Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Clubit Academia ❯ Act 2 Chapter 7: The Robed Figure ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter Seven: The Robed Figure

 

“To Be Honest, I Did Think That You Were Never Going To Wake Up.” There was a funny taste in Paine's mouth, familiarity mixed in with disgust. Iron, but for the wrong reasons.

 

“We Determined Your Location When You Turned On Your Duel Disk. But I Did Not Mean For You To Fall Down The Hole. At Least You Are UnInjured.”

 

Paine spat, instinct born out of the need to breath, the liquid had got into his mouth and he did not intend to swallow as he usually did.

 

“You Are Awake, Are You Not?” His mouth was kissing the floor, causing eyes to widen as he shot up, checking his teeth to see if they were alright. The blood wasn't his.

 

He could see. Not where he was. The room was still as black as ever, with no light and thick layers of black paint everywhere. But he could see himself. His hands were as clear as day. Even as his eyes made pathetic attempts to refocus, the clarity of the objects in the room became startling unreal.

 

He looked up. It was a classic mark in the theatre to use a spotlight during monologue scenes. He had learned long ago that the last thing you should do when being the only one on stage in front of an audience of around three hundred people was to look into the spotlight beaming down a high voltage bulb right into your eyes, but it meant nothing this time. There was no light. Only darkness.

 

Why could he see himself then?

 

“Intriguing, Is It Not?” His mind flashing back to the present, he looked towards where the computer modulated voice that had accompanied his trip back into consciousness came from. The man who had pushed him was just standing there, wearing the same robe that both Priestess and the other girl had. This one was a very definite black though, making Paine question why the man didn't blur with his background of outer space. “The World Of Darkness Could Attempt To Confuse You. Instead, It Only Wishes To Change You. And Such Change Can Only Occur In Moments Of Perfect Clarity.”

 

“What?” Paine had been asking this one thing since he had gotten to the Academia, but this was the only time where he felt he didn't really want the answer.

 

“How Will the Darkness Change You, Paine59?” the voice asked, then stopped. It took a few moments of silence spanning through the infinite for Paine to realize that the guy actually wanted an answer. Paine wasn't up for giving it.

 

“Who are you? Where have you…” His thoughts stopped in mid shift to high gear. There was more than one of them. Spinning round, he sought to see if he was about to be blindsided again, getting no response from his eyes save for one man, Kenshin.

 

There was no attack though.

 

Gasping in shock, Paine ran over to the lecturer, grabbing his shoulders and looking over his unconscious form with sheer worry, the blood still staining the man's cheek telling him that the worst may have happened.

 

“M…Sir?” he shouted next to the prone form, knowing what little good it would be doing. Placing him carefully back down, he checked for breath and caught light wisps of it. He was still alive.

 

Paine sighed in relief as he looked the teacher over for a moment, seeing no signs of any external injuries. The blood did not appear to come from anywhere. The only signs that he wasn't sleeping was his duel Disk, cracked across the monster zone with the life point counter broken at 0000. “Sir?” It was clear, he had fallen prey like the others.

 

“He Should Not Have Come Here. It Was Unexpected.”

 

“What did you do to him?” Feeling protective of his teacher, Paine turned to keep himself between the two others in the room as he snarled at the man he now labeled as an enemy.

 

“Nothing. It Was The Darkness.”

 

“What?” Again, didn't need to know.

 

“The Darkness Confronted Him, And For No Moment Did He Waver. He Stood Tall And Bold Against It. His Duty To Protect Surpassing All Other Thoughts And Feelings. It Also Destroyed Him. I Merely Won Our Duel.”

 

“The darkness?” Paine became horrifyingly aware of the black void surrounding him. He couldn't even hear anything now except the three of the. The robot, his own, the breathing. There was nothing else to hear.

 

“It Is Not A Valid Point Though. There Is No More Reason To Talk To You. You Have Heard Our Plans To Bring Forth The Dark God. You Must Be Eliminated.”

 

“The Dark God?”

 

“Yes, Our Plan To Resurrect The Dark God By Sacrificing Powerful Souls Into His Mighty Embrace. We Challenge The Strong To Duel And Take The Soul Of The Winner. When There Are None Left He Shall Be Ready.”

 

“So you're the ones responsible for all the students going into comas!” Paine felt an urge to rip off the mask and discover it was the guy that owned the amusement park, as well as an urge for biscuity snacks.

 

“That Is Correct. Now, As You Have Overheard...” The man stopped as Paine raised his hand up.

 

“Actually…I missed that part.”

 

“…” Silence. “Please Repeat.”

 

“I didn't actually know about the Dark God until you just told me.”

 

More silence followed, echoing across the empty room and ringing in Paine's ears. He swore he could sense the hooded figure swearing internally.

