Chapter 1 - Suffering in Silence
A/N: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise.
I do however own the OCs mentioned within this story.
This story is inspired by Tikobi the Hatter's story, Chaotic Magic, thank her for the idea!
WARNINGS: This story contains death, cursives, murder, war and an apocalyptic future, read with caution.
We've managed to come this far, hopefully I'll get a lot more done over time. With University on the side, and my own manga in production, it's going to take some time to finish though, and I may move onto other projects before it's finished, but I will try to finish it eventually. Please have patience.
Enjoy!
"I never thought I'd say this, but I miss early mornings..."
In the rundown remains of Domino City, now fragmented into Upper and Lower Domino, lived a young woman with lilac coloured hair and deep green eyes. Her name was Nara Koizumi, an artist who had long since retired from dueling and had spent her days scrounging up money in hopes of having enough for a meal.
The young woman slowly sat up in bed, looking out of her window at the dreary, almost black sky above, shrouded in smog. Pollution had reached alarming rates after the incident regarding Real Vision, the sky was never blue, the oceans grey and dirty, and the grass a permanent shade of brown with dead trees overshadowing them.
"Another depressing day..." She mused with lowered eyelids, an indication of how little motivation she had today. Due to the circumstances though, she couldn't afford to sleep in and with a little bit more effort than she would have liked, she got out of her battered bedspread and stretched her arms above her head with a yawn.
The artist's stomach complained, causing a lazy hum to leave her for a moment before she shook her head to wake up a little more. "No time to be tired..." She mumbled, trudging towards the mini fridge she had managed to repair using the lessons her father had taught her many years ago in mechanics.
Inside was nothing more than a lone candy bar, and not only that, it was the flavour she hated the most, white chocolate. With a tsk, the hungry artist took the bar and unwrapped it, eating it with reluctant reasoning. 'Even I'd rather eat something foul than die of starvation...'
Today marked yet another day where she had to use her skills in drawing to scrounge up some funds for further meals. Looking over at her pathetic display of supplies, she organised them in preparation for another shameful afternoon of begging.
However just as she was about to strap the supplies to her back, there was a gentle knock at her front door. Being a small, rundown house with only two rooms, the woman had no trouble hearing it. 'If this is Hikari trying to get me to Duel again, I swear I'm shutting the door in her face...' Nara complained silently, walking over and opening the wooden barrier.
As she had expected, Hikari Denshou, a woman with sea green hair tied up in a delicate ponytail and honey coloured iris' stood on the other side, her deck in hand, with a rather shy smile on her lips and a pleading gleam in her eyes. "Good morning, Nara-"
The door closed in her face and Hikari's cheeks puffed out slightly in a pout. Typical. "Aw, c'mon Nara!" The kinder of the two women called out, knocking on the door again. "I was only going to ask for one game! Everyone else around here hates Duel Monsters, and I really want to play!"
"No, Hikari!" Nara's irritated, yet muffled voice called through the door. "You know full well that I hate that game as much as everyone else out there!"
"Then why do you carry your deck around with you all the time?"
"I'm an artist, it's my inspiration for new pieces!"
"You draw Duel Monsters, c'mon you must miss the game!"
"Hikari, if you don't shut up about those cards, I'll throw them away!" The door opened and Nara reappeared, her pain masked behind the pair of silver framed glasses she adorned. "That game is nothing but trouble...Don't you remember what happened because we kept trying to fix what wasn't broken?"
Hikari stared at Nara and frowned, looking down with equally tormented eyes, her hands clutching the deck to her chest. "I know...I...I just love this game so much...My parents, they loved it too, and I don't want that feeling to be forgotten, just like everything else..."
Nara sighed and placed her hand on Hikari's head, the innocent woman who loved Duel Monsters was only a year younger than her, but already taller, and more compassionate than Nara could ever hope to be. "I know, Hikari...Someday, if the world returns to how it was...I promise to duel you again..."
"That's a bitter lie, Nara..." She gently removed Nara's hand from her head, looking at her precious deck once more before she pocketed it. "We both know, no matter how much I beg, you won't even so much as watch another duel, let alone play it..."
