0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DUEL FIFTY
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fault of Arrogance
Virtue of Wisdom
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
The three Doomdreamers entered the observation chamber once again. As they did, a holographic screen appeared, and the Triad watched them enter.
"Ah, your excellences," said Tiberius. "You'll be pleased to know that the plan was successful… Those three Shadowchasers have been successfully disposed of…"
The Triad glared at them, clearly not very pleased at all.
"What?" said Tiberius, nervously.
"That's very good, Tiberius," said the First. "Unfortunately, while you were disposing of those three Shadowchasers, a whole regiment of them has formed on the shore of the Gold Coast, led by Stormbringer himself!"
"Plus, the Chicago Police Department is raiding the TRUE Building as we speak," said the Third. "And Galti is speaking to the FBI."
"You'd better think of something fast," said the Second, "because that Temple's defensive grid is NOT going to hold forever!"
Tiberius gulped. He had done the last thing that even the most insane Doomdreamer would ever want to do… He had made the Triad angry…
"My Lords, please!" he said. "We'll be ready to perform the Ritual of Displacement in just over forty-eight hours! If Jalal is still in the city then, we might be able to take him out in the process!"
The Triad glared at him again.
"Uh…" said Tiberius, as sweat poured down his face. "I guess… I guess we can drop the sermons and all the other parts of the ritual that we all know are a bunch of baloney, and have the final incantations ready to cast in twenty-four hours…"
"You'd better…" said the First. "This whole plot to reveal the Temple to lure those three to their doom was your idea… If the whole plan falls apart because of it, you three will wish you had lost those Shadow Duels that have you now claiming victory…"
They vanished.
"Does this mean that the banquet is off?" asked Lorelei.
"Yes!" shouted Tiberius.
He rushed over to the other side of the room, and opened a closet. Inside were three long black and purple robes.
He quickly put one on, and then tossed the other two to Lareth and Lorelei.
"Since we haven't heard any thunder for a while," he said, "we can assume that those storm clouds I summoned to protect this place from the sun are now gone. Fortunately, it's eleven-fifteen at night, so the sun is not an issue yet. To summon some longer-lasting storm clouds, I'm going to need the Champion of Elemental Evil to awaken the full powers of the Tabernacle."
"Uh, Lareth, that's you," said Lorelei, as she and Lareth slipped their vestments on over their other clothes.
"I trust you know what to do," said Tiberius. "I hope you managed to get what we needed."
He opened a set of double doors, revealing a stairway going up.
Lareth looked at the Diabound Kernel card.
"Indeed I did," he said. "The power of elemental Earth that this demon stole from Naturia Exterio should be sufficient to meet our needs."
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Meanwhile, Leorin rushed into the dark dungeon where Dugan was being held prisoner.
"Ben!" shouted Dugan when he saw him. "Run for your life! There's a mad demon coming!"
Leorin looked at the hourglass.
"When this thing runs out, right?" he said.
"Yes!" shouted Dugan. "Run for…"
Leorin quickly turned the hourglass upside-down, and the timer was reset.
"Hey…" said Dugan. "Good idea…"
"Here…" said Leorin. "I'll pull you out of there…"
He reached for Dugan's hand.
Then he screamed as he was shocked by electricity.
"Not such a good an idea…" he said, shaking his hand.
"I think Tiberius used that device on the wall," said Dugan. "I can't see it… I can't exactly turn my head…"
Leorin rushed over to the fuse-box device with the six buttons.
"No labels on these, I'm afraid…" he said. "Just six colored buttons."
"Are there red and blue ones?" asked Dugan.
"Yeah…" said Leorin.
"Stay away from those two!" said Dugan. "I remember an old jargon about color-coded buttons and wires… It went: 'red, we're dead, blue, we're through, yellow, we're mellow'!"
"No yellow here," said Leorin. "The closest is a gold one…
"Wait…"
He remembered something that Marik had said when they had first met…
"Look at the game of Duel Monsters… Attributes oppose… Fire and Water, Earth and Wind, Light and Dark…"
"That aura of energy holding you is green," mused Ben. "Green means Wind in Duel Monsters…
"Earth opposes Wind… So maybe if I hit the brown button, it will create an opposing energy field, and the two will cancel each other out…"
"I guess it's worth a shot…" said Dugan.
"Here goes nothing…" said Leorin.
He hit the button. The aura holding Dugan undulated for a minute, and then shattered. He fell to the floor.
Leorin quickly looked at Dugan's watch.
