The Path of Virtue

by TheMessengerofChaos

After finally defeating Yugi Moto and reclaiming his title as World Champion, Seto Kaiba is givin a challenge by a man known as Horus, a mamber of an eliete dueling orginazation known as The Saints Yugi and his frends tag along. After seeing Kaiba defeat

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Life of Horus

"Who are you, and what do you want from us??" Yugi asked Horus.

Horus stepped forward then he began to address everyone.

"We brought you here because we could use your assistance dealing with the forces of evil. We, The Saints have been fighting hard to protect the honor of this game and to stop those who use it for evil purposes."

"Evil purposes??" Yugi asked. 'What do you mean by this?"

Horus continued his tale.

"I might as well explain who I am and what I do. As you probably guessed, my name is not Horus. My real name is Mathias Blackheart. I am an American by blood, but some time ago I left home and moved to Egypt of all places. I was always intrigued by the pyramids and by the ancient battles that the Pharaohs fought to protect Egypt from harm. It was in this fascination that I ran into The Eternal Hunters."

'Eternal Hunters, this reminds me of those Rare Hunter creeps." Joey said

"You're not that far off the path with that." Horus answered. "The Eternal Hunters have been in existence since ancient times. They were a secret sect that kept the stories of The Shadow Games alive. They also played Duel Monsters. In fact they were the ones who created the first Duel Monsters cards in later centuries as they spread the game across the Ancient world. They reached as far as present day Ireland and I believe that they reached as far East as China. About 1,000 years ago, they disappeared mysteriously, but once Pegasus revived Duel Monsters they returned. Anyway, I was introduced to the leader of The Eternal Hunters, a man named Set, after the mythological brother of Ra. Set was the man who showed me the role that Duel Monsters played in the ancient past, and showed me how to play the game. I started off playing with just raw power, not altogether different from the way Kaiba plays his deck. I was defeating my opponents and making them quiver with fear at my sight, but something just did not seem right. It felt that every victory I achieved was hollow in some way. I was beginning to stand out from the rest of the group because of this. Everyone else did things differently. They never had any doubts about their skills; despite the fact that many of them ran similar, if not identical decks that do not take much skill to play with. But then one day, all of that changed. I was in a village along the Nile one day, challenging the village elders to duels. After I had beaten them I told them that their feeble skills were no match for my power. And that's when I heard a voice say to me, "If all you worry about is power, you'll never achieve true satisfaction in victory." I turned around and I saw a robed woman standing in the chamber. "Well, what do we have here?" I asked "And how would you know about power? You don't look very menacing to me, how about we duel and settle this matter." I said

"I will duel you Mathias, but not here. Meet me at the banks of the Nile tonight at midnight." She responded. I accepted and told her I'd be there.

As I was preparing to leave, Set approached me and offered his services to help me win.
"This offer is truly appreciated, but I would greatly prefer to face this one alone. She issued a challenge to me and I do not intend to back down. This is my battle Set; please let me fight it on my own. Set's parting words to me were: "Very well then. Go forth Mathias, and bring us victory." I mounted my trusty steed and rode out to the riverbanks where this woman told me to go. After about 10 miles I came across a small tent along the river. She was standing in front of it with are arms folder across her chest as if she had been waiting for me.

"It is my hope that this will serve as an eye opener for you Mathias." She said to me.

We then proceeded into the tent where she had a table set up for a duel. I never even saw her coming. Before I knew what had happened I was defeated. She was using something she called "The Temple Deck" I honestly don't know the logic behind it to this very day, but all of the monsters in the deck were either monks, priests or had some kind of mystical flavor to them. What made the deck even scarier was the fact that it did not have very many powerful creatures in it.

Tea seemed rather intrigued at this. She asked, "Was that the 'Eye opener' this woman spoke to you about?"

"As it turned out it was." was Horus's reply. I played 10 duels against her. In those 10 duels she won all 10 of them in convincing fashion. When it was over I asked her who she was and why she did this to me.

