A,N: Hello dear readers, and Happy new year! And sort of late Christmas. I am just happy I am able to update before next year. It is only afternoon at my place ha-ha and I am so excited to share this amazing chapter with you guys. Even though my sight aren’t the best at the moment. However hope you have fun reading the chapter.

Cy’s p.o.v.

Cy growled annoyed beside his mistress side inside the red sphere field. The blue wolf number was as annoyed as his mistress, and the wolf monster didn’t like this at all. He didn’t like when she was in distress, and since they were sharing the same soul, he knew exactly what was going on inside of her soul right now. Cy growled a little inside again. It pained him that he couldn’t help his mistress with anything. He couldn’t help her in barian world. He had been as weak as Zaira had been there, and now he couldn’t help her in the sphere field either. Cy hissed angrily. He wanted to help his mistress get out of here. Even though… Cy found the sphere field strange. It was clearly there to keep his mistress from meddling in the duels here in Sargasso. However, at the same time the energies from the sphere field… it was like they were healing his mistress. Zaira got stronger and stronger, and as she did, so did Cy. The blue wolf turned his attention to the grey barian who was currently dueling Shark drake owner Shark. They were both fighting very hard to free his mistress and Cy were pleased by that. He knew his mistress was free soon. However, that grey barian they were dueling puzzled Cy a great deal, and it was not because his mistress questioned his motives or anything. No, Cy felt weird around him. As did he around the other barians. Even the insane Vector who claimed he was his Mistress long lost brother. Cy felt an aura of pleasantly from them. Especially Dumon. His presence here somehow calmed Cy down. He knew that the barians would never hurt his Mistress if possible. Just why was that Cy wondered rather confused. Then a roar from somewhere could be heard, and it caught both Cy and his mistress attention. At the shipwreck farthest away was Kite dueling Mizar, and it had been Kite’s dragon who had roared. Cy could see his mistress clench her fists.

“Kite” she even mumbled worriedly.

Cy understood why. He himself was rather worried. Out of all the barians dueling here on Sargasso, Mizar was the one that drew them in the most. As weird as it was. Sure Vector was maybe Zaira long lost brother, and Dumon did have some kind of weird connection, but Mizar was the one that… Cy was not sure why. Maybe it was because Mizar stubbornness resembled his Mistress, or maybe it was because of the reaction they got when he had summoned Tachyon dragon. Whatever the reason they couldn’t keep the gaze of the duel who was about to happen.

It was currently Mizar’s turn. He used his monster effect from his hand. Since Kite had a monster with 2000 or more att points, he was allowed to summon this monster from his hand without tributing. The monster was called "Schwarzschild Limit Dragon" and was a level 8 monster with 2000 att points. But Mizar was not done yet. Since he now had a level 8 monster on his field, he was also allowed to normal summon this monster to the field from his hand. Soon "Parsec, the Interstellar Dragon" who was a level 8 monster as well appeared onto the field. It also didn’t surprise Cy when Mizar overlaid his two monsters to summon “G.E. Tachyon dragon” to the field in att mode. Cy could hear the dragon roar now and shivered slightly. Not because Cy was scared of it. No that was not the reason. The reason was because his mistress was shivering slightly beside him. Cy knew Zaira was not scared though. Her reason for the shivering was because that dragon, Galaxy eyes Tachyon dragon, jogged something in his mistress. Cy was not sure if it was a memory or not. He was as lost as Zaira. However, there was just something about this dragon. It didn’t help that Mizar proudly didn’t activate his Sargasso lighthouse card, like the other barians. He lost 500 life points. Something Kite of course pointed out.

”Come on, I am waiting” he said ”Hurry up and play Sargasso lighthouse, like your other barian buddies”. Surprisingly Mizar shook his head fiercely.

”I could, but that is not the way I duel” He replied and got up on his feet ”There is no honor in defeating you, unless we are on an equal level dueling field, because this battle is the ultimate test to prove who the one true master of the galaxy eyes!”.

”It is me” Kite proclaimed and smirked back at Mizar.

“Kite, Mizar” Cy could hear his mistress mumble out in distress as she grabbed her head a little. “What is… why is that duel so important?!”.

