Hey everyone!
I am writing this intro on a laptop at a local diner I frequent, as my PC has been
disassembled and placed in storage – I am moving.
Granted, it's only across town, but I am finally out of this condo apartment and moving to a townhouse (a "mew", I think is the proper term) with more room, centralized air conditioning, more closet space, patio, and best of all, a washer and drier (one of the most annoying things I've ever had to deal with is going to the
laundromat every week). It's even walking distance to the grocery store. Seriously, I must get my brother something nice for his birthday, as he helped find this place.
Of course, I must pack up all my stuff in order to move it there, which is even more of a headache than it was when I had to move here - never thought I'd be asking my boss for extra overtime.
One thing I'm truly dreading is putting my PC and television wiring back together when I get there. I'm not the most techno-savvy. I'm also considering getting rid of many of the old gamer magazines and books I keep for reference - I could get most of them online. At least this is good exercise.
So, now that I've vented, let's move on. For anyone expecting a duel, I'm sorry to disappoint this time, but there will be one next chapter, I promise.
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Chapter Eleven
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He Looked Over the Feedback
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One thing I'm asked a lot as a duelist is, just how do direct attacks work? How can someone be hurt by something that is literally made of light? Are the holograms created by the Duel Disks that convincing or did Kaiba somehow find a way to make them solid?
Well, I won't pretend to know how the Solid Vision systems work, but I doubt they can be considered truly solid. I mean, take Vorse Raider, if that axe of his was the real deal, the duelist on the receiving end of a direct attack wouldn't recover from it. Being slugged by a Duel Monster can give a newbie quite a shock, but not nearly as much as being punched by another living human.
I can say this with clarity because being held in a grapple by this six-foot-two amazon dressed like a burlesque showgirl was not like anything the Solid Vision could produce.
"Terone?" shouted Jenni from the phone. "Terone, where the hell -"
A man wearing a suit and tie, even larger and far more muscular than the woman, picked the phone up. "He will call you back," he said in a gruff voice, and then hung it up.
I was in a losing position here. There was little chance of getting loose here or breaking free, nor of yelling for help because her hand was over my mouth. Given what the man said and noting that he put the mobile inside his shirt pocket (rather than dispose of it) I figured he might intend to give it back eventually - helps to be optimistic. I was quickly dragged to a nearby car - a limousine, in fact - where the lady shoved me into the back seat.
At least she had let go, but now what?
"Lady, please," I said, "whatever this is about, I can -"
"Quiet," she said.
I decided to shut up, for now at least. As the limo started to drive, I looked around - the door next to me had no handle, making that means of escape was closed off, and I didn't see any way to roll down the window, which was most likely soundproof. Seemed she was taking no chances.
After about five minutes, she broke the silence with a question: "Do you have any food allergies?"
Okay, that was not the question I had expected. "Listen, I admit this is my first time at this sort of thing, but…"
She lifted the sunglasses, looking at me sternly. Okay, okay, I thought, that was a bad idea…
But then she said, "I am taking you to a place to meet someone who will change your life forever. Whether that change is for the better or for worse is entirely up to you."
I looked her straight in the eye for a few seconds, and then slowly said, "I can't eat tree nuts, but I'm pretty sure everything else is okay."
She nodded, then replaced the sunglasses. I was still scared and worried, but for some odd reason now, I was anxious to see just what was going on.
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"Insanguinato?"
That was the name of the fancy-looking restaurant that we had parked in front of. I didn't speak Italian, but the name didn't seem to suggest fine dining.
"Ah," I started "What does -"
"The owner is fond of old, obscure novels," said the lady. "He named it after one of his favorites."
Her male accomplice opened the door, undoubtedly expecting me to exit, but I was more nervous now, mostly because I felt very out of place in restaurants like this.
"Look, Ms.…"
"Hephzibah."
"Right, uhm, pretty sure I'm underdressed for this sort of place."
"Fear not - the owner is the one who you are here to see. Now, shall we?"
Who had invited me, the Prime Minister?
"Do not worry, Terone," she said, "lunch here is cheaper than dinner, so for the most part, you only risk embarrassing yourself in front of the lesser echelons of London's upper class."
Well, that was a relief. Sort of.
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The inside of the restaurant seemed just as ominous as the name suggested. The design was gothic, dark, and surreal, the same "dark academia" aesthetic that had been used in Hecate's Square, where old fashioned culture was modified to be pleasing to modern tastes.
