Waiting for the Sun
A fanfic by Tsu_chanB
Disclaimer: I take no credit for making/owning YuGiOh or any related characters.
A/N: This fanfic was inspired by the songs "So Cold" by Breaking Benjamin and "Give me Strength" by Over the Rhine.
Chapter 1
The Ancient Gods: The History and Diffusion of Religion in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean
VII: Cosmology
The Heliopolitan Ogdoad
In the celestial realms Atum, the Heliopolitan version of the sun god, became supreme and exercised his creative functions whilst his worship became predominant in the Old Kingdom under the powerful influence of Heliopolis. In the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2380 B.C), when the city became the capital and the centre of the solar cult, he was the head of the Ogdoad (the eight creation gods), and the Pharaoh assumed the title 'Son of Ra'. There in Heliopolis the 'House of the Obelisk' in the temple was alleged to stand on the Primeval Hill on which Atum first appeared. Consequently, it was regarded as the centre of the creative forces which Atum combined within himself when he became the progenitor of the Great Ogdoad – Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), Geb (earth) and Nut (sky), and Osiris, Isis, and Set, the offspring of Geb and Nut. As Atum-Ra a complex mythology developed around Atum in the Pyramid Ages. As the Supreme god he became the self-created Creator, the source of life as well as the father of the gods and the personification of the sun. He was the ruler of the world in all four directions of the horizon, and at the same time he exercised protective control in a special sense over Egypt, as the Pharaoh was his son and incarnate embodiment on earth.
A soft scrape of paper rubbing against paper sounded in the silence as the teenaged girl against the wall turned the next page in her book. She was lost in the words, her clear grey eyes roving hungrily over the lettering on the page, oblivious to the sounds of the sea and of other children chattering playfully at the opposite end of the hall. She had moved out of the common room where the rest of the duelists were and into the hall so she could properly concentrate on her reading. There was too much noise in the room for that.
A small sea breeze fluttered in through the open door, catching on the wisps of onyx hair left free of the bun that held the longer strands. She smiled lightly at the salt smell, momentarily distracted from reading.
Suddenly a commotion of voices broke out and the rest of the passengers on the ship began filing into the hall. Conversation escalated to a distracting level and the girl looked up from her book. Everyone was leaving to crowd the deck. It seemed the time had finally come for them to disembark.
The girl remained seated, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of the crowd. A few people coming down the hall from the VIP rooms gave her odd looks, but she ignored them and returned to her book.
Not much later a gravelly voice rang out above the others on deck. "Attention all duelists: please disembark in an orderly fashion."
The noise outside began to die down. The book in the girl's hand clamped shut as she stood, revealing the full length of the long white knit sweater hanging over her baby blue shirt. She brushed off her jeans with her free hand and retrieved her backpack from the floor, slinging it over her shoulder. An excited smile lit up her face. The game was about to begin.
She followed the few remaining passengers off the ship. It seemed she was the last one to leave.
"Please proceed to Pegasus Castle," a nearby guard announced to the last wave of duelists.
The girl rolled her eyes. Of course the competition's host would name a castle after himself. She wondered vaguely if the island's name was really 'Pegasus' as well instead of its publicized name of Duelist Kingdom in honor of said named tournament. But she supposed Pegasus had a right to name the castle after himself since he was a multi-billionaire and created the game Duel Monsters, on which the competition was based.
By the time Kira started to pay attention to her surroundings she was halfway up the long flight of stairs leading to the castle upon the hill. Duelists trudged up the stairs in scattered groups to reach the arching gateway and the small pavilion beyond. Since she was at the end of the line, the girl was able to see how many duelists were actually competing. She estimated about fifty, eighty at the most.
When she reached the top of the steps Pegasus had already begun his entrance speech. She heard very little as she concentrated on regaining her breath. She silently berated herself for being so easily wearied by so short a trek. The girl recovered quickly nonetheless and her attention returned to Pegasus in time to hear something about special new rules.
"You have one full hour to prepare, both your cards and yourselves," he finished. "When the skies light up with fireworks, the duels will begin."
Many of the duelists cheered as Pegasus left the balcony. The girl sighed. "More waiting? Well, it can't be helped. Maybe there are people here who still aren't ready yet."
She examined the crowd and found a few familiar faces from some of the major Duel Monsters competitions. There were winners from the latest regional and national tournaments present but the world champion was nowhere to be seen. She had heard on the ship to the island all about how the best duelist in the world was defeated by a kid from nowhere: Yugi Muto.
She had seen glimpses of him on the boat but now it was hard to miss the famed duelist with his tall tri-colored hair and odd gold necklace. The girl thought Yugi didn't look like such an impressive opponent, standing at least a foot shorter than those around him. She wasn't willing to doubt his prowess though, knowing from experience that looks can be deceiving.
