Picking up where we last left Athena, she was in the middle of a grueling duel against Shark when a handful of new factors came crashing in to intensify her situation. It started when her pendant took her back to that mysterious door plaguing her dreams for the past few weeks, and she finally decides to take the plunge and unlock it. Doing so would release an equally strange force in the form of cards, one of which seemingly taking over Athena's opponent before being summoned to the dueling field...
But the most puzzling factor of all, would definitely be the new face that appeared by the crimson-eyed girl's side.
More than likely a male based on the make of their voice, his thin body was pigmented a transparent white-blue, highlighting the intricate green markings and darker-shaded blue gems decorating his skin. His hair curled upward in a mohawk style, showing off his pointed ears pierced with long, dangling silver earrings that echoed a simpler likeness to Athena's key pendant. The most striking feature about this being would certainly be his eyes, contrasting in colour with his left one a luminous-sharp gold, and the right a translucent silver-white.
Once Athena's shock wore off, she frowned and rose to her feet while saying to the being,
"Hey! I heard you speak, so I know you can understand me. Do me the courtesy of answering my question, would ya?"
He peers his eyes in her direction while turning his head slightly and replies,
"...Astral."
"Astral?...Is that who you are or what you are?"
"It is my name, if I recall."
That answer just served to confuse Athena even more:
"Recall? Does that mean you're an, amnesiac or something?"
Her investigation would be interrupted by Tiffany and Jamal, who were puzzled by their friend's pause in the duel.
"What's going on, Addy?"
"Yeah, what's with the slowdown, and who are you talking to?"
She would glance over at them with a raised brow, before pointing to where 'Astral' was.
"Who am I talking to? Don't tell me you two can't see this guy on my right."
"What? There's, no one there..."
Athena tries to keep her cool, but still groans a little and pinches the bridge of her nose before calling,
"Look, I'm not trying to screw with ya, Tiff: There's a, being or whatever floating right here beside me!"
The other girl and Jamal start whispering among themselves, becoming concerned for their friend's sanity.
"...Is it possible she could be cracking under pressure?"
"Maybe, and yet, something in me's saying we should believe her..."
Meanwhile, Athena peers up at Astral before scanning around the area, noticing there wasn't any signs of cause for alarm...and concludes,
"Okay, seeing as no one else is panicking, I must be the only one who can see him...Either that, or I hit my head too hard from the crash."
"If that were possible, you more than likely would not be standing right now."
She shoots the glowing male a glare...before forming wide eyes when she begins to wonder,
"...Oh crap, don't tell me you're one of those guardian angels! If you are, you're a few years late."
Tiffany and Jamal exclaim,
"A what?!"
Meanwhile, Astral kept calm, if a bit upfront:
"I, am no such thing."
Athena relaxes, until the being wonders in a mutter,
"Or am I?"
"Huh?...Soooo, you know your name, but not what you are?"
"Not only do I not recall who I am...but I do not recall much of anything. Only that I arrived here with a 'great purpose', which now escapes me..."
The girl with long, plaited black hair tipped copper-red was beginning to get annoyed by this point.
"It, escapes you? Really? That's the story you're going with? (Slaps her forehead) God, what a time for things to make a U-Turn!"
After let out a growl of frustration into her palm, Athena then mutters,
"Alright: To hell with this nonsense. For all I know, he could just be a figment of my imagination that will go away on its own."
Hearing her, Astral asks a bit cluelessly,
"Go where?"
"Does it look like I give a damn where?!"
Tiffany's next shout would bring us all back to the real matter at hand:
"Focus, Addy! Focus on the duel!"
"...Right. Almost forgot why I was here; thanks, Tiff!"
Shaking her head, Athena turns to face the front, glancing once at Astral before deciding,
Okay, Addy: Now's not the time to play 'Memory Recovery' with this...whatever he is.
I need to get back on the duel, and figure out how to tangle with this 'Number Card'.
Since it's graced the field, Shark's been acting like even more of a creep than usual...
Speaking of Shark, we check in with him as he praises the power of his new monster:
"Ah. The mighty Number 17: Leviathan Dragon. With this XYZ Monster on the field, there's no stopping me..."
We see his pupils cloud over in a poisonous purple, matching one of the hues in the aura wrapped around his form (the other magenta red), and that the back of his right hand was branded with the said duel monster's numeral!
"And that you can count on, Athena, (chuckle)! Your deck will soon be mine!"
