are any other changes I should make.

Duelist of Zero Chapter 5 – A history lesson

As I slept, I had a very odd dream. I was standing in a massive field, looking over the vast expanse. It was quite serene. Then a figure started to materialise. "Carlton," it said. "We need to talk."

Insert opening – "Kirifuda" by cinema staff

[Saa ima da, kazaseyo kirifuda. Kono mirai wa kimi no mono sa] Carlton looks up from the ground, followed by Louise. He draws a card, and places it on the duel disk. A streak of light cuts across the screen, revealing the opening title screen.

[Giragira moeteru. Samenai yume demo miteiru you ni.] Carlton stretches as he wakes up. Sunlight peeks through the window of Louise's room. He picks up his duel disk, places it on his arm, smirks, and walks out.

[Karada ga motomeru. Tsuyoi yatsu ga iru basho wo.] Louise tries to transmute some rocks into brass, and they explode. Kirche, Guiche and Montmorency laugh, while Tabitha cracks a slight smile.

[Kurakura yureteru. Tashikana mono nado koko ni wa nai kara.] Carlton strolls across a black background, with visions of his Duel monsters fading in and out in the background.

[Tadatada motomeru. Chikara no afureru basho wo.] He stops when he meets the Super Quant team standing in front of him. He smirks and gives Red a fist bump.

[Tsugi no tatakai ga boku wo matteru.] Many battles play out, with spells being cast and people falling. A giant visage of Cromwell appears in the sky.

[Atarashii hibi no aizu ga kikoeru.] Pharaoh Atem opens his eyes and looks to the right. Carlton opens his eyes and looks to the left. Their eyes lock, and Dark Magician clashes with Red Layer.

[Saa ima da, kazaseyo kirifuda. Kono mirai wa kimi no mono sa.] Carlton's fists set alight, and he runs at several soldiers, performing punches and kicks to take them down. Kirche points, and Flame sends a flamethrower. Tabitha flies overhead on Sylphid.

[Sono egao de sekai wo yuraseba, sono ato wa jibun shidai dayo.] Guiche creates a landslide, with Verdande jumping out, surrounded by Valkyries, and Montmorency shoots a jet of water at some soldiers. Princess Henrietta looks longingly out of a castle window.

[Egaki dase, sono monogatari wo. Kimi koso ga shujinkou darou?] Carlton reaches out to Siesta, who's far off in the distance. Louise's eyes glow white, and Carlton's glow gold as he stands in front of her, sword raised against oncoming foes. She raises her wand, and a flash of white overtakes the screen. The final screen shows Carlton, Louise, Guiche, Montmorency, Kirche, Tabitha, and their familiars, all rushing towards a shadowy figure.

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"What just happened to you."

"Ok. I was actually wondering myself. I've never been that angry before. It was like I felt the rage of multiple people within me."

"You did."

"Eh?"

"It is one of the perks of your magic. You are connected to all of us." As the figure said this, it materialised completely, into a form that I recognised instantly.

"Grandpa?"

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Grandpa!" I ran towards him, and got him in one of the tightest possible hugs. He had died a fair few years ago, and I remembered that day very well. It crushed me. But now he was here. How?

"Wait, how are you here?"

"Thanks to you."

" What did I do?" I asked, confused.

"You're telling me that you can't think of one amazing thing that you've done recently that could be a plausible explanation as to why I'm here?"

Then it dawned on me. "My magic."

"Bingo! Since you were able to unlock magic, you've broken the barrier between the corporeal and ethereal. You can communicate with the dead."

"Well, that certainly seems useful."

"It is, but we've gone off topic. I was going to tell you about what happened to you, and why you experienced such a surge of rage."

"Oh yeah. Please, continue."

"Sure. As I was saying, you're connected to all of us." As he said this, many more figures materialised behind him, none of whom I recognised.

"Who's 'us', Grandpa?"

"Your family. Specifically, your ancestors. We're all here, and when we saw Louise threatening you in such a vulgar fashion, treating you like property, we couldn't just stand by."

"So you allowed your anger to flow into me."

"Yeah. It appears we got our message across, but you may want to talk to her about it, to calm her down. We may have gone a bit overboard."

"You think?" I retorted, recalling the threats that I had made to Louise while under the influence of my ancestors' rage.

"Well, some ancestors were angrier than others, especially those from the 15h to the 19th century. I think you can guess why."

"Yeah." I nodded, knowingly. I would need to explain to Louise what had happened in my world, and hopefully, she would understand. Then I realised something else. "If everyone were able to do this, every company that finds your ancestry would go out of business."

Grandpa chuckled at that. "Yes, yes they would. Anyway, we've spoken for long enough. You should wake up. Louise is waiting."

I nodded. "Ok. I'll see you later grandpa. Bye everyone!" I said, waving at my ancestors.

A flash of light overtook my senses, and I woke up.

"Carlton. Carlton!" I heard Louise calling me.

