After a series of tag duels that played out like tournament semifinals: Cassandra and Sina vs. Helena and Mina, Pine and Valerie vs. Kaison and Leo, and finally Kaison and Leo vs. Cassandra and Sina, the last possessed student was freed from the control of the duel spirits.

Although most disappeared without so much as a trace, the spirit of [url=https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Master_Kyonshee]Master Kyonshee[/url] stuck around, hovering above Renho and Haruko. It simply held out its hand and dropped a card - itself, before fading away like smoke. Renho, unable to see the spirit, simply took the card and raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this in Haruko's deck?

As things settled down, Kaison took charge. "Is everyone alright?"

A clear answer or nod from most of them. Although the finalists - Cassandra, Leo, Sina and him all had some scratches from the duels with their psychic opponents, they were mostly unharmed, and the previously possessed students all managed to stand up, except for Pine and Helena.

Although it was rather worrying that neither had woken up since their duels ended, both were still breathing, confirming that neither has died, at least. There was the more insidious possibility that they had lost their [i]souls[/i], but it didn't make sense given their respective partners were fine.

Renho picked up Haruko, carrying her piggyback. "I'll bring Haruko back to her room. Lemme know what it was that woke everyone up later, kay?"

Kaison joined her, carrying Pine, who had fallen unconscious. "Same here. I'm curious, but this has been a weird night and I'm suddenly a lot less curious after all of that."

Sina grumbled. "What the heck was all of that? How am I supposed to ignore such a crazy event!?" She let out a long-suffering sigh as she mimicked Renho, struggling to carry Helena on her back. "But a hero's work is never done. I'll bring Helena back. It looks like things are over, but you guys be careful, okay?"

With that, the six of them headed back, leaving Cassandra, Leo, Mina, and Valerie in the clearing. They could go back now and forget this ever happened... Or they could go see what it was that caused that massive light. Decisions, decisions.

[hider=The consequences of choosing to walk deeper into the forest]About half-way to the origin of the pillar, the students will notice an old, abandoned well. It's long since been dried up, and if one were to look closely with a light from their PDA, has quite a few cards sitting at the bottom. Tuckered out though the spirits might be, it will nonetheless give the students an uneasy feeling, like they should let sleeping dogs lie.

Walking on further, beyond the well, resting under a tree like any other, lies a large, orb-shaped machine. It has a windowed hatch that readily opens to reveal a single cushioned seat within, in front of dead screens and a bunch of unlabeled buttons surrounding the window's view. Besides a tacky pair of fuzzy dice hanged over one of the screens, there doesn't seem to be any discerning marks for companies, brands, or its owner, and the interior has very little wear and tear, as if it was hardly used. On the side of the machine, there seems to be a large gash, burnt black around the edges and up the side of the machine, passing over a small circular indentation that looks like it's supposed to open to reveal something, but nonetheless refuses to budge. Above the machine, tilted off towards the side with the gash, is a large circular hole within the tree branches, as if something cut straight through it, leaving burn marks on the leaves and branches that remain.

There doesn't seem to be any further explanation to be found.[/hider]