Chapter 6: The Cursed Dollhouse Part 1
The next morning seemed to arrive fairly quickly. It was a little after 10, and everyone already seemed to be wide awake. Yusei had finished a few miscellaneous jobs that Phyllis had pointed out to him last night. After that, he wanted to make sure that his and Akiza's runners were working properly so that they had no problem getting to Gear Town and back.
He backed up to observe the runners. They seemed to be fine, so he stretched, allowing some of his bones to crack. Since Luna healed him yesterday, he was beginning to feel like he had more energy than he had before. Yusei had never felt energy like Luna's before and it made him want to find out more about it. However, worry suddenly came over him. He hoped that this would not be too much for Luna. She was just a 13 year old girl, and although she was a signer, he still felt as though she should not have to go through this. Then he hated the fact that Leo might be dragged into this Heart Crystal mess too. They didn't deserve this, and every child should be able to enjoy their childhood, instead of worrying about having to save the world. He, however, was grateful that Luna was able to heal him. If it weren't for her, he would still be struggling to get better. Akiza didn't need that stress. He came to help her, to protect her, things that he couldn't do if he was still hurt.
Thoughts of Akiza went through his head. Yusei slightly balled his fists. He hated that Akiza had to see him like that because of what Sayer did to him. It was obvious that Akiza would do anything she had to do to make sure he felt better, but he knew it would affect her seeing him like that. Actually, it was even more embarrassing for him. He was supposed to be her savior, yet he couldn't even save himself. He began to feel angry, but he sighed heavily to try and relax. Being angry wasn't going to help anything and he knew he had to stay calm. He knew who hurt him, but what bothered him the most was that he was pretty sure that Sayer would probably be going after the twins next.
In the house, Akiza was making everyone breakfast while Leo and Luna sat at the table, discussing what Sabrina told them yesterday. Akiza could not hide the fact that she was a little upset about what she heard yesterday. She wanted to know who the ultimate psychic duelist was. It would be amazing to meet someone like that, but she was probably long gone by now. Instead, she would have to stick to finding Divine. She just wished he would be a little easier to find, not to mention that they have to figure out whether they were a part of the Heart Crystals.
Just when she thought it could not get any worse, it does. She breathed in deeply and let out a sigh of frustration. Things were already tough for her and she had a feeling it was only going to get worse. She turned around with two plates of food in her hand. She set them down in front of the twins and gave them a small smile.
"Thank you!" They both said and they grabbed their forks. She looked at the door that led to the garage. She had not seen Yusei all morning. She was certain that he was hungry as well. As the twins began to talk among themselves, Akiza walked to the garage. She walked in, closing the door behind her.
Yusei just stood with his back facing her, arms crossed. She assumed that he was in deep thought because she noticed that he did not move after hearing the door. She tilted her head to the side, clearly confused. She wished she knew what he was thinking. If it was one thing that everyone knew about Yusei is that he always stayed poised. Regardless of what he was going through physically or emotionally, he did a great job at keeping himself composed.
"Yusei..." She quietly said. He slowly turned to look at her. There she was. He stared at the one who he cared about so much, the one who he would risk his life for, the one that he believed he failed. Without realizing it, he was walking towards her. He didn't want to say anything. What could he say? He let her down. He stopped in front of her and stared at her. Akiza slightly jerked her head back in surprise. She knew Yusei wasn't the most talkative person, but he normally wasn't this quiet either.
"Are you okay?" She asked softly. She stared into his eyes, but could not identify what exactly he was feeling. She saw a flash of sorrow and anger in his eyes, but before she could say anything about it, his expression changed. He lifted his right hand to grab the side of her neck. She jumped slightly and her nerves were running high. She felt his hand as his thumb caressed her cheek and jawline.
He didn't want to look away from her. Just knowing that she stood in front of him, unharmed was all he needed to calm down a little bit.
"Yeah..." He said. Tracing his thumb along her jawline one last time, he dropped his hand and sighed. Akiza did not fully believe him, but she knew that he wouldn't lie to her, especially if it is important. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. He turned to grab a rag and wipe little specks of dirt near the bottom of her runner.
"Well, breakfast is ready." He nodded, acknowledging that he heard her.
"I'll be in right behind you."
She walked back in the house to eat with the twins. She joined them at the table and started listening to their conversation.
"It's interesting, really. I can't explain exactly how I feel, but I know I can feel the power of Ancient Fairy Dragon flowing through me." She said moving her eyes around with her fork.
"Even now?" Leo asked as he leaned in closer.
She nodded. "It's like I'm a whole new person." Leo stared at her. Well, she looked the same. He knew her better than anyone. He could sense that there was something different about her.
