Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi
Legacy of Kain characters, setting and everything related is (c) Crystal Dynamics and Silicon Knights.
At first the two had wanted to trade their clothing for something that would help them blend in, but their hair styles were still outrageous compared to everyone else who walked the streets of the walled-in township. From what they had picked up, they were now on the other side of the Lake of the Dead, all water running from the moat and wastewater would run out into it. Where it went after that was anyone's guess. But some part of the land had to get tremendous rainfall for the falls to run so strongly. They had managed to find a tavern, the drunken antics of members from all walks of society made the place almost too loud to bear. Smoke filled the area, be it from the fires used to cook the meats or the pipes that so many smoked. They had met up with Henry again, with his knowledge of what the tavern served, he was able to help the two order something they'd actually eat. Some of the dishes they had seen served to others looked odd. Somewhere hidden in the city fortress was their livestock pens. Wild animals must have been a thing of the past, or at least on the side of the mountains they had seen the day before.
Yami grew slightly impatient as Joey and Yugi took time to talk to natives and watch tavern antics. He forcefully asked Yugi and Joey to depart when the "entertainment" came out. A whore floor show was not what they had come for. After a bit of asking around, they were lead to the building that held the archives. Much to their dismay, all the books were in a strange tongue.
"Thank Ra for their picture heavy texts," Yami murmured as he flipped through one such volume.
"Think we should get someone in here to translate for us?" Joey wrinkled his nose as he stared at the strange text.
"If we are wizards, why can we not read it ourselves?" Yami asked with a raised brow.
"Cuz we had no one to teach us?" he answered. He felt silly carrying on the ruse of them being wizards in private, but Yami had warned him he wasn't sure they truly were alone in the room.
"The picture murals are some of the most descriptive. Sadly, not many can read the text in most of these volumes," a timid voice said. A young woman stood near one of the shelves, she had her hands tightly clenched behind her back. Her clothing was slightly better than a commoner's. It had more color and was in better condition.
"My name is Anna, my Papa is the gentleman that let you in. He's been training me to be the caretaker for him because he has no sons to do it for him. He's also been teaching me how to read. I can't read those texts, but I can read others," she offered.
Yami raised an eyebrow, "Teaching you to read? How old are you, if it's not too rude of a question."
"I am seventeen summers. Schooling is done in the home, when the parents have time. My Papa has to run the archive and my Mama works in the stocks. There never was much time for me to learn much of anything. I used to work around my home but my younger sister by eight springs does it now. Allowing me to learn how to read and write while I help Papa. But, maybe I can help you. If you want," she said.
"Hmm, what can you tell me of him?" Yami said as he held a book up, the page opened to one of Kain.
"There is much to tell of him, most facts have been lost through the ages and legend makes up most of what we 'know' about him," she said. She still hadn't moved from where she stood. Joey brushed a hand through his hair and tilted his head to the side.
"Ah, we don't bite. Don't need to stay way over there. Have to practically yell to hear one another," he shrugged. She walked forward a bit, but still not up to the table they had all their texts spread out on.
"Kain is Nosgoth's eldest vampire. He's tied to the Pillars and the death of the land. It was he who caused all this. Culling Lieutenants and letting them build huge clans which all but hunted us into hiding. It's been this way since before I can remember, generations of my family stretching back through time all have their stories of Kain and his vampire sons. Legend has it Kain and his sons were not vampires through the blood curse. But that's the only way to make a vampire, so we still hold it as a blood curse. When he killed the Pillars, Kain set his throne at the base of them. Building up a fortress that no one has seen the inside of since it's construction. The Pillars being inside, no one is allowed to see them or if they still exist," she paused when she realized one of them had a question.
"The Pillars, what are they? We've heard about them but not much was said," Yami explained.
"The Pillars are a sort of supernatural and spiritual part of Nosgoth. Their health and condition is tied to the land. If they are healthy, so is the land. If they are sick, then the land mirrors it. Why this is so, I don't know. Only the Circle of Nine would be able to answer that question."
"Circle of Nine?" Joey questioned.
