So, was anyone expecting a new story so soon?
Welcome to the prologue for "Between my Brother and Me: Ab Aeterno", set one year before Ash would ever set foot into Domino City and become duelist, which takes place between two worlds: the real and the virtual.
This story is heavily inspired by the dot hack franchise (particularly the G1 games, aka IMOQ) that have been a part of me since I was young. In this world Cyberconnect does not exist, but The World does. How the troubles of The World and the Eight Phases plays out here will be explained in time, but here are some rules to note:
First, characters from Pokémon Sun and Moon play a huge role in the story. For those who have not played Sun and Moon, I highly advise that you avoid the story until you play the games (or Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon when they come out). Trust me, you'll have a better appreciation for the story if you do your homework.
Two, characters will be referenced by two different types of names: their regular and their "user"names. I highly advise to do research on them (or at the very least keep some notes down) since it's going to be a bit confusing later on.
Third, duels (yes, there is dueling in this story) will start at 8000 lifepoints, and most cards will follow their TCG/OCG rulings (barring the obvious ones like Card of Demise, Card of Sanctity, etc.)
Fourth, expect various characters from Pokémon to be hanging around here. These guys appear in "Ab Initio" too, but this story is where we'll hear more about them. They have plenty of surprises in store, let me tell you.
As for Yu-Gi-Oh characters? The only thing I can say is that Yugi won't be in the spotlight of this one (he will in the side-story "Between my Brother and Me: Ab Antiquo") but anyone else is fair game.
And without further ado, let us enter The World…
Between my Brother and Me: Ab Aeterno
Author: Green Phantom Queen
Rated: T
Summary: One year before Ash Ketchum unleashed Reshef, the Aether Foundation has brought in a new game known as "The World". But mysterious things are happening there, and to break through it, it will take the combined forces of light and darkness to stop it before the menace of the virtual world breaks into the world of the living.
Prologue - Phantom Force
"That crazed girl improvising her music.
Her poetry, dancing upon the shore,
Her soul in division from itself
Climbing, falling She knew not where,
Hiding amid the cargo of a steamship,
Her knee-cap broken, that girl I declare
A beautiful lofty thing, or a thing
Heroically lost, heroically found.
No matter what disaster occurred
She stood in desperate music wound,
Wound, wound, and she made in her triumph
Where the bales and the baskets lay
No common intelligible sound
But sang, 'O sea-starved, hungry sea.'"
-A Crazed Girl, William Butler Yeats
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"What shall the gods turn to after all is said and done?"
It is said that gods are all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present. That depends on the religion and on who you ask.
For one thing, if the gods were so omniscient, the chances of the Trojan War happening (all because of one goddess being refused a seat of the table due to the chaos she could produce) would have been slim to none. Or if the Rhine-maidens decided to not mock someone for their ugliness, would Ragnarok have occurred?
Gods are just like humans, except that when they mess up, they are unable to fix their mistakes like we humans can.
When we think of gods and their perfectness, we try to emulate them in all that they do. And if all that fails, we try to summon them.
But woe to those who foolishly wish to summon a god without knowing the consequences. Just because they are summoned, that does not mean you have control of them. Nor does it mean that they have good intentions in mind.
This is the tale of how one woman's desire to meet these gods nearly doomed the city of Domino, and the tale of the people who decided to stop her before Domino was plunged into total darkness.
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The mission was supposed to be simple: go to a very low-leveled dungeon, collect the treasure, split it between the three members of the party, gate out to a town, sell the treasures for profit, then rest for the evening.
But things began to nosedive just as soon as they entered the dungeon.
Bianca looks around nervously, wielding a staff and dressed in black while she and her fellow party members Alighieri (dressed like a red and black bard with bushy black hair) and Grimm (a warrior with purple hair in a ponytail dressed in a black cloak and matching eye-mask while wielding a rapier) travel through the simple one-floor dungeon with green walls covered with vines. Something about this place is making her feel very unsettled…
And her theory is proven correct just seconds after they leave the treasure room ("Gott statue", where "Gott" is "God" in German, Grimm notes) and she hears nothing but static and a clear note in the background...A in C Major. The scenery changes into a green and grey sky, a stone platform with floating islands around them.
