(GS3) Field: Cardfight Training Area

[Azuki Frappé]

Hearing rumors about someone attempting to suicide at the Construction Site, Ighanna arrived to join the commotions. However what she saw was Yukino high up above along with many familiar faces from Neo to Satoshi, they all seemed to be yelling for her to calm down.

"Mr. Espoir, there you are. Would you like a helicopter to get Yukino-san down from there or would you rather inflate a bouncy bed, right now our priority is guaranteeing Yukino's safety so even though she might want to jump down, I cannot fufill that request for her." Ighanna talked to Mr. Espoir who stepped out of the limousine.

[Cherry]

"Oh no..." Yukino panicked when more people came around to yell convincing reasons of why not to do it. These people didn't understand how hard being the Chosen Sword was, so who were they to judge?! This isn't like her?! She's stronger than this?! She'll get stronger than this?! These people were all more insane than she was awhile ago, yet her pulse accelerated through the roof, standing up that high. Everyone looked like ants... so, so insignificant. They looked better that way - it was an excuse to not listen. She wanted an excuse to put their voices out of mind.

"Yugure!" Ezel shouted.

"Stop!"

The queen was promptly smacked by Cero's arrival to the top beam, nearly losing her balance, but managing to break from his grip at the same time. She began crying, nursing her cheek.

Dad Espoir noted the number of people around attempting to halt his daughter through words, but as they stood, they wouldn't reach this far away. Ighanna's arrival caught his attention, but so did the construction workers lowering the platform to start making their way up there themselves. "Neither will be necessary, we're going up", he answered, pushing employees to the side.

"Oi, brats! Follow me!"

[Spectre Diamond]

Hearing the man who he presume is Yukino's father. He looked at the others around him.

"You heard him let's go before that idiot loses it." Then he followed the man into the elevator, ready to talk some sense into that girl.

[Jello]

We're going up...?

Haruka's feet were moving at fast as they would carry him to keep up with the lion. However this time around, it wasn't something he wanted to just disregard. His love was up there, even under those circumstances...

"Cero, you're going right off of that beam if you lay another hand on her..."

I can handle that bit.

Haruka shakes his head, landing on the platform behind Mr. Espoir. He sees people all around him, attempting to bring Yukino back down safely.

Satoshi, Haruki!? Jellal is here too... Ighanna is also showing up. Neo too, even. Cero was already up there, and it looks like Makuto had joined the chant. He breathed in deep before falling to his butt on the platform and staring up, awaiting for the ride up. His legs were wobbly as it was, but the sky awaited for him. And too does his dear, Yukino.

"We're on our way..."

[Lance Korilum]

  Cero looked down upon the shell that now lay before him.  He noticed several others coming up, lead by a massive figure of a man.  He heard Yukino's boyfriend shouting at him.  Looking back, he simply scoffed at Haruka, before returning his gaze to the mess at hand. 

"What would dying change?  Look.  Unlike me, you're not alone.  You have people who count on and believe in you, who care about you for the person you are, not your destiny.  If you can't walk a path alone, there's no harm in asking others to help bear the load.  If they're your friends, it's not a burden.  Quit acting like you're a liability because that's what makes you one.  Stand on your own, lean on others, whatever it is you have to do.  Just know that giving up on everything is never the best option," and with that Cero turned away and took the elevator back down, leaving the 'experts' to deal with the situation.

[Azuki Frappé]

"Alfred-san please bring me our company's crane to the Cero Construction site immediately, thank you." Ighanna requested to her father's assistant and soon after everyone travels up the fully loaded platform, her crane arrives. She quickly gets on the far end of the crane, hanging out and orders Alfred to elevate it. At first she swayed a little bit so she kept herself low and stable as the tip of the crane finally elevated to the height where Yukino was at.

"Metatron what should I do, what should I do!" Ighanna worriedly and urgently asked Metatron who seemed to guide Ighanna to leave Yukino with the rest of the people. Being crowded on a beam would apparently make her feel uncomfortable.

[Cherry]

"What would you know...?" Yukino choked on her tears at the king's words of wisdom. "My destiny is all that mattered... There's no room in this world for Yukino Espoir... Just Yugure... The Chosen Sword who's only a liability and a failure...! A sword can't just choose to lean on people, a thing isn't supposed to share this!"

