I had vague, foggy memories of waking up. Being pumped full of drugs and also nearly dying would do that to you. I wondered for a long time if it was a dream, when I reached out and Yusei took my hand. Or if I dreamt the sound of battle, of people calling my name.

In the end, my first concrete memory was in the middle of the night. I had tried to reach for the red button beside my bed, but I was too short and my body hurt too much, so I couldn't ask for water properly. I'd had a bad dream that night and dehydrated myself by crying. I could feel it on either side of me on the pillows. Tears stained them, both recent and old from the past night. For me to lose that much hydration from crying--and also most likely from my general lack of movement for several days--it was only natural that I'd need water.

It felt so real, though. In that dream, Akiza had created a rose whirlwind, a storm in which everyone--including my friends--were all caught up. She had thorns protruding from her entire body, trapping everyone, including herself, and drawing blood in the worst ways possible.

So that night, I'd woken with a start, afraid for Akiza and everyone else. I didn't even properly remember what happened in the Arcadia Movement building until about half an hour passed and I stewed properly in my thoughts.

I... was out? I was freed?

Liquid and Okita... Wherever they were, they... weren't here now. My room was empty. All I heard was the beeping of my own heart on the machines, the whirring humming around me, and the occasional rustle of the blankets laid across me, as well as the tubes they'd stuck into my hands.

I don't know how long I laid there, blank-faced, but one of the machines--one hooked up to my head, I imagine, where my brainwaves were recorded for all to see--must've notified a night-shift nurse that I was awake despite not being able to ring the button, because eventually someone came and opened the door.

"Miss Reviar? How are you feeling?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but only succeeded in heaving a couple dry coughs before giving up. The nurse then promptly returned with water.

My recovery was faster than I'd expected. Those few hours of sleep I'd had did wonders for... a lot of my shallower injuries, actually. Even my scarred mark was healing up a little. The burns were still there, but the other cuts and miscellaneous parts that stuck out a lot stopped bleeding. My scars closed up.

Still, as it turned out, I'd landed awkwardly on my arm, and both my knees had gotten considerably weak from the fall. Thankfully, somehow, I only managed a sprained ankle and wobbly legs. The worse I'd gotten out of it all was a couple of broken ribs, which were set right with surgery. Other than that the actual injuries were, for the most part, gone. They called it a medical marvel.

I called it magic.

Since I couldn't go to sleep, I ended up sitting up and the nurses moved the button closer to me near my good arm, after I apologetically mumbled about not being able to reach it last time.

The sun couldn't have risen quick enough. The blinds were shut tight, but I'd managed to ask the nurses to open them eventually. It felt too sterile in here without the sunlight. It still felt too sterile with it, but at least a little bit less so.

And finally, when visiting hours opened, I heard word that two people would be visiting me at a time. The first to visit me were Liquid and Okita, who looked... fine. Alive, well, and relieved and happy to see me.

And very, very decidedly not dead.

Liquid embraced me first--a little too enthusiastically, as evident from my squeak when he accidentally jabbed at an injury near my ribcage--but I returned it with as much vigor as I could muster, nonetheless. He scolded me half-heartedly, mostly rambling about how relieved he was when I'd woken up.

Okita stood by as Liquid held me for a while, and we stayed like that for a bit before he backed away and allowed Okita to come close to me too. Unlike Liquid, Okita isn't the kind of person to outwardly display such strong emotions, especially when it involved expressing love or care. But despite that, he placed a hand on my head and stroked his thumb across my forehead in that soothing way he did sometimes when I was particularly upset and...

...and he smiled. He smiled and told me, "I'm glad you're back."

I had to blink away tears that suddenly welled up and leaned into his caring touch. "I'm glad you're back too," I murmured.

At first, a flash of confusion passed over both of their faces. But then they remembered and smiled sadly.

They spent a lot of the time they had with me purely apologizing for what they'd done, and each time my answer was "It's okay, it wasn't your fault." But they didn't seem to accept that as a real answer. I didn't know why. It was true.

Somehow, though, we derailed from having a serious discussion about psychic dueling, my powers as a Signer, and catching up on the things I'd missed, to a series of questions about "can psychic duelists sprout wings and fly?" or "can psychic duelists make duel monsters that are real become household pets if they're small enough?" And from those questions came many scenarios in which having a duel monsters pet would be harmful or helpful around the house, or in my case, the Satellite hideout.

Then lunchtime came and instead of the nurses, the door opened to reveal Akiza and Yusei, standing together. Akiza was carrying my lunch tray with a smile on her face--a smile--and Yusei held the door open for her. Liquid and Okita took that as their cue to leave and told me they'd meet with me a bit later for a healing session--said they rested up plenty so they could use their powers to heal me again--and Akiza placed the tray in my lap.

"Are you able to eat?" she asked, her eyes scanning over my hands.

My left hand was the one I'd injured, and my right, my dominant one, was still covered in bandages and scars because of my Mark. I tried moving them both, but it was hard. One hand was in a cast, so I could barely move the fingers how I wanted regardless of the pain. The other, though, still shot pain through my nervous system every once in a while if I tried to curl it into a fist.

So after twitching my fingers and wincing a bit, I shook my head sadly at her, and she offered me a gentle smile. "That's alright," she told me. "I'll feed you."

"S-sorry..." I mumbled. "I'll... try and make it as easy as possible for you."

"You don't have to worry," Akiza told me, brushing my hair out of my face when it fell over my nose. "I'm simply glad you're alright."

I was satisfied with that as Akiza fed me the first spoonful of mashed potatoes. Most of the stuff on my plate was mashed, actually, from the applesauce to the potatoes to even carrots that they'd grinded down with several fruits to make a smoothie for me to drink. It was all surprisingly good.

Yusei stood in silence, watching Akiza literally spoon-feed me like a child, and I honestly felt embarrassed. It was certainly necessary, but it was embarrassing nonetheless.

At one point, I decided to play along with the child-like bit and purposefully frowned as Akiza gave me the next spoonful. She paused and frowned too, genuinely confused. "What? Is something wrong?"

"You're feeding me all boring-like," I moaned, as though it was the worst thing Akiza'd ever done. "Make it interesting. Give it some flair or something. C'mon, you never feed me! Besides, it's funny."

