Welcome to "Arc of Eternity".

This is a direct sequel to "Pains of Identity", which is of itself a sequel to "Reverse of Arcadia". If you haven't read either of those stories, I'd recommend going back and reading those to avoid continuity lock-out.

Additionally, this story is a crossover with Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, featuring many of the same characters and concepts. This story also features another character of mine, Tim Ihansha, and includes small references to his series which is as of yet incomplete.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years. I hope you enjoy the story.

For the longest time, there was only darkness.

I couldn't see, I couldn't think, I couldn't feel.

And then suddenly, there was light.

The darkness surrounding me, stretching out endlessly, began to subside, and I had this wonderful feeling of euphoria flow through me. It was, strange as it may sound, realer than reality.

Images and memories of days, years gone by flew at me one after the other, blending together. Some pleasant, some not so pleasant. I saw the smiling faces of my friends. Yusei, Jack, Crow, Taze, Akiza, Leo, and Luna: the ones I'd turned away from. The ones I'd shunned. The people I foolishly tried to destroy and ended up driving away. I remembered standing with them after Rex Goodwin was defeated, watching as the black sky broke, leaving a calm, cloudless blue sky in its place. I remembered Luna's kind words, her constant reassurance and support, even in spite of all my problems. I saw my first kiss, and re-experienced that same warm and fuzzy feeling when Luna's lips touched mine.

But then I saw my mother burst into tears at my father's funeral. I saw Joel, watching from behind a crack in the door as his father Kobi abused me. I saw Explosivo tell me I was loved no matter what, but then lead me to Sayer to get brainwashed. I heard my mother's voice, angry that I hadn't contacted her in several years, telling me that I was a selfish child and that she didn't want to hear from me again. I saw the absolute terror on Luna's face as I stood looking out over the city, ready to take my life. Her expression twisted to one of disgust, and then we were there on the Ark Cradle, and she wanted no more to do with me.

In that moment, I was ready to die.

I deserved to die.

I turned my back on my friends, allying myself with a supposed God just to get revenge on a single person. I remembered that I'd said before on the Ark Cradle how an individual life meant nothing. So then why did I feel like I was owed Joel's death? I'm not… no… I wasn't anybody special. I was just some guy who happened to be able to communicate with Duel Spirits, but aside from that, I was just like everyone else.

I had to take the good with the bad, be grateful of the friends I'd made and the experiences I'd shared with them, but also understand that it was my fault and my choice driving them away. Besides, they wouldn't want anything to do with me anyway. They would all be better off without me.

I had to accept it: this was the end.

Except it wasn't.

I woke slowly to the intense aroma and taste of salt, trembling as my drenched body became exposed to the air around me, my eyelids flickering open. There was a shimmering discomfort from behind my back. I tried my hardest to focus, but everything just seemed incredibly foggy and my whole body felt incredibly cramped.

When my vision finally did return, I found myself sitting across from a tall, incredibly buff-looking, and (for some reason) naked man. He had spiky orange hair which was tied at the back into a ponytail, and his eyes were a similar fiery color. What my eyes were really drawn to, however, was the lightning bolt-shaped scar across his chest, which he seemed to outwardly present as though it was a badge of honor.

"Suh, dude," the man said to me.

I blinked several times. I tried to ask, "where am I?" and "who are you?", but I found myself caught on my words. My lips quivered and trembled, and my throat tensed. I just couldn't get the words out. I put a hand to my mouth. I couldn't speak.

The man's eyes narrowed just a little, and I had difficulty discerning who he was, if I had met him somewhere before, and what his intentions were. "Stop," he said to me, "you're too tense. Relax."

I did as the man said, no longer trying to force myself to speak, relaxing my muscles and taking a breath. "Wh-wh-who are you?" I stuttered.

"Tim," the man said simply, "Tell me: did you always have a stutter?"

"N-n…" I stopped, failing at my attempt to say no, sighing and deciding to shake my head instead.

"I see…" Tim said, looking away for a moment. "I'm sorry."

I groaned, forcing myself to try and sit upright. My body felt stiff, my clothes clinging to me like a second skin. I wondered even more who this man was, and why he was apologizing to me, but of course, I failed pretty much every attempt I made at speaking. My hands and my mouth felt clammy, the taste of salt really starting to get to me.

It was only then that I could hear the sound of water around me, and I realized that the small cramped space I was seated in must have been some sort of boat, but it wasn't like any kind of boat I'd seen before.

Granted, I hadn't really seen that many boats in my life, only one, in fact, when I was traveling from the Satellite to New Domino City after the defeat of the Dark Signers. Still, that boat was nothing like this one. This boat was small, hexagonal in shape, and seemed to be plated with bronze or some other similar reflective metal. There didn't seem to be any way of steering it either, at least from what I could see.