The common room of the restaurant was dimly lit, with quite a lot of artworks that were well-made, but macabre. As Hephzibah guided me to a table near the back, I took notice of several of the paintings.
One of them showed a woman in a red dress and flowing blonde hair dancing with a young man wearing a tuxedo. Another was a woman in a black evening dress, holding a glass of wine, looking out a window at a full moon.
They seemed innocent enough but…
"Mr. Brickman! Glad you could join us."
"Wait, what? Mr. Trask?"
Hephzibah pulled a chair out at the corner table, motioning for me to sit. While I didn't expect him, of all people, to be her employer, I at least felt a little safer now.
"You could have just called me, you know?"
"Chardonnay please," he said, addressing a waitress. "My apologies, Mr. Brickman, I needed to discuss things with you in a manner that required secrecy."
"Um, I'll just have a Diet Pepsi please." The waitress nodded and then left.
"I noticed you have taken interest in the artwork," continued Trask. "Luciano LaRousseau, an artist whose work, they say, has subtle details that can only be felt when looked at a second time. Go on, look at that one again."
I turned to the painting of the woman at the window. "What do you - Oh…" He was right, looking at it a second time, I noticed that the woman's bare feet were, in fact, hooves. "Creepy."
"I will get straight to the point, Terone, uhm, do you mind if I call you Terone?"
I nodded. I was looking at the painting of the couple dancing, noting another of those "subtle details''. Looking at it a second time, there was a mirror in the background - which only had the man's reflection.
"You've become rather popular since your last duel, Terone, and I'm not going to pretend we both don't know the reason for this sudden surge of attention."
"Huh? You mean the Da-"
Then Hephzibah waved her hand, making a wordless gesture that I could tell meant "NO!"
"You… don't want me to say it?"
"Better you didn't, Terone, not here anyway. Suffice to say that I became a little concerned when I heard one of our duelists had that card."
"What, you think someone's going to take it from me?"
"Oh, I'd say quite a few of your fellow duelists might try if given the chance, but in truth, Terone, I am more concerned about who gave it to you."
Naturally, the waitress chose that minute to come with the drinks and a breadbasket. Trask quickly shut up - I assumed he trusted me a lot more than he did her.
"Do not fill up on bread, Terone," said Hephzibah.
Not that there was much chance of that. This seemed to be one of those restaurants that served weird bread with seeds that I never could figure out, along with some sort of fancy restaurant butter. However, once the waitress left, Trask continued his inquiry.
"If I may ask, Terone, where did you get the card from?"
"I won it on a quiz show." It was a lie, of course, and I didn't expect Trask to believe me, but I really didn't know myself right now how I got that odd pack.
"Heh, yes, the old sarcasm used to hide a secret, fitting. Something that seems to have become popular in youth-oriented fiction."
"That was the category I chose."
Trask changed the subject. "Terone, what do you know about the business world?"
"Almost nothing."
"Actually, Terone, I beg to differ."
He thought I was lying? Why? Before I could ask, he took a deck of cards from below the table, shuffled it, and then placed it on the left side of his plate.
"You see, Terone, they say being in the business world is like being in an ocean full of sharks. Everyone is a predator preying on the weaker to survive, while avoiding the stronger, becoming strong enough to work your way up the ladder, to the top of the food chain. There's only room for one apex predator." He drew a card off the top of the deck and flipped it around to show me - it was Marshmallon. Then he placed it face down in front of him the way one would set a monster on a duel mat.
"To succeed you must master deceit and subtlety, hiding your strategies from the one you wish to overthrow." He turned two more cards around, the Trap Cards Magic Cylinder and Just Desserts. Then he set those behind the Marshmallon. "All while remaining wary of the ones below plotting to topple you. You see the similarities now?"
"I suppose so."
He nodded, then put the cards away. "I assume you did the assignedreading during your orientation?"
"What, you mean Ms. Frantisect's autobiography? Sure, of course I did… It wasn't exactly a book that stood out."
"Yes, boring, predictable, full of cliches, and ultimately, forgettable. She wanted it that way, Terone."
"She… purposely made the story of her life less interesting?"
"Well, her ghostwriter did. I'll give you one example, remember chapters two through four, which are devoted to Mabel?"
