Flight 3: Crossing the Threshold
Who are those people? A young Lilith asked, watching a couple men run through the house's main foyer and down the stairs. Are they here about Dad's invention? She put down the stack of cards she was holding and silently followed the men. As she approached her father's workshop, she heard the voices that she assumed belonged to the men. What are they saying? I need to get closer.
"...directly into his brain stem."
"What the hell was he trying to accomplish?"
"I have no idea."
What?Lilith asked herself. For the first time she could remember, the door to her father's workshop was unlocked and open. The two men continued talking about something. She entered the workshop. At first she had wondered why the men took no notice of her, but the same sight that was completely capturing their attention caught hers as well. In the centre of the room was a man in a chair with wires sticking out of his head and neck. Every now and then a jolt of electricity shot out from one of the wires, making the man twitch. "D...dad?" Lilith said.
"Oh God," One of the men said. "Get her out of here!"
"Dad!" Lilith screamed at the corpse in the chair as the other man scooped her up and carried her out of the room. She cried and struggled against the man holding her in vain, but no matter how far away Lilith was dragged from her father, the image would follow her...
Same nightmare every night. Lilith thought, glancing out the Eternal Eclipse's window to the morning sky. You'd think my subconscious would be a bit more creative. She picked up her pillow. For the first year or so, I'd be crying while I had that dream. Good to know I won't waste any more tears on that idiot.
"Hey, Lilith," Ray said, as she took an empty seat at the table at which he and Julian were finishing breakfast. "Sleep well?"
"More or less," she replied, as she took a few slices of toast off the plate Julian offered her. "Where's our next stop?"
"Skiathos," said Julian. "It's a small island focused mainly on the airship-building industry. Nonetheless, there's a pair of duelling sisters who came fifth in the Eldricyte tournament."
"Only fifth?" Ray sighed. "I wanted to test ourselves against the winners of the tournament!"
"Considering yesterday's events, I think the fifth-place duellists will be more than enough of a challenge for you," Julian said dully. "I won't try to make you change your decks too dramatically, but at the very least, try to come up with a few combos. And for the love of God, don't mess each other's strategies up."
"Right," Ray and Lilith said together.
"We have an hour or so before Skiathos," said Julian, rising to his feet. "When the two of you think you're ready, duel me. I'll be in the engine room... there's been a weird clicking noise."
As Julian left, Ray and Lilith spread their decks over the table. "You have a lot of different cards," Lilith said. "Aren't you worried you'll draw the wrong one?"
"Not really," Ray replied. "I trust my cards... and besides, there aren't many Solanimus cards that work well in multiples like that Wilting Lotus of yours. You've got yourself a lot of copies of a few cards, so what about versatility?"
"All my deck has to do is a few things really well. I don't think you'll be complaining if I use three Moonlight Veils to save your monsters." She snapped her fingers. "That reminds me! That Wild Explosion you have... we've got to use this combo with my Sacred Sprite."
"Oh yeah!" Ray cried. "Good call. And how about these? I think if you use this when they attack, and I've got Raging Dragon..."
"Ooh, yeah, that'll work," Lilith agreed. She looked over Ray's deck and frowned. "Seriously? Isn't this combo here a little inconsistent?"
"My deck doesn't focus on it. It's just a nice little bonus. But more importantly, this deck is made up of my parents' decks – they both played Solanimus."
"Your parents played?"
"Yep. Taught me how to play when I could barely read the cards. That's how I became so good."
"We might be good, but..." Lilith sighed. "I really don't want to repeat what happened yesterday," She muttered solemnly. "We're Nationals winners. There's no excuse for us losing that badly."
"One non-Duel Monsters bit of advice my parents gave me..." said Ray, holding up an index finger for emphasis. "The past is going to stay the same no matter how much you look at it. So the only important thing to focus on is the future."
"I think my father said something similar to that," Lilith muttered. "Are your parents scientists?"
"Nah. My dad was an assistant to some inventor for a while, but in the end, they were both duellists. Made their money the same way I'm doing now."