"Eleven-twenty…" he said. "Hurry, Nichole and Karl don't have much longer…"
"What?" asked Dugan.
"Just follow me," said Leorin. "I'll tell you on the way."
Dugan snatched up his blunderbuss, and they rushed from the room.
"That demon is going to be pretty cheesed-off when it comes and doesn't find an offering," he said.
"Not our problem," said Leorin.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nichole had quickly found one drawback to being a cat: fleas. The itching and biting was making her scratch constantly.
"Take it from someone who knows, Nichole," said Hank. "Scratching only makes it worse."
They were both shocked as Dugan kicked down the door. Nichole started to meow frantically.
"Good lord, Nichole, is that you?" gasped Dugan.
"I'm afraid it is," said Leorin. "Let her out, I think the antidote is in this room, and she only has twenty-five minutes to get it.
"Oh yeah, it's here…" said Hank. "But I'm not telling you where it is…"
Dugan let Nichole out of the cage while Ben started to search the bureau.
"Cold," said Hank. "Cold. Colder. Even colder. Sub-zero… Wait, warmer…"
Nichole hissed at him.
"Maybe the antidote isn't even in here…" said Dugan.
Nichole mewed sadly.
"Wait…" said Leorin. "I'll wager it is. Lorelei is part succubus, right? I'm guessing that she did the same thing to a lot of former lovers, which means that she used Baleful Polymorph in this room many times…"
Dugan looked at him.
"Wait… I get what you're saying!" he said. "Lorelei must have stashed an antidote here in case she herself was exposed to the potion…
"So it must be in some place where a cat could reach it!"
They looked at the bed. Then Leorin reached under the bed.
"Bingo!" he said, pulling something out from under it.
It was a small, glowing crystal sphere.
"A disenchanter sphere!" he said. "Nichole, look into this… Look closely…"
Nichole stared into the sphere, and it glowed even brighter…
Then there was a burst of energy, and she fell to the floor, transformed back into her human self. And she was infuriated.
"OOH!" she fumed. "Wait until I get my hands on that cat! I'm gonna turn him into a purse! I'm gonna…"
Then Ben and Dugan covered their eyes. Nichole stopped short when she realized why…
Her clothes were lying in a pile on the other side of the room, where Lorelei had left them. She was naked as an infant. Hank was nowhere to be seen. The cat clearly had some avenue of escape.
"Nichole, get dressed, and hurry…" said Dugan. "Karl's time is running out fast…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fortunately, Nichole's Duel Disk, sword, and the rest of her equipment were all there. Lorelei had apparently been too overconfident to believe that Nichole would free herself and find the sphere before it was too late. As Nichole ran down the hallway with her companions, the embarrassment turned into rage and a desire for revenge, not against Lorelei's father who had mocked her, but against the one who was truly responsible.
At fifteen minutes to midnight, one of Dugan's explosives blew open the door to the Orb Chamber.
They rushed over to Karl, who was still alive, but clearly in the middle of a horrible nightmare. Sweat was pouring down his brow, and he groaned and writhed in his fitful sleep.
"Karl!" said Nichole.
She shook him and slapped him.
"Wake up! It's us!"
"Wake up Karl!" said Leorin.
Karl didn't wake up.
Then Leorin turned to the Orb…
Then the unexpected happened. His Duel Disk started to glow with golden energy. Nichole gasped as the holy symbol around her neck started to glow with the same energy.
After a few seconds, the Orb turned gold, and an invigorating light filled the whole chamber.
Karl slowly started to come to, and so did the prisoners in the cells.
"What…" said Karl. "The thing that was chasing me… It just vanished and I felt the biggest healing surge in my life…"
"Karl," said Shelly's voice. "Karl!"
They turned to Shelly, who was reaching through the opening in her cell.
"I… I think I wanna go home now…" she said, sadly.
Karl sighed. He pushed some buttons on Sal, and she rebooted.
"I don't know what you did, Ben," said Dugan, "but it seems to have helped everyone here…"
"And I think I can unlock all of these cells…" said Karl. "We can ship these people to Shadowchaser Headquarters…"
"No we can't…" said Nichole. "According to Graves, no-one can get in or out of here until something called the Ritual of Displacement is done… I have no idea what it is, but I doubt it will be good…"
Leorin looked at Dugan's watch again.
Five minutes to midnight… he thought. I'd have to be faster than a speeding bullet to get back to Xane's workshop before she left…
…and I'm no Superman…
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
The Tabernacle of Utter Darkness at the apex of the Temple was not the typical altar. Only Doomdreamers were allowed to worship here; in fact, the only way to get this room safely was to either be a Doomdreamer or be escorted by one (and they'd only escort you here if you were the intended victim of a sacrificial ritual).