 

What must have been a minute passed, with nothing occurring save the ragged breath of the man below Paine. In those moments, Paine questioned why he wasn't running, doing something to pursue flight or fight, but something held him there for the moment. Told him not to try it.

 

“Let Us Duel,” the figure announced suddenly, a Duel Disk appearing on his hand and sliding into position.

 

“Duel?” For some reason, Paine hadn't been expecting this. He was only slightly taken aback by the Duel Disk appearing out of nowhere.

 

“If You Win, I Shall Release You. If You Lose, You Shall Join Your Tutor.”

 

“Pfft, screw that!” Paine commented, stepping away to sprint out of the room and call the police, immediately being assaulted by a thousands senses as he did so. Images swarmed his mind, showing his roses and shattered glass, televisions sets and Adolf Hitler. Smells attacked his nose, the putrid act of a cat eating turpentine, Adolf Hitler being visited by the tooth fairy, played by Michael Jackson, who asked him if he had change for a deutschmark, with Paine being unable to tell the difference between the two actors. Four year old chicken meat met with the sound of a pigeon being run over and a burning teddy bear that was stolen by some kids from the street one down who would be cursed to become addicted to the feel of pillows. Paine screamed, but drank only water.

 

Then, he was back. In the darkness, with the figure.

 

“As You Can Now AsCertain, You Have No Choice.”

 

“Why are you doing this?” Paine said between gasps. Hitler was still stuck between his teeth. “We've done nothing to you.”

 

“The Student Body Is Convenient To Us. Now Begin. There Is A Coin By Your Feet That You Probably Dropped. Please Flip And Call It.”

 

Looking down at the smooth two penny piece, which he was sure he hadn't been carrying, Paine cursed to himself. This certainly what he wasn't expecting. A stern telling off if he got caught perhaps, followed by himself apologizing for not fully knowing he was not supposed to be here. Now, he was in a duel to stop what was happening to some of the other students from happening to him.

 

Not that he deserved to be spared.

 

He had been a jerk.

 

The thought flashed across his forebrain without him even caring for it. But it rang true. His friends. They weren't all that close yet, but the ideas he had of abandoning them, of going so far as to deny the events of the duel… How screwed up was he?

 

The freshness left his mind as he felt the fatigue of everything around him. The dark room, his fallen teacher, his loss to Leblanc. He wanted to fix it, but now he was dueling before he could, which he didn't want. Hopefully, this would be easy.

 

No!

 

Assuming such a thing was stupid. He should be careful in this duel, make sure he noted what happened carefully. There was no time limit, he could take it straightforward and carefully, make sure nothing bad happened. He had no choice in dueling, after all. He should make sure he kept all other choices available to him. He reached for the coin.

 

“I Choose Heads.”

 

It flipped. He prayed to go first, get an early advantage. The way this robed figure spoke made it sound like he was something to be toyed with, an ant in the hands of a child. It shook him that in many ways he was, this game was just a game to the enemy, with Paine caught in his grip. If Paine even begun to get the advantage, all this man had to do was close his hand over the ant and end it all.

 

The coin landing on his palm, Paine forgot to get excited. Tails. He could go first.

 

“I'll start,” he said, barely a whisper. Focus…focus, focus, focus! Drawing his first five cards, he looked down to see the first being the Dark Wizard. That was bad, a tribute monster in the first turn. Two Theatre Troupe, a Stage Set, and a new card, The Show Must Go On, a quick play magic card. He drew his sixth. Mysterious Sandbag. He recognized all of these cards. All but two required monsters…yet the remaining two specifically brought monsters.

 

Theatre Troupe! He had a chance to summon two monsters of his own accord. Not very powerful monsters. But since when did Duel Monsters lie solely in strength. This was his chance. He need only choose two monsters in succession that would allow him to keep the advantage long enough to bring out the Dark Wizard and use his power along with Stage Set.

 

He thought of Crafty Thief. That would work with the Mysterious Sandbag as it had before. The cards had been preventing him from knowing their full effects, but he knew from past experience that Crafty Thief could be discarded to activate Mysterious Sandbag, regardless of other details. He was unsure if they were truly linked, but it certainly felt poignant. He need only pull that out and…

 

“Take All The Time You Need. The Time You Grab Now Will Run Out At The End Of The Duel.”

 

Could he get Crafty Thief though? His deck wouldn't allow it, the mere thought of looking into and through his deck feeling alien, causing a nauseous feeling similar to the one had just had. This shouldn't be. He was fighting for his life here and yet forced to be controlled by his deck when it should have been the other way round.

 

He would have to risk it. He hated that, but Theatre Troupe was the only card he could play in this first turn, and he needed defense at least.

