Dim by Light, Bright by Dark
Chapter 3: The Beginning of War
The hot sun shined at the two people who stood facing each other. One was dressed in his usual black robe with his hood shadowing his face. Behind him stood an army of sorcerers. They chanted the same curse in unison: "In this faithful hour, Seto will come to power. In this faithful hour Seto will consume and devour, Seto will come to power. All hail our Pharaoh, Seto."
On the opposite side of Seto is Yami. In contrast to Seto, he wore a white robe that shown a strange fire in all the eyes of the beholder. Behind Yami were his loyal sorcerers. At the head of them were Ishizu and Marik. They were humming a prayer in the ancient tongue. It was the foil to the Wicked Sorcerers' chant. The prayer rose up with the dust and it released a calm and peace that a curse could never bring.
Mad laughter came from Seto. Yami watched his brother grimly.
"You do know this is a life and death situation, my dear brother? The winner lives and the loser dies," Seto said. Yami remained serene and did not move.
"I will not lose," Seto shouted nearly losing control at his brother's emotionless face. "Especially, not to a weak childish Pharaoh!"
"I cannot let you win," Yami mumbled.
"Speak up, Yami! We can't hear you!"
"Hear this, Seto. I will not let you win… You will not control these people. You will not take my place. I will not die."
"Is that fear in your eyes, Yami?"
Yami looked up at Seto through clear eyes revealing a mixture of emotions, poignant, and scared. He spoke calmly, "I cannot deny it. You scare me for what you have become. I worry that even if I beat you there will be others who will take your place. I cannot stop this evil from happening, but I will do all I can to delay the inevitable. So… If you do not mind, I would like to get this over with."
"Preaching again are you Yami?"
"It is no use now," Yami muttered as he briefly closed his eyes.
"You are absolutely right, little Yami. That is why you should forfeit everything to me."
Yami allowed the smallest smirk to reach his face. Angry, Seto shouted, "Stop smiling! Make your move already."
"Alright. Celtic Guardian, come out." Yami placed his hand in the air; palm face up and Celtic Guardian appeared out of thin air.
"I summon La Jinn." The genie wriggled out of the floor and floated into the air, a foreboding aura surrounding it. "Attack Celtic Guardian."
The blast rang through the atmosphere as the force of it caused Yami to cringe a bit.
"Is that the best you can do?" Seto laughed. "I can't believe you, Yami! I thought you were here to put an end to my evil or at the least try. Instead you summon that weak guardian of yours. And you call yourself a pharaoh!"
"Celtic guardian is only a starter. I am only being fair to you because I feel that you are not dueling with a full mind. Your head is shrouded in a dark cloud of greed and power. You can't even tell what I plan on doing to you, Seto."
Seto's face twisted in a villainous grin.
"Alright, I summon the Curse of Dragon to wipe out La Jinn."
As Yami stood there a great gust swept his robe up and the dragon shot out of the sky behind him. It let out a piercing screech. La Jinn cowardly retreated back into the ground. A dust came up, hiding the floating Curse of Dragon. Yami shielded his eyes from the whirling sand with his long sleeve. As the dust settled again Yami looked up. Was that yet another smile Seto was showing off?
"I thank you so much, Yami… Curse of Dragon is stronger than I remembered. You must have treated him well…"
"I treat all of them as equals. They are all strong."
"No, no, no, I don't want to hear you say this again. We both have our own ways to power up our monsters. I never believed in all that heart-in-the-monster-trash. How can you keep order and power if you treat these creatures like human beings? Ha! They will someday turn against you. And that is what makes you weak."
Yami shook his head. "You always thought I was weaker. Even as a child you bossed me around and told me how to treat my monsters. But did you know that when you left I went on pursuit of a much better way in magic. I have created a bond with these monsters that are now my friends. Now, I stand before you, a stronger and wiser man than my age shows…"
"Hm, I see. Why, then are your monsters so slow? La Jinn retreated before Curse of Dragon could touch him."
"At least my Celtic Guardian did not run away. He stood ground and accepted his fate."
"As you will too," said Seto.
"Celtic Guardian is not gone. He will be back. As for me, I will stay standing and if I shall ever fall I will get back up until I have breathed my last breath," Yami said.
