The Premature Burial slipped into my trade binder with a soft click as the sleeve settled into place. I stared at the empty slot in my deck box where it had been, then at the Monster Reborn waiting to take its place.
'Right. Casual deck. I don't need to care about ban lists.'
I'd been building competitive decks for so long that the muscle memory had kicked in, automatically adding in Premature Burial instead of another Monster Reborn. Except this wasn't a tournament deck. This was a fun deck. A deck that didn't need to care about ban lists or meta calls or optimal ratios.
I slotted Monster Reborn into position, then spread the deck across my desk one more time. Forty-five cards, every single one from 2008 or earlier. Every single one chosen to support a card that wouldn't even exist until 2019, a promotional OCG exclusive that would never see competitive play, never receive support, never be anything more than a collector's oddity.
Light Bringer Lucifer stared up at me from the mat, her artwork elegant and commanding. Level 6, DARK Fairy, 2600 ATK. No effect. Just flavor text that read like a divine proclamation: "I am the ruler of all creation sitting atop the supreme throne... let there be light!"
I picked up one of the two copies, holding it up to the afternoon light streaming through my window. The foil caught the sun, making her seem almost alive.
"You know you're completely impractical, right?" I said to the card, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Normal monster. No support. Requires a tribute. In 2025, you're basically unplayable."
The card, obviously, didn't answer.
I set it back down and began the ritual I'd done a hundred times before, sleeving each card, making sure no dust or fingerprints marred the surfaces. The Agent of Creation - Venus went into her sleeve. The three Mystical Shine Balls followed. Athena, my main powerhouse. The deck had taken me two months to theory-craft and another few to actually acquire all the cards. Hunting down 2008-era Fairy support in 2025 wasn't exactly easy, especially when most players had moved on to whatever the current meta demanded.
But that was the point, wasn't it? This deck was a love letter to an era of Yu-Gi-Oh that didn't exist anymore. A challenge to make something beautiful and functional out of intentional limitations.
And at the center of it all was a card that had no business being there.
I finished sleeving the last card, a Solemn Judgment, and loaded the deck into its box. The satisfying weight of forty-five sleeved cards settled into my palm. My phone buzzed.
Marcus: you still bringing that jank deck to the shop?
Kai: its not jank its ART
Kai: also yes hes bringing it. i wanna see it in action
I snorted and typed back.
Lucas: It's not jank. It's vintage.
Marcus: vintage jank. got it.
Marcus: see you in 20
I pocketed my phone, grabbed the deck box, and headed out.
---
The card shop was tucked between a convenience store and a laundromat, the kind of place that survived on regulars rather than foot traffic. The bell chimed as I pushed through the door, immediately hit with the familiar smell of cardboard, plastic sleeves, and the faint mustiness that came with boxes of old commons stacked in every corner.
"Lucas!" Kai looked up from the table in the back, already shuffling his deck. "Finally. Marcus has been talking trash about your deck for ten minutes straight."
"It's not trash talk if it's true," Marcus said, grinning as he set his own deck box down. He was running Gladiator Beasts, solid 2008 meta, the kind of deck that could grind out wins through consistent advantage. "You're really doing this? Fairies? In 2025?"
"2008 Fairies," I corrected, taking my seat. "There's a difference."
"Yeah, one is bad, the other is ancient and bad." He leaned back in his chair. "And you're not even running Chaos support? Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning was right there in 2008. That card's actually good."
"Where's the fun in that?" I pulled out my deck and set it on the mat. "Anyone can throw in generically powerful cards. Building around constraints, that's interesting."
Kai laughed, shuffling his own built deck. "I want to see what you cooked up. Marcus has been hyping up how bad it's going to be for the last fifteen minutes."
"Guilty as charged." Marcus cut my deck and handed it back. "Ready to get rolled?"
I gave him a small smirk as I drew my opening hand. "Ready when you are."
---
Marcus: 8000 LP
Lucas: 8000 LP
Marcus won the coin flip and chose to go first. He drew his five cards, studied them for a moment, then grimaced slightly.
"Not the greatest hand," he muttered. "I'll summon Gladiator Beast Andal in Defense Position."
An armored beast-warrior with 1900 ATK and 1500 DEF.
"I'll set two cards and end my turn."
A defensive setup, probably a Mirror Force or Dimensional Prison in there. Classic stall play when you don't have the pieces you need yet.
My turn.
I drew for my Draw Phase. Graceful Charity. I glanced at my hand:
- Herald of Purple Light
- Pot of Greed
- Light Bringer Lucifer
- The Agent of Creation - Venus
- Hecatrice
- Graceful Charity (just drawn)
Not bad. Not perfect, but I could work with this.
