And a bit of a breather chapter here, I guess it's about time. Also, weirdest crossover ever written.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, the song 'Brave Heart', or the characters of Wang Xiaoyun, Song Hua, Ding Libo and Lin Na.
Notes:
1. I use Hanyu Pinyin for any and all Chinese words or terms in this chapter. Therefore, I'm writing Daoism instead of Taoism.
2. On Chinese names: They're structured the same as Japanese names, with the surname first. So Wang Xiaoyun is the full name, while Wang is the surname and Xiaoyun the given name.
3. Many many many thanks to my language partner, who answered all my stupid questions but probably won't even get to read this chapter. She's awesome.
Part V: Asia
Chapter 14: People's Republic of China, Chengdu
Kotae wa itsudemo jibun no naka de kusuburi tsuzuke
tesaguri sagashitemo ga itemitemo mitsukerarenai
Kinou no itami to namida no bun dake ashita wa kagayaki
Sobietatsu dekai kabe o koeru tame no mugen no yuuki
Juudai breathed in deeply and looked around the bar while he waited for the music to pick up, then started singing again.
Wasurekaketeta totemo taisetsuna koto o
Kokoro no soko kara omoidase
He repeated the chorus one last time as the music faded out, and bowed when the karaoke bar erupted in applause. He made his way off the stage and picked up a drink while a new singer took his place. It had been Yubel's idea to come here, once they'd realized they were in China and had found the many karaoke bars. Singing was something Juudai didn't get to indulge in often enough, and it was a nice distraction.
"Hey, over here!" someone called out from the corner of the bar. Juudai made his way over to a small table where three students, two boys and a girl, were sitting. Two were obviously Chinese, but the third had some distinct Western traits.
"You were really good," the third boy told him. "Join us? We'll get you a drink, our treat."
"I've already got one," Juudai replied, sitting down next to the girl and holding up his drink. "But thanks for the offer."
"I'm Wang Xiaoyun," the girl introduced herself. She pointed at the Chinese boy: "And that's Song Hua."
"Ding Libo," the boy with the Western traits added. He held out his hand and Juudai shook it. "You're Japanese, aren't you?"
"I am," Juudai nodded. "Yuuki Juudai, nice to meet you."
"How do you write that?" Song Hua asked. "Wait, here." He got out a pen and a piece of paper and Juudai wrote down the characters that formed his name.
"Youcheng Shidai," Ding Libo read out loud, giving the characters their Chinese pronunciation. "Yuuki Juudai. Nice name."
"Thanks." Juudai smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but it hadn't for a while.
"Is something wrong?" Wang Xiaoyun asked, tilting her head slightly. Juudai shook his head.
"Nothing's wrong, I just had a rough time."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Ding Libo said. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Juudai laughed softly. "Thanks, but you shouldn't worry about it."
Or even know about it, he added mentally. He'd gotten enough people in trouble already. No need to add three more just because they happened to like his singing.
"Where do you all come from?" he asked instead, changing the subject. "Are you from Chengdu?"
"No, me and Song Hua are from Beijing, we're just on holiday right now," Wang Xiaoyun corrected. "And Libo's from Canada."
"My mom's from here, though," Ding Libo explained. "She and my dad met in Beijing years ago. Mom was the language partner of dad's girlfriend. It's a very long story." He grimaced a bit. "But anyway, where are you from?"
"From Domino City," Juudai replied. That wasn't entirely true; he and his parents actually lived in a small town not too far from Domino City, but he knew they'd moved there after his memory got erased. It had been a precaution and in a way he was grateful for it. He really wanted to visit them now. The last time he'd seen them had been over half a year ago.
"Domino City?" Song Hua asked. He hadn't said much yet. "That's where Mutou Yugi comes from, isn't it?"
Juudai smiled. "It is. He's a really great person."
