Chapter 7: The Prince’s Rival
It had been two weeks since Jaden Yuki had arrived on Astraea Island with Maximillion Pegasus. Since that time, the pro-duelist had become the subject of much gossip among the students of all three schools on the island, especially among the students of Miator and Spica. Not only had Jaden become famous for defeating the current Etoile, Shizuma Hanazono, during his first night on the island, but he had also defeated Spica’s champion, Amane Ohtori. The defeat of Spica’s prince had caused a few Spica students to challenge the infamous pro-duelist themselves, in order to prove that they were superior to the prince. All of these students had failed however, as they too were defeated by the powerful Jaden Yuki.
The defeat of Prince Amane had even sent waves through the student council of Spica. For quite sometime, two members of the student council disagreed with President Shion that Amane was the school’s best chance of winning the Etoile tournament. Especially since Amane herself had no interest in obtaining the position. For awhile, the argument among the council about Amane’s worthiness to be Etoile was dropped, but the woman prince’s defeat to Jaden Yuki had reignited it.
“I cannot believe that you’re bringing this up again!” an irritated Shion exclaimed. “We have been over this again and again! Prince Amane is our academy’s best hope for winning the Etoile tournament!”
“Are you so sure about that?” asked a masculine looking dark haired girl. “After all, she was defeated by a pro-duelist who’s a virtual unknown. How could your precious ‘prince’ be a proper Etoile if she could be brought down by some cheap minor league duelist like that?”
“You forget about the pro-duelists that Prince Amane has defeated Kaname!” Shion sternly reminded the dark haired girl. “She’s beaten duelists like Aster Phoenix and Zane Truesdale! She even came close to defeating the legendary Seto Kaiba after her second year! Besides, you shouldn’t underestimate the Jaden Yuki. It’s no surprise to me that he was able to defeat the current Etoile.”
“The current Etoile has lost her touch.” Kaname shot back with an arrogant smile. “It’s no surprise that she could be defeated by some second-rate nobody.”
“I’ve seen Jaden Yuki in action myself!” Shion exclaimed. She shuddered a little when she remembered the final moments of Jaden’s duel with Amane. “He may not be well known, but he is very powerful.”
“Even if that’s true, the fact remains that the prince still lost.” A girl with shoulder length brown hair cut in. “Amane’s image has been tarnished. It’s not good for an Etoile to look weak.”
“It is not image that wins the Etoile Tournament Momomi!” Shion shouted as she banged her fists against the table, startling her two fellow student council members. “It is skill, plane and simple, and Prince Amane has the skill to win!”
“Perhaps it is.” Momomi admitted. “Still, even if Amane does have the skill to win the tournament, she still has no interest in entering. It might be best to rely on Kaname and myself to win.”
“I will get Prince Amane to enter!” Shion proclaimed. “The two may enter if you want, but don’t be surprised if you find yourselves facing the prince and losing!”
With those words, Shion stormed out of the room, leaving Kaname and Momomi alone. Once again, the two girls had failed to get the support of their president. Later that night in their room, Kaname and Momomi began to discuss what their next move was to be.
“I still can’t believe that even after Amane’s defeat to that no-name duelist, Shion is still supporting her!” Kaname complained.
“You know how stubborn our president can be.” Momomi reminded, as she emerged from the bathroom in her usual yellow nightgown.
“Maybe if defeated this ‘Jaden Yuki’ Shion would finally see that I’m the better choice for Etoile.” Kaname theorized. “I know I can do it!”
“Of that I have no doubt my sweet.” Momomi agreed with a sinister smile. “Still, there might be a better way.”
“What do you have in mind?” the dark haired tomboy asked with a curious smile and raised eyebrow.
“Well, it would be one to show your strength by defeating that duelist,” Momomi began as she took a seat next to Kaname on her bed, “but it would be even better to make sure that Amane doesn’t enter the tournament at all.”
“There’s no chance of that.” Kaname said with a confident smirk. “Everyone knows that Amane has no interest in entering.”
“There’s something that might change that.” Momomi said, causing Kaname to give the brown haired girl her full attention. “It’s been rumored that Amane has become interested in someone. Someone who might be able to get Amane interested in entering.”
“Who is this person?” Kaname asked eagerly, her curiosity piqued.
“It’s some blond girl in the Spica school choir.” Momomi answered as she inched closer to Kaname on the bed. “I believe her name is Hikari.”
“Hikari, eh?” Kamane asked with a raised eyebrow.