"Wha--funny? Sylvia, what's gotten--"

"I've got it," and boy did I not expect Yusei to push off from where he was leaning to stride towards me and take the spoon from Akiza. "Here comes the fairy."

It was so unexpected--Yusei stood there, leaning with a spoon on its shaky course to my mouth--and of course, I had to oblige, because I didn't think he'd actually do that--that I had to laugh, even while I ate. My giggles were muffled with my mouth closed, but when I swallowed, they became fuller, even as the motion sent sharp pains through my ribcage and I gasped for air.

Akiza laughed and joined me, until I'd stopped and she grew concerned, but my smile never disappeared and I lightly gnawed at my lip to keep from laughing again. "I didn't think you'd actually do that," I finally explained myself. "Especially you, Yusei."

Yusei gave me the weirdest stare. A fond, exasperated, concerned look that eventually slipped as he placed the spoon back on the plate for Akiza to take back and stood up straight again. I got a little worried, too, seeing that expression of his. But he turned his head away and I couldn't see him anymore.

"Well," he said, as casually as he could, "it's what family does."

For some reason, that struck a chord in me, like an echo of the past that tugged on my sleeve but disappeared as soon as I tried to go look for the source. I couldn't remember how or why, but somehow that felt important to me.

And then I thought about the implications of what he said. "Wait... family?"

Yusei cleared his throat and said something about getting a drink of water before promptly exiting the room, leaving myself and Akiza alone to wonder what the hell was that?

I exchanged a confused look with Akiza, who shrugged. "I don't know. Don't ask me. Yusei only just helped me realize we're friends."

I didn't know what that meant, but assumed it wasn't my business, so I didn't pry. Akiza fed me for the rest of the time in relative quiet, although it wasn't bad or uncomfortable at all.

She filled me in on things that happened while I listened and ate. Told me about how she'd woken up, thinking I had abandoned her--again--for my own friends, even going so far as to wish that I'd saved Sayer instead of my friends even though she knew what he did to me. Akiza told me how she'd dueled Yusei, met with her parents, and rescued her Papa from her own power, and apologized for assuming the worst of me.

I assured her that I understood, and that it was painful, and that if I'd asked her to learn the same lesson or never make the same mistake again on the first try, that it'd be near-impossible to even call me a friend. Akiza felt bad regardless, but I managed to cheer her up.

She also told me how Liquid and Okita protected the others from her powers during the majority of her duel with Yusei, and how grateful she was to them, though I smiled--laughing would hurt too much--and told her she should tell Liquid and Okita herself, then, if she was so grateful. She nodded and said she would.

Yusei came back in time for me to tell Akiza how Yusei and I met, and how I had no memory of my past. We were talking about our insecurities then, about how Akiza didn't like how strong her power was and how I didn't like my memories being tampered with, and I was always afraid I remembered the wrong thing because of what happened with Sayer.

So to try and prove myself right, I recounted Rally finding me and running away from Yusei to Akiza, explaining how intimidated I first felt by him, and she listened. When Yusei came back, I had just finished talking about how we broke through the city's pipeline.

"Yeah," Yusei interrupted us as he handed Akiza a bottle of chilled water, "we broke many laws that night. I'm still surprised Sylvia wanted to follow me that far."

"I... couldn't stay in the Satellite," I muttered, sipping my smoothie through a straw. "Besides, I... look up to you. A lot. If you left, I'd... well, I really didn't want you to leave. But I knew you would anyway. I wanted to join you. And..." I took a pause to wonder do I want to say this part? and eventually decided that yes, I do. "And... I really wanted to be useful to you in some way, so I made an excuse, that I'd go to search for my missing memories. I mean--it's kinda true anyway, but..." I shrugged half-heartedly, even with the injuries I had.

Yusei's gaze on me softened. "I see. Well, I'm glad you did, regardless. Not that it was for the best you got stuck with the Arcadia Movement, but at least you didn't get marked." He jabbed a thumb at his own face to make a point.

I nodded sadly. "I'm sorry I've been so much trouble up 'til this point."

"Don't be," Yusei said immediately. "This wasn't something you could just 'stop' on your own. You're here now. Apologizing won't change what happened."

I went to apologize again--for apologizing, this time--but wisely kept my trap shut. "Um... okay. Then... then I'll..."

It hurt to say this, because I overthought it so much now, I overthought everything so much now, that thinking and saying and repeating this to myself like a mantra or a religious chant of some kind hurt, but it was important to remember.

"I... I'm weak right now. And I've been... hurt, a lot. And I... I'm here right now, and I'm still feeling this pain, and it feels like I'm supposed to. Like... it's been my one constant this whole time, is that I'm in pain in some way, and I deserve it. And I know you'll tell me I don't, and maybe that's true, but... I need time to believe that," I murmured, glancing around at the monitors half-blocking the window's view just to avoid Yusei and Akiza's faces. "It feels like I can hear every little sound, or feel every little thing now. I mean, maybe I've always felt it, but it feels more real now. And it's still hard to believe I have friends, even though you guys make it so painfully obvious for me.

"It's strange, in a way, because a part of me says this is so obvious--and it is, and my mind knows it. But then my heart says something completely different, like, 'you're not supposed to have friends,' or 'you're not supposed to trust people so easily, because they'll hurt you--and they have done before,' and I don't know how to feel about that. Because I certainly don't remember being hurt. I mean, not until now--and clearly I was right, at least about some people--but... I didn't exactly want anything bad to happen to them. Sorry, I'm rambling..."

"No," Akiza told me, gently holding my hand in hers. "Go ahead and talk. You deserve it. We... we haven't heard you say anything for such a long time, and it's... it's nice to hear you speak."

