Hey everyone! Well, yet another week goes by. Heh, not too much new here. My grandpa is doing pretty well. He's been in rehab now for 11 days, and I believe next week or so they're going to have a meeting with the doctor, physical therapists, etc, and our family to discuss options on what to do next. He was doing well last night, although he was pretty exhausted, which I figured would happen, heh. Other than that, nothing else is really new.
Ok, here is an update on where I am with this story. I'm still trying to finish wrapping this story up. I have a few more chapters to write, but I got a great idea, partially from my mate and myself, to go back and do, but it's near the end, so it won't slow things down either. I'm hoping to finish this up soon, but I keep getting busy with life, hence I don't finish. Heh, I only work on this mostly at work, but I've been busy at work. I've tried at home, but I'm just not inspired to work on it much there, especially with a meddling mate who drags me away from the computer, hehe. But I promise, I'll have this done within the near future. I hope before Columbus Day, but I'll make no guarantees. That is like less than 2 weeks, so no idea if that's even doable, but I'll try. Also, the few one shots I have set up to work on will get my attention next once I finish this story. Then I can set my focus on my first full length Inuyasha fic. I've got a great amount of ideas for it that I've dying to write on, but I wish to finish this story first. Hopefully, I'll get everything that I wish to have done soon, and then I can move onto Another (the Inuyasha fic), although I'll miss working on these story.
Last time, Marie flattened Chazz's ego and forced him and Jaden to become partners for the Tag Team Class. Now that the teams are formed, what does the future hold?
Happy day, it's time once again! It's once more review time!!!
Very Swampeh: Heh, yes, Marie sure put Chazz in his place. Now Jaden and Chazz are a team, which could be good… or bad, lol. Heh, never know about Chazz holding up his end of the bargain.
x-knight20: Thanks. It's cool about not reviewing. I understand, life happens. Thank you about grandpa. Yes, I'm sure everyone is happy once more that Dorthy is cooking now.
Ultimate Legendary Master: Yeah, Chazz made a comeback, only to fall short. Thanks for the comment. True, the events are a bit slow. I think I modeled after the show a bit too much in that aspect. The first season had no plot till over halfway in, which kind of sucked and I should have thought about, but eh, I wanted to do some school stuff first, lol. Thank you about my grandfather.
Isis the Sphinx: Lol, yes, not much to the chapter. Yuck! Algebra 2 homework… (/Shudders at memories of school.\) Lol, I wish I knew where you use it. Heh, I wish I knew where I use the high mathematics I had to take to get my degree. I had a math minor almost (one class shy) for crying out loud!
Alrighty, that's it for the reviews. Thank you everyone for posting your thoughts/comments/suggestions. I'm glad to see this story doing so well. Heh, when I began work on it, I thought originally it would be much longer than Tournament of Power, but unfortunately, it's not going to be. Well, it probably is word wise, but chapter wise, nah. I will give you this much info though. It's longer than The Wolves Seal. There's something for everyone to look forward to.
Ok, I'm done for today, so everyone, enjoy this chapter. I look forward to seeing the reviews for it. Later!
Chapter 27
Nearly six weeks into the semester, Illidan and Marie managed to sneak out one night once the students had headed for bed. Silently, the pair walked into the woods, armed with flashlights. The fall was coming upon the island, making it slightly chilly already and changing the colors of the leaves.
The pair walked into the deeper part of the forest, till at long last they reached their destinations. Waving his hand through the air, Illidan unleashed a small wave of Shadow Magic, causing three shrines to suddenly appear.
"So, that's why the students never found them. You hid them by using your Shadow Powers?" Marie asked curiously.
Nodding, Illidan replied "I made a shroud to cover the three shrines. This part of the woods is very far out, and rarely the students come out this far. Plus, I made the shroud so that they can't see, feel, touch, smell, or hear it. I just made it transparent, hoping no one would find it ever, other than those that should."
Looking at the three shrines, Marie nodded, saying "It's quite clever. Why didn't you ever talk about these shrines with me?"
Lightly sighing, Illidan calmly replied "It was for your safety. If someone found out you knew the location, or how they were constructed, you were more at risk. So, I left that information up to myself."
Seeing that he had a point, Marie nodded as Illidan worked his way over to one of the shrines. She soon walked up behind him, embracing him, softly whispering "You can trust me always Illidan."
