Seperation
Chapter 2 "Those who deserve do not always succeed."
Seto sat back in his chair. "I've reviewed your portfolio. Quite a good collection. Duel monster dragons was the original theme of Kaiba Land's art and sculpture exhibits.
"I trained under the Artist Charla Charlemane. She was an Eliminator at Duelist's Kingdom." Nyassa said tentatively. "So they're alright?"
"I'll have to see them for myself. I've got spare time now, why don't we go check them out now?" Seto suggested.
"Why not?" Nyassa shrugged. "My car's in the parking lot. Unless you'd rather take your limo?"
"I'll take the escalade." Seto grinned. "Its my first car. A bit old, but I'd rather risk wrecking an old one than a new one."
"Sure." Nyassa rose.
~the workshop~
~Seto~
"Nice place." I commented, looking around. I was in the entry way of a warehouse. Boxes of parts and junk were stacked here and there. Towards the front was a smithy arrangement, Nyassa probably used that to build her statues.
"I started making models of Duel Monster Armor." Nyassa motioned towards a model of the Dark magician's armor. A metal version of the Dark magician was wearing it. "It keeps them from falling out of shape. And then, for the dragons." She pointed to a scaffold.
My jaw dropped. I looked up at the ceiling of the enormous old warehouse. Soaring above it was an enormous Blue Eyes White Dragon. "I'm still getting a little funding from Industrial Illusions. I didn't need much help with designing it. But it took me, Selene, Carola, Fera, Natari, Rex, Weevil and Maeko to make the parts and put them together." Nyassa shook her head. "I'm not going to make something bit like that very often. And my funding from Pegasus is starting to run out, so I've only got enough left to make one more of those or a lot of little ones."
She pointed to some of the statues scattered between boxes.
I looked them over. There was a red eyes in defense mode, wings hunched and hissing, a brachio-radius poised to strike, puppets of scape goats and other small monsters. And then something caught my eyes. As real as life stood a statue. Not just any statue. It was a blue eyes white dragon, with its wings folded in a protective stance. Its head was bent low to nuzzle the baby blue eyes white dragons that were hatching from her clutch of eggs.
I felt my throat choke up. The statue was beautiful. It looked almost alive. And... the expression on the mother blue eyes' face. I felt it stir something inside of me. She reminded me of my mother... vaguely, of the parents that I never had, of the love I had never felt.
"I call her Mamagon. The name means mother dragon." Nyassa smiled. "That was the first piece that I ever did in metal. Until then I used to work with different kinds of plastics and woods, or sew costumes. That's how I made extra money." She pointed to a manikin wearing the robes of a flaming swordsman. On its right was another manikin wearing a mask shaped like a bird, it even had the bird's beak. I realized that it was supposed to be the punished eagle. On the other side, of the Swordsman's robes was a stack of boxes, and flung over it was the cloak that I had seen last night.
"Where'd you get that cloak?" I asked, eyes widening as I stepped back.
"Oh, that's one of the easiest costumes that I make. I make them custom and sell them for extra money. I'll bet that brother of yours wouldn't mind a couple of costumes." Nyassa grinned, with a business face that would have put my father's executives to shame.
"I might. Do you have one that would fit a thirteen year old with growing to do?" I asked. "Mokuba's going through a growth spurt."
"Don't we all?" Nyassa grinned. "Carola!" Nyassa called back into the workshop.
Faintly, I heard the clunk of tools being put down. A girl with long, silky brown hair and a streak of silver in her bangs came out of one of the rooms at a dogtrot. She wore cargo flares and a vest. A red Yankee's hat was turned backwards over her hair, currently in a braid about a yard long. "Yeah?" She called.
"Where did you put the children's costumes?" Nyassa asked.
"In storeroom c-2. Can I go now? Before Weevil messes up the guitar that I'm etching? Honestly, when it comes to computers, he's a genius. But when it comes to using his hands elsewhere, uht-uh, like oil and water dude."
"Thanks." Carola ran back to her workshop.
Nyassa led me down a hallway to our right. "This place used to be a store house for extra dueling supplies. We've still got some bags of starchips somewhere around here. We use them for embellishments on some of the costumes. I gave Shiara Pegs a cloak with them sewn on the boarders for Christmas. She saw them and laughed."
Nyassa stopped at a door. "Here we are. What's his shirt size? Most of these you need a black body suit underneath, standard wares at any dance shop."
"He's a medium boys size." I watched, rather fascinated as she sorted through the boxes.
"Here they are. Feel free to have a look." Nyassa motioned towards the box.