Yusei's nod added to my shy acceptance. "O-okay," I said. "Well, I mean--what I'm trying to say, I think--is, uh, that I know I'm weak, a-and... And it hurts, and this all really hurts, and... and I can't do this alone, even if I wanna be able to. I... I'm nervous about this, but--but I had this dream, where... where Yusei told me some really important things that I really needed to know--" Yusei shifted in his place at that. "--and it made me think, y'know? Yusei said--in the dream, I think he said something along the lines of... 'You have to be strong for yourself,' or... or 'I know you might want me to save you--and I remember what you told me about winning duels with kindness and thought I'd try it myself--but I can't save you. No one else can save you. I can extend you that hand of kindness and you can take it, but I can't take my own hand for you. You have to make that choice yourself. The only one who can stop the storm you're brewing is yourself.' And basically, he went on about how I need to take that first step on my own--and I know I'm weak, and it's hard for me to do that on my own, but... but if I don't have to, then... t-then I'd like... to ask for your and Yusei's support. T-to help me get on my own two feet, and... and help me to defend myself better, so this doesn't happen again," I finally finished, struggling but eventually meeting Akiza in the eyes. "P-please. Please let me lean on you--be my crutches until I can stand by myself again. And--and if I take a long time, then... then I'm sorry, but... but please bear with me until then. I..." I blushed, turning away. "I think I still need my training wheels before I can take off on my own..."

And their smiles--if I could've taken a single picture with my mind, I would've taken that one--their smiles were so genuine and soft and kind and Akiza embraced me as carefully as she could into a hug and Yusei walked over and lightly ruffled my hair.

"Of course I will," Akiza told me. "It's... It's what friends do."

I nearly welled up with tears then, but Yusei was the one who broke me.

"I'd be a bad brother if I did any less."

And that smile--that warm smile-turned-shit-eating grin of his told me--

"...That... That wasn't a dream...?" My eyes were wide as saucers, I'm sure, and I flexed my hand the same way I'd done in the dream--no, in my drug-induced hazy state, when I called out for Big Bro to come take my hand and stay with me for a bit, when Yusei slipped off his glove and grasped it--the hand I still struggled to curl into a fist because of my scarred Mark, the one he'd grabbed before--and I felt so small and childish and spoiled in that moment that the embarrassment written across my face was immeasurable. It didn't help that I suddenly started to cry, too.

Instead of making a comment, I looked away from Yusei's unbearably soft eyes and Akiza's soft giggles.

"Aww! You're making her blush!"

"Having a family is important. Sylvia has nowhere to go at the moment, so I don't mind."

"I'm sure! I was wondering what your relationship was, but now that I'm thinking about it, it sort of makes sense like this. You seemed really close to be friends."

"Her kindness is a treasure we need to protect. There aren't many people out there like her."

"I can agree with that."

The more they talked, the redder I felt my face get. Eventually, I risked curling my fingers just a little tighter around Yusei's, thankfully avoiding the sharp pain that sometimes went with it.

I'd honestly thought I'd be a lot less... together when I woke up. But just Liquid's enthusiasm and Okita's careful watch, Akiza's... foreign but not unwelcome laughter and Yusei's genuine care and kindness and simply his presence all gave me a kind of life I didn't think I had. Not that crying was something people did when they had everything together, but I'd always been a bit of a crybaby anyway.

Besides, I was pretty certain that this was a good kind of crying, even if my eyes burned and I knew I'd probably need to drink a lot of water to make up for the dehydration I felt that day.

But just that acceptance on their part made me feel at ease. Yusei did strike me with a question, though, after the moment was over.

"Hey Sylvia, I've been meaning to ask..."

"Hm?"

A strange--I keep describing his expressions as such, but they really are--expression crossed his face, like it was somewhere between thinking and concern or doubt of some kind. I sat up a little straighter, waiting patiently for him to ask his question.

"Well... You do care about me, right? You wouldn't lie to me or keep secrets from me if you... didn't think it were necessary?"

Where was that coming from? With a worried frown, I shook my head. "You're the first person I'd go to if something went wrong," I told him. "I... I don't know how to keep secrets, Yusei. Not my own, at least. I've told you everything I know. Is this about my past?"

Yusei nodded. "Sort of. Goodwin told me you knew him, that you were close friends. He also mentioned something about you not keeping secrets from those you care about, and he tried to antagonize me, saying something along the lines of, 'I guess you're not as close as I thought.' "

"Goodman said that?" I twisted my face in disgust and confusion. "Well that's just mean, isn't it? Why would I be friends with someone like that?"

The look on Yusei's face was one partially filled with relief. "I don't know," he said after taking a moment of silence for himself, "but I think he might have some answers about you that no one else does. Specifically..."

He pointed to my bandaged arm, and soon I realized what he meant. "...my mark?"

"Why it's so different from everyone else's, and why we hadn't seen it in the vision. Maybe even what happened to force you to lose your memory," he added on. "We'll be meeting with Goodwin soon, now that the five of us Signers have gathered together. He'll explain everything to us. Hopefully..." That last part was added with not a small amount of distaste, I noticed, so I kept it in mind to keep my guard up while we visited Goodman--no, Goodwin's place.

"Good...win is going to want something from this, isn't he?" I asked. "Who is he, anyway? Why's he so insistent on... on everything involving us?"

Akiza shifted at my side while Yusei shook his head. "I can't say for sure. What he told me is that his organization--Iliaster, he called it--is meant to prolong the legend from the People of the Stars. They're the ones who--"

"--came up with the legend of the Crimson Dragon, right? Because the Crimson Dragon visited them in the past and assigned five of their people as Signers to fight against the dark god," I finished, nearly automatically. "I... I know. D-don't ask me how, but... I know."

Yusei nodded awkwardly. "...right. Goodwin says he wants us Signers to gather together because of that legend. We have to band together to fight the Dark Signers. And as much as I hate trusting Goodwin of all people, we don't have much of a choice."

"Something about Goodma--sorry, Goodwin--sort of rubs me the wrong way," I muttered to them both, adding under my breath, "How do I keep messing his name up? It's so easy. Sorry, anyway... I've never... well, I don't remember ever meeting him in my life, but... just... just l-looking at him gives me the shivers, a-and I dunno why."

Even my heart rate monitor started accelerating just at the mention of him, displaying my anxiety loud and clear.

Yusei rested his hand on my head again. "Don't worry," he told me, even as I avoided his gaze. "I'll be there with you the whole time. I won't let him do anything to you. I promise."

"You're always protecting me..." I mumbled. "Always..."

Akiza rested her hand on my wrist, too, drawing my attention to her. "I'll protect you as well. You... You and your friends--Liquid and Okita--they've... given me good ideas on how I can properly utilize my powers for good."

