The Flap Of Butterfly Wings...

The flap of Butterfly wings...

Once upon a time, Hiccup had a best friend and Toothless a mate.

But through his decision to pick Berk and Astrid over them, they lost the girls.

In one world Hiccup and Leandra lived their lives away from each other…yet destiny is a funny thing.

Their first story "To Belong" was just one of endless possibilities and this here is another one.

Will Hiccup and Leandra finally be together?

Or will destiny repeat itself?

Chapter 2: Freedom

The next few days our dragon riders try to coax out the scarred and confused Christa.

She had to be for a long time a thrall, she mislearned what it meant to be free.

What it meant to not be hurt for the singles thing.

Trying to get her to eat or doing something nice for her, was too much for the girl.

She couldn’t handle it.

Hiccup and Leandra were starting to get desperate.

How could they help this traumatized child, if they didn’t have a clue how to even work through such terrible experiences she had to endure? What they had suffered on Berk was a joke against Christa’s life.

At night when they slept, Christa stood often up and sat down out in the cold.

She didn’t understand Hiccup and Leandra at all.

Why were they so nice to her? Treated her like a human being?

She was a thrall and nothing more.

Anybody could do with her what he wished.

That’s when the dragon with the golden eyes would join her, Starchaser was her name and sat beside her without touching.

The dragon only purred to her.

Like she was singing a lullaby to a babe.

Like her father once did, before the Eldians came for their tribe.

This…she could handle.

Since the dragon didn’t talk, didn’t want to do something for her, wanted to take care of her.

Starchaser just sat with her and purred. Expecting nothing in return.

Before the Eldians came she remembered that her village had been raided sometimes by dragons too.

It was tiny raids, but still a hassle for her people. Her father told her to be careful around dragons, that they would kill you given the chance, yet neither Starchaser nor Toothless was hostile.

They were loving towards each other and their riders and respectful around her.

But given what she had lived as a thrall for the Eldians it shouldn’t shock her that dragons were much kinder than humans.

So that’s why she let Starchaser sit with her.

Sometimes for hours long, while the others slept.

Never tried the dragon to touch her.

She was just near her.

A comforting presence that Christa nearly had forgotten what it felt like.

After a month of living with Hiccup and Leandra on the vacant island, Christa touched Starchaser for the first time.

She had seen the day before how Leandra had given her dragon a good scratch and pet session and…something like curiosity came to the surface.

Christa wanted to know how Starchaser felt.

It was scaly and warm…and comforting.

Starchaser just stayed still and let Christa pet her to her heart’s content. The little human girl was scarred like a rabbit, you needed to be careful around her.

Now, when they were alone together Christa always gave Starchaser pets.

First came the purring to show her that she liked the pets.

Then came the leaning on more for more pets.

Then begs for more pets.

Two more weeks passed and Christa could pet Starchaser as Leandra did.

It was an amazing feeling.

She didn’t know that Leandra was standing in the shadow of the entrance of the cavern and saw her petting Starchaser.

Leandra got an idea and hoped it would work.

(*)

The next day Leandra sat on Starchaser’s saddle and petted behind her.

“Come, Christa, let’s take a morning flight.”

Hiccup and Toothless were shocked to see that the little girl still carefully walked up to the girls and actually sat down behind Leandra!

Sure she wasn’t touching the other human but had no problem holding into the saddle or Starchaser.

Smiling happy that the first phase of her plan worked, Leandra gave Starchaser the go-to fly.

So they flew up the sky, high where the clouds were.

Christa was feeling things…she couldn’t describe them.

No wait…it felt a bit like before her tribe was attacked by the Eldians.

Full wonder she touched the clouds.

Is that what Leandra and Hiccup always felt when they rode their dragons?

This feeling…was it freedom?

A tear escaped Christa’s eye.

Was she truly free now?

After the first successful flight together, Leandra took now Christa always with her to her morning flights with Starchaser.

It seemed to do wonders for the girl.

Later when she talked with Hiccup about it, he agreed that Christa probably was just like them.

A dragon rider at heart.

Maybe her own dragon could help her?

(*)

“It’s so crazy, I really hope it works.”, mumbled Hiccup to Toothless.

It was now six months after they had saved Christa and our quartet with their guest flow together over the Barbaric Archipelago.

They were looking for a herd of wild dragons, in the hope, Christa would bond with one, which in turn would her help to fight against her inner demons.

“I see some Deadly Nadders!”, called Leandra back to them and pointed at a clearing. “Should we try?”

“Why not?”

So they made their dragons land near the Nadder herd.

Christa looked at them in question. She didn’t get why the flow till here and were now near wild dragons.

The girl trusted Starchaser and Toothless, but wild dragons were something different.

“Christa, do you wanna see how one befriends a dragon?”, asked Leandra softly.

Oh…!

They wanted to show her how to make friends with a dragon.

This…this sounded nice.

Shyly she nodded.

Hiccup and Leandra smiled at her.

She still was not used to seeing people smiling at her.

“All right, then watch closely how Hiccup will do it.”

With that Hiccup carefully walked up to the Nadders.

The dragons stared at him curiously. A human who didn’t attack them on sight was not the norm.

A blu-ish Nadder was close to him. So Hiccup did what he did with Toothless long ago and waited for the Nadder.

After a few seconds, he felt its snout.

Smiling he petted his new Nadder friend.

Christa was astonished.

Incredible so you made friends with a dragon?

That’s when she saw something shimmering on the side. For the first time in a long time, she got curious and walked up to it.

“See, Christa, that’s how you make a dragon friend!”, told her Leandra smiling. She turned to the girl beside her. “Do you want to try-“

Leandra stopped herself from talking as she saw that Christa wasn’t beside her anymore.

No, she was petting a dragon.

But not a Nadder.

“That’s a Changewing!”, shouted Hiccup in disbelief, what Leandra thought.

The blond-haired girl didn’t even notice that Leandra and Hiccup were freacking out behind her, feeling truly happy after a long time as she petted her new dragon friend.

As she inspected the shimmer it had turned into a big brownish dragon, who had titled his head curiously at her.

When her blue orbs meet the dragon’s yellow one, Christa feels something strange but wonderful.

Like she had found something she had lost.

She had done it like Hiccup.

Touching the dragon gave her even more of a strange and welcoming feeling.

The dragon liked her pets, purring at her.

Could she take the dragon with her?

Yes, she could.

It came gladly with her and Hiccup, Leandra, and their Night Furries.

So Christa flows for the first time in her life a dragon and feels true freedom.

Up in the sky, where the clouds were, she was just a girl with a dragon.

No slave.

No burden.

No coward.

Just a normal girl.

It meant she was really, really free finally.

She wasn’t a thrall anymore.

After Hiccup told her, that her dragon friend was male, she knew what to name him.

Frihet, freedom. 

(*)

Two weeks after Christa tamed Frihet, Leandra, and Hiccup asked her if she wanted to travel with them to Spain.

It was high time for the Night Furries riders to be back on the road, but they wouldn’t leave their new friends behind.

Christa didn’t need long to think about it.

Of course, she would stay with them, follow them.

Her village was no more.

She didn’t have a death wish to return to the Eldians and their mad chieftain Fritz.

There was no place she could go besides into the unknown.

No, she rather stays with her friends. That is what Leandra, Hiccup, and their Night Furries were for her and Frihet.

So two dragon riders became three.

In the early morning, they started their journey to Spain.

Our trio flows for some time above the clouds, thinking nothing bad as Toothless' and Starchaser’s ear plates perk up. Frihet also gets tense, he sensed it too.

The dragons glance over their shoulders to see a disturbance in the blanket of clouds.

A strange and arresting masked warrior rises from the clouds, standing upon something unseen. It's armour and cape flap in the buffeting turbulence.

This warrior eyes the dragon riders, pulling up alongside them.

The teens and the young girl sense the approaching figure in their periphery.

“What in Thor’s name…”, Hiccup trails off as he sees the masked warrior.

Is he dreaming?!

“Is this person flying?”, shrieked Leandra shocked out loud, what he thought.

Little Christa hugs Frihet’s long throat tighter, while her dragon purrs at her in comfort.

The warrior stares blankly at them, tilting his head in curiosity while cutting a menacing silhouette.

Then, just as gradually as he rose, the warrior dips back beneath the clouds, disappearing.

“Okay. No sudden moves!”, tells Hiccup his friends.

Suddenly, the warrior explodes out of the clouds before them, standing atop a large unknown dragon.

They circle the three dragon riders forcing them to tread air. The warrior points a staff toward Hiccup, unnervingly, as he returns to face them.

“Hold on, hold on!”, yells Hiccup.

“We are dragon riders like you, we come in peace!”, adds Leandra.

Christa nods her head rapidly.

Toothless, Starchaser, and Frihet growl in warning.

Suddenly, they're ambushed from behind.

Hiccup, Leandra, and Christa are plucked off of their dragons by other dragons and carried off.

“Toothless!”, screams Hiccup for his dragon, who can’t fly on his own.

Starchaser and Frihet try to reach to falling down Night Furry but get ambushed by other dragons too.

The last what our three dragon riders see is Toothless who falls into the ocean.

(*)

Hiccup shivers in the claws of the dragon, surrounded by the strange flock full of breeds he's never seen. He looks back for Toothless, now long gone.

