Her bare feet danced around the old, cracked floorboards. Her arms waved wildly around her, stretching out to the rotten, empty ceiling above her. She dusted through the cobwebs, through the boxes filled with junk not even she could bring herself to be concerned about. The white ruffles on her skirt lightly touched the evening sunlight, the rays slipping through a cracked window not too far from where she was. Blond strands followed her easily, as she continued on with her dance, her wide orbs taking in the enchanted, archaic world her delusions pushed her into.

"Alexis."

She stopped then.

Carefully, she turned, and saw Jaden. She beamed at him gracelessly, an anxious smile plastered on her face as she hurried towards him. When she came near, she noticed the same, black rose wrapped around his throat, with the same, sharp thorns, and the same, withered leaves, none of which would matter in their moments of eternity. Still, she stared at the blossom for a while, before reaching out, and touching her own. "We ready?" she asked nervously.

He nodded, as he shifted his gaze away from her, taking in, instead, the foreboding sea of lights, just outside the glass. Even from here, Alexis could tell what he was looking at, the ostentatious letters comprising Miyaki Hotel easily subduing their ignorance. She shrugged then, as she twirled around him, before placing her chin on his shoulder. To be perfectly honest, with a sign like that, it wasn't even that hard finding this place. In fact, the sign was so ostentatious, neither of them needed to look up the stupid hotel online; they just asked around for a little few minutes, and eventually, they managed to come here. Of course, people had been giving them funny looks, but nonetheless, they still made it. After waiting around at the front for a few minutes, Alexis got bored. So, she meandered about the grand corridors, the ballrooms, the restrooms, before she finally found the attic. Unfortunately however, Jaden followed her, since of course, they had that banquet to attend.

And just like any other dull meeting, he was wearing a thin, black sweater. An even blacker shade of black covered his back, the skeletal angel wings seemingly coming from behind. He had on black jeans to go with it, along with black combat boots with a simplistic, silver chain dangling from the side. "We should probably head downstairs," he said softly. "Yusei's expecting us."

Alexis blinked. "Why? We're in the attic, aren't we?"

"We need to be closer to our targets."

She huffed. "If we needed to be closer to our targets, we should've taken our invitations to begin with. I still don't understand why he let Belial take them though." She spun away from him, repeating the same, monotone rhythm she kept repeating in her head. "I mean, Amrbosine figured everything out, didn't she? So what's the use of hiding from her?"

"I don't know. My guess is, that he's trying to pull off another one of Akiza's gambits."

Already, she could feel herself smiling, as she reminisced the scarlet that seemingly draped around her, like a graceful. She liked hearing their surprised screams, liked seeing their horrified faces, when they realized their victory was merely a fantasy. She liked slicing through them, cutting through them with her own nails and arms, tearing their ligaments apart in by inch. Because whenever Akiza did one of her special gambits, it meant a lot of people were going to die.

And Alexis would be the one to kill them.

She continued dancing. "You think Yusei still remembers the steps?"

"He's letting Salem take the bait, so yeah, I guess."

"What'd you think will happen to him? Salem, I mean?"

Jaden shrugged, as he leaned against one of the boxes. "What'd you think?"

"Was he apart of the game?"

"A referee."

She cocked her head. "Don't you think that's kinda unfair? I mean, I don't think he had anything to do with the players. I doubt he even knew who the candidates were."

"It's because he trusted Belial."

"So? They all did at one point."

"And that's why Yusei let them die," Jaden replies. "Aren't the aristocrats supposed to be the best of the best? They aren't doing anyone any good if they keep getting fooled like that. Who knows what kinds of secrets Belial's managed to dig up?"

Alexis thought on the consequence for a split second, the consequence quietly teetering at the edge of her mind. Finally, she shaking her head. "No one knows who we are."

Jaden furrowed his eyebrows. Hesitation permeated from his frame, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Didn't you hear the rumors?"

