Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - 05-Dragon
by Yusei
Summary - "AU. Yusei and Jack, after years of searching, find the legendary Z-ONE, a utopia for all. However, there are other forces after the two and this paradise, ready to invade and spark an all-out war against the other world".
Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's or any of the characters.
A/N – I know I shouldn't be posting a new fic while there are so many that are in need of updating, but this is one that's been on my mind since Christmas when a friend brought me the first volume of the 07-Ghost manga. Having seen the anime already, I felt determined to write something with a similar feel, and while ther eare parallels between this and that series, this does veer off on its own path. The title is a temporary one while I try to think of something better and have looked into small elements of the Bible to help create something that will become its own quickly. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review.
The sun beat down with extra intensity, carving a path of burning light between the canyon walls; the desert wasn't the best place to be on the day with a cloudless sky. Nevertheless, two young men staggered forward, ignoring common sense and the word that had spread through town just mere days before, warning of a potential heat-wave. The man in front sported spiked blonde hair, dressed in a sleeveless black shirt and white trousers, a pale hooded shirt hanging around his waist. A pasty hand rose to block the sun from his sharp violet eyes, but the thin trench of shadows did nothing to aid the rest of his body; sweat clinging to his forehead, back and arms, Behind him was a sole companion, a shorter figure with black hair decorated with blonde highlights running through a few of the rising spikes either side of his head; also sporting a black sleeveless shirt, although his marked with a crimson pattern across the front, arms spreading over his shoulders and around his waist, onto the back. Joining the shirt were grey trousers, orange gems implanted over his knees, similar to those fastened to the navy blue jacket wrapped around his hips, hanging limply underneath a rucksack patting his back with each tiring step. Brown boots encased the throbbing feet, protests and pleas for a rest ignored by his head; overheating and swimming in perspiration.
Ahead of him, the blonde did slow to a halt, stretching his back until a series of clicks, like those of a machine, ran up his spine. Against the mounting aspects of the journey against them, the sounds acted as confirmation that his stretching worked, elevating the corners of his mouth into a brief smile. That look had dissipated by the time he turned his head to find his lagging partner, his hands rose from hanging limply either side of him to seize the wide straps of the bag over his shoulders.
"You hanging in there?" the blonde asked, concern intertwined with the tone.
The darker-haired traveller remained silent until he paused just a step behind the blonde, lifting his eyes to the pale face and nodded, releasing a ragged breath to suggest otherwise. The heavy nature of the exhale prompted the smile to reverse into a frown, the blonde twisting his body to half-face the exhausted comrade, violet eyes scanning his reddening body; red blood cells rushing to the inside of his skin in a vain attempt of releasing heat.
"Why don't we just rest for a bit?" the blonde suggested. His long finger moved in the direction of the canyon's edge, to a thin strip of shadows awaited. "It's not enough to hide from the sun completely, but we can at least get out heads somewhere cooler. I'm getting a headache".
"You go, I'll wait here" the dark-haired traveller responded, the manner of his speech suggesting a loyalty to their travel overriding a need to restore his potentials.
That very ambience about the words continued the frown of the blonde, who opened up his pale hand to the shorter man, his skin somewhat tanner than the man who had taken charge of the voyage.
"Then I'll have a quick sip and we'll carry on" he affirmed.
"I thought you were getting a headache from the sun" the other questioned, baffled by his friend's sudden transformation.
"Not important" the blonde insisted. "I'm not going to lay in partial shade while you stand out here and burn yourself. We may as well continue on as quickly as we can".
The carrier removed a canteen from the sack hanging over his back, handing it to the blonde, who worked quickly to twist the head off the container and tip a small amount of sparkling water into the empty top. His eyes swam amongst the liquid longingly; how he'd rather drift away in a cool river; no such luck in this journey. The most recent thing to a river they had seen was the town's fountain two days ago - the source of their current store. His eyes dove into the canteen, assessing what remained, then followed with a disheartened sigh.
"Not much left now…" he murmured. "I don't think we're going to last much longer like this".
"We should have packed more. Let's head back to the town, Jack" the shorter responded.
"No" the blonde, Jack, barked quickly without thinking. His tone softened once he realised what had ejected itself from his throat. "It's pointless to go back now… it's too far, we've come too far. I can't go back to somewhere like there now, I don't return".