"Yes, I know," I said with a short laugh, "the poor waif with nothing but the clothes on her back, just like Oliver Twist, who worked her tail off selling newspapers until she founded the small newspaper that became a media empire run by her descendant… Old story."
"Mabel was Josephine's protege, Terone."
"Say what?"
Hephzibah gave me the signal to hush again - the waitress was bringing soup. It seemed to be a simple minestrone, but I barely noticed. I quickly said, "thank you", eager for her to leave so Trask could continue.
"As I was saying, Terone, Josephine Frantisect isn't Mabel's descendant. Mabel was more like Little Orphan Annie than she was Oliver Twist, and Josephine was the generous philanthropist who took her in. Until that is, she had no further use for poor Mabel and threw her away like garbage. Wasn't the first time, wouldn't be the last."
"She… she'd have to be over a hundred years old."
"She's older," replied Trask. "As you might assume, Terone, she has many enemies among the upper class, and most of them believe she has made pacts with dark powers and has lost her soul in a dark web of lies, deceit, and betrayal. In truth, she is a dark power, and the deceit is all her making."
Noting my expression, he added, "Don't believe me, do you? Well, Terone, believe me when I say this, I'm only telling you so what might happen doesn't take you by surprise. Forewarned is forearmed, I always say."
"I'm all ears."
"So then… I guess it is best to start with her true past. Josephine was born in Tuscany, around the 18th Century. Her father, Dario, was initially one of the many brewery owners in the city, and at first, was regarded as a dealer of mediocre wares. But then he acquired the secret of his success - Josephine."
Oh brother, I thought. Seems I had been brought for the old expository lecture.
"You see, Dario sired quite a prodigy. Josephine learned at a very tender age how to capitalize on every opportunity to gain her father's favor and admiration. She would spend hours with him, helping make important decisions regarding his business, increasing both profit and reputation. At the age of only 12, she convinced the elder Frantisect to install steam powered engines in their facilities, which was considered new at the time. The newfangled technology eliminated a great deal of required human power, increasing production substantially.
"During her teen years, both the quantity and quality production at the brewery increased further. Many of Dario's competitors believed he had harnessed dark powers of witchcraft - the truth was that Josephine had taught herself a new talent, alchemy."
"Oh, come on, alchemy isn't real."
"Issac Newton would disagree, Terone my boy! Now neither she nor her father truly understood the chemistry behind the formulae they were using, but she had in fact discovered a way to make yeast more resistant to heat and purify it to hasten and improve the fermentation process. In effect, the Frantisect breweries were producing it in ways that would not be achieved by the rest of the industry until refrigeration, pasteurization, hydrometers, and thermometers all became commonplace, about a century later."
Of course, I didn't believe a word of this, but it was getting far too interesting to ask him to stop. I did stop to ask him a question, but he held up his hand, a gesture that was becoming familiar. The waitress was about to serve the first course - pasta with white sauce.
"So, what is this stuff?" I asked.
"Linguine alle vongole," answered Hepzibah.
"And in English, that would be…?"
"Linguine with clams," answered Trask, "now where was I?"
"Pasteurization via alchemy?"
"Ah, yes. Now, these improvements naturally made Frantisect Breweries incredibly rich, famous, and respectable, and Dario did not fail to recognize who was responsible. Josephine was his favorite child, he doted on her, calling her his 'sweet princess'. It pained him to keep her involvement in his business a secret, but who would believe him if he told anyone?
A bigger problem was, this was not only nepotism, it was parental favoritism, and it would come back to haunt him. How's the pasta, lad?"
"Oh, very good." I wasn't lying, it was delicious. I made a note to remember this place should I ever be as rich as Trask was. Hey, a kid can dream, right? "Please go on."
"Josephine had two younger brothers, twins, born when she was two years old. Their birth caused her poor mother to die by childbirth. This tragedy caused Dario to become even closer to his sweet princess, while his two sons were neglected. By the time Josephine was fifteen years old and acting as her father's unofficial chief advisor, they were gaining the reputation of juvenile thieves and hooligans. Josephine tried to be something of a surrogate mother to them, often scolding them after she pleaded for the constabulary to be easy on them. Parenting was one talent she simply could not master.
"Dario eventually decided to remarry, hopefully giving his two sons a mother. After all, an unmarried father wasn't exactly regarded as sociable among the upper class at the time. So, he wed a woman who had two daughters of her own."
I felt the need to interrupt here. "Uh… This story is starting to sound familiar."
