Chapter 65

"If I'm reading the situation correctly, your brother probably got caught in the Shadow Game ritual space, lost the duel, and couldn't get out in time when the space collapsed. Whatever absorbed him took him somewhere."

Rowan paused, then gave her the partial answer he could offer.

Alexis had leaned in slightly as she listened.

"Somewhere like where?"

"I can't say exactly. Could be the dimension where Duel Monster spirits exist. Could be somewhere else entirely on this side of things."

He shook his head. "What I do think is that the next time something connected to Shadow Games comes up here, there's a reasonable chance his trail will show up again."

He didn't know the precise coordinates of where Atticus Rhodes, who sounded from all available information like an absolute handful, was currently located.

But one thing was reasonably certain. Before too long, and largely due to something Chancellor Sheppard was probably already giving himself headaches over, Atticus would be back on this island.

Just, in all likelihood, on the opposing side of a duel disk.

"I see."

The small drop in Alexis's expression was brief. She steadied quickly.

It wasn't the definitive answer she'd come hoping for, and she knew it.

But it was more than she'd had before. The important part was clear: her brother had disappeared, but he wasn't dead.

And the next encounter with Shadow Games might bring something more concrete.

"Thank you, Rowan."

The look in her eyes went softer. She smiled, and it was a genuinely warm one.

"The Queen of Obelisk Blue smiling like that is a genuinely rare sight," Rowan observed, waving off the thanks with a lazy hand and settling back against the tree to look at the scenery.

"Someone should commemorate the occasion."

"I heard that! Don't say rude things!"

Her face went briefly red, eyes narrowing with the particular expression of someone who is more flustered than actually angry.

Then she looked at him again, sunbathing without a care in the world, hands folded under his head, half-squinting against the light.

A short laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

This person, she thought.

Infuriating. And somehow, inexplicably, interesting.

...

That evening, back in his room after washing up, Rowan lay on his bed and tried to reconstruct what, exactly, had been discussed during the afternoon's "strategy meeting."

He couldn't find much.

After the conversation about Atticus, neither of them had spoken for a while.

And then, at some unidentifiable point in the afternoon, the strategy meeting had quietly converted itself into two people leaning against a tree in companionable silence, sharing the sunlight.

He stared at the ceiling.

Was this disrespectful to the Paradox Brothers?

They were, technically speaking, legendary tag duelists.

They'd stood across a field from Yugi Muto. That put them in a specific category, something like a minor character who had once thrown a shuriken at Hashirama Senju from across a mountain range and lived to tell about it.

They had credibility.

Then again, Alexis had watched the Stealth Bird deck work in real time the previous night, and Rowan knew her Cyber Girl deck well enough from their own duel to anticipate where the overlaps would fall.

The coordination didn't actually require extensive planning.

And if things got complicated, he now had a once-per-duel ability to reach into his entire card collection and pull whatever he needed.

He felt fine about it.

From the other side of his wall, however, Syrus was not fine about it.

"What do I do, bro. The legendary tag duelists are tomorrow and I just keep feeling like I'm going to drag you down. Can we please go over the tactics one more time?"

"You really never let up, Syrus. Alright, let's go through it again."

Jaden's voice followed.

"Though honestly, if even Rowan, with all his skill, went out and spent a whole afternoon discussing strategy with Alexis, that really says something about how seriously we need to take these guys."

Rowan stared at the wall.

Was that misrepresentation on his part?

He fished out the two premium earplugs he'd purchased from the academy shop for exactly this kind of situation, inserted them, and was asleep within minutes.

The Kuriboh retreated into the deck pouch without being asked.

The night passed.

...

The following morning, after a full breakfast and a yawn he didn't bother to hide, Rowan arrived at the high-end dueling arena where he'd previously faced Chazz Princeton.

Jaden, Chumley, and Syrus were beside him.

Chancellor Sheppard and Professor Crowler were already waiting near the field.

So was Alexis.

The observation seats around the arena held a scattered but attentive audience of Academy students who had apparently gotten word that legendary duelists were involved and decided the educational value was worth showing up early.

Rowan scanned the faces and spotted Bastion Misawa, Zane Truesdale, and Professor Banner among others.

He noted, without surprise, that this group seemed less interested in watching the legendary opponents and considerably more interested in watching Rowan and Jaden.

Especially Bastion.

Rowan had the distinct impression that Bastion had come specifically because he felt it was only fair that other people should also experience whatever he'd experienced when he'd been on the receiving end of Rowan's deck.

A sense of community. A desire to share.

He was here to watch Rowan deliver warmth and healing to the legendary tag duelists, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.