“If Amane and this girl Hikari become close enough, Amane might actually become interested in entering the tournament.” Momomi explained as she put her arms around Kaname. “And that might hurt our chances.”
“Just what are you suggesting we do?” Kaname asked.
“I’m suggesting that we keep Amane and this Hikari girl apart.” Momomi explained. “The only thing I can’t figure out is how.”
“I have an idea.” Kaname answered. “I’ll just steal this Hikari girl away before this relationship can get any further. After all, what girl can resist my charms?”
“I know I certainly can’t.” Momomi whispered into Kaname’s ear. With that, Momomi planted a firm kiss on lips. Once again, Kaname was completely overwhelmed as her roommate passionately pushed her down on to the bed.
* * *
The next day had begun like every other day on the island for Jaden. Like the previous mornings, Jaden got up and continued his search or the Wicked God cards. His search was not going well though. All that Pegasus knew, aside from the terrible origin of the Wicked Gods, was that each card was hidden on the grounds of a different school. That meant that one of the remaining two cards was somewhere on Miator grounds, and the other was somewhere on the grounds of Spica. That didn’t help Jaden much though, as the island was huge. The grounds of all three schools were vast. Without a specific place to start looking, the search could take months, and Jaden couldn’t risk taking that long. Not with a mysterious enemy also looking for the Wicked Gods.
As for said enemy, Jaden had no idea where to even start looking. Pegasus’ aid Croquet had theorized that the enemy was on the island, but as Jaden already knew, the island was vast. So their enemy could be anywhere. Jaden decided that the best thing to do was to look for the two Wicked Gods that were still up for grabs and go after the enemy later. Though Jaden’s plan had not been working. He started by looking for the cards on the schools themselves. Miator did not seem to be hiding any cards, nor did Spica. Jaden’s search had been hindered somewhat by Spica students who wanted to challenge him. Apparently, these students wanted to prove their power by defeating the pro-duelist who had beaten their champion, Amane. Jaden didn’t mind the duels, though, since they provided a much welcome diversion from his search. Though during the second week on the island, the duels began to increase a little e in frequency. It reminded Jaden of his final year at his old academy, when everyone on the island wanted to duel him to improve their grades.
The previous day, Jaden decided to go look in the Miator library for clues about where at least one of the Wicked God cards was, and to avoid the duelists. Again, Jaden found nothing. In fact, he had almost walked in on a pair of students that were making out in the back of the library. It was a good thing that they had not noticed him, or else things would have been a bit awkward. Jaden decided that he would no longer try searching Miator’s library.
Despite his inability to find the remaining Wicked Gods, Jaden was at least glad that Lilum’s student council president, Chikaru, had slowly recovered from being corrupted by The Wicked Eraser. She had been released from the Lilum infirmary the previous week, and Jaden had visited her often to make sure she was doing well. The only downside was that Chikaru had slowly remembered some of the terrible things she did while under the influence of the Wicked God. Fortunately, Jaden was able to help her through some of it, as he too had once crossed over to the dark side when he became the Supreme King and lead a campaign of destruction to complete the Super Polymerization card. It was on that particular day that Jaden decided to pay Chikaru another visit. It was late in the afternoon, and Jaden found Chikaru out in the field behind Lilum, once again having tea.
“Oh, Jaden. What a pleasant surprise.” Chikaru said as she looked up and saw Jaden standing near the blanket she was sitting on.
“Mind if I join you?” Jaden asked. Chikaru nodded, and Jaden sat down across from her on the blanket. “So how’re you doing?”
“I’m doing better.” Chikaru replied with her usual warm smile. “The doctor thinks that I’ll be able to resume my regular duties next week. So how’s the search for those cards coming?”
“Not good.” Jaden replied. “I haven’t been able to find a single clue as to where they might be. Plus I’ve got all these Spica duelists who keep wanting to challenge me.”
“Oh yes, I’ve been hearing about that.” Chikaru chuckled. “Those duelists want to defeat the one who beat Prince Amane, Spica’s champion. Not to mention the current favorite to win the Etoile Tournament.”
“Etoile Tournament?” a confused Jaden asked.
“Oh, I suppose you don’t know.” Chikaru replied. “The title of Etoile isn’t simply given away. It has to be won in a special tournament that’s held between the three schools every few years.”
“I see.” Jaden nodded. “So is Shizuma going to be entering to protect her title?”