“HEY! YOU LEFT MY DRAGON BACK THERE!  HE CAN'T FLY ON HIS OWN! HE'LL DROWN!”, growls Hiccup at the masked warrior, who leads the dragon flock.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO STARCHASER AND FRIHET?”, yells Leandra for herself and Christa.

The young girl shivers also in the claws of her dragon kidnapper and has to fight her tears.

First a human prisoner and now a dragon one?

Wasn’t she free?

Why did this happen?

The warrior offers no response to them, seemingly immune to the cold as he leads the dragon flock across the polar night an alien landscape, harsh and foreboding.

Out of the fog looms epic ice formations, jagged, and spiked, like an impregnable fortress.

The young dragon riders would be sure in awe if they weren’t currently worried for their dragons and themselves.

The dragon flock dives into its jagged folds. The wild ride suddenly gives way to multilevel, cavernous chambers made of ice and columns of basalt rock.

It's heavily populated with dragons of all kinds, looming in the shadows.

Leandra, Christa, and Hiccup get dropped in the centre.

Both teens help Christa up, who formally clings to Leandra for protection. The older girl hugs her back, trying her best to comfort her.

Hiccup knows he isn’t built like a warrior, but he would protect the girls as best as he could.

He stands before them calling out into the darkness: “We have to head back for my dragon! Also, give my friends their dragons back. Christa needs Frihet.”

As to prove his point he hears how Christa whimpers, as best as she can with a cut-out tongue.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”, mumbles Leandra to her. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

A hissing dragon closes in, sniffing, leering, and aggressive.

Hiccup holds his hands up to show he isn’t armed, then puts a handout and looks away.

The warrior watches keenly from the shadows, as the dragon coo curies at Hiccup, before he touches with his snout the hand of the young boy.

Several aggressive dragons close in behind the three dragon riders. Hearing their hisses, Leandra pets Christa on the head and says to her: “Just do what you did with Frihet. You know that dragons are our friends.”

Still, a bit frightened Christa lets go of Leandra and does as the older girl says.

Leandra does the same too.

After a few heartbeats, both girls feel a dragon snout in their hands.

This seems to calm down the other dragons as well.

The warrior tilted his masked head, curious. He dismounts his dragon and approaches Hiccup and the girls.

“Who are you?”, asks Hiccup.

Christa is again hugging Leandra who looks at the warrior in caution.

“You must be a dragon rider like us, why did you kidnap us?”, she wants to know.

He circles them in silence, taking them in.

This boy who is clearly from a Viking village, the tanned girl in a Viking dress but clearly a foreigner, and the little scarred girl in a dress who seems a bit too big for her. Clearly, it belonged to the older girl once and was sewn to fit the younger one.

“Do you even understand what we are saying?”, wondered Hiccup frustrated.

In answer the warrior whirls and hammers his staff.

In response, three large dragons ascend from the depths, carrying Toothless, Starchaser, and Frihet.

Hiccup and Leandra say the name of their dragon relieved, while Christa smiles big.

Toothless is dumped on the ground next to Hiccup, sopping wet. Hiccup rushes to him, petting him reassuringly. Toothless coos in relief.

“It's okay. I'm glad to see you, too, bud. You really had me worried there.”

Next Starchaser and Frihet get dumped before their riders.

Christa just hugs Frihet tightly, who wraps himself formally around her, while Leandra gives Starchaser a lot of kisses on her head.

“Oh Star, thank the lord, you are okay!”

Her dragon nuzzles her in a way that spells that she is glad that Leandra is okay too.

The warrior rattles his staff at a nearby dragon.

In response, it and the surrounding dragons produce firelight from their throats, spotlighting the three dragon riders and their dragons.

Then he sets down his staff and shield, and approaches Hiccup, cautiously and animal-like.

Toothless snarls and circles Hiccup defensively, but then instantly yields to the stranger's outstretched hand. With a quick, disarming gesture, the warrior lays Toothless down in a state of bliss.

Of course, Starchaser wants to protect her mate, but the same trick works on her too.

Now two blissful Night Furries lay on the ground.

Frihet gets ready to spit his acid, yet one upward gesture from the warrior, and he is a blissed-out dragon too.

Hiccup and the girls are astonished.

The warrior's hand continues toward Hiccup's face. He recoils, but the warrior persists, finding the faint scar on Hiccup's chin, glinting in the firelight.

Their kidnapper gasps and retreats a few steps.

“Hiccup?”, says surprisingly a female voice, shaking with emotions. “Could it be? After all these years? How is this possible?”

“Uh, should I... should I know you?”, asks Hiccup and looks to Leandra and Christa who shrug their shoulders at him.

They haven’t the faintest idea what is going on right now too.

“No. You were only a babe...”, starts the strange woman who slowly removes here mask.

A beautiful woman with green eyes and her auburn hair in three braids was hiding behind it.

Leandra and Christa look from her to Hiccup and back.

These two… look like they could be related!

What?!

The woman’s eyes meet Hiccups, equally wide-eyed and aghast.

“... but a mother never forgets.”, she ends her sentence.

Hiccup stammers, tongue-tied, aghast.

Christa has wide eyes and blinks.

Leandra is the only one who sums up the situation in perfection: “What the heck?!”

(*)

Our three dragon riders run after the woman through tightly winding corridors.

“Hold on! Wait just a minute! Come back here!”, calls Hiccup after her.

“This way. Come.”, is the only answer of the woman.

“You can't just say something like that and run off! You're my mother?! I mean, what the -- do you grasp how INSANE it sounds?!”, he shouts after her. “I have questions!”

“We all have questions. Didn’t you tell me your mother was eaten by a dragon?!”, reminds him, Leandra, holding hands with Christa, so she can keep up with them.

They follow Hiccup’s supposed mom over the difficult terrain. Together and helping each other clamber over a tall rock.

“That’s what everyone told me back home, I mean-“

He is lost for words as he sees where they are now.

A giant ice chamber teeming with ferns, waterfalls, hot springs, and thousands of new dragons.

Even Leandra and Christa stop walking with their chins on the floor.

Neither of the three has seen something that beautiful.

Their dragons join them, curiously looking around.

Hiccup spots his….mother clinging to a basalt overhang, watching him and the girls.

“This is where you've been for 15 years?”

“You believe her!”, whisper-shouts Leandra shocked, and even Christa gives him a look alla are you crazy?

“She looks how my father always described her.”, he gives them one reason. “Also she knows my name. Leandra, you didn’t use my name the whole time we were here with her, so how else should she know it?”

The two girls look at each other and then shrug.

Well, they can’t say anything against it and so long as Hiccup’s mom didn’t hurt them they would accept this.

Crazy as it was.

Hiccup’s mom nods from her perch answering the question of her son.

“You've been rescuing them.”, declares the boy.

She nods again, this time with a smile.

“Unbelievable.”

“I wanna add an uff to it.”, pipes Leandra up.

Christa nods in agreement.

This whole thing got crazier by the minute!

Hiccup’s supposed dead mom wasn’t dead but a dragon rider, like them, and a dragon rescuer.

Wow!

“You're not upset?”, ask him his mother unsure.

“What? No. I don't know. It's a bit much to get my head around, to be frank. It's not every day you find out your mother is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady.”, blabs Hiccup what comes to his mind.

He is still reeling too, okay?

She chuckles, and using her dragon's wing, lowers herself to the ground like a skilled acrobat.

“At least I'm not boring... right?”

“I suppose there is that... one... specific... thing...”

Excited dragons rush up to greet the three dragon riders and their dragons. The humans pet a few, marvelling at the vast dragon utopia before them.

“Maybe it’s time we introduce ourselves.”, says Leandra and grins crookedly at Hiccup’s mom. “It’s not every day you meet the dead mom of your best friend. I’m Leandra Alvarez, it’s nice to meet you…erm…Mrs. Haddock?”

Mrs. Haddock gives her a reassuring smile.

“Please a friend of my son can call me Valka.”

“Valka, okay, noted.”

“And who is the little one?”

Valka crouches down to see into Christa’s eyes, she is approaching her as one would do with a baby dragon.

“That’s Christa…mom.”, tests Hiccup for the first time calling her this. “She is a former thrall, her old master cut out her tongue so she can’t talk.”

 “You poor dear!”, Valka gasps. “No one will hurt you here, I promise.”

Christa gives her a shy smile.

That’s when Frihet snuggles up to Christa like he wants to say just try it and I will acid you back to the stone age.

“Incredible, you three made friends with dragons.”, can’t Valka help herself to say.

She never imagined her son would become a dragon rider. When she thought about him, she hoped he was more like his father. No one should be like her on Berk.

But these three weren’t on Berk.

Valka wonders what the story is behind this.

Asking now wouldn’t be wise, besides she was so curious about the two Night Furries before her.

“Can I... ?”, she asks her son and Leandra for permission, who nods at her.

She pets the two black dragons, who nuzzled her softly.

“Oh, they are beautiful. They may be the last of their kind.”

“Then it’s good that they are mates.”, explains Leandra. “Green eye is Toothless Hiccup male dragon and gold eye is Starchaser my female dragon. And our Changewing friend is Frihet, male too.”

“Night Furrie hatchling I would love to see this.”, gushes Valka, inspecting the talons as Toothless and Starchaser roll onto their backs, nuzzling her.

“And look, he's your age! No wonder you get along so well.”

Hiccup smiles, astounded by Toothless' affection for Valka.

“Our girl here is actually older, seventeen. How old are you Leandra?”

“Sixteen, Valka.”