It'd been almost three months since his duel with Yugi. Time really did fly. But he didn't want to think too much about that. He had other things to do, and one of those things was the reason why he was in Chengdu in the first place. If it'd been up to him, he'd have still been in Bergen. Unfortunately he didn't have that luxury.
He sighed a bit and took out a folded note. It was a copy of the original note, which he'd received only yesterday. All it said was to 'come to the source of the Way'. With no real way to figure out its meaning quickly, he'd just decided to take a chance and let his darkness guide him, in the hope it would get him where he needed to be. It had brought him to Chengdu.
"Do you guys know about this?" he asked, placing the note on the table. The three students bent over to take a closer look.
"Source of the Way," Ding Libo said slowly. "Way… Oh! Source of the Dao!"
"So that'd mean the source of Daoism," Song Hua said quickly. "The source would be the birthplace?" He chuckled loudly. "No way, that's just too much of a coincidence."
"Sorry?" Juudai asked, frowning in confusion.
"The birthplace of Daoism -the study of the Way- is said to be on Mt. Qingcheng." Song Hua explained. "And that's where we were planning on going tomorrow."
"You can come along if you want," Ding Libo suggested. "We don't mind an extra person."
Juudai hesitated. Getting these people involved with his own problems was the last thing he wanted. But on the other hand, he didn't know anything about Mt. Qingcheng and they quite clearly did.
Do you think it's worth it?
It's up to you, Juudai. But you can go with them and leave them behind once we reach the place.
"Okay, I'll go with you," Juudai said, deciding to follow Yubel's advice. He hadn't planned on sticking around anyway, but maybe he could get some more information from them.
"Great!" Ding Libo said, grinning. "We're leaving at eight tomorrow. Do you know where Ximen Bus Station is?"
"I think I can find it," Juudai said. He really could. As long as he knew the name of a place, he could go virtually everywhere.
"It's in the west," Song Hua clarified, just to make sure. He chuckled slightly at his own words. "Bit obvious, isn't it? Ximen. West Gate."
"A bit," Wang Xiaoyun agreed teasingly. She glanced at her watch. "Guys, it's already past eleven and we'll need to get up early tomorrow. Let's call it a day."
"Good idea," Song Hua said, draining his glass and getting up. He winced a bit as the person on stage butchered a song about a girl in front of him having to look his way.
"That definitely doesn't do it justice," Ding Libo said, wincing as well as the singer failed to reach a high note. He bent over to Juudai. "Think you can do better?"
"Don't know the song," Juudai replied. He got up and put on his backpack. It lacked Pharaoh's weight, something he still wasn't used to.
"You have a place to stay, don't you?" Wang Xiaoyun asked him as they came out of the bar. Despite the late hour, Chengdu was wide awake.
"Yeah, don't worry about that," Juudai told her, turning left while the other three turned right. "See you tomorrow!"
He'd barely rounded the corner when Yubel appeared next to him, looking a bit worried. Juudai waited patiently for her to speak, but she didn't do so before he'd crossed the street and turned into another one.
"Are you sure it's a good idea? We don't know who sent you that."
"I know," Juudai agreed. "But it's worth a try, don't you think? It might help us to find out where the other parts of the Light of Hope are."
"And what if it's Chaos?" Yubel said. It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation, and Johan had asked the same thing.
"Why would it go to the trouble to get me to Mt. Qingcheng if it can just attack me right here?" Juudai gestured grandly at the street, then did a quick check on the environment. He wouldn't put it past Chaos to attack him just because he'd said it could.
The city seemed clear, however, but Yubel remained unconvinced.
"It's not exactly logical. Maybe it felt like being subtle."
Juudai sighed. Yubel had a point, as usual.
"Tell you what. The moment one of us catches anything that might even vaguely relate to Chaos, we're out of there."