“I’m afraid she can’t.” Chikaru answered. “This is the year that Ms. Shizuma graduates. That’s why the tournament is being held this year. Prince Amane is the one that everyone thinks will win.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.” Jaden agreed, thinking about his duel with Spica’s woman prince. She was indeed a strong opponent.
“Neither would I.” Chikaru replied. “It’s a shame that she doesn’t plan to enter. At least that’s the rumor.”
“Why won’t she enter?” a surprised Jaden asked. Chikaru shrugged.
“No one knows.” Chikaru answered. “All I know is, Spica’s student council president won’t rest until she gets the prince to enter.”
* * *
Back at the Spica section of the Strawberry Dorms, Hikari was returning from choir practice alone. Her friend and roommate, Yaya, had stayed behind to help put stuff away. As Hikari reached her room, she noticed that there was an envelope taped to the door. Hikari saw that her name was written on the envelope, so she figured that it had to be for her. The blond took the envelope off the door, opened it, and read its contents.
‘My dearest Hikari, I have admired you from afar for too long now. I can no longer stand just watching you from the shadows. I wish to meet you in person. Meet me in the woods behind the stables at 4:00. I’ll be waiting. Signed, your secret admirer.’ Hikari put the letter back in its envelope.
The biggest question on Hikari’s mind was who could’ve written her such a letter? After all, she was no great beauty, or at least she didn’t see herself as one. Hikari’s first thought was that the letter was from Amane. The two of them had seen each other a few times since the day Amane had dueled Jaden, though it wasn’t as if they were dating. They were only friendly encounters, and rather brief ones. Plus Hikari didn’t really think that a letter like the one she found would be Amane’s style. Still, the letter did say to meet this admirer in the woods behind the stables, a place that Amane was most likely to be. Hikari checked her watch. It said it was 3:27. Against her better judgment, Hikari decided to go meet this admirer.
Hikari arrived at the spot her admirer had said to be at 4:06. She looked around and saw no one. Hikari thought that perhaps the person who had been waiting for her left. After all, she was a few minutes late.
“So you finally showed up.” A voice from behind said, startling Hikari.
Hikari turned around and saw two girls in Spica uniforms. One of them had short dark hair, and the other had shoulder length brown hair. Hikari recognized them right away.
“You’re… Kaname and Momomi from the student council!” Hikari exclaimed in surprise.
“That’s right.” Replied the dark haired girl, who had a very sinister smile on her face.
“A-are you the one who wrote the letter?” Hikari asked with a touch of fear in her voice.
“Actually, Momomi and I both wrote it, but yes.” Kaname replied.
“W-why?” Hikari asked, becoming a little more frightened. Kaname chuckled a little.
“Well, I wouldn’t call myself an admirer, little Hikari, but I have become interested in you.” Kaname said as she approached Hikari. “Rumors say that Prince Amane has become rather fond of you.”
At this point, Kaname had Hikari backed up against a tree. The blond girl tried to find some way to escape but there was none.
“The rumors also say that you’re also quite interested in Amane.” Kaname continued as she placed her right hand on the tree that she had Hikari pinned against. “But I think you’ll find me to be far more enticing.”
Hikari had become more terrified. At that moment she wished that Amane or Yaya was there to save her.
* * *
Meanwhile, Jaden was at the Spica stables, hoping to find one of the Wicked God cards. He admitted that it was very unlikely that such a powerful card would be hidden in or near some horse stables, but he didn’t know where else to look at the moment. Suddenly, Jaden heard a scream out back. Thinking that someone was in trouble, he decided to go take a look. Running into the small forest behind the stables, Jaden quickly found a struggling Hikari, pinned to the ground by a taller girl with short dark hair. Had it not been for the dark haired girl’s Spica uniform, Jaden would have mistook her for a boy. Watching the spectacle was another girl with brown hair, also wearing a Spica uniform.
“What’s going on?” Jaden demanded as he entered the clearing.
“Mind your own business!” the dark haired girl shot back.
Jaden’s mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. He could see that Hikari was in trouble. Jaden decided that he had no choice but to his powers to summon Neos and scare Hikari’s attacker and the brown haired girl off. Jaden would try and explain it to Hikari later. Just as Jaden was about to bring forth Neos, a white horse charged into the clearing and startled Kaname off of Hikari. Jaden immediately recognized the rider. It was none other than Spica’s champion, Amane. As soon as Amane dismounted her steed, Hikari took the opportunity to get up and hide behind the woman prince.
“What’s going on here?” Amane asked.