Leandra gives her dragon a smug look.

“So you are older than me, heh Star.”

Starchaser gives a little huff.

“Toothless your mate is older than you? Do you have a thing for older girls or what?”, jokes Hiccup with his dragon, who huffs also at him.

Meanwhile, Valka checks Toothless teeth. They recede into the gums at her touch.

“And retractable teeth? Ah! How did you manage to—“

“--I found him in the woods. He was shot down and wounded. Starchaser found us a few days later.”

Valka winces and offers a sympathetic nod as she stands to caress a few of her own rescued dragons.

“This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps.”, she tells the kids, who look at each other in confusion. Who is this Dragog Blood Fist? “This Raincutter had her wing sliced by razor netting. And this poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare... then left to die alone and scared. And what of this? Did Drago or his trappers do this, too?”

“Erm…mom…”

“Erm…Valka…”

“Yes, dears?”

“Who is Dragog Blood Fist?”

The older woman blinks at them before she turns white as a sheet.

“You kids don’t know? Drago Bludvist is a madman who captures dragons! He is a vile human being who does anything to get his hands on dragons. I still don’t know why he does it. He doesn’t kill them…he just keeps them in cages.”

“Asshole!”, declares Leandra.

Christa frowns and Hiccup nods in agreement.

“Heh. Well, the crazy thing is...”, starts Hiccup to explain to his mom Toothless condition. “I'm actually the one who shot him down.”

His mother glares, confused.

“Because he wanted to be a Viking.”, adds Leandra. “Turned out he isn’t on and doesn’t want to be one.”

“What did your father think of your Night Fury friend?”

“I will never know… Me and Leandra actually run away from Berk and saved Christa from being hunted down like a pig.”

Valka blinked at the sheepish grins the kids gave her.

“All right, I think we need to sit down and talk. Come with me.”

(*)

The humans and the dragon riders are all around sitting in the cave Valka has turned into a little flat.

Hiccup and Leandra are finishing their tale, Christa drinking a cup of tea Valka had made for her and the older woman listening attentively.

“…And that’s about it. We were on our way to Spain before you snatched us up Mom.”, finishes Hiccup.

Valka can’t help but shake her head and smile bittersweet at him.

“To think you are just like me. You couldn’t kill a dragon. I hoped for you that you were more like your father, no one should get through what I expired on Berk, but hoping was fruitless.”, she signs.

“Valka do you mind telling us your story?”, asks Leandra. “I think it’s only fair.”

Of course, she would and the two teenagers and child listened to Valka’s story of the faithful night that changed her life.

“…It broke my heart to stay away, but I believed you'd be safer if I did.”, she ends and you can clearly see the remorse in her eyes.

If she only had known what her son had to endure without her, that he was like her…she would have snatched him and Leandra up and Christa too.

Hiccup considers his mother’s tale, then raises his eyes to hers, seeing the sting of remorse.

“How did you survive?”

Here she smiles and pets her owl-like dragon.

“Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me. He must've thought I belonged here...come I will show you.”

So they follow her out again to the edge of the raised natural terrace, overlooking the steamy oasis with its flowing hot spring waterfalls.

Half-submerged in the warm lake below, a massive white dragon with pronounced, mammoth-like tusks rests benevolently on the banks, his stately countenance like that of a lion surrounded by his pride.

“Dios mio, it’s huge!”, can’t Leandra help herself.

Hiccup is speechless, while Christa’s chin is on the floor.

“In the home of the great Bewilderbeast.”, continues Valka her sentence from before. “The alpha species. One of very few that still exist. Every nest has its queen, but this is the king of all dragons.”

Dragons land and bow reverentially to the Bewilderbeast. Valka gestures to the spiked ice ceiling that acts as a sweating greenhouse.

“With his icy breath, this graceful giant built our nest. A safe haven for dragons everywhere. He protects us. We all live under his care. And his command.”

“Incredible.”, declares Hiccup, while Leandra and Christa nod in agreement.

They pass an eggshell-littered nursery.

Hatchlings dart out of it, greeting them excitedly and inciting chaos. Toothless, Starchaser, and Frihet are overwhelmed by their manic picking and scratching.

Cloudjumper baulks and sends them scattering.

“All but the babies, of course...”, chuckles Valka, as the hatchlings clamber on top of the Bewilderbeast and play on his massive tusks, despite his authority. “... who listens to no one.”

The Bewilderbeast lets out a frosty snort, sending off the youngsters to spread more mischief.

Now awakened, the Bewilderbeast raises his gargantuan head to take a closer look at the three young dragon riders, coming eyes to massive eye.

Valka bows in his presence, as do Toothless, Starchaser, and Frihet.

“I've lived among them for 15 years, Hiccup, Leandra, and Christa learning their ways, discovering their secrets...”

The gentle giant dragon acknowledges Hiccup and the girls with another icy snort, slicking back Hiccup's hair in a frosty veneer. Icicles are formed on the dresses of the girls.

The older woman laughs.

“He likes you three.”

“Wow.”

“Dios mio.”

Christa smiles just happy.

“You kids must be hungry.”, says Valka to them.

“Uh, yeah. I could eat.”, agrees Hiccup.

“Me too!”, tells also Leandra.

Shyly raising her hand, Christa means she could eat too.

“Good. It's feeding time.”

(*)

Christa is actually Ymir Fritz or as I like to call her more Ymir the founder from Shingeki No Kyojin or Attack on Titan.

My headcanon is that King Fritz, this bitch ass motherfucker cocksucker, gave Christa the name Ymir after Ymir the Norse Giant God since Eldians are based on the Vikings.

Christa is her real name I believe because when Frieda read the story of the devil and Ymir to Historia she called the girl Christa.

It makes sense that the direct descendants of Ymir and King Shit knew the real name of Ymir the founder.

So she will be called by her name Christa and not the slave name Ymir.

I choose the Changewing for Christa as a dragon because I think a dragon who spits acid is really cool and special for our Christa.

I was tempted to call him Eren, but Frihet-Freedom is better. XD  

Tatakae! XD

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Till next time my loves .3.

The Queen's Gambit will return!

Hi guys, I just want to tell you, that I'm currently reworking on this story and will probably soon post new chapters, but I have currently troubles uploading them here.

So please go to my other FF sites to read and comment ^^

The Queen's Gambit: The Story

The most powerful piece in chess is the queen.

When this piece joins the game of Duel Monsters anything will change.

With two dragon sisters, a magician and her descendant, the queen will take her rightful place.

As it should have been.

Author Note: Here it is after nearly two years the newest chapter of this story! It is an Episode with its own duels. Since I suck at writing duels I found a solution which makes it easy for me. I hope you will still enjoy this story even without big duels. Also, I use it from now on the Japanese dub since it's way better than the 4Kids dub. I highly recommend reading the past chapters, because I corrected them and deleted or added new things. Shout out to all who didn't give up on my story, we are back and better than ever! So Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Getting more Star Chips

"So...how it's going on your side Anzu-Chan?", asked Maja happily into the Walkie-Talkie, while in the background Sehrazat aka. Afya was demolishing her current duel victim with her Dark Magician Girl.

"Well, Maja-Chan, Jonouchi has two Starchips, while Yugi has five!", told her Anzu cheerfully.

Then the Schariq Sisters shouted in celebration, meaning Sehrazat /Afya won.

Good!

Awesome!

"Hear that Anzu-Chan?", mussed Maja. "This means Sehra-Chan won and now has five Star Chips too."

The other girl giggled and Maja couldn't help but sign dreamy.

Anzu had a pretty laugh.

"What about Kihana-Chan?"

"Hana-Chan has six."

"Do you think we should meet up, Maja-Chan?"

"I will ask the others, but I think it's time we meet up again."

Both said bye to each other before Maja jogged back up to her friends.

Sehrazat was again in control of her body and put her new Star Chips on her Dueling Glove.

"Maja-Nee!", was Sadiye who took note of her first. "What did Anzu-San said?"

"Yugi has like Sehra five Star Chips and Jonouchi now two. You are in the lead Hana-Chan."

Kihana just rolled her eyes playful. It was a competition, but not under friends.

For now.

"Can we meet up again with the others?", asked Sehrazat in the round.

"Is someone missing their crush.", teased Maja, making Sehrazat bashful and the Schariq Sisters giggle quietly.

"You are one to talk Maja-Chan!", shouted Sehrazat grinning back. "I even heard from the Duel Platform how you were signing dreamily because of Anzu."

Now it was Maja's turn to be bashful.

"You both are hopeless.", stated Sadiye laughing.

Maja and Sehrazat deadpanned at the little black-haired girl.

"Let's forget your Lovelifes for a second.", began the white-haired beauty Kihana. "I think we can meet up with the guys. We made all good progress."

This made her little sister frown.

"Joey has only TWO.", she reminded them.

"The day is still young.", disagreed the holder of the Milliunuim Fragment. "Jonouchi-Kun will get soon more Star Chips."

"If you say so, Sehra-Nee."

"Then it's decided, I will give Anzu-Chan a call!"

After a bit of frustrating where-the-heck-are-you-guys, the girls managed to meet up with Yugi's group.

All were happy to see each other.

Strange how they grow so close after this short time.

Maja took Anzu by the arm, both talking about how glad they were to see each other again...and maybe Maja flirted a bit, which made Anzu blush.

Jonouchi and Honda talked with Kihana congratulating her on her six Star Chips, while trying to hit on her, but the white-haired beauty just ignored the flirts.