Anna nodded and took a moment to try and organize her thoughts. She was a bit confused as to why these wizards hadn't heard of the Circle or Pillars, but attributed it to them being foreign. "The Circle of Nine was a group of sorcerers who were each tied to a certain Pillar. Each Pillar stands for something else. The Pillars are for Energy, Death, Time, Conflict, Dimension , Mind, Nature, States and most importantly, Balance. There was one Guardian for each, together they made up the Circle of Nine. When one member died, the Pillars chose a new Guardian. Always someone born at the exact time of the previous Guardian's death. But something happened... a member of the Circle turned on the Guardian of Balance and murdered her. Ariel was her name, and the Guardian of Death, Mortanius had slain her. Ariel and Nupraptor, Guardian of the Mind, were lovers. With her death he went insane. Because each and every member of the Circle was mentally connected, Nupraptor's madness spread to them. Including the being that had been chosen to take Ariel's place. Being mad, the Guardians all took to torturing the humans they were sworn to protect. They also instated the Vampire Purges, in which the Sarafan were created to exterminate the growing and threatening number of vampires. Their madness lasted long enough for Ariel's successor to grow up. He had not yet taken his place as Guardian. He was later set on a quest to 'cleanse' the Circle by killing all of the deranged sorcerers. He didn't get all, a vampire by the name of Vorador killed six of the remaining eight. In the end, when all of the Pillars beside Balance had been restored, the new Balance Guardian refused the sacrifice. He would not take his own life to cleanse the Pillar of Balance. Without this, Balance's corruption spread back into the other Pillars. They were now Guardian-less, as Balance would not take his life to fully restore the Pillars so they could finally pick new successors. Kain was that man, or vampire by that time. Some point during his quest he was converted, but no texts that I can read say when or how. I don't even know how much of what I told you is true. What we can read is at times too worn to make out," she said at length.
"Kain is behind all this? How long ago was it?" Yami said, completely interested in the story he was hearing.
"Um, at least a millennium," she replied.
"He's so old," Joey pointed out the obvious.
"So, his death would right the Pillars after all this time?" Yami inquired.
"Yes, that's what everyone believes," she paused for a moment, almost as if she was anticipating a question, "But no one has been able to get close enough to Kain to be rid of him. He makes himself be known when he sees fit, sometimes it goes so long without him being seen we think he is gone. Then he makes himself known crushing that hope. He's too powerful anyway, supposedly his first born son went against him and he had him executed. No one knows for sure, that's only the story that's been passed around."
"Thank you, Anna. You've been extremely helpful. I think we have all that we need. We'll help put these up then be on our way," Yugi offered a small smile as he rose to his feet.
"Hey whoa, check dis out," Joey gasped as he turned a book around for Yami to see. "Says these things are the Pillars. Don't look a thing like what we saw. These things go up into the sky forever and the picture on the other side says they go far into the ground."
"You saw the Pillars?" Anna's eyes looked about ready to pop out of her skull.
"Why yes, we had to navigate out of the building they were in," Yami said slowly.
"Are they still standing? Has he gotten rid of them? What do they look like? What does the room they are in look like?" She was bubbling with questions.
"They're standing, somewhat," Yami answered.
"Yeah, they're all crooked and cracked. All in varying lengths and angles," Joey added with a nod.
"As for the room around them, it's an audience chamber. Drapes bearing these symbols," Yami tapped a finger on the cover of a book, "line the walls."
"But the Pillars are still standing?"
"Yes."
"Thank you," she uttered before she ran out of the room.
"Guess you said the magic word," Joey shrugged.
"Must have, let's get these books back up so that we may leave. I have a feeling she's going to bring her father in and I'd rather not stick around longer than needed."
"I hear ya, I think we might have just said the one thing that would really get all eyes on us. I don't want that kinda attention."
They managed to get out before Anna returned, much to her and her father's dismay. Having all they needed for the moment, they returned to the Inn and their room.
"Knowing all this doesn't change much," Joey sighed.
"Sure it does, we know who Kain is now. We let him know we know all this and it gives him more reason to be wary of us."
"Ugh, man. I never asked for any of this and I'm getting in deeper and deeper without even trying," Joey huffed.