"It's like I feel a lot more confident about myself." Akiza smiled. At least she could see one positive thing about the Heart Crystals. Since she's known Luna, she has always been the shy, quiet type. She seemed to lack a confidence about herself, making her and Leo's personality's complete opposites.
"That's great, Luna." Akiza said. "I'm glad you are finding out the truth about yourself."
Luna smiled back at her. "I know you will find out the truth about yourself too, especially if we are all connected through these Heart Crystals."
"And I'm hoping that I have a Heart Crystal too! I want to feel what Luna's feeling! So much power..." Leo said as he put his elbows on the table and he let his chin sit on his palms. He couldn't help but to smile from ear to ear. He envisioned himself having fire power, or super strength.
Akiza grabbed the map and brought it to the table. You would think that they would have the map memorized by now with how many times that they had to refer to it. "Well the one way to find out if we are connected to these crystals is to try and find them."
She spread the map out and everyone looked at it. "Where should we start?" Leo asked eagerly.
They heard the door to the garage open and saw Yusei walk in. He walked over to them with a small smile on his face. "What's up guys?"
"Nothing, we were just trying to figure out which of the districts we should go to next." Luna told him. He sat down in the seat where his food was at. He also looked at the map.
"I wonder what the best route would be. It will be hard to prepare ourselves when we don't know anything about these districts." Yusei said taking his first bite of food.
Akiza stared at the map until something caught her eye. "What about Gear Town?"
Everyone looked at her and then looked at the map. She placed her index finger on the route in between Ancient City and Gear Town. "Out of all of the districts, this seems to be the closest one. Since we don't know what to expect, taking the shortest route might be the smartest idea." She said looking at them.
They all nodded, agreeing that Gear Town was the better choice. "Sounds good!" Leo said getting out of his seat.
"Okay then, we can leave in a couple hours. Leo, Luna, I'll take a look at your duel boards after I'm done eating just to make sure they are working fine. And Leo, grab the map before we leave." Yusei said and the twins nodded. Without knowing what to expect in their journey, they had to make sure that everything on their end was good.
Yusei and Akiza rode their runners on the road that led them out of Ancient City. They had been travelling for quite some time now. Although it was the shortest route, it still seemed like forever. Leo sighed as he rode his duel board alongside Yusei. He didn't want to be the one to complain, but his legs were starting to hurt. Not to mention that the road wasn't all that appealing to look at.
"Aki, how much longer?" Leo asked looking at her.
Akiza looked at the map that was materialized in front of her. Leo gave her Morphtronic Map so they could navigate to the town. However, they had barely even looked at it. It was easy to get to where they were now, but once they got closer and the roads got trickier, they'd need to look closely at it. Akiza eyes moved to find out where they were, but as she opened her mouth, the map started fading away.
"Huh?" Akiza said confused. "Guys, we need to stop." She said slowing her runner. The others did as she did and looked to wear the map used to be.
"What happened?" Yusei asked her, removing the visor from his eyes.
"I don't know...the map just disappeared." Akiza responded while doing the same.
"Are you tired, Akiza? Maybe that's why it vanished." Luna proposed, even though she knew that it was unlikely.
She shook her head. "No, my powers don't feel drained at all."
"Well, it's a good thing that Leo brought the map from Phyllis's house or else we would be out of luck." Yusei said reaching out his hand towards Leo. Leo smirked and took off his bag to search for the map, but as his hand felt around the interior of the bag, he nervously laughed.
Yusei's eyes widened. "You did bring the map...right?" He asked nervously.
Leo instantly snatched his hand out of the bag and scratched the back of his head. "Well...not exactly..." Luna started at him in disbelief. She knew that she should have reminded him.
"Leo!" Akiza exclaimed. She placed her hand over her face. What were they to do? They were in the middle of nowhere with no map. She couldn't get too mad at Leo, though. They all should have thought to bring it.
The dark haired signer sighed and looked at the girls. "It's okay, we just have to think." He was contemplating on just going back to get the map, but they were already too far away. It was nearing 6pm and if they were to go back they were going to have to wait until tomorrow. He looked at the road ahead and couldn't help but notice that there was something in the distance. Leo looked at Yusei and saw that he was looking at something. As he followed his eyes, he seemed to notice it too.
"What is that?" Leo asked. This seemed to get Akiza's and Luna's attention. They were too far away, so Yusei took the initiative and started his runner again. He wanted to get a closer look.
In only a couple minutes, they neared a pink and brown house. Stopping in front of it, they all looked at each other. "Maybe someone in here can help us figure out how to get to Gear Town."
They nodded and moved their rides closer to the house. Luna stared at the house and its surroundings. Something was off, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was. She looked at the outside of the house. "Is it just me, or does the house look...perfect?"
They looked at her and looked back. "What do you mean?" Akiza asked.