"I'll activate Pot of Greed," I said, showing him the card.
Marcus rolled his eyes. "Of course you're running three of those."
"It's casual," I said innocently, drawing. "Plus, I said you could've done the same." I drew Light Bringer Lucifer and The Sanctuary in the Sky. I now had two Lucifers in hand and my field spell.
"I'll activate the Field Spell, The Sanctuary in the Sky. Any battle damage I'd take from battles involving my Fairy monsters becomes zero," I explained. "Pretty solid when all you got are fairies."
Marcus nodded. "Okay, solid. What else?"
"I'll discard Hecatrice to add Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen from my Deck to my hand."
I sent the fairy monster to the Graveyard and searched out the Continuous Spell, adding it to my hand.
"Then I'll activate Graceful Charity." I annoused, drawing three cards: Solemn Judgment, Honest, and Mystical Shine Ball.
Now came the important decision. I had two Lucifers in hand, powerful, but they required tributes, and I didn't have the setup for them yet. Better to send them to the Graveyard. Keep one in the grave for revival cards if I drew into them, and bring the other back with Athena's effect for immediate pressure.
"I'll discard my two Light Bringer Lucifers."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "You're ditching your boss monsters?"
"Trust the process," I said, setting them in my Graveyard.
"Now I'll activate Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen."
"Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon one Fairy monster from my hand." I placed the card on the mat. "And that'll be my Athena."
A tall and beautiful silver-haired warrior goddess with a spear in one hand and a shield in the other.
Athena - Level 7 - 2600 ATK / 800 DEF
"That's a big monster for a Special Summon," Marcus said warily.
"And she comes with benefits," I said, unable to keep the smirk off my face. "Whenever a Fairy monster is Summoned to the field, Athena inflicts 600 damage to my opponent."
"Wait, whenever?" Kai's eyes widened. "Oh, this is going to hurt."
"Yep. Now I'll Normal Summon The Agent of Creation - Venus."
The Agent of Creation - Venus - Level 3 - 1600 ATK / 0 DEF
"With her summon, Athena's effect triggers," I said. "600 damage."
Marcus: 8000 → 7400 LP
Marcus winced. "That's going to add up fast, isn't it?"
"Oh, you have no idea." I gestured to Venus. "I'll activate Venus's effect. By paying 500 Life Points, I can Special Summon one Mystical Shine Ball from my hand or Deck. And you know what, I'll summon all three of them."
Lucas: 8000 → 6500 LP
Searching through my deck, I pulled out and summoned two inside. After that, I then placed the one in my hand on the field.
Mystical Shine Ball - Level 2 - 500 ATK / 500 DEF
Marcus: 7400 → 5600 LP
Marcus stared at the field in disbelief. "You just burned me for 1800 damage in one turn."
"Burn wasn't part of the plan," I said, my smirk widening into a full grin. "It's just a nice bonus. Now I'll activate Athena's second effect, I can send one face-up Fairy monster I control to the Graveyard, except Athena, to Special Summon one Fairy monster from my Graveyard, except Athena."
I sent one of the Shine Balls to the Graveyard.
"I'll summon Light Bringer Lucifer from my Graveyard."
A card that depicted a woman with flowing blonde hair, light reddish-pink eyes, two large purple horns angling back from her temples, and three pairs of dark purple wings spread majestically behind her. She wore a flowing purple outfit that radiated divine power.
Light Bringer Lucifer - Level 6 - 2600 ATK / 1800 DEF
Kai whistled low. "Okay, that's a cool card. What does it do?"
"Nothing," I said cheerfully. "She's a Normal Monster. No effect."
Marcus blinked. "You built an entire deck around a vanilla?"
"A gorgeous vanilla," I corrected. "And she's got the stats to back it up. Also, Athena's effect triggers. 600 damage."
Marcus: 5600 → 5000 LP
I could still bring back the other Lucifer if I drew Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, or waited to tribute summon her from the graveyard, but it's not like I need that long.
"I'll set one card face-down and finally start attacking."
I placed Solemn Judgment in my back row.
Now came the fun part.
"I'll use Venus to attack your Gladiator Beast Andal."
Marcus immediately flipped one of his face-down cards. "I activate Mirror Force! When you declare an attack, I destroy all Attack Position monsters you control!"
"I activate Herald of Purple Light's effect from my hand," I immediately said, revealing the small Fairy. "By sending Herald of Purple Light and one other Fairy monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I negate the activation of your Trap Card and destroy it."
