Answers from the Past

Jesse blinked a couple of times. Where… What the!?

The false flames disappeared from in front of him as a red crystal formed before him, the tree to the side bearing fruit.

'I'm… back?'

What was that? Was it a different world? Another one of those dimensions? Why did it all seam so familiar?

It was really strange – all he had just seen seamed to be like a long lost memory, one of a time that was far behind him… Still, he couldn't understand any of it. He was from this world and he had perfect memories of his past.

Nothing like this had ever happened to him.

Jaden being a prince? Sure, he remembered the time the other boy turned into the Supreme King, but was that the same?

And Yubel guarding him?

Wait… wasn't there something like that in their story? Wasn't that why in the end the chocolate haired boy decided to merge their souls?

But then… What was all of that about his… family…?

The faces of the seven people flashed trough his mind one after the other, smiling and kind.

Sure, he had always called them his family, but it was mainly because of the bond they had – they would always be beside him, giving him strength and protecting his heart and his mind. Even when defeated they'd keep their ground and wouldn't leave him.

Was it possible that, in another world and another time… Those people had really existed?

Was it possible that they had really gone trough that for him?

"Now, Fire Kraken, direct attack!"

His opponent's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and as the holographic attack fell upon him a determined expression appeared on his face.

It didn't matter if it had happened or not. It didn't matter if it had been real or not. All that mattered was that he knew that if the Crystal Beasts were faced in front of such a decision they would do the exact same thing as those people had done.

They'd give everything for him.

As his life points went down he didn't as much as flinch and just stood before his opponent, staring him down. The older man seamed to be taken a little aback by his determination and ended his turn.

"My turn! Draw!"

Putting his hand on the deck the bluenette could never mistake the voice that sounded in him mind:

'We'll be with you until the end, Jesse. We'll never give up on you!'

Taking out the top card with a sudden swing of his hand, he didn't take any time to look at it, before putting it on the duel disk:

"I summon Amethyst Cat in attack position!"

His opponent seamed to see this as his eye twitched and he said with clear annoyance:

"Hay, brat, what do you think you're pulling over here!? How can you play a card without even looking at it?"

"I don't need to see the card to know which one it is!" Jesse's eyes flashed with confidence. "My cards will always come trough for me! The Crystal Beasts will always be by my side and will never go back on me when I need them!"

"So you still believe in that?"

"Of course I do! And with this duel I'll show you just how real the bond between a duelist and his cards really is! I activate Crystal Release which gives Amethyst Cat another 800 Attack Points! And I will use her special ability – by halving her attack points, she gets to attack you directly! Now, go! Amethyst Power Pounce!"

At his command the monster jumped above all creatures situated on the field to deliver a direct scratch on his opponent's face, taking with her 1000 of his life points, before returning to Jesse's side of the field.

"Now listen, and listen well!" Jesse's voice rose towards his opponent. "Me and my Crystal Beast here are giving you a chance to save yourself and win this duel! If you can't pull that off in this round, though, in my next turn you will be the one to fall! I end my turn!"

"You annoying cocky brat!' the man was getting angrier with every word Jesse threw at him. "You're bluffing! And I'm going to show everyone here just how much of a bluff you are! I activate Aetonix Flame, meaning your little kitty gets destroyed!" At the activation of the card Amethyst Cat was, indeed destroyed and reemerged as a Crystal in his Spell and Trap zone, sending his equipment card to his Graveyard.

"When Crystal Release is sent to the Graveyard, I get to move one Crystal Beast from my deck to my Spell and Trap zone!" Taking out his deck, Jesse quickly picked a card and put it in the proper place. "I choose Cobalt Eagle!" The orange stone appeared before him, as the tree to the side grew its third Crystal Counter.

"Very well, then, stick as many of those as you want in there, but remember you have only five places on that duel disk! By the effect of Aetonix Flame I cannot attack this turn, but now you're left with no monsters on your field! I want to see you defeat me in one turn like that! I end my turn!"

"I have the cards in my hand and trust in my deck! That's all I need to defeat you! Draw!" Another swift motion and one more card was put in the fifth slot of the duel disk: "I play Crystal Beacon and since there are more than two Crystal Beasts in my Spell or Trap card zone, I get to special summon one from my deck! The one I choose is Topaz Tiger!" Taking the needed card, he slammed it on his disk in attack position, before taking another card from his hand. "Now with the card," he put it in the empty slot, "Rare Value, I get to draw two new cards and all I have to do for that is to send one of the Crystal Beasts from my Spell and Trap zone to my Graveyard!" The lavender stone representing Amethyst Cat disappeared and two more cards were added to his hand. "And I activate Crystal Tree's special effect! By sending the card to the Graveyard, for every Crystal Counter on it I get one crystal Beast moved from my deck to my Spell and Trap zone! And since there were three Crystal Counter I move Sapphire Pegasus, Amber Mammoth and Emerald Turtle to the field!" The three Crystals appeared right in front of him.

"So what now? You've got your Spell and Trap zone full and only one monster on the field. How are you going to defeat me like this? I knew you were all talk-"

"Did you keep track of my Crystal Beasts?" Jesse's eyes were shining with confidence. "I've got five of them in my Spell and Trap zone, one summoned and one in the Graveyard. When we added it all up, that makes seven Crystal Beasts! And do you know what I can summon if all seven of them are either on my field or in my Graveyard?"

"No way! You can't be planning to-"

Grabbing the last card he had drawn, Jesse lifted it above his head:

"I call out Rainbow Dragon!" In a swift motion the card was on the duel disk and the hologram of the magnificent white dragon appeared rising an uproar from the audience. "Now, Rainbow Dragon, attack his Flame Sorcerer and take all of his remaining life points! Rainbow Refraction!"

The blast was fired and it was just a couple of seconds in which the opponent's points dropped to zero.

"You! You just drew that card, didn't you!?" the Chameleon stared at the fading hologram and then at Jesse. "There has to be some trick! I know you were cheating!"

"Check my clothes, duel disk and deck a thousand times over, you won't find a thing!" Jesse had a grin on his face as he looked straight towards his defeated opponent. "It was the trust in my deck that brought this card to me! While the Crystal Beasts are with me, there's nothing we can't do!"

Despite of the turned off duel disks, one by one the Crystal Beasts appeared around him, forming a protective wall from anything that might try to get to him. As the smallest one of the group, Ruby quickly climbed up his body and settled on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek. Bringing a hand up to lightly pat her on the head, he turned towards the Spirits with a big grin on his face.

"Thank you guys! For everything!"

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A/N: There you have it, a happy end! This is the first FF I've actually started AND finished save for the Oneshots. XD Thank you all for sticking with it until the end! Your reviews, favourits and alerts made me continue it! Thank you all!