Cy growled a little. He didn’t know the answer to that. All he knew was that the honorable display from Mizar had moved his Mistress deeply. Unlike the other barians here, Mizar played fair. Cy tried to nuzzle his mistress cheek again, even though he went through her, like the spirit he was, he was gonna show her he was there for her. That whatever happened he would always be there for her. That was a promise Cy would keep forever and ever.

Zaira’s p.o.v.

I hissed annoyed as the duels continued. I wish I could be in on the action, then I would kick their butts for all this. Especially Vector, my so called brother. I mean he was really tearing Yuma down there. He was after all in reality Ray as well, meaning Yuma was dueling either the clone or Ray. I hissed again. I wish I could warn them, That I could help, but that was surely the reason I was locked in here after all. So I couldn’t meddle. Yuma, Shark and even Kite were doing their best against these barians and then I couldn’t be part of it. I am not a barian! The thought ran through my head once again. I could never admit it of course, but the duels, the barians were each having their impact at me. Especially Mizar, but maybe that was because he was an honorable duelist. Just like Alito had. I shivered a little at the thought of Alito locked in the crystal and I knew that could have been my faith, hadn’t been for Dumon and his Lapiz. Why I knew that, I was not sure, but I knew Dumon had told me the truth before. Something that I didn’t want to think of now of course, so I turned my attention to the most important duel at the moment. In my eyes that was Yuma vs Vector. I was really worried for the outcome. Mostly because I knew Vector had something planned. But then again, I also had faith that Astral and Yuma would prevail regardless. Whatever Vector had planned, he couldn’t win!

“It is my turn and I will play ‘rank up magic limited barian force” Yuma then suddenly shouted, and horror was written on my face now. No! Yuma don’t do it! It is a trick! I just know it is. After all who had given Yuma that barian card? It could only have been one person now that I knew the truth and that would be Vector! Although I didn’t know what purpose it did. I mean why give Yuma a barian card in the first place unless… My eyes widened. This had an alternative motives. I just knew it!

“Wait Yuma!” Astral then shouted and I sighed in relieve. He did seem to stop Yuma.

“What?! What are you stopping me for?” Yuma sneered back rather pissed.

“If you summon an Xyz monster you will lose life points duo to Sargasso’s eff” Astral tried reminding him and hoped he would reconsider. I hoped that as well.

“I am gonna lose 500 life points every turn no matter what, but I am not going down without a fight” Yuma just responded and was staring angrily at Vector now “I gotta use Utopia ray V to end this”.

I sighed deeply at that. Sure Yuma was right about the life points, and in any case, I might even agree with him in this scenario, but right now Yuma wasn’t thinking clearly. He was filled with anger and maybe even hate. It was clear he disliked Vector for what he had done to Ray. My eyes widened in realization. Had that been the reason Vector was doing this so Yuma would…

“I am convinced there is something strange about this duel” Astral then said and I lit up by that. At least I was not the only one thinking that.

“Strange?” Yuma questioned slowly and looked at his partner.

“Yes. As in Vector is luring us in somehow” Astral replied and looked over at the barian “Vector is different from when we battled him previously”.

“Maybe so, but I can’t chicken out. I gotta do this for Ray!” Yuma then shouted and whatever Astral said, he couldn’t make Yuma calm down.

Instead they began fighting. Or at least Yuma was the one shouting angrily. He refused to listen to Astral at all. I growled angrily and slammed my hands at the sphere in hope that they or anyone would hear or see me. Properly not possible considering the illusion that was around the sphere telling the others I were sleeping, but I had to at least try. I had to get out of here before it was too late. They were doing exactly what Vector wanted them to do. They were walking into a trap. However, sadly no one noticed or did a thing to stop Yuma. Besides Astral but he was a ghost and couldn’t do anything as Yuma activated the rank up magic card. He overlaid Utopia and xyz summoned “Nb. 39 Utopia Ray v” who had 2600 att points and now two chaos overlay unit. I was praying, almost begging whatever god existed that this meant nothing. That this move wouldn’t dome us all. Since he Xyz summoned Yuma of course lost 500 more life points, but that was something he really didn’t care about right now. He activated Utopia ray v effect. By using one Ou, Yuma could now destroy Vector’s number and deal him damage equal to his monsters att points. Masquerade att was 2700, so Vector was about to lose that amount in life points.

“You are so through. I am gonna do to you what you did to Ray!” Yuma shouted once again and made his monster blast Vector with its special effect.

