"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth."

-Alphonse Elric

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Loki's Eyes

The story so far…

Not even a full week after the Battle City tournament, I was called upon to save the world again. Lynch informed me that a man named Nigel Garza wanted to absorb the powers of darkness to resurrect a Card Guardian known as Kuhates, with the hope of achieving world domination, for it is said that whoever defeats Kuhates in a duel will be granted a wish. I rushed to Transylvania to stop him.

Matters were complicated when Shizuka, Téa, and Yugi were kidnapped from under my nose by the Society of Light. The Society's goal was brainwash duelists into serving them, intent on using the duelists' collective light energy to rid the world of darkness, not realizing their actions would destroy the world.

I managed to defeat Hikaru, the leader of the Society of Light, and freed my friends from his control. But I was too late, for Nigel Garza had already absorbed enough dark energy to unleash the Card Guardian. After a difficult battle, I wished Kuhates would become human so I could battle him again. With my work done, my friends and I headed back to Japan, while Lynch returned to Ireland.

And I learned a valuable lesson from all that; light and dark do not necessarily mean good and evil; after all, a force who served the light performed evil deeds, while I, a man whose chi was tainted by the Ghouls, fought to save the world. Light and dark are merely two halves of the same whole. It's the people, and the way they use their power, that determine good and evil.

This story continues before and during a period of history that I call the Orichalcos saga…

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Shizuka's Eyes

During the two months following the Society of Light incident, Loki was a lot more hands-on with my training. We dueled at least once a day – sometimes up to five times – and he introduced me to duel puzzles; scenarios where I had to win a duel in one turn with the cards in my possession. Each time, the duels would get progressively harder. Sometimes, I spent hours at a time on a puzzle.

But I didn't mind, since I knew Loki was only making me do the puzzles to help me. And Loki didn't care about the time either, since he seemed to enjoy teaching me. It worked great, because I enjoyed learning from him. I enjoyed…him, period.

But I digress. He also had me duel against simulated versions of other people's decks. Under Loki's tutelage, I've managed to defeat lots of champions' decks. To my surprise, I was eventually able to defeat Joey's deck with no problems. Still, I could never beat Loki.

"Mataza," Loki shouted, "cut and sheath!"

1600/0

"Darn, I lost again!" I pouted.

"You're gaining on me, Shizuka," he assured me. "One of these days, you'll defeat me and become the new Selkirk Rex."

"Don't put that kind of pressure on me," I said. "You said yourself it'll happen when it happens."

He beamed. "I love it when you quote me."

"Maybe I should stop before your head swells so much you can't fit through the door."

Apart from his skills, it seemed as though his wit also seemed to rub off on me. Those days, I was quick to pounce when someone said something stupid. "That was an evil thing to say, Shizuka. Nicely done! Joey would be proud."

"You think?"

"Absolutely. There's nothing Joey appreciates more than a duelist that outclasses him in every way."

I crossed my arms. "I wouldn't say every way."

"Let's count the ways: you have better cards, you have a better strategy, you're more levelheaded, you're a faster learner, and you probably have better personal hygiene-"

"When does hygiene come into play during a duel?"

"Nobody likes to duel a smelly opponent," he answered with a shrug. "Come on, champ; I'll treat you to lunch. Pick a restaurant."

I thought about it for a minute. "Well, I like Burger World. Is that ok?"

"Sure." Within ten minutes, we were seated with our lunches. I wasn't very deep into my lunch when he asked, "So, how's school for you?"

"Huh? Ok, I guess." It's hard to say why I disliked talking casually to him. I wanted to, but when the time came around, I simply shut down. I think I was afraid we might somehow drift into the subject of relationships, and I'd blurt out the words that I'm too shy to say to him.

"You know, I kind envy you." I looked up, surprised by his statement. "I was home-schooled most of my life, and am still taking online courses. I've missed out on the chance to interact with anyone outside the duel field. Actually, apart from Lynch and the Ghouls, your brother was the first person I really got to know."

"I didn't know that."

He gave a shrug. "If I seem a little withdrawn at times, that's why. And if I seem a little overprotective, it's because I really cherish you all. You're quite literally my best friends."

