Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Lisa waited a few minutes while Kaiba took care of a few company things. To relax as well as focus her mind so that she could best explain what was happening, she took her deck and repeatedly cut, shuffled, and placed the top four cards face down, flipping them over one by one as if she was doing a reading on herself.
"Practicing your hoax for when you open your shop?" Kaiba asked suddenly, causing Lisa to jump in surprise.
"It's not a hoax, and I find it meditative," Lisa said calmly, continuing to cut and shuffle her deck.
"That's enough. You owe me an explanation and I want it now," Kaiba said shortly. Lisa sighed and put her deck to the side.
She quickly walked over to a side table and grabbed Kaiba's deck, walking over and placing it in front of him.
"Cut and shuffle. I'll explain then." Waiting for Kaiba to cut and shuffle his deck, she took one steadying breath and, seeing the deck placed in front of her, placed the first four cards face down. Flipping them over, she revealed the same four cards as last time. Seeing a skeptical look on his face, she smirked in vague amusement.
"If you think it's coincidence, you're welcome to reshuffle," she said.
"You're stalling and I'm sick of it," Kaiba snapped.
"Very well. First I have to admit that I wasn't wholly honest in my reading," Lisa said. Before Kaiba could interrupt, she quickly continued speaking. "It wasn't so much that I lied in my reading as it was that I left something out. The Mystical Genie does indicate that magic is a part of your life. However it also indicates a potential for magic yourself."
"And why didn't you say this when you were reading my brother?" Mokuba asked.
"If you tell a skeptic that he has a strong potential for supernatural abilities, not only will you not be believed, but when and if those supernatural abilities unlock you'll have almost no chance of getting close enough to help. This was proven by the next card being the Genie's Lamp. He's trying so hard to force all forms of magic away from his life that if I had said that the amulet was anything more than a fancy trinket he'd have made certain that I couldn't get within five feet of him."
"This is ridiculous. Some sort scam to make me believe in this. Not a word of this is true," Kaiba said.
"Fine. Then take the amulet off and spiral right back into the insanity that I found you in," Lisa said, her patience with this stubborn pig-headed fool long since spent. "If you're so certain that this is all a hoax, then there won't be any problem. But considering that when I walked in you were roughly a day away from your mind completely fracturing, Ihighly doubt that I'm lying to you."
"What did you do to my brother? This all started after we met you," Mokuba demanded. To her credit, Lisa looked away in shame at the accurate accusation.
"Nothing that wouldn't have happened eventually," she said quietly. "The pendant unlocked his own psychic abilities. But it wouldn't have unlocked anything if they weren't already both present and on the verge of unlocking on their own. I just... accelerated the process." She looked back at Kaiba, an accusation in her eyes and the apology and shame gone.
"However the pendant was also going to make the process gradual and allow his mind to accept it a little more easily than he would have normally. If he'd kept the pendant on like I told him to do, this wouldn't have happened. Instead he had to be an idiot and left the pendant on the desk where it did absolutely no good."
"So what exactly happened?" Mokuba asked. Lisa paused and tried to think of the best way to explain it.
"He made the mistake every awakening psychic makes," she finally said. "He fought what was happening and the contradiction of logic and reason which said that what was happening was impossible and the fact that it was happening despite the impossibility..." she hesitated again.
"What happened is what we call a 'fracture,'" she started again. "Basically your mind has mental safeguards put in place that allow us to handle everything we go through and not completely lose our sanity. The more stressful a situation, the more strain is put on the safeguards.
"What happened with Kaiba is the contradiction of the impossible happening all around him put too much strain on his safeguards and they broke. While this is a bad thing to happen, it's not as serious as it sounds. The safeguards are put in place to lessen the strain, but your mind can handle a decent amount of strain on its own. But after a certain point your mind starts to break. This leads to insanity. The pendant takes some of the work off of your safeguards and in the case of a fractured mind repairs the damage done, though the the repairs are slow." Seeing that they were still confused, she thought of a different way to phrase it.
"Think of it like a pressure cooker. The insanity that is brought on by the contradiction is what happens if the pressure isn't released. In the case of a pressure cooker, when enough pressure builds up, it would explode. The pendant is basically the valve that lets out steam. It allows an awakening psychic to function."
"How?" Mokuba asked. Despite still being slightly confused, he did notice that after his brother had the pendant on him he was calmer and more rational.
