Disclaimer/Author's Note:

Chapter 15…it's been so long since I updated!!!  Lots of EVIL schoolwork…after this chapter, tell me in your review what you think of schoolwork and your email, if you want a special surprise!  Anyway though, a competition will soon start…here are the details.

Best Original Character: A character created by the author. We're looking for good personality, skill, etc. Also he/she can't be perfect, like in winning every single duel or battle. That's boring.

Best Original Cards/Pokemon: Here we're looking for creativity, but once again no perfect cards/pokemon. Mystic's cards are perfect examples.

Best Original Supporting Character: OK, I'm quoting the Oscars, but who cares. Good characters which help out in fics, or meet the main character in aduel/battle, then dissapear from the story only to pop ten chappies later with a note: Ten points to the person who remembers this one. :)

Best Plot: Again, creativity is good, so basically a good story line which isn't just battle battle battle, duel duel duel.

Best Grammar: Speech marks! Commas! Question Marks! Capital Letters! Correct Grammar! You get the idea. :)

Best Duel/Battle: Good duels and battles should have twists that no one expects, or extreme rules. We're looking for description and good action.

      Hope I can win something…if you want to enter or nominate someone for these awards, email the title of the story, the URL, and the author to myself at adrieltouchstone@hotmail.com or to opaltiger at darkmagician_1992@hotmail.com.  On with the chapter…

Yu Gi Oh- Tournament of the Eclipse

Chapter 15-Past

A few minutes earlier, the group had advanced into the third stage of the tournament, sticking their phases in the wall scanner.  The three stepped onto the third stage, and it was a duelist's paradise.  Instead of the feeble stores selling vacuum-packed goods, there were small restaurants-noodle carts, hot dog stands, fry shops, sushi shops, among many others.  After eating the largest lunch they'd ever had, the group proceeded to observe an electronic message board that was issuing challenges to third-stage duelists.  Skimming the details, Adriel finally found a challenge worth taking.  "Guys, look at this!" he called.  Mystic and Aldrai came over.  The unnamed duelist was offering the ultimate prize-a Blue Eyes card.  "The second Blue Eyes…" Mystic said in a hushed voice.  "You gonna go for it?" asked Aldrai.  "Maybe…but look at how risky it is…if we lose, we lose all of our duelist points, all of our phases, and our entire deck."  Mystic smiled.  "Hey, we have our new cards!  I'm taking the challenge."  Adriel's eyes narrowed slightly.  "No.  I'm taking it."

"But you already have a Blue Eyes!" said Mystic.  "Exactly.  That makes me the best challenger.  And dragons are MY forte, not yours.  So go find some other competition to try."  Mystic looked hurt.  "Fine then, I will."  He stomped off.  Aldrai punched Adriel in the face.  Adriel staggered back into the message boards.  "Would you shut up?  Jeez!"  Aldrai got Mystic.  "Apologizew or thins time I'll punch you harder."  Although Adriel doubted Aldrai could inflict any serious damage, the last punch knocked him to his senses.  "Mystic…sorry."  Mystic glared at him for a minute, but then his gaze softened.  A little.  "I didn't mean it the way it probably sounded…so you go ahead and take the challenge.  Me and Aldrai will be cheering for you."  Mystic's gaze fell to what a normal person's angry look would be like.  "Thanks," he muttered.  They walked off towards the specified arena.

A few minutes later, they were there.  The site was desolate.  Strewn across the ground were destroyed DuelDisks and shreds of cards, some of them fairly valuable.  In the center of this chaos was a shadowy duelist.  The three walked up to him.  Seven orbs of golden light began to faintly shine; one around his neck, one in either hand, one on his chest, one slightly above his midriff, one on his forehead, and one at his side.  As they got closer, the dark figure was cast into the light; he was wearing khaki pants, a black tank top, and a black cape.  The seven glowing orbs materialized into the seven golden items held by the Rare Hunters.

The wind blew, and the boy's hair was blown out of his face…"Hello, Adriel."  Time stopped.

