Drawing Fate

In the free hours between and after classes, Shiki took it upon herself to seek solace in the outdoor areas of the academy. Having come from an island province, Shiki was accustomed to being around nature, and the grassy outside and sparse trees were the best she could do in lieu of rolling hills and the seaside. Kneeling down on the grass, she had splayed a number of her cards in front of her. She looked poised, stoic, the way she examined them with her long lilac hair draping over her shoulders, her prim hands folded in her lap, and her deep blue eyes carefully focused on the ground.

"What a strange reading..." she murmured to herself.

Shiki picked up the cards again and started to shuffle.

"What about my other prospects..."

Shiki started placing them down again without hesitation. What did the fates have in store for her?

"Uhm... excuse me...?"

If Shiki looked behind her, she'd find someone had walked up behind her silently and was meekly calling her attention. He was a pale-looking boy with messy hair and bangs covering his eyes. He had a narrow but round face. Mounted on his arm was the standard-issue D.D.D in a stone-grey color.

"You're... Murasaki-san, right?" he asked in almost a whisper. "Uhm... I'm Shirayui, Yato. We dueled together one time."

Then he gasped and hastily skitted back.

"S-Sorry. Am I bothering you?"

As Shiki was doing her reading, she saw a shadow cast over them.

How ominous, she thought before hearing a voice.

With dull eyes, she tilted her head and listened as he asked about who she was and she nodded. Shiki remembered him as well from the dueling match, after all. He seemed hesitant to ask about something, and went on to ask if she was busy.

Shiki stared down at her cards and then back at him, shaking her head.

"No, this reading is just about done," she said.

Shiki pulled up a tall card that had a man and woman on it holding hands.

"The Lovers card predicted that I'm to meet the love of my life very soon," she said. "I'd rather not predict who so I can stay surprised."

She gave a very nonchalant wink, though she didn't smile.

As she started to tidy up her cards, she asked, [color=#c8a2c8]"Did you need something from me, Shirayui-san?"[/coor]

"Ah, is that so...?" Yato responded, tilting his head signalling that he didn't quite understand what Murasaki was saying. He rubbed the back of his head and bowed apologetically. "Sorry. I just saw you while walking and I was curious. I'll leave you alone..."

Yato started to turned away, but he stopped at half a step. His hand was shaking and his lips were persed, but he seemed to jerk his body back to face Shiki.

"S-Sorry. That was a lie," Yato stammered. "Actually, I wanted to ask... to ask..."

His hand reached up and grabbed the left side of his chest, squeezing tight. Was he having a heart attack?

"Uhm... I mean... Actually... if you don't mind..." Yato took in a deep breath. "Would it be okay... if we can have a duel?"

Yato's lack of response to her previous remark would cause the smallest pout from Shiki, but it was quickly subdued when she noticed he was nervous.

She looked at him, staring blankly and waiting patiently for his question. When he asked about dueling, Shiki had by now tidied up her tarot cards and stood up. She'd casually toss her hair before reaching into her pocket and tossing runes in her hand. She read them carefully before looking back at Yato.

"The fates have spoken to me," she said. "And they have decided..."

Shiki took her own DDD and mounted it, the device expanding as she pointed at him.

"To accept your proposal, Shirayui, Yato."

Yato's expression brighten and he nodded affirmatively. "Thank you very much! Then..."

Yato got a good distance away and activated his D.D.D. A signal went between their devices and a link was established. Their devices shuffled their decks and ejected the top five cards for their starting hand.

"You see... I wanted to use this duel to confirm something," Yato explained. "So... I'll go first! Draw!"

Yato drew his first card and looked at his hand. He looked up at Shiki and just briefly, his eyes were visible underneath his bangs and his gaze was determined.

"Murasaki-san, if I win, I want you to answer something honestly for me," he declared. "First I activate a continuous spell-card, Call of the Mummy!"



"Once per turn, if I have no monsters on field, I can special summon a zombie from my hand!" Yato explained. "I activate it and summon Zombina in attack mode!"



"Next, I'll normal summon Samurai Skull!"



"Even with the battle long lost, the spirit of the samurai refuse to die!" Yato stated. "Samurai Skull sends a different zombie to the grave to take its place in the beyond."

Yato's duel disc ejected a card from the middle of the deck and he slid it into his grave slot.

"Lastly, I'll set two cards and end my turn!"

Shiki listened to why Yato wanted to duel. When he said he wanted to ask her a question, she managed a small nod. She watched as Yato took his turn and then gave a sliver of a smile.

"That is fair," she said plainly. "But I'm not going to let you win that easily. Draw!"

Shiki assessed her drawn card and her current hand.




Shiki looked at the cards and contemplated. As she did, her other hand slipped into one of her pockets and pulled out her rune stones. After giving it a small toss, she nodded.