I must admit I got a little surprised by that. The attack actually hit, and Vector was having only 1300 att points. Had Vector made a miscalculation? No! that couldn’t be right. Something was clearly wrong here.

That question of mine however, got quickly answered though. As the dust cleared from the blast Utopia ray V had fired, we were meet with… nothing! There was no Vector there any longer. Only Ray was lying unconsciously on the ground at Vector’s field. I slammed my hands once again on the sphere field with as much force as I could muster. I just needed to do something! Anything! I would do almost anything, so this moment never happened. The truth about Ray!

“Where did Vector go?” Yuma then questioned and looked at Astral.

“Perhaps it is possible that your attack send him into another dimension” Astral then concluded which of course not was the right conclusion. I hissed angrily inside. He is right there, you guys! Don’t let your guard down!

“Oh Astral that means I won” Yuma replied slowly, and his eyes gazed over to Ray who was lying on the ground. Pure sadness was shown in his eyes now “Ray! Ray I won it for you! You are my friend and I won it for you!”.

Yuma fell down on his knees as he let out a heart and tear-filled cry. He was letting his sorrow out for his supposed death friend. Sadly that was all…

“Yuma” a weak but fake voice said and made Yuma lift up his head a little.

Confusion was written on his face now. Ray was slowly getting up from the ground and Yuma’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas. He got quickly up on his feet and rushed towards Ray. All to make sure his friend was okay. All that earned me, however, was a really bad taste in my mouth. I still recalled the moment when Ray explained everything to me. I still didn’t believe it, but the pain in my heart as the truth finally was revealed, that was not something I would want Yuma to experience now. Ray began laughing. He was laughing an insane and evil laughter that made Yuma stop surprised up. I could see how Shark, and surely Kite also had turned their attention to the scene in front of them. Then Ray lifted his head and he was now eyes to eyes with Yuma.

“Yuma!” he then said in an evil mocking tone.

“Ray are you okay?” Yuma asked worriedly which only made Ray laugh even more.

“I am more than just okay” he then told Yuma and smirked evilly.

“Ray what is wrong with you?” Yuma asked even more worried. This was not the way his friend usually acted.

“Why? Nothing is wrong Yuma. Nothing at all” Ray said in a weird reassuring voice, but then he couldn’t keep his act together any longer and began grinning like a maniac once again.

Energy rose around him and I could hear the words “Barian battle morph” being said. His appearance changed once again, and Vector was now standing there in Ray’s place. Although he was a bit different than when he had confronted me. He was no longer wearing his purple cloak, and a pair of black wings were shown on his grey black barian body. His former orange hair had turned white although it was still spiked up as usual. He was wearing a short sarong and grey colored footwear. I must admit I was staring in awe. So this was Vector’s true form. In my opinion he looked devilish.

“Vector!” Yuma yelled up rather shocked then he gained his compose again “So you disguised yourself as Ray? What did you do with him Vector? Where is the real Ray?”. At that Vector was of course laughing like crazy.

“The real Ray? You mean you still don’t get it?” he then replied, and glee was shown in his eyes now “I am Vector, and I am your little friend Ray too”.

“That’s a lie!” Yuma shouted instantly, not believing one word Vector was saying “All this time I was dueling you here, Ray was lying right there beside you, and the other day you grabbed Ray and my sister Zaira. We all saw it”.

“Things are not always as they appear” Vector replied and chuckled darkly.

At that fear stroke through me. Was Vector gonna reveal who he believed I was as well? A Barian! I still didn’t believe it, but if he told Yuma and Astral would they even consider me a friend? Were I seen as an enemy to them then? After all Astrals and the barians were sworn enemies. I placed my face in my hands. Would that mean I was all alone again? Living on the streets again?! No! I just couldn’t handle that. I felt wind hit m cheek now and turned my attention towards Cy now. He had grown a little bigger and was the size of a normal dog now. His eyes said it all though. You are not alone this time Mistress. You have me! That calmed me down a little bit at least.

“The Vector you knew before and the one who has been dueling you here, were my clones” Vector continued explaining “But this whole time I the real Vector, took the form of your very good friend Ray shadows. Ha-ha!”.

Then Vector began laughing like crazy once again. Yuma was staring speechless at him. He was surely trying to comprehend all the stuff Vector was telling him here.

