Chapter 33: Legend of the Lost Clan, A New Pact is Formed

A day has passed since Maira's trial duel against her sister, where she obtained and used the ancient clan of Celestra for the first time. It was late in the afternoon, and Maira has spent hours training with Sugar, trying to get used to her brand new cards.

Maira sat down on the wooden floor in front of her new deck, unsure what was coming now.

One of the masters holding yang symbol spoke. "For your second lesson, you shall be required to understand your deck. You must feel them, the terror they felt, their desperate escape from the devastating war, and how they learned to be one with the heavens in the vast space of the universe."

The master of Yin spoke. "You may not believe what you see, young one. But let me assure you, it's no lie. This clan unknown to most people. For as their history revealed, the clan had vanished, leaving very little traces of its actual existence. As such its denizens will not lend their powers to just anyone. Now... you must wield it. Allow them to enlighten you by combining your feelings and minds as one. Only then, will they truly allow you to rule over them."

The Masters began preparing some incense, placing it before Maira before leaving the room.

Maira stared at the deck. "...What kinda weird hocus-pocus is this?" suddenly to her surprise, the deck glowed and the whole room began to change its form. "W-what?!" Maira freaked out, as she looked up to see a range of monsters floating on a space island, peering down at her. Universe Dragon was at the front, and her eye sockets sparked with shooting stars and whole galaxies that concentrated at Maira. Suddenly the dragon spoke.

"Human... if you truly wish to know us, you must know our past."

Maira suddenly saw the setting change, different tribes, a bloody war, and the horrible outcome. The very same war that she had been constantly hearing about. The Great Terminal War. She saw the people of Celestra, arguing whether to stay and fight the Worm invaders, or preserve their clan by retreating from planet Termina's radius. As time went on and the battles dragged out, the clan decided that fighting would only lead to their extinction. A fate all too similarly experienced by many of the other clans in Termina. Because they were a highly advanced tribe, they built a space arch and flew deep into space, away from all the hopeless fighting. As time continued its course, the clan gradually began to increase its strength, harnessing and controlling the endless amount of forces of the universe.

They eventually sought to return to the very homeland they abandoned... Unfortunately... It was already too late. They returned only to find Termina, a desolate image of its former self. Little to no life was left in the now frozen planet as a result of the harsh battles that occurred. And those who were left struggled to return the planet to its former glory. The remnants showed animosity to the members of Celestra, blaming them partially for the damages done the their world. Feeling nothing short of absolute shame, the clan departed back into the depths of space, seeing as they did not deserve to settle alongside the other clans who sacrificed much to end the fighting. They were soon branded in legends as " The Lost Tribe" or " The Cowardly Tribe".

Maira shook her head, coming out of the strange trance, only to see Universe Dragon standing above her in the shrine's room.

"Now you know our fate... How we were lost with the vermin we tried to destroy as well. Our foolishness and pride. Our betrayal and our grief. Will you serve our kind, Human? Or will you walk away from the cowards of the heavens? Such as us who have walked away from our people."

Maira looked down for a moment, then got up, having found her resolve. Closing her eyes she gave the dragon her answer. "... I will not serve you..." she stated plainly.

Universe Dragon's eyebrows slowly moved down, feeling nearly enraged by her answer.

"Instead," Maira's head shot up, a cocky smile on her face. "I will RULE over you!"

Universe Dragon looked surprised, and tilted her head, acknowledging Maira as the one.

"I shall make up for your mistake! I will gain repentance for my people and show the other tribes how much you've grown! I will lead you, and I we will fight this new war! No running this time, this time, WE FIGHT!" Maira stood with bravery and power, as Universe Dragon nodded her head, and it seemed she was smiling through her long muzzle.

" So shall it be said by the new leader of the Celestra, So shall the universe declare it by the stars!" Universe Dragon reared back her head and roared her words like the heaven's thunders as she disappeared after spreading her wings and flying upward.

"..." Maira turned around, seeing the doors of the shrine open. the two men with Sugar walked in, Sugar jumping into Maira's arms.

"Are you okay!? I heard shouting!" Sugar said, looking up at her sister worriedly.

"It's alright Sugar, I just now have something to prove." she smiled, and hugged her sister close. looked up at the men, she had a strong face of dedication as she spoke, "I'm ready to learn more. I'm ready to face the DT Grand Championships! Not just for me... but for the honor of the Celestra Tribe!"

The two masters smiled and nodded, "So be it."