People began dispersing and the girl watched her possible opponents head off in different directions. She was debating whether or not to follow some of the crowd or stay close to the castle when another duelist made the choice for her.
"Hey bookworm! How about a duel?" A dark eyed boy approached her with a smirk, sizing up her small frame and light countenance. He saw an easy target.
"Bookworm?" She remembered the old hardback still clutched in her left hand and glanced briefly at it. She looked back up at the blonde boy. "Well, okay. I wasn't expecting to be able to duel so soon."
"It'll be your first and only duel 'cause you're going down!" The boy's smirk dropped into a frown as he looked around. He suddenly pointed off to the trees to their left. "There. We can meet at that dueling arena after the hour is up. See ya."
"Hey wait. I don't even know your name," she said to his back.
"Jesse."
The girl nodded. "I'm Kira."
Jesse left. A few duelists remained to loiter around the castle. Kira chose a wall of the pavilion to sit against and opened the book in her hand to read as she waited.
Two chapters passed before Kira's opponent returned. She noticed him at the top of a flight of side stairs leading into the foliage surrounding the castle. She followed him to the arena that rose from the ground at their approach. They stood together at the base of one of the platforms and exchanged decks to be shuffled.
Jesse grinned confidently. "You ready to lose runt? My deck can't be beat."
"Oh, should we wager all of our star chips then?" The two duelists returned their decks to their owners. Kira looked at the two occupied star shaped slots in the ring at the top of her purple glove. The eight other slots were empty, showing her status in the competition. Ten stars in the ten slots were required for entry to the finals; zero qualified the duelist for a boat ride off the island. The girl's grey eyes returned to Jesse, awaiting his answer.
"Sure," he nodded. "I have complete confidence in my deck. Eliminating you will put me that much closer to the finals."
Kira said nothing and retreated to her own platform on the other side of the arena. As soon as she stepped onto the blue square it rose a few feet off the ground to overlook the battle and give her a good view of her opponent across the way.
Kira dropped her backpack on the floor and placed her dueling deck in the appropriate square on her placement mat. This mat was different than the tabletop ones she was used to though. When a card was placed on the board a holographic image was created to appear in the area between the two duelists.
This innovation in gaming technology was what made the Duelist Kingdom tournament so sensational. Industrial Illusions, the company owned by Pegasus and sponsor of the tournament, was the only business that could afford to outfit an entire island with these state of the art dueling platforms. Kira thought it was interesting as well that Pegasus had bought the machinery from his company's biggest rival, Kaiba Corp. It seemed that, to Pegasus, throwing a good party and gaining publicity was more important than keeping the competition from getting business.
Her attention returned to the task at hand. She dropped her star chips into the tray provided. The computer powered on, giving both players 2000 life points. The life points determined who would win the duel in most cases. When one duelist looses all of his life points the game is over and the other duelist is declared the winner. There were other ways to lose at Duel Monsters, but this was the most widely used method.
Kira and Jesse both drew five cards, the size of a hand in the game.
"Ladies first," Jesse commented. Kira said nothing and removed two cards from her hand.
"I place one magic card and a monster in defense mode," she declared across the arena. One card went to each of the two five-slotted rows. The card closest to Kira, the magic card, was laid vertically while the other was horizontal, denoting the monster's status on the field. The holographic system came to life, showing the cards as glowing yellow squares.
"That ends my turn."
"I don't blame you for defending. Just watch." Jesse slapped a monster card down on his mat. "I play Armored Lizard in attack mode."
The monster generated by the computer was a metallic blue reptile with red eyes. It had 1500 attack points and 1200 defense points. Attacking an opponent's monsters was the only way to decrease the person's life points. This only applied when both monsters were in attacking positions. If a monster was defending against attacks when it was destroyed, the duelist kept his life points.
Jesse pointed across the field as he declared his move. "Armored Lizard, attack her face down card."
Because of the holographic systems the two players were able to witness the action as the Armored Lizard rushed across the field to deliver a blow to the yellow square representing Kira's monster. Kira shielded her eyes against the bright flash of light the attack caused as her Luster Dragon was revealed. Kira's Luster Dragon was sapphire blue with a set of menacing teeth. It knelt with wings enfolding its body in defense.
"What?" Jesse questioned, surprised. He had assumed that her monster would be destroyed, but the dragon was stronger than his Lizard with an attack of 1900 and defense of 1600. Since it was defending, neither monster was destroyed.
"Well, because my dragon's defense is higher than your Armored Lizard's attack it lost," Kira explained. "That means you lose life points."
Jesse growled as the computer recalculated his life points. He now had 1900. "Fine. I end my turn."
"I switch my Luster Dragon to attack mode," Kira declared after drawing a card, moving the horizontal card to a vertical position. The dragon stood to its full height and let out a proud roar. "Now I'll attack your Armored Lizard."
The dragon unleashed its attack and Jesse's lizard shattered into data bits. He lost another 400 life points, bringing his total to 1500. Kira still had her starting total of 2000.