Dad Espoir, along with several others, arrived at the highest point on the lift. The lion made a mental note to kill the European King later, for now, he had his daughter to focus on. The queen noticed everyone approaching, and quickly ran off to a corner of the beam structure that wasn't as easy to jump to. She almost fell off, but kept her balance.

"Go away! Leave me to die! I don't want to live as a useless object anymore!"

[NeoBuster]

Walking to the top with Dad Espoir, Neo was thinking about everything Yukino was doing.

"This isn't the way things should be" Neo said to himself

Neo could probably relate to this type of situation, but he would have never gone this far.

We all made it to the top. Neo then walked forward and said what he wanted to say to Yukino

"Yukino.." Neo said holding her shoulder. I know that the pain hurts, I know that it seems like it will never end. But know this: All of us up here, and all of the people down there don't want to see you go through this. No one wants to see you take your own life. All of your friends and family would be in even more pain if you were gone from there lives. I know things are hard with the clans vanishing, and then trying to bring them back with no simple solution but you have to stay strong. You feel like your allowed to have a shoulder to cry on, but the matter of the fact is, everyone always has a shoulder to cry on when things get rough. When you just want to let out all of your emotions."

At that moment Neo thought about his own emotions with him trying to find his parents but didn't think about it too much while trying to focus on talking to Yukino.

"All of us are together, none of us are alone. Sure there are going to be times when we feel alone in a crutical situation, but if you think deep down, none of us are ever alone. All of us are working together to find the sealed clans to bring them back where they rightfully belong. But you have to stay strong intil that happens. As for anything else you might be going through, I dont know much about it, heck we barely know each other but I consider you a good friend and as a friend, this is something I dont want to see you go through." Neo said to Yukino taking his hand off her shoulder.

Neo then took a step back waiting for the next person to speak

[OverDrive]

Tsubasa would have preferred if they had found a way to talk to her in a different area but unfortunately Yukino was too unstable to be moved elsewhere. Upon arriving at the top Neo and Cero take their chances to convey to Yukino how they feel about her situation. Throughout the conversation Tsubasa notices something strange, she kept referring to herself as Yugure, The Chosen Sword of Vanguard, she referred to herself as a thing....

Tsubasa walks up to Yukino

"....Do you honestly believe that everyone here came for Yugure?..." he asked. "We all are here to make sure that our friend Yukino does not go through with something that will not only end up hurting us all but will ultimately be the worst decision for you to make..ever."

"...Your destiny is not what matters to us, it may be your ultimate goal and that may be why everyone here sees..'Yugure' as a symbol of hope and courage,...but...that's not what matters to us, you matter to us Yukino, to your family, to your friends...even your avatars, Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark, you matter to them as well." he said, with a sincere look in his eyes, something Tsubasa was never used to revealing but a friend was worth it.

"...I'm here for Yukino, Yukino Espoir, they all are...I may not know much about you, but I understand how hard it must be, we all go through our share of pain..." he said, as he handed her a tissue paper and began walking away turning his back to her as he continued. "..The world does not revolve around Yukino or Yugure only, it revolves around everyone...so please understand you have people who care about you and are ready to help you when you need them." he said.

With that Tsubasa steps back a bit more and stands next to his friend Neo.

"..Heh...I guess your tip to keep some spare tissues ready was helpful this time around...Dad" he thought. "..I hope she makes the right choice."

[Azuki Frappé]

Unable to comprehend with what was going on, Ighanna relied on her gut feeling and stood up on the thin crane, approaching the platform and Yukino. She begged for Yukino's safety and prayed for everyone to succeed in calming her down.

"Metatron, could you please help Ezel and Garmore stop Yukino? I'm weak as I currently am and I doubt I'll be of help so please Metatron, for the sake of Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin and Gold Paladin please bring Yukino back to her senses." Ighanna pleaded her avatar as Metatorn reassured everything will be fine.

[Spectre Diamond]

After Tsubasa came back to the group, Hikaru slowly balanced himself on the beam to get to a safe distance to chosen sword....No...Yukino so they both won't fall down to their deaths.

