Chapter XIV
Nightmare
The top of the trees covers most of the sky, murky, grey clouds soaring above. It's night. The leaves rustle at the howling wind, an eerie chill bristles the pores of Zane's nape, his hand sliding beneath his collar, rubbing the sensation off. He's in a military camp, a tent and a fireplace nearby, his eyes squint, looking at the woods. There's someone entering there, a silhouette made of pure shadows.
"Atticus…?"
He stands up, his eyes following the other teen. There are soldiers on the camp, but none of them pays attention to him, giving an opportunity for him to walk off unnoticed. The logs of the trees stretch ominously up high, his dark-blue uniform detaching from the greenery, leaves rustling like voices whispering, raising his awareness.
A disturbing roar pierces above, agile, heavy flapping wings of a squadron of Alexandrite Dragons maneuver on the cloudy skies. Zane gasps, he can barely see the figures of duel monsters flying from the crevices between tree crowns, his gaze roams around, on the horizon, he can still see that person walking into the forest, unfazed.
"Atticus! Come back here! We're being-"
Before he finishes the sentence, vibrant flames come in droves, spit by the dragons surrounding the camp. It's all set ablaze, embers floating, he whirls around, staggering some steps back, his lips quivering speechless at the destruction, he can hear the screams, he can hear everything burning to a crisp.
He has to find his friends, Adriel, Fujiwara and Atticus, they weren't in the camp. They need to regroup, plan a counter strike and defend their position. The orders, they're important to follow, laxing a second can let people die, he hates it, but he acknowledges its importance.
Darting into the pathways among the trees, he hears whispers, from afar, enemy soldiers accompanied by Soul Tigers that growl ferociously, baring their teeth and claws as the soldiers order a pursuit, pointing at him. He rushes harder.
A group of escaping ally soldiers are there too, the tigers jump at them instead of on him, feasting on their flesh and souls. Zane's eyes flicker, he swerves his gaze, his fists closing, gritting his teeth, calling out the names of his friends louder, his voice lost in the horrifying cries of the background, drowned by the destruction. Tapping his chest to find his deck, he notices it's missing.
When did he lose it? How did he let this happen at a crucial moment? Does he even have the strength to do anything as it is? Squeezing his eyes shut, he halts, trying to refocus on his way ahead, a glimpse of a person appearing in his peripheral vision.
A smile of relief spreads on his lips, soon to turn into despair as his jaw slowly drops, his heart pounding harshly in his insides, threatening to come out at any moment.
"A-Adriel…? No, you've…"
There's no sign of life, the atrocious state of his friend is blacked out even in his sight, a creep crawling his spine. There's another corpse nearby, they're both around the same state, he can see their insides coming out, the gnarly scenes mingle in his head in a confused way. Can he even recognize if those are his friends?
"Yusuke…?"
His vision warps, dizzily stepping back he spins around, throwing up at the nearest tree root. That's right, Fujiwara and Adriel they're both dead. Gone, right? The only one alive…
"Atticus… I need to find him." he clings to the wooden log beside, seeking support, looking only forward "Quick, move, Zane, move! Move!"
His legs fail him, he can't continue, then, at last, he sees the shadow he'd been chasing, his hand stretches in the hopes of reaching out to his friend, but as Atticus turns around, his body plummets face-down to the ground.
Zane gives a step ahead, another slow step, the pace increases until he stops right in front of his friend, dropping to his knees, grabbing Atticus by the shoulders.
"H-hey… Atticus!"
His pupils thin out as soon as he turns his friend around, a lukewarm, yet disturbing sensation, as if his arms are soaked, raising one of his shaky hands, he looks at it crimson red, in blood. A gory spectacle meeting his gaze as he looks down to Atticus, it blurs out in his mind, his brain refusing to make a clear image of it, this can't be true, this can't be…
Zane's yell shatters that dream. In a second, he sits up straight, awakened by his own shouting, beads of sweat rolling down his whole body, his bed sheets soaked from it. He wheezes, breathless, his gaze venturing on the dark surroundings, then looking at his own clean hand, wavering until those emotions are placated.
"Fuck. Not again."
He mutters between gasps for air, landing his face on one of his hands. Jumping out of the bed, he washes his face, the scenes repeating intensely in his mind, he gags his own mouth, with a hand, suppressing the urge to vomit. When was the last time he felt this nauseous? The underground should have trained him to be collected and undaunted, yet…
In a few minutes, there he's, on the couch in the lifeless living room. A plain glass bottle of cold water on the grip of his hand, his green, foggy orbs set on the floor, a catatonic state of mind. Why is that nightmare repeating? They have been different lately, more hectic, violent.
