Chapter 1: Welcome to Astraea Island
The noonday sun hung high over the lonely dirt road Jaden Yuki was walking on. He still had half a day’s walk ahead of him before arriving at the next town. He was starting to grow tired of walking and decided to go ahead and take a break for lunch. Jaden walked off the road and headed for a nearby tree. After putting down his duffle bag, he removed the sleeping cat, Pharaoh. The large orange-tan and brown-stripped cat seemed put out with Jaden for disturbing his nap, but that would change in a moment.
Next, Jaden pulled out a can of cat food, a can opener, and Pharaoh’s food dish. In mere moments, Jaden filled the dish with food and the former Slifer Red dorm mascot eagerly began to eat up. While Pharaoh enjoyed his midday meal, Jaden placed the cat’s water dish on the ground and filled it with water from a canteen. His cat taken care of, Jaden began to prepare his own meager lunch. The life of a wandering pro-duelist had its downsides, but it was still fun.
“Still planning on entering that small town tournament?” Jaden suddenly heard a feminine voice ask.
Jaden looked up and saw the ghostly form of Yubel standing in front of him with her arms crossed.
“It’ll be a nice change from that big pro tournament we were just in.” Jaden replied. “A lot of the amateur duelists have way more fun than a lot of the pro-duelists in the big tournaments. Some of those guys take the game way too seriously.”
“I guess so.” The Duel Monster spirit replied. “Still, you’re way more powerful than a lot of those small town duelists. Doesn’t seem fair to them. Not that I’m judging, of course.”
“Ehh, me beating them gives them something to strive for.” Jaden replied before taking a bite out of the sandwich he had just prepared.
Suddenly, a heavy wind had picked up, accompanied by a loud whirling noise. The occurrence startled Pharaoh from his meal and into the tree Jaden was sitting under. Jaden looked up and saw the source of the disturbance. It was a Large, white helicopter, which was landing a few feet away from where Jaden had stopped to eat. Jaden saw the logo, I2 printed on the side. It was an Industrial Illusions helicopter.
As soon as the helicopter landed and the rotors stopped spinning, the helicopter door opened and a man in a black suit and sunglasses stepped out, followed by another man who was followed closely by another man dressed in identical clothing. The two men stood at the sides of the open door, allowing a third man in a red suit to exit the vehicle. The red suited man had long, shoulder length grey hair that covered the left side of his face. Jaden knew that it was none other than Maximillion J. Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters.
“Ah, Jaden my boy!” Pegasus greeted with a huge grin. “So nice to see you again. You have no idea how hard it was to find you.”
“Uh, hi Mr. Pegasus.” A surprised Jaden replied. “What brings you here?”
“Well, I need you to do me a little favor.” Pegasus replied with a smile that seemed to hide a hidden motive.
“What kind of favor?” Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’ll explain in the helicopter.” Pegasus replied, his arm gesturing towards the vehicle that had landed only moments ago.
After Pegasus’ bodyguards helped Jaden pack up his things and get Pharaoh out of the tree, which took about thirty minutes, Jaden was in the air, heading for an unknown destination.
“So… what’s this favor you want me to do for you?” a nervous Jaden asked Pegasus, who was sitting right across from him on the helicopter.
Pegasus took a short sip from his wine glass, looked out the window of the helicopter for a moment, and then looked back at Jaden.
“Tell me my boy,” Pegasus began, “have you ever heard of Astraea Island?”
Jaden thought for a moment. The name did sound familiar to him, but he couldn’t place it.
“I think so but I’m not sure.” Jaden replied.
“Ah, well let me tell you about it.” Pegasus began. “Astraea Island is home to three very elite all girl duel academies.”
Suddenly, Jaden remembered where he had first heard the name of the island. A few years ago, Jaden’s friend Alexis had mentioned an island with some kind of fancy, all girl duel academies. Alexis had told him that she would’ve liked to attend one of those schools, but Jaden told her that she was better off in the academy she was already attending.
