Dealing with Darkness Chapter 3

Leo wandered into his room and laid his Duel Disk on a bedside table before crashing onto his bed; feeling utterly exhausted after a long day. Whilst he might not have run a marathon or anything, he still did a lot of Duelling in a single day. Maybe it sounded like an excuse, but it was mentally exhausting as hell to play Yugioh all day even if he had breaks. He just wanted to go to bed and rest, but he refused to do so until he looked over all the cards he'd gotten.

The whole reason for entering that tournament was because the prize was a legendary card, along with a number of support cards for said monster, however the list of cards was unknown. He could have been scammed for all he knew. Either way, he definitely received an ultra rare card for his troubles and that on it's own was well worth it.

Grumbling as he sat up, Leo brought out a small black deck pack from his jacket's pocket. It wasn't flashy but he could tell there was a duel spirit in there, and a strong one at that. Even with his limited connection to the spirits, he could tell that one of the cards he received was going to be a formidable ally. And, he was almost certain it was-

The phone besides his bed started to ring, disrupting his focus as he dropped the pack and chose to prioritise answering. He could already tell who it was, and he didn't want to keep them waiting.

He picked up the phone and automatically answered. "Hey, who is it?"

"I'm pretty sure you already know, and why do you sound so cranky?" Yuri was muffled by the phone line, but he'd long since grown used to her voice on the phone. "I just wanted to call and remind you we have homework for tomorrow, and see how you're doing."

He groaned at the reminder. School was longer here than in England, plus the amount of homework you got was simply absurd. He'd already gone through school, and actually did pretty well, so he rarely had to revise at all. However, there was no getting around the work assigned to him. It was hell when he planned to devote his life to a card game.

"Didn't do it, I'll just take the detention." He simply brushed that concern off. "As for how I'm doing, I just won a bunch of rare cards so I'm doing pretty good. That last part of the match kinda ruined it though, some people have zero shame."

He could hear her laugh through the phone line. "You're one to talk. You practically humiliated your opponent in that match, I'd be surprised if a sponsor ever picked him up after that."

"What do you mean? It's one Duel, it won't kill him." Leo felt the need to point out. "Plus, he only made things worse for himself by begging like that."

"Maybe not, but in the Duelling world it's very hard to pick yourself back up after you get knocked down like that. Some pros can get caught in losing streaks, and if it gets bad enough, their career can end right then and there."

He wanted to question that, but thought back to the GX anime and held his tongue. Zane was a perfect example of what she just described, but he just didn't want to believe it. Zane had the skills, the cards, the drive, but it all fell apart like a deck of cards because he lost one Duel.

"That sounds rough." He settled on, not really sure what else to say. "From the looks of it, the Duelling world is one where you need to win constantly. Sounds like the perfect place for me."

Though on the other end of a phone, he could feel her smile at his words. "I know you will, but don't think it'll just be you. My magicians won't be left in the dust, we'll be the ones leaving you behind to watch us grow."

He grinned smugly. "You sure can try but, in case you haven't been keeping track, I still have the lead on you. By a lot. I'm pretty sure you lose around... eight of ten times?"

His jesting earned a reaction from her. "That's only because you've got all those special cards! Once I get to Duel Academy I'll be the one pulling ahead!"

"I look forward to it. Anyway, how did you get your dad to bring you to my match? Doesn't he hate Duel Monsters?" He questioned, leaning into the phone to hear her answer.

"Well, I had to bug him a lot about it, but eventually he caved." She explained vaguely, pausing for a moment. "But, I still haven't told him about Duel Academy yet." She added that last part, and he tried not to groan.

"You'll have to tell him eventually." He reminded. "You can't just lie to his face. Even if he hates that you play a card game, he's still your dad. He has a right to know about this shit, even if he can't force your hand."

He heard her sigh across the phone line. "I know, it's just... he's difficult. He's always been trying to stop me, he still tries to stop me, and when I met you things got even worse. It's not that we fight or argue, it's... we don't talk like we used to."