“Nothing that really concerns you.” Kaname said as she got off the ground. “I was just in the prosses of seducing little Hikari there.”
“I’m no expert, but that didn’t look like seduction to me.” Jaden cut in, which earned him a glare from Kaname.
Amane looked at Hikari, and saw that the blond girl had a frightened look on her face. Amane did not like seeing Hikari like that at all.
“Amane, why don’t you get Hikari out of here? I’ll deal with these two.” Jaden said to the woman prince. Amane looked back at Jaden and nodded.
As soon as Amane helped Hikari onto her horse, the two girls rode off, leaving Jaden with Kaname and Momomi.
“Well, you certainly ruined that plan.” Kaname said to Jaden. “Although you showing up does provide me with an opportunity to execute Plan B.”
“Who are you?” Jaden asked as he glared at the two girls before him.
“ I’m Kaname Kenjo.” The dark haired girl said, introducing herself. “The lovely girl behind me is sort of my partner, Momomi Kiyashiki.”
“Why were you attacking Hikari?” Jaden asked.
“That’s really none of your business.” Kaname replied with an evil smile. “I’ll tell you this however. I’ve been wanting to challenge you for awhile, Jaden Yuki.”
“Why’s that?” Jaden asked, narrowing his eyes at Kaname.
“I want to beat you in order to prove to everyone that I’m better than Amane.” Kaname replied.
“Bring it on!” Jaden said as he activated his duel disk.
Once both Jaden’s and Kaname’s life points were set to 4000, the duel began.
“I’ll start things off.” Kaname announced as she drew her first card. “I set one monster on the field and end my turn!”
Jaden looked at his opening hand. It contained Elemental Hero Avian, Elemental Hero Bustinatrix, Elemental Hero Bladedge, Elemental Hero Wildheart, and Elemental Hero Neos. Not only did Jaden’s hand contain his ace monster, but also three possible fusions. Jaden drew his first card, hoping for Polymerization. What he got was Elemental Hero Bubbleman. Jaden was glad that at least his hand contained four possible fusions. The only thing he could do was use the hand he got.
“I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in Attack Mode!” Jaden announced.
Jaden’s forest warrior appeared on the field.
“Wildheart, attack Kaname’s facedown monster!” Jaden commanded. “Wild Slash!”
The monster that Wildheart attacked was revealed to be nothing more than an old clay pot, but when the pot was smashed by Wildheart’s sword, a black spirit with one giant red eye flew into the air and vanished. Kaname began to chuckle.
“Now that you’ve flipped up my Morphing Jar, we both have to discard our hands and draw five new cards.” Kaname explained.
Reluctantly, Jaden sent his hand to the Graveyard and drew a new hand.
“That’s not all though.” Kaname added. “Because they’ve been discarded from my hand to the Graveyard, I can now Special Summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World, Sillva, Warlord of Dark World, and Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World.”
In a flash, three muscular grey demons with skull-like faces appeared on Kaname’s side of the field. The first one, Beiige, had a metal band over his eyes and carried a spear. The second fiend, Sillva, was dark-grey, with a large pair of bat-like wings that hung down like a cape. A pair of silver blades protruded from the sides of Sillva’s claws. The third demon, Goldd, was black and gold, with a pair of bat-like wings. In his claws, Goldd carried a large axe. The ATK points of the three demons were just as bad as their looks. Beiige’s ATK was 1600, not extremely powerful, but strong enough to destroy Wildheart. The ATK of both Sillva and Goldd, on the other hand, was 2300. Jaden knew that if both of those monsters attacked him directly, he would lose.
Jaden was actually all too familiar with the Dark World monsters. He had dueled a few of them a few years ago in another dimension when he was looking for his lost friend, Jessie Anderson. Jaden found that facing the Dark World monsters again was bringing back some very unpleasant memories. Jaden turned his attention back to the duel itself. His new hand didn’t contain any possible fusions, but it did have a way to get rid of Kaname’s monsters.
“I’ll lay down two facedowns and end my turn!” Jaden announced.
“Not so powerful now, are you?” Kaname asked with an evil sneer as she drew her next card. “I summon Brron, Mad King of Dark World!”
A slender grey demon with long, gangly arms and a green cape appeared on the field, cackling madly. Its arms were tied together loosely with a chain. A maniacal grin was on the demon’s face as it tilted its head back and forth. Jaden recognized Brron very well. The mad king had sacrificed many of Jaden’s friends in order to create the Super Polymerization card, and Jaden was more or less forced to watch. Jaden found himself feeling a mixture of fear and anger at that moment.
