“It doesn’t matter who I am but what matters is that you listen closely to me. I wanted your father to be the person I chose, but he’s already there,” Xander explained.

  “What do you mean? Wait? You know where my father is?” Cyrus felt a sudden burst of energy. He peered over at his uncle for help; however, his uncle was sleeping in the chair at the counter.

  “You will finish this duel, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way, that is entirely up to you. You’ve read my Guardians abilities, yes?”

  “I did but none of it makes sense. None of this makes sense! Why can’t I move? Tell me where my father is,” Cyrus felt lightheaded, and the room started to spin.

  “Hey, Cyrus, take a deep breath,” Tera whispered in a calm tone.

  “So, I am going to send you to the Land of Kings. You weren’t my first choice, but my options are limited,” Xander laughed.

  “Why?” Cyrus exclaimed.

  “I unfortunately cannot go. I’ve been exiled from that world,” Xander admitted.

  “Wait! You’re telling me there is a whole other world, with monsters? I don’t believe you,” Cyrus didn’t think that was possible but the glow of the card and his inability to move said otherwise. Better yet, the very fact a legendary card laid out on the table made Cyrus think the impossible was possible. Xander sounded like he knew where Cyrus’s father was. He took in all this information and took a deep breath to center himself.

  “What do you want?” Cyrus demanded.

  “Finally, we are asking the right questions. Good job, boy.

  “Keep this up and I’ll punch you in the face!” Harlow threatened.

  “No need for violence my friend. It wouldn’t be good for you anyway. Cyrus, I only need one simple thing from you.”

  “And that is?”

  “I need you to get my daughter from the Land of Kings. The easiest way is for me to use an anchor card when I summon my guardian, so you have an easy way back once you find her. After that, you come back here, and all is well. I’ll even pay you for your trouble. The difficult way is that you go into the monster realm without an anchor, and you’re trapped there forever like my daughter and your father,” Xander shifted his tone to a more pleasant one.

  “Your plan seems flawed Xander, what’s to stop me from using the anchor as soon as I get into the other world and find my father?” Cyrus corrected.

  “Ha-ha, oh how I miss thinking that I know the answer to everything. Perhaps I should let you win the duel, and you never see your father again? How does that sound” Xander mocked.

  “That’s it this bozo has gone too far,” Harlow yelled. He pointed at Xander and threw his fist, aiming for Xander’s face. As Harlow’s hand met Xander’s jaw, a flash of light emerged from Xander’s Guardian card, and Harlow disappeared right before their eyes.

  “Harlow you idiot,” Tera screamed, “What did you do to him?”

  “Me, absolutely nothing. The kid did that to himself,” Xander laughed.

  “Where is he?” Cyrus demanded.

  “Who knows, no one’s ever tried to interrupt a ritual. Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted… Cyrus, I am giving you the opportunity to find your father. Something no one else can give you. In return, All I ask for is you to bring my daughter back with you,” Xander was practically begging.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “And If I refuse?”

  “You won’t, besides like you said, my plan is flawed, it’s not like I will kill you or anything if you come back without her,” Xander gave Cyrus a sinister smile.

  Cyrus thought about the fact that he did have an opportunity to finally look for his father. This was something his uncle didn’t seem concerned about. He was beginning to think that his uncle was useless as he looked over at the sleeping man. How is he sleeping through this, Cyrus thought.

  The prospect of becoming isekiaed into a whole new world was something that excited Cyrus. It was basically straight out of his favorite anime show. There is no way this is real. He pondered if that’s where Seth took his father and if he did, why did he do it? Was Xander even truthful, if he is willing to kill, what else is he capable of? And Harlow! Cyrus wondered if he was even still alive. He needed to find out what happened to his best friend.

  “Bring Harlow back and I will,” Cyrus demanded. He looked at Tera with concern. She shared a similar expression.

  “I can’t, I don’t even know where he is. That my boy is out of my control,” Xander admitted.

  “Fuck, why Harlow, why,” Cyrus said in frustration.

  “Listen kid, I’m not a bad guy. A simple father willing to do anything to get his daughter back,” Xander explained in a softer tone. I don’t have to compensate you, yet I am.”

  Cyrus thought all of this was unreal. The notion of seeing his father again made Cyrus want so much for what Xander was saying to be true. Could another world with monsters truly exist? Cyrus tried to move his legs again but felt an invisible force stop him from doing so. He glanced at the cards in his hand, then back at Xander.

  “None of this is real,” Cyrus had the tone of denial. “This is just a normal duel. I am going to win, and you’ll be on your way. After that Harlow will walk right through that door.”

  Xander looked at Cyrus with a smile. Cyrus took Fives the Dragon of Glut placing it in the battle zone in attack position.

  “Because Fives is a dragon, I will activate my Land Dragons ability summoning him in defense position. Do you have an answer?”

  “Nope.”

  “Ok, I will activate Another Ability from Land Dragon because I have two dragons with different classes, I can search my deck for Fives pact. I will summon Fives Pact to the battle zone,” Cyrus had all the confidence in the world.

  [Fives Pact]

  [Class: Draconic Spell]

  [Level 2 Spell]

  [Power Rating: None]

  [Defense Rating: None]

  [Intellect: None]

  [Conditional Summon: None, please refer to card effects]

  [Allows low-level Draconic monsters to attack and use various abilities if Fives Pact is in the sidedeck zone. If the battle zone has three draconic creatures, increase all draconic creatures Attack rating by 1000. When moved to the side deck zone any draconic creatures in defense position can move to attack position. Fives Pact also allows a player to attack on their opening turn.]

  “I will now discard a Dragon egg from my hand to activate another Land Dragon ability and move Fives Pact from the battle zone to the side deck zone. Do you have an answer for that?”

  “I do not,” Xander had a big smile of his face.

  “Good, now because I moved Fives Pact into the side deck zone, I will now put Land Dragon in attack position and I will attack with both dragons, inflicting 1800 damage onto you,” Cyrus exclaimed.

  “Wow Cyrus, that was well played. You were so close to walking away from this. If you played your dragon egg first, that would have boosted your attack rating, and I would have been defeated. Perhaps I’m wrong and you won’t survive a day in The Land of Kings, that is a true pity.”

  Xander laid down three cards and they started to glow the same golden color as his Guardian card. Cyrus and Tera watched as they saw Aken the Custodial Ferryman float over from the side deck zone to the battle zone, without any assistance. It truly appeared to be magic. As they focused their eyes, they saw a small man dressed like a sailor standing on the stern of a papyrus boat illuminated out from the card like a holograph. The only problem was that it wasn’t. He was waving at them with a smile then proceeded to give Cyrus the middle finger and bowed in amusement, proud as could be. Then the figure proceeded to pull his pants down and give them a full moon.

  A bright flash blinded Cyrus, he heard what he thought was a woman yelling, but everything remained muffled. The bright glow of the cards on the table was the last thing Cyrus El-Gambal remembered before everything went dark.

  Trevor S. Wells – Writer, Editor, Creative