The dark-haired companion frowned at Jack's account, understanding there was more than simply one level to what his friend was saying. He agreed on one level, but on the surface meaning, there was little choice. It was return or die.
"We won't make it if we carry on with such little water left" he sighed.
"Maybe, but at least we'll have escaped the government bastards" Jack scowled. "Tell me, Yusei, would you rather die a free man? Or under one of those shells they dropped on our homes?"
Yusei watched Jack with an uncomfortable look; Jack would have predicted what his answer would have been. They shared the same background, essentially the same mindset and heart, they worked together and pushed on just to escape. Just to live.
"Fine…" he murmured. "But nothing will be achieved if we die. Our parents' memories will be wasted on corpses that will be buried under the sand, never discovered".
Jack's face twitched at the consequences of Yusei's scenario; dying and rotting in the middle of nowhere under the unusual heat was the last thing he planned to do. His eyes returned to the miniature pool, pressing the plastic curve between his dried and cracking lips to slide the liquid down his throat. Slowly, savouring the taste despite the crystal water warming up. Once the drink poured through his oesophagus, Jack released a satisfied grunt, screwing the lid back onto the canteen before temptation lured him into its trap, then presented the plastic cylinder to Yusei. Ignoring the contents of the case, Yusei removed it from Jack's hand, leaning forward and pushing the container inside the backpack, managing to drag the zip along its destined path without so much as looking over his shoulder or moving the sack at all. It was an unnecessary skill, but one he held anyway.
Once the replacement of the canister was complete, Jack turned his back on Yusei, exposing small circles of sweat that clung to his black shirt around his collar and shoulders; Yusei had no reason to complain, the same was happening along the seams of his shirt. The two resumed their exhausted trek, moving towards the distant mouth of the canyon, no doubt opening up a wasteland or desert that would all but sign their names onto Death's contract. They had come prepared, but the heat had attacked with horrendous force; they hadn't expected this.
One foot forward, clapping the stony path buried underneath the sandy sea, another ahead. A rhythm developed, heavy breaths, grunts and footsteps, the pair dragging themselves towards the forever fleeting light waiting at the end of the tunnel; the mouth underneath the sun.
Out of sight, Yusei pressed his right hand against the top-right of his head, clutching it as though his brain were trying to fight its way out, pounding against his skull and the flesh encasing them both. A quick wince accompanied the vain attempt to calm the thumping, the pain that joined as though someone had driven a blade through him; even a second was enough for Jack to pick up on his pain without even turning back.
"We should rest" he stated, much more firmly than before.
"No" Yusei protested somewhat weaker in voice. "It's not far now, let's just get to the end of this canyon".
Jack frowned, unimpressed by Yusei's insistence to continue despite his internal suffering; prepared to face being condemned to death. Reluctantly, he proceeded, leading his partner further from the estimated direction that civilisation lied and deeper into the parched wilderness surrounding them, protecting them from followers.
For a short time longer, they continued down the fixed path, opening up into a much wider scene; sand and sky melding into one in the centre of the horizon; trying to remind Jack cruelly of the shore that resembled a beach from home. The blonde scowled; there was no sign of escape. They would die and their souls dragged to Hell. Yusei staggered out from the canyon mouth behind him, peering past the blonde's tall body painted red with exhausted, azure eyes heavy with desolation; acceptance that fate had given up on them. The forsaken dark-haired sighed heavily, feeling the dark circles under his eyes grow heavier and then raised them as best he could to Jack's flushed face staring in horror at the scene ahead of them.
"We won't make it" he whispered.
Jack clenched his jaws and fists, determined not to surrender himself as easily as his ally, searching for any sign of hope. Nearby, he recognised a rocky floor emerging from the desert sand. He charged towards it, leaving Yusei behind, who took a moment to register exactly what Jack was doing; jumping in the evaporating hope of catching a red string that could save them both from Death's skeleton hands, twitching in anticipation to guide them into the black beyond. Jack paid his friend's sceptic mind no attention and raced only forward, hoping to grasp a true escape, a miracle buried underneath the sand of Earth's Hell. The soles of his shoes clapped the rock and froze before leaping into the air and plunging into the skeletal embrace below. Beyond it, however, there was hope.
