After more than a year and two months, I'm back from the death! *Put Eve's unenthusiastic scream scream here* I know what you guys are thinking, but I got an excuse as to why it too me so long to write this chapter. You see, I just lost interest in this story.
...
...
Well, I never said that it was a good excuse, did I? Anyway, here is the final of the duel from last chapter and the reason why I'm talking to you guys here and not at the end as I usually do is... there are several callbacks to things that happened previously (mainly Chapter 7) so if your memories from a year and two months ago is foggy, you should check that first.
"You really should have used the chance I gave you last turn to defeat me." Eve spoke softly, almost whispering. "Because now I know your style of dueling and how to counter it. No hard feelings, but I'm going to win the duel during this turn!"
She could see it; the path to victory was within reach and she knew what she had to do in order to achieve it! Despite how skilled Kite might have been, she was obviously underestimating Eve by leaving only her two Fusion Monsters and Field Spell without any sort of protection, just a boost of 500 extra attack points.
"I play Thundecture Exposure!" Eve said, activating the spell card that she just drew. "With this spell, I can revive any number of Thundecture monsters from my graveyard or banished zone as long as I pay six hundred points for each! Come back, Thundecture Drone – Knight (Lv.5, ATK: 2300) and Thundecture Drone – Centrious (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)!"
Thundecture Exposure (Spell) Normal
Special Summon any number of "Thundercture" monsters from your Graveyard or Banished Zone. Then, you lose 600 Life Points for each monster Summoned by this effect. Those monsters cannot attack during this turn.
『Eve LP: 2100 – 1200 → 900』
"Next, I use Thundecture Code – Faenar's effect to reduce Centrious' attack by eight hundred and destroy your field Spell!" Electricity flew into Eve's drone and it fired a red laser toward Kate's card meaning that it was no longer in play.
Terrally Ammolite Moloch, ATK: 2300 – 500 → 1800
Terrally Almandine Rhinoceros ATK: 2600 - 500 → 2100
"Nice one." Kate praised her opponent before she reached into the Graveyard to take a card from there. "But since my Terrally Terrablast was destroyed, its effect lets me add Terrally Sanctuary from my grave to the hand, so eventually you just helped me replace my field spells once more."
"That's true, but you can't activate a field spell during my turn without a card effect." Eve pointed out. "And currently, the only cards you control are two monsters, none of which was the capabilities to do what I just said, so in the end not getting a better protection for your cards is going to be the reason for your defeat in this duel."
"Your monsters can't attack." Kate pointed out. "You could probably summon a new monster with them, but that would be all, right? How do you plan to reduce my life from seven thousand to zero in one move?"
"Don't forget that she still has two cards in her hand!" Arata called from the side, watching the two girls duel. "You really shouldn't be talking before you know what else your opponent might have under their sleeves."
"That's true." Amelin nodded in agreement to what Arata said. "With the current level of the effects that today's cards have, even just one single card could lead to massive combos, so you should always be prepared for the most unexpected thing to happen."
"Since you mentioned unexpected things happening, I'm going to show you all something really unexpected." Eve said, catching everyone's attention. She put her hand on the table, pressing her fingers against all four cards that were currently on her side of the field. "Now I'm going to perform an Aberrant Summon! By sending Thundecture Drone – Knight, Thundecture Drone – Centrious, Thundecture Code – Faenar and Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing to the graveyard I can special summon Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E from my extra deck in the spell and trap zone!"
A small and young woman with lightning-blue eyes and white hair, which tied into two coils at each side of her head with a small crown resting right over her forehead, landed on the field. Her body was covered by a white dress with two bolts on the sides of her waist and six more on the back. The skirt was made of two parts, with the first one, reaching down to her knees and being white like the rest of the outfit, while the second one was black and see-through, reaching all the way to her bare feet. The dress' sleeves were made from the same dark material, which showed her delicate arms and the small bolts on the back of her wrist, suggesting about the princess' not completely human appearance.
Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E [Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2200]
2 monsters + "Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing" + 1 "Thundecture Code" Spell Card
Effect: Once while this card is face-up on the field: You can target cards in any Graveyard(s), up to the number of face-up cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone; return them to the hand. If a face-up card you control is sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 monster from your Graveyard, but it cannot attack your opponent directly. If this card leaves the field, activate 1 "Thundecture" Continuous Spell or Trap Card directly from your Deck.
"What. The. Hell. Is this?" Good thing that Arata wasn't drinking anything because if he did, he would have spilled it all on the floor.
"A new summoning method." Amelin leaned against the cash deck. "It's sort of like the Transcendent Summon that I mentioned earlier. I'm a bit surprised that you know about Transcendent, but not about Aberrant. It seems like your source of card news aren't as reliable as they used to be, eh?"
Arata looked back at the man and smiled a little silly. He wasn't pain attention to all of the news about Konami's game, only those who were in effect for his region. In that case, it would appear that the Aberrant Summon was still an OCG exclusive unlike the Transcendent Summon which was first implemented in the TCG.
"Next, Thundecture Code – Faenar's effect lets me return Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing to the hand and then I will activate it! Once per turn, Queen's Blessing allows me to add a Thundecturemonster to my hand. I add Thundecture Drone – Miner and normal summon it!"
A slender robot with a body made from rusted metal appeared on the field. A single blue eyes glowed on the center of its head and a large drill was put in place of its right hand and with jackhammer parts of its shoulder.
Thundecture Drone – Miner [LV: 4/Light/Thunder/Effect/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1800]
Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned, you can add 1 "Thundecture" Continuous Spell/Trap Card from your Graveyard to the hand. If this card is Special Summoned, you can add 1 "Thundecture" Continuous Spell/Trap Card from your deck to the hand.
"Miner's effect lets me add Thundecture Code – Faenar to my hand, then I will activate it!" Kate bit her lower lip watching Eve continue with her moves, putting her spell cards back into play. "I now use Thundecture Code – Faenar's effect to reduce Miner's attack by eight hundred and destroy Terrally Almandine Rhinoceros."
Kite took the Fusion Monster off the field and put it in her Graveyard. She couldn't believe it, but there was actually a real chance for Eve to end the whole duel in one turn now that she knew what the Thundecture duelist's secret weapon was.
"I'm going Aberrant Summon again!" Eve took Thundecture Drone – Miner and Thundecture Code – Faenar putting them into her Graveyard, then took another card from her Extra Deck. "Come forth, Thundecture Servant – Rigitio-7AN!"
A white butler-like monster with yellow lightning designs on its legs and shoulders appeared on the field. Its face was white without eyes or mouth, just two lightnings shooting to the side like horns. Its arms were comically large and had electricity coming out of the elbows, traveling down to the wrists, where they transformed into a pair of blades.
Thundecture Servant – Rigitio-7AN [Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600]
1Level 4 or lower monster + "Thundecture Code – Faenar"
Effect: If you don't control a "Thundecture Queen" monster this monster can't activate its effects. This card can declare up to 2 attacks on monsters during each Battle Phase. If this card attacks an opponent monster, all monster your opponent controls lose 600 ATK at the end of the Damage Step. If a "Thundecture Queen" monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can destroy this card instead.
"A second one." Kate muttered softly watching the board before her. More and more monsters were starting to show up and her worry increased with every passing moment. But at the same time, she was smiling on the inside, she needed strong duelists and Eve had so far proven herself to be capable. If she also managed to do as she swore and won in this turn, then she might prove herself to be even better than Kate expected.
"Next, the effect of Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard since a card left the field. I revive Thundecture Drone – Miner (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)!" the robot-like monster raised once more in front of the two Aberrant monsters. "Thundecture Drone – Miner's effect lets me add Thundecture Code – Criada to my hand and next I activate it!"