"That is touching, standing up for your monsters, but you will soon learn that babying them will only lead to your downfall."
Seto flicked his wrists.
"What are you summoning?" Yami asked.
He heard a sudden roar from afar. "What is that?"
Yami stole a glance at the sun. Was that a white spark in the clouds?
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, come forth and do my bidding!" The dragon landed with a thud. It flexed its wings and released a second roar. "Yami, do you know what this is? This is my strongest monster, and it will be the end of you now that it is here. I know you have no monster stronger than this."
Yami bowed his head, a sign that Seto thought meant he admitted defeat. Nonetheless, Yami surprised him when his head snapped back. He laughed lightly, a deep rumble, passing through the crowd. People stared at him in shock, as if he had gone mad.
"How do you know that I don't have anything stronger than the Blue Eyes? You have been away for so long."
"Impossible! Only thing stronger are the Gods in the vault!"
Yami glowered at his brother for saying that. "I would never devastate the planet just to defeat you! And for you to even have the sense to suggest such a thing is implausible! I would be betraying my ancestors, and above all myself!"
Seto seemed to relax a bit. "Oh, of course… Yes, you haven't the nerve to release them, let alone even control them. Ha! What was I thinking? Pardon me for that mistake. So what is it you have in mind?" Seto said mockingly.
"Have you forgotten? There is one more monster strong enough to vanquish Blue Eyes."
"No, Yami, enlighten me. What can ever be stronger than my dragon other than the Gods?"
"The Forbidden One," Yami said in a light voice.
"But you can't! That's not possible! You never learned to control your monsters! The probability… one out of a thousand. You can't!"
"I can." Yami Pushed his sleeves back focusing his eyes on the floor in front of the white dragon.
The Dark Magician's spirit, seen only by Yami, spoke, "Master, be careful." He floated just above the pharaoh's head.
Pale Seto watched his brother's face with intensity. He was cursing for not training hard enough to summon The Forbidden One before his younger brother, a child, did. Still there was no proof that Yami could do it. Yami stood there, his pupils turned suddenly black. His arms were relaxed by his side and his black eyes stared blankly at the sand in front of Blue Eyes. He did not move. It was almost as if he were frozen to the spot, his mind just wasn't there anymore.
Seto bellowed, "I knew it. You are delaying!" Turning his head slightly towards blue eyes he commanded, "Attack the Curse of Dragon, and prepare to end this; white lightning!"
The Curse of Dragon let out a final screech that shattered in the air as its body dissipated. Yami did not budge at all. "It's over! You lose!" Seto pointed at him his eyes flaming in delight.
"Pharaoh!" Ishizu shouted.
Almost as if he had come back from a dream, Yami lifted his black eyes to meet Seto's. Seto was alarmed to see that Yami's eyes showed no gleam as it did in his early years. The violet eyes with flecks of red were now gone. In place, was a stare of nothingness, and… the Shadow Realm?
"Pharaoh, summon Exodia, now!" Ishizu encouraged.
Yami clenched his fists, bent his knees slightly and cried out. His cry was filled with pain, almost as if summoning Exodia was eating him away. The ground was trembling as Exodia's chained body broke through the floor. Yami's cry grew louder and louder as the silent creature made its lingering way pass the earth.
The cry reverberated, but almost immediately Yami's voice shouted over it. "Exodia, obliterate!"
There was a sound of rattling chains as Exodia raised its arms, collecting energy in the palms of its hands. The ball of light blinked and grew in size over time as Seto watched, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets. The duel was truly over. And before he could scream the force of the blast pushed him down. He blacked out and did not see the sorcerers anymore.
Miraculously, a blazing white light took over his dark vision. He looked up from his position on the ground and saw the wavering shadow of Yami.
"It's over, Seto."
"No! Please!"
"Seto, I must."
"No! I will go far away! I will never come back again, you have my word!"
"Your word is not enough. You have betrayed us all and I cannot trust you anymore."
"Then what will you do?"
"You are now eternally exiled. You had rejected yourself before father or I could disown you. I cannot allow you running around the world with the knowledge that a long time ago you were the brother of the pharaoh. Therefore, I will be rid of your memories of your past, of today, and of me."
