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“Oh, Blue Maiden, thank you so much.” Aqua tearfully replied. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
“It was the least I could do.” Blue Maiden humbly replied. She guided Aqua closer to her with her hand.
Aqua stood within the air space above her palm, she followed the motion of Blue Maiden’s hand as though she were tethered. Now, she hovered close to Blue Maiden’s breast as she looked up at her with wet eyes and clasped her hands together like she was in prayer.
“How can I ever repay you?” Aqua asked. She could only imagine how long it had been since the elimination of the Ignis at the behest of Lightning’s actions. “You fought so hard, not just for me but Miyu also?”
“To see you and her reunite is all I would need to be happy forever.” Blue Maiden smiled, bittersweet.
Aqua shook her head and in the wake of her pigtails, there was a sound effect akin to the trickling of a creek. She took on a more insistent demeanour, also, “No, I simply must repay you in some material manner.”
Blue Maiden chuckled awkwardly and she shrugged. She looked around to demonstrate that she appreciated what she already had, that the distance of the how and where was more than enough proof that she didn’t need to be rewarded further for her efforts. The beauty of the Neo Link VRAINS was nothing less than breathtaking.
The Neo Link VRAINS was a vast and wondrous place. Periwinkle hinterlands, untamed Data Storms that swirled, rocky cliffs and azure skies but it was here at the seaside where it was prettiest of all. She and Aqua overlooked a wide and brilliant ocean: a place which had become the site of Aqua’s resurrection thanks to Blue Maiden’s efforts.
It had been a huge task. She hadn’t always been up for it but when it came to learning, she was insatiable with an inquisitive nature so she learned coding and prediction and she helped her allies the way she could. Playmaker and Ghost Girl had both been invaluable but only she could take that final step to unlock the mystery of Aqua’s resurrection.
In her tale of grief and defeat, Aoi had never once looked back for adventure abounded far and wide and propelled her further into the Neo Link VRAINS without hesitation. She simply could not let the bastards get her down: that would be the lowest low that she could possibly imagine. So, she aimed higher, higher than the sea and sky and she did it.
She had found Aqua and Aqua opened her eyes in turn.
To have it all work out just how she had hoped, Blue Maiden did not think she could possibly ask for more from Aqua than her companionship… But it would be rude to decline Aqua’s appreciation. So, an idea did come to mind: an idea which would hopefully placate them both as neither too tall an ask nor so small it would be an insult either.
“Well, in that case…” Blue Maiden chewed on her words thoughtfully. “How about another card for my deck?”
“Oh yes, an excellent idea.” Aqua agreed. “There is quite an important matter of your Marincess deck… Miyu is well, yes? Well enough to duel?” Her shoulders slumped guiltily.
“Yes, we’ve become great friends again thanks to our partnership, Aqua.” Blue Maiden regaled the last three months of bliss with her best friend. “She believes every word of our tale, of why she was taken as a child and what you are. She can’t wait to meet you. She’s been brushing up on her master rulings since.”
“I’m glad.” Aqua said in a small voice. “She was an excellent and resilient duelist and I have no doubt she would do superb with the Marincess deck but that would require you to relinquish it…”
“Oh.”
Blue Maiden had never thought that she would part with it but given that Aqua was Miyu’s Ignis and she Miyu was Aqua’s Origin, of course the Marincess deck would be part of that equation. Aqua had given her the Marincess deck but Aoi didn’t realise the gift of it was more similar to a loan. Her heart tightened. Aqua noticed.
“I can make more.” Aqua said. “But I have an idea for a card, a card which will forever intertwine Marincess and Trickstar, how about that?”
“That sounds great, Aqua.” Blue Maiden exclaimed, excited.
“I’m glad.” Aqua said, she nodded decisively. “Then I shall begin at once- er, we shall. Would you like to help me?”
“It would be my honour.” Blue Maiden said.
“Then let’s log out.” Aqua said.
Blue Maiden nodded and she obliged the request. Her avatar shattered to glimmering, blue pixels once lodged. Aqua followed suit and then. They both opened their eyes to the real world, to Aoi’s bedroom which was so paradoxically pink for a girl who’s favourite colour could not be more obviously blue but it was homey nonetheless.
Private and secure, with her brother at his job and the cleaner robot down the hallway. This was the perfect place for Aqua to spell out the details of how Aoi could assist her in the creation of a new Duel Monster card which would tie in the otherwise unaffiliated archetypes of Marincess and Trickstar.
Aoi curled up on her bed. She had her chin over her knees as her eyes brimmed with curiosity over Aqua’s ongoing activities which she presumed would result in brand new support for her decks. Aqua sat in front of her, her hands at the ready as two orbs of blue light gathered at her fingertips.
“So how can I help?” Aoi asked. Aqua seemed to have it all under control.
“Have you ever noticed how when it comes to Monster cards, the Ignis can only create Cyberse type monsters?” Aqua asked in lieu.