Thundecture Code – Criada (Spell) Continuous
Once per turn: You can target 2 face-up monsters on the field; halve the first target's ATK, and if you do, the second target gains the lost ATK. These changes last until the end of the turn. When this card is activated, you can add 1 "Thundecture Code – Queen" Spell/Trap Card from you Deck to you hand.
"I activate Criada's effect to halve Miner's attack and increase Rigitio's attack by the same amount." Eve pointed at her two monsters. This meant that Miner dropped to 700 and Rigitio increased to 2500. "And now, I will use Thundecture Drone – Miner, Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing and Thundecture Code – Criada for another Aberrant Summon! Come out, Thundecture Servant – Regalia-MA10!"
The hologram of a maid-like monster in white clothes with yellow thunder-like drawings over her waist and shoulders appeared on the field. A triangular helmet with lightings shooting out of the back like long hair was sitting on top of her skin-colored robotic head with black metal gauntlets tied tightly around her wrists and electricity streaming from the bottom of the monster's high-heels.
Thundecture Servant – Regalia-MA10 [Light/Thunder/Aberrant/Effect/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600]
1 "Thundecture" monster + "Thundecture Code – Criada"1 "Thundecture Code" Spell Card
Effect: If you don't control a "Thundecture Queen" monster this monster can't activate its effects. Once per turn, you can target 1 card on the field: Destroy that target. This card can't attack during the turn you activated this effect. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 2 face-up monsters on the field; halve the first target's ATK, and if you do, the second target gains the lost ATK until the end of this turn. If a "Thundecture Queen" monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can destroy this card instead.
"Next, the effect of Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard since a card left the field. I revive Thundecture Drone – Centrious (Lv.3, ATK: 1000)!" Kate sighed. There was no point in continuing the duel since Eve already won, but she wasn't going to forfeit because her opponent earned the right to end the duel with her own hand. "Finally, I will use Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko-6E's other effect to return Thundecture Drone – Miner, Thundecture Drone – Knight and Thundecture Code – Queen's Blessing to my hand!"
"So that was what you were going to do, huh?" Kate looked at Eve and smiled at her. "You are really powerful."
"Thanks." Eve nodded and took Thundecture Drone – Centrious off the field. "I tribute Centrious and activate its effect to special summon Thundecture Drone – Knight (Lv.5, ATK: 2300). Lastly, I activate Regalia's effect to destroy your last monster at the cost of Regalia's attack for the turn. Now, Thundecture Drone – Knight, Thundecture Servant – Rigitio and Thundecture Queen – Mitsuko attack you directly!"
『Kate LP: 7000 – 2300 → 4700 – 2500 → 2200 – 2700 → 0, Hand: 0』
"Searching, summoning, recycling, you did all of that perfectly." Kate took all of her cards and put them back into her deck. "I could definitely use someone like you in my team, up to take the spot?"
Eve looked away from the girl and glanced toward Arata from the corner of her eyes. She thought deeply about it, she toured half the globe to hide away from Saivar and her past and joining a dueling tournament would be a huge sign where they could find her, more so after Saivar already showed up in front of her once. There was also that Arata declined the same offer and Eve disliked being surrounded by strangers. Yes of course when she invaded the boy's house, he was a stranger to her too, but there was a difference. His father was the one who send her and she trusted completely in Mr. Godbell's judgment – it wasn't wrong so far.
Ok, it did cost Arata's life once, but there was hardly a way that anyone could have predicted such an outcome, right? Right?
"My apologies, but I will have to decline." Eve stepped back and walked over to the cash table where Arata and Amelin were watching the duel from. She sat down next to the boy and looked back at Kate with her usual poker face expression still on.
The Terrally used had a bit of trouble processing what Eve told her. How could anyone with this kind of dueling skills decline an offer like this one without a second thought? Should Kate point out the prizes that first place would win to see if Eve would have a change of heart? No, looking at the Thundecture duelist, she didn't seem to be interested in such things - it sucked to find someone with the talent that you need, only for them to decline helping you out.
