Chapter 38 – Temple
Rua's POV
"We count as one, but we are two," Ruka repeated in a low voice.
"So this part of the Prophecy is referring to both us and our dragons?" Jack mused.
Dark Magician Girl nodded, "Yes, and you will fight to save the universe. Not only the five of you, but all of you. The small addition to the Prophecy was a blurry part regarding the Element of Wind. Sensei explained why the Crimson Dragon chose to give this Element to Black Feather when Life Stream had no master at the time. After Rua become a Signer, the warriors became six and not five."
"So back to the war. It's all of you, along with your dragons, who will fight to save all of the worlds in our universe and seal the gates once again," Dark Sage said.
I felt my breathing become heavier.
Crow suddenly spoke up, "But we have no chance of winning. How are we going to fight the Hyper-fibers?"
"You will fight in different way. First, you have to close the gates among the worlds, so the energy won't escape from one realm to another and cause problems everywhere," Dark Sage explained.
"Second, you have to create the Shield to protect the universe and the twelve dimensions," Dark Magician Girl continued.
"What kind of Shield?" Aki asked.
This was new information and another burden of responsibility if anyone asked me.
"In order to explain what the Shield is, we have to make a small trip."
Crow frowned. "And go where?"
"Into another dimension," Dark Magician Girl replied like it was the most obvious thing.
"But where?" Jack demanded.
"We will visit Exodia's cave."
We exchanged some startled looks before I asked, "Why do we have to go there? Is he a part of this Shield?"
He was a powerful monster; that would make sense, but Dark Magician Girl refuted my thoughts.
"Not only Exodia and his cave are in this realm," the mistress muttered, lifting her scepter and the room become darker again as the torches were extinguished at the same time. "When we get there, you will understand," she added, seeing our confusion and gestured for us to follow.
I scratched the back of my head. What was happening here? I heard so many information in the last few…hours or days, I had no idea, but I thought that if I heard another word, I was gonna pass out. My mind couldn't handle it anymore, but I had a hunch –actually I was 99.9% sure- that we still had a lot to learn.
This was madness. A chaotic mess of information that was actually worse than the chaos that Hyper-fibers were causing. I tried to choke back a groan as we left the Prophecy room and followed the lovely Dark Magician Girl. At first I thought we were going back to the throne room to use the portal, through which we first entered this realm, but the mistress led us to the lower levels of the castle. We descended several staircases and went through labyrinth passages and tiny corridors.
"Where are we going?" I heard Crow's voice break the silence, and I jumped.
It was so dark down here, so quiet, so peaceful and his voice echoed through the chaotic maze of the castle tunnels.
"You want to give me a heart attack?" I muttered and I saw my sister roll her eyes.
"We have to reach the next portal," Dark Magician Girl replied without giving a single glance as she kept leading our steps deeper into the tunnels.
"Why can't we use the same portal from the throne room?" I asked shyly. Maybe my question was silly, but I really wanted to know.
"We are going to use a real portal this time, my child," Dark Sage replied instead of the mistress, but she gave me a slight smile, making me blush a little.
"You mean the previous one wasn't a real gate?" Ruka asked.
The mistress turned to look at us. "No, it wasn't. It was only an Interspaced Window."
"And what's that?"
"It's an instrument of communication through dimensions. Almost everyone can use them, but only wizards can activate them and transform the Window into a Door. So, not only can we stay in contact, but, if there is a need, we can move from one world to another and transfer others with us too, just like what we did with all of you."
"That's sounds interesting," Aki murmured.
Dark Magician Girl continued, "But to do this, two or more magicians are necessary and they shouldn't be in the same dimension. That's the reason why, in order to travel to Exodia's cave, we have to use a gateway and not an Interspaced Window."
And with this explanation, we kept walking through the seemingly endless dungeons until we finally reached a dead end.
Wait, what?!
"A dead end?" Jack asked incredulously, and he wasn't the only one. We all exchanged a couple of puzzled glances.
The mistress chuckled. "It looks like a dead end, but our eyes are not always able to see what is hidden beneath the lines. Whenever you're ready, master," she gestured to the stone wall with her hand.
"After you, my dear," the wizard dipped his head slightly and smiled.
"Alright, our guests can go first," she trailed her gaze on us, "The only thing you have to do is stay calm," she informed and before I could blink, I felt something strange press into my body and blur my vision.