"I know, I know, but trust me, this version of Cinderella did not live happily ever after. Dario's second marriage was one of convenience from the start, but his plan to give his sons a role model actually worked - just not for the better. His second wife was a conniving and deceptive woman, and Josephine's brothers plotted with her and her daughters to ingratiate themselves with their father in an attempt to steal the family business. Josephine was still the eldest, and the likely heir, but Josephine's stepmother knew exactly how to remedy this one barrier. When Josephine turned eighteen, her stepmother suggested to Dario that it was time for his princess to marry - and she had just the suitor in mind. A suitor who did business in American."
"Ouch."
"Yes, Dario was becoming a little senile by now, and agreed to it. But Josephine quickly discovered and deduced her stepmother's plan. To say she was… upset by this revelation was an understatement. Josephine refused to let this plan succeed, and with her skill in alchemy now far greater than it was before, but still a secret to almost everyone, she formed a plan of her own… Oh, it seems our main course is here!"
Again, Hepzibah was the one who took the effort to describe what the waitress was serving. "Bistecca alla fiorentina, Florentine-style beefsteak grilled and served rare, with mushrooms, roast potatoes, sautéed spinach, and white cannellini beans. Specialty of the house." I was seriously going to have to hit the gym more often during this tournament, that was sure.
"Now, as I was saying," continued Trask, "uhm, can you pass the salt there, Hephzibah? Thank you. Josephine's plan would cement her descent into darkness.
"She first arranged for her father to take a business trip to meet with foreign investors in Greece, and then planned a party where her stepmother, stepsisters, brothers, and fiancé would be invited, along with the many of Dario's associates whom she suspected of conspiring with them. The party would be on the day where Dario was to have the most important meeting of his trip, and to make sure he'd be there longer than he'd planned, she bribed a dock worker - through an intermediary – to sabotage her father's ship once it docked, ensuring he'd be delayed a week further in order to have it repaired.
"It would just be her and her guests that night, the perfect time for her plan."
"I'm guessing this plan would not involve settling their differences by discussing things like reasonable adults?"
"Heh, if only. No, Terone." His voice turned lower. "Josephine had planned what was, in her mind, the perfect murder."
He stopped for a moment to use his napkin before continuing in his normal voice.
"By now, her skill in alchemy had grown to such that she was able to delve into more advanced techniques, using them to brew a poison of unparallelled lethality. It was a poison of three parts - each was harmless on its own, only lethal when the victim consumed all three. It also took several days to work, anywhere from three to ten, and almost perfectly duplicated the symptoms of cholera, a disease that was both common and feared at the time.
"All she had to do was combine one of the three parts with the pasta sauce, one with the beef gravy, and the third with the dessert, and her guests would suspect nothing, unaware of their impending doom until days later when the venom kicked in. She'd simply avoid eating all three courses herself, and because everyone knew she never ate dessert anyway, she'd be safe. Even if someone suspected foul play, it would be difficult for even the most skilled of toxicologists – of which there weren't many - to even identify the true cause, much less trace it to her."
"So, I'm guessing something went very wrong?"
"No… Just the opposite. Her plan worked far too well. The night of the party, she was as gracious and polite a hostess as she had ever been. Dinner was served, and she relished her finest moment, watching with delight as her greedy family and fiancé helped themselves to the plate of death she had prepared. She smiled constantly as each guest complimented her on the excellent meal.
"And then, her entire life fell apart. The front door to their house swung open. Her father had arrived."
I have to admit, that was a twist I had not seen coming.
"Dario had postponed his meeting and taken a passenger ship back, an undignified way to travel for a man like him, but he had heard of his daughter's big event, and was not about to miss it, no matter what pains he had to take to get home in time. He gave his now-terrified daughter a long, passionate hug, ensuring her no force on Earth nor Heaven above would prevent him from missing his sweet princess's dinner party.
"Unable to directly warn him without being exposed as a murderer, she nonchalantly tried to prevent him from eating all three courses, but the doting old man would hear none of it. Josephine excused herself, retiring to her quarters and threw herself into her notes, hoping to find some way of neutralizing the poison, but it was futile. Her formula had been too well-made. She had even taken the precaution of scheduling the party during the week when the only two doctors in Tuscany who she suspected might recognize the serum's effects were on sabbatical.