He sets down a new card:
"But all in good time. I end my turn with a Face-down!" Astral comments on Shark's behaviour:
"He is angry." Athena glances at him and replies dryly,
"I'd call it dangerously-motivated, if anything...which he has merit to given that this new dragon's gonna waste me and end this duel unless I can pull out a new strategy."
One of her words strikes a chord in the transparent being:
"Duel? That word is...familiar..."
That in turn caused Athena to raise a brow:
"You, have got to be kidding. What could you possibly know about Dueling?!"
"Plenty...Yes, that's it: I duel."
"Riiiight, and I have dreams of becoming a ballerina."
Hearing only one side of the conversation, Tiffany and Jamal mutter together with chagrins,
"Addy's goin' off the deep end again."
Nevertheless, Astral insists his knowledge of the popular game:
"I can duel! Observe...(Extends arm) Draw!"
"Oi! Who has the duel disk here?! My turn: I Draw!"
Both parties look at Athena's latest card along with the rest of her hand, before Astral announces,
"First, I will summon Gogogo Golem in Defense Mode." Athena barks back,
"Knock it off, would ya?! I summon Gogogo Golem in Attack Mode."
The monster to emerge onto the field would be Level Four with 1800 Attack Points and 1500 Defense Points.
"1800 Attack Points? That's not enough to defeat that dragon."
"I'm well-aware of the point difference, stranger. I'm not done yet. Next I play the Spell, Blustering Winds! With this, one monster on my side of the field in Attack Mode gains 1000 more Attack Points until my next turn."
The card's effect activates, and a spherical vortex of wind gusts engulf the stone giant before they grow as large as Leviathan, their strength rising to 2800 Attack Points.
"Great boost, Addy! You've got 'im now!"
"You bet I do, Tiff! Now go, Gogogo Golem: Attack Leviathan Dragon!"
Said monster rushes forward and socks a fist against the other, the impact creating an explosion and forcing Shark to flinch back as his Life Points drop to 3700. Athena felt proud of herself for her latest move:
"Ha! Guess that dragon was all talk and no bite! Gogogo took it down no probs, and the result made a good cut at Shark's Life Points!"
"Turn around."
"Huh?"
She does as Astral advises, and her eyes bulge out when she sees the dragon's form still intact through the dissipating smoke!
"What?!"
Tiffany and Jamal were just as flabbergasted and mad:
"Hey! Addy just defeated that thing! How could it still be on the field?!"
"I know: Usually the monster with higher Attack Points comes on top while the other is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. What's the deal?"
Athena calls over to Shark to get some answers:
"Oi, Shark: Why's your monster still around? I took it down fair and square!"
"'Fraid not: A Number Monster, can only be beat by another Number Monster!"
"...Seriously? Damn, talk about a disadvantage: I don't have even one Number Monster to combat with."
Jamal was having similar thoughts:
"Crud! That means that dragon's gonna be stickin' around 'til the end of the duel, assuming Addy lasts that long..."
Gritting her teeth, Athena mutters to herself,
"This is a bunch of crap: How the hell am I gonna destroy Shark's Number Monster if I don't have one myself?"
"How indeed...and you had better start figuring that out."
She glances up at Astral, who adds,
"Because Shark looks ready to attack."
Athena's POV
God, it's moments like these that make me hate Sundays...
This all started because I was crazy enough to unlock that demonic door, and what has it brought me?
Total chaos, that's what. Way'da go, Addy...
"Shark is gearing up to attack. Better do something, or you are through."
I shoot a glare at Astral, as he 'remembers' calling himself (a small part of me is almost wondering if he could be punking me), and ask him,
"Since when is an amnesiac a dueling expert? Are you sure you don't just have short-term memory loss?"
"Observation Number One: This particular human's dueling skills are less than skillful."
Why you-!
I get in his face, my red eyes meeting his mismatched gold and white, before retorting back heatedly,
"Excuse you, but we can't all be born dueling prodigies! (...Sweatdrop) Wow, déjà vu; I just had this conversation with Tiffany a few days ago..."
"Then you should be quite aware of your inexperience."
"Whatever, man. Your opinion, not mine!"
"It's my turn now, isn't it? I Draw!"
I cut my focus back on the duel, as Shark brings out a new monster for me to deal with.
"I summon, Drill Barnacle!"
It was a Level Three Monster that looked like an octopus trapped under a rock of barnacle, sitting on the field with a mere 300 Attack Points.