I felt guilty relying on people all over again, when I was supposed to be able to protect myself, but... well, they wouldn't feel happy if I kept beating myself up over it, and I'd much rather they be happy, so I straightened my back and perked up a bit. "Yeah?" I asked hopefully. "Do you still hate your power--or your mark?"

Akiza shook her head with a smile. "No. Luckily Yusei was here to duel some sense into me. I'm alright now. Or... well, I'm starting to be. And by the way--my mom and dad are here. When you recover enough to walk, you should meet them."

Akiza's mom and dad? To be completely honest, the first emotion I felt was excitement for her, over being able to meet her parents. And then a wave of envy washed over me. I wish I had parents, too. That kind of thing.

Still, I pasted on a smile. "I'd be glad to meet them," I told her. "I'm certain they're lovely people."

Lovely enough that Akiza had at one point felt safer in the Arcadia Movement than with them, but it sounded as though things have been smoothed over with Yusei's help.

Always with Yusei's help.

After I finished my smoothie, I was left alone. A few days passed since then, with visitors coming in and out. Officer Trudge came to visit me, and I was relieved to find he was unharmed even after I left him to dive in for my falling friends. He claimed he hadn't had the chance to settle his "debt" to me, whatever that meant. I thought he'd settled it a while ago, when he left Yusei and I pass freely, but apparently not? He still felt indebted, for whatever reason. But because he was probably just too stubborn to say that he cared about my well-being, I simply went along and told him I looked forward to the day he finally did pay it off, to which he responded with a dutiful grunt and a barely audible mutter.

Not only have I been visiting the Spirit World more and more often in my sleep--mostly just a small portion of it, where I walked from island to island with Pikeru and Curran, meeting the Weather Painters one by one--and healing as a result of that alone, but Liquid and Okita have even been invited into the room on several occasions where I'm transferred between drug refills and bandage changes, allowing them--mostly Okita, but Liquid supports him with power buffs--to use their psychic powers to heal me. One time, Akiza even came in to try doing the same thing, and Okita had to provide her with healing cards to be able to heal me.

She was hesitant, wondering if there was a chance it would backfire and hurt me instead, but I managed to convince her. "I've dueled you twice now and still haven't left. You think a little mistake like that will suddenly end it all?"

"Yes," she'd said.

"Okay, poor choice of words. Look, if you mess up, Liquid and Okita are right here. Plus we're in a hospital and I can always visit the Spirit World to heal back up again. It'll delay us a little, but I don't think you'll kill me."

In the end, Akiza gave me the boost I needed to finally stand up, flex my fingers, and take on physical therapy. It hurt, but my sprain was healed and although my muscle mass had severely deteriorated over time, I could easily build it back up again through simple training.

Not that I was ever strong to begin with, but at least I had enough strength in my arms to properly shove someone, so that's nice. The first chance I had, I pushed Liquid in the way of a broken drinking fountain and got him all wet. Akiza held back a laugh, but I could see her composure quickly failing.

My old clothes that I'd worn at Yusei's old place were long gone by now, buried under rubble or burned when I changed into my Arcadia uniform again. Liquid and Okita had nothing else to their names, either, save for their decks and Duel Disks. So we decided to go shopping and change out of our wretched attire.

I would've brought Akiza with me, but she was visiting the police station with Yusei to check out the evidence they'd uncovered from the Arcadia Movement headquarters containing video footage.

My footage, Liquid's, and Okita's were most likely included in there. We were given the offer to see it for ourselves, but Yusei gave us an easy opportunity to opt out, so we did. It hurt, thinking about that place. The only good that I'd seen come from it were my friends.

As we walked around in the clothing store, we got some strange stares, which made sense. I felt small with everyone's eyes on me, but Liquid and Okita seemed to soak it up like absolute champions.

...and then we chose our outfits, and I realized these two dress like complete and utter NERDS.

I had chosen a cloth jacket with a white base, several pockets, and pink-white sleeves of a different material. The jacket resembled a short dress, which I wore over the top of a white polo shirt and pink skirt--and of course black tights, because I'd never forget to wear such a crucial thing--and I'd found something in the folds of my clothing that I never realized I owned before, yet felt really, really special to me.

A round, turquoise stone embedded onto a thin red ribbon. I knew exactly how to tie it--dunno how, but I did--and that it's meant to go around the neck. Putting it on and tying it under my polo shirt's collar felt like lifting a strange weight off my shoulders that I hadn't realized was there. I felt elated to wear it, like it was meant to be there, and like I never should've taken it off.

I kept it on under my jacket, as a familiar weight and a reminder that I have a past, even if I can't find it.

But then I found them. Liquid didn't have a bad look, honestly. He looked good with the beige khakis and the argyle sweater-vest over a dress shirt. He even had a red tie to go with it, like the dapper man he was. Still, it was such... formal attire for what we were doing, where we were going.

"You're... really wearing that to the Satellite?" I asked him skeptically.

Liquid, after he'd been staring at something for a little too long, cleared his throat awkwardly. "U-um... yeah. It just... fits, I guess? I dunno. Should I change?"

"No, no!" I quickly backpedaled. "It looks great, really! But, Liquid, we're fighting Dark Signers. You're gonna be dressed like that, you're certain?"

"W-well..." He reddened and avoided my gaze. Fair enough. "Well... Akiza wears that dress everywhere," he finally sputtered.

After a moment of contemplation, I shrugged. "Okay, fair point. Where's Okita?"

"Still changing."

"I'm right here," Okita's voice said behind me. I turned to see him, holding his plastic bag stuffed with his old uniform.

And goodness gracious did his outfit say quite a bit about him.

I've never been a stickler for fashion statements, nor am I an expert in the field at all. As long as I look cute enough and presentable enough, that's fine by me. I don't try and put on makeup for this perfect image that I know I could never maintain.

But compared to Okita, I felt like the belle of the shopping mall.

He was literally such a nerd, you would not believe it! He had on a polo shirt--solid-color, plain, simple. He had dress shorts, like the kind Leo would wear--the kind Leo did wear, when he visited the Movement--socks that climbed halfway up to the knees and dress shoes. A. Literal. Nerd.

And it fit with his glasses so well, I couldn't even say that he looked bad in it. It was literally the perfect outfit for him. The most Okita outfit I could think of. Meanwhile, Liquid looked like he was about to propose to a girl for prom.