Most folks who successfully got past the defenses and snuck in regretted doing so and quickly wanted to leave. The dank chamber was made of stone that looked like black crystal, with purple, vein-like cracks in it. Even worse was the altar. It was a lumpy, green construct that seemed to be made as much of flesh as it was of stone. In fact, if you looked at it long enough, it seemed to breathe with a sinister, unholy life.
The three Doomdreamers were now wearing another accessory along with their robes: full-head helmets adorned with bladed horns.
The Doomdreamers had always been held in high regard by the rest of the cult; after all, they were able to commune directly with Tharizdun through their dreams. At one time, they had circulated many fictions among the lesser members of the cult, to make them seem more menacing. One façade was their claim that simply looking them in the face was lethal. Thus, Doomdreamers at that time always wore these helmets when appearing to other cultists.
It worked back then, when Doomdreamers sequestered themselves in secret cabals far from civilization. But in the modern world, not all Doomdreamers could do this. Many, like Tiberius, had to put on public images for the cult to thrive. Thus the facades were dropped. The helmets were now only used for ceremonial purposes, for tradition more than anything else.
That suited Tiberius and Lorelei, and most other Doomdreamers just fine. These helmets were heavy, and no-one could wear them for long without getting a headache. Still, tradition wasn't always comfortable.
Lareth placed the Diabound card on the altar, then knelt, and started to chant.
"Dread Tharizdun, power of the Elder Elemental Eye and master of all destructive forces, I am the Champion of Elemental Evil and am ready to carry out your wishes."
The altar glowed with a sickly green light, proof enough that Lareth had been successful. Then the Diabound Kernel card burst into flames.
"I guess we won't be using that guy again…" said Tiberius.
Then an orb of the green light rose from the center of the altar…
The orb solidified into a single Duel Monsters card. A Spell Card. It floated towards Lareth, and he took it.
Slowly, he read the description on the card.
"Oh, thank you, Dark One," said Lareth. "This is even better… I will use this gift wisely."
He fit the card into his deck, and the Disk shuffled it.
"Hopefully, you won't need to use it at all," said Lorelei. "Duel Monsters shouldn't be needed for the three of us if the Ritual of Displacement works."
"All right…" said Tiberius. "Let's get started…"
Lareth started to chant before the altar again, and lightning stared to flash over Chicago once again.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"Look, Shelly," said Dugan, "if there's any place at all in this Temple that's safe, take everyone there…"
As Shelly and the others walked down the corridor, he turned to Ben, who was clearly depressed.
"Ben…" he said.
"The name is Leorin," came the reply.
"You're remembering now?" asked Nichole. "You seem kind of bummed out.
"Heck, you saved our lives!"
"I'm glad you're safe…" said Leorin. "But I forfeited my chance to end this curse once and for all…"
"What?" asked Dugan. "What do you mean?"
Leorin held up the Key Amulet.
"The bitch who gave me this…" he said. "She basically gave me a choice between saving you and ending my curse… Maybe it was her idea of fun… Really funny, huh?
"But I couldn't let you down… I remembered what my crime was…"
"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Nichole.
Leorin sighed.
"Thousands of years ago…" he said, "in my first life, on another world… I was one of the Knights of Arcadia…"
Nichole gasped.
"St. Cuthbert's holy army!" she exclaimed. "I've only heard legends about them!"
"I was one of them, Nichole, and I wasn't just a foot soldier," he continued. "I was a commander. I marched against Sertrous's army of scaly folk when the Prince of Heretics made his advance on civilization. I was called upon to defend a small town.
"Our unit was winning… But when Sertrous himself appeared on the battlefield, in all his demonic, hideous glory, I panicked. I fled like a coward, abandoning my men."
"That was your crime?" said Karl. "That was why you assumed you would burn in Hell forever even if you spent your whole life repenting?"
"Uh, Karl?" said Dugan. "As a former military man, I know that abandoning your troops during a battle due to cowardice is a very serious crime. There was once a time when an officer would be hanged for such an act."
"You're right, Dugan…" said Leorin. "After fifteen minutes, I regained my courage and went back, but it was fifteen minutes too late. My abandonment had caused a serious blow to morale. Most of my troops had been slaughtered, and the town I had been sent to defend was lying in ruins. Sertrous's army had moved on to the larger city, and only the arrival of the archangel Avamerin turned the tide and allowed its defenders to claim victory.
