And since you already read chapter 37 here it is! OK this week you had 2 chapters! I will be more careful in the future! I hope things are clearer now and again I'm sorry... I made a mistake with the chapters...

Please go back in chapter 36 and read it! I know I'm terrible! :(

Chapter 37 – Explanations

Aki's POV

No! Surely this wouldn't be pleasant at all. My heart was beating like crazy now, and every attempt to control it was worthless. I didn't understand a single word from the Prophecy, but I did catch some meanings, like chaos and darkness, but since I already lived in that part I wasn't surprised.

The part with the five humans who would travel amongst the worlds… That wasn't a surprise at all. I was living that already. I could guess that we were those humans, but we were no warriors, and I didn't know if I could be one. I had a gift -a special power- and I was willing to use it to help everyone and save Yuusei, of course. But the part that still echoed in my head still making my blood roar in my ears was the sacrifice of one man.

I looked at my friends. Angst was written on their faces too. Both Dark Magician Girl and Dark Sage exchanged a meaningful glance. I swallowed and the mistress cleared up her throat, getting ready to speak again.

"My friends, I understand your fears." Her voice dropped in compassion, but I deeply doubted her words.

Yuusei is our friend, my hero, my special one. How was it possible for her to understand how I felt, and how scared I was?

Rua rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Um… Mistress?"

"Yes?"

"Umm… I want to ask… actually I want to know…" Rua stammered awkwardly.

Dark Magician Girl frowned. "What do you want to know, Rua? I'm ready to explain every word of the Prophecy. Is there something else you want to ask before I start?"

"Yes, well, actually… in which part of the Prophecy are we in now?" he finally asked.

Fear gripped my stomach. The question never cross my mind, but Rua was right. Time was against us, which meant we lived the bigger part of the Prophecy already.

"And how much time do we have left?" the worlds came out of my mouth without me realizing it.

The mistress went stiff, shifting her weight from one leg to another. "Unfortunately, not much. We are almost at the end of the Prophecy, but let's start from the beginning."

"There is still time, my child," Torunka tried to comfort me and my friends.

I shook my head unsurely.

"Dark Sage already explained the first part to you."

Jack crossed his arms on his chest. "Yeah, he did. A time came when the White Rivers started fighting and their war affected everything."

"What a perfect start," Crow sneered wryly.

"Actually, not everything," Dark Magician Girl corrected and we all stared at her, confused. "It's complicated. Their war affected everything in our universe, but not everything in space."

"What do you mean? Is there spaces untouched from the war?" Ruka asked.

"Sure, places like that exist, but it's out of our knowledge. To explain it quickly, the war affected the twelve Dimensions of our universe," Dark Magician Girl replied.

"The twelve Different Dimensions that Yuusei tried to find information on?" Jack asked.

The mistress nodded, "Yes, our galaxy is composed of twelve different worlds. Each one is unique, but they all coexist together in parallel. This is our universe, as there are others, but for which we have no knowledge. You already know some of the dimensions. You did visit them."

Fire Sorcerer said the same, but she also said Yuusei didn't find the information for all of them. Something was telling me that this was vital information. After all, Yuusei was trapped in one world and we better find out where soon. So the more we learned the better.

"The Desert World," I muttered.

"The Winged Beast World," Crow followed.

"The first is Shadow Realm or World of Darkness, right?" Jack said –his tone dry.

Dark Magician Girl nodded again. "The first world was made through darkness; a realm that existed between the Alternate Dimensions of the Duel Spirits," she paused for a moment before adding, "In there are humans who are tortured constantly, being forced to live through the visions of their dreams, being crushed until they give up on their individuality."

"That isn't a world, that is Hell itself," Crow exclaimed.

"It's the most dangerous realm," Torunka continued. "Through the ages, many humans tried to exploit the Shadow Realm, and trapped others there for their own selfish reasons. Just like Pegasus, Marik, Yami Bakura, Yusuke, and more. Sometimes when someone is sent there, they are erased from the memory of others. Luckily, your friend is still in your head."

I grunted. There was no way to forget Yuusei. He wasn't only in my head, but also in my heart. As long as I breathed, I would never forget about him, ever!

"The Shadow Realm existed before life on Earth and is the polar opposite of life, although it's not death," Dark Magician Girl informed.