'Were'... Lilith noted. In fact, he's used the past tense about his parents the whole time.
"Hey, Ray, Lilith," Julian said, coming back about a half-hour later. "That weird clicking noise... oh." Neither Ray or Lilith had noticed him; they were completely preoccupied by their conversation. Even though from what Julian could hear, it barely involved the cards spread among the table, he smiled to himself. As he turned to leave, there was a loud thunknoise from above.
"What was that?" Ray asked.
"Why would either of us know?" Lilith retorted.
The three ran to the top deck of the ship. Lying in a heap, near one of the giant cords that held the balloon to the ship, was what looked like a bicycle with wings. A woman was standing near the wreckage, brushing herself off. She glanced over to the three concerned faces, moved her goggles up to the top of her cap and waved. "Hey," she said. "Sorry about that."
"Are you okay?" Ray asked, jogging over to the busted machine.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," The girl replied. "The ornithopter's seen better days, though."
"Orino...?" Ray said, looking over the machine.
"Ornithopter. Most airships work like yours with the balloon, or a glider. But my sister and I make ones with flapping wings. I've always liked them better, but they leave a bit to be desired in terms of durability."
"And control, apparently," Lilith added.
"Oh, no. That was my fault." The girl chuckled. "My hair got in my face and I couldn't see where I was going." She took a hair elastic from a pocket and tied her ridiculously long hair into a ponytail. "There we go. By the way, my name's Nephele. Nice to meet you."
"Nephele..." Julian muttered, as Ray introduced the three of them.
"Hm?" Lilith said.
"Nothing," Julian lied.
"So, is your orni-whatever flyable?" Ray asked.
"Nah, the wing's busted," Nephele said. "Dammit. I guess my sister was right, and this material is too flimsy. I just wanted to make it lighter." She sighed. "Anyway, where are you guys landing next?"
"Skiathos," said Ray.
"Sweet!" Nephele clenched her fists in victory. "Drop me off at Ambrosia Airships and I'll owe you guys a favour."
"Shouldn't it be Ambrosia Ornithopters?" Lilith asked.
"Eh, we mostly build regular airships. I just like the ornithopters." Nephele put her hands on the deck's railing and looked down at the landscape flying by below. "Real wings... making us free as the birds. Don't get me wrong, this is awesome too. But to fly using nothing more than human power and artificial wings... that's true freedom."
"Sounds like fun."
"Oh, it is." Nephele glanced at Ray, Lilith and Julian. "So what are you guys doing? It's rare to see a three-person airship."
"We're travelling across Greece duelling people for cards!" Ray said.
"Ah," Nephele said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "I thought maybe the three of you were hunting some mystical treasure... or maybe saving the world from some unspeakable evil."
"If we were saving the world from an unspeakable evil, we couldn't talk about it," Lilith pointed out.
"Oh, that's true!" Nephele said, entirely seriously. "Or how about going on a spiritual journey to discover the true meaning of... something about your past, I dunno."
"Nope, we're just after cards," said Julian.
Nephele sighed again. "That's my real dream. To go on one of those epic adventures you always read about."
"You have a personal flying machine. Several, by the sounds of it," said Lilith. "There's probably not much stopping you."
"Well... I can't just leave my sister to do all the work herself," Nephele said, shrugging. "We told our parents that we'd be able to support ourselves – which is true, but we need to rely on each other for that. Basically, we need to keep a steady income."
A steady income, huh?Ray and Lilith glanced at each other. Among their earlier conversation topics had been how the two of them earned their livings from various Duel Monsters tournaments.
"Ah, I see Skiathos!" Julian said, breaking the silence and pointing down at an island. "I've already inputted the coordinates, so the ship is landing already."
"Wait a second... last time the ship landed, it tilted like forty-five degrees downwards." Lilith said. "How come it's barely declining now?" Julian shrugged, but Lilith made a guess, "Did you make the ship tilt so that we wouldn't finish our duel?"
