Chapter 1

Aster Phoenix jolted awake. He felt uncomfortable, his neck stiff as a tree's trunk. He slightly turned his head to his manager, Sartorius Kumar, the pain of his neck slowly easing with each movement. The violet haired man was sitting by the window reading a book. Briefly, he glanced over to the teen and mouthed a simple "morning". He turned to the two seats behind him: Sartorius' sister Serena Kummar was slightly bobbing her head as she listened to music through her headphones. With bags under her eyes and messy dark hair Serena definitely would give anyone the creeps. And finally, Mr. D, his legal guardian. He was asleep covered by the blue blanket and on his head, the sleeping mask with the airline logo.

The teen stood up and walked towards the bathroom, as an excuse to move his legs which had been in the same sitting position for the last 14 hours. Despite the benefits of first class, which was much more comfortable than Economy, it was not an experience Aster was very fond of. He was used to the waiting, the airport and the jet lag, but still, after all these years, it was exhausting.

His life was not one of a normal 15 year old teenager. Training to become a Professional duelist since he was nine, and finally debuting at age ten, Aster's life consisted of tournaments, training and traveling; or the life of the "Three Ts" as he called it. He splashed his face with cold water and returned to his assigned seat.

"Thirty minutes." His manager said without looking over his book. Slightly, Aster turned his head to read the book cover. He was about to ask about it, until he felt a large hand over his shoulder.

"Morning kiddo!" Mr. D was awake and, it seemed, in a very good mood. "How did you sleep?"

"Awful." The teen replied.

"I told you kiddo, one of these, and you'll sleep like a baby" the man showed him a box of sleeping pills. Aster turned over. Mr. D's blanket was quite small for his large frame, but he didn't seem to mind as he spoke with the stewardess. Aster could see his legal guardian's interest in that particular woman, with whom he had talked during the whole flight.

As Mr. D continued his flirting, the boy turned to talking with Sarina.

"I see you didn't sleep either…"

He overheard the stewardess talk about her workout routine. Sarina removed her headphones and handed them to Aster. The sound of a heavy guitar followed by a high pitch screaming took him by surprise. He returned the headphones to the girl. Aster was not a fan of heavy metal.

"This band is really good." she commented, as she turned to the window. She continued humming to the melody, as Aster returned to his seat and adjusted the plane belt, as the pilot announced that they were preparing for landing.

A dark green car parked at the entrance of KaibaDome. It was a quick stop before the vehicle would move again. Jade Trembley picked her suitcase from the trunk. As she began walking towards the entrance her mom spoke:

"Good luck, baby! You are going to do great!". Her father, who was in the driving seat, honked the steering wheel in agreement. Just like his daughter he had black hair, however while he kept it short with a side-part, her hair was very long.

"Tell me when you get to Shanghai!" She managed to tell her parents before they drove off.

Once inside the Duel Arena she spotted an empty seat next to a tanned student. Wearing a black sleeveless shirt, his muscular arms were very apparent. The boy probably noticed her staring as he turned over and introduced himself:

"The name's Tyranno Hassleberry, what would your name be?"

"Jade Trembley" she shook his hand, Tyranno had a strong grip. As she was about to ask more, a voice called from the loudspeaker.

"Trembley, Jade. Move forward to Field One." She heard a female voice call from the loudspeaker. She was greeted by a male assistant who introduced himself and thus the duel began.

"Welcome" the male assistant said. "You have enough qualifications to enter Obelisk Blue, but let's see if you deserve it."

"Duel!" both yelled as they turned on their duel disks.

The man opened the duel by placing Mystic Tomato (ATK 1400/DEF 1100) on the field and two cards face down. Both monster and card appeared on the field. Following this, Jade drew for turn. She chose to summon Shining Angel (ATK 1400/1000). A small light emerged from the dueling arena and the mystical being materialized on the field. She proceeded to place a card face down, yet she did not follow with an attack thus, ending her turn.

On his turn, the examiner summoned Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (ATK 1500/DEF 1000). Surrounded by violet fog, the monster's hologram appeared. Quickly, Jade activated her set card, Dust Tornado and targeted her opponent's facedown. As the card was destroyed, she briefly saw it was Mirror Force. Yet, her opponent's turn was not over: Gravekeeper launched an attack, piercing Shining Angel with its spear. The dark haired girl felt a slight electric shock coming from her duel disk as she lost 100 life points. While the examiner had 4000 life points, she had 3900.