Liquid and I had to hold back our laughter, because we didn't want Okita to feel self-conscious of how he looked.

Still kinda funny, though. He's an actual, total nerd.

Anyway, we checked out and got a bite to eat, then met back up at the hospital with Yusei and the others. We were driven in a limousine all the way to Goodma--Goodwin's manor.

Akiza seems to still find it amusing that I keep messing up Goodwin's name. So does Yusei, frankly.

Although the drive didn't take long, it felt as though it stretched on longer than it should've. Even my active imagination wasn't a suitable escape for my worries and fears to come crawling at the back of my mind. I wound up clinging to Liquid's hand, as he was the closest to me and Akiza and Yusei sat together in front of me. I would've clung to Okita too, since he was beside me, but he was actively engaging in a conversation with Leo the whole ride through, and I didn't want to interrupt him.

Finally, though, we made it and filed out of the car with a woman named Mina right behind us. I stood toward the back of our group, still holding onto Liquid's hand. Liquid squeezed it reassuringly whenever I shuffled a little closer to him, and Yusei seemed to notice because he stood just in front of me--not enough to block my view, but in a subtly protective way that could've come across as his determined interest in what Goowin would have to say.

"Wow, this place is huge! So this is Director Goodwin's home?" Leo dared to ask when no one else would breathe.

The grand doors opened and revealed a man--a tall man, silver-haired and immaculately-dressed, clearly rich, clearly wealthy, and I recognized him from the Fortune Cup.

Not just from the Fortune Cup, my mind echoed at me. Something before that.

For some reason, my Mark ached, and I couldn't help the sudden sensation of suffocating fear I felt just looking at the man.

So close. In person. He's here. This is him. This is the man.

The man that ruined everything.

...everything?

"I've been awaiting your arrival," he said calmly. His eyes trained on me, his smile curling into something... scary, is the only way I can describe it. "My dear friend, Sylvia... You have no idea how relieved I am that you're safe. I certainly hope those charlatans didn't hurt you too badly."

Charlatans? Was he talking about the Arcadia Movement? Or was it something else?

I... I tried to speak, but all I could manage was a whimper, and Yusei stood rigidly in front of me, suddenly on guard.

His smile dropped a little. Bad sign. You did something wrong. He's not supposed to frown. "What a shame."

Bad sign. Bad sign. Bad sign bad sign bad sign bad sign red flags red flags VERY RED FLAGS--

"Well, in any case, welcome to my home, Signers."

Every instinct in me was both screaming at me to run and to stay. I was stuck between two extremes. My grip climbed from Liquid's hand to his sleeve, my knuckles turning white. The woman behind me--Mina--gave me a look, but I didn't bother to see it. Not when... Not when I needed to maintain eye contact with Goodwin.

Goodwin. How could I have ever even thought to mess up his name? How could I have forgotten such a horrible name?

Why was it so horrible?

"It's taken quite a bit of time, but I'm happy that I can finally welcome you here."

This is it.

What's it?!

"As always, you're suspect at best and conniving at worst," Jack retorted.

Akiza lowly muttered to Yusei, "Are you sure we can trust him? Goodwin held your friends hostage to force you into entering the Fortune Cup. After everything, we're still...?"

"I don't forgive him for everything he's done," Yusei responded in turn.

I didn't know our friends were held hostage for the Fortune Cup. Yusei never said a word of that to me.

"But something's clearly going down that's threatening to destroy the world, and Satellite--my home--is the battleground. Goodwin's unfortunately the only one with the answers."

"So that's why. If that's your decision, then I trust you," Akiza whispered back.

I didn't know...

"So, hey, when're you gonna tell us everything?" Leo piped up.

"I don't recall ever inviting you."

Bad sign bad sign bad sign--

"You're not a Signer, so you have no place here. Please leave."

"I-I'm not coming without Leo! The two of us are a package deal!"

"Fine. But you two."

I flinched when he faced our direction. He was directly referring to Liquid and Okita. I could see it in how they glared him right back.

Goodwin's silver-steel gaze didn't waver. "You are not welcome here, either."

You can't chase them away, they're my friends!

"T-they have power! They're not useless!" I immediately blurted out just a little too loudly, catching everyone's attention. "They're... They're psychic duelists! They--they can heal, and fight just like anyone else. I--we know that the Dark Signers are stronger, but... but they can still aid in the battle! P-please, Mr. Goodwin..."

He stared me in the eyes--a terrifying, chilling thing he often did when he contemplated whether or not to dispose of me now or keep entertaining my strange thought process. But finally, finally he gave in.

"At the very least, your logic is sound," Goodwin muttered under his breath. "Very well. Your little extras can stay."

Luna breathed a sigh of relief, but I knew better than to lower my guard now. We'd only just gotten inside. The only time we could sigh a breath of relief was when we left the place.

"Very well. Then I'll lead you all inside. This way, please." Goodwin turned his back to us and we walked in layers, almost. First, Jack walked in fearlessly, followed closely by the woman, Mina. Then Luna and Leo followed, with Yusei and Akiza close behind. Finally, it was myself, Liquid, and Okita taking the rear. I wanted desperately to switch from Liquid's grasp to Yusei's, but Akiza was clearly anxious too, and he had to be there for her. So I stuck close with my own friends, too.

All I knew was that I felt chills and bad vibes from the place. Hurt, in a kind of way that I didn't know was possible. The halls were pristine and far too clean to be lived in, but it was Goodwin's house nonetheless.

He led us to an elevator that went deep underground, and when it opened up again, we were faced with a near altar-looking place, lined with blazed torches on either side of the walkway. Our collective footsteps echoed through the halls with each painful strike of a shoe on the ground.

This feels familiar... Why?

At first, I thought Leo was going to say something again, but it was Luna who spoke up now. "Where're you taking us?"

"I've taken you here once before, King," Goodwin replied evenly. "And you as well, my friend."

Me. He's talking about me. I've been here before.

"I'm not the King anymore. You're talking about someone else."

"Then from now on, I will simply call you Jack Atlas."

We finally arrived at an engraved, ancient-looking door. I didn't get a chance to examine its carvings before it slid apart for us, sensing our presence. The harsh sound of stone rubbing against stone resounded through the echoing hallway as Goodwin didn't stop leading us through.