“Got you! I guess you didn’t see that coming did you Yuma?” Vector continued in a mocking tone. “It wasn’t easy pretending to be an innocent twerp, especially around Zaira chan who was so suspicious, but in the end, being your friend and helping you duel was all part of my plan”. Horror was still stuck in Yuma’s face now.

“This… this can’t be!” he uttered in pure distress. I must admit I also closed my eyes in regret. I mean even I got fooled by Ray in the end. I should have been more aware.

“Ray was a barian” Astral then commented and were staring at Vector “But what I do not understand Vector, why did you take Zaira with you? Why place her in that sphere? Why kidnap her?”. I froze slightly at that. This was it! This was the time where everything would be revealed. I just hoped Yuma and Astral wouldn’t hate me.

“Ah yes, Zaira chan” Vector replied in a mocking Ray tone “You see she is special, but then again I don’t need to tell you that, do I Astral? It was your father who linked her together with you. I was there when she used her immense powers in the duel with Dr. Faker, and I knew it would be a mistake to underestimate her. So I took her! End of story. As long as she is in that sphere she cannot meddle, meaning you can’t win!”.

Then he laughed like crazy once again. I on the other hand was just staring. I mean Vector didn’t reveal anything. That I was supposed to be a barian or his sister. He explained nothing of that, which confused me even more here. What was Vector’s end game here? But at the same time relieve struck my heart again. I wasn’t seen as the enemy or a traitor to the others.

“However Astral…” Vector then suddenly said, and his eyes were staring at the Astral being with pure hatred. “As soon as this duel is over, we are gonna have a nice long chat. I will not let you disappear so easily. You took something from me and I will do anything to obtain it! Mark my words. The pain you experience now is nothing compared to what I have in store for you”.

My eyes widened in horror at that. What did Vector mean by that? What was he gonna do to my best friend?! I didn’t believe this was an empty threat at all. Astral looked puzzled at him as well.

“I do not understand. Explain yourself. What are you talking about?” Astral then asked. He was as confused as I was at the moment.

“It doesn’t matter Astral. What you need to know is that when I win this duel you will not disappear. No it is far to nice a punishment. You will suffer and when I finally get bored of you, you will break the seal on Her” Vector said, and glee was in his eyes again. “And if it so happens that you can’t, well I am sure your little daddy wouldn’t mind breaking it. After all, we have his precious little son captured”.

“Leave Astral alone! He has done nothing to you” Yuma hissed angrily back, which only made Vector laugh once again. Oh how I really hated that laugh.

“Oh really? So you protect Astral eh Yuma? What friendship” Vector mocked back “But then again I should know, we are after all friends…”.

“No way! There is no way you are Ray!” Yuma then shouted back as an interruption “Ray was a real friend. I could tell if he was a phony!”.

“Oh really? Well maybe this will change your mind. I gave you five barian cards for your deck friend” Vector then said.

I looked surprised at the scene in front of me. Sure now I had confirmed that Vector truly was the one giving Yuma the barian card, but that also meant that Yuma had known Ray was a barian for a long time, which was just as shocking. Even Astral was staring at Yuma in disbelief.

“Barian cards? Ray gave you barian cards? You knew he was a barian?!” he uttered in pure disbelief. Yuma had after all lied to him a couple of times then.

“I am sorry” Yuma mumbled out rather shocked too “I can’t…”.

“Ha-ha you can’t admit it can you?” Vector then questioned and grinned “You promised your very special friend Ray that you wouldn’t. Because I asked you not too. Thanks for keeping your promise and not telling anyone our little secret”.

I turned my attention at Yuma now, as the lobster haired boy let out a heart filled cry. Anger then rose in him, as he realized he had been tricked by Vector all along. He therefore attacked with Utopia ray V to finish off Vector. Sadly that was what Vector had been waiting for. He activated his trap "Vain Betrayer". With this card Vector could stop Yuma’s attack and made Utopia Ray V lose its special effects. But that was not all, since Yuma had attacked with a V monster, Yuma should send all the V cards he was having in his deck to the grave and for each one Vector gained 500 life points. Both Yuma and I looked shocked as the 5 cards Vector apparently had given Yuma got send to the graveyard, meaning Vector gained 2500 life points back. He was now having 3800 life points.

“Obviously Vector even planned on regaining his lost life points back” Astral commented in a worried tone.