I swept dropped. For a moment, I wondered if I was the only one who was scared here. The rest of my friends looked calmer than me. "But that world is sealed, right? We can't go there. I remember that we need some special objects to open that world's gate, right?"

My eyes traveled from Dark Magician Girl to Jack. He was the one who threw this idea in the first place. He remained silent, with blank eyes.

"You are right, Aki," the mistress replied and I finally let loose the breath I was holding. "Those keys you mentioned are the Millennium Items and the Shadow Charms."

Rua huffed in relief, too. "Oh man! We are lucky because no one knows how much I don't want to go there."

"I'm so sorry for telling you this, my friends," Dark Magician Girl avoided making eye contact with any of us.

My heart skipped a beat after hearing her. What other unpleasant information we are going to hear?

"But under normal circumstances, yes, the gate to that world is sealed –no one can pass. As you rightly said, you need to have in your possession a special object. Only a Millennium Item or a Shadow Charm can open this portal."

Jack frowned. "What do you mean under normal circumstances?"

"Before I say anything else, there is something you should know. Something really, really important and vital."

Something in the tone of her voice made me swallow my fears and open my ears, hooked. She started explaining with a slow but steady voice. The entire time, I felt weak in my legs and a great need to sit down, but I tried my best to remain calm. It wasn't the right time to be a coward and refuse to believe the truth. When she finished, I felt my head spin around like a top.

"And what if there are no normal circumstances?" Jack asked at the end.

"Like now?" Ruka's voice was dashed.

Dark Magician Girl sighed sadly. "Now, the Hyper-fibers changed it that. Their force and energy's hunger made its way to all of the worlds and opened up every gate. And when I say all, I mean all of them."

My heart pounded in my chest, making me feel sick to my stomach.

"But don't worry, all the wizards and spirits in the land did their best to close the gate to Shadow Realm again and keep it closed," she hurried to add.

"That was one of the reasons of why Ancient Fairy and Regulus were so busy and couldn't come in contact with you, Ruka," Dark Sage informed.

"If this gate reopens again…" Dark Magician Girl suddenly paused, unsure if she wanted to say more. She cleared her throat. "Well, this is the first dimension. Crow and Aki mentioned two more."

"There is the Dark World," Rua listed.

"And Spirit World too," his twin added.

Dark Magician Girl nodded. "There is also my Realm."

"The Neo-Space World and the Human world, are also some more," Jack said. "And that is where our knowledge and Yuusei's file ends."

Dark Magician Girl winked. "That's what I'm here for then. There are four more worlds out there. The Underworld Dimension, the place where Juudai's friends got lost in after they were sacrificed for the creation of the Super Polymerization card."

Jack face-palmed, "How did I not notice? It's obvious."

"You sure you want an answer?" Crow snorted and the blond duelist glared at him.

"The other one is Exodia's Cave, a strange dimension that keeps that powerful beast under control."

"But why?" Ruka asked with a frown.

"This monster has power similar to the Egyptians Gods and one of the Pharaoh's original Millennium Items' guardians, Shimon, had sealed away 'Exodia' a long time ago due to its godly strength. His cave is one of the twelve dimensions."

"I see," the girl muttered.

"And the other two worlds?" Crow requested.

"The other two are the Astral and Barian World," Dark Magician Girl said.

We exchange some startled glances, utter confusion.

"I know, those two worlds aren't well known in your world, yet," Dark Magician Girl's voice had a stranger tone and hinted that she knew something no one else knew.

"Yet?" Crow reiterated with wonder.

"Barian World, it's not a physical world, but a world made of various powerful energies," Dark Magician Girl pointed out, ignoring Crow. "The Barian World bears animosity towards the Astral World and seeks to destroy it. However, the two worlds cannot directly interact with one another as both are made of energy. Neat, pure energy."

"No physical form?" I asked.

"No, not at all," Dark Magician Girl affirmed. "And you don't have to worry about those worlds. They also need keys to open up their gates, but only under normal circumstances as well. So that means the White Rivers' war can open the portals easily."

"So that's all of the twelve dimensions of our universe: the Shadow Realm, the Desert World, the Winged Beast World, the Dark World, the Spirit World, Neo-Space World, the Human World, the Dominion of the Beast World, Exodia's Cave, the Underworld Dimension, Astral and the Barian World," Dark Sage summarized.

