The Crystal Tree Buds

He picks up the necklace and this being the first time he touched it, the tattoo on his left arm began to shine and burn, a lot more than usual. "AHHHHHH!!!" He went to his knees still holding the necklace. His arm began to turn black from his hand up to 1/2 way towards his elbow. A Ruby Carbuncle comes out of it's card and knocks the necklace from his hand as Gail's eyes pulse with pain.

"So... that's his game... he want's to use 'Him'... very well.. then this is something i need to settle here and now.."

Soon the pain eased from him and the tattoo and shown to have spread a little bit. the black on his arm soon dissapeared back the way it came. He sat on the floor holding his arm and looked at Lunder.

"Yeah.. i'm fine.. just it's odd that that necklace aggravated this mark so easily.. It's like a calling. And as for 'Him', it's something that's been a problem since I was 13.. Someone killed my mother, when i came back, i saw them running away. I wasn't fast enough to catch them, then something appeared and said he would help. He would Kill the man for me. I had no time to waste and hate blinded me, so i accepted him." Gail turned around and showed Lunder his bare back

"There... two scars.. as soon as i accepted him, I became what he was; a demon. Two black wings came out and i was able to catch the guy. As i did... i was going to kill him.. but then my mother seemed to appear in front of me. Killing that man would've been defying the peace she taught me to uphold... so i let him go, without seeing so much as his face."

He stood up and got his things together. "I'm a demon... a hunted one at that. So, it's best you not bother with me. You're a good girl, i wouldnt want anything to happen to you." He walked past her and out of the room leaving her.

"Wait up!" Lunder stormed after him angrily, came up right next to him and glared at him. "Now look here. You could have killed that guy, but you didn't. You're a good person deep down. And my brother is involved with POD. at this point. And chances are that your mother's killer is as well. Think about it: Your mother went to this school, which is directly funded by POD; it's essentially their recruiting grounds. Chuku, who went to this school, knows the killer. Which means he's probably in POD. Now if you don't want me interfering with your mission that's fine with me, but I have my own business with POD, so until I take care of it, I'm going to stick with you, whether you like it or not!" Lunder took in a deep breath after she yelled at Gail.

Gail's eyes widened as he heard Lunder scold him. She was yelling at him but he seemed to be calmed more than upset at the situation. His eyes closed and he gained a small smile. He hugged her as a thanks.

"Heh... ok Lunder, you win.. Thank you though, honestly." He let go of the hug and looked at her "You're different from most people... it's interesting" He continued down the hall with his things towards the boat area. "I know people still link you to you're brother.. but if it helps, i'm glad that I'm friends with you; Lunder.Because you make things better.. not your brother.."

Lunder blushed, a bit embarrassed by her outburst. "Thanks. And sorry for yelling at you. I already have a room set up in the city that I sent my things too, so I don't have to go get my stuff." Lunder followed him while he was heading towards the boat.

"I actually found out one interesting thing about them. I hacked into my Dad's computer while he was away, and I found this." She held up her PDA, and a banner with names and numbers popped up.

"It's entitled "Top POD Soul Modifiers" I guess it's the names of POD's best duelists. Look here. Chuku is number 5, and my brother is number 1, of course...."

He looked at the PDA and saw all th names on the list, a few of them rung a bell as he'd heard these names around places when he used to duel in the town by him.

"So, these are the dogs of the P.O.D... somewhere in this list there's the person that killed my mother?" he asked retorically. He handed her back the PDA. "I've heard almost everyone of their names, and none of them ... anyway, what's a Soul Modifier?"

"Maybe it's a fancy word for brainwashing.... I'm not sure."

*Is that what Chuku is trying to do? And brother, what have you been up to?*

"well, whatever it is, it seems i have something to take care of at this tournament. either way you put it, i'm gonna have to wear this necklace, I just hope that things won't turn out too bad afterwards." He reached the outside of the dorms and looked to the skies. The sky was clear but his path was not. He wasn't exactly doing this to find out the killer, but to pry a little into the P.O.D. hopefully, he would come out the same.

"This is going to be a long day, and possibly a dangerous one. The P.O.D. is the main target and i'll try my best to find out what's going on, for both of us. This is going to truly be interesting." The tattoo on Gail's arm glowed slightly one more time

"Sounds like a plan. But we should really be careful if we're going that deep into their territory. It'll be troublesome...." a thought soon struck him. "Hey.. we just met yesterday, and we're pretty good friends already, aren't we?" He smiled at her sincerely.

"I guess we are friends. And you sound like you mean it too." Lunder smiled.

"Let's get down to the boat. I don't want to miss it."

Nodded his head to Lunder

"Right, let's get this started!"