With an automatic gesture, he gulps down part of his bottle, his eyes sharpening as he lowers the glass. A reflection of a person there, half hidden behind the door of the corridor far behind him.
"Rie. Did I wake you up?"
Her shoulders jolt at the call, coming out of her hideout, her brows furrowing up worriedly, he can hear as the sole of her feet unglue from the clean ceramic tiles at each step, her night gown was more akin to a long shirt than anything else, maybe a bit too large for her size. It puffs up with air as she finds herself a seat on the other end of the couch, still trying to respect the distance rule to avoid draining duel energy.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
She shakes off her head in denial, swaying her hands as if it's unnecessary to apologize, his gaze but lingers on her a second before diverting to the floor. Her big blue eyes staring at him in a frozen solid fearful state.
"It was just a nightmare," he sighs wearily, tilting his head to the side "Do you get why the guest room is so far away from my room now? I suppose even if you close all doors, that's still not enough to contain the screams…" a dry, humorless chuckle spurts in the air.
Her hands land on her lap, creasing the cotton cloth, she'd heard many different sounds in Bonaparte's mansion, even people being tortured, and this… Sounded oddly akin to that.
"Syrus told me I had those loud nightmares a long time ago. He'd wake me up when we lived together because he couldn't sleep either, this is why when I moved in here and furnished this apartment, I tried to make sure the guest room would be as far away from mine as possible. He was the only visitor, so I thought the problem was solved. My bad."
He sips more water, she didn't mean to judge his appearance but it's hard to not see the bags under his eyes. Sleepless nights and recurring nightmares might be a more common occurrence than he's willing to confess. It seems that chasing bad guys isn't earning him a restful sleep.
"What?" he asks, raising a brow after feeling observed for too long "Why the dubious look?"
Her hands fidget trying to gesture in many ways along with words, but he can't do lip reading was well as he predicted, frankly he can't understand a single word, yet he grasps the general meaning:
"I'm fine. I got used to waking up this late already and being a night owl fits well with the underground work."
"Underground?"
That's a word he could understand as she winced, an afflicted glint in her eyes, not the nicest revelation to spit out late at night, is it? Once again, he's reminded of why he took on the job that would require intimidating people and not one in which he'd be friendly with them.
"Yes. Talking about which," he propels himself up "I'll soon be back at it, then you'll have the apartment all to yourself during the nights, it will be more peaceful and silent, for sure," already walking away, he stops midway, turning half around "Also, you don't need to snoop around as if you're forbidden to come and talk or walk freely. You can just come ask me any question you have, I'll answer them if I can."
She's startled at his admonishment, at the same time ashamed for always being caught sneaking around.
"Good night, Rie."
He waves his hand uninterested, carrying his bottle of water and leaving the precinct. Rather than going back to his room, she sees the light of his office turning on. He won't go back to sleep?
Zane is a mysterious man. While he's a summoner, he's against the Empire unlike she could say for many others who often visited Bonaparte to buy "goods". Even though he helps people, he's tied to the underground universe and Rie knows those don't blend well together. Why would he willingly affiliate himself with questionable people if he doesn't agree with their means and ways?
People say not everything in this world can be categorized in black or white, Zane is one of the people under a grey area. He's as placid as a lake outside, however, she senses an inward turbulence in him, like he's constantly keeping his emotions in check and the nightmares might prove that in a sense.
It's clear Zane himself seems to be unsure of which label he'd fall under if his actions were weighted. Is that good or bad? There's no concrete answer, but conflict always stirs all sorts of bad emotions, and if they grow out of control, she fears what could happen. People can easily crumble to those negative emotions if let alone to themselves and she's seen them breaking apart for much less. Her orbs darken at a thought, looking into the corridor he went by.
Imperial Prison,
Morning visiting hours
Syrus taps his finger impatiently on his crossed arm, whirling around as a guard opens the thick metallic door to a room, pointing his thumb inside with a rude click of his tongue. His brows crease up, forming wrinkles. At this rate he'll look much older soon.