To be continued…
Chapter 3: The Beginning of War
The hot sun shined at the two people who stood facing each other. One was dressed in his usual black robe with his hood shadowing his face. Behind him stood an army of sorcerers. They chanted the same curse in unison: "In this faithful hour, Seto will come to power. In this faithful hour Seto will consume and devour, Seto will come to power. All hail our Pharaoh, Seto."
On the opposite side of Seto is Yami. In contrast to Seto, he wore a white robe that shown a strange fire in all the eyes of the beholder. Behind Yami were his loyal sorcerers. At the head of them were Ishizu and Marik. They were humming a prayer in the ancient tongue. It was the foil to the Wicked Sorcerers' chant. The prayer rose up with the dust and it released a calm and peace that a curse could never bring.
Mad laughter came from Seto. Yami watched his brother grimly.
"You do know this is a life and death situation, my dear brother? The winner lives and the loser dies," Seto said. Yami remained serene and did not move.
"I will not lose," Seto shouted nearly losing control at his brother's emotionless face. "Especially, not to a weak childish Pharaoh!"
"I cannot let you win," Yami mumbled.
"Speak up, Yami! We can't hear you!"
"Hear this, Seto. I will not let you win… You will not control these people. You will not take my place. I will not die."
"Is that fear in your eyes, Yami?"
Yami looked up at Seto through clear eyes revealing a mixture of emotions, poignant, and scared. He spoke calmly, "I cannot deny it. You scare me for what you have become. I worry that even if I beat you there will be others who will take your place. I cannot stop this evil from happening, but I will do all I can to delay the inevitable. So… If you do not mind, I would like to get this over with."
"Preaching again are you Yami?"
"It is no use now," Yami muttered as he briefly closed his eyes.
"You are absolutely right, little Yami. That is why you should forfeit everything to me."
Yami allowed the smallest smirk to reach his face. Angry, Seto shouted, "Stop smiling! Make your move already."
"Alright. Celtic Guardian, come out." Yami placed his hand in the air; palm face up and Celtic Guardian appeared out of thin air.
"I summon La Jinn." The genie wriggled out of the floor and floated into the air, a foreboding aura surrounding it. "Attack Celtic Guardian."
The blast rang through the atmosphere as the force of it caused Yami to cringe a bit.
"Is that the best you can do?" Seto laughed. "I can't believe you, Yami! I thought you were here to put an end to my evil or at the least try. Instead you summon that weak guardian of yours. And you call yourself a pharaoh!"
"Celtic guardian is only a starter. I am only being fair to you because I feel that you are not dueling with a full mind. Your head is shrouded in a dark cloud of greed and power. You can't even tell what I plan on doing to you, Seto."
Seto's face twisted in a villainous grin.
"Alright, I summon the Curse of Dragon to wipe out La Jinn."
As Yami stood there a great gust swept his robe up and the dragon shot out of the sky behind him. It let out a piercing screech. La Jinn cowardly retreated back into the ground. A dust came up, hiding the floating Curse of Dragon. Yami shielded his eyes from the whirling sand with his long sleeve. As the dust settled again Yami looked up. Was that yet another smile Seto was showing off?
"I thank you so much, Yami… Curse of Dragon is stronger than I remembered. You must have treated him well…"
"I treat all of them as equals. They are all strong."
"No, no, no, I don't want to hear you say this again. We both have our own ways to power up our monsters. I never believed in all that heart-in-the-monster-trash. How can you keep order and power if you treat these creatures like human beings? Ha! They will someday turn against you. And that is what makes you weak."
Yami shook his head. "You always thought I was weaker. Even as a child you bossed me around and told me how to treat my monsters. But did you know that when you left I went on pursuit of a much better way in magic. I have created a bond with these monsters that are now my friends. Now, I stand before you, a stronger and wiser man than my age shows…"
"Hm, I see. Why, then are your monsters so slow? La Jinn retreated before Curse of Dragon could touch him."
"At least my Celtic Guardian did not run away. He stood ground and accepted his fate."
"As you will too," said Seto.
"Celtic Guardian is not gone. He will be back. As for me, I will stay standing and if I shall ever fall I will get back up until I have breathed my last breath," Yami said.