Turning to face her with a look of shock, he said "Marie, I fully trust you. I'd think by now you know that."
"Yes, I do, yet you hide things from me." she replied evenly.
"You don't understand. I'm trying to protect you from…"
Interrupting, she answered "Yourself. Illidan, think about what you're saying. If someone found out about the shrines and came after me, and even if I didn't know anything about them, don't you think they'd use me as a shield or hostage still?"
Taking a moment to contemplate her words, Illidan finally sighed deeply, saying "Point well taken. I'm sorry… I shouldn't have hid it from you. I just worry that someone will do that exact thing. I was hoping if you had no information, they'd give up and come after me directly."
Embracing him, she softly said "I know you want to keep me safe, but you can't expect to protect me from everything. I can defend myself you know."
Sighing once more, Illidan replied "I know, but I swore to protect you…"
"Yes, but you can't always defend me from everything, including yourself. So please, do tell me things that are important, ok?"
Pulling back to look deep into her eyes, Illidan nodded, saying "I will."
Smiling softly, she said "Good. Now, let's hurry up, it's chilly out here."
Lightly chuckling at her behavior, Illidan turned to the first shrine and began to examine it. Using his Shadow Powers, he reached out to feel for any changes in the barrier or the shroud that protected the shrine. Once certain nothing had changed, he reached out to feel for the inner seal. Again, nothing unusual turned up.
After ten minutes, Illidan had finished checking all three shrines, and said aloud "All three appear fine. I guess all that's left is hide them and check one last place."
Waving his hand in a simple motion, the shrouds and barriers reappeared, instantly hiding the shrines. Nodding with approval, Illidan led Marie towards their next location.
"So, what kind of seals did you place around those cards?" Marie candidly asked.
Smiling at her, Illidan replied "Dear, you know I don't discuss that with anyone, even you."
Sticking her tongue out, she teasingly said "I had to try."
Lightly chuckling at her, Illidan replied "Don't worry about it. I made sure the seals will stay secure."
Frowning, he continued with "I do worry about the Sacred Beast Cards though."
Seeing this, she asked "Why is that?"
"They were taken last year by the superintendent. Somehow, he managed to break the barrier surrounding them with ease."
Thinking for a moment, Marie responded "Maybe it was due to the Shadow Charm he had."
Shaking his head, Illidan coolly remarked "No, the barrier was strong enough to resist it. Something else broke the barrier, I'm sure of it."
"Well, you could go take a look at it." Marie suggested.
Quick to respond, Illidan calmly said "True, but I have a feeling I'd find nothing out of place, other than maybe the barrier missing."
Lightly sighing, he looked up at the night sky through the tree branches. It was a cloudy night, so no stars could be seen.
"Thinking of your father again?" Marie asked timidly, breaking Illidan out of his gaze.
Lightly smirking, he looked back over at her, saying "Yeah. I've thought a lot about him recently. I don't know why. Then again, the same could be true about Zell."
Raising an eyebrow, she asked "What about him?"
"I don't know. For some reason, my thoughts have turned towards Zell. I briefly knew him. I just don't understand why I keep thinking about him. He's been dead for five millennia, yet my memories of him have been coming up recently more and more."
Taking a moment to process it, Marie asked "Do you think it has something to do with my nightmare several weeks ago?"
Shaking his head, Illidan responded "No, I don't. I don't know why it's happening, but for some reason I do have memories of him resurfacing. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic or something. Or possibly since I've been thinking of my father so much that the memories of Zell have come out as well."
The two let out a small sigh. Taking her hand in his, Illidan kindly said "But it doesn't matter. I'm with you, which is all that matters."
Smiling back at him, she replied "Yes, that's all that matters to me too."
After a few more minutes of walking, the two arrived at a building that was run down, but mostly still intact. The building appeared to be a dorm that was white at one time, but the years hadn't been kind to the paint job.
Staring at it, Illidan cautiously said "Be on guard here. This is where students have vanished, and I have a good idea why that is so."
Nodding in reply, Marie followed him silently as they entered the dilapidated building with flashlights a blazing. Searching room after room, the three finally came to the basement where a large circle was engraved into the floor.
"This place sure is creepy." Marie commented as she stayed close to Illidan.
Lightly smiling, Illidan replied "Yeah, it is that, but not that bad. After all, the cobwebs give it a homey charm."