"W-What…?" I tried to speak, but my voice faded and died before the words came out of my mouth.
Everything my eyes were watching, colors, shapes, forms were mixed in a whirlpool like someone upset the reality and integrity of the senses. Only at that moment I saw scratches on the floor. The door wasn't on the stone wall in front of us, but below our feet on the floor where we were all standing.
At the same time the realization hit me, my feet left the ground and I wasn't standing firmly on it. After being suspended for a few seconds, I fell. I was falling as if a whirlpool was pulling me with its suffocating embrace. A slight scream escaped my lips, but the falling sensation didn't last long. The next second, my feet slammed into the ground as I landed with a loud thud on what appeared to be the floor of a cold, creepy cave. I felt the moisture press against my spine and I shuddered.
"What is this place?" Crow rubbed his eyes, taking a closer look around the room.
It was an awful feeling. Like time in this realm had stopped and it was unknown when it would begin to flow again. This cave was so dark and cold, like haunted ruins, as if someone pulled it out of a distant past, forgotten by everyone, even gods.
Aki shivered as fear gripped her and she rubbed her arms. "What are those tablets on the walls?"
I had no idea and honesty, I didn't want to find out. This place was scaring me and I couldn't think of a reason why Dark Magician Girl and Dark Sage brought us here in order to explain what this 'Shield' is.
"Monsters…Duel monsters are on those tablets, which, in my opinion, look like stone cards," Jack said.
"It looks more like the Minus Curse!" Ruka exclaimed.
I felt my blood run cold. Yup, I knew this place was creepy.
"What's the Minus Curse, Ruka?" Aki asked, shocked.
"It was a spell that causes an unusual time-reversing phenomenon to occur in the Duel Monsters Spirit World," my twin explained.
"Is that what this is?" Crow turned to the wizards, fearfully hoping that it was not the case.
"It looks like it, but it's not," Dark Sage comforted us.
"This is the place where all the Duel Monsters Spirits rest for eternity. This is an ancient place, older than many other dimensions. Those stones you see –those tablets- are the life source of every Spirit in our Universe," Dark Magician Girl continued.
"What is this place?" Crow asked again, looking around.
"This realm," Dark Magician Girl presented the room around us with her hands, "is a sacred place where all the mythical monsters and Spirits first came into life."
I started at her, completely bewildered. Then I turned my eyes to the walls again, taking a closer look.
"First came to life?" Ruka repeated hoarsely, her eyebrows rising in curiosity.
Dark Magician Girl nodded. "In our words, this dimension is called the 'Temple' and it's a very sacred ground. You may find it hard to believe, but this realm is the birthplace of every spirit in the Duel Monster World. We all…" I was sure she was referring to her and her kind, "…first came to life here, opening our eyes in this place."
She looked around with nostalgia. For some reason, her words cut like a knife. Freezing. I felt a cold chill creep up my spine. Now I knew why I felt this place was more ancient than time itself. What kind of storyline was resting here, hidden in the shadows of those walls? A great one, I dared to say, and even if I didn't like the feeling that this realm was creating in me. I found myself intrigued, eyes and ears wide open, anxious and ready to hear every word.
The mistress cleared her throat, getting ready to talk. "Duel monsters were first discovered by the humans in the ancient city of Atlantis, more than 10,000 years ago. The man who opened up the gate from his world to this one was none other than Ironheart –a human who first came in touch with the Duel Monsters Spirits. His world was the great city of Atlantis. When the monarch, Dartz, king of the city and also his son, was corrupted by the Orichalcos Stone and tried to destroy the world with an army of Orichalcos Soldiers, his father opposed him. Ironheart and Dartz's daughter, Chris, led a group of refugees from the city to the nearby mountains."
Was I dreaming? I was totally hooked. I was learning about the greatest moment in history, which was as ancient as time itself, the first contact between Humans and Duel Monster Spirits. As a Signer and duelist myself, I was capable enough to realize how important this story was. Not to mention that I was hearing the story from the lovely Dark Magician Girl herself in the same realm where Ironheart first asked for help.
What more could I ask for?
"He went to a temple and requested for the assistance of the Duel Monster Spirits, who later agreed to lend a hand," the cute mistress informed. "He opened the gate from his realm to this one, searching for the creatures of ancient power: the knights Timaeus, Critias and Hermos, to assist them in the battle against Dartz. However, the knights were turned into dragons by Dartz in order to weaken their power."
