Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to One Last Step! Thanks to all of you for the support and I hope that you all enjoy this latest and final edition of the Hope sisters. Due to certain events that happened at the end of One Last Step, this story will solely be told from Katherine's perspective.
Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Katherine Hope, Yumiko Kazayama, the Hope parents and Kylie Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation, a flash back or anything spoken in a language that isn't Japanese. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 4: - The Prana and Diva
"My apologises for pulling you away so roughly but it is necessary that we speak now," A familiar voice echoed. I pushed myself up slightly feeling somewhat woozy after I had collapsed, weakly raising my head to look at the person who had spoken caused my eyes to widen in surprise at the individual who stood before me.
She was obviously being displayed either in her prime or at the moment she died, but the woman was much taller than I last recall her to be, yet she still had the same caramel brown skin with brown eyes and tumbling waves of obsidian hair with pale clothing of Ancient Egyptian origin along with golden jewellery on her wrists and necklace.
"Kebi?" I asked slightly unsure of my eyes. It was incredibly surprising to see the ancient priestess all of a sudden, dragging my gaze away I scanned around the surroundings only to see a misty white void that encircled the both of us, I turned my attention back to my ancestor and pushed myself up onto my feet. "What's going on Kebi?" I asked. I knew this was definitely real from the feeling of this place, that and my head was aching slightly.
"I'm afraid, as you most likely already know, that your world is in danger once again. Sadly, this time the power is too much for you to understand alone so I must show you," Kebi explained. It was then that I noticed a upside down pyramid of gold rested within the centre of the woman's forehead and she pulsed with great magical energies.
Suddenly Kebi's eyes took on a golden glow as the world around us spun rapidly reshaping itself from the white void into a world filled with colour, a world I had already seen appeared before me, it was Ancient Egypt outside of Atem's palace. Yet I couldn't admire it for long as we were sent speeding across the landscape until we stopped within the palace where a room filled with scrolls resting on selves and a younger version of Kebi pouring over texts.
"The game Bakura played with our lives was remembered by myself and Mana because of our powers yet we could never tell the others of what had occurred. After the Pharaoh sealed himself within the Millennium Puzzle, I knew that he would pass through great trials before finally coming to rest… but I thought then what? The world could still be divided so I searched," Kebi began. She raised her hand to gesture to the younger version of herself soaking in the knowledge the scrolls contained. "Eventually I found my answer, an ancient power that has existed for years yet remained untapped because no one ever knew it existed and only had been felt fleetingly by magicians from across time," Kebi continued on.
As she spoke a whirling void appeared around us again and when it faded the past Kebi had aged several years and she stared at a stone landscape that floated in the air, I watched as a golden power flowed down and into her forehead forming that pyramid shape. Turning around I looked at my ancestor only to find that she wasn't looking at her memories instead she was gazing out at the cloudbank that surrounded us with a tortured look swimming within her eyes as her lips curved down into a deep frown which caused me to worry about what was troubling the woman so deeply.
"I found the power of the Prana whilst searching for a way to bring true peace to the world after the Pharaoh came to rest but I knew if he returned then the two powers would clash so I made a condition," Kebi revealed. She turned and walked over to a stone pillar with an image of the Millennium Puzzle in the centre, Kebi lay her hand over it. "When the Pharaoh leaves this world, the power of the Prana will allow for a new world to be opened but should the Pharaoh ever return then those with the power of the Prana will be bound to this dimension," Kebi spoke.
"Something made you think that Atem would return to the realm of the living, what was it Kebi?" I asked. A dry and sad laugh escaped the woman causing me to shift uneasily at the way she had reacted to my question, Kebi's hand slipped down and she then turned to face me with a serious look on her face before she turned her head down.
"Fear. Fear that the power of the Prana would corrupt its' host because of the host's own emotions, the power of the Prana can shape reality itself bringing a utopia if used by someone of pure heart," Kebi admitted. My eyes widened at the words my ancestor had spoken and a pit in my stomach began to form. "Or a dystopia if used by someone of cruel intentions," Kebi finished. That wasn't a good thing to hear, especially with what had been happening recently. "My fears have been realised Katherine and now I fear he can't be stopped from destroying your world," Kebi informed. The world we stood in whirled once more before forming into a place that brought me so much pain and my heart clenched just standing here, in the place where my sister had been taken from me… the Mortuary Temple.