There was some sort of singular raised platform in the center of the boat, atop of which was a set of clear cylinders protected by a hexagonal barrier of glass. Above that even, was a crystal ball held in some kind of container. I could just barely make out my reflection in the ball, but I didn't at all like what I saw.

There were dark circles under my eyes, creases just above them. My eyes were veiny and red, and my lips were dry and cracked. My skin was pale and puffy, and the hair on my head was starting to thin. I thought my eyes had deceived me, that the ball was just dirty or something and I wasn't getting a good look at myself.

I edged a little closer to the ball, trying to get to my feet. It was as if my body was screaming at me for even daring to move my muscles.

With no help from the stranger, Tim, who just stared at me as I tried to stand, I was eventually able to get to my feet.

My eyes widened and I gasped. From where I was standing, I could just make out the shoreline of the Satellite Sector in the distance. I turned, and at the other end of the boat over a stretch of water was the mainland of New Domino City, the Daedalus Bridge stretching across and connecting with the Satellite.

I turned back to the center of the boat, looking down into the crystal ball and locking eyes with my horrific reflection once more. I started to shake. "What the Hell…?" I whimpered to myself.

"Yeah, you don't look too good." Tim finally decided to speak again. "I'm not surprised though. I saw you floating face-down out in the water. I watched you for, like, five minutes. You're really bad at swimming. Your lungs were all wet and stuff. I had to get all the water out. It was gross."

"What are you talking about?" my voice was hollow and crisp.

"Well, I don't know how long you were like that before I got here."

"Y-you…" I struggled out. It took me longer than it should have for me to wrap my head around what this stranger was telling me, but eventually, together with the startling sight of my reflection, I was able to piece it together. This person, whoever he was, rescued me.

I hate the person you've become…

I'll just pretend you're retarded like he is.

I thought that you were better than Sly… than, than Lester, but you're just the same as them! Please… just stay away from me…

I clenched my fists. I didn't want to be rescued. I wanted to die.

"You fucking idiot!" I snapped. "Why the fuck did you have to save me?! I was trying to kill myself!"

"Trying? You succeeded. You were already dead by the time I got to you, but I couldn't stand to see someone waste their life, so I fixed you."

"Fixed me?! What the fuck does that mean?!"

"Uh… it means I fixed you. You were dead, and now you're not. You're welcome." Tim spoke very slowly, talking down to me as if I were a child or severely mentally challenged, not unlike how Joel used to speak to me.

In spite of the man's manner of speech, his words did reach me. I found myself glancing back at the crystal ball to look at my reflection again. I softly pressed my fingers, stiff and bloated, to my cheek, swollen and puffy. I had died, I realized. But that realization came with a flood of thoughts: Was I still technically dead? Was my blood even flowing? Was my heart even beating? Was any of this even real?! Of course, all my thoughts, and all those questions I wanted to ask, were quickly brushed aside by my own growing anger.

"Listen here: I don't know what kind of powers you have, but you had no right doing anything to me! What I do with my life is no one's business but mine!"

Tim sighed, running a hand through his orange hair. "When I got to you, there were no signs of physical damage, like stab or bullet wounds, done to your body, so I figured you must have committed suicide. I've seen people I care about have their lives taken from them, so it bugs me when I see someone giving up their own life so freely."

"You have no idea what you're talking about." I said sternly, as it only just started sinking in how fluent my speech was.

"So, you didn't commit suicide then?"

"W-w-well," I stammered, losing my fluency, "I-I did, but that's none of your business…! It's not up to you to use black magic voodoo to bring me back to life! It's not your choice!"

"Every choice is my choice!" Tim stated firmly.

"You don't even know me!"

"I know you're a coward. After all, only cowards kill themselves."

"I'm not gonna be insulted by some random, so either tell me who you are and what you want with me – why you're here – or fuck off!" I demanded.

Tim's nostrils flared, and for a moment I thought he was going to hit me, but he exhaled sharply, shaking his head instead. "Watch it. The only reason I haven't killed you is because of all the trouble I went through in bringing you back to life." Tim exhaled once more. "I told you my name already, so you know who I am, but if you want to know why I'm here, that's actually a funny story." Tim cleared his throat. "I teach at this Magic School, and I'm going through the storeroom 'cause I'm bored, right? And I come across, well, what we're standing in right now."

"Which is…?" I asked.

Tim looked down. "Well I guess it's some sort of interdimensional boat thing. But see, at the time, I thought it was just an old hot tub. So, I filled it with water and fiddled around with the setup. Next thing I know, all the water's gone from the boat and I'm in some war-torn country. They were in the middle of a hunger strike, but I totally won. Then I got involved with their totalitarian government and gave their president or prime minister or whatever the Hell they call their leader a heart attack 'cause I'm so awesome. That caused a riot, so I just got back on the boat and booked it outta there. And… now I'm here."