 

“I play…” At least he was still rational enough to stay focused. “Theatre Troupe!” As soon as the card smacked down into the Duel Disk, he felt his hand reach for his deck. This is how it happened; he knew his body was no longer being controlled by his mind, that relaxing yet foreboding feeling of submitting filled his core, letting the deck do what it wanted to him. Take him, sample him, guide him? He didn't really know, but all through it, his mind was on one thing alone. Crafty thief. He had to draw it.

 

He felt a card slip between his fingers.

 

A ten year old girl stared back at him.

 

“Lost Girl?”

 

No! He couldn't screw it up now. Putting the new card aside for a moment, he focused again. Just how did the deck choose its cards? His hand definitely went for something in particular. It wasn't random. It knew what it wanted. So how did he make it know what he wanted?

 

“And then I play Theater Troup again!”

 

“Am I Just Being Irrational,” the robed figure inquired. “Or Does It Appear Like You Do Not Need To Be Facing Me, When You Are Doing A Good Job Of Defeating Yourself?”

 

Ignore it! Focus on Crafty Thief. He pictured the assailant of the night in his head, heard the screams and jeers that accompanied it whenever it was seen on stage. The Crafty thief was a classic character in the art of theatre. Never the main villain, it provided the comic relief as the never appreciated sidekick. Its plans would rarely ever work, except when it was truly needed.

 

His fingers tightened, and he took over the rest. A man stared at him with one gold tooth and twenty missing ones, and Paine's heart allowed itself to soar.

 

With Crafty Thief ready, his next move was obvious.

 

“I place two cards face down.” His lips felt the urge to name the card, and small confusion as he played his other card, one he had not intended to. “And then I play Stage Set.”

 

With a crack of luminous thunder, the darkness flashed bright white for but a microsecond, revealing the room empty, not even its own walls surrounded it. Paine looked on perplexed for but a moment, wondering where they were, for it was clearly not the Old Forums. The place appeared devoid of matter, featureless, a place impossible to exist within the boundaries of the blue sphere he lived on. It made him wonder how he was even breathing, for could such a place even contain oxygen? But then the light was gone, and the stage was up.

 

He shook his head free of everything. Stage Set hadn't been cancelled on the Duel Disk. Even though nothing had appeared, its effect was still there. Telling himself not to get distracted, he looked to his next move. Now the defense would work, he just needed to formulate an attack for what would come the nest turn.

 

He looked to his new monster card, a level two, 500ATK, 600DEF…the girl with a blue striped jumper and red overalls stared right back at him, eyes hollow yet reading every word of him, innocent yet accusing. He wanted to swallow the air in his throat, but it stuck and sending him into another coughing fit. The cough eventually subsiding, Paine pulled away from his own card out of fear it would do something. His fingers now tingling, he placed her down onto the Duel Disk, neither him nor his deck no longer in control.

 

“How Can This Be?”

 

A fierce wind blew through the empty room, slamming hard into Paine's back like a sledgehammer to the spine. It took all he could muster to remain standing, and he watched as the Robed Figure had the same problem as well, grasping its hood tightly as it stayed level with the ground. Soon, matter appeared, thick grey fog surrounding them, denying visibility save for the few feet between the duelists. He looked around and heard footsteps. How could someone move in these conditions? Not for the weird hallucinations they brought alone, but he feared that to take more than one step would threatened untold horrors upon him.

 

A light giggle filled the room. Surprising as it was refreshing. Calm. Unnerving. He felt like smiling merely at the resonance of it, yet he knew of no reason to smile. It was a chocolate bar filled with sugar, threatening to rot your teeth. A demon, with false promises of glory.

 

“I See. Interesting.”

 

“Wha?” Paine barely heard his own utterance. Where was his monster? The Lost Girl was nowhere to be seen. He spun round a few times, trying to see if she was somewhere among the fog, yet…wait! To his right, he could just see something. Red overalls, vivid crimson. Sea blue stripes… and long raven black hair that hid the face of the monster.

 

She was there all right, though his teeth wouldn't stop chattering at the mere sight of her. He turned away, biting his tongue to stop the dental dance, his focus regained.

 

As long as the Lost Child was there, it was okay. At least he had a monster, something to sacrifice next turn for Dark Wizard. It didn't matter what else it did…right?

 

Looking to the card, all he could think of right then was what it did. It had to have an effect. The deck wouldn't have picked it unless it thought it could be useful… he hoped anyway. The deck had to be following some kind of logic. He just had to match up with it.

 

“It's a special summon…” the words left his mouth as he once again realized what a card did, the words appearing on the card's face at the same time they entered his brain. He was getting better at this. The cards were slowly revealing themselves more and more to him. “That means…”

 

No normal summon had taken place yet.

 

This was perfect.

 

“Since she was special summoned instead of normal summoned, I tribute Lost Girl…” His hand hovered over the card. It didn't intend to leave, wouldn't let him take it. Glancing over at the girl, he saw the pile of hair move to the side, two glorious eyes now staring at him like he had just thrown something at her back. Their eyes widened in synch, and he felt his pulse soar upwards as she turned to walk towards him, step by antagonizing step…

 

“I tribute Lost Girl…” He felt his foot moved of its own violation, watching to escape, his other leg however remembering what would happen if he stepped from this spot. Was she running?

