Dreaded Future

"...And that's another victory for me." Gloria said with unhidden satisfaction in her voice. Though, if one listened closer, they would notice that it also had some strain to it. It had been more of a close call than she would have wished.

For his part, Joachim found himself having a twitch on his lips. This time he truly had wanted to win or at least come really close to it if only to stop the smug look of superiority the blond-haired girl usually had even if she didn't realize it.

It seemed that Grace caught on his intentions as she tried — and almost failed — to suppress her laugh. Everything became funnier when she was aware that he could have beaten her sister the first time they dueled but for some reason chose not to.

"It was just luck." He half-jokingly, half-seriously said while rolling his eyes. He couldn't believe a thing in this duel. It was as if the stars and planets had aligned to give her the perfect hand, the perfect draws, and the perfect luck.

This was like the heart of the cards, but as if that heart had been pumped with steroids. Utterly absurd and ridiculous. It was certainly not helping his mood after that... supernatural experience he had when he bade farewell to Ren. The fact that he got asked for a Duel right after getting home was not a plus either.

He would have loved to have his hours-long mental reviews of his findings, but that would have to wait until he was in his bed. Although, considering the hectic day he just went through, he pretty much doubted he had the capacity to stay awake for more than a few minutes once his head hit the pillow.

"Please." Gloria scoffed at his insulting comment, though she did it in good faith... kind of. "A Duelist's skills are measured as a whole, not just by a single factor like luck. Even so, I will forgive your comment considering your mental status."

'Can you please not talk as if I were brain damaged...?' Granted he did say he had amnesia, but that was not reason enough to treat him like he had dementia. He didn't go around telling her she was a tomboy...

He valued his life too much to do that.

"Sure, point taken." Joachim shook his head before moving a hand to his mouth to suppress a yawn. He said in the note that he was going to come back before lunch, but he ended up being away the whole day, practically. With all the things that happened his body felt really tired. Thankfully, they left food in the table so that he could heat it.

Gloria at least had the decency of letting him finish his launch-slash-dinner before dueling him. An empty stomach is the enemy; he didn't remember where that phrase came from, but it sure applied to him.

Sadly, he couldn't avoid the sermon he got from the sisters for arriving late when he said he was going to come back before launch. It wasn't that they were worried about him. Rather, they were worried about their mother, who panicked a bit thinking he had gotten into trouble. He was mature enough to admit it was his fault, so he didn't question it and just accepted the lecture head-on.

"Well, I am going to sleep. See you tomorrow, if anything." The blonde-haired youth began to pick up his cards before calling it a day. Too many things had happened that he just wished for a moment of rest.

Grace and Gloria exchanged a brief glance between themselves, seemingly communicating with their eyes alone, until the former decided to correct him. "Actually, I don't think we are going to be around that much tomorrow."

Joachim paused in the middle of getting up before raising a quizzical eyebrow at them. He hoped this was a sign enough to make them elaborate. Thankfully, it was.

"We have... eh... school business, yeah?"

Although the explanation was not up to par...

Grace received a flat stares courtesy of not only the young man but her sister as well, something that caused her to pout like an offended child. Deciding to take the wheel to make sure nothing unnecessary was said, Gloria focused on her recent opponent. "We need to go back to Academia to sort some things we have pending regarding... class work. It shouldn't take too long, but unlike you, we are properly accounting delays."

She naturally couldn't say that they were going to visit the Professor to receive direct orders of their course of action here. Eradicating the cockroaches that were running around would be an easy matter, which was why he was expectant to be sent to the true battlefield again. Though... she couldn't deny that staying back home was pleasant in its own way.

Meanwhile, Joachim just wryly shrugged at her, properly ignoring her jab. That said, he still got internally alert, despite not showing any reaction on the outside. 'No doubt they will meet with that dumb guy. Has Akaba Leo grown bored of the constant annoyances? Shit... I should ask, but it would end up being way too suspicious. I better not risk it.'

"Sure, whatever. If you study as good as you boast your victories against me, I am sure you two will be fine." He went with the most standard answer he could think up on the spot; one that would no doubt shift at least Gloria's attention from the matter.

Thankfully, it worked. The blonde-haired woman snorted at his insinuation while her sister giggled a bit, knowing that he was not that far off the mark. "Stop speaking like a sore loser and go to sleep already!"