After a heavy few seconds he replied. "He still loves you and you're still his daughter. At the end of the day he'll love you regardless, so don't be too afraid of telling him what you want."

And he was telling the truth. Even if he hated Duel Monsters, Alex really did love his daughter. That much he could tell. Her dad wasn't going to choose some petty grudge for a card game over his own child.

"Thanks for that, Leo. Your a good friend." She spoke sincerely.

"Don't mention it. Listen, I want to get a look at these cards before calling it a day, so can you let me go to bed?" He asked, rubbing his eyes lightly. He didn't want to be rude, but he knew how long Yuri could be on the phone for.

"Sure, have a nice night." She bid him farewell and hung up, leaving him alone with his cards.

Grabbing the card pack once again, he smirked slightly as he flipped it open and saw the first card inside.

"Oh yeah, I can work with this."

"Does Master really have to waste his time in this miserable place?" Darkflare Dragon ranted to the other Duel Spirits, the one who called on them in battle painfully oblivious to their voices as he continued with his class. "He should be out there finding strong opponents for us to crush!"

"Oh, were you not satisfied with that fellow we Duelled just yesterday? He was a decent opponent, though nowhere near Master's level, he'll have to be enough for now." Felgrand Dragon soothed his fellow dragon, only for another to pipe up.

"You mean the battle you fought in-" Lightpulsar Dragon cut across, irritation thick in his tone. "Master didn't even get the chance to summon me! It only took Leo a few turns to finish him off!"

"Oh please, we were more than enough to handle that weakling. Bringing you out would have just been overkill." Darkflare Dragon argued, and in response he got a sigh from his brother.

"You're right." Lightpulsar admitted. " But, we hardly get any decent opponents these days." His voice turned sombre. "I know we have Yuri to duel, but fighting the same opponent time and time again is just boring. If I don't find a good foe soon, I might go insane."

Felgrand Dragon wanted to deny those words, but knew his fellow dragon wasn't exactly wrong. Ever since he'd been added to Leo's deck, he's found himself in dozens of battle. Most were easy, a few were difficult, but each and every one of them was a different experience. He'd found friends, a strong Master, and a new home. That was worth more to him than fighting a strong foe.

"There will be plenty of strong Duellists in time. Up until this point, Master has been battling nobodies mostly. However, he will soon be attending a place called Duel Academy. We'll surely find strong opponents there."

"I know I know, it's just hard to wait. I've never been the patient sort." Lightpulsar finished. It was obvious he was itching for a strong opponent, though it gave him a small amount of comfort knowing they'd be jumping right into the thick of things soon enough. Only a small amount though.

Ever since his Master first found him and his brother years ago they'd been thicker than thieves, and he was always his Master's go-to. The bond between them was powerful, and he could feel the potential within his young master.

Leonardo had the gift of sight, even if he didn't know it, and he just needed a little push to awaken it. Then they'd be able to duel the best together, to become the best together and finally stand at the top together.

He desired to fight the strongest, and he'd do so with his team right beside him!

…still though, something had always bothered him. His master and him had met before he obtained his card, the same with his brother, though when exactly alluded him. His past was an unknown, though it shouldn't have mattered to him. The present was the only thing that mattered, he didn't need a past.

Subconsciously, Leo reached up for the deck within his shirt. It felt restless, and he grasped his head when a splitting headache hit him in the middle of History class.

Yuri hesitated at her father's front door, with her hand hovering over the handle only to flinch away as though it were burning hot. She shouldn't have been so cowardly, but she promised herself that she'd tell her dad about Duel Academy. It would undoubtedly enrage him, but that was fine. She didn't need him to like it, or even support it, he just had to allow it.

Truth be told, she should have signed up for that school earlier, much like Leo already had, but her lack of courage came back to bite her.