I discarded Herald of Purple Light and Honest.
"And like that, your trap is negated and destroyed."
Marcus slumped in his seat. "Of course you had a counter."
"Always respect the hand traps," I said with a satisfied smirk before continuing the attack with Venus. "Now, where was Venus?"
Venus destroyed his Gladiator, leaving himself wide open.
"I'll use two Mystical Shine Balls to attack directly."
Marcus: 5000 → 4500 → 4000 LP
"Then my Athena."
Marcus: 4000 → 1400 LP
"And finally," I said, tapping on my ace monster. "Light Bringer Lucifer attacks directly."
Marcus: 1400 → 0 LP
WINNER: LUCAS
---
Marcus leaned back in his chair, laughing despite himself. "Okay, I take it back. That deck is not jank."
"Told you," Kai said, grinning. "Art."
I gathered my cards carefully, sliding them back into the deck box. Light Bringer Lucifer went on top, her artwork catching the overhead lights one last time before disappearing into the box.
"You could've just run Chaos support," Marcus pointed out. "Or Black Luster Soldier. Those are actual 2008 meta cards."
"Could've," I agreed, snapping the deck box shut. "But where's the fun in that?"
Kai leaned forward. "So what's the deal with that card? Light Bringer Lucifer? I've never seen it before."
"2019 OCG exclusive," I explained. "Promotional card, never released in the TCG, I had to buy her online. Not competitive viability, no support, just a cool concept and great artwork."
"And you built an entire retro deck around it," Marcus said, shaking his head in admiration. "You're insane."
"Passionately insane," I corrected with a small smile.
We played a few more casual games, Kai brought out his Gravekeeper's deck, and Marcus switched to a Lightsworn build he'd been testing. The afternoon melted into evening, the card shop's fluorescent lights flickering on as the sun dipped below the horizon outside.
By the time I left, the sky had turned a deep indigo, stars just beginning to peek through the urban light pollution.
---
The walk home was quiet, the kind of late-evening stillness where the world felt suspended between day and night. My footsteps echoed softly on the sidewalk, and I replayed the duel in my mind, the satisfaction of watching Athena's burn damage stack up, the look on Marcus's face when I negated his Mirror Force, the clean finish with Lucifer dealing the final blow.
The deck box rested in my jacket pocket, a comfortable weight against my side.
'The card pool is so limited,' I thought, already thinking about potential adjustments. '2008 didn't have half the support Fairies would get later. Maybe I could squeeze in another Airknight Parshath for the draw power? Or would that dilute the Athena-Venus engine too much?'
My phone buzzed. Probably Marcus or Kai with post-game commentary. I pulled it out, glancing at the screen as I walked.
Tires screamed.
I looked up.
The truck was right there.
No time to process. No time to move. No time to do anything except watch those headlights fill my entire vision in the split-second before-
Impact.
---
The world exploded into white-hot agony. Every bone, every nerve, every cell in my body screamed as the force of the collision threw me, not backward, but through, like reality itself had torn open at the seams.
I should have hit the pavement.
I should have felt the second impact.
Instead, there was only darkness. Absolute. Suffocating. The kind of darkness that wasn't just the absence of light but the absence of everything.
My hand, I could still feel my hand, was clenched around something. The deck box. Even in death, I hadn't let go.
Then the darkness moved.
Not shifting or swirling, but being pushed aside, like a curtain drawn back to reveal something behind it.
Light. A single point at first, impossibly distant, then growing closer, or was I moving toward it?
The sensation was wrong. Not falling. Not floating. Being pulled from one side and pushed from the other, caught between two impossible forces.
The light resolved into a presence.
I couldn't focus on what it was. My mind kept sliding off the details like water off glass, but I knew something was there. Tall. Elegant. Ancient beyond comprehension.
Colors bled together in my vision: blonde and purple and gold and shadow. Horns? Wings? I couldn't tell. Every time I tried to focus, the image fractured and reformed.
But her eyes, those I could see.
Pink-red, like dawn reflected in still water. Tired. So impossibly tired, carrying the weight of eons.
But not unkind.
A voice reached me, resonant and distant, like hearing someone speak through layers of thick glass:
"You valued me."
The words wrapped around me, warm and final.
"So I will value you."
I wanted to speak, to ask who it was, what was happening, but I had no voice. No breath. I was caught between existence and oblivion, suspended in a moment that had no duration.
They raised one hand, I think it was a hand, and the sensation of dying that had been tearing me apart suddenly reversed.
Not stopped.
Reversed.