"Lilith Lilith Lilith," said Julian. "I'm but an old man with an old brain, and that would take a lot of complicated timing and planning. Do you – "
"He's not saying no." Lilith said, turning to Ray and frowning.
"I don't get it," said Nephele.
"Don't worry about it."
The airship produced legs from hatches in the bottom, which bent at the 'knees' to absorb the impact from the slow descent. The ship touched down in a giant field. On its outskirts was a hangar with a sign reading 'Ambrosia'.
"You didn't have to land here," Nephele said to Julian as the four of them walked off the gangplank; Nephele and Ray dragging Nephele's former ornithopter. "Though I do appreciate it."
"That's actually a coincidence," said Julian. "You remember how Ray mentioned – "
"Nephele!" A woman yelled. She ran from the hangar to the Eternal Eclipseat mindboggling speed, leapt onto the gangplank and flicked Nephele in the forehead. "What the hell were you thinking? I told you that material would never hold!"
"It held fine until I crashed into these guys' ship..." Nephele mumbled.
"Well, I guess that's a bit better than your wings breaking mid-air and you falling onto the ship like I was picturing," The woman admitted. "But still, don't fly things we haven't tested yet! Especially not at altitudes where you die if you fall!"
"You... you hadn't tested it yet?" Lilith reiterated.
"Flying it istesting it," Nephele argued, earning her another flick from the new woman. "Ow!"
"Anyway, you have my gratitude for returning my sister in one piece," The woman said to the gang. She actually didn't look like she was Nephele's sister – darker hair, tanner skin and a stronger-looking build. "My name's Demetria Ambrosia. Your ship's not one of ours, but I can give it a tune-up in exchange for not letting Nephele fall to her death."
"To be fair, if we weren't there, she wouldn't have crashed into anything," said Ray.
"Actually, I had a different offer for you," said Julian. "Would you instead do us the honour of a duel?"
"Eh?" Nephele and Demetria vocalized.
"The reason why we're in Skiathos is to find people with the Eldricyte cards," Julian explained. "If I'm not mistaken, that includes the Ambrosia Sisters."
"Wait, we literally ran into people with an Eldricyte while in mid-air?" Ray demanded.
"If you were going to run into anyone while in mid-air, it was Nephele," Demetria said. "I digress. I don't really have any great attachment to the Eldricyte."
"Me either," said Nephele. "But since it's one-of-a-kind, we'll want to bet it against something good."
"Shouldn't you be selling it, if you're having troubles making ends meet?" Lilith asked.
"Oh, don't worry about that. The card was an add-on to the prize; we got some good money out of it too," Demetria said. "Nephele, can you get our discs? We accept, Mr..."
"Julian Nobel. Julian is fine."
"Well then, sure. I'll take a look at what you're betting."
When preparations had finally been met (Demetria and Nephele were betting their Eldricyte – Basos the Flayer against Queen of Fate – Eternia, and Julian had made absolutely sure their Eldricyte was real), the four players squared off in the field near the Eternal Eclipse. "I feel like we should go easy on them," said Demetria. "Since we owe them for helping you not die, taking a card from them afterwards would be ungrateful."
"Not duelling us with your all would be even more ungrateful!" Ray protested. "Fight us with everything you have."
"You got it!" Nephele promised.
"Duel!" said the four of them. (8000 – 8000)
"My go!" Nephele said. "I summon Cyber Harpie Lady!" In a whirlwind of feathers, there appeared a pink-haired bird-lady holding a whip in her talons. "Next, I activate Elegant Egotist. This lets me summon another harpie from my deck... behold, Harpie Lady 1!" Another bird-lady with the exact same hairstyle appeared. "She gives all WIND monsters 300 ATK. So Cyber Harpie's up to 2100, and she herself is up to 1600. I'll set one card. End turn!"
Nice opening. Lilith thought. She's like Ray.
"Then I'm up!" said Ray. "I summon Solanimus Magmagician!" A geyser of fire signalled a man in a red wizard's outfit, holding a staff made of cooled lava (1900 ATK). "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can discard a Solanimus to draw one more card. Goodbye, Solanimus Vicious Hatchling, hello... ooh, nice. I'll set one card. End turn!"