“Brron, attack Wildheart!” Kaname commanded. “Dark World Shocker!”
The mad king flailed his bound arms and shot a bolt of purple lightning at Wildheart, electrocuting the wilderness hero. The strike had reduced Jaden’s life points from 4000 to 3700.
“When Brron inflicts battle damage to my opponent, I can discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard.” Kaname explained. “I discard Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, which activates his effect to let me draw a new card.”
“I activate my Trap, Hero Signal!” Jaden announced as Kaname drew another card. “When a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon an Elemental Hero from my deck! I Special Summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!”
A warrior wearing gold armor and a blue bodysuit with a yellow stripe running down the arms and legs appeared on Jaden’s field.
“That’s all you can bring out? That monster only has 1600 ATK.” Kaname taunted. “Oh well. Goldd, attack Sparkman! Dark World Axe!”
Goldd raised his axe to attack Sparkman.
“I activate my other Trap, Justi-Break!” Jaden announced. “When a Normal monster I control is selected as an attack target, Justi-Break destroys all monsters on the field except Normal monsters!”
In an instant, all of Kaname’s monsters were being electrocuted by an invisible energy, which eventually caused them to explode. Jaden found himself enjoying the destruction of the Dark World monsters.
“Fine, I set one card facedown and end my turn!” Kaname announced with a note of irritation in her voice.
Jaden looked at his hand as he drew his next card. He was glad that he was able to perform a Fusion Summon.
“I activate Polymerization!” Jaden announced.
“I was hoping you’d do that. I activate my Trap, Dark Deal!” Kaname responded. “By paying 1000 of my life points, I can change the effect of the Spell card you just played to one that discards a random card from my hand. Pick one!”
The situation had taken a turn for the worse. Not only was Jaden’s Fusion Summon cancled, but he also had to pick a random card in Kaname’s hand to discard. Jaden knew that if the card he picked were a Dark World monster, the card’s effect would activate. Still, Jaden had no choice.
“I choose the furthest card on your right!” Jaden announced.
“Boy did you choose badly.” Kaname said with an evil grin. “The card you discarded was Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, and because it was discarded by your card effect, I can Special Summon it!”
Appearing on Kaname’s side of the field was a large demon with great curved horns, massive wings, and a long tail. The demon carried a staff in its right hand.
“When Reign-Beaux is Special Summoned by being discarded, I can either destroy all of my opponent’s monsters, or all of my opponent’s Spell and Traps.” Kaname explained. “Since you have no Spell and Trap cards, I choose to destroy all of your monsters.”
Reign-Beaux unleashed a wave of dark energy that destroyed Sparkman. Jaden was wide open for a direct attack, and to make things worse, Reign-Beaux had 2500 ATK. There was only one thing that Jaden could do.
“I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode and end my turn!” Jaden announced.
Jaden’s stone armored hero appeared on the field in a crouched position.
“That’s your only defense, eh? How pathetic.” Kaname taunted as she drew her next card. “First I activate Card Destruction! Now we both have to discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards.”
Jaden discarded the only two cards in his hand and drew two new cards. He thought that the two cards he drew were an improvement over his previous hand, but at the same time he dreaded what Kaname was discarding.
“Now I activate the effect of Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World!” Kaname announced. “When Kahkki is discarded from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy one monster on my opponent’s side of the field. I choose to destroy Elemental Hero Clayman!”
A grey barrel shaped demon with scrawny arms and legs and carrying a demon appeared and hurled itself into Clayman, destroying the stone armored warrior. Jaden was once again wide open.
“Reign-Beaux, attack this minor league duelist directly!” Kaname commanded. “Wave of Destruction!”
Reign-Beaux raised his staff and sent forth another wave of dark energy that hit Jaden, dropping his life points from 3700 to 1200. The attack also caused Jaden to briefly flashback to his duel with Brron back in that other dimension.
“Just as I thought.” Kaname chuckled. “You’re nothing more than a second rate duelist. Either Amane is really staring to slip, or she isn’t as good as everyone said she is. Whatever the case, this proves that I’m better than Amane. And after word of my victory gets out, I’ll make another move on little Hikari and steal her away.”