Shaking her head at his sarcasm, Marie asked "So, where is the shrine?"
Leading her forward, the two entered into a room off of the main room. Finally, they stopped and Illidan called forth his powers. A wall on the far side of the room began to shimmer as the shroud on it lowered, revealing a door. Walking up to it, Illidan examined the door, making sure it was still secure and hadn't been moved.
"Hmm, no one has disturbed the door, yet something don't feel right." he softly spoke aloud.
Looking around, Illidan examined the remainder of the room, seemingly checking for anything out of place. "Hmm…"
"What is it?" Marie asked, curious to see what he had found.
Shaking his head, he said "I can't find any signs that anyone has broken into the room, or that anyone has disturbed the shroud or the barrier. Still, something had to happen here. The seal is intact, yet something doesn't feel right. I wonder if the card I placed here has gotten free."
Thinking for a moment, Marie stated "You put Anubis here, didn't you?"
Nodding in reply, he said "Yeah, I placed it in a special shrine. I spent more time on it than any of the others. If only I could get to the card to make sure…"
Curious, she asked "What do you mean if you could get to it?"
Smirking back at her, Illidan said "Remember dear, I don't speak of how I sealed something. Let's just say, I have to have something else to enter this tomb."
Seeing he wouldn't cooperate, Marie sighed and looked around once more. The two finally finished their looking, and Illidan waved his hand at the door. Once more, a shroud came over the door, making it vanish again.
The two began to walk out of the room when Illidan stopped in the middle. Marie was about to ask why when she felt the reason as well.
"That was a surge of Shadow Magic…" he said while glancing around.
Reaching out with his senses, Illidan walked in the direction he had felt the small surge. His powers were already beginning to rise to the surface, but only slightly so that he could call on them immediately.
Finding the spot where the surge had come from, he frowned. "The surge is gone, but it was here."
"I felt it too, but it quickly dissipated. What could have caused that?" Marie asked, still glancing around to make sure nothing happened.
"I have a good idea what could have, but it does us no good. I can't do anything about it for now." remarked Illidan.
Nodding, Marie asked "Do you think Anubis is behind the disappearances?"
"I don't know, but I do know if he is it's trouble. I just can't believe that the guardian couldn't contain him…"
Looking curiously at him, Marie asked "The guardian?"
"It's nothing. Let's get out of here. There is nothing else we can do." Illidan quickly replied, brushing off Marie's question.
Not wanting to be left behind, Marie quickly followed. The pair soon left the building and began walking back towards the Slifer Dorm. The trip back was silent most of the way, till Marie finally broke the silence.
"Is the guardian a person, or a Duel Spirit?" she asked, knowing she wouldn't get an answer most likely.
Sighing, Illidan replied "I told you before, I don't discuss my seals. I have no intentions of divulging that kind of information to anyone." Sighing once more, he sadly added "Including you."
"What happened to you my friend? Did Anubis finally overpower you?" Illidan silently questioned himself, hoping the worst hadn't happened.
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A few more weeks passed by, and the students were all growing excited about the Dorm Cup. So far, Obelisk Blue led the standings, with Slifer Red raising a lot of eyebrows for being a close second, but Ra Yellow was not far behind the two either.
The tag team duels for Illidan and Marie's class were preparing to begin, with the pair making up the rounds. After a few weeks of work, the pair finally released the duels that would take place. Many of the first round duels would pit tough teams against one another.
During this time frame as well, promotion duels were held for students who were thought to have earned the right to move up in rank. Both Chazz and Syrus were put in duels to get into Ra Yellow Dorm.
Syrus struggled through his duel against a strong Ra Yellow girl named Akai Tashio, whom used a Light deck. At long last though, Syrus managed to break free and win the duel. He was quite happy, yet at the same time sad. He moved his stuff into a Ra Dorm room, but frequently visited the Slifer Dorm to see Jaden and his other friends. Both Illidan and Marie made it absolutely clear that he was still welcomed at the dorm, which he greatly appreciated.
Chazz's duel went semi-well also. For the most part, he took the lead, only to be brought to his knees. In the end, Chazz's Ojamas had come to his rescue, saving him from a crushing defeat by Bastion. Upon winning the duel, Chazz gathered his many things from the Slifer Dorm and moved into the Ra Dorm, but complained about it being too 'clean' for his taste, but it had more space for him, which was all he cared about. He visited the Slifer Dorm off and on, but didn't stay long usually.