There's a chair in front of some sort of glass from which he can see Jaden, shoulders slumped and an air of disappointment all written over his expression. He sits down, for a start, taking the phone on his side, his friend mimicking the gesture:
"Man, I'm so glad you came here, Sy! You gotta help me here! Tell them, I didn't do anything, I had permission to investigate!"
"Jay, I'm a broker, not a lawyer! What do you expect of me?"
"I didn't know who else to call!" he messes his hair with a hand, his expression dimming out "It was so confusing and frustrating too! I finally saw Neos…"
"What?! You've found him? That's great!"
"Yeah, but… He was the one behind the murders…"
"That's… not so great," his eyes open in astonishment "I can't believe it, why would he do it? Neos is a Hero, right?"
"I don't know. I wanted to talk more, to ask everything, but he fled and the police got me…" he admits shamefully "That's why… That's why I need your help, Sy, I need to know what's gotten into Neos and knock him out of it."
"Jaden…"
He sighs, this doesn't make sense, Neos was never seen materialized before, why would he appear now and how? True that not all monsters require summoners to bring forth according to some of his sources, but why would he come to the human world on his own volition? This is sounding more and more strange, and he has to get to the bottom of it.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do, but once we get you out, we'll need to talk about what happened…"
"Thanks, Syrus!"
He clasps his hands together, a cheerful smile blossoming on his lips as he celebrates in anticipation. Syrus leaves the visiting room to settle this, his phone ringing, a knotty scowl forming as he answers grumpily:
"Zane, I'm a bit busy now…" a pause before he declares in utmost annoyance "No! I'm not doing any favors now, I'm trying to clear up a misunderstanding about Jaden, he's in prison!" he huffs at the next minute in which Zane rants about his attitude "Look, I'm not babysitting anyone, I'm sure she can survive a few hours alone. I don't have time for that, you took on the task, now, good luck!"
Trampling his way to the main office of the prison, he starts the procedures to clear his friend's accusations by filling some forms and talking to the director about the situation.
Duel Academy
The giant classroom is flooded to the brim with students, although chattering in low voices, the noise accumulates until two people enter through the main door, a blonde and tall man which the students laugh and make mean comments about and a blonde woman, much shorter than the man, her smile making the boys jolt on their sits and straighten up to look good.
Her sleeveless dark-blue cloak reaches down her knee joints, adorned on the waist by a metal belt arching around her, a big silver gem in the middle; her skirt is white, not too long, but there are dark stockings underneath not letting a single centimeter of skin be seen, her anklets filled in colorful gems tinkle around her black boots as she walks; she raises her arm to greet the students with a smile, pulling out sighs of the boys; sparkles reflected on the unique styled bracelets with gems dangling from them, her left hand adorned by a white glove with turquoises shaping petals of a flower on the hand.
Alexis is a popular new teacher, the girls admired her as a role model for a female summoner, she was smart and dedicated, the boys admired her for other reasons that included her "endowed" beauty as they'd comment on the corridors.
Her hazel eyes flash over all the students quickly, she'd learn their names as part of the training, the loudest one is Tyranno, bickering with Blair, those two have been together ever since the year started, their parents know each other and asked the girl to keep an eye on him, apparently.
She chuckles at the sight, but that disappears as she notices the sour face of the student right beside them, Marcel was the name. Perhaps she should approach him after lessons.
The subject she's teaching now is the basics of summoning, much to the protest of the students who'd rather go out and have field practice. Some chit-chatter runs on the class under the disapproving eyes of Crowler who takes notes, then a sudden yell pierces north to south:
"I'm telling ya! It's true!"
All eyes are on the duo, none other than Tyranno and Blair, Alexis folds her arms, looking at them in a semi scolding glare:
"Would you tell us what is so important, Hassleberry?"
"Teacher…" he scratches his head with an ashamed grin "Huh, I was just… I have a question!"
"Yes?"
"Isn't it true that duel monsters can stay in our realm even without a summoner? I've heard that before and I'm sure this is possible! I knew this guy in my hometown that was-"
The class burst into laughter behind him, he gives them a scowl in response as some boys mock him:
"Yeah, no wonder he's still a yellow rank!"
"You heard that from your dinosaurs, Tyranno?!"
"Go figure, the guy has no intellect! How did he even pass exams? This is like the basics! Everyone knows duel monsters need duel energy and a summoner! Go back to the boonies, western idiot!"