Sadiye held the hand of her big sister and mouthed at them "pathetic", which of course made the boys blush embarrassed.

"Yugi-Kun.", greeted Sehrazat the boy softly. "Congrats on your five Star Chips."

"You too, Sehrazat-Chan.", he talked just as softly back to her. "It was without a question you would win."

This made Sehrazat giggle shy and batting her eyelashes at Yugi, who of course turned red, yet couldn't help to smile tenderly at her.

Unknown to them their two Spirits were watching this exchange.

Gods, these two were adorable.

Afya wanted to pinch both their cheeks, while Yami wanted to help Yugi with Sehrazat.

However, both Spirit saw how the other was out of their Milliumim Item.

Smiling flirtatious Afya waved Yami over to her.

He was at her side in a second.

"Eager, are we?", purred Afya.

Wordless Yami took one of her hands and gave it a sweet kiss.

This made Afya gasp.

She felt herself getting hot by the touch of his lips on her skin.

"To be in your lovely presence again is worth it to make a fool out of myself.", purred now Yami back.

Afya giggled, a sound Yami already adored and gripped him by his jacket collar.

"You are a charmer."

"Only because you are so damn charming, beautiful Afya."

Bashful, yet still with a flirtatious smile, Afya leaned over and gave him a cheek kiss.

Yami swore his skin was burning!

The fire of desire in him who had slept so long roared to life.

Afya felt quite the same.

Both stared into each other eyes, seeing the same desire and lust for the other in them.

By Ra, it was insane.

Yes, they were married once.

However, neither could remember it or the other.

It was unique to feel already so attracted to each other.

Mmh...maybe their minds forgot...but not their hearts.

Sadly they couldn't go further, since both felt the tug of their respective Millennium Item.

Yugi, Sehrazat and their friends were moving again.

This meant they had to return to their Millennium Items. They were called back in it.

With a last smile for the other, they each return to their Spirit Chambers.

Of course not knowing they had interrupted a moment between their Yami's Yugi and Sehrazat walked and talked with their friends.

They were doing good with their hunt for the Star Chips.

Sure Joey only had two, however, this would probably change soon.

"There you are, Faizan!", growled a male voice behind the group.

All turned around and-

"Paulo Ramirez!", shouted Sehrazat and Kihana together.

This Paulo was a tanned boy with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a simple red jacket over a white T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

"Ah, so you do remember me you hoe's!"

All the girls gasped affronted and the guys got angry on behalf of their female friends.

"Yo, what's your problem man?!", shouted Joey, waving his fist around. "You don't talk to girls like that and no one talks to my friends this way!"

"Oh shut up blondie! It doesn't concern you!"

"Since you insult our friends it does!", adds Honda, seeming ready to knock the light out of Paulo.

At the same moment, Paulo rolled his eyes.

"Got yourself some bodyguards or what Faizan?", he asked Sehrzat directly, ignoring Joey and Honda's shouts for his head.

Feeling Afya's presence beside her, which gave her courage, Sehrazat stepped forward.

"Ramirez, what do you want?", she hissed. "You are Europe Champion now, you won!"

This angered Paulo: "I won only because you and Schariq moved to Japan. Everywhere I go, all tell me how you are the true Europe Champion and I'm just a fraud! But this ends now!"

"How so?"

"I challenge you to a duel! I will beat you and prove I'm the true European Champion. Your win in the finals was just luck."

What now happened made Yugi's group think they were hallucinating...from one moment to another Sehrzat seemed to grow, gain more womanly curves and even her hair reached her bottom.

What was even crazier, her friends didn't seem to care for Sehrazat's sudden chance, even when Sehrazat spoke in a more mature voice: "Very well, Ramirez. I will duel you and do us all a favour to kick you out of this tournament."

Gleeful Ramirez led Sehrazat to the next Dueling Station, where both got ready to duel.

"Is it just me...", mumbled Anzu. "Or is Sehrazat suddenly...different?"

"Nah, Anzu, you are right, something is up. She looks kinda older and hotter now.", agreed Joey.

"Kinda like when Yugi duels.", pointed Honda out.

The Schariq Sister and Maja held their breath, curious if their new friends would see more similarities and maybe finally ask Yugi what's up with him when he duels...yet nothing.

They just accepted it and stared at the Duel Station.

All three girls facepalmed hard.

Sadiye was the first to end the facepalm and her red eyes fell on Yugi.

Huh?

Interesting.

Yugi was staring and staring at Afya and holding his Milliunim Puzzle.

Other than his friends Yugi had "felt" how a moment Sehrazat was there and now...there was this woman in her body?

It made no sense, yet it did.

Didn't...didn't he feel like this too, when he dueled?

Like there was someone older and wiser than him in his body, helping him?

When the duel ended, he needed to talk with Sehrazat!

He needed answers.

After shuffling their decks both opponents were ready.

The price was three Starchips, which meant if Afya won her and Sehrazat would have 8 Star Chips and Ramirez would get kicked out of the tournament.

He was so obsessed with his revenge, that he barged all his Star Chips.

So sure he would win.

Well, Afya would gladly show him the door, no one calls her children hoes!

The duel started well for Afya she had a strong defence with her Amazoness and was making Shish Kebab out of Ramirez Warrior Monsters.

Unknown to all, Ramirez planned for this.

When it seemed he was done for he used a rare spell card which destroyed all of Afya's Monsters and left her with merely a few Life Points.

All her friends gasped.

"Oh no, Sehrazat!", shouted Anzu for her new friend.

"That bastard tricked her into summoning all these Monsters to destroy them with one shot!", spat Joey angrily.

"Guy's calm down.", called Kihanan, having a serene expression on her face. "Afya and Sehrazat aren't done for."

Yugi and his friends blinked confused.

"Afya, who is Afya?"

It was Sadiye who answered with a little smirk.

"The Spirit of the Milliuim Fragment and Sehrazat Ancestor. Afya is cool, she is like a mom to all of us."

"And when Sehra and Afya battle together.", began Maja grinning. "No one stands a chance...look at Afya."

Indeed Yugi's group did and Sehrazat or Afya just looked with a regale expression down on Ramirez.

She didn't seem troubled at all.

"Why are you looking at me like that!", growled Ramirez, spit flying from his mouth. "You are done for Faizan, the chance that you draw a Monster to defeat my Gem-Knight Crystal is zero!"

Gem-Knight Crystal: ATK 2450/DEF 1950

From Afya came just a tiny laugh.

"You were so fixed on your revenge that you didn't look at the card I placed my last turn."

Shocked Ramirez checked.

Indeed there was a card face down!

Oh no, what was it?!

"And other than you I believe in my cards, I know they will answer my call."

Elegant she drew the card which would make her win or lose the game.

Anyone stopped breathing.

Afya looked at the card, a smile on her face.

"I summon...The Dark Magician Girl!"

"Dark Magician Girl?!", repeated, not only Ramirez but also Anzu, Jonouchi and Honda surprised.

Yugi gasped also quite shocked.

The Dark Magician Girl appeared on the playing field with sparkles twirling around before she posed protectively before Afya and sent Ramirez a challenging look.

Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000/DEF 1700

"You didn't have her in your deck before.", reminded Ramirez. "But she is still too weak to beat my Gem-Knight Crystal..."

He trailed off, seeing the calm expression on Afya's face and remembered...!

"Your face down card?!"

The once Queen of Egypt flipped it up.

"It's the magic card Magic Formula which raises the attack points of my Dark Magician Girl to 2700!"

Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2700/DEF 1700

Gem-Knight Crystal: ATK 2450/DEF 1950

"And now my dear Dark Magician Girl, let's finish this! Dark Burning Attack!"

The Dark Magician Girl twirled her staff and sent her magic attack at Ramirez's monster, destroying it and leaving him with zero life points!

His loud wail could be heard from miles.

"I never thought there was a female Dark Magician.", gasped Anzu. "And she is so pretty."

Somehow this made Maja feel shy...she wonders why?

"Some say who has a Dark Magician and another a Dark Magician Girl are Soul Mates since both cards are the strongest as a pair.", told Kihana the little legend around these cards, which she know because of her grandparents.

"Oh really...?", sing-song Joey and Honda together, both wiggling their eyebrows at the blushing Yugi.

"Oh does Yugi-San have a Dark Magician?", asked Sadiye excited.

Jonouchi and Honda nodded and now Sadiye was grinning also, while Kihana's shock amused he had, Maja still thought about what Anzu said about the Dark Magician Girl and why she reacted to it and Anzu realized...that Maja and the Duel Monster card looked quite alike.

Huh?

More time to think about it Anzu didn't get because Sehrazat or Afya walked up to them.

"Your Majesty.", greeted her Kihana. "As always an amazing duel."

"Where is the slimeball?", asked Maja.

"Took off after he threw his Star Chips down.", explained Afya. "What a pitiful man."

Then Afya walked up to Yugi and smiled down at him.

Now no one could avoid the truth.

Sehrazat was tinier than Yugi, now she was taller.

So...this was really somebody else in her body!

"Yugi Muto.", said Afya and gave him a kind smile. "It's nice to meet you my boy and of course, you Anzu, Jonouchi and Honda."

"Are you really a spirit, like Sadiye-Chan said?", asked Anzu astonished, while Joey mumbled something about crazy ghost mumbo-jumbo.

