The ancient ruins of the duel academy isle.
These were in existence since the time of Egypt and the pyramids. They served as a connection point between this realm and the spirit realm. All one needed to do was find the way through. In this case it was a matter of finding the medallion buried in the ground, with his powers that took only a few seconds. Turning to his spirits he nodded.
'You're sure you can open the doorway?' He mentally projected to the spirits of Chaos though he was sure that nobody was around them, being able to sense them if they were, he had no idea if there were any surveillance equipment nearby.
'Yes, it will only take a second. Are you sure you want to go looking for him? Your father would never allow this.' The Black Luster Soldier responded.
'That's why he doesn't know' Harry responded. 'Open it'
The two spirits vanished only to be replaced by an orb of light each. They hovered about only for a moment before they disappeared into the medallion. The eye of Wdjat glowed brightly the moment they did. He could feel the pure energy charge as it built up to form a doorway between worlds. His very blood sang in response.
A column of light grew from the ground to a point in the sky far beyond his line of sight. It flashed repeatedly until it finally grew steady and his spirit companions appeared beside him looking weary.
'Go now' The Chaos Dark Magician panted in his mind. 'It will be difficult to hold it open'
Harry wasted no time in running into the light hoping he would be able to go back through it someday.
Where he appeared once he had crossed to the other side was a mystery. Three suns, a tomb, and a temple where all he could see and looking to his left confirmed there was no surrounding land mass. Looking forward he could see a tower rising above the monument. He decided to head towards that.
This proved to be a bad decision as he was met by no less than a dozen spears the minute his foot crossed the threshold of the structures walls.
"Who dares trespass on sacred grounds?" One of the guards asked as he shoved the spear closer into his face.
"Who is this ground sacred to?" Harry asked in response. His body gaining a dark outline in response to his fear.
"We are the grave keepers, who are you shadow user?" A new voice asked, parting the crowd. The guards murmured amongst themselves at the notion of a shadow user. While Harry observed the newcomer, dressed in black robes and a dagger on her hilt Harry recognized the body that graced the artwork of the Grave Keepers Assailant
"I am a realm traveller in seek of the dark world." Mahad may be the guardian of the Pharaoh, but he was still the Dark Magician, if there was any place in the twelve dimensions he could find him, it would start there.
"You are lost then, you stand upon the ancient burial grounds of the grave keepers. My chieftain will not be pleased"
"Punished." The guards surrounding them called at the sound of the chieftain's displeasure.
"Come with me." She said grabbing his arm and dragging him into the ruins.
Harry was content to follow orders for the moment as it would lead him to the way out of this realm and into the next, if he played his cards right of course.
The irony of that statement was not lost on him as he spoke to the chieftain.
"I told you I won't duel." Harry shouted from the other side of the room as his spirits held off an army of grave keepers. "If you would shut up and listen for a few seconds you'd know why!"
"Perhaps we should just run Harry." Chaos Magician shouted over the cries of punished. "There has to be a doorway around here somewhere." He pushed the grave keepers away with a push of his hands, power emanating from the palms. "Use your powers and let's go."
Harry mimicked the magician, pushing his own hands out and forcing the soldiers back further and further as he ran out of the door, The Black Luster Soldier blocking the stray blades and spears with his sword and shield while The Chaos Magician kept the rest of the army at bay.
"The door out is blocked." Harry called behind him as he saw iron gates descending over the wooden door. "Any ideas?"
"Take this!" The Luster Soldier said throwing his blade to Harry. "Get up to the roof, we'll meet you there."
Harry stood and watched as even without a sword, his friend was very capable of taking on soldiers of a warrior race. Gripping the sword in his hand tightly and letting its energy flow through his veins, responding in kind to his own powers, he ran to the roof and found himself standing on one side of an open courtyard duelling field.
"You will duel or you will die!" The Chieftain called from the other side.
"How about neither" Harry responded gripping his sword tightly and closing his eyes. Vanishing in a flash of purple light he appeared behind the Chief, mid swing of his sword as he did so, the sword sang as it sliced through the air as it headed towards the figure only for the Chief to quickly turn and match his blade with his duel disk. Though it stopped his sword from harming him, the disk sparked on contact before exploding.
"What are you?" The chief exclaimed in shock as his disk lay in fragments around them.
"Call off your dogs and I will explain."
