Yu-Gi-Oh! DA: The Phantom Seal - Chapter Eleven

Hey look, a chapter where none of my main characters play a major part. Fantastic!



Chapter Eleven

Advancing Darkness


5:44 AM

Two men stood near a dock, looking out over the ocean. The Duel Academy building was visible behind them in the distance through the mist of early morning. The men stood to either side of a metal dolly, waiting. They wore white caps and denim jumpsuits that had Duel Academy logos on the chests.

“Bad enough we had to come all the way out here so early to pick up this shipment,” said one of the men, “but now they’re late, so we gotta wait too.”

“Stop complaining,” said the second man. He was older, in his late forties, with a graying mustache. “Cleanup and maintenance work, and yes, picking up shipments, isn’t glamorous work, but we work on an exotic island, and these Duel Academy card game nuts pay great.”

“Still, this is boring. Waiting for some weird old books for the school library? And from what I heard, some of ‘em ain’t got nothin’ to do with Duel Monsters.”

“It’s not really any of our business. Now shut up. Here it comes.” The older man pointed, and his companion followed his gaze in time to see a small ship approach the dock, emerging from the darkness of early dawn almost ominously. It only took a few minutes for the two men to stack the boxes of books on the dolly and make their way toward the school.


6:00 AM


The two men dropped the boxes off inside the doors of the Duel Academy library, just as the librarian, Miss Warren, was setting up for the day. When they saw that she was elderly and a bit frail, they were sure to offer to help her move the contents of the boxes to the shelves, and she was sure to turn them down as politely as possible. There was nothing that Miss Warren liked more than walking the shelves of books in her library, and putting these books away would give her an excuse to do just that. As far as Miss Warren was concerned, nothing could compare to being among so many books. It was her greatest joy.

But unloading three large boxes of books was slow going, and Miss Warren didn’t have the same spring in her step that she used to. She started out carrying seven or so books at a time, but it wasn’t long before she could carry only two or three at a time. It was an hour and ten minutes before she finished. Still, walking the aisles made Miss Warren happy, so she didn’t mind.


9:30 AM


“Man, this is dumb,” said Todd. He and his friend Pete were lagging behind their Card Design Basics class as the entire class made its way to the library. “When I signed up for school here, I was hopin’ to learn about Shadow Magic and cool stuff like that. But it’s already the final semester and the teachers haven’t even brought it up.”

“I keep tellin’ ya Todd, there’s no such thing as Shadow Magic.”

“No way, Pete,” Todd snapped, “you can’t say that. You saw the same crazy s*** I saw back in the Battle City tournament, and you heard those guys at the bridge earlier this year talkin’ about a whole group of guys use Shadow Magic and the Shadow Games and all kinds of cool stuff. Not to mention the stuff that's rumored to be going on on this island. It’s real!”

Pete ran his fingers through his amber-colored hair, a slightly nervous look finding his face, “That stuff at the tournament was all hologram effects or something, the Card Takers were just trying to sound cool, and the rumors about the honors dorm are just that: rumors.”

“No way,” said Todd as he and Pete finally crossed the threshold into the library and stopped along with their fellow students, “I know what we saw, and one day, I’m going to show Shadow Magic to the world. It’ll bring a whole new era. It’ll change everything!”

“Whatever man,” said Pete. He was about to say more when he was interrupted by the instructor, a young woman with short blonde hair.

“Okay class, spread out and pick a book. Remember that this book will be the basis of your final design project somehow, so don’t pick a book just because you like it. Actually think about it, as hard as this will be for some of you. Miss Warren will be at her desk if you need any help.”

The class scattered. Todd wandered off absentmindedly, his outlandish desire still resounding in his head. Pete caught up with him quickly. “Hey,” Pete asked, “you get an idea for your project yet?”

But Todd ignored him. He suddenly felt himself drawn toward the section of the library for new and unclassified books. Something had caught his eye. It was a large, hard-bound black book with silver hieroglyphic symbols etched into the binding. Todd took it down from the shelf and examined it. The book was written in Latin, or something a lot like it, with Egyptian and other ancient symbols scattered throughout. He didn’t know how he knew it, but Todd could tell that the book was magic.