Suddenly, he leaned forward and took my hand. "Listen. I know I said this before, with the Nigel Garza incident, but I need to reinforce it. First and foremost, I have your best interest at heart, my student. I thought that meant I had to protect you, but that way is flawed."

"…"

"I feared that if you helped me face Dr. Garza, that you would get hurt, or worse. But Lynch taught me the value of faith. I have faith in you, and everything I taught you. That means it's my responsibility to stand back and trust that if you get into trouble, you'll come out all right."

"You mean…if I get into trouble, you won't save me?" I asked, suddenly very frightened.

"Such is not the case. I will always be there to save you in any occasion I think you're truly stuck. But I trust that you'll be able to take care of yourself in the meantime. Think about it; you defeated Nigel Garza! If he hadn't played that dirty trick with the mace, you'd have saved the world."

I sighed, pulling my hand away from him. "There's always an 'if' with me, isn't there? I could've defeated Marik if I were stronger. I wouldn't have been brainwashed if I were quicker on my feet. I would've stopped Kuhates' resurrection if I kept my guard up."

"SHIZUKA!" he snapped, causing me to flinch. "I order you to stop putting yourself down. You're only human; no more, no less. Don't incriminate yourself for things you had little to no control over. In the long run, did they affect you in any negative way?"

He allowed me a second to think about it. I was very surprised that I couldn't of anything. "No, I guess they didn't."

"And you've learned some valuable lessons along the way: be quick on your feet, and keep your guard up. Frankly, I wish I learned those lessons as quickly as you had." He took my hands again. "Remember this, Shizuka: you are going to be stronger than me, and you know how strong I am. Never, ever let yourself believe yourself to be inferior."

"Sensei…" I watched him lean forward a little, slightly dazed. For a second, I saw something warm flash in his eyes. "Is that love? Does he feel like I do?" I leaned forward a little too. Gradually, we inched closer to each other.

He blinked suddenly, and blushed. Letting go of my hands, he sank back in his seat. "I…thought you had something in your eye. I was wrong. Sorry."

"It's ok." I rested in my seat and silently sipped my soda. "He does love me, doesn't he? I guess I thought if he did, he'd have told me. But he's shy like me."

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Loki's Eyes

"Loki, you idiot," I scolded myself. "You came way too close that time. What if you kissed her? It might've ruined our relationship."

"Are you ok?" asked Shizuka between sips.

"Perfectly," I lied. Then we heard some screams outside. We looked out the window and saw something rather scary; monsters were attacking the city. "It figures," I muttered. "I take up residence in Japan, and monsters appear."

"Those are duel monsters holograms," Shizuka pointed out. "Where could all of these things be coming from?"

"That doesn't matter, since we know exactly where they're going. Shizuka, how about you get some practice in by destroying a few of them?"

"Ok," said Shizuka. She ran outside and activated her Duel Disk. "I play White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) with Trial of the Princess!" Her monster destroyed a Reaper of the Cards (1380/1930), transformed into Princess Pikeru (2000/0), and blasted a Timeater (1900/1700).

"Well, that's two down," I thought. "There are about seventy to go, give or take." My cell phone rang and I answered it. "Make it quick."

"Hey, Loki," I heard Joey say. "Are you and Shizuka being attacked by duel monsters too?"

"Yes, but it's nothing really serious. How's life treating you otherwise?"

"Not too shabby. How's Shizuka?"

"She's become quite a duelist; she may even give you a run for your money some day. Please hold." I lowered my phone and yelled, "Shizuka, behind you!" as a Mystic Clown (1500/1000) rushed her. Luckily, she jumped out of the way. I raised the phone and said, "Sorry about that. Do you have any idea how this could've happened?"

"No, it's the strangest thing. We finally went to the museum to try and unlock the secrets of the pharaoh's past, and then the monsters suddenly appeared. We went to Kaiba Corp to get some answers, but he's in his office in California. He's holding a press conference at eight tonight."

"Well, here's hoping we get some answers."

Suddenly, Shizuka was next to the window yelling, "I summon Banisher of the Radiance (1600/0)!"

"What was that?" asked Joey. "Was that Shizuka?"

"Um, yeah!" I answered. "She was complimenting me, saying I shouldn't be a bachelor because I'm so radiant." It was a stupid lie, but Joey would be upset – to say the least – if he discovered I was making her duel random monsters on the street. Besides, Joey's quite gullible, so he'd probably believe me.