The room we entered was one cloaked in pitch darkness. The doors closed behind us and I flinched, holding Liquid's arm tight, when suddenly the room gained speckled stars and a red glow from below.

It was cold. I remembered this place well, but I didn't remember it. This place... It was the cause of a lot of pain. For me, for someone else maybe... for many others? I couldn't quite tell. But it hurt just to look at it, just to be in its presence. My whimpers were much louder than I meant them to be. By that, I mean that they were audible at all.

Liquid rested a hand on one of mine and another on my head. "It's okay," he whispered to me. "We'll be out of here soon."

I nodded, feeling small, and turned to take in the familiar temple before me.

Surrounded with the mark of the Crimson Dragon fully emblazed on the ground around it was a tall structure, a temple with the gate depicting the Crimson Dragon.

"The... t-the temple of the People of the Stars..." I mumbled, more audible so that others could hear me.

"That's correct," Goodwin said, and I could hear the smile in his voice as he hummed pleasantly. "This symbol, the emblem of the Crimson Dragon, is a symbol of the Signers and has been passed down as a legend among the stars."

Yusei, Akiza, Jack, and Luna's marks pulsed with warmth and glow. Mine did too, but its glow was much softer, much less intense than theirs were.

You don't belong here. This isn't your domain.

It was a voice in my head. My own or something else's, I couldn't say for certain. But something rung true about what it said.

I don't belong.

The mark emblazed on the ground reacted to their marks and a projection of the Crimson Dragon--almost real-looking in its depiction--showed itself, with its long, slender body weaving around the structure, wings spread wide for all to see.

Its signature cry was impossible to miss. I shivered.

"The first time we saw it," Yusei began speaking, "we staked our pride on a Turbo Duel in an empty stadium and pitted our dragons against one another."

"When they clashed, that's when it appeared," Jack added.

"It..." I swallowed, trying to speak again through the lump that had formed in my throat. Just my one word caught everyone's attention--everyone's surprise, I'm sure, over my admittance to having been there. "It was like a dance. A clash of dragon versus dragon, following a rhythm I... couldn't match in the slightest. The Crimson Dragon seemed to hear it, though. It... its cry put a harsh stop to the dance, almost like it was calling the performance off. 'Dance when there are people to watch,' it sounded like. It... succeeded, I think, in getting them to pause until there was an audience besides just myself to fully understand their spectacle."

I heard Goodwin smile again. I don't know how you can hear someone smiling, only that I did. "Is that so?" he asked me kindly, his voice coated in layers of honey and sugar. "A dance of the dragons, you say?"

I held back another flinch and nodded, but I couldn't quite meet his gaze. "Y-yeah... A dance. That's... That's what it looked like, to me."

A deadly, powerful, beautiful dance of the dragons.

"And why, do you think, did the Crimson Dragon wish for Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend to save their battle for another time, when people were watching?"

He knew what I was going to say. He was goading me into it. Something flickered in the back of my mind, like the spark of a memory waiting to uncover itself. "To... to wait until... Until all the Signers were in one place," I went on. "T-to lead everyone to the same spot, to have time for all five dragons to be in the same place. I didn't have my dragon yet. We didn't know Luna and Leo, or even Akiza. It was... It was only when Yusei and I split ways that... that we found them and brought them together."

Me with Akiza, Yusei with Leo and Luna. Jack was already in his designated place.

His smile--Goodwin's smile widened. "In other words, it was destiny. It was fate. The Crimson Dragon guided you and Yusei to New Domino City and sent you on your ways to find the necessary Signers and bring them back."

Yusei gave me an indignant look. I flinched again and Liquid's grip on me tightened ever-so-slightly. "The Crimson Dragon guided us?" Yusei turned his attention to Goodwin. "No, that was all your plan. The Crimson Dragon had nothing to do with it!"

"We battled and settled things all on our own!" Jack added. "The Crimson Dragon has nothing to do with it!"

"It was the Crimson Dragon's power that led you to that event," Goodwin went on, undeterred. "I'm only doing what the Crimson Dragon wishes."

My knees felt weak.

"You expect us to believe that?" Yusei accused him.

"One of you already does," Goodwin answered with a grin. "Isn't that right, my friend? Sylvia?"

Everyone stared at me. They stared at me, judging and accusing and indignant and betrayed and they stared at me with those looks in their eyes like they wished I didn't--

"I... I-I'm just... reciting what I remember..." I mumbled softly, my voice octaves higher than normal--and that's saying something. "I... I-I dunno wh-what to believe anymore..."

Goodwin frowned.

Yusei turned back to him with a fiery glare. "Don't prey on her weakness," he warned him. "Her memory was completely gone before, and even she can't make full sense of it. Sylvia's not your little toy or agent."

Goodwin stared at me with that look. That disapproving look, where I'd done the wrong thing. "Well," he said after the silence stretched a moment too long, "it's up to you whether you believe it or not. You are Signers, however, and that is a fact. You cannot escape your destiny. Ever."

"Our destiny as Signers..." Akiza turned her gaze down to her arm, where her mark was aglow under her glove. "The more people were afraid of me, the more they hated me. Anger burned inside of me, causing my power to grow."

"But if you didn't have that power," Goodwin egged on, "you would never have met each other. Would you?"

Again his gaze turned to me and I flinched.

"...if... If I hadn't been at the stadium," I spoke--I didn't quite mumble, but I certainly didn't shout, "and if I couldn't visit the Spirit World... Sayer wouldn't have kidnapped me and I would never have joined the Arcadia Movement. I'd... never have met Liquid or Okita, my roommates at the time, or Akiza, the top-ranking duelist in the Movement. The one I pursued to call my friend because I... I felt her pain."

"That Mark is a symbol given only to those chosen by the Crimson Dragon," Goodwin continued. "The destiny of the Signers links and guides your individual fates. And the same applies to you, Luna."

Luna perked a little at being addressed as well, glancing down at her glowing mark. "My destiny as a Signer... I... had forgotten my childhood for a long time. My soul was in a different world. I lived with Duel Monster spirits, with a friend from afar."

With me.

"We met Ancient Fairy Dragon in that world. I never thought what that strange meeting meant. But now I know. Rescuing Ancient Fairy Dragon is my destiny, too. It's my wish! I want to rescue her and the Spirit World, so that they can live peacefully again!"