"I start my turn. First, I normal summon Amores of Prophecy," Shiki declared. "I also place down the Spellbook of Power, activating its effect. The spell card gives my Amores an extra 1000 attack points for a total of 1600. Also attaching Wonder Wand, I make Amores gain an extra 500 for a total 2100 attack points!"

Shiki then looked at her hand and took another card.

"Amores of Prophecy also allows me to special summon one Spellcaster-type monster that's level four or lower in my hand in exchange for revealing one of my Spellbook cards," she said. "I reveal Spellbook of Life and Special Summon Temperance of Prophecy."

The image of the robed woman holding a chalice would emerge on the field. As it did, Shiki swayed her runes and flipped them again. She nodded.

"That's not all," she said. "Having previously activated Spellbook of Power, I can summon a Level 5 or higher Light or Dark Spellcaster monster from my deck. I special summon the World of Prophecy!"

Shiki would place down the card and the monster would emerge on the field.

She then shook her runes again and looked at the field.

"With all this done, I use Amores Prophecy to attack Zombina!"

The frilly girl zombie looked preoccupied, playing with an odd blue-haired doll in her hands, unaware as Amores drew its cupid bow with the tip aimed at Zombina. The bowstring made a loud strum as Amores let the arrow fly. Zombina looked up at the doll and let out a resounding wail just as the arrow struck and shattered her.

Yato's life points depleted in real-time, going down to 3300. He parsed his lips but he didn't seemed panicked.

"A long time ago, there was a brother and a sister who lived in a mansion in the dark woods," Yato suddenly recited. "The sister was small and weak, but the strong brother was always there to protect her. One day, while the brother was chopping firewood, bad men came to the mansion.

"The brother tried to fight them, but the bad men took his axe and struck him from behind. The little sister, unaware, was playing with her dolls happily in the mansion, when the bad men came. She cried out for her brother who was already dead and was struck in the head.

"The bad men thought they were free to steal what they want, unaware that behind them, the brother was approaching, his axe still stuck to his head.

"The brother continued to protect that mansion, unaware that he and his sister were already dead. But no matter what, when he hears his sister cry, he will rise from the grave to protect her..."

Yato threw his arm, pointing at his field.

"When Zombina is destroyed by battle, I can resurrect a different zombie in my grave!" Yato declared. A pitch-black hole appeared, fog wafting out of it. A pale hand raised up and grabbed the edge, slowly pulling something up.

"I summon Zombino!"

Shiki looked unfazed by the turn of events. She was still, by all means, safe for now with the development. Though if things changed by the next turn, he could easily wipe her out. Plus the two face down cards were still present...She thought for a moment.

Wait or pull out more cards?

Shiki shook her runes.

She paused for a moment and then nodded as she looked at the results.

"A very interesting story," she murmured. "But now that I have destroyed Zombina, the Spellbook of Power allows me to take one Spellbook spell card from the deck and move it to my hand."

She picked a card from her deck.

"I choose Spellbook of Secrets," she said. "And then I activate it to allow me to draw one card from my deck."

With this she searched her deck and selected a card.



She considered it for a moment but then nodded.

"I end my turn."

She didn't attack... Yato thought to himself. He looked at the cards currently in his hand and the field. [i]She must've been cautious about my facedowns. But even so, I don't have anything that can beat that giant monster...[i]

Yato placed two fingers on his deck and pulled his next card. He looked at it and his expression brighten.

"Now see... the brother will always be cursed," Yato stated. "Not because he doesn't realize he's dead, but because no matter what, he always comes AFTER the sister screams. They can never be together, for one has accepted her death and the other refuses. Until... now!"

One of Yato's facedowns flipped up.



A pitch-black hole opened up with fog and mist flowing out. Zombino turned, looking at the pit and slowly knelt down with an arm outstretched. A smaller hand came out and grasped it and with all its might, Zombino pulled Zombina out.

"But even if they're reunited, they are cursed to wander as undead," Yato continued. "But I have a card that will let these siblings rest together."

Yato lifted up the card he just drew and slapped it onto his D.D.D. "Polymerization!"



The duo were holding hands when a distortion appeared behind them. They looked back and a light appeared from beyond. They looked at each other before walking towards it hand-in-hand.

"Souls of the lost, come together and form the great beast whose power surpasses death!" Yato shouted. The pair disappeared into the light and a pitch-black cloud form, amassing above Yato. "Dark spirits, rise as legion, rise from the realm of of the dead, and become the undead dragon!"

"I fusion summon!"

The black mist formed into a demonic, serpentine shape and a dark form emerged from it.

"Dragonecro! The Nethersoul Dragon!"



The monster let out a thunderous roar, flexing its wings and imposing it demonic presence on the field. Yato looked up at it and smiled, raising a hand and pumping his fist.

"We got this," he said out loud something he probably intended to keep to himself. "Dragonecro, take on the World!"

