Yu-Gi-Oh! End of Days
PROLOGUE: The Eyes of the Enemy / プロローグ: 敵の目
This story begins long ago, when the world and the gods who fashioned it were still young. At that time, a mysterious alignment of stars shifted the balance between the dimensions of heaven, hell, and earth. As the natural order changed, a strange and chaotic power flowed over the world, wreaking havoc and ruin. Responding to this crisis were the Champions of the Gods—six chosen warriors, each fighting alongside their faithful companions, the Sacred Dragons.
Although both sides fought fiercely, neither was able to secure a conclusive victory. Unable to destroy the darkness completely, the Champions decided instead to seal it away in the void between the worlds; ultimately, however, this endeavor proved to be too much. Utterly drained of power from their cataclysmic battle, the Six Dragons began to fade until they existed within the physical world as little more than pure spirit. Although the Champions remained vigilant and the barrier held firm for many years, they knew all too well that one day that same evil would be unleashed upon the world once more. In order to safeguard the future of humanity, each of the Champions bound a fragment of his dragon's spirit to the moral world, sealing it inside a stone column deep within the Temple of Light. Then, alongside their companions, they departed for the next life.
These six pillars—known to some as the Memorial of the Sacred Dragons—managed to escape the ravages of time, even as the world around them changed. Eventually, the Six Dragons were discovered by and adapted by mythological researchers from Industrial Illusions into the game of Duel Monsters. Although they were no longer known by their true names and much of their history had been forgotten, the spirit fragments of the Six Dragons endured, awaiting the day when they would once battle the forces of the Shadow alongside the Champions of the Gods.
As the millennial of that fateful battle approaches, the barriers holding the darkness in place weaken with each passing day. Meanwhile, the Six Stars, servants of the Great Darkness, begin to move slowly back into their sinister constellations, even as their followers among the world of men prepare for their return. The Enemy waits hungrily for another chance to break free and spell the ruin of the world. Vain, envious, and sly, the passing of a thousand years is but a blink to the eyes of the enemy.
"The barriers are weakening."
The voice, deep and blunt, belonged to a tall man, shrouded in a heavy black trench coat with a matching hat and boots. He was pale, with golden-gray hair, stormy gray eyes and an unlined but ageless face.
"Don't go too far," he said sharply, his words drifting through the gloom.
"I won't," came the reply—a melodic voice that suggested its owner was female.
Slowly the room swam into focus, illuminated faintly by a golden light that flickered like a dying fire. It was circular with a high ceiling that was barely visible and carved from dusky stone, its walls lined with faded carvings in a strange language. At six different points throughout the room, narrow openings could be observed, twisting and winding away into the darkness. Dust trickled slowly from above and drifted upon the air, but there was no other movement, save for its two inhabitants.
"The barriers are weakening," the man growled again after a moment. "Goddamnit, stay put, will you? The last thing we need is for you to get lost."
His words were directed towards the other side of the room, where a slender figure was drifting along the walls, garbed in a deep purple-black robe that concealed everything but her upper face. She turned and regarded her companion for a moment, her dark eyes filled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"We knew that already," she reminded him playfully, apparently unconcerned by his foul temper. "But you wanted to come here anyways, to see if we could discover something else…"
Her lower veil shifted slightly, as if she were smiling faintly beneath the fabric.
"Why don't you stick to your investigation while I do the same?" she continued, turning back towards the walls eagerly. "It won't take long."
"Suit yourself," the man replied shortly, crossing his arms with an air of impatience. "Just keep in mind that the longer we stay here, the more unlikely it is that we'll be able to return."
"You worry too much," the woman replied absentmindedly, leaning in to study one of the carvings more closely. "It might take us a bit longer to get out, but we'll be fine. I trust you completely."
The man grunted in reply, clearly not mollified by her reassuring words. He watched as the woman extended one hand and placed it upon the wall, her slim fingers splayed across its jagged surface.
"Can you see anything?" he said after a few minutes, stepping aside to avoid a sudden trickle of dust.
"Not as much as I'd like to," the woman replied slowly in disappointment, stepping back from the carving. She shook her head as if trying to dispel unbidden memories from her mind.
"It's as I suspected," she continued, turning back towards her companion. "All six of them endure, but I can't confirm their exact location. It would appear that three of them have already found their partner… Two more are pure and unsullied, but held in place by powerful magic."
She paused and for the first time, a look of doubt blossomed in her eyes.
"And the last?" the man asked sharply.
"I cannot see it at all," she sighed. "Only a veil of blackness—no matter how hard I try, I can't pierce it. I fear the worst."
"Then it has fallen into the hands of the enemy," he said after a moment, his gray eyes hardening at the thought. "We'll have to move quickly if we're to prevent the same from happening to the others."
He turned on his heel and strode towards the closest opening, pausing upon its pitch-black threshold.
"Are you coming?" he growled, clearly impatient to be on his way.
"This place has slumbered for so long," the woman said softly to herself, her eyes sweeping the room as if seeing past its faded interior towards something that lay beyond. "Yet a slow blood still pulses through its veins as it dreams, remembering the past and looking towards the future…"
"Come on, Methys," he interrupted, halting her murmured reverie. "If we don't hurry, there won't be a future for any of us, remember?"
Methys nodded her assent and crossed the room with quick, flowing steps. She took the man's hand and took a deep breath, as if preparing to dive underwater.
Then she stepped forward, leading him into the twisting confines of the passage. Within moments, the darkness had swallowed them both.