That card! It's Wild Explosion. I can tell.Lilith said to herself, smiling slightly at the look on Ray's face.
"Then it's my move," said Demetria. "First, I activate Amazoness Village!" Huts and a spear fence appeared around the duel, enclosing the players in a jungle tribe. A few holographic woman warriors even walked from hut to hut. "I'm going to borrow a Harpie, Nephele."
"Do it."
"Then I tribute Cyber Harpie Lady to summon Amazoness Queen." A beam of light struck the armoured harpie, and in its place appeared a blue-haired woman in an ornate throne. She lazily got to her feet and swung a butcher knife-like sword onto her shoulder. (2400 - 2600) "I'll set a card too, and end my turn."
"All right," said Lilith, drawing a card. "I hope you're ready, Ray."
"Always!"
"Then I summon Sacred Sprite of Lunanima!" The black pixie with wings of water appeared, but didn't get very far before it exploded in a burst of flames. "Heh, nice."
"Solanimus Wild Explosion!" Ray announced, flipping up a Trap. "This destroys a Normal Summoned monster, and lets me summon a Solanimus from my hand. I choose Solanimus Fireraptor!" The orange-skinned dinosaur leapt out of the flames and let out a wild screech.
"Now..." Lilith began, but Ray cut her off.
"Sorry, Lilith, there's more. When Fireraptor is summoned by a Solanimus card, I can destroy one card on the field and then give Fireraptor 500 extra ATK. Fireraptor – burn this village to the ground!" The raptor went berserk, spewing flames which immolated all of the huts; the landscape returned to the regular field. (2200 ATK - 2700 ATK)
"Now, as I was saying," said Lilith. "When Sacred Sprite is destroyed, I can Special Summon two more from my deck." Two identical fairies appeared, dancing around in the air. (1700 DEF.) "But they won't be here long. I overlay my two Sacred Sprites!" The two fairies flew high into the air, out of sight. "Goddess of the frozen Wasteland, cast the world into eternal winter!" Snow began to fall, joining together in one pile. "Xyz Summon; Ice Priestess of Lunanima!" The person-height pile solidified into human shape, becoming a woman with pale blue skin and a white, flowing dress. Despite her light colours, she gave off an ominous, eerie feeling. (2500 DEF)
"Nice move," Demetria admitted.
"There's more," said Lilith. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can target a monster you control." She pointed at the amazon. Ice began to form around its feet, working its way up her body until she was fully encased in ice. "The target can't attack, be Tributed or used as Synchro or Xyz Material as long as it stays on the field. Also, its effect is negated."
"With a monster and a trap, you guys summoned a 2700-ATK monster, an Xyz monster, blew up one of our main cards and made another useless," Nephele said. "Not bad."
Perfect teamwork! Julian thought. And it only took them two days to... learn how to play two cards together.Then he sighed.
"I'll set one card and end my turn," Lilith announced.
"During your End Phase, I activate my set Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroy your Set card." Demetria said, as a giant typhoon tore through a hologram of Moonlight Veil.
"Then the path's all clear!" Nephele said, drawing. "I activate my facedown – Hysteric Party. I discard Harpie Queen, and now I can Special Summon all the Harpies in my Graveyard. Be reborn, Cyber Harpie Lady andHarpie Queen!" In a flash of feathers appeared the pink-haired armoured lady (1800 - 2100 ATK) and a teal-haired winged woman with a fierce gaze (1900 - 2200 ATK). "And now, I summon Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon!" A tiny, pink dragon lowered itself from the sky onto the field. The three harpies each grabbed chains that were wrapped around its neck. (1200 - 1500 ATK)
"That's it?" Ray asked. "That's not a dragon. That's a..." He stopped mid-sentence, noticing the dragon becoming much bigger.