He would've preferred to have Johan with him, if only for the extra power, but Amethyst Cat still hadn't fully recovered, so Johan had decided to stay behind. He'd made Juudai swear to keep him updated, and told him to call him at the slightest sign of trouble. Juudai wasn't really sure what that would accomplish. Johan couldn't teleport like he and Yubel could, and getting to China would take him at least a day even if he managed to book a plane right away.
Yubel didn't say much after that anymore, even when they reached a youth hostel and Juudai got himself a room for the night. She seemed deep in thought, but refused to tell Juudai what about.
"Just thinking things over," she waved his concerns away. Juudai threw a quick look at the other people in the room. They were all asleep.
"If anything's wrong, tell me, okay?" he whispered. Keeping secrets had caused them enough trouble already.
"I will," Yubel said. "Don't worry, just try to get some sleep. You'll need to have a clear mind tomorrow."
"Okay, goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Juudai."
0o0o0
When he arrived at Ximen bus station, Ding Libo, Wang Xiaoyun and Song Hua were already there, along with a white girl Juudai hadn't seen before. Ding Libo waved him over.
"The bus is leaving in half an hour," he said. "This is Lin Na, she's from the United Kingdom. She wasn't feeling well yesterday so she didn't come with us."
"Nice to meet you," Lin Na said. She had blond hair tied back in a low ponytail and was carrying a backpack much like Juudai's own.
"Nice to meet you too," Juudai said, shaking her hand. Wang Xiaoyun nudged her.
"See? Told you he knew Chinese!"
That didn't seem to get the intended reaction. Lin Na looked from Wang Xiaoyun to Juudai, frowning slightly.
"Chinese?" she said slowly, then suddenly grinned widely. "Ah yes, of course. Nice try, guys!"
"Lin Na?" Wang Xiaoyun asked, but Lin Na had already turned away.
"Bus is here!" she shouted. And indeed, a large bus had just arrived at the station. Juudai followed the four students to the back of the bus and sat down in the window seat. Song Hua took the seat next to him and Wang Xiaoyun, Lin Na and Ding Libo picked the seats behind them. It took some time before all the other passengers had safely gotten on board, but eventually, a little past eight, the bus left for Mt. Qingcheng. Juudai read the note again, decided he'd already gotten all the information he would ever get from it, and took out his deck and side deck in an attempt to do some deck building. Song Hua looked over.
"Oh, you're a duelist?"
"Yeah," Juudai confirmed, not taking his eyes from the cards. If the bus stopped abruptly they could scatter everywhere, and it would be a pain to find them all again. "I graduated from Duel Academia a few months ago."
"Wow!" Song Hua laughed. "Mind if I take a look at your deck?"
Juudai studied him for a second, then handed over his deck. Song Hua looked through the cards, his eyes widening.
"Those are some pretty special cards you've got there," he said, sounding amazed. "I've never even heard of half of these. What are Neospacians?"
Juudai smiled a bit. "I've got the only copies. You duel as well?"
"In my spare time. Say, you wouldn't be willing to trade this one?" Song Hua asked, holding up Hane Kuriboh's card. Juudai immediately shook his head and Hane Kuriboh appeared in a huff, angrily flapping his wings.
"I'm sorry, I'm not trading any of my cards," Juudai explained. "We've got a long history together."
Song Hua shrugged good-naturedly and gave Juudai his deck back. "It was worth a try. Don't think it would really fit into my deck anyway, but I came across this card lately, and I thought it looked pretty interesting."
He took out a deck case and chose one card. Juudai took it from him and read the description. His eyes widened slightly.
"Berserker Crush. That is an interesting card. Where'd you get it?"
Song Hua shrugged. "Drew it from a booster pack some time ago. You know what, take it. It's not like I can use it anyway."
"Oh no, I can't do that, I've got nothing I can give you in return." Juudai tried to give the card back but Song Hua refused to accept it.
"That's no problem," he said, smiling. He held up his deck. "I've got all the cards I need."