"Oh, ok. Well, say hello for her me. Ciao!"

"Later." I hung up and walked outside, using the End of the World ritual to summon Demise, King of Armageddon (2400/2000). "This has gone on long enough. Demise, activate your doomsday pile driver!" Demise unleashed a shockwave that destroyed absolutely all the monsters.

Shizuka looked around, impressed. "How did you do that?"

"My monster's special effect lets me pay 2000 lifepoints to destroy all cards on the field except this monster," I explained.

"Well, now that we saved the town, what's our next move?"

"According to Joey – he says 'hi,' by the way – Kaiba will be holding a press conference on the issue at eight tonight. Let's head to Domino; this could be a serious problem, and even Yugi might need our help."

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Loki's Eyes

It was about 7:55 PM when we arrived at Yugi's house. It was the first time I've seen it. I couldn't believe how lucky he was that he lived above his Grandpa's game store; to be so close to so many cards has always been a dream of mine.

I knocked on the door, and an old man answered. I knew he has to be Yugi's Grandpa, because he had hair exactly similar to Yugi's, except completely gray. "I'm sorry, but we're closed for the night."

"Good evening, Mr. Moto," I said in my most charming tone of voice. "Actually, Shizuka and I are here to meet Yugi. My name is-"

Grandpa suddenly snapped his fingers. "Loki Admin. Yugi told me about how you were teaching Joey's sister. Please, come in; they're right up those stairs. Just follow the noise."

"Thanks." With that, we headed for the crowded room. Through the crack in the door, I saw Joey, Téa, and Tristan were all there as well. I motioned for Shizuka to remain silent, and in Kaiba's voice I yelled, "Hey, underdog!" It's a name that Kaiba frequently called Joey.

Joey shot up, infuriated. "KAIBA?"

"I have a joke for you. What's the difference between you and a monkey's brain? A lobotomy!"

"Oh, THAT'S it! It's about time we settled this!" He screamed in fury and rushed towards the door. He threw it open with his fist raised, but managed to pull the punch when he realized who I was. "Loki? Shizuka?"

"You're too easy, Joey," I teased as Shizuka and I walked past him. "How'd you like my Kaiba voice? It sounded pretty real, didn't it?"

"I gotta admit," said Tristan, "you certainly had me fooled." He stood up and took Shizuka by the hand. "It's always a pleasure to see you, Shizuka. Here, take my seat."

"Um, thanks," she replied. I felt a few pings of annoyance with Tristan as he guided her to the indicated seat.

"Hello, Loki," greeted Pharaoh. "I'm glad to see you again, but it's a shame we couldn't meet in more favorable circumstances."

"Alas, such is our way," I sadly stated. "Drawn together are we by conflict are we, locked in a constant struggle; either against each other or the forces of darkness."

"Shakespeare here has a point," said Joey. "It seems that you two always meet in a crisis. Or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe Loki's just happens to be bad luck."

"Me? Yugi's the one with those cursed Millennium Items! He's attracting the bad guys; I just get caught in the crossfire."

Pharaoh chuckled slightly. "I suppose you have a point. But if you're worried about being caught in the crossfire, then why are you here?"

"Hey, I saved the world too, you know. I'll probably be of little use to someone who saved it twice, but I'll be happy to lend any support I can. And do you know why?"

"Because we're friends," said Joey, "and we'll do anything to support each other."

"…Actually, I was going to say it's because I rock, but yours works too."

A few minutes later, the news came on, and the reporter stated that the appearing Duel Monsters weren't exclusive to Japan. There were monster sightings all over the world. "We'll now turn over to our crew in America, where Kaiba Corp's President, Seto Kaiba, is making a statement." The camera cut to Kaiba, who stood behind the podium with a solemn expression. But then, what else is new?

"After these events," said Kaiba, "we completely shut down our system to test it. But during that time, monsters still appeared. Therefore, something other than our system is causing the monsters to be created." Reporters started shooting off more questions, but he walked away in silence.

I frowned. "So, according to Kaiba, the holograms weren't caused by his system. It begs the question; where are they coming from?"

"Kaiba's obviously covering up," said Tristan. "Who else has the technology to project holograms like that?"