Kate shook her head, no point to try and push herself onto Eve, it would only make her look desperate, and maybe even a bit like some creep. She collected the rest of her cards from the table, shuffled her deck and then headed back into the storage room without saying another word. Amelin followed his daughter's movement with his eyes, he knew how much that tournament meant for her, but he also knew that being obsessed with it wasn't good for her either, so perhaps having two of the best duelists that have entered his shop decline would make her rethink her values.
"I think we made her angry." Arata said after the door of the storage room was closed and Kate couldn't hear them.
"Don't feel bad about it, she will get over it sooner or later." Amelin looked back at the empty tables around the shop.
It wasn't always like that, he remembered times when the place would be filled with your people dueling or buying cards. After Konami's business began more widespread and actual Duel Disk were developed, the wave of customers began to quickly shrink until all that remained were around ten customers. Kate had noticed that this business was starting to fall apart so she believed that if she assembled a good team and won the Trinity Cup Tournament she could advertise for his shop and bring new customers.
"I personally want her to just give up on that tournament all along." Amelin admitted, surprised his two customers. "She became way too obsessed with it, I have caught her several nights in a row staring at her computer doing research on which decks are most common, what are they strong points, weak points, best cards to counter them with and so on. Her lack of sleep started to show up in her school work as well, her grades are still excellent, but she rarely had Bs before and now they are around forty percent of her marks at school."
"A sad story." Arata nodded. It was kind of ironic that she would call him a freak, but at the same time be obsessed so much with a tournament that she would waste her own health on it. "We will be leaving then, homework won't write itself and I also need to buy something for dinner."
Amelin nodded and turned to walk into the storage room and check on his daughter. "Stay safe." He told Arata.
"Right back at ya." The boy smiled and opened the front door, gesturing for Eve to walk out first. She raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why he would open the door if he won't walk out first, but complied and exited.
Arata closed the door behind himself and the two teens found themselves standing on the street once again. The boy trembled a little at the change of temperature – the cold October winds were a much unpleasant changed from the warm of the card shop. The sky was filled with clouds that hid away the warming light of the sun.
"Where are we going next?" Eve asked in her usual monotone voice.
"To buy some food obviously." Arata answered, but didn't put a 'duh' at the end sensing that it wouldn't be appropriate to do so. He took Eve's hand into his own and gestured toward the street that lead upward; since the city was located on a hill, not all streets were on the same above sea height. "We will go up, there are a lot of stores. After we finish, we will take a bus home."
Of course, they could just walk home as well, it would take just around 20 minutes, but with the sky being covered by clouds, it could start raining soon. He remembered how most of his summer break was spent inside during the storms that often hit the city, it would be only natural for the autumn's weather to be even more extreme than the summer.
Eve just gave a nod as to showcase that she approved of the plan. She let Arata lead her through the city and quietly observed the buildings that they passed, trying to draw a map with their locations inside of her head. Which of the streets was leading toward which of the buildings that she had seen before, which ones remained unexplored, she tried to remember all of those things and the surprising thing was that she was actually managing to keep up. It was one of the moments when the training she underwent under Saivar's supervision actually paid off without leaving a pile of corpses behind her.
"What would you want me to make you for dinner?" Arata eyed his companion.
Eve's mind turned away from the mental map that she was drawing and looked at the boy for a moment before returning to what she was doing answering with a simple: "Something tasty."
Arata took a deep breath, ok then, he could make something tasty – whatever that was from Eve's respective. She hadn't shown to dislike anything that he made so far, so it should be an easy task to please her taste receptors.
Just then, Eve suddenly stopped in her tracks and yanked Arata's hand back. The boy yelped as he was pulled all so suddenly and turned around to look at the amber-eyed girl with a look that was practically asking what was wrong. Eve put a hand on the side of her hips and her eyes traveled down to look at the spot before raising back up to look at her much taller companion. Her amber orbs, as emotionless as they were, had some sort of lively spark in Arata's view, but the boy wasn't sure if it was because of his ability to see deep within her soul, or just his hormones.
Yeah, probably the latter.