The Chieftain turned to the other side of the field where the two Chaos monsters were being held at sword point at the edge. He shouted in a nonsensical language and the soldiers stopped moving, he shouted once more and they slowly, reluctantly dropped their spears and swords.
Minutes later they all stood on one side of the clearing.
"We travel towards the dark world in search of the spirit of the Dark Magician, my two companions as you know are the spirits of Chaos and together we have crossed the borders to find him." Harry explained.
"This explains your trespassing but not your refusal to duel, had you won you would have been on your way long ago."
"Had we duelled, higher powers would be aware of my presence in these realms, powers I am trying to avoid at the moment? Believe me when I say you don't want them coming here asking questions."
"The dark world. You speak of the supreme king."
"Yes, he lives without a vessel and as a wielder of chaos I would be a prime choice no matter my connection to the light."
The Chieftain nodded before beckoning back inside the temple. Only this time instead of being led to a room, he was led to a dungeon where he saw something he was not expecting to see.
"The dark realms, indeed any realm with spirits is dangerous to one such as you, your life force will attract many and with your reluctance to duel, you will need protection."
Harry handed the sword back to The Black Luster Soldier before approaching.
"How do I look?" He asked minutes later, specifically to the Soldier.
For he was standing in front of the Chaos Soldier in a replica of his armour. Wielding a sword and shield the exact same as well before he hung the shield on his back and put the sword in its scabbard.
"This armour was worn by one of his kind as he travelled much like you did." The Chieftain explained pointing to the Black Luster Soldier. "He made it to our land and we tried our best to save him, but his wounds claimed him eventually. Though he vanished to the stars, his armour stayed behind, we thought for a purpose. The last person to walk these lands already wore armour of his own, you do not have armour and you walk with one of his kind. So we bequeath it to you."
"I'm honoured" He said to the chieftain with a bow. "Now I only ask that you show me the way out so I trespass no longer."
"This way." Was his reply before he was led once more. Unlike last time where it was a ruin in need of awakening, now it was simply a doorway waiting to be opened. "This door will take you straight to the dark world. Should you come back, you will be allowed passage home, should you find another way home, then I simply wish you good luck." With nothing else to say, the chieftain left the three alone.
"Shall we?" Harry asked his companions.
"Any idea where he'll be?" The Black Luster Soldier asked in reply.
The Dark Magician of Chaos was contemplative, "Normally I would suggest the court of the king, but Brron's palace is not a place for strangers, and if it's true, and someone has assumed the moniker of the Supreme King, we must be careful. Try the dark caves first and see if we can find any clues."
"All right then, pack up your things and pull up your pants cause we're out of here." Harry said as he opened the door.
Meanwhile in the other world.
While Alexis enjoyed the duel between Jaden and Bastion she couldn't help but feel a small amount of bitterness creep into her system as she thought of the reason those two were duelling in the first place. Harry had disappeared, as he had promised her and the worst part of it all was that she was now all alone in Duel academy. Zane kept her company and Jasmine and Mindy tried to do so as well considering she now spent more and more time in her own dorm.
Another sad factor was that she seemed to be the only person who noticed he had gone. Even Jaden, who deemed fit to alert him to the happenings of the school hadn't bothered him despite being selected for the school duel.
Truth be told she was dreading the arrival of Harry's father, who was bound to notice that he was missing at some point. If Harry wasn't back before then, then all hell would break loose.
Back with Harry:
"You're the one who suggested the god damn caves!"
"In my defence it's where he normally resides!"
"Would both of you shut up and help me"
"Fine!" The other two shouted at once.
Harry drew his sword while The Dark Magician of Chaos willed his sceptre to appear before him. The two marched to the mouth of the cave they were inhabiting where The Black Luster Soldier was holding off a horde of Pitch-Black Warwolves. Their nimble bodies allowing them to avoid the Chaos Soldier's sword swings.
Once they crossed the doorway to the dark realm the trio moved as quickly as they could under the direction of The Dark Magician of Chaos, who spent the most time in the dark world out of the three. With Harry wearing the armour of the Black Luster Soldier the three powerful beings were left mostly alone throughout the journey. At least until they finally got to the caves.
They had actually found evidence of Mahad being there. Not that Harry would ever admit to the Chaos Magician that he was right. He would rather tell his father what he was doing as it was much less humiliating to him. Sure his priorities were screwed but wasn't that obvious enough given that he was contemplating all of this in the face of danger?
