Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh Zexal. Please don't sue.
Dumon looked at Mach. His fellow knights corrupted with the promise of power stood around the knight and his pegasus. Mach whinnied with pain as a knight stabbed him. Dumon wished he could ease his companion's pain. But when he opened his mouth to speak some reassuring words, blood filled his mouth. He didn't know what he would say anyway. A knight, once a friend of his, stabbed Dumon through his heart and it was over. Everything slowed down. Dumon didn't even remember closing his eyes. 'Goodbye Mach.' he thought before he died.
…...
For a long time, Dumon felt nothing. Then he felt like he was alive. His mind was foggy. "Wha- what? Where am I?" he 'mind-spoke'.
"Dumon?" a female voice called out.
"Merag! But you're dead! Well I guess I am too..."
"What! You died? When did that happen?" Nasch asked in alarm.
"You're here too, Nasch? Well to answer your question, my fellow knights went all psycho and stabbed Mach and me to death." Dumon replied with some bitterness at the end.
"Is that some anger I hear, Dumon?" Merag called teasingly.
"Maybe a little." If Dumon had a mouth he would have smiled. Merag could make something like his death a little less depressing.
"So what is this? We don't have bodies of any sort." Nasch mused.
"How should I know? Heaven's waiting line?" Merag replied.
"If that was true, I probably wouldn't be here." said an all too familiar voice.
"Vector?! What the hell are you doing here?" cried the three in unison.
"Hoping this isn't hell. Either you guys screwed up big time or I am not damned." Vector replied snarkily.
"No, you are damned. And we didn't screw up, so that rules out the afterlife." Nasch said.
Dumon got an idea. "If we are all here, do you think there are others? You know, wherever here is."
"Maybe. Vector get this straight, I hate your guts. But for now, let's have a truce." Nasch said.
"Fine, fish-head." Vector called back.
"I wish I had a body so I can strangle you." Nasch growled.
Vector started laughing like the psychopath that he is, so Dumon and the two siblings started to call out for other people. In the end, they found three others. Their names were Misael, Alit, and Gilag.
Misael was a dragon-tamer, Alit was a gladiator, and Gilag was a samurai general. They began to talk a lot together. Misael and Dumon became good friends and Dumon came to respect and treat all the others, even Vector, like family. Alit and Gilag became best buds. Nasch and Merag remained close. Vector annoyed everyone, especially Misael and Nasch. One day, or what was classified as a day since there was no way of knowing the time, Dumon began to feel like he had limbs again. At first he thought he was imagining things until Alit brought it up.
"Hey, anyone else feel like they have a body?" Alit asked.
Everyone replied yes and Alit and Gilag let out a cheer. "Yes we live again!" Gilag cried out.
"Not so fast Gilag. We have no idea what are bodies will be like or how much time has passed since we died. It could be just a few years of centuries." Merag cautioned.
"I understand your concerns for the second part, but I don't get what you mean by the first." Dumon said.
"From what you can feel of your body, doesn't it seem a little... different?"
The others had to admit that it did feel a little different. But then again, as Dumon pointed out, they haven't had a body for a while so maybe they just weren't used to having their bodies again.
…...
As time went by, the seven felt their bodies growing and changing. They assumed their bodies were growing back to the age they were when they died. They were a little nervous something might be wrong with their bodies, but to avoid panic nobody talked about it. Until Vector started complaining about his back.
"Arghhh! My back feels like there's something pushing out of it!" Vector groaned in pain.
"This better not be a trick, Vector..." Merag warned.
"I am completely serious! Ohhhh the pain!" Vector's groan turned into an all out scream of pain. Everyonewas shocked and afraid. They knew Vector well enough to tell that he would not even cry out unless the pain was utterly unbearable. And the fact that something was happening to his body that could cause him so much pain was terrifying to everyone.
Nasch tried to contain the panic. "Everyone, do not panic! It won't do any good since we can't stop whatever is happening to us. We need to keep a cool head and prepare for anything." The way Nasch said it made everyone calm down. "Soon we will be awake and can deal with the situation but for now let's just relax." Everyone agreed and attempted to push the matter to the back of their minds but traces of fear still lingered in all of them.