A loud, thunderous slam on the blackboard makes every student go mute, paling as they look at the teacher, her eyes are narrowed, even Crowler took a few steps distance for safety, behind her Cyber Angel Idaten hovers, a wine-colored woman with an authoritarian posture, her crossed arms, looking down on the students, it gave them the chills, she was the one behind the loud noise.
It reminded them of the other reason Alexis was well known in the duel academy. Her Ritual summons, they're much less common and harder than fusion summons and she was specialized in those. How did she even do a ritual summon in the middle of class? Their teacher is really something else.
"A minute of your attention, please," she declares loudly, with a snap of her fingers, Idaten bows, turning into white dust, the color of her duel energy "The question your colleague raised is very pertinent."
They all exchange a glance of "is it?", bewildered, but none dare raise the voice as her polite, happy smile comes back:
"You are correct that not all duel monsters require a summoner to be brought to our realm, Hassleberry. I'm impressed you'd know this, it's not common knowledge."
"S-so, I was right?" he points at himself, amused "W-well, I kinda know a case of it, hehe."
"You're right, in part."
She walks up the small corridor between the large counters the students use as a table, stopping near his seat and looking around, her voice raised enough to be heard everywhere.
"There's a recurring misconception that those duel monsters who do not require summoners do not need duel energy, but that's wrong."
"What does that mean?"
Another boy asks, her smile enlarges as she grabs their interest, every eye in the room transfixed in her.
"Let us take a look into some literature! Who wants to read this time?"
Blair instantly kicks Tyranno's ankle, he lifts his arms in reflex with an "ouch" only noticing what's going on after Alexis happily claps and his friend sniggers mischievously:
"It's very nice of you to set an example, Hassleberry. Now, let's get you the right book!"
Interlude VII - Excerpt from academic research about Duel Monsters titled "Living beyond the realm of origin"
It is widely known that duel monsters have been categorized for ease of understanding and summoning, starting by the lowest level of 1 star. The level of stars does not reflect in other aspects such as sapience and cunning. It's also common knowledge that duel monsters can vary in appearance from animal looking creatures, to humanoid figures with capability of dialoguing and logical thinking to monsters without any reason at all.
For a long time, summoning and its relation to duel monsters and their world has been an amply observed phenomena. A curious incident was once noted during researches about the said creatures: a duel monster which we will name X, by using the duel energy of a nearby summoner to which they did not have a contract with, self-summoned itself into our world, wrenching a gate open by its own will.
The monster had a high level of comprehension and could dialogue with the researchers who were quite intrigued. As both parties agreed to answer a few questions, they were separately asked those.
The summoner has proven to not have let any of his duel energy be used and explained it as if "it was forcefully drained from him". Due to the nature of the incident, that was considered a dark-summoning, however done by a monster, something unseen before.
When inquired why he'd summoned himself and drained the energy of a man, the monster X said he "wanted to explore the human world", although fascinated by it, soon that would turn to be close to a tragedy as the summoner whose energy was taken almost collapsed.
As the scientists were confronted by a puzzling scene, they were told by the monster himself who declared to not wish harm to anyone, that to stay in flesh and bone he required a hefty sum of duel energy, otherwise he'd dematerialize and thus, asked for gems.
For the continuity of the research with this "honest monster", the scientists provided gems scrambled from the whole lab from other summoners, as promised, the monster cut off the connection to the summoner, leaving his duel energy to use another source of power: the energy stored in gems.
The studies were a breakthrough at its time, decades ago, notwithstanding, the monster could not continue living in our world as gems were a high maintenance cost, so the research was cancelled for lack of funds. The discoveries made were cast onto unpopular books limited to access of scholars.
As the first documented case of duel monsters staying in our realm, a few things were concluded: one is that regardless of whether a summoner mediuns the duel energy or not, duel energy is still essential for the duel monster to remain materialized; the second is, while an interesting occurrence, it's noted only a few monsters are capable of self-summoning themselves out of their own will and it's not related to the numbers of stars or any categorizations humans invented; and the last, most haunting one is that monsters without rational thinking are also able to self-summon, even less commonly than humanoid monsters, however, a dire truth.
After the first study, other few cases were reported by some villages all over the continent, some disproven to be myths, most of the places were on the outskirts of big cities or inhabited centers, sometimes the monsters exchanged services for gems so they can thrive in our world too. The undeniable fact that some duel monsters might already be living among us humans, as our neighbors or friends, without anyone ever noticing, thrills scientists to this day. If one can't tell the difference, humanity might be going down an unknown path.