"It's something of an on/off switch. In time he'll be able to tap into the psychic planes at will and won't need the pendant. But at the moment it will keep him from being bombarded by the psychic planes. After he's learned control, it will then help keep the strain off his mind in the higher planes."
"Planes?" This time the question was asked by Kaiba instead of his little brother. Lisa inwardly smiled in satisfaction. Despite his skepticism, he was slowly believing what was happening.
"There are numerous psychic realms, Kaiba. And in each of those realms there are different planes that can be accessed. The higher the plane, the stronger the psychic energy being used. It's similar to the different stars on duel monster cards.
"Psychics in our realm, that of the cards, have six planes we can access. The plane that I am on when I do my readings is the first one. In that one you can understand the cards based on the energies they give in relation to their owner. That's why I have the card's owners cut and shuffle their decks first. Doing psychic readings is a combination of listening to the cards and understanding the readings that are given off by their owners. A thing that comes with practice.
"In the second plane you can see the shadows of duel monsters. Usually when a psychic is first awakening they're indistinguishable blurs, but there is the occasional clear image. However clear, it will never seem more than a ghostly form.
"In the third pane the ghostly forms of the cards solidify. Now instead of a ghostly illusion, they're more like the holograms duelists have become accustomed to seeing during a duel.
"In the fourth plane you can hear the voices of the cards. Meaning those voices you've been hearing are real, if that makes you feel better. Responding to these voices is something that you can do once you've entered the fifth plane." She hesitated and tried to think of the best way to impress this upon Kaiba.
"The sixth plane is the highest one, meaning it's the most powerful. It's also the most dangerous. Many awakening psychics get over-confident in their skills have tried to enter the sixth plane and have been unable to leave it. In the sixth plane, particularly of our realm, everything is more powerful. Every card that you have any kind of connection to will speak to you and offer you their powers. To a limited extent you can merge with them. However this is hard to control, even for psychics who have been using their skills for years. If even one card tries to merge with you and you cannot disconnect from it you'll be unable to leave the psychic plane. Even with the help of the amulet, your mind can only stand the sixth plane for so long. Your mind will completely fracture. At best you'll end up in a mental facility. At worst you'll die, either from suicide because you're unable to withstand the psychic energies on top of the powers of the cards or because you were unable to function and you die from dehydration.
"I'm warning you, Kaiba. Do not try to enter the sixth plane until you have a solid grasp over your abilities. With your mind the way it is now you wouldn't last a moment there. And even after you've recovered, the chances of you being able to withstand it alone. I don't care if you believe me about anything else I've said. Stay out of the sixth plane. Your mind will need at least a month to recover. As it stands now, you couldn't handle much more than the first plane."
"That's not good enough!" Lisa, Mokuba, and Kaiba all jumped at the sudden shout from an unknown source.
"As if things weren't delicate enough already," Lisa growled, standing up and walking to the mirror.
"Ray, you and Anna have better have areally good reason for interrupting me when he barely tolerates what I'm saying now," she said angrily, focusing on the mirror to allow Ray's connection to form more strongly.
As Kaiba and Mokuba watched, the reflection started to warp and Ray's image appeared. Beside him was another girl about his age. She had dark brown hair, green eyes, and pierced ears.
"What's going on, Lisa, is that you failed. Your job was to have a fully awakened psychic by the time I contacted you. Instead you have this infant who can't go beyond the first plane? What went wrong? I want an explanation, and I want it now."
"You know full-well that a fully awakened psychic is impossible in under a month. And even that is pushing it. And now that you've intruded, I wouldn't be surprised if you set this back even further." She glared at the mirror and snapped her fingers and the image disappeared. She sighed and turned around.
"Sorry about that. My brother is able to speak to people he has a connection with through mirrors. Usually people of his skill have to form that connection through work, but due to our being blood, the connection is automatically there. It also means that when I get ticked off I can tap into the first plane of his skill and end any communications and he can tap into the first plane of the cards and see their shadows."
"What was all that about?" Mokuba asked. Lisa sighed.
"I was hoping to address that on our own time, but Anna forced my hand. There's a reason I sought out anyone with the potential to be a psychic and accelerated the awakening." She looked directly at Kaiba, expression slightly pleading. "Anna has the gift of foresight. I don't know what she saw, but we need your help."