Yusei approach his paralysed friend slowly, less eager to learn what his friend had failed to discover and paced next to Jack, who still had yet to make a movement. His eyes fell to the site below that had captured his friend and gasped; eyes wide. There, beyond more sand, but not out of reach, was an immense structure; a white castle or palace - a sign of life and a chance. Someone inside could be their saviour or their slayer.
"This is it" Jack breathed, managing to finally speak. "We've found it. Z-ONE".
01-Desert Eden
It was late afternoon, close to dusk, when Jack estimated that a fall from the cliff-side road would only harm not kill. The two had travelled down the side of the raised ground through a narrow path carved into the rock face, allowing them to crawl to their destination; the legendary Z-ONE. Jack glanced over his shoulder, finding Yusei just behind him, his fringe with several strands hanging loose and out of place; not just fatigue, but his condition that weakened him. Jack frowned, setting his eyes ahead; he worried for Yusei, regardless of how the other shunned the strange condition that ailed him.
"I can't believe we made it" Jack gasped in awe.
Yusei paused by Jack, peeling his eyes from the white secret buried in the desert sand and to the pale blonde, noticing his smile of relief and pride; he had finally discovered what he had been seeking all his life. It had been years ago during Jack's childhood that his mother would read his stories about such a place; where everyone was accepted, no-one would be prosecuted for being different, there was no such thing as inequality. Ruled by the five divinities, the people there could live in true harmony the likes of which had never been seen elsewhere in the world. The blonde woman's blue eyes shimmered as Jack took in the stories with a wide smile and young eyes glistening with hope and admiration for the place. Every night he would swear they would go; his mother and his father either side, and find the place so that they could experience this perfect peace. She would smile and lay her hand on his head, mutter him a few words about how she cared for him and hoped they could one day fulfil that wish, kiss his goodnight and watch him drift off to sleep.
A slight guilt settled in the pit of Jack's heart; his parents were no longer alive, killed in the Reverse that left him alone in the world. He had managed to achieve what he desired as a child, but his parents had never been able to find the district before they departed from the world. Yusei's eyes were drawn back to the white utopia; then froze. Through the structure, a surge of power slammed into him, piercing his head like a dagger and ripped through. His teeth clenched and hands pressed either side of his head, drawing Jack's attention.
"Yusei, what's wrong?" he asked, on the brink of panic by the severity of the episode. "Is it another one of your headaches? Why could it be so strong to begin with?"
Yusei was deaf to Jack's voice, his eyes wide as he struggled to deal with the pain, grunting and moaning, taking sharp breaths to deal with the surge pounding through his head. A flash removed the scene from his sight, replaced it with white where a shape appeared in the distance. Yusei didn't have to move before he experienced a mental close-up of the shape, finding a human eye exposed close to a cross in the greyed mask that concealed its face. The vision was something Yusei hadn't experienced before, its sudden happening pushed a weak cry out of him and dropped his body onto his knees, back curved as his blind eyes faced the rocky ground beneath him, entire body trembling.
"Yusei!" Jack yelled, dropping onto one knee beside his friend. "Yusei, say something!"
The pain began to die away, leaving Yusei with a fuzzy sense of what was happening, his head still spun as an aftertaste of the extreme episode. His hands dropped from his head and against the ground. The change did little to calm Jack, although shed light on the calming state of his friend, leading to a relieved sigh from his tense throat.
"Yusei, are you alright?" he asked.
Yusei lifted his head slowly, eyes half-open as he struggled to regain his senses, turning to see Jack watching him attentively. He offered a dizzy smile and nodded. Jack, however, had yet to be convinced by Yusei's judgement and slipped a hand under his armpit, helping him from the ground and keeping his hand wrapped around Yusei's upper arm to avoid losing him over the edge. Yusei pressed his hand over his right eye, fingers moving into his hair and disappeared, looking back to the site that had sparked the strange image.
"A vision…" he whispered.
"What?" Jack breathed.
"I had a vision" Yusei repeated. "But why did I have one now? I've never experienced one before".
"Do you think that was what caused the pain to be so serious?" Jack suggested.
"Maybe" Yusei mumbled. Automatically, his hand dropped and his dazed eyes returned to the sight of their discovery. "Right now, we should focus on getting there. We'll be safe to ponder what that was all about on the other side of those walls".
