Hurray for exposition! No, seriously, that's all that this chapter is. I think I handled it pretty well, and I guess huge exposition dumps are Yu-Gi-Oh! tradition, but still, it makes me cringe a little looking back.
Chapter TenLegend of The Duelist
My team and I walked through the doorway and made our way down the long castle corridor. We walked along at a relatively slow pace for several minutes. The sheer grandeur of the structure was almost overwhelming. We walked until we came to an open door among dozens of closed ones. “Come on guys,” I said, trying not to sound reluctant, and we filed inside and looked around.
“Whoa!” Tucker exclaimed at the sight before us.
“Yeah,” I said, “I know what you mean.” We stood before a room lined with shelves that were all, every one, covered in Egyptian artifacts. The long table in the center of the room was covered in scrolls and documents and photographs of Egyptian temple walls and tablets covered by hieroglyphs.
“Welcome,” said Pegasus, who was standing at the opposite end of the table, “to one of my many research rooms. You children may or may not know that the game of Duel Monsters is actually based on an ancient form of magical combat. The oldest civilization that we can trace this form of combat to is Ancient Egypt, though we know that even older societies used it as well."
"'We' being who exactly?" Jen asked.
"Myself," Pegasus answered, "and those within my company whom I can trust. This form of combat, known as Shadow Games, were played using powerful magic, and a Shadow Game can be anything from a way to settle a bet, to a way to destroy your enemy’s very soul. They are typically played between two people, and the power of a Shadow Game is decided by the intentions of those participating.”
As Pegasus spoke of the Shadow Games, I was once again reminded of some of the strange things attributed to Duel Monsters over the past several years. If these Shadow Games were real, it explained all of them, which was literally the only reason at this point that I was actually considering Pegasus' words. Words which were far from exhausted.
Pegasus paused, and then sat down in an office-style chair at the head of the table, leaned back, and continued. “Since the start of the Shadow Games, the most intense were always the ones played between sorcerers with the power to summon powerful monsters from another realm. These sorcerers walked this earth en masse as long as ten thousand years ago, and as recently as the mid fourteen hundreds. Of course, the Shadow Games have been given various names depending on where they were played, but despite what they may be called, they are always more or less the same.
“All of this is important,” Pegasus said looking at us seriously for the first time in the short time that I’d known him, all semblance of playfulness gone so suddenly that it was rather jarring, “but it is not why I invited you here today, at least not directly. You are here because, while scouring myth for new inspiration for the creatures in my game, I stumbled across a story, or a legend if you will, that affects us here today, and everyone else in this world. Despite myself, I decided that I had a responsibility to intervene.”
Pegasus stood again and turned, looking at a large picture on the wall of a sandstone wall, covered in several hundred lines of Egyptian hieroglyphs ringed by twelve dully colored symbols. I recognized four of those symbols as the ones which had been pictured on the cards sent to the four of us along with our invitations, mine, the moon and star, located above the others. At a glance I could make out a few more of the tiny symbols, including a cross-like shape, a blank circle, and even one which was a mirror of mine, with a large sun eclipsing a small crescent moon.
“This,” said Pegasus, “Is an ancient tablet, carved nearly three thousand years ago, that tells the story of a man who lived in that era, in ancient Egypt and the surrounding region. A man with a light side and a dark side to his personality. His dark side was vast, so much so that it led to him being cursed and forgotten by the memory and the history of his people. He fought the dark side of his very soul, giving up his entire sizable legacy as the cost to cast a spell which would seal his dark side away.
"After the battle, the man was given a prophesy by the gods via the magical pendant that he carried. He gave that prophesy to the carver of this tablet. It said that his dark side would return in modern times and try again to claim the power that it once sought. The forgotten man’s curse was so strong that the man who carved this tablet died soon after from the strain of remembering for as long as it took to carve it. He literally put everything that he was into this tablet so that we might find it in modern times and seek out the means to defend ourselves from what is to come. I have to leave reminders to myself, or the knowledge will slip away from me as well.”
“So,” said Tucker, “if this is all true, won’t we just forget it too?”
“No,” Pegasus answered. “Duelist from your generation and all generations that will follow will not feel the effects of the curse, for the time of the man’s return is very near.”
He smiled at Tucker, though his smile wasn’t entirely warm, “Now please, allow me to continue.
“The man, known now only as The Forgotten Duelist, for he himself had forgotten his own name by the time the tablet was written, was the bearer of a strange artifact of still-unknown origin. I mentioned a pendant, but pendant is perhaps an inept description in and of itself. The artifact was a spherical crystal charm called the Duelist’s Soul. When the man’s dark side, known only as Blackheart, appeared, it had a Duelist’s Soul of its own, but it did not have the control that its light side had. It fought The Duelist for his life force so that it could gain control of the Soul’s power and enslave three particular creatures, whose names are not mentioned, though I suspect they were the legendary Egyptian God Monsters themselves.”
I inhaled sharply, surprised. I still wasn’t sure if I believed what Pegasus was saying, but if he was telling the truth, then his statement meant two things: One, the Egyptian God Monsters, from the one-of-a-kind Duel Monsters cards were once real, living creatures, with powers as substantial as the legendary cards themselves, and two, whoever this Blackheart was, he was strong enough to control those titans.