"All she could do now was stay by her father's side while the poison did its work. While it started to work earlier than Josephine had expected, it took three long, miserable days for him to truly die. When she was informed of the tragic news of the deaths of her brother's stepmother, and betrothed, all having perished from cholera, she barely acknowledged it. She got what she had wanted, and it was more than she deserved. From that moment on, she was the cold and remorseless creature she is now.
This was all interesting, of course, and I truly wondered if Trask truly expected me to believe him (which I didn't) This story had a lot of holes in it, least of all was exactly why he was still working for someone whom he accused of such atrocities. Which in turn raised the biggest problem with this story - if Josephine had committed the "perfect crime", how did Trask learn about it?
"Uh, before this goes any further, uhm, may I use the men's room?"
"Oh, of course, right down over there."
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I didn't really need to use the washroom, I just needed to be alone for a minute to take this all in. I had hoped the emergency exit would be near the restrooms, but sadly, it was not.
I looked in the restroom mirror for a few minutes. I didn't know whether Trask was lying or whether he was some crackpot who actually believed that crazy story. Either way, I had no idea why he had chosen to tell me all this.
I was almost certain by now that he intended to let me go after he finished his long-winded explanation, so my biggest concern was what I was going to do once I left. Maybe I could go to the police? No, bad idea. Even if they believed me, he likely had the best lawyers in the city on his speed dial, and I'd be out of a job at the very least. Maybe I could try to get an audience with his boss? Even less likely. I hadn't spoken to Ms. Frantisec even half as much as I had to Trask, and I'd say close to 90% of all the words I had ever heard from him I had heard in the past hour. The boss-lady wouldn't make time for one employee, and even if she did, what was I supposed to do, tell her that one of her board of directors had told me she was a three-hundred-year-old debutante who had murdered her family?
As I was thinking this, I was startled by a light tap on the shoulder. Of course, I spun around quickly, but nobody was there.
Maybe I'm the one who's going crazy, I thought. I turned back towards the mirror…
…and then I nearly screamed.
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"Everything well, Mr. Brickman?"
When I returned to the table, Trask was closing a laptop computer that he had been using while I was in the restroom. I didn't inquire as to why - I was shaken by what I had seen in that mirror. For now, I decided right now to ask the obvious question:
"Listen, the whole thing about the boss-lady was… interesting and all, but what exactly does she have to do with Dark - uh, I mean, that card you're so concerned about?"
"Dessert, Mr. Brickman?"
The waitress's sweet voice startled me. She had brought a tray holding some rather tempting desserts, including tiramisu, chocolate biscotti, and fruit panzanella, something I had wanted to try for ages. But despite that...
"Thank you," I slowly said, "but I really shouldn't."
"Well, let me ask you something else, Terone," continued Trask, "have you heard of Duelist Assassins?"
That was anotherone that kind of came out of left field. I knew about the concept of course, as they had gained a near-mythical reputation among pros. Way back in the original Duelist Kingdom Tournament, there were forty contestants invited; each contestant was given two Star Chips, which they were to wager in duels against other contestants. The first four contestants to get ten of these Star Chips would qualify for the finals. This was all well and good but with 80 Star Chips in circulation, it would be very easy for more than four contestants to qualify for the finals; what happened to the other 40 Chips?
The Eliminators were special dueling mercenaries, hired to challenge duelists to mandatory all-or-nothing matches, in order to ensure only four contestants qualified. Kind of like hidden bosses in video games.
"Let me guess," I said, "Josephine has them?"
"She has a team of them." This time, the explanation came from Hephzibah. "They call themselves the Order of Evelyn. Whoever Evelyn is or was only Josephine knows, but whenever she wants one of her employees eliminated, one of them is instructed to find this duelist, duel him, defeat him, and then kill him."
"Well, I guess that is better than having to pay a severance package, right?"
"Do you remember Maryanne, Terone? She was your opponent in a match you had last November. Ever wonder why you haven't seen her since then?"
I definitely did remember her, she had a powerful Lunalight deck; I lost that duel… just remembering it gave me bruises.
"Supposedly, she resigned in order to pursue a degree at Chavagnes. They never heard of her, and there's no record of her registration. Then there was Josh Selva. Allegedly joined the Army. No record of his enlistment or deployment."
I remembered Josh too, he had a brutal "crumbling tower" strategy, where the point was to swarm with monsters that could search for or Special Summon other monsters, like Gadgets and Machina, using them to Xyz Summon. He even had a copy of Cyber Dragon Nova.