"My dragon gains effects for each Harpie I control," Nephele announced. "Having one Harpie means you can't attack other Harpies. Having two means its ATK is doubled – and then Harpie Lady 1 puts it up to 2700. And having three means I can destroy one card per turn. I think I'll take advantage of that third effect!" She pointed at Ray's blazing dinosaur. "Pet Baby Dragon destroys Solanimus Fireraptor!" The dragon released a gust of wind from its jaws that extinguished the raptor's flames, leaving nothing but a raptor-sized pile of ash.
"Dammit," Ray said. Then he smiled. "I see why you guys did so well in that tournament."
"Flattery will get you nowhere! Pet Dragon attacks Ice Priestess!" The dragon released another gust of air that shattered the ice-woman. "Harpie Queen attacks Solanimus Magmagician!" The royal bird-girl shredded the red wizard with razor-sharp talons. (300 damage - 7700 LP) "Now for the fun part. Cyber Harpie Lady and Harpie Lady 1attack directly!" Lilith was struck with the armoured woman's whip as the unarmed version clawed at Ray's face. (3700 damage - 4000 LP)
Half our life points gone already... Lilith cursed. And we've got nothing on the field. This was my failure.
"I discard Solanimus Lucky Rabbit," Ray announced, chucking a card into his Graveyard slot. Nothing happened.
"I'm curious what that does," Nephele admitted. "You're up."
"I'll show you!" Ray said, grinning. As he drew a card, three miniature volcanoes appeared and from the searing lava leapt Solanimus Fireraptor, Magmagicianand a young Chinese dragon with eggshells scattered on the ground around it.
"What just happened?" Demetria demanded.
"Lucky Rabbit happened!" said Ray. "By discarding it, during my next Standby Phase, I can Special Summon Solanimus monsters from my Graveyard up to the number of times I took damage that turn. We took damage three times, so I Special Summoned Fireraptor, Magmagician and Vicious Hatchling."
"Nice," Lilith said. "And of course, Fireraptor's effect..."
"That's right!" Ray gave her a thumbs-up. "When Fireraptor is Special Summoned by a Solanimus card, I can destroy a card you control and it gains 500 ATK. Now Lilith, I know Amazoness Queenisn't a threat, but something tells me to get rid of it."
"Agreed."
"Well, without further ado..." Ray snapped his fingers, pointing at the block of ice that was once a queen. It exploded into flames. (Fireraptor: 2700 ATK) "Now let me tell you about Vicious Hatchling. It's a Level 2 Tuner with a nice effect. I tune Vicious Hatchling with Fireraptor!" The two reptiles flew into the sky. "Master of destruction, burn down everything in your path!" Ray raised his arm. "Synchro Summon! Solanimus Raging Dragon!" A great orange serpent descended from the sky, breathing fire and smoke. (3000 ATK)
"So that's your team's offensive power, eh?" Demetria asked.
"It does its job," Ray said. "Oh, and Vicious Hatchling does its job too. I can have the Synchro Summoned monster gain ATK equal to the ATK of a non-Tuner, until the End Phase. Fireraptor's got 2200 ATK." (3000 ATK - 5200 ATK)
"Bring it on!" Nephele cried.
"Gladly! Solanimus Raging Dragon attacks Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon!" The two dragons clashed in the sky; the little pink dragon's air did nothing to repel the giant orange's enormous flames. (2500 damage - 5500 LP) "And now Raging Dragon's effect hits you with damage equal to Pet Dragon's ATK." Another fireball struck Nephele. (1200 damage - 4300 LP) "Solanimus Magmagician attacks Harpie Lady 1!" The wizard threw a couple fireballs; the harpie burst into flames and vanished. (300 damage - 4000 LP) "And now it's a tie game. Demetria, you're up."
"It won't be a tie for long," Demetria promised. "I summon Amazoness Swordswoman." A tan, muscled woman appeared, unsurprisingly clutching a sword. (1500 ATK) "Now I equip her with Amazoness Heirloom." A green amulet appeared around the woman's neck.
"Her ATK didn't even go up. My dragon's not scared," Ray said.
Ray, you idiot!Lilith seethed.