It was odd, despite refusing to associate herself with Duel Monsters ever again, Nara found herself unable to detach from the game completely. She still held the deck given to her by her father, and continued to draw the cards, despite giving up her dream to become an illustrator at the Leo Corporation so many years ago. It hurt her so much that the game she used to love the most, was the thing that took everything from her, her family, career, hobbies...Everything but Hikari.
Of course, there were things that Duel Monsters could fix, but since the world no longer cared, Nara had long since ignored the idea, and had found nothing but hopeless pain in remembering the game. She'd live her life, and forget the one thing that ruined it all.
Nara gave Hikari a weak smile and sighed, looking through her cards quickly. "Sorry, Hikari...You're right, I shouldn't promise something If don't intend to keep it..." She pulled two cards from the deck, holding them out to the younger Duelist. "Here, I hope these'll help you to forgive me...They were hard to find."
Hikari hummed and took the two slips of paper with curious eyes, Nara rarely bought cards anymore, not even if they were the rare magician cards she'd been searching for since she was a child. Why would she go out of her way to get her some?
The young woman gasped with shock when she turned the cards over and saw exactly what they were. Nara had been her best friend for most of her life, and knew that she had been searching for two cards in particular since she was old enough to walk.
Magician of Black Chaos, and Black Magic Ritual.
"Nara..." Her eyes welled up and a gentle smiled covered her lips. "Thank you...!"
With a noise of surprise from the spectacled artist, Hikari all but yanked her into a hug. They were an odd pair, but friends none the less, so instead of complaining, Nara let out a huff of defeat and wrapped her arms around Hikari, letting the woman have her moment.
"Yeah, yeah, c'mon, you can help me get some money in as a thanks..."
"Mm! You can count on me."
"I know I can."
~LBNF~
"Get your artwork here, sketches, ink work and even commissioned portraits, all half price!"
In the plaza of Under Domino, Hikari stood, hands cupped around her mouth, trying to drum up business for at least a little profit so they could eat. The younger of the two approached others, who openly avoided and shunned her for trying to get their hard-earned coins, while Nara sat there, drawing what she could see, in hopes of getting some curious glances at least.
The world had become bitter since the incident, everyone either kept to themselves, or stayed in large groups, terrorising others for money and their personal belongings. This once peaceful Utopia was now hell for those who lived in it, and not one of them could do anything about it.
Nara hated the sight of this place, sickened by the people inside. She had seen many things sitting in this little plaza, starving children, murdered men and women alike, even a dead puppy who had gone in search of food for it's sick family, only to fail and fade away without anything to show for it.
Right now, sitting here, her stomach clenched and a tear rolled down her cheek, she couldn't take it anymore, however had no choice but to soldier on. Her life would end if she threw in the towel now, and despite how easy that sounded, she always promised her parents she would live on and do great things.
Hikari turned to tell Nara that no matter what she did, no one would come over to see her work, when she saw the woman hunched over, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "Nara?!" Without wasting a moment, the Duelist ran over and placed her hand on her friend's back, crouching down to see her face. "Nara, what's wrong?!"
"It's...It's too much..." She finally choked out, for weeks she had held onto these feelings, forced through them and continued on as if nothing had changed, but now, with all the horrors around her just increasing, she couldn't hold it all back. "I...I don't want to see anymore suffering..."
"Nara, I know how you feel, but there's nothing we can do about it..." Hikari told her, comforting her like she herself had done mere hours ago. "All we can do now is live on in memory of those we've lost..."
"No...There is something we can do...There always has been." Nara admitted, slipping her glasses off her nose so she could wipe her eyes, there was a determined gleam in those green iris', an idea she had held onto for some time, but feared putting into action. "It's a long shot, and would probably end with me losing my life, but at this moment in time, there's nothing else I can do..."
"What are you talking about? Losing your life...?" Hikari staggered back slightly when her friend suddenly stood up, pulling out her deck and staring at the top card. Dark Magician, her ace monster, and the one thing she had to remember her parents by. If she was right, this card and a little extra hope could change the future of the world.
