Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to Pain of Betrayal, Pain of Loss! Thanks to all of you for the support and I hope that you all enjoy this latest edition of the Hope sisters.
Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation, a video tape or something in a language that isn't Japanese. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 4: - Invitation from Pegasus
It was the day after that creepy eye had appeared from the aurora and my sister and Yugi had driven it away with those mysterious dragons; all of us were currently gathered at the card shop which was basically our base of operations. The TV was on running a report regaling the world with how bizarre events from all over the world were happening, primarily auroras and tornados.
"So, what happened last night wasn't just a dream," Anzu commented. I'd have probably been relieved if it had been a dream, in front of us were the cards that Yugi and Kylie had used, Jounouchi reached out and lifted the Eye of Timaeus into his hands and commented that both of the cards were evidence of its' reality; Honda snatched Timaeus from Jounouchi and started to scrutinise it.
"But no matter how you look at it, it's just like any normal card," Honda commented. I stared at the boy in confusion, the damned things weren't anything like a normal card; for starters it's blue which only Ritual Monsters were but no Ritual Magic cards were needed, plus the utter lack of information on the cards was another sign. "I don't see any great power in it or anything," Honda commented. He was flicking the card back and forth, so I reached out to snatch it back.
"You should be careful with that!" I snapped. Timaeus and Xanthi were our only source of protection against that strange beast, I wasn't going to let someone endanger that. "This card is special," I added on. I gently set Timaeus back beside Xanthi as Jounouchi added on that they were only capable of being wielded by True Duelists before turning towards Yugi.
"I got something unbelievable and so did Kylie-san," Yugi acknowledged. Kylie reached out and picked up the card she'd received as Anzu asked what we were going to do next; Jounouchi and Honda pointed out our utter lack of information regarding the enemy and this eventually led to the two knuckleheads getting into a brawl with each other.
"What the hell? It's so loud up here," Suguroku commented. We looked over at the old man who had stepped inside. "Hey Yugi, a parcel came for you today from America," Suguroku commented as he held it up. All of us were surprised to hear mine and Kylie's homeland as Yugi stood up to accept it, Anzu wondered if it was from Otogi, but then Yugi let out a small sound of surprise; this caused the two idiots to leap to their feet as Anzu leaned over the box.
"Let's see… 'Industrial Illusions'…," Anzu read. A few seconds passed before the three started to freak out and scream, panicking over the box whilst me and Kylie tilted our heads to the side in confusion; Yugi on the other hand was calm as he opened the package and pulled a video tape and a card out of the wrapping and set both on a table, the card had the image of a key on its' surface.
"Why are you guys freaking out over a package from Industrial Illusions?" Kylie asked. The four explained that right before Duelist Kingdom the same thing had arrived and it was through the video letter that Yami had experienced his first Shadow Game against my uncle, lost and this resulted in the theft of Suguroku's soul. "Ok… I understand the worry. But Uncle Pegasus lost his Millennium Eye, the source of that power. Nothing's going to happen so stop freaking out," Kylie stated. She then picked the video tape up and slotted it into the player.
"Even if Uncle Pegasus did have the Millennium Eye, me and Kylie would be able to protect you," I reassured. The others gathered around and sat down, but clearly worried from the expressions on their faces except for Yugi who seemed certain as he stared at it; the screen tape started and I breathed a sigh of relief seeing Uncle Pegasus sat behind his desk, knowing he'd been awake for a while was different to seeing him.
"Long time no see… Yugi boy. And from the information I have, I'm betting my adorable nieces are with you. I know this is abrupt, but you should know what's happening around the world right now," Pegasus spoke. The others began to settle down upon realising it was an ordinary video. "Duel Monsters is the game I created. And now these Monsters are given substance and have caused a lot of panic around the world. Just what has happened? I've done some research and I realised one thing. About this thing, I have to talk to Yugi boy and my nieces personally. However, I cannot leave this building. I am being watched by someone. To be completely honest, I am taking a gamble on whether or not this letter even reaches you. But if you safely get it, please take the card with you and come to America! I will arrange for a plane to pick you up. So please make haste! I will wait for you!" Pegasus revealed. He had leaned in close to the camera at the end and with those last words the tape cut off.
"Pack up," Kylie ordered. I looked over at my sister, her expression was completely stony as she stood to her feet. "My uncle's eccentric but he was genuinely scared. We need to get to America," Kylie stated. I nodded my head with Yugi vocalising his agreement, Jounouchi immediately jumped on the bandwagon to join us and the other two quickly joined in, we left the building and head home in order to pack.
"Hey sis," I called in English. Kylie turned her gaze to look down at me as we walked down the pavement. "Can you tell me about the dream that you had when you got Xanthi?" I asked. I was truly curious about what had transpired in the dream but there was something else that I wanted as well; I'm sure Kylie could guess but she didn't push for any information.