"That is touching, standing up for your monsters, but you will soon learn that babying them will only lead to your downfall."
Seto flicked his wrists.
"What are you summoning?" Yami asked.
He heard a sudden roar from afar. "What is that?"
Yami stole a glance at the sun. Was that a white spark in the clouds?
"Blue Eyes White Dragon, come forth and do my bidding!" The dragon landed with a thud. It flexed its wings and released a second roar. "Yami, do you know what this is? This is my strongest monster, and it will be the end of you now that it is here. I know you have no monster stronger than this."
Yami bowed his head, a sign that Seto thought meant he admitted defeat. Nonetheless, Yami surprised him when his head snapped back. He laughed lightly, a deep rumble, passing through the crowd. People stared at him in shock, as if he had gone mad.
"How do you know that I don't have anything stronger than the Blue Eyes? You have been away for so long."
"Impossible! Only thing stronger are the Gods in the vault!"
Yami glowered at his brother for saying that. "I would never devastate the planet just to defeat you! And for you to even have the sense to suggest such a thing is implausible! I would be betraying my ancestors, and above all myself!"
Seto seemed to relax a bit. "Oh, of course… Yes, you haven't the nerve to release them, let alone even control them. Ha! What was I thinking? Pardon me for that mistake. So what is it you have in mind?" Seto said mockingly.
"Have you forgotten? There is one more monster strong enough to vanquish Blue Eyes."
"No, Yami, enlighten me. What can ever be stronger than my dragon other than the Gods?"
"The Forbidden One," Yami said in a light voice.
"But you can't! That's not possible! You never learned to control your monsters! The probability… one out of a thousand. You can't!"
"I can." Yami Pushed his sleeves back focusing his eyes on the floor in front of the white dragon.
The Dark Magician's spirit, seen only by Yami, spoke, "Master, be careful." He floated just above the pharaoh's head.
Pale Seto watched his brother's face with intensity. He was cursing for not training hard enough to summon The Forbidden One before his younger brother, a child, did. Still there was no proof that Yami could do it. Yami stood there, his pupils turned suddenly black. His arms were relaxed by his side and his black eyes stared blankly at the sand in front of Blue Eyes. He did not move. It was almost as if he were frozen to the spot, his mind just wasn't there anymore.
Seto bellowed, "I knew it. You are delaying!" Turning his head slightly towards blue eyes he commanded, "Attack the Curse of Dragon, and prepare to end this; white lightning!"
The Curse of Dragon let out a final screech that shattered in the air as its body dissipated. Yami did not budge at all. "It's over! You lose!" Seto pointed at him his eyes flaming in delight.
"Pharaoh!" Ishizu shouted.
Almost as if he had come back from a dream, Yami lifted his black eyes to meet Seto's. Seto was alarmed to see that Yami's eyes showed no gleam as it did in his early years. The violet eyes with flecks of red were now gone. In place, was a stare of nothingness, and… the Shadow Realm?
"Pharaoh, summon Exodia, now!" Ishizu encouraged.
Yami clenched his fists, bent his knees slightly and cried out. His cry was filled with pain, almost as if summoning Exodia was eating him away. The ground was trembling as Exodia's chained body broke through the floor. Yami's cry grew louder and louder as the silent creature made its lingering way pass the earth.
The cry reverberated, but almost immediately Yami's voice shouted over it. "Exodia, obliterate!"
There was a sound of rattling chains as Exodia raised its arms, collecting energy in the palms of its hands. The ball of light blinked and grew in size over time as Seto watched, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets. The duel was truly over. And before he could scream the force of the blast pushed him down. He blacked out and did not see the sorcerers anymore.
Miraculously, a blazing white light took over his dark vision. He looked up from his position on the ground and saw the wavering shadow of Yami.
"It's over, Seto."
"No! Please!"
"Seto, I must."
"No! I will go far away! I will never come back again, you have my word!"
"Your word is not enough. You have betrayed us all and I cannot trust you anymore."
"Then what will you do?"
"You are now eternally exiled. You had rejected yourself before father or I could disown you. I cannot allow you running around the world with the knowledge that a long time ago you were the brother of the pharaoh. Therefore, I will be rid of your memories of your past, of today, and of me."
To be continued…