Maryanne and Josh… He was suggesting this Order of Evelyn had… killed them?
"These aren't the typical duelists, Terone, they're clever. They study their opponents as much as they can before they attack and adjust their decks accordingly. But no matter what sort of deck they have, they always have that card in it."
It finally sunk in just what he was implying - and I actually laughed.
"Sorry, excuse me there… You're suggesting -" I stopped this was beyond funny. "You're suggesting I'm a member of this group? Yeah, I wish! I mean, I'd think I'd get a much better salary if I was…"
"That is one possibility I had entertained, Terone, but only one of them. There is a reason they have this card. For starters, it is how a member of the Order identifies himself to another member. They tend towards secrecy. Also, while they are skilled, they aren't invincible. If one of them loses, they have to give the card to the victor."
"Need I ask why?"
"Who is more qualified to join them than someone who can defeat one of them?"
"You mean… You think I…"
"I know, Terone, I know, you think this is all utter nonsense. You aren't the first doubter. I… do notice you skipped dessert, though. I suppose that no matter how skeptical one is, there will always be at least some doubt."
"Okay, okay, mind I ask how you know this big secret? Come to think of it, if the boss is an… evil sorceress and cult leader of some sort, why are you telling me this? Doesn't exactly seem safe."
Trask chuckled softly. It was the first time I had ever heard him laugh. He turned to Hephzibah. "Would you like to tell him, my dear?"
Of course, I turned to her, noticing that she had produced a deck of her own. She quickly took a card from it, then turned it forward to show me.
It was Dark Magician Girl. The second time in my life I had ever seen the incredibly rare card in person.
"You, you're…"
"When one is the apex predator, Terone, there are many rules one must follow to stay in that position. One of them is, always make sure your underlings are loyal to your cause. Make certain no reward is too tempting nor any punishment too severe for them to consider betrayal. As the penalty for such -" He turned to Hephzibah, who nodded and put it away. "- can be dire."
She hadn't outright said yes or no, but I got the gist. After a long silence, I asked, "So, I suppose you won't tell me the other rules?"
"In time, perhaps. I see potential in you, my boy, with the right motivation, you could -"
"Look, Mr. Trask," I stammered, "I have to admit I'm actually sort of flattered here, but… I'll be completely honest, no, I did not win the card from anyone else, I've never seen any of these Order of Angelica -"
"Evelyn," he corrected.
"Right. But, uh, but if I do, you'll be the first to know, right?"
Trask turned to Hephzibah. She simply nodded to him.
"Well then, Mr. Brickman," he said, "in that case, I look forward to watching your next duel. Hopefully we will meet again. Good luck with the rest of our tournament."
Damn, I had almost forgotten about that. I stood up and took his handshake, eager to get out of this place.
"Is there anywhere Ms. Hephzibah can drop you off?"
I did not want to be near this odd woman much longer, but I nodded in reply - there was one more thing I needed to ask her and needed to do it away from here.
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While she didn't have to grab me and drag me into the limousine this time, Hephzibah seemed much the same as she was the first time, sitting beside me in stony, cold, silence. Now was a time when I would have preferred someone more talkative, as I was still spooked by what I had seen in that mirror.
What had I seen? Eyes. Big, beautiful, green, female eyes. Maybe there was a body attached to them, but all I saw in that brief moment were the eyes. It was ironic, I know. I was a pro who cosplayed as a Death Eater, I'd taken hits from Solid Vision versions of Fabled Leviathan and Dark Ruler Ha Des, and yet, seeing one ghost - I assumed - had shaken me. I'd be a lousy student at Hogwarts.
"Uhm, Ms. Hephzibah," I started. "If I may ask a question…"
"You may ask," she replied.
I took that to mean, "ask but don't expect an answer" but it was something.
"Why Dark Magician Girl? I mean, why that card?"
Hephzibah took her glasses off again. "Look at the card, Terone," she said. I shrugged, then took my deck from the pouch on my belt, and then went through my deck until I found the card.
"Uh… Yeah?"
"Remember the artwork in the restaurant, Terone? Sometimes, you can't see the whole picture until you look at it a second time. Ever wonder just who the Dark Magician Girl is?"
"I, uh, I always assumed she was the Dark Magician's apprentice… or girlfriend… or both."
"Possibly. Now, read the card's effect text."