"My phone vibrated." Eve's words snapped Arata back from his other thoughts. She pulled it out and showed the screen to him for confirmation that there was an unread message. "I must answer it. Continue on your own, while I wait for you outside."
Arata kept staring in the girl's amber eyes. He didn't want to leave her alone outside while creeps like Saivar were trying to get to her. The boy understood that there wasn't much he could do if someone like that showed up to confront them, and in the likely scenario of a confrontation, the best he could hope for would be that the Reaper's Curse had an infinity revival mode turned on. But in the end, he also had to think realistically, they were outside and in broad daylight, nobody in their right mind would be stupid enough to try anything, right?
"Fine then." Arata sighed and moved to grab Eve's shoulders catching her full attention. "But if anything happen, if you see something or someone suspicious, come inside as fast as possible, ok?"
Eve nodded. Of course, she could defend herself, she had her deck with herself; it was filled with monsters to transform into using Soul-Fusion, something she would prefer to not do in such an open area. Seeing that Eve was willing to cooperate, Arata smiled and walked into the nearest shop to buy some food. As soon as he was gone, she looked around for a place with less people.
She found an empty street that she had noticed while Arata leaded her. There were several cars parked at both ends with a third of each car was raised onto the curb and most shops were closed with their windows covered by window blinds, which left her assume that they were currently closed. Eve took out her phone and dialed the number that just messaged her. Looking left and right, she put the device close to her ear and waited for the other side to answer the call.
"That was quick." A deep male voice answered.
"Who am I talking with?" Eve asked sharply.
"Team fourteen, ID seven, eight, zero, two." Eve thought about it for a moment. She had no idea what the man was telling her.
"I don't understand." She admitted and a low chuckle was heard from the other side of the line, making her pout. "That's not funny."
"Sorry, I didn't knew that you weren't introduced to our ID codes yet, my name is Zack Smith, but you remember that, right?"
Indeed, Eve remembered that name, but she was awe-stuck to hear it again. If it wasn't the phone distorting his voice she would have definitely recognized one of the people that saved her from the awful laboratory where she was born and raised. Her heart fluttered with happiness that her expressionless face and monotone tone couldn't reflect. It was sad that she was unable to show her emotions freely due to the way they messed up her brain.
"I remember indeed, you were one of the people that came with Mr. Godbell." She replied before glancing around to make sure no one else was listening to her conversation. "Where is Mr. Godbell? Can I talk with him too?"
At first, there was no response from the other side of the line, then she heard Zack take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but he isn't here. A week after sending you off, most of our team was sent on a missing that I can't talk about while he was sent to find some shit about evil spirits."
"I see." She was disappointed to her that her rescuer wasn't there to talk with her. "What's the reason to contact me?"
"Going straight to the point now, aren't we?" Eve rolled her eyes, she didn't have much time for chatter either. "We know that the Grand Order has send their best to try and capture you. A group of our own were sent to come and protect you. Currently I'm holding a newspaper with an article about how their bodies were found in Danube. There are news about another team being assembled, so you should get support in the near future. I'm calling you to remind you to stay vigilant and to send you a message from Godbell himself."
A message from Godbell? Eve was feeling nervousness inside her chest after hearing those words. The man wasn't fond of leaving messages or saying goodbye - probably a reason as to why his son turned out like that – so that was completely out of character for him.
"What is he saying?" She finally asked the question that was making her worry.
"He asked you to look after his son." Eve felt a bit of her heart break, not for any other reason, but because she already failed to do so once and it cost Arata a lot. "He is that the kid definitely won't leave you alone, even if there are mass murders on your tail, so his only request is to do the same and guard the kid like how he is guarding you."
"I understand…" She squeeze her phone tightly, thankfully she wasn't using full strength, or it would have been broken to pieces. "I will look after him… That's a promise."
"I know that as a Guardian you have far more important things to worry about that the life of some brat, but I'm going to share with you a small secret about Godbell." Eve held back her breath, listening intensively to what Zack was going to tell her.