'Yuri, why are you hesitating so much? It's not like he's gonna kill you for wanting to be a Duelist.' A soothing voice called out from her deck, though the spirit she'd come familiar with decided not to show herself. 'Come on, he's your father isn't he?'

A few months ago, one of her cards began speaking to her; one of her favourite monsters at that. She tried to ignore it at first, though that proved ineffective since the voice she kept hearing never stopped. The spirit could be annoying with how much she talked, but wasn't too horrible to deal with. Eventually she cracked, and started speaking back.

Then, the strangest things started to happen whenever she was in a duel. The card would always show up at a time when she needed her most, which happened far too many times for it to just be coincidence, and the monster seemed more... alive whenever she showed up as a hologram. It freaked her out at the time. Even now she still felt uncomfortable talking to a card, but she'd become a bit more accepting of the idea her cards were alive... assuming she wasn't insane.

"I love my dad, but he's-" She struggled to find the right word. "Difficult, when it comes to Duel Monsters."

'You mean he hates us?' The spirit answered bluntly, deadpan evident in her tone.

"Yeah, kinda. The world is changing to revolve around Duel Monsters, a card game, and whilst a lot of people like that there are still a few who don't. My dad is one of those few."

'Why does he hate Duel Monsters so much?'

Yuri shook her head in exasperation. "I don't know. It's not like I haven't asked, but he never gave me an answer. He never had a massive problem with Duel Monsters before him and mum split, but after that it was like he was a whole new person." She thought back to what her father was like before. He was always reserved, but whenever he smiled it lit up the room. He was never the most talkative, but was fine with letting her talk his head off. He always let her know that he loved her back then.

She never got to see that anymore.

'Sounds like you and him have a lot of issues. It's not healthy to keep all that bottled up. Hey, maybe if you just talked things out, you guys could be like you were before.' The spirit encouraged.

She groaned at the words which she, quite frankly, had grown sick of hearing. It wasn't as simple as everyone else made it out to be. She was admittedly being a coward, but it wasn't like she didn't have her reasons. Her dad would be angry with her for going to Duel Academy, and she was going no matter what he said, but that wasn't something she wanted. Despite his faults, she still loved her father and putting a strain on their relationship wasn't on her wish list.

"You make it sound obvious, but if you were in my place you'd hesitate all the same." She retorted. "Do you Spirits have parents? If you did then you'd understand how I feel."

'Nope.' The Duel Spirit spoke with a pop of the at the end of the 'P'. 'But, my last Master had a grandpa who was like a guardian to him. And my Master before that had a father of his own. Then again when you're a ruler of ancient Egypt you don't really get parents who coddle you.'

Yuri chose not to question the Spirit on those last words. Instead, she muttered. "I knew you wouldn't understand. You can't help me here. This is something I need to do on my own." She spoke with finality as she opened her house's door, her nerves stilling, before closing it behind her as the spirit constantly talking in her ear went silent.

Leo was sat at a computer as he entered his personal information onto the computer, since he'd finally gotten around to registering himself for Duel Academy, and was surprised by the forms on the screen. It was significantly less... well, less than he was expecting to fill out in all honesty.

He'd gotten back from school and he'd been expecting to give out significantly more information when he signed up for Duel Academy. A picture of his face, an email address, a place of residence, his Duel Links account- which was the name for a network which gives out DP to Duellists participating in tournaments, and keeps a log of all duels used on any Disks on their server- and his name... that was all.

He hadn't been expecting their security to be state of the art, but it seemed somewhat exploitable to him. Maybe he wasn't seeing something, maybe they had some system in place to pick out fakes, but what was stopping someone dangerous from earning access to Duel Academy and blending in amongst a horde of teenagers? What if they were predators? What if they had malicious intent?