"It always turns out that way," Yami said quietly before he retreated and let Yugi take over once more.
"Joey, I'm not wanting to stay here too much longer. I say we spend part of the day looking for things we can take with us and then rest. I want to leave in the middle of the night. We aren't going to find anything here and I'm beginning to feel as if we're going to build a reputation quickly, one we don't want because of the attention it will draw."
"Yuug, you read my mind. Only I was wanting to leave now. Don't know how much longer we can keep up the ruse. Sooner we leave the better. But yeah, supplies would be good. Best go now, hopefully word hasn't spread just yet about what we know," Joey said as he got to his feet.
"So my first impression was wrong. They truly did not know a thing. But now they know enough, I still lack anything substantial on them. A dilemma, leave them be or do something about it?" Kain mused as the image he was watching faded. It wasn't a witched item of any type, Kain didn't have anything he could use to view actions of the here and now. He had to rely on the ancient equipment of the Time Streaming device. It's owner, the Guardian of Time, had long ago died; by Kain's hand no less. Kain understood the value of the piece and had taken care of it over the centuries. He used it to view events of the past, present and future. He had used it before to effect the outcome of something, but hadn't touched it that way since. He had no reason to, and wouldn't for some time still. It only stood as a means for him to learn quickly about any event, something with he had become increasingly grateful for. Despite his death so long ago, the Time Streamer was still up to his old antics. He could pass freely from time to time, before and beyond his death and did so only to mold something to his liking. The Time Streamer had not come to this time, and from what Kain had learned, he never intended to. As much as he had learned, some things still remained unknown, it was as if an unseen force was governing what he could and could and couldn't see. He wasn't surprised, maybe that had been the reason he had failed to see the arrival of the two strangers in the first place. He knew where they had come from, but not how. They didn't know either, he didn't know if he liked the idea they were so unknowing or if he was against it. They could become a problem for him, with the major event Kain had planed out so carefully eons ago about to happen. He stood a moment more in the enormous room before walking out. All three levels of it held vital parts of the Time Streaming Device, the ceiling holding the large gears. With luck, he could resolve this 'small problem' before his other worry awoke.
Yami gently woke Joey up, the moon had risen to it's highest point, marking the middle of the night. He more or less had to guess, the ever present smoke was unrelenting. Joey now had a bag of his own, holding dried food and another container made of animal skin for water. As much as he may have wanted a weapon, Yami advised against it. They didn't wish to appear like they were on a mission so as to avoid questions.
"I bet they still have guards out at this time," Joey muttered as he draped the strap across his chest.
"Nothing we can't handle, and it's not like we're going out the front door anyway. We're using the gate again. Doesn't matter where we go, can always head back to the Lake of the Dead to think about our next move."
"Yeah, never saw anyone there. Too close to Mr. Scary's place."
Yami shot him a hard look.
"What? I like saying Mr. Scary more, s'all," Joey shrugged.
"Just follow me, hold your tongue so we don't draw attention." Silently they made their way to the gate, once there it was a struggle to get the door to the room open. The township had normal doors, easy to open and it had made them forget about the thick ones set everywhere else. Not wasting a minuet, Yami set the gate to take them back to the Lake of the Dead, and where their spears sat.
"Strap it to yourself somehow. By your side, longwise. Make as much of it touch you as possible. That might have been how the armored men made it through with theirs," Yami announced once the gate had shut itself off.
"So, where too next?"
"We hit and explore every other gate there is. We'll find Kain somehow."
"Wait, what? Yuug, I don't want to go looking for the guy. I want to get out of here."
"As do I, and I think he might know how. That's the only reason I want to find him."
"He always seems to find us first, though."
"Then so be it, we travel around at random and see if it catches his attention."
"Fine, but I'm picking the destination. I want to check out that one that had the clock symbol."
"That's our starting point, then." Yami simply activated the gate and cycled through the destinations, he had passed it and Joey had him go around again.