Like a film played backward, the momentum that had been pulling me toward nothingness instead *flung* me forward, pushing me with impossible force toward—
—somewhere else—
—another impact, different from the first, harder pavement, sharper air, a world that felt almost right but fundamentally wrong—
Everything went black.
---
Sirens wailed somewhere far away, muffled and distorted. Voices called out, urgent but incomprehensible. My body registered pain, but it felt distant, like it belonged to someone else.
Hands touched me, lifting, checking, supporting. I tried to open my eyes but couldn't manage it. Tried to speak, but my throat wouldn't work.
"—vitals are stable—"
"—entrance exam day, what terrible timing—"
"—Academy medical wing—"
The words washed over me without meaning. Everything was fragments, disconnected pieces of sensation and sound that refused to form a coherent whole.
Someone tried to pry something from my hand. The deck box. I must have made some sound, a groan, a protest, because a gentle voice said, "It's alright, we're just setting it aside safely. You'll get it back."
The pressure on my fingers released, but I could still sense it nearby. Close. Not gone.
Darkness pulled me under like a riptide, and I stopped fighting it.
---
Time became meaningless. I drifted in and out of consciousness, never fully aware, never completely absent. Dreams and reality blurred together into a continuous stream of disconnected impressions.
Purple wings spread against an endless void.
A beautiful woman sat on an ancient throne at a distance, watching. Never approaching. Never speaking. Just... there.
I tried to see her face, to make sense of her features, but the details kept slipping away. Blonde hair that moved like it was underwater. Eyes the color of faded roses. Horns curving back from her head. Wings, too many wings, folded and unfolded in patterns that hurt to look at.
She never came closer. Just watched with those ancient, weary eyes.
Other sensations filtered through: being moved from the stretcher to a bed, the scratch of bandages being wrapped around my arms and torso, the sharp smell of antiseptic, and voices discussing my condition in professional tones.
"No broken bones. Incredible, really."
"Just bruising and lacerations. He should make a full recovery."
The words meant nothing. I sank back into the darkness, and the woman with purple wings was there again, still watching.
Still waiting.
---
Consciousness finally returned, slowly, in layers.
First came the pain, dull, aching, pervasive. Not the sharp agony of broken bones but the deep soreness of a body that had been badly hurt and was now healing. Every muscle protested. Every joint felt stiff.
Then came smell. Antiseptic, clean and sharp. Laundered sheets. The faint chemical scent of medical equipment.
Then light, filtering through my closed eyelids, warm and soft.
I opened my eyes.
White ceiling. Smooth, almost too perfect, with a faint sheen that didn't match any hospital I'd ever been in. I stared at it for a long moment, trying to remember how I'd gotten here, trying to piece together the fragments of memory that felt more like dreams than reality.
The truck. The impact. The darkness.
And... someone. Something. A presence that had pulled me back from wherever I'd been going.
I turned my head slowly, wincing at the protest from my neck muscles. The room was small and clean, dominated by medical equipment, monitors displaying vital signs, an IV stand, cabinets that probably held supplies. A window on the far wall showed bright daylight and a courtyard beyond where people in uniforms walked between buildings.
Everything felt slightly wrong. Not dramatically different, just... off. Like looking at a photograph that had been subtly altered.
The door opened, and a nurse stepped in. She was young, professional, wearing a crisp uniform, and her face lit up with relief when she saw I was awake.
"Oh! You're conscious. That's wonderful." She hurried to my bedside, checking something on one of the monitors. "How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Nausea?"
"I'm..." My voice came out rough and hoarse. I swallowed and tried again. "Sore. Everything's sore."
"That's completely expected. You were hit by a truck on the entrance exam day, of all the terrible timing. You're very lucky. The injuries could have been much worse. Bruises, cuts, some deep tissue damage, but miraculously no broken bones. You should make a full recovery, though you'll be uncomfortable for a while."
'Entrance exam day.'
The words echoed strangely in my head.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"Duel Academy's medical wing," she said, as if that were the most natural answer in the world. She adjusted something on the monitor. "The headmaster made a special exception given the circumstances. You'll be admitted to Slifer Red dormitory once you're cleared for release. Obviously we couldn't conduct your entrance exam, but the Academy felt it was only fair to accept you regardless."
I stared at her, my mind struggling to process what she'd just said.
'Duel Academy.'
The name triggered something, recognition that felt both immediate and impossible.
"I'll get the doctor," the nurse continued, already moving toward the door. "He'll want to examine you now that you're awake. Just rest, you're safe here."
The door closed with a soft click, and I was alone.