"Swordswoman attacks Raging Dragon!" Demetria ordered. The woman charged and raised her sword. But instead of hitting dragon scale, it struck a sheet of ice. The ice formed a creepy ghost's head and disappeared, repelling the attack.
"I have discard-from-the-hand cards too," Lilith explained. "That's Snowflake Ghost of Lunanima, which lets me negate the attack."
"Why would you do that?" Ray demanded.
"Swordswoman would've dealt the battle damage to us instead of them. And then Heirloom would've protected Swordswoman from battle and destroyed your dragon," Lilith said. "But also, after the attack is negated, I can Special Summon a Lunanima from my Graveyard. Return, Ice Priestess of Lunanima." She snapped her fingers, and the pale woman returned to the field. "Unfortunately, because of Raging Dragon, she has to stay in Attack mode." (1500 ATK)
"Hmm, not bad," Demetria said. "It's your turn."
"I won't waste any time," Lilith promised. "I summon Seadancer of Lunanima." Her water-tailed mermaid rose from the ground. (100 ATK) "I'm gonna make sure that Heirloom trick doesn't happen again. Seadancer attaches Snowflake Ghost to Ice Priestess..." A ball of light flew around the priestess, but faded immediately. "And now I remove it to have Priestess freeze your Swordswoman." Indeed the amazon was encased in a block of ice, similar to her queen.
"How come my monsters aren't cool enough to be frozen?" Nephele asked. Cyber Harpie Ladygave her a worried look.
"I'll set one card and that's all for me," said Lilith.
Nephele drew. "Cyber Harpie, attack Seadancer! Let's show Lilith why you're worth being encased in ice." The harpie flew at the mermaid, but she disappeared. "Wait, what?" Nephele asked.
"Meet Shift," Lilith said, smiling slightly. "It changes the attack target to..." She snapped her fingers, and Solanimus Raging Dragonappeared where the mermaid had just been. "That."
"Awesome!" Ray cried. "Raging Dragon, counter-attack!" The dragon released an endless stream of fire, obliterating the harpie. "And of course, you take damage equal to Cyber Harpie Lady's ATK after the battle!"
"Good move," Nephele muttered. (3000 damage - 1000 LP) "But Harpie Queen can still attack! Go!" Her second harpie hit Seadanceron target, slicing her to ribbons. (1800 damage - 2200 LP) "I'll set a card. Go."
"I don't need much preparation for my turn!" said Ray. "Raging Dragon attacks Harpie Queen! End the duel!"
"Oh, it's just getting started!" Nephele promised, flipping a card. "Wabokusets the Battle Damage to 0."
"All right. Go for it, Demetria."
"Gladly," said Demetria. "Nephele, I think it's time."
"Agreed."
"I activate Polymerization!" Demetria declared. Her Amazon broke free of her ice prison and leapt into the air alongside Nephele's Harpie Queen.
"What?" Lilith gasped.
"So their decks are based on it after all," Julian muttered to himself.
"The courage of Athena..." said Demetria.
"Joins with the beauty of Aphrodite!" Nephele continued.
"Heaven and Earth become one!" The sisters said simultaneously. "Fusion Summon! Winged Amazon – Mistress of Earth and Sky!" An armoured woman appeared in a flash of light. She had the wings and light hair of a harpie, but was tan and muscled like an amazoness. (2800 ATK)
"Cool!" Ray gushed.
"Thank you," said Demetria. "I activate Winged Amazon's effect. By Banishing a Harpie in our Graveyard, I can Special Summon an Amazoness and transfer the effect – or vice-versa. So, I'll banish Harpie Lady 1 and reviveAmazoness Queen." The blue-haired woman from the start of the game appeared, wielding her sword more eagerly now that Winged Amazon was present. "Amazoness Queennow gives all WIND monsters 300 ATK."
"You don't have any," Lilith noted, looking at Winged Amazon's card through a mirror on her disc. "Winged Amazon's EARTH. Oh, wait..."