Trying not to question the security of the system, he got finished rather quickly and sat back in his chair, rubbing the tire out of his eyes. He'd gotten carried away last night and decided to spend a couple of hours trying to assemble a warrior deck with his new cards. The deck he'd made was okay, impressive even considering how tired he was at the time, but it could be a whole lot better and it's searching power wasn't quite up to par with what he wanted. It was an archetype that had a connecting to the 'chaos' monsters, so he could use Lightpulsar and Darkflare Dragon in it, though he felt like switching things up. Afterall, what was the point of making a new deck if he was just going to use his old cards?

Eclipse Wyvern was definitely going in there though. He didn't care if it was repetitive, the searching power of that monster was simply outrageous when used right and it paired brilliantly with any 'chaos' monsters due to the nature of the archetype. If only he had a third copy, then he could really unleash hell with his deck.

Staring at his bed mindlessly for a moment, Leo chose to get up before lying down to rest. Whilst he might not have been the biggest fan of school, he knew that keeping a reasonable sleeping schedule was important. He was a growing young man afterall, and he had no plans of stunting his growth from a lack of sleep. He was over six foot in his last life and he'd get there again. He just needed time.

Closing his eyes, he allowed drowsiness to sink into his bones as darkness became all he could see. It wasn't instant, but sleep still came quickly to him and within a few moments he felt the mind-numbing clutches of sleep overtake him... until it wasn't calm anymore.

He opened his eyes, he instantly realised he was having a lucid dream. He'd always been a vivid dreamer, though his mind never was quite so clear as now. It was almost nauseating considering the situation he was in.

Water hung right below his feet. It was completely calm, bright blue, and crystalline. It was a stark contrast to everything else, which appeared to be a blank wide void that stretched on forever, though strangely enough he wasn't sinking.

Tapping his foot on the surface experimentally, Leo frowned at how solid it felt. The water wasn't moving, rippling, or shifting.

The water around him began to darken like ink, and at that moment a block of ice inexplicably appeared in his guts. He frowned, trying in vain not to panic as the world around him became overwhelmed by darkness that spread to even the pure horizons in the distance.

He grimaced, about to make a comment, only for him to feel a stab of pain by his foot. He looked down, and tried not to shout out when he saw that the blackened water below had latched onto him like a leech in the form of a dark tendril that was wrapping around his foot.

Without warning, the tendril tightened and dragged him below the water. He screamed, inhaling the ice cold darkness as he flailed wildly and grabbed at his throat. Normally he wouldn't be so fast to panic, but the water around him was freezing and he felt like he was being overwhelmed. He wasn't just swallowing the water due to erratic movement. It was forcing it's way into his throat and corrupting him with-

"Fuck!" His shout echoed out in his room as he was dragged out of the void of dreams; trying desperately to get the horrible taste of that black stuff out of his mouth.

Leo grabbed a cup laid beside his bed, downing it in one gulp. When he was done, he smacked his lips together and scrunched his face up. "Disgusting."

He placed the empty cup back down, only to reel right afterwards as a sharp pain cut across his head and made him grit his teeth.

"What the hell was- gyah!"

A spike of pain vibrated through his skull once more, and suddenly it felt like there were scorpions in his head. For a few moments, he felt nothing but burning pain and a pressure inside his skull that made him feel like his brain was being scrambled.

"RAAAGH!"

He found himself wailing involuntarily, but at that moment he couldn't care about keeping his voice down. He buried his head into his covers, his eyes clenched tightly shut.

It hurt horribly, reminding him briefly of the pain of a bullet through the head, though after a few moments the agony started to subside and he was left with nothing but a phantom sensation of what he'd just endured.

His ears rung lightly as he rose up. Blood was trickling down his nose, though he hardly noticed that, and he stared blankly ahead for a few moments... before an affectionate roar echoed in his ear.

'Master, what happened to you? Your Ba is in disarray.'

Leo was about to question what that voice in his ear was, though his eyes involuntarily rolled backwards as unconsciousness swept over him.

Yuri walked out of her father's house, wiping her puffy red eyes that gave away she was crying just minutes ago. She slammed the door shut behind her, choosing to take her frustration out on the inanimate object before huffing to calm herself.