"I was once a great Queen of Egypt, now I have lived in the Milliunm Fragment for a good 3000 years. Sehrazat is my descendant, my flesh and blood, we share her body."

Yugi and his friends let out surprised gasps.

Afya just smiled regal at them.

"Yugi, if you ever have a question just ask me...I know quite a bit of the Milliunm Item and about your puzzle."

And with that Afya and Sehrazat changed places.

Sehrazat grinned at her flabbergasted new friends: "So do you like my Gran-Gran?"

(*)

A while later we find our big friend group in a meadow where they have taken a break.

They had a lot of discussion.

"What you told us...", hummed Anzu with a finger on her chin. "It sounds like a folktale."

"I'm surprised Sehra's family could keep the Millium Fragment safe for 3000 years, that's amazing.", shares Honda his thoughts.

Yugi had a thoughtful look on his face as he gripped his puzzle.

"I admit... sometimes it's like I hear another voice in my head or feel another presence beside mine...but to think that Afya's husband's soul is in the puzzle is just..."

"Crazy?", chorused everyone.

The short duelist nodded.

"Yugi-Kun, don't worry about this now.", assured him Sehrazat. "I had weeks to get used to Afya...I'm sure you will find a way to talk to the pharaoh when you are ready. And if you ever need help, you can ask Gran-Gran."

Relieved Yugi nodded.

He really needed time to understand all this.

Also, he was a bit scared to meet his lodger. Not because he thought the pharaoh might be evil, not if he always helped him, just...it made all that the girls told him true.

How Pegasus tournament and saving Grandpa's soul was just a tiny problem against saving the whole world from destruction.

One problem at a time.

"Alright guys!", jumped Jonouchi up from the ground and raised his fist in the air. "We still have work to do, for now, let's get this Star Chips, so we can enter the castle!"

Kihana nodded.

"Jonouchi is right, let us concentrate on the things we can do and not on the things that might happen."

All agreed and so the group started walking again.

(*)

"I still can't believe it!", whisper-shouted Sehrazat to Kihana. "Mimi Kawaii! THE Mimi Kawaii, my favourite idol is here and she doesn't want to duel me!"

After our friends left the meadow they stumbled over Idol Mimi Kawaii with her two bodyguards.

Apparently, her management wanted Mimi to be a duelist too, since Duel Monster was so in trend right now.

Good publicity, you know?

But Sehrzat didn't care for this she had asked for an autograph and Mimi had given her one!

Aaaah!

Then Mimi actually challenged Joey to a duel.

This had made Sehrazat sad.

Since Mimi was so beautiful Joey got distracted so easily by her flirts that he made one mistake after another, which made all facepalm and Anzu declaring him a horny horndog.

However, Joye got back into the game as it showed how Mimi had no real idea what she was doing.

She merely had cuteys monsters in her deck and tried with her flirts to distract her opponents.

Not a good strategy for long, when you face someone who fought for his sister.

So in the end Joey won and earned three Star Chips.

Mimi apologized for her tricks...she actually didn't want to participate in the tournament and only got in thanks to her manager.

Singing was her passion, not Duel Monsters.

Sehrazat told her she should follow her passion and not be the puppet of her management.

It showed she didn't like Duel Monsters, it only would anger her fanbase if she pretended to be someone she wasn't.

For this not only Sehrazat got a thank you from Mimi, but also a hug.

She nearly fainted!

The idol and the bodyguards left them and our friends were again in eight.

Together they looked at their gloves.

Sehrazat had 8 Star Chips.

Kihana six.

And Joey and Yugi five each.

It was going good for them.

So they decide to find some more people to duel.

The day was still young after all.

Next

The Queen's Gambit: The Story

The most powerful piece in chess is the queen.

When this piece joins the game of Duel Monsters anything will change.

With two dragon sisters, a magician and her descendant, the queen will take her rightful place.

As it should have been.

After nearly two years, I'm back :D I'm currently watching YGO! in Japanese, and I got the feeling back to write for it and use the Japanese dub now. It's way better than whatever 4KIDS did, so I will rewrite the chapters. ^^

Please enjoy!

Chapter 1: Happy 15th Birthday!

On the day of her 15th birthday, Sehrazat Faizan woke up like any other normal school day.

More asleep than awake and groaning.

She didn’t care that today was also her birthday, it was too early!

Why does school start this earlier?

That was inhuman!

The dark blue-haired girl put her pillow over her head.

Any minute now Kihana would storm her room and drag her out of bed. She loved her best friend, but these were times when she wished Kihana and her family would live in their own house.

…Yeah, Sehrazat didn’t think that would stop Kihana either.

There!

She heard the familiar boom of her door opening and wanted to cry.

Today was her birthday, even a special one in her family, so why couldn’t she stay at home and sleep?

Fuck, school!

“Rise and shine, your highness!”, sing-songend Kihana. She couldn’t be normal. Who was that happy, at this time?! “Today is your birthday, happy birthday my dear Sehra!”

Aww, at least this was cute.

It stopped being cute when Kihana gripped her blanket and left her in the cold morning air.

Sehrazat hissed like an angry cat and rolled herself into a ball.

Cold, way too cold!

Why were mornings so cold in Domino? How she missed the warm mornings in Lisabon!

Kihana just tutted at her.

The white-haired girl with the bluest eyes Sehrazat had ever seen was merciless.

She gripped one of Sehrazat's arms and just let her fall to the floor!

“Hey, what was that for!”, shrieked Sehrazat offended.

The floor was even colder!

Her best friend just put her hands on her waist.

She was already wearing the Domino High School Uniform, her long white hair perfectly groomed into a ponytail, decent make-up which made her blue eyes even more pop and her white porcelain skin glowing healthily.

“That’s the only way to wake you up, Sehrazat and you know it. We do this five times a week.”, reminds her Kihana.

Making a face Sehrazat stood up and had to control herself to make a worse face.

She still reached only under Kihana’s breast.

Why was her best friend tall like a supermodel and she was small like a child?

They were now the same age, so unfair!

Only Sadiye, Kihana’s younger sister, was smaller than her!

And that was because she really was a ten-year-old child.

Again, so unfair.

Pouting she followed Kihana to the dining room, where both their moms already were with little Sadiye eating breakfast.

Even if they all lived in Japan now, they still had a more wester-styled breakfast.

With pancakes, cornflakes, bacon, and eggs, you name it.

That didn’t mean none of them had tasted the local cuisine.

For example, Sehrazat loved Ramen like she was Naruto from the same named Manga, but sometimes you needed a bit of home.

They were all originally from Egpyt, but Rahila, Kihana and Sadiye’s mother, and her own mother Amira grew up in London, England.

Sehrazat’s Grandmother still lives there, like Kihana and Sadiye’s Grandparents.

Besides Rahila and Kihana, who were white-passing, all of them were black.

Sadiye was the first to note them.

“Happy Birthday, Sehra!”, shouted the ten-year-old, which gripped the attention of the two older women.

Her mother smiled and stood up from her seat.

She opened her arms for her.

“Good morning, my little princess, and happy, happy birthday!”

Still tired Sehrazat let herself fall into her mother’s embrace.

Ah, nothing to raise her spirits like her mama’s hugs!

Mama was warm and smelled, like always after jasmine and sandalwood. Comforting and homey.

“Happy Birthday, Your Highness. Now you are finally 15.”, said Rahila to her and Sehrazat felt how her head was patted.

“Thanks aunty Rahila.”

They all sit down at the table and Amira signs wistfully.

“15 years already…I can’t believe time flew so fast. It was like yesterday you were this tiny and I could pick up you whenever I wanted.”

“She still IS tiny!”, joked Sadiye and grinned at her.

Sehrazat looked at her angrily and bit into her pancake.

Kihana tutted her little sister, who shrugged her shoulders.

Sadly it was true.

Didn’t mean like Sehrazat liked to hear that.

“And you can still pick her up Amira.”, reminded Rahila.

Thanks, Aunty!

Sehrazat bit harder into her pancake.

“You know what I mean.”, said Amira and then turned to her daughter. “Don’t forget, today IS a special birthday. Now you will be the Keeper.”

It took Sehrazat any amount of strength to not roll her eyes.

Ah, yes, she became now the Keeper of the mysterious Millennium Fragment which had her family since the times of the great pharaohs.

She never even saw that thing, because her mother kept it in a little golden box with Hieroglyphs written on it.

But nearly anyone treated it like it was something sacred.

Holy!

The dark blue-haired girl thought personally that it was too much.

It was just some jewellery.

Yes, it is really old jewellery, however still jewellery.

There was nothing special about it.

Or let’s say better she didn’t want to believe the stories her mother and grandmother told her.

They were just too crazy!

/*/

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEHRA-CHAN!”

Sehrazat and Kihana flinched at the loud shout and the birthday girl couldn’t even look as fast, as Maja, the third in their friend group, launched herself at her, hugging her tight.

The blue-haired girl couldn’t even respond, since Maja’s hug was so strong that it squeezed the air out of her lungs.

“Maja-Chan, let Sehra breath, she is turning blue!”, came Kihana to her rescue.

The brown-haired girl let her go with ups, yet Sehrazat fell nearly on the ground if Kihana and Maja didn’t catch her.

“I’m so sorry, Sehra-Chan!”, whined Maja, while Kihana checked on her.

Sehrazat just made a thumbs-up.

She could feel how nearly everyone in the schoolyard was looking at them.

Like always.