“There are three schools,” Pegasus continued, “Miator, Spica, and Lulim. All three schools are run by the same head mistress, and are dedicated to training young women in the art of elegance and dueling.”
“I remember my friend Alexis mentioning this island to me once.” Jaden said, still not understanding what it was that Pegasus wanted from him.
“I’ve been invited to observe the students at all three academies.” Pegasus explained. “The head mistress there wants to show me what her students are made of.”
“What’s this have to do with me?” a confused Jaden asked.
“Well…” Pegasus began, a mischievous smile forming on his face. “The head mistress also wanted to see how her students would do against a pro-duelist. So, I decided to bring you with me so that you could show these girls what a pro-duelist is made of.”
Jaden suddenly wanted to jump out of the helicopter. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to duel any of these students. That actually sounded fun. It was the idea of being shown off at a bunch of snobby all girl duel academies.
“Um… Mr. Pegasus, I’m kinda flattered and all, but isn’t there someone else you could show off to this head mistress, like Aster, or Jessie, or Syrus?” Jaden asked, hoping for a way out.
“Oh, come now Jaden, we both know that you’re as good as any of them.” Pegasus said enthusiastically. “Besides, it’s been so long since I’ve heard about any of your duels. I want to see how good you’ve become with my own eyes, or eye rather.”
Pegasus then moved the hair in front of his face, revealing the empty eye socket that once housed the Millennium Eye. This caused an expression of disgust to appear on Jaden’s face. Pegasus chuckled as he recovered his face with his hair. After about five hours, the helicopter landed at its destination. As Jaden and Pegasus left the helicopter, they were greeted by an older women wearing a black dress, her hair done up in a bun. The woman had a smile on her face, which Jaden found encouraging.
“Ah, Mr. Pegasus I presume.” Greeted the woman as she walked up to the new arrivals.
“Oh, you must be the head mistress.” Pegasus said as he shook the woman’s hand. “This is the duelist I told you about, Jaden Yuki.”
“Uh, hi” Jaden said with a touch of nervousness as he waved his hand in greeting. Jaden did not like the position that Pegasus had put him in.
“Hmm… He looks strong.” The head mistress said, as she looked Jaden over. “I’ll be interested to see how he does in tonight’s duel against the Etoile.”
“Etoile?” Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.
“The Etoile is the strongest duelist on the island young man.” The head mistress explained. “She also serves as a mediator between the three schools and helps to coordinate most of the interschool activities, and help with other administrative matters that I’m sure a young man like you would find quite boring.”
“Oh…” Jaden replied, suddenly feeling a little excited at the prospect of facing the strongest duelist on the whole island.
“Jaden, why don’t you go explore the island for a few hours?” Pegasus suggested. “It might be a good idea to stretch your legs for a bit after such a long helicopter trip. Plus you might find an opponent you could use as a warm-up for tonight’s duel.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Jaden replied, thinking that a walk might help him to unwind a bit.
“Just remember to be at Miator before sunset young man.” The head mistress told Jaden.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Jaden said as he bowed to the head mistress before turning to leave.
After walking for about half an hour, Jaden found himself in a lush forest. It reminded him very much of the forest around the academy he went to. The only thing different was the huge crystal clear lake. The beautiful scenery helped Jaden take his mind off the rather uncomfortable position that Pegasus had put him in. Of all the yourng pro-duelists out there, Jaden still couldn’t figure out why Pegasus had picked him do this little favor? The worst part of it was that Pegasus didn’t even ask, he just assumed that Jaden would do this favor.
After about what seemed like a few hours staring at the lake, Jaden decided that it was time to head for this Miator academy. Unfortunately, Jaden had no idea which direction Miator was in. Jaden wandered around the forest for what seemed like another hour until he came across something that made him stop. A few feet from where he was standing was a young woman, probably only a few years younger than Jaden. She had long silver hair done in sort of a ponytail. Her skin was milky white, and she had piercing golden eyes. The young woman wore a long-sleeved black dress that had a skirt that ended just above the knees. Beneath the skirt, she wore tight black pants and a pair of black shoes with gold buckles. Underneath the dress itself was a frilled white shirt, and a green tie was around the girls neck. On her left arm was a duel disk. It was the same design as Jaden’s, but the colors were different. This duel disk was mint-green with pink trim.
