Chapter 4: Shadow Over Lilum
Jaden’s third morning on Astraea Island began like the previous two. He woke up in his guest room in the head mistress’ mansion and got dressed as Pharaoh ate the expensive cat food that the maids had given him. Afterward, Jaden left his room to go down stairs to look for Pegasus, only to find Pegasus’ aid, Croquet, waiting for him.
“Good morning Mr. Yuki.” The man in black greeted.
“Let me guess, Mr. Pegasus isn’t available again today, right?” Jaden asked, knowing all to well that he was right.
“You have guessed correctly Mr. Yuki.” Croquet replied. “There is still an urgent matter that requires Mr. Pegasus’ personal attention. In the meantime, he has arranged a tour of St. Lilum Duel Academy. Your guides have already arrived.”
Croquet stepped aside, allowing three girls to come into view. All three were wearing Lilum uniforms and duel disks. The first girl had orange hair done up in pigtails. The second girl had short, olive-green hair with buns on the sides and wore glasses. The third girl looked to be a few years younger than the first two. She had curly blond hair and pale-green eyes. The most interesting thing about the younger girl was that she carried around a brown teddy bear.
“You’re Mr. Jaden Yuki, right?” the orange haired girl asked.
“”That’s right.” Jaden replied. “And please, call me Jaden.”
“I’m Kizuna Hyuga.” The orange haired girl said, introducing herself. “The girl with the glasses is my best friend, Remon Natsume, and the cutie with the bear is Kagome Byakudan. We’re your tour guides”
Jaden gave the girls a friendly wave in greeting.
“So, shall we get going?” Kizuna asked.
“I guess so.” Jaden replied. With that, Jaden and his three tour guides headed for Lilum.
The walk over to Lilum was rather uneventful. All the way over, however, Jaden noticed that the girl with the bear, Kagome, was giving him a peculiar look. Soon enough, Jaden and his three companions had reached Lilum. Jaden took a moment to take in the site before him. It was a large pink building with a light green roof.
“We present to you, St. Lilum Duel Academy!” Kizuna and Remon said together in unison, as they did a dramatic pose that pointed towards the school.
The two girls eagerly pulled Jaden into the building as Kagome followed close behind. As the group toured the academy, Jaden noticed how the students seemed so laid back and friendly. There was something amiss, however. Every now and than, Jaden would notice a bunch of students who looked really tired, like they had been up all night. It also seemed to Jaden that there weren’t as many students as there were supposed to be. It was a Monday, yet many of the classrooms they passed seemed a little too empty.
“Lilum Academy is the youngest of the three schools here on the island.” Remon explained. “While dueling is our primary focus, we also have a wide variety of clubs that focus on many different activities, such as cooking, costume designing, we even have a mystery solving club.”
“I see.” Jaden said as he nodded in understanding to what his tour guide was telling him. “Is it just me, or are there not as many students as there should be?”
“Well, there have been a bunch of students who’ve been calling in absent recently.” Kizuna said, responding to Jaden’s question. “The rumor is it’s because of the special late night dueling club that our president started.”
“Late night dueling club?” Jaden asked.
“Yes, our student council president, Chikaru Minamoto, started it late last year.” Remon explained. “It’s actually a little hard to get into. Kizuna and I aren’t even in it. Anyway, the rumor is that the students are absent because they dueled themselves to exhaustion during the meetings because the president made them, but I wouldn’t believe it. President Chikaru isn’t someone who’d make people duel until they dropped. There’s probably just some bug going around.”
Jaden thought about when he first saw Lilum’s student council president during his tour of Miator. He remembered the bad feeling that he’d gotten from her; like that she was far more dangerous than she appeared. Jaden had to wonder if the rumor about why so many of the students were absent was indeed true.
“I think that girl Chikaru is up to no good.” Yubel said as she appeared beside Jaden.
“I think you might be right.” Jaden replied quietly so as to not be overheard by his tour guides.
Just as Jaden was about to follow Kizuna and Remon down the hallway on their left, he felt a tug on his right arm. He turned to see that it was Kagome, who had been walking right behind him the whole time.
