Chapter 2: A Fateful Meeting
Hello everyone, and wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I uploaded the last chapter of this story. I'll do my best post more often, but school makes it hard. I should probably have the next chapter of Starving Predator out next week so look forward to that. On that happy note, here's how Zarc mmeets Ray, along with the foreshadowing of 3 dragons. Enjoy :)
(Original Dimension: 18 Years Ago)
A few months later, Zarc is finally able to go to Kindergarten. There, he meets plenty of other kids along with a good teacher. At first, Zarc enjoyed going to school and playing with the other kids. During rest and break time, he could even take his Duel Monsters cards with him to play against the other kids. Thanks to his innate gift at speaking with his monsters, he was able to easily win most duels he got into. When asked how he could always win, he would respond, "My monsters never let me down."
However, a few months later, something strange happened to Zarc. It was just another happy race around the playground after lunch had ended when he heard the sound of something crying. Looking around, he ultimately noticed a somewhat transparent frog whimpering on the side of a basketball court where a bunch of older kids were playing a 3 vs 3 match. Cautiously coming near the spirit, Zarc placed his hand on the spirit and tried to comfort it, "Are you okay?" He traced his hand through the dirt to pull out a beat up card that had the same image as the spirit, though not nearly as visible. Zarc gasped, "What happened?"
"Hey pint, how about you move!" Zarc looked around to see the ball coming right towards him, causing him to duck and cover. "Next time watch where you're going!" The 4th grader snarked as he came up to Zarc to grab the ball. "Get off the court tyke!"
"Really Larry, would it kill you to treat anyone nicely for roughly 2 seconds at least? He's a kindergartener." Another player said.
Not even listening Larry eyed the card in Zarc's hand and laughed, "Wow, so that's where that piece of trash went." He plucked it from Zarc's small hands and eyed it cruelly, the toad cries becoming fearful and terrified. "About time it went to the garbage can."
Zarc's eyes widened, "What… but it's a Duel Monsters Card. That'll hurt it!"
Larry eyed the terrified and worrying Zarc and sneered, "Alright then fine." He then ripped the card in two right before Zarc's eyes. "Better." He grinned as tears started to form around Zarc's eyes.
"Excuse me Larry, what are you doing?" A disdainful and authoritative voice spoke as the woman wielding it came to them, the boy who had called out Larry earlier in tow."
Larry rolled his eyes, "Thanks a lot, teacher's pet."
"I'm sorry I find obnoxious bullies sickening." He shot back.
"Thank you Julian, would you mind taking this young boy back to his group. Poor boy probably wondered off." The lady said as she grabbed Larry by the ear and took him to the principal's office.
Julian brought Zarc back to the sandbox where the rest of his grade was and lowered himself to look at Zarc face to face, "Are you alright kid?"
"Why…why did he do that?" Zarc sniffled, having felt the spirit vanish from existence the second the card ripped.
Julian sighed, "Bullies are everywhere, and they love watching other kids cry, especially the younger and weaker. Friendly tips, get some good friends, and stand up for yourself." Julian smiled and ruffled Zarc's hair, "Now don't you worry. He won't bother you ever again, but from now on, don't wander off like that. Take care little guy." With that he left.
As Zarc sat in the sandbox, he took out his Odd-Eyes and stared at the card before asking, "Why would anyone rip you guys up?"
(2 years later)
As time passed since then, changes would happen in Zarc's life. While at first it was coined as his imagination, no one believed him when he tried to speak to a few people about the Duel Monsters spirits. People began to view Zarc as someone different, alien in fact. However, this didn't come to a head until his grade was allowed to have them all gain duel disks, as long as the Solid Vision was at a minimum level so that none of the children got hurt, the monsters being little more than holograms and flashes of light. Despite that, Zarc could sense a bit of the spirit manifest within the cards, and enjoyed the fact that he could now truly battle alongside his monsters. Sadly, his undefeated streak left many jealous of him, and for some, jealousy turned to hate.