"I'm sorry, boy, but Aaron has to go now…"  A young boy with familiar dark hair was standing in front of an older man with spiked black hair with ice blue highlights-his best friend's older brother.  "His name isn't Aaron!"  The older boy laughed, a younger kid the same age as Adriel in his arm.  "That's right, you call him Aarion, don't you?"  The boy in his arm squirmed.    "Quit moving, brat!"

"Adriel!  Help!" cried Aarion.  "Leave him alone!" cried Adriel, tears streaming down his face.  "Say your last goodbyes, because you'll never see each other again!"  Aarion's brother kicked Adriel into the dirt and ran off.  Adriel tried to get up, but couldn't.  "Aarion!"…

"Adriel!"  Mystic and Aldrai were desperately trying to reach their friend, but he was tethered in his own mind.  Aarion crossed over to the group.  Mystic and Aldrai backed off a little.  Aarion took the ankh and placed its tip on Adriel's forehead.  It glowed bright gold, and both Adriel and Aarion froze.

Inside Adriel's mind was a large chamber with a circular stone floor.  Aarion stepped onto the floor, and most of it shattered and fell into a swirling void.  The center of the ground remained, and the few bricks that weren't sucked in transformed into small stone dragons.  They circled around Aarion and began spewing out shards of rock.  He switched the ankh with the rod and activated its powers.  The dragons stopped spraying rock, and they made an extremely thin path towards the center of the chamber.  The teen walked across the pathway and stepped into the center.  Instantly, rock began to swell out of the void in a last attempt to destroy Aarion.  He activated the pyramid's effect and telekinetically crushed the rock.  Finally, a white sphere floated down to the platform.  It grew larger, until it reached the size of a human.  It slowly dimmed until it was completely gone.  In its place stood Adriel, clad in the same manner as Aarion.

The new teen smiled.  "It's been seven long years, Adriel."  Adriel stood impassively, although his eyes began to water slightly.  "Aarion…I thought you were lost forever…"  Aarion smiled even more broadly.  "Well, after my brother kidnapped me, we got caught by the cops.  He got locked up, and I was sent to live in an orphanage.  Then, a family adopted me.  I was happy, but we were poor.  So when I heard that people actually played Duel Monsters for money, I got my adoptive parents to let me play in tournaments.  Soon, I collected some powerful cards, and now I'm here.  I'm so glad I'm seeing you again, Adriel." 

Adriel smiled as well, a single tear running down his cheek.  The two embraced each other, and more golden light was emitted.  They returned to the real world.  As they held their embrace, three of the items on Aarion's body were transferred to Adriel; the eyelike pendant, the rod, and the ring.  Aarion smiled.  "That was my job; to get you these items.  And I have something else for you, too."  He pulled out a card from his pocket-it was the second Blue Eyes!  "Aarion, don't I have to win that from you?"  Aarion smiled.  "No offense, but if you were to duel me, you'd be defeated forever.  And I don't want to defeat you like that.  In exchange for this card, let's say that you have to tell me about everything that's happened since we got split up."  Adriel hesitantly took the card…it seemed strange that anyone, even his best friend from younger days, would just give him a nearly unique card.

Aldrai and Mystic were watching this exchange somewhat angrily.  "Something's not right about that other guy, I can sense it." said Mystic darkly.  "Yeah…no one would give up a card like that.  But I guess for now let it ride…Adriel hasn't seen this guy since he was seven."  Mystic nodded grimly.

Aarion and Adriel crossed over to the other two.  "Aarion…you never got to know Aldrai.  He's been my best friend ever since you left."  Aarion smiled and held out his hand.  Disobeying his intuition, Aldrai took his hand and shook it.  Some strange jolt went through his body, as if the other boy was breaking into his mind.  He quickly dropped his grip.  "And this is Mystic…we just met him at the tournament."  Again, Aarion shook hands, and again, the person at the other end felt a jolt.