"The faithful of St. Cuthbert can look forward to an afterlife in his Basilica, the Bastion of Law. But I had lost his favor, committing such a terrible act of betrayal. I wouldn't be welcome there. The blood of hundreds of soldiers and a thousand innocents who lived in that town was on my hands. No amount of repentance that I could fit into one lifetime would have made up for it…"
"So you tried to make your life longer…" said Nichole. "And ended up like this…"
Leorin held up the Key Amulet.
"I couldn't betray anyone a second time," he said. "So instead of choosing the amulet that would take me to the Crypt, where I could break my curse, I chose this one… This Key Amulet that could direct me to anywhere in the Temple of All-Consumption."
"Uh, Ben… Leorin?" said Karl. "How do you know that this Crypt isn't in the Temple of All-Consumption?
"I checked, Karl…" said Leorin, with a sigh. "Just now when you were unlocking those cells. And no, this thing can't direct me to the Crypt."
"Uh, Ben…" said Karl. "Sorry, Leorin… Can I see that?"
He took the Key Amulet, and looked at it.
On the back was a group of letters that seemed to be gibberish.
Iqtl dn rtxsfw f mywta xn rtixna
"Ben, did you see this?" he asked
"Well, yeah," said Leorin. "I figured it was some sort of code, but I was kind of in a hurry to save you guys."
"Well, let's decode it now," said Karl. "It shouldn't be too hard.
"Look, this F is alone. That means it stands for either I or A.
Sal, decode the sentence by replacing each letter with the letter three places past it in the English alphabet. If the F represents I, then we'll decode it."
Sal beeped, and then letters appeared in midair: Ftwo gq uwaviz i pbzwd aq uwlaqd
"Still gibberish…" said Karl. "Then it must be an A. Sal, try again, but this time, replace each letter with the letter that's five letters previous."
Sal did it again: dlog ni mosnar a htrow si modsiw.
"Still gibberish…" said Leorin.
"Read it backwards, Ben!" said Nichole. "Sorry, Leorin."
Leorin looked at it.
"Wisdom is worth a ransom in gold…" he said.
The Key Amulet shined, and a red ruby appeared in the very center.
"That old saying seems to have been a command word to unlock some additional powers of the amulet," said Dugan. "Try using it to locate the Crypt now."
Leorin held the amulet, and concentrated again.
"I… I can!" he exclaimed. "I can see the path plainly!"
"Seems you didn't forfeit anything, Ben," said Dugan. "Now, before you go there, do you think you can use that thing to tell us where to find those three bastards that are in charge? My foot has an appointment with Tiberius's ass."
Leorin concentrated again.
"The Tabernacle of Utter Darkness," he said. "At the top of the Temple. Just keep going up stairs until you reach the bronze doors.
"You guys sure you don't need any more help?"
"You've helped us more than enough, Leorin," said Karl.
"You sure?" asked Leorin. "There may have been Three Musketeers, but they still could always count on d'Artagnan."
"You've done plenty for us!" said Nichole. "Now go do what you have to do… We'll handle the Doomdreamers."
Leorin sighed.
"Okay…" he said. "But if you need me, don't hesitate to holler.
"As for me… I have to go down stairs."
They rushed down the hall, and entered a staircase. Leorin took the downward stair, while the others started running up the stairs.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Twenty minutes later, Dugan, Nichole, and Karl were walking up the stairs which seemed to go on a long time.
"…and then there was the fitness instructor I dated last year…" said Nichole. "After two weeks of beet juice and spinach smoothies, I was craving a Big Mac so badly I was about ready to buy a gun and hold up a McDonalds. So I broke up with him over the internet."
"Nichole," said Karl, "when you see a handsome, muscular hunk who doesn't have a girlfriend, and who isn't gay, that should send up a red flag."
"Enough, people!" said Dugan. "Enough about your former boyfriends, Nichole!"
"Nichole is just avoiding then more obvious issue, Dugan," said Karl. "Once we find Tiberius, Lorelei, and Lareth, what exactly are we going to do? In case you didn't notice, they're better than we are."
"And this time we'll be challenging them at the seat of their power!" added Nichole.
"And I might add," said Kurt, "Lareth has a Dark Card that's about twenty times more powerful than Hook the Hidden Knight. It's some Dark Dragon-Type Synchro that may very well be able to channel the power of Beelzebub."