"We...we should leave right now," Bianca stammers to Alighieri and Grimm. "Before it's too…"
She is interrupted by a strange girl in a white dress and powder blue trim with blond hair and green eyes appearing before them, carrying something in her arms. It looks like a large tome…
In fact, it is a large tome.
"Who are you?" Alighieri whispers.
"Please take this," The girl in white whispers hastily, shoving the book into Bianca's hands.
"You're not answering our question," says Grimm. "Who are you?"
"There's no time," The girl answers. "The power within this book can bring either hope or despair to whoever uses it."
"Well, that's helpful," Alighieri replies. "Can you give us a name?"
"...it's coming!" The girl shouts right before she vanishes.
Alighieri, Grimm and Bianca look up and gasp.
The figure is a large being with black armor lined with silver and white gauntlets. Their head is similar to a skull with a pair of matching black horns. In their hands is a mighty axe that is capable of splitting a tree in two...or perhaps a person.
"What's a Demise, King of Armageddon doing in a Level 1 dungeon?!" Grimm exclaims.
"Does anyone have a monster that can stop him?" Alighieri asks.
"My monsters need time to gain that much power," Bianca answers. "Plus, even if we could summon a monster, Demise will just destroy them with a wave of his hand!"
Demise raises his axe into the air as a ring of blue and green hexagons surround him. The ground begins to rumble beneath his feet. Bianca stands her ground.
"Guys, listen to me," she says. "On my signal, log out of the game."
"Are you crazy?!" Grimm exclaims. "What's logging out going to do?"
"We have no other choice," says Alighieri, tightening the grip on his scythe. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."
"I forsaw it…" Bianca mutters, her eyes temporarily flickering into a shade of black before she stares at the strange bird-like mark glowing on her arm. "Ready?"
Demise spins his axe round and round, the sounds of a machine whir accompanying him.
"1…" says Bianca.
He raises his hand and points it toward the three children. Alighieri and Grimm gulp.
"2…" Bianca slams her staff to the ground.
Demise growls as white light surrounds him.
"3!"
Three sets of rings form around the three characters just as Demise unleashes a blast of light that obliterates the landscape around them. The only thing Bianca can feel is everything becoming black as someone calls out for her.
"Bel! Bel, wake up!"
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"Bel!"
Bel groans as she slowly opens her eyes to look at the ceiling, marked with the image of a hummingbird. A face...green hair and equally green eyes are staring at her.
"S...Shooti?" Bel mutters. "Is that...you?"
"Bel…" Shooti sighs, clasping onto the girl's hand. "You had me worried for a minute. What happened?"
"I honestly can't say," Bel replies as she sits up. She should feel a splitting headache from what she encountered, but ever since her resurrection by the Earthbound Immortal - ascilla piscu, she feels nothing. "How long have I been out?"
"A couple of hours. But, boy, Wataru is gonna be so mad when he learns that you were playing that game again instead of studying."
"That game", as Bianca turns to her laptop that is connected to a VR headset, is currently on the Login screen. Part of her wants to figure out if her friends are okay, but…
"So, you're awake now."
Bel gulps as a figure with blond hair and a pair of black and white headphones that have a trail of black that fall to her waist silently enters the room. Shooti steps back as Bel closes her eyes, concentrating on the glamor spell that transforms her casual orange wear into her black dress marked with the design of an orange hummingbird. Opening her eyes again, they are black as ebony.
"Kamitsure-san," Bel begins. "I...I'm so sorry that I haven't been paying attention to my studies. I told myself that after one dungeon I was gonna log out and...and…"
"Who exactly did you team up with?" asks Kamitsure as she sits down on a lounging chair decorated with the same orange bird design on Bel's dress.
"Their usernames were Alighieri and Grimm," Bel answers. "The former named after Dante Alighieri and the latter after the Brothers Grimm."
"Do you know who they are in real life?" Kamitsure notices a bowl of tangerines and takes one for herself.
"Um...I know that Alighieri has black bushy hair and a card locket around his neck, and Grimm has purple hair and a fondness for fairy tales…"
"..." Kamitsure stops peeling her tangerine as she narrows her eyes. Setting the tangerine and its peels on the table, she stands up and begins to walk away.
