CH 61: Can't Keep a Secret From Your Best Pal

"Ugh... huh?" Groaning, Alistair's eyes fluttered open, before a head splitting headache and pain all over his body came right away :"Hiss, shit...!" "Al, you're awake!" Suddenly, he heard another voice. A very familiar one. Zane. "Huh, Zane?" Holding his head, he looked through the gap in his eye to see his best pal standing beside him.

A worried look on his face as he grabbed his shoulder :"Hey, are you alright?! What's the matter?! Miss Fontaine, Alistair's awake! Just wait a second, Al, the nurse will be here in a second!" With his brain ringing, Alistair really couldn't register everything with how fast he was talking :"Jesus Christ, Zane, chill out. What did you just say?"

"He's awake?!" Miss Fontaine rushed into the room, serious, concerned and wearing her nursing coat. She rushed towards the bed the noiret was resting on :"Oh, thank goodness, you're finally awake! You were a serious mess when Zane brought you here! You were bleeding all over and passed out and just wouldn't wake up! Thank goodness you finally woke up!"

"Huh? Geez, can everybody just calm down and tell me what's going on?" He said through his headache, which thankfully was calming down. But Zane and Miss Fontaine just pushed him down, forcing him to lay back down :"Shush! Just lie down and let me run a check up on you quickly!"

He really couldn't deal with it all. The headache, the ache all over his body, the ringing in his ears, the rushed voices of the two and them panicking was seriously too much for his current condition. So he just let his head fall back down on the bed as he tried to get used to the pain so it would go away already.

The actions of Miss Fontaine were distracting, but he still managed to calm down a bit. The headache and the overall pain in his body was still there, but he could endure it now that he had woken up completely. When he opened his eyes fully, cringing at the pain, he saw the hospital room. He was laying on the bed, with a blanket covering him, and hooked up to an IV therapy.

Counting the time with Alexis, this would be his second time visiting here. Which wasn't a lot, but was weird that it happened twice with how him bonding with duel spirits was supposed to make it so he wouldn't need to visit these kinds of places.

'Hm? Duel spirits? Ooh, right.' Remembering everything, he exhaled deeply. Relieved now that the confusion of what the hell was happening went away. That explained all the pain he was feeling. And this was just the aftereffects, he seriously did feel like he was going through hell and back.

Remembering the pain he felt in his very soul, the way he felt like he was going to explode from the inside, like an overinflated balloon, and the damn pain that made him feel like his entire body was about to be torn apart, he couldn't help but clench his fist weakly.

But he found himself unable to. Looking down, he found his hand already being held and squeezed by Zane. Who met his eyes and glared. But Alistair knew, that was a worried anger. He couldn't help but chuckle :"Hey, homeboy, what's up?" Heck, even his voice came out weak.

"My damn fucking blood pressure, that's what's up. What the fuck happened? Why were you in that state when I found you?" He smirked childishly :"Not telling~." Causing veins to pop on Zane's face :"Boy, I will..."

Alistair was about to laugh, but a slap to his shoulder made him wince instead :"This is no time for jokes, young man! Do you have any idea how serious your condition was just a while ago? Poor Zane was worried sick!"

"Geez, okay, my bad for trying to lighten up the mood." He mumbled, before turning to Zane :"Alright, I won't joke around. So what happened? How am I here?" Zane sighed :"I was just out, strolling around, when I heard a loud and pained scream. When I rushed to see what had happened, I saw you bloody and passed out on the floor. Haaa, I think I had a mini heart attack right there..."

"Ohh, poor Zane." Miss Fontaine cooed, before glaring at Alistair as she pinched his ear :"Just how can you be so troublesome?! And why is it always such a big deal when you come here?! Why can't you just come with a common cold or something?! Do you see how worried poor Zane was?! I seriously should run a check up on him next to be sure he's alright after the shock you made him go through!"

Zane :"No, it's alright. Just make sure that he's okay. So how is he?"

Miss Fontaine :"Well, that's the thing. He's... completely fine, amazingly. Despite his previous state, it seems like he doesn't have any injuries whatsoever. Just that he's really tired and weak right now."

Zane, frowning :"What? But how is that possible? How could he not have any injuries, you saw his state for yourself."

Alistair :"See? Nothing to worry about."

Zane, glaring :"Shut it, you have a lot to answer. Then what now, Miss Fontaine?"

Miss Fontaine :"Well, I'm going to run some more tests on him for now. And since he looks completely fine now, just very tired, he can just rest here for now. That way, if he doesn't feel well or something happens, we can immediately attend to him."

Zane, nodding :"I see. Then please help him recover as quickly as possible."

Miss Fontaine, smiling :"Don't worry, sweetie, I'll have your bestie all fixed up and ready to run around in no time! Now, children, I'll leave you two alone and deal with those tests. If there's truly no problems with him, he can just rest here until he recovers."

Zane, sighing in relief :"Thanks a lot, Miss Fontaine. I was really worried."

Alistair smiled and chuckled.

Miss Fontaine, smiling :"Hahahaha, it's no problem, sweetie. It's my job to take care of you troublesome students and keep you healthy."