‘I have to admit, this girl’s kinda pretty,’ Jaden thought to himself, ‘not as pretty as Alexis, but… wait. Where did THAT come from?’
Jaden shook off the random thought that entered his head. Just as he was about to walk up to the girl and ask her for directions, another girl emerged from around the tree the silver haired girl was standing next to. This girl was shorter and had red hair and reddish-brown eyes, and she was wearing an identical uniform and duel disk as the silver haired girl. Jaden realized that they had to be from the same academy. As the redhead looked at the taller silver haired girl, Jaden saw a very noticeable blush appear on the redhead’s face. Jaden wondered if the girl was sick or something.
“I’m no expert, but it looks like we have a case of love at first sight.” Yubel said as she suddenly appeared next to Jaden.
“What do you mean?” a confused Jaden asked. Yubel merely shook her head and chuckled at how her human companion could still be so naïve.
As Jaden looked at Yubel in confusion, trying to figure out what the Duel Monster was talking about, the silver haired girl walked up to the redhead. Suddenly, the silver haired girl took the redhead into her arms, startling her. The taller girl then began moving her face closer to the redhead’s until they were only inches apart. This caused the redhead to faint. The redhead’s gasp caught Jaden’s attention.
“Is something wrong here?” Jaden asked in a concerned tone as he emerged from his hiding place.
Startled, the silver haired girl quickly but gently laid the unconscious redhead on the ground behind her. She than positioned herself in front of the redhead to face Jaden, shooting him an icy glare. Jaden suddenly realized that he was on an island with girl only duel academies, so a guy suddenly popping out of the woods would be the last thing any of the students there would expect.
“Who are you and what do you want?” the silver haired girl demanded.
“Uh… I’m not here to hurt you.” Jaden replied nervously, raising his hands in surrender. “I was just trying to find my way to Miator. Is that girl alright?”
“She’s fine!” the silver haired girl replied, not letting her guard down. “Why are you looking for Miator? More importantly, what are you doing on this island?”
“Uh, I’m a guest here.” Jaden replied. “I came with Mr. Pegasus.”
“Oh.” the silver haired girl replied, finally letting her guard down. “I heard that Mr. Pegasus was bringing some kind of pro-duelist with him to the island.”
Jaden began to relax a little. The last thing he wanted was to be branded as some kind of pervert.
“If you’re looking for Miator, it’s that way.” The silver haired girl said, pointing her arm in the direction to Jaden’s right.
“Uh, thanks.” Jaden replied as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. The silver haired girl looked down at the unconscious redhead, a rather predatory smile appearing on her face.
“You think you could do me a favor and take this petty young girl with you?” the silver haired girl asked. “I’d gladly do it myself, but I unfortunately have somewhere else to be, and you seem trustworthy enough.”
“Sure, no problem.” Jaden responded. He was glad that this mystery girl didn’t think he was a pervert.
“Thanks.” The silver haired mystery girl replied as she turned and walked away, leaving Jaden alone the unconscious redhead.
“It looks like that girl has broken a few hearts.” Yubel said as she suddenly reappeared. “I kinda like her, actually.”
“Broken hearts? What’re you talking about?” a confused Jaden asked. Again, Yubel chuckled at how Jaden could be so clueless.
“Excuse me, are you Jaden Yuki?” a voice from behind asked.
Jaden turned and saw another girl with dark-blue eyes and blue hair that was tied back in a large white bow. She was wearing a uniform identical to the ones the silver haired mystery girl and the unconscious redhead were wearing.
“That’s me.” Jaden replied.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tamao Suzumi.” The bluenette said as she bowed her head. “Mr. Pegasus was afraid you had gotten lost, so I was sent to find you. Oh dear, what happened here?”