"Beelzebub…" said Nichole, ominously. "The Lord of the Flies, ruler of the Seventh Layer of Hell… He's bad news. He's not one of the original Lords of the Nine, but he is known to be one of the most powerful. Among Hell's rulers, only Mephistopheles and Lucifer himself are stronger."
"You're telling me," said Karl. "I think it might be immune to Trap Cards. The only reason I survived its attack was because Trishula shielded me…"
He sighed and opened his Extra Deck. He looked at his strongest Monster.
"To think, this card was special and I never realized it…"
"Trishula is hardly your average Monster, Karl…" said Dugan. "Level 9 Synchros aren't exactly commonplace…
"And as for what we're gonna do… Don't worry, we're not gonna duel them."
"Huh?" said Nichole.
"I realize, people," said Dugan, "that reading the Great Treaty can sometimes be better than a warm glass of milk when you have insomnia…
"But believe it or not, I've read it very thoroughly, and I know just what to do…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Down, down, and down. Leorin delved deep into the underbelly of the temple.
Eventually, the stairs ended in a dark, torch-lit dungeon.
In front of him, next to the corridor leader down even deeper, Madame Xane was sitting on a chair next to a table holding a tea service, sipping tea from a silver cup.
"Surprised, Leorin?" she asked.
"You said you were leaving the Temple at midnight," he said, looking at her suspiciously.
"I said nothing of the sort," replied Xane. "I said I was leaving at midnight. I'm no longer in the place I was, now am I?"
"You were testing me…" said Leorin. "The Star Amulet would probably have led me into a trap somewhere, right?
Xane slowly sipped her tea.
"The amulets do nothing on their own…" she replied. "I would liken their value to that of the prize found in a box of Crackerjacks. But the enchantments I put on that one make it act like a magical item."
"Why?" demanded Leorin. "Why were you testing me?"
Xane put the cup down.
"Because, Leorin…" she said. "I was also a faithful of St. Cuthbert… Most Incantifers don't worship anything but knowledge… I was always the oddball among my peers.
"You know, Leorin… I may have my knowledge, but even I would be hard pressed if asked the question that Darkquill asked you…"
Leorin looked at her hard.
"Regret…" he said, softly. "Regret can change the nature of a man…"
Xane nodded.
"Yes…" she said. "That was the answer you gave… She wasn't expecting it, and it impressed her enough to grant your wish.
"Did you still regret what you did? I had to make sure… I had to make certain that after all these years, you were still repentant, and would not do the same thing again.
"It was important, because it would be a shame, given what causes you to be reborn each time you die…"
"Was Marik telling the truth?" asked Leorin. "Does someone have to die for me to live each time?"
"You believed that sociopath?" said Xane with a frown. "He may not have been technically lying, but he was far from telling the complete truth. Yes, someone has died every time you were reborn, but each 'victim' was so despondent, that he or she had contemplated suicide several times."
"I don't understand…" said Leorin.
"Whenever you are reborn, someone dies…" said Xane. "Someone who, like you, desired redemption after committing a terrible sin. When he or she died, the spirit of that victim lived on in the form of a vestige, becoming part of your next incarnation, and every one thereafter. You have lived so many lives… And every life that has been lost to give you them is still a part of you. You hold them inside you, Leorin… When you finally find redemption, so will all of them…
"You hold the key to the redemption of hundreds of repentant sinners who sit at the seat of your soul…"
Leorin sighed.
"Lovely…" he said. "Thanks for making this a thousand times more nerve-wracking. How do you know so much about me?"
Xane picked up the teapot, and poured a fresh cup.
"I learned about you a long time ago," she said. "The only reason I agreed to work for Tiberius was because I knew you would oppose this cult eventually. You've opposed Tharizdun's unholy servants in almost every one of your incarnations. Sertrous is dead, so you've instinctively tried to prove yourself in Cuthbert's eyes by opposing the wicked god who spawned him.
"My old college Domonous told me recently that you were in this reality now, and in this city. I had time to prepare."
"Have I succeeded?" asked Leorin. "Will I be forgiven?"
"You'll discover that in the Crypt," replied Xane. "However, I can tell you one thing… I know why that Duel Disk of yours has, up to now, kept changing decks."
"Up to now?" asked Leorin. "Wait… The deck I used against Marik and the one I used against you were the same…"
"Yes…" said Xane. "The game of Duel Monsters has a multitude of cards, and hundreds of strategies. That Disk has many strategies too, each one representing one of the vestiges that dwell with you. They supply each deck.
"The Psychic Deck may have been from someone with psionic powers… The Blackwing Deck may have been from someone who trained birds for falconry. The Ojama Deck may simply have represented a person who was just… rude."