 

“I tribute Lost Girl…” The little child looked closer, but he wasn't so sure. The fog made everything confusing, depth perception became flat, the pain in his neck made everything ache. The hallucinations sounded a lot more promising all of a sudden.

 

“I tribute Lost girl…” Why was she walking back to him now anyway? She was only a card. Just a digital illusion created by a small microchip…Why was she doing things on her own? “To summon the Dark Wizard!” (2500+500+200)

 

His breathing finally caught up with him, the child never stopped as she faded from his view, the fog following her back into complete darkness.

 

With a crystallized flash, the floor in front of him snapped Paine backed to attention, and he watched as his monster appeared in front of him. The Dark Wizard stood motionless in attack mode, almost like it was just another monster. But Paine could see, it was being careful, as cautious as he was. It grasped its wooden staff tightly, its breathing controlled.

“I end my turn.”

 

“A Carefully…” The Robed Figure stopped talking as a giggle emanated across the spacescape, interrupting him. Paine looked around as the laughter traveled through his ears and licked his soul. What was…

 

Looking down, where the large, flat image of his trap card lay, he saw it. The girl's head sticking out of the back of the card, lop sided, as if it had been broken. She smiled with eyes crossed and tongue hanging out, and the trap card detonated.

 

Mysterious Sandbag was gone. What had that thing done to it?

 

“I See Now. I Was about To Give You Credit. But Now It Looks Unnecessary.”

 

Why did she destroy his trap card? Lost Girl wasn't that good a card in the first place and now it looked to be one that actually betrayed him. He felt angered at his work being ruined. To be focused the whole turn and play each move as smart as his last. He had done well. At least he still had Dark Wizard.

 

“I Shall Begin My turn.”

 

It wasn't a wasted turn. To summon such a powerful monster on the first turn was a good move, the magic cards now in the graveyard made it even better. If he could secure the next move, get another strongish monster out on the field then he'll get a good hit no matter what tricks this guy brought out.

 

“First, I Shall Play Painful Choice.” Watching carefully, Paine saw his opponent place the card down on the Duel Disk. The robed figure's covered hand placed itself over his deck, and began taking cards.

 

“Oi!” Paine said, keeping a close eye on the robe that now lay draped on the Duel Disk. “Don't you try anything?”

 

“What Are You Referring To?”

 

“With sleeves like that, who knows how many cards you got hidden under there?”

 

“But I Am Pulling Cards From My Deck. Cards Of My Own Choice. It Should Not Affect The Random Variables That You Are Describing.”

 

“Even so,” Paine muttered, the hastiness of his actions biting him. “Roll it back. You'll excuse me for not trusting you.”

 

“If You Insist,” the figure said, grabbing its long brown sleeve. “It Matters Not What You See Anymore.” With a sudden rip, stitching giving up on its sole task of holding fabric together, the sleeve was ripped apart, and light appeared.

 

His eyes pierced with a sharp glare, Paine could only turn around and cringe at the sudden intrusion. It took a few moments before his clarity could recover, his opponent going on without him. By the time he could look, the now sleeveless man had chosen his five cards. But Paine wasn't concerned about that.

 

His arms, they shone electric blue.

 

Shining, brilliant light. It was the only way Paine could describe it. The man's bare arms were a dazzling blue light, like electivity dancing round one of a ball of energy. He couldn't see the surface of the man's epidermis, but the blue light's pattern was limited by it none the less. His breath quickened to make up for lost time. The five cards appeared in the air.

 

Three Skull Servants. Two King of the Skull Servants.

 

What on earth?

 

“Now Pick One.” Gritting his teeth, Paine tried hard to keep his eye on the game. The electric blue light that was…somehow appearing from the man's arms was nothing to be concerned about. Nothing at all. At least he wasn't hiding cards anywhere.

 

King of the Skull Servants was powered by Skull Servants in the graveyard, but if he was only pulling two of them up from the graveyard, that must mean the final one was still in his hand. That was bad, a 5000ATK monster. It may be a bluff though.

 

“I'll let you keep a Skull Servant,” Paine said bitterly. He didn't want to make the stupid mistake of giving the guy a king on a throne that might only be pretending to be sat upon. But with a player of this caliber Painful Choice was almost always used in a manner where it didn't matter what cards were chosen by the opposing force. This guy had a 4000ATK monster coming up.

 

Dark Wizard jumped up to 3600ATK as Painful Choice was dumped into the graveyard. He hadn't really used the Wizard before, but he hoped that his opponent would be dumb enough to use two more magic cards before he started his offensive maneuvers.