'Well, that definitely could have gone better.' The spirit in her deck spoke, her tone dour and flat.

"You don't say, what gave you that impression?" The sarcasm might have been a touch unwarranted, but she wasn't in the mood to talk. Luckily, the spirit seemed to get the message and smartly decided to shut up.

As she started to put some distance between her father's house, she began thinking over the fight she'd just had. It was a horrible feeling, knowing your own father disapproved of the choices you've made, and even if it was wrong to keep things from him she just wanted to be back where they were before she'd told him. She wished she never opened her mouth.

Both Yuri and her deck fell silent, the sun starting to fall as night approached. It was strange that she'd never had a fight with her dad before, especially considering their differing opinions, but maybe that was just because they'd agreed to ignore that inconvenient fact. She'd held her tongue for a while in his presence, choosing not to voice her true thoughts, and that was what led to it all exploding out at once like a volcano.

Maybe if she'd been less closed off things could have turned out better.

She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited at a corner, glancing behind her back constantly. Where was her mother? She had never been late before, and she doubted that her mother would arrive late on the exact day she planned to tell her dad about Duel Academy.

The ringing of her phone cut her thoughts off, and she was quick to bring it up and see that it was her mother. Answering, she was quick to take the first word. "Mum, where are you? I've been waiting for-

"Sweetie, I'm sorry but your gonna need to wait up." Yuri didn't fail to notice her mother's change in tone. Her mum's voice was usually jovial, but now it had a worried edge to it that said something was wrong. "I found Leo in his room passed out."

Yuri's eyes widened and she was quick to ask in a worried voice. "Is he okay?"

"He seems to be, but he's still out of it and I don't wanna leave him alone. Can you get Alex to take you home?"

Yuri honestly didn't want to talk with her dad at the moment, but immediately pushed that thought out. Her best friend was apparently in trouble, having passed out, and she didn't want him to be left on his own if she could help it. If it would ensure his safety, then she was fine with handling her dad.

"Okay, I'll... I'll go back to dad I guess."

Even from across the phone line, it was apparent how hesitant she sounded and her mum picked up on that. "Honey, did things go okay with your dad?"

"No, Not really, but we need to continue our talk anyway. We left things in a bad place, and I should talk to him again." She said that, but she really didn't want to. "Make sure Leo is okay, I'll go back to dad." She hung up the phone, sighing at her predicament.

For some reason, the spirit in her deck decided to quit her silence. 'Look on the bright side. At least-'

"Oh, will you shut up."

There was nothing but darkness around him.

As Leo stared into the endless abyss, he had to resist a groan of annoyance. 'Great, another one of these weird dreams. Now I'm-'

He suddenly paused when he touched his face, or more accurately where his face was meant to be, only to feel nothing. In fact, his entire body felt incredibly light and he couldn't move an inch from his spot.

However, before he had time to ponder what was going on, the world around him seemed to shift and morph into a dark platform where a doppelganger of his image stood. He was maybe a bit older, the hair a bit longer, but everything else was spot on. Except the medieval looking dark robes he was clad in, those definitely weren't his style.

The duplicate materialised in front of him, seemingly ignorant to his presence.

'...what?' He stared incredulously at the copy, stumped at what was going on. Was he having another dream? That was almost definitely what was happening, but this one felt different. Familiar even.

The image of him smirked evilly, a dark aura shrouding his image and making his black eyes lose their shine, but it wasn't directed at him. No no, it was looking past him.

"You still insist on standing against me? How foolish you are, my love." His other self sounded darkly amused, yet even as he smirked cruelly, his eyes remained empty and void of light

"Because, you aren't the one I fell in love with! I refuse to let you continue this way, destroying everything in sight." A feminine voice cried out from in front of him as, much to his surprise, a woman materialised in front of his eyes. Her face hidden from view asides from her mid-length brown hair, and she appeared to be arguing with his clone.

