My brother was one of the greatest dualists at Duel Academy, highly respected by teachers and peers alike. When he entered the Pro Leagues, my brother became famous until he dualed Aster Phoenix. His career went downhill after that.

He fell into darkness, becoming heartless and cruel when he began dueling underground. Even when I dueled against him, I was just another opponent in his eyes and had me use shock collars. I lost, but in a way, I also won and a change in him was set in motion.

Just when the old Zane was starting to come back, his heart was failing. And after battling against Yubel in the most epic dual I've ever seen, he died. I lost my brother, this time it was permanently.

But then a miracle occurred when Zane was found alive on the shore of the island. He was still weakened by his heart condition, but it didn't matter. My brother was back. Problem is, after getting him back, I became afraid of losing him.

•••

"Zane!" Syrus woke up in the middle of the night, gasping for breath. It's just a dream, Zane is okay, he would recite in his head. But that thought was never enough to assure him.

Usually after having a nightmare involving his brother, he would sneak over to the infirmary where Zane was staying to check on him. He was no longer there though. A few days ago, he was deemed healthy enough to leave the island and set out to build a new deck after giving his old one to Syrus.

A knock on the door startled Syrus. He walked over to the door and opened it to find Atticus with a concerned look on his face.

"Sy, are you alright? I heard you shouting."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for waking you."

"Don't worry about it," Atticus smirked, ruffling the little blue duelist's hair, "if you ever need anything, my door's open." Syrus smiled and nodded shyly, letting the door close between them. I can't have my friends worry over me because of some stupid bad dreams.

Making his way to the bed, he looked at the the alarm clock on his nightstand. 12:30 am. Sheesh, is it really that late? But Syrus couldn't go back to sleep. He reached for his deck, the one that combined Zane's Cyberdark deck with his own cards.