Jack had been reluctant to go with the plan, but Yusei did have a point. The burst of pain that almost floored him had Jack still worried, though. Yusei had suffered episodes of large headaches that could render him immobile since they departed from the ruins of their homes in search of the legendary Z-ONE; a place safe from the government who were attacking areas surrounding their city in a purge of unfit people; the Reverse. Worse, their influence had spread and other areas of the country were suffering Reverses of their own. The screams and whistles of people and shells haunted Jack at night still, the dreams of seeing corpses and severed limbs, streets soaked in blood and buildings reduced to rubble; people trapped and crying for help, others staying by their loved ones as they breathed their last. So many thousands perished in the attacks, an official number had yet to be revealed, ignored by the government in a vain attempt to make their shelling seem less inhumane. Several waves had swept over what was once called Satellite, reduced now to S-ZERO, keeping in theme with the supposedly mythical Z-ONE. There were rumours that the government were seeking out the paradise in hiding, many of those people and more relinquished belief that such a place could exist - that it was a fairytale to give kids hope and aim one day to make it a reality.
He knew better; it was all truth. Whether the government were aware of it and any attempt to seek it out was a different matter.
The soles of Jack's dark shoes clapped the ground, putting him level with the foundations of the hidden district, carefully placed deep in the desert where travel was rare and on the upper level of the sandy plain, keeping clear of the cliff-edge. No-one had searched the desert, satellites were ignorant of the area. Nobody could have guessed the middle of nowhere, left in belief it was clear, would be the home to the fabled place. It was difficult to think that he was truly examining its outer shell with his eyes, outside his imagination, surpassing all his dreams and interpretations over the years; its glistening walls almost reflected the sunlight away, like an illusion that they were the source of light.
Another clap informed Jack that Yusei had joined him on the ground and moved beside him, standing a whole head underneath the blonde while joining him in revelling in the sight of the fruits of their journey.
"It's difficult to imagine that it's real after so long" he mumbled.
"Yeah" Jack added. "But we're here, we're seeing it for ourselves. It means that our parents didn't die pointless deaths".
Yusei turned his head to the blonde. "You're thinking about your mother, aren't you?"
Jack nodded solemnly; his mother was the most caring woman he knew - the way she should have been - yet she went beyond all limits when it came to acting a parent; she was the perfect mother. She didn't deserve to die in the Reverse, so violently. He clenched his fist, remembering the times that he and Yusei spent after their parents were wiped out, recalling the orange-haired boy that would stand with them, grinning mischievously, always wishing to see an adventure or help someone just to take his mind from his own suffering. Not seen since the last Reverse two years ago, when they abandoned Satellite.
"Do you think he's still alive?" Jack asked.
Yusei glanced at his friend, taking a moment to recall the smiling redhead whose face would shine endlessly, even in the midst of a war zone. His eyes moved back to the scene ahead, narrowed solemnly.
"I wish" he breathed.
Jack watched the downcast face of his companion; it wasn't like Yusei to count people out, especially not someone who had lived through so much destruction and amongst so much death. He looked away, assuming the fatigue from the journey and the bizarre episode from earlier had gotten to Yusei; it had been a strange day after all, he probably was just hoping for rest. His neck stretched, lifting his head higher with a hopeful rise towards the tips of the castle's towers.
"Let's go" he said. "Let's make for him as well then".
Without checking Yusei's reaction, he stepped forward, beginning the final, certain leg of their journey to the hidden area. Yusei quickly followed, determined to keep by his friend's side and not be left behind simply because of his uncharacteristic pessimism; the redhead had always filled the role of being the overly-optimist character, without him, they were closer to realism, accepting the world was a cruel and unforgiving place, making exceptions for no-one
Another quarter-hour passed by before the pair were close to the edge of the white fantasy land, Jack still slightly ahead. He smiled at the towering structure, progressing well until he crashed into something, rebounding a step in surprise. Yusei paused, watching Jack stumble with a shocked look, was he playing some kind of game?
"Jack, what's wrong?" he asked.
Jack pushed his hand forward, finding the same force that prevented him passing through blocking it from going any further. His palm rested against it, feeling faint warmth from the air, stroking the invisible wall.
"There's some kind of barrier here" he mumbled, craning his neck back to capture more of the buildings. "We can't get in for some reason, it must be a defence mechanism".
"But…" Yusei gasped with disappointment. "You mean we came all this way and the tale that anyone can be allowed in is false?"