International University of Domino (IUD)
The main university of the Empire, its structure built based on gothic architecture, with towers in sharp peaks almost reaching to the sky and corridors open with long and elaborate arcs as windows from which light comes through.
The sunbeams bathe the dark silhouette of the Kaiser as he walks, his steps clacking subtly on the rocky ground, intercalating with shadows, some university students giggling at him and blushing while crossing paths and other people casting dubious glances, wondering what a man with such a fearful presence is doing there.
He stops by a wooden door, its upper half having a framed arch of colored glass with patterns of angels flying and blowing trumpets; a silver tag hammered on a nail to the side with the inscriptions "Professor Lyman Banner". Giving a firm knock on the wood with his knuckles, he hears the order:
"You may enter!"
As soon as he opens the door, he reminds why he dislikes to come here: the room is large and dark, it smells like dust, no wonder with how many shelves are lined up on the sides, and the dungeon-like flat pebble ground doesn't help in the visual, sending him underground vibes, he'd rather not see it during daylight too; the many books stashed on the wooden table on the middle of the area give it a messy aspect, it looks more like an old library than an office.
Banner in person comes and greets him with a welcoming smile and a chuckle while beckoning:
"Truesdale! It's been a while!"
What surprises him the most is the other person in the room, a silver-haired man that whirls around, looking at him blankly as he enters.
"Professor," he bows swiftly "Thank you for receiving me. Aster, I didn't expect you'd be here."
"Neither I expected to see you here, what a coincidence to meet you today," he waves his hand "Should I go out, professor?"
"Ah, no, no, please you both wait here, I'll fetch Bastion and the books, then we can talk, Truesdale!"
The man rushes out of the room, shutting the door by the time Zane musters a calm, nonchalant sentence:
"Alright."
"So, what did you come here for? Never took you for a scholar." Aster pokes around, it was a habit of his, he couldn't resist "Is there something your underground net can't find?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Oh, really? What is it?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me what you're doing here first," he bargains, crossing his arms, inflexible to more negotiating "What do you say?"
"Fair. Do you know anything about the Ancients?"
He casts a side glance, inspecting the reaction of Zane, the other man bobs his head, his brows furrowing profusely.
"They're top secret military information, though I can't say I'm amused that you know. What I'd like to ask is why you'd want more info on it…"
"It's complex, but I think a case I'm investigating currently is connected to an Ancient."
"Connected? You mean some supernatural, mysterious occurrences related to the powers of Ancients?"
"Something of the sort…" he averts his eyes, omitting the mention of Sartorius "I just don't understand it, but it doesn't look so good, so I'm informing myself."
"Hm," he mumbles in acknowledgment "Listen, there are many different Ancients, some that aren't even known by humans, people don't talk so much about it, but in the camps back at the war, the people from the Kingdom who bore a mark were called 'Chosen' by our people and 'Signers' by the enemy soldiers… "
"Is there any difference between what those titles mean?"
"Different names, same meaning: people selected by the Ancients. They were all granted powers from the same Ancient is what they say. We've seen what their power was capable of in the war, devastating, yet the only times I've ever heard of them or seen them, they only attacked our generals. Whichever power they received, they were using it smartly," he taps his own head with a finger "It doesn't mean it'll be the same for everyone. All I can say is that, generally, Ancients scare people because they bestow powers beyond our understanding."
"Aren't we all afraid of things we do not know?" his gaze trails off on the floor, as if considering his own words.
"Yes, but for them, there's a reason why. We have no idea about the extent of their powers, better not to mess with something like that, don't you agree?"
"Liking or not, I need to delve further in this for the sake of my mission."
"I wish you the best, then, and I will contact you if I find any info on it, even in the underground you don't often come across talks about Ancients."
"Did the Empire also erase registers about them? Like they did with the catalysts?"
"I think no one ever registered much about the Ancients to begin with, so most are reports from people and some are false. You'd have to dig deep to find out more. And I don't know if society is ready to hear about such deities, they can't even deal well with duel monster spirits yet."
He huffs "This is unbelievable in this day and age."
"Just make sure no one else hears about this peculiar investigation of yours," he taps Aster's shoulder once giving it a firm squeeze, as if to reassure him "If word gets out, the Empire will come after your ass. They've been oozing confidence lately and I think they're just stupid enough to believe they can control a primal, unknown being like an Ancient and to shut up everyone who dares searching about it, like you."
