Do Duel Monsters Dream of
Cardboard Sheep?
Part One: It's all in the
Cards
Chapter One: Escape to Reality
14 August 2003
They had all heard the scream. Screams were commonplace in this, the place where the screams suppressed in the mortal realm were given form. It had been unfamiliar to all of them, a long vibrating child's cry that made Ailill think of birds.
Birds- he wasn't quite sure how he knew of birds in this place. The only birds he knew of here were Niwatori, which he had only heard of from some of the more traveled among their little group, and perhaps the Harpies counted as birds in a way- then again if the Harpy sisters counted as birds so did Celestina. But he knew about them, and that was how he came to connect that cry with those birds he had never seen. But he was certain those cries did not contain words as did this voice, which, he was certain, was not one of them-
(oh no big brother i'm sorry why does this have to happen oh seto why does that jerk have to do this oh seto please HELP ME!!!!)
And then that cry was silenced as the unfortunate soul fell away to someplace beyond their prisons.
They had speculated about it for a while. Aoibheann and Michael, being Aoibheann and Michael, had cut it off just when it was getting interesting. Then again, perhaps it was not exactly them that had done it, annoying as Ailill thought they were. Perhaps it had been cut short because Master had begun a duel.
***
There
were only routine if agonizing screams for a time after that. Once Ailill
noted a shout of pleasure from Gabriel-
(Master
is right! A magician never reveals his secrets!)
But shortly
after this cry, ironically enough, the real screams began. One of the most
pained, Ailill noted, was Michael's-
(OH NO
IT WAS A TRAP THAT FOOL CLOWN WAS TOO WEAK I SHOULD HAVE SEEN OH MASTER
I HAVE FAILED YOU THE VIRUS THE VIRUS-)
And Ailill
almost thought he could hear (impossible in here he knew, but he could)
the door to Michael's prison slamming after he tumbled inside. Any distorted
pleasure he might have gained from this was quickly gone when he heard
Gabriel's own cry-
(Oh no
Master I'm sorry I failed Master please oh please WIN)
And then
he heard Gabriel's kythe-
(I have
failed Master. I have failed Master.)
Morgan
was not included in this cluster that was in the mortal realm known as
a deck, but she could reach out across the gap that separated decks, and
Ailill always enjoyed feeling her kythe, being able to trust her with his
own kythe. The Magician of Faith was well named indeed.
(No,
Gabriel, you didn't fail him. You did the best you could ha' done, Gabriel.
You obeyed him, and 'tisn't your fault it happened)
Ailill
would have continued to listen; perhaps, he thought, if he could just listen
to what she said to Gabriel he would feel somewhat redeemed for the fact
that if there had ever been a duel he had won, he could not recall.
Then
he was being summoned.
Ailill
had become somewhat used to the sensation his mind experienced of being
dragged from a prison into sudden blinding light. But he had never quite
got used to the feeling of… well, feeling, of realizing that the
blinding light was no longer just in his mind, identified as a blinding
light from the rags of memory he treasured, but in the eyes granted him
for as long as he managed to keep from being destroyed.
Just
dueling was no guarantee of sight. Once a short while ago he had been called
upon to duel, and it was night. He remembered the pain of standing there
and a different dark wrapping around him, dragging him towards a monster
waiting deeper in that dark, ready to send him back to the original dark.
He had slashed at it- as if dark could be killed with a sword! - and struggled
to keep from being pulled in deeper. He remembered the pain of the dungeon
worm's teeth biting into his limbs; he remembered he thrashed about like
that Wall Shadow had done under the power of the Kunai Whip Chain. But
it hadn't been any use. None of his efforts ever were of any use.
Ailill
stood there and had barely assessed the situation before he was called
on to attack. He ran forward, noticing the many copies of Amaguri (once
surprised newcomer to a nearby deck Black Jade had called Kuriboh, who
as far as they knew had had no other name, a Sweet Chestnut and the name
had stuck) floating about. Normally he would have been fearful confronted
with one Blue Eyes White Dragon, let alone three polymerized ones, but
black and rotting they suddenly didn't seem as much of a threat.
He slashed
at the center head and it came away quite easily; he was sure it belonged
to Haku. Ailill landed back among the multiple Amaguri. He could feel an
angry kythe back from the dark. It was Haku, of course, and he wasn't happy-
(I'll
get you you damned excuse for a warrior you just wait I'll come back and
I'll get you)
Ailill
blocked out the kythe- it was easy once you learned- and watched as, true
to Haku's pledge, the severed head reappeared, now white with blue eyes
once again. But- why was Master's opponent standing at a place where all
Ailill could see behind him was sky the color of Aoibheann's skin?
Ailill
knew exactly what to do. Chihiro and Sapphire had rotted down to strength
quite below his own. All he had to do was slice Chihiro or Sapphire, it
didn't matter which, and the battle would be won in one move.
Now if
Master would just ignore the suicide threats of his opponent and GIVE THE
COMMAND…
"Celtic
Guardian, ATTACK!"