He swung his sword through the air. It clashed against a drawn sword of one of the Warwolves, the steel on steel creating a beautiful sound but Harry felt no appreciation of it at this moment in time. Pushing his body to its limits he continued hacking away at his attackers.
There was actually a reason why societal custom be that opponents duel one another in the spirit realm. Tradition thousands of years old aside, there was an element of life and death in a duel that even the sword in his hand can't provide. Duelling, be it in this realm or through powers that few have didn't risk your life, it risked your soul, there was no afterlife if you lost a shadow game. So if you had something worth fighting for, you'd better be ready to put your soul on the line.
The reason why he would not duel? His soul was a matter of interest to many beings, gods, family, and friends. If he risked it in a duel a lot of those beings would know. And he couldn't have that, not until his job was finished. Of course he could always duel without putting his soul on the line but you'd have to be crazy to accept that. They'd just run away.
All of these thoughts, raced through his mind at hyper speed as he swung his sword to block or attack the ones who dared interfere. But try as he might his body was that of a fifteen year old boy. A boy who hadn't rested or slept in days. A boy who had been exerting himself non-stop with both his powers and his stamina.
As unfortunate as it sounds, Harry could fight no more, a strike from the wolves knocked him to the ground unconscious, and with the lack of energy he supplied to his spirits their powers weakened slightly.
"We can't fight like this forever!" The Chaos Soldier screamed over the magical explosions and the clash of steel.
"We can't win either!" Was his reply.
The two spirits looked at one another, temporarily stalling the fighting as the Wolves looked in slight hesitation. The Dark Magician of Chaos nodded before grabbing his staff in both hands and raising it high above them all.
"Stop him!" A voice shouted from behind the wolves.
The wolves made to move forward but as soon as the voice had shouted the Dark Magician of Chaos slammed his staff into the ground triggering a great flash of purple light, blinding all those who looked at it. When it was over and the light receded, only Harry and the Wolves were left. Until the Wolves parted and there was one more.
"How interesting is it that the two can vanish but leave him behind." The newcomer mused as he walked towards the fallen Harry. "It's been a long time since a human crossed the realms."
"My lord" A Warwolf addressed the newcomer. "We've scouted the area, wherever they've gone it's not in the immediate area."
"Good, then we can move him with no difficulty, bring him to the castle." With that the newcomer walked out of the caves the same way he entered, with his minions bowing as he passed.
"You heard the man, let's move."
Back with Alexis
Alexis sat in class once more contemplating where Harry was and more importantly how he was. Gone for weeks without a word or goodbye she couldn't help but wonder if she was ever coming back. Jaden had won his duel against Bastion and in the excitement of the upcoming school duel nobody noticed Harry disappearing. Jaden just thought he was being one of the few who were being merciful and leaving him alone to prepare.
She had seen some of the professors looking at her in class, no doubt they thought, correctly mind you, that she knew something. But all she knew was that Harry had gone, she didn't know why or where, and if the time duration so far was anything to go by then his time frame wasn't exactly accurate.
She dreaded when one of them asked her where Harry had gone. And she cursed him for what seemed like the thousandth time for not giving her more details so that she might appease those who had questions.
Still in This World
"Croquette, have you heard from Harry?"
"No sir, the young master hasn't been in contact at all."
"This isn't like him Croquette."
"Sir, perhaps you should ask Master Muto and see if he has heard of anything, it could simply be that he doesn't want to talk to somebody so close to him."
Perhaps he's right, Pegasus thought to himself. After all Harry is a growing boy and there are things he might not be able to come to me about, as much as I would like to think otherwise.
"Send a message to Yugi boy and let's see what he has to say before we do anything." Pegasus ordered to which it was immediately fulfilled.
Back in the spirit world:
"You left him!" The Black Luster Soldier shouted at his chaos companion, "How in the hell could you leave him behind when you're supposedly the most powerful magician in the last millennia."
"I could only take living and conscious beings. In his current state Harry is neither, his energy is exhausted and he's out cold because of it. He won't be awake for hours and until then he'll be practically dead to the world." The Dark Magician of Chaos bowed his head in shame.
"That's all well and good but you saw who came in when we left. If he figures out who Harry is we're done."
"Yes but the Warwolves only serve Brron so we know where he's going."
"Great work genius, he's headed to the dungeon of the Mad King and we're going to get him out how? The bond doesn't work here, we can't contact him and his powers won't be working."
"Let's hope he can think of something then. Until then, we scout."
