Chapter 49. Trip Through Time
After class was over, I woke up to Blair nudging my shoulder. I yawned while stretching myself awake. “Do we really have to wake up at 7 on a Saturday?” Jayden groaned while banging his head against his desk. “Slifer students have to go, or they get detention. You heard Professor Banner.” Syrus said with reluctant acceptance, sighing from not being able to sleep in on a weekend. “Rakki, we have a trip going on Saturday…” Blair whispered, trying to catch me up on the events of class. I groaned while burying my head in my jacket pillow on my desk.
Jayden chuckled while patting my back. “At least I don’t need sleep as much as Rakki. Anyway, you guys going?” Jayden asked the rest of our group while Blair kept trying to wake me. “The Chazz passes, I don’t care if I do get detention…” Chazz said with a sneer as he left the room. “No way! I’m totally sleeping in!” Mindy said giggling at our own problems. “Me too, I think I’ll sleep better knowing that Rakki has to wake up early.” I grunted at Jasmine, and scowled at her once I sat up. She returned the favor by sticking her tongue at me. “I guess I’ll go.” Alexis said after thinking on her own for a bit. Jasmine, and Mindy were silent, both seemed to understand her position of finding clues for her brother.
“That’s awesome!” Jayden cheered while I finally got up from my seat, placing my jacket and Duel Disk back on. ‘I guess this is the grave keeper arc… Kinda a dumb arc, but one that I’m now involved in.’ I sighed while mentally preparing myself for an annoying day tomorrow, especially one with Banner… Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. I spent the night running Blair through drills about her deck. She was always studious, so she was very good at learning her new card's effects like the back of her hand. “Alright, nice work.” I said, leaning back against the wall on my cot.
“I had a great teacher.” She giggled while moving beside me, and resting her head on my chest. I ruffled her hair a bit before moving under my covers. “I’m going to sleep. I don’t want to be dead tired tomorrow.” Blair giggled a bit more, before opening the sheets and burying herself with me. I sighed, but moved my arm around her to keep her close while we both dozed off.
The next morning Blair and I groggily got up for our trip. We both made our way with Jayden, and Syrus to the front of the school building to meet up with the ‘rest’ of the class. However the only other show was Alexis, since only Slifer students were required to show up. The morning breeze was cold, and the humidity had turned to a thin fog that encompassed the island. I kept standing, not wanting my clothes damp from the morning due.
I yawned, my breath visible for just a moment before fading into obscurity amongst the remaining fog. Blair stood close, trying to keep warm by my side. “This sucks…” Jayden groaned while yawning himself. “Don’t get me started.” I said, before quickly snapping my head to the last arrival. “Hello Children!” Professor Banner yelled with his calming expression. He then looked at each of us for a moment in confusion. “Is this all that is going?” “Well, you only made it required for Slifer students…” Syrus timidly responded.
“Well, I think they are missing out! These ruins used to hold the shadow games! History is fascinating!” Banner yelled in excitement, slinging his large backpack over his shoulder. Alexis beside me nodded with a serious expression, clearly hoping to find anything interesting there. “Let’s set off!” With fervor, Banner led the way through the woods. It was a long trek, plenty of annoying climbs, and deep descents that almost made Blair slip a few times. ‘Although, I think after the first time I caught her, she did it on purpose a few times… Nothing I can prove though.’
Once it was about mid-day, we all entered the very edge of the ruins. Banner excitedly ran through the portions of decayed civilization, explaining what parts of the trip he wanted to study. However while he was lost in thought, his stomach growled. He froze for a bit, before timidly looking back at us resting after finally making it here. “Or perhaps we might eat lunch first.” He chuckled while taking a seat alongside us. “Sweet! Time to chow down!”
I paused for a moment, realizing that I didn’t have anything to eat myself. “We were supposed to bring something…?” I mumbled under my breath, kicking myself for not thinking things through. Blair giggled beside me, before handing me a small blue box, while holding an identical one of red. “I knew you would forget, so I made one for you.” She whispered to me with a large smile. I was confused why she was so happy about doing something for me. ‘Why would she be so happy about doing work for someone else?’
I absentmindedly opened the box, to find a typical yet lovingly filled bento of food. I wondered when she even had time to make this, but just ate a fluffy piece of egg that she made for me. I frowned at how surprisingly good it tasted to me, wondering if she was a good cook, or if I just had not eaten anything like it in too long. ‘When was the last time I had a good home cooked meal?’ I finally noticed Blair’s worried gaze, staring at me with her wide brown eyes. “It’s delicious… Thanks…” I mumbled to her before quickly eating all that she had packed for me.
Blair smiled as we ate. Jayden, Syrus, and Alexis all came over as well. Jayden saw my box of food, and glanced at his own store bought sandwich. “Hey man, can I trade you some of mine for some of yours?” He asked while drooling close to me. I swatted his hand away, and pushed his face away from me. “Like hell!” I yelled while continuing to eat my food. ‘Blair made it for me, so that’s who eats it. If you asked her, and she said yes then it would be a different story.’
“But those boxes are identical, did you make food for you and Blair?” Syrus asked as he unpacked his own store bought lunch. “Hey! Make some for the rest of us!” Jayden yelled the injustice as I sighed while quickly finishing the rest of the food Blair made me, refusing to say anything on the topic. I saw Alexis’ gaze as she glanced between Blair and I, obviously figuring out that Blair was the true cook.
I was about to say something, but a sudden burst of light erupted from the ruins behind us. I quickly grabbed Blair almost subconsciously before moving close to Alexis’. Jayden moved beside us along with Syrus. “Professor!?” Syrus yelled, asking where Banner went now that the light changed to a strange effect in the sky. He suddenly appeared beside us, gasping for air. “This way children! We must find shelter!” He yelled while pointing towards an old ruined building. I didn’t really want to trust him, but that did seem like the best option.
We all took off, and made it inside the stone structure in record time. “That thing is following us!” Jayden yelled as he stared at the 3 bright lights in the sky slowly descending down towards us. Just as I was about to grab Jayden to stop him, he leapt out of our shelter. “Jayden!!” We all yelled, mine mostly from anger rather than surprise. “I’ll lead it away! You guys stay here!” He yelled as he ran away from us, taking two of the orbs with him. I glanced at the single orb hovering above us.
However the orb grew quickly, and blinded everyone's vision. I felt sick for some reason, and fell to my knees to steady myself from this strange feeling. “Easy boy… I can protect you, but it still takes a toll on the body. Like motion sickness.” I groaned and shook my head before looking around. The room had changed its look, like we had gone back in time. It looked much nicer, less cracks and holes in the stone work. Everyone besides Blair and I were unconscious. I noticed Blair seemed protected from Dark Magician Girl. “What was that!?” Blair yelled in confusion while latching onto me even tighter.
Just as she did, the wooden door barged open, and a group of men greeted us with spears. “Halt intruders!!” One yelled in the back. He seemed to be a commander of some sort. I glanced at Alexis, and Syrus both still unconscious, although Alexis seemed to be waking up already. I held my hands up in surrender, unsure if I could take the violent approach. ‘I definitely have gotten stronger, but I don’t know how to fight. Add on that they could take hostages… Damn.’ I sighed while scowling at the leader. “We’re ‘halted’, see?”