Huh. He's goin' with a weaker choice this time...Must have an ability that makes up for its power.
I wasn't the only one postulating these thoughts:
"300 Attack Points. You are lucky."
"If by that, you mean I might be able to narrowly avoid total defeat, then yes, that's one thing I can agree with you on."
Shark then calls his next move:
"I activate Leviathan Dragon's ability: By using an Overlay Unit, I can power up Leviathan's strength!"
And much to my minor horror, that beast's Attack Points rose up to 3000!
Crap...!
"Since Shark's monster had one last Overlay Unit remaining, it was obvious what he would do, just as it is obvious what he will do now."
I don't need to ask him what, 'cause I already know...
"It's time, Leviathan Dragon: Attack Gogogo Golem!"
My golem is annihilated with one shot straight through its torso, and I note through the impact of the explosion my new drop.
"800 Life Points left...and it's only gonna drop further in a second..."
Still, I'll give Astral a bit of credit for his right-of-it luck comment...
"I'm not finished yet, Athena! Drill Barnacle: Dig in!"
The barnacles on his other monster form into fast-spinning drills, before it came lunging and grinding its drill bits into me for a direct attack, making me yelp in surprise before falling in a slide backwards to the ground!
I curse to myself as my Life Points fall to 500, and I hear Tiff call me with worry before Astral comments smartly,
"For your information, your golem has an ability that when put in Defense Mode prevents it from being destroyed. Now do you understand, why I suggested you should bring him out in Defense Mode? You're not very good at this."
"Damn it, shut up, would you?!"
He then becomes preoccupied by his own body, which I now notice was beginning to, fade in and out...
Hm? What's wrong with him now?
"Oh my. What's this? My Life Force seems to be draining away..."
While he went into a moment of thought, I suddenly wondered based on his timing and where I was regarding my duel,
Is it, possible...that his 'existence', depends on how much Life Points I have in a duel?
"...Numbers."
"Hm? Wait...do you know something more about these Number Cards?"
"They're the key: The key to unlocking my sealed memory. You see, Numbers are special cards. Even among XYZ Monsters, they cannot be defeated like regular cards. And in a duel, where Number Cards are used, the winner absorbs the loser's Number Cards."
"...There's something else."
Astral looks down at me in confusion, and while I dunno what compelled me to...I felt like I had to tell him about that distorted voice I heard before Leviathan Dragon was summoned.
"Before Shark summoned the Number, I, remember that he made an outcry of pain, like something was attacking him from the inside...When my eyes focused on his form, I then heard, a voice."
"A voice?"
"Yeah, and a really scary one too, like a demon or something just as nasty. It was, telling Shark to allow the Number to take over him...At least I think that's what it said: It was a bit staticy and a little hard to hear, like a bad radio signal...which, has me wondering if maybe I wasn't suppose to hear it..."
"Hm...That is an interesting bit of information..."
Shaking my head, I then ask,
"But nevermind that for a second: What exactly are you trying to tell me about these cards?"
"I don't know for sure...All I do know is that you must win, otherwise I will meet a very bad end."
Huh, trying a guilt-trip, are we?
Eyeing him funny, I focus down on my hand to figure out my next move:
Let's see...Currently, I don't have much that I can use for a counterattack, so for now, I'll just have to pray that I can do another narrow dodge from defeat from Shark's monsters.
Just as I decide on such, said 'Water Monster Deck Menace' calls out,
"While you think things over, I activate Drill Barnacle's effect: Because it was able to deal damage to you, it now gains 1000 Attack Points!"
I watch as the monster grows in size in accordance to its rise of power to 1300 Attack Points, making my situation all the more dire.
"But just wait, Athena, there's more: Drill Barnacle's a monster that can attack you directly, which means on my next turn, if that attack connects, you're through!"
Cursing under my breath, I complain to myself,
"Damn, it just had to be a direct-attacker, didn't it? What now?...Hang on: My face-down hasn't been activated yet."
I hold up my duel disk closer so I could use the touch screen and check the card.
"Now what was it I threw down?"
The card shows itself to me, and Astral, who was also watching says,
"You played Bye-Bye Damage, and had you activated it earlier, you would've dealt damage to Shark, and Gogogo Golem would not have been destroyed."
"I hardly think this is the time for a lecture, especially since your blabbing distracted me from remembering the card in time!"
"Speaking of, how 'bout you zip it and duel!"