"But I used the same deck for both you and Marik…" added Leorin.
"There was a reason why I chose to duel you Ben…" said Xane. "I suspected that your deck had awakened in your duel with Marik… I needed to make certain of it. No vestige supplied that deck… It is yours."
Leorin looked at his deck.
"My deck…" he said, softly. "Oh, I get it… Monsters who gain power from being summoned from the Graveyard…"
"Symbols of death and rebirth…" said Xane. "And beings of divinity. The deck will change no longer."
She sipped her tea.
Leorin looked at her.
"There was another reason for the duel, wasn't there?" he said. "The tarot card Monsters, the little speech you gave before summoning The Devil… All of those Monsters had symbolic meanings, didn't they?"
Xane nodded.
"Why did you think The Chariot joined your side not once, but twice, and helped you on both occasions?" she asked. "The Chariot represents your allies, the people you were fighting to save."
"Then there was The Emperor, The Empress… And The Magician…" said Ben. "Three wicked sorcerers, two male, and one female… Could they have represented Tiberius, Lorelei, and Lareth?"
"Yes and no," replied Xane. "They basically represented the enemies you've been fighting in each of your incarnations. In every life, you've fought the minions of Tharizdun, and those three Monsters represent these minions."
"And The Strength…" said Leorin.
"The Strength is a greater enemy," said Xane. "The one who is waiting for you at the Crypt. Just as the card represents dominance and control, that enemy has been controlling you for centuries, without you even knowing…
"But your ability to dodge its nasty effect in the duel proves that you are resisting his control now. And what Monster helped you do so?"
"The Chariot!" said Ben. "The card that represented my allies!"
Xane smiled.
"It's all becoming clear, isn't it?" she said.
Leorin frowned.
"I'm guessing that The Dark Ruler could only have represented one thing…" he said. "Tharizdun himself."
"Tharizdun is the ultimate enemy…" said Xane.
Leorin looked at her hard.
"One question…" asked Leorin. "Was the duel with Roxy really necessary?"
Xane nodded.
"Yes…" she replied. "Once I saw that you were using the Vairon and she was using the Inverz, I predicted you would lose, and I thought it would teach you something.
"You see, Leorin… One fault you have never lost over the centuries is your arrogance. It is to be expected… Most followers of St. Cuthbert have the same problem… St. Cuthbert himself is sometimes known for being more arrogant than even most gods…
"But arrogance can lead to downfall… Even for gods… Have you ever heard the legend of Io, the Eternal Grand Dragon?"
"Io?" said Leorin, lifting an eyebrow. "Wasn't she a lover of Zeus who he turned into a cow to hide from Hera?"
"Mmm," said Xane, "though I doubt Zeus ever told her of the entity that shared her name… The gods keep the story secret from mortals, but as you know, I have learned things that only they know…
"Bahamut is the lord of the metallic dragons, while Tiamat is the queen of the chromatic dragons… And they don't like each other much, do they? There's a reason behind their feud…
"Would you like to know it?"
Leorin nodded, so Xane started to relate a strange tale:
"It all began long, long ago, when the mortal races were still young, and while Tharizdun was still free, plotting his sinister plans. Io was the Eternal Grand Dragon. He was a majestic and beautiful sight, soaring through the Astral Plane on wings of pure prismatic light. The dragons, the legend says, were his particular creation, lovingly crafted to the pinnacle of mortal form. Great powers of the elements flowed through their veins, but they also possessed the keen minds and lofty spirits of other mortal races.
"Io's wisdom was the envy of all other deities, he was more chivalrous than any mortal knight, and he was protective to the extreme of dragonkind, regarding them as a father did to his sons.
"But there was a dark side to great Io. Greed filled his heart, both for wealth and power. He was selfish, not willing to share his belongings with anyone. And his vanity was incredible even by the standards of gods.
"Above all, he was arrogant and proud.
"When Tharizdun put his evil plan in motion, and all of existence was threatened, Io, like all other gods, was determined to put a stop to it. But while other gods stayed in groups for mutual protection, Io refused to accept help, refusing to believe he needed it. Insisting on working alone, so it was that after successfully slaying a legion of Tharizdun's hordes, he came into conflict with the demon lord Erek-Hus the King of Terror, one of the Dark God's mightiest henchmen.
"No-one had ever defeated Erek-Hus by himself before, and this time would be no different. After a lengthy fight, the demon lifted his mighty axe, and cleaved Io cleanly down the middle.