"Um...Kamitsure-san?" Bel squeaks out.
"...See if you can contact them and tell them to come to see you," Kamitsure answers as she turns to Shooti and Bel. "And Shooti…"
"Yes, ma'am," says Shooti, standing up. Kamitsure sighs.
"First, there is no reason to call me 'ma'am," she begins. "And second, I'd like you to read through the book in Bel's hands and take as many pictures as you can. After that, please come to the main hall for breakfast and a meeting."
She walks off, the only thing that can be heard is the 'click' of her heels before even that fades away. Bel looks in confusion before she stares at the book in her hands. The cover is made of leather, and there is a diamond in the center consisting of three colors: yellow, black and blue. She tries to open it…
Instead, it is stuck, despite the fact there is no clasp to seal it..
"This is the same book that girl gave me…" Bel whispers, lifting it into the air. "But...what is it for?"
"Hey, Bel," says Shooti, typing something on her laptop. "You've got mail from your friends."
Bel sets the book down and looks at the laptop, quickly scanning through the two emails before sending a reply to them both. Just as she finishes it, a new email pops out.
"Huh?" she asks, clicking on it. "What the-"
To the one who holds the book,
Demise chases after me. Please help me before it's too late.
-Lillie
"'Lillie'?" Bel whispers. "I've never heard of her before."
"I bet neither Mokuba Kaiba nor Leon von Schroder have heard of her too."
"Yeah, I bet...WHAT?!" Bel looks in shock at Shooti before going back to the previous two emails. "The little brothers of both Seto Kaiba and Siegfried von Schroder were my party members?!"
"It should've been obvious," Shooti notes, pointing to the email addresses. "Aren't those their same addresses found in our Domino Middle School Contact Lists?"
Bel blushes as it all comes back to her-of course they would use their email addresses for something like this.
"And if they were with you when you were fighting Demise," says Shooti with a grimace. "Then I have a pretty bad feeling that we'll be seeing them at breakfast."
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Shooti's suspicions are correct as the two rushed to the main hall where the other Dark Signers (and their acolytes) are already having breakfast. Even though the Dark Signers have no need for food, eating is a simple joy that gives the groups energy for what they have to do (and also so that they do not have to constantly ask their Earthbound Immortals for energy that can be used for more important things).
Shooti takes his place with his fellow acolytes, seating himself between Noah and Kengo. Molly is happily pouring milk into a bowl of cereal while Reiji hands Shooti a plate of toast topped with ham and a fried egg.
"You look horrible," Reiji notes. "What's going on?"
"Trouble," Shooti notes, turning to see Bel sitting down in her seat and taking a chocolate croissant onto her plate. "You'll hear about it soon enough."
"She was caught playing games again, right?" Noah teases. Molly sets the pitcher of milk down and smiles.
"I wish I could play that game, but I'm too young," she pouts. Kengo just ruffles the girl's hair. "I wonder what type of people she met last night."
The sound of two doors opening will reveal the answer soon enough.
Four figures enter the dark main hall that is lit by a large chandelier black as ebony, everyone's eyes no longer on breakfast but at the people who dare to enter their sacred chambers. Bel swallows a lump in her throat as she notes two of them: one with black bushy hair, the other with purple hair tied into a ponytail.
"Should I call you by your real names or usernames?" she asks.
"Hey Bel," Mokuba says shyly, looking at his surroundings. On the ceiling are the images of seven strange beings outlined in the colors of the rainbow. Something about this place is filled with an ancient power that he is unable to comprehend. "So...you're part of a cult, I guess?"
"The Dark Signers are no cult!" Kengo exclaims, slamming his hands on the table. "You will treat them with more respect else-"
"Calm yourself, Kengo," says a male voice. The figure with teal hair the color of the sea has a mark similar to a large fish on his left arm. "Whether you like them or not, these four are our guests."
"Yes, Mikurui," Kengo mumbles.
Wataru, noted for his spiky red hair similar to a fire, approaches the four and bows. "It is honor to find both Siegfried von Schroder and Seto Kaiba in our presence."