"What about Schroeder Corp?" Shizuka pointed out. "They've been experimenting with holo-imaging devices."

"That's a point," I agreed. "Kaiba is a lot of things, but he doesn't strike me as a liar."

"Hmm," mumbled Téa. "I wonder if it has something to do with the stone tablet."

"I think so too," said Pharaoh. "I think the force I felt in the museum triggered the emergence of these creatures, which would mean that the monsters are real. I wonder if that's what Rex and Weevil were talking about."

I raised my eyebrow. "Rex and Weevil? What are you talking about?"

"We met them earlier, standing in a complete daze," explained Téa. "Weevil said 'This is the first sign', and Rex said 'Soon this world will end'. I thought they were just in shock."

"But that doesn't-" Before I could finish my thought, we heard a loud crash downstairs, and Grandpa crying out.

Yugi appeared in the Pharaoh's place and yelled, "GRANDPA!" We quickly ran downstairs to see what happened. Grandpa was lying on the floor, and the door was smashed open.

I knelt down to check his pulse. "He'll be alright, Yugi."

"The…the God Cards…" moaned the old man. "You must…retrieve them!"

"Don't try to move. You'll only end up hurting yourself."

Joey ran out of the shop, but stopped abruptly. "It's Obelisk!"

We all ran outside to investigate, and sure enough, he towered over the city. A second later, Slifer and Ra appeared as well. "But how?" I asked. "I thought only those with royal Egyptian blood could wield God Cards."

Suddenly, we were blinded by headlights, shining from three motorcycles that blocked out path. One of the riders said, "When the forbidden door is opened, the light of Orichalcos will punish this filthy world. We are Doma's three swordsmen."

"You punks don't scare me!" snapped Joey.

"Give them back!" demanded Yugi. "The God Cards don't belong to you!"

"They do now, nameless Pharaoh. Come to the unfinished building." With that, they turned and drove to a building with a giant crane on top of it.

As Pharaoh switched with Yugi I said, "So, now you have to win all three God Cards back again. What fun, eh?"

Once we arrived atop the building, a robed man appeared atop the giant crane. He leapt from his vantage point and onto a scaffold near us, removing his hood. He was a man in his late fifties, with a black beard, crew cut, and a monocle. And he wore a green Duel Disk that vaguely resembled a serpent. "I am Gurimo, and I serve Lord Rafael," he said, indicating the three bikers, who stood even higher up on the building. One of them had short blond hair, one had medium red hair, and the last had spiky brown hair.

Pharaoh jumped onto the scaffold and warned, "The God cards have a power more dangerous than you can understand. Please, give them back before someone gets hurt."

"I'm well aware of their power, and if you want them back, you'll have to duel me."

"I accept," said Pharaoh as he activated his Duel Disk. Gurimo activated his too, and the game began.

4000/4000

"I'll go first," said Pharaoh. "I'll play Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in defense. Then I set one card facedown and end my turn."

"I hope that guy doesn't use the God cards!" said Téa. "Nothing can stand up to them."

"That's not true," I argued. "Yugi proved that he could take on all three."

"He's right," said Joey. "There's a reason they call Yugi the King of Games! He almost never loses."

"For my move," said Gurimo, "I summon Marauding Captain (1200/800) in attack mode. And this young man has a special ability, letting me special summon another level four monster from my hand. I choose Shadow Tamer (800/700) in attack mode, and the worst is yet to come."

As he picked a card out of his hand, I sensed a severe chill pierce my being. "Not good. Whatever that thing is, I sense it's incredibly dangerous."

"I'm about to play a card more powerful than all three Egyptian God cards: the Seal of Orichalcos!" The second he played the field spell, he was consumed by a dark green aura. A circular boundary filled with magical symbols surrounded the duelists, and series of lines drew out a six-pointed star within it. The shockwave knocked me and the other spectators to the ground.

"My friends!" cried out Pharaoh. He stepped towards us, but found himself unable to cross the boundary of the seal.

"The Seal of Orichalcos prevents us from leaving, and all others from entering," explained Gurimo. "When the duel is over, only the victor can leave. The loser's soul remains locked inside the seal!" He raised his head, revealing the Orichalcos symbol emblazoned on his forehead.