After about fifteen minutes, I had three; An Armorsaurus Capsule Monster, a Silver Fang, and Baby Dragon. "How much?"
"Thirty bucks each. That'll buy me enough metal for a miniature Mamagon." Nyassa sighed. "We're running out of funding here and I'd really like to get enough money for the good stuff."
"What good stuff?" I asked.
"Well." She sighed. "I wanted to create an Entertainment Company, specializing in animation, but dabbling in publishing and recording too. The problem is that we can't earn enough money. I was going to negotiate a contract with Pegasus, since he likes cartoons so much. But then Pegasus lost his memory. So we're back to square one all over again." Nyassa threw up her hands in disgust.
I paid for the costumes, but as we were on our way out, I stopped near the statue of Mamagon. "Nyassa, how much will you let that statue go for?" I asked.
"500 bucks." Nyassa said with a smile. "That's half of what I would normally charge, but that statue seems to be calling you."
"Calling me?"
"Yeah, my friend Fera's grandmother said that the cards have a heart to them, but I think the same thing goes for these beauties. Don't worry about taking it. I have blue prints for it in archives." She said with a smile. "Where you gonna put it? The entrance?"
"No, I'm going to put it in my office." I said with a smile. "I'll have to tell Yugi that he's not the only one who believes in the heart of the cards."
Nyassa grinned, packed, and loaded it herself. "Glad to do business with you." She said later as she went back out to her car.
~later~
"Holy cheese on rye!" Joey exclaimed when he saw the statue.
"Yeah, and what's more. I found out where our mysterious perpetrator got the costume. Apparently this Nyassa made them when she started the shop. Speaking of which, Yugi, does your grandfather ever mention an 'Eagle Shop?'"
"He didn't to me." Yugi blinked. "Why?"
"This Nyassa started out working at a game shop with that name in America. Her friend Fera's grandmother runs it, and that grandmother also believes in the heart of the cards. She claims that it inspired her to make this statue. She said something about it calling me." I blushed slightly.
Yami bent low to study the statue. "Its beautiful. As well made as some of the Egyptian statues that adorned the tombs and temples. And its got the heart of the cards in it alright. Put your hand on its head and close your eyes."
I did, focusing on making my mind receptive as Isis had suggested. I felt... energy buzzing against my palm. "woah!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, Nyassa put her heart in that statue alright." Yugi's eyes were still as round as saucers. "You can see it. It looks almost alive!"
"So we know where this girl got the costumes." Joey said thoughtfully. "But then how do we find her."
That was when Mokuba came in. "Seto!SETOSETOSETO!"
"Hey Mokuba! I got some presents for you."
"Cool!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Let me see!"
I handed him the wrapped boxes. Mokuba shook them. "It rattles, so it can't be clothing." He held it up to the light. "I'm not quite sure what to think! Oh well! I'll open them anyway!"
Tea chuckled. "What makes you think they aren't clothes?" She asked, "They're in the correct boxes. Maybe there's a belt or something attached!"
Mokuba had reached the first box. "WOW! ARMORSAURUS! AND IT LOOKS AS REAL AS LIFE!"
"I got a couple others, since I wasn't sure which ones you'd want." I handed Mokuba the other two boxes.
"OHWOWOHWOWOHWOWOHWOW!" Mokuba squealed. "Where'd you find them Seto?"
"A shop that sold hand made costumes. That's where I got the new statue for my office. I'll go back later and buy a bigger statue for the lobby."
"Can I go with you Big Brother?" Mokuba asked, with bambi eyes.
"I was going to bring you along in the first place." I chuckled. "I want you to see what well made craftsmanship looks like." I turned to Yugi. "Do you think that you and Yami could check the place out too, later on?"
"Sure." Yugi shrugged.
~meanwhile~
"I'm sorry Natari, we'll have to close it down."
"Yeah, I guess we'll have to. Our record sales haven't taken off especially. We haven't sold much. There's very little we can do to save the place."
"But Natari! There has to be something you can do!"
"It's over Rex. We fought a good fight for awhile, but until we can get some good marketing, we'll have to close the place down."
"Yeah... yeah I guess we will."
"Weevil you can't give up on us now too!"
"..."
"We can't give up! It's not fair! You worked hard! We all did! Your work is so good its almost like they're alive! You can't just give up! You deserve to make it!"
"Those that deserve do not always succeed Rex, that's life."
"But... Sis..."
"Rex, keep the red eyes statue that we made. You deserve to have it."
Rex was left alone, crying under the protective wings of the Red Eyes Black Dragon statue that he'd designed and that he and Carola had poured their hearts into making, hearts that would no longer be present in his life.