They passed through, same as before. First by their own will, then the gate took over and pulled them through the rest of the way. With the spears held so close to the body, they had made it through this time. The gate room on the other side was the same as all the other rooms, air was stale here, thick and damp. Odd lamps with glowing crystal centers sat on the walls, the hall curving up before it met the door. As they exited the gate room, cold air hit them head on. The stone of the walls here was different. It was pebbled with rust color spots along with tones of blue and purple. Runners of tan and brown stretched from the blue marbled floor to halfway up the wall. The ceiling was of plain stone, everything carved and neatly smoothed out. Ever-so often there was a slight rectangular indentation in the walls, a slab of white marble sat in the back. The hall had a fairly steep slope to it, to the right it went up and left went down.
"Hey, you think the reason it's cold here is cuz we're underground?" Joey asked, still studying the hall.
"Might very well be the reason. Where do you suppose we have traveled? The hanging lamps aren't normal by far. A Phosphorescent crystal is the light source," Yami stated.
"Hey! Maybe we found some kind of wizard's lair? They might be able to help! But, which way, up or down?"
"I'm assuming we go down. Seems more likely you'd find someone of importance in the bowels of such a building."
"Yeah, but what about gettin back out? We'd have to come up. If it goes too far down we'd get tired havin ta come back up this way," Joey pointed out.
"It's an incline, not a mountain. We can most certainly manage it," Yami replied with a raised eyebrow. Now was not the time to get lazy, if they wanted to find a way home they would have to take some harder routes if it would get them where they wanted to be. It took but a moment to get down the incline, it rounded to the right then leveled out just before meeting a large and ornate door. The center piece of the door was a humanoid face, but the decorations around gave it an unearthly feel.
"Everything around here is decorative, you noticed that? Even those first ruins had a certain flare to em. Folks here must love making things look complicated."
"But the township was bare, no flare to it. Simple and uniform, decoration must not be of normal human construction," Yami thought aloud.
"Ok, see now yer scaring me. I'd like to think this place was of human origin and not some mutant vampire crib," Joey mumbled.
"Whatever it is, it too is old. Did you not see the wear on the walls and the faded colors of the decorative runners? Dust is fairly thick too. This door too shows much wear, the material has turned and collected filth."
"So it's an old house, long as it don't hold more of Kain's kind I'm fine."
"We're here, might as well see if we can get into this room," Yami suggested as he placed his hands firmly on either side of the center line. For doors so large, they were apparently well oiled and opened with ease. Yami almost fell over, having expected a struggle.
"Whoa, check out the spread Yuug," Joey whistled as he stepped in. The doors swung shut behind them, startling the two teens. "What is this place?"
"I don't know anymore than you do, Joey. But I think it might be similar to the area that held the Pillars."
The room was huge and cavernous. Three levels made up the interior, two tiers and the floor. They had entered in the middle level, the first tier. The steady whir of machinery echoed throughout the room, a large structure on the ceiling being the culprit. Pillar like structures reached from the floor and curved up to touch the receded tiers and ceiling. Or, was it a ceiling? It was black, white patterns like stars being all that marred the surface. At certain points, on the walls of each level large gears sat. Symbols adorned the dials, most being things they did not recognize. The sideways eight caught their attention, the symbol of infinity. Yami furrowed his brow as he thought about what he was seeing and what Kain had said before.
A time machine? Yugi asked from the Puzzle's Soul Room.
"You were thinking the same as I was," Yami replied inwardly.
"So, this thing is how we get home?" Joey asked as he walked around on their level, he saw no way to get back up if they were to drop down a level.
"No, I don't think it is Joey. What do you associate with the infinity symbol?" Yami asked as he walked up next to the slightly taller teen.
"Um, never ending. Going on forever."
"Could it also be a loop?"
"Yeah, I guess. It does loop around anyway," Joey nodded.
"What if this is the Streams of Time Kain mentioned? It may only be a means to peek into time, not our method of transport home."
"Time Streaming Device is more correct. Or the Chronoplast, whichever you prefer to call it as," an elderly and frail sounding voice called from an unseen vantage.
"Who's there?" Joey demanded as he twirled around to see nothing.