I whirl around in Shark's direction and call back heatedly,
"You're the one who should zip it and mind their own business!"
"And what exactly am I minding?"
"At this point, I won't be surprised if it's an invisible spirit from beyond the grave comin' to haunt me!"
"You know what's gonna be invisible, as in vanished? Your Life Points."
Looking down at my Life Gauge, I grumble to myself,
"Talking ahead of himself again..."
"But not for long."
I turn to Astral as he then adds in a more stern manner,
"Unless, you start listening to me for some dueling advice, Athena. Not later...Now."
"You could at least be more polite about it."
"Stop making dumb mistakes, please."
"Ugh, dude, just 'cause you add a 'please', doesn't make what you said any less rude!"
Ignoring my anger, Astral then explains,
"On your next draw, we need a card that allows you to summon more than once this turn."
"More than once, huh?"
"Yes. In other words, one that Special-Summons a monster."
Sighing deeply through my nose, I blurt,
"Fine! I'll see what I can do...Okay: For the sake of mine and Jamal's decks if nothing else, I Draw!"
...And much to my surprise, I come out lucky and drew out Monster Reborn!
Yes!
But some of my excitement would be deflated by the following comment:
"Monster Reborn. It seems that fate has come through for me this time."
"Again, who has the duel disk here?!" Moving on, I then make my first move in my latest turn:
"I summon Gonbara Knight in Attack Mode!"
As my monster takes to the field, Jamal calls over in disbelief,
"Addy! Why'd you summon Gonbara in Attack Mode when it has like, zero points to dish out?!"
Keeping a level head, I call back,
"I know what I'm doing, Jamal!"
But Shark decided on another opportunity to mock me again:
"Just give up, Athena: You can't win!"
"You still on that? Look, like I said already, if I listen to every person who told me to give up, I wouldn't be where I am today! I still have alot of history to carve out!"
Astral asks me,
"Carve your history? I was not aware one could do such..."
His curiousity almost made me smile, even despite how annoying he's been, so I explain,
"Well, I mean it more in the metaphoric sense: To carve your history means you're willing to move forward no matter what others may say, predict, whatever. It's all about what you do, your experience, what you choose to make of the world. In this case, I'm gonna meet the mark of writing my victory in this duel."
Obviously, Shark would have a different opinion, but I suspect his aggravation was being amplified by another source.
"You're wrong. The only thing you'll be meeting with, is the bitter taste of disappointment, and do you know why? Because I have two monsters and you have one, with zero Attack Points."
Tch, creep...
"It's fine."
"Hm?" I look up at Astral, as he tells me,
"It's good that Gonbara's on offense. It gives us the chance to turn things around...perhaps."
Per-haps?! He's kidding, right?
"Quick: Bring back Gagaga Magician with Monster Reborn."
I make a move to protest his directing, but he beats me to the punch a bit more desperately,
"There's no time to argue. Just trust me, please!"
Uuuh...You know what, what the heck? Least he's being less rude this time...
Nodding, I grab the Spell Card and activate it:
"From my hand, I activate Monster Reborn! Using it, I bring back Gagaga Magician from the Graveyard!"
"So what? His 1500 Attack Points are nothing to me."
I growl a little at Shark for his arrogance, before my ears catch Astral muttering,
"At last, the stage is set."
"(Turn) For wha-Hang on...Gagaga and Gonbara, are Level Four..."
Seeing the realization spreading over my face, his lips curl into a tiny half-smile as he then says to me,
"Look at your deck, Athena."
I do so, and pull a new card that wasn't in my extra deck before:
"Uh! An XYZ Monster...! (Squints eyes) But, I can't read the text; it's too foreign..."
"I can. It's Number 39: Utopia."
My eyes go wide from the card's title:
"...This is another one of those Number Cards..."
"Yes it is, and now it belongs to you, Athena."
Grinning slightly, I exclaim,
"No way the gate's in my way this time! I overlay Level Four Gagaga Magician and Gobara Knight, to summon an XYZ Monster!"
Astral's voice joins mine as we announced the monster's title:
"Rise on up, Number 39: Utopia!"
And the monster that would arrive on the field, had a likeness to a golden/white-armoured warrior angel, their numeral symbol on its left shoulder, and packed a whopping 2500 Attack points!
I (and to a lesser extent, Astral) don't hesitate whatsoever in unleashing their strength against one of Shark's monsters.