That gave Juudai an idea. He carefully placed Berserker Crush next to his deck and turned back to Song Hua. "Can I see your deck for a second?"
He was one of the top students of Duel Academia, after all. The least he could do was try to offer some advice. He quickly rifled through Song Hua's deck, taking special note of a couple of cards. It was a pretty standard Beast Deck. Nothing special, but not bad either.
"Not bad," he said after a while. "You've got Rescue Cat in here, that's always a good one. Maybe add something that can get it back from the graveyard so you can use its effect again and swarm the field. Oh, and Big March of 100 Animals. It'll give them all a boost."
Juudai spent the next several minutes discussing strategies with Song Hua, who turned out to be an avid listener. They weren't the only ones talking. Ding Libo and Lin Na were deep in conversation and Ding Libo was frowning. Both of them looked at Juudai and then looked away again when Juudai turned around briefly. Juudai shrugged and continued his conversation with Song Hua.
Before long, they reached Mt. Qingcheng, and Juudai left the bus with the rest of the passengers. It was a sunny day? Despite the early hour, it was already rather warm, and Juudai unzipped his jacket while they walked towards the entrance. The peaks of Mt. Qingcheng were framed against the morning sky. It was beautiful. And yet another deeply spiritual place. Juudai thought he could make an educated guess about the being who'd called him here.
Another one?
Juudai sighed.
I think so. Think they have cats here?
You're on.
"The mountain has two parts," Ding Libo explained. "Juudai, if you're looking for the source of the Dao, you'll need the anterior part. It's said that Daoism was born there."
"We'll go with you!" Wang Xiaoyun suggested happily, but Juudai shook his head and Lin Na put a hand on her arm.
"Xiaoyun, let's visit the other parts first," she said. "I'm sure Juudai needs to do this alone, right?"
"Right," Juudai agreed. "I'm sorry."
"No, no problem!" Ding Libo waved his apologies away. "We'll visit the Jianfu Palace first. Still…" He glanced quickly at Lin Na, who nodded. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Juudai shrugged. "Sure."
"Not here." Ding Libo led him onto the path leading to the first buildings on the mountains, a small distance away from the rest of the group and out of sight of the many tourists. He only looked at Juudai when he'd made sure there was no one else who could hear them.
"Who are you?"
"Sorry, what?" Juudai asked incredulously. "I told you, I'm Yuuki Juudai."
"And I'm willing to believe that. However, Lin Na told me something very interesting on the bus."
"Oh?" Juudai shifted his stance and folded his arms.
"Yes. So what language are you speaking now?" Ding Libo asked.
"… Chinese."
"Are you sure?" Ding Libo asked, though Juudai had the feeling it wasn't a question at all. "Because Lin Na doesn't think so at all. She says you're speaking English."
Juudai would've hit himself on the head if that wouldn't have made him look even more suspicious. Of course. People would always hear him speak their mother tongue. For Song Hua and Wang Xiaoyun that was Chinese, and even Ding Libo had apparently been taught Chinese first, despite his Canadian father. But Lin Na, born and raised in the United Kingdom, would have heard him speak English.
"Maybe she's playing a prank on you?" he suggested. "Acting as if I'm speaking English. How can I speak two languages at once?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Ding Libo said, folding his arms to mirror Juudai's stance. Unseen to him, Yubel was standing right behind Juudai. "Because Lin Na thought we were playing a prank on her. I've known her for over a year, Juudai, and she's never played practical jokes. Why would she start now?"
Juudai sighed. "Okay, you win. I'm not speaking Chinese. I'm not even speaking English. I hear everything you say in Japanese. And you'll hear everything I say in your mother tongue."
"Who are you?"
Juudai shook his head sadly. He never should've gone with them in the first place. "Look, you don't want to get involved with me. Go back, tell the others I decided to go on alone, and if you care about them, forget all about me."
"Who are you?" Ding Libo repeated. "I am not leaving before I get answers."