"Oh come now, you should be relived to have stumbled upon another human and not a vampire. Or do you prefer the company of the undead more?" the voice said as it's owner finally came into the light. A tall and thin old man leaned on a long staff, he stood on the same tier as them but on the other side of the room. His hood obscured most of his features, his robe far more elaborate than clothing they had seen others in.
"Who are ya?" Joey asked loudly.
"Does it matter?" he paused, "I suppose it does, so that we may address each other. You may simply call me The Oracle. You have stumbled upon my dwelling; I do not need your names, young Yugi and Joey." His voice held a certain edge that made Yami a bit uncomfortable, the old man was hiding something and Yami knew it.
"How did you...?" Joey's eyes widened in surprise.
"The Oracle knows all and sees all, boy. Did you think I could hold such a title if I was ignorant and blind to such things?"
Joey didn't answer, only grumbled.
The Oracle smirked a bit, even from the great distance Yami could see it. The old man had snake in the grass written all over him.
"You seek Kain, do you not?" The Oracle spoke after a while. He began to slowly close the distance between himself and the teens.
Yami narrowed his eyes as Joey answered positively.
"You think you know enough to find him?" The Oracle chuckled.
"We were kinda expecting him to find us," Joey replied.
"Oh, but if he knows this he will not show himself. He likes to think he controls meetings, and bending to your will is not pleasing to him. You shall need to find him instead," The Oracle replied as he stopped a good distance from the two.
"And how do we go about doing that? No one knows his dwelling," Yami said with arms crossed over his chest. The amusement drained from the old man's face.
"Have you not listened at all?" he growled sourly.
"I have, but why offer this to us? We haven't asked for anything and I doubt it would come without cost," he replied flatly.
"Cost?" he chuckled, the amusement returning, "You have nothing to offer me, there is nothing I wish of you. Besides, all I can offer is a direction to take. You must find your way there."
"And what would this direction be?" Yami asked, his gaze unmoving from the Oracle.
"Take the gate to Dumah's symbol and venture past the walled city, through the frozen mountain pass. Where carved stone rooms mar the surface of untamed mountains you will find a pass. The sun dial holds no importance to your destination, it tells you that you have gone to far and to look behind it. Beyond the pass lies Dark Eden, the smoke stack will give you sight of Kain's stronghold. How you gain access to it is your own task. If you survive the land and claim entry, then you need only comb the fortress for Kain."
"That's it?" Joey quirked a brow.
"It is all you need to know," The Oracle replied before he turned around. "Take heed, it will not be easy." He began to walk away again.
"Hence the 'if you survive' part," Yami thought to himself.
Moebius paused for a moment as he set the Time Streaming Device to take him back to where he belonged. They didn't need to know who he really was, it was better that they didn't; he had managed to set the two teens up and if they pursued Kain, he would most definitely view them as a threat. With enough prodding the two would do exactly what Moebius wished and would be forced to face Kain. If this worked, everything that would come later would be a breeze. He would have to make sure to relock this time frame up so Kain could not view it at his leisure. For things to work right, Kain could not know the boys had met with the long dead Guardian of Time. The old Time Streamer looked behind him for a moment to see the two boys watching him carefully. He turned his head to hide a smile as he climbed steps the boys hadn't seen before then. The Streamer deftly strode across the top tier and into a glowing doorway. Once he had past the threshold, the machinery slowly came to a stop. Deathly silence settled in the room and surrounded the teens.
"So, do we go or not?" Joey said quietly, it was almost as if he was too afraid to break the silence.
"I honestly don't think we should. Something didn't feel right. I don't trust The Oracle. In any event, this place is no good either. Let's head back to the gate and we can figure out where to go from there." Yami stopped Joey just before the gate and had the taller teen heft him up, Yami took a small bit of glowing crystal from three lamps and put it in the bag. He thought they might come in handy later.
If you DO know anything about the Legacy of Kain, don't worry. I'm not gonna screw up anything in it. I'm trying my damnedest to make this fit in without screwing things up. I want a crossover, but nothing that would rewrite LoK. As for Yu-Gi-Oh!, I'm trying not to mess things up as well. Doubt I'm doing too well a job on it though.