Jack tilted his head downwards, clenched his teeth as he recalled the face of his mother beside his bed, smiling as they agreed one day to visit the mysterious place and perhaps even set up a home. His hand clenched itself into a fist and pulled back, Jack dropped to his knees, trying his hardest to keep his despair and sorrow locked away while Yusei watched with a sorrowful face, more disappointed for his friend's sake than his own; Jack had tried endlessly to find Z-ONE while they fled the spreading destruction, while they looked for somewhere to just live for a night or two - the goal never left his mind nor his heart.
There was a nearby crunch that crawled into Yusei's ears, dragging his head up; like footsteps in the sand. Maybe someone had followed them.
"What are you kids doing here?"
Yusei turned, finding that the figure was dressed in white robes, cleaned and fresh in contrast to their exhausted outfits. A hood hung over his hair, exposing a couple of greyed bangs hanging either side of his face. A grey plate covered his chest, extending upwards into an oversized solid collar with a ring around the top that continued to swirl underneath, holding an emerald sphere in place over the centre of his chest. A black stripe marked the centre of the robes, matched by rings close to his elbows where red shards were implanted, matching diamonds of the same shade at the ends of the long sleeves, another black strip stretched from his elbow to wrist. The darkness in the centre of his attire stretched down over his legs, stopping shortly after his rear when the light reclaimed its dominance, the legs encased by steel cases on the outsides, exposing only the inner faces .Long heeled white boots completed his uniform.
His pale face bore some curious features; a metal plate had been placed over his right eye, a circular bump was placed over the socket with a small black hole in the centre of one of the rings that made an infinity symbol. The other eye, however, was no less ordinary; a blackened scar ran below the socket, a blood-red iris fixed in the centre, and close by, imprinted into his forehead, was a small green triangle matching the orb pressed against his chest. His exposed eye was set firmly on Yusei, who turned slightly more, watching over his shoulder.
"We've been travelling" he replied. "We were caught up in the Reverse two years ago and fled Satellite. We just came upon this place. Is this… is this truly Z-ONE?"
The pale man cast his eyes past Yusei and to Jack, who remained on his knees, still despairing over their rejection. His red eye returned to Yusei with the same stern aura.
"This is" he answered.
"If that's the case, then why isn't it possible for us to get in?" Jack asked, raising to his feet beside Yusei, his arms still tense and fists balled tightly. "Z-ONE is supposed to let in anyone, isn't it? Then why can't we make it?"
The man's face softened, a smile settled onto the bottom of his face. Moving the heeled boots, he advanced towards Jack and paused in front of him, revealing his height above Yusei and below Jack.
"I see; so you've been striving for the protection of this place" he said.
"My mother told stories of this place when I was a child" Jack sighed. "I always hoped to come here with her".
"But she's no longer part of this world, is she?" the white man mumbled. Jack lowered his head. "The answer to your question is nothing complex. Z-ONE releases a barrier that prevents the entry of those not already under God's guidance during the end hours of the day and throughout the night. The reason lies in the fact that normally, when somebody arrives here seeking peace, the sun is normally high in the sky, it's a good omen about the person".
"Are you saying that because we arrived here shortly before dusk, people won't be as willing to trust us?" Jack growled.
"No, that's not the case" the man answered. "No-one has the power to judge another".
"Does that mean you're going to let us in so easily?" Yusei asked, flabbergasted by the simple process of a brief interview followed by the opening of the towering doors. "But how can you trust us? We could be terrorists for all you know, the people of the City seem to think so anyway".
"God wouldn't have let you arrive if you didn't have a decent intention for entering His realm" the white man claimed with the same accepting smile. "Even if you had managed to find this place while bearing a dark heart, there would be something inside of you that He would deem worthy of His care".
"So you rely on fate and the will of a God to determine who's worthy of entering" Jack murmured.
"I shall explain more inside" the man added. "I will lead you through the barrier and into God's arms".
The man reached forward, seizing Yusei's right hand, which came as a surprised to the dark-haired boy, who had to resist struggling as an automatic reaction. Jack was given warning, an opened hand from the unnamed figure, he reached out and accepted it, linking the three. Together they turned to face the invisible wall keeping the two out. The grey-haired man moved first, almost dragging the two behind him; he passed through the barrier without any trouble, Yusei and Jack, however, felt the warmth of the barrier turn cold, Yusei's eyes widened as he could feel a small pain brewing in his head; another headache growing like someone had launched a dagger in their last chance and it had struck him in the back of the head. He winced, pressing his other hand against it. The passage through the barrier was quick and once the man acknowledged they had made it through, he twisted his head to smile at them over his shoulder, only to notice Yusei's struggle. The smile flickered and his hands dropped from theirs.
"Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about me" Yusei mumbled. "It's just a headache".
The man frowned out of Yusei's sight, the reaction wasn't one that had happened before and would need investigating, it could have something to do with the fact that the two had come towards the end of the day, shortly after the barrier was erected around their paradise. Jack laid his hands on Yusei's shoulders, hoping to coax his friend, Yusei returned the gesture with a smile. With his friend secure, Jack turned to focus on the grey-haired man.
"Thank you" he said. "But we don't know who you are or why you helped us".
The man smiled. "I can answer both of those in one answer" he stated before turning and laid a hand over his chest, presumably the spot where his heart was. "My name is Placido, I am a servant of Zone".
"Zone?" Yusei asked.
"Zone is the name of our God" Placido answered.
"Then that means… this place is named after Zone?" Jack gasped, eyes slightly wider. "It wasn't named as a prelude to the Reverse?"
"No. It seems that the government were using the Reverse to purge people while hunting for certain individuals at the same time" Placido averted. "Z-ONE is a sanctuary for the hunted, you two seem to have experienced the same. Satellite was not the only place that suffered from a Reverse".
"That's right, Daimon, Daedalus and other regions around the City" Jack growled. "They were all attacked in the same way as Satellite and then renamed".
"The naming scheme of the Reverse follows the original Z-ONE" Placido continued. "One of my colleagues assumes that it's a theme in order to make the government seem that much closer to Z-ONE".
"That would explain Satellite becoming S-ZERO" Yusei sighed. "The people mean nothing to the City and it was the first to be attacked".
Placido nodded, noting the invasion of despair into Yusei's eyes. He stepped forward, raising his hand and dropping it onto Jack's, pressing down harder on Yusei's shoulder. The reaction he got with a raised head from the youngest of the travellers, he offered a smile.
"Come, Zone will protect you both from now on" he uttered.
He turned to lead the two to the immense doors of the castle-like exterior of the shelter, the majestic white panels much larger than most of the buildings in Satellite had been, much more than any that remained in tatters now. The metallic patch over Placido's eye began to glow with a green light wrapped around the infinity sign; the doors creaked and moved apart automatically, opening a narrow passage between them, all while Yusei and Jack gazed in awe at the sight and process. Placido advanced a number of steps before turning to the pair, indicating they follow him.
They did so, crossing through the outer wall of the district, the creaking of the doors resumed once they passed through safely, the doors sealing themselves once again. Placido led the two across the tiled bridge over a moat of sparkling water. Jack's eyes leapt from one place to another, finding homes built into the walls, buildings constructed on the land in blocks for more accommodation and businesses, greenery abundant, though few people to enjoy it all. A fountain tittered close to the centre, a ring of cement that connected to the river underneath the concrete around it, a passage to the underneath. Placido stopped for nothing, but headed towards the church set in a short distance from an immense temple. Yusei's eyes travelled to the smaller, although no less beautiful, building. A young boy rushed from the gaping black opening, teal hair pulled into a single ponytail while the rest of him was dressed in white with a blue top marked with gold. The boy panted shallowly as he rushed from away from the hole and in the direction of the housing sector. Yusei stopped, about to follow him when Placido's hand fell onto his shoulder again, the grey-haired man shook his head slowly.
"That boy has done nothing wrong, I will explain later" he whispered. "Come, I wish you to meet my colleagues".
"Is everything alright with him?" Jack asked, eyes still fixed on the small boy until he vanished between blocks of homes.
"If anything was wrong, he would come to consult us" Placido insisted.
Jack pondered what exactly Placido could do that was so different from anyone else, perhaps as a power granted as a part of his service to Zone. Placido continued to the foot of the steps leading into the church's gaping doorway, stretching much higher than its width, resembling the doors that had opened to allow the trio access into the area. Jack wasted no time in following, leaving Yusei alone for a couple of seconds while he focused on the path of the boy before he began to climb.