"Your turn," Kira said.
Jesse looked at the card he had drawn and let out a short laugh of victory. "Your dragon is dead. I play Warrior Dai Grepher in attack mode." The man that appeared on the field was extremely muscular and clothed in black. His stats were 1700 attack and 1600 defense. "Then I'll use this magic card, Lightning Blade, to raise his attack by 800 points, bringing him up to 2500."
The warrior's sword suddenly crackled and sparked with lightning. "Now Dai Grepher, attack her Luster Dragon." The warrior jumped forward to slash through Kira's dragon.
"Hold on." Kira interrupted as she flipped over her magic card. "I reveal Interdimensional Matter Transporter."
An odd looking blue and green machine appeared behind the Luster Dragon and created a portal that sucked the dragon away before Dai Grepher's attack could make contact. Both the machine and the dragon disappeared from the field.
"What? Where did it go?" Jesse asked looking around for his opponent's missing monster.
"My Luster Dragon has been removed from play until the end of this turn." Kira explained.
Jesse glared. "Hmph. Your turn, then."
Another portal appeared and the Luster Dragon returned to the field as Kira drew her card. Perfect, she thought. My strategy is complete.
"First, I'll switch my Luster Dragon to defense mode," Kira declared, turning the card horizontally. "Then I'll play Divine Dragon Ragnarok in attack mode."
Kira's newest dragon was long and serpentine. It sparked with electricity. Kira also placed a magic card on the field. "Now I activate Luminous Spark. It increases the attack of all light based monsters by 500 points, but lowers their defense by 400." The field beneath the monsters became a white plane.
The Divine Dragon's stats moved from 1500 and 1000 attack and defense to 2000 and 600.
"That ends my turn."
Jesse laughed, "I guess you forgot about my warrior's raised stats. He still has 500 more attack points than your weak dragon."
"Oh, you're right about that." Kira didn't seem to be too worried.
"Yup, too bad for you," Jesse said as he drew his next card. He placed it on the field. "For now I'll play Gagagigo in attack mode." This reptile was all green with an attack of 1850 and defense of 1000.
"Gagagigo, destroy the Luster Dragon." The reptile did so and the defending monster was sent to the Graveyard.
"Now Dai Grepher, attack her Divine Dragon," Jesse ordered. The warrior easily slashed through the Divine Dragon, bringing Kira's life points down to 1500.
"Guess there was nothing special about that dragon after all," Jesse smirked. "I hope you have a stronger monster than that somewhere in that weak deck of yours."
Kira responded by placing a card horizontally on the field. "I play Spirit of the Harp in defense mode." Her tan clad fairy usually had stats of 800 and 2000, but because of the Luminous Spark magic card they were changed to 1300 and 1600.
"And I'll place one magic card on the field. That ends my turn."
"Ha! I knew it. You don't have any powerful monsters." Jesse barely looked at the card he drew before declaring his attack. "Dai Grepher, destroy her Spirit of the Harp."
The warrior charged forward to deliver its attack. The Spirit was eliminated.
"Thank you," Kira said. "Now it's my turn. By removing two light monsters in my Graveyard from play I can now summon Soul of Purity and Light." Kira's fairy was ethereal with her pair of large angel wings and light, transparent figure. Her stats were 2000 attack and 1800 defense.
"I'll also equip her with the Malevolent Nuzzler magic card to raise her attack by 700. And because of the Luminous Spark field card already in play, her total attack point count is raised to 3200."
"Oh no," Jesse began to sweat.
"Oh, I'm not done yet." Kira flipped up her face down magic card. "I activate Ultimate Offering. At the cost of 500 life points I can summon another monster to the field. And I choose my Wingweaver." The computer counter dropped her life points to 1000.
Kira's monster had long purple hair and was donned in a golden dress, but the most distinctive feature about her was the six wings protruding from her back. They flexed and extended as the fairy appeared on the field. Wingweaver's raised stats were 3250 and 2000.
Kira smiled. "Oh, and to answer your statement from earlier: yes, I do have a few powerful monsters in my deck."
Jesse took a half-step backward. "T-that's impossible. Both of your monsters have over 3000 attack points!"
"That's correct. Now my fairies, destroy his monsters and take out the rest of his life points."
Both of her monsters sent an attack across the field. The arena was engulfed in light for a few moments and when it cleared Jesse's side of the field was empty and his life point counter had dropped to zero.
Kira retrieved her deck and backpack before the platform lowered her back onto the ground. She met up with Jesse midway and he shoved his star chips into her hand before walking quickly away.
Kira smiled as she placed the star chips next to her other two on the glove. "If all my duels turn out to be as easy as that one I'll be bringing the prize money home in no time."
She made her way back toward the castle to find another opponent, feeling optimistic about her ability to succeed in such a major tournament as Duelist Kingdom.