"About us selling out the coven, right?"

"You think Yusei might-?"

"NO!"

A sharp, piercing light overtook her pupils. She instantly stopped her dance, as she stomped towards Jaden. She grabbed both his hands and pressed them against her chest, while looking up at him with sagacious eyes. "He'd never do that, at least, not to us, and certainly not to Aki. She's innocent, in all of this, and he knows better. Besides, he's your brother, isn't he? Your big, strong, older brother, who's taken care of us, after all these years."

Jaden's glare softened. Slowly, he reached over, and tucked a single, stray strand behind her ear. It was then she caught the sadness entwined in the lines of his face. "We still don't have all our memories back yet."

"I know Yusei-!"

"He's been sacrificing pieces left from right," he said, causing her to fall silent. "Our territories are being attacked, and we haven't done a single thing about it. A lot of people are getting hurt, people that have nothing to do with Fallen, or our covens. But despite that, he's still focusing on his game. To be honest Lex, I'm worried."

The girl bit the inside of her cheek. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists, as she scrutinized Jaden. The silence stretched on for forever, until finally, the brief, tense pause was over. She turned away, knowing full well that the sun was starting to go down. "He would never hurt us," she stated stubbornly. "And he won't hurt Aki either."

Jaden's arm fell to his side. "He did love her."

"And he loves this Aki too."

Jaden narrowed his eyes. "He wants to kill this Aki, Lex. If it weren't for us, she'd probably be lying in some ditch somewhere."

Alexis firmly shook her head. "There's no way-"

"Think about it Alexis," Jaden interrupted softly. "What would happen if I died?"

She blinked. "Were you killed?"

"Does it matter?"

"Cause if you were," she continued happily, taking one step towards him, "then I'd find the guy who killed you, and I'd burn him alive. I'd burn him alive, until he's nothing but a tiny little pile of ashes!"

Jaden groaned frustratedly. "Alright then, fine. Say someone murdered me, and you kill the guy, right?"

"Hmm."

"What would happen then, if you saw me walking around again? What if the me you saw, was just some plaything out to get you?"

"…Do you really have to ask?"

Confusion flickered in his eyes. "What?"

"You really wanna know what I would do?" she asked, as she lifted his arms and wrapped them around her wait. She tugged him towards her, and in that same moment, they started dancing to another one of her silent, adrenaline-induced lullabies.

"I'd come up!" she shouted, dragging him happily around the room with her light footsteps. "And I'd kiss you, right then and there!" She twirled in his unmovable arms. She twisted around, and swung him back, causing him to grunt in surprise. She let him go, and started another one of her immaculate solos. "I'd kiss you again and again and again and again, even if you've stabbed me a thousand times over!"

It took a while for Jaden to catch his breath."Are you…are you even listening to yourself?!"

"Of course I am!"

"Do you seriously know how drugged up you sound right now?!"

"Well yeah!" she shouted, as she skipped back to Jaden. "But it doesn't really matter, not at all. As long as I see you again, nothing matters."

"Even if you're stabbed ten thousand times?"

"Even then."

She bowed, crossing her feet playfully to the other side. She popped back up, and smiled her saccharine smile, the one she knew he loved. "It's obvious, isn't it? If Yusei really hated her that much, he would've killed her to begin with, wouldn't he?"

"…Not everything's that simple Alexis."

"Why?"

"It just isn't."

"Yusei loves Aki," Alexis reiterated. "And he loves us. He would never do anything to hurt us. As long as we're alive, nothing else matters."

Jaden stared at her for the longest time.

At last, he sighed, and shrugged. He held out his hand for Alexis, and though she gave him a dazed look, in the end, she smiled, and took it. "You've got a lot of faith in him, don't you?"

"We owe Aki everything," she said quietly. She tightened her grip, as she turned back to the window. She caught sight of their disillusioned reflections, the dark elegance everyone was so enticed with elusive in her eyes. It was so elusive, in fact, that the only thing she could see in that mirror, were two, poor, pathetic toddlers, who were dressed for a party they weren't old enough to attend.

