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Chapter Two: Ancient Artifacts


"Wow, I wasn't even close too winning." Kai grumbled.

Taki laughed, though he was admittedly surprised by Kai's swift defeat. "Hehe, maybe next time. By the way, what does that make the total score to be?"

Kai pulled out a folded piece of paper and pencil from his pocket. "With your quick win, that ties up the score 9-9. Whoever wins the next match wins the contest."

"Unless we both get a draw, in which case this contest to see who's the better duelist will end in a tie. Again."

"That's true."

The two friends gathered up their cards.

"When should our rematch be?" Taki asked.

Kai shrugged."I'm sure we'll think of a time eventually."

After making sure no one was looking their way, the friends snuck out from their hiding spot and spent the rest of the morning relaxing in the park.

When it was a little past noon, Taki asked his friend if he was ready to head over to the museum. Kai said he was and they took their leave. To occupy their time during the 15 minute walk to the Domino City Museum, they talked about how cool it would be to actually duel the elite duelists, like Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba– to actually beat them. In the end, they only laughed at the absurdity of it. They, the elite duelists, wouldn't have time to play with middle-schoolers, even if they were in the ninth grade.

"Well, here we are," remarked Kai as he looked up at the marble architecture. By the door was a sign about the exhibit, which read "Special Exhibit! This summer only! The World's Arsenal: Weapons from Around the Globe".

The friends went inside and were instantly greeted by the cool air.

All around were showcases of old swords and rusted armor and timeworn weapons. Kai eagerly jumped to each display with excitement and couldn't contain himself from telling Taki all about the artifacts inside.

"That's a Medieval Arming Sword. It was used by European knights and Vikings during the 14th century. Oh, and that right there is a Kattari– an Indian dagger used in hand-to-hand combat. And the Bardiche is–"

"Okay, okay, genius. No need to brag about how smart you are. We're not in school, you know."

"Heh! And maybe if you studied more in school, you'd be a genius as well."

"Yawn. Books and tests are your kind of things. Give me a hammock and some video games and I'll be all set."

Kai shrugged then turned his attention back to the display, a serene look on his face. Taki figured out a long time ago that, like he was at the park, Kai was at peace in the museum. The tranquil atmosphere was welcoming for him.

The two spent quite some time browsing through the exhibition. Taki was not as interested in medieval swords as Kai was, but he still found the time hanging out with his best friend very enjoyable.

"To be able to go into battle," Kai spoke out loud longingly, "To feel the exhilaration, knowing the only thing between you and death was a steel sword and your own armor…"

"And of course your countless army of fearless beast-men who could defeat anyone in their way."

"Yeah right– my warriors would destroy you in an instant."

"Then why didn't ya'? Face it, your human warriors are no match for my beast soldiers."

"Oh, are you asking for that rematch now?"

"Are you boys having fun?" someone called out.

The two whirled around to see a young man with long black hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing a white dress shirt and grey pants, with a grey suit jacket hanging over his shoulder. He looked at the boys with surprisingly teal-colored eyes.

"Are you enjoying the exhibit?" the man asked.

Kai nodded. "It's great! I've never seen so many items that a warrior could bring into battle before. I'm–" he grinned sheepishly, "I'm really into warriors."

"The human kind, though," Taki added with a grin, "Personally, I like the Beast-Warriors."

The man looked a little confused. "'Human kind'?" he repeated, "And 'Beast-Warriors'?" Taki and Kai gave each other slightly bemused looks.

"He's talking about Duel Monsters," Kai clarified to the man, "There are two types of monsters called Warriors, which are typically human, and Beast-Warriors, which are typically based on animals. I've always played with my Warrior Deck and my friend here loves his Beast-Warriors Deck."

The man nodded as if he understood. "I see. And you two are friends even though you have rivaling decks?"

"Well, yeah," Taki said, "We've been rivals for as far back as we can remember, and best friends for just as long. Kinda like our decks: rivals but still warriors in the end."

"So were your decks inspired by the legend of the Beast King?" the man questioned.

Now it was Taki and Kai's turn to look stumped. The strange man smiled. "Then I would like to show you boys something. Please, come with me." He beckoned them to follow him down a side hallway.

"Ah," the man said suddenly, "Where are my manners? I am the contributor of this exhibit, Aaron Miyozuki, but please call me Aaron."

"Pleased to meet you Aaron. I'm Taki Kagawa and this is my friend Kai Fukushima. So you must like warriors and stuff too, right?"

"Indeed; like you two, I have a certain, ah, affinity towards what you call Warriors and Beast-Warriors. That's what my work focuses on anyways."

"Wait," interrupted Kai, "Beast-Warriors aren't real. They're just creatures in a card game."

"True now, but they were real thousands of years ago." Aaron stated.

The three reached his office and he led them inside. The walls in the room were covered with foreign spears and swords and maces but also with strange, exotic weapons and shields Taki had never seen before.