"Time to take out Shark's monster, Utopia: Attack Drill Barnacle! Go, Rising Sun Slash!"
The octo-barnacle beast stood no chance and was cut right down the middle by Utopia's blade, while Shark was thrown backwards by the explosion's impact as his Life Points sunk to 2500. Smirking in excitement, I jeer,
"Yeah! How do you like them apples?"
"Grh, how dare you...!"
Astral notes,
"Our job isn't finished yet. Now to introduce Utopia to Leviathan Dragon."
I nod in agreement, as I pick up on Jamal and Tiffany's comments about my new ally on the duel field.
"Another one?!"
"Where did that one come from? I don't remember Addy ever having such a powerful card..."
"Me neither...This is so crazy..." I finish up my round for the time being:
"Alright, Shark, that's all for now. I end my turn."
...I gotta say, as I relaxed back into my regular position, I was feeling pretty damn good about myself for finally achieving an XYZ Summon in a duel. I allowed a tiny-bit-bigger-than-small smile to grace my lips as I took a breath into my lungs while shutting my eyes for this moment...
...Okay, moment over.
My face formed back its straight serious expression, as I took note of the remaining opposition of power.
Drill Barnacle was an easy target, but Leviathan won't be. It's got a good 500 over Utopia...
What to do, what to do...
"My turn: I Draw! From my hand, I activate the Spell Card, Surface, and since I did, a Water Monster surfaces from my Graveyard. Welcome back, Big Jaws!"
He summoned it in Defense Mode...What's he up to now?
I'd get my answer quick enough:
"But he won't be back for long. I now release him and Tribute Summon, Jawsman!"
This next beast to invade (Level 6) was definitely an ugly one, black-purple skin and crawling with razor-sharp teethed mouths all over his body, sitting at a strong 2600 Attack Points and 1600 Defense Points. Shark's chuckle was a sign that there was more to the monster than its raw strength:
"Now Jawsman gets 300 Attack Points for every other Water Monster on my field. I have one, Leviathan Dragon, so Jawsman powers up to 2900 Attack Points. Now to put them to use! Leviathan Dragon: Attack Utopia!"
Grimacing at the sight of the dragon gaining altitude to dive back down, I whirl to Astral and ask,
"Please tell me Utopia has a way to counter that?!"
"Yes: If you use Utopia's Overlay Unit, Utopia can put a stop to Leviathan's attack."
"Got it."
I face back up front and do just that:
"I activate Utopia's ability, and use one Overlay Unit to negate Leviathan Dragon's attack!"
One such unit shoots into my monster's chest just as the dragon unleashes its ultimate attack, before Utopia uses its wings to deflect and cancel the power!
"Go, Lightwing Shield!"
Shark didn't seem overly concerned that his attack failed him:
"So, you bought yourself some time. But that time will eventually run out: Your monster's not strong enough to beat mine!"
Fair point...He makes a fair point...
"And you have only one Overlay Unit left to protect yourself with, so when it's gone, your Life Points will be gone too...And it looks like this'll happen sooner than later, 'cause you're gonna have to use it up right now to protect yourself from Jawsman, or Utopia's fish-food!"
Hmm, maybe...or maybe-
A new idea springs to me as Astral urges,
"What are you waiting for, Athena? Use Utopia's ability!"
A small, mischievous smirk spreads onto my face as I reply,
"We~ll, I could do that...or, I could do this: I play the Trap, Bye-Bye Damage! Which means my monster dodges destruction for another turn!"
Astral was obviously not impressed with my alternate strategy:
"I told you to use Utopia's ability!"
"Keh, teenagers like me never do what they're told: It's all about rebellion and the unexpected!"
Both Shark and I are then thrown back by a static of energy thanks to the other part of my Trap, but I held onto my smirk as I add on,
"True, while I do take the damage this time, you're the one who's gettin' the double whammy!"
"What?!"
1700 Life Points would be his new reading, while I barely held on with 100...
No POV
As Athena began to pick herself up from the ground after being thrown back by Bye-Bye Damage's effect, Shark lets out a laugh and says to her,
"Thanks for playing that Trap, Addy...because now I can play my Trap, Booming Urchin!"
An army of sea mines with eyes zap into view on the dueling field...
"And it really does pack a punch 'cause come my turn, you'll be blasted with 1000 points of damage, and I'll win this!"
Jamal lets out a noise of disappointment in the new turn and grumbles,
"Crud...just when Addy was making a comeback..."