She closed her eyes. "And the sooner we realize it, the better."

Jaden leaned his forehead against hers. "You still want to keep playing with that dollhouse, don't you?"

She gave him a pained smile. "The adults keep saying no."

Shapes past by him quickly, as he drove through the highways. The evening sun was behind him, already sinking low into the horizon, as he sped away from it, his own, ephemeral shadow fading fast before him. The brightly colored lights of the cityscape guided his way, though their artificial light provided neither warmth nor comfort within the cold air. His eyes strayed onto their dimness for a while, he looked up.

Jaden and Alexis should already be at the hotel. As soon as Yusei gets there, he'll get rid of Belletrix once and for all. After that, he'll target Amrbosine, and destroy the main branch. Once word gets out that Neo Domino has been hit, no doubt Fallen will try to investigate. But other covens will take the attack as a signal, to start fighting back, the same ones who laid all the others to rest. Alexis will deal with those remaining soldiers, as will Jaden, while Yusei takes care of evacuating the citizens, however few there are. Neo Domino will become a battlefield, but that's alright; with everything that's happened, he didn't necessarily care as to whether or not Yusei got to keep his crumbling image.

He turned left, his foot slowly easing onto the breaks. Tonight was going to be a declaration of war, especially after what'd happened that time, when Belletrix asked him to come back. To think that she came after him, after all this time, if only to offer him a place in Fallen. Somewhere, anywhere, as long as she could look after him, as she did many years before the Black Rose had come waltzing in to their lives. Was she still mad, that Akiza nearly killed her during the execution? Did she still feel betrayed, when she found out that Yusei had joined the coven?

Well, she always was a bit of a sore loser, wasn't she?

And yet, he knew things couldn't have been that simple.

After Akiza died, he took over as the Black Rose, with Jaden and Alexis as his Queens. The other covens were jealous, and challenged his authority. He put them down. He started the game after that. Jaden and Alexis wanted to go to Duel Academy, so he let them. He heard news about the Crimson Dragon, a test subject he remembered Jaden toying around with, when they were both still in Fallen. They couldn't find anything, so he left it there. Then some time later, he hears that Akiza was still alive, and through Alexis's forceful suggestions, he decides to go and see whether or not she is.

And then…he was here.

In Neo Domino.

The game is almost finished. Fallen returned, under the guise of a new leader. Belletrix comes to him, and offers him sanctity. New friends, new enemies, the Dark Signers…

And finally, Akiza.

His Akiza.

He gripped the handles tightly, as he descended onto the civilian streets. Who was it, that changed his memories? Who exactly were the Signers, the twins, the almost useless roommates he had to save every three minutes? Who were they; Martha, and Blitz, and everyone else Yusei Fudo had befriended? And what of Goodwin and Lazar? Were they just puppets that Fallen had controlled, or did he manipulate them? What about Sayer Sayer? Why was he after him, that night, when the entire city evacuated? How did he even know Yusei's real name?

At that very moment, he saw the hotel.

And right in front of it, two familiar duel runners he'd rather not see.

Sharp, crimson bangs cascaded from the grip of her left hand, her fingers entwined in the strands. The other hand aimlessly dangled to her side, touching the soft, cool fabric of her favorite scarlet, strapless dress. Tiny, white pearls covered her neck, pearls her mother had given her when she was but a small, simple child. White, pristine gloves adorned her hands, giving her a graceful elegance she hadn't seen in a while. As a whole, her appearance was nothing special; she's donned it in every special occasion. Even when she was in the Arcadia Movement, she refused to leave both the dress and the pearls behind.

However, it seems that for tonight, she couldn't picture herself wearing this.

At least, not ever again.