 

“Next I shall Summon King Of The Skull Servants To The Field In ATK Mode.” The voice actually said ATK in terms of letters, which couldn't help but unnerve Paine. Was his opponent really in the room with him? “Its Special Effect Allows It To Have Four Thousand ATK.”

 

Dark Wizard would still be safe though. He had that card on the field. The Show Must Go On. It had the ability of keeping a monster alive even after battle damage that would normally destroy it. He plays that, and he loses 400ATK this turn, but nothing else. It took him a moment to notice he knew the effect of a card he hadn't had before, and it calmed him.

 

“Next, I Shall Play Twin Swords Of Flashing Light- Tryce, And Equip it to King of the Skull Servants,” the robed figure continued. “This Card Will Allow My Monster To Attack Twice This Turn.”

 

800ATK then. He still wouldn't lose Dark Wizard. The card kept it pretty much invincible for the remainder of the turn. On top of that, it gave him an extra 200ATK for the next attack, leaving it at just 600ATK altogether.

 

“However, In Order To Equip It, I Must Discard One Card. I Discard…”

 

Oh no.

 

“Skull Servant.”

 

What was that then? 1400ATK, then 1200ATK?

 

“But Then It Loses 500ATK By The Effect Of Tryce.”

 

What? How many effects did these cards have? He had only played three so far. So… he quickly did the math: 900ATK, then 700ATK. Was that right? It was getting harder for him to do the simple sums in his head. He hated math sometimes. It still wasn't too much in the end though. He'd still keep Dark Wizard.

 

Paine scoffed. The guy was quite a fool really. He was wasting all his cards in one turn, and with little to show for it in the long…

 

“And Then I'll Equip King Of The Skull Servants With Opti-Camoflague Armor,” the voice continued drearily. “This Can Only Be Equipped To Monsters That Are One Star, And Allows Them To Attack An Opponent's Life Points Directly.”

 

Wha…?

 

“King Of The Skull Servants… Destroy Him.”

 

But it had only been one turn.

 

That wasn't…

 

King of the Skull Servants disappeared.

 

…fair.

 

Paine felt his hair stand on end, freezing with the white hot fear that flowed through him. It wasn't until he looked down that he even noticed his surroundings had changed, morphed to that of a hill, his opponent nowhere to be seen. Casting his gaze downwards, he felt a shriek of horror ejaculate from his lungs, seeing that it was no ordinary mound.

 

It was a knoll of corpses.

 

Thousands of bodies were littered below him. He was stepping on two of them and couldn't see the faces of the majority, couldn't even determine their gender, but they were all, and there were hundreds, if not thousands of them, clearly dead. Their eyes pitched wide open as if they had stared their death in the eye and got nothing coming right back at them. He gasped, shuddering, lost his footing and felt gravity laugh at him. A hand reached out and caught him, and he turned to look at his savior.

 

His gratitude didn't last very long. Feeling the bony hand clench his shoulder he saw its owner staring back down at him, empty, hollow sockets where eyes had never existed gazed down to him worse than LeBlanc's tarot card ever could. He felt it clutch at his heart, felt his entire body trying to jump forwards in time at its usual pace, failing miserably, no circulation.

 

Then it happened in real life. The King's bony hand let him go and, before he could continue to fall pushed its ivory fingers straight through his chest. His face contorted in pain, making useless sounds. A torrent of blood surged out of him, a crimson fountain covering the face of his reaper. Watching in horror, his own hand futilely grasped at the wrist of the skull servant, trying to break it away, wanting desperately to live. He couldn't let it take his heart. He needed that!

 

-4500

 

But the King showed no concern, showed no emotion, its other hand coming up now, releasing Paine's back and letting him hang limply from its forearm, only to quickly offer support by plunging its other hand into the right side of his chest. Paine choked, seeing the blood now eject from his mouth. Had it grabbed his lung? Did it even matter? Two hands through the chest didn't have any positive effects about it. Why should he care about the negative?

 

Want to get away. Got to get away.

 

-4500

 

Something had just happened, but it was the least of his worries. His feet dangled frantically around, desperate to find footing. If he had footing he could have support. If he had support, he could have momentum. With momentum he could fight back. If he could fight, he could push the hands out of him. He could…

 

…fall.

 

The hands were gone. The King was getting further and further away. What had happened? Did he still have his heart? No wait, hadn't he been trying to get it back?

 

All wrong. Nothing right. He was gone now. He was dead.

 

What had he done? Why had he been trying to do? Trying to act smart. Thinking he was so cool because of his Soul Deck. That had led to his carelessness. The deck would have probably won if it wasn't for him.

 

Dorou…Priestess…

 

He had wanted to abandon them, to ignore them. To cast them away even though it was his own fault. He had been a jerk.

