CH 35: Sadness

(third person POV)

"AAAHHHHHH!!!" A scream escaped an Obelisk Blue student's mouth as Serpent Night Dragon's attack landed on him, reducing his Life Points to 0.

Ali LP: 4,000

Random Obelisk Blue: 0

As the holograms faded away, the duel was finished with another spectacular victory for Ali. But unlike the previous duels, there wasn't any joy or excitement on Ali's face.

There was a small crowd that watched the duel outside of the classes in the island. And among the crowd, Zane, Alexis and Jaden were also watching.

"another easy win for Ali!" Jaden laughed as he watched excitedly before he scratched his fluffy head with confusion :"but why doesn't Ali celebrate? He's been acting a little off since yesterday."

Alexis beside him nodded with a sigh :"yeah, he is always one to smirk or show some kind of emotion after winning a duel, even if it wasn't that big of a duel, but he has been like this for a while now. I wonder if something has happened... You have any clue as to what is going on, Zane?"

But Zane shook his head in denial as he sighed as well :"no, I don't. Even when I asked him, he just brushed it off, saying that he will be fine."

Jaden sighed as well as he looked at his best bud putting his deck in his deck holder with a sad face :"I really don't like seeing Ali sad.

Even though he's not one with super energy, he is always either smirking or acting nonchalantly. Seeing him sad just hurts."

Alexis also put a word in with a worried look :"he was like that in the class too. Instead of chatting with me, Jasmine and Mindy like how he always does, he just put his head on arms and dozed off for the entire class.

Feeling down sometimes is fine, but I wish he would at least tell us what he is feeling down for. He wasn't one to hide it if he needed help, so why doesn't he tell us?"

Zane shook his head :"he really isn't. Ali doesn't find it shameful or as a sign of weakness to ask for help. But he doesn't tell me even when I ask him what's wrong."

The mood of the three was really down as Alexis sighed once again :"does he not trust us with whatever has happened?"

But Jaden shook his head firmly at that :"I doubt that, Ali isn't one to hide things. Whatever is troubling him must be really deep or something.

Maybe it has something to do from home or something? Sigh, if there was just someone who knew him from before he attended the academy or something. Wait... Someone who knows him... That's right!"

A huge smile finally appeared on Jaden's face, catching the other two's attention as Alexis raised an eyebrow :"what is it, Jaden?

Is there someone like that here? I haven't seen Ali talk with anyone other than us three unless it's to challenge them to a duel."

Jaden smiled brightly as he took out his deck and searched for Winged Kuriboh :"well, it's kinda complicated.

You have to ask Ali to explain it to you, cause I honestly don't know how to. But well, you just have to look at the results. Here!"

Seeing him take out Winged Kuriboh, the two raised their eyebrows as Alexis blinked :"uhh, Jaden, I don't mean to be rude, but what is Winged Kuriboh good for in this situation?"

Jaden laughed :"hehehehehe, I told you, I don't know how to explain it to you. Winged Kuriboh, you know what to do!"

While the two were confused as to what Jaden was doing, the two couldn't see that a light came out of the card as Winged Kuriboh appeared before winking at Jaden then slowly and sneakily flying towards Ali.

Ali was really sad, and it seems like it had effected his speed as well. He was just walking with his hands behind his back while looking at the ground.

And his sensed seemed to be effected as well, cause he didn't realize it when Winged Kuriboh flew behind him.

Fearing that it would be found out and would cause its little mission to fail, Winged Kuriboh didn't make even a single sound as it flew behind Ali while hoping that one of Ali's duel spirits will notice it.

And fortunately for him, one of them did. A light escaped from the dozed off Ali's deck holder and flew away with Winged Kuriboh.

After getting a little away from Ali, the light finally materialized and Serpent Night Dragon appeared in front of Winged Kuriboh :"what is it, little one?

You are the duel spirit of Jaden, my master's friend, is that correct? Why were you following my master?"