Maja was consistently over the top with her affection, but that’s why she and Kihana loved the other black girl.

The three were a bit infamous in Domino High, the only black girls, even if Kihana was white-passing and Maja half-Japanese and their morning routine got them even more attention.

After Sehrazat could breathe again, Maja handed her a little gift box.

“Here is your birthday present, my dear Sehra-Chan. I hope you like it!”

“Thanks, Maja, that’s so nice of you.”, told her Sehrazat smiling.

Maja grinnend and rubbed her nose.

Kihana looked on as she unwrapped her gift.

A small gasp left her lips.

“Dark Magician Girl and Magical Hats! I searched for them everywhere, where did you find them?!”, shouted the birthday girl happily.

How long she had wanted these two cards for her deck of Duel Monster? She couldn’t remember and Maja found them and gifted them to her.

“Aww, makes me happy you are so happy! I found them in a cute little card shop named Kame Shop. The old grandpa who owns it was nice and he has a lot of good cards.”, explained Maja, rocking back and forth with her hands behind her back.

“We need to totally visit it!”, decides Sehrazat.

Maja raised a fist in the air and shouted a loud Yeah!

“But not today.”, came Kihana, the voice of reason in their group. “You know how important your 15th birthday is Sehra. Our moms expect us back after school, no improvised trips.”

Both Sehrazat and Maja let out a gloomy sound and slouched over.

Sadly Kihana was right.

The brunette was the first to gather herself.

“Is this again some of your guys’ weird family tradition? Reminds me of my Obaa-Chan and her demand that we always have Mochi after dinner.”, said Maja.

“Eh, you could say.”, answered Sehrazat.

It was forbidden to tell outsiders about their family affairs, even if Sehrazat didn’t believe one bit and would like to tell Maja, that she respected this rule.

Also, Kihana was there and would give her a headbutt if she told a thing.

Other than her Kihana believes this shit.

Sehrazat wonders sometimes if she was the weird one in her family or if the others were all the weird ones.

Stupid ancient jewellery and its stupid ancient legend around it.

It was then that the school clock sounded, meaning it was time to get to their classroom.

The three girl pals hocked their arms with each other and followed the long line of their school- and classmates into the building.

/*/

The school day was too fast over in Sehrazat's eyes.

Normally she would be happy, but she wondered what would her await home.

She doesn’t want to participate in that superstition of her family, yet she doesn’t have a choice.

So she had to say goodbye to Maja and follow Kihana home.

Arrived there her mother reminded her that they would go out for dinner today and then the ceremony would take place.

So she had to dress nicely.

Her mother had bought her a pretty white dress, with it she should wear her best golden jewellery.

After a shower and dressing up Sehrazat had to let out a sign.

She looked like a modern version of an ancient Egyptian princess…she really hoped no one she knew saw her like this.

Well, at least she wasn’t the only one.

Her mother looked like a modern Egyptian queen, while Aunty Rahila, Kihana, and Sadiye looked like priestesses.

Besides her, little Sadiye whined to Rahila that she wanted to wear her favourite red dress, she knew the stories too, but she seemed only to half believe them.

Yet Rahila didn’t give her a choice and so not only Sadiye pouted, Sehrazat did it too.

Her mother tutted her and so she tried to smile.

At least they would eat well before the whole weird shit happened.

Since Sehrazat’s favourite food was Pasta, they would eat out in the best Italian restaurant in Domino.

The food, of course, was delicious and as her birthday cake came out, made out of chocolate and vanilla and everyone in the restaurant sang happy birthday to her, the birthday girl forgot for a second what would await her home.

Then it was time for her presents.

From Rahila she got the new CD from her favorite J-Pop Idol Mimi Kawaii! It was even a special edition, with an autograph and an exclusive poster.

From Sadiye she got a self-drawn book, with drawings of her and Sadiye having adventures together.

Also, she gifted her a Kuriboh card, which was adorable since Sadiye used her own money to buy it. Everyone cooed at her.

From Kihana, who had a passion for sewing, she got a self-made bag with a large D and M on it for Duel Monster and a new card holder.

From her mama, she got a new dress in her favourite colour gold which sparkled like the sun, with fitting shoes new earrings, and a necklace.

Her granny had sent her money, which her mother gave her.

Sehrazat already knew she would buy some new Duel Monsters cards from it.

All in all an awesome birthday.

If it wasn’t for one thing remaining.

/*/

“Long ago when the pyramids were still young, the great pharaohs played a game filled with obscure magic. These were the Shadow Games. But these Shadow Games erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the entire world. Until a brave and powerful pharaoh locked the magic away, imprisoning it within the mystical Millennium Items. His name we don’t know, he is only known as the Nameless Pharaoh.”, told Amira the story Sehrazat had heard 100 times or so.

She had to keep herself from yawing.

This was important.

Oh well, for her mama.

She just wanted to get over it.

They were back home.

Currently in their dining room where now the table and chairs were missing and a little altar was placed.

On it was a statue of the goddess Isis, lotus blossoms and the famous golden box of her mother.

Rahila with her daughters stood at the side, and beside Sadiye who seemed to wish to be somewhere else, listened to Amira's words.

Amira stood beside the altar and Sehrazat was standing before her.

God, it sounds like they had a cult meeting or something similar.

People would call them crazy if they saw them.

Thankful the curtains on the window were closed and the room was illuminated by a lot of candles.

“The Nameless Pharaoh had a wife. This wife born our ancestor, the founder of the Faizan family.”, continues Amira. “The great queen gave her daughter a duty which we fulfil to this day.

She gave us the 8th Millennium Item, the Fragment, which belonged only to the queens of Egypt. Sehrazat.”

Oh, dear.

She looked at her mother, who had raised her hands like a prayer, which made this even more sound like a cult meeting and tried to stay impassive.

Even if she just wanted to go to bed.

“Sehrazat, my dear daughter. For thousands of years, we have protected the Millennium Fragment from outer forces who want to use its power for evil. From mother to daughter, when reached the age of 15 the keepsake gets passed down. Now it’s your turn.”

Amira took the golden box in her hands and Sehrazat nearly forgot to hold her hands open, so her mother could place the box in them.

“You will keep it safe till it’s your turn to pass it down to your daughter or when the time will come that its power is needed again, then the great queen, our ancestor, said one day the world would need it again the power of the Millenium Fragment. Fulfil your duty to our family, our bloodline, as all the other daughters before you.”

“I will, Mother.”, she responded and stared at the box which was now hers.

So that was it?

Yeah, of course, nothing strange happened.

It was just a box with jewellery.

Nothing more.

At least this ceremony was over now.

/*/

Sehrazat was freshly showered and wearing her PJs as she retired to her room for the night.

Yawning she closed the door after her.

Well, this birthday was over, she got cool gifts, had an awesome time with her family, ate well and now was the Keeper of a shiny little box.

The Box with the Millenium Item was sitting on her Vanity Mirror where she had it placed before taking her shower.

She frowned at the thing.

Till she had a daughter and she was 15, she had to keep an eye on it. Yeah, she could imagine more fun activities.

Stupid family tradition.

The blue-haired girl bet some of her ancestors got conned with this thing and the story, making anybody believe it to this day.

Well, she surely wouldn’t.

Mumbling to herself about stupid shiny boxes, she sat down on her bed and reached for her deck.

She wanted to put the new cards in it and then in the cardholder, Kihana had made for her.

Just…something was bugging her.

She couldn’t explain it.

It was something in the depths of her mind. Something like a whisper.

Something deep in herself told her to look at what was in the box.

Frowning she placed her deck on her bedside table and took the shiny box from the Vanity Mirror to her bed.

She crossed her arms and sat before it.

“So, now what? Stupid shiny old box, what is so special about you?”, she said to herself.

Meanwhile, a storm was forming with lightning and thunder, and howling wind.

The blue-haired girl took the box in her hand and opened it.

There laid this Millennium Fragment.

It was golden, tear-dropped formed with a big eye of Horus staring right into her soul.

She admitted it looked really…ancient.

And the eye was creeping her out.

“So you are the Millenium Fragment, heh?”, was she really talking to jewelry? What had gotten into her? “What is so special about you?”

To demonstrate, she and anybody else Sehrazat decide to break the rule about not wearing the jewellery.

It was just a story.

She took it out of the box.

It was just a story.

The box was placed on her bed.

It was just a story.

Lighting illuminated its surface and reflected on it ominously.

It was just a story!

Sehrazat took all her courage and put it on.

Her heart beat so fast, that she could feel and hear it.

Sweat has broken out on her body, but it was done.

The Millenium Fragment hung now from her throat.

The storm outside got more intense.

“Heh, that’s it?”, she said with a wobbly voice. “It’s really just-“

The teenager couldn’t even end her sentence as some kind of energy flowed through her being.

A golden eye appeared on her forehead and she threw her head back in a silent scream.

If someone saw this he wouldn’t believe his eyes, but the girl seemed to grow taller, her body taking more womanly curves, her hair reaching her bottom and her eyes becoming shaper.

Her mouth closed and she slowly put her head again forward.

She blinked her eyes a few times and raised an elegant eyebrow as she looked around the room.

“Well, this…this is surprising.”, Sehrazat or not said in a melodious sinful voice who belonged to a woman and not a young girl.

She raised her hand to look at it, studying it.

“Really surprising.”

Next

The Queen's Gambit: The Story

The most powerful piece in chess is the queen.