Pharaoh turned back to Gurimo. "I'm no stranger to ancient magic. Behold the power of my Millennium Puzzle!" His energy exploded, but quickly fizzled away.

"The Orichalcos existed long before your Millennium Puzzle. Your toy is useless! And by the way, the Orichalcos turns all of my monsters into the dark attribute." The Orichalcos symbol also appeared on the foreheads of the monsters. Their eyes turned red, and their attack points increased by 500. "Marauding Captain, strike down his monster!"

Once it was cleared away Pharaoh declared, "I activate the trap, Soul Rope! It allows me to special summon a level four monster in my deck at a cost of 1000 lifepoints. Come forth, Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800)!"

3000/4000

"You'll have to do better than that," said Gurimo. "I'll set one card facedown. Why don't you try again?"

As the rest of us managed to regain our footing Shizuka asked, "How can such a dangerous card exist?"

"I think it was created by some kind of magic," I answered. "This is certainly not a tournament-legal card, but there's not much we can do about it now."

"For my move," said Pharaoh, "I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in attack mode!"

"You've triggered my trap," declared Gurimo. "Hidden Soldiers! It lets me special summon a level four dark monster from my hand, and I choose Makyura the Destructor (1600/1200) in attack mode! And he too gains 500 attack points from the Seal of Orichalcos."

"Next, I play Shallow Grave!" said Pharaoh. "This lets us both special summon a monster from our graveyards in defense mode. Since your graveyard's empty, you get nothing back. But I bring back Beta the Magnet Warrior! And since I have all three Magnet Warriors on the field, I can sacrifice them to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)! Valkyrion, destroy his Marauding Captain!"

3000/2200

"Well played," complimented Gurimo. "I haven't faced a challenge like this in some time. But in the end, you will meet the same fate as all of my victims."

"No sweat, Yugi!" encouraged Joey. "You have one of the strongest monsters in the game out! The only thing that could beat it is an Egyptian God…"

Gurimo grinned. "That's right. I'll destroy you with your own God Card! But first, I use Monster Reborn to bring Marauding Captain back from the graveyard."

"Don't do it!" shouted Pharaoh. "Only certain duelists can use an Egyptian God card!"

Blissfully ignoring Pharaoh's advice he continued, "And now, I sacrifice my three monsters to summon Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)!" I thought the worst for that poor man. But to my surprise, the seal symbol appeared on Obelisk's head too, and his points were raised. "The power of the Orichalcos has merged the most powerful creature that ever existed with the most incredible force ever imagined!"

"This can't be," I gasped. "The almighty Obelisk the Tormentor succumbs to this man? Who is he?"

"Perhaps it's not Gurimo controlling him," muttered Shizuka. "You said the Seal of Orichalcos was real magic, right? What if…"

I quickly caught on to her point. "Obelisk is being controlled by the Orichalcos itself!"

"Obelisk!" declared Gurimo. "Destroy his Valkyrion with your fist of fate!"

2000/2200

"There's not a card in your deck that can match Obelisk!" Gurimo swooned for a second, and I noticed his aura flickered. I guess the power of the Orichalcos can be quite taxing if it's being used to control a God Card.

"I play Graceful Charity," said Pharaoh, "drawing three cards and discarding two. Then I play Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) in defense mode, set one card facedown and end my turn."

"I'll set one card, and destroy your monster with Obelisk the Tormentor!" Once it was gone he said, "The Age of Destruction is here, and the Earth shall be shrouded in darkness. Your soul will fuel the force that devastates mankind."

"What do you mean?"

"A great beast is now awakening from its ancient slumber to complete what it began centuries ago. But before this beast can arise, it must absorb enough souls."

"Wait a minute," said Téa. "Rex and Weevil said similar things earlier."

"You're right," agreed Pharaoh. Turning to Gurimo he demanded, "Have you done anything to them?"

The brown-haired biker laughed. "You sure do ask a lot of questions," he said in a cockney accent.

"I had enough of you," snapped Joey. He and Tristan ran to find a way up, but Joey stopped short of the side of the building. Tristan skidded to a stop, accidentally pushing Joey over. He quickly shot his hand out and grabbed Joey's hand. "Are you trying to kill me?" he demanded.

The blond-haired one pulled out a pair of cards, with Rex and Weevil's pictures. "Their souls are in my hands. They're offerings for the ancient god."