"Io was dead… But then, to the King of Terror's surprise, two new gods grew from the two halves of his sundered corpse.
"One of them would be called Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon. In him were embodied Io's great wisdom and protective drive, all the nobility and chivalry that the Eternal Grand Dragon once had.
"The other one was Tiamat, the Queen of Evil Dragons. In her were Io's greed, selfishness, and vanity. She possessed all of Io's negative qualities.
"Neither of the two newly-born gods had lost sight of Io's goal, and flew at Erek-Hus with raw fury. Exhausted from his battle with Io, the demon stood no chance. He was quickly slain.
"But this would be the first and final time that Bahamut and Tiamat would work together. As soon as they got a good look at each other, their expressions turned to hatred. They turned on each other, and started fighting. Only when Tiamat retreated did the two gods turn their attention back to the conflict at hand.
"For you see, one part of Io that both deities kept was his arrogance, and his desire to work alone. Tiamat would never ally herself with anyone else unless she was the master, and even other good deities would have a hard time making deals with Bahamut.
"Since then, long after Tharizdun's defeat, to this very day, the two have been sworn enemies. The metallic dragons swore allegiance to Bahamut, while the wicked chromatic wyrms worshiped Tiamat as their goddess…
"There are some that say that if the two dragon gods ever made peace, there would be a chance that they could reunite and that the Eternal Grand Dragon could once again grace the Astral Plane with his great beauty… But with Io's arrogance in both of them, it seems an impossible dream…"
Xane slowly sipped her tea again.
"Go down the hallway," she said. "The entrance to the Crypt is guarded by six demons. To get by them without a fight, you must answer the question that each one poses to you as honestly as possible.
"Good luck, Knight of Arcadia…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Meanwhile, the three Shadowchasers seemed to be getting somewhere. The long flights of stairs had terminated at a long hallway, where the walls and floors seemed to be made out of white marble.
As they slowly and cautiously walked down, they saw a doorway on the side of the hall. On it were the letters "UMT".
"I think it stands for 'Ulysses Maxwell Tiberius'…" said Karl.
Dugan tried the door. It wasn't locked, so he carefully opened it.
"Be careful…" said Nichole. "Going into Lorelei's room got me turned into a cat…"
"Well, there are three of us now…" said Dugan.
Karl looked at Sal.
"And Sal isn't reading any magical auras other than the ones present in the whole temple…" he said. "Tiberius must not keep much in his room…"
They entered a rather simple suite. The furniture was decent, but not overly expensive. There was a bed, a closet, a writing desk, and a small refrigerator in the corner…
Karl curiously opened the small refrigerator. In it, he found several packaged Roquefort cheeses, along with brie and Camembert.
"Seems he never lost his craving for expensive French cheese," he remarked, closing it.
Dugan went over to the writing desk, and opened a drawer.
There didn't seem to be anything unusual inside… It contained pens, a notepad, and copy of Sports Illustrated…
Then he noticed something… The drawer had a false bottom.
He lifted it up, and then took something out of it: a leather-bound journal, monogramed with the letters UMT.
"A diary?" asked Nichole.
"So it seems…" said Dugan, opening the journal.
"Hmm… The dates are from a little over ten years ago… When he was still an Air Force chaplain, I assume…"
"Anything interesting?" asked Nichole.
"Typical stuff…" said Dugan, as he started to skim the pages.
"Wait… here's something near the back…"
He started to read.
No-one has shown up yet for my nine 'o clock Sunday mass… But I'm not discouraged… It's only ten-fifteen… After all, the folks who are stationed here don't have all too much faith any more, and I don't blame them.
A man came to me for confession the other day, and told me he hates the CO. What could I say? I'm not too fond of the man either. Morale has been slipping lately, and the top brass are trying to put the blame on underlings, just as men in positions of power always tend to do.
"Harsh words…" said Karl.
"Wait…" said Dugan. "Here's another entry…"
Yolanda came to see me today… She needed someone to talk to. I don't blame her if her job is getting stressful. She has to give the flu vaccine to everyone this month, and everyone is so grouchy about having to get it. You'd think that hardened soldiers who went through basic training would be able to get a simple shot without any fuss.
I wish Yolanda came to talk to me more often. When I look at her I see the daughter I sometimes wish I had… She's the only one who seems to sympathize with me…
"A lady medic…" said Nichole. "Wait, could this have something to do with why he has Counselor Lily in his deck? A Monster to remind him of someone he used to care for?"
"Possibly…" said Dugan. "Maybe there's some information on what happened to her…"
He turned a few pages.