Suddenly, she blushed, giving a meaningful smile as she gave a thumbs up :"And besides, seeing your "caring friendship" also makes up for a very nice reward, so you don't need to worry."

Alistair :"..."

Zane :"..."

Miss Fontaine :"Ahem ahem, a-anyway, I'll be leaving you two to it then!"

Quickly walking away, her heels clicked on the ground as she made an escape for it.

Alistair :"Didn't expect Miss Fontaine to be one of "them"..."

Zane :"Can't have a single normal woman around, huh?"

Zane turned to him, glaring :"But that's not important."

Alistair, raising eyebrows :"It's not? I don't know man, the fact that some horny weirdos get together to fantasize about me and my best pal seem pretty-"

He squeezed his hand, gritting out :"Ali..."

Alistair, wincing :"Alright, geez! Ease off on the hand, my body hurts as it is! Why are you even holding my hand, homeboy? That's kinda gay, man, not gonna lie- aw aw aw! Alright, alright, geez, chill!"

Zane, glaring, stopped squeezing his hand, but didn't let go :"Alistair Ashblossom, if you don't stop fooling around and fucking answer why you were in that condition, I swear..."

Looking at his angry eyes, filled with worry, Alistair was silent. Thoughtful and contemplating about telling him or not. On one hand, he would give one of his best friends the opportunity to reach greatness no money or fame could bring, and on the other hand, he would be exposing him to the world of duel spirits and the shadow realm. Sure, he and everybody else would be getting familiar with them in a while, but this was different.

That was fighting against it and in it. This was literally interacting and making contracts and bonds with its inhabitants. And unlike his duel spirits, which were gifted to him on a silver platter, most strong duel spirits weren't exactly the friendly type.

If Zane got unlucky, they would either take advantage of him, or worst case scenario, maybe even take his soul as food. Just like Jinzo, who had come to Duel Academy to take away the souls of the teenages who had contacted him.

Or even Zane's original duel spirits, the Cyberdark monsters, which had altered his personality so much and completely changed him. He didn't want to see his best pal get hurt or change because of some shitty duel spirits. This was his reality now, and he wasn't going to let his friends get hurt.

But looking into his burning green eyes, he knew he couldn't just lie. And he wasn't a lier when it came to his friends either, especially not when it came to Zane. 'Oh, whatever, might as well. I can't just let my best pal not benefit from duel spirits and the heart of the cards now, can I?' Sighing in defeat, he smiled :"Alright, fine, I'll speak."

Zane's expressions eased a bit, but Alistair grew serious :"However, what I'm about to tell you is incredibly important knowledge, so you have to listen carefully and keep it a secret, understood?" Knowing his friend wouldn't get serious unless something truly was serious, Zane knew it was important.

"Alright, I promise." He nodded seriously, and Alistair's expressions softened again, smiling :"Good, I know I can trust you. Then first things first, close and lock the door. We can't have somebody eavesdropping."

Making sure nobody was outside, Zane locked the door before returning. "Now help me sit up, talking while laying down is kinda awkward." Alistair held up a hand and Zane assisted him in sitting up. Leaning against the headboard, the noiret started :"Zane, do you know what duel spirits are?"

Zane :"Duel spirits? What professor Banner talks about? The souls of the monsters that reside in the cards or something?"

Alistair :"Hm, that's right. Do you believe that?"

Zane :"... Should I believe it?"

Alistair :"Yes, you should. Listen carefully, because this is extremely important. This knowledge can change your life, make you reach heights unimaginable, and make you fall just as hard if you're not careful.

The human soul has two parts, the Ka and the Ba, the spirit and the soul. Ba is the essence of a person's personality or self, and it is linked to the mind. Your Ba shapes you, and holds what is called the spirit energy. Ka, also known as duel spirits or monster spirits, are spirits that are able to manifest as supernatural beings. Think of the Ka as a part of yourself that you can summon, while the Ba is the fuel which keeps the Ka alive.

You know the origin of Duel Monsters, right? Ancient Egypt? Well, utilizing these two is what created Duel Monsters. In ancient times, people would give life to monsters, duel spirits, that was a part of them which they would extract, and would use them to battle by maintaining them with their Ba.

Ba was their LP, which if they lost too much of, they would die or even worse, get sent to the shadow realm. A place where the soul would be torn apart and tortured. So it wasn't entertainment back then, but was a literal battle.

Magicians and wizards, using magic and magical items, found a way to seal these extracted spirits so people could fight using them. They would seal them in huge stone tablets, which was the equivalent of today's cards, and would summon the monsters using their Ba.

When Maximillion Pegasus found the ruins of the past, he also found these tablets and the spirits sealed in them. Then, he managed to create dueling cards which had similar effects to the tablets. That's the story and origin of Duel Monsters.

Now, how does this have anything to do with my condition? It was because of a Ka that I tried to absorb. You see, some people have gifts. They can see these duel spirits and even interact with them. I'm one of them.

Having this ability and the knowledge that I have acquired, I also found out something else. If someone gathers enough Ba, and strengthens his Ka enough, he can get power. Unimaginable power and abilities, and even immortality. So knowing these, of course I tried my hand at it."