"Save it," Seto snarls. "We're here on important business regarding 'The World'."
"The resident expert about it will be our beloved Bel," says a calm voice belonging to a woman with lavender hair. She watches as Wataru returns to his chair before continuing. "I don't suppose you will be talking about any 'special events' that happened recently, correct?"
"Our brothers have told us everything, Nagi," says Siegfried, seating himself down on a black hair. He crosses one leg over the other as he adds, "And it has come to our attention that similar situations have been happening in the game. Were it not for Bel, my brother would've landed himself in a coma."
"Thank you so much!" says Leon, seating himself next to the girl. Mokuba takes a seat next to Leon. "How did you know about the trick of logging off?"
"Like I said, I foresaw it," Bel answers curtly. Someone clearing their throat catches their attention.
"What do you propose we do about this?" asks the woman with dark blue hair and a mark of a strange giant on her arm.
"It's quite simple, really," says Seto. "We are asking all of you to log in and figure out the source of the problem."
There is silence from the Dark Signers, only broken from someone bursting out in laughter.
"That's what you want us to do?" says the person, a teenage girl with blond hair tied into a ponytail. "The great Seto Kaiba is asking us to play a game?! That's such a load of-"
She doesn't get to finish her sentence as she finds herself laughing once more, only stopped by Kamitsure whacking her behind the head. Leon sighs.
"We don't like this idea as much as you do," he says. "But considering your 'condition', you can enter 'The World' without ever having to log out, and I'm sure your Earthbound Immortals will be willing to save you from being sent into comas by whatever lurks in the game."
"But why are you asking us to risk our lives for a simple game?" asks Wataru. "Surely you can ask someone else to do this job, correct?"
"We would, but we're asking you because of the company that runs it," Mokuba answers. "Seto and I have been digging up research on the Aether Foundation and why they've been so keen on working with both us and Schroder Corp. and we've noticed that, well…"
"Let's just say that they've been sweeping various coma incidents under the rug," says Siegfried. "No one knows for sure that the Aether Foundation is truly causing them, but one thing's for certain…'The World' is hiding something dangerous."
"Sounds scary…" Molly whispers. Reiji places a hand over her own to comfort her.
"We've already sent emails to personally request that the seven of you go and try out 'The World' to prove that it's safe," says Seto, pulling out a letter from his silver duster. He slides it across the table until it reaches Wataru. "Tomorrow at noon, all seven of you will be entering the Aether Foundation under the conditions that you will be 'play-testing' for a special event that will be premiering in less than a week's time."
"That doesn't sound suspicious…" Noah mutters under his breath.
Wataru looks at the envelope, sealed with a sticker of a diamond that matches the symbol on Bel's book, before opening it. Inside are seven cards that he quickly passes to his fellow Dark Signers. He pockets his own card before nodding his head.
"Very well," he says. "The Dark Signers will join with Seto Kaiba and…" He narrows his eyes at both Schroder brothers. "The Disciples of the Crimson Dragon to help figure out what is going on in 'The World'."
"Hell is absolutely freezing over," Mokuba whispers to Leon. "I mean, when have our brothers ever agreed to work together like this?"
"Not since their joint effort to open Domino City's Duel Academy," Leon adds. Wataru stands up and claps his hands.
"Dark Signers," he begins. "We must prepare for what is to come in 'The World'. If this is a threat that someone under the Crimson Dragon wants us to investigate then we cannot refuse them." He narrows his eyes. "No matter how much we despise them so."
This gets a nod from everyone else. The girl with the ponytail stands up.
"And for this, the Dark Signer Acolytes will stay behind to investigate whatever might be going on the real world," she says. "Reiji will be in charge. Everyone else will have to listen to him, all right?"
"As you wish, Korin," says Reiji. "I highly doubt we'll be going through that much trouble, right?"
A gasp from Bel causes him to change his mood as she clutches her head in pain. She is glad that she is dead, or else she would probably be suffering a heart attack also. After a few seconds, she sighs and leans back in her chair.
"What did you see?" asks the woman with blue-black hair.
"Natsume…" Bel grunts. "I...I saw...a gold pyramid...with an eye in its center."
"Anything else?" asks Kamitsure.