"Hey you know, I was like you once. I wanted to end all when I was a kid, after my parents died I was taken as a prize for the syndicate that my parents were working for. I was going to do it on that very night, where I was saved. The police put me into the foster system were I met my brother...he's gone now, got adopted and everything. The world ain't all sunshine or rainbows and we live in a dark and cold place, but if we push forward there is a light at the end of the tunnel."

"Wherever you are Hikari or Yugure, you aren't a thing or an object. Your a person that is able to feel all sorts of things, don't you remember Yukino?" He then went back to the others and turned to them.

"Take the field"

[Jello]

Arriving at the top, the first two to take their turns were Neo and a friend of his. Never quite caught his name however... Despite that, they said some rather encouraging things. Even Hikaru gave his story. It was touching as well, describing his past experience with all of this.

However Yukino simply went full scared-cat and ran away. He found himself staring on a beam structure a few seconds later. This was natural for him, anyways. The sky was Haruka's home away from home, so he wasn't exactly worried about being this high up. He calmly stepped along the beam structure, creaks and all, to the corner across the first beam where Yukino was backed up against.

This was the hard part. Words. Actions almost didn't matter at this point. She was too frightened, too fearful to be touched. He couldn't do all too much from this position, considering he only had about a foot and one-half's worth of beam to work with as far as ledgeroom,

"Hoh... Okay..." He got as close to the shivering Yukino as he could, and stood, arm's length out. This was as far as he could get. Otherwise she might jump.

Or push him overboard.

"Y-Yukino..." He was grinding his teeth looking for an answer that somebody else hadn't already provided.

"Come down.... come down with me. With us..." Haruka needed the right words but none of them were coming to mind. He simply reached out, breathing in slowly, hoping for her to grab on and come back, off of the beam structure. But that was a longshot at best.

"Yukino, you can't stay up here!" He had to yell a bit, considering the wind draft picking up around the structure. His voice wasn't carrying so well anymore if he didn't use a full voice.

"Please. I don't know why you're up here, and I don't care right now. I care that you're alive and well and with us safe on the ground. You need to trust me, trust us. Like we trust in you." He shrugged like normal, and pocketed the unextended hand to Yukino, attempting to get her to come back with him.

"Please." Even Sera wanted her down.

Tears would be falling right now, but crying might only make her more unstable. The wind picked up enough, throwing Haruka's golden scarf out into the night. A fluttering stripe of light in the sky coated by the gorgeous darkness, with stars stitched across its canvas to match.

[Beryl]

Satoshi stood on the beam behind Haruka, wind whipping at his coat. It was strange. He was so high off the ground, and yet moving on this structure, suspended hundreds of feet above, felt as natural as ever. He stepped forward once, then paused to look over Yukino as she cried. He shook his head, sitting down on the beam, swaying his legs a little.

"Y'know...I've told you several times over that three months ago, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I came to the city expecting easy answers, assuming life was just going to follow the path my parents expected it would. But for about two weeks...I had no clue." He looked down below him. "I was scared, worried I had overestimated my purpose. I had been raised to do hard work, so having nothing pressing to do in front of me was nerve-racking. I thought I was going to end up stuck in a butcher's shop before long, trying to do something for myself."

He looked over at her, nodding once. "Then I met you at Card Capital. Man, you were going through there all high and mighty, calling yourself 'Hikari, the Chosen Sword,' and smashing people's faces in. Even if it was cocky, it was cute, and I wondered if you would even give someone like a commoner the time of day." He chuckled. "What amazed me is that not only did you do so, but you and I continued to meet, time and time again. I met Haruka shortly after. Such a dorky kid, even if I'm the dumbest of us all. I didn't realize what I was getting dragged into with the two of you."

He smiled, his green eyes starting to water just a little. "But you know something? Even if you had turned out to be as much of a joke as you might think you are right now...a thing, a fraud, a mistake...you and Haruka both, I would've still felt what I feel right now. I'd still have a purpose in my life and be able to enjoy myself no matter what it takes." He wiped his eyes a bit. "Because the two of you are my best friends, and I love you both."

