Chapter Text
“Back when the world was new, there were the Ascended. A diamond made of pure light, and a cloud made of pure darkness. These two beings molded the world as we know it, the light creating the sun-soaked plants and mountains, while the darkness created the oceans.
The two beings worked together, and through their power, they created the Cards and Arktii and mysteriously disappeared.
Cards, as you all should know, are beings created out of light. They most often bond with humans and create what we all know as Cardmasters. In fact, there are some Cardmasters here in class right? Ayaka and Cleo?” The teacher turned from her board.
The two aforementioned students nodded, a shy smile appearing on Ayaka’s face.
The teacher smiled back and turned back to the board, continuing the lesson.
“Meanwhile Arktii are beings made of darkness. They can meld into the shadows and are typically more harsh than the Cards. Because of them being more harsh than Cards, we don’t know much about them, or how they work.”
A very bored sigh cut through the room, that of which came from a student. His white shoes rested on the desk, arms behind his head, lightly rustling his brown hair. His light red eyes narrowed at the teacher.
“Come on now, we already know about the history of Cards and Arktii, even the Ascended! They’re everywhere!” In the chair sat a snarky human, not a Cardmaster by any means. This boy is named-
“Isami,” His friend, Ayaka, spoke up. “We all know about your…opinion on Cards and Arktii, chill out and let the teacher talk.”
Isami put his legs down on the floor and stood up, turning to his pink-haired friend. “We don’t need to know about the “history of Cards”, Ayaka. We already know everything we need to know!! There’s nothing new.”
“It’s still important that we learn!” Ayaka scolded. “You know this! You never know if the teacher’ll give us new information or not!”
“They never do!!!” Isami shouted, teeth gritting.
“Isami-”
“No!! This whole “Card history” thing is stupid!! We never learn anything new, it’s just the same shit every day!!” He balled his hands into fists, furious glare aimed directly at Ayaka.
“Watch your language, Isami..” They backed up, hands up in a surrender position.
“NO!!! I’M SICK OF THIS!!! THIS CLASS IS STUPID AS HE- HEY!!! Put me down!!!” Isami squirmed in the hands of his classmate, who sneaked behind him.
“Nooo can do 'sami,” Cleo laughed. “You’re waaay too angry right now. Besides, I think the teacher wants to say something to you.”
Isami grit his teeth, glancing over at the teacher, who had her arms crossed and an unimpressed look on her face. He smiled nervously and glanced away. Cleo dropped his friend, motioning him towards the teacher, Isami begrudgingly went to the teacher, who walked into the hall and motioned him to follow.
In the hall, the teacher closed the door to the classroom and crossed her arms.
“Ayaka, Isami, you two can’t keep fighting in class. Isami, since you were the main aggressor, you’ll be getting detention.”
“WHAT! What about Ayaka?!”
“He’ll be getting lunch detention. I highly suggest you go to the detention room now, Azuro.” The teacher turned back towards the door and opened it, walking inside. Ayaka followed, sparing a saddened glance back at their friend. Meanwhile, Isami stood there, bewildered. He grit his teeth, thoughts swirling in his head. He clicked his tongue and turned around, walking down the halls towards the detention room.
“Stupid teacher…stupid detention…stupid school…” He muttered. “Would anyone notice if I left? Hah, I highly doubt it.” With that, Isami left the school and began walking home.
Once in the city, he looked around at the shops and restaurants.
“I could go to that one cafe.. Heard from Cleo that it’s pretty good…” Isami muttered to himself, staring down at the sidewalk. The boy, lost in his thoughts, didn’t notice the light blue mist surrounding him or the surrounding buildings. It crept in like a plague. The creature was in front of him within minutes, a being made of pure mist and scribbled eyes. Its hissing brought Isami out of his thoughts, finally looking up to notice the mist creature.
Within seconds it grabbed him with the mist and tossed him into a nearby tree, a loud thud sounding when Isami hit it. He fell onto the grass and groaned in pain, white hot pain blooming in his back. He attempted to get up, arms shaking, pain blooming along his shoulders.
“Isami…” A mystical voice spoke, distracting Isami from the pain in his back. A bright cyan light flew down from the sky, stopping short from the ground in front of him.
“What….Who are you? Are you a Card?”
“You are correct in assuming that I am a Card. I go by the name of Pixel.”
“What do you want from me?” Isami gritted his teeth, eyes narrowing at the light.
“Together, we can defeat this…aberration. This Arktii.”
“If it’ll pay back the pain in my body…then I accept.” He stood up, legs trembling as he did.
“Very well, together.” The light dimmed down, revealing a cyan cat that stood on its hind legs. It was missing front legs, but had its paws. It also was missing eyes, but had a nose. “Together we shall defeat this Arktii.”
Pixel gently grabbed Isami’s finger and began channeling power into him. The Arktii took notice of this and screeched, charging towards the human and Card, but before it could get to them…A blinding cyan light enveloped the two.
Pixel was gone, and in their place, a scythe. Isami’s eyes, the usual red, now glowed a dull cyan color. And in his hair…was a brightly glowing Cyan streak. Isami charged, grinning widely. The Arktii screeched and attacked wildly, but Isami deflected every blow with his scythe. He slashed back when he could, chipping away at the creature until…A massive poof sounded throughout the street. When the mist cleared, a torn card was on the ground where the Arktii was. Isami breathed heavily, cyan fading from his eyes, the scythe in his hands melding away and turning into Pixel.
“Very good, Isami, you have done well to prove yourself.” They spoke.
“Prove myself?? To what??”
“A Card bond. You, boy, are a Cardmaster now, my human bond.” They appeared to have smiled.
Isami’s eyes widened. Sure enough, the cyan streak in his hair was evidence that he, Isami Azuro, was now a Cardmaster.