…...
More time passed and soon the seven were beginning to feel more at home in their bodies. Something still felt off but they couldn't put a finger on it. And there was a bigger problem that they could put a finger on.
"Why the heck are we kids?!" Misael cried.
Yep, they could all tell how old their bodies were. And none of them were happy about it.
"Just be thankful we're going to be alive again. We could be dead permanently. So quit whining." Merag rebuked Misael. Misael pouted but remained silent and did not complain anymore. Suddenly, Dumon felt like he was alive.
"Everyone I think it's time for us to wake up!" Dumon exclaimed.
"But we are awake." Alit said.
"I think he means in our bodies." Merag corrected him.
"Oh... well sweet! And we'll be kids so I can act however I want and people can't tell me to act my age! Woohoo!" There was an awkward moment of silence. "What?" Alit asked.
Before anyone could say anything else, all seven were suddenly forced into their bodies and all communication between them was ceased. Dumon tried to open his eyes. He felt the barrier around him weaken. He tried again and this time, with a sound of shattering glass, the red crystal around him shattered. He saw his entire life flash before him in the crystal shards, then it was gone and so was his memory. He blinked and took a wobbly step. All around him were other children of around the same age as him. Suddenly there was a yelp and a crash followed by many loud thuds. Dumon looked in the direction of the noise and saw a young barian child lying at the bottom of some stairs. 'Wait a second, what's a barian?' Dumon thought. He knew the word, but it did not sound familiar.
"Owwww." whimpered the small, red child at the foot of the stairs. Another child ran down to help the red barian. This one was solidly built and had a green Mohawk. Dumon took a look at his surroundings. He was in a cave lined with red crystals, on a platform at the top of a flight of stairs. Below the platform, there was a tunnel. There were four others around him. The two at the bottom of the stair climbed back up to make a total of six others. They quickly introduced themselves. The one who had fallen down the stairs was Alit. The one with the Mohawk was Gilag. Another one with long, golden hair was Misael. One named Vector had small, black, cherub-like wings. The only female of the group was called Merag, and the purple one with hair that looked vaguely like tentacles was named Nasch. He felt extreme deja-vu but quickly brushed it off.
"So, what now?" Gilag asked.
"We explore, obviously!" Merag replied. Just then a short barian wandered in. His eyes widened and he looked hysteric.
"Oh me, oh my! You're awake! You weren't suppose to wake up for another three days. Ok, ok, don't panic, Bordoc, don't panic. All of you stay right here. Don't go anywhere! I need to get the elders. Stay right there!" The short barian, apparently Bordoc, ran away from the seven calling back to remind them not to go anywhere. When they couldn't hear him anymore, the young barians looked at each other.
"Oooookay... that was weird." Dumon said.
"So, what now?" Gilag asked again.
"You just asked that exact same question two minutes ago!" Misael exclaimed.
"Well, it needed to be asked again." Gilag defended himself.
"But the answer has not changed. We will still explore this place. I will anyway. Why should we listen to someone who just popped up and looked like he was about to wet himself? Anyone who wishes to follow me is free to do so." Nasch stood up and walked to the edge of the first step leading down.
The others quickly fell into line behind him. "I'm with you all the way." Merag said
"I will follow you to the ends of the earth." Dumon swore.
"We do need a leader and you're better than than anyone else here. Except maybe for Dumon, but he seems content to follow you so I will too." Misael said as he stepped behind Nasch.
"I'm in! Let's go poke our noses where they don't belong!" Alit cheered. Everyone looked at him, but he seemed oblivious.
"I'm in." Gilag stated.
"Like I'm going to do what a pipsqueak that popped out of nowhere and looked like he would lose a fight with a twig tells me." Vector snorted and fanned his wings.
Nasch nodded in appreciation at his comrades. "Alright then, let's go he walked down the steps and through the tunnel with the others following close behind.
Alright, so how was it? More will get explained in the next chapters, like who exactly the elders are.