Chapter 11.
Earlier that night Alexis was standing by the gate of the dorm with a single rose. Alexis always wanted to pay respects to her brother whenever she could. Tonight was extra special though. This was the day that her brother went missing from this dorm. She rested her rose by the entrance and stared off at the dorms. She just kept staring off into the dorms with her mind wandering about her brother, and all the memories she had of him.
Until she saw a light coming from inside the dorm. It looked like a flashlight that someone was waving around while searching inside. Alexis had to know who would be in the off limits dorm. The curiosity was killing her. After some hesitation, she stepped over the chain and made her way over to the front entrance. She stopped when she reached the door, almost freezing from fear. She was shaking and shivering while her hand was placed on the door handle. As she stood there frozen, she started to feel a warm and calming sensation washing over her.
She looked over at where it was emanating from and pulled out the top card from her deck. She looked at it and saw it was the Hoshiningen that Rakki had given her a day ago. She felt safer when holding this card for some reason. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt like she would need some help right now. She held the card as she opened the door.
The door let out a squeal as it creaked open. She looked around and saw the empty and destroyed remains of this once great dorm. Alexis took a breath to steady her nerves and held the card close to her pounding chest. She went inside and started walking towards where she had seen the light. As she kept creeping around, trying to make as little noise as possible, she could feel her sense of calming and safety slowly eroded away.
Alexis tensed up from the noises, and the shadows that seemed to move as she walked around. She finally made it into the room that she saw the light in and looked around. All that she could hear now was the thumping of her own heart that almost felt like it was in her throat. She kept searching for any clues that she might find, but the fear that was encompassing her made it difficult for her to think clearly. “Well… Hello…”
She snapped her head to see who just talked, and froze in fright as the giant in a trench coat and mask walked towards her. She began to run away from him, until he grabbed her by her arm. Alexis tried to break free from his grip with her other hand, and even tried to kick him in the groin to get the chance to escape. However he had seen all of this coming and made sure to stop her before she could do anything. He grabbed her other arm, and forced his legs in between Alexis’s to stop her from kicking him. “Feisty… I like that…” He chuckled as he held out his puzzle towards her. “I may take you with me later…”
As she was struggling for her freedom Alexis dropped the card she was holding, and what felt like the last line of defense she had. “Aghh!!” She screamed in fear, and prayed in her mind for anyone to help her. ‘Please!!… Anyone!!… Save ME!!!’ As Alexis screamed out in her mind for salvation, the card on the ground began to shine brilliantly, blinding the man and forcing him to let go of Alexis and cover his eyes, and dropping his pendant to hypnotize her.
The bright light caused by the duel spirit put a strain on Alexis’s soul that had not been prepared for this amount of power that Hoshiningen needed to help. Doing this caused Alexis to almost pass out. Her consciousness was only hanging on by a thread. Everything seemed to be so far away, and she had a hard time knowing what was happening in this state. Until she heard something that helped her stay awake. “Alexis!!” ‘Rakki…? What…?” Her mind was still foggy, and she could hardly open her eyes to see the young boy with a look she had never seen on him before.
She had seen neutral, disgruntled, unhappy, and even perturbed. Those were all the normal ones that she saw in him. Teasing, happy, energetic… They were more rare, but she could picture them clearly in her mind. They were almost refreshing to look at. However what she saw now was something else… The most angry she saw Rakki was when his deck was made fun of. That made sense to Alexis, if the top duelist in the academy said your deck was bad, then that is almost an insult to your intelligence. He was mad...
But this was much darker than that. “I don’t know who you are… But they won't find anything left of you when I’m done…” When she heard Rakki say that, she felt chills down her spine, and her stomach dropped from the fear of Rakki’s tone. The duel started and it looked like Titan was in the lead for the most part, especially when Rakki didn’t put down a single monster. ‘Rakki…’ Alexis tried to call out to him, but her words stopped in her throat from the overwhelming fear she had in this situation.
But then she was shaken by the power of Rakki’s voice when he yelled in his commanding tone. It seemed that when he got really mad, then he wouldn’t sigh in disappointment like his usual self, he would stand his ground and take on anything with nothing but his indomitable will. As Alexis saw Rakki command the enemy monster she could have sworn she saw that his jacket started to grow and extend outwards, almost forming blood red wings.
As they grew, so did Rakki’s rage, and the more animalistic he became. He started to hunch forward, almost like a predator waiting to strike, he bared his teeth, he growled, and Alexis swore that she saw his eyes glinting green. Then it was Rakki's turn again. He began to, without rest, beatdown and burn Titans life points, and had all of his preparation of his cards pulled off, and won.
However Alexis noticed something was seriously wrong. ‘Rakki’s not happy at all.’ Alexis had noticed seeing Rakki duel, that when everything was working out for him, especially if he had to use chance, he would smile and be proud of himself with his win… But now… He didn’t seem to enjoy winning at all. Alexis already knew Rakki was strange, but the more that she saw of him, the more confused she would get. He kept getting stranger, with the more she would see of him.
“Alexis please tell me you’re ok…” She held her eyes open to see Rakki’s new expression. His look was full of worry and fear. He was really afraid of anything happening to her. Alexis had to give him a sign, but before she could, Rakki said something confusing. “What do you mean it’s her soul?” He looked off to his left, his eyes following something. That is until he snapped his head over to where Alexis dropped her card.
He picked it up, and Alexis recognized the card he gave to her. Alexis’s mind was full of questions about Rakki, but stayed silent to listen to more. “Is she gonna be fine is all I wanna know right now.” Rakki sounded like he cut someone off to get the answer he wanted. ‘But from who…?’ Was all Alexis could think as she watched Rakki talking to himself. His demeanor finally changed back as he let out a sigh with a slight smile. “Ok…” He nodded with a smile and looked at the Hoshiningen card. “Thank you…” He said in a small tone.
Rakki then walked over to Alexis and placed the Hoshiningen card on the top of her deck, and began to pick her up. Alexis was surprised by Rakki’s ability to do this. He didn’t look to be the strong type, but he was somehow able to pick her up with ease. Even Rakki seemed surprised. He then placed her on his back and began to walk out of the building.
Alexis started to feel calm and sleepy while on Rakki’s back. Even if he had his mysteries, and became scary when he was mad. Alexis felt safe right now with him. Like nothing bad would happen with him protecting her. And with those thoughts in her mind Alexis embraced Rakki as she drifted off while laying on his back.