When this piece joins the game of Duel Monsters anything will change.

With two dragon sisters, a magician and her descendant, the queen will take her rightful place.

As it should have been.

Chapter 13: A Haunted Cave?

A new day began in the Duelist Kingdom, the last day our heroes could collect the Star Chips they needed to enter Pegasus Castle.

The girls were first up and cleaned themselves as well as they could by the nearby river, while the boys still slept.

Kihana cleaned the face of a grumpy Sadiye, Anzu combed her hair, Maja put some waterproof mascara on and Sehrazat cleaned a dirty stain on her maroon pants.

"Can we wake up the boys?", whined Sadiye, trying to escape Kihana's wet tissue. "It's unfair that they can still sleep."

"Well Sadie-Chan, do want to smell like a boy?", asked Maja.

"No?"

"Then it's good that we woke up."

Sadiye still grumbled, which made the other girls laugh.

When they were fresh enough they returned to their campsite.

Ah, the boys were awake too.

"You're all awake.", greeted Anzu, while the other girls waved.

"Good Morning.", greeted Yugi back.

"So who wants, breakfast?", asked Kihana in the round.

Everybody yelled 'me', which made Kihana laugh.

So the boys washed themselves and Kihana and the girls prepared the breakfast.

Some warm rice and Onigiri Maja had with her.

It was a simple but filling breakfast.

After that, our group of friends started to walk around to find duelists to duel for Sehrazat, Yugi and Jonouchi.

Kihana already had her 10 Star Chips.

Yugi with his 6 needed 4.

Joey had 7 and needed 3.

And Sehrazat had 8, which meant she needed 2.

They could do this before the 48 hours were over to enter the Castle.

"How many duelists are left on the island?", wonders Bakura.

"Ten or so duelists were sent home yesterday.", answered Jonouchi.

"And the Player Killers must have eliminated others.", added Anzu.

"That means out of the 40 participants, about half were eliminated.", said Yugi.

"We still can get our Star Chips.", was Sehrazat sure. "There are still enough people left and I bet they will take more risks, we can win the Star Chips we need in one or two duels."

All nodded in agreement.

It was manageable if they stayed calm and duelled with intelligence.

"But we can't take too long.", reminds Yugi. "The remaining Duelists have to be powerful to have survived the first day."

This made Joey stop in his tracks.

"They're even stronger?"

Kihana put a hand on Joey's shoulder.

"It's okay Joey, you need three, you can win them in one duel."

"Thanks, Hana. However my opponent is, I will defeat them!"

"That's the spirit!", chorused the other three duelists together.

Unknown to our friends they were watched by Bandit Keith lackeys, who searched for duelists to duel.

Seeing Yugi and the famous Amazon Princess of the Nile and the Lady of the Dragons, made them scared, which they told their boss.

Bandit Keith never heard of Yugi, but he knew who Sehrazat and Kihana were.

Number 1 and 2 in Europe.

So it was decided they would go for Joey since he was an amateur.

Poor Joey had no idea what would await him!

(*)

A bit later our heroes were still looking for other duelists.

"I haven't seen any duelist for a while.", pointed Joey out what everyone thought.

"Maybe we walked too deep into the forest.", said Anzu.

"Since there are fewer duelists, finding one is hard work.", found Honda.

The group came to a stop as Joey told them he needed a bathroom break.

So they waited for him.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited a bit more.

Till Sadiye yelled: "What kind of shit is he taken that he isn't back?!"

"Sadiye Kisara Schariq!", gasped Kihana affrondet. "Don't use such words!"

"But she is right Hana-Chan. We have been waiting for a half hour or so.", said Maja also annoyed.

"Maybe he got lost?", wonders Anzu.

"Maybe someone challenged him to a duel.", guessed Yugi the most likely scenario.

"That's a possibility.", agreed Honda. "Joey would love to surprise us by secretly winning some Star Chips."

"Let's split up and search for him.", suggested Bakura.

All nodded.

So they split up in dues, Honda and Bakura, Anzu and Maja, Sehrazat and Yugi and the Schariq sisters.

Every due took a different direction.

Hopefully, they would find Joey soon.

Sadly neither of the Dues found him and they meet up again, looking together now.

It was Anzu who found Joey's wallet with a picture of Shizuka, his little sister, in it.

Honda declared as absentminded as he was, Jonouchi would never lose something so important to him.

Something bad had happened to him!

Since the wallet was found before the entrance of a cave our friends decided to look around there for him.

The cave was already creepy, but as they stumbled over the coffins it got scary.

Kihana formally squeezed the hand of Sadiye, who deadpanned, while Sehrazat hid behind Yugi.

Courise Anzu and Bakura walked over to the coffins.

Maja and Honda warned them to not get close to them, however, it was too late.

The coffins open and the skeletons inside fall on Anzu and Bakura!

Protective Kihana put Sadiye behind her, who looked couriers on, while Sehrazat formally threw herself in Yugi's embrace with a shout.

Honda and Maja helped to get the fake skeletons off of poor Bakura and Anzu.

"Pegasus is playing a prank.", said Honda.

"A sick one!", added Sehrazat from her place in Yugi's arms.

The boy blushed crimson red but hugged her back in comfort.

"It's okay, Sehrazat-Chan, they are surely fake."

After all who needed to calm down, calmed down, they continued their search for Joey.

They ran what seemed like hours, till Honda stopped, asking if anybody was still there.

Besides Bakura, no one was missing. (And Joey of course)

That's when they heard the scream of the white-haired teen.

He had a skeleton on his back!

All got so scared, besides Sadiye who got picked up by her sister and ran away from Bakura, who yelled at them to stop and wait for him.

Somehow Honda managed to get the skeleton away from Bakura, while all the others lay on the floor defeated.

"Don't bring creepy things with you!", scolde the brunette boy.

"I can't move another inch.", whined Anzu.

Maja took her hand in comfort and squeezed.

Only Sadiye was sitting up and looked at all in a deadpan.

"Why are you so scared of some old bones...I mean they aren't even real?", wonders the youngest.

"I think it's the whole atmosphere of this place that gets to us, Sadiye.", explained her sister.

The little girl seemed not happy with that answer but said nothing.

Yugi sat up and said: "On the bright side, we made good progress."

Bakura said sorry for bringing the skeleton to them.

"Yugi, where should we go?", asked him Honda.

They had reached a fork, illuminated by skulls with candles in it.

Anzu sweetdropped and hold Maja's hand tigther.

"This place is getting creepier and creepier."

"Jonouchi can't handle this occult stuff.", said Honda worried.

They all stood up.

"We have to find Jonouchi as quickly as possible.", declared Yugi.

That's when Bakura stepped on a switch on the ground.

Like if they suddenly were in Indiana Jones a giant boulder comes rolling towards them!

All screamed.

"Oh my god, a giant rock!", shouted Sehrazat, as they ran for their life.

"I can't believe it!", shouted also Maja. "It's a rock and it's giant!"

"What kind of crack are you on?!", yelled Sadiye on the back of her sister.

The giant rock...erm...boulder even followed them as they took the left cave, Anzu wondering how this was possible and Honda answering he had no idea.

Poor Bakura stumbled and fell victim to the giant boulder.

They all shouted for him, but it was too late, they had to save themselves.

Sadly they ended up in a Dead End.

That's when Honda got the crazy idea to punch the boulder, everyone yelled it was crazy, yet it worked!

The boulder explodes like a balloon.

Stupified the teens and one child realized it had been a balloon with a speaker inside all the time.

They raced back to poor traumatised for his life Bakura.

Anzu and Kihana looked after the white-haired boy, while Honda and Sehrazat, with Afya anger beside her, swore to make Pegasus pay for this scare!

Finally, they found Jonouchi who was duelling in a Graveyard Duel Ring against a boy who looked like a Zombie himself.

Joey was happy to see them and explained to them how he was practically kidnapped in this cave to duel against the Zombie-Boy.

Two guys stepped in the way of the group, saying how they would not let them interrupt this duel.

They needed to use force.

Bad, bad choice.

For Bandit Keith lackeys.

Honda they may get, but the famous Amazon Princess of the Nile, seemed to have grown taller and hotter and kicked their ass brutally.

The two lay on the ground defeated and you could swerve little birds were flying in circles around their head.

"Jonouchi.", called Afya up to him. "It's your choice are you willing to continue duelling or shall I end this?"

"I need to Sehra...erm Afya! If I win I will have all 10 Star Chips!"

The queen nodded but made the famous I-Got-My-Eyes-On-You pose to Bandit Keith who gritted his teeth.

"But I don't know how.", admitted Joey.

Honda managed to get up and threw Joey Shizuka's photo, reminding him of who he was battling for.

He could and would find a way!

In the end, Joey indeed managed to win thanks to the Spell Card Shield and Sword, which switched the attack and defence points of monsters and since Zombie Monster had no defence points they had no zero attack points and were easily destroyed by Joey Battle Warrior.

Our friends celebrated hard, while Bandit Keith and his lackeys got out of the cave.

It was high time that our heroes left the cave.

They had enough of creepy places for a lifetime.

As they saw finally the cave exit they ran happily towards it only to stop in their tracks as a boulder was shoved before it.

Trapping them!

With all their might they tried to shove it away, yet it was no use.

Oh no!

(*)

"WHY! WON'T! YOU! BREAK!", shouted Afya angrily swinging her Millinium Fragments in its sword form over the boulder.