"Sure. Andromeda appeared in my Soul Room and she guided me into the Duel Monsters Spirit World. There we found a castle and inside were four dragons encased in ice with swords or sceptres thrust into them. Timaeus had already been freed by that point. Black Magician Girl and Andromeda explained the situation to me and then had me free one of the dragons, I gave it the name Xanthi which I heard on the wind and then I woke up," Kylie explained. I nodded my head and was intrigued by the number of dragons she mentioned.
'I wonder if I'll get a Dragon… although I'm probably not worthy.' I thought. Memories of fire scorching my skin danced across my thoughts.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
The next day we boarded the Industrial Illusions plane with the other four freaking out over it whilst me and Kylie were unconcerned with it due to our past experience with luxurious surroundings. The journey was nice, warm and we slept through the night, however I couldn't get any decent rest as my thoughts whirled around the dangers and the unknown enemy that we faced this time around.
When the next day came, we landed in San Francisco and were loaded into a limousine in order to reach Industrial Illusions' Headquarters; I was dressed in a light blue, sleeveless summer dress with a white cardigan, white stockings and dark blue canvas shoes. Kylie wore a short sleeved green shirt, olive cargo shorts and white socks and trainers.
"Look, we're getting close to downtown San Francisco," Jounouchi commented. Him and Honda were far too excited about being in the US given the reason why we'd ended up coming to the country; thankfully Anzu was levelled headed and told them off for this, I felt Yugi's concern pulse into me as Kylie fiddled with her Deck, perhaps from the nerves she must have been feeling.
As for me, I kept struggling to keep my eyes open due to how exhausted I was feeling; I needed to stay away in case we ended up being attacked by the new enemy that we were being faced with. My head kept bobbing up and down as my own will and the knuckleheads continued chatting about the things they saw; such as cable cars that had appeared in movies.
"What's wrong Yugi? You've been unusual quiet," Kylie prompted. I turned my sleep gaze to the amethyst eyed boy who was staring down at his shoes, his distracted state of mind was so easily felt that I wouldn't have needed our Soul Bond to know that he was feeling troubled by something or perhaps everything that had been going on lately.
"I'm thinking about what Pegasus wants to tell us. Monsters appearing all over the world and the God Cards along with Kylie-san's Guardians and Katherine-chan's Primordial Gods were stolen. These guys calling themselves the five Musketeers of Doma appearing and the crisis between the Duel Monsters' Spirit World and our world. Pegasus must know something. What could it be?" Yugi explained. His worries were probably something we all shared given the situation.
"Don't worry Yugi I'm sure Uncle Pegasus will… have some answers for us," I spoke. However, my sentence was interrupted by a yawn, my exhaustion clearly on display now; suddenly a hand appeared on the side of my head and it was guided down, in order to rest my head on someone's shoulder with the hand staying pressed there.
"Get some sleep Katherine-chan," Yugi insisted. Those words broke the last thread of my resistance and the next time my eyes closed I didn't open them again right away.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
I was resting on my bed in my Soul Room when footsteps came to me, I shot up and saw Hecate standing before me; wordlessly she raised her hand and I reached out to take it. Hecate pulled me to my feet and took me to the wall opposite the one containing my Soul Bond; a quick mumble of magic and a door appeared, knowing what was coming I swallowed thickly as Hecate opened the doorway and leapt through it and into the tunnel beyond, dragging me with her until it ended.
A massive sprawling forest extended below me with plateaus floating in the air around me, a river snaked through the forest as white capped mountains surrounded us. Dominating the centre was a brilliant white palace with golden roofs, but in the distance, I was an inky black cloud that spread across the horizon, within the centre was a golden iris with a split pupil and what appeared to be lightning crackling across the yellow surface; it was identical to the eye in the photograph and gave off the same creepy energy as that stone.
I saw what appeared to be creatures being sucked into the pupil, a strangled cry escaped from me as Hecate tugged on my hand and proceeded to guide me down to the palace. We stopped at a room make completely of white constructs which was surrounded by pillars, in the centre was a pedestal with what appeared to be two frozen dragons and three empty ice platforms.
"Katherine!" A female voice cried. Recalling Kylie's explanation of her dream, I already knew what to expect, I turned around and looked at Black Magician Girl who seemed to be on the brink of tears at seeing me. "You finally came! Thank you, Hecate!" Black Magician Girl spoke. I turned my gaze to the gleaming white floor as my hands tightened into fists on the skirt of my dress.
"I'm sorry but I can't help you Black Magician Girl," I stated. I heard sounds escape from those around me, but I knew that my feelings were true. "I couldn't stop Other Marik from hurting my friends, I'm not strong like Yugi, Yami and Kylie are. And I'm not brave like Seto or Jounouchi either, I can't help you fight this evil," I answered the unspoken question. Footsteps echoed before hands cupped my cheeks and forced me to look up.