Of course, I knew what that said, it was a pretty simple effect after all, but I shrugged and read it aloud: "It… 'Gains 300 ATK for every 'Dark Magician' and 'Magician of Black Chaos' in the GYs.' So? Seems pretty clear there."
"It does indeed seem pretty clear Terone, she is a practitioner of black magic who gains power from her mentor being dead. And I believe this is your house."
The limousine came to a stop, we were indeed right in front of my place. Hephzibah handed me back my mobile phone, and the chauffeur opened the door.
"Consider everything we've told you this afternoon Terone. If necessary, we will find you."
I was tempted just to go inside, make up some story about where I've been, and try to purge this whole afternoon from my memory, of course, I'm really not sure Jenni would have believed me and less sure that I could even forget everything that happened.
Still, almost by instinct, I turned on my mobile phone in order to check my messages. When I turned it on, however, the app I had installed flashed, "CHALLENGER APPEARS!"
The message said, "Saw you at Hecate's. Be there tomorrow at eleven, you owe me. meet me at the statue." Then there were three Emojis (two Hearts and a Smile) and the signature "Cid E".
"No… way…"
There was no question about this one - I quickly hit "Accept".
Jenni would be a little irked that I was going to seek this duelist out, but I did indeed owe her…
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"Terone, did anyone ever tell you that you're obsessive?"
"Coming from you, Jenni, I'll take that as a compliment."
The next day, 10:30 to be precise, I was at the spot the app told me to be at a well-known landmark at Hecate Square. The statue stood in the center of a large square plaza, surrounded by several stores; most first-time tourists tried to steer clear of it, or in some cases, were reluctant to look away from it. Made of stone, the six-foot depiction of an angel in a flowing robe and a stern, cross face stood on a pedestal in the middle of what used to be an enclosed garden with park benches surrounding it. Neglect had neglect had turned it into nothing but a large patch of weeds. There was an iron fence around the enclosure and park benches, which tended to be avoided, as they required you to turn your back to her if you sat there. There was a plaque on the pedestal with the word "Odarre" on it, but nobody knew who or what that was. If anything, whoever had put it there had an odd sense of humor.
While the statue tended to creep out the average, this was probably the safest place in the neighborhood, with most of the surrounding businesses still open and still relatively popular. There was a movie theater, a candy store (specializing in Japanese candy, hard to find anywhere else in the city) and a clothing boutique that catered to teenagers and young adults who were into the "Lolita" style of fashion, an old fad that had made comeback in recent years, much to the chagrin of parents and schools. In fact, I was pretty sure that was why "Cin N" wanted to meet me here.
The app message had reminded me why I had come here, the note someone left on the counter yesterday:
Dear Terone,
You have great potential, and I can make you stronger.
Vendreti's Antiquities, Hecate's Square, come tomorrow, 3PM.
Please bring a hamburger.
I was no closer to figuring out who had sent it but accepting "Cin N's" challenge wouldn't take me much out of my way.
"You'll be happy to know I have now put 999 on the speed dial."
"So, you were going to tell me where this Vendreti's Antiquities place is?"
"Actually, yes, about that… I found out that -"
"HEY!" I shouted.
"Terone? Now what?"
"Jenni, hold that thought."
The cry of surprise has come from someone hitting me on the back of the head. Turning around quickly, I saw someone in a black cloak and hood leap over the fence that surrounded the statue, then run towards a store about a hundred or so feet behind me.
I stopped for a minute to pick up what had hit me - a game card in a plastic display sleeve.
Cockadoodledoo? That card rang a bell from somewhere; I couldn't remember exactly where, but right now, I was more concerned with catching the Gambit-wannabe, who had dashed across the street, leapt over a parked car, and then ducked into an alley. I stuffed the card into my shirt pocket and pursued.
Damn, why are alleys always dark? I thought. This one seemed to lead between two stores, towards the back of another, and as I approached, I saw the figure's shadow.
"Okay, joke's over, you can -"
Then, as I approached, it pointed something at me…
A gun? "Wait! Don't! I -"
Then, there was a girlish laugh, and a spritz of water from a squirt gun hit me in the face.
"Gotcha!" said Cindy with a giggle.
She hugged me - she hadn't changed one bit…
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Who is Cindy, you may ask? Longtime readers of my stories might remember her from "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door, Redux". For those who haven't, she'll be here for the next two chapters at least; suffice to say, she and Terone have a past.
So… Be here then.