"Everything just seems exactly where it should be, like it has never been touched." Luna said confused.
"Maybe they are just neat freaks." Leo told her as they walked up to the house. Yusei stood closest to the door, making sure that he was in front of the others. He knocked on the door five times and waited. Moments passed and he looked at the others. Maybe no one was home.
That was when the door slightly opened. They turned their heads to look into the opening, but saw nothing but darkness. Yusei placed his hand on the door and slowly pushed it open. The sunlight shone through the door, showing the interior of the house. The lights were off, but they could clearly see the Victorian design throughout the room.
"Kind of creepy.." Leo whispered to himself. He saw Yusei and the others slowly walk in the house. He sighed as he stood right outside the door. "Well look at that, no one's home. I guess we should be leaving." Leo said slowly stepping towards his duel board.
"Come on, Leo." Akiza said, not even turning to look at him. She didn't have to look at him to know that he followed her orders because she heard his footsteps coming closer.
Luna turned her head to say something to him, but was interrupted when they heard a small voice calling from another room. It actually sounded like it was coming from the next room over.
"Someone's here. I wonder who it is." The red haired signer said looking towards Yusei. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Let's check it out." He responded. They all began to walk towards the voice. Yusei pushed the door open. "Hello?" He called out. They found themselves in the kitchen. At the dinner table sat a little girl, who could not have been any older than 6 years old. She was eating by herself. She swung her legs back and forth seeing as they didn't touch the ground. She wore a light pink night grown that stopped right above her ankles. There was nothing on her feet and her hair was down.
The small girl looked over at them. Her big blue orbs stared at them for a few moments before returning to her bowl. Then suddenly the door behind them shut. Startled, they turned around hoping to see someone who was responsible for closing the door, but saw no one.
Akiza and Luna's eyes widened slightly. They looked at each other confirming their hunch. They both felt a strong energy in the room, but they knew that it wasn't either one of them. Either someone with a crazy amount of power was hiding in the room or the innocent looking girl
"Hey little girl, are your parents home?" Akiza asked sweetly as she took a couple more steps closer to her.
The little girl looked over to her. Her eyes seemed as if they were filled with sadness. "They are too busy to talk." They could see that she was upset about it, but Leo pressed on. Regardless, they had to figure out how to get to the district.
"Well, is there a map here somewhere? Or do you know how to get to Gear Town?" He asked. They were certain that they would get some kind if answer, but they were wrong. They watched as she shook her head. They sighed. Looking at each other, they knew that they should probably get back on the road.
"Will you play with me?" The small girl asked. They hadn't even noticed that she had gotten out of her seat. She stared at them, desperate to spend time with them. However, the Heart Crystals weren't going to find themselves. Akiza gave her a small smile and knelt down in front of her.
"I'm sorry, but we really need to get to Gear Town. We need to figure out some things as soon as we can." Usually she wouldn't mind, but if they were going to have to find the district on their own, it would probably help if the sun was still up. "Maybe next time." She said smiling and turning to the others. They all nodded. She looked at Yusei as he slowly walked towards the door. She looked at him knowing that he was making a mental note to come back here on the way back to Ancient City.
The gang gave her a smile and turned to head back to their runners. As the girl watched them walk towards the door. She not only felt sad, but angry. Her energy escalated because it was solely based on her mood. Without realizing it, tears heavily flowed from her eyes and she began balling her fists. As Leo opened the front door, the door was violently pulled out of his hands and slammed shut. Surprised, they all jumped not knowing what to do. Akiza swiftly turned around and gasped, causing the others to look as well.
The girl stood there staring at them and she was angry. Letting out a sinister laugh, she wanted to relay an important message to them. "You aren't going anywhere.."
The gang stepped back in shock. Her voice wasn't the same innocent voice that they had just heard moments ago, but it was much darker. Leo couldn't take it as he sprinted towards a huge window that was in the living room, not too far from the door. The others were close behind him, trying to get as far away from her as possible. However, the girl could not let this be.
Their feet came to an immediate stop when a dark attribute duel monster materialized in front of them. They were unable to identify the monster because shadows seemed to cover its face. They quickly turned to run away from it, but another monster materialized in front of them about several feet away. They stood frozen in place as the little girl laughed.
"This is fun!" She said as another monster appeared behind them from the shadows. Without making a sound, the monster had a clear shot at Luna, so he stretched his arms and grabbed her. She screamed as she tried fighting it off but it was no use. The monster swiftly began pulling her towards him. Yusei, Akiza, and Leo tried chasing her, but they weren't quick enough.
"Leo!" She screamed as she felt herself being swallowed into the darkness. She reached out her arm as far as it would go. Leo reached out to her to grab hold her hand, but as soon as his fingers brushed against hers, she vanished. Immediately after, two monsters appeared in front of Yusei and Akiza, causing them to jump back and stopping them from getting to Leo.