“Is something wrong?” Jaden asked the young girl. Kagome looked silently at Jaden for a few moments.
“…Percival thinks that there’s something making the president act strange. Something bad.” Kagome finally answered.
“Percival?” Jaden asked with a confused look.
“I think she means her little friend.” Yubel said, pointing a clawed finger at Kagome’s bear. Jaden nodded in understanding.
“What exactly is making your student council president act strange?” Jaden asked.
“Percival doesn’t know.” Kagome replied. “All he knows is that he gets a really scary feeling from the President.”
Jaden took a moment to ponder what Kagome had told him. There was something that seemed to be controlling Chikaru, or at least something that was affecting Chikaru’s mind.
“Can you and your friend do something about what’s making the president act strange?” Kagome asked.
“Friend?” Jaden asked, once again a little confused. Kagome pointed at the spot where Yubel was standing, or rather floating, surprising both Jaden and Yubel a little.
“I think this girl can see Duel Monster spirits.” Yubel theorized.
“I think you’re right.” Jaden replied. Jaden looked back at Kagome and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry Kagome, we’ll try and figure out what’s going on.”
A moment later, Kizuna returned from the hallway she and Remon went down before Jaden and Kagome stopped to have their little talk.
“Hey, c’mon you two! We’re supposed to be having a tour here!” Kizuna scolded.
“Sorry, we’re coming.” Jaden replied, and with that, Jaden and Kagome followed the orange haired girl down the hall on the left where Remon was waiting for them.
As the tour continued, Jaden continued to ponder what making Chikaru act strange. Since it seemed that Kagome had the ability to see Duel Monster spirits, and was able to sense whatever it was that was affecting Chikaru, Jaden theorized that perhaps he was dealing with some sort of malevolent Duel Monster. It wouldn’t have been the first time Jaden encountered such a thing. Yubel herself was once such a creature before Jaden had fused himself with her. The question at the moment was just what Duel Monster was he dealing with?
A little while later, Jaden’s tour guides had led him outside to a spot right behind the school. There in the middle of the field was Chikaru, sitting on a blanket drinking tea. Her duel disk was lying next to her on the blanket. As the group approached Chikaru, Jaden felt the same sense of danger that he had felt when he had first seen Lilum’s student council president. The group stopped when they reached the blanket, and the raven-haired girl looked up and gave them a warm smile.
“Ah, you must be Jaden Yuki.” Chikaru observed. “I am Chikaru Minamoto, Lilum’s student council president. I trust that you’ve been enjoying your tour of our academy.”
Jaden merely nodded as he gave Chikaru a suspicious look. Kagome hid behind Jaden.
“Please, have a seat.” Chikaru warmly offered. “I’m sure you must be a little tired of walking by now. Lilum is a rather large school, and I’ll bet that it took a little effort to keep up with Kizuna and Remon.”
Reluctantly, Jaden sat on the blanket across from Chikaru. Kizuna, Kagome, and Remon all sat off to Jaden’s left. Though Kagome’s face did not show any sign of emotion, Jaden could tell that she was a little afraid, since he noticed her holding her teddy bear, Percival, a bit tighter.
“Tell me Mr. Yuki, what do you think of St. Lilum Duel Academy?” Chikaru asked as she took another sip of tea.
“It seems like a nice school.” Jaden replied, still giving Chikaru a suspicious look.
“And what about the students?” Chikaru asked. “Do you think that they are strong duelists?”
“I wouldn’t know, since I haven’t seen any of them in action.” Jaden replied. This response caused Chikaru to chuckle a bit.
“No, I suppose not.” Chikaru said. “You’ve only seen the students of Miator and Spica in action. Though I would not blame you at all if you thought that Lilum students were weak.”
This statement caused Jaden to raise an eyebrow.
“After all, everyone underestimates the students of Lilum.” Chikaru continued. “Especially the students from Miator and Spica. They’re too busy competing with each other to consider anyone from Lilum to be a real threat, and I much prefer that they do.”
“Why is that?” Jaden asked, still with a suspicious look.
“Because that way they’ll never see it coming when the students of Lilum finally crush Miator and Spica.” Chikaru gleefully answered. “As long as they fight amongst themselves, they’ll never see the true threat before them until it’s too late.”