Once Téa and Tristan pulled Joey up, Gurimo said, "The sooner you make your next move, the sooner Obelisk will wipe out your lifepoints."

"Obelisk is powerful, but not unbeatable," said Pharaoh. "That card belongs to me, and I'm quite familiar with its strengths and weaknesses. I play Monster Reborn to bring back Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!"

"I'm not impressed. I've already destroyed that monster."

"Sorry, but it's time for you to say goodbye to your God Card. Valkyrion, disassemble into the three Magnet Warriors! Next, I play the spell card, Brave Attack! Alpha, attack Obelisk the Tormentor!" Of course, Alpha was useless against it. "Next, I attack with Beta!" Again, there didn't seem to be any effect, apart from a gash across Obelisk's body.

Gurimo laughed. "Pathetic! Your monsters can't even scratch Obelisk!"

"Perhaps you should look again; there's quite a large scratch across your monster! Brave Attack allows my monsters to combine their attacks, adding their attack strengths together."

"Nice collaboration," I stated. "Together, Alpha and Beta have a total 3100 attack points."

"Your Obelisk has 4500 attack points," continued Pharaoh, "which means I only need 1400 more to beat it, and Gamma has more than that! Gamma, destroy Obelisk the Tormentor!"

2000/2100

As the secondary effect of Brave Attack wiped out Pharaoh's affected monsters I said, "That's the fourth time I had to watch my God Card go down in flames. At least this time, it belonged to an enemy."

I heard brown spiky hair say, "The Pharaoh is very powerful."

Short blond hair agreed, "It's true. He learned to defeat the God Cards."

"I don't need Obelisk the Tormentor to defeat you!" snapped Gurimo. "I play Card of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw until we hold six cards."

"Then I special summon Watapon (200/300) in defense mode."

"It's still my turn!" protested Gurimo.

"True, but Watapon can be instantly special summoned to the field if it's added to my hand by a card effect."

"That card is useless anyway. I summon Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in attack mode!"

"You've activated my trap!" declared Pharaoh. "Dark Renewal sacrifices your monster, as well as mine, to special summon a spellcaster from my graveyard! Come forth, Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

"But I never destroyed that monster! …I see. You discarded Dark Magician when you played Graceful Charity. I suppose I'll simply set one card and end my turn."

"In that case, I attack directly with Dark Magician!"

"I think not! I activate my facedown card, Shield Wall! It places four Stone Soldier tokens (0/0) to defend me." Once Dark Magician destroyed one he added, "Next, I play another facedown card, Bronze Knight! By discarding any number of cards from my hand, I can special summon that many Bronze Knight tokens. So, I discard three to create three Bronze Knights (500/500)!"

"Hold!" I snapped. "That's an illegal move; you have six monsters on the field!"

"That's right," agreed Joey. "Page Three of the rulebook clearly states that only five monsters per duelist can be in play!"

"Too bad for you," said blond hair, "the Orichalcos allows the duelist to play monsters in his magic and trap zone."

"That means a maximum of ten monsters?" asked Shizuka.

"That's right," confirmed Gurimo. "Furthermore, you can't attack the back row of monsters without first going through the front row. And of course, my monsters are all strengthened by the Orichalcos. Your lone Dark Magician is nothing compared to my army of monsters!"

"It's still my move," said Pharaoh. "I'll set two cards and play Queen's Knight (1500/1600) in defense mode, ending my turn." As Gurimo drew he said, "I activate my trap, Dust Tornado! This lets me destroy one spell or trap on the field, and I choose the Seal of Orichalcos!" Sadly, the spell was unaffected.

"You don't get it, do you?" asked blond hair. "The Seal of Orichalcos is too powerful to be destroyed by a measly trap card."

"For my move," said Gurimo, "I play the spell, The Warrior Returning Alive! It lets me bring Warrior Dai Grepher back to my hand. And now I summon him again! Next, I play continuous spell, The A. Forces, which increases the attack points of all my warriors by 200 for every warrior and spellcaster on my field."

"That's 3000 attack points Warrior Dai Grepher has," I murmured, "And 1800 for each of the Bronze Knights. Is it me, or are the opponents getting progressively harder?"

"Warrior Dai Grepher, destroy the Dark Magician!"