"My name is Elena. I summoned you here this night because I have seen your duels and noticed your feelings of hollow victory. I can help you with that."

"How did you know that?? How did you know of my troubles?" I asked her

"I have used my power to look into your heart and I saw the emptiness within. If you allow me to, I can help you overcome it and allow you to regain a passion for this game."

I spent the next 2 days with Elena and she taught me that my weakness was a reliance on power. She knew that there was more to the game than just powerful monsters. Strategy, speed, and a bond with your cards also played a part in playing the game.

"I'd say that the heart of the cards works for more than just me then." Yugi said. "But why couldn't Set teach you this?"

"Yugi, sometimes you just need a woman to tell you certain things." Tea answered back.

She was becoming more and more fascinated with this story as Horus went on. Yugi gave Tea a slightly displeased look.

Horus continued. "Probably the reason why Set didn't teach me this is because he never knew about it himself. Remember he along with almost all of his followers ran nearly identical decks. Have you ever heard of a Chaos Deck??"

"Yeah, it makes use of creatures of light and darkness in order to summon out the Black Luster Soldier: Envoy of the Beginning. I hear those decks are very powerful." Yugi said.

"It's just finding a Black Luster Soldier is extremely difficult because it's so rare."

"Powerful, cheap, and all too common." Horus responded. "The trouble with Chaos decks is that they are too commonly used among the Eternal Hunters and among other dueling teams. Not to mention that they can really tick a lot of people off because they can pull out a win even if they are getting beaten to a pulp because all you need to summon the soldier is one light and one dark monster in your graveyard.

But anyway, back to the story: With Elena's help I was able to build a deck that no one in any of the nearby villages or even my fellow hunters had ever dreamed was possible. I created what I called "The Highlander Deck" It was a deck that ran exactly one copy of every card in it, and they were designed to make sure that no one would recognize these cards so that no one would be prepared how to fight it. Sure enough I was getting a sense of true satisfaction out of my games. Sure I lost a few here and there but I learned from my defeats and grew stronger. I guess it felt better to use an original deck that I built myself rather than using the same mass-produced style that everyone around me used.
Also I began to spend more and more time with Elena. She was serving as a better mentor to me than Set could have ever been. In fact I had fallen in love with Elena. It was as if she had helped me to unlock the potential inside my soul and bring life back to my game. I had never been happier."

"Hold on a minute." Joey interrupted "What happened to Elena? How come you two aren't together right now?"

"Good question" Horus answered. He gave a deep sigh of sorrow and proceeded with his tale. "One night, I was with Elena. We were in a nearby village giving help to some of the elders with their decks. Suddenly we heard the most horrifying of screams coming from outside. Elena and I ran to a window, when we looked out we saw a group of men wearing hooded robes similar to the Eternal Hunters robes marching through the square setting fire to several houses along the way. It was as if they had gone mad. Elena pulled me into a corner and pulled out a small wooden box.

"They've come for me." She said, "The Eternal Hunters are coming for me. They know what I have." She placed the box in my hands. "Take this. Keep it safe. Ride out of here as fast as you can. When you get far enough away, open the box."

I didn't understand what she was saying. "Elena, I'm not leaving you. I love you."

She insisted that I leave at once. "Mathias the contents of this box hold more power than you can imagine. If Set gets a hold of this he and the Eternal Hunters will rule the world forever. If you keep it from them, you can use it to defeat them. Trust in me Mathias. Leave me and save yourself."

Those were the last words I ever heard her speak to me. I did as she asked and rode out into the desert. As I traveled into the night I looked back and saw the entire village engulfed in flames. The smoke rose as high as I could see. I made my way out to a remote oasis about 100 miles from the Nile. By sunrise I had reached there so I decided to stop and rest. I pulled the box out of my backpack and opened it. Inside was a note written to Elena from of all people, Pegasus himself.