 

He was falling faster now, it only occurred to him briefly that he couldn't see the bottom a moment ago, and no strength was left in him to turn around to see the end coming. Let it sneak up upon him, as his defeat had… Just let it all end…

 

n00b

 

“No!” He couldn't just die now. Not when he was just starting. Not when he was starting to have the adventure of a life time. Leaving with so many questions unanswered… that's that was just poor scripting. He wouldn't allow it.

 

But there was nothing to stop it now. He had no power, no hope. How could he stop this alone when he couldn't even turn around to see the end slam him in the face?

 

Maybe he didn't deserve it. He had abandoned his friends, abandoned those who sought to help him, shun them even. Now, he had nothing left.

 

“Someone help me!” Tears fell away from him, flying into the air and seemingly gaining height, he closed his eyes as he refused to look anymore. There was nothing more to see. He was nothing more than the guy that was going to die early on. Nothing special, nothing to be concerned about. He might as well have been black.

 

“Iaice! Iaice!”

 

A voice? Where?

 

“Gjae fl hacu!”

 

His left eye flickered open, a fluctuation of a dying body, and saw the robed figure coming back to get him. Finish him off maybe. The final stroke. Better that way really… So much humiliation in so short a time. End it now. Don't even taunt him with the descent.

 

“Gjae fl hacu, uaffib!”

 

And then, light!

 

It filled him, and the surrounding area. Suddenly, they weren't falling, but they weren't on solid ground either. Floating. He would have appreciated it were he not currently celebrating the return of his heart, and his confusion.

 

“How…how did you?”

 

It was the girl, where she had come from he could not tell, with her hand grasped over his, when he did not know. She had saved him, and taken him away from the place he was previously.

 

“Lou aje a ruffocej, aje lou cob?” she said with a childish giggle. “Shab nicu ow focrbej souou I ee iw I uiuc'b jeriocu bo louj moffacur icrbacbol shec ojuejeu?”

 

“Why did you help me?”

 

“I hake bo saib a oibboe oocgej, uoc'b I?” she replied. By now, he was expecting this, the questions truly becoming rhetorical. “Bhab's onal. I'oo saib woj ar oocg ar lou ceeu.” She felt content, and for some reason, so did he.

 

“Not that I'm not grateful,” he replied, his heart's escape plans now abandoned. “But don't you think you could fix this whole audio issue we've got going?”

 

She giggled again, her features still hidden beneath the hood. She had understood him. At least she spoke his language. But then why didn't she speak it herself? Make this at least a little easier on him.

 

“I'f awjaiu bheje's oce foje irrue heje woj lou bo ueao sibh loujreow, eub ab oearb lou soc'b ecu ui oine louj wjiecur.”

 

“Now, you see, that there. Do all that again, but in English.” Relaxing himself, his most major worry now being the hand he was holding and how warm it was, Paine looked around. Whereas before it had been pitch black, outer space without all the paraphernalia, it was now white, and he couldn't tell if it was like white paint or a high intensity light. His eyes might have been blinded were it the latter, but that still didn't convince him it was the first.

 

“Good luck.” Suddenly, with what he felt was a gentle smile behind those horrible rags, the girl let go, pushing his hand away with all her might. He didn't immediately fall, as he suspected he might have done, but she did instantly disappear, like a television screen with the plug unceremoniously pulled out.

 

“Ah!” He sat up, hurriedly looking around, fully alert now as the room changed straight back to the pitch black one he had been in before. In front of him was Kenshin, still unconscious. His brain clouded over for a second, unsure of what had happened, before the voice started up unexpectedly.

 

“…” How the silence was audible, Paine couldn't describe. But he certainly heard how the robed figure was saying nothing. It sounded confused.

 

Best time to take advantage.

 

Getting up, Paine decided that dueling wasn't going to get him anywhere. This power freak had already shown his skill in dueling. He defeated him in one turn! There was no way Paine was going to win the second time. Shifting onto his knees, he decided for a more delightfully violent approach. He didn't want to touch those hands, but if he could tackle him to the floor, get a few punches to the guy's jaw…

 

Why couldn't he stand up?

 

“You Have Survived,” the voice finally said. “You Are Paralyzed, But You Are Still Conscious And Able To Move In Small Increments. How Is This?”

 

“Damned if I know,” Paine replied, struggling against gravity, who had become a harsh opponent all of a sudden.

 

“But That Is Precisely What You Cannot be. Could It Be That…You Are The One We Are Searching For?”

 

“Screw you.” Not feeling overly compliant, Paine just remembered the brief conversation he had overheard before. He wasn't going to be a part of this guy's plans.

 

“But You Were Not Even In The Shariku Rankings… Although It Is Possible…”

 

Paine watched the figure approach him, cursing his own weaknesses once again, but stopped short when he saw the person halt, beginning to wander back and forth, debating something in its concealed head.

