"You've paid a pretty penny to only be guided as far as the children go, sir." The man spoke with a cadence that was somewhere between jeering and apprehension. As much as he wanted to make small talk, he had to be weary on the path they were treading. Even the supposed children knew to watch out for the dangers of the jungle.
A hint of a giggle pulled the man's gaze back towards his escortee— The foreign man's silver hair standing out in the deep greens of the jungle.
"Well, let's just say I have many pretty pennies to throw around." Another giggle followed from him, eliciting a roll of the eyes from the first man.
"Tonto rico," he muttered under his breath, turning back to the path ahead. They'd be arriving at their destination soon.
"Oh come now, Pino, don't be like that." The other man sped up until he was right on Pino's tail. "This journey must've been as fun for you as it was for me!"
Pino pulled away from the strange foreigner, huffing as the trail they treaded on came to a sudden end. His escortee arrived at his side a moment later, overlooking the same site he was— their destination.
Down the steep incline was an old rickety wooden bridge, rocking silently above a gorge that was too misty to see the bottom of. And just across this was exactly what they were looking for: A mossy stone temple, its true size hidden behind a wall of mist.
"And there you are Mr, uh—" Pino silently cursed himself, as he forgot the ridiculous name of the American who was paying him. He coughed before continuing. "El Templo del Rey Dragón Estrya. The Temple of the Star Dragon King."
Pino's escortee laughed as he put a foot on the ledge of the steep incline.
"What are you do—"
"It's Pegasus, my dear Pino-boy." Pegasus hopped off the end of the path and began sliding down the incline. "Maximillion Pegasus!"
Pino stared in astonishment as Pegasus expertly made his way down to the bottom of the incline, avoiding any scratch or scrape in the process. As he smiled back up at his guide, Pegasus gave a wave.
"Now, if you want me alive to actually be able to pay you, I'd recommend joining me inside." And without another word, Pegasus started on his way to the bridge and the temple beyond.
Grumbling, Pino began the arduous trek down the incline. The things he did for the money of stupid tourists.
The mist began to clear as Pegasus approached, putting a smile on his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small booklet. He'd been studying for months before this trip into the heart of Peru, and now the fruit of his labour may finally come to pass— A first look into the history of dueling, of an entirely new culture!
"Mr. Pegasus, sir! Please do not enter there!" Pino's voice called out as he crossed the bridge, arriving at Pegasus's side with a huff. "There is a reason I said I was taking you as far as the children go— Any farther great danger awaits!"
Pegasus's smile weakened slightly, though it did not fade.
"Ohoho, I assure you, my friend, I have years of experience in the study of archaeology." As he said this, he turned back to the temple and approached its stone steps. "If the great architects of Egypt could not keep me from the tomb of their kings, then neither will the builders of Peru keep me from such a simple temple."
And with that, Pegasus began walking up the steps, leaving Pino to look on in astonishment. For a moment, the apprehension made him consider turning back, leaving the money behind. However, curiosity soon got the best of him. He had seen this temple so many times as a boy, and never did he have the courage to look inside.
This may be his only chance.
Taking a deep breath, Pino charged himself up and began following the strange man— The man who was following him just a short time ago.
Rays of light from the outside stood out clear in the darkening interior of the temple. It prompted Pegasus to reach into his bag, pulling out a flashlight to light the way.
"Always coming in a step ahead!" he said with a cheery inflection, as Pino entered the room behind him.
"How can you be so calm in a place like this?" Pino asked, looking over his shoulder towards a spider web in the corner. "This place gives me bad feelings."
"I find following a bad feeling often brings me to a better place in the end," Pegasus mused, tinkering with the flashlight for a moment to get it working. "A lifetime of it brought me here, for instance."
"You are certainly an odd one, Mr. Pega— Dios mío!" Just as Pino spoke, Pegasus's flashlight came to light, illuminating the wall ahead of the two.
"What's wrong?!" Pegasus turned suddenly, shining the flashlight in Pino's face as he did so. The man winced as the light hit his face, prompting Pegasus to pull it away. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes, sorry. Just startled," Pino explained, huffing and straightening his clothing.
"By what?" Pegasus pushed, looking around. It was then that he noticed the hall they were in was a dead end.
Pino stepped forward, putting a hand on Pegasus's shoulder and pointing to the wall ahead of them.
