Chapter 50
Deep in the Academy's wooded interior, past midnight.
Rowan and the others made their way through the trees at the agreed time, following the path toward the far edge of the grounds until the old abandoned dormitory came into view ahead of them.
Between two stone pillars at the entrance, a rope had been stretched across with a small sign hanging from it. No Entry.
"So this is the place," Rowan said, looking it over. It matched what he'd imagined well enough.
Though whether because of the distance or because whatever was inside hadn't stirred yet, he didn't feel anything from the building. No unusual energy. No duel spirit presence worth noting. Not yet.
"Hang on -- this flower..." Jaden swept his small flashlight beam toward the base of one of the pillars and stopped. Sitting there on the ground was a single white flower, still fresh.
"No no no no, this is terrifying. Jaden, Rowan, let's just go back." Syrus's legs began shaking so violently they were practically vibrating. A freshly-placed white flower in front of a long-abandoned building -- there was no version of that which wasn't unsettling.
A dry branch snapped somewhere in the shadows of the nearby treeline.
"AHHH!"
Syrus and Chumley both shrieked and launched themselves onto Jaden like startled cats, one on each side, clinging for dear life. Jaden's face went pale as the combined weight buckled his knees.
Rowan watched the three-person pile-up beside him with quiet, wordless resignation.
Then, as if he'd already worked out what it was, he turned his flashlight calmly toward the treeline where the sound had come from.
The beam landed on a familiar figure.
Alexis Rhodes.
"A -- Alexis senpai?!" Syrus and Jaden untangled themselves immediately, relief flooding their faces. Not a ghost. Just a person. Both of them sank to the ground, catching their breath in the aftermath of the scare.
"That flower is yours, I'd guess," Rowan said, giving the others a quick glance before turning to address Alexis as she approached. "Last night I happened to catch a glimpse of you heading this direction with a flower."
A slight edit of the actual source. Close enough.
"Yes." Alexis paused briefly at the coincidence of him noticing, then nodded and confirmed it without further comment. Her expression shifted to something more serious as she looked at the group. "What are you doing here?"
"These three decided they wanted to come explore and verify the legend for themselves." Rowan indicated the gradually recovering trio beside him with a sideways glance.
"We heard about a rumor from Professor Banner," Jaden confirmed, Syrus and Chumley nodding along. "We came to check if it was real."
"Verify the legend." Alexis's tone turned direct. She looked at Rowan in particular. "What happened in this dormitory is real. Several Duel Academy students have disappeared inside these walls. This is not somewhere to treat as an adventure."
She paused, then added the practical concern: "It's also a restricted area. If the Academy finds out you were here, the trouble it causes won't be worth it."
The Academy's rules didn't spell it out in plain terms, but there was a line in there somewhere about not trespassing in dangerous restricted zones. Grounds for expulsion, potentially.
Rowan didn't especially worry about that. He had a photograph of a certain golden-haired professor behind the Obelisk Blue girls' dormitory. One conversation with that professor would resolve any rule infraction very smoothly.
He had come this far. He was going in.
Alexis seemed to read that from his expression. She pressed her lips together and didn't try again.
"Do whatever you want," she said, more to the air than anyone specific, and turned to leave.
She took two steps, then stopped. She didn't look back.
"Among the people who disappeared here," she said quietly, "was my brother."
Then she walked on, back into the shadows of the treeline.
"Classic warm heart behind a cold exterior," Rowan thought, the faintest trace of a smile crossing his face.
"Kuri kuri."
The round Kuriboh appeared suddenly in front of him, pointing one stubby arm toward the treeline where Alexis had just gone, letting out two short sounds.
"Someone with hostile intent hiding in that direction?"
Rowan was slightly surprised. The little spirit had always shown a sharp sensitivity to emotional states -- hostility, malice, the subtle shifts in human feeling that most people couldn't detect.
At this hour. Near this location. In the current circumstances.
He rubbed his chin and considered it for a moment. And then the Kuriboh's earlier alert from the rooftop came back to him -- that same sense of being observed. And the connection to Crowler.
It clicked.
If he was reading this right, Crowler had hired someone. A Shadow Duelist named Titan -- though fraudulent was probably the more accurate word.
"Rowan, what is it?" Jaden and the others had been watching him stare toward the direction Alexis had gone, clearly working something out. They looked over with puzzled expressions.
"Are we still going in?" Syrus asked in a small voice, Alexis's words having taken the edge off whatever adventurous spirit he'd arrived with.
"Go in without me. I'm going to check on Alexis real quick." Rowan nodded toward the three of them and started walking in the direction she had gone.