Goodbye Duel Academy

In the deepest parts of Jaden's mind, he felt as if he was floating in a sea of nothingness that was his subconscious. He couldn't move, let alone breathe as the pressure around his body weighed him down and was beyond overwhelming. He couldn't remember what happened that put him in such a place, but all he knew was that he felt incredibly cold as the darkness enveloped him in its frozen womb. How did I get here? He asked himself as he continued to drift. When he opened his eyes, he saw a black shadow in the form of a man with its head in the shape of a goats skull and had large black bat wings growing from its back. "Who are you?" Jaden asked the figure.

The figure stared at him and from the pits of its hollowed eyes shone two piercing red orbs. "I am the true form of absolute darkness. I am the original being who harnessed the cosmic power which your people have called the Gentle Darkness. It was me who casted my powers to your world and made you the Supreme King many eons ago." Jaden listened closely to the beings words as he became hypnotized by its demonic voice. "Jaden, it is time for you to go to sleep. You must relinquish what little light you have left if you truly wish to obtain the power to defeat the Light of Destruction. My child, close your eyes… and slumber within my darkness." Jaden's eyes began to grow heavy as he started to heed the beings words. But before he completely surrendered his mind, he felt the sensation of warm hands that touched his body and felt as they started to pull him back to the surface.

"Jaden! Please, wake up!" Jaden slowly started to awaken and scanned his surroundings. He was in the infirmary and he could see both Anastasia and Aster who were in there own separate beds near him with wires connecting them to life support monitors. They both had received fatal wounds from Arista's attacks and there bodies were infected by the poisonous energy of the Light of Destruction, which manifested on their body like pulsing glowing white veins. Jaden quickly sat up as the memories of their battle came back to him and he winced in pain as he held his chest. He looked down and saw that his body was bandaged from his neck to his waist, with his blood seeping through the bindings. It had been a while since he had felt pain like this because of how efficient his healing factor was, and even though he wasn't nearly in as bad shape as his vampire companions, he too had taken a beating from the formidable angel who seemed to have delt severe injury to his body.

Jaden's friends surrounded his bed with Syrus sitting by his feet, wiping his face as he balled his eyes out and to his side was Elena and Alexis who both looked relieved to see that he was finally awake. "Thank goodness! We were so worried that you wouldn't wake up! We thought that maybe you would be like Aster and Ana. They're both in a coma right now fighting for their lives… But the Vatican has sent specialists in to inspect them in hopes of reversing what Arista did." Elena said as she leaned over the bed to pull he son in an embrace, but Jaden didn't hug her back as his bangs covered his eyes. How could he have let this happen to his friends? He had been training so hard to become stronger, and even with all of his efforts, he was no match for Aster's sister who was under Sartorius's control. "I'm so weak… I'm such a damn weakling! I'm supposed to be able to protect you all but I was useless!" He yelled out at he grabbed his hair tightly and felt as his head started to pulse with pain. The demonic voice he had met in his dream was talking to him again, and through his suffering his eyes momentarily flashed that lifeless golden color.

"Calm down Jaden! Don't blame yourself. You did everything you could and you put up one hell of a fight. You were able to hold her off long enough for the remaining students to get to safety. That should count for something, right?" Said Alexis who grabbed him by the hand but he pulled it away from her which caused Alexis's heart to twinge with pain as she looked at him with sad eyes. "And why does that matter? I don't care what happens to the others. The only people I care about are in this room. And they're the ones I failed. I thought I was getting stronger, but I'm still not strong enough! Sartorius said I still haven't reached my full potential, whatever that means. I don't know what I need to do, but I need that power if I want to put an end to the Society of Light once and for all!" Jaden exclaimed with his red slitted eyes narrowed intensely.

They all turned their heads as they heard the doors open and both Seto and Lilith walked into the room. "Anyone who isn't injured must leave immediately. We need to speak with Jaden in private, I hope you all understand." Said Seto with a very serious expression on his face. Even though they didn't want to, Jaden's friends left the room so that they could discuss what they needed too without prying ears. "It's nice to finally meet you, my lord. Although, I wish we had met under better circumstances. Work has been keeping me quite busy as you can imagine. I've been doing diplomatic work with the Vatican and we've come to a sort of agreement." Said Lilith who strode to be by her daughters side as she brushed sweaty hair out of her face. Jaden looked at her with curiosity. It was definitely strange to see the current queen of the vampires and a representative of the Vatican Order behaving so cordial with each other in the same room. "What kind of agreement?" Asked Jaden to both of them.