In her opponent's turn, she activated Shining Angel's effect: when destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, one Light monster with 1500 attack or less could be summoned from the deck to the field in face-up, attack position. Jade chose Hecatrice (ATK 1500/DEF 1000). The examiner did not add any card in his magic and trap zone, ending his turn.

"I activate Sanctuary in the Sky!" Jade declared. With the field spell activated, the dueling arena was changed to a light blue color with white clouds slowly moving. A large marble structure rose from the ground and once it was fully visible the sound of a church bell could be heard.

"Now any damage taken by my fairy monsters becomes 0." she explained. "It also lets me bring a friend!"

Zeradias, Herald of Heaven (ATK 2100/DEF 800), was brought to the field as well. After this, she placed a card in her magic and trap zone. Moving to the battle phase, Zeraidas attacked Gravekeeper's Spear. With its own spear, Zeradias attacked Gravekeeper, piercing it in the middle of its chest. Where the spear hit, a ray of light appeared, consuming the monster which was sent to the graveyard. Then, Hecatrice fell above Mystic Tomato, destroying it. The examiner was left with 3300 life points, while Jade remained with 3900. The girl placed a card on her magic and trap zone, ending her turn. Back to the examiner, he set a monster in a face down position and placed another card face down behind it; quickly ending his turn.

Jade drew Pot of Greed activating its effect, drawing 2 cards. She glanced at her newly drawn hand stopping her gaze at Guardian Angel Joan. A feeling of frustration washed over her. Why did she still keep it there? When she got to Duel Academy she would definetley put it away for good. "Get your head in the game, Jade" she thought to herself.

She moved on to the battle phase: Zeradias attacked the set card, revealing Gravekeeper's Spy. The man proceeded to activate the card's effect: special summon a Gravekeeper with 1500 attack points or less from the Deck.

"I won't let you do that!" Jade declared as she revealed her face down card: Black Horn of Heaven, which allowed her to negate the special summon. She declared a direct attack with Heactrice; the examiner was left with 1800 life points, while Jade had 3900.

In his turn, the examiner activated the field spell Necrovalley. Half of the field became covered in sand, some of it even pouring out of the windows of the Sanctuary.

"With this card all my Gravekeeper monsters will gain 500 points of attack and defense. Besides, you cannot banish them or change their attributes while they are in the Graveyard". He also revealed his face down card: Shield and Sword. All monsters on the field changed its stats: Zeradias had 800 attack points and 2000 of defense; while Heactrice had 1100 attack points and 1500 defense. Next, he summoned Gravekeeper's Assailant (ATK 2000/DEF 2000). The newly summoned monster grabbed Zeradias and sank it into the sands, destroying it. At the same time, like a snake, sand slithered its way under Heactrice, ropes emerging from the ground, changing it to defense.

"I forgot to mention that when Gravekeeper's Assailant declares an attack while Necrovalley is on the field, I can change your monster's battle position". After ending his battle phase he activated the spell card Shield Crush, which would destroy a defense position monster. Jade's side of the field remained empty besides Sanctuary in the Sky while the Examiner had no cards left in his hand.

"I'm not done yet" Jade said as she discarded one Heactrice from her hand. This allowed her to get Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. From the blue sky that remained on Jade's side a marble throne rose up from the ground, below the sanctuary.
"Once per turn I can special summon a fairy monster if I don't control any!" she exclaimed.

"Athena!" she yelled as she special summoned said monster. The elegant creature appeared sitting on the throne. Gracefully, Athena (ATK 2600/DEF 800) stood up and raised her shield.

"Now I can normal-summon!" Jade explained. She summoned Meltiel, Sage of the Sky (ATK 1600/DEF 1200). First, with Athena she attacked Gravekepper's Assailant. Finally, she launched a direct attack with Meltiel, winning the duel. The examiner turned off his duel disk.

"Congratulations." He said. "I hope you enjoy your stay in Obelisk Blue."

She returned to her spot where Tyranno was waiting.

"That was good! Quite a deck you have there!"

"What about you? You dueled already, haven't you?"

"Yep!" He answered excitedly with a grin, as he proceeded to explain in detail the outcome.

Domino City's skyline began drawing closer as they approached it. Aster was certain the skyline wasn't as pronounced when he had left. It was a rather foggy memory, after all, he only remembered getting in the taxi, and watching the city lights grow smaller as they got near the airport. He remembered the dark sky, the sound of the engine and the red and white lights from the cars passing fast next to them. Yet he was certain, his attention was not in the city, but in the green car that was following them. This time, there was no green car tailing behind them, and the sky was blue, empty of clouds. Even he could admit that it was a beautiful morning.