Tiffany whimpers Athena's name with worry as Shark punctuates,
"You're deck is mine! Face it, Athena: You have lost!"
But the girl with crimson orbs refused to give up:
"Not yet...not while I've got a spider's thread to hang onto! This next draw will decide it: Win or Lose!"
(Swipe)
She pulls forth a new card from her deck, and peers down at it...before forming a grin.
"Ha! Yes! (Looks up) Make the charge, Utopia, straight at Leviathan Dragon!"
Astral exclaims,
"Oh my," while Tiffany and Jamal wonder with disbelief,
"What is she doing?!"
"Addy, are you nuts?!"
"My next play, is using Utopia's ability to negate that attack!"
The monster's glowing blade disintegrates, before Shark asks with a taunting smile,
"You're a duel fool: Why would you negate an attack you just ordered?!"
"This is why: I now play from my hand, the Spell Card Double or Nothing!"
"Where are you goin' with this? Huh? Aaah!"
Athena answers the now nervous Shark with a smirk of anticipation locked on her monster.
"Oh it's not me goin' places: It's Utopia, since he now gets to attack again with double the Attack Points after being stopped before."
Utopia pulls out two enormous-bladed swords this time as his strength jumps to the cerulean-irised boy's shock,
"Uh! 5000 Attack Points?!"
"Go, Utopia: Attack Leviathan with Rising Sun Slash!"
And one twin-cut down the middle was all it took for Leviathan Dragon to be destroyed in a mass cluster of pixels, which continued trajectory through the ground straight for Shark, he thrown back to the tune of his outcry and the final drop to 0 Life Points!
As the AR announces Athena the Winner, she mutters to herself while absentmindedly pulling off her duel gazer,
"...Did I really, just pull out a win?"
Jamal and Tiffany were just as shocked as she:
"...She won?"
"She did..."
...Once the surprise wore off, they all broke into celebratory cheers, Athena's being the strongest.
"Yes, ha! I did it; I beat Shark!"
As said losing duelist laid semi-conscious on the ground, his soon-to-be former lackeys grumble to themselves,
"Shark lost to that nobody?"
"(Both) Let's ditch this dork!"
At the same time they bolted from the courtyard area, Astral then holds a hand...to summon out the Number from Shark, a card shape floating out of the latter's torso as the back of his hand loses the numeral symbol. Taking Leviathan Dragon into his hand, Astral concludes to himself,
"Yes. It is as I thought: This Number Card represents a piece of my memory...but just a small piece."
The card evaporates, more than likely to be stored away in the unsuspecting Athena's deck...
For all of my memory to return, I must collect all 99 Number Cards.
As Astral ponders over his new situation with wide eyes, Athena and her friends continue to celebrate her victory as the AR World leaves their eyes.
"That was so awesome, Addy!"
"Told you I could do it!"
"Finally, you get a win after all the loses and ties! About time, too!"
Shark was beginning to wake into reality by this point, if still in some disbelief as he pulled off his gazer.
"I can't believe it...I lost...!"
He turns to look over at Athena, remembering the stakes of this battle...Meanwhile, she takes hold of her pendant with a faraway, ghost of a smile, sending through her mind,
Mom...Dad...thanks again, for having my back.
(Step, step)
"(Looks up) Hm? Uh, Shark..." He presents Jamal's cards to her:
"We, had a deal..."
"(Takes deck) Thank you...and thank you for keeping your word. (Wry smile) Finally letting your pride deflate, hm?"
"Hmph, somethin' like that...You're a good duelist...I'll see you around."
As Shark turns and leaves, Athena calls to him,
"Right, see you...and hey, let's get together again and duel for the real joy of it, without the dumb antes! If you wanna be remembered in a good light, you gotta build some pages that'll balance the rough end of your history."
"You may have a point...Til then, Addy."
As the duelist left for elsewhere, Astral then inquires Athena,
"You felt the path to your new chapter during that last draw. That's why you risked everything...yes?"
"Uh, yeah, somewhat...and I, also might've wanted to give you a little scare. (Smirk) And I so did; you should've seen your expression! It was priceless!"
As the red-eyed girl lets out a laugh of amusement, the blue-skinned being then says,
"I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship if...you do as I say."
One can only imagine how many pairs of eyebrows would raise in the passing crowds as Athena exclaims for the whole city to hear,
"Do as you say?! In another lifetime, you jerk!"
If only she knew, her new adventure had just begun...