However, when compared to the last time I was here things were vastly different due to the people occupying the temple and it hadn't been caved in like the last time we left it with machines also within the temple. In front of where the Millennium Items had fallen was a laser vault that held some very familiar pieces of gold but my greatest shock came when Seto, Mokuba – with shorter hair – and some bodyguards came into the temple.
"He could not give up, could he," I muttered. It wasn't hard to figure out exactly what that damned brunette man had done and that explained why he had spent so many months secluded away from nearly everyone who knew him and I honestly felt like punching that damned CEO for his selfish attitude as Kebi let out a hum of agreement from behind me.
Seto walked down towards the vault with one of the guards explaining that the vault which held the gold pieces all in order to make sure that no one would be able to get to the pieces before Seto did, but Seto didn't seem to be paying any attention to him as a holographic screen appeared above his right arm clearly alerting him to something that the brunette wasn't happy about if the hardening of his blue eyes was anything to go by.
"I'll be reconstructing the Puzzle! Get it to the helicopter on the double!" Seto commanded. The guard complied although Mokuba was kind enough to point out how time consuming that reassembly would be, but his older brother wasn't fazed by this fact as he claimed Yugi had childlike intellect – he didn't cheat! – the guard explained it would take some time before the vault could be deactivated. "In that case, I suppose that gives me just enough time to kill some of my boredom. Why don't you spare us all the trouble and show yourself? Or do you intend on hiding in the shadows forever? Diva! No, the one who calls himself Aigami!" Seto called out.
As if responding to those words, someone walked out from within the crowd with a cloak covering their form preventing me from seeing their appearance, this individual came to stop in the middle of the room and looked at Seto then this person allowed a laugh to escape the chest of the individual being hidden away; however, I was stunned by the name that had been spoken by Seto.
"Well, this is a surprise. To think you've even figured out my real name as well, Kaiba Seto!" The person spoke. The voice was definitely his own and I couldn't believe it, the boy then proceeded to take a tight grip of the cloak hiding him from us and he whipped it off as he finished speaking allowing his form to be revealed to everyone watching.
It was definitely Aigami, but he looked slightly different from the last time I'd seen him as he had a large golden ankh-shaped adornment that was clipped onto the golden rings on the right side of his fringe, twin golden bracelets with curved designs engraved on them and a pendant that resembles a miniature and simplified Millennium Puzzle. He wore a sleeveless green trench coat that featured a high collar and a black border outlined in orange that was patterned with black triangles that was also outlined in orange, a lavender long-sleeved shirt that reached passed his waist with the cuffs rolled back to form spikes at his elbows, a light green sash around his waist, tan pants and simple brown boots tied at the cuff with tan laces.
"Bastard, according to the data logs, you were in Domino City three minutes and twelve seconds ago," Seto claimed. As he spoke those words, more holographic screens proceeded to pop up showing the same boy in front of Seto but in his Domino High uniform with his golden adornments gone but the most shocking thing was that he had been at the shopping centre where me and the others had been only minutes ago.
'Ok so… maybe Bakura isn't crazy about him being watched.' I thought. Aigami claimed that in order to register as a resident in Domino City then you also had to register a Dueling deck even going on to claim that Seto was a mad dictator… no, that was his psychopath of an adopted father, Seto was just overly cautious; but as Aigami spoke, several other individuals emerged from the crowd and proceeded to gather around Aigami.
"Considering that you'd to go through the trouble of coming here, I can only imagine you're here for one thing," Seto commented. Now I really wished that my physical body was here with my soul because I seriously wanted to punch Seto for his selfish actions, Aigami asked if Seto planned on getting rid of him and began to approach the brunette CEO but another bodyguard approached Aigami pulling a gun out and pointing it at his back.
"Katherine!" Kebi called. The next thing I knew was a magical barrier surrounded me just as orange cubic light swirled together making a cube appeared before Aigami as he claimed that he despised such dangerous things that could cause harm to others whilst a glow came from his forehead in the shape of an upside down pyramid.