He stood up carefully, making sure to not shake the structure too intensely. "And that's never going to change. Chosen Sword or not, you're still Yukino Espoir. The Snow Flower that blooms with the Blazing Sun." He stepped forward again. "The Snow Flower that blooms with the Blazing Sun and grows with the Earthly Soil." He laughed. "I know, I'm not supposed to be the one that gives myself a nickname, but it brings the whole metaphor together sometimes, y'know? I wanna watch you grow and help you grow the same way Haruka and everyone else does."

He walked around the other side of the structure. He knew she could run, but he shrugged as he approached her from the other end. "I found out what Vanguard and Cray and everything means to me recently. It's companionship. All of the people who are close to me in life...they're the ones that keep me going, day in and day out, to push myself beyond my limits and save things that should be so deeply insignificant to me."

He suddenly squeezed her tight in a hug. "You especially. Thank you for being you, Yukino Espoir. Without you...I'd be nothing."

Following the hug, he gave a wink and a thumbs-up, some tears leaking from his open eye, as he backed away, gesturing to Haruka, who still had his hand extended.

[Cherry]

"I... But... Why..." The sniveling mess of a broken sword was lost and confused. A couple of these people didn't even know her personally, yet, all told her everything would be fine... Every last one of them was there for a human being, not for a cracked blade.

"You don't have to be the Chosen Sword if you don't want to", Dad Espoir spoke after everyone else. Once again did his cool composure take shape, simply gazing with his stern, fatherly eyes. The entire clan focused and prided themselves on the birth of the Scion from Cray. He realized this eventually drove her into a fated black hole emotionally, and was his own fault. Now, seeing her cornered by this destiny, it was time to drop it. "You're a human being first, a sword last."

Yugure didn't understand... Unable to make it to Regionals, duty was thrown on Hana. Unable to defeat Jellal the first time, the Dragon of Hell took Bermuda Triangle. If she hadn't spoken up, all would've been lost to Phantom Blaster Overlord. Even then, due to her weakness, cherished comrades were stolen away. All this time was spent wallowing in the despair of losing - of being a failure. A sword that needed to be repaired and polished, yet stayed rusted and dull. Yet, today...

"I..."

Today, she was finally relieved of that duty. She was given the blessings and permissions to be a person.

"T... Thank... Thank y-you... I... I don't want to die... I want to be Yukino Espoir... I-I'm sorry... I'm so... s-so sorry..."

The hug from Satoshi was accepted, and she took Haruka's hand. Still trembling with fear and hesitation, hope was slowly building itself back up in heart. The parasite was killed by the words and actions of those who kept her alive after a grueling trial of misery. Lips curled into an awkward, shaky smile, responding to everyone with more gratitude. Even if it was still through streaming tears, Yukino gradually understood the bliss of being human, not weapon. Friends and family from yesterday, to today, and toward tomorrow succeeded in keeping the queen alive.

"Thank you..."

Haruka +5 Affinity
Satoshi +5 Affinity
Neo +5 Affinity
Tsubasa +5 Affinity
Hikaru +5 Affinity
Ighanna +5 Affinity
Jellal +5 Affinity
Makuto +5 Affinity
Cero +5 Affinity

[OverDrive]

Now that a tragedy was avoided Tsubasa said his goodbyes and left the scene to continue heading home, but on his way he could not help but ponder about the events that took place today and what they all mean't....for himself and for everyone.

"...You say you want to enjoy the game and you want others to feel the same way..." he thought. "...Is this the result you wanted Neu...."

Tsubasa punches the stone wall next to him, sending all the crows and birds around him flying from their positions.

"..If only I knew more, If I only I could do more...if I could just guarantee the safety of my memories and everyone's clans altogether!!" he thought as he began to clutch his head with both hands, while now leaning against the wall. "...I have to be able to do this!!" he said.

Tsubasa was always calm ever since he understood the meaning of being responsible for himself and others, but even with his ability to notice his surroundings, in his thought frenzy Tsubasa was unable to notice a young man walking up to him from behind.

"Still the same old Tsubasa I see"
"-gasp- ......Fei..." he said.

Tsubasa lets go of his head and he begins to walk with this person towards Tsubasa's destination.

Yukino +3 Affinity Points
Neo +3 Affinity Points
Satoshi +3 Affinity Points