CHAPTER 8: A Long Past, An Uncertain Future
Some hours later, Tea was in her bedroom. She was lying at the end of her bed in front of a mirror. In her hands was a spiral shaped pendant. In the center of the pendant was a strange, glistening, blue diamond. The diamond had a unique quality to it aside from being blue. In the center of the diamond was a blue flame. It swirled and shot around. Although its movements seemed violent, it produced an odd calming feeling.
Tea sat up. In her mirror, instead of Anzu and Rini, she saw Anastasia standing there. It was a shocking sight. Anastasia and Tea looked so similar to each other that it was like looking into a regular reflection of herself. They could not be told apart if it were not for the fact that they had on different clothes.
"I just remembered something, Anastasia. You were going to tell me about your past and Yami's past. What happened to you all that you were tossed into our time this way?"
"I can surely tell it if you are up to hearing a long story. It is important however as you will have to hear it sooner or later. I mean, it is part of your history and Yugi's history anyway,"
"What do you mean it is part of our history as well?"
"You are actually a descendant of mine. And Yugi is a descendant of Yami,"
"No way! I can't believe that were related! This is major weird,"
"You, Tea, are to be Queen of the Shadow Realm and Yugi is to be the pharaoh, King of the Shadow Realm,"
"Us king and queen? You must be joking. There is no way that Yugi and I could really be a king and queen," Tea denied almost immediately.
"I assure you that you two will one day rule the dimensions. Now, how do I tell this tale? I guess right from the beginning. Well, here goes…
"Long ago in the distant past, great and powerful sorcerers played games of dark and powerful magic. These games were meant to decide who would lead the world. The method of battle was summoning monsters from other dimensions to battle each other. They called it the Shadow Duel. It is nearly the same today as it was those many millennia ago. The only difference would be that these monsters were real and far more dangerous than cards.
"The sorcerers always sensed that the monsters they controlled would become too powerful. To try and put a stop to this they imprisoned monsters in stone tablets. This maneuver would prove however to only be a temporary fix to things. The monsters powers continued to grow and it soon erupted into an all out war that threatened to destroy the world.
"The sorcerers called upon stronger and stronger monsters in an attempt to stop the ones already on Earth. Needless to say, that was a very bad idea. The new monsters turned on the sorcerers and nearly killed them all. Seeing that the monsters could not be easily stopped, the sorcerers planned a ritual to wipe out all existing life on the planet. This meant that all the innocent people who knew nothing of this horrible disaster or this violent plan would be killed along with the monsters that had been brought to this world without a purpose other than to destroy.
"A brave a powerful person came forward and declared that the sorcerers must put an end to their plans. He declared that they were about to commit a high crime against millions of innocent people and wrongfully sentence them to death for nothing that was their fault to begin with. He continued that he had sat by and watched the sorcerers cast the Earth into a period of darkness all for greedy and selfish ambition and could no longer watch them torture the Earth. The brave young man set forth a challenge to the sorcerers in the form of a Shadow Duel. He said that if he won he would have them relinquish their claim of dominion over the Earth and all dimensions attached to it in addition to their surrendering all their powers for good.
"Being as confident in their power as they were, they were sure that an upstart little brat could not stop them from continuing their definite rule. The battle began with the challenger seeming as though he really was nowhere near a match for the sorcerers. He summoned some of the lowest level monsters ever seen and watched as the far superior monsters the sorcerers held easily crushed them. Although they had loss control on many monsters, there were still some very powerful monsters that they still had complete control over.
"The young man who challenged them seemed oblivious to the constant onslaught of high power monsters against him. He maintained a pleasant smile on his face as he stood with his arms crossed and eyes closed as monster after monster of his were erased. He was at the edge of defeat when he began to talk to the sorcerers. 'I hope you have enjoyed your stay in this world up until now. I will now put a final end to this chapter of your lives.' Having dominated the entire duel, the sorcerers laughed at this comment. The boy proceeded to raise his right hand into the air. It seemed that the boy had lost his mind.
"At that point, a massive bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and came straight down onto the hand of the boy. In his hand appeared a staff. He lowered the staff and gently tapped the ground. It seemed that a wave swept over everything and engulfed it in darkness. To be precise, they had all been transported to another world; the Shadow Realm.
"'You are in my home now. This could be your home for all time if you wish. None of you are allowed to return to Earth again. The grave misdeeds you all perpetrated on Earth mandates that you no longer deserve the right of calling the planet you sought to destroy, home. Do not get me wrong. You can return home if you like after this duel, provided you can beat me, but your new home will be here,' was what he said. The duel continued and true to his word, the young master defeated the dark sorcerers in one turn. He summoned an incredible monster that obliterated them from the duel. The monster was easily ten times more powerful than the strongest monster that was running loose on Earth. The ease with which he controlled this monster was a wonder in of itself. Unlike all the monsters that even came remotely close to this monster's power had all turned on the one who summoned them the moment they were summoned. This was not the case however. After attacking, the monster circled back around to the side of the young master. It was completely obedient to him. It was as though to the young man, the monster was no more than a pet puppy or kitten, whereas to the dark sorcerers it was a wicked creature of the darkest design.