Another person also came out of the bushes, Jaden! It seems like he had left Zane and Alexis behind to see if Winged Kuriboh would succeed.

"Hey, Serpent Night Dragon! How's it going?" Jaden said with a smile, but Serpent Night Dragon shook his serpentine head with a sigh :"not good.

Because of our master being in such a sad mood, we, his duel spirits who have gotten used to him always being emotional and wicked are also a little sad."

Jaden's smile dropped as he sighed :"so he's been like that even when he's alone with you all too, huh?

Actually, that's why I wanted to see you. I wanted to ask why has Ali been acting so sad for a while. And I figured you'd be the best person to ask this, considering that you're always with it."

Serpent Night Dragon looked at Jaden for a few seconds, thinking that should he tell him or not. But considering that he has seen how trustworthy Jaden is, he nodded his head with another sigh :"actually, I was quite confused when I saw him like that as well.

After all, I have joined him since a little over a week ago, that's why I don't know much about him at the moment.

But seeing that he is acting so out of character, I was worried and decided to ask his other duel spirits, the ones who have been with him for a long time.

And I found out that it's because today is his birthday. At first, I was confused, but after they informed me that it reminds him of his deceased parents, I understood that he misses his family."

Hearing his explanation, Jaden was shocked as a look of sadness took over him before a firm and determined one took over instead :"alright, I will fix it! Thanks for telling me."

And he took off and ran towards Zane and Alexis with Winged Kuriboh. Serpent Night gave a small smile :"master has a good friend." Before he turned into a light and sneakily returned to his card.

As he panted slightly, Jaden finally reached Zane and Alexis who were waiting for him right where they were before.

Seeing him running back, Alexis assumed that he had found a clue and asked :"so? Did you find out anything?"

After reaching them, Jaden panted a bit as he caught his breath before nodding :"yeah, I found out why he is so sad.

And he has every right to be. Actually, today is his birthday, but the reason as to why he is so sad is because he misses his deceased parents."

Hearing him, both of them were surprised as sad looks appeared on their faces. Alexis blinked as she looked at the two boys :"then we should cheer him up. I really don't like seeing that Ali who is always ready for action so sad!"

Jaden nodded rapidly with a huge smile :"I say we throw a small birthday party for him! That will help cheer him up!"

Zane also nodded with a smile :"yeah, we can do it in my room. I would've said that we should do it in his own room, but we should make this a surprise."

Jaden nodded with a rare, thoughtful face :"yeah, we should do that. And we have till night since Ali will be out duel till then.

But I wonder where we can get the stuff for a birthday party. And a cake... I don't think there's a bakery on this island..."

Zane shook his head with a smile :"there isn't, but I'm sure that the store owner, Dorothy will help out.

After all, with how many times Ali has gone to the store, he and Dorothy have become good friends. I'm sure she will help when she hears about this."

Alexis nodded with a smile :"then let's go! Time is ticking and we have a lot to do! And while Dorothy bakes the cake, we will decorate Zane's room."

They all nodded in unison as they rushed to the store to get this plan in motion with Dorothy's help!

-

The sky was getting darker and darker while and student after student were returning to their own dorm and room.

But there was someone who was sitting on the sand, gazing at the sea with a sad face with his hands circled around his knees.

To a normal person, it would just seem like a normal person sitting and enjoy the view of the sea.

But if someone who could see duel spirits saw him, he or she would extremely shocked. To his left and right, there were duel spirits as far as the eyes could see!

From all sizes and kinds, even some that nobody had seen before. There were dragons like the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon, Odd Eyes Dragon, and even warrior monsters like Gaia or Luster soldier.

It was duel spirits as far as the eye could see. Of course, the eye of someone who could see duel spirits.

But other than the sound of the sea, there wasn't any other noise. Untile Red Eyes Black Chick gently broke the silence while sitting on Ali's shoulder :"boss, you really miss your loved ones, huh?"