 

“To Experiment With Potential Would Not Hurt The Plan. Let Us See, Shall We?” It was then when he got closer, extending the electro blue hand that Paine had been so insistent on seeing earlier.

 

“Get away from me,” the young boy hissed.

 

“I Am Going To Give You Three Presents…” Scuffling his hair, the hand grasped him tightly, yet still without strength. However, to Paine, it might as well have been a vice. Paine flinched, expecting the worst.

 

“Deceive the Wei to cross the Zhao.”

 

What? He intended to speak, but it only came out in his head.

 

“Surround the notes to rescue the colours.”

 

“There are only five skies, five oceans, five cardinals tastes, yet the variations of the five are limitless. The same is true of direct and indirect attacks.”

 

The whispers. They came to him in steady, monotonous voices, like reading from a script. One after another. Constantly, never ending, drowning. They screamed their words out to him, told him like it was the most important thing he should know. It was like having cake shoved in his mouth, his head flushed down the toilet. There was no escape, but neither was there any feeling.

 

Just the knowledge that there was no escape.

 

Replace the beams with cursed locusts.

 

Pretend to be the mulberry and eat the tiger.

 

Point at the pig in order to curse the rotten timbers.

 

Paine screamed. Once again, he heard it only in his mind.

 

****

 

 

How much time had passed? Eighty nine minutes, forty three seconds and twenty six milliseconds since the start of this expedition. The cold ground was against his cheek. The room was still black, and he had really hoped he would have been out of the room by now, but no. Still here. He felt his drool connect his dry lips to the ground below, and he shivered at the thought of regaining conscious. The robed figure was still here.

 

“The Second,” It continued as if nothing had happened. “You Will Discover In The Next Few Days Or Hours. The Third, You Will Discover When You Need It Most.”

 

“Wh-what?”

 

The third gift will be discovered at a critical junction in your life, possibly in a situation that may be considered a life or death scenario.

 

Something woke him up, he could barely hear it. But it allowed him to regain that precious focus he had lost. Now, he just needed to do the same thing with his legs.

 

“You Are Confused. Do Not Worry. Soon, You Will Understand.” With that, the figure turned away, walking in the opposite direction to Paine. Annoyance stirred inside the boy.

 

“Don't walk away all mysterious. That's so cliché. Understand what?” Stopping, the figure turned to him, and for a moment, Paine thought he saw a glimpse of the face, another electric blue spark coursing around the body, but he remained unsure.

 

“Already You Are Up. Impressive. But You Do Not Need To Know. You Will Know Soon Enough…”

 

The man's hand moved swiftly, and the blue energy emitted from his hand and tap Paine's hair. For a split second, he felt a prick of pain, a static discharge that annoyed, before his entire body was filled with a stimulating pain that caused every nerve in his body to sing.

 

“…and I no longer belong on this side.”

 

**************************

 

The sun soaked through his jacket, roasting his skin lightly in its warmth. He purred instinctively , rolling around as he took it in, his brain trying desperately not to think of anything lest it should wake him. A bird chirped overhead, the song becoming a lullaby that helped him relaxed.

 

The heat disappeared, replace by a sudden coolness that was not completely unwelcomed as it refreshed. Even so, it did wake him up, making him forget the clock again. Eyes slowly lifting open, he saw someone hovering above him, an annoyingly cheerful grin bringing him back to full consciousness.

 

“Yo,” said Dorou, waving his hand statically to greet the rousing boy.

 

“Er….hey.” Paine blinked hard for a moment, and slowly brought himself up, avoiding Dorou's head and looking up to the sun as it smiled back at him.

 

He was outside again. Turning, he could see the Old Forum directly behind him, the bush several meters to his right, Priestess right behind him. She had been tending to a lone flower, the unnecessary petals still in her hand.

 

Almost panicking, Paine felt too tired to get up and scream, ask irrational questions and confuse the hell out of those around him. Instead he stretched, scratching his chest at the same time. Looking to his friend, he saw the boy turn off his Keypad. In the distance he saw two students wandering past.

 

“So….” Dorou began. “Me and Priestess were talking, and we decided you've been a bit of a jerk.”

 

Priestess slapped her head hard- causing Paine to turn, even wincing in pain as she did so. Dorou didn't seem to notice her distress.

 

“Yeah,” Paine said slowly, looking away from his friend to help admit the truth. “Yeah I have.”

 

“What?”

 

“I've been a total moron,” Paine explained. “I just kept winning and winning and I started to think I was awesome because of it. Then I lost and I blamed you guys when it wasn't your fault. And then I ran away from those who were just trying to help me, and almost got myself killed as a result.” He looked to both his friends, and made his statement. “I am a jerk.”

 

Dorou just paused, looking down at Paine's feet, who in turn stared at them, the confession biting his resolve, but finding it too tough to rip a chunk out.