It was then that more people came into the room, but these people were faded purple prevented me from identifying any features except their glowing orange eyes which were somewhat creepy if I had to be honest. Aigami went on to claim that he desired to erase such things from 'this dimension', it was then that the guard who had threatened Aigami suddenly became engulfed in orange light and was erased from existence.
"Kaiba, being the man you are, I'm sure you understand what they call 'collective human consciousness'?" Aigami questioned. A strangled gasp erupted from my throat as my hand flew up to clamp over my lips as Aigami seemed to be completely calm about murdering someone who was only doing their job. "The collective human consciousness ensures all happenings in the world are unconsciously determined via a neurological network," Aigami added on. Kebi held a deep scowl marring her face as we kept watching the scene before us and the guard disappeared into orange light. "In short, the fact that you rule in Domino City as a dictator, is something that the inhabitants of the city and even the people of the world have determined via their collective consciousness. You are simply being allowed to play the part of conqueror. All for the equilibrium of a distorted and foolish world whose creation was made possible by foolish humans," Aigami stated.
"Well, I don't remember thinking such a thing!" I snapped. Of course, no one could hear me, Aigami went on to claim that the bodyguard – which he called a thing – had been sent to a different dimension with a different wave length through his allies, this caused my teeth to grind against each other as Mokuba realised the same thing as I, that these nut-jobs were the people behind all of the disappearances. Aigami revealed their identity as the Prana and it would serve to change the world once it held enough members and was seven times more powerful than the human collective and would soon change the landscape of the world.
"Now be gone to a lesser dimension!" Aigami commanded. Then the crazy boy proceeded to activate his magic once against as Seto became engulfed in orange light causing Mokuba and me to panic yet the brunette CEO didn't even seem to be fazed about the fact that he was about to be erased from existence causing my own heart to somehow settle as a familiar feeling began to wash over us.
"Don't falter Mokuba! Behold!" Seto cried. His new Duel Disk was pulled out and he placed it on his left arm whilst some black circle popped out of the right shoulder of his coat only to be attached to his actual shoulder. It was then that light emitted from the Duel Disc seeming to banish the Prana's magic, naturally those with the Prana were shocked by Seto surviving the erasing process. "Whoever you are, did you really think such weak powers would work against me?" Seto questioned. I was confused by the way that Seto had managed to avoid being erased.
"It would appear that Kaiba's sense of self identity is strong enough for him to resist the Prana's power, combined with Kisara's protection he's unlikely to be erased," Kebi explained. I looked over at Seto and saw that Blue-Eyes White Dragon was curled protectively around the brunette with her fangs bared in a rather terrifying manner as her blue eyes darted and glared at the people before them, Seto demanded to know if they truly believed such powers would work on him.
"You're every bit of the man that the rumours state. In which case I'll just have to pass judgement on you using the cards of arcane magic," Aigami admitted. Naturally in our lives when two people are at an impasse with neither one willing to back down, it was decided that a Duel would be held when Aigami outright challenged Seto since he refused to let Seto take the Millennium Puzzle, he accepted and attached the black head piece around his left ear so that the two boys could begin their duel.
Diva – LP: 8000
Seto – LP: 8000
Aigami's strange cube proceeded to create four exact duplicates of itself as he claimed that the Duel would be different as the Prana's magic surged out again, this magic tainted the entire temple a faded pinkish shade. But the most shocking and, admittedly, most terrifying aspect was the gigantic swirling red portal that hung over our heads.
Seto began the duel by drawing a holographic card form his Duel Disk whilst his hand was projected before him also holographically although Seto was surprised since apparently he was able to summon his high level monsters without paying a sacrifice causing Aigami to explain Dimension Summoning, a technique that also allowed for attack and defence points to be decided by willpower. Seto quickly accepted these new – and rather unusual if you ask me – rules without any hesitation in his eyes or movements as he brought out Krystal Dragon and set two cards face downs.