"I'll be careful, thanks. But what about you?"
"I'm here to know more about catalysts."
"You don't mean…?" his brow raises in alarm the same second "Did you get in trouble again?"
"What? No, the only one in trouble is Jaden, Syrus had to go bail him out this morning."
"He was imprisoned?" he's even more shocked "How do you know?"
"I called Sy this morning and boy was he in a foul mood. Jaden's imprisonment was some misunderstanding, from what I catch, but they're having some mountains of bureaucracy to fill before he gets out, he ditched helping me to do that."
"You're avoiding my question."
Zane's jaw gapes open as he prepares to answer that fully, a tad annoyed at the other man's attitude, he dislikes this sharpness of his friend that doesn't let anything escape. Banner interrupts them by entering the room along with Bastion, they bring a box with books and all types of old documents, placing it on the table, he dusts off his hands:
"Here it is, Aster, this is all I could find, our library is huge but for what you're searching, most documents are restricted or non-existent, even among those, I doubt you'll find much besides cryptic mentions, however I do hope it'll give you a clue of what you're searching for."
"Hey, long time no see, Zane, Aster."
Bastion exchanges a handshake with them, a very faint and neutral smile on his face, to this day they don't fully grasp why he gave up on his whole summoning career to become a researcher.
"Do you still remember how to summon, or did the books rot your duel energy veins?" Zane banters.
"I still keep up the habit, just in case of emergencies," he pulls out a light-blue gem attached to a pendant from under his yellow sweater "But the professor here is the bigger summoning specialist."
"You flatter me, I'm just a man of science," he adjusts his glasses, shaking off his head a bit ashamed "Anyways, what do you want to ask about, Truesdale? I believe you mentioned it was important on the phone."
"Yes, very urgent too. I'll be straight: do you know anything about catalysts having trouble controlling their powers? Like draining duel energy from a summoner without being able to stop it?"
They all exchange glances, looking back at him, wide-eyed, is it his imagination or their skins got a hue paler? Why the scared faces?
"Okay, that was awfully specific," Aster comments, breaking the tense mood installed in the room "Why would you want to know that?"
"Zane."
This time, Banner has a deep, earnest tone, combining with his heavy arm landing around the young summoner's shoulder, as he drags him further away from the others:
"You know, you can tell me anything. I'll forever be grateful to you after what you did for me and Adriel. I won't judge you and this will stay between us, be honest: You got a catalyst, son?"
"No, this is just-"
"This is more serious than we predicted, professor, he really got a catalyst!"
Bastion takes but a look at his friend's expression to be sure of it, they all stare with scared gazes at the teal-haired man, but an underlying curiosity to it that they won't admit to, he raises his arms in rendition:
"Fine! Yes! I'm having a problem with a catalyst right now, can you please help me?"
"And here I thought nothing could break you more. It was the underground, wasn't it?" Aster inquires, genuinely worried.
"Listen, she's not my catalyst. I'm just under some very complicated circumstances right now and she needs help," he exhales at the last part, muttering in a low tone "I need help too."
"So it's true," Bastion's eyes narrow as he confronts Zane "Chazz's Yellow Ojama was babbling that Chazz brought you back from the east with someone else the last time they dropped by. You got a catalyst there? And it's a she?" he's even more interested in the subject.
"She's here? Like, in the middle of Domino?" Aster's eyes almost pop out.
"Does it matter?!" he retorts at the verge of his patience.
"Don't tell me she's at your place…"
The silver-haired man answers his own doubts, Zane sighs deeply, trying to remain composed, Aster glares at him in disapproval, a berating speech and an accusing finger following:
"You have a death wish, Zane Truesdale. A catalyst, in the middle of the Empire?!"
"Zane, Aster's right, you've messed up big this time, you can't just shelter a catalyst in your apartment! I know you care not for rules, but isn't this a bit too much?"
"She's not my catalyst!"
He repeats himself angrily, they look like a bunch of old-timers nagging him about being unethical in acquiring a catalyst, he knows very well what they think, but it's not true.
"Why do you all look at me like some sort of lowlife criminal?"
"Well, you're technically committing a crime," Bastion states as a matter of fact "We're still your friends, though. We're trying to help here."
"Why does everyone and their father assume the worst of me?! Do you guys really think I'd buy a catalyst for fun? Do I look like that kind of man?"
