Trial number two time! Donuts are good, by the way.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters
Game Twelve: Light and Shadow
"Anyone want to tell me why the sun is trying to burn a hole in my eyes?"
Joey's exclamation wasn't too far off the mark. The sun was incredibly bright, and the area was hotter than the desert they just exited from. The area was roughly a normal landscape, with a few scattered mountains and a crevice nearby in a valley. What took the group by surprise, however, was the fact that there were clouds around them…below the cliff.
"Looks like we're on a floating island," Tristan muttered. "Everyone keep away from the edge unless you're ready to skydive without a parachute."
"That sounds like fun," Joey remarked under his breath.
Yugi took a quick look around for anything suspicious, but was unable to find anything more out of the ordinary than he would have expected. I wonder what our challenge here is going to be…
I'm not sure, Yami replied, But I have no doubt that it'll be tougher than our last.
The boy nodded, but as he was about to turn and speak the same to his friends, the weakness and exhaustion from the previous encounter returned to him in a rush, causing him to collapse to his knees and slump to the ground.
Tea was the first to notice. "Yugi!" She cried, rushing to him. "Are you okay?"
There was no answer; Yugi was out cold. It didn't help to relieve everyone's worrying, but after quickly checking him over they decided that all he needed was some rest. Sighing, Tristan quickly scouted out a place to recover. It was only a matter of moments before he spotted a suitable spot. "Over there," he said, pointing behind them. "Let's duck into that cave."
Everyone agreed, and both Tristan and Joey carefully carried Yugi into the small cavern and gingerly set him down once there. Tristan sighed in disappointment. "Poor guy," he muttered. "He looks exhausted."
"I can't say I blame him," Solomon replied, even though the statement wasn't directed his way. "He single-handedly cleared that last trial. That armor probably drains more of his energy than we may think, but he's not about to answer our questions about it any time soon."
Joey grinned. "Then if that's the case, I say it's high time we repaid the favor." Standing, he gave a quick nod to Tristan. "Let's go."
Before Tristan could agree, a bright light shone from outside. The four of them (Yugi was still resting) raced outside to investigate, only to find that the light had faded upon their arrival, taking the form of another papyrus scroll. "Next clue, I guess?" Joey mumbled, looking slightly annoyed.
Solomon hardly needed a cue. Picking up the scroll and opening it, he cleared his throat. "Seems like it," he responded.
Once a day, the unbreakable stone appears in the Valley of Light.
To achieve the impossible, fight with a power that's greater than physical might.
"Doesn't sound too easy," Tea muttered. "Especially that bit about the unbreakable stone…"
Joey was still smirking her way. "Sounds easy enough to me," he replied. "I'm in." With a triumphant expression, he began to leave. He paused, however, when Tea sent a nervous glance back to the cave. With a kind smile, he put a hand on her shoulder. "You're worried about Yugi, aren't you?"
Tea nodded. "Yeah."
"Why not stay here and keep an eye on him?" Tristan said. "We can handle this. Yugi needs his rest, and if he wakes up and wonders where we are he'll probably need someone to explain what's going on anyway."
"Okay," the girl replied, smiling weakly. "Good luck."
With that the group parted, and Tea was left with the scroll and a sleeping Yugi to watch over. Wiping off his forehead with a damp rag, a worried look crossed her face as she looked outside the cave at the place her other friends once stood.
Hang in there, everyone…
The crevice was incredibly deep. Joey had a difficult time getting down, but Solomon had it even rougher and they ended up using alternative methods to help the old man down (namely Joey's Baby Dragon). Once below, the sun shifted in the sky and the crevice lit up bright as day.
"There's our valley of light," Tristan remarked, his voice a mixture of annoyance and satisfaction as his eyes adjusted to the change of brightness. "Now we just have to find that unbreakable stone…"
It didn't take them long to find it. A large, blank monolith sat atop a large stone altar at the end of the valley, which was only a few yards away. After approaching it, Joey crossed his arms. "So what now?" he said. "What'd the riddle say we should do?"
Solomon didn't take long to answer. "It said something about achieving the impossible by using a force greater than physical might…"
"Achieving the impossible," Tristan repeated. "Sounds like we'll have to break this unbreakable stone, if you ask me." Opening his armlet, he quickly launched Thunder Kid to attack the stone. An enormous electrical force emerged from the lizard's antennae, but as the lightning faded, the stone remained unscathed. "Not even a scratch?" he cried in shock.