Chapter 2 "Those who deserve do not always succeed."
Seto sat back in his chair. "I've reviewed your portfolio. Quite a good collection. Duel monster dragons was the original theme of Kaiba Land's art and sculpture exhibits.
"I trained under the Artist Charla Charlemane. She was an Eliminator at Duelist's Kingdom." Nyassa said tentatively. "So they're alright?"
"I'll have to see them for myself. I've got spare time now, why don't we go check them out now?" Seto suggested.
"Why not?" Nyassa shrugged. "My car's in the parking lot. Unless you'd rather take your limo?"
"I'll take the escalade." Seto grinned. "Its my first car. A bit old, but I'd rather risk wrecking an old one than a new one."
"Sure." Nyassa rose.
~the workshop~
~Seto~
"Nice place." I commented, looking around. I was in the entry way of a warehouse. Boxes of parts and junk were stacked here and there. Towards the front was a smithy arrangement, Nyassa probably used that to build her statues.
"I started making models of Duel Monster Armor." Nyassa motioned towards a model of the Dark magician's armor. A metal version of the Dark magician was wearing it. "It keeps them from falling out of shape. And then, for the dragons." She pointed to a scaffold.
My jaw dropped. I looked up at the ceiling of the enormous old warehouse. Soaring above it was an enormous Blue Eyes White Dragon. "I'm still getting a little funding from Industrial Illusions. I didn't need much help with designing it. But it took me, Selene, Carola, Fera, Natari, Rex, Weevil and Maeko to make the parts and put them together." Nyassa shook her head. "I'm not going to make something bit like that very often. And my funding from Pegasus is starting to run out, so I've only got enough left to make one more of those or a lot of little ones."
She pointed to some of the statues scattered between boxes.
I looked them over. There was a red eyes in defense mode, wings hunched and hissing, a brachio-radius poised to strike, puppets of scape goats and other small monsters. And then something caught my eyes. As real as life stood a statue. Not just any statue. It was a blue eyes white dragon, with its wings folded in a protective stance. Its head was bent low to nuzzle the baby blue eyes white dragons that were hatching from her clutch of eggs.
I felt my throat choke up. The statue was beautiful. It looked almost alive. And... the expression on the mother blue eyes' face. I felt it stir something inside of me. She reminded me of my mother... vaguely, of the parents that I never had, of the love I had never felt.
"I call her Mamagon. The name means mother dragon." Nyassa smiled. "That was the first piece that I ever did in metal. Until then I used to work with different kinds of plastics and woods, or sew costumes. That's how I made extra money." She pointed to a manikin wearing the robes of a flaming swordsman. On its right was another manikin wearing a mask shaped like a bird, it even had the bird's beak. I realized that it was supposed to be the punished eagle. On the other side, of the Swordsman's robes was a stack of boxes, and flung over it was the cloak that I had seen last night.
"Where'd you get that cloak?" I asked, eyes widening as I stepped back.
"Oh, that's one of the easiest costumes that I make. I make them custom and sell them for extra money. I'll bet that brother of yours wouldn't mind a couple of costumes." Nyassa grinned, with a business face that would have put my father's executives to shame.
"I might. Do you have one that would fit a thirteen year old with growing to do?" I asked. "Mokuba's going through a growth spurt."
"Don't we all?" Nyassa grinned. "Carola!" Nyassa called back into the workshop.
Faintly, I heard the clunk of tools being put down. A girl with long, silky brown hair and a streak of silver in her bangs came out of one of the rooms at a dogtrot. She wore cargo flares and a vest. A red Yankee's hat was turned backwards over her hair, currently in a braid about a yard long. "Yeah?" She called.
"Where did you put the children's costumes?" Nyassa asked.
"In storeroom c-2. Can I go now? Before Weevil messes up the guitar that I'm etching? Honestly, when it comes to computers, he's a genius. But when it comes to using his hands elsewhere, uht-uh, like oil and water dude."
"Thanks." Carola ran back to her workshop.
Nyassa led me down a hallway to our right. "This place used to be a store house for extra dueling supplies. We've still got some bags of starchips somewhere around here. We use them for embellishments on some of the costumes. I gave Shiara Pegs a cloak with them sewn on the boarders for Christmas. She saw them and laughed."
Nyassa stopped at a door. "Here we are. What's his shirt size? Most of these you need a black body suit underneath, standard wares at any dance shop."
"He's a medium boys size." I watched, rather fascinated as she sorted through the boxes.
"Here they are. Feel free to have a look." Nyassa motioned towards the box.
