Hello, everyone. Posting again. But these are just kind of like important filler chapters. That seems contradictory, but whatever. I'm still not to the main plot just yet. Building up to it. Waiting until I know a few decks and moves before I post a real chapter with a duel in it. Until then, enjoy story-mode portion of this story. 'Cause once it gets going, (which hopefully it will without me "taking a break" again) it will be a battlefield. Okay, that's exaggeration, but whatever. I'm tired.

"Hello Horus," Sadie said absently as she went among the shelves, inspecting them and definitely not looking at him. "Today, would you mind taking an inventory of these shelves? They look like they're getting a little low, and I want to know what to order."

"Um, actually, I want to have a talk with you today, Miss Richardson."

The old woman paused, picking up on his serious tone. "What about?" she asked, finally looking at him.

"Why you've been avoiding me. And what it has to do with my new deck."

"I haven't been avoiding you. That's ridiculous!"

"No, it's true and I want to know why," Horus said firmly. He was getting sick and tired of this charade.

Sadie sighed. "Alright, alright. I haven't been meaning to avoid you, dear. Honestly, I haven't. But it's just that...well..."

"Just that...?"

"Your new deck is one that I haven't seen in fifty years."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's a cursed deck," Sadie said, killing all the tension in the air.

"Seriously, a cursed deck?" Horus laughed, trying to hold back his amusement and failing. "You believe in fairy tales like that, Miss Richardson?"

"I didn't. Not before I met Jaden Yuki."

"Jaden Yuki? I keep hearing his name everywhere now. Who was he?"

"He was a Slifer red student, just like you. But unlike many Slifers, Jaden almost never lost a duel, even against Obelisks."

"Then why was he in Slifer?" Horus wondered. "If he could duel like that, then surely he would've easily made Obelisk blue."

Sadie let out a short laugh. "I don't think that boy ever cared about anything besides dueling and his friends. He turned down the offer to move up to Ra yellow in his first year after beating an Obelisk blue student during a field exam simply because he wanted to stay with his friends. After that, he never got the offer to move up again. That probably also had to do with the fact that he never did his classwork. He was a classic slacker, but the type that you couldn't help liking. I think that if I ever saw that boy in anything other than a red jacket, it just wouldn't be right."

"That doesn't sound like someone who'd be cursed," Horus pointed out, confused.

"Well, you see, ever since Jaden came to this school, weird things started happening. Things that Jaden always got involved in. A problem came along, Jaden settled things with dueling. For example, a supernatural force called the Light once took over someone's mind and wanted to brainwash everyone in the academy. But Jaden saved us all and released the controlled people. "

"Assuming you're not just yanking my chain," Horus said, "which I'm pretty sure you are, I can kind of see why Jaden's deck is called cursed. But still. Why specifically this deck? What if it was because of someone else's bad luck and Jaden was just there to fix it? It sounded like he was a hero."

"A hero? Maybe so, but not one with a happy ending," Sadie mused darkly. "You see, up until we were sent to another dimension, I thought that bad luck had fallen on the academy itself and that it was a good thing Jaden was around to save all of us so many times. But the quick trip to the alternate dimension was the doing of one of Jaden's old cards seeking revenge. Yubel wanted revenge so bad, she brought us to a dimension where duel monsters were physical beasts and she took control of several students and to break Jaden's spirit. She succeeded."

"What happened?" Horus wondered. It didn't matter to him anymore whether this was a fairy tale. He wanted to know.

"Well, when he was battling Yubel to get us back home, his best friend took his place and ended up getting left behind in the duel dimension, which dealt Jaden a huge blow. He felt it was all his fault that his friend was left behind and was probably dead. He was desperate. He would've done anything to make things right. And that's just what he did.

"A much smaller rift reopened on the grounds sometime after our return. I don't know how he knew about it or where to find it, but he tried to go back into the duel dimension on his own to find his friend. Some of his friends found him just in time and decided to go with him.

"After that, I don't really know. I wasn't there. But I heard terrifying rumors of what happened over in that other dimension. Jaden was completely taken over by his dark emotions and did horrible things. No one talked much about it, only snatches of whispers.