Joey shook his head. "I have a funny feeling that there's more to this test than that stupid piece of rock," he said. When he turned around, his suspicions proved to be correct: a humanoid creature leapt from the sky and landed not too far from them. The instant it landed, the sun's rays reached the altar, and the three of them were temporarily blinded.
Squinting through the light, Tristan made out the strange creature: it was definitely made of glass or some other sort of material. It couldn't be too hard to beat, but if they were going to break the stone…
His thoughts were quickly interrupted when the monster lifted its arms, beginning to glow with a prismatic light. "Joey! Watch out!"
A beam raced from the creature's square chest and nearly slammed into the blonde, whom leapt out of the way just in time. "Tristan!" The blonde shouted. "What's going on?!"
"I don't know!" He cried. "But if we're going to find out how to break this rock, then we'll have to get that thing out of the way first!" As he finished his sentence, the humanoid fired another laser…this time at Tristan.
"Look out!"
The brown-haired boy barely dodged in time as the beam slammed into the stone behind them. As he began to stand again, he looked at the stone as the sweat rolled down his brow. If I hadn't moved in time, I'd be the one with a hole through my side instead of…wait a sec…
Tristan closely inspected the spot where the laser had smashed into the stone. There was a very small and easy-to-miss indication of it, but the stone had a tiny scratch on it…a hole, even. It all began to make sense. Since the island was in the sky, the sun's rays were more intense than when they were on the ground, and that would mean…
He sent a smirk at the glass humanoid. "Hey, chandelier boy! Let's see how good your aim is!"
You will never escape! Surrender, Pharaoh!
But Yugi still ran. He had relinquished his body to Yami, whom was already sprinting at top speed and not making progress. A dead end quickly arrived, and they spun around to face the strange shadowy creature that was following them. Glancing at his hand, Yugi noticed that the Dark Magician's armor had once again covered him. Perhaps this time he could face the beast.
But then a light shone, and the armor shattered into countless pieces. Yami screamed in agony as the shadow sent a beam of destruction for him…
"NO!"
Yugi awoke with a start, sitting upright immediately and wiping a cold sweat off of his forehead (which turned out to be sweat and water for some odd reason). Catching his breath from the scare, he found it a bit easier to relax now that he knew it had only been a nightmare, and not a real occurrence…
The boy rubbed his head as he stood. How'd we get in here? he wondered.
"Looks like you're finally awake!"
Yugi jumped a bit at first before recognizing the voice as Tea. Grinning, he exited the cave. "Yeah," he responded once outside. "I feel a lot better now. I guess that armor is just a bit hard to get used to…" He glanced around. "By the way, where is everyone?"
Tea absently fingered the papyrus scroll containing the trial's riddle. "They went to try and solve the next challenge. This is the riddle that showed up." She handed the scroll to Yugi, whom unrolled it. "Any idea what it says?"
"No," he responded. "But I know someone who does."
There was a small and suspicious breeze and Yugi had relinquished control to Yami. "The trial of light and shadow," he began quietly. "Once a day the unbreakable stone appears in the Valley of Light. To achieve the impossible, fight with a power that's greater than physical might."
Yugi appeared in spirit form next to Yami, whom had furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Any idea what it means? The boy asked.
Yugi, he replied, This is only half of the riddle.
Half?
Yami nodded physically, deciding to fill in Tea as well. "This is the trial of Light and Shadows, but this only mentions Light…"
Tea groaned and lifted an arm to shield herself from the sunlight. "Can't we think about this in the shade before I melt?"
Both Yugi and Yami snapped to attention. "That's it!" With that, Yami jogged back into the cave and opened the scroll again. Tea followed, and what they saw surprised them.
"The symbols changed?" Tea said.
Yami nodded. "Exactly. You suggested that we read this in the shade, and that was what we had to do to see the message of the shadows."
"So, what does it say?"
As Yami read, he froze, his eyes widening in shock. Yugi, our friends are in danger. We have to find them now!
"I don't know what you're trying to do, Tristan," Joey grumbled loudly, "But whatever it is, I don't think it's productive!"
Tristan was still smirking. Almost there…
Another beam shot from the glass humanoid and the hole in the rock deepened. Grinning, Tristan shot a quick look to Joey. "Do me a favor, Joey! Distract this guy!"
"Not a problem," Joey replied, quickly loading and firing his Flame Swordsman. With a whirl of flames, the enemy creature quickly refocused its attention while Tristan commanded his Thunder Kid toward the stone. A bright clash of lightning slammed into it, and the cracks grew to the entire rock. Within moments, it crumbled to bits.