Jaden realized that Tamao was talking about the redhead who fainted a few minutes ago. The bluenette went over to check on the fainted girl.
“She just fainted for some reason.” Jaden said, replying to Tamao’s earlier question. “I think she might be sick or something.”
“Hmm… she doesn’t have a fever.” Tamao said as she checked the unconscious girl’s forehead with the back of her hand. “Still, we better get her to the nurse’s office at Miator.”
After a short walk, with Jaden carrying the fainted redhead in his arms, Jaden and Tamao arrived at Miator. The nurse found nothing wrong with the redhead, it seemed she had just fainted. Tamao and Jaden waited around for the girl to wake up. Tamao sat by the redhead’s bedside, while Jaden leaned against the far wall of the room so he wasn’t too noticeable. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the redhead finally regained consciousness.
“Huh? Where am I?” the redhead asked as she slowly began to sit up.
“It’s alright, you’re in the nurse’s office at Miator.” Tamao informed the redhead. “I’m Tamao Suzumi, and that’s Jaden Yuki. We found you passed out in the forest and brought you here.”
“Oh… my name is Nagisa Aoi.” The redhead said, introducing herself.
“Ah, you’re the new transfer student.” Tamao exclaimed, realizing where she heard the name before. “I was actually sent to look for you too. You and I are supposed to be dorm mates.”
“I see…” Nagisa replied, feeling a bit confused. “Where’s that other girl?”
“Other girl?” Tamao asked, not knowing what the redhead was talking about.
“You mean that silver haired girl?” Jaden asked. “She left just before Tamao showed up.”
“Silver haired girl?” Tamao asked, looking at Jaden. “I wonder if… no, it couldn’t be.”
Both Jaden and Nagisa gave Tamao inquiring looks, wondering if Tamao knew whom the silver haired mystery girl was.
“Uh… never mind, forget I said anything.” Tamao said with an innocent smile. “Uh, Mr. Yuki, perhaps you should go to the Head mistress’s office. I believe that Mr. Pegasus is waiting for you there.”
Jaden shrugged, gave both girls a simple wave, and left.
A few hours passed, and Jaden was in the grand dinning room of Miator, attending a huge banquette. Part of the purpose of the banquette was to celebrate the beginning of another year at the academy and welcome new students, but it served another purpose as well. The banquette was also being held to welcome Pegasus to the island. Jaden felt very out of place at the banquette. The food was good, but there were so many forks on the table in front of him that Jaden felt like the table might explode if he used the wrong one. Jaden was never a big fan of fancy parties, though he was thankful that at least he didn’t have to wear anything fancy. Jaden came to the banquette wearing his usual outfit, which consisted of a black t-shirt, dark-blue jeans, red and black sneakers, and his old Slifer Red jacket.
As Jaden looked around the room, he saw that at least everyone else seemed to be having a better time than he was. Pegasus was chatting with the head mistress, and they both seemed to be having a blast. Not too far away from the head table where he was sitting, Jaden saw two of the girls he had met earlier in the day, Nagisa and Tamao. Both girls were also enjoying the party, especially Nagisa, when the dessert course came. Her eyes went as wide as saucers and her mouth hung open as the slice of cake was placed in front of her.
A few minutes after everyone had finished eating, the head mistress rose from her chair and gently but loudly tapped the side of her glass, signaling that she was about to speak. After a few moments, everyone had quieted down and the head mistress began her speech.
“Welcome students of Miator Duel Academy.” The head mistress began. “As I look out over this crowd tonight, I see many new faces, and many old ones. This year, I am pleased to welcome a special guest to Astaea Island, the chairman of Industrial Illusions and the very creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillion Pegasus.”
The crowd applauded as Pegasus stood up.
“Hello young ladies of Miator!” Pegasus began enthusiastically. “I thank you for all that wonderful applause. “I was both honored and thrilled when your head mistress invited me to your wonderful island. So thrilled in fact, that I brought a special guest of my own. Please give a warm Miator welcome to one of the top graduates of the Kaiba Corp Duel Academy, Jaden Yuki.”