"If I told you that I was a telepath, would you be satisfied?"
"No. The way you phrased that practically confirms that you're hiding something else."
Juudai sighed again, deeper than the last time. "Right. I am the Herald of Gentle Darkness. It is my duty to protect the twelve worlds. And now that you know that, forget about it immediately."
"You're what?" Ding Libo asked incredulously.
"People have died because I got involved," Juudai said harshly. "Hundreds of people, maybe thousands. I don't want to see you become another number on the list. Go away. Forget me."
"Prove it," Ding Libo stated.
"What, that people have died for me?" Juudai laughed bitterly. "I'd rather not."
"Prove that you are who you say you are."
Juudai unfolded his arms and straightened up. He could do that.
"I am the Herald of Darkness," he announced, and his aura became visible as a dark glow. Ding Libo stepped back slightly. "The Supreme King." His eyes turned golden. "Is that proof enough for you?"
Ding Libo's nod was barely visible. He was scared. Juudai deflated slightly, letting the gold color of his eyes fade and calling back his darkness. Yubel put a hand on his shoulder and he leaned back a bit, even though he didn't really feel her touch.
"Listen, I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt, but you will if you stay near me. I should've never come with you in the first place. Just go back. Have a nice day, visit the mountain. It'll be fun!"
Ding Libo closed his eyes and breathed in and out a few times. When he opened them again, he looked a lot calmer.
"Okay. What about you?"
"Me? I'll be fine. Trust me, I'm not alone, and I can take care of myself," Juudai assured him. "Goodbye."
He turned around and walked back towards the path. He'd come here for a reason. Time to find out what it was.
"Juudai!"
Juudai stopped walking, but didn't turn around.
"Yeah?"
"Back when you were singing on that stage, you had fun. We could all see that," Ding Libo said. "Try not to lose track of that."
Juudai smiled. "I won't. I promise."
He left Ding Libo behind and walked up the mountain with no real purpose in mind. It was a beautiful place; the kind of place books got written about. He deliberately avoided the paths that led the visitors to the buildings on the mountain. He didn't think they'd meet whoever wanted to see them in front of everyone.
"Juudai, you're not starting this again, are you?" Yubel asked. She'd been silent for a few minutes.
"Start what?"
"Shunning people. Pushing them away. You tried that last year and we all know how well that worked out."
Juudai turned around and smiled at her. "No, don't worry, I'm definitely not doing that again. But my friends are used to this, and they know what to expect. These people haven't got a clue. Their biggest worry is probably handing in their homework too late. I can't get them involved, it's not fair."
Yubel nodded. "As long as you've thought about it."
"Hey, I meant it when I said that I wasn't alone. I've got you." He reached out a hand and she took it.
"If you're done discussing your social relationships, I would like to borrow some of you precious time."
Juudai turned around just in time to see a huge white tiger emerge from between the trees. It rolled its eyes at him. "I'm on a schedule too, you know. I don't have all the time in the world and you're not helping."
"Cat! I win," Juudai announced cheerfully. "Now what did we bet for?"
"Technically it's a tiger," Yubel said. "And we didn't bet for anything."
Juudai shrugged. "Feline, same thing. Guess I'll have to be satisfied with the honor then."
"If you're quite done," the white tiger huffed. Juudai looked up, his expression turning serious.
"Yes, sorry. You called us here?"
"Indeed. I'm Baihu, the White Tiger of the West."
"Baihu… Byakko?" Juudai asked. He knew about the White Tiger. It guarded the skies, together with the Black Turtle, Azure Dragon and Vermillion Bird.
"That's how you'd know me, yes. But I prefer Baihu, if it's all the same to you," the tiger said. He shook his head briefly, as it to get rid of a stray thought. "This universe's become a right mess, Herald."
"Chaos?" Juudai asked.
"Lack of balance, actually," Baihu said. "Chaos has to exist. You know that, don't you?"