"There," he simply said, gulping. With a moment of apprehension, Pegasus shined his light at the wall, revealing again what Pino had seen earlier. "El muerto en pedazos. The shattered corpse of the Crimson Dragon."
On the wall was a painting, about a meter across and a meter tall. It was an odd sight, barely a coherent picture and more a smattering of tiles, each depicting some shape or another. Somewhere in that mess, however, Pegasus could see the head of this supposed Crimson Dragon.
"And why did it scare you like that?" Pegasus asked then, jotting down a sketch of the painting as they found it. It was then that Pegasus noted, the colour of the dragon was especially bright— like it had been painted only recently.
Pino gulped.
"The Crimson Dragon is a god of many things— knowledge, wind, goodness. It is known as Quetzalcoatl to some, as the most mighty of the gods," he began. "So, the symbol of it in pieces, torn asunder, is a sign of great darkness and evil. It is a warning of death."
"You seem to know a lot about it," Pegasus noted, finishing his sketch and looking it over.
"It is a symbol used as a warning in my village, something to ward off children from dangerous places." Pino kept his eyes down now, away from the sight of it. "Funny thing is, I've been told every other boogeyman was simply that, a ward for children. Not the shattered corpse, though. It alone remains."
"Interesting! So if it's a warning, that must mean whatever is past it must be quite dangerous— and thus, quite important." Pegasus began striding forward after that, eliciting a confused look from Pino.
"What do you mean, past it? It's a dead-end, this is all there is to see!" he said, looking around after that. Pegasus laughed then, as he came to a stop at the painting.
"Oh my dear Pino-boy, not at all! This is only the beginning!" Pegasus pulled a dust brush from his bag and began cleaning the tiles of the painting. "Isn't it odd that this temple only seems to be a dozen or so meters deep? And with nothing in it but this painting?"
"I consider it more a blessing than an oddity," he replied, under his breath.
"There's a reason this symbol evokes such a strong reaction from you. The people who built the temple wanted it to, so your people would not wander in here and begin doing this," Pegasus continued, clearing away the last of the dust and revealing exactly what he was looking for— A blank tile.
"Doing what?" Pino asked, approaching. Just as he said so, Pegasus pulled from his bag another item: a crowbar.
"This!" Sticking the crowbar under the tile, Pegasus smiled as he pulled and easily popped it off, revealing a blank space underneath. "Do you have these kinds of games in your village, Pino?"
"Games? What games?" he asked.
Pegasus handed his flashlight to Pino before placing two hands on two panels.
"Watch." With a grunt, Pegasus pushed the panel on the left of the blank space to the right, causing it to slide over to that spot. With another grunt, he moved a different panel down, pulling into the new blank spot left by the previous tile.
"You're rearranging the image— It's a puzzle!" Pino said, taking a step back in amazement.
"Yes, indeed!" Pegasus cheered, as he slid another piece across. "It seems your ancestors weren't all that different from the ancient Egyptians, using puzzles and games to guard their most treasured secrets."
Pegasus got to work, rearranging tiles on the grid until a coherent image started to come together. Head attached to the neck, leg attached near the tail. Soon the shattered corpse would be shattered no more.
"And, done," Pegasus said, breathing a sigh of exhaustion as he slid the final piece into place. Before them, clear as day, was the image of a dragon, mighty and proud. It formed a circle, starting at its head and ending at its tail. After millennia in pieces, the Crimson Dragon was finally whole again.
Silence took the two and after a minute, Pino spoke up.
"So, what do we do—" Yet, he could not complete his thought. At that moment, the entire wall in front of them began to shake, as stone and brick began to slide apart. A door-sized passageway opened in the wall, revealing a staircase that climbed down into the dark bowels of the temple.
Without a moment's hesitation, Pegasus strode forward, ready to face what came next.
Pino, meanwhile, was less optimistic about the whole endeavour.
"Mr. Pegasus wait!" he shouted, causing the man to pause and turn back. "You have discovered so much already, surely now is the time to turn back before we may get hurt. What can you call this, but insanity?"
Pegasus laughed.
"I call it a vacation!"
Time passed as Pegasus and Pino descended the winding staircase of the temple.
"You speak much of your time in the lands of Egypt. What brings you to my homeland over more explorations there?" Pino's voice grew a suspicious undertone in their descent, as he began to suspect Pegasus being more graverobber than archaeologist.