Jaden smiled a bit nervously and waved as the crowed applauded him. Pegasus sat down, allowing the head mistress to speak again.
“In honor of this occasion,” the head mistress began, “I have decided to hold a special duel between Mr. Jaden Yuki, and Astraea Island’s own Etoile, Ms. Shizuma Hanazono.”
The announcement caused the crowed to applaud even louder than when they applauded Pegasus and Jaden.
“Will both duelists please move to the middle of the room?” the head mistress requested.
On cue, Jaden picked up his duel disk, which he had set next to his chair before the banquette, placed the duel disk on his left arm, and moved out to the center of the dinning hall. A few moments later, Jaden’s opponent moved to the center of the room, and he was surprised to see that it was the silver haired mystery girl he had met in the forest earlier that day.
“So you’re the Etoile.” Jaden said with a smirk. “You should’ve said something earlier.”
“I don’t recall you asking me who I was.” Shizuma replied with a calm smile.
As both duelists prepared to face off, Nagisa sat, mesmerized by the silver haired beauty about to duel Jaden.
“Let the duel commence!” the head mistress declared.
Both Jaden and Shizuma activated their duel disks; their life points were automatically set to 4000.
“I’ll go first.” Jaden announced as he drew his first card. “First I summon Dandylion in Defense Mode!”
A creature that looked like a hybrid of lion and daisy appeared on the field in front of Jaden.
“Next I’ll lay down a facedown and end my turn!” Jaden announced as he placed another card in his duel disk.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you the rule of ‘ladies first’?” Shizuma asked with a calm smile as she drew her first card.
“Are you going to try and teach me some manners?” Jaden asked with a smirk. He was anxious to see what the island’s best duelist could dish out.
“Perhaps.” Shizuma said, replying to Jaden’s earlier question. “For my first move, I summon Hysteric Fairy in Attack Mode!”
A female angel with white wings, wearing red-framed glasses and a fancy blue suit appeared on the field in front of Shizuma. In her arms, the angel held a large black book with a light-blue ankh on the cover.
“Hysteric Angel, attack Dandylion!” Shizuma commanded. “Hysteric Feather Strike!”
The angel shot a barrage of white feathers at Jaden’s plant monster, shattering it into tiny triangles of golden light.
“Not bad,” Jaden commented, “but when Dandylion is destroyed, it leaves behind two Fluff Tokens!”
A pair of dandelion seeds with cute faces on their puffball parts appeared where Dandylion once stood.
“I end my turn.” Shizuma announced.
At the table behind Shizuma, a girl with short dark-blue hair and a stern expression narrowed her eyes at the silver haired duelist.
“My move!” Jaden announced, drawing his next card. “First, I sacrifice the two Fluff Tokens to summon, Elemental Hero Neos!”
The two dandelion seeds shattered into gold triangles and disappeared into a large cyclone. The cyclone vanished, revealing a green-eyed warrior in some kind of alien body suit. The warrior was primarily white, but parts of his suit were dark-blue and his hands were black. A red line ran over parts of the warrior’s body. In the center of his chest was a dark-blue gemstone. Three red triangles surrounded the stone, with the points facing away from it. There were white spikes on the warrior’s elbows that curved upward. Another large white spike that curved backward grew from the top of the warrior’s head.
“Neos has 2500 ATK, which is stronger than your Hysteric Fairy’s 1800.” Jaden explained.
Much of the crow gasped and murmured at how Jaden was able to summon such a strong monster so quickly.
“Neos, attack Hysteric Fairy!” Jaden commanded. “Wrath of Neos!”
Neo leapt into the air and delivered an earth-shattering punch to Hysteric Fairy, completely destroying it. The strike reduced Shizuma’s life points to 3300.
“That ends my turn.” Jaden announced.