"Not only that, but even though nearly all of his friends came back safe and sound together, Jaden never returned with them. He wasn't seen for a very long time. Everyone thought he died in his last duel with Yubel. Then, one night, he just shot of the sky. Just like a shooting star," Sadie said, a sad look on her face. "That's the really ironic part. He came home like a shooting star, a sign of hope. But Jaden was anything but."

"Ever since he came back, he was the complete opposite of his past self. He dueled with a darker passion, made it a cold professional crushing of the opponent rather than a friendly game. Before the duel dimension, he went to classes, even if he slept through them. After, well, no one saw him. Not even his past friends who used to be so close to him. Something happened to change that boy. And seeing the past he had, it had to be something unimaginable. I'm kind of glad I don't know."

"Well, surely his life got better after the academy," Horus asked desperately. He felt a strange unease, a desire to find a happy ending somewhere.

"No one saw him after graduation. It was like he just disappeared. No one's seen hide or hair of him since then. For several years, students spread rumors that Jaden was just a ghost that came to be to protect the academy. I knew better. I knew him. And I know that people don't just disappear. That's why that deck is cursed."

That single sentence reminded Horus that this was just all some story invented by a bored old woman who owned a card shop. She was just pulling his leg.

"Miss Richardson, I'm not a kid. I don't believe in myths or fairy tales or curses anymore."

The old woman sighed, suddenly seeming very tired. "No, I suppose not. But I had hoped you would recognize the truth." There she ended the whole conversation. She told him to take the day off; it wasn't going to be a busy day in the shop anyway. Horus suspected that it was because Sadie wanted to get away from him, but he decided to give the old woman her space. She seemed to need it.

Horus couldn't go back to his room. Not right away. There was no one there, and Horus wanted to share what he'd just heard. Or, at least, he didn't want to sit in his room in case...in case...ah, he just didn't want to be there. He really wanted to duel again, with his new deck. It made him feel happier. How could a deck like that be cursed?

He walked back in the general direction of the dorms, intending to take a long detour through the forest to visit the old Obelisk dorms.

Absentmindedly, Horus took out his cards and started shuffling through them again. Avain, Burstinatrix, Neos, Grand Mole. They felt like cards he'd seen a million times, dueled with in numerous battles. They were good friends of his! Horus caught himself in the middle of that strange thought. He'd dueled with these cards only once. He shouldn't have felt so attached, yet a greater portion of him argued that he'd known these cards all his life.

Shaking his head, Horus continued to make his way slowly through the forest, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He'd gone to the old off-limits dorms a thousand times before. The dorms were easy enough to get to, so Horus didn't need to focus on his surroundings.

Once again that card came to the surface. The Supreme King. It made Horus vaguely uneasy, but he decided it was just the ghost story that Sadie just told him that was affecting his mood. He inspected the card closer. As far as Horus knew, no card like the Supreme King had ever been made. Plus, the split personality-sensation the card gave off creeped Horus out. It was just like...Jaden. Sadie had said that Jaden seemed like a completely different person after a supposed jaunt in the alternate dimension.

But this kid wasn't Jaden. It was just a Duel Monsters card. He needed to get rid of Sadie's stupid story quickly before he started seeing ghosts everywhere!

All of sudden, Horus' enthusiasm for a duel died away. He put his cards back in their holster and realized that he was standing outside the old Obelisk dorms, which came as a pretty big shock. Time sure did pass fast when admiring Duel Monster cards. But speaking of ghosts, Horus thought he glimpsed someone just inside the sagging doorway of the crumbling building.

"Hey!" he called. "You best get out of there. That building's off-limits! It could come down any second, you know?"

Whoever it was didn't hear him. In fact, they went farther inside.

"Hey!" Horus shouted again, but it was no use. Acting on impulse, Horus ducked the old chain roping off the building and ran inside. To his surprise, there wasn't anyone inside when he got there. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Only the old dorm answered him, creaking and moaning as if it was going to fall on him. It was ten degrees colder than it was outside, and although it was a bright day outside, the dorm was dark. It started to freak Horus out, so he retreated outside of the chain and shrugged off the experience as a hallucination. He really needed some real sleep.