"His son is the last thing that Godbell has to keep his smile." At these words' the heard of the emotionless doll just… broke.
"I understand." She replied, somehow managing to keep her monotone tone. "I won't let anything bad happen to him, goodbye."
With these final words, the call ended and the amber-eyed beauty put her phone back into the pocket. She reached out, grabbing onto the nearby streetlamp and looked down. It hurt, it hurt so much that because wanting to keep her abilities hidden from Arata, he had to die and some dark curse was the only thing that kept him existing - not even living. The loud screams and the look filled with suffering that she witnessed last night were already making her believe that this second life he was granted would come to a much higher cost that it deserved. What better would be a lifetime filled with torment compared to death? As someone who never felt the cold embrace, she probably didn't have the right to compare the life with the afterlife.
What better was she compared to Saivar? He trained her to fight, to defend herself and kill those who endanger her without any mercy. In return, she could have effortlessly taken his head, not even a tiny bit of remorse would have stuck her if she did so, but instead her choice was to stand at the side and watch him murder someone who gave her home, took care of her needs and seemed happy to just be standing next to her side. If someone had the ability to stop a tragedy but didn't, were they any better than the ones who caused it? Was there any difference between her and Saivar? Or were they both killers that would burn in hell once their time came?
A black car stopped a few feet away from where the girl was standing, but she paid no attention to it, her mind was somewhere else. She didn't sense the two bodies approaching her until it was too late, and they jumped on her, one hand holding her mouth to make sure that she wouldn't be able to scream, the two attackers also caught her arms and began to pull her toward the open door of the black car. Trying to scream into the hand that kept her voice form coming out and at the same time kicking at her attackers, Eve tried to pull one of her arms down toward the pocket where she held her deck.
A single touch - that would be all that's going to take for her to Soul-Fusion with a monster, but at the last moment, she felt something was off. The physique, strength and skill of her assailants was off, they didn't feel like a group of extremely skilled men send to capture, but just as some 17-19 years old boys. Eve stopped trying to grab onto one of her cards and let them drag her to the car instead, willing to play along until she learned what the heck was going on. If the Grand Order was really naïve enough to send their youngest and most unskilled units to try and catch her, they were all going to be send back in body bags.
Nobody was there to see when the girl was getting dragged into the black car, nor when it drove off leaving no trace to where it went. Five minutes after the whole ordeal, Arata came out of the shop and looked around for Eve, only to be unable to spot her anywhere. Cold sweat ran down his face like bullets as the boy ran around and shouted the missing girl's name, but no response came back. Did somebody really kidnapped her while he was shopping for eight minutes?
"Eve!" Arata shouted, ignoring the looks that others were giving him. "EVE!" But no matter how many times he would repeat that name, the girl he was looking for never answered back.
"Shit!" The boy cursed and slammed his fist against the wall of a building. He had tried to call her as well, but it said that Eve's phone was turned off. Gritting his teeth, he looked down knowing that there was only one thing he could do; go to the nearest police station and report what happened.
He gritted his teeth, the nearest police station was at fifteen minutes from his current whereabouts, there were busses driving through the city all day long, but catching one that drove toward where he wanted to head might take time. In the fashion of someone who lost their mind, Arata made an extremely stupid decision that he wasn't going to regret and ran for the police station.
"Ah… Ah…"Ok, he was definitely going to regret that decision. Using whatever sort of strength was left into his legs, Arata slowly dragged himself toward the front doors of the police station. His face was red and covered in sweat, he wasn't the sporting type and running three miles took a lot from his strength. Unable to stand upside anymore and feeling like he was about to throw up, Arata let himself collapse sideways onto a bench. He didn't know which idiot had chosen to put the playground not far away from where the police station was located, but he didn't mind it as long as there was somewhere for him to sit down and catch his breath.
The familiar sound of Arata's phone ringing came from the pocket of the boy's pants and he pulled it out to look at who was calling. A mix of hope and extreme worry shot through his body once he saw the number that was calling him – it was Eve. Without wasting a second thought, Arata clicked the accept call button.