Placido waited for the pair at the top of the dozen wide steps, stretching across the face of the building, removing his hood for them to find his hair. It was spiked upwards with two shades of grey visible; one half lighter, one darker, the tallest spikes even on the right side of his head were the latter.
"This is our church" he stated, opening his hand in the direction of the doorway cloaked in shadows.
Jack gazed into the shade, frozen in place until Placido moved ahead and proceeded into the building, followed by Yusei who quickly decided to follow the man, prompting Jack's addition to the entrance. Inside the building, a circle was the centre of the floor, marked in a brilliant combination of pale yellow and blue tiles to mark out the centrepiece of the design; surrounded by grey blocks leading an array of colours across the building. Pews stood precisely in rows along the wide chamber, facing an elevated stage. Placido strode between the benches, up the aisle towards the stage while Jack and Yusei remained behind, looking around the area in awe. Placido only turned back to check on the pair once he had climbed onto the stage and turned to face them, his legs set apart to give him the appearance of a superior standing over his subordinates.
"This is Zone's palace" he declared, catching Yusei and Jack's attention. "Everyone in Z-ONE comes here to pray to Zone for peace. The boy you saw was praying to Zone's soldiers; the Five Dragons".
"Five… Dragons?" Yusei murmured. "So they work under Zone just as you do, but as gods themselves?"
"Yes" Placido replied. "Under them, I work as a bishop here, maintaining peace and order with my comrades; Zone's elite followers".
"They're superior…" Jack muttered, barely above a whisper.
Yusei glanced at Jack once he picked up on the meaning of his friend's whisper, back immediately to Placido at the time the white man's lips parted.
"We watch over those who have accepted Zone as the true God despite propaganda and threats from people like the government that try to tarnish this place or even try to create a pseudo-God of their own. The same people who are hunting you… they must have some special interest in you two, so Zone brought you here to protect you. As Zone's servant, I will do the same myself".
"You're always so dramatic, Placido" a young voice chuckled from a source unseen.
Yusei and Jack began to scan the area, searching for the origin of the voice. Placido, on the other hand, slackened his shoulders and looked to his right, where a young boy stood dressed in a similar white cloak.
"Don't mess around like that, Lucciano" he groaned.
A high-pitched chuckle followed the brief scolding and the boy made his presence known to the pair waiting to learn the truth; he couldn't have been much older than a preteen, but he stood in the same style as Placido's robes, a large silver ring hanging over his shoulders, curling in front of his neck and ending with two separate ends close to one another, golden rods hovered around the silver ring covered in the white sheets while another, shaped in an infinity symbol hung vertically from another ring around his neck. From the white shirt hanging over his chest, a teal and aquamarine shirt hung, sprouting longer sleeves from the shorter versions of those from the white top. White trousers and blue boots completed the uniform of the younger minister, hair the colour of oxblood hung down his back, pressed against it by the heavy veil, a metallic patch matching Placido's was fixed over his left eye and a blue triangle fixed into his forehead.
"So, you found some more people, did ya?" he asked with a chortle.
"They were lurking outside the barrier having come shortly after it was erected; I couldn't leave them out overnight" Placido replied. "Though I never got around to asking their names".
"Jack Atlus" the blonde stated.
"Fudo Yusei" his dark-haired companion added.
"I see" Placido answered. "This is Lucciano, he too is a bishop working under Zone".
"Yo" the boy chimed.
"Isn't he a little young for that kind of role?" Jack asked, bemused by the concept of a child bishop.
"There are many children that arrive here in Z-ONE. Lucciano bonds well with them" Placido claimed. "It was a skill that Zone recognised when Lucciano was brought here".
"'Brought'?" Yusei gasped. "So… you were outsiders too".
Placido nodded. "We were directed here from different backgrounds and qualities of life; Zone recognised elements of us that could be put to use for the sake of this place. So we were guided by Him. He is the God of Destiny".
"God of… Destiny" Yusei breathed.
"People always believe that Destiny is a force entirely its own" a new voice, much older, emitted, bouncing off the walls of the church. "However, without life, there is no Destiny to rule. Zone was born from nothing to wield Destiny and use it to create a world fit for humans".
"José" Placido uttered, identifying the name of the third man.