I nodded to myself too. Vector had planned this from the start, which only made me get another bad taste in my mouth. This was not good. This was not good at all.

“Wait there is more” Vector then suddenly said and chuckled darkly “For every V card that was send to the graveyard, 5 cards in your deck goes straight to the grave too”.

Horror were once again running through me as Yuma lost 25 cards from his deck. 5 for each V card, which left him with only 3 cards in his deck.

“He destroyed your deck” Astral uttered in distress.

“Destroyed my deck?” Yuma replied in disbelief.

“You only have three cards left. When you no longer can draw a card then you will lose the duel” Astral replied in a rather dry voice. Maybe it was because of what Vector had in store for him. I bit my lip worriedly as well.

“I want to relish this” Vector then told them “I want to destroy you bit by bit. After all you two stole from me, and no one is going unpunished for that!”.

“Vector has carefully planned this moment from the very beginning” Astral then uttered slowly “And creating Ray was the key to it all”.

“Exactly. I knew Yuma would never path with the cards I gave him and that he always would keep them in his deck. What a friend!” Vector said in a mocking tone “So loyal. So gullible! Once he saw what I had done to his friend Ray, I also knew Yuma would lose control and summon Utopia ray V. My plan worked perfectly. You did exactly what I thought you would, your little pest. Ha-ha! I fooled you good!”.

I could see how Yuma was looking down at the ground now. He looked so ashamed of himself and who could blame him. He had been tricked by Vector so easily.

“Poor Yuma. You only have 3 cards left, but you won’t quit fighting, will you?!” Vector mocked “Only it doesn’t matter if you quit or not, because the game is already over for all of you. And you have one person to thank. Your good friend Yuma Tsukumo! He brought you all to your doom! I guess you could say that everything turned out the Ray way!”.

Then Vector laughed like crazy.

Astral's p.o.v.

Yuma: 1600Lp.

Vector: 3800Lp.

Astral was not sure how he felt. Everything had gone out of control in this duel with Vector, and that barian had been devious indeed. He had created the persona of Ray just to make Yuma and his friends walk right into a trap. Sure he had also kidnapped Zaira, so Yuma and Astral would have gone rescuing her regardless the danger, but everything here worried Astral to no end. It also didn’t help his worries when Vector suddenly had threatened him all of the sudden. What seal was he talking about and who was her? Astral gaze flickered over to the dueling field with Shark and Dumon, and the crystal who was encasing Zaira. Even more worry hit him. If Vector won, what would happened to Zaira since she was linked to him and Cy? Astral shook his head a little. He just needed to win. End of story. His gaze turned over to Yuma who was his partner in this battle. For some reason it hurt him a little that Yuma had trusted Ray, who was now their enemy Vector, more than him. That Yuma had known Ray was a barian didn’t help on this weird feeling. Yuma had kept a secret from him which resolved in them only having three cards left in their deck. Vector was clearly having the advantage in this duel.

“You and your friends are doomed. Doomed! Because of you Yuma” Vector then pointed out in a harsh tone and pointed at Yuma. “You are through. There is nothing left for you. No revenge. No victory. Nothing!”.

Astral noticed the distress his partner was currently in. Vector’s words had sunk deeply into him, and he could see how Yuma was looking shamefully down in the ground now.

“I… Place… I place a face down and end my turn” Yuma then said and did just that. Since Yuma had ended his turn, he got hit by Sargasso effect and lost 500 more life points. Vector of course chuckled evilly at that.

“You and Astral have more shocks in story Yuma” the barian then pointed out and laughed like crazy “Remember every time you play, you pay”. Then he laughed again. Astral narrowed his eyes at that.

“Vector clearly enjoys exploding the vulnerabilities of human psychology to advance his devious strategy” he then pointed out, which made Yuma sigh deeply.

“Yeah and it is all because of me” his friend replied back.

“No. I was clueless as well. I should have suspected something was not quite right the very moment you started playing those evil barian cards” Astral tried reassuring. It didn’t help that much, however.

“Just say it Astral” Yuma instead said and closed his eyes “Just say that if I told you about Ray being a barian none of this would have happened”.

“Yuma…” Astral said and tried to come up with something that could cheer Yuma up. Sadly Vector interrupted him before he could say anything more.