Mystic decided to use this new ally to his advantage, if at all possible.  "Hey…Aarion, right?" Aarion nodded.  "Where did you get those gold things?  We've seen them before."  Aarion smiled again.  It wasn't normal, no one smiled that much.  "I've been keeping them for a while.  You must have seen fakes…these are really valuable.  You see, the four I have with me are the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Puzzle, the Millennium Key, and the Millennium Scales.  The three that Adriel hold are the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Ring, and the Millennium Eye."  He pointed to each as he called out its name.  "Each of these items have special powers.  For example, the Millennium Key can tap into people's minds.  That's why me and Adriel looked frozen earlier.  And the Millennium Rod has the power of mind control."  Adriel looked uneasy.  "I don't know if I can believe that there are mystical powers…I mean, I'm sure what happened to me happened all the time.  Honestly, it must have been the shock of seeing you for the first time in years."  Aarion chuckled.  "That's what most people say, but I swear that you do have magic powers now.  Okay, let's test the power of the ring.  Count to one hundred, and I'll be gone.  Kind of like hide-and-go-seek.  Then, think to yourself that you want to find more golden items.  If you can find me, it'll prove that the items have magical powers."

Adriel, feeling like an idiot, began counting.  Mystic and Aldrai rolled their eyes…magic didn't exist!  One hundred seconds later, Aarion was gone.  Adriel began thinking, and the five points of the ring began to vibrate, and they spread themselves in an array forming a semicircle.  The rightmost point began flashing gold, and Adriel walked in that direction.  He followed the ring as it pointed ahead, to the left, and to the right once more.  Suddenly, the entire ring began glowing.  Adriel was in front of a rock.  He took out the rod and poked the stone…and it crumpled to the ground.  Aarion got out from under the tarp.  "See?  It pointed you in the right direction."  Adriel was still skeptical.  "You could've been using a remote control."  Aarion laughed.  "Fine then…the Millennium Rod has the power of mind control.  Find any animal you can and focus on trying to be that animal.  Its eyes will go blank, and you can make it do whatever you want."

Adriel looked around for a couple of minutes, and spotted a rabbit.  He focused, like Aarion said, and sure enough, the rabbit stopped moving.  He had the rabbit dance ballet for a while, then he made it jump on Aldrai's head.  He laughed, and released control.  "Now do you believe me?" asked Aarion, as the rabbit hopped away.  Mystic and Aldrai came over to them as Adriel nodded.  "Yeah…cool!  What does the eye thing do?"  Aarion cleared his throat.  "The Millennium Eye lets you see into someone else's mind."  Mystic objected.  "That's impossible!  There's no such thing as a telepath, I've been studying various supernatural arts, and telepathy is impossible to achieve!"

As Mystic ranted, Adriel finished the speech with him.  "How'd you know I was going to say that?" asked Mystic.  "I don't know…it was like something floated into my head telling me what you were going to say."

"See?  Telepathy.  Like a mind-reader."

"No," started Aldrai, "Like two good friends who can complete each other's sentences for each other."  Aarion smiled yet again.  "Adriel told me you two just met Mystic.  That's gotta be maybe three or four days, not enough to get to know someone that well."

"Fine then, Adriel, let me see that!"  Adriel gave the eye to Mystic.  He gripped it tightly, and tried to read Aarion's mind.  Nothing happened.  "See, it's a trick!"  Aarion, for once, did not smile.  Instead, his face darkened.  "How dare you insult the ancient magic?!  You are connected to it as much as Adriel, and you are too, Aldrai.  Why else would you have met each other?  Why else would you have won the Egyptian God Cards?"  Mystic smiled.  "See?  If you're truly the guy you say you are, how did you know we have the God Cards?"  Aarion laughed.  "I told you, the Millennium Eye has the power to read minds!  As you were approaching, I read your mind and discovered that the God Cards are in your possession."

"Lay off guys!  I mean what do you think is going to happen?  I trust him, so you should at least give him a chance.  Honestly!"  Mystic and Aldrai looked at their feet.  "Sorry…"  However, both of them were thinking the same thing: That Adriel's mind was slowly being corrupted by the source of all their problems…

*~End~*

Author's Note

            I'm aware that you haven't gotten your bonus yet, but I HAD to finish 15 before I forgot about what I was doing with it!  Don't worry, the final God Card is coming soon!  And review a lot please…this story will split soon.  Group dynamics are falling apart, and what's the true story behind this new character?