"In those edgy clothes of yours? 100 percent! Also," the dark-haired researcher strikes again "Weren't you using some electrodes in those duels too? Did you know high voltages can harm your health? And affect your way of thinking too?"
"You can't be serious, Bastion! You all know why I'm there. Aster, will you help me here?" he snorts, turning to the least expected person, just to listen to worse.
"Let me see," the silver-haired man counts the number of law violations on his fingers "Illegally smuggling a catalyst; Owning a catalyst; Providing shelter to a catalyst while hiding it from the Empire in the middle of their capital, rubbing it under their noses; Secretly accessing information about catalysts which is also forbidden, not to tell your underground connections that won't make you look good," he concludes in a harsher tone "Yeah, Bastion's right, sounds pretty much like the shocks toasted your brain and you're spending a lifetime in the high security prison at the north if you're caught!"
"You too, Aster?"
"If you're lucky, maybe your contacts in the underground can help you escape."
"Argh! Let's keep the lawful business away, that's not my forte," he rebukes in irony "I came here to solve another problem."
"Let's all calm down," Banner sways his hands to both sides, to placate them "We all make mistakes and Zane's trying to fix his, let's leave aside the number of infractions you're committing. Back to the topic, you said this catalyst you found is having issues in curbing her powers?"
"Yes, it happens all the time, she's draining my duel energy as if she's smashing a cup of soda out of its liquids and," he runs out of breathe at the last part "I do not know what to do about it. But that can't be good, right?"
"How many times?"
"Not every day, some days it happens more than once, I don't get it, but I think it has to do with her getting nervous, I just know that she can't get out of the city like this, or go anywhere near summoners, she'll get caught in no time and no rebel in the world can save her from that."
"This is bad."
"I know, that's why I came."
"Is she a summoner too?"
"No, I don't think so."
"This is really, really bad, Zane."
"You know something about it, professor?"
"I'm not a graduate in how catalysts work, but listen, there's a reason why catalysts die young. You can't just graft duel energy into a normal person who does not possess any physical abilities, natural talent or structure to summon, their body will degrade at lightning speed because it wasn't made for it, experiments already proved that. That's why catalyst-summoners live a bit longer despite the extra exertion on their bodies from all the summoning. This girl is in huge trouble if this keeps happening, even more if she has a charged battery to drain energy from."
He directs his palm at Zane in an insinuation. Their breaths are stuck for a moment at his warning, Zane's fists clench slightly, he heard about early deaths of catalysts, but that was the cause…? Because they're forced to harness an energy incompatible to their bodies?
"Is there a way to stop it?"
"The way is for her to learn how to deal with her own powers…" he walks from one side to another nervously, a hand to his chin while pondering "Bastion, can you get the books from my personal stash?"
He tosses some keys to his assistant that confirms with his head, hurrying to grab it, Aster and Zane watch anxiously until Banner speaks again:
"This is just a provisory measure, if she learns how to not drain energy, she should be fine for the time being, now, I have to ask you this too: did you use her abilities as a catalyst for any summon recently?"
"No! I told you, I'm not-"
"Truesdale, this is a necessary piece of information. Did she use the powers she absorbed from you?"
"She did, once…" his gaze drifts away, reminiscing the incident at Bonaparte's mansion "But she drained some more after that. I believe it's being stored in her gem, or however this works."
"How long has it been?"
"A week, maybe two?"
"I have it, professor!"
Bastion hands two books to Banner, that plops it onto Zane's hands, placing both hands on the summoner's shoulders to make his point across:
"This is not conventional literature, I smuggled those with some hard work, so take care of it."
"What are those?"
Taking a peek at the cover of one called "An extensive study about catalysts" with a human figure drawn onto it, arrows pointing at body parts and explaining it, he raises a brow. This looks as forbidden literature as it goes.
"Give the books to her, those are basics about catalysts, she may find something about use of powers here. In the meantime, I'll try to contact a friend of mine that has more experience in the matter, but my hands are tied beyond this. And just a reminder, but we never had this conversation."
All the people present in the room exchange a glance in agreement to not speak about what they witnessed and heard here today. Even though he got the books, will it be fine? Banner made it sound like the situation is pretty awful.
"I get it. Thank you, I wasn't here today."
"Ah, call me to tell what's happened and keep in touch."
"I will."
He leaves with an even bigger frown than when he arrived. Is it true that Rie could die because she drained some energy? It can't be, right? It wasn't even that much, not after Mad Dog "depleted" her, at least.