“At least that is honesty. You have been a very naughty boy. Keeping secrets from your partner Astral” The evil barian said and chuckled darkly again. He looked at Yuma with glee in his eyes again “You chose me over your partner. That makes you a traitor”. Astral’s brows narrowed at that. Was that really true? Yuma, a traitor?

“You said that was to protect Astral and Zaira!” Yuma shouted in defense and ignored Astral’s attempts in calming him down. Vector chuckled again.

“Ah, excuses, excuses Yuma” he then said and made Yuma rile up once again.

“Be quiet!” he shouted angrily at their opponent.

Astral looked from one to the other with a worried and concerned look now. Yuma is falling for Vector’s mind games. Why would Yuma not listen to me anymore? Pain stuck through his heart in a much more intense level than before. It felt like his heart was giving in or something like that. Astral had never felt something like that before. What is this? What is this profound uneasiness? It feels like a stain. A bud of darkness is growing. What is this? What is this? Astral has never been betrayed or felt dark emotions at all. It was all a new experience for him, and the pain in his heart didn’t help on the matter.

In the meantime Vector had continued on with this duel. He drew and activated the spell “Glorious numbers”. Since he didn’t have any monsters on the field, Vector was allowed to summon a number back from the graveyard. He had of course chosen his 104 masquerade. Glorious number also allowed Vector to draw a card. Then he activated his numbers special eff and send one card from Yuma deck to the graveyard, but by doing so his monster couldn’t attack this turn. He ended his turn with a facedown card.

“Careful Yuma, you only have 2 cards left” Vector pointed out in a mocking tone. “If you lose this duel you will be stuck in this wasteland forever, and who knows what will happen to the friends who came with you. Besides Astral of course. I have my own plans for you, but don’t worry, I have some special prepared for you. I am sure you will appreciate it, as soon as you gotten used to it. ha-ha!”.

Astral clenched his hands a little. They couldn’t lose. They had to win! If they didn’t… Astral was sure that whatever Vector had planned, it wouldn’t be pleasant at all. His gaze turned to Yuma once again. Doubt was entering his mind now. Could they really win when Yuma brought them here in this predicament in the first place? Could he even trust Yuma anymore?

Dumon’s p.o.v.

Shark: 3000 lp’s.

Dumon: 4000 lp’s.

Dumon was fighting fiercely. He was giving this duel his all. How could he not when he was fighting for her. For his princess. For Zaira! His determination knew no limit. He was gonna defeat Reginald Kastle, claim his numbers and be done with him. For the sake of the barian world, he would do anything. For the sake of her he would… Dumon shook his head as the thought entered his mind. It didn’t matter anyway. Zaira didn’t remember him. If she did, she would never… she would never choose him! Reginald Kastle was just a human. A lowly human who was interrupting their mission in defeating Astral world. And her boyfriend. That thought couldn’t be stopped by the grey barian, along with others. Why would she choose him? What does she see in him anyway? Sure, for a human boy he is interesting, but clearly not my princess type. Although he is not a bad duelist. I give him that. There must be something in him that makes my Zaira choose him. Dumon sighed inside. He wasn’t the jealous kind of type at all. The Zaira he knew had always been kind, friendly and stubborn. She could go toe to toe with Mizar’s dragon, and Dumon didn’t count on how many times she beat the heck out of Alito in training. However, there he knew Zaira was his princess. She was different around him that she was around the others. She was different around everyone actually, but Dumon knew there were only things they did, that she hadn’t shared with many others. Like the fairy tale books, or them having a moment of weakness and be together in their human form etc. It was moments like these that had made the gray barian do whatever it takes to get Her and the other barians home again. And now she was here, meters away, locking inside the red sphere field, had no memories of him and… were in distress?! Dumon turned his gaze immedicably towards the sphere field. As he had noticed Zaira was truly in a lot of distress. He could see her pained face. How she slammed at the sphere field and how she ended up hiding her face in her hands, because she couldn’t do anything. Beside her in spirit from was a blue wolf, who were trying to comfort her. Not that Dumon was surprised there. Zaira was known as the wolf princess. Wolves were always by her side when she needed them. However, Dumon was not sure how he even picked up on all that. Maybe it was because of the sphere field he created or maybe it was the Lapiz she was wearing, or maybe it was just the bond they had? Dumon really didn’t care here. His princess was in distress and he was gonna help her.