Aoi mulled over the question. That was true. Despite there being so many different types of Duel Monster monsters, cards created from the Ignis and guarded by the Data Storm tended to exclusively be Cyberse type. She thought of Decode Talker and Salamangreat Miragestallio, those types of cards that Ai and Flame made, but it seemed it extended further beyond her allies to her foes. She considered Lightning’s Armatos Legio or Bohman’s Hydradrive decks and how they, too, were Cyberse type. The only cards she could possibly think of which bucked the trend were the recruits that Revolver had pulled out of the Data Storm but he was human so she wasn’t actually certain if those cards had cyberkinetic origins.
So, in the end of her studious reverie, Aoi replied, “I have.”
“Then it makes the absence of other types – Fish, Aqua, Sea Serpent, for example – all the more glaring.” Aqua said. “That is because we, the Ignis, have artificial origins whereas most types require that organic layer. We are neither beasts nor are we warriors, we are not plants nor are dragons or dinosaurs.”
“But you’re artificial intelligence, so why can’t you be machines then?” Aoi asked. That seemed even more glaring a gap in her mind compared to the instances Aqua brought up.
“Clever girl…” Aqua purred ever so proud of her protege. “That is because we are sentient so we cannot be machines. We are not human so we cannot be psychic either. We are our own category.”
“I see.” Aoi said. It was a little confusing but the logic made just enough sense to her to satiate her search for a consistent philosophy of card design among the Ignis – and even the Kaiba Corporation.
“But that’s why humans are so wonderful.” Aqua beamed, her eyes glimmered brightly and she extended her right hand forth to Aoi. It sparkled with the energy that she gathered. “Humans are unbound by the ties that Ignis have: humans can be plants, they can be pyro and reptiles, they can be spellcasters and divinity. Everything and anything. Just think of the endless possibilities…”
Aoi could think of countless examples of what Aqua meant right now. She thought of the dastardly thieves of the Evil ★ Twin archetype but though unethical as they stole jewels and ancient relics, they were not exactly archetypical fiends with horns and claws. She thought of the Aromage deck, they were closer looking to fairies than ordinary humans but they were definitely not plants either despite their associations of tea leaves and trees. Truly, she could go on and on in mind thinking of what Aqua meant.
“So with your assistance, I can access that world of improbability and use your essence as a human to do it: create a Fairy type card which would be used by both Trickstar and Marincess.” Aqua concluded her speech.
Aoi’s eyes glittered with excitement, “That’s amazing, Aqua. Just tell me what to do.”
“I simply require your hand in mine: a promise of partnership.” Aqua replied, her voice fond.
“That I can do. Easily.” Aoi replied and she found herself getting tripped up on her words for some strange reason.
She might not be Aqua’s Origin but she was Aqua’s partner. Forever and always. That wouldn’t change even if she and Miyu were finally able to reunite. Based on her observations of Ai with Yusaku and Flame with Takeru, it was entirely possible there were going to be a lot of things about the Ignis-Origin bond that she couldn’t begin to understand, let alone fathom. But she was okay with that. Because she was Aqua’s partner and Miyu’s best friend, they would figure it out together by doing things like this.
So, Aoi reached out. Her heart pounded as she did so, she could feel it so deep inside the rivers of her body as she returned all Aqua’s sentiment and more. Her hand was so much larger but within the pooling, cyan energy of the orb that Aqua conjured, it meant little. Their fingers pressed together and it was like electricity.
Aoi’s heart raced. Aqua meant so much to her – as did Miyu, of course, but Aqua had more than earned her own right to Aoi’s love and admiration. She had such a fierce spirit for the truth and what was just. Her determination overflowed like the ocean over a levee. She inspired Aoi to take up arms that she might not have done otherwise and pursued leads she had never previously thought possible.
For their essences to merge like this, one into another, an exchange of soul, was intimate and meaningful. Aoi’s eyes watered as she felt herself give yet more to Aqua in this ritual both arcane and science fiction until it all culminated in a flash of light.
The energy that they shared crackled and ribboned before it dissipated into nothingness: leaving a small, flat rectangle between them. It was made of pure light, blue into white, and then white into the data material made real.
Trickstar Aqua Angel was born.
Aoi took the card from the suspended animation and likewise, Aqua retreated shyly. She blushed navy blue in her face. Her eyelashes fluttered.
“What do you think?” Aqua asked shyly.
Aoi read the card but what she was most taken with was not the effect, nor the Type or even the Attribute, and definitely not its stats, but by the creature depicted in the card artwork. It looked just like how she would imagine Aqua would look like as a human – maybe not a SOLtiS android but definitely human. She smiled lovingly.
“I’ll cherish it.” Aoi said. “My new favourite card.”
“That means a lot to me to hear, Aoi.” Aqua replied softly.
Aoi held the card close to her heart and her gaze rested fondly on Aqua’s figure as she asked, “Are you ready to meet Miyu in the flesh?”
“More than anything.” Aqua confessed far too quickly but her overeagerness was welcome. She had more than earned it having waited so long.
“Then let’s go… partner.” Aoi said.
Aqua floated up off the bed and closer to Aoi, she hugged Aoi from the side of her face and snuggled in, “Let’s go, partner.” She echoed Aoi’s words with the confidence that she hadn’t been sure she could permit herself to have but to hear it coming from Aqua…
Oh, it meant the world.