"Good job!" Solomon cried. "We cleared the test!"
"That leaves one thing left," Joey agreed. "Let's get rid of glassboy. Go, Flame Swordsman!"
Joey's trusted companion lunged forward, and with a swing of its sword an inferno erupted, consuming the humanoid monster and shattering it to smithereens. Just as the group began celebrating, however, a rumbling was heard behind them. Tristan gritted his teeth nervously. "I get the feeling we're far from done," he groaned.
Yami and Tea carefully scaled the side of the cliff, careful to watch their step. For some reason various chunks of rock had vanished, and the pathway was even steeper than it probably was before whatever battle had happened earlier.
"According to that riddle," Yami said vaguely, "Once the creature of light is gone, a more dangerous opponent appears."
"Then we should find them before that happens, right?" Tea asked.
"I just hope they'll be all right."
As they gazed down the cliff, however, they noticed that they were too late. A strange warrior clad in black armor stood among a heap of rubble, a pair of razor-sharp blades replacing its arms. Yami wasted no time in plucking his Dark Magician capsule from his belt.
"Yugi, no!" Tea cried. "It's too dangerous!"
But it was too late. In a flash of violet, both the Dark Magician and Yami were gone, and their form was racing down the side of the cliff.
As Yami descended, he sliced through falling rocks and debris with expertise, landing between the shadow warrior and his friends. As the dust cleared, Yugi's Dark Warrior form could clearly be seen. His glare was even clearer. "It's about time I finished this."
The shadow warrior raced toward him, and Yami blocked cleanly, shoving the warrior back before blasting it with a burst of Dark Magic. The shadow, taken completely by surprise from the attack, stumbled back and landed on the ground with a thud. Yami lowered his staff.
Joey took that as his cue. "Flame Swordsman!" He cried. "Finish this now!" The swordsman reared back his blade as it set aflame…
"Stop!"
…and it landed against Yugi's armguard.
Joey recoiled in surprise and recalled his Flame Swordsman. "What's going on?" he asked. "Don't we have to beat him?"
"No," Yami responded, gesturing to the chest that had appeared in the midst of the rubble. "See for yourself." As everyone gave him questioning looks, Yami removed the Dark Warrior armor and began to explain. "The trial was called the Trial of Light and Shadow, but the part that you initially read only mentioned the half about light. When I read it in the shade, the other half was revealed:
When light is extinguished the true test begins, for a creature of darkness it brings.
But only the righteous and peaceful may pass and receive the endowment of wings.
"When the chest appeared, that meant that the creature was no longer a threat, so I stopped Flame Swordsman." With that, he opened the chest, revealing several pairs of feathered wings.
"Well done."
The entire group spun around to see a cloaked stranger walking towards them – one that Yami and Yugi recognized. Yugi, that's the cloaked stranger that we saw in the sandstorm!
He's back?!
"This trial was a test of your character," the stranger continued. "Had you continued your attack you would have failed. By choosing the way of peace, however, you have once again proven your worth."
"Who are you?" Yami demanded, suspicious. "Why do you know so much about this place?"
"My name is of no consequence, Pharaoh," the man replied, surprising Yami for a moment, "But I can assure you that I am here as a friend, and I oversee these trials. Congratulations; you have passed the second trial."
A small shimmering sound caught Tea's attention and she glanced down at her pendant. "He's right," she said quietly, observing the necklace she wore. "The second stone just lit up."
The stranger nodded. "Three trials remain," he continued, "And the most difficult of tasks is still yet to come."
"Wait," Yami said sternly, "What happens if we fail these trials?"
The man gave a bitter and sad look to the spirit. "You will remain trapped here until the next warrior arrives to free you."
"And if we win?"
"You will be acknowledged the true king and an incredible power shall be yours."
Incredible power…? Yami gritted his teeth. He knew there was a reward for the game, but something definitely seemed suspicious about this one. "But I don't want such a power!"
"There are those who do, Pharaoh, and you must claim that power before they do."
Something in the man's voice as he disappeared gave Yugi goose bumps. I have a bad feeling about this, he said, But I don't think that man is an enemy.
Yami nodded. He knew he could trust Yugi's judgment on someone's character, and this time he knew it was no different. Even so, he still had his doubts. I can only hope you're right…
To be continued…
Well, there's chapter twelve. I made it longer for you. n.n Trial three is next!