He found his panic fading into bewilderment as the scene in front of him continued to unfold. It deeply confused him, but before he could think on it further they continued.

"Really, am I that much different from back then?" The other him questioned, his grin remaining as though he were silently laughing. It was unnerving "Perhaps I've grown wiser, my eyes have been opened to the real world, but I remain the same person at my core. You could say this is the real me, and the man you've always known is the fake. It breaks my heart to see you betray me like this."

Even with her face hidden, it was apparent her frustration was growing. "I don't side with you because what you're doing is wrong. I refuse to join you in this mindless destruction, and I know this isn't truly you either. It is the Wicked ones' doing!"

He briefly wondered who she was referring to, only for his counterpart to chuckle and respond calmly. "They simply opened my eyes, showed me the true nature of life. The truth is, living is torture for us humans."

The other woman questioned him. "What are you talking about now? What torture?"

He swept his arm out in a grand gesture. "You see, humans are all born to suffer. None of us are truly exempt, and I seek to bring an end to that. I merely seek to set us free from what life inflicts on us, and I'll do that by destroying the world and everything in it." He explained calmly, his face not even twitching to show that he wholeheartedly believed everything he just said. "Death will be our people's salvation."

"You're insane if you think that is the solution!" The woman screamed out, looking equal parts furious and terrified. "The gods of darkness have corrupted you, this isn't something the boy I fell in love with would ever believe! Stop this now, before you go too far!"

"Stop?" His copy parroted, almost sounding like he'd heard a joke. "Why would I stop now that I've made such lovely progress in my ambitions? You can try to stop me if you wish, but I don't think either of us would want that."

"If you don't want to fight me then you'll need to stop this right now, because I refuse to let you continue on this path filled with despair!" The woman raised her arm upwards, a light appearing behind her as she called with determination. "Come, my faithful servant, magician of light!"

Overhead light so great it cut the darkness began to swell, before it broke to reveal a magician obscured by light that stood hovering in front of the woman protectively.

"If you don't want to stop, then I'll just have to make you!"

In response, the man almost seemed disappointed as his grin dropped. "How horrible of you to turn on the man you claim to love. No matter. I'll make you see things my way. Prepare to have your eyes opened!"

Leo watched in fascination as his doppelganger held up an arm, darkness swirling up to his fist before it burst like a star and started to explode outwards. He instinctively covered his eyes, desperate to shield himself from the black energy that seemed to radiate off his counterpart.

He shot up with his arms held upwards, light overwhelming his senses, and he covered his eyes as the adrenaline started to leave his system. Leo was quick to realise he was no longer dreaming. Instead, he was lying across a sofa with a blanket strewn across his chest to keep him covered. He sat up, seeing he was in the living room.

"Okay, so are these gonna be a regular occurrence now?" He questioned to nobody in particular, and when he saw that he was indeed alone, his shoulders laxed as he sighed out loud. That dream was stressful, now all he wanted was to-

'Master, you have the gift. What an interesting development.'

Leo's head snapped upwards and he gasped out when he found the source of those words, reflexively leaning backwards as two duel spirits stared down at him. Two very intimidating dragon duel spirits.

Their spectres were half-formed, with most of their bodies seemingly fading away to fit their giant frames better in such a tiny room, however they appeared no less jaw dropping in person.

The first was Lightpulsar Dragon, who's crimson eyes zoned in on him with contained excitement as well as interest. Though he was massive, he seemed remarkably calm and serene in appearance to the point where he could almost appear gentle... if he weren't a giant dragon.

Darkflare Dragon was much the same, looking far more detailed than a normal hologram, and though he looked far darker and demonic in appearance the spirit's emerald eyes held a shine that made him appear approachable.

After the initial shock, the three of them remained in silence for a few moments, until he broke it with a nervous chuckle. "So... you guys are alive. That's cool, I guess." Only when those words left his mouth did he realise how lame he sounded, and his dragons appeared to think the same.