 

“Damn, I had a speech and everything.”

 

“W-What?” Paine stuttered

 

He had prepared a longwinded and comprehensive monologue which he intended to narrate to you in order for you to see the error of your ways.

 

“Ah well. As long as you learned your lesson.” He fell down next to Paine, lying back and relaxing in the cool shade they were now sitting in, a cloud passing over the sun. Priestess eventually worming her way down as well.

 

“So, where did ya go?”

 

“In there,” Paine answered, nodding back to the building behind them. “I went to find something. And…I think I may have got more than I bargained for.”

 

“Really? What?”

 

“I don't know yet, but I think Kenshin…” He stopped. There was no proof yet that Kenshin was dead, or if he was even there in the first place. How much of that place actually happened? He was unconscious for a couple of minutes, maybe more, and the most screwiest things had happened. For all he knew, he had been out cold since falling down the hole. He had since lost the transcript. He might have crawled out in a delirious state. He might have fallen unconscious just reaching here, and even imagined himself meeting that girl again. None of it felt real, a passing dream that was memorable only because he woke up during it.

 

There certainly wasn't any major signs of something having happened. No apocalypse had gone on, and only about an hour had even passed in the time he was gone. You decided not to tell them?

 

The only other real difference was that he no longer felt ill, if not more energetic than before. He felt full of energy. The sleep must have done him some good; and not just physically, but mentally as well. He knew where he was going wrong now, where his faults lay. Not just within himself, though he knew there were plenty of problems in there that he had to filter out. Arrogance, lack of resolve, a need for patience, fore planning. But there was another place where the problems lay, another fundamental flaw to his success. His deck. He needed to fix that up as soon as possible.

 

Not complete understanding, but he had his start now.

 

“Kenshin what?” Dorou replied, reminding Paine that he was still in a conversation.

 

“Nothing…” Paine fizzled. “Hey, listen. Is there a way… to, like, encourage the growth of a Soul Deck?”

 

“What? Ermmm…” Dorou replied without thinking. “Yeah. A few little things, I guess. But it's mainly just having more and more duels.”

 

“Is that it? No special methods.”

 

“People do not plan these things, Paine,” Priestess butted in. “Usually just discovering that one has a soul deck takes a person a great deal of sorting out. By the time they are able to reaffirm themselves, the deck is complete. They are able to look at it, and they know at least one of their Ka.”

 

“Ka…” Paine repeated the word. It sounded familiar.

 

“Yes, obtaining your first Ka usually shows that your Soul Deck is complete. Though even after a few months neither me nor Dorou have obtained one- but then I am still discovering new cards. It was actually during our duel that I got the White Dove for the first time. I could understand it immediately, but I'm sure I had never seen it before.”

 

“I think that's the way it works doesn't it,” Dorou said, squinting his eyes in the distance as though he could see something there. “First you collect them, then you comprehend them, then you get your first Ka and finally you're able to sift through them and learn them all. Is that…”

 

“I think there may be more to it than that, but they are certainly the basics…” she finally noticed that Paine was staring at her, and took a few seconds to understand the blank expression on his face.

 

“You never got to the Memory world arc, did you?”

 

“Oh, look whose talking,” Dorou replied like he wasn't surprised at this. “I had to force you to watch it just so you knew what everyone was talking about back when Yo got his.

 

“I do not have all the time in the world, Dorou,” the green haired girl retorted. “I do have more important matter to consider in my life. Though it looks like we're going to have to show…” the nurse's voice stopped, her eyes now glancing down the small hill and across the Academia's grounds. Paine finally picked up too and darted his eyesight to follow there. Someone was walking up to them, slowly, pacing themselves.

 

“Who's that?” he asked rhetorically.

 

It is your tutor, Shariku Onikage.

 

“Oh crud, we're not in trouble, are we?” Dorou said, standing up and glancing around, like there would be a convenient bush he could hide in appear any moment now. Priestess also looked worried. It took him a moment to realize why.

 

“Ms. Onikage,” Priestess began, approaching her, her head downcast, intending to offer no excuses. “We're sorry for breaking curfew. We…”

 

“Why?”

 

Shariku dodged past her, circling around the nurse as one would avoid a passerby in the street, heading straight for Paine. As he got up, she forced herself forward and knocked him back down. Surprised, Paine could only stay there as she lay with her knee against his groin.

 

“What do you do?” she said, her tone calm like a volcano about to go off. Her voice was lower, her teeth clenched. “What did you do?” Eruption.

 

“Get off of me.” Raising a hand to grab hers, her speed shocked him as she pinned both his arms to the ground and held him there securely, her voice turning to a growl as her eyes sat just a few inches from his own.

 

“Answer me, you rejectard,” she snarled at him, shouting now. “Why did you do it? How did you do it?”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Why the freakin' frick are you in the Shariku Rankings?”