Slowly, carefully, I turned my head to take in more of the room. The medical equipment looked familiar but subtly different, designs I didn't quite recognize, technology that seemed both advanced and oddly retro. Beyond the window, the courtyard showed students in colored uniforms, blue, yellow, and red, moving between buildings that had an architectural style I couldn't quite place.
Then I saw it, sitting on the bedside table within reach.
My deck box.
Relief flooded through me so intensely it was almost painful. I reached for it with trembling fingers, ignoring the protest from my sore muscles. The familiar weight settled into my palm, and I opened it immediately.
Forty-five cards, all present, all in their sleeves, completely undamaged. I fanned through them quickly, checking that every single one was accounted for. The Sanctuary in the Sky, Venus, the Shine Balls, Athena, the Herald cards, all the spells and traps.
And on top, exactly where I'd left her: Light Bringer Lucifer.
I pulled the card out carefully, studying the artwork in the soft light filtering through the window. The elegant figure with flowing blonde hair and purple wings, the regal bearing, the divine authority radiating from every line.
"I am the ruler of all creation sitting atop the supreme throne... let there be light!"
The flavor text seemed to shimmer as I read it.
Something tugged at my memory, a voice, distant and resonant, speaking words I couldn't quite remember. A presence in the darkness, watching me with ancient, tired eyes.
You valued me. So I will value you.
Had someone said that? Had I dreamed it?
I set the card back in the deck box carefully, my hands still shaking slightly, and looked out the window again.
The banner hanging from one of the distant buildings was clearly visible now:
DUEL ACADEMY - WHERE THE WORLD'S FUTURE DUELISTS ARE BORN
I read those words three times, each reading making them feel more impossible and more real simultaneously.
Duel Academy.
I knew that name. I recognized it.
From an anime. From a story about kids who played card games and somehow ended up saving the world. Fiction. Entertainment. Something that existed on a screen, not in reality.
But the banner was real. The building was real. The nurse had been real.
This was real.
I was here, in a place that shouldn't exist, holding a deck that had somehow survived whatever had brought me here.
The memory of the truck hitting me surfaced, sharp and vivid despite everything else being hazy. The impact. The certainty of death. And then... something else. Someone else. Pulling me away from the darkness, pushing me toward somewhere new.
I looked down at the deck box again, at Light Bringer Lucifer's artwork visible through the clear top.
'Did you...?'
The thought felt absurd even as it formed. Cards didn't come to life. They didn't save people. They didn't pull dying teenagers out of one world and deposit them in another.
But I'd built an entire deck around her. Spent months planning it, weeks acquiring the cards, poured passion and creativity into making something functional and beautiful around a card that had no business being playable. I'd valued her when no one else did.
You valued me. So I will value you.
The words echoed again, clearer this time.
A shiver ran down my spine that had nothing to do with my injuries.
At the edge of my vision, just barely perceptible, I felt... something. Not quite a presence. Not quite a shadow. Just the faintest sensation of being watched, the way you sometimes feel eyes on you in an empty room.
I turned my head toward the corner where the feeling seemed strongest.
Nothing there. Just empty space and medical equipment.
But the sensation didn't fade.
I looked back at the deck box, running my thumb over its smooth surface, and took a deep, steadying breath.
I'd died. I was certain of that. The truck had hit me, and there was no walking away from an impact like that.
But I wasn't dead. I was here, in a world that shouldn't exist, holding cards that had somehow made the journey with me.
Outside the window, I could hear the distant sounds of academy life—laughter, conversation, the shuffle and slap of cards being played. Normal sounds. Everyday sounds.
Sounds from a world where dueling wasn't just a game but something that mattered more than almost anything else.
The deck box felt warm against my palm.
And somewhere in the room, just beyond sight, I felt that presence watching. Waiting.
Not threatening. Not hostile.
Just... there.
I closed my eyes and tried to accept the impossible: I was alive, in a place I shouldn't be, given a second chance I didn't understand.
And somehow, a forgotten card I'd built an entire deck around might be the reason why.
When I opened my eyes again, I looked at the banner one more time, at those words proclaiming this place as Duel Academy.
Whatever came next, whatever this world held, I'd have to face it. Whether I like it or not...
But first, I needed answers. I needed to understand where I was, when I was, and most importantly... why.
The deck box rested against my chest, right over my heart, as I waited for the doctor to arrive and for this impossible new reality to make some kind of sense.
---------------------
A/N: Holy... I didn't realize how much brain power was required to write out duels... Anyway, here's a chapter. I'm not too sure I'll continue this, but we'll see.