I blinked a couple of times, not sure I completely understood what Tim had said. "What do you mean you won a hunger strike?"

Tim raised an eyebrow. "That's what got you? Not 'I teach at a Magic School', or that I somehow traveled through dimensions?"

"No. I've experienced a lot of weird shit. Duel Spirits, Dark Signers. Hell, I even partnered up with a God of Destruction to try and destroy that city over there." I pointed to the mainland of New Domino City. "That's also why I'm not really surprised that you somehow possess the power to bring people back to life."

"Hmm?" Tim tilted his head to the side, silently studying me for a while. "And… you're a Muggle?"

"Muggle?" I asked.

"A human being? No latent, magical, special abilities or anything?"

"Um…" I pondered, "I don't know. I guess that depends on what you define as m-magical. I mean, I can see and communicate with Duel Spirits, travel to their world, but aside from that, I'm a pretty normal guy. As for me being human though," I looked down at my pale, swollen hands, "I don't know, am I still human?"

"Yeah, you're still human. Your body's just gonna take a while recover."

I nodded, Tim and I staring at each other in silence for half a minute. Since it didn't seem like he was going to say anything, I decided to speak up. "Well," I sighed, "r-really nice talking to you. Actually, the last p…person I spoke to before you, I had a fight with, so it's good to know I can end things on a more p-p-positive note. You can just set me down at the shoreline, or go off and leave me here, and I'll just pick up where I left off."

"Still gonna try and kill yourself, eh?" Tim chuckled for a brief moment, his expression breaking suddenly into an eerie calmness. "Well it seems like I didn't fix you. You're obviously still broken. I'd better finish the job."

"Wh-what the Hell do you mean by that?!"

"You're coming with me."

"E-e-e-excuse me?" I asked.

"I'm gonna take you 'round to see other Dimensions. Maybe then you'll realize how fortunate you are, and you'll stop acting like a little bitch." Tim stated.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know you."

"Well I brought you back to life, so I practically own you now." Tim's voice sounded quite menacing, and for a moment I'd forgotten that Tim had brought me back from the dead, and with my thoughts drifting to what had happened in the past with Sayer, I became fearful of my safety. Tim's face however suddenly formed a smile, flashing his teeth at me. They were the whitest, most perfect teeth I'd ever seen. "Relax, kid. You're perfectly safe with me." He eased.

"I'm not a k-kid. I'm eighteen." I grumbled.

"Is that right? Well, you might be eighteen, but you're acting like a ten-year-old. Lucky for you though, dealing with children is my specialty. I taught this one kid, Barry was his name, I think. Man, he was the biggest pussy. I taught him for seven years, and during that time, he was a huge pile of crap. Everyone around him built him up to be some chosen one, but he squandered every opportunity he had. And when I look at you, I see the same damn thing: Someone squandering the gifts they've been given. In your case, the gift of life." Tim stretched his arms out behind his back. "So, I'm taking you under my wing… guy. I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Tyler." I said quickly, without even thinking it might be a bad idea telling this person my name.

"Alright, Skylar, you might want to sit down or hold onto something." Tim focused on the center column of the boat, fiddling with the various contraptions. I briefly contemplated jumping off the boat to try and escape, but Tim's physique was far superior to mine, and I knew he'd have no trouble catching me and dragging me back to the boat if he really wanted to.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I asked nervously.

"Quiet. I'm trying to remember how I did this last time." Tim sighed, mumbling "how did it go again?" as he sighed once more. I was suddenly given a fright as Tim slammed one of his hands down on the casing surrounding the cylinders. "Ah!" he said, like he'd had a sudden epiphany. "🎶Bing, bang, boom. And the boat goes zoom!🎶" Tim said in a sing-song sort of way, moving the various cylinders surrounding the crystal ball up and down.

A whirring sound filled my ears, starting off as nothing more than a light hum, before eventually becoming the only thing I could hear. The cylinders changed too, a multicolored light quickly filling them. I was reminded quickly of the Dark Signers, Momentum, Infinity, and Yliaster. I wondered if Tim might have been connected to any or all of those things, but those thoughts were quickly drowned out by the increasing noise the boat seemed to somehow make.

The sound of thunder broke through the whirring of the boat as I looked to both sides of me, yellow electricity crackling along the sides of the boat. And then it was as though the wind was knocked out of me, and I dropped to the floor of the boat. There was an intense pressure against my chest, like I was being pinned to the bottom of the boat and couldn't get up.

I had no idea what was going on, or where Tim was taking me, but regardless, there wasn't much I could do. Part of me thought, and hoped it was all just a dream, a final burst of life from my brain before my body ceased to function and I'd fade away into a painless, empty death.

The other part of me knew full-well that it wasn't a dream, but hoped that whatever happened, wherever I ended up, I'd be able to make it back to New Domino City in the end.