"I know, I know. Have a pleasant night and good luck tomorrow." He knew better than to simply think about the future in front of them. So, after a small chuckle and a lazy wave of his hand, he departed to his room upstairs.

The two sisters followed his figure until he disappeared from the kitchen where they had the duel moments ago. Once Grace was sure he was out of earshot, she turned to her sister.

"Are you sure this is okay? We could have told him a bit more, you know?" In response to the question, Gloria furrowed her brows before ultimately shaking her head; a deep sigh escaping her mouth.

"We really shouldn't. This is our job, not the one from an amnesic man." She was clearly not of the idea of involving the new resident of their home. More than anything because she did not know how he would react to their... activities.

It was undeniable fact that they grew in Academia believing it was the strongest, and that the Fusion Dimension was the superior one among the four. Hence, uniting all dimensions under their banner was not unreasonable, at least in her mind.

With that said, she still could understand how some ordinary people would react differently and with aversion to their actions. The proof being her mother herself. She was blissfully unaware of what they have done in the XYZ Dimension. Gloria was sure that if she found out by some twist of fate, she would be repulsed and would question if they were even her real daughters. Not to mention the heartache she would get. That was why the two sisters were reluctant to speak about it to her.

"But he is strong! He almost beat you in every duel! In fact, he—no... forget it. Point in case, we should at least give it a try. Who knows? He might even beat Zane!" Grace's whisper shouts brought Gloria's attention back to her, and not in a kind way.

"He... what exactly?" Her narrowed eyes made the silver-haired girl curse inwardly for the slip. Truth be told, she wanted to tell her sister that the outcome of their first duel could have ended differently. Scratch that, it WOULD have. Had he played that trap card, his victory would have been assured.

For obvious reasons, though, she could not do that. First of all, it would leave a poor reflection of herself when she had already promised not to do it. Second of all, she would become an angry gorilla that would no doubt seek his blood for the disrespect. And finally, it would sour the 'peaceful' status-quo they had, making the chances of him fighting for Academia an impossible task.

Unfortunately, she knew her sister wouldn't let the matter go unless she said something that could distract her. "He... admires you! Yeah! He admires you so much that I have caught him speaking out loud about how he wants to improve himself so that he can one day fight by your side!"

Grace gave her sister a radiant smile. It worked.

"Whatever."

Probably.

"As for reaching that man's level? I doubt it. That monster is on a league of his own. If you still have such thoughts, though, I can tell Zane himself of what you said. I am sure he will like to hear every detail." Gloria amused herself in seeing how pale her sister's skin was becoming. Even so, she had to cut her own fun short.

"Let's head to bed for now. I will try to get him a Duel Disk tomorrow so that we can finally have a real match against each other. If he gives a good fight and shows progress I will personally ask the Professor to let him accompany us to crush those remnants." Saying no more than that, Gloria stood up and headed to her room.

Grace watched her go for a few seconds, slouching in her seat shortly after. 'I need to start thinking more before speaking. I almost messed up...'

"Still..." She quietly muttered to herself, "I wasn't joking when I said he can beat Zane." It was for a brief moment, but she was able to see a monster in his Deck capable of beating Cyber End Dragon. Though, numbers were never everything. It all would depend on Marik's own skills to get the full potential out of that card.

She didn't know if he would be able to, but there was one thing that she was positive about; and that was that he was stronger than he let on. The level? She would have to see for herself. 'It seems I will have to blackmail him into fighting me for real.'

Proud with her line of thought, Grace also went to her bedroom to rest. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Who knows? Maybe they would get some action against some XYZ users.

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'So they are already gone, huh.' Joachim descended the stairs after having woken up and brushed his teeth. He was quick to notice the silence that accompanied the beautiful morning, something that he hadn't been able to do since the sisters arrived back home.

He had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, they were gone, which meant he could finally get a respite, albeit a temporary one. He would be able to organize his thoughts and plan ahead without the constant pressure of having them near. On the other hand, the place they had gone to was Academia, and nothing good could come of that. The most probably thing would be that they were going to receive orders. That set a timer above his head, unfortunately. If he didn't resolve things quickly, everything he was... constructing for the safety of the survivors here would be for naught.

