The World Duel Carnival, the WDC for short, was a tournament held in the city that had gotten quite the attention since its announcement and was attracting masses of people –duelist or not- to the city. To advance, participants had to duel, betting for a heart piece. If they could collect 5, they could get to the next round.
At least, that was what Yubel had been told when she asked for an explanation for all the hearts, the huge cart and the noise that came with them.
Apparently Yuma had wanted to the enter, however made the mistake of not signing up, and was now at the gate trying to get a heart piece –the key to entering- from the operation committee. The boy was met with a man in a somewhat strange suit, who boasted loudly about how lucky Yuma was. The two spirits had watched the scene from above, curious about the events.
A large wagon came through the gates, outrageously decorated with hearts and lights, the vehicle accompanied by litterbots trumpeteering. The parade spread out around Yuma and his friends, halting before them. On top of the wagon were 3 people, in front a man in suit who seemed to match the wagon's style perfectly, and then a pair behind them, a purple haired woman and a red haired man.
"Isn't it pretty strange that they decided to make an exception for Yuma specifically, though?" Yubel remarked, tilting her head a bit.
"Now that you mention it, it is indeed rather odd", Astral answered with a nod.
"Hey Astral! Check out what I got!" The two heard Yuma call from below. He was waving his arm around, showing off what Yubel assumed to be a heart piece. He looked up, finally finding his partner, but also noticing the female.
"Oh, hi Yubel!" he yelled up at her, much to said person's surprise.
In return, Yubel waved with a small smile. She was purposefully reserved, knowing that, despite Yuma's welcoming tone they still suspected her. She didn't want to invade them either, if anything it would push them away even further. She didn't need that to happen again after what happened in the pendant before.
"Come on!" he then said, inviting them both to come down. The man, along with his mini-parade, had disappeared back into the gate. "Nice to meet you! The name's Yuma!" he introduced himself once the two had descended back to the ground.
"Wait, she's here?!" the green haired girl, Tori if Yubel recalled correctly, exclaimed.
"Activate your duel disk and use my card", the duel spirit suggested, faintly extending her hand towards it.
Astral quietly observed what was going on, not quite understanding the point of all that. He did notice that there was a shift in Yubel's behaviour, not quite different, but not quite the same either. It seemed to be a change in tone instead.
"Oh, alright", Yuma said confused and did as told. Upon activating the card there was little to no difference for Yuma and Astral, but the startled expression on their friends' faces showed that it had in fact worked. The fiendish creature in the air above them as well.
Again, Yubel waved, knowing that her appearance was not exactly the comforting kind. Not looking menacing was the key, even if it meant looking a tad silly instead. And while they were still shaking in their shoes, she did see that it could've been worse.
"N-nice to meet you, Yubel", Tori stuttered, the rest of the group nodding to show they felt the same way, albeit unable to actually say it.
"And it is a pleasure to finally meet you all properly as well, Tori", Yubel answered, making a small now.
The group jumped in surprise of the sudden movement. Yubel stopped in her tracks as well. Maybe she'd overestimated her abilities to appear less of a threat.
"H-how do you know my name?" the green haired girl blurted out.
"Ah. Well, I've been observing the era I ended up in, your names included." she said, and then looked at each of Yuma's friends separately, naming them all in the process.
Astral's head perked up at her words. "Yubel had been observing too?" Astral wondered quietly. She'd only been in this place for a short while, less than a day, yet she seemed to have gathered much more information than him. Then again, she had been in on Earth before. "How long had it been? She said 'era', so he couldn't imagine it not being a long time.
Tori had a similar question.
"Era? What do you mean?" she asked.
"How long has it been since you last were here?" Bronk chimed in.
Yubel hesitated, thinking about her words. "How long has or been?" she pondered out loud, a small sigh coming from the group. "Turbo dueling…" she recalled.
"Doesn't ring any bells here… that must've been so long ago!" Cathy exclaimed.
"What'a that like?"
"It makes you feel very... out of place," the spirit muttered. A sudden feeling sadness overtaking her. What she said was something that she didn't want to admit, but was always there, in the back of her mind. Ever since Jaden had passed, she'd struggled with that fear, finding herself trying to fit in in a group, into a timeline, she didn't belong in. She was afraid of not finding a purpose, a new place to belong. Her entire life, her entire existence, had revolved around Jaden, even during the time before she became a spirit. "How could-" her thoughts were cut off.
"Yubel, are you doing okay?" Yuma spoke up, noticing her sudden sad expression. She hadn't said anything since the last question, despite new questions were thrown at her regularely. A silence quickly overtook the atmosphere, the rapid fire of questions stopping at that one.
Yubel's train of thoughts stopped, her eyes focussing on the kids again.
"I-I'm sorry", she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Then she disappeared, her only trace a now motionless hologram.
Everyone was surprised at the duel spirit's sudden exit, leaving them quiet for a while.
"Why'd she leave?" Flip spoke up. Everyone looked at Yuma, who just shrugged, equally confused.
The feeling of loneliness was something Astral had only heard of. Most of his time was spend with Yuma to observe the strange world around him, and the time he hadn't, he was inside of the key, trying to figure out himself and his lost memories.
As such, he has never really felt the desire of company, and thus has never felt lonely.
Yet, he thought he understood Yubel.
If anything, Yubel had made a fascinating impression on Astral. Her existance alone had already perked his interests, even their first meeting was on the rough side. The being had to be quite old, and placing himself in her shoes, he could understand what she was going through. She'd found herself in a new environment, a new way of life that may have rendered her previous knowledge useless. Unlike him she still had her memories, but if they can't be used in the present you may as well be without them.
This reaction had made him even more curious. He wanted to know what the spirit's past was. What knowledge she contained, and maybe learn from it. There might even be a chance she had indirect information about himself. A small chance, however not an opportunity he could let slip.
The only thing left to do for him, is finding her.
Memories are a fickle thing. One moment they fill you with joy, the other they break you, reminding you of loss or sadness in such a manner that you feel that you can't continue anymore, and the future is only a thought, buried underneath the pain on the past.
At moments like this Yubel wondered if she'd be happier without her memories. It made her envious of Astral, in a strange way. Existence without the past haunting her sounded surreal to her, yet she secretly wished such a thing was within her reach.
Images of Jaden came to mind. Jaden smiling, laughing and just enjoying himself, however also images of his frustration, his sufferings. None of the memories were unfamiliar, yet they summoned new sadness inside of her. Despite being surrounded by others for the first time in a very long time, Yubel hadn't felt any lonelier in her existence.
"How could he expect me to continue without him?"
"Who expects you to do that?"
AN: So I've promised myself to keep a minimum word count of approximately 1500 words for the sake of keeping semi-consistent quality. Have to say that this chapter started out pretty well, however grew more difficult along the line. Satisfied enough to post it, though, so here it is.