A week or so later, an announcement was made of a Teachers Tournament beginning. The Chancellor announced the sixteen teachers that would duel in the tournament. Each of the three headmasters and student teachers for the dorms were in the tournament, along with other teachers.
Soon enough, the tournament began. The rounds were conducted during the evening of one week. Illidan, Marie, and Zane each made their way through the first round with no problems. The second round was not as bad either, but the semi-finals caused a problem.
In the semi-finals, Illidan faced off with Marie in a tough battle. Neither gave an inch on one another, and many students and teachers swore that no one could tell the two were married. The battle was incredible to watch, for each countered the others moves quite well. It was also interesting to watch mages facing off with fairies, with neither seemingly growing stronger than the other. After a long battle, Illidan finally managed to defeat Marie. She took it lightly, and gave him a hug and kiss at the end.
The other semi-final consisted of Tyranda Whisperwind of Ra Dorm facing off with Zane. The battle seemed one sided for the most part, with Tyranda dominating Zane for a long time. She had forced him into a corner when she took away his ability to use fusion monsters. Finally though, Zane managed to free himself of the inability to summon fusion monsters and brought forth his Cyber End Dragon. In true tradition, Zane managed to wipe Tyranda out with one earth shattering blast to win the duel. Zane respectfully checked on her afterwards, and she congratulated him on the win.
The finals were finally set, pitting Illidan vs. Zane. Marie, along with the other Slifer students were highly anticipating the upcoming duel.
"This is going to be one sweet duel!" Jaden happily said as he watched both Illidan and Zane preparing to take the stage.
Folding his arms over his chest, Chazz muttered darkly "I highly doubt Professor Illidan will win."
Quickly responding, Syrus commented "I don't know Chazz. He beat Crowler earlier this year, plus he managed to win that three way duel. And then there were the three other rounds of this tour…"
"Alright already, I get it!" Chazz annoyingly replied.
"It will be a good show, without a doubt." Bastion noted.
Nodding, Alexis added "It'll be interesting to see how Zane does against Illidan. So far, Illidan has shown a similar dueling style to Zane's."
"Yeah, but Illidan plays with a bit more heart, like a commando in a heartbreaking situation." Hasselberry commented.
Seeing the duel was about to start, Jaden said "I guess it's time to find out."
On the field, both Zane and Illidan were looking up at one another with the Chancellor in the middle. Seeing the two were ready, the Chancellor cleared his voice, saying "The finals for the Teachers Tournament are about to begin. In a shocking surprise, both Headmaster Illidan Stormrage and Student Teacher Zane Truesdale of the Slifer Dorm have each made it to the finals. Teachers, please meet in the middle."
Both Illidan and Zane calmly met in the middle, with the Chancellor saying "Illidan, you have choice of who goes first."
Without thinking, he said "I shall go first."
Nodding, the Chancellor announced "Illidan has decided to take the first turn, so it is decided."
Privately, the Chancellor said to the two "I'm very happy and proud to see the Slifer Dorm representatives come this far. I hope you two are going to have a fun duel."
Illidan smiled, saying "Of course. This will be fun."
In return, Zane kindly smiled back, replying "It will be quite a duel."
Each extended their hands to one another, and happily shook. Turning their backs to one another, each proceeded back to their starting positions.
Walking along, Illidan became lost in thought. "This will be one of my toughest duels. I watched him single handedly take Marie down, plus I've seen the rest of his duels in this tournament. I'm unsure how this will turn out, but I have a feeling winning won't be easy."
"Still, who said I ever wanted it easy." he thought with a smirk.
With Zane, he mentally prepared himself for his duel during the walk. "Illidan will be one of my toughest opponents yet. Like Jaden, he fights with his heart, but he also fights strategically. A combo of the two is dangerous, and could spell disaster."
In an after thought, Zane lightly smirked. "Even though I know this will be tough, the thought of facing him excites me. This should be good."
The two finally reached their marks and turned to one another. Seeing this, the Chancellor walked off the stage and declared "Let the finals begin!"
Both extended their left arms in front of their bodies as their Duel Disks came to life. Once they had fully powered up, the two drew their first five cards, each simultaneously saying "Duel!"