Still, he decided the first thing he should do was to warn Ren and the others about the incoming threat. Maybe ask them to lay low for the time being. Although he didn't want to base "real life experiences" off of anime, he had the feeling that there would be some kind of resistance to doing just that.

Perhaps some people would consider him a spy that wanted them carded; that he was an enemy, etcetera, etcetera. In the end, they wouldn't listen to him and would go and make things worse. 'Aaaaaaaaannddddd there is my paranoia acting again.'

Ultimately, he could only hope that they didn't fall into that cliché. He didn't want to tempt fate, though. It had been screwing with him enough times already, he absolutely did NOT need to incite it more.

'If you are that much worried about their fate, then you ought to crush what opposes them. There is no need to be feeble-minded. My power is meant to destroy the enemies of my wielder; and yet, you have not once bothered to use it.' As always, Ra and his holier-than-thou attitude appeared to give a completely useless piece of adv—

'Huh? What did you just say?' If someone were to run into him right now, they would see the sight of Joachim frozen like a statue while blinking owlishly. He... hadn't expected that.

'I am speaking through your mind. I know you heard me just fine.' The Legendary Card's words immediately brought him back to normal; only for Joachim to facepalm.

'It was rhetorical! Why didn't you tell me you could manifest your hocus pocus on the outside world?!' If his mission didn't leave him bald due to stress, then the bird will!

'You never asked for, nor sought my help in any way.' He could be infuriating at times...

Though, in hindsight, Joachim should have thought of that. He was the first to admit that he got carried away thinking that just because the card gameplay wise was useless, the soul behind it would be too.

It was a mistake he hopefully wouldn't repeat in the future.

Heaving a deep sigh, the blond-haired man brought a hand to his closed eyes to rub them, trying to prevent a headache from surging. 'Right, right... So, what can you bring to the table? I understand if it's not much since neither you nor I are at our best right now.'

It took a few seconds for the answer to come, but eventually, it did. The voice that followed, though, carried a bit of pained nostalgia. 'For now, unfortunately, I cannot manifest myself and burn our enemies to ashes as I would like—' Big red flag. '—but I can help a bit in your duels nonetheless, as well as outside of it to a certain extent.'

Although the first part left him with cold sweat, the second part lifted his mood up, if only a bit. Before he could ask Ra to elaborate, however, the God beat him to the punch. 'On Duels, I can guarantee you the power to call an infinite number of our kind to the battlefield from that place you call Extra Deck.'

'Like Jaden?'

'Who?'

'Never mind. Please continue.'

Oh boy. That alone was enough for him to kneel down in worship. Even though he, obviously, wouldn't be able to summon the 100 Numbers and other Extra Deck Monsters in a single Duel, having the option to pick depending on the situation would be a boon.

'I can also help a bit to give you the draw that you need, but that is going to depend heavily on me trusting you, and you trusting me. Needless to say, we are not quite there yet.' Fair enough. Only a few weeks had passed since they met each other, and he can't say they started with the right foot. Again, his fault, but those are just details.

'As for my help outside of Duels... You can use my power to summon us on what you call "The Real World." I am afraid that for now you can only call my disciples due to the connection they share with me, and in turn with you. The reason why I always ask for you to duel strong Duelists is because by defeating them, you will be able to summon more of our kind.' Where was the closest shrine to 'his' house? He needed to go there and offer Ra his next ten generation in servitude.

Joachim tried not to act giddy — knowing that will cause Ra to act smugger — and with some luck on his side, he succeeded. His mouth, though, failed a bit in achieving that. 'How... How I go about doing that?'

'Take the card and use your mind to create an imaginary hand, and then think of pulling the disciple out of it.' Although the instructions left much to be desired, Joachim managed to get the hang of it in a couple of tries. "Think of excavating the illustration out of the card" would have been a better description, though.

The card glowed for a bit, and from it, white orbs of light the size of a tennis ball emerged. Soon, they converged into the figure of a tanned man with yellow chest armor, a helmet of the same color resembling Ra's head, as well as a cape symbolizing his wings.

The man was kneeling on the ground respectfully for a few seconds before he eventually spoke. "I am here to carry your orders, my sire."

'Ra.'

'Hm? What do you seek from me now?'

'You are so fucking awesome.'

Dignity be damned.