Chikaru’s words caused Jaden to remember what he overheard during the meeting between the three student council presidents. He remembered hearing that Chikaru had suggested something to Miyuki before the meeting that caused Miyuki and Shion to have a huge argument. It then dawned on Jaden that perhaps Chikaru was trying to make the rivalry that already existed between Miator and Spica even worse.
“Just when are Miator and Spica going to learn how powerful the students of Lilum are?” Jaden asked in a slightly suspicious tone.
“Oh, they’ll learn very soon.” Chikaru answered with a sly smirk. “This will be our year. The year that everyone will learn about the true power of Lilum.”
“Does this late night dueling club that you’ve started have anything with how everyone will learn about Lilum’s power?” Jaden asked.
“Oh dear, how ever did you hear about that?” Chikaru asked with a smile that was all too innocent. “Did Kizuna and Remon tell you?”
“They mentioned a rumor that your club was the reason why a lot of the students at Lilum have been absent.” Jaden answered.
“Well, I will admit that I might be pushing a few of the club members a little too hard.” Chikaru said innocently. “But it’s merely been for the benefit of preparing Lilum for the coming battle. You needn’t worry about it.”
Chikaru’s statement had startled Kizuna and Remon. Jaden, meanwhile, was growing more and more concerned that Chikaru had become corrupted somehow.
“Just what battle are you preparing for?” Jaden asked, narrowing his eyes a little at the raven-haired girl before him. Chikaru merely smiled at Jaden and suddenly picked up her duel disk and stood up.
“You know Mr. Yuki, you’ve made quite a name for yourself on Atsraea Island.” Chikaru began. “On your first night here, you defeated the Etoile. It’s also rumored that you defeated Miator’s student council president, and just yesterday you defeated Spica’s own Prince Amane.”
“What are you getting at?” Jaden asked. Although he knew very well what Chikaru was about to ask.
“I’m saying that all I want is to experience your power for myself.” Chikaru answered as she put on her duel disk. “At the same time, I also want to show you the power of Lilum. I think you’ll be very surprised. So do you except my challenge?”
Jaden thought for a moment about what to do, and decided that the only way to get to the bottom of what was going on at Lilum was to duel Chikaru. Jaden stood up to face Chikaru.
“I’ll take you on!” Jaden exclaimed.
A moment later, Jaden and Chikaru were facing each other, ready to begin their duel. Kizuna, Kagome, and Remon remained sitting on the blanket in order to watch. Once Jaden and Chikaru activated their duel disks, their life points were both set to 4000, and the duel began.
“I shall start things off.” Chikaru announced as she drew the first card from her deck. “I’ll set one monster on the field along with one other set card and end my turn.”
Jaden looked at his hand. He didn’t have anything for a Fusion Summon, but there was something he could do.
“I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in Attack Mode!” Jaden announced.
Jaden’s wilderness hero appeared on the field in front of him. Jaden knew that Wildheart could survive whatever Trap Chikaru had waiting, but he wasn’t sure about Chikaru’s facedown monster. For one thing, Wildheart only had 1500 ATK points, and there were plenty of monsters out there that had much higher DEF. If Chikaru’s card was one of those monsters, Jaden would take damage. There was also the possibility that the monster in question had some sort of effect that could destroy Wildheart. Jaden decided that he had no choice but to risk an attack.
“Wildheart, attack Chikaru’s facedown monster!” Jaden commanded. “Wild Slash!”
Wildheart lunged at the unknown monster with his sword. Moments before the attack hit, the card was flipped up, revealing a shriveled, tan skinned monster with a skull-like face, wearing a purple robe and carrying a scythe. The creature blocked Wildheart’s sword with its scythe, ending the battle.
“The monster you attacked is called Spirit Reaper.” Chikaru explained. “And while it has only has 200 DEF, it can’t be destroyed by battle.”
Jaden thought about what to do next. He had a couple Trap card of his own in his hand, Hero Signal and Hero Barrier. Jaden decided that he could at least put up a good defense.
“Next I’ll lay down a couple face downs!” Jaden announced.