"Dear Elena,

I cannot keep these cards myself any longer. I have known and trusted you and your family for quite some time now. I am leaving them to you for safekeeping. Do not let Set find these. He will do anything to possess them and the magic they contain. It is my hope that one-day you find someone worthy enough to take these cards and use them to defeat Set and his band of Eternal Hunters. I do not know who this person is or will be. But I believe that you will know when you meet this person.

Good Luck,

Pegasus"

Underneath the letter were the cards. The set of Horus the Black Flame Dragon cards. Three Level 4 Dragons, two Level 6 Dragons, and one Level 8 Dragon. When I first touched them I felt s surge of energy flow through me, it was like something inside of me was burning with life. I didn't quite understand the significance at the time, so I did the only thing I could. I quickly left Egypt and returned to the United States and went to see Pegasus in person. Hopefully he would tell me what was so special about these cards. While in the airport in Cairo I saw a newspaper headline mentioning the attack on the village. It mentioned that rescue workers had recovered the body of an unknown woman dressed in priestess robes. I knew it was Elena and that she was gone.

"So what did Pegasus have to say?" Tea asked

"What's up with you Tea?" Tristan said. "I don't think I've ever seen you this interested in some story about Duel Monsters."

"I don't know I just find this story to be really good. It's almost as if I have something to do with it." came Tea's reply

Horus went on. "Pegasus told me the Horus cards held the power of life. If you recall Egyptian mythology, Horus was God of the skies, and protector of the Pharaohs. Since Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis he held the power to restore life just as Osiris held. Pegasus knew of this myth and hoped to use the power of Horus to revive his wife. This set of cards was the very first cards printed by Industrial Illusions. But the Eternal Hunters got wind that Pegasus was going to print such a set of cards. His original plan was to keep the Horus cards for himself and restore his wife to life with the magic he infused them with using the Millennium Eye. Before he could do that however Set and his followers attempted raids to try and steal the cards. Set wanted the power of life that the cards provided for himself and his followers so that nothing could ever defeat the Eternal Hunters. His attempts failed but eventually Pegasus realized that as long as he possessed the Horus cards he was in danger. He gave the cards to Elena for safe keeping because when he was investigating the pyramids for when he revived Duel Monsters Elena and her family served as guides for him. They helped him translate most to the Hieroglyphs on the walls. He knew that he could trust her so he gave them to her in hope that she would be able to use them to defeat Set. She could never figure out how to harness their power so she never used them. Elena must have seen in me that I held some power that would allow me to unlock Horus's power. That's why she gave them to me.

As I left Pegasus's office I made two vows. The first was that I would destroy Set and the Eternal Hunters for deceiving me into thinking they were good when in fact they were evil and for killing Elena. The second was that I would keep Elena's memory alive in me by passing on the knowledge of the game that she gave to me. I used my knowledge of cards plus the Horus Dragons and I created this deck. I knew that the Eternal Hunters would be looking for me so I chose to only show up at events where I knew they would be attending. Yes there are sects of the Eternal Hunters here in America that follow Set and all that he preaches. They've been running rampant though the Regional circuits in pursuit of victory and the spoils thereof."

"What do you mean by spoils?" Yugi asked

"By that I mean taking the rarest cards away from defeated opponents. Just like in Battle City. The Eternal Hunters do greatly enjoy forcing their opponents to wager rare and powerful cards in duels. I fortunately never engaged in this practice as a member, but I have been known to challenge Eternal Hunters to such "Ante Duels" it's the main reason why the three of us have managed to amass such cards for ourselves."

At this Joey was very puzzled. "But tell us how did you three meet and become 'The Saints?'

"Good Question." Horus said. "About 3 years ago I was at a regional tournament. I played people just for fun; I didn't enter because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. It turned out that Maximus and Shinobi were also at this tournament as well. They had met up not to long earlier and were reminiscing about the old days. After I got done beating some guy with a Warrior Deck, I made my way through the backstage area and discovered Maximus and Shinobi together talking. I joined in and we had a nice little reunion. That night we went out for pizza and decided that since we all shared common bonds in our pasts, and in the way we embrace creativity in the game we figured that we should join together."