Pegasus turned back toward us and went on, “In order to face Blackheart the next time it appeared, The Duelist anchored his spirit to this world by breaking the Duelist’s Soul down into the Twelve Duelist’s Souls and sealing them away in a ruin called the Burial of the Soul. It is written here that four Duelists of modern times will realize their true power and release their Souls and the Souls of eight other Duelists from the Burial. Shortly after, these four, particularly the one who is their leader,” he looked right at me, “will meet, and then bring together, the other eight Soul Bearers, uniting the Duelist's Soul once again. These twelve Duelists will then combine their strength to revive the spirit of The Duelist, stronger than ever! You, my young friends, are the four modern Duelists from the prophesy. Now, the entire world needs you.”
Not even giving us a chance to process what had been said, Pegasus went right on with his story, “A powerful organization of young Duelists known as the Duelists of the Order of the Divine Cards has been collecting a vast amount of powerful magical items, known as Shadow Charms or Shadow Items, but whatever their goals are, the power of the Shadow Items is not sufficient. They have discovered the existence of the Souls and want them for themselves. Whoever leads the Duelists of the Order is rumored to have magical power over his followers. He has sent three of his strongest followers to Egypt to find the Souls themselves before you can. You must not let them gain possession of the Twelve Souls. If they do, they will become powerful enough to openly threaten the world!”
“Are you serious?” Tucker asked, looking at Pegasus like he was crazy. “Magic and monsters and crystal Souls!? Are you nuts?!”
“No, he’s not” said Jen. She had the same look on her face that she had had during her duel. Anyone who knew the way her reasoning worked would trust her. Anyone, except for Tucker, who is pretty infamous for missing the point.
“Come on guys,” he said, “you don’t really believe this do you?” He looked at me, “John, you’re with me right?”
“I don’t know, bro,” I said, “but if he is telling the truth, not doing anything could cause people to get hurt. We can’t just dismiss this.” Tucker looked to Sarah, the most practical of our little four-man band.
“I gotta agree,” she said, to everyone’s surprise, including her own, I think.
Tucker looked annoyed at first, but then I watched as his annoyance turned to disbelief, to confusion, and finally to acceptance. Finally he turned to Pegasus and said, “Fine. I know John doesn’t believe you either, but if he says we can’t ignore the crap you’re spouting, then I guess I’m in. Hurry up and tell us what we have to do.”
That night I lay awake in bed in one of the many guest suites within Pegasus’ castle, too anxious to sleep. Tucker had been right. I hadn't decided yet if I believed what Pegasus was saying. But either way, I'd committed to his crazy plan, and now all I could do was replay Pegasus’ instructions again and again in my head.
“Tomorrow,” Pegasus had said, “my personal assistant will lead the four of you to my private helicopter, parked on the castle roof. You will take the helicopter to the mainland where you will catch a flight home. I’m currently making arrangements for you to catch a luxury passenger jet from your local airport to Egypt early next week, during your Spring Break. The jet will take you to a town outside of Cairo where you will use the rather extensive funds with which you will be provided to hire a guide to take you to the Burial of the Soul. Finding this guide, however, will be entirely up to you. I won’t lie to you Duel Force. This task will be difficult and likely dangerous. It would not be impossible for you to lose your lives. Do you still wish to go?”
“We’ll go,” I had replied, without a moment’s hesitation. I knew my friends weren’t happy about that at the time, but I didn’t care.
Pegasus smiled, “Excellent.”
I really hope you’re wrong about all of this, Pegasus, I thought. There are things about me that you don’t know. Things that no one else knows. I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a hero.
It wasn’t too much longer before I finally managed to drift off to sleep, more nightmares to come.
I was awoken the next morning by an elderly man with ashen gray hair and a thin mustache. “You must be Pegasus’ assistant,” I said. The man bowed slightly.
“Yes sir,” he replied, “Croquet, at your service.”
I followed the man through the corridors. We stopped by the rooms occupied by each of my teammates in turn, waking them as well. As we made our way toward the roof, while my friends were marveling at the lush and extravagant castle interior, I pondered Pegasus’ words. Pegasus was a childish man. How much of what he said could really be taken seriously? Then it hit me. Croquet was Pegasus’ personal assistant. He’d probably known Pegasus for years. So I asked him, “Hey, Croquet, how much of what Pegasus says can be taken seriously anyway? I mean, he’s pretty goofy.”
The older man chuckled, “You obviously noticed Mr. Pegasus’ rather whimsical nature. I assure you that if Mr. Pegasus says he is serious then he is, and when he speaks, he chooses every word very carefully.”
I nodded, not exactly comforted by the man’s words. I would have asked more, but just them we came to a door labeled “Stairs to Roof”. “Will you be alright from here?” Croquet asked.
“Yep,” I answered, “thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. Now, before we part, I was asked by Mr. Pegasus to give you this.” He handed me a Spell card, completely devoid of text, or even an image.
“According to Mr. Pegasus this blank card will be able to capture your inner magic and use it to open the Burial of the Soul. He also said that you should guard this card at all costs. If you enemies were to get their hands on it, they might be able to use it for themselves.”
“I’ll keep an eye on it,” I said. “Tell Pegasus that it’s in good hands. And thanks again for your help.”
Croquet bowed again, ever so slightly, and I stepped past him, throwing open the door and crossing the threshold that would lead to the next part of our journey.
Next Chapter >>
No comments:
Post a Comment