"No!" Akiza cried out as she could no longer see Luna.
"Luna!" Yusei exclaimed as he worked his way around the monsters in front of them. For a second, Leo just stood there in disbelief. They took his sister, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. A hundred thoughts ran through his mind, but none were telling him that he should turn around and regroup with Yusei and Akiza.
"Leo! Watch out!" Yusei yelled making his way towards the boy.
"Move, Leo!" Akiza added, running alongside him. However, Leo did not hear them. He did not understand what was happening until it was too late. He jumped in surprise as something grabbed his leg. He looked down to see a dark shadow hand pulling him through the floor. He turned towards the older signers and reached his hands out for them.
"Help me!" He screamed. He was already chest deep into the floor when Yusei and Akiza grabbed his hands. They tried using their strength to pull him back up, but it was no use as another shadow figure knocked them away. They went flying several feet back. Leo panicked as he tried stretching his neck to prolong the inevitable. However, his last plea was cut short as his head disappeared into the floor.
The other signers looked up towards Leo, but the only thing that they saw was his hand reaching out for them as it also disappeared. Yusei slammed his fist into the floor. They were trapped, and they failed to save the twins. He turned back to the girl. Her head was down so her eyes could not be seen, but she stood there with a demonic smile on her face.
"What are you..." Yusei said quietly to himself. It was as if she heard him because she immediately looked up at the last two signers. He took a sharp breath in and turned to Akiza. She looked terrified. In all her years living under Sayer as The Black Rose, she has never experienced a dark psychic energy like this one.
"What can we do?" She managed to breathe out to Yusei. They were definitely trapped, but going up against a psychic, there wasn't much that any human could do. Yusei stared at her as they stood up. He desperately wanted to give her an answer that would solve everything, but with the twins already gone, there wasn't much that he could say. The only thing he knew though was that he would try everything possible to get them back, but they needed more than that. They needed to stop this girl, and there was only one of the signers who was physically capable of doing so.
"All of us are behind you," Yusei said to her.
After hearing his words, she understood what he was thinking. He hated to feel like he was putting a lot of pressure on someone else, but he knew if he tried anything, he would just get in the way. She wasn't sure if she was ready to use her powers again in battle, but with her best friend's lives on the line, she was going to need to figure it out really soon.
"I believe in you, Akiza," he said putting his hand on her shoulder. "And maybe I can find a way to get in touch with Leo and Luna."
Akiza nodded. She didn't like the plan, but there was no other way. Suddenly, her body tensed. She had done it again. When it was just her and Yusei, she had a really bad habit of tuning out everything around her. For a moment, Akiza had forgotten how scared she was, and it was a good thing because she was able to gain a little reassurance that maybe she does have what it takes to defeat this girl. However, she didn't seem to notice how much closer the shadow figures had gotten until one was only a few feet away from Yusei.
She gasped, ready to warn him, but he swiftly pushed her out of the way. She stumbled to the side and looked back at him, noticing that there was a shadow figure exactly where she was just standing. The two figures stretched their arms around Yusei and closed in on him. As soon as he tried to escape, the shadow figures combined as one and hugged onto his skin. Akiza gasped. For a few seconds, all she could see of him was his silhouette, and then suddenly he disappeared.
Akiza cried out for him, but she knew it wouldn't change anything. The girl now had three of the signers, but Akiza was determined to get them back. The little girl let out another sinister laugh, but Akiza did not move. She looked down at her mark as it faintly throbbed. She felt the connection that she had with all of them. She wasn't sure exactly what it was saying, but she knew that for now, they were safe, and that is all that mattered.
Without realizing it, Akiza's powers picked up. As a result, there was a wind that began to circulate around the room, but it did not bother the little girl as much as it bothered Akiza. She did not know how much power she would need to use against her, but she just knew only two things could come of it; either Akiza could prove to herself that she really did have control over her powers, or The Black Rose would be making an unexpected comeback.
Sorry for the long wait, but it took me months to finish this because I didn't have time during the semester. I will try to have another chapter out before second semester starts, but with only 2 reviews last chapter, I felt like there was no rush. I love writing this story, and I hate to keep my few reviewers waiting, but if I'm going to be getting 1-2 reviews a chapter then I might as well take my time with updates...especially if way more than 1-2 people read the chapter.
I really want to know what you guys think. A lot of you guys will just read and leave and I can never be sure on if you think it's good or not. If you really like the story, don't like it or if you don't like certain things in the story, let me know! Your opinion is very valuable to me.
I can't be any more straight forward than that. Lol You've already gotten this far, so please take a few moments to review!