'Yes, though from your reaction it seems you aren't that surprised.' Lightpulsar Dragon observed. 'Then again, you did have a habit of talking to us even though you don't have the gift of sight... or maybe didn't would be the better word. Now it appears you can see us just fine.'

"Is that what you guys call the ability to see spirits?" He forced himself to relax as he questioned the dragons, trying not to let their appearance dissuade him. It wouldn't do good to be afraid of his own allies.

'Of course, then again it probably shouldn't be a surprise that you could see us. The gift usually manifests earlier if someone with potential becomes a good Duelist, so maybe you just needed time.' Darkflare Dragon explained.

Leo took in that chunk of information as his heart finally stopped pounding. The fact his monsters were spirits didn't actually surprise him, he'd always suspected they were trying to talk to him, but actually seeing it was something else entirely.

"Are there anymore spirits in my deck?" He couldn't help but ask, wondering what other cards of his were alive and kicking. It really took the heart of the cards to a whole new level knowing that his deck was actually able to respond to him.

Lightpulsar replied instantly. 'There are two more of us, three if you include that new monster you've gotten your hands on.'

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Can you tell me who they are?" Sure it might have only been five spirits, but that was still five monsters on his side.

Darkflare Dragon raised his head as though the answer was obvious. 'Of course, you're their master afterall.'

Before he could question what that meant, the deck on his belt started to glow as two familiar monsters emerged from the light, and he couldn't help but grin in excitement when the spirits of a golden dragon and spherical monster came into view.

As Yuri looked right to the front of her dad's car, not daring to make eye contact and instead focused on ahead. Neither of them were breathing a word and this resulted in the car ride quickly becoming awkward. The silence was quickly driving her mad, but she was too afraid to break it.

"So, you want to attend Duel Academy?" Alex began, sounding slightly depressed. "Why am I surprised. That game seems to suck everything around it up and corrupt them."

"You're being dramatic, dad." She pointedly spoke, finally tearing her neck away to stare at his face. "I wasn't corrupted, I just happen to like the game."

"Enough to throw away a regular life just to go off and base your life around it?" He countered, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Honestly, it's ridiculous. You're a smart girl Yuri, just why would you want to waste your life playing trading cards?" He questioned harshly, as though she were committing a sin.

Yuri glanced away, though was quick to turn back. She wouldn't mince her words. "Is it really ridiculous though? It's not like Duel Academy is just about Duel Monsters. Sure, I'll admit they're a big part of it, but they have a good program for their students. I might not even become a Professional Duellist."

"You will though." Her father spoke stubbornly. "I've seen what this game does to people, how it converts everyone around it into- into people with zero common sense. The world will be run by a children's card game if this doesn't stop, and I'm not gonna get caught up in this wave because some eccentric idiot with too much money wants the world to be obsessed with trading cards."

Yuri understood his line of thought. Whilst Duel Monsters was a big game when she was growing up, the world had come to be far more invested in Duel Monsters than any other sport. Sure it was more than one factor, but Seto Kaiba had definitely been responsible for most of that progress.

However-

"I've heard all this before, dad, and maybe you do have some points." She admitted but didn't stop just yet. "But like I've said, this is stuff I already heard. Tell me, why do you hate this game so much?"

It was something she never did understand, her father's hatred for the game. She could understand if he simply wasn't interested, maybe it just wasn't his cup of tea, but he downright loathed the game to the point where he wanted nothing to do with it. In fact, he didn't want her to have anything to do with it.

When faced with this question, her father looked down though did respond. "I told you, it's because- because... I don't want you to end up like your uncle." He muttered that last part, and she shot him a confused look.

"Sorry, what did you just say?"

Alex broke out of his daze, gritting his teeth as he stated. "This game has already taken a lot from me. Yuri... I'm trying not to let it take you too. But, it's too late now."