It was on the last day of school before spring break, when the weather was starting to get warmer and the kids could finally play outside, that it happened. Zarc, was dueling another student named Chase, and despite Chase's boasting of his superior deck, ultimately lost following Zarc attacking with Odd-Eyes Dragon. Angered by this loss, Chase ran right at Zarc and tried to take his dragon, "Where did you get a card like that farmboy?! I bet you stole it!"
"What, no way, I'd never steal! My mom gave me this card!" Zarc argued as he attempted to hold on to his card without fear of tearing it.
"Oh please, as if you poor folk could afford a card like this." He spat right into Zarc's eye before knocking him down. "It deserves a real duelist."
As he walked away, Zarc rose up, his fear turned to rage, "GIVE HIM BACK!" He roared as his eyes glowed. What happened next went so fast that no one could really tell what had happened, but the next second Chase was on the ground crying as his arm was cut up and bleeding, the dragon card glowing on the ground. Horrified, Zarc ran towards him and called for someone to help, "Hey, are you okay, what happened?!" He then picked up Odd-Eyes, "It can't be…"
Chase merely eyed Zarc and screamed, "Freak, someone help me he just tried to kill me!"
Fortunately a few teachers came there and broke them up. Even more luckily, Zarc was not in trouble for the incident. After all, Zarc wasn't exactly capable of injuring Chase like that physically, so it was chalked up to a malfunction in the Solid Vision system that would be sent back to Industrial Illusions and other Solid Vision systems to be fixed. However, Zarc knew deep down he was guilty for what happened, having allowed his anger to manifest Odd-Eyes physically to attack Chase.
After going home, Zarc told his mother about the incident, and Zara sighed. She had known Zarc was special, but now she knew that his was even more different than she imagined. From then on, Zara told Zarc that he couldn't be a slave to how he felt and that he needed to master himself so something like this didn't happen again.
Ever since then the other kids often talked about it behind his back, and he would get some weird glances by people every now and then. No one really sat with him at the lunch table, and by the end of the school year, Zarc didn't have any friends. Life at home was growing difficult as well. Though Zara was doing her level best to take care of her son, her illness had caught up with her, leading her to go to the hospital that summer. This led to Zarc spending most of his time at the hospital, as he had no other relatives and his father had left when he had been an infant. Despite this short coming, Zara always gave Zarc a loving smile, even when things began looking bad, and her strength was such that by the end of summer, she was able to leave the hospital and go back home with her son. Zarc always admired with how much strength and dignity his mother carried herself with, and truthfully wished he could be like that as well. Despite not looking forward for the coming school year, Zarc would be met with a surprise that would change his life forever.
"Class, I have a special announcement. We have a new student today, so please make a warm welcome for Akaba Ray, come in now girl!" Mrs. Kazhen shouted as a girl with dark red and maroon hair entered the classroom.
Keeping her head own, Ray looked around the class with embarrassment before saying, "Hello, everyone, I'm Ray. I…look forward to getting to know everyone."
"Kuri kuri!" Zarc turned his head as his Kuriboh spirt smiled at Ray, before whispering very quietly so no one could hear him, "Yeah, I guess she is cute."
Ray herself was good at making friends, quickly finding a group quite easily. She was also a natural duelist, her skill second to Zarc himself, though Ray personally hadn't dueled him yet. In the 1st few weeks, Zarc had somewhat ignored her despite acting and remaining cordial and friendly with her. However, he began to notice something different about her compared to everyone else. Like him, she often looked around her surroundings more than usual, and seemed to be in her own world as well. More than that, but her dueling style relied less on commanding monsters and more on working with them, almost as though they were her partners…just like how Zarc's were his.
They first met one day when Zarc was walking back to class after heading to the bathroom…when he noticed the shriek of a white and blue spirit lying in the hall near one of the near the girls bathroom. Picking up its card, Zarc patted the avian soul lovingly before whispering, "Don't worry, I'll find your owner."
Fortunately, he didn't have to search for long, at the end bell, when everyone was leaving to go home, a certain twin pigtailed girl was running through the hall frantically searching for her monster, "Oh where is she, how could I have just dropped her?" Ray muttered under her breath frantically, "Poor Avia probably thinks I just left her."