Seto sat in the chair next to him where Elena was sitting before and crossed his arms. "The Vatican and the vampires have come to a truce and will be working together to defeat the Light of Destruction. I've been having Sheppard train you in combat, but that obviously won't be enough to bring Sartorius down and defeat his little science experiment. What you fought wasn't even Arista at her full power, from what my intel tells us. She was probably only using about 50% synchronization. It's alarming that even at 50% she was able to stay on equal footing with you, and not even Haou was able of accomplishing much in terms of taking her down. So, the Vatican has agreed to relinquish your custody back to Lilith who has already stated she had intentions of bringing you back to her homeland. There is only so much the order can teach you, but in terms of learning how to control your power, that is something we are not capable of helping you with. So, you will be going with Lilith back to the homeland where she will train you how to properly access your powers. You're the best asset we have in winning this war and we need you to obtain your full potential." Jaden's eyes widened. So what they were telling him was that they were forcing him to leave the island, and his friend's behind?

"But I can't! I have too much to protect here!" Said Jaden who refused to leave his loved ones, but saw that Seto was now glaring at him which caused him to shut his mouth. "You're the reason they're always in danger, you fool! Your presence in my school puts all of my students in harms way. It's better that we send you away for the good of everyone. If you really want to protect them, then leave willingly. But you have no choice in the matter. Your fate has already been decided for you." Lilith walked over to the two bickering men and kneeled down by his bedside and grabbed Jaden's hand and kissed the top of it. "My lord, you must understand that this decision is for the best. Not to mention that we vampires are lost without our king to guide us. I've done what I could for the past 300 years, but all of your children need their true king back. Your presence would greatly boost their morality and give them the strength to continue to fight. It is time for you to take your throne back, Jaden. It's your destiny!" Lilith said encouragingly.

Jaden didn't know what to say to all of this. He understood where they were coming from, but that didn't mean it didn't make him angry! His whole life people were telling him how he should live and what to do, like what he wanted didn't matter. His life has never been his own to do with as he pleased. Jaden hung his head low as he clutched his fists tightly. "Fine… I'll go. But not before I say my goodbyes first. I'm owed that much at least." He said with a strained voice, trying to hide his disdain. Seto nodded his head as he stood up. "Of course. We weren't going to just send you on your way without giving you that honor. That would be cruel. Now rest up. Because as soon as you're healthy enough to stand you will be leaving immediately. Farewell, Jaden Yuki. Until our paths cross again." And with that, Seto left the room to go back to overseeing the maintenance to the courtyard which had been destroyed as a result to Arista and Haou's fight.

Jaden looked worriedly over at his friends who were still comatose lying in their beds, motionless. "What about them? Are we leaving them here too?" He asked Lilith. "No. They would benefit greatly from coming with us. Our homeland is surrounded by a barrier that only vampires can navigate through so it keeps any foreign individuals out, they'd be safe there. And within our barrier we get a benefit healing boost because of how pure the dark energy it is there. So feel glad knowing that you'll have some companions with you through this difficult transition." Jaden sighed of relief knowing that he wouldn't be alone. But it still sucked knowing he would have to leave his human friends behind. Especially Alexis. He knew she would take it the hardest out of all of them having to let him go, but he knew it was for the best.

Over the last couple of days, he had been thinking over their relationship. He couldn't deny how different they were and they couldn't possibly imagine living in each other's worlds. Of course there was an option of turning her into a vampire so that she could come along with him, but he wanted her to live and die as a human. He didn't want to have her suffer the same trials and tribulations that Aster had to go through with his identity crisis. He loved Alexis just the way she was, but he also loved her enough to let her go. "I don't mean to pry my lord; but I just have to ask. Are you truly in a relationship with a human woman?" Lilith asked him, now sounding like an overprotective mother. Jaden gulped, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Uhm, yes I am. Why do you ask?" He asked cautiously back. "Well, you are betrothed to my daughter whether you have fully consented to it or not. Such is the way of our customs. So it is unthinkable to think that our pureblooded king would be in love with a human, especially since I'm aware of the Supreme King's history. Haou might not have talked about it all that much with you, but he met his demise with a human once before. She betrayed him and helped the Light of Destruction with his assassination. He's carried his hatred of humans with him through every life he's experienced after that. Which is why it's also one of our goals as vampires to control the human population. To avenge our king's untimely death and remind the humans we are not beings to be trifled with." Said Lilith were her eyes flashing an ominous red, displaying her power and authority. "So I'd advice that you break it off with her. For the sake of your people anyways. You have responsibilities as royalty, and it's about time you start thinking like a king and give up your selfish pursuits. That is my advice from one ruler to another."