"But the trouble did not end there. Despite having bared witness to the awesome power of the young man first hand, the sorcerers refused to accept this as the end. They defiantly proclaimed that they would return to Earth without his approval. Sensing that this could be a long struggle, the young man made them another offer. He offered them a position as his advisors with only a fraction of their power. Being as power hungry as they were, they immediately turned down this offer. It was even worse that a little brat had the audacity to try and push them around.
"The young man was finally tired of all this. He raised his left hand out before himself in front of the evil sorcerers. This maneuver shocked them. It seemed familiar to them all but they did not know where it was they knew it from. The young man muttered a few words to them. These words sent chills up their spines as they froze in terror. The boy then said in an authoritative voice, 'Mind Crush'. This attack scattered their minds all over the Shadow Realm. Those poor foolish men were never heard from again,"
"Whoa, whoever that guy is, he sure sounds incredibly strong. But what did he mutter to them, and for that matter, what's his name?"
"It is strange. Though he was so powerful, he was never known to stop telling jokes. He loved to find the irony in things and make people laugh. But when in battle, he was a serious as anyone could have ever imagined. His exact words at that end were, 'you never even bothered to ask me what my name is. My name is Yamiyugi.' Those were the final words they heard,"
"Yamiyugi? I had no idea anything like that ever happened,"
"Yes. Yamiyugi was the father of Yami. He was responsible for locking away the dark magic that bought this world near its end. He had to round up all the monsters that ran loose and hide them away in another dimension. The majority of them were sent to the Shadow Realm to live in peace. There were a few however, that were far too strong to remain there. Yamiyugi created another place for them. It was an extension of the Shadow Realm and only him and select others knew the location. A gate protects these monsters and prevents evil people from ever summoning them. The doorway is known as the Gates of Chaos. It was named so because if anyone ever found a way to reopen the gates and let free the monsters behind it into Earth, the planet would have to face an unbelievable terror worse than that which it saw before. For this reason, Yamiyugi made it so that only the pharaoh could gain entrance to this region of the Shadow Realm.
"To help prevent anyone from searching for the Shadow Realm, he set up many kingdoms across Earth's landscape including the home of Yami and myself, the Sancrien Kingdom. He also erased the memories of all the people on Earth. It was a fairly simple task since there were not that many people on Earth anyway. Many mythical monsters that you know of today like the Yeti, Loch Ness monster, and Unicorns came about as the result of residual memories in some people from that tumultuous time.
"With order restored, the world was in a time of peace. It was not to last very long however. A vile and wicked man was already plotting to put an end to the happiness. A man named Kiram was the leader of the sorcerers Yamiyugi had defeated. He had been away that day so he did not face the same fate his minions did. After learning of their defeat, he disappeared for a long time. He left to increase his powers to try and overthrow Yamiyugi and take his powers.
"Word began to spread that a man with powerful magic was around on Earth. Yamiyugi was able to capture and imprison him in a tall tower in the depths of the Shadow Realm. Kiram remained there for two years before he escaped that dreadful day. With his powerful dark magic, he was able to make his way to the castle before Yamiyugi even knew he escaped. He came upon Yamiyugi and nearly killed him. They say he was able to significantly drain Kiram of his powers but still lost him. Yami and I were both still very young at the time.
"It was so many years ago but I can still remember Yami promising that he would never let those powers take over the world. Years later, Kiram reappeared. His desire to rule was stronger than ever and so were his powers. Kiram did know that Yami would not be an easy target and a direct attack would likely mean his death but he could not allow Yami to live or else he would never get all the power he desired.
"Kiram returned to the castle once again and was seeking to kill the pharaoh again. He was going after the Shadow Pyramid. It is the item of the pharaoh, the container for the greatest power in the universe. It held the secrets of the location of several other items that contained even more magic, the same magic that was locked away. Kiram would be able to open the Gates of Chaos and plunge the world into darkness. It would be far worse this time around because he would actually be able to control the monsters and there is no telling what he planned to have those powerful creatures do.
"Kiram seemed to have won for a while. When Yami and I discovered that Kiram was in the palace, he had already made it to the pyramid. He had begun the ritual to drain Yami of his powers. There was only one way to stop him. It was highly dangerous however. Yami used the only spell that could stop the ritual. The spell split he pyramid into dozens of pieces and sealed them in a magical gold box. The pharaoh's spirit would then be sealed away into the pieces of the pyramid until the day that a worthy descendant could reunite all the pieces reawakening the sleeping king. Evil forces could not touch the box and therefore be unable to obtain the power, but the pharaoh would be lost until the day a descendant awoken him. In addition, the pharaoh would lose all his memories and need to regain his memories all on his own. To help him on this difficult journey, someone close to him must travel along with him. I was that person. We must inhabit the body of a descendant to make sure that the magic stays locked away and I must watch over Yami to make sure no harm comes his way,"
"You all've gone through so much. I can't believe someone would want to do something like that. You two don't have to worry. You don't have to do this alone anymore. I know that when Yugi does find out, he will want to do everything that he can to help and I will be there for you as well. It always helps to have friends who will stick it out with you. Together, I know that we can beat Kiram and protect this world,"
"Thank you, Tea. That really does mean a lot to me. I know that you will always do your best,"
The two ladies finished their conversation and departed off to sleep. Tea still held the pendant in her hand with the flame inside still burning but calmly twisting and twirling. It gave a warm glow and remained in her hands throughout the night.