After about fifteen minutes, I had three; An Armorsaurus Capsule Monster, a Silver Fang, and Baby Dragon. "How much?"
"Thirty bucks each. That'll buy me enough metal for a miniature Mamagon." Nyassa sighed. "We're running out of funding here and I'd really like to get enough money for the good stuff."
"What good stuff?" I asked.
"Well." She sighed. "I wanted to create an Entertainment Company, specializing in animation, but dabbling in publishing and recording too. The problem is that we can't earn enough money. I was going to negotiate a contract with Pegasus, since he likes cartoons so much. But then Pegasus lost his memory. So we're back to square one all over again." Nyassa threw up her hands in disgust.
I paid for the costumes, but as we were on our way out, I stopped near the statue of Mamagon. "Nyassa, how much will you let that statue go for?" I asked.
"500 bucks." Nyassa said with a smile. "That's half of what I would normally charge, but that statue seems to be calling you."
"Calling me?"
"Yeah, my friend Fera's grandmother said that the cards have a heart to them, but I think the same thing goes for these beauties. Don't worry about taking it. I have blue prints for it in archives." She said with a smile. "Where you gonna put it? The entrance?"
"No, I'm going to put it in my office." I said with a smile. "I'll have to tell Yugi that he's not the only one who believes in the heart of the cards."
Nyassa grinned, packed, and loaded it herself. "Glad to do business with you." She said later as she went back out to her car.
~later~
"Holy cheese on rye!" Joey exclaimed when he saw the statue.
"Yeah, and what's more. I found out where our mysterious perpetrator got the costume. Apparently this Nyassa made them when she started the shop. Speaking of which, Yugi, does your grandfather ever mention an 'Eagle Shop?'"
"He didn't to me." Yugi blinked. "Why?"
"This Nyassa started out working at a game shop with that name in America. Her friend Fera's grandmother runs it, and that grandmother also believes in the heart of the cards. She claims that it inspired her to make this statue. She said something about it calling me." I blushed slightly.
Yami bent low to study the statue. "Its beautiful. As well made as some of the Egyptian statues that adorned the tombs and temples. And its got the heart of the cards in it alright. Put your hand on its head and close your eyes."
I did, focusing on making my mind receptive as Isis had suggested. I felt... energy buzzing against my palm. "woah!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, Nyassa put her heart in that statue alright." Yugi's eyes were still as round as saucers. "You can see it. It looks almost alive!"
"So we know where this girl got the costumes." Joey said thoughtfully. "But then how do we find her."
That was when Mokuba came in. "Seto!SETOSETOSETO!"
"Hey Mokuba! I got some presents for you."
"Cool!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Let me see!"
I handed him the wrapped boxes. Mokuba shook them. "It rattles, so it can't be clothing." He held it up to the light. "I'm not quite sure what to think! Oh well! I'll open them anyway!"
Tea chuckled. "What makes you think they aren't clothes?" She asked, "They're in the correct boxes. Maybe there's a belt or something attached!"
Mokuba had reached the first box. "WOW! ARMORSAURUS! AND IT LOOKS AS REAL AS LIFE!"
"I got a couple others, since I wasn't sure which ones you'd want." I handed Mokuba the other two boxes.
"OHWOWOHWOWOHWOWOHWOW!" Mokuba squealed. "Where'd you find them Seto?"
"A shop that sold hand made costumes. That's where I got the new statue for my office. I'll go back later and buy a bigger statue for the lobby."
"Can I go with you Big Brother?" Mokuba asked, with bambi eyes.
"I was going to bring you along in the first place." I chuckled. "I want you to see what well made craftsmanship looks like." I turned to Yugi. "Do you think that you and Yami could check the place out too, later on?"
"Sure." Yugi shrugged.
~meanwhile~
"I'm sorry Natari, we'll have to close it down."
"Yeah, I guess we'll have to. Our record sales haven't taken off especially. We haven't sold much. There's very little we can do to save the place."
"But Natari! There has to be something you can do!"
"It's over Rex. We fought a good fight for awhile, but until we can get some good marketing, we'll have to close the place down."
"Yeah... yeah I guess we will."
"Weevil you can't give up on us now too!"
"..."
"We can't give up! It's not fair! You worked hard! We all did! Your work is so good its almost like they're alive! You can't just give up! You deserve to make it!"
"Those that deserve do not always succeed Rex, that's life."
"But... Sis..."
"Rex, keep the red eyes statue that we made. You deserve to have it."
Rex was left alone, crying under the protective wings of the Red Eyes Black Dragon statue that he'd designed and that he and Carola had poured their hearts into making, hearts that would no longer be present in his life.