Everyone had their own reasons for being Signers, for gaining their abilities and following their destinies. Meanwhile, I felt intermixed amongst all of them. Luna with the Spirit World and my promise to Ancient Fairy Dragon and to her to protect her, until Ancient Fairy Dragon is rescued. Akiza and her abilities, and how I reached out in friendship to her so that she wouldn't have to shoulder her pain alone anymore. Yusei and... my clinginess, with how I stuck by his side despite how obviously stupid and dangerous it had turned out to be.

I don't regret it at all, but at the same time, I don't really... have my own reason to be here, do I?

"As you can see, it is fate," Goodwin recited. "Since you have the same marks, you've been chosen as the reincarnations of the legendary Signers. It doesn't matter if you want it or not. You're at the mercy of destiny. It was decided thousands of years ago that you would meet again."

I wasn't chosen. I don't belong.

"Meet each other as Signers..." Akiza repeated under her breath.

"Our destiny...?" Luna murmured in awe.

The Crimson Dragon before us unleashed a powerful roar and everyone's Marks' glows faded. Mine followed shortly after, as if lagging behind.

Leo stammered a bit before he finally spoke up again. "H-hey, aren't you forgetting something important? About the matching marks... Luna said that four of the five marks matched, but no one here has the Head of the Crimson Dragon, a-and Sylvia has... a hook of some kind. What's that all about? If there really are five Signers, shouldn't they have the same marks as the ones from the past?"

For once, Goodwin didn't look angry at Leo's intervention. He answered the question normally.

"That, I'm afraid, is something even I am uncertain of."

A ripple of confusion passed through our group, but Yusei stomped a foot forward accusingly. "But you said--"

"I know what I said, Mr. Fudo," Goodwin interrupted him. "And I assure you, I was not lying on that front. However, it was merely speculation. It is possible that Sylvia's mark is a placeholder until the Dragon chooses to bestow the Head upon someone important. However, that is only a guess on my part. Rest assured, you are all Signers. There is no changing that."

A placeholder? Does that mean my Mark can change?

He snapped his fingers and suddenly the world changed. Dark sky speckled with distant stars and crimson glow abruptly snapped into blue sky, overlooking the Nazca Lines. We seemed to be floating in the air, but then I started wondering if perhaps this room was lined with virtual reality technology, seeing as we clearly weren't falling. I could still feel the ground solid beneath my feet.

"Thousands of years ago, the Crimson Dragon arrived and sealed away evil avatars into the ground. That seal came to be known as the Nazca Lines. We were forbidden to tell outsiders about these facts. And now..."

The Nazca Lines--the mark of the Spider upon which we were standing--began to glow with ethereal purple light. Everyone shifted their stance somehow, either straightening their back or, in my case, flinching a little.

"There have been mysterious cases of the Nazca Lines vanishing." On cue, the Spider disappeared from the ground below. "This is all the work of Dark Signers."

Dark Signers. I still didn't know much about them. Yusei seemed to understand, for the most part, and Jack and... even Leo and Luna did, too. But I didn't, and Akiza was similarly out of the loop, I imagined.

"Much like you, they have the marks of the Dark Signers," Goodwin explained.

Yusei took over some of the explanation for everyone on this part. "They create a special field that's impossible to escape," he told us. "All of the attacks are real."

"Right," Liquid spoke up beside me. "I... W-we heard... We were across the hall from..." He stammered hesitantly, shooting apologetic looks to Akiza, but he went on after clearing his throat. "We hid in the hall across from Sayer, because w-we were looking for Sylvia at the time. But we overheard him say something--no, his opponent said it--something about Dark Signer powers being even more powerful than that of psychic duelists."

Yusei nodded in response to them, but went on. "They also had cards they called Dark Synchro Monsters."

"Dark Synchro? That's... possible?" I asked.

Yusei nodded. "Apparently so, yeah. I fought one myself."

"Y-you...--" I had to save my surprise, so I swallowed my response and let it die in the back of my throat, bringing my attention back to the ground like I was supposed to.

"Dark Synchro Summoning uses a Dark Tuner to Synchro Summon a negative-Level Monster. That duel defied any and all logic," Yusei finished darkly.

"That's right," Goodwin hummed. "If our duels are based on the power of life, theirs are based on the power of the dead."

"And what power would that be?"

"When the Dark Signers appear, so do the geoglyphs. Now that they're here, New Domino City is in a life-or-death situation."

"...that's at least true. I've seen it with my own eyes." Yusei's face was turned away from me, but from his wavering tone, I could tell it was absolutely serious. "They sacrificed tons of innocent lives in the Satellite. They were victims!"

Leo and Luna flinched, grabbing onto one another for comfort. Okita finally spoke up.

"It wasn't just in Satellite."

Liquid was quick to pick up what he was putting down, but I felt too stupid to understand it.

"W... what do you mean...?"

Okita avoided my gaze, staring straight at Goodwin. "In the Arcadia Movement. Everyone trapped in those flames--including those who couldn't escape the building--was sacrificed that day. Earthbound Immortals, right? Their gods ate the souls of nearly every living thing in the city's vicinity. Liquid and I only barely escaped having our souls taken with the use of our inferior psychic powers."

I could hear Liquid swallow thickly and squeezed his arm a little in response, but I couldn't do anything to help him. I was in no position to.

Yusei muttered something in his breath. "I knew it..."

The pause was long and painful, but Goodwin simply went on. "Their abilities are beyond what I anticipated. As a result of the Dark Signers' actions, there are several hundred people missing from the vicinity of the Arcadia Movement headquarters."

Several... hundred... I wanted so badly to faint.

The scene changed to the City, replaying the events of what happened... that night. Flames overlapping each other, each a geoglyph representing a different creature.

A lizard and a hummingbird, just like I'd seen outside the window. And then, from those flames, the giant black and neon creatures that emerged that nearly reached the full height of the building.

"These creatures, the Earthbound Immortals, are the gods of the Dark Signers. They are summoned by sacrificing humans."

Jack stomped harshly on the ground. "What happened to the victims, then?!"

"I don't know."

I could feel Jack's anger and desperation coming off of him in waves. "Those whose souls were stolen..." he murmured too quietly. "Are... are they gone, for good? Are... they dead?"

Dead. That reminded me... I'd...