"Hikari, I'm going to tell you my plan...I've thought of it for a while now, but always ignored it out of fear...But you're right, I can't ignore that I still care, even a little, for Duel Monsters..." Nara turned to her and showed her Dark Magician. "We're going to the Leo Corporation building and bringing my Dark Magician to life!"
Hikari blinked, her mind processing those words with confusion clouding her reaction. Slowly, all the pieces clicked together and the girl almost fell over with shock. "Wh-what?!"
She couldn't be serious!
Oh but she was, ignoring her supplies, only taking her sketchpad and pencils, Nara left the area in search of the abandoned structure once known as the Leo Corporation building. Inside was the machine, now battered and useless, that had destroyed the world.
"Nara, listen to me!" The younger, yet more level-headed of the two, called out, chasing after her friend. She was terrified, when the hell had Nara come up with the idea of using Real Vision to bring Dark Magician to life?! "I know you can probably fix the machine enough to work, but this is suicide! Like you said, Duel Monsters caused this mess, there won't be any plus side to repeating the incident that happened before!"
"No, there is a plus side..." Nara told Hikari, stopping and turning slightly to face her friend, who skidded to a halt to listen. "The scientists used Dragons to test their machines, creatures without sentience, creatures that run purely on instinct...If they had started with a monster like Dark Magician, Magician of Black Chaos, or even Celtic Guardian, maybe our world would still be the way it used to be..."
"Where did all this come from?! Only this morning you refused to touch a deck ever again!"
"I still won't." The Lilacette admitted, looking down at her cards. "And I know I gave up on any hope of changing this hell...but seeing that puppy, that starving child...It made me realise that if we don't do something, no one else will!" Clutching them a little tighter, Nara brought the cards to her chest and looked at her best friend with terrified resolve. "I'd rather die trying than die another victim of this horrible era."
"Nara..."
"I want to believe that the cards that ruined my life, will also save everyone else's...My parents wouldn't want me to sit here, twiddling my thumbs, and nor do I...I've had this idea for months Hikari, silently formulating in the back of my mind, but I've ignored it out of fear..." She squeezed her eyes shut, her body shaking with terror. "But what good is that?! I still hate Duel Monsters for taking my family away from me, but if I have to bet our future on it, our world, then I'll be willing to lay my life on the line to see my plans through!"
"But we could die, Nara!" Hikari tried to reason, running over and taking her friend's shoulders, she was just as scared as the other woman was. "I understand your reasons, why you want to save us, but this is insane!"
"There's no 'we,' Hikari..." Nara told her, brushing her hands off her shoulders before she stepped back, smiling. "These cards are precious..." She held out her deck, all but Dark Magician inside. "If I don't come back, take good care of them, okay?"
"No!"
Nara was shocked when Hikari grabbed her hand in both of her's, tears pricking the innocent woman's eyes. "If you're going, I'm going with you!" She told her, shaking. "You're the only family I have left, Nara...I'd rather die at your side than live without you!"
"I want to protect you Hikari, don't risk your life for me."
"You'd risk your's for me! Let me do the same, I'm not some little girl that needs protecting!"
Nara stared at Hikari, her usually cold, serious eyes softening with the love and trust her best friend displayed. "...Alright, but you promise me you'll run if anything happens, okay?"
"Only if you promise to do the same!" The younger Duelist told her, a small smile curling her lips in relief. Oddly, despite having some reservations about this rushed, barely strung out plan, her body hummed with adrenaline and excitement. If they succeeded in reviving the world using Dark Magician's power, they could live in peace, and play Duel Monsters again.
She could watch Nara become a famous artist, and bring life back to the game that had lost so much love.
The two of them would become heroes.
With little reservation left in their movements, the two took off in a run towards the building holding their final hope. What awaited there would be beyond even their imaginations.
It was all up to them now, to decide their fate.
A/N: So what did you think? Please review, all comments and criticism will be read and analysed thoroughly, if you guys can, help me improve as a writer. Thank you for reading!