She made huge scratches sure, but nothing more.

Kihana laid a hand on Afya's shoulder.

"Your Majesty. It's no use. We have to find another way."

Angry Afya switched places back with Sehrazat, while the Hikairi turned the sword back into its Fragment form.

"What now?", she asked into the round.

Suddenly Bakura with his Millinium Ring in his hand walked away.

All followed after him surprised.

What was he doing?

"I think Pegasus's castle is this way.", told the white-haired boy.

"Why?", wondered Anzu.

"If I remember right, the Millennium Ring can sense other Millennium Items.", though Sehrazat out loud.

Bakura nodded.

"Right, follow me."

So they did.

Again it was like they walked for an eternity.

"Bakura, are you sure this is the right way?", broke Joey the silence over their group. "We've been walking for ages and the path is getting narrower."

"The walls look different too. They used to be rough, but not anymore", pointed Anzu out.

"This is definitely man-made.", said Joey.

Yugi told them that it felt like they were walking in a maze.

"Cool.", deadpannend Sadiye. "Has someone red garn?"

"Hopeful no Minotauros awaits us.", shuddered Sehrazat.

"Erm what?"

"Greek Mythology, Jonouchi-Kun.", said Kihana. "The Minotauros was a beast half man half bull who lived in a maze. The red garn was used by the hero Theseus to find his way through the maze."

Anzu groanend and made a facepalm.

"We had learned this in school, Joey and you already forgot?"

"Sorry, that I'm not a history nerd!"

In the meantime, Bakura Millennium Ring formally dragged him towards what he thought was the exit and the others were right behind him.

They reached a room, which looked Chinese and had a Duel Ring with four places!

Out of nowhere two guys with shaved heads dressed in traditional Chinese clothes appeared and gave them a little Kung-Fu show.

All stared in confusion and disbelief at them.

What was that?

The twins stopped with crossed arms, side by side.

One in orange and one in green.

"We are...", they began and made more Kung Fu Poses. "...guardians of the underground dungeon! We are the Labyrinth Brothers."

"Labyrinth Brothers?", repeated Joey. "Is this a Hong Kong action movie?"

Maja leaned down to Sehrazat and whispered: "Still afraid of the Minotauros?"

"I think I take the Minotauros over these freaks.", whispered Sehrazat to her. "They seem crazy."

The orange twin said how it had been a while since travellers got lost inside the labyrinth.

"But it wouldn't be a labyrinth if you didn't get lost.", added the Green Twin.

"Lost ones, you wish to learn the correct path."

"The correct path."

Together they shouted and made again Kung Fu Poses: "In that case...if you want to know the answer...Defeat us in a duel!"

They pointed at the four-man Duel Ring.

At the end of the room were two doors and Green Twin explained that only one would lead them outside. If the Twins were defeated, our heroes got to choose one. But careful if they didn't escape they will wander the labyrinth for eternity.

"So if we don't win this duel, we can never leave?", summarized Anzu.

"That's extreme.", added Maja.

"This duel will be a special two-on-two match.", told Orange Twin.

"Two duelists, step forward.", invited Green Twin.

"Two-on-Two.", repeated Bakura.

"A tag match.", said Joey surprised.

"Be careful.", warned Honda. "It could be a trap."

Since Kihana and Jonouchi had now 10 Star Chips each it was clear who would duel.

Yugi and Sehrazat nodded at each other.

Their Milliuniums Items shone in gold and Yami and Afya were now in control of the bodies.

Like a gentleman, Yami offers his hand to Afya.

"My queen, it would be my honour to duel with you."

Afya put her hand in Yami's with a smile.

"It is my honour too, my pharaoh."

Both smiled lovingly at each other before Yami led her down the stairs to the Duel Ring.

Afya was on the side of Orange Twin and Yami was on the side of Green Twin.

"Welcome to our Labyrinth Field.", said the brothers together.

Yami had his arms crossed, while Afya studied the field.

It may not look like a Labyrinth right now, but the queen was sure it would change soon.

"Wager your Star Chips.", called Green Twin.

Elegant Afya holds up 2.

"Two for me!"

"I wager four.", said Yami. "That's a total of six Chips."

"Understood.", chorused the brother.

"Let's do this, my dear.", called Yami to his wife.

She winked at him and nodded.

"We will show them the might of the pharaoh and queen!"

"And if we win.", they said together. "We will have 10 Star Chips each and can enter Pegasus Castle!"

"Do your best, you two!", wished them Anzu.

"Beat them so we can get out of here!", shouted Honda.

"Show them why you are the greatest duelists I know!", cheered Jonouchi.

"We believe in you!", assured Kihana.

Maja and Sadiye shouted together: "Yami and Afya, you can win because you are the game queen and king!"

Bakura gave them a thumbs up.

The royal couple nodded at their friends, as the Labrinthy Brothers declared the duel began.

It was game time!

The flap of Butterfly wings...

Once upon a time, Hiccup had a best friend and Toothless a mate.

But through his decision to pick Berk and Astrid over them, they lost the girls.

In one world Hiccup and Leandra lived their lives away from each other…yet destiny is a funny thing.

Their first story "To Belong" was just one of endless possibilities and this here is another one.

Will Hiccup and Leandra finally be together?

Or will destiny repeat itself?

Yeah, I'm back with Leandra and Hiccup it's a new version of My War since To Belong ended with Leandra happy in China. 

For all of you who liked this ending better, you can ignore this fanfic, for all of you who want Hiccup and Leandra together, this is the right fanfiction!

Prologue

Long ago when he was still a young lad, Hiccup had a best friend.

Her name was Leandra, a foreign girl and outcast like him.

Together they faced their agemate's bullying and the adult's indifference.

Then when he shot down Toothless, Leandra was with him.

She was with him when he freed Toothless.

She was with him when he got to know Toothless.

She was with him when they met Starchaser, Toothless's mate, who became Leandra's bonded dragon.

Along the way...he made a mistake.

It took him a long time to realise it.

As Astrid found out their secret...he could have flown away with Leandra...with the only person who ever loved him as a Hiccup!

Who never demanded he change, because she liked him the way he was.

Sadly he was a stupid 15-year-old boy, still with a crush on Astrid and hope in his heart he could change Berk's mind about dragons, that he run after the blond Viking girl.

And with this simple decision, Leandra walked her own way.

Sure, she helped against the Red Death and stayed till he woke up from the fight...however Leandra left with Starchaser Berk and never returned.

It was like Hiccup had a hole in his heart.

Not a day passed where he didn't look for a sign that she returned.

However, years passed and even Toothless left him.

Hiccup married Astrid and had two kids.

It...it was nice.

It was okay.

This was how it was supposed to be.

Then Ulf returned, from his own world travelling, the grown man and little brother of Leandra and talked with Hiccup.

"She is really happy.", told him Ulf as they drank together a cup of meat. "She married a Chinese woman named Xia and Starchaser stayed with her. Oh, and she has ten adopted kids, six girls and four boys."

"Did she ask about me?", couldn't Hiccup help but ask.

"Yeah...she was happy for you, she didn't say more, only that it was good that you let her go since she is happy with Xia."

With burning eyes, Hiccup drank his cup.

"Yeah, sure, I love the kids and Astrid."

Ulf didn't seem the least convinced but said nothing, just gave him a friendly shoulder pat.

That night, while Astrid and the kids slept, Hiccup looked out one of the windows.

He wondered how this all had to come to this.

He lost both his best friends.

His dragon.

And the girl he realized too late he loved.

His feelings of regret were nearly crushing him.

But what he could do?

Nothing, long ago he took the decision which led to Leandra's departure.

He still remembers the goodbye letter she wrote to him.

Dear Hiccup,

when you read this I'm on my way to Spain.

Other than you, I didn't forget how the people on Berk treated us, I will not play friendly with a bunch of lairs and assholes!

Go live your little perfect Viking Life with little perfect Viking Bride Astrid and make lots of little Viking Babies.

You showed me clearly how I meant nothing to you.

We could have run away together with Starchaser and Toothless, be free from all this, but I guess I didn't know you really.

All the times you cried on my shoulders because your dad was so hard on you and the other bullied you, you seemed to have forgotten.

I didn't and I will never.

I will never forgive them.

Hiccup...you were my shining light in the darkness that was Berk for me.

I love you, like really love you, but I know you will never love me back.

You showed me this clearly.

And I deserve someone who loves me unconditionally.

So this is my goodbye to you.

I will always love you Hiccup and never regret the time we shared.

Forever yours,

Leandra

He had read that little letter so often that it was all crumpled.

She said she would always love him...he had hoped till his wedding day she would come back and sweep him away, yet it didn't happen.

Leandra managed to move on.

She had a wife and children and her dragon and didn't seem to miss him one bit.

Hiccup signed, looking at the stars.

He heard once, that many different worlds existed, built from different discussions they took.

The chief hoped with all his heart that at least one Hiccup and one Leandra stayed together.

He clearly failed.

With another deep sigh, he joined Astrid in bed.

It was time to move on and forget.

Nothing would change.

(*)

The flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane.

One small decision can change your whole life.

We can never know what the outcome is, but the thought that different realities exist where maybe we are happier can console someone.

Hiccup and Leandra didn't manage to be together in one reality.

But what about another one?

Are they even meant to be?

One thing is clear...in this timeline, the Butterfly Effect will cause more than a hurricane.

It could bring doom or salvation.