"Welcome to Domino City" he sighed. His manager gave him a look.

"What? Are you feeling nostalgic already?" he asked amused.

The teen brushed him off.

"I'm just surprised how different it looks".

D chimed in their conversation.

"Well of course! It has been eight years...lots of economic growth has happened."

Aster could see that. From the many industrial buildings and large convenience stores which connected the road from the airport to Domino City, till the brand new skyscrapers that adorned the city. Before, Kaiba Corporation was the tallest building in the city, with 30 floors in total; even at the time it was considered rather excessive. However at present, Kaiba Corporation's glass building stood as a normality, and not the exception. He imagined Seto Kaiba would not be pleased with his building not being anything special anymore. Aster wondered if that was the reason KaibaLand had plans for an upgrade.

The more the car drove towards the center, the more traffic caused by luxurious cars happened around them. Yet, the teen knew that most people lived outside of Domino, and the center mostly had office buildings. However, he had managed to find a nice apartment near the center, three blocks from Industrial Illusions, and 20 minutes by car from KaibaDome. It was more than enough.

Besides, he didn't plan to stay for a longtime. Hopefully, he could walk out of the deal his manager had set him up with Duel Academy. However Sartorius was insistent that he should study there. Not minding he had already finished his education, and had two PHDs. What brand new knowledge could this Academy teach him?

He had met a few Pro Duelists graduating from Duel Academy, and even though he could not deny they had skill, he had never been blown away by their abilities. When he had expressed this point to Sartorius, he answered rather prophetically, that "Someone in Duel Academy would bring the challenge he had seeked for." Sartorius had even insisted that he should duel him. Worst, he should duel him and lose.

Yet, if it was only his manager's whim to duel some student, Aster would have refused. Sartorius had told him something else about Duel Academy. While Aster knew it was perhaps unconventional to say the least, Aster always trusted his manager's powers as a fortune teller. For eight years Aster laid his destiny unto the cards, and they had always been right and guided his way.

Sartorius had flipped his card revealing the major arcana, Justice.

"I see that in Duel Academy you will find the answer to your question."

Aster knew which question. The question that time and time again he tried to ask Sartorius:

Who killed his father and stole Destiny Hero Plasma eight years ago?

Jade stepped out of the boat and began looking for a certain blonde. She noticed a bunch of curious students gushing around the newcomers. Surely enough, among the crowd she saw a hand waving at her.

"Alexis!" She said relieved as she hugged her. Jade tried to look around wondering if Tyranno was nearby, yet he had completely banished.

"First years are assigned with a Second Year Student at the dorms. We are staying together!" Alexis explained. She stopped at the large white mansion with a blue ceiling. Jade had heard Obelisk Blue was luxurious, she had even seen the pictures...but it was definitely a sight to behold.

"Yeah, it's quite big." Alexis commented as she opened the door. It looked more like a palace, rather than a simple student dorm. Long hallways, polished floors, fancy drapes decorating the walls, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling…Jade followed the Obelisk student as she climbed the stairs, and turned to the right.

The room was much more modern compared to the baronial decoration she had seen in the hallway and main hall. A simple wood flooring covered the room, and the walls were painted in a light cream color. There were two single beds on each side, each with a small dresser at their feet. Between them stood the window with a small balcony. She could see outside there was a small round table with two seats. Even if it was simple, Jade felt she had stepped in a hotel room.

A small knock on the door made both girls turn around. Two Obelisk Blue students, one with brown short hair and another one with black hair in pigtails greeted them. Alexis introduced both girls as Jasmine and Mindy, respectively.

"How are your roommates?" Alexis asked.

"She wanted to be with her older sister so…" Mindy began speaking, she sounded quite disappointed. "But it's okay I guess." she brushed it off. Jasmine spoke with higher praise of her new roommate.

"Well anyways, have you showed Jade around?" Mindy asked.

Alexis turned to the raven haired girl in question.

"Ready to go?"

As the girls moved farther away from the Blue Dorms and the main building Jade could tell the budget was, well, lacking. The Yellow dorm looked quite big too, made mostly out of wood. The decoration on the outside was simple compared to the Versaille-like garden from Obelisk's. As they approached the building they ran into a student wearing a yellow jacket, who Alexis introduced as Bastion Misawa. Making their way towards the Red Dorm, the girls talked among themselves, about their summer, the entrance exam, and "Did you see how many new students there are this year?".