Dragonecro Necro roared and rushed forward, raising its fist. It swung its claw and struck World of Prophecy. Its ATK point surpassed World so it should have been a clean win, but World stood right where it was. Shiki's life points decreased by 100, so the attack went through, but her World remained on the field. Suddenly, the World started to turn gray. The light it emitted faded away. Despite its attacking having finished, Dragonecro didn't move away. Its claw was buried into World and it yanked something out!

"Monsters that do battle with Dragonecro aren't destroyed," Yato stated. "Instead, my undead dragon takes their soul!"

Dragonecro opened its hand and something like a purple flame was there. It lept out and expanded, forming a familiar shape as it turned into a transparent version of World of Prophecy. Shiki's monster's ATK points rapidly dropped to 0 and the ghost's ATK became 2900.

"Monsters with a level become empty husks and a darksoul comes to my side!" Yato explained. "Now Dark Soul token, destroy what's left of the body!"

The soul monster roared and destroyed World of Prophecy. Since World had no ATK, Shiki's life points took the direct hit, leaving her with only 1000 left total.

"With that, my turn ends!" Yato declared. The turn phase switched to Shiki once he announced that.

Yato let out a relieved sigh. He pulled off his favorite move. Although, something bothered him. Did he forget something. He looked up at his ace monster. He glanced at the cards in his hand. He looked at his Samurai Skull...

"Aaaah!" Yato exclaimed. "I forgot to attack with Samurai Skull!!"

Shiki's next draw:

Shiki's eyebrow furrowed when she saw the World crumble before her eyes.

...pun definitely intended.

She was fortunate that he wasn't able to attack Amores and that her field wasn't wide open. Still, she had to retaliate now that he had a new player on the field. He had two big players on his field and it was dangerous. She looked at her deck.

"Fates, help me," she murmured as she tossed her runes.

She nodded.

"You may have taken my World's soul, but the divines do not sit to have what is fate to be rewritten," she told Yato.

Shiki swiftly took a card and slammed it on the field.

"As decided by fate, I activate Spellbook of Life!" she said. "By banishing one Spellcaster monster and revealing one Spellbook card in my hand, I can resurrect World of Prophecy! I banish Temperance of Prophecy and reveal Spellbook of Knowledge! I now call World of Prophecy back to my side through a special summon!"

Almost as quickly as it had vanished earlier, World of Prophecy was now on Shiki's field again. Her eyes narrowed.

"And not just that," she said. "Banishing Temperance lets me add to its level by three for a level of 12. And, when I special summon it, I can target two Spellbook cards in the graveyard and bring it to my hand."

Shiki hovered her hand over the graveyard.

"I bring back Spellbook of Power and Spellbook of Secrets," she said. "With Spellbook of Knowledge and Spellbook of the Monster, that makes four different Spellbook cards in my hand, that gives World permission to bring about your destiny."

Shiki pointed her finger at Yato.

"Yato Shirayui, the world's destiny has turned against you! World of Prophecy destroys all the cards on the field!"

Almost instantly, the monsters on the field and any remaining cards disintegrated. Shiki looked at her hand.

"But it's not over yet," she said.

She placed a spell card on the field.

"I activate Spellbook of the Master," she said. "Spellbook of the Master allows me to take a function of a card in my graveyard. I use it to take the function of the Spellbook of Life and, banishing Amores and revealing Spellbook of Secrets, I once again bring back World of Prophecy to the field."

Almost instantly, World of Prohecy returned to the field. Shiki placed down another card.

"I also utilize Spellbook of Power, giving an addition 1000 points to the World of Prophecy, giving it a total of 3900 attack points," she said.

She looked at Yato, a glimmer in her blue eyes.

"And now, your fate has arrived," she said. "World of Prophecy sends an open attack against you!"

Yato's eyes widen and he took a step back. The World let out a brilliant light. Samurai Skull shattered instantly. Draconecro let out a roar but shirked away as the light grew stronger before crumbling away. When the light stopped, the field was cleared, but then Shiki revived her World once again. The powered-up monster aimed a torrent of light struck Yato who wailedat the assault.

When the debris cleared, Yato's life points were at 0. The boy was on his knees in defeat.

"I can't believe it..." Yato murmured. He looked at Shiki and yelped, getting up.

"I... I..." Yato bowed his head. "I'm sorry for bothering you! "

Apologizing loudly, he ran off in a panic and disappeared from sight within seconds.

Shiki had been tidying up her cards when Yato apologized and made a run for it. She barely had the time to tell him to wait before he vanished from sight.

She blinked for a moment and took a few steps forward looking around.

"Shirayui-san?"

Without any sign of him, Shiki let out a sigh and looked at her runes. She tossed them gently before reading them. She frowned at the result and started heading her way back.

"I wonder what he wanted to ask me..." she murmured.

She supposed the fates would let her know another day.