Akiza stared at the bathroom mirror, taking in the growing light lodged in her pupils, the unfamiliarity of her golden eyes. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins, though nothing was happening. She could picture her own violent past reflected back at her, the very instance of quiet disappearing from her. It took her some time to turn away, only for her to notice the limiter Sayer had given her still sitting on her bed. She was about to go toward it, wearing a tense smile on her face, but she stopped herself.

No, it didn't feel right somehow.

But even so, she wasn't focusing on the headpiece. Rather, she saw a tiny, white envelop, sitting beneath it.

And it was then Akiza walked towards the bed.

She was slightly amused, when she found the invitation in the mail. Apparently, Angela was getting a promotion at work, and she was holding a little dinner party to celebrate. Personally, Akiza didn't think something like that warranted renting out an entire ballroom at the hotel, but then of course, who was she to say how Angela should spend her money? Besides, if anything, she was happy that Angela decided to do it; it'd been a while since anyone treated Akiza to anything. It was a little strange, why she couldn't have called her first, but Akiza simply figured she was too busy with all the work she'd been dealt. She found herself picking up the envelop, and she smiled to herself.

She'd just killed three people yesterday.

And now she was going to a dinner party.

She didn't believe Yusei; she'd have to be a fool to believe him. And even if they were only half-dead, even if it was only for self-defense, it was still Akiza's fault that they ended up like that. Why she went off with Yusei instead of helping them last night, she had no idea. Was it because she was shocked by the entire ordeal? Was it because she really thought she killed them that night, and following Yusei was just a way to calm herself down? She should've stayed to help them. She should've gotten someone, anyone to help them, take them to the hospital, anything at all. It would've been better than leaving them there, lying on the cold, hard ground.

So why?

Why was she so calm about it?

She clenched the envelop tightly, as her strands spilled over her eyes. She was a good person. She'd do anything to save anyone, no matter what the cost. She was going to use her powers to help people; she's already helping the Signers save the world, and that alone was more than enough to prove herself. She wasn't the witch everyone made her out to be. She wasn't a freak. Human.

She was human.

You're everything but.

She bit her lip. She'd seen a different side to Yusei these past few weeks, a much crueler, colder side, one that reminded her of Sayer, and sometimes, of Goodwin. It wasn't at all the Yusei she'd fallen for, back at the Fortune Cup, nor was it the Yusei she'd come to care for, the person who treated her so normally. And yet, for some reason, he could still say something like that…

But she expected him to.

She needed him to.

The boy she found, back at the Fortune Cup, the boy she fought alongside against the Dark Signers, the boy she would risk everything for, had simply gone missing.

No, not missing.

That boy was but a stranger.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Akiza jumped at the sound. She whipped her head towards her desk, staring at it for a while before taking a deep breath. She placed the invitation down and came towards the surface. She opened the tiny thing and placed it against her ear. "Hello?"

"…Akiza?"

"Jack," she replied, her eyes widening in surprise. Before long, suspicion took hold of her. "You never call."

He scoffed. "Where are you now?"

"At home. I'm actually going out somewhere. Why? Is everything okay?"

"It's…can you come over? There's something we need to talk about. You…me, and Crow."

She stole a glance at her alarm clock; almost six thirty. And with the traffic, she'd just barely make it. Still, both Jack and Crow were a good friend of hers, even if they didn't get along as often as she would like. "Um, sure. I'll head over to the garage-"

"No, not there. Can you come to the Miyaki Hotel, at around seven?"

Akiza blinked. "I'm actually going there right now," she answered, as she tucked her bangs behind her ears. "But we can't talk over the phone about this?"

"…No."

She sighed, as she sped out the door. "Fine, I'll meet you there."

"Good." And with that, Jack hung up.

She stared at the phone for a bit. From the corner of her eyes, shapes of blurs past her, her own, dark silhouette trailing after her. She bit the inside of her cheek, as she raced down her staircase. She grabbed a small, golden purse and put her phone inside.

The driver was already pulling up.