Jaden felt himself start to sweat after feeling the demonic pressure she was creating. It was much more intense than Anastasia's and almost as dark as his is when Haou takes control of his body. Which makes sense as she wasn't the queen for no reason. "I… I understand. But it's not easy breaking someone's heart." He said as his gaze started to soften. Their conversation was interrupted however, when his friends had reentered the room wanting to know what they had talked to him about. "if you excuse me my king, I will be taking my leave now. I will come and retrieve you when your treatment is complete." Lilith said as she curtsied to him before she left the room.

Alexis sat on Jaden's bed as she watched the queen leave, having a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Is everything okay? What was so important that someone like her needed to come out here to talk to you?" She asked the injured vampire. Jaden didn't know if now was the appropriate time to tell his friend's about his decision to leave them all, so he prompted to tell them before he would actually be leaving. He wanted to pretend for just one last time, that everything was going to be okay. "It's not important… We can talk about it later, okay?" He told his girlfriend as he forced on a smile but Alexis could see right through it. She didn't want to pressure him into talking about something he wasn't ready to talk about yet. "I understand Jaden. Just tell us when you're ready. Okay?" Jaden felt pain in his heart as he took in all the faces of the people that surrounded him. He knew that it was going to be a long time before he could see them all again, and he didn't know when he would be returning.

It was the next day and Jaden was still injured but was feeling good enough to get out of his bed. With the help of Elena, she helped him to get dressed and helped him walk back to the Slifer Red dorms so he could get a head start on packing his bags. Elena already knew the plan of course since she was a member of the Vatican Order, but agreed to not mention his plans to his friends in respect of his wishes. When they made it to his room, Jaden started packing his things but being very slow about it to try and drag out the process as long as possible. She looked at her son with sadness knowing how hard all of this must be on him. He tried so hard to get into this school and now he had to say goodbye so soon. She walked over to him and pulled him into a hug, and he couldn't hold a tough demeanor anymore as he started to cry into her chest. "I don't want to leave you guys! Especially you, Elena. I just got you back! What am I going to do without you?" He said as he hugged his mother figure tightly. She shushed him and stroked his hair, trying her best to console him. She hated seeing him so upset but felt relief seeing him expose this human side of himself. It reminded her and comforted her knowing that her son wasn't completely gone yet. But she knew Jaden's destiny would ultimately end up in him disappearing and only the king would be left remaining. But for now, she was content with this moment that they had together.

"I can't go with you but keep it in your mind that I will be here waiting for you when you come back. I promised I would never leave you alone again, remember? So even though we're far apart, our hearts are still connected. When you look up at the moon, remember that I'm somewhere safe staring at the same sky." Jaden nodded his head as he continued to cry. She let him continue to cry until he got it all out of his system. They continued to pack until all of his possessions were in boxes, with his most valuable things such as his duel disk and deck in a nice ornate box that Lilith gifted to him as a way of saying thank you for making the 'right decision'. "Well, I think it's time. I should go head to the docks to meet up with Lilith now." Jaden said as he pulled out his PDA to message his friends to also meet up with him there, so he could finally tell them he was leaving.

He gave his mother one last hug but then heard a knock at the door which pulled his attention away from her. He walked over to answer it and was surprised when on the other side of it was Malin, who for once wasn't adorning his famous white blazer. "Hey. We need to talk." Malin said as he glared at Jaden, causing him to glare back at the younger werewolf sibling. Elena walked over to see who it was, but Jaden cautiously held his hand out in front of her, blocking off Malin's path if he decided to attack. "How about you and I go somewhere else. It could get messy here." Jaden's eyes flashed as he understood what the younger boy was implying and started following him, only to have Elena grab him by the hem of his jacket. "Where do you think you're going?! You better not be planning on doing something reckless! You're still hurt!" She said in protest, trying to stop him from going with the werewolf. Jaden smiled at her warmly. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. A pipsqueak like him is no match for me anyways. I love you, mom. I'll see you later." After hearing Jaden call her that, she covered her mouth as she started to cry with happiness and she eventually let him go, trusting that he would be fine.

