Spirit Caller

Chapter Six

6

Ready Or Not

Connar groaned as her head lay heavily on her desk. She had tossed and turned all night long, bothered from her heated conversation with her father. She still felt shaken inside, afraid she might have screwed up before she even started. On top of that, the venom from Princeton's lips still coursed through her. His words stung, the previous night echoed in her mind. To her right side, Jaden snored away comfortably nestled into his arms.

"What on earth has gotten into Jaden?" Connar whispered to Syrus,"Does he not know how to sleep in bed?"

"Actually I think Jaden can sleep about anywhere, anytime." Syrus stated,"But I also think he might just be tired from last night."

"Last night?" Connar blinked,"Why? What happened last night?"

"Chazz Princeton called Jaden out for a duel at midnight last night,"

"Midnight!?" Connar gasped,"Princeton did? Really?" She pondered to for a moment.

Princeton challenged Jaden to a duel at midnight?

Were those Princeton's "previous arrangements"?

"So...what were the results?"

"Actually the result was never determined." said Syrus,"We were about to be busted by Campus Security so we had to run out before we found out who actually won."

"I see."

"Yeah, Jaden said he was about to win, but it looked like it could go either way."

"You don't say..."

Someone was actually able to match Princeton in a duel?

she blinked and kid of pouted to herself.

I'm jealous...wish I could have seen that myself...

" !"

"Ah-Y-Yes sir!?" She panicked and stood when called her name.

"Since you seem so eager to have an endearing conversation with young Truesdale, perhaps you can share with him and the rest of the class the categories of the Monster cards in Duel Monsters!" he huffed with his arms cross.

Perhaps Red is a suituable color for her after all.

He thought to himself

"O-of course, sir!" Connar stuttered and let out a nervous gulp. The thought of speaking in front of the class made her nervous. The pressure was heavy. As she parted her lips to speak she could feel herself choking up, haunted by the memory of the previous night.

"Are you ashamed? Is this some kind of rebellion against Daddy~?"

she bit her lip, trembling slightly, clenching her fist so tightly that she could feel her nails dig into her skin.

"Pssst, Connar..." Syrus tried to show her comfort. But she was too zoned out to notice

"Remember, Connar...You represent Kaiba, now."

Her father's words weighed heavily in her memories.

"Be present. Stay pleasant. And stand proud."

As his voice resonated within her, her heart rate calmed itself and her fists, loosened. The scars in her palm burned, but her eyes burned hotter with a more serious expression. She looked fierce.

"In the game of Duel Monsters, the monsters of the game can be seperated in the stated categories." she began,"Normal Monsters. Effect Monsters and Ritual monsters." she said,"Effect monsters can be seperated into flip effect monsters, permanant effect monsters, or effects that are met only under certain conditions." She paused for a moment to allow for her words to sink in to those taking notes before continuing,"Next we have Fusion monsters, which are a new monster formed or unionized with two or more fusion material or union type monsters." She explained, "Union monsters fall under the category of 'effect monsters'. An example of these types would be monsters like the XYZ or WXYZ machine based union monsters." Some of the students looked at her in awe as she continued her explanation," While Fusion monsters can also be categorized under 'effect' monsters, they do not fall under 'flip effects' which occur when a set monster is attacked or flipped face up." she explained," Finally we have Ritual monsters, which have the same possibility of also being 'effect monsters' only these monsters are special monsters which can only be summoned under the right circumstances and proper ritual spells."

Once Connar had finished her speel she let out a long and slow breath, allowing the jitters to leave her body as she was greeted with a class wide applause.

"Wow, Connar, you really nailed that answer!" said Syrus,"There's no way I would have even been able to come close!"

"Yeah...I think I learned more from you than I did from the teacher." a familiar and cheery voice chimed in.

"Jaden!" Connar and her blue haired friend both chirped in surprise.

"You were awake!?" she asked.

"Nah." he chuckled,"But I'm always listening~"

"Yes. That was very good." stated as he cleared his throat,"With potential like that you ought to be able to move up in the ranks in no time~" he stated,"...However I would appreciate if you with-held all personal conversations until after my class, thank you."

"O-Oh uh...yes, ." she blushed as the classroom filled with chuckles.

"Class adjourned." he said as he gathered together his teaching materials, "Now get out."

"Wow that Connar girl sure is smart huh? I wonder if she tutors..."

The chatter echoing in the halls were burning Chazz's ears.

"Yeah, and she's kinda cute right?"

He twitched and slammed his foot into the wall startling the other first year guys who let Connar's name slip from their lips. In a rush of intimidated discomfort they scrambled off quickly from Princeton's chilling glare.

"Haha man you really put teach in his place~!"

Jaden's "right on" caught Chazz's attention and really got on his nerves. Listening to his cheery conversation with Connar made him grind his teeth.

"I'll catch up with you guys later then." She said sweetly smiling as she waved her friends off to wander the hall.

"Hmph. Good to see you don't hold back in class lessons." a low grumble startled her and she turned to find Princeton leaning against the wall leering at her."Now let's see you do the same with your talent." he scoffed as he stormed off down th hall, the clicking sound of his raised heels on his school boots echoing around her and receding away.

Connar sighed as she sifted through her duel deck.

Princeton is right...

She thought to herself.

Eventually I will have to unveil my deck and duel.

She sighed, as she stopped, pulling a certain card from the neatly stacked deck. She had held back from dueling since Prep School...She never stopped practice... but playing against yourself wasn't the same as playing someone else...

I stacked this deck myself...so there's no one else to blame...but-

"Well done~"

That voice on the day I met Jaden...

I tried to play it off as though I were hearing things...

But I am almost certain that Dark Magician Girl was talking that day...

she sighed and trembled softly.

I thought I was past that incident...

she thought.

But...what if I'm not?

she trembled, gripping her deck tightly.

If I duel...will I be ready and able to handle the situation, if it happens again...?

To Be Continued