"Where are you, Eve?" He asked.
"I'm sorry, but your girlfriend isn't able to answer at the moment." A chill ran down Arata's spine. It was a voice all too familiar for his ears, someone who he didn't expect to hear from so soon.
"Zayne…" This was the last person whom he expected to kidnap Eve, but at the same time, Arata wasn't surprised to learn that this bastard would do something like that. "What the heck are you doing, freak? You couldn't beat me to a duel, so you went this far!?"
"Sometimes you have to take risks if you want to win." Arata gritted his teeth; as if kidnapping someone could be considered anything but psychopathic behavior. "As much as I would love to talk with you, I called you just to give a warning. This is between us, if you try to get the police or anyone else involved, you will never see the cutie ever again. Or maybe you will in a body bag - I haven't chosen which one to go with yet."
"Keep your hands off her, freak." Arata was trying extremely hard to not let his anger take over in front of the police station. "Do you really think that you could get away with pulling something like this? The cops are going to hunt you down, you know that, right?"
"It's funny to me that you think you can just walk around the police station like an upstanding citizen." Zayne replied from the other end of the line. "We are both marked already, there is nothing for me to lose now; do you get it?"
"What are you talking about?" Arata could swear to god, he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs to this bastard. If only he knew where to find him, he would go there and break him to a bloody pulp before taking Eve back. Even if the police put him behind bars for that, it would still be worth it.
"Don't worry, you will learn. I'm going to call you again tonight, around ten o'clock. Also… make sure to watch the news, ok? You might learn a few things." Arata slammed his fist against his knee and opened his mouth to retort, but the call ended before he could.
"Damn it!" Arata grabbed his head. He wasn't sure if it was better or worse that Zayne got his hands on Eve instead of Saivar. On one hand, she wasn't in the arms of a killer, but on the other, her current captor seemed to have gotten to the deep end. A crazy person was always more dangerous than a murder because unlike the later, you could never predict what someone who already lost their mind would dare to do next.
He had no choice but to trust Zayne's word that Eve won't get hurt. He could try to put some sense in that freak's head when he calls him next, but Arata was worried that the girl might end up hurt if he said something that he shouldn't. The boy turned his head to look at the police station once more. He should do it, screw what people in movies do, this was real life and a human being was in serious danger!
…But how exactly did Zayne knew when to call him and tell him not to get the police involved? The psycho already proved that he was crazy enough to be stalking people. "I'm going to break your face when I find you." Arata whispered and stood up, turning his back to the police station, he choose to go home and do as Zayne instructed him to do.
Nighttime came, the streets were empty with just the street lamps and the light coming from a few windows illuminating the city's streets. The night weather became even colder that it was a few nights ago, even his jacket wasn't enough to keep Arata warm and he rubbed his hands together, breathing into them while walking through the already sleeping city. He couldn't just stay at home, sitting and waiting for a phone call, so the boy spent his day roaming the streets aimlessly, trying to think things through.
The boy unlocked the front door of his house and walked inside – it was dark. Not even the lights of the kitchen were turned on, everything was like how he left it in the morning, with the expectation of someone who was missing. Arata threw his jacket and the bag of food - which he carried around the whole day - on the sofa with a deep breath. The boy himself collapsed next to the items, he was so drained out both physically and mentally that, if it wasn't the thought about the upcoming call keeping him awake, he could have fell asleep long time ago.
"Did the past really choose to bait me in the ass now?" Arata asked no one in particular. He reached out and grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. Just in time, the news were about to start soon. "Just what are you up to?" Why Zayne did told him to watch the news?
Arata didn't want to ponder onto these questions for long; his phone rang again and he picked it up. Just like last time, a call from Eve's number.
"Are you watching the news?" That was the first thing that Zayne told him. "What are they reporting about at the moment?"
"A river's overflowing." Arata responded hastily.