I'd killed someone. I murdered someone in cold blood using nothing but my Mark and my cards.

"Every moment is a battle. If you do nothing, the City, Satellite, and every citizen within will fall into the hands of the Dark Signers. Just like in your vision, New Domino City will be destroyed, and the Satellite along with it."

My grip tightened.

"When you say everyone in the City and Satellite..." Luna spoke up.

Leo finished her thought. "T-that includes Dexter, Mr. Tanner, and Old Man Yanagi too, r-right...?"

The silence spoke for itself and the twins shared horrified looks.

I'm so sorry, Luna.

"Do you see now why this battle is so important? Signers and Dark Signers represent the light and the dark respectively. Only the Signers can defeat the Dark Signers and save everyone from certain destruction. There is no one else who can take your place."

Our silence was tense. Akiza grasped her arm idly, deep in thought. Luna tugged absently at her sleeve, shooting uncertain looks at Leo now and again, while Leo looked around at everything but Goodwin. Liquid and Okita shared a meaningful look over my head, while I kept my eyes and head trained on the ground.

Jack was the first to break the silence. "I don't give a crap about destiny!" he finally declared, startling us all out of our stupor.

"Jack..."

"I'll decide what I need to do! Not some stupid dragon, not your magic glue organisation--"

"His what?--"

"--He's talking about Iliaster," Liquid whispered to me.

"--oh."

"Goodwin, there's one last thing I wanted to ask you," Yusei interrupted us, which, honestly, fair.

"What is it, Yusei?"

"When I returned to Satellite, a former friend whom I thought dead appeared before me as a Dark Signer," he recounted.

I fought a Dark Signer, you know.

That... that Dark Signer was his friend? His supposedly dead friend?

Jack's gaze snapped to him. Did... he know something?

Yusei was quick to explain, though. "Kalin Kessler used to be the leader of Jack and my duel team. He became a... powerful Dark Signer. His Hundred-Eyes Dragon had powerful abilities, but..."

"...But his real goal was to summon and even more terrifying monster," Jack continued. From the sound of it, he was there for the fight. I didn't know how, but I trusted him on it.

"That's... when I learned that he gathered tons of Satellite citizens in order to sacrifice them for it."

"It was a hell of a lightshow, emphasis on hell," Jack added. "They all transformed into light and disappeared into a painfully huge, pulsing heart. One pump for every soul. When the duel was done, there was no one left amongst the flames save for Crow and Yusei. I'm still struggling to grasp that Kalin now has this horrifying power."

I didn't know who Crow was, but I assumed it was a friend of theirs.

"Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu, the summoned Monster, wasn't affected by Spells or Traps and didn't take any Monster attacks. At all. It was an unbeatab--unbelievable goliath. If my Duel Runner hadn't malfunctioned and stopped the duel..."

Yusei took a shuddering breath, his voice reaching an all-time quiet.

"...I would've died."

I flinched and closed my eyes, but I couldn't close my ears. This was too important.

"Why did Kalin become a Dark Signer?"

"...It's better if you don't know."

"Answer us! Who are the Dark Signers?!" Jack demanded. "Yusei and I have to risk our lives in a duel against our old friend!"

"I'm willing to risk my life to protect the City and Satellite," Yusei pushed further. "But if there's a way to return Kalin back to normal--"

"There is none."

The tone was final, strict, almost angry but not in a way I'd ever heard before. Not in... the way that he's angry at someone else. Just... angry.

"There's no way to return a Dark Signer back to their former selves. None."

The way he said it almost sounded as though he'd spoken from experience. I almost grew curious--sympathetic, even, when the moment was cut short.

"What do you mean?"

"...Dark Signers are the souls of the dead that now have special abilities. In other words, they no longer exist."

Everyone in the group sucked in a breath.

"N-no longer exist?"

"W-w-what does that mean?"

"No way... That can't mean--"

"Kalin is... already dead," Yusei bit out.

"Bullshit! The dead can't come back to life!" Jack raged. "I saw him! We saw him with our own eyes! He was right within our reach! He's not dead!"

"Jack," Goodwin said calmly, turning to fully face us again. I hadn't paid attention to when he turned away, too busy staring at the all-too-interesting floor. "There is a way for the dead to return. The negative-Level Dark Synchro Monsters represent the envoys of the afterlife. This phenomenon is precisely what can drag a person's hate-filled, darkness-covered soul from the gates of the underworld to the land of the living." When no one had anymore questions or objections, Goodwin wrapped up his grim presentation to us. "Destiny is moving forward. There is no way to turn back. Either you defeat the Dark Signers or this world dies with us. It is all in your hands." He paused, allowing everyone a tense moment to let the words sink in. "Before giving me your answer, think carefully about what you should do. But there isn't much time."

With that, he left us be as the world turned back to the temple we'd seen before. He walked behind us, straight through the door. But before he left...

"Ah, that reminds me. Sylvia, a moment with you, if you would. I have some... private matters to discuss with you."

No. No no no no. This isn't good.

"Without your entourage, please."

Yusei watched me, surprised and... and half-betrayed with the way he looked at me.

I slowly unclenched my white fists from Liquid's brand-new clothing and stepped away, nodding stiffly.

"Y... yes sir. R-right away, sir."

I couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye as my footsteps echoed just behind Goodwin's when he led us out of the temple room. The door shut behind us with a final echo.

===

(Fun fact: This chapter, not including this afternote, took 9957 words. If I'd continued just a little longer, it would've been 10,000 words in just one chapter. But, meh. Whatever. Doesn't quite matter to me, honestly. I'm... kinda satisfied with this one, actually. The tension, the everything... Despite it being very repetitive and very "read-the-subtitles-on-the-Japanese-version-and-then-paste-them-over"-like, that final moment makes it all worth it for me. Although if I read through it now, it probably wouldn't, actually.

Welp. Time to either write more of this or try and reignite my old MHA/MCYT hyperfixation fanfic on AO3. If you wanna see me there, I'm YourLittleSylveon on there. The fic is called "Fuck Everyone Else, I'm Gonna Be a Hero!" and is Tommy- and Tubbo-centric. Be warned for lots of adult themes, though. (although I guess if you've gotten this far into the fic, you'll be fine in that one.)

Anyway, Sylvia out. Peace!)