Malin continued to lead Jaden off into the forest so they could have a discreet location to fight without prying eyes. They walked for a little while until they were back at the meadow where Jaden had his first awakening as a vampire and defeated him as well as his siblings. Jaden stopped while Malin walked a little bit more aways and turned around, both monsters now facing each other. "What is this all about? You better answer quick before I get bored and decide to kill you." Jaden said as he crossed his arms, his demonic aura already starting to flare around him, but Malin kept his ground. "I've left the Society of Light. I never agreed with their philosophies to begin with. I only joined because my older brother did… But now, with the way he is, I can no longer consider him my blood. And with our ties severed I no longer have a purpose in staying loyal to Sartorius." Malin said matter of factly, but Jaden still wasn't convinced. "You brought me all the way out here just to tell me you're a traitor? Why?" He said as he raised an eyebrow.

Malin took in a deep breath as he took an offensive stance. "Me and Aster talked not too long ago. He vouched for you and said that you were a trustworthy guy, and that you and I have similar motivations. I want to see the Society of Light destroyed just as much as you do. But as a werewolf, I still have my pride. If you want to gain my allegiance, then you must defeat me in combat!" Jaden smirked, happy to accept the challenge. He knew under different circumstances he could easily beat this runt, but with his injuries he was much weaker than he usually was. But he wasn't about to turn down a good fight. "Very well then. I could use some more allies since my two best fighters are both down and out for now. So come, I'll let you deal the first strike." Jaden said as he took a defensive stance with his fists raised in front of his face.

Malin smirked, excited to go against Jaden again and transformed with his ears and tail appearing on his body, along with his fingernails elongating into claws. He took off quick on his feet as he rushed Jaden and bent low, trying to get an uppercut on him. But Jaden, using his trained eyes, could see Malin's attack coming as he elegantly stepped out of the way without flaw and watched at Malin's fist brushed past his face, only clipping a piece of his hair. Jaden backflipped out the way as the werewolf followed up with a devastating kick that even though it missed, sent a force of wind that almost knocked Jaden off of his feet. Jaden brushed his clothes off which got dirtied by a flurry of dirt that Malin casted towards him from his last attack. "Not bad, not bad. I can tell you've gotten stronger. But you're still way too slow."

After he said that, Jaden started running circles around him in breakneck speed, leaving after images behind him which started to confuse the werewolf who had trouble determining which one was the real him. Malin chose a target and used his claws to slash down on it, but his claws past right through it as he chose the wrong target. "Oh, so close!" Jaden said mockingly as he appeared behind Malin and kicked him in the back, sending him flying into a tree which broke in half on impact. But he refused to give up, wiping the blood that spilled from his mouth as he stood up with his fists held high. "I can still take more. I'm not done yet!" Jaden smiled as he was impressed by his determination and used his hand to coax Malin to attack one more time. "You have one more shot. Give me everything you got!" Malin quickly ran at him again and faked Jaden out with his left fist, making him think he was going to attack with that hand when he swiftly shifted the weight on his leg and used his other arm to deliver a devastating punch into Jaden's gut which blew him back and barreling into the ground.

Jaden tumbled on the ground as he felt his previous injuries start to ache. And when the dust settled he was laying face down on the ground. He felt himself starting to get angry as he slowly rose to his feet, his energy swirling around him like a hurricane. "My turn…" He disappeared and Malin stood with his defensives up as he could hear the wind whistling and he could also hear Jaden's sinister laughter from all sides of him but couldn't pinpoint his location. He saw that a thick black fog started to surround him until his vision was completely obscured and felt pain in his left side as Jaden, like a shadow, slashed him across the side which made him falter. The attacks continued like a barrage and without any sense of direction, Malin was unable to deflect as he couldn't predict where Jaden was going to come from next.