Ailill
ran straight for the rotting wreck that once was the Ultimate Dragon. As
he did he could hear Chihiro's resigned kythe. He liked Chihiro; she was
the most like Jewel of the other three Blue Eyes. Unlike their two brothers,
she was somewhat sane.
(Oh well,
I suppose Master knew his gambit was risky…)
The memory
of Jewel was only slightly faded, and Ailill took a grim enjoyment in imagining
his killer falling to a deserved death. Yes, killer, for with no card to
anchor him to the rest of the deck, where was Jewel to go? He did not even
have his prison now, not even a place from where he could kythe. And it
was all because of Master's opponent.
The opportunity
was denied him, as it always was.
"No!
Yugi, don't do this!"
Ailill
could ignore that voice; it reminded him of Morgan, in a way, but Morgan
wanted more than anything to duel. "If only I could duel," she would say.
This, he knew, was Morgan's Master, though he couldn't help but think that
Morgan deserved a Master better than this one who had never given Morgan
an opportunity to duel as she so wanted, even though Morgan was supposedly
her master's favorite.
Of course
Morgan would hurt. Being the Magician of Faith did not make her immune
to hurt; in fact, sensitive as she was, any pain from anyone on the field
was felt by her. But perhaps, like Black Jade and Michael, she wouldn't
care about the pain; perhaps she thought it a fair price for being able
to duel like all the others, for having eyes.
More
than once, after the pain had been particularly bad, Ailill had contemplated
the benefits of switching places with her.
But this
was not Morgan beseeching him to stop and let the vengeful Haku incinerate
him. When that happened, he knew, the numbers would go down and then Master
would have no numbers left. Master would lose and the killer of Jewel would
not pay for his crime.
Morgan,
too, had cared about Jewel. Morgan understood that one could not lose a
duel as important as this once just because of such a blatant manipulation
as Jewel's killer was doing right now. Morgan understood that Ailill wanted
to win as much as she wanted to duel. Morgan understood all that.
An extremely
irritated Ailill reflected as he neared his goal that perhaps Morgan should
be the Master of her current Master. Morgan, after all, knew what had to
be done.
"NO!
STOP!"
And this
time it was a voice he could not ignore, though he would have liked to
do so.
He felt
Chihiro reaching her mind out to his. Her kythe was full of disbelief,
then a mix of disbelief and gratitude, and when he heard this-
(at least
now Master will not die)
-Ailill
wanted to scream what Michael called heresy so loud that they could hear
it everywhere.
Instead
he stood before the dragons, his sword dropped somewhere he didn't bother
to look, eyes cast downward, trying to find great interest in his boots.
He knew he didn't dare look up and see Haku's knowing smirk; he knew that
Haku knew, and he was burning in humiliation even before Haku's attack
struck him.
From the corner of his eye Ailill thought he could see the numbers going
down, as he knew they would.
***
Ailill
had grown used to the sensation of being yanked roughly back to his prison,
of the pain slowly going away. This time, though, the pain did not go completely
away. There was still psychic pain; the pain of knowing he had been this
close to actually winning this time, but it had been taken away by none
other than his own Master. Of course Morgan's Master had helped, but she
didn't really count; he didn't have to listen to her. It was his own Master
that Ailill had to obey.
If he
had real eyes he would have shed enough tears to drown himself. As it was
Ailill withdrew all but one kything line. He said nothing on this line,
instead listened to Amaguri tell everyone how they had been this close
to winning, but for Master's sudden ideals which, though they no doubt
served him well in other aspects of Master's life, were unsuitable for
dueling.
Morgan
was the first to kythe to him. Gabriel followed soon after, and Ailill
was grateful.
(Ailill,
please, 'tisn't your fault the duel was lost. 'Tisn't your fault)
(Yes,
Ailill, it was none of it your fault. You did not fail Master, Ailill.
You obeyed)
(Gabriel's
right, Ailill. You obeyed Master like you ought to have done. 'Tisn't your
fault)
(That's
the problem. If it's not my fault, if I obeyed, then who am I to blame?)
Silence
along the kything lines. Morgan and Gabriel knew perfectly well who Ailill
was to blame.
***
There
were screams afterward, but they were the same old routine ones for a while.
Morgan's Master dueled the Master of the Harpies and won without even touching
Morgan's card. The only screams slightly unusual were those of Sapphire
and Chihiro. Sapphire was surprisingly glad to be sent to the graveyard-
(yes
yes yes yes yes Chihiro do it NOW I hate this body and I hate that Pegasus
with that stupid eye of his get me out of here GET ME OUT OF HERE Chihiro
can't you blast me any faster)
Chihiro's
came only a short while later. It was not a cry of dying, but it hurt.
(I hate
you Pegasus oh how I hate you you and all those cards you make for YOURSELF
and of course you make them better than even Exodia don't you, you think
you can do anything even take Master's little brother, you think you can
use that damn Piper I hate you I hate you I hate you)
The screams
had become so regular that after the one of Michael's "fool clown" faded
away, nobody expected another one so soon.