"Good, so we are both watching the same channel then." Arata narrowed his eye, what was the point of all that?
"Listen, I don't know what sort of creepy game you are trying to play on me, but if you want me to take part, then let me head Eve's voice. I want to make sure that she is unharmed!" That was all he really wanted, to know that the girl wasn't harmed because of his mistakes.
"Fine, give me a moment." Arata could vaguely hear footsteps from the other side of the line and then a loud yelp that made him winch in pain, even though he wasn't there in person. "Here you go! I give you a minute!"
"Arata?" The familiar monotone voice made the boy's heart to beat faster.
"Eve? Are you alright?"
"Yes." The girl on the other side of the line confirmed. "I'm alright, they haven't harmed me. Who are these people?"
"It's too much for me to explain right now." Arata sighed, it was too much to explain at any time, really. He didn't want anyone else to know what he was doing during the night, the illegal duels and such. "Just don't do anything to provoke them, ok? I'm going to get to you as soon as possible, that's a promise."
"Aw, how heartwarming!" Zayne interrupted them. "But if you want to see her again, you will have to do as I tell you! Tomorrow, we are going to have a duel, exact time and location you will learn after school hours, understand?"
"Are you really going to bet everything just for a single duel!?" Arata yelled at the phone. "If you are so desperate, let's face at the area and duel there!"
"Hush, now. It's starting, look at the news right now." Arata gritted his teeth, that thing with the news again, just what the heck was it supposed to mean!?
"News about the underground dueling network that was discovered after a coordinate police campaign of the police forces in East Europe. Although network that encompasses six countries was shut down and many of its organizations were caught, the police warns citizens to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary. If you have information about people who were involved in illegal duels, even as just duelists or spectators, we advise you to report to the nearest police station."
His body was cold, no thoughts, no words, Arata had nothing to respond with. The police was looking for him; he was a criminal. He felt like his whole life, all of the bad decisions that he made so far were coming back to haunt him at once and he wasn't sure how to deal with either. His breath halted and his mind paced away from the reality of the situation. His rational thoughts were buried under a pile of various questions fears about what was going to happen next. How was he going to get Eve back and hide from the police?
"We are both already criminals, if the police comes after one of us the other will burn down as well. There is literally nothing for me to lose anymore! My uncle knows the chief of police, so I could get away with this a bit easier than most, but what about you? Do you have anyone to save you?"
Arata knew the answer of Zayne's question, he was alone in this, on one would come to help him out and no one was obliged to do so. He wouldn't be able to both save Eve and escape from the police. It was Game Over.
"We will meet tomorrow." Zayne reminded him one last time and the call ended.
The realization that there was no way out of this game and any of his moves would be fatal stabbed Arata like a knife. The boy collapsed on the ground, his purple eye staring at the TV screen in despair. Unknown to him, that feeling of helplessness that took over him was fueling the curse laid upon his soul and the purple scar that showed under his eyepatch glowed for a moment activating his curse. Arata bit onto his lower lip until it drew blood and collapsed sideways on the floor, holding the left side of his chest in pain. If one who was reborn with a purpose would fail to deliver, then they would face endless torment and suffering.
A/N: Not much to put here honestly, this was my first chapter since fucking forever so what am I supposed to say? Anyway, a lot of things happened in this chapter despite how short it turned out, Arata got himself a lot of trouble to deal with and I can tell you that what's going to happen next chapter might leave a lasting inpact on his character and shape the way he is going to grow.
Also, I would like to, once again, speak about the lack of duels in this story. Of course, this chapter contains the last turn of the... second written duel in this whole story, but I'm planning to change things. Right now, my plans are for the first half of "Season 1" if you might call it this way, to end around chapter 13-15 and so far I got planned 4 duels that would happen during these chapters. Not much I understand, but there are going to be more duelist that they were until now and as I said, those are the ones that are "planned", I might add more, but I definitely won't be cutting out from those that are already planned.
That's all I got to say. Bye now.
Diabolic Tracer Out!