Krystal Dragon – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 6, ATK/2500, DEF/1000
"To think that you would draw out your monster's Attack Power to the limits. However in this duel, in lieu of battle damage, you will receive damage equal to the status of the destroyed monster!" Aigami explained. As he did the crazy boy withdrew a card from one of his cubes. "Learn well. Dimension Summon. All me to show you. The Monster that will send you to a lesser dimension! Appear now! Vijam the Direction World Seed!" Aigami declared. I'd never heard of that Monster before… that was never a good thing!
Vijam the Direction World Seed – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 1, ATK/0, DEF/0
Naturally Seto was confused as to why his opponent was keeping the monster's Attack Points at zero however Aigami gave no explanation as he simply threw down four face down cards. The brunette boy insulted the crazy sorcerer claiming that he would abide by Aigami's unspoken wish and blow the boy clean away.
The CEO proceeded to summon out a second Krystal Dragon with the same stats as the first one, then he had the first one attack Aigami's Monster however before the flying crystals could impact the strange creature, an orange light surrounded it then the Monster proceeded to disappear instantly confusing me and Seto who demanded answers from Aigami.
"My Monster vanished into a dimension which you cannot attack. Also look there," Aigami claimed. He then pointed at Krystal Dagon causing us to watch as the glittering beast was stained black. "The Monster that battles Vijam can neither use its' effect nor attack. In other worlds, it has been un-dimensionalised!" Aigami declared. The Monster was completely covered in darkness with almost fungal like growths across its' body.
"What a shrewd trick but I have yet another Krystal Dragon!" Seto declared. He had his second Krystal Dragon launch a direct attack at Aigamu however this was countered by the crazy sorcerer activating the Trap, Direction World Afterlife which brought out another of the Vijam monsters thus the same play as last time occurred. "Miserable fool… Trap, activate! Dragon's Orb!" Seto declared. As a result of Seto's command, the face down card popped upright. "At this moment, my Krystal Dragons' effects return! By having the both of them conducted battle, it allows me to add two Blue-Eyes from my Deck to my hand!" Seto declared. Two copies of his beloved Monster appeared in holographic form before being de-materialised into whatever classed as a hand for these holo-cards. "And then, guided by these dragons' souls, I will usher in a new servant of mine! Come forth! Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon!" Seto declared.
Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 8, ATK/3000, DEF/2500
Blue-Eyes White Dragon – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 8, ATK/3000, DEF/2500
"Now! Burn him to ashes! Burst Stream of Destruction!" Seto commanded. But Aigami didn't even flinch as the attack hit him, although this was soon explained when the smoke cloud faded away revealing that the boy had activated another Trap card this one known as Direction World Rebirth which negated the attack, brought out a third Vijam and Seto's two other Blue-Eyes but none of them had any Attack Points, thanks to Vijam's Special Effect, thus forcing the brunette to end his turn but not before Seto threw out another face down.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon – Attribute: Light, Type: Dragon, Level: 8, ATK/3000, DEF/2500 (X2)
Blue-Eyes White Dragon – ATK/3000 – ATK/0 (X2)
"Kaiba, your taste of the true terror of my Direction World Monsters starts here!" Aigami declared. With that, Aigami made his move which was rather complicated if I was honest since he brought back the two Vijams from wherever their Special Effect had sent them and then proceeded to sacrificed one of the three monsters. This allowed him to summon out another Directional World monster known as Dark Ganex the Direction World Beast which gained one thousand attack points for the sacrificed Vijam.
Dark Ganex the Direction World Beast – Attribute: Earth, Type: Beast, Level: 2, ATK/0, DEF/0
Dark Ganex the Direction World Beast – ATK/0 – ATK/1000
Then Aigami attacked and destroyed a single Blue-Eyes with his new Monster before proceeding to trade it back in for the Vijam that he'd sacrificed in order to summon it out. But right after that, Aigami then proceeded to sacrifice two of the Vijams in order to bring out another Monster known as Blade Garoodia the Direction World Beast which gained two thousand attack points for the sacrificed Monsters.