"I know," Juudai sighed. "Seems like there's not much I can do to stop it anyway."
"And that's where you'd be wrong," Baihu said. "You don't have to defeat it. You just have to restore the balance. Once you do that, it'll be forced to take up its own place."
"If I can't find the Light of Hope…" Juudai said slowly. They had found Johan, but it wasn't enough, and he didn't even know where to start looking for the other parts. A powerful signature like that of the Light of Hope was one he was sure he should have felt if it was anywhere on this planet, but he hadn't discovered anything yet.
"I don't know where or what it is," Baihu said. "But if you can't find it in the present, why don't you look in the past?"
"The past?" Juudai echoed.
Baihu walked in a circle around him, talking as he went. "The people of this country like to write down their history. They like it so much that they have entire chronicles about it, with everything in it they consider even vaguely noteworthy. Then they make indexes on it, and indexes on those indexes, and then indexes on indexes on indexes. And you know why they do it?"
Juudai tilted his head. He didn't see why Baihu was talking about books all of a sudden.
"Because they want to be able to find what happened in the past," the white tiger continued. "Because they need to know what their ancestors did and how they dealt with their problems. If you can't find the answer in the present, then look at the past. The Light of Hope wasn't always broken. Find out what happened to it and you might find the answers you seek."
"But I don't even know where to start looking!" Juudai said, frustrated. "It's not like there's a library specifically about the Light of Hope."
"When did I say you had to go to a library?" Baihu said, unperturbed by Juudai's outburst. "If you can't find the past of the Light, why not try to find the past of the Darkness? It's said that you know surprisingly little about your own past, Herald of Darkness."
"My own past…" Juudai said, weighing the words. It was true that he knew very little about his past life. But why should that be the clue to this mystery?
"Sometimes you overlook the answer because it's too obvious," Baihu said. "Sometimes it was right before your eyes all along. Maybe you should go back to the world you came from, Haou."
Juudai looked at Yubel. "The world we used to live in… Does that even still exist? I never saw anything like it."
He had memories of a beautiful land, with rivers and forests and thriving towns as far as the eye could see. No place they'd gone to had resembled such a country.
Yubel took on solid form next to him and looked down sadly. Baihu acknowledged her with a brief nod.
"It still exists, Juudai," she said. "But you won't like what it's become."
"It does? Where is it?"
"The world we lived in is the Dark World," Yubel told him softly. Juudai stared at her with wide eyes.
"I- You can't be serious!" he said loudly. Yubel had to be wrong. The Dark World was nothing like the country he remembered. There were no forests, there were no beautiful towns, there was only misery and death. Death he had caused himself.
"One way or another, you'll always be the king of that place, Juudai," Yubel said, putting one hand on his back. "For better or for worse."
"But what happened to it? It's all wrong."
Yubel shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember anything after you died in that life, Juudai."
"Then maybe you should go there," Baihu suggested. "That's what I mean, Herald of Darkness. If you don't even know yourself, then how can you find someone else? At least the Healer realized that."
"Who?" Juudai asked. Why had no one ever told him there was still another person with such a title?
"Your friend, the Herald of Light," Baihu said matter-of-factly.
"What, Johan? But he's the Seeker!"
"How can he be the Seeker if he found what he was looking for?" Baihu said slowly, as if trying to explain something to a small child. "He's sought, now he has to heal. And he had the right idea. He found out who he was. You will have to do the same, Yuuki Juudai. Who are you really?"
It was the first time Baihu had used his name instead of one of his titles. Juudai looked down at the great tiger. He didn't have to look far; Baihu's head came all the way up to his chest.
"It will be dangerous," Baihu said suddenly. "More dangerous than it's been up until now. You could die."
Juudai laughed. "I can die here too. Almost did once, in fact. But I suppose people will be sad about it…"
It had been such a long time since he'd seen most of his friends. And his parents… How would they be doing without him?