"A riddle…" Bel answers. "'What can be seen but cannot be seen?'"
"Love? Light? Darkness? Happiness? Hope?" Molly begins to name off the top of her head. "Oh, I know! It's friendship!"
"It's going to be worse than that," Seto mutters under his breath.
"What's that supposed to mean, Seto?" asks Mokuba. He knows that his brother has been acting slightly weird ever since his duel with Jounochi over the strange scepter with the red jewel, but he knows that Seto was never into divination or those who could predict the future.
"...It's nothing," Seto hastily answers. "But, Reiji…" He turns to the eldest acolyte. "Please see to it that you keep a close eye on the Kame Game Shop for the time being."
"Why that place?" asks Reiji. "Aside from the fact that it houses your well-known rival and all."
"Trust me, you'll see in time," Seto replies. "Now that we have that out of the way, we have to get going Mokuba."
"What for?" asks Mokuba. "Is someone trying to hack the Kaiba Corp. database again?"
"No, you have school in about half an hour and I can't let you miss class, now can I?"
"The same goes to you Leon," says Siegfried, smiling at his own younger brother. "Let's go."
"Awww…"
As the two sets of brothers begin to leave, Bel looks down at her chocolate croissant, trying to make sense of everything. The World, Demise, Lillie, an unopenable book...what did it all mean?
And better yet, why are they all calling out for her?
"Bel," says Natsume, approaching the worried girl. "You know that if you have anything troubling you, you can always tell us. We're family, you know."
"Family"...the word to describe the Dark Signers seems awkward whenever Bianca hears it, but ever since her resurrection, she has had nowhere to go. Would her father accept her as she is right now? Or her cousin, Jun? She shakes her head to get the thoughts out of her mind as she looks to Natsume.
"I...I got an email from a strange girl named Lillie," she begins. "I think she's from 'The World'. But…"
"But?" Natsume raises an eyebrow before she turns to Noah, who has also become curious of the conversation. Bel shakes her head.
"It's probably nothing," she takes the chocolate croissant into her hand and takes a bite. After swallowing, she continues. "But...I feel a connection to her. Like she was crying for help. She wouldn't give me that book without any reason."
"What book?" asks Nagi. "This is the first time I've heard of such things."
"Bel woke up with a strange book from the game," Shooti explains. "However, we can't get it to open. It's a strange tome, and the marking on its cover is something we'll have to research for later…"
"We'll learn more when we go to the Aether Foundation tomorrow," says Kamitsure. "Everyone, let's finish breakfast then prepare what we need. Bel, we can all count on you on helping us set up accounts, correct?"
"It's pretty easy," Bel smiles. "And 'The World' can be quite addicting once you know what to do."
"But you'll need to buy the headsets in order to see into the game," Shooti notes. "Although, considering how much money we can conjure up, that's not going to be trouble at all."
"Can I see you play, Kamitsure-san?" asks Molly, her eyes wide as she rushes to the older girl. Kamitsure smiles and pats the little girl's head.
"Of course you can, sweetheart," she says. "You won't be seeing us for a while after that, so it's the least we can do."
"Yay!" Molly happily hugs Kamitsure as the others look on in concern. Wataru looks at the card in his hand and narrows his eyes.
This monster...He thinks to himself. I know I've seen this before…
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In Domino City, underneath the shade of a large tree, a figure dressed in black takes a bite out of the crepe in his hand before tossing the wax paper it is wrapped in over his shoulders. He narrows his eyes as he sees a large white building in the distance before pulling out a picture from his pocket. The picture depicts him and a young girl in white, the two smiling at the camera while surrounded by a myriad of Kuriboh plushies. He pockets the picture once more before closing his eyes.
Lillie...The figure thinks to himself. Please give me a little more courage…
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The stage is about to be set, and our Dark Signers are heading off to a world they cannot comprehend, one that is hiding various secrets that if unleashed, will spell trouble to Domino, and perhaps the entire world.
Coming up next, the night before the trip to the Aether Foundation, Bianca stumbles upon a wannabe warrior who will give away the location of a secret area in The World in exchange for one thing...a challenge.
"Trick-or-Treat" coming soon.