“What’s that?” Pete asked.

“Pete,” Todd replied, “this is the answer to my prayers.”


5:15 PM


Todd ran from the school building, Pete on his heels as he ran not toward his room in High Dorm, but toward the fourth dorm building, the special honors dorm at the edge of the woods.

“What’s the hurry, Todd?” Pete called after him, his yellow jacket flittering in the wind. “What can you do with that book? You can’t even read it!”

“Wrong, Pete,” Todd called back to him, “I can read it! Ever since I discovered that Duel Monsters is connected with magic I’ve been looking for a way to tap that magical power. Now I find this book, and it’s in Latin, but I can read it, and it describes a way to gain magical powers for myself. Imagine what good I could do with magical powers!” Todd arrived at High Dorm and stopped running, pulled open the door and stepped inside. “It’s a dream come true!”

Pete followed him inside, “Or maybe it’s one of those things that are too good to be true. Did you think about that?”

“Listen, Pete,” Todd said plainly, “I’m giving it a try. Are you with me or not?”

"Why are we going toward the honors dorm?" Pete asked.

"Because that's where the book wants to be," Todd replied, "now answer my question. Yes or no?"

Pete averted his eyes from his friend’s momentarily and a thoughtful expression played across his face. For a few moments he said nothing. Then, finally, he answered, “Yeah, man, I’ll help. I got nothin’ to do tonight anyway.”


6:30 PM


The stage had been set. It had taken an entire hour, but finally the conditions described in the book had almost been met. Todd and Pete were in a strange room in the honors dorm, located off of the main lobby. They had been surprised to find it after sneaking inside. Even Pete was starting to wonder if Todd was right. The room was round, with strange symbols all over, as if the students here were studying them It made Pete uneasy, but still, he didn't go anywhere.

Because it was nearing the end of the school year, most of the students who were out of class already (which was most of them) were hard at work either in their rooms or in open classrooms working on final projects and studying hard for finals. The honors students were no exception, meaning that Pete and Todd had basically free reign of the place.

The two friends had made a table of boxes and a piece of plywood that they have found against the wall. Sitting upon the makeshift table were nine old candles of various sizes, liberated from a nearby storage area. Two of the candles had been made of two longer candles broken in half, but they were candles nonetheless. The candles were situated in a semi-circle around a circular seal drawn using some red paint found in the same storage room, “sealed”, as the book described it, with three drops of human blood. Not for the first time Pete looked uneasily at the bandage around Todd’s index finger where he had made the cut.

“I’m gonna say it again,” said Pete, “and then not another word from me: a spell from a creepy book that calls for blood is never a good thing. Even if it’s a hoax, which I’m still betting it is, knowing after the fact that you were willing to try it will mess you up.”

Todd looked a bit impatient as he spoke his response, “We doing this?”

Pete sighed heavily, “Yeah. Let’s just get this over with.”

Todd nodded and took a deep breath. Then he started reading the Latin phrases that were supposed to make the power-summoning spell take effect. The two young men waited for several minutes, but nothing happened.

“See,” said Pete, “I told you it was a hoax.”

Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, however, Pete felt suddenly afraid, as if there was something evil in the room with them. Before Pete could speak, Todd gasped, a silent scream, and his body faded into wisps of smoke.

“Todd!” Pete cried. He stepped back from the makeshift table and raised his Duel Disk almost instinctively as the wisps of shadows swirled together, becoming something resembling a solid form but with no more cohesion than a bank of fog.

So, came a voice from within the bank of fog, resonating in Pete’s head, you intend to fight me. Perhaps you will provide me with some amusement.

But Pete was no Duelist. He panicked and tore from the room into the still-vacant lobby.

Or the shadow creature said, perhaps not.

The mist lashed out, grabbing Pete and pulling him back inside the storage room. His body disappeared at 6:47, just as he crossed the threshold, and the shadow grew a bit more solid.


6:47 PM


I was sitting on the bed in my room, the small cable TV on, the volume muted. Karen was with me, sitting at my desk, preparing her final project, which was due the following day.

My Soul buzzed faintly for a moment, and I had an odd feeling like a lump forming in my throat. Only a moment later, the feeling passed, so I didn’t think anything of it.

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