"Past? You mean you three are old friends?" Tea asked

At this question Horus pulled Maximus and Shinobi over to his sides. He nodded and each of them reached into their shirts and they each pulled out pendants. At the end of these pendants was a small stone that glowed with a soft blue light. At this Joey became very scared.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh No Way!!!" He screamed. "It's that Orichalcos thing again!!! Why do you guys have those stones?? I thought you were good!"

The Saints looked at this and just laughed. "Relax," Horus said "These are not pieces of the Orichalcos Stone. That stone shone with green light, this is blue light. But anyway we might as well let you all in on something else." Horus began. "The three of us were friends as children. The three of us were pretty much inseparable; we always stuck together and looked after each other. Many years ago we each received a message to come at once to a monastery over in Ireland. When we arrived the monks presented us with these stones. They said that because of the bond we shared with each other that we had proven ourselves worthy to be carriers of pieces of The Philosopher's Stone. It is a magical stone forged from alchemy that provides its possessor with eternal youth. We each possess a fragment of the stone and as such each of us is blessed with eternal youth. Once we received these stones we were strongly encouraged to go separate ways so that we would be able to keep them safe. Once we got back to America, I moved to Egypt, Maximus and Shinobi each moved to separate parts of the country. We all still spoke to each other but we didn't see each other for many years."

"How many years?" Tristan asked. He was very shaken by this revelation, and began to wonder how old The Saints were. "Are you guys like older than even the Pharaoh?"

"Well, considering that we received these stones in 1919. It was about 85 years." Horus said, "In fact on that wall over there is a picture of us from just before we went to Ireland."

Everyone turned and faced one of the walls and there was a black and white picture of Horus, Shinobi and Maximus all standing together. They looked about the same now as they did in the picture except for a few years difference.

"Go ahead; look at the date on that thing." Horus said

Yugi walked forward and studied the picture closely. Sure enough in the bottom right corner was an imprinted date. October 26, 1919. He turned around and said "October 26, 1919"

"I know we've aged only a few years since that picture was taken," Horus said "but we are all over 100 years old. Shortly after our reunion, we pooled together some money and bought this old building. It used to be a church but it closed down and was going to be demolished. We bought it, renovated the place and called it Game Sanctuary. We thought it was fitting because we made it a haven for gamers of all sorts to come and relax and have a good time. The "No Ante Dueling" rule is our way of keeping the peaceful atmosphere of the place. We don't mind buying and selling in here but if we catch you anteing, we will throw you out of here. We also bought the old rectory next door and we use it as our home. We also use it as something of a safe house. We at times take in people who have no where else to go, due to some unfortunate circumstances and give them a place to live. We also help them find work in the area and we even train them how to be master duelists as we are."

"What's with that weird bracelet you wear Horus?" Tea asked

Horus smiled "I'm starting to like you. You're always asking good questions." He said. "Shortly after we opened up this place, we got a call from the Monastery asking us to come over. So we all boarded a plane and went back to Ireland. This time the monks told us a story. They told us that the Eternal Hunters were growing strong again, and were seeking power that I possessed, namely the dragons. They wanted the cards so that they could take over the world. They also told us that 1,000 years earlier the Eternal Hunters didn't just vanish. They were defeated by three virtuous men who challenged them to duels and defeated them because the three played in a style the Hunters were not prepared to fight against. They saw the three of us and decided that we should take up the fight against the Hunters this time. To symbolize our virtuous crusade we called ourselves "The Saints". To help us the monks gave us three magical items that were used to defeat the Hunters before. I was given this bracelet, The Millennium Gauntlet, which allows me the power of telekinesis. Maximus was given his glasses. The Millennium Lenses. They afford him the power to project mental images into people's heads.