"Um, would this be it." Ray turned around as Zarc had finally caught up with her, Avia's spirit having guided her to Ray. "Found her lying down in the hall."
Relief coming over her, Ray cheered happily as she grabbed her card, "Oh thank you so much I was so worried some else had taken her!"
Zarc smiled, "You really do care, don't you? I can see why Avia likes you."
Ray smiled in response before suddenly looking at Zarc with caution and wonder, "Wait…can you?"
"Yeah…I can see them too. I'm guessing you can too." Zarc replied, a bit nervous, looking away as he scratched the back of his head.
Ray stared at him before looking at the clock. "I guess we should better go, but still, I'd just like to say…" Ray then gave Zarc a heartfelt smile that made him blush, "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."
As she ran off Zarc simply stared at her, "Yeah…that sounds great."
The next day, during lunch, while Zarc was wolfing down on a sandwich, Ray came up to him, "Hey, Zarc, you want to sit with us?"
Zarc looked at her before looking at a group of guys and girls before sighing, "M-kay…"
"Could you not speak with your full then, come on." Ray said exasperated while Zarc came towards the table. "Hey you guys don't mind, right?"
"Nah, it's cool." One of the other girls said.
"So Zarc…want to have a duel later?" A boy asked.
"Yeah, that's fine Drayden." Zarc replied.
After school, Zarc and Drayden did duel, while Ray and a few other kids watched. As Zarc swiftly bested him, Drayden was thrown back by the shock. Annoyed, Ray walked over to Zarc and scolded him, "What's up with your dueling? You fight like it's some sort of war."
"What do you mean?" Zarc replied.
Ray sighed and looked at Zarc , "You weren't even trying to enjoy yourself during the duel. What's the point of dueling if no one's enjoying it?"
Zarc looked away, in truth, ever since that day he'd hurt Chase, he hadn't been able to really enjoy dueling since everyone had avoided him. He had retreated into his own shell, not really bothering with enjoying duels, swiftly ending the conflict. "I…don't know how to do that."
Ray's face saddened before smiling, "Well then, let me show you!" Zarc looked at her while she beamed and assembled her deck and Duel Disk. "I bet I'll have you smiling by the end of this."
"Challenge accepted."
"DUEL!"
The duel went back and forth, both showcasing an equal level of skill. However, just when Zarc seemed set to win on his next turn with Odd-Eyes on his field and 1300 LP while Ray had 200 LP and no cards on the field. Ray top decked her last draw and smiled, "Get ready for the real show Zarc! It's going to be a blast!"
As Zarc stared at her, she played a spell, "Magic Card, Avian Nature Ritual, activate! Now I can banish Snow Sparrow and Windy Heron to Ritual Summon Avia, The Frost Falcon!" Ray cheered as the monster Zarc had handed to her appeared on the field, flying around them, thw wind from its wings causing sparkles of crystalline ice to blow around them (ATTR: Wind/ LV:6 /ATK:2400/DEF:2000).
"I activate Avia's special ability, allowing me to decrease your dragon's power by 1000 for every monster I used for her ritual summon!" With a flap of her wings, Avia recreated the spectral images of Sparrow and Heron, and the 2 birds flew around Zarc and Odd-Eyes. The wind picked up and seemed like they were entrapped within a storm of glittery ice. "Now to wrap this show up, I activate the spell, Warmth of the Strom, giving Avia an extra 1000 ATK!" Ray declared as Avia glowed with blue energy, looking even more dazzling. "Battle, go Avia, attack Odd-Eyes! Dazzling Snow Storm Delta!"
In a flash, Avia shot at Odd-Eyes through the storm, shattering the dragon like glass. The duel was over, for the first time ever, Zarc had lost. However, as he watched the beauty around him during the duel, he realized…it didn't bother him. He lay down on the ground as the dazzling storm ended, sparkles of ice vanishing in the air.
Ray walked over and knelt by his side, "So, how was it? Did you enjoy it or what?"