"I have never seen or heard of these weapons," Kai said in awe, "Where are they from?"

"These are the weapons and armor donned millennia ago by whom you call Beast-Warriors," Aaron explained. Figuring it best to leave such 'mythical' items alone, Taki instead faced the contributor.

"So what's the story of the Beast King?" His voice was full of excitement with a hint of innocent curiosity, just like a child's. Kai likewise was a little interested to hear this tall tale.

Aaron seated himself at this desk and leaned back in his chair. "The legend has no definite beginning," he said, "Because the civilization of the Beast-Warriors had existed alongside the civilization of man for countless generations. The two races rarely saw eye to eye, but they both knew they were too similar in beliefs and cultural ways to openly wage war on each other.

Just like us, they had homes and schools, marketplaces and festivals. They had their own written language, their own libraries, and even their own form of government. And despite their innate ferocious nature, the Beasts were a surprisingly gentle species and often kept peace with the humans through treaties. I imagine many of their rulers were about as insightful as King Solomon.

So the Beast-Warriors lived in secrecy, their city well-hidden in the depths of a jungle. It is said it was impossible for a human to find the city without the help of a Beast."

Aaron paused for a second, as if wondering to actually continue the story. "One day– somehow, someway– the humans discovered the location of the city and attacked it. It is not stated why they did. All that is stated is that Dvajrah, the last King of the Beasts, sacrificed himself to stop the humans. He fought valiantly until his very last breath. But his death was in vain, for the humans destroyed the great city along with all its people. Not a single Beast survived the onslaught. There was more to the story, but sadly the translation to the scrolls has been lost."

Aaron looked up to see the two boys looking down at the floor in silence.

"No way…" Taki muttered. "Why would the humans slaughter all those Beasts? I mean, if that story's true and all, didn't they have some sort of agreement to prevent that?"

"I agree," Kai added solemnly, "Normally I would side with the humans, but that was just…"

Both boys were quiet again.

"And you say that actually happened?"

"I'm afraid so Kai," uttered Aaron sadly.

Taki looked up at his friend. "This just gives me a new reason to beat you in our rematch," he said a little jokingly, "Revenge for the Beasts."

Kai managed to smirk at his friend's teasing. Then he looked out the window. The sun was beginning to set. "What? We've been at the museum all day!" He had a look of complete shock on his face; Taki had a mirror-like expression.

Aaron laughed. "Haha. I've heard that these artifacts are magical and can alter the flow of time. Who knows– maybe all these items in here sped up time. That would explain why I always seemed to leave here later than everyone else."

He stood up and made his way to a small black safe near his desk that the boys had somehow missed earlier. Aaron put in a combination. "I have something for you Taki, since you seemed so interested in the story and particularly in Beasts," Aaron said. "I think you'll like it."

There was an audible click and Aaron opened the safe door. He stuck his hand in and pulled out a shiny object. It was a medallion of some sorts, gold with a jade-colored jewel in the middle. But this apparently was not what Aaron was going to give him as he pulled the jewel open to revel that it was really a hollow locket. Inside the locket was a smooth, brownish-yellow fang with some string tied at the wide end.

Aaron dumped the fang necklace into his hand and handed it to Taki.

"What is it?" Taki asked him, a little puzzled.

"It's said to be the fang of Dvajrah." Aaron answered, oddly serious. "I've had this necklace for a very long time, but I have never put it on display for anyone to see it. I would like for you to have it. You seem able to find much more use for it than I would. And think of it as a parting gift."

Taki accepted the gift more out of obligation than anything else. The fang was very peculiar– despite how old Aaron claimed the fang to be, its regal appearance and smooth texture made it seem like it was just found today. And it almost felt like the necklace was giving off a minute aura of pure ferocity and raw anger. Taki merely shook the feeling off; he was clearly imagining things, right?

"Thanks," he said happily. Then on an impulse, he put the necklace on. He thought he looked pretty neat with the fang of Dvajrah dangling over his chest.

"Looks good on you." Kai commented.

Wow, so this is the legendary fang of the Beast King. It's magnificent. It feels like it's alive– like I'm alive! Taki smiled sheepishly at the thought, but his grin quickly changed into a look of horror as the fang seemed to melt right through his shirt and skin.


Fun Fact: I actually looked up every one of the weapons, plus many more, Kai points out; in fact, Kai barely covers the basics of what those weapons are. But believe me, I'm not as enthusiastic about them as he is.

So what do you think so far? If anything is confusing, please let me know. Also, you may have noticed I spelled Yugi's last name as 'Moto' and not the conventional 'Mutou'. Truth is, I'm really only accustomed to the English anime adaption (I've only read a few chapters from the manga) so aside from on FanFiction I'm used to seeing his name spelled this way. Sorry, I'm not changing it.

Reviews would be nice! They'll tell me if people are actually interested in the story and how often I will need to update as well as improvements I need to make. Easy on the flames. R. out!