1500/2100

"Bronze Knight, wipe out his Queen's Knight!"

"I don't think so!" said Pharaoh. "I activate Magical Academy! It returns Queen's Knight to my deck, and lets me special summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700) from my deck in her place, with an extra 500 attack points. Plus, her special effect gives her 300 attack points for the Dark Magician in my graveyard."

"Useless!" said Gurimo. "A few extra points won't help against my warriors."

"I know there's one card in my deck that can change that." With intense concentration, he drew, and I sensed another Destiny Draw. "…And now, I pay 1000 lifepoints to activate Diffusion-Wave Motion!"

500/2100

"This spell lets her attack each and every one of your monsters! The more monsters you have, the more lifepoints you lose!" Once all the frontline Stone Soldier tokens were wiped out, Pharaoh started taking down the Bronze Knight tokens in the back. And as each one went away, Warrior Dai Grepher lost more attack points until it too was wiped out.

500/0

Pharaoh fell to his knees, exhausted. "That…was close."

Gurimo yelled, "Rafael-sama! Catch!" He spun around and threw Obelisk the Tormentor up to the blond one. The Seal started to contract until it only surrounded Gurimo. He screamed in agony as he was engulfed in a bright green light. Then the Seal faded, and he collapsed.

"Gurimo," mumbled Rafael.

"It doesn't matter," said brown spiky hair. "Now we know more about the Pharaoh's dueling strategies."

They turned to leave, but Pharaoh yelled out, "STOP! Return the Egyptian God Cards!"

"Sorry," said Rafael, "but you have to beat all three of us to win the cards back. But, just for being such a good sport, I'll free the souls of your friends." He tossed the cards with Rex and Weevil's souls to the ground. They bore the duo's images for a second, before they became blank.

"Let's go now!" demanded Joey.

Brown spiky hair laughed. "There's no rush; we'll fight soon. The name's Valon. Remember it, Wheeler!"

"So," I said, "it's Rafael, Valon, and…?"

"Alistair," introduced the last one. "My quarrel's not with you, so you'd better not cross me."

"You've already crossed me," I snarled. "Rafael, Valon, and Alistair: I'll engrave them on your tombstones so I don't forget." With that, the three of them left.

Pharaoh ran over to Gurimo. "Is he dead?" asked Tristan.

"He certainly seems that way," I said. "I should be able to detect auras from anything with a soul, but I'm getting nothing from him."

"With a soul," Pharaoh emphasized. He showed me the Seal of Orichalcos card that was played; it now bore Gurimo's image. "It's been trapped in this card. But where does this power come from?"

"Hey, look at this," said Téa, taking a necklace off Gurimo. It had a simple green jewel at the end. "It's very pretty."

Shizuka took it and examined it herself. "You're right. Personally, I think it matches-"

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Shizuka's Eyes

"Loki-Sensei's eyes," I said. I immediately froze when I realized I was in a completely different place than I was three seconds ago. "…This isn't Domino." For some reason, I was standing on the steps of what looked like a Greek temple, overlooking in a grassy plain with lots of Duel Monsters walking and flying around.

"So, why aren't I scared like last time?" I wondered. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around, startled, until I found out who it was. "Dark Magician Girl?"

"Hi!" she said. "There's probably much you don't understand. Follow me, and I'll explain everything."

"Ok." It was strange. I knew I should've been scared, but Dark Magician Girl had some calming effect on me.

As we walked up the stairs she explained, "The monsters that are in your world are no mere holograms. This is the realm of monsters, created by the thought energy of the human world." She stopped and pointed to the sky, where a giant reptilian eye was peering down on the world. "The creature in the sky is breaking the rift between our worlds; that's how I brought you here. Soon, it will start consuming us, as well as the humans."

"That's terrible!"

"Don't worry." She led me deeper into the temple, until we reached a very big room. In the altar in the center, there were three crystal dragon statues, each with a sword sticking in them. "These are the three legendary dragons: Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos. These three dragons had the power to seal away the great beast. However, a man named Dartz used his magic to weaken them by turning them into dragons. In their weakened state, he was able to freeze them."

"Dartz? Is he the man those bikers were working for?" I thought. "Dragons are some of the strongest monsters in the game. If turning them into dragons weakened them, then they must've been indescribably powerful to begin with."