"Hmph, call me spoiled but— Egypt just doesn't appeal to me in the same way anymore. Only so many miles of sand and sarcophagi can be seen before it all starts to blend together." Pegasus spotted some words scrawled against the wall and paused then. "Can you read this?"
Pino huffed before squinting at the words in the dark. After a moment, a smirk began to grow on his lips
"Phallca was here," he answered, evoking a roll of the eyes from Pegasus before they continued. After a few moments of silence, Pino went on. "So, this is just sightseeing for you, then?"
"Oh, more than that, Pino-boy. It's my creative process! Tell me, have you ever heard of the game Duel Monsters?" Pegasus asked, looking back towards Pino as he said so.
"My brother has said something about it once or twice, in the letters I get from him," he answered.
"Oh, I think you'd love it," Pegasus noted with a giggle. "It's a game of my own creation, based on my work in Egypt. I hope what I find here will help me breathe new life into the game."
Pino grunted in response, having nothing to add to Pegasus's answer. He'd let the man ramble about his silly things.
"Though hopefully our journey won't end up costing me as much." Pegasus glanced back to Pino with a smirk on his lips, drawing a look of worry from the man.
"What do you mean?" he asked, putting a hand on Pegasus's shoulder and stopping him. Pegasus chuckled, turning and pushing Pino away. Pulling a hand up to his face, Pegasus continued.
"Let's just say, my work in Egypt came with very personal costs," he said. "Costs both spiritual and, physical."
Parting the hair from his face, Pegasus smiled as he revealed his missing left eye.
Silence took the two, as Pino stared at the spot Pegasus's eye should've been. He was unnerved, to say the least. Gulping, Pino pulled himself together, coughing to suggest they keep going.
Pegasus nodded before letting his hair fall back into place.
"What did you mean by spiritual costs," Pino asked then, hoping to get his mind off the memory of what he'd just seen.
"Hm," Pegasus hummed in thought. "It was nothing much in comparison. My previous searches just led me to revive ancient shadow games that have nearly cast the world into darkness time and time again."
Pino wasn't sure if Pegasus was joking or not. Pegasus chuckled at that; he loved messing with people with the truth.
"Don't worry," he assured. "The evil of the shadow games were locked away a long time ago. Whatever we find here will just be the latest addition to Duel Monsters, my gift to the world."
"Dios mío." Pino kept his frustrations to simple mutterings, as he resigned to having no idea what Pegasus was speaking about.
"Come now, Pino-boy, why must you be so grumpy all the time?" Pegasus asked then. "You're discovering a lost part of your own culture!"
"What I am discovering is that Americans can speak even longer than they can pay—"
"We're here!" Pegasus interjected, speeding up as he noticed the staircase come to an end. With a hop and a skip, he entered their destination: a chamber. "Dear god, look at this all!"
Pino arrived a moment later to find what Pegasus was looking at.
The room the two found was huge, at least a dozen meters wide and long, and filled to the brim with rows and rows of stone tablets, standing straight in ordered lines.
Reaching into his bag, Pegasus pulled out two handfuls of flares, lighting them up and tossing them to give the dark chamber some adequate lighting. With no more need for the flashlight, Pegasus traded it in for something far more useful— his notepad.
"What are these?" Pino asked, slowly approaching Pegasus's side.
"In ancient Egypt, tablets like these were used to contain the spirits of Duel Monsters, until they were needed to battle in shadow games," he explained, smiling as jotted down a sketch of the tablet in front of him. "It tells us that your ancestors must've used the same system!"
Pino stayed silent as he took a good hard look at the monster depicted in the tablet before him, the stoic glare of the creature almost staring into his soul. It was then that he noticed the words carved at the top of the tablet. Taking a moment to translate it, Pino hummed in thought.
"Armades, Keeper of Boundaries."
Pegasus froze at the sound, a familiar shiver running down his spine as he stopped his sketch.
"Something wrong?" Pino asked. "You seem like you know that name."
"I don't actually," Pegasus replied, telling the truth. "Just, when you said it, an old feeling hit me again."
"A feeling?" Pressing for more, Pino took a step forward.
"Well, you're not going to like this," Pegasus said with a nervous laugh. "It's the feeling that I've released something onto the world, and I can't say if that's a good thing."
End of Chapter 1