Ali took a few seconds before he gently nodded :"yeah, I do, I really do. I thought that I would be fine after a little while, but I seriously miss them.

Everything was fine, I was bored, but I wasn't unhappy with it. But when I woke up, All of it, all of them, were just... Gone.

Having an exciting and adventurous life was something that I always wanted, and I'm not saying that I don't want it now.

But I guess, it's true that you won't know the worth of something unless you lose it. I was so happy and used to it that I took it for granted, but I didn't know just what kind of a treasure I possessed. Until I lost it."

Thinking about everything that he had, the messed up family but loving parents, Ali couldn't stop the tears that appears in the corner of his eyes.

The sense of loss, loneliness, was something that caught up to him after the excitement here dropped a bit. And when his birthday arrived, the sense of loneliness also showed up with it.

Seeing his tears that were threatening to fall any second, Silent Magician who was sitting to his left leaned on him as she put her head on his shoulder :"master, I know that you're lonely, we all know.

But no this, even though we cannot fill your parents' spot, each and every one of us will forever be by your side. You may have lost your family, but we promise to be your new family from now on."

Following her action, every duel spirit leaned towards Ali as they put their heads on the other's shoulder, like a group hug, with Ali in the center as they all gently said :"that's right, master, we are a family of our own."

With trembling lips, Ali finally gave a small smile as he let the tears gently fall from his eyes, wetting his cheeks before falling on Silent Magician and Red Eyes' Head as he gently whispered out with a shaky voice :"thank you, my family."

But he didn't cry anymore, he smiled as the tears dried out while all of them gazed at the ocean in a comfortable silence.

But if anyone with the ability to see duel spirits saw it, they would be even more shocked than before.

After all, duel spirits that were as small as less than a meter while duel spirits that were as big as few meters to tens of meters were leaning on each other with a human being in the center!

After quite a while, a familiar sound rang out :"hey, Ali, so you were here." When Ali looked back to see who it was, he saw one of his best friends walking towards him.

Feeling better, Ali gave a small smile as he nodded :"hey, Zane. Yeah, I was here, just relaxing."

Seeing his smile, a small smile also formed on Zane's handsome face as he reached out to Ali and held his hand for him to take :"here, it's getting really late. We should go back now."

Ali looked at the helping hand with a gentle smile before he nodded and grabbed it as Zane pulled him up.

The walk back was silent, a comfortable silence that the two could find in each other presence.

But when they finally reached their dorms, Zane grabbed Ali's arm with a smile :"I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes and come to my room."

With a tired head, Ali didn't bother thinking much about it as he nodded and closed his eyes, letting Zane lead him to his room.

After hearing the click of the door opening and being dragged inside, Ali asked :"can I open my eyes now?"

"No, just keep them closed for a few seconds." Zane said as he let go off Ali's arm and then called out after a few seconds :"alright, open them."

But just when he opened his eyes, popping sounds rang out as small, colorful papers flew I n the sky, with the gentle shout of multiple people :"happy birthday, Ali!"

With a surprised look, Ali looked around to see Zane, Jaden, and Alexis each holding one of those things that are used in celebration.

Seeing his surprised face, they all laughed as Alexis picked up a chocolate cake with candles on it as she giggled :"no need to be so surprised.

Jaden told us why you were acting so weird. So we decided to throw a surprise party and cheer you up. I don't know how he found out though."

When Ali turned to look at Jaden, he held up a peace sign with a huge smile :"a fluffy little bird told me!"

Alexis giggled at his speechless face as she raised the chocolate cake a little :"come on, blow out the candle and make a wish. Otherwise it's gonna burn out."

Finally, Ali chuckled with an amused shake of his head before he smiled thankfully at all of them :"thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it."

He bent a little as he closed his eyes and got ready to blow off the candle :'i guess with my duel spirits and these people in my life, it won't be as lonely as I thought.' "phoo."