Zarc slowly looked at her before looking at the sky and chuckled, before bursting out in laughter. Rising up, he looked at Ray and smiled, "That's the 1st time I lost a duel. Even so, I did my best and that's all that really counts." He then gave Ray a determined smile, "Next time, though, I'll win. See you later." As he walked away he stopped and turned around, "Oh…and Ray, one more thing." As she stared at him, Zarc looked away before saying, "Thanks, it's… been a while since I had fun like that. I'll try repaying you next time." Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head and smiled at her, "See you tomorrow."
As he walked away, Ray smiled while a blush started to creep over her face as well, "See you tomorrow Zarc."
When he got home, Zara questioned her son on how happy he was, he just told her he'd made a new friend. When asked who it was, Zarc turned away and responded, "Just some new girl, no big deal."
Smiling, Zara said, "Okay then, well now it's about time you did your homework. So finish up and we can talk about her later over dinner." As she watched her son's retreating figure she smiled, "They grow up so fast."
That night, Zarc told Zara of how Ray could speak to Duel Spirits as well. "It's like she can really understand them, just like we can."
Zara smiled, "That's great, get to know her. The more friends the better."
Later that night, as Zarc went to sleep, he took out his deck and smiled. For the 1st time in months, he didn't feel so afraid anymore. Now he actually had a friend, "I hope I can duel her again tomorrow." Zarc whispered, while his monsters nodded in agreement.
(Duel Monsters Spirit World)
Elsewhere, in the Duel Monsters world, Kuriboh crossed over to see some of his friends. As the cuddly little fiend scoured the grassy fields, a familiar voice spoke out. "Ah Kuriboh, so glad to see that you've returned."
Kuriboh turned around to see Dandylion and Elemental HERO Neos and cheered, "KURI!" It then flew over and affectionately nuzzled both of them.
"Good to see you too Kuriboh, now how goes the new Haou?" Neos asked as he ruffled the monster's fur. After being briefed by Kuriboh, Neos flew away and stood next to a draconian female. "Greetings Yubel, I've got news from Kuriboh on Zarc's condition."
Turning around, Yubel smiled bfore speaking in a feminine voice, "Good, how is he, and how is the world like nowadays?"
Neos sighed, "The King is fine, however, as we feared, rarely anyone seems to be capable of even understanding us, though Kuriboh did meet a new female who can hear their voices as well."
Yubel sighed, "This isn't good for Zarc. Ever since Judai's life ended, The Power of the the King was augmented due to inheriting my own powers. That makes Zarc extra sensitive to the spirits."
"I'm surprised you're not with him right now. You were always so keen on protecting the Supreme King." Neos noted.
Yubel looked away, "Yes, but I took things too far in the end. I endangered his past life and his friends. Also, I am too weak now." Yubel said sadly as her image began to flicker, "I gave all my power to the King, and the world has changed so rapidly that I have practically been forgotten. As much as it pains me, I am incapable to protecting Zarc." She then stared up at the moon. "We will need new guardians to watch over him in this new age, capable of standing by and guarding him until he can guard himself."
"Kuriboh says that we already have a worthy guardian in the boy's ace monster, Odd-Eyes Dragon, but that won't be enough. My brothers and friends will explore the land until we find beings strong enough to protect the King." Neos stated.
Turning around, Yubel smiled, "Thank you Neos." As she stared throughout the night, she used her lingering connection to the King, and was able to see his resting form. As she watched the boy sleep peacefully, Yubel smiled, hoping that these new guardians would protect the boy's smile.
And that wraps up this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will introduce Dark Rebellion, Clear Wing, and Starve Venom, so be ready for it. Here's a quick preview:
Flashes of lightning shake the mountain tops as the Elemental Heroes make there way to visit a pitch black Dragon that supposedly nestles in a cave there. Flying throughout the sky, a white dragon with luminescent wing is watched by the Destiny and Masked Heroes. Meanwhile, the deceptiveand despicable Evil Heroes make there way through the Swamp of Venom, following the rumors of a terrifying monstrosity that lives within.
"I can sense it, they are the ones who shall watch over the King."
Well I hope you enjoyed that. Going to start including previews from now on. Be ready for more action in both this and Starving Predator.
-This is The Venomous Blade Signing Out :)