"That's right," said Nephele. "Winged Amazoncounts as a WIND Warrior as well as an EARTH Winged-Beast." (2800 - 3100 ATK)
"Dammit!" Ray cursed, having just calculated Amazon's ATK.
"Winged Amazon attacks Solanimus Raging Dragon!" Demetria ordered. Her creature drew a sword from her back, extended it into a whip-sword and struck the dragon down. (100 damage - 2100 LP)
"My dragon..." Ray said solemnly.
The ace card of his parents' deck... Lilith remembered. She frowned. Demetria, I won't forgive you for that.
"Hmm..." Demetria muttered. "Lilith's up next, but I'm not really concerned about her stalling right now. So Amazoness Queen attacks Solanimus Magmagician!" The woman cleaved the wizard in two with a single blow. (500 damage - 2100 LP) "You're up, Lilith."
Lilith drew a card wordlessly, though she clenched the card she drew almost with enough force to bend it. First you destroy a card precious to Ray. Then you ignore me as a threat?She looked at her cards and almost laughed. "Demetria, I won't forgive you."
"What? What did I do?" Demetria asked.
"I summon Sorceress of Lunanima!" Lilith announced. A woman with blue-black hair appeared, wearing a flowing black robe. (200 ATK)
"Pointless," Demetria chuckled.
"Sorceress' effect," said Lilith. "Once per turn, if I control another Lunanima," She gestured towards Ice Priestess. "I can return a monster you control to your hand."
"Wait, what?" Demetria cried, as a flurry of snow from the sorceress' staff blew Winged Amazonback into the sky with a twinkle. "Our ace card..."
"I'm not done yet," said Lilith. "I play Crystal Mirror of Lunanima. This lets me Special Summon a monster with the same name as a Lunanima I control. Sorceress number two!" An identical woman appeared, brandishing an identical staff. "She'll return Amazoness Queento your hand!"
As the eyepatched woman was sent spiralling into the air, Ray noted that Lilith was the only one with monsters. I've taught her well.He said, smiling.
"Battle Phase time. Let me tell you, this is the first Battle Phase I've had in years. Ice Priestess, Sorceresses! Attack!" The three woman flung ice and criss-crossing streams of water at Demetria. (1900 damage - 0 LP) As the final holograms faded, Lilith exhaled deeply. "That felt good."
"Brilliant duel!" Julian said, clapping. "The two of you supported each other perfectly throughout the whole of it." He turned to the Ambrosia sisters. "The two of you are very worthy opponents."
"Yeah," Ray agreed. He shook Nephele's hand as Lilith took Demetria's. "Let's play again some day."
"Maybe even a tag-team tournament," Nephele suggested. "The two of you are definitely ready."
"Well, we've still got a job to finish first," said Lilith. Demetria passed her the Eldricyte, which Lilith handed to Julian. "One down, four to go."
"Quite right," Julian agreed. As he, Ray and Lilith boarded the Eternal Eclipse, he said to the waving sisters, "It's been a pleasure."
"Come back any time!" Nephele called back. "We'll give you a discount on fuel or something."
"Or not," Demetria added. "We still need to eat."
Nephele turned to Demetria, but the ship's door closed and their conversation was cut off. The ship began to rise and finally flew out of sight.
Ray and Lilith watched Skiathos disappear over the railing. "Good job today," Julian said, before going off to presumably wherever in the ship he kept his cards.
"Hey, Ray," Lilith said, after a long silence.. "Er... how did your parents die? Pardon my bluntness."
"Too much past tense I see," Ray said. "Just an accident. Going from one tournament to another, and their airship crashed."
"I see..."
"Something tells me..." Ray put a finger to his forehead. "You want to know why I'm on an airship right now if one killed my parents."
"Y-yeah, actually."
"My parents died doing what they loved. It might've been earlier than they – or I – wanted, but I don't think they had any regrets." He rested his head on the ship's railing. "And they'd want me to focus on the future instead of dwell on the past. I'm going to spend my time doing what I love too."
Lilith thought for a while. Then she said, "You know, you're a lot smarter than I thought."
"Um... thanks?"