Blade Garoodia the Direction World Beast – Attribute: Fire, Type: Beast, Level: 3, ATK/0, DEF/0
Blade Garoodia the Direction World Beast – ATK/0 – ATK/2000
Once more Aigami attacked but this time his Monster could strike twice and this allowed him to destroy the two remaining Blue-Eyes but once again the crazy boy proceeded to sacrifice this stronger Monster to bring out the two Monsters he had given up to summon it. For the third time, Aigami sacrificed his Monsters, this time it was all three of his Vijam, which let him bring out Buster Gundil the Direction World Super Beast and just like the last two Monsters this received one thousand attack points for each of the sacrificed Monsters.
Buster Gundil the Direction World Super Beast – Attribute: Light, Type: Beast, Level: 4, ATK/0, DEF/0
Buster Gundil the Direction World Super Beast – ATK/0 – ATK/3000
This Monster was capable of attacking three times which allowed the boy to destroy both of the Krystal Dragons which Seto had summoned out, since they had been Dimension Summoned by the CEO it actually caused damage to be dealt to Seto's Life Points. Whilst also sending him flying backwards from the force of the blow causing me to swallow thickly seeing that this kind of Duel was similar to a Shadow Game.
Seto – LP: 8000 – LP: 3000
"I still have an attack left! Kaiba this is the end!" Aigami declared. His Direction World Beast unleashed the third and final attack however before it impacted the brunette, Seto immediately activated a Trap known as Counter Gate which negated the attack and allowed Seto to draw a card with him being allowed to play it if the card was a monster. "Such futile resistance. Trap, activate! Direction World Mandala! I'll just be returning your dragons in the graveyard back to you. This will prevent you from summoning any more monsters, in addition as long as they remain there, you will be unable to activate any monster effects," Aigami announced.
The Monsters appeared on the field in a decrepit state, everyone watching the Duel that supported Seto were greatly unsettled by the fact that Seto had been blocked from bringing out a Monster that could stop these Direction World Beasts. It seemed that this sudden twist had made Seto anxious about actually losing the duel, especially since he was liable to be killed if he did lose, but then I saw the shimmer of someone walking forward. The figure kept shimmering and flicking making the person indistinguishable, all I could make out was the silhouette of a woman, the woman brushed her finger against Seto's forehead causing the man's eyes to widen as they focused on the woman standing before him.
"Call," The female whispered. That voice was so familiar it caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end and the woman stepped to the side as a fierce determination began to burn within Seto's blue eyes as he let out a cry then slammed his hand onto the ground. This causing magical energy to surge outwards and then light shot into the air causing Aigami to become confused as Seto actually pulled a card from the ground making my eyes widen as three of the monsters on the brunette's field were sacrificed.
The Mortuary Temple began to break and crumble with the ceiling caving in as the pillars around it proceeded to crack as if it was being put under some enormous invisible pressure whilst sunlight began to pierce through the red portal overhead. Meanwhile black flames began to burn behind Seto – who was the only calm one – which then resulted in an explosion of power and from the ground a familiar figure seemed to appear behind him.
"It's the Giant Divine Soldier of Obelisk!" Aigami cried. Fear was etched on his face, but what Seto had done shouldn't have been possible, after Kylie and Atem left the Egyptian Gods went with them; so how in the name of every type of magic was Seto able to summon one now, I looked at Kebi hoping for some answers from her, but she only shook her head, a disbelieving expression pressed onto her face. "Inconceivable. The Pharaoh's memories, the remnant consciousness of this sacred domain… are you saying that Kaiba… that he managed to read them?! And not only that, but those of Obelisk, the Pharaoh's one time servant?!" Aigami questioned. He seemed both baffled and fearful at the moment, not that I blamed him since I was in that same category.
However, before I could see the end of this duel – although it was kind of obvious – the white void returned to surround me leaving only myself and Kebi standing there. Kebi proceeded to walk towards me stopping only a few feet from my position as a desperate expression came to rest on my ancestor's face.
"You know the stakes now Katherine… Diva won't stop until all that he sees as evil is eradicated. However, that is practically everyone on the planet, you have to stop him before it's too late," Kebi implored. There was no need to say such words after what I'd just witnessed, I tightened my fists as I raised one up to rest over where my heart lay.
"I will. Atem's at peace now, I'm not going to let anything disturb it. I swear I'll stop the power of the Prana," I promised. Kebi smiled brightly and with that I felt my soul being returned to my body as everything faded away.