Close to Yusei and Jack, the third man appeared. He towered over the pair of them, even forcing Jack to crane his neck back to get a decent view of the man's head. Little could be seen of his face due to the veil hanging around his head, long grey hairs protruding from above his right eye, metal plate with a vertical infinity symbol engraved on it over his nose and mouth and long narrow beard flowing out from the piece. Golden plates pressed the robes to his shoulders, concealing much of his white shirt above the silver belt wrapped around his waist with a brief break in the centre of his stomach at the top of an orange triangle touching the orange material that covered half his legs, the other half of the trousers also white. Black gloves covered his large hands and grey metal rings clung to his wrists.
"A third bishop?" Jack asked.
"That I am" José answered. "I am the eldest of Zone's servants".
Jack turned his eyes back to Placido, a glint of suspicion flashed across them. "How many more of you are going to show up?"
"We three are the only members of Zone's force that are present in Z-ONE currently" Placido announced. "The archbishop and two of our comrades will return shortly; they have been on journeys with different goals, all for the benefit of this place and its people".
"So what are you going to do to determine if we can stay or not?" Jack asked.
"Observe" Placido replied bluntly.
"'Observe'?" Jack repeated. "You mean you're going to accept us without any questions and just watch what we do?"
"That is all" José answered. "There is no reason to believe you two are a threat to this place or to Zone".
"You say that this place has buildings used for worshipping Zone and his Dragons, but I've seen nothing about them" Yusei commented. "Do you not have a visual image and simply envision him in your own ways?"
"No, we've got an image" Lucciano called, pointing upwards.
Yusei and Jack moved their eyes upwards to the painting that decorated a lower-hanging block of ceiling, depicting a shape like an upside-down comma, pale bars wrapped around the edges of the circular body from the centre, where a circle with a spiral pattern long the edge rested at the core. Six transparent tubes protruded from the back beneath a series of flat metal plates standing out from the back of the arch over the figure's head. The small shape, assumed to be a case around Zone's being was fixed into the top of the circular body, another series of pale bars locked it into place. Around the figure, a rainbow encircled the large design, encasing the man seated in his mechanical throne in a rainbow-like halo as brilliant as emerald.
Yusei stared at the design with a pale face, his eyes widening when another pain shot through him; different to any he had experienced before. The church began to sway and Yusei was struggling to fight, José noticed the boy's weakening stance and charged forward, opening his arms as Yusei tipped back, his eyes closed as he fell.
"Yusei!" Jack cried, having just noticed his friend's state.
Yusei landed in José's hands, the large man dropping to one knee cautiously to allow Yusei to sit. The boy rested against the large black hand, sweat slipping down his forehead and chest heaving with shallow breaths travelling in and out, agony was written across his face. Jack fell beside Yusei, pressing his hand underneath his bangs and against his forehead.
"He's burning up" he gasped.
"It came on suddenly, didn't it?" José inquired.
"It could have been from travelling through the desert" Jack mumbled anxiously. "We've been making our way through it for two days. He didn't seem well before, then when we found this place, he had another headache. I don't know why, but he's been getting them since we left Satellite".
"You came from Satellite?" Lucciano called. "Barely anyone makes it here from that far away".
Placido stepped down from the stage and strode back towards José and Jack, both keeping their eyes fixed on Yusei, who unconsciously struggled to breathe, Jack grabbed his right hand, squeezing it while biting his lower lip.
"Yusei…" he whispered.
"He experienced another when we passed through the barrier" Placido declared.
"What?" Jack breathed.
"I don't know what it is about your friend, but he is certainly unique" the grey-haired man added.
"Are you suggesting something's wrong with Yusei being here?" Jack growled. "Are you saying that Zone brought us here just to make him suffer?"
"No. Quite the opposite" Placido insisted, keeping calm in the face of Jack's wrath. "I think that Zone knows that something is different about Yusei and used that as an excuse to bring you two here. It might have something to do with why you two have been hunted by the government".
"So you'll help him?" Jack requested.
"We shall" José answered with a nod. "We won't turn our backs on anyone. We'll take him to the hospital wing".
Jack's face softened, relief washed over him while he took in the message; they were true: the three bishops were eager to help anyone that asked for it. The stories his mother told him were true and he had finally achieved the goal he set himself as a child. He had found Z-ONE and hope.
Zone of God. Ailing soul. The prayer of a single voice. The search of the City. Fates intertwine by the arrival of two and the connections of many. "02-Dawn of Genesis".