"They were," Dark Magician Girl answered. "And the only way to defeat Dartz and stop his dangerous ambitions is to restore these dragons to their true forms. Certainly, the first step is to remove the swords and free these dragons. Only the chosen three can complete this task; one of them is the Pharaoh, for he is a descendant of Timaeus."

"Who are the other two?" I asked.

"The other two are Seto Kaiba, the descendant of Sir Critias, and Joey Wheeler, the descendant of Sir Hermos."

I sat on the floor. "Why do you tease me with this information? To prove how useless I am to this situation?"

"On the contrary: you're the key to everything." It was impossible for me to hide my shock. "As you are Joey's sister, you too share the blood of Hermos, and that means you're worthy of going on a very important quest."

"What do you mean?"

"In a few days, the man known as Pegasus will create a card known as Legend of Heart. It will turn the dragons back into the legendary warriors. However, while this card will have the power to release the warriors, it will have a powerful seal on it. It'll be too risky to create this card without the seal, because it would've been detected by Dartz. To release the seal, and make useable by the Pharaoh, you must find the swords once wielded by the warriors; only with their combined power can you activate the dormant power of the card."

"I understand," I answered. "My quest is to fix the weapon that the chosen ones will use to defeat Dartz."

She gave me a respectful bow. "Shizuka Wheeler, descendant of Hermos, only you can find the ancient keys; only you can release Legend of Heart."

A second later, I was standing back on the building with my friends, holding the greenstone pendant. "What?" Tristan asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You said, 'I think it matches', but then you zoned out for a second."

"Oh, right!" I exclaimed, remembering our earlier conversation. "I think it matches Loki's eyes. They look kind of similar."

"It's true," agreed Loki. "But please be careful with that. I sense a lot of dark energy from it, for such a tiny rock. …Did you always have that big wristband?"

I looked at my right hand, and was quite surprised by the appearance of the black wristband, with a compass attached. The end of the needle had a purple stone, and it pulled to the east, no matter how I moved my arm. "It begins," I muttered.

"What do you mean?" Feeling no real compulsion to answer, I simply tossed the green stone to Yugi and started to walk to the downwards ramp. "Hey, don't walk away when I'm talking to you!"

Joey ran over and grabbed my left shoulder. "Sis? I don't think you're quite well. Maybe we should go see a doctor."

"No thanks," I said, shrugging him off. "Dark Magician Girl says I have to help you save the world from Dartz."

"'Dartz'?" asked Yugi. "'Dark Magician girl'?"

"I could explain, but the sooner I leave, the better."

I was nearly at the exit, but Loki blocked my path. "You're very serious, about aren't you?" he asked. I nodded. "…Very well. In that case, I want you to have this." He reached into his coat pocket and handed me a deck, as well as a map and wallet. "This map will lead you to the Selkirk Rex personal airplane hangar, depending on how far you need to go. You'll find a debit card in the wallet, with enough funds to support you as long as you don't get greedy."

I took it and looked through the cards. "Is this your deck?"

"It's a spare deck. It's not exactly like mine, but it's in case I accidentally lose my real one. It's not that I don't respect your current cards: just think of it as a promise that you'll come back and return it."

I smiled. "Arigato, Loki-Sensei." With that, I left.

My first destination was Joey's and my dad's apartment. When I arrived, the door was opened slightly. I peered inside and asked, "Dad? Are you here?" There was no answer, so I assumed he was either passed out, or was simply careless enough to leave his door open when he was out. When I stepped inside, I found out it was the latter. I walked over to a chest that had a lot of travel equipment; before dad became a souse, he used to take us everywhere. With several travel atlases in hand, I left the apartment, closing the door behind me.

Heading outside to a bench, I started looking through the atlases. I soon found out that the compass I wore not only pointed to my destination in real life, but by placing it on a map, it pointed to wherever in the world it happened to be. I flipped through several pages, getting more specific to the destination, until I determined that the first magic sword was in Balading: the Great Wall of China.

I stood up and hailed a taxi. When I climbed inside I said, "Oyamanta, please," as that was where the hangar was. And that's how my journey began.

End Chapter

If there's one thing Shizuka learned from Loki, it's how to get herself into trouble. How can she survive, cut off from her teacher and friends?