“That was quite an impressive move.” Shizuma commented as she drew her next card. “First I discard Hacatrice to add Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen to hand!”
As soon as Shizuma placed the card she discarded into the graveyard slot of her duel disk, a card popped out of her deck. The silver haired duelist promptly placed the card in her hand.
“Next I play the Spell card, Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen!” Shizuma announced.
The area behind Shizuma transformed into a magnificent throne room lined with Roman pillars.
“The effect of Valhalla lets me Special Summon a Fairy-type monster when I have no other monsters on the field.” Shizuma explained. “So because I currently control no monsters, I Special Summon Athena from my hand!”
A silver haired woman wearing a white, Roman style dress and cape and silver Roman style helmet appeared on Shizuma’s side of the field. In her right hand, the woman carried an ornate silver spear with a red jewel, and in her left was a large silver shield with gold trim.
“Athena has 2600 ATK, which I believe is 100 points stronger than your Neos.” Shizuma explained.
The crowed murmured excitedly when Shizuma summoned Athena.
“Next I remove Hysteric Angel and Hacatrice from my Graveyard to Special Summon Soul of Purity and Light!” Shizuma announced.
A young man with a transparent female angel hanging around his back appeared next to Athena. The crowed began to grow more excited.
“Due to Athena’s effect, my opponent takes 600 points of damage whenever a Fairy-type monster is summoned.” Shizuma explained.
A red light shot from the large gemstone on Athena’s spear and hit Jaden, reducing his life points from 4000 to 3400.
“Now Athena, attack Elementall Hero Neos!” Shizuma commanded. “Holy Javlen!”
Athena lunged forward and pierced Neos with her weapon, destroying him. The strike reduced Jaden’s life points to 3300. Jaden was left wide open for a direct attack.
“Next, Soul of Purity and Light attacks directly!” Shizuma explained. “Light of the Pure Heart!”
The ghostly angel rose up and shot Jaden with a beam of white light from her hands. The strike reduced Jaden’s life points from 3300 to 1300. The excitement from the crowed grew even bigger.
“I end my turn.” Shizuma announced.
“Wow, you’re not bad.” Jaden commented as he drew his next card. Jaden looked at his next card and smirked. “First I summon Elemental Hero Ocean!”
A blue aquatic warrior carrying a unique spear appeared on Jaden’s side of the field.
“When Ocean is summoned to the field, I can return an Elemental Hero monster from my field or Graveyard to my hand.” Jaden explained. “I return Elemental Hero Neos to my hand!”
The crowed watched intently as they tried to figure out what the visiting duelist was going to do next.
“Now I activate Polymerization!” Jaden announced. “I fuse Elemental Hero Ocean with Elemental Hero Neos to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!”
Neos appeared back on the field and jumped into the air with Ocean, entering a vortex that had appeared above Jaden. Moments later, a new warrior in white armor and a white cape dropped from the vortex and landed in front of Jaden.
“Your new monster may have the same ATK as Neos,” Shizuma commented, “but it’s still not enough to beat my Athena.”
“I know that.” Jaden explained. “Which is why I activate the facedown I put on the field during my first turn, Mask Change. I tribute Zero to Special Summon to Special Summon Masked Hero Vapor from my Fusion Deck!”
Absolute Zero covered his mask with his right hand, causing it to glow with a blue light. The light spread down the rest of the hero’s body, causing him to flip into the air. The light faded, and in place of Absolute Zero was a warrior in blue and aqua-grey armor and a mask with red, insect-like eyes. The warrior carried a spear in his right hand.
“Why tribute a monster to summon one that’s 100 points weaker?” a confused Shizuma asked.
“Because when Absolute Zero leaves the field, it takes the opponent’s monsters with him!” Jaden explained.
A huge gust of wind picked up and both of Shizuma’s monsters were frozen in ice. The frozen monsters shattered to pieces, leaving Shizuma’s side of the field wide open.
“Next I equip Vapor with Fusion Weapon!” Jaden announced. “This gives Vapor 1500 extra attack points!”