She shot her father a confused look, not sure what he was talking about, though she withheld any questions as her father let out a deep and tired sigh.

"What did Duel Monsters take from you?" Yuri asked, honestly not sure what to make of her father's behaviour.

With a solemn face, Alex stopped the car and she discovered that they were at her house. Just another turn around the corner and she'd be home. But, avoiding the issue anymore wouldn't solve the issues between them. She had to stay.

"You know, I actually like Duel Monsters at one point. It was around the time just before your mother and I split, and quite frankly the reason why we separated." The man began, suddenly looking much older. "Duel Monsters was a young game at the time, but your uncle was actually a professional. He was really good even."

Yuri felt her throat dry, wondering what her uncle had to do with this. She'd known her father used to have a brother, and even remembered him from when she was little, though it had been a very long time since he'd been mentioned. This would be due to his passing, just a short time before her parents separated.

"But, eventually newer cards came out and he just couldn't adapt. He was using a deck of older cards, and it didn't matter how good he was, other players just had better cards in their decks. Eventually, he became a laughing stock and lost all his sponsors." Her father explained, gripping the wheel hard as he bit back tears.

She looked away, though was too curious to stop at this point. Her father was giving her a straight answer at last. "What happened to him?"

"Well, he was at rock bottom by that point. His career was going under, and he needed to get his game back on. And he... he decided the way to do that was by Duelling in illegal rings."

"What do you mean?" She asked, and her father almost seemed to choke up at the reminder. She'd never seen him cry before, and it was a very conflicting sight to see the man who raised her nearly brought to tears.

"I don't have the specifics, but he entered a crime ring where the loser didn't survive their match."

Her eyes widened in shock, appalled by the idea. "You're kidding, and that's what killed him?!"

Duelling was a game she'd always seen as fun, childish even, and a very non-violent way to solve your problems. Afterall, why would you need to fight a person physically when you can just beat them in a card game?

So, to think that her own uncle died as a result of this game... she didn't know how to respond to that.

"No actually, he managed to make it through those matches without dying. However, the matches all registered real damage the more your life points fell by giving the user an electric shock." He shook his head and closed his eyes. "He came back and took the competition by storm, it was like he was a whole new person... until his heart stopped. The constant static electricity he was being exposed to took it's tole on his heart. One day, he went to bed... and his heart just stopped."

A permeating silence hung over them, and she wasn't even sure what to do with what her dad just laid on her. It was horrifying to think about, that her favourite game could hurt someone to this extent. For her uncle to literally die because he wanted to win, to trade his life for a win rate, and it made her falter a little on her mentality.

Almost.

"Dad, I'm sorry. That must have been hard for you." She began, pulling her arms over to give him a hug. It had been a while since she gave him one, and she could tell it surprised him. "But, I'm not changing my mind."

He hugged her back after a moment, then he sighed once more. Though this one sounded more like resigned acceptance than annoyance or tire. "I know. Trust me I know. Just please, don't end up regretting this. I wanted to spare you, since this game doesn't seem to do this world any good."

Yuri sniffed slightly as she pulled away, holding out her pinkie finger to him. "How about we make a deal then. I'll make sure not to die playing a children's card game, and you promise me that you'll accept I'm going to Duel Academy."

It was cheesy of her, that much she'd admit, though maybe that's because she spent so much time with Leo. He was a nerd, and when your best friend is a nerd you become a bit nerdy yourself.

Alex stared at the pinkie with a raised eyebrow, looking uncertain, though took it after a few moments to seal their agreement. "Deal."

Yuri allowed herself to smile widely, knowing that her dad just gave his blessing. It was... nice to be on the same page as him, and to talk to him normally like this. Hopefully this wouldn't stop now, she could get used to it.

She grabbed the side of the car door, opening it to get out, only for her dad to grab her attention. "Oh, and Yuri." She turned her head back, and was surprised to see a smile gracing her father's features. "I love you."

Yuri smiled back. "I love you too."