"Listen to this…"
The evening news brought more of the same from the Middle East. Qalath has claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombers that killed twenty recruits at a Yemen military academy. Apparently, it was retaliation for the conviction of a Jihadist leader who had engineered suicide bombings last year that were in response to other arrests. This upstart group is the fifth since the Arabian Alliance arrested the last of Al-Qaida's leadership, and yet these fanatics never seem to run out of lunatics willing to blow themselves up to keep up this vicious cycle in support of their lost cause. I seriously doubt that any of these people have even sat down to actually read the Quran.
Dugan turned a few pages.
"Here's the last entry…" he said.
The world disgusts me. People are treacherous, crude, and cruel, and the natural world is little better. When you've seen as much as I have, there's really not much left to feel but loathing.
"No more information on Yolanda, I'm afraid…" he said.
"Do you think that Tiberius became the man he is now because he was… shell shocked?" asked Nichole.
"The proper term these days is 'combat stress disorder'," said Dugan. "And even though Tiberius never saw any actual combat – he was a chaplain, after all – his job was one of the hardest.
"Let's face it, military chaplains have a tough job. The Bible says 'Thou shalt not kill', but the soldiers that a chaplain must counsel rarely have a choice on the battlefield. A chaplain has to be very careful about what he says to the folks who come to him.
"Maybe with Tiberius, the conflicting nature of his job did indeed cause him to go over the edge…"
He sighed.
"There's nothing more to see here, people… We'd best keep going…"
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
About a hundred feet more down the hall, they came to a large chamber. In front of them were two huge bronze doors, shut tight.
To the side of the door was a desk where a demon – they supposed – with the head of a fanged jackal wearing a long robe and a pair of spectacles was sitting, writing some things down in a large book with a quill pen.
"Uh…" said Dugan.
"Names, please?" said the demon, not looking up from its book.
This kind of took them by surprise. They expected more resistance.
"Should we give our names?" asked Karl.
"Maybe we'd better," said Dugan. "There's no way my explosives are gonna knock that door down.
"Jacob Dugan…"
"Uh, Nichole Belvins," said Nichole.
"Karl Hudson," said Karl.
The demon adjusted its spectacles, and started to look through the book.
"Mmm…" it said. "Nope… No Doomdreamers by any of those names…"
"Is that a problem?" asked Dugan.
The demon closed its book.
"Well, yeah!" it said. "You folks want to get to the Tabernacle of Utter Darkness, right?"
The three Shadowchasers didn't know how to respond.
"Of course you do," it said, "this room doesn't lead anywhere else. Anyway, the only safe way there if you aren't a Doomdreamer is to be escorted by one."
"So are you going to try to stop us?" asked Nichole.
"Good grief, no, I'm just the doorman," said the demon. "But once you go in there, someone will.
"All three of you will face a guardian who represents a major turning point in your life… Something that led to a major decision that changed you forever, which would have altered your life significantly if it had turned out differently. To defeat it, you must remember that time, and make sure things fall in your favor again."
It waved its arm, and the doors slowly swung open with an ominous creak. Only darkness was visible on the other side.
"Uh…" said the demon. "You aren't really going in there, are you?"
"Why?" asked Karl. "What happens if we don't succeed at this little test?"
"Mmm…" it said. "Hard to tell… Of the people who go in there, only those who succeed ever come out.
"Heh… Some people think that if you fail, the result of the original turning point is undone, and your whole history is rearranged, causing your current self to be… erased from existence.
"But that may just be silly speculation…"
It opened the book again, and resumed writing.
Dugan sighed.
"We either go forward or go back," he said. "And if we go back, those three lunatics will be free to finish this Ritual of Displacement thing, whatever it is."
They all looked into the darkness.
"Forward?" said Nichole.
"Forward," said Karl.
They each took a deep breath, and walked through the doorway. The demon grunted in disgust, and waved its hand. As the three Shadowchasers vanished into the darkness, the two doors slammed shut.
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Next:
Dugan: I have been shifted to a dimensional limbo… At a place between what was… And what might have been…
Not truly in the past, but not in the present either, I am facing the first Shadowkind I ever directly opposed. Unlike most Shadowchaser apprentices, he was no lightweight then, and I don't expect him to be one now. But I must prevail, just as I did last time. Fortunately, I have a way of dealing with him that I didn't have last time…
I may even be able to win this duel in a way I haven't done so before… I may be an old dog, but I have some new tricks up my sleeve…
"Past Decisions; The Choice to Change" is coming soon.