Vapor moved his spear to his left hand, the back of Vapor’s right forearm transformed into a futuristic pronged weapon. Vapor’s ATK rose from 2400 to 3900.
“Vapor, attack Shizuma directly!” Jaden commanded. “Fusion shot!”
Vapor shot a blast of green energy at Shizuma, the strike reduced the silver haired girl’s life points to zero. The room was suddenly filled with shocked gasps. The crowed couldn’t believe that their beloved Etoile had lost.
“That’s game!” Jaden said as he did his trademark victory pose.
Shocked murmurs filled the grand dinning hall of Miator. The crowed was finally silenced when the head mistress stood back up and tapped the side of her glass again.
“Thank you duelists for that wonderful performance.” The head mistress began. “With the end of this duel, I hereby declare this banquet over.”
With those words, the students slowly began to leave the hall. Shizuma bowed to Jaden a bit before turning to leave. As Jaden walked back to the table where he was sitting before the duel, Yubel appeared next to him.
“You seem disappointed.” The Duel Monster commented.
“It didn’t seem like that Shizuma girl was giving me her best game.” Jaden commented quietly to Yubel. “It’s like she wasn’t even trying to beat me.”
“That was an outstanding duel!” Pegasus said to Jaden as the duelist arrived at the table.
“Truly an impressive performance, young man.” The head mistress commented. “Although I must admit, I’m rather disappointed in the performance of our island’s Etoile.”
“She did okay.” Jaden responded. Though he did share in the disappointment of the head mistress.
“Oh, by the way Jaden, I have some wonderful news!” Pegasus said in an excited tone that gave Jaden a bad feeling. “Just a moment ago, the head mistress invited both you and I to stay on the island for the whole school year! I was just so thrilled, I excepted the invitation for the both of us.”
“Oh… That’s great Mr. Pegasus.” Jaden said with an insincere smile. At that moment, Jaden wanted to use his duel disk to club the creator of Duel Monsters.
* * *
In a dark room in the Miator dorms, Shizuma stood silently, looking out the window. The light of the moon gave Shizuma’s hair an almost supernatural glow. Suddenly, the door to the room opened. Shizuma did not turn to see who it was, for only she and one other person had a key to the room she was in.
“Come to scold me again Miyuki?” Shizuma asked the person who entered.
The young woman who entered the room was the same dark-blue haired, stern faced girl who had been watching Shizuma duel earlier.
“I cannot believe your behavior today!” the dark-blue haired girl began. “First, you didn’t show up to greet Mr. Pegasus when he arrived. I had to go in your place.”
“He didn’t seem to mind.” Shizuma commented as she finally turned to face Miyuki.
“It is still your duty as Etoile to greet all guests to the island!” Miyuki firmly reminded Shizuma. “Another thing, why didn’t you try to win that duel at the banquet?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shizuma replied with an innocent smile and a shrug. “I just had a bad hand, that’s all.”
“Don’t try giving me that excuse.” Miyuki said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I could see your hand from where I was sitting. You had a Trap card that could’ve easily stopped that duelist’s Polymerization card from activating, and you didn’t even set it on the field!”
Shizuma sighed in defeat. Her old friend had seen through her yet again.
“I just couldn’t get excited about winning against some visiting duelist.” Shizuma admitted. “I lost my passion for dueling years ago. You no that Miyuki.”
“Passion or no passion, you still have an image to maintain as the Etoile!” Miyuki firmly reminded Shizuma. “You also have the honor and reputation of Miator to uphold! Remember that!”
With those words, Miyuki turned to leave, but when she reached the door, she stopped.
“One more thing.” Miyuki began. “How long do you intend to use her deck instead of your own?”
This question caused Shizuma’s calm smile to quickly fade.
“That deck is the one of the only things of hers I have left.” Was all Shizuma said.
“I see…” Miyuki responded. “I’ll leave you alone then.”
As soon as Miyuki left, Shizuma turned to look back out the window. A single tear ran down her right cheek.