“Zaira are you okay?” he asked slowly through that bond the Lapiz created. He knew she could hear him. Hissing sounds responded back.

“Do I look okay to you? I am locked in a sphere, while Yuma and the others are fighting for my rescue. Vector just revealed he is Ray, he is not my brother by the way, and tried to break Astral and Yuma’s bond, and I am stuck here and can’t do a thing because YOU placed me there. So NO I am not okay Dumon!” She sneered in a scolding fierce tone who could only be their wolf princess worthy.

“I understand this is painful for you…”.

“Painful? Painful! How should you know about that Dumon, you are fighting and killing of my boyfriend!” She yelled back just as angrily.

Dumon didn’t say anything to that statement. If she believed he would kill of Reginald alias Shark, then it was her believe. Although Dumon would never be so cruel. Stuck in Sargasso was a harsh fate but at least he didn’t kill the guy.

“And you all claim I am one of you! A barian” Zaira then sneered and Dumon could almost feel the pain in her voice as she spoke “How can I ever be anything like you. I am not this cruel. I am not evil. I am not like Vector…”.

“You are not evil Zaira!” Dumon interrupted firmly as he could see Zaira lift her head and look at her. He continued “And you are not like Vector. You couldn’t be. Even as one of us, you are different. Even Nash agrees on that”.

“Dumon I don’t understand”.

“There is no need for you to understand” Dumon interrupted firmly and turned his attention towards the dueling field once again. “Just know this, I will keep my promise Zaira. You have my word”.

Dumon didn’t want to say more. He didn’t need to. Even though Zaira didn’t understand any of this, it didn’t matter. He was gonna keep his promise. He was gonna keep his word and he was gonna protect her forever!

Zaira’s p.o.v.

I was not sure how to take all this. I was not sure at all. Everything was a mix of distress and confusion. All created by myself and the events around me. How could it not when all this was going on around me?! First up Vector had revealed he had been Ray all along to Yuma, which didn’t help on anything since Vector had fun with tormenting Yuma mentally. Also something I couldn’t do anything about, since I still was captured. Then Dumon suddenly talked to me and made everything more confusing. What in the world did he mean with that I was different? They all clamed that I was barian, (I wasn’t!) which in my head was seen as evil. Sure they all had different personality and character, but they are trying to destroy Astral world, so in my book that is evil. I really didn’t understand what Dumon meant with that I was not evil. Was that his own opinion or was that more to it? Everything was so confusing! No Zaira, it was them, who did something to you! The people of Astral world took you in and erased your memories, so you will serve them in the war! Vector’s words ran through my head as I covered my head in my hands. It wasn’t true! It just couldn’t be! I could feel the wind around me as Cy tried to comfort me, but right now even Cy’s presence couldn’t help me. I just felt so lost.

“It is my move and I activate Star seraph sentry special effect…” I could suddenly hear Dumon shout and it slowly woke me up from the despair I was feeling.

My eyes wandered to the dueling field as I remembered that Shark and Dumon was in a heated clashing duel and that Shark was trying to save me. I clenched my fists a little. I couldn’t feel down in the dumps now. Now when Shark was fighting so hard to save me. I had to be brave here too.

“… when this monster loses one Ou, your monster not only loses its special effects, but its att points are also slashed in half” Dumon continued explaining.

I looked in horror as Dumon’s monster used an Ou and thereafter fired an arrow at Shark drake, so it lost its effect and its att points went down to 1400. I could hear Shark growl angrily at that, before Dumon attacked with his monster and blasted Shark drake off the field. I could hear Shark scream in pain as his life points dropped down to 1400.

“Galaxy eyes tachyon dragon Attack Galaxion!” I could suddenly hear Mizar shout as his dragon attacked Kite’s xyz monster, and I also could see how Kite got blasted as well and his life points went down to 2000.

“Shark, Kite!” I also could hear Yuma yell from one of the other video screens. He was in as much distress as I was, along with worried for both Shark and Kite.

“It is my move and I activate the trap ‘Shark splash’” I could then hear Shark say and I returned my attention to Shark and Dumon’s duel once again.