Maira and Sugar spent a few more days at the old, abandoned Shrine, training and sightseeing around the area. Eventually they had to return back to Doriado City, in preparation for the upcoming Abyss Weiss Tournament, where Maira must prove herself and redeem Celestra as promised. As they finally packed up to leave, the two connected their Yin and Yang, lovingly referred to by Sugar as 'knickknacks', together and then took a picture.

"I'm so excited Maira! Your... ohhhhh, your so cool now!" Sugar excitedly said, "And your gonna win that tournament! the whole thing! promise?" she looked up at Maira with big, adorable chibi eyes.

"Haha, I'll do my best." Maira and Sugar bro-fisted. "But I'm just shocked that Sam's research was right all along..." Maira mentioned, mostly directing it to herself.

"What do you mean?" Sugar asked, walking along the trail back down the mountain after they had recently said goodbye to their Elite duelist trainers.

"Sam, your brother, he was an archaeologist. He was excavating a place up in the Kurogane faction that had evidence of these Tribes. Like... a written history, or what not." Maira grew seemingly more and more depressed as she talked about the subject.

Sugar looked at her kindly, with sorrow in her eyes as she asked, "Won't you tell me what happened to him?"

"...There was an unusual earthquake, and he died..." Maira and Sugar didn't speak much after that. Riding the bus, all was quiet, and slightly awkward, but the two sister's believed it was respect for the lost.

It was a fairly long trip, but eventually, the Yune sisters returned to Doriado city.

Once home, Maira and Sugar greeted their grandparents.

"OH-HO! It's good to see my granddaughters hiking and caring about their health! hoho!" Gramps said, hugging them as they walked in.

"Grampa, you know we were training in Card Games, right?" Sugar said, putting her bags down and rushing over to GranGran.

"Oh, you precious dears. Look how dirty you look!" GranGran hugged Sugar and then squished her cheeks together, seeing the dirt all over her face. "Come, Come. Bath time."

Sugar tried to wiggle out of it, but Maira said she'd join her later so Sugar surrendered.

"Maira..." Gramps began, "Have you truly decided to go back into Duel monsters?" he looked awfully worried.

"Yeah.." Maira tied her hair up, and looked in the mirror, "I've decided there are people out there... that are pushing this game to far. I'm going to try and make a difference... I don't want Sugar growing up in a world where Duel Monsters are dangerous and used in wars or something unimaginable like that."

Gramps nodded, as he looked to GranGran, who then spoke up. "Your father and mother promised to come to the next tournament and watch."

Maira froze for a moment, as she thought about that. "Isn't Mom busy with breeding through-o-bred horses in America?"

"Yes... but she says she'll make time, sweetie." GranGran added.

"...And Dad, isn't he busy trying to rival Kaiba corp and this new Duel disk system?"

Both GranGran and Gramps looked at each other, both knowing it seemed unlikely they'll keep that promise, but sticking to what they heard.

"Maira, you have to believe in people SOMETIMES." Gramps scolded her.

"Yes deary, you need to consider the possibilities."

"Like in Duel Monsters!"

"Honey, don't you dare try and relate this to Duel Monsters."

"Ohhh..."

Maira laughed, "I understand, GranGran. I'll try and have faith in the impossible." she quickly rushed upstairs to join Sugar.

"...I'm worried, dear..." GranGran said, looking to her husband after Maira was clearly out of ear-shot.

"I know..." Gramps put his arms around her, "I don't want her to get hurt either... but I still want to support her in her life's choices. If this is the path she wishes to take, then there's nothing we can do but support her." the two nodded and looked back upstairs, hearing the sisters playful banter and maybe a slight splashing fight as the day when the tournament begins would be arriving shortly...

- Meanwhile in the Kurenai Faction-

Kageru exited out the bus. He found himself standing in front of a large mansion like complex surrounded by a large gate. " Wow... So this is where Blaine lives..." Kageru walked up, only to be greeted by a large computerized panel set at the front of the entrance.

" Please state name and business."

" Oh uh... ummm."

" I'm sorry please do come again when you have made an appointment."

" N-no wait. I'm Kageru Hinodama. I'm here to see Blaine."

The computer began to scan directly at him. "BEEP! Kageru Hinodama confirmed as authorized guest. Please. Come in."

The large gates flipped open, and Kageru entered, where Blaine was waiting.

" Welcome Mr. Hinodama. I've been expecting you. So... are you ready?"

" Kageru stared with determination and answered. " As I'll ever be."