There was a dead silence. No one dared to breathe as their words slowly started to set in.

Crow cleared his throat. "So… the Hyper-fibers' war affected only those twelve dimensions because they make up our universe, right?"

Dark Magician Girl nodded. "Right! And now, let's look at the second part of the Prophecy, shall we?"

I grimaced upon hearing that. She was making it sound like we had another choice, but the truth was that we definitely didn't.

"Five humans will travel amongst the worlds, struggling without a choice. Two women and three men, but neither are alone," she repeated the words.

"This is what Hanako told us in the Winged Beast World, only worded a little bit of differently, but the point is the same," Ruka remarked.

"But she also said that this part of the Prophecy changed and there are not five, but six humans," I filled.

"What?" The mistress looked surprised for a moment, but then she smiled and relaxed. "Ah, yes, news travel fast, but it worked out like a broken phone."

"You mean there is no change?" Jack concluded.

"Technically, no. There is still five, but the answer is also yes, something changed about the number."

"Can you spell it out and leave the riddles for another day?" Jack tried to keep his voice calm, but it was clear as day that he was running out of patience.

"Of course I will," Dark Magician Girl assured. "You see, there are five humans who traveled amongst the words. Those humans are you," she pointed to us with one hand. "Two women and three men!"

"What?" I gasped. Then my eyes widened as I realized. "Of course… Ruka, Jack, Crow, Rua, and myself."

Dark Magician Girl winked. "There you go, you said it yourself. Two women and three men! Yuusei didn't travel with you, because he was already here, before you opened the Momentum's gate."

"Alright, that is us," Jack said utter confusion, "but then why did Hanako, and all the others affirm that there was one more man?"

"Because there is," she insisted and opened her mouth again.

"Did the Prophecy change or not?" Jack cut her off.

"There wasn't a change in the prophecy, but an addition. It talks about five people who will be traveling, but the Warriors are six. If you noticed the part that says neither alone," she finally explained.

"That means Yuusei?" I asked at the end.

She nodded. "Yes… and no."

"Again!" Rua exclaimed, holding his head with two hands, "Oh man! All the answers are yes, but no, or no, but yes? Why must things be so complicated?"

Poor Crow nodded with the same expression on his face.

Dark Magician Girl chuckled. "Don't worry, Rua. I will explain it. Alright, it means Yuusei, but not only him. Because the next line says each count as one, but they are two."

"Now, what's that supposed to mean?" Jack burst out.

Dark Magician Girl looked at him with a strict glance and for once again, Jack shut his mouth. "Right. What does this mean?" She winced and turned her back to us, lifting her scepter. "I will show you who the rest are to help you understand it fully."

Suddenly, over a dozen torches blazed at the same time, illuminating the room from corner to corner. The room was much bigger than it seemed to be and looking more closely at the walls, I noticed paintings and drawings.

"What are those?" Crow stared at one of the paintings, but it was Ruka who caught our attention.

"No!" she cried and covered her mouth with both hands.

"Ruka, what's up?" he brother asked and I turned my attention to the walls.

A strange painting was hanging there. It was the Crimson Dragon itself and our ace monsters on the battle field. I immediately recognized the enemy and shivered at the view. It was so dark and so… alive. It was like the painting was real, like I was watching the past come to life before my eyes.

"The Earthbound Gods?"

"That is the ancient battle," Ruka seemed to force herself to talk. "I've seen this battle before in my visions."

I swallowed the knot on my throat. So this is what she saw?

"And not only this battle, my friends," Dark Magician Girl informed and pointed to show more.

The room was filled with paintings with battles, but not all of them had the Crimson Dragon in it.

"Those are the Windows of the Past." The mistress' voice was cold like ice, and I felt the temperature of the room fall sharply. "They represent the most important events that took place in the world. Ever since the beginning of time, many battles were fought for the salvation and preservation of the balance. Some battles were fought with ancient beasts, such as the Legendary Dragons or the Egyptian Gods, others from the Crimson Dragon and his warriors."

"The Signer Dragons," I murmured.

"The Elemental Dragons," Rua corrected.

The mistress' voice remained cold and strict as she continued. "Exactly. You mastered these dragons with eternal bonds. You cannot fight without them and they cannot fight without you. You count as one."

My special thanks to azure blue espeon, Aysu, Pure Red Crane and EndlessNight025!

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