"Oh, don't worry," Baihu said gruffly. "If you die without passing on the Gentle Darkness, then they won't have time to be sad about. They won't even realize it because their minds will have different things to deal with, Herald of Darkness. There will be no world and no universe, because all the lines will have blurred together. They won't go to heaven or reincarnate, they won't get sent to the moon or the stars or whatever stupid thing they call it these days. They'll just crash. The universe will be in a constant state of imbalance and we're just not made to cope with that."
Yubel frowned. "What do you mean by imbalance?"
"Imagine a world without any opposites," Baihu began, then backtracked. "No, that's wrong. Imagine a world where light and dark, up and down, all exist at the same time without any discernible difference. It's even more than that. Everything would be everything else at the very same time. You'd be everything and nothing, big enough to encompass the universe and small enough to fit between your own fingers – which you could, because they would and wouldn't be part of you at the same time. That's what I mean by imbalance."
The tiger sighed. "Don't try to imagine it, because you can't. Even I can't. The universe is used to opposites. Every force has a counterforce that balances it out. Why do you think we have Order and Chaos? Why is there Light and Dark, Good and Evil? Everything and everyone is balanced. With the Light of Hope splitting, that balance is endangered and it's slowly breaking apart. You've got a time bomb on your hands, Herald of Darkness. If you cannot find the other part of the Light of Hope.. No, even then."
"Even then…?" Juudai asked slowly.
"Even if you have all the parts the balance would still be broken. I'll be fair with you, Herald. There's no way to restore it fully."
"What?" Juudai shouted, shaking his head, "But-"
"But that's not what you're going to do," Baihu said, ignoring Juudai. "You're going to buy the universe time and for that you will need the Light of Hope. It will not restore the balance completely, but it will restore it enough to keep the universe from dissolving."
"And if I fail…?" Juudai asked. "What if one of these forces dies? What if I die?"
"Then no one else will know," Baihu said, shaking his head. "They won't be able to cope. People like you would be lucky, Juudai. Their powers would create a polite fiction in which up isn't down isn't up. But once they've exhausted their powers, it's over for them too."
"So they die?"
"No, that would be too easy. They'll be dead and alive at the same time, because there won't be any absolutes anymore. And at the same time, everything will be absolute. That's what you're looking at, Juudai. Nothing will be the same and yet everything will be. There are no words for this state because every word you'd use to explain it would be inadequate." Baihu sighed. "And at the same time also perfectly adequate. See what I mean?"
"I think I'm not going to think too hard about it," Juudai decided. He could already feel a headache coming up.
Baihu nodded. "Good idea. What I'm trying to say is that this is what the universe is facing if you die, or the Light of Hope dies, or Chaos or any of the other elements in this equation die. The Light of Hope didn't die; it only broke apart. And that's what's saved us now. But the longer you wait, the worse it will become."
"Okay," Juudai said, sighing in resignation. He looked at Yubel. "You're sure the Dark World is where we used to live?"
"I'm sure," Yubel said. "I'm sorry, Juudai."
"It's not your fault. But I guess we'll be going there." He didn't like it, but he couldn't put it off forever. He'd always known he'd have to go back one day, if only to make it a better place. That was his duty as the Herald of Darkness and he wouldn't back out of it.
Baihu gave a low growl. Juudai looked up.
"Time for me to go back," the tiger said. He was looking agitatedly at the East. "Stupid dragon, can't even keep quiet for more than an hour. And you should go home, Herald."
Baihu walked up to Juudai and placed one enormous paw on his shoulder. Juudai staggered a bit under the sudden weight, but regained his balance and stared into the metallic grey eyes of the creature.
"Good luck, Juudai," Baihu said. "And Yubel, take good care of him."
It was the first time he'd used Yubel's name or even talked to her. Yubel shook her head a bit.
"As if I would do anything else," she said.
"Thanks," Juudai told the tiger. "I hope we'll meet again when this is over."