But there
was one more.
(Mokuba
I failed I failed Mokuba I'm sorry please don't hate me I lost I lost damn
that Pegasus who thinks he can do anything oh Mokuba I lost)
Ailill
thought it was the same variety of the one they had heard earlier that
day, the one who had cried out to someone called Seto. All of a sudden
he realized he had heard that voice under different circumstances. He had
heard it only a short while ago, and all of a sudden he was angry.
(serves
you right, you killed Jewel)
He had
no way of knowing whether this Seto person (if, Ailill thought, he could
even be termed a person) had heard his angry kythe, but he felt slightly
better. Just slightly.
It wasn't
until the soul had fallen out of sight that he realized there were gaps.
***
It wasn't
that hard to find the specific location of the gaps. Ailill simply concentrated,
willing a kything line out into the mortal realm through the hologram generators
to find the place Seto's soul had occupied. It was moving away quickly;
for a moment he thought he could hear Master's voice as his kything line
passed through a certain location in the gap.
And he
was certain there was another one, perhaps two.
He threw
out another kything line to Gabriel, who easily caught it.
(Gabriel
do you feel the gaps look I'll show you) And he did.
(I see.
I believe… the souls were taken away. The ones we heard this morning…)
(I think
these gaps were where they used to be. Gabriel, could you slide someone
into those gaps?)
(I suppose
I could. Ailill, why are you showing me this?)
(Because
I need to go there)
Ailill
hadn't expected Gabriel to understand. Gabriel did not understand. Once
they had been four, Ailill, Gabriel, Morgan, and Jewel. Ailill was the
acknowledged troublemaker; Gabriel had always been the most passive. He
never longed to fight like Morgan and Jewel; then again he was Master's
favorite and unlike Morgan's Master, theirs played his favorites often.
He never found any fault with anything Master did.
He was
almost as bad as Aoibheann and Michael, except for the fact that he was
Ailill's friend.
(Ailill,
it is not safe there)
(This
isn't safe either. Look, Gabriel, if something happens to your card- like
what happened to Jewel's- what'll you do then?)
His mention
of Jewel had evidently hit its target. He continued-
(And
if that happens we'll be just like Jewel, we'll be in defense mode with
no traps, can't do anything about what they do to us)
(Master
will take care of us)
(He will
take care of us like the Master before took care of Jewel)
(Ailill,
don't say such things!)
That
was from Gabriel and Aoibheann both. He went to his main point.
(Besides,
he hates me)
Stunned
silence. Just as Aoibheann was about to fill the kything line with words
of reproach, he went on.
(Think
of it, Gabriel. Have you ever remembered a time when I won a duel?)
Then
Morgan joined in-
(None
of it be your fault, Ailill, 'tisn't your Master's either, that your numbers
are lower'n so many other's)
(That's
not it. Like Amaguri said, we were going to win. I was right about to win,
and he stopped me. He doesn't want me to win. He hates me and he only cares
because the numbers go down)
(Ailill,
how dare you denounce Master!)
(Shut
up, Michael. Ailill's right. Just shut up)
Ailill
smiled along the kything line- (Gabriel, please, just put me into one of
those. He doesn't need me anyway)
(He could
need you)
The argument
was growing weaker.
(Ailill,
he does need you. We're to serve Master and…)
(Gabriel,
do you remember our first seeing duel?)
Pause.
Then-
(Yes.
Yes, I remember. The Faceless Mage. I'll send myself to the graveyard forever
if I have to fight that Faceless Mage again)
Ailill shared his
sentiments. He still remembered the sheer agony of being torn apart by
his own friend's Dark Magic Attack.
(Please,
Gabriel, just help me)
(I shall
do more than that. I will come with you)
Ailill
was about to protest when-
(I must
go, since I am the spellcaster)
Aoibheann
was indignant. (But Gabriel, how could you! Master needs you most of all!)
(I need
to go too if this spell is to work)
(But…)
She obviously had no argument left.
(Aoibheann,
Master could use you too. He just needs the Sword and Shield and you could
fight Black Jade)
(I could
not. His numbers are larger than mine)
(But
it would be close, Aoibheann. I need to go)
Morgan
kythed again- (What am I to do?)
(I will
return for you, Morgan, if we determine it is safe. There are only a few
gaps)
(All
right)
She obviously
did not sound convinced. Ailill had to add something-
(And
when we get there, Morgan, I'll get your Master to play you if that's what
you want)
(That
would be wonderful, Ailill)
***
The spell
took a long time to develop, and Ailill loved every moment of being infused
into the gap, every moment of feeling more and more real. Which was part
of the reason it was such a surprise when he opened dark blue eyes. He
pulled some dark unkempt hair before those eyes, took note of the orange
and white striped sleeve and frowned.
Apparently,
Gabriel had been too accurate in targeting the soulless gaps. He was currently
in the body of a child, who was currently chained to the wall.