There's an inkling, unsettling feeling palpitating in his chest as he walks out of the university. Was it a terrible idea to keep Rie close after all? Would it have been different if he'd really sent her to Jaden's place or Chazz's place? He can only wonder now. It seems there's much more to the catalysts than what he thought he knew.
Far in the north
A snowstorm blows, whistling vigorously, the dark boots sink in the soft layer of whiteness, leaving footprints for but a second before they're erased. Nightshroud stops, his black mantle flapping erratically.
Around him there are sparse pine trees, also covered by mounds of snow, that fall and pile up at the bottom. This recruitment mission might be the easiest he'd gotten, yet the hardest for his current condition.
Clenching his fist, he continues his journey, stopping again at the sound of wolves. A pack. Wild animals? No, his ears catch the noise of rumbling steps, muffled by snow.
"Rufians."
From all sides, he sees shadows approach, humans, and their summons, silver wolves howl ferociously and alongside them purple wolves with decayed jaws, saliva dripping from their mouths.
"Zombies?"
"Hey fella! You need to pay the toll!" one of the man barks, he could as well be a dog like the ones he summoned "Come on!"
"Yeah, only people who pay the toll can continue!"
The other men stir, chortling and enjoying the commotion, their smiles turning into silence as they hear not a single word from the man they threaten:
"You deaf?! Pay the toll! Money! Gold! Gems! Whatever you have on you!"
A deep sigh escapes his half open lips, his head moving to one side, then to the other side, slowly as if he wasn't worried about time, assessing how many of them there are, riling the men that grow impatient and wield their weapons high, ordering the attack of the wolves.
Nightshroud trips a step back, in a drunk fashion the first wolf that attacked miss, but a man follows with a thrusting blade which he skillfully side-steps, more come, but he raises a card between his fingers, Red-Eyes materializing behind him and devouring the wolves, letting out a shrill that is enough to send some of the men crying.
His chest throbs, his body paralyzed for a millisecond, a wolf leaps at him hungering flesh, he has to block with his arm, the teeth piercing his skin, blood falling, tarnishing the snow as he shakes his arm off, beating the wolf into a tree trunk, his arm released, but wounded.
The Black Dragon yanks the wolves in its crushing jaws as his master crusades through the battlefield, until no sound is heard beside the snowstorm that grows even stronger, the wind pushing him to the side, tumbling a step, he falls down, sitting pressing the open wounds on his arm.
As his dragon dematerialized he can see specks of red floating in the air still, from his body, his head toppling down, his back leaning against the chilly wood, a gasp as he hears something burning, suddenly, he isn't in the north anymore, everything arounds is ablaze, embers fluttering, he stands up, looking around, perplexed.
Shadows and soldiers run, among them, a cognizable silhouette: Atticus Rhodes. He's diving into his memories again, isn't he? Recently it's been like this, even when Darkness doesn't mean to, those recollections of his host, so strong, so vividly overflow in a confusing order as if he can't contain them in this body, like his energy.
"Atticus."
He calls, the boy looks at him, but as if his eyes cannot see anything else, he ignores, looking ahead shouting at the soldiers and running again. Nightshroud makes an effort to stretch his hand, but it's useless, his counterpart is out of reach, into the flames of war.
That illusion snaps as he steps ahead, swiping the air with the tip of his fingers, the snow melting on his empty hands again, the hustled wind growling into his ears. Lowering his head in dismay, he walks, panting heavily, his breath making a white cloud that dissipates quickly. Dragging his feet at snail steps, he rummages in the pockets of the dead men, taking a handful of gems with him, keeping on his adventure, holding a stolen red gem in his hand.
"You'll wake up, one day…"
Telling that to himself, he crushes that ruby into his grip, the energy that leaked out of him concentrating around his palm, disappearing, when he undoes his grip, the gem is as colorless as a rock.
"This won't hold me long…"
Tossing it to the ground, that small rock is fully covered by snow, forgotten, like soon he would be, like the missing footprints, only a trail of blood droplets to follow. As his figure disappears into the misty horizon, a new pair of footsteps approach, hands cloaked in dark gloves digging on the snow, taking the rock back, their hand enveloping the gem, trembling.
Who is it that stalks him and for what? Ominous storm clouds hover above the north, the citizens unaware that an Ancient threads in its soil. Which other tales will arise on those freezing lands?