"How can you say that?" Black Magician Girl asked. I opened my mouth to try and respond but the ferocity in her eyes caused any argument to die in my throat. "You are brave, you knew the dangers of facing Marik's darker half and yet you walked into them freely and you are strong because you were able to withstand Ra's assault. I don't know if even my Master or the Fair Consort could do that. You were chosen to wield the Gauntlet because of your strong and pure heart and I'm certain you can help us by freeing one of the dragons," Black Magician Girl argued. I felt tears gathering in my eyes, her words were so certain and unwavering in their faith.
Her unwavering words shook at the core of my self-doubt, the doubt that had taken root in my heart after losing to Other Marik and which I hid so easily at first that I didn't even know it was there. Because of the growing tears, they slipped down my face and so I reached up to brush them away whilst nodding my head, to show Black Magician Girl that I would try to answer the faith she and Hecate had shown in me.
"These are five of the guardians of the Duel Monsters World, the Legendary Dragons. They exhausted all of their power in their last battle, now they're sleeping here. When did they get here? No one can remember their names except perhaps the other guardians, all who slumber or are trapped themselves," Hecate explained. She then rose into the air and I went with her as Black Magician Girl followed after us.
"All that is left behind of these dragons is a prophecy. When our world and Human's world is on the verge of collapse, only the True Duelists will awaken us dragons," Black Magician Girl spoke. I looked at the sceptre pierced into the dragon's wing. "I believe that you can free one of these dragons, Katherine," Black Magician added on. Nodding my head, I reached my hand out to the sceptre and wrapped both of my hands around it.
I started to pull on the sceptre, causing it to slide out of the ice and a light followed after it, soon the sceptre was pulled completely free and I went floating backwards as the light spread to encompass all of the ice. It shattered into pieces and allowed me to see the dragon held within it, a western dragon with rich pink scales and amethyst eyes; there were large spines jutting out from her back, with a finned tail as horns curled around her head like a tiara… just as with Kylie, I'd called the dragon her, somehow I knew the dragon was female and I felt the whisper of her name on the wind.
"Nameless Dragon! I know your name! Your name is Aspasia!" I declared. The dragon roared, accepting the name as power washed over me. "The Wing of Aspasia, you can unlock the hidden power of Magic," I realised. I threw my hand out to reach up to the dragon as a light engulfed my form.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
A gasp escaped me as I jerked my head away from Yugi's shoulder and started to breath heavily in response to the dream I'd just had; several voices shouted around me, begging to know if I was ok as I pressed a hand to the area where my heart lay. Ignoring the voices, I reached down to my Deck pouch and opened it up to remove my Deck which I quickly removed the top card of.
"The Wing of Aspasia," I whispered. There in my hand was the same dragon that I'd just freed from ice, I looked at my sister who had widened her emerald gaze before looking over at Yugi who seemed to be concerned. "I got a dragon," I revealed. Extending the hand, I allowed the others to see the card which they stared at in silence for several seconds before I pulled the card back and returned my Deck to its' pouch.
"I suppose this is redundant to say, but I don't like the idea of you getting involved in these new and seemingly highly dangerous Shadow Games. Especially after what happened with Ra the last time you went into one. But we need all those dragons if we want to defeat the Dark Sun," Kylie admitted. Her lips were curved into a frown as she looked down to the side, I could understand her worries as by Dueling Other Marik, I'd pushed her over the brink of tears and my sister did not cry easily.
"I don't like it either," Yugi admitted. I snapped my eyes towards the boy and found that he was staring right back into my dark gaze. "However, I have faith in you Katherine-chan. You're the bravest and strongest person I know and I'm certain that the brave purity of your heart is exactly why the Gauntlet chose you," Yugi reassured. A small smile appeared on his lips whilst I felt a heat begin to burn underneath my skin; I snapped my head away from Yugi's gaze and looked down at the ground.
'That was similar to what Black Magician Girl said.' I realised. A small ember began to smoulder within my heart upon hearing Yugi's words, I refused to lose this time around; I would honour the faith Yugi had in me by helping to defeat these Musketeers that had stolen my beloved Primordial Gods. As I thought that I felt the car we were slowly roll to a stop by what appeared to be a fuel station… an abandoned fuel station.
"What's up? Out of gas?" Honda asked. Yet, instead of answering the question, the driver opened up the door and climbed out of the door before closing it behind him; I felt a chill creep up my spine and I sent a quick look at Kylie who glanced back at me with a concerned look within her gaze, something was definitely wrong for the driver to suddenly leave without a word to us.
"What's wrong with him?" Anzu asked. None of us could give the brunette girl an answer but the current situation was making my teeth itch and I could see the muscles in Kylie's arm and back were completely tense as she gazed out the front window; her mind was probably running through any myriad of possibilities that were likely to occur.
"I feel like I've been saying this far too much lately… but this is a really bad sign," Kylie admitted. I couldn't help but agree that sentiment as we watched the man walk away from us.