Jade wouldn't exactly consider Alexis a friend. More like her parents were friends and they were invited to their respective birthdays because of the relationship their parents had. But, when Jade had mentioned that she was interested in going to Duel Academy, that made Alexis extremely happy, and immediately offered a hand.

Finally, they reached the Red Dorms, which looked extremely rundown. Alexis guided Jade through the stairs and knocked on the first door of the hallway. A brown haired student opened the door. Behind him, Jade noticed a light-turquoise haired teen.

"Hey Alexis!" He greeted them. "And you are…?" then turned towards the green eyed girl.

"Jay, this is Jade. She is a first year student."

"Sweet!" he exclaimed. "How are you finding Duel Academy? How 's your deck?

Alexis giggled and turned towards Jade.

"Jaden loves dueling, as you can tell. And that on the back is Syrus"

Syrus stepped next to Jaden and shook Jade's hand.

The girls heard footsteps coming from the end of the hallway approaching them.

"Hello" a raspy voice greeted them. Jade glanced at the student wearing a black uniform.

"And this is Chazz." The blonde introduced the boy. The dark haired boy cleared his throat.

"Sorry" Alexis rolled her eyes "The Chazz".

Once they were all together the group decided to enjoy the summer breeze by going down to the beach.

"I think this one is the prettiest." Alexis sighed next to Jade. "The one close to Obelisk Blue is very rocky."

"Yes! It's the best spot in Duel Academy!" Syrus agreed excitedly.

Jaden turned towards Jade.

"Wanna duel?" he asked. He explained that he judged people based on their decks, and if her deck was up to his standards she would allow him to join their gang. As Jade turned on her duel disk Alexis told her that he simply enjoyed making friends through dueling. Nevertheless, she would have agreed anyway.

"Dueling brings people together!" he commented happily after the duel was over and laid on the sand. It ended with a victory for Jaden.

"You have a good deck there, I think I'll allow you to hang out with us!" he smiled at her.

"By the way, I received a letter." the brown haired boy said rather seriously. The Slifer Red student extended his hand showing a piece of paper.

"A secret admirer?" Chazz asked teasingly. "As if!" he snatched the piece of paper from his hand. At the back, with the same computer font there was a set time and place.

"I heard quite a bit about you, I want to test your dueling skills. A.P."

"Well, are you facing them?" Syrus asked.

"Of course! I'll never say no to a challenge!"

As the note was written with a typewriter, they simply couldn't figure out anything about this mysterious challenger.

As soon as Aster had left his stuff he asked his chauffeur to drive him to Domino's Local Cemetery. He doubted that on Monday, so early in the morning, there would be anyone; but just to please his manager and assistant he had brought a bodyguard with him. Thankfully, the man stayed by the door and did not follow him. Aster always felt the cemetery was gray, even on the sunniest of the days. He knew the path, even if he hadn't visited for many years, it was engraved in his memory.

Elias Phoenix, 1963-1997. Father and friend, gone too soon.

The stone was in quite good condition, however, there were no new flowers besides it. He wondered if in all those years someone had kept the stone clean. Or visited.

"Hey dad" he turned to the grave next to his father's "and mom". While Aster had not known his mother, he felt rude simply ignoring her.

He placed the flowers, a small bouquet of white roses, and spoke again.

"Domino looks quite different...I think you would have liked it. It feels...strange coming back, but Sartorius is set on sending me to Duel Academy". Silence.

"But he said that the person who stole Destiny Hero Plasma might be there!" he felt adding the detail that this person was also his killer was a bit too much, so he simply avoided saying it.

"I know, I made the promise many years ago, and you are probably becoming impatient now."

No answer.

"I know they are out there. I made you a promise many years ago and I'm still set on making it come true. I will avenge you, dad." he said firmly.

As he sat in the car returning to his Penthouse, Aster wondered if the letter he had sent to Duel Academy had reached its destination. He still couldn't understand why his manager had made him do it. It wasn't like he was looking for a new talent to represent, right? If Sartorius was indeed planning to do something like that, Aster hoped his manager had the decency to tell him that face to face and not imply it through his actions. Probably, Sartorius had his reasons, but the teen wished he would give him his insight. Either way, he grabbed the newspaper that was laying next to his seat and began reading the crime section.


Hello!
This is a continuation of The Tale of the Destiny Heroes, which basically centers around Aster's childhood before becoming a pro. BUT, you can read this story without the other. Either way, the names are similar cause it just felt right :D

The pic I drew it myself haha. YGO character hair is very difficult and I hate it :(

Also will be posted in AO3. Hope you enjoy!