"Take care of yourself first," Baihu said gruffly, but with a definite laugh in his voice. "Though if you don't, I obviously won't know."
He lifted his paw and dropped down on all four legs. "You're a good person, Juudai, no matter what you've done. Don't forget that."
And the great tiger walked away, leaving Juudai staring after him.
"I'm trying my best," he said to no one in particular. "But people still get hurt."
"That's not your fault, Juudai," Yubel told him sternly. Then she smiled and held out her hand. "Want to go home?"
Juudai smiled back and took her hand in his own. "Not yet. There's one more thing I have to take care of."
0o0o0
He found the group on the posterior part of Mt. Qingcheng. Ding Libo and Lin Na were talking, and Wang Xiaoyun was setting up what looked like a small picnic. Song Hua was sitting in the shade of a tree and reading a book.
"Hey, Juudai!" Wang Xiaoyun called when she saw him. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Juudai looked quickly at Ding Libo, who pointed at Lin Na but then looked at the other two and shook his head. He got the message. Only Lin Na knew.
"I found it," he told Wang Xiaoyun. "It was interesting. I learned a lot."
"That's great!" she said cheerfully. "Care to join us? We were just about to have lunch."
Juudai looked at Ding Libo again, who nodded. Good enough for him.
"Sure, if you've got room for one more," he said, walking over to Ding Libo. He lowered his voice so only he and Lin Na could hear. "Do you have a cell phone?"
Ding Libo nodded and took it out. Juudai quickly saved his own number in the phonebook.
"Here," he said, handing it back. "If anything goes wrong, call me. Don't worry about charges or long-distance calls. It will reach me no matter where I am."
Ding Libo nodded. Lin Na bent towards him.
"So who did you meet?" she whispered, throwing a furtive glance at Wang Xiaoyun and Song Hua.
"Would you believe me if I said Baihu?" Juudai said, laughing softly.
"No way, you've got to be kidding," Ding Libo said, looking at him with big eyes. "You really met Baihu? What's he like?"
"Great, big, white tiger," Juudai said. "It's all in the name."
"You have to tell us about it one day," Lin Na said. "Libo likes all that stuff. He spends all his time reading about it."
"I will." Juudai smiled. He didn't know if he'd get the chance, but he had every intention of making it happen. They deserved as much.
"Are you guys coming?" Wang Xiaoyun called. Song Hua closed his book and wandered over.
"Juudai, you up for a duel?" he asked. "These guys wouldn't know a trap card from a field spell. It's been a while since I've seen a real duelist."
"You're on," Juudai grinned, but he was interrupted by Wang Xiaoyun, who grabbed both his and Song Hua's shoulder and forced them to sit down.
"You're eating first. Then you can play cards all you want."
Notes:
1. The song Juudai sings is called 'Brave Heart' and was sung by KENN and The NaB's.
2. Wang Xiaoyun, Song Hua, Ding Libo and Lin Na are characters in 'New Practical Chinese Reader', a series of Chinese textbooks. I tried to keep their stories and personalities as intact as possible (as far as I'm aware, Song Hua is not a duelist, however).
3. Mt. Qingcheng: Said to be the source of Daoism, Mt. Qingcheng lies about 60 km from Chengdu. The anterior part has many Daoist temples and general places of interest.
4. Baihu: The White Tiger of the West, also known as Byakko in Japanese. He's one of the guardians of the sky, together with the Azure Dragon of the East (Qinglong/Seiryuu), the Black Turtle of the North (Xuanwu/Genwu) and the Vermillion Bird of the South (Zhuque/Suzaku). They're part of Chinese mythology and feature rather heavily in Daoism.
5. Daoism: One of the parts of Daoism focuses on opposites and balance. Yin and Yang originate here, and are opposites that do not oppose, but interconnect and are part of a greater whole. They balance each other out.
Comments, concrit and questions welcome as always!