My breath became heavy as I started to remember the story. I heard of it before in the Duel Monsters history lessons back at Duel Academy. It was one magnificent story, one that could make you shiver and speed up your heartbeat, but now, the story was echoing with a different kind of power. Maybe it was because I wasn't only hearing the story in a classroom, but I was in the same land where Ironheart and his grand-daughter were.
Dark Sage continued with low voice, "Ironheart led an army of Duel Monster Spirits and the Legendary Dragons to battle against Dartz, the Orichalcos Soldiers, and the Great Leviathan. After a battle known as the Battle of the Stone Wasteland, the Great Leviathan was defeated by Ironheart's army. However neither side was victorious. Atlantis sank to the bottom of the ocean. Before his death, Ironheart sealed the doors to the Duel Monster Spirit World, some were sealed away and others scattered across the world, until they would be needed again, leaving behind their spirits and scattered across all the worlds.
"Some were left in the Egyptian pyramids, the Greek temples, the Aztec pyramids, the Egyptian mastabas. The dragons were sealed in crystals and the Great Leviathan had its power drained before being sealed away in its world. Those monsters were the same ones that fought all those hundreds of years ago."
I stared at the stone tablets on the walls with awe.
"Why is Exodia sealed here?" Ruka suddenly asked.
I almost forgot the real name of this realm and why we were here.
"Is there any better place to seal one of the greatest and strongest monsters that ever walked in history than in the same place where every Spirit is resting, including Exodia?" Dark Magician Girl retorted and I had to admit, she had a point. "Even though Exodia's prison is strong enough to keep him here, there was once a time when a human managed to release him from his containment through the use of a human sacrifice and used him in a battle."
"Did this human's name happen to be Amon, and his sacrifice was a young woman named Eco, whom which he was in love with?" Jack asked with strained voice.
Dark Magician Girl simply nodded, saying nothing. Fear gripped my stomach again.
"How…?" Crow knitted his eyebrows, but the blond duelist didn't let him finish.
"Yuusei's file."
Crow shrugged. "What happened after that?"
"Exodia's controller lost the duel and vanished along with its cards and Exodia came back to his eternal prison."
"Simon knew what he was doing when he sealed this monster here," Dark Sage said.
"Are we going to see him?" I asked before I could stop myself. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see this monster or not.
"No, we are not," she declared and I was both disappointed and relieved. "But I'm going to show you some other monsters, and I'm sure you are going to find them equally important, if not more."
I frowned, looking at my sister, but she was as stunned as I was.
"What other monsters? I thought you brought us here to the Temple to explain what the 'Shield' is?" Jack asked.
"Yes. You are right, Jack, but you see…" Dark Magician Girl looked like she was trying to find the right words to explain, refusing to meet his eyes or anyone's eyes, staring at the floor. "Before I explain what the Shield is, I have to show you…actually, you have to learn something important, really important."
"Huh?" Crow and I said together.
"Before we tell you everything about the Shield, you must hear what we have to tell you," Dark Sage said calmly and with a hint of sadness, if I wasn't mistaken.
Alright, something was going on here and I wasn't going to like it.
Dark Magician Girl cleared her throat. "Well, follow me please, this place is bigger than you think and we must find a certain room –the Royal Room."
After exchanging another startled look, we followed her quietly. Torunka followed us at the end of the line. The lovely mistress was leading us deep into the dark tunnels of the Temple realm.
"In here," She showed us a huge door, waving her scepter over the big lock. She unlocked it with a 'click' and pushed it, opening it wide so we could enter.
"WOW!" the word burst from my mouth without me even realizing it, but I couldn't help it.
They travelled again… how many dimension our friends visited in their quest to find Yuusei? hmmm many… What Rua saw in the Royal Room? And am I the only one who sees this Realm (Exodia's cave) as something more than just a world to keep the duel monster down? The time is flying… hurry up!
My special thanks to: The Man with Imagination (x2), Carlos-sama (x2), ObsessedwReading, Scarletleaf66 (x2), Karlina101, CrimsonSnowScarletFate (x2), PrincessWindNight (x2), G.A. AnimeFan4 (x2), MarauderRebelFan and Aysu, for their reviews. And my special thanks to azure blue espeon, Aysu, Pure Red Crane and EndlessNight025!
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