Shark had just activated a trap that made him revive Shark drake, but if he did, it would have 1000 less att points. Not that it mattered to my boyfriend of course. He would summon Shark drake anyway. However, there was of course a benefit in all this. Since he summoned Shark drake with the trap, Dumon would take damage equal to Shark drake currently att points which was 1800. I could see how Dumon got blasted and send backwards. He only had 2400 life points remaining.

“Alright!” Bronk uttered as Shark hit him. Him and Rio continued to support Shark of course. Maybe this duel really was turning around.

“Well done” Dumon even congratulated as he landed gracefully on his feet. It was like he hadn’t taken any damage at all. “But you summoned an Xyz monster, so you get hit by Sargasso’s effect”. I looked in horror as Shark got hit by lightning once again and lost 500 more life points. (1900-1400)

“Shark!” Bronk uttered worriedly.

“it is okay” Rio then reassured with a little smile “Reginald knows exactly what he is doing Bronk. Getting hit is part of his strategy”.

I must admit I looked at puzzled as Bronk did in that moment, but then I composed myself. If Rio was saying this was part of Shark’s strategy, I didn’t doubt her at all. Dumon however ended his turn with a face down. It was Shark’s turn now. I could see how he drew, and then right away chaos xyz evolved Shark drake into “C. Nb. 39 Shark drake Weiss”. I smirked at that. With Shark drake Weiss 2800 att point, Shark was sure to turn this duel around soon. However since Shark once again xyz summoned he was hit by the field spells effect and lost 500 more life points. He was only having 900 remaining. My eyes widened at that. I had now also realized what Shark’s game plan had been. I growled a little annoyed at that. I mean I am his girlfriend. I should have seen this coming from a mile away, but I guess Rio, being Shark’s sister and all, just was a bit faster than me.

“This is what Reginald wants” Rio explained to Bronk as he still was lost. “He knows that if you summon Shark drake Weiss while having more than 1000 life points it get destroyed. He used Sargasso’s effect to take his own life points down to 900 so his monster would survive”.

“Wow that really takes guts” Bronk replied in awe. I was agreeing, but then again it was Shark we were talking about. I didn’t know any other guy who had as much guts as Shark did. Yuma might also count but still. I couldn’t be prouder of Reginald in this moment.

“Not many duelists would do what you did. I am impressed” I could suddenly hear Dumon say, which confused me big time. Since when did the enemy compliment the opponent they are facing?

“I know someone like you. You remind me of him” Dumon then continued “Behind your wild words and reckless actions, I sense true skills. I see now why Zaira would choose you as a potential lover. She always preferred strong duelists. It saddens me to destroy someone she holds so dear, and I wished we could have faced each other under different circumstances. Too bad that won’t be the case. I just hope one day she will forgive me”. I could see how Shark lifted an eye brow at that.

“I don’t know what you are rambling about over there, and I really don’t care” he then sneered rather annoyed “I am here to duel. Not chat around!”.

I on the other hand was more confused than ever. More confused and maybe a bit embarrassed. What did Dumon mean with potential lover and that I preferred strong duelists?! He almost made me sound like I was some kind of royalty and that Shark should be damn grateful just to be in my presence and that I picked him. For now! Which made everything much more confusing and embarrassing. After all I was not like that! Or was I? They all stated, the barians I mean, that I was known as the wolf princess. Sure I loved wolves. I had a deck filled with them, and Cy was my greatest wolf ally and friend I could wish for, but… I shook my head again. Everything was so confusing.

“Mistress…” Cy said in a low voice and made me look at him. He was now in his normal size once again, even though he still was flashing in and out.

“It doesn’t matter Mistress” Cy tried reassuring “It doesn’t matter who others see you as. It doesn’t matter who you were. All that is matters is that you are being you Mistress. And whatever happened, I will be there for you regardless what. You are my mistress and whatever you choose to do, I will follow”.

Then Cy tried nuzzling my cheek and I let out a little sigh at that. Because Cy was right. Nothing really mattered here at all. Only what I truly wanted. And I wanted to get out of this sphere!

“Cy get back into your card and my soul” I advised with a firm voice “We are breaking out from here!”.

A,N: and cut for now. Found that as a good place to stop this chapter. Lol. However I hoped you liked it. I found it rather intense but that is just me. In the next chapter the Sargasso event of course continues, and things might get out of hand. At some points. But I will first update in the new year so hope you okay with that. Also please comment on what you think so far. Would love some feedback here. Happy new year to everyone