"Say What??" Joey exclaimed, "What does that mean?"

"Allow me to explain." Maximus chimed in "Do you remember when Kaiba said he wasn't going to let anyone laugh at him like that?"

"Yeah" was Joey's response.

"Well" Maximus said "That is because I used my glasses to project an image into his head of him walking down a street and having everyone laughing and ridiculing him."

"I get it now. You can make people see what you want them to see." Joey said

"Exactly" Maximus responded

Horus went on: "Lastly Shinobi was given a Millennium Pendant. It affords him a combination of telekinesis and telepathy. He can do both abilities but his telekinesis is not as strong as mine because his item does two functions instead of just one."

"But I thought the Millennium Items were destroyed? How do you three each have one."? Yugi asked

"It is true that the seven Millennium Items from Egypt were destroyed, but these items were made in Ireland about 1,000 years ago by alchemists who aided the three virtuous men in their fight to stop The Eternal Hunters. And with that, I believe that is my story.

Tea's fascination just kept on growing with every word Horus said

"So this is what you guys do with yourselves?" she asked

Yugi seemed startled by Tea's fascination with Horus's story. It was almost as if he didn't like it.

"Yep, this is our life." Horus said. "The three of us earn an honest living as managers of this place. In order to keep our identities a secret, we always refer to each other by our real names when customers are in the place. I am Mathias Blackheart, or Matt for short. Maximus's real name is Daniel Clay, and Shinobi's real name is Sean Phoenix. Of course several of our customers have recognized us from our exploits with challenges so in order to protect ourselves we swear them to secrecy with a little help from Maximus. He just shows them a fiery image of them burning and in terrible pain in the pits of Hell. He then tells them that's what to expect if they reveal our identities. We just keep a low profile until we get wind that some of the Hunters are going to a certain tournament to try and wreak havoc. Then we go over and teach them a lesson or two. Or we come out of hiding to issue a challenge like to you and Kaiba. Ordinarily we hold our challenges in neutral arenas so that the Eternal Hunters don't find out where we are but this time we brought you here in hope that you would join us in fighting the Eternal Hunters. We could use someone like you and Joey."

"I'm in." Joey said. "You Saint guys work hard to perfect your Duel Monsters skills, and I don't want to see your hard work be for nothing. I'll help you guys.

Yugi wasn't as enthusiastic as Joey was, but he agreed to help nonetheless. "I'll do it too. You guys will need all the help you can get. But will I have to play with that 8000 life points as well?" He said

"Oh right!! I completely forgot to mention that." Horus said. "That 8000 life point thing is actually the part of the advanced rule set for the game. Not many people like to use it because it makes certain cards like Dark Hole, Raigeki and Harpy's Feather Duster illegal but we play it here and we love it. There are three rule sets for Duel Monsters, Traditional, Standard, and Advanced. Traditional Rules are the rules Duelist Kingdom was played under. Standard was the Battle City format and the current format for most play. Advanced Format works similar to Standard but with the following changes
1. 8000 Life Points instead of 4000
2. Monsters cannot be summoned in Face-Up defense mode unless by a card effect.
3. Only Magic Cards designated "Quick-Play" by the lightning bolt symbol in the top-right corner can be played on your opponent's turn
4. Fusion monsters can attack the turn they are summoned
5. Certain cards are forbidden for use because they are too powerful. These cards include
Raigeki
Dark Hole
Monster Reborn
Magical Scientist
Yata-Garasu
Witch of the Black Forest
Imperial Order
Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of The End
Fiber Jar
Confiscation
The Forceful Sentry
Harpy's Feather Duster
Makyura the Destructor
Change of Heart

"You mean to tell me that you weren't using any of those cards just now Horus?? And you still whooped Kaiba that badly?? WOW!! You really are good!" Joey exclaimed

"Why thank you Joey." Horus replied "That is how The Saints play the game, and on that note, I believe that Maximus is up now."