Jaden was suddenly filled with rage. He wasn’t sure if it was because Kaname threatened to attack Hikari, or if it was because the Dark World monsters that Kaname was using were bringing back unpleasant memories. Either way, Jaden just wanted to wipe the arrogant smile off of Kaname’s face. Jaden announced his turn as he drew his next card. Not only was the card he drew just what he needed to finish the duel, but it also seemed quite appropriate.
“First I activate O-Oversoul!” Jaden announced. “This lets me Special Summon from the Graveyard Elemental Hero Neos, which I discarded due to Morphing Jar’s effect!”
Jaden’s ace monster appeared on the field.
“Now I activate Super Polymerization!” Jaden announced. “By discarding one card from my hand, I can fuse my Neos with your Reign-Beaux to summon Elemental Hero Escuridao!”
A giant vortex appeared in the sky and pulled in Neos and Reign-Beaux. In a flash of light, the vortex disappeared, and from the sky dropped down a new warrior. The warrior was slender and covered in pitch-black armor. Two long forked and jagged blades jutted out from the warrior’s back. In place of his right hand, the warrior had a weapon with three jagged blades. An unearthly blue aura emanated from the dark warrior.
“Escuridao has 2500 ATK,” Jaden explained, “but he gains 100 extra ATK points for every Elemental Hero monster in my Graveyard. Right now, I have eight.”
Kaname and Momomi both had shocked expressions on their faces. Not only had Jaden used Kaname’s own monster for a Fusion Summon, but he had summoned a monster with 3300 ATK.
“Escuridao, attack Kaname directly!” Jaden commanded. “Dark Diffusion!”
Escuridao shot forth a ray of blue energy from the weapon on his right arm. The attack not only reduced Kaname’s life points to zero, but also knocked her to the ground as well. Momomi rushed over to see if her lover was injured, only to find that Kaname was just stunned.
“You’ll pay for that you…” Momomi began, but she couldn’t finish her sentence when she saw Jaden’s eyes.
Jaden was glaring at Kaname and Momomi, and his eyes were glowing in the orange and teal colored eyes of Yubel.
“Stay away from Hikari, both of you!” Jaden said in a low and threatening tone. With those words, Jaden turned on his heel and left.
A few moments later, when he was further away from the clearing, Jaden’s eyes turned back to their regular brown. His expression had softened from his previous glare.
“You really lost your temper back there.” Yubel said as she suddenly appeared, causing Jaden to stop walking.
“Those two girls were just mean.” Jaden replied. “Plus Kaname’s deck brought back some unhappy memories.”
“I was the one who caused you to experience those things.” Yubel said with a slightly sad expression.
“Don’t worry about it Yubel.” Jaden answered. “You were a different person back than. So was I.”
“Still, that doesn’t really change the fact that I caused you that pain.” Yubel responded.
“Maybe not, but I’ve forgiven you for that stuff.” Jaden said. His words caused a small smile to appear on the Duel Monster’s face.
“I’ll leave you alone now.” Yubel said, and with those words, she vanished, leaving Jaden alone with his thoughts.
Jaden continued to walk for a while until he reached the lake that he saw on his first day on the island. It was as breathtaking a site as it was before, so Jaden decided to sit against a tree facing the lake and relaxed. Slowly, Jaden found himself drifting off to sleep. As he slept, Jaden had a nightmare about his duel with Brron, the Mad King of Dark World, and about the atrocities he committed as the Supreme King. Jaden awoke in a cold sweat. He looked and saw that the sun was beginning to set.
“Jaden, are your alright?” a voice suddenly asked.
Jaden turned to see that the voice was from Chikaru. Kizuna, Remon, and Kagome were with her.
“Oh, hey Chikaru. What are you and your friends doing here?” Jaden asked.
“We were out doing some flower picking and lost track of time.” Chikaru explained. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jaden replied. “I just had a bad dream.”
“What about?” Chikaru asked.
“Just some stuff from my past.” Jaden replied.
“Was it about the things you did as that Supreme King person?” Chikaru asked in a slightly concerned tone.
“Yeah.” Jaden replied. “But don’t worry. It’s not the first time I’ve had one of those nightmares.”
Chikaru looked at Jaden for a moment, than spoke up again.
“You know, there’s still a little daylight left. Why don’t you join the girls and I for some flower picking?” Chikaru offered.
Jaden thought about it for a moment. Flower picking wasn’t his thing, but it was the first time in awhile that he had one of those nightmares. He decided that he could use some company from some friends.
“Sure, why not?” Jaden finally replied, and he joined his friends for a fun and relaxing evening.