Eventually, his body gave out from exhaustion as he fell on one knee trying to regain his composure. With his head lowered, the fog lifted to reveal Jaden was in front of him with his hand dangerously close to the others throat, prepared to rip it out. "Do you yield, dog?" Said Jaden with a cold expression on his face, which looked almost like Haou's. Malin gulped as he bowed down and rested his forehead on the floor, signaling his surrender. "Yes. I admit you are stronger than me… You have my loyalty now, Jaden Yuki. Don't mess it up." Jaden lowered his hand and smiled as he relaxed and offered to help him stand back up. Malin greatly accepted the offer and stood up despite the pain that was rippling through his body. "Glad to have you on board. I hope we work well together to bring peace back to the world." Said Jaden as Malin smiled back. He never noticed before, but even though Jaden was incredibly strong and could kill without a second thought, he had a regal aura around him that washed over his body with warmth. He finally understood why Aster always talked about him with such high regards.

The two returned back to the Slifer Dorm so that Jaden could finish off his goodbyes with Elena and then walked towards the harbor where a boat was waiting for them. Jaden gave his luggage to the guards that were there as they started piling them onto the boat. Jaden sighed, knowing this would be the last time he would be here in a long while. And as if on que, he heard swift footsteps as his friends came running towards him. He smiled sadly at them as they finally made it to him with their lungs burning from running that whole way. "What is the urgent news you had to tell us, Jay?" Said Syrus as he placed his hands on his knees while breathing hard. "I'm leaving Duel Academy and going with Anastasia's mother back to the vampire capital. I want to stay but I can't, so I just wanted to tell you all goodbye before I go." He said with a saddened smile. After hearing that, they all looked up at him with shock and disbelief.

Syrus immediately clung to him, desperate for him not to leave. "Why?! We need you here! You can't leave us Jaden!" said the smaller boy as he started to cry. Jaden knelt down to his level returned his hug, trying his best to keep up his composure. "It's for the best Sy. You'll all be safer with me gone. That's what's most important to me. But I'll be back, don't worry! Once I get stronger I am definitely going to come back." Syrus continued to cry while they hugged, while Jaden looked over his best friends shoulder to see Alexis's face which had a mixture of anger and sadness. He stood back up with his face a blank slate as the girl approached him. The two had nothing really to say to each other, but the silence spoke a thousand words. Alexis clenched her fists as she glared at him trying her hardest to fight back tears. "So that's it? You're just going to run away from your problems? From us?! Do we mean that little to you?!" She said as he tried to slap him across the face but Jaden caught her hand. "If… if you leave… we are done, Jaden."

Of course she didn't mean that, but she couldn't think of anything else to say to convince him to stay. Jaden's bangs covered his eyes as he let go of her wrist. "Maybe that's for the best." He said as he turned his head away. Alexis's eyes started to feel hot with tears as she realized what he meant by that. "Are you telling me… you want to break up?" Jaden turned his back towards her so that she couldn't see his face which was contorted with anguish but the expression of his voice easily masked his true feelings. "I do. I just can't be with you anymore. You deserve someone that you can grow old with. Do yourself a favor and forget about me…" Alexis ran and hugged him from behind as she nuzzled her face in his back. "How can you tell me to just forget about you?! I love you Jaden! Don't you feel the same way about me?!" She said, desperately trying to get him to face her.

Jaden bit his lip and took a deep breath as he let his anger manifest. He looked at her from over his shoulder with his eyes glowing gold, which caused her to let him go. "There's no way I could ever be in love with a human." The coldness in his words pierced through her like an arrow as she felt her heart break. She took off running the other way back down the docks as she didn't want to face him anymore. She didn't know if she should believe his words or not, but it didn't hurt any less. Jaden watched as she ran away and frowned. He didn't know what else to say to get her to accept that the best thing to do was for him to leave. He didn't want to do that to her, but he thought it was for the best if he could make her hate him so that the transition would be a lot easier for both of them. He didn't know how long he would be gone and he didn't want her waiting for him, however long that may be.

He said one more goodbye to Bastion and Syrus as he got on to the boat with Malin. Both Aster and Anastasia were already transported onto the ship with the help of Lilith. Jaden leaned over the rails as the boat pulled off and he watched his beloved Duel Academy grow smaller in the distance. Lilith walked over to his side and stood next to him. "You did the right thing, my lord. She should be with a human who can truly cherish her albeit short life. I'm glad you decided to come with me without any fuss. As soon as we make it to the homeland, we will make plans for your immediate coronation. So be happy! There is much to celebrate here in the near future!" Said Lilith as she smiled at him. But Jaden didn't feel happy at all. But he tried his best to push down his personal thoughts. There was stuff happening around him that was bigger than himself. He was a king, and it was about time he started acting like it.