"I'm awake, I'm awake. Jesus Christ, do you have to shout?" I said, annoyed. Louise flinched slightly, and I remembered last night. "Louise, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I want an explanation as to what happened last night. Now."

"I was, how do I put it…" I thought about the most apt description, "possessed."

"Eh? Possessed? By what? A demon?"

"Not quite. My ancestors."

"Your ancestors possessed you, and you let out such a malicious aura? I don't believe it."

"Louise, that wasn't malice. It was rage."

"Rage? What were they angry about?"

"Are you seriously asking that?"

"Yes. Now answer."

"They were mad about the way you were treating me, and the fact that you thought it was okay to hit me with a riding crop."

"Pffft. You were acting like a dog, so I treated you like a dog."

"You're really not helping." I said, feeling the anger rise slightly.

"Besides, why were they so angry? It wasn't like I was beating them."

"Wouldn't you be angry if someone punished your child for something unfairly?"

"Yes, I would, but that wasn't-"

"Okay, enough talking from you," I interrupted, putting my finger to her lips. "I'll give you a brief history lesson. In my world, slaves used to be commonplace. People would buy and sell others to do hard labour without any semblance of compensation. It's happened all throughout history, until about 200 years ago, when it was abolished."

"Were these people all peasants?"

"It shouldn't matter. Someone being a lower class than you gives you no reason to treat them as any less of a human. What does social status really do for the world, other than cause divisions? These 'peasants' as you call them, were taken from their homes, separated from their loved ones, beaten, forced into labour, and were treated like pieces of property. They were completely dehumanised. It was an awful, unjust world, that only catered to those who had money." I said with a frown, remembering some of the more despicable events that transpired in the history of my world.

"But-"

"There's no buts about it Louise!" I exclaimed, interrupting her. "My ancestors had their lives taken from them. They were ripped from their homes, betrayed by their brothers and sisters, and seen as no more than animals, if even that. They lived their lives wondering if there would ever be a day when they could be free again. My ancestors didn't put up with 200 years of suffering for some prissy rich kid to kidnap me and make me into a slave. I'm putting my foot down. You can either start seeing me as the human that I am, or I can make good on those promises from yesterday."

Louise paled slightly at that. "I-I didn't kidnap-"

"Yes you did. Don't even go there Louise. I was back home, living my life, enjoying myself, when I'm suddenly sucked up and spat out here, where I'm expected to put up with the crap my great-great-great grandparents did? That certainly sounds like kidnapping to me, if not human trafficking." Louise was silent. Having said my piece, I was a bit more open to hearing her out. "Anything you want to say?"

She started tearing up. Damn. I didn't want to make her cry again. I thought she had a thicker skin than that, but if Guiche was an example of a noble, I really shouldn't be surprised.

"I...I..." Let's see what kind of excuse she spouts now.

"I'm sorry." Okay, not what I was expecting.

"For what?" I asked, trying to get her to make progress.

"For how I've been treating you. I just wanted to show everyone that I could actually do magic, by summoning a strong familiar. Then you arrived, and I thought you were useless. Then you go and beat a noble in a duel, and turn out to have even greater magical ability than I do. I suppose I was just frustrated that I can never do anything right."

She seemed relieved slightly, having aired all of her grievances. I suppose I may have done something similar in her situation.

"Well, you've done something right." I said, calmly.

"And what is that?" She asked, clearly not believing me.

"You summoned me. Surely if you had no magical ability, then nothing would've occurred in the familiar summoning ceremony. It's clear that you have magic, but just can't seem to use it properly. If you can find a way to channel it, I'm sure you can be a great mage. I believe in you." I said, smiling.

She started tearing up again, then hugged me. "That's... the first time anyone's said that they believe in me." Seriously?! What is up with the nobles here? "Thank you Carlton."

"You're welcome Louise. And since I helped you, I'd like to make a proposal. I'll help you to learn about my magic, to see if there's any compatibility, and a way for you to use my power, and you stop making me wash your clothes and dress you." I put my hand out for her to shake. "Deal?"

She thought for a moment, clearly weighing up the two options. She eventually stuck her hand out, and shook mine. "Deal." We both nodded.

"Now, you need to get ready. You're going to be late for class."

"Eh?" Louise said, checking the time. "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"

Whew, we've got a lot of work to do.

What's good people! I hope you enjoy the new and improved Chapter 5! I was thinking on it, and I actually wasn't happy with it, even when I posted it, so hopefully, these changes will better fit the story, rather than the chapter being almost completely pointless.

I actually initially had some more character development for Louise in this chapter, but I've decided to hold back on it, since it felt like I'd rushed it a bit too much. I want the growth to feel natural.

I thought the magical connection to his ancestors was a good idea, and it will certainly play a bigger part as the story goes on. Stick around to find out how.

The opening is opening 4 from Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V, in case you were wondering. I just found myself in love with the song, so I used it.

Chapter 6 will be up soon, so look out for that.

Until next time!