“I was hoping you’d do that.” Chikaru cut in. “I activate my own facedown, Xing Zhen Hu! I select two Spell or Trap cards on my opponent’s side of the field, and Xing Zhen Hu prevents those cards from being activated!”
Jaden watched as the two Traps he put on the field were suddenly tied down, putting an end to his defense.
“I end my turn!” Jaden reluctantly announced.
“So it’s my turn again.” Chikaru said with an innocent yet evil smile as she drew her next card.
Jaden suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as Chikaru drew her new card. He knew that something was coming, something powerful, and evil.
“First I summon Double Coston!” Chikaru announced.
A small black blob with small, beady green eyes, a mouth, and two small, very stubby arms appeared on the field next to the Spirit Reaper.
“Next I activate a Spell card, Double Summon!” Chikaru announced. “This lets me perform another Normal Summon this turn.”
Jaden knew what was happening. Chikaru was preparing to sacrifice her two monsters to summon a more powerful one.
“Just so you know, Double Coston can be used as two tributes when Tribute Summoning a Dark attribute monster.” Chikaru explained. “This means I essentially have three sacrifices.”
With those words, Coston divided like a single celled life form, creating a second version of itself. Jaden knew that Chikaru was about to summon whatever he had been sensing.
“Now, I sacrifice Spirit Reaper and Double Coston to summon, The Wicked Eraser!” Chikaru announced.
The sky suddenly turned dark with clouds and the wind picked up. Chikaru’s three monsters shattered into particles of light, and a huge beam of light shot into the sky. The light faded, revealing a massive, serpentine dragon. The dragon was mostly brown. It had a well-developed torso that supported a pair of large wings. There was a small green gemstone in the center of the dragon’s chest, and two larger red gemstones on each shoulder. The creature’s arms were short, but ended in large, well-developed claws. Atop the creature’s neck was a head that was mostly a large beak. Beneath the beak was a small, demonic face, and on the sides of the head was a pair of horns. In the center of what could be called the creature’s forehead was another green gemstone.
“W-what is that thing?” a frightened Kizuna asked.
“I don’t know!” an equally frightened Remon answered.
Kagome’s response to the arrival of Chikaru’s monster was to squeeze her bear even tighter. Jaden could sense the immense power that was coming from The Wicked Eraser. It was similar to the power of the Sacred Beast cards that were locked away at his old academy, and to the power of Yugi Muto’s Egyptian God cards. The power that was coming from Chikaru’s monster seemed a little different though. It was darker, and somehow more noxious. Jaden knew that The Wicked Eraser was what was corrupting Chikaru.
“The Wicked Eraser’s ATK is equal to the number of cards on my opponent’s side of the field times 1000.” Chikaru explained. “Right now you have three cards, so the Eraser’s ATK is 3000.”
At that moment, Jaden wished that he could activate his Hero Barrier Trap to stop The Wicked Eraser from attacking, but he couldn’t thanks to Chikaru’s own Trap card.
“Eraser, destroy Wildheart and show Jaden your power!” Chikaru commanded. “Digestive Breath!”
The Eraser opened its massive beak and sprayed Wildheart with acid. Jaden watched in horror as Wildheart melted into a puddle and evaporated. The attack had reduced his life points from 4000 to 2500.
“My Eraser’s ATK drops to 2000 now that your monster is gone.” Chikaru explained. “But it will rise if you put more cards on the field.”
Jaden was beginning to fully comprehend the power that he was facing. The Wicked Eraser was indeed a God Card, but where did it come from? Chikaru began to laugh maniacally.
“THIS is the card that I will use to bring Lilum to power!” Chikaru proclaimed. “No one will be able to stand against the power of The Wicked Eraser!”
“You think so?” Jaden asked calmly as he briefly closed his eyes, only to open them up again and reveal that they were glowing. His right eye glowed bright orange while his left glowed a bright teal. Those were the eyes that represented the power of Yubel within him.
“H-how are…?” was all that a slightly startled Chikaru asked.
“